Level I: Children at work in the Atrium

Polishing silver, brass, wood or plants

Small Altar Work

is a very popular pastime in the Atrium and is an expression of peace and quiet in this meditative atmosphere.  It prepares them to work with the materials from the Bible Stories they will be hearing this year.  It also makes them become capable to do different activities independently as much as possible.  As the year goes on with "new work" from presentations of the Bible and the Liturgy of the Mass, they silently go from one work to the next meditating on these materials.  There are seven children in this Level I atrium on Sunday for one and a half hours.  Projects the children are working on are Plant Polishing, Altar work, Brass Polishing, The Parable of the Mustard Seed, Chasuble and altar art work below:

Chasuble Art Work

Plant Polishing

Altar Art Materials and below Liturgical Calendar

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small Altar work.

Brass Polishing

 

Parable of the Mustard Seed

       Level II:  Children at work in the Atrium

The Priest's gesture and prayer for Washing of the Hands:  The children work in pairs.  One pretends to be the altar server with the hand towel on his arm who brings up to the priest, the bowl and pitcher.  The other boy serves as the priest and reads the words the priest says as the altar server pours the water over his hands with a small silver pitcher.  Then they switch roles and do it again.  It's a nice work they enjoy doing in pairs.

The Good Shepherd:  These two girls are working with the Parable of the Good Shepherd.  One reads the Scripture while the other works with the materials and then they reverse roles.

Large Level II Altar Work:  This is the first work I give the children in the beginning of the year.  I take them first on a tour of the church on the first day of class and point out the tabernacle, altar, Credence Table, Lectionary, Lectern, and the Sanctuary Lamp.  Some children may never have been in our church.  Surprisingly, some have never been to Mass, so this is most important.  Then when returning to the atrium and I do the Little Altar with them which is a miniature model of our altar in Church.  Most of these children have never been to a Level I atrium.  Consequently, they are not independent and have no idea what work they can do.  This is a good start for them so that they now have the tracing work and this altar they build with cutouts and then label each article.  There are charts they can use to find the answers.  This always takes two class periods and so their first day they paste all the materials of the Mass on the large sheet.  The following week they label with the names of those materials.  This helps them begin to feel comfortable in the atrium after I've showed them how to get their supplies and where to sit. There are ten children in this Level II Atrium on Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.  There are two classes on Wednesday and two on Thursday to prepare for Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.

Pentecost 2021 

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Another beautiful year ends cut short by Covid, but we were able to accomplish most of the presentations, if not all the parables.  I felt it was a successful year and the children were well formed for their sacraments.

I explained to the children what happened on Pentecost and how frightened the Apostles were at that time. Before each Bible Story I always give the background of the story and the setting to bring them meditatively into that moment in time.  I then read from the Bible Scripture Booklets the story of Pentecost and then do the same for The Ascension of Our Lord.  After that we are ready for our Pentecost candle ceremony.

As I light each of the seven candles representing each gift from the Paschal Candle, I read the specific gift and its meaning.  We discuss what this means to them.  Each candle has its gift's name on the candle tray, so each candle represents that gift. 

 

 Then I ask each child which gift they would most like to receive.  Each child then chooses their gift and then their own personal candle is lit from the tray of candles.  They always take this work very seriously and give it deep thought.  Sometimes I am amazed by their humility in expressing their greatest weaknesses at this time in expressing why they need that particular gift.  I feel very blessed in these moments of their personal revelations.

 In the last two years, since this is our last class, I wanted to do a project with the children.  We created a mobile with red yarn with the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit hanging from it so they can hang it in their room.  I found this picture online. The two nights before class I'm cutting out the Holy Spirit in five pieces: body, two wings, tail and head.  Then I make the 7 holes and one for the head to hang it.  I put all materials in a zip lock bag for each child.  I cut the 8 strings of red yarn for the bag also.  I bring in a glue gun to put it together for them and they have to tie the strings in the holes and attach the gift names on the other end.  They draw the eyes, beak and legs/feet with colored pencils.  They enjoy doing it and we can work together on this our last day.  They happily go back to the atrium materials when finished.  I always serve Strawberry Lemonade on the last day in paper cups.  They enjoy this.  Also, cupcakes are given out on the last day when dismissed. 

