A little Feast for Michaelmas

I was so excited to celebrate Michaelmas this year - the Feast of Michael the Archangel as well as all Archangels (Will do a better job next year on highlighting all the others we know and sharing their story!). It's a beautiful feast and a beautiful time in the year to feast.

We've been talking to the boys about angels, both Archangels and Guardian angels, lately. My oldest has been getting into the habit of leaving his room often at night and we thought we'd share more about the beauty and gift of angels. he loves knowing there are angels caring for him at all times and it's a good reminder for us to be more mindful of this gift! So, in turn, this time in our life played beautifully with Michaelmas.

I'll be sharing how we started and ended our day, as well as how we feasted.

In the morning during a simple breakfast we read about St. Michael the Archangel as well as a few other angel book favorites. Right now, deciphering between Archangel and Guardian angels, and how angels helped St. Pascual, etc. may be a little over my 3 year old and 1 year olds' heads. Regardless, I could tell my oldest loved talking about all things angels which was such a delight to me.

We also did this Angel Wings craft, which they enjoyed too - especially the end product.

Admittedly, the oldest enjoyed the craft more than my younger. As much as it looks like he's flying, he's really flailing trying to get them off.

We kept our Feast simple and yummy. I had been researching a little and thanks to my lovely Liturgical living cookbook, FEAST by Haley over at Carrots for Michaelmas, I was able to throw together a sweet little feast for Michaelmas allowing for more fun conversations about angels. Click here for all the explanations for why which foods were feasted on. So much richness to our faith! I love how we can draw closer to Him through his Angels and Saints. Through food and service. Through feasting and loving!

Menu

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

Thyme Roasted Carrots

Toast

No goose for us! Too pricey and rare. I just didn't have time for rare and that's okay. The carrots were delicious. Surprisingly, so! The thyme was a perfect earthy spice that paired so nicely with the sweetness of carrots. And, originally, I had intended to bake bread with the boys at home with a recipe that Heather from Mama Knows, Honeychild, but our evening plans took a turn for the fun. Before I share our evening, I'll share dessert.

Dessert

Blackberry Cobbler

So many thanks to The Pioneer Woman! She is so wonderful! Her recipes always delicious and seemingly do-able. The boys loved this five-ingredient cobbler. Their favorite part was dropping the blackberries into the mix. They were so excited!

Unfortunately, my cobbler didn't cobble as I'd hope. While mixing the ingredients I rush read instructions and didn't separate the 1/4 cup of sugar from the 1 cup. I added the two and poured it all in. Oops! So, then I added a little more sugar and a little more flour annddd a little more rice milk.

My oops aside, this dessert was yummy! My husband and the boys loved it! I loved it too, of course, but we all know me and sweets are a given.

Like I said, the ingredients were only five! Per usual, I used rice milk instead of cow's milk and ended up making my own self-rising flour (add salt and baking powder), since I haven't bought that in awhile. In all, it was a great feast.

Back to our turn of events, earlier in the day, my husband got in touch with me to let me know that his work softball team needed a sub and wanted to join. I jumped at the opportunity because I knew the boys would just dieee if they saw their daddy playing ball - and OH, how they loved. every. single. bit of it!

I put on their baseball t-shirts and off we went right after our little feast. They loved daddy up at bat and it was such a nice evening out. It was a great time for all and the boys couldn't stop talking about it on the way home.

The little ones even got to go out on the field! A request they had been making since we stepped foot on site. It was such a great day, and I'll chalk up our little softball fun as a gift to us all.

We got home, got the little sweaty ones bathed, and said our prayers. To close we prayed the St. Michael prayer as well as our little prayer nod to our Guardian angel. It was beautiful and sweet. We all thanked our angels for all they do and were off to bed.

Also, on a sweet note, my husband back when he was my boyfriend, had my engagement ring made. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen and so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. Upon soaking up it's beauty the day I said Yes to him, he shared the story and reason of the shape and words of my ring. All so very beautiful (Perhaps another post all-together?), but the part that sings with this feast day in particular is the fact that he engraved Serviam on the inside of my band as well as had his birthstone placed inside it. These were signs of his promise to me. The promise he was making to me when we got engaged and the promise we vowed to live out all the days of our lives upon saying I do to each other.

In scripture, when satan says non-serviam he declared that he would not serve God. It was his rejection. My husband wrote serviam in my ring to share a promise that he is making to serve God, me, and our family. It was beautiful. And, something I always keep with me. It's a bold declaration to keep Christ center in our marriage and in serving Him, may we be able to faithfully serve each other and our vows all the days of our lives.

It was a beautiful day that spilled into celebrating the Feast of the Archangels, Guardian Angels on October 2, and a vow to love and serve Him as St. Michael did so beautifully and courageously. Our crafts, prayers, and books were perfect to enjoy. The boys loved it, learned more about their faith, and helped me orient myself to the beauty and goodness our faith has to offer.

Thankful for these feast days. Thankful for a family to celebrate it with. And, thankful, so very thankful for our angels and all they do. Their service is a gift that I know encourages me and my sometimes weary self.