5 EASY Ways to Celebrate St. Katharine Drexel

We celebrate the Feast of St. Katharine Drexel on March 3

This American saint went from one of the richest girls in the United States to storing up “treasure in heaven” through her generosity with personal financial gifts and eventually forming a religious order! We have some fun and easy activities for you to celebrate this special saint’s feast day!

First, you can get a FREE coloring page for St. Katharine Drexel’s feast day HERE!

These activities are adapted from our St. Katharine Drexel Glory Story Education Guide. Did you know that we are in the process of making guides to accompany every single Glory Story? Each education guide features:

• Suggested discussion questions
• Vocabulary
• Activity ideas
• Supplementary resource lists
• and more!

With these Education Guides, incorporating Glory Stories into your curriculum is easier than ever! Download the guide for FREE today!

For now, here are 5 EASY ways to celebrate St. Katharine Drexel with your family this year!

• Learn about proper stewardship of money!

Perhaps introduce the concept of money with your children.  Talk about the rich man in Matthew 19 (RSV) and Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:19 (RSV), and compare those passages to the actions of Katharine and her family.  

How can we use our money responsibly and better the kingdom of God? What are some examples of good purchases or uses of money? We have a responsibility to know where our products come from and how they affect people.

Little kids can learn about basic currency values and practical math, while older kids can draft a personal budget for themselves (remember to include a tithe of 10 percent!).  Or perhaps, as a family, donate to a cause which everyone agrees upon! Finally, a St. Katharine Tiny Saint charm will remind kids to spend and save responsibly every day, even when you are not with them!   

• Make a Heavenly Treasure Chest!

St. Katharine understood the importance of storing up treasure in heaven. Help your children understand the importance of this concept by making your own Heavenly Treasure Chest!

Find a bin or large cardboard box lying around the house. Label it “Heavenly Treasure Chest” and have your kids decorate it. Add stickers, jewels, paint…whatever you would like (mom may need to help with hot glue if needed).

Throughout the month, kids can place items that they wish to donate to charity. Or, the family can purchase canned or non perishable items to gradually add to the “chest.” Once it is full, take the items to your local food bank or thrift store. 

St. Katharine will be proud of your kids for praying for and serving the poor in your community!

• Learn about the Beatitudes 

St. Katharine understood the importance of the Beatitudes for our world today. Cardinal Justin Rigali said of her in his 2008 homily commemorating her birth, “How beautifully Saint Katharine Drexel embraced and lived the Beatitudes. Her desire was union with Jesus through the Holy Eucharist. The Holy Eucharist – the Presence and Love of Christ Himself – impelled Mother Katharine to heroic witness, to fervent compassion and charity, to total giving of self in service to God in the poor, the afflicted and the oppressed.”

Read Matthew 5:3-10. Type up the beatitudes and cut each line into strips. Then, cut each strip in half (for example, “blessed are the peacemakers (cut here) for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”). 

Shuffle the strips together in a bowl, then have kids match the beginning and end of the phrases. They can glue the matches onto a separate piece of construction paper and hang it in their room to show their friends!

• Use an Interactive Timeline

Are your kids visual learners? Do they love history?

This interactive timeline from the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (yes, the same order that St. Katharine founded) is a fun way to show kids the progression of her story. It also has great photographs of the saint and her family!

Have older kids compare dates in the timeline with world events. What composers lived around that time (St. Katharine would have listened to their music)? What fashions were common? What books were published that we still read today?

• Watch a documentary about St. Katharine!

Looking to learn more about St. Katharine Drexel?

The documentary St. Katharine: Holy Heiress is free to watch on the shrine’s website, and is only 30 minutes long! It contains great background information about the saint’s upbringing and family, as well as lots of photographs and video footage!

Let us know how you’ve used the St. Joseph Glory Story by tagging us on Instagram and Facebook (@holyheroes)!

May God Bless you on this feast of St.Katharine Drexel!