Children working in the Atrium 

The boy on the left is doing the "City of Jerusalem" puzzle.  They have to first read the path Jesus took the night of the Last Supper up until his Crucifixion and put the buildings down in that order.  Then they can continue with the walls and the pools.  On the right this child is doing the Preparation of the Chalice.  In Level II they read the words of the priest as they do this work and they take it very seriously.  On the bottom left, my aide who is also a Level I catechist reads the Bible story of the Good Samaritan to a boy who was absent and wanted to know this story.  The girl on the right is working with a puzzle on The Act of Contrition prayer.  Children who have learning problems have great success with these puzzles.

The girl (left) above works with "the Cenacle and the Last Supper" as well as preparing the cruets. 

The boy on the top right is doing the felt work for the Paschal Candle that we did in class that night.  

The boys on the bottom right are working on the "Presentation in the Temple."  I thought it was so nice that the boy reading offered to read the Bible story to the other boy because he was absent and wanted to know it.  You can see that they both are very attentive. 

Meditations of the Lord's Passion

After doing the Bible story of The Last Supper, The Tomb, The City of Jerusalem, and the Reenactment of the Last Supper, we were

ready to do the Meditations of the Lord's Passion.  I always prepare the small tables with the Scripture Booklets of the Passion.  There are eight of them as I now include "The Empty Tomb."  When there are 14 students in the atrium, they pair up and each child reads half the Bible story.  Since we have such small classes this year, my aide and I both help with the reading especially for those who do not wish to read.

 

 I've downloaded photos of the actual buildings where Jesus was taken after he was arrested in the Garden of Olives.  This way the children not only have the buildings from The City of Jerusalem model but also the photos of the City model as Jerusalem was back then.  I've placed palms at the head of the table for the Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  There is a wooden statue of Jesus carrying the Cross and a Crown of Thorns on the table.  The Scripture booklets also contain the pictures.  A candle is lit when each person reads.  Half the children wanted to wear the head garment from the Reenactment of the Last Supper as it made them feel as though they were there in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.  A couple of them kept it on the entire class.

I light the candles as they read and help read when they need assistance.  Otherwise they do very well reading.  I've also made the words easier in the Scripture when I noticed children had trouble with certain words.  This has helped a lot as we have children who have English as a second language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished the Resurrection from the Tomb in the meditations, I decided that this year we celebrate the Resurrection by doing the Liturgy of the Light.      Combining these two presentations worked nicely and

I may do it this way from now on.

We had so little time this year due to starting our year so late. It also ended on a joyful note, otherwise the Meditations themselves are very somber and sad in of themselves.

Liturgy of the Light 

   As each child took turns reading the words of the blessing for the Paschal Candle, they dressed the candle with the symbols as each part has a significant meaning: 

"Christ Yesterday and Today

The Beginning and the End

The Alpha        The Omega

All Time Belongs to Him

And all the Ages

To Him Be Glory and Power

Through Every Age and Forever."

"By His Holy

And Glorious Wounds

May Christ Our Lord

Guard Us and Keep Us. Amen"

 

To begin I read a formal Proclamation of Jesus' rising from the Tomb.  We then processed around the room with the lit Paschal Candle as I sing three times, "Christ be the Light."  The children respond, "Thanks be to God."  Because we are in tight quarters, I didn't light the children's candles until we returned to our seats. We used the felt board to dress the Candle and used the words of this blessing.  The Paschal Candle was blessed by our Pastor for us and so we light all the individual candles of the children with the blessed candle.  We then renewed our Baptismal Vows which I read to them and they responded.  As we had finished the Meditation Scriptures, there was no need to read from the Bible. Then we sang "This Little Light of Mine."  Also, at the end of the class we sang with the CD player, "Christ Be Our Light" and "We are the Light of the World."

The True Vine

 Reenactment of the Last Supper

This year we began class with "The True Vine" and discussed the meaning of the Vine and Branches and the Vine Grower at our prayer table.

We then got our head costumes on as I explained about the Last Supper and who was present.  I explained that there were only three parts of Jesus, Peter and John and that the rest of the parts were narrations read by the other Apostiles.   We only have six students this year due to Covid.  Normally there are 12 to 15 children.  So everyone had three narrations to read.  

For our wine and bread we use Strawberry Lemonade and either Peta bread or Tortillas.  So I lay the small sized tortillas out on a silver plated tray that will be passed around.  Everyone takes one to eat.  They also pass around the Chalice and pretend to drink from it.  However, I tell them that I will be passing out the strawberry lemonade to drink after we finish the play.  It becomes a celebration of the event.  They always like more tortillas to eat and take home as well.   After we light the candles and commemorate Christ's rising from the dead, we say together, "He is Risen, Alleluia!"  The children then sit together to have their drink.

The Last Supper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then called them over to the City of Jerusalem which I presented to them afterward while also showing them the Level I City which they enjoy as well.  It is color coded for the Level I.  But the children know they have to read the step by step journey Jesus took the night of the Last Supper all the way to Golgotha.  They read while placing the buildings on the map of the Cenacle, Garden of Olives, Caiapha's Palace, the Tower of Antonio where Pilot lived, Herod's Palace, then back to Pilot and finally to Golgotha and the tomb.  Afterward the walls of the city gets put back onto the map.                                                                        

    The Flight into Egypt

City of Jerusalem map puzzle

 

 

 

Studying Scripture

It surprises and pleases me that after all this activity, the children want to settle down in deep quiet meditation on personal materials that they chose on their own.

 Some children enjoy expressing themselves with drawing or writing out their prayers.  The girl on the right (bottom) writes very carefully "The Our Father."  Below this boy draws a beautiful picture of Jesus.

    Drawing Jesus

Baptism 

Just before First Reconciliation I presented Baptism and the Steps to Baptism as I wanted them to know that what they were about to receive was their second Sacrament, and that Baptism was their first.  I had already given a tour of the church and showed them the Baptismal Font which we discussed.  So I showed them the Baptism materials we have in the atrium and how to use them.  I also presented all Seven Sacraments to them. 

For this lesson I named the materials used and talked about how they are used in Baptism:  The White Dress (the symbol of purity), the Baptismal font, the Shell, which is associated with St. James the Greater on his trip to Spain when he baptized the people.  (Thank you, Ryall, for commenting and giving me this important information about the shell.); the Paschal Candle, the Holy Bible, the Chrism oil for goodness and the Oil of Catechumens for courage. These oils the priest uses to anoint the baby or person to be baptized.  There are also the candles given to the parents for their baby and to each of the Godparents.  

In the atrium, the children take turns baptizing each other.  One child uses his/her fist to pretend that's their head as a baby, while the other plays the part of the priest.  They enjoy this activity and take it very seriously and take turns baptizing.

Next we do the Rite of Baptism.   I lay out the fold out cards on the floor and we discuss what is happening in each drawing.

The first three panels show the blessing of the priest, the Bible read over the family and the anointing with the Oil of Catechumens for courage.

The second three panels show the priest bringing down the Holy Spirit over the water, then the Baptism of the baby while the priest also holds his hand over the baby's head calling down the Holy Spirit, as in the Epiclesis in Mass.  Finally, the anointing of the baby's head with Oil of Chrism for goodness.   

 The last three panels show the symbolic gesture of the white garment which is placed over the child.  The second is the lighting of the Paschal Candle which is for the life of Christ and His Church for 2000 years. Finally, the final blessing on the parents and godparents.