Living the Liturgical Year Well: February, Dedicated to the Holy Family
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“ He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them” (Luke 2:51). Reflect on the holy life which Joseph led in the company of Jesus and Mary. In that family there was no business except that which tended to the greater Glory of God; There were no thoughts or desires except the thought and desire of pleasing God; there were no discourses except on the love which men owe to God, and which God has shown to men, especially in sending His only begotten Son into the world to suffer and to end His life in a sea of sorrow and insults for the salvation of mankind. “ St. Alphonsus of Liguori (Thirty-One Days of Prayer to St. Joseph).
Our families
We are to model our families after the Holy Family. February is dedicated to the Holy Family, the perfect month to remind us of this truth. The Church has dedicated the month of February to the Holy Family, and that is not just by chance. February seems to be a difficult month in most families, where cabin fever and boredom have settled and people are a little more touchy than usual. What a perfect month for us to refocus our families on their model. And liturgically Ordinary Time seems, well, just ordinary and a little gloomy with Lent looming on the horizon. I have decided to start something new in February to pep up our liturgical living and reignite our love for Christ. And I would like to invite you along.

Liturgical Board
I want to refresh our liturgical living life and space. I figured that February was the perfect month to recenter our family on Christ. So this will be a bit of a different post, half DIY and half liturgical living. You ready for it? In years past we used to have a scrapbook with a double page for each month. On one page is the month’s dedication and a short prayer. On the other are pictures of some of the saints celebrated that month as well as family members’ birthdays, anniversaries and In Memoriams. Then we switched to the lovely book, My Book of the Church Year, by Enid M. Chadwick. (Here is a printable version). But they both are small and while they have worked well for us, I wanted something a little bigger and decided to make a Liturgical Board, inspired by the very talented Tish @motherhoodismyfiat.
The idea
I wanted to create a larger visual of the liturgical month for my family. As we change and grow, it is nice to bring in some changes. I love to craft and I get very excited about liturgical projects.
Tish’s idea of a liturgical board is brilliant. It combines what we already do as a family and my desire for a better visual. I wanted the board to include the monthly dedication, a few important saints and/or feasts celebrated that month, the intentions of the Holy Father for that month, a short prayer united to the monthly dedication and maybe a quote or two. And of course beautiful art.

The plan
I try to spend as little money as possible, as I revamp our prayer altar with a liturgical board.
I had an old 22×18 cork board that has already led a well loved life in my son’s room. My first task was to clean it up, sand it and repaint it…Once the board is cleaned up I added some fleece and a new cover with some fabric. I use Loctite spray on glue to attach the fleece covered fabric onto the cork board. I am not loving the plain white fabric but, trying to stay out of the fabric store was part of the deal I made with myself. And finally some liturgical appropriate ribbon around the edges. That I did have to buy and I bought 1” satin ribbon in green, yellow and purple. Ideally I would have found an easy way to attach the ribbon. I plan to change it for each liturgical season but I couldn’t think of anything other than hand stitching it to the fabric. A little tedious, but easily taken off and it looks pretty good. Then off to decide on what to put on the board for February.
The Holy Family and Candlemas
February, dedicated to the Holy Family, makes it easy to find beautiful art. I found this beautiful image of the Holy Family by Franz Ittenbach, in which the imagery is just beautiful (and Saint Joseph doesn’t look like Jesus’ great grandpa…). Next were the feasts, I chose to focus on the Feast of Candlemas. One of the most famous images of the Presentation of Our Lord is the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Fra Angelico. Bl. John of Fiesole, (Fra Angelico) is commemorated, on February 18th, see the February Booklover Booklist for more details. So having one of his paintings on the month of his commemoration was killing two birds with one stone for some art study and liturgical living.

February saints
The other saints I have chosen are especially important to our family. Saint Scholastica, February 10th, is the patron saint of our homeschool. February 11th is my daughter Abigail’s name day, Saint Gobnait (Abigail in Irish). Saint Jacinta Marto is commemorated on February 20th. The little shepherds of Fatima have had a special place in my heart since I went to Fatima as a teenager. And they have been following me ever since: my son was born on Jacinta’s feast day, one of my daughters is named after Lucia, and A Daily Picture Book is under the patronage of Our Lady of Fatima. We celebrate each of these feasts simply by reading about the life of the saint and dessert or an ethnic dinner that reminds us of the saint.
Celebrating each saint and feast
For Candlemas I am hoping to get my act together enough to be able to bring candles to be blessed at Mass. Then we will have a festive candlelit dinner that will include crepes, as is the French tradition. Since I wanted to include Fra Angelico, we will revisit the Presentation of Our Lord on February 18th, Blessed John of Fiesole’s feast day, and have crepes again that day. The February Booklover Booklist contains a great picture book and enrichments to celebrate the life of Fra Angelico.

On February 10th we will celebrate St. Scholastica’s Feast Day by reading The Holy Twins: Benedict and Scholastica, by Kathleen Norris, illustrated by Tomie dePaola. And we will probably have an Italian dinner.
February 11th, is my daughter’s Name Day, she will receive a spiritual book to help her grow in faith and pick a honey themed dessert as Saint Gobnait (Abigail in Irish) is the patron saint of beekeepers.
On February 20th we will remember little Jacinta Marto and her great love for souls. We will read Miraculous! Catholic Mysteries for Kids by Kathryn Griffin Swegart p.29. And have some Carne Vinho de Alhos, a Portuguese marinated pork dish.
Intentions of the Holy Father and prayer
I added the intentions of the Holy Father for the month of February as well as the Consecration of the Family to the Holy family from the Roman Missal. Another devotion we have in February is the Seven Sundays of Saint Joseph. Seven Sundays before the feast of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary on March 19th, starts one of my favorite devotions. The Devotion of the Seven Sundays of Saint Joseph focuses on Saint Joseph’s joys and sorrows. It is beautiful! This year it starts on February 2nd, Candlemas Sunday. I find it so very beautiful that the two coincide this year, it gives me even more food for thoughts! There is a beautiful thread this February where Saint Joseph is interwoven from beginning to end, I love it!
I wanted to share this with each of you so here you go: FREE February Liturgical Board Printable.

Seven Sundays of Saint Joseph Devotion
I was introduced to this devotion by Auntie Leila, of www.LikeMotherLikeDaughter.org fame. Here are two posts that she wrote about this devotion: Seven Sundays of St. Joseph and Seven Sundays of St Joseph (they are different, I promise). It is a simple, yet beautiful devotion, each Sunday we meditate on a different Joy and Sorrow of Saint Joseph. After meditating, we pray the Litany to Saint Joseph and voila! Here is a FREE printable that includes the devotion ready for you to print and pray. I could not include it on our liturgical board as it is a little too long, but we have it printed and in the car to pray all together on our way to Mass for the next seven Sundays.
Back to the board
But back to putting the liturgical board together. I printed the FREE February Liturgical Board Printable on card stock for better images. Then I cut them and arranged them on the board to my liking. I used a mix of pushpins and sewing pins to secure each image in place. I love the way it turned out! So beautiful and enticing. The girls have already been asking questions and are anticipating the special days ahead.
I hope that you will join me and post some of your new liturgical boards online and in the comments.
For all things liturgical I always refer to www.CatholicCulture.org, they have the most inspirational and well written liturgical living ideas. It is a wonderful resource and I always learn something new. I love that they give the background of the feast, its origin, and ideas on how to incorporate it in our daily life through prayers, readings and activities.
Wishing you all a blessed February!
Love,
Mattie