Welcome to the next edition of Saints of the Week! Today, I have 7 Saints for you to share with your students and children. Their Feast Days fall during the week of September 28th-October 4th. Each Saint will have the:
- dates of birth and death (when available)
- patronage
- Link to their resource or story page
- associated virtues
I tried to choose Saints from different countries, time periods, and with various vocations. Feel free to swap out other favorite Saints this week if you wish! This is just a guide that follows the Liturgical Year Feast Days. Please let me know if you would like any other resources for these guides, and I will try my best to add them for you. I kept these guides very open-ended so that you can tailor them to your students, and check out the suggested discussion questions below.
Be sure to visit this post for more information on our Saints of the Week Guides. And, if you’re new at Amazing Catechists, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter (in the sidebar) so that you never miss an issue of Saints of the Week!
Discussion questions:
- What do you think a day in the life of this saint was like?
- What difficulties or challenges did this saint face? How did he or she overcome them?
- How did the saint exhibit virtue in his or her life? How can we work to imitate this virtue?
- What else can this saint teach us about living a good life and how to grow closer to Christ?
9/28: Blessed Thiemo of Salzburg (c. 1040-1102)
Feast Day: September 28
Patronage: engravers, sculptors
Quick Facts:
- born in Bavaria, Germany
- Benedictine monk
- Archbishop
- martyr
Virtue: Faith, humility, perseverance
9/29: Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels (Michaelmas)
Feast Day: September 29
Patronage:
- St. Michael: against storms, against temptations, artists, bakers, bankers, dying people, police officers
- St. Gabriel: broadcasters, clergy, messengers, post offices, telephones, televisions
- St. Raphael: against sickness, against eye problems, mental illness, guardian angels, travelers
Quick facts:
- Gabriel means “God is mighty” or “God is my strength”
- St. Gabriel is a messenger
- Michael means “Who is like God?”
- Raphael means “Healer of God” or “God has healed”
- St. Raphael guarded Tobit, and cured his blindness
9/30: St. Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church (347-419)
St Jerome by Bernardo Strozzi – Gallerie Accademia
Feast Day: September 30
Patronage: archeologists, archivists, Bible scholars, librarians, libraries, scholars, schoolchildren, students, translators
Quick facts:
- born to pagans
- was an attorney
- baptized in 365
- became a monk, and then a hermit
- deeply studied scripture in isolation
- revised the Latin form of the Bible, known as the Latin Vulgate
- Doctor of the Church
Virtue: Humility, faith, fortitude
October Saints and Feasts
Starting in October, I will be adding some different information, details, and activities for each saint or feast. Along with the virtue, I will add a suggested virtue action for you to suggest to your students. I will also include the liturgical color for the day. You can use this as a catechetical teaching moment to discuss the different liturgical seasons and vestment colors.
Using CatholicSaints.info, the Divine Office and Butler’s Lives of the Saints
I have 3 free resources where I like to find the stories of each of the saints or feasts. I will reference one of them for each saint.
Catholicsaints.info
The first and most comprehensive source is catholicsaints.info. This is the most comprehensive and accurate resources that I have found so far. You can search by date to find the saints or feasts associated with that day.
Divine Office
Next, I love the Divine Office website and app. Not every day has a featured saint, but when I saint is remembered that day, the Divine Office will have their information in the “About Today” section. I highly encourage you to pray the Divine Office for the day as well!
Butler’s Lives of the Saints
Lastly, Butler’s Lives of the Saints is free and in the public domain. A bit more cumbersome to use, but I love the clear and succinct stories as well as the accompanying reflections. This book is also available in print.
Using these 3 sources, you will be able to find full and accurate stories about each saint and feast day. Be sure to bookmark them for future reference!
10/1: St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (of Lisieux), Virgin and Doctor of the Church (1873-1897)
Feast Day: October 1
Liturgical color: white
Patronage: Missions, florists, pilots, against illness, loss of parents
Quick facts:
- born in France
- became a Carmelite at age 15
- nicknamed “The Little Flower” because she modeled always doing “small things with great love”
- wrote her well-known, spiritual work called “The Story of a Soul”
- Doctor of a Church
Link to Divine Office (see About Today section)
Virtue: humility
Virtue challenge: Do something small with great love today. This could be any small good deed or task to help someone.
10/2: Holy Guardian Angels (Memorial)
Feast Day: October 2
Liturgical color: white
Quick facts:
- every person has a Guardian Angel to protect and guide him or her!
- Every country, city, state, and parish also has its own Guardian Angel
Link to Divine Office (see About Today)
Virtue challenge: Pray the Guardian Angel prayer.
Other ways to celebrate the Feast of the Guardian Angels:
- Attend Mass
- Pray the Divine Office
- Read about angels in the Bible
- Read more about angels here
10/3: St. Theodore Guerin (1798-1856)
Feast Day: October 3
Liturgical color: Green
Patronage: The diocese of Lafayette, Indiana
Quick facts:
• Born in France
• Joined the Sisters of Providence (France) in 1823
• Was sent to Indiana in 1840
• Established the first Catholic women’s liberal arts college in 1841
• Established many schools, orphanages, and pharmacies
Virtue: Charity, industry
Virtue Challenge: Work hard at a task today to complete it well (cleaning your room, helping your parents, other chores, your schoolwork).
10/4: St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
Feast Day: October 4
Liturgical Color: white
Patronage: Against dying alone, against fire, animals, ecology, families, peace
Quick facts:
- Born to a rich cloth merchant
- had his conversion while in prison as a prisoner of war
- gave up all of his wealth and served the poor
- received the stigmata
Virtues: Poverty, purity, faith, humility
Virtue challenge: Give something up (a bad habit, social media, or favorite treat), and thank God for all of your blessings!