Living Liturgically in October

On this page you will find resources for popular feast days celebrated in the Orthodox Church in October

Here is a collection of blogposts for feast days and saints celebrated in the month of October. In each of these blogs you will find summarized information about the feast/saints, activity suggestions for younger and older kids, reading suggestions and more. These are not just activities for activities sake, of course. My hope is that these will aid you in sharing more about our faith with your children in a way that is developmentally appropriate, allows for their exploration and participation in the feast, and hopefully cultivate a rich soil in their hearts that allows the seed of Truth that stays with them all the days of their life. I absolutely love learning more about the saints and feast days and try my best to set them apart from other days. I hope these resources are a blessing to you!

October - Liturgically speaking, October is, in theory, a “slower” liturgical month as we have no major feasts during this month. We are enjoying the changing season and the many feast days of the Apostles and other well-known saints. We are looking ahead now to the coming season - Advent. The Nativity Fast is approaching quickly (begins Nov 15). In the resources below, you will find some resources relevant to the month of October!

Featured

St Peter the Aleut: Feast Day Activity

St Peter the Aleut is an Alaskan martyr who was killed in California during the establishment of the Spanish missions in 1815. We have learned more about St Peter over the years, but this year we wanted to do something to honor his feast day! Check out this simple feast day tradition to honor to Peter the Aleut!

New Monthly Liturgical Printables

Living the Orthodox Faith in our modern age takes intention. I’ve created a beautiful one page (per month) printable to help simplify liturgical living with fun and easy ways to incorporate into your home. Bundle and Save!

Prayer Service for Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss

While living in New York, my husband was attending seminary at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary and during a chilly evening in October, the seminary hosted a special prayer service for those who lost a child (or children) due to miscarriage, stillbirth and infant loss. While standing in the nave hearing the prayers and hymns sung, I had tears pouring down my face. It was the first time that my precious child who died in my womb was prayed for and acknowledged publicly. I looked around the room and I was surprised by how many were in attendance. Afterwards, we all shared many hugs and tears. It was such a healing experience, not only to have our losses acknowledged, but also to share our grief with one another who also lost babies. It was a profound experience I can hardly explain.

Having attended this prayer service, I knew that we needed to bring this tradition to our current parish. This past year we hosted our first Pregnancy and Infant Loss Prayer Service. It was a wonderful evening, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it. The purpose of this blogpost is to share how we planned this event and to provide resources for your parish to host one!

Miscarriage, Loss, Infant Loss, Reflections, Pregnancy, Prayer Resources, Motherhood

Miscarriage Resources

Miscarriage, Loss, Infant Loss, Reflections, Pregnancy, Prayer Resources, Motherhood

1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage, and yet it remains perhaps the most under discussed tragedy in our culture. In this blogpost, you will find some resources both for the one who is grieving and the one who wishes to help but doesn’t know how. These resources are intended for those who are Orthodox Christians, so the resources will be through that lens

Miscarriage, Loss, Infant Loss, Reflections, Pregnancy, Prayer Resources, Motherhood

Monthly Liturgical Printables

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of feast days, saint days, fasting periods, etc. So my hope with these monthly printables is to pair it down for you. Let’s make a goal to learn about ONE saint this month, and do ONE activity this month related to a featured saint. Throughout the month, learn ONE hymn by singing it together every day, or as often as you can. And lastly, intentionally carve out time to create a strong family culture in your home (in the Family Corner section).

Motherhood, Orthodoxy, Traditions, Theotokos

Protection of the Theotokos

Motherhood, Orthodoxy, Traditions, Theotokos

The feast of the Protection of the Theotokos is on October 1. If you’re unfamiliar with this feast, it originated in 10th century Constantinople, when the Fool-for-Christ St. Andrew was granted a vision of the Theotokos interceding for the world. The Church teaches us that the prayers of the Theotokos blanket us like a veil, protecting us from enemies both seen and unseen.

Motherhood, Orthodoxy, Traditions, Theotokos