A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Saturday is All Hallows’ Eve, Sunday is All Saints, and Monday is All Souls. For three days the Church keeps company with her whole family, and the home altar is a good place for a family to do the same. Clear the shelf or corner where you pray and let the children set it: a white cloth, a candle, holy cards or icons of each family member’s patron, and photographs of grandparents and others you have lost. Write those names in a small book and leave it open on the altar through November, praying for them by name at night prayers. Families who visit a cemetery and pray for the dead between November 1 and 8 can gain a plenary indulgence for the souls in purgatory, under the usual conditions. As the altar fills with faces, children learn that the communion of saints is a family, and that their own family belongs to it.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, … let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us
— Hebrews 12:1

Missed an issue, or want to revisit a past theme? This and every past newsletter is now archived on our website.

Sacred Art, at Home and on Display

Our new Sacred Art page covers why sacred art belongs in the homeschool, how families can begin, and art opportunities around Houston. It also introduces member artist Kara Hofstede, who is working with Bridgid Sharp on Our Lady’s Bug: The True Story of How the Ladybug Got Its Name. Follow Kara on Instagram to hear when the Kickstarter opens.

Homeschooled students in grades 6–8 can enter Cathedral High School’s LUX Art Contest on the theme “Flowers to Mary,” in any medium. Entry is free, with prizes up to $500 per grade. Register by Tuesday, November 3; submissions are due November 20.

Our Spring Showcase on May 15 at the University of St. Thomas will display work by Catholic homeschool artists from across Houston. If you teach art at a co-op or community group, we’d love your help leading the show. Write to us at [email protected].

Dewberry Farm Christmas Excursion

An Advent day on the farm with CHECH families, with rides, animals, and Christmas-season fun for every age. Wednesday, December 16, in Brookshire, $15 per person. Register by November 10.

Dear Mater

Dear Mater, my oldest starts high school next year and I am afraid. I barely passed chemistry, and I could not explain a logarithm if my life depended on it. Do I hire tutors, join a co-op, or learn it alongside him? Is it honest to teach what I do not know?

Mater, who used tutors and co-ops with her own children, walks through the options, from vetting co-op teachers to dual credit at a community college or UST.  Read Mater’s answer on our website. Have a question of your own? Submit it here, anonymously if you’d like.

Before the Lesson

November: The Month of the Holy Souls

November is the month of the Holy Souls, and the new guide helps families pray for those who have gone before them and remember the stories that shaped their own lives. William Blake’s “The Fly” (1794), a short poem on how fragile a life is, comes with Blake’s own illuminated page as the month’s art, and the composer is Sergei Prokofiev. Mrs. Marie Romero of HomeLore tells five stories, simplest to richest: “The Fox and the Crow,” “Old Johnny Appleseed,” “Little Snow White,” “Echo and Narcissus,” and “Guenevere.” The guide arrives with the new month. Explore Before the Lesson →

Upcoming in Houston

Fall Festivals Guide | Parish fall festivals and All Saints celebrations around Houston | Free download from CHECH

West Houston Thunder Homeschool Baseball Tryouts | Mon Nov 2, 5 p.m. | Memorial Ashford Little League | Middle and high school, spring 2027 season | Free, register by Fri Oct 30

Sacred Art Contest: Flowers to Mary | Register by Nov 3, entries due Nov 20 | Grades 6–8 | Free | Artwork honoring the Blessed Mother, with prizes up to $500 per grade and finalists exhibited at the Walsingham Advent Market | Guidelines

Birding Hike at Brazos Bend | Sun Nov 1, 8 a.m. | Brazos Bend State Park, Needville | Guided hike in a park with 300+ bird species | Included with park entry

Moody Gardens Learn Wild! Homeschool Day | Tue Nov 3 | Galveston | Saving Species: Medicinal Plants | Homeschool Program 10 a.m., $18; Science Day 1 p.m., $20 | Registration required

Coro Gloria Dei: Eternal Light | Fri Nov 6, 7 p.m. | St. Theresa, Sugar Land | Selections from Howard Goodall’s requiem, for the month of the Holy Souls

Ora et Labora Family Day of Service and Prayer | Sat Nov 7 | Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart | Service projects and the Liturgy of the Hours through the day | Family friendly

TWA Lesson Portal: Free Online Lessons | Browse and download by grade level, topic, or type | Free account required | New lessons added daily

Houston Vocations

All Saints reminds us that every Christian is called to holiness, and the Second Vatican Council calls the family “a kind of initial seminary,” the place where a child first hears that call. Houston Vocations, the Office of Vocations of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, supports young men and women discerning the priesthood and religious life. This fall, high school young men can join Priesthood 101, a six-week discernment group meeting Tuesdays at St. Frances Cabrini beginning November 3, or the Andrew Dinner on Sunday, November 8, at Christ the Redeemer, an evening of prayer, sharing, and dinner with parish priests for ages 14 to 18.