Lent 2026
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First a friend texted it to me, then another friend sent it on Instagram.
“Love this idea!” they said.
What was it? A post called, “The Catholic Date Diary: 6 Catholic Date Night Ideas for St. Valentine’s Day.”
And not just Catholic date ideas, but super cute and super fun date ideas.
I mean, sign me up!
All credit goes to content creator Steffani Aquila of His Girl Sunday.
Here’s her original post on Instagram:
Six perfect dates
Here’s the list of ideas in her post:
- Adoration & Affogatos: A Holy Hour followed by espresso and gelato
- Grotto & Gelato: A visit to a Mary shrine and a sweet treat
- Confession & Confections: Taking care of your soul in Confession, then hitting the bakery
- Lectio & Lattes: Reading the Word over coffee
- Mary & Mimosas: A Saturday morning Rosary and brunch
- Vespers & Views: Evening prayer at a monastery followed by a scenic overlook
Her caption read:
You now have six holy-girl coded dates to romanticize St. Valentine’s Day and make your heart go pitter-patter. 🥰
The alliteration makes this list incredibly fun … and her suggestions are delightful! What Catholic girl wouldn’t totally swoon for any of the dates on this list?
If you’re looking for a date idea this weekend, definitely give one of these a try.
Bringing Catholic culture to Instagram
Aquila isn’t just a content creator on Instagram. She also has lots of experience in ministry and even has written a book about Catholic culture and liturgical living.
Aquila's experience includes working as director of liturgical life at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, as associate director of youth ministry, and as communications director. She also has worked in Catholic high schools as a dean and as an honors-level theology teacher.
She holds a bachelor of arts degree in education with a minor in theology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and a master of arts degree in theological studies from St. Mary’s Seminary.
One part of her ministry comes through her work as the founder of His Girl Sunday, an online space inspiring Catholic culture and liturgical living in the home and parish. Her Catholic date ideas are a great example of how she inspires her followers to live in a Catholic way every day.
Aquila told Aleteia what inspired her to share these darling date ideas:
Whether I was single and enjoying St. Valentine’s Day with friends, dating, or married, my best memories come from sharing in prayer with good food and drinks, and a long evening of talking and laughing. This day is about actually experiencing and encountering people.
Especially for this feast day I know how important it is to reframe expectations through the lens of our Catholic culture. It’s about authentic love, which we can show to our friends and significant others, and a true sense of romanticism, not sexualization and the performative gift-giving that it’s become.
As Catholics, we have an opportunity on feast days that our society still participates in. Even if they don’t know its roots, we can show people what they are actually about: Christ, the example of St. Valentine, and the kind of love that we know everyone is yearning for. To that end, I want Catholics to see that living the liturgical year and rebuilding Catholic culture is actually very attainable and worth the effort.
For more of Aquila’s fun and creative ideas, check out her Instagram page and her book, Festive Faith: Catholic Celebrations Through the Year and Around the World.
