Quick, Low-prep Ideas to Celebrate the Assumption of Mary

Looking for Marian celebration ideas? Here are some easy, low-prep ideas for food, decorations, and activities on special Mary days.

Whelp, I didn’t prep this post, and you didn’t prep your meal plan for the Holy Day of Obligation tomorrow. But we can get through this together! Here are some Marian celebration ideas to Marian-ize your day with little effort.

Meal and Food Ideas

If you know me, you know that food is my go-to marker for Saints’ days. Here are some quick ideas for ways to celebrate with meals and snacks:

• Make a grape rosary (or a one-decade one) as a snack. Just arrange grapes or grape halves on a plate. You can also substitute other round or bead-like foods like Ritz crackers, blueberries, or cucumber slices.
• Anything blue! Blueberries, lemonade that’s dyed blue with food coloring, blue raspberry candy, or our family favorite, blue-frosted vanilla cupcakes. (If you choose a blue baked good, I recommend using blue icing rather than dying the dough or batter blue—the blue doesn’t look so good when the item turns golden-brown as it bakes.)
• Strawberries. These are actually a symbol of Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The fruit looks like a heart, and the flowers are white for purity. They also flower and fruit simultaneously, symbolizing the Immaculate Conception.
• Milk! This is another surprising and old symbol of Mary’s motherhood. You could even dye it blue, especially if it’s May 4th.
• Angel food cake to represent the angels that carried Mary to heaven at her assumption.
• Roses. You can get edible roses or rose water—but not at short notice where I live. I opt instead for rose-shaped things, like rose apple pies, bacon roses, or crescent rolls twisted and rolled into a rose shape.
• Rosemary chicken, or other dish seasoned with rosemary.

Decoration Ideas

If you already have a stash of Mary-themed decorations, go ahead and put those out! Otherwise, here’s some inspiration:

• Place a statue or image of Mary in the center of your table, perhaps on a doily or with a candle.
• Roses, real or fake. Or white lilies from your Easter decorations to represent her virginity.
• Again, anything blue works here. Blue placemats or tablecloths. Blue candles. Blue clothes! White can also work, and would be the appropriate liturgical color for the day.
• Paper crowns for Mary’s queenship.
• Decorate with your rosary collection. Put out a lovely bowl of rosaries (this can double as a reminder to pray your daily rosary), place a rosary on each place’s napkin at the table, hang a large rosary somewhere visible, or hang one in the window.
• Put a quick rosary in your window with construction paper or window paint.

Activity Ideas

After food and decorations, activities are my third consideration in celebrating feast days. I like options that aren’t just for little kids, but if you do have little ones, you have a ton of craft options open to you!

• Of course, go to Mass. It’s a Holy Day of Obligation.
• Visit the statue of Mary at church, or spend time in front of your own Marian statue or image.
• Pray the Angelus as a family at 6 or 9 am, noon, and 6 pm.
• Print an image of Mary in black and white for your kids to color, or print a free coloring page.
• Sing popular Marian hymns like Immaculate Mary, Hail Holy Queen, Salve Regina, Sing of Mary, or whatever your favorites are.
• Add an extra Marian prayer before you eat, such as the Hail Holy Queen, the Memorare, or the Magnificat, or simply a Hail Mary.
• Pun on “Assumption” by playing a game that involves guessing.

Keep the Day Holy

I hope this helped get you inspired to celebrate the Holy Day! Comment below with your favorite Marian-themed traditions and celebrations.

Check out my love language posts to brainstorm ways to teach your child to love Mary.