Master of Disguise--Blessed Miguel Pro Juarez, Feast Day November 23

In case you didn't have enough costume changes and dress up opportunities during Halloween and All Saints Day (we went from orange and black free dress at Catholic School, gymnastics leotard, Halloween Kit Kittridge costume on Halloween, to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, to Brownie Girl Scout the following day...my daughter needed her own wardrobe team), November 23 is a Feast Day to one of the original Masters of Disguise, Blessed Miguel Pro Juarez.

This is a fun saint to study at home or in your religious education class.  He was born in Mexico in 1891.  He started his studies to be a priest in 1911, but by 1914, Mexico's government had become Anti-Catholic, and Juarez was forced to flee to the United States.  He eventually made it back to Mexico in 1926, but the government hadn't changed and he was forced to practice his ministry underground.  He is best known for his creative disguises, dressing up as a beggar to sneak out to baptize infants, dressing up as a police officer to minister to those in jail, and dressing up as a businessman when ministering to those in wealthy neighborhoods, to name a few of his clever disguises.

To celebrate his unique lenghts he went to in his ministry, here are two activities to try:

Dress up Relay:  Fill two paper grocery bags up with various types of dress up clothes (hats, scarves, larger dresses, coats, etc.).  Each bag should have an equal amount of items.  Divide the children up into two teams, and have them start on the side of the room opposite to the bags.  On "go" have them walk as quickly as possible, put all the clothing items in the bag on them, and then walk back to the line.  They then take off the clothes and the next person puts them on, walks down and around the bag, and takes off the clothes while the next person puts them on.  The first team to have all team members complete this task wins the game.

Secret Message Craft:  Have the children write a message, such as "Jesus Loves You" with a white crayon on write paper (or you can pre-write these out on white paper for kids not yet able to write).  The kids can then give the message to another student in the class, and then the student can paint over the entire paper with watercolor paints, and the secret message will pop out.