“Can I get St. Joan of Arc next?” a fourth-grader asked me last month, checking how many more days she needed for her 30-day reading streak.

She wasn't asking because I assigned it. She was asking because she'd been chasing that particular saint for weeks, reading consistently just to unlock her. That's when I knew the Luxlings system might actually work.

The Problem I Was Trying to Solve

When I started building Lux Libris, I kept running into the same challenge: how do you motivate middle schoolers to read when they're surrounded by TikTok, YouTube, and video games?

Generic badges and points weren't going to cut it. I needed something with actual meaning. Something that connected to their identity as Catholics. Something worth pursuing.

The answer seemed obvious in hindsight: saints. We already teach about them. Students already know some of their stories. What if collecting them could be as engaging as collecting anything else kids chase, but with genuine spiritual substance?

St. Carlo Acutis—the “millennial saint” who loved computers and built a website about Eucharistic miracles before he died at 15

How the System Works

Students unlock different saints based on their reading habits:

• 14-day reading streak → Common saints
• 30-day reading streak → Rare saints
• 90-day reading streak → Legendary saints
• First book each year → Grade-level saint
• End of each grade → Marian apparition saint
• Complete the 5-year program → Ultimate Luxling

It's gamification, yes. But each saint comes with their actual story—feast day, biography, what they're patron of, why they matter. Students aren't just collecting icons. They're meeting real people who lived their faith in radical ways.

17 Different Series

I organized the 227 saints into 17 distinct series, each representing different aspects of Catholic life. Some of my favorites:

Each series has its own shield design and theme

As students build streaks, they naturally encounter saints from different eras and backgrounds. A student chasing legendary saints might unlock St. Francis of Assisi one month, St. Teresa of Ávila the next, then St. Thomas Aquinas. Each one shows a different path to holiness.

What Makes This Different

I've thought a lot about what separates Luxlings from other gamification systems. Three things stand out:

St. Perpetua and Felicity—early martyrs who showed courage together

First, they're real people. Every Luxling represents an actual person who lived and made choices about how to follow God. When students learn about St. Augustine, they discover someone who struggled with the same kinds of desires and doubts they face. That's different from earning a generic “reading champion” badge.

Second, they teach through story. Each saint's biography highlights specific virtues and challenges. Students start building a mental library of saints for different situations—who to turn to when facing fear, or peer pressure, or feeling alone.

Third, they connect to the liturgical calendar. When students unlock seasonal saints near their feast days, it ties their reading habit to the rhythm of the Church year.

What I'm Learning

This is the first year of the pilot program, so I'm still learning what works and what doesn't. A few observations so far:

Students are more motivated by the streak system than I expected. The visual progress toward the next saint really does encourage daily reading. I have students who went from reading sporadically to reading 15-20 minutes every single day.

The rarity levels matter. Students talk about which saints they have, compare collections, and there's genuine excitement about unlocking legendary saints. It creates positive peer influence.

But what surprised me most is how often students actually engage with the saint biographies. They're not just collecting icons—they're reading the stories. I've had students mention saints in conversation, reference them in prayers, even ask questions about their lives during class.

The Bigger Picture

Luxlings are part of the Lux Libris platform, but the principle behind them is bigger than any one program: faith formation and academic learning don't have to be separate. Students can build reading habits while building their Catholic identity. Motivation and meaning can work together.

Right now, students access their Luxlings through the app. Each saint includes a designed collectible figure, biography, feast day, patronage, and key virtues. As they build their collections through reading, they're also building relationships with the communion of saints.

Eventually, I'd love to develop physical collectibles, extended learning resources, and family engagement tools. But for now, I'm focused on what's working: getting students excited about reading and introducing them to saints who can inspire them for life.

If You're Interested

The Luxlings system is part of the Lux Libris reading platform. Whether your school wants a complete reading program or just wants to incorporate Catholic gamification into existing literacy work, it's designed to be flexible.

Every student starts building their collection from day one. Every book read brings them closer to their next saint. And every streak builds not just reading habits, but connections to spiritual friends who chose holiness in their own time and place.