5 Ways to Celebrate Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe
5 Ways to Celebrate Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe
Whether your children or students are already familiar with St. Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe or are just learning about them, their feast days – on the 9th and 12th of December – provide a prime opportunity to chat about virtues while enjoying feast day fun and learning.
If you’d like some quick ideas to get started, try these:
(1) Learn
Learn about Our Lady of Guadalupe in our Daily Saint section. Chat about how St. Juan Diego and the bishop were (or were not) obedient to Our Lady’s wishes at first and how, in the end, they built a church where Our Lady wished one to be built.
For extra fun, follow the chat up with an instant-challenge inspired by the one described at Training Happy Hearts.
(2) Read
Read about St. Jaun Diego in our Daily Saint section. Discuss the great faith he had which prompted him to walk 15 miles to Mass daily and, how Our Lady chose him to deliver her message to the bishop, asking him to persist with it and granting a miracle.
Recalling the roses Our Lady had St. Juan Diego pick, enjoy making some playdough roses as shown on Nina Beth Creates. If you make the roses with air-dry clay or sculpey instead they can be given as gifts to loved ones or, perhaps, residents in a nursing home.
(3) Watch
Watch an animated film about the true story of the appearance of Our Lady in 1531 to the humble Aztec Indian Juan Diego on the Tepeyac Hill in Mexico.
Then, play a Jeopardy -style game to see what facts and details children recall. During the game, be sure to present clues related to virtues.
(4) Copy
Use the Our Lady of Guadalupe Prayer – Prayer of Pope Benedict the XVI as copywork. Then color or paint the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in our printables section to create your own prayer card or notebooking page.
(5) Retell
Have children retell the Our Lady of Guadalupe story in their own words, perhaps dramatizing it with simple props such as scarves and artificial flowers.
With younger children follow up the retelling with related sensory activities, such as the ones described here.
Enjoying Mexican food, studying an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, or watching a documentary about Our Lady of Guadalupe would all be apropos for these feast days, too.
Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego, pray for us.