Many of you, after watching the episodes of Catholic All Year at Home on FORMED, have written us kind and encouraging and complimentary comments and emails (especially about Barbara and her regrets about that mouthful of salt—both times). Thank you! You’ve also...

CAY Holy Week and Easter Playlists on Spotify
We've talked a lot on this blog about prayers, pious practices, and foods associated with particular days and seasons of the liturgical calendar. The deep and wide deposit of Catholic tradition ALSO includes beautiful music associated with these feast days. You might...
On Not Being a VSW (Very Sad Widow): My Talk at the 2022 Fiat Conference
As most of you will already be aware, my husband Jim passed away peacefully in our home on July 9, 2022 after a long battle with cancer. More details, as well as a video of the funeral are available on this page: Funeral and Memorial Scholarship Information. If you'd...
Why I Love Friday Abstinence, Meat Fridays, & the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Happy Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! In honor of the day, I'd like to share why I think Friday abstinence is a beautiful and effective form of penance and also, oh yeah, that Catholics are actually STILL required to do Friday penance EVERY WEEK. Unless it's a...
The Ultimate Catholic Summer Challenge
It's summertime . . . . and the livin' is liturgical. As I say in The Catholic All Year Compendium, "Maybe we’ve got some extra downtime, and some time with all the kids at home, and we were going to eat dinner anyway, right? I try to find saints’ days to attach to...
Is Pentecost the Birthday of the Church? (and if not, should we be mad about it?)
Health update: The husband's treatments are progressing and we * finally * got the test results we were waiting for and it was good news for the spine! Thanks so much for your prayers. Happy feast day! Red for Pentecost! #dontcountus #someofusareoutsick I’ve had some...
How To Start Liturgical Living in the Home (with help from me in 2008)
Health update: Not much to report. Treatments are progressing. We are awaiting test results. We are all in good spirits. Your prayers are SO appreciated. God's will be done. In case you prefer watching/listening to reading . . . this post is also available as a video....
What IS Liturgical Living?: Let’s Peek Inside My Feasty-Fasty-Catholic Traditiony Head, Shall We?
In case you prefer watching/listening to reading . . . this post is also available as a video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUXTwDas0vQ Hi, guys, Kendra here. Today we are getting down to basics. Today I’m hoping to answer some questions for you, that are really...
A Mother’s Day Mailbag Can o’ Worms: Must I Be Submissive to My Husband?
Mother's Day is coming and it seems like as good a time as any to open that evergreen can 'o worms, a topic of discussion in Catholic circles since, oh, 62 AD . . . the ever-controversial question inspired by Ephesians 5:21-33: Must Catholic wives submit to their...
The Seven Sorrows of Mary: an activity for children
Hey all! It's September, the month of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is coming up on September 15. And while "The Seven Sorrows" might not sound like a lot of fun . . . I'm here to try to convince you that it's a devotion worth...
Making a Rosary with No Special Tools and Almost No Knots (because knots are hard)
The Month of the Holy Rosary is coming up in October. I've written before here on the blog about saying the rosary (and made a video about it), so today I figure you're already convinced about saying it, and maybe you'd like to make one yourself! Below you'll find...
Catholic Indulgences and that Los Angeles is Named for One
Hey all! Catholic indulgences, St. Francis of Assisi, and the surprising history of the founding of Los Angeles: It’s a new installment of the Catholic All Year Liturgical Living Show! Come with us to visit the San Fernando Mission, Old Town L.A.’s Olvera St., and...
Being Open to Life Is Being Open to a Person
More from the Catholic All Year mailbag today . . . Question: Dear Kendra, I have followed you for over a year now and it has been wonderful adding more liturgical traditions to our year! I'm pregnant and it's a big shock. We have always been generally open to life,...
Being Catholic in the Car: five ways to pray and live liturgically while driving
My whole thing is liturgical living in the HOME, right? Right. But as much as I prefer to be home, daily time in the car is pretty unavoidable. As my family grew, we spent more time in the car on errands and drop-offs and pick-ups. As we spent more time in the car, I...
How to Dye Your Easter Eggs the Way Mary Magdalene Would Have Except Her Eggs Dyed Miraculously
The story of Mary Magdalene’s miraculously dyed eggs, and how to dye eggs naturally at home using flowers, herbs, and vegetables.
Liturgical Year Subscription Boxes, Meal Planner Catholic Mom Bundle, and New CAY Memberships!
