Celebrate the Blessed Mother

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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on August 15th, is a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics.  It’s a Holy Day, which means you are obligated to go to Mass and, if at all possible, not to work.  This feast day for Mary concerns her assumption into heaven.

Of course, you should attend Mass with your family as it is a Holy Day of Obligation. If there is a church or chapel in your diocese devoted to Mary, you might consider attending Mass there, rather than at your own parish.

Read Bible passages about the Blessed Mother

Any chapters or verses from Luke will probably work very well.  Catholic Bible 101 has many passages with explanations that will be helpful in finding verses to read together as a family.

Pray the Rosary

If your kids are old enough to sit through an entire five decades of the Rosary, you should definitely say the Rosary as a family.

If you have smaller kids who can’t sit still quietly for that long, try to say at least one decade of the Rosary with them.

The Joyful Mysteries or the Glorious Mysteries would work well for this day.

Make Rosaries

Making rosary beads together would be a great way to celebrate with your family.  If you can, get all the parts and pieces you’ll need ahead of time.  Rosary Parts is an excellent resource for all things related to the Rosary.  Consider making rosaries for your church or as gifts for friends and family, too.

Home altar

If you don’t have a special place to honor Mary in your home, you might think about making one. If you have a home altar or a special area of your home to honor Mary, dress it up together.  Flowers, candles, and incense can be used on the altar. You can pray together while you decorate the space.

Music

There are many beautiful Marian hymns that you can teach your children or learn about yourself.  Hail Mary, Gentle Woman is just beautiful, and the words are fairly easy to learn.  The Canticle of the Sun is another lovely song that you can honor Mary with on the Assumption.

Fruit

According to Meredith Gould in the book The Catholic Home, “the Assumption has traditionally been celebrated as a summer harvest festival.”   She suggests that you should not eat fruit for two weeks before the Assumption and celebrate with a fruit salad, fruit soup and pie after Mass. Even if you don’t abstain from fruit for two weeks, you might consider serving fruit for dessert.

Celebrating the Assumption at home with your family can help mark the day as special, and it can make wonderful memories, too. Any time a family celebrates their faith together it strengths the family and deepens their beliefs, so any time you have the chance to celebrate, you should.

 

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