A gesture is a movement of the body that has meaning. In the Sacraments the priest prays both with his words and his gestures. We, too, are invited to pray through the movements of our body both during the liturgy and in our own personal prayer. One of the most common gestures which we pray is the Sign of the Cross. In teaching this gesture to young children, we often focus on which hand we use, the order in which we move that hand, and the words we pray. However, in the Atrium we begin with the sign itself, the sign of the cross. Pointing first to a cross or crucifix near the prayer table (or, if in the Church, the crucifix in the sanctuary area) we speak about the cross as Jesus’ sign, the sign of His death and resurrection. Then we speak about what a gesture is, giving a few examples like “come here” or “shhhh.” Next, we invite the children to watch and we slowly, carefully, in a solemn but exaggerated way, trace a cross on our body. Inviting the children to notice the gesture we ponder with them why we might make Jesus’ sign on our body. After inviting the children to pray this gesture with us so that we might think more about what we are praying, we invite them to continue enjoying this gesture and to look for His sign in the Atrium, at home, and at Church. In each moment of praying the Sign of the Cross with the little ones I am renewed in my desire to always pray this beautiful gesture with great reverence and intentionality. What a gift that His sign is our sign, too. The cross makes its way into many of the children’s drawings, showing their attunement to the deep connection of Jesus’ sign with our faith.
As we continue to work our way through Lent, the children have returned again and again to the Liturgical Calendar which concretizes time and allows them to see visually and concretely where they are in the year.
During the past week there were several instances of children presenting to other children in the Atrium. While many of the presentations given in this space come from the catechist, it is not uncommon for a child to be invited to give a presentation to another child. Here are a few examples:
After several lengthy discussions regarding the Sacraments, some of the Level 3 children drew a picture including all seven Sacraments. Each child chose to put them in an order which followed a pattern only they knew. When we gathered back together we tried to figure out the pattern each had chosen. As the example, I had grouped the sacraments by the number of times we receive them. On the first row I had Baptism and Confirmation (only once). The second row had Holy Orders (once but with three "layers:" deacon, priest, bishop) and Matrimony (once or until the spouse has died). The final row had those we are invited to receive more than once including Eucharist, Confession, and Anointing of the Sick. Here are some of the drawings done by the children. Can you tell why they chose to draw them as they did??
This past week we entered into pondering the liturgical signs which guide us in our worship. "Come and Worship" was the prayer card on the Prayer Table and each group of children pondered what "Worship" means. With the elementary children we also took time to recall some of the gestures of the priest at Mass (including the preparation of the chalice, the epiclesis, and the offering) as well as our personal gestures (including standing, sitting, kneeling, the Sign of Peace, the Sign of the Cross, genuflecting and bowing). There are many ways to worship God, but the highest form of worship occurs within the Liturgy in which we participate in God's Work of transforming creation. In looking back at moments captured in photo this past week the "theme" of worship seemed to be most clearly shown through the way the children enjoyed the Liturgical Year by focusing on the "sign" of color. The Liturgical Colors chasubles lead to the Liturgical Calendar which is one material that is enjoyed at every Atrium Level and always has more to show us about our liturgical year as well as deepen our engagement in it. As such, it epitomizes the "spiral method" of the Atrium and the Montessori method in general.
After spending weeks on creating a calendar for the 2021 Liturgical Year, there was much joy in completing such a big work! May this new liturgical year be one filled with many blessings and much joy!
In the liturgy, there are a plethora of ways that the truths of our faith have been "incarnated" in physical, tangible ways: stained glass windows which remind us of the presence of the saints, lit candles which show Christ's Risen Life, bread which is made from wheat fed by sun, earth, and rain before being harvested, mixed, and baked by human hands, showing how all of creation is brought to the altar in order to be offered back to God through the priest who acts in the person of Christ, the head of the Mystical Body. In the Atrium, this same pedagogy or manner of teaching takes place through the sensorial materials created by Maria Montessori, Sofia Cavalletti, and Gianna Gobbi. Thus, the materials of the Atrium provide a concrete way to approach the most essential truths of our faith. We are body and soul, and often the mind and spirit are fed through the senses. Thomas Aquinas, building on Aristotle, states, "Nothing is in the intellect that was not first in the senses." While this is true for us all, it is particularly the case with children. Here are a few materials which are "in process" and were captured as a child stepped away from his/her work.
The Liturgical Calendar is one of the most well developed materials in the Atrium. The work is prepared for with the liturgical colors material, offered to the 3yo. The calendar itself is often presented during the 4yo year in the Atrium. The wooden calendar was developed by Maria Montessori and while the Level I children build the calendar, taking in the sensorial impression of purple (preparation), white (celebration), and green (growing time) in the cycles of Christmas and Easter, the material grows with the child. The Level II child learns that each Sunday, each prism, has a name, and he has the opportunity to label each Sunday with its name ticket, then create his own calendar with those labeled Sundays, illustrating and embellishing the great feasts and celebrations of the year. In Level III, the work with the Liturgical Calendar continues. The typology study on Exodus provides an opportunity to discuss how the date of Passover is calculated and, alongside it, how the date of Easter is determined each year. The children are then able to discover when Easter will fall for the upcoming year, the year of their birth, or any other year they have interest in. In addition to all of the extended work with the Liturgical Calendar there is a final expansion to this material which they were first introduced to so many years ago. The Vertical Calendar provides each child with an opportunity to create a personal calendar for the upcoming year with the weeks and seasons labeled, solemnities and days of obligation recorded, as well as one's favorite saint's days and feasts added in. While we have not yet moved into our Atrium space, we couldn't wait to begin the year! Last week the Level 3 (3rd - 6th graders) began by looking at the Liturgical Calendar material. In our discussion we realized that we were away from the Atrium for almost exactly half of the liturgical year! While it is unusual for children in the Atrium to all be doing the same work at the same time, this year we are simply grateful to be back together again. The children began to make their own liturgical calendar for the upcoming 2021 year.
|
Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|