Feast of St. Michael

On September 29, the children of St. Francis of Assisi Montessori Academy (SFOAMA) celebrated the feast of St. Michael. At circle time the children heard all about St. Michael and the battle in Heaven. They also heard about how he is the defender of the Church and that Pope Leo XIII composed a powerful prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. The class then recited the prayer to St. Michael and then had an interesting surprise! It was a dragon pinata that they had to hit with their "sword" while saying, "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!". One by one the children took turns hitting the pinata while reinforcing that verse in the prayer. We told the children that each time they have a temptation to call on St. Michael to help us defeat the devil, and that God will have his sweet reward for us in Heaven. Soon enough, the children had a sweet little "earthly" reward when the pinata finally gave way with some fruit leather and snickers bars!
At snack time the children enjoyed a treat of "devils food" cupcakes that they had to stab with little toothpick "swords", and they also received St. Michael holy cards and medals. To end our day, the children played our version of "pin the tail on the donkey", and had to match little paper swords to St. Michael's sword while blindfolded.
It was a very fun day for the children, and we can still hear them saying, "St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!", which is both very cute and rewarding to us moms/teachers! :)
Enjoy a few photos from our celebration below: