I was so excited that so many of you enjoyed my post last month on simple ways to celebrate August feast days! I lost count of how many requests I received to make it a monthly column, but yes, thanks to such an encouraging response, that is absolutely my goal. Writing these posts takes a while, but doing it has been a tremendously helpful exercise for me in doing research and planning ahead for the feast days I want to celebrate. I’ve learned so much while working on both of these posts and I cannot WAIT to see which ideas resonate with you most. Tag me on Instagram so I can be inspired by you! :)

September 5: St. Teresa of Calcutta (aka Mother Teresa)
Keep it simple: Go out for/make Indian food for dinner, since St. Teresa of Calcutta spent most of her life ministering to the poorest of the poor in India.
Go all out: Serve the poor in your community in whatever way you can–volunteering at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, passing out blessing bags (lots of great ideas for them in the comments of this post), or spending some time with someone instead of just walking by them.
Bonus: This modern-day Saint was an incredible wealth of wisdom, so soak in some of her words! This site lists many of her quotes.

September 8: The Nativity of Mary
Keep it simple: Especially sweet if you have kids, but still fun if you don’t, bake a birthday cake for Mary!
Go all out: Start planning, work on planting, or visit a Mary Garden. My friend Janet introduced me to this beautiful tradition, and I love the idea of spending time on this feast day in particular to work on or appreciate a garden in honor of our Blessed Mother.

September 14: Triumph of the Holy Cross
Keep it simple: Pray the Stations of the Cross, either at home or at your church.
Go all out: If you don’t already have a crucifix displayed in your home, purchase one, have it blessed by a priest, and then hang it somewhere you’ll see it often. We actually like to have them visible from any place in our house–even if just a small one.

September 15: Our Lady of Sorrows
Keep it simple: Listen to the Stabat Mater. I like this video because the hymn is sung in its traditional (beautiful) Latin, but the video shows the English translation as well.
Go all out: Pray the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. I had never heard of this chaplet before researching for this post, but think it will be so meaningful to pray on this day. Offer it up for the deep sorrows in the Church.

September 21: St. Matthew
Keep it simple: Read and meditate on Matthew 9:9-13, where St. Matthew shares the story of when he met and was called by Jesus. Pray for St. Matthew’s intercession that we may follow in his footsteps after Christ daily!
Go all out: Y’all, we are going to celebrate this feast day in the best way ever by burning Dave’s CPA flashcards!! St. Matthew is the patron saint of accountants :) But, in case you don’t have flashcards to burn, offer up a prayer for those who work in financial institutions, or make a monetary donation to a cause you care about.

September 23: Padre Pio
Keep it simple: Drink a cappuccino! I thought this fact was so fun: cappuccinos were apparently named because the color resembles the habits of the Capuchin order of Franciscan friars, which Padre Pio was a part of.
Go all out: Pray for a friend or family member who has asked for prayer using the one Padre Pio always used when he was asked to pray for someone–you can find it here. Ask him to pray alongside you.

September 29: The Feast of the Archangels (Definitely check out that link for tons of history and ideas–this feast day is full of them!)
Keep it simple: There are many different food traditions associated with the Feast of Archangels, also known as Michaelmas. Haley of Carrots for Michaelmas (clearly a good source of information about this day :)) shared many of them in this blog post–I especially love the ideas of making blackberry dishes. I think I’m going to try this blackberry crisp (or this blackberry pie, which actually looks really easy to make).
Go all out: Spend some time learning more about angels. Be sure to stick to good sources rather than doing a general Google search :) For example, look to the references to angels in the Bible, the Catechism (CCC 328-336 covers official Catholic teaching on angels), and St. John Paul II’s Catechesis on the Angels.