 The Kingdom of God and the Leaven

The children have received their First Communion this past weekend.  Very different from our past First Communion celebrations due to Covid restrictions.   Nevertheless, our mission has been accomplished and these wonderful children are now total members of our Catholic church family.  I wish I could post their beautiful photos here but since I cannot, I am posting three of my favorite lessons in the Atrium: 

The Little Altar - the children set up the altar with the materials which the priest uses.  They learn their names and their placement on the altar.

The Reenactment of the Last Supper -

It is such a joy to see the children love this work and participate in what actually happened that night at the Last Supper.

The Kingdom of God and the Leaven

We did the Leaven this past week.  I was surprised that the children had never baked anything before.  This was a new experience for them mixing flour, leaven and water; then kneading the dough.  So they each did two muffins.  I have two children working at this small table and supervise.  The lessons in meditation are based on these questions:  What can the Kingdom of God be like?  {I wonder}.  What is hidden in this world that we cannot see? {God}  What is hidden at mass in the bread? {Jesus}  Do we see ourselves growing taller night after night? {No}  The bread raises and we know not how and we can't see it grow as it's happening so slowly.  This is like our Faith.  Our faith grows mysteriously as we receive our Lord in the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Holy Eucharist and Confirmation.  We know not how.  Yet we grow in the Fruits of the Holy Spirit but first we must die to our sins.  Let go of them and become a new person. 

Synthesis of the Mass

This year I did the Synthesis of the Mass differently by using photos of the Mass from online.   I've always used the chart on the wall and had the children each read each step in the Liturgy of the Eucharist and then demonstrate with them the gesture.  We'd read the words together using our Missals.

I found it so much easier to place everything in order with the photos of the Mass and then replace the photos with the actual materials such as the Cruets, Chalice, Paten and Host, Last Supper statue, ring the bells, etc.  I had the children take turns doing the gestures and reading the words of the priest.  It went smoothly and I feel the children understood it better. 

 We began by stating that there are two parts of the Mass - the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  We practiced making the Sign on our foreheads, our lips and over our heart which is right before the Gospel.  I explained that this means "May God be in our minds, our lips and in our heart."  We then began the gestures in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

The Gestures in order in this work are (1) The Preparation of the Chalice (Cruets and Chalice).  We take turns reading the words of the Mass with each step..  (2) We have a photo of the Washing of the Hands.  (no materials)  (3) The Epiclesis.  The children all make this sign together.  I ask the meaning of this gesture, and someone always knows it is "calling down the Holy Spirit."  I also tell the children that this is the first gesture in The Miracle of the Mass!  What are the second and third gestures of the Miracle?  Someone usually knows it is at the Last Supper.  So I bring out the small statue of the Last Supper to place before the words which the children read.  They have recognized the photos of raising the host and the chalice which I replace with the Host on the Paten and the Chalice.

 Then I tell them the whole Church celebrates this great event by singing "The Mystery of Faith."  The priest then sings, "Thru Him, with Him, In Him, etc." we call the Doxology.   This is followed by the Our Father and the Sign of Peace.

The Breaking of the Bread is next with the priest saying, "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us." (three times).  Then the invitation to Communion.  I love this part of the mass:  The priest says, "Behold the Lamb of God.  Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.  Happy are those who are called to the Supper of the Lamb."  That is when the people say, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."  I've had my children memorize that little prayer before Communion Day.   

The Missal

Due to our late start due of Covid we weren't able to create our own missals and had to skip this work, so I made one to pass out to the children to go over the parts of the Mass.  We've spent little or no time on the Liturgy of the Word so now we can discuss it.  I've gotten some of the gifs from online at "Catholic Icing," as they already had a booklet for New Responses in the Mass online in 2011, but never did a complete Missal to include the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  So I finished it.  Some of the drawings are mine and some from the CGS site. 

Pages 2 and 11

Pages 3 and 10

 

 

Pages 5 and 8

Pages 6 and 7

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.