I also decided to celebrate the feast day of Saint John Bosco on January 31st. There were plenty of ideas I could find online and really used the many wonderful things catholic moms have used for their children. We started off our day with the morning prayer and included a special prayer to St John Bosco. I did not have a statue of the Saint so I printed out a picture and lighted a candle at our prayer table.
I told the story of St John Bosco to George in the most simplest way I could and he definitely understood a lot and how I knew this because when Sony came home that evening George explained everything he learned about the saint to him. "Never underestimate your child by his age" Since I am still a beginner in raising a toddler I really didn't know how much he will understand but the Lord made me realize that he sure understands a lot and never stop sharing your faith with little children.
Here is an outline of the story I shared with George that morning from Saints for Young people
St. John Bosco was born near Turin, Italy. Like many Saints, he was a poor farm lad, who was brought up by his holy mother in the love of God and Our Lady. John's father died when he was young and his mother had to work very hard to feed her family. John, too, worked as hard as he could to help his mother. He was an intelligent lad, who knew how to keep his playmates from offending God. He would do tricks to win their attention and then he would talk to them about spiritual things.
In order to become a priest, John had to work his way through school. He did all kinds of work. He was a carpenter, a shoemaker, a cook, a pastry-maker, a farmer, and many other things. At the same time he was a fine student and always happy and cheerful.
After he became a priest, Don Bosco, which means Father Bosco, began his great mission of helping orphan boys. He gathered together hundreds of these boys who had no home. He taught them all kinds of work, so that they would not steal and get into trouble. At first people were angry with Don Bosco, because they did not think those boys would turn out to be good. But he proved that they would.
"Do you want to be Don Bosco's friend?" he would ask each new boy who came to him. "You do? Then, you must help me save your soul." Every night, he wanted his boys to say three Hail Mary's, so that the Blessed Mother would help them avoid sin. He also recommended that they go to Confession and Communion as often as possible.
One of Don Bosco's boys became a saint, St. Dominic Savio.
Later on, Don Bosco founded two Religious Orders to take care of poor children and he also built many homes and schools for them.
In order to become a priest, John had to work his way through school. He did all kinds of work. He was a carpenter, a shoemaker, a cook, a pastry-maker, a farmer, and many other things. At the same time he was a fine student and always happy and cheerful.
After he became a priest, Don Bosco, which means Father Bosco, began his great mission of helping orphan boys. He gathered together hundreds of these boys who had no home. He taught them all kinds of work, so that they would not steal and get into trouble. At first people were angry with Don Bosco, because they did not think those boys would turn out to be good. But he proved that they would.
"Do you want to be Don Bosco's friend?" he would ask each new boy who came to him. "You do? Then, you must help me save your soul." Every night, he wanted his boys to say three Hail Mary's, so that the Blessed Mother would help them avoid sin. He also recommended that they go to Confession and Communion as often as possible.
One of Don Bosco's boys became a saint, St. Dominic Savio.
Later on, Don Bosco founded two Religious Orders to take care of poor children and he also built many homes and schools for them.
I had printed out a coloring page of Saint John Bosco so he could color. George is still learning how to color but he did the best he could in coloring this picture.
I prepared dinner and invited few of our friends over to celebrate the feast together. I started off with making Lasagna but my husband was the one who finished making it (Thanks to his wonderful and loving heart), bosco sticks (suited the Saint's name), and Bachelor Buttons (reminds us of the juggling balls which John Bosco used to entertain the boys). It was so amazing to really see John Bosco juggling balls in the movie which made it very visual for the children as well as us. I don't want to take credit for all these ideas but I want to praise the mother who provided all the information on her blog Shower of Roses
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| Bosco Sticks |
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| Bachlor Buttons |
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| Dinner ready to be served |
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| Anna has a little friend who is just two months younger than her |
Even though we invited more couples only two couples were able to show up on that cold winter night. Thanks to the love and joy they brought to our family. We are nothing without the strength and support we receive from our catholic community. We ended our night with a small prayer and watching the movie St. John Bosco: Mission to Love. St. John Bosco Mission to Love It was a great movie and I have to say I have fallen in love with this Saint even more after watching this movie.
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Sony giving an intro to the movie    |
St John Bosco Pray for Us
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