How to best partake or honor a Saint's feast day

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Hi All,

I have only a loose understanding of how to honor or best partake of a Saint’s feast day. As mentioned on another thread, that I wish not to hijack, it is the feast day for Saint Padre Pio.

How do we best partake in a feast day? My guess is that we read something he wrote, go to a Mass in his name if there is one, maybe go to his shrine website?

Thanks for your ideas.
 
Pax Christi!

On St. Matthew’s Feastday I put on my best Levis and pray for tax reform.

Seriously, you can pray to the saint.

Padre Pio was devoted to the Poor Souls in Purgatory. Pray for their deliverance.

He was one of the great confessors. Go to confession.

He was Italian. Listen to some Dean Martin. (“One boy, one girl/Memories Are Made Of This”)

Wish someone a happy Feastday, and tell a little about the Padre.

God bless, and have a great Feastday of a great saint.
 
In Italy and Malta, they apparently make a Padre Pio apple cake, with some kind of sourdough natural leavening. It is similar to sourdough chains of “friendship bread.” So preferably you get a glass of the sourdough from a friend, although I’m pretty sure you could do your own yeast or sourdough starter instead.

Or use beer for leavening. But it might not have the keeping power of sourdough.

There’s a lady online who used live yogurt and milk as her leaven starter.

Making the cake takes ten days, which is conveniently close to the number of days in a novena. You are encouraged to think of Padre Pio, to pray, and to specifically say, “O Lord, guide me and bring me peace.” You are also encouraged to pass on the dough starter in a glass to three other people.

Using a blender or putting the dough in the fridge will tend to kill yeast, so don’t do it! But some lady online kept her starter in the freezer for ten months and it didn’t die, so you can always start again, I guess…

If anybody says this bread “comes from the Vatican” or “you can only make it once in your lifetime,” they are silly. It seems to be an adaptation of a secular custom, but it’s a nice devotional custom.
 
I went to Mass this morning and the feast day was mentioned. I would have gone anyway though, its what I do on a Wednesday morning.

I suppose someone with a particular devotion to Padre Pio might have gone to confession as close to today as possible, as that was I understand his particular passion.
 
Offer the Mass for the Saint! It is related in the life of St. Gertrude that she would offer the Mass for various members of the Heavenly Court; they thereby received an increase in accidental joy, and would even come to thank her!

Rev. Martin von Cochem writes: “For although there are many ways whereby we may do honor to Our Lady and afford her pleasure, yet none of the accidental joys we thus procure her equals that which we can give her by hearing Mass.” [The same can be said of the Saints]

“This accidental happiness, as it is called, the sacred humanity of Christ and all angels and saints are capable of receiving, as we know from the words of St. Luke: " I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance.” (St. Luke xv. 7.)

St. Padre Pio specifically asked (apparently) that his spiritual children offer Masses for his intentions. I’m fairly sure that I read that a long time ago.
 
I take the morning off from work and altar serve for my favorite saints.

-Tim-
 
Reading something by or about the saint would be good; if you pray the Office, then you will be doing this anyways. Aside from that, what to do will depend on the saint, and on particular traditions that have become attached to their particular days. The Catholic Culture liturgical calendar offers some particular suggestions for each day: catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/month.cfm.
 
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