Life has held a lot of joy lately, from gorgeous spring evenings spent eating dinner on our newly redone deck, to a fun-filled trip to Charleston this past weekend. Every bit of it has felt so encouraging to me. After such a painful Lent (we found out we had lost our second baby the day after Ash Wednesday), Easter has brought an abundance of new mercies, and I’m so grateful. We are doing our best to soak in the full Easter season (it lasts until June 8!) with this devotional, lots of spring family activities, and a little more celebratory chocolate than usual :) And speaking of celebratory, here are the feast days we’re planning to celebrate that are coming up this month!

May 13: Our Lady of Fatima
So tempted to throw a literal party so I can use this amazing Fatima bundle of party products from Be a Heart Design–so creative! There are a handful of videos about Our Lady of Fatima on Formed that I want to check out to learn more, and we’ll pray a rosary for peace, as Mary instructed in her apparitions to Sister Lucia and Sts. Jacinta and Francisco. I’m still thinking on some sort of dancing sun-related activity for Charlie…feels like a rich area :)

May 21: Saints of the Cristero War
Much like for the feast of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, a homily by a very holy priest brought the story of the Mexican martyrs in the Cristero War to life vividly in my mind. I haven’t read through the whole page linked above, so that will be my first order of business on the 21st—these martyrs showed such heroic courage in the face of persecution, and their stories deserve to be known and valued. Naturally, Mexican food is the feast of choice, and since we’re headed to Texas the following day, we’ll happily take advantage of the opportunity to get some of the best.

May 30: The Ascension of the Lord
Besides Mass for the Holy Day of Obligation, this one stumped me as far as liturgical celebrations go, until I learned from Katrina Harrington that gladiolus are traditionally known as “ladders to heaven.” So perfect! I can usually find them at Trader Joe’s.

May 31: The Visitation
This is one of my favorite Marian feast days—I love the reminder that Mary was not only a mother of Jesus, but a present and loving cousin and a friend who physically showed up for Elizabeth in her time of need. I’ll be using this day to pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary for pregnant friends and find small ways to love and serve them if I can.

Let me know what you’re still doing for Easter, or what you’re planning for May feast days below. I always love learning from your creative/simple/meaningful ideas!