🌄 Imbolc (February 1–2) — Feast of Light and Renewal
Celtic meaning: Brigid’s day — the return of the sun, milk, and life.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Celebrate St. Clare’s light and Mary’s purification. Bless candles, herbs, and water. Reflect on inner purity, fresh beginnings, and renewal of vows.
🕯️ Practice: Begin a 40-day simplicity challenge — declutter, forgive, and start anew.
🌸 Ostara (Spring Equinox, March 20–22) — Balance and Blossoming
Celtic meaning: The earth awakens; equal day and night.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Balance contemplation and action. Like Francis preaching to the birds, honor creation as resurrection in motion.
🌱 Practice: Plant seeds for the Sacred Table Healing Garden; meditate outdoors; bless the soil and the worms.
🔥 Beltane (May 1) — Fire, Fertility, and Love
Celtic meaning: Union of earth and sky, passion and life-force.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Celebrate sacred eros — divine creativity and incarnation. Recognize God in embodied joy and relationships.
🌹 Practice: Host a “Feast of Holy Mischief” — dancing, singing, poetry, barefoot laughter, and blessing of marriages and friendships.
☀️ Litha (Summer Solstice, June 21) — Radiance and Fullness
Celtic meaning: Longest day, the sun at its zenith.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Christ the Sun of Righteousness fills all things. Acknowledge abundance, gratitude, and the sacred duty of stewardship.
🌞 Practice: Hold an outdoor Eucharist. Share fruit and herbs. Offer acts of mercy for those who “walk in the heat of oppression.”
🌾 Lughnasadh (August 1) — Harvest and Gratitude
Celtic meaning: First fruits festival; honoring labor and skill.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Work, creation, and community as holy offerings.
🍞 Practice: Bake bread for the poor. Share your harvest. Reflect on the dignity of work and the gift of co-creation.
🍂 Mabon (Autumn Equinox, September 20–23) — Balance and Letting Go
Celtic meaning: Gratitude, balance of light and dark.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
A time of detachment — “hold all things lightly.” Practice humility in abundance and trust in loss.
🍁 Practice: Create a gratitude altar. Share testimonies of grace and surrender.
💀 Samhain (October 31–November 2) — The Veil Thins
Celtic meaning: New Year; honoring ancestors and the dead.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Join Francis’s Canticle of Sister Death. Honor the communion of saints — seen and unseen.
🕯️ Practice: Light candles for the departed. Write prayers for the dying. Host a “Saints and Rebels” vigil for the forgotten and outcast.
❄️ Yule (Winter Solstice, December 21–22) — Rebirth of Light
Celtic meaning: The darkest night births the sun.
Franciscan Clarean reflection:
Incarnation. Christ is born again in the poor, in the cold, in the stable of the human heart.
✨ Practice: Bless your dwelling. Offer warm clothes or food to the homeless. Keep vigil by candlelight, singing the Canticle of Creation.
🔄 Franciscan Clarean Cycle Summary
Celtic Festival Franciscan Clarean Theme Practice
Imbolc Purity & Renewal Candle blessing, simplicity vow
Ostara Balance & Resurrection Gardening & creation meditation
Beltane Sacred Joy Dance, celebrate friendship
Litha Stewardship & Abundance Outdoor Eucharist, mercy acts
Lughnasadh Labor & Gratitude Bread baking, community feast
Mabon Detachment & Gratitude Gratitude altar
Samhain Communion of Saints Ancestor vigil
Yule Incarnation Shelter, vigil, giving warmth
Sister Abigail Hester 
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