Hey guys! I’ve been working for months on a bunch of new products and ideas and they all sort of came together at once, and (no surprise) many are liturgically seasonal, plus . . . I really like the creating of the things and I don’t at all like the marketing of the...
Merry Christmas from the Tierneys, 2020
Christmas Eve greetings, dear readers! Our Christmas cards are currently chilling with all their pals in a USPS sorting facility. So, if you get a card from us . . . it's coming! But in the meantime, and for all of you out there on the interwebs, here's a virtual...
A Potluck Is Better if We Don’t ALL Bring Jell-o Salad: Why I Maybe Didn’t Write About an Important Topic That’s Important to You
Every few months, I will get a message or two like one I received today, from someone who says she has followed me for many years but can no longer do so because I haven’t publicly supported a particular issue in the way that she thinks would be appropriate. I’ve...
Pentecost, Printables, Behind the Scenes, and Maybe Patreon?
As of February 2021, I'm switching CAY subscriptions from Patreon to this website! Click here to learn more about the membership options, and here to read why I'm making the switch. First, some good news! They won’t be open for Pentecost, but Los Angeles churches have...
Abortion Jargon, Obedience, and Whether I Just Want to Kill All Priests: The Catholic + Coronavirus Can of Worms
I was hoping to get a conversation started with my previous post. That definitely happened. I Like to Think That I Would Die for Jesus I was impressed with the general tone of the dialog. I did have to delete some comments for breaking my long-standing rules against...
I Like to Think That I Would Die for Jesus
For some clarifications and considerations, see this follow up post, Abortion Jargon, Obedience, and Whether I Just Want to Kill All Priests: The Catholic + Coronavirus Can of Worms I suppose one never knows for sure until one is faced with the opportunity, but I like...
Happy Easter! And a Tierney Family Update . . .
The thing about Easter is that it came anyway. Alleluia! Our In-Progress At Home Painted Chapel, aka how I spent my summer vacation I can't tell you how much joy it has given me to share liturgical living traditions with you guys during this time. Virtual community is...
Homemade Easter Candles or the Coronavirus Wins
Easter candles, you guys. EASTER CANDLES. We must have them. And really, my family can't imagine missing out completely on the stirringly beautiful beginning of the Easter Vigil Mass, with the fire and the candles and the Exsultet. The whole Easter Vigil is great of...
Four Effective Ways for Catholics to Pray When Separated from Mass and the Sacraments
Many of us do not now have access to the Eucharist, "the source and summit of Christian life." (CCC 1324) But let's not just throw up our hands and despair! We have recourse to a Morning Offering to unite ourselves to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered publicly...
Participating in the Mass from Home During the Coronavirus Quarantine
I usually try to create content that is "evergreen" as they say in the blogging world, that can be useful to people for many years. I sincerely hope that this post is not useful for long and that soon churches will be open and Masses will be public again and we, the...
From What Shall We Fast?
We are a week into Lent. Probably we've all had some moments to be proud of, and some fails, right? That's to be expected. The spring Ember Days begin today, Wednesday, and continue on Friday and Saturday. Ember Days are seasonal days of fasting and repentance that...
Nursing Dresses I’m Recommending to the Virgin Mary (and you)
So, you've got a nursing baby. Hey, me too! And sometimes it's nice to go out in public and look cute and also feed the baby, right? You are the Mother of Incarnate God, free from all stain of original sin by a singular grace and privilege granted by the Father. *I*...
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Lent: Because Decorating Isn’t Just for Christmas
Liturgical Living heads up! Lent is quickly approaching. Ash Wednesday is February 26th this year, so we've only got a couple weeks to get our acts together here and figure out what we're going to do. Also, it's Catholic Mom Bundle time again! This year's Lent bundle...
Season One Recap of My Show: Will there be more? Up to YOU.
The Catholic All Year Liturgical Living Show wrapped season one with a December episode on our At Home Nativity Play that I never managed to share here on the blog, because . . . baby > blog 😆🤷♀️. So, I figured I'd share it...
If You Want to Make God Laugh, Tell Him You’ve Decided Not to Go into Public Speaking
Last December, my book launch was over. We had had some time to sit with the diagnosis and treatment decisions. The current baby was almost a year and a half old and pretty easygoing, and I was un-expectant for almost the longest time in our marriage. I was finished...