How do YOU celebrate feast days?

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Layman_F

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On the surface this may seem to be an odd question, but remember I’m not familiar with this subject. Is it simply a bigger meal shared with family? A meal with others? I’m curious - what traditions does your family keep when having a feast? Thanks in advance for replies!
 
I guess it depends on the feast!

Some are celebratory (think Easter, Christmas, or Saints days), others are more solemn (think Good Friday), etc…

“Feast” in this term, really refers to the “feast” of the Mass… the celebration of the Eucharist. We are called to celebrate the Eucharist on Holy Days of Obligation… sometimes referred to as “feast days”… other feast days - like for saints - we are reminded of those who have gone before us in faith and we celebrate their lives… either by attending Mass or having a private celebration at home.
This is a great article on feast/holy days, in general…
newadvent.org/cathen/06021b.htm

My personal experience… obviously the “big” ones are BIG… Christmas, Easter, etc… but some of the other Saints Days are celebrated more quietly. I think the only one we actually have a “family meal” is on St. Patrick’s Day, which is a huge tradition in my family to have corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes (yes, I know this isn’t traditional in Ireland… I don’t live in Ireland :p)… and to dye everything green - including the milk.
 
As Em said, it depends on the feast.

When I read your question, I was thinking more along the lines of personal feast days, like feast days of saints that family members are named for or our baptismal anniversaries (this may be because I was updating them all on the calendar this morning). For those kind of feast days, the person whose feast it is gets to choose dinner and we have a special dessert to go with. We also light his/her baptismal candle and pray the appropriate prayer from The Blessing Cup by Fr. Rock Travnikar, which is a book of rites for family prayer and celebrations.
 
There is a great blog you can find by googling “catholic cuisine”. The blog writer has some really simple ideas and recipes for making Feast days special.

Typically- outside of major feast days- we’ll only “celebrate” a feast if my husband or I have an interest in or unique devotion to the saint. In that case, we offer up prayers and will eat a special meal usually tied into the Saint or the Saint’s life in some way. (Even if it’s just the fact that the Saint is Italian and we end up having Italian food.) We don’t have many Catholic friends, live far away from family, and have no children yet, so our meals are just us two and aren’t especially large. Just “special” in that we’ll break out the good dishes, light some candles, have dessert, etc. We do also attend weekday Mass in order to truly celebrate the feast that is the Eucharist.

Hope that helps! 🙂
 
You guys are so awesome! Thanks for the replies. I assumed there was something more than just “feasting” associated with holy days. So, Eucharist IS the feast! This morning while working I’m reading, and can’t find “how to celebrate feast days” kinda searches. So, God being ever gracious, puts the ability to have my answer in front of me. First call of the day and I pulled up to a Honda on I-40 and the bumper sticker was “How can the world have too many kids?” Nice Indian fellow explained that feast is describing celebrating the Eucharist. I assumed there was a special meal, or celebration for each Saint, or Martyr.
 
We are called to celebrate the Eucharist on Hhttp://www.filii.info/g.gifoly Days of Obligation.
 
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