10 Ways to Celebrate John Paul II’s Feast Day

John Paul II’s feast day is tomorrow. How are you going to celebrate it? For many of us here at Ignitum Today, he was the first pope we knew and the man who was pope for the majority of our lives. He was one of the longest serving popes in history. One of the most traveled people period. He was greatly respected in the church and very photogenic to boot.

How to best celebrate his feast day? Here’s 10 ideas:

  1. Pray the Litany of John Paul II. Yes, there is such a thing! I like the one here.
  2. john-paul-ii-hikingEnjoy the outdoors. If it’s not pouring down rain where you are, spend some of the day in a park. If you like to hike, go on a little trip.
  3. Read a book about him. My favorite is City of Saints: A Pilgrimage to John Paul II’s Krakow by George Weigel.
  4. Read a book about Theology of the Body. This time bomb waiting to go off this century really explains and defends the Church’s teachings regarding the human body and, especially, sexuality.
  5. Volunteer at a Crisis Pregnancy Center. He condemned abortion in very strong terms and also spoke about the need to support mothers.
  6. Volunteer to help with youth ministry. He was the founder of World Youth Day and had a soft spot for kids.
  7. Bake and try his favorite dessert, a Polish cream cake now known as Papal Cream Cake. It looks pretty simple with only 7 ingredients and you can buy the crust already made for you.
  8. Go to a play or read some poetry. While his beloved Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany, he was part of an underground resistance movement that worked to keep Polish culture alive through plays and poetry.
  9. Pray to Our Lady of Fatima. He credited Our Lady of Fatima for saving his life when an assassination attempt was made on her feast day.
  10. Visit a synagogue or a Holocaust museum. As a child, many of John Paul II’s friends were Jewish. After seeing the horrors of Nazism and World War II, he did more than perhaps any other pope ever had to grow and develop the relationship between Catholics and Jews.
Bethanie Ryan

Bethanie Ryan

Bethanie Ryan is a housewife, mother and writer. She recently graduated with a MA in Pastoral Studies from Aquinas Institute of Theology. Originally from Missouri, she currently calls upstate New York home. She writes for several websites including her own, True Dignity of Women.

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1 thought on “10 Ways to Celebrate John Paul II’s Feast Day”

  1. Thank you for this post. I’m writing a blog post about different holidays to celebrate with the family, to expose kids to holidays that are not typically known about. This post has given me some great ideas. I’m not Catholic, so I was not familiar with this day. I’m excited to try and make the Papal Cream Cake!

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