Ideas for Celebrating the Feast of St. Teresa (Therese) of Avila

Today (Oct 15) is St. Teresa of Avila's Feast Day. She was a Carmelite nun, like St. Therese of Lisieux. However, based on her biographies like this one from Catholic.org, unlike St. Therese, she did not have a fervent desire to serve God at an early age:

"..she led a fairly ordinary life, though she was convinced that she was a horrible sinner. As a teenager, she cared only about boys and clothes and flirting and rebelling -- like other teenagers throughout the ages."

(I see she and I had A LOT in common when we were younger, haha!) Nevertheless, despite all her faults and struggles, God blessed her immensely, and truly shaped her to be holy and a saint (something we all hope to be one day, right?)

To celebrate her Feast Day today, here is a round-up of ideas from other fabulous, creative Catholic moms, mostly homeschoolers:

1. Make a St. Teresa of Avila Prayer Bookmark from Paper Dali

2. Color this St. Teresa of Avila Coloring Page from Waltzing Matilda

3. Bake Pan de Sta Teresa (St. Teresa's bread) using this recipe from Catholic Cuisine

4. For kids Grade 4 and up - Learn more about "Who is St. Teresa of Avila?" from this activity from Loyola Press

5. Watch these videos about St. Teresa of Avila:
a. A short video with a few facts about her (we will use this, since Tim's attention span is not that good when it comes to documentary-type videos!)


b. This music video is based on the song "St. Theresa's Prayer" by John Michael Talbot. (The images contrast the life-giving way of Christ with the destructive ways of this world)


c. A more detailed 2-minute video about St. Teresa of Avila:


5. You could also read a generic book about Saints, like the ones below, and then talk about St. Teresa in detail: (please click on each image for more details about each book)
 


However you choose to celebrate St. Teresa's day, let's try to instill in your children what she promoted: a life totally surrendered to the Lord, in the service of others.

"Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world." 
- St. Teresa of Avila