A new resource for Catholic families wishing to bring the liturgy into their homes: Liturgy of the Home offers an illustrated coloring calendar. The days are laid out with 6 – 8 weeks at a time, keeping liturgical seasons together. The illustrations describe saints and Gospel readings with borders including seasonal Gregorian chant and little illustrations of things like the seven Sacraments and fruits of the Holy Spirit or a relevant Bible quote.
Children often go along with the family routine without seeing the bigger picture. I still find it amazing considering how slowly concepts like days of the week take to develop. They live in the moment.
Having an illustrated calendar is a great way to see the patterns of the liturgical year as well as the many saints’ feast days. Attending the Latin Mass is great, but most of the resources on the internet are based on the current liturgical books and don’t always line up with the 1962 calendar. This calendar does reflect the 1962 books.
The calendar is delivered as a pdf designed to be printed out on 8.5″x11″ paper and pages assembled into a wall chart. You could also use two pages together at a time which covers two weeks. At the end of the pdf is a supplement with explanations and translations of the Latin hymns in the Gregorian chant borders.
Coloring can be a meditative exercise for all ages. It is often recommended to help develop fine motor skills in children. It also is a great way to get busy small people to slow down and consider something. I used to think it was just busy-work, but now I’m seeing more value in this simple exercise.
Although we are currently heading towards the end of the current Pentecost calendar, it’s still worth having a look at Liturgy of the Home. Follow them on social media to keep up to date with future releases.
Writing this article reminded me of another book I was planning to write about. I’ll mention it here in case it helps and hopefully get around to writing more detail in the future. It is Evangelicae Historiae by Fr Jerome Nadal S J from around 1593. It is a book of illustrations of the Gospel readings for each Sunday through the year. Of course it uses the old calendar. It has been reprinted with English translations by Devoted Friends of Jesus and is available on Lulu in three different bindings: paperback, hardcover and linen wrap. Each illustration has different stages of the Gospel story illustrated with little labels for all the details with footnotes in Latin. The book is in order of the Life of Christ and the table of contents gives a list in order of the Sunday readings.
