In speaking about this practice of "giving up" saying and singing Alleluia during Lent, we talked about the beautiful, joyous meaning of this word: "Praise the Lord!" Because Lent is a season of quiet and listening, we give up this word but look forward to the day when we will sing many, many extra Alleluias as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter. One 2nd grader described it this way: "If we say 'Alleluia!' during Lent it would be like celebrating that Jesus died. At Easter we sing 'Alleluia!' to celebrate because He is Risen!" The container holding our Alleluias will remain under our prayer table in the Atrium until our Easter celebration of the Liturgy of the Light. You can be sure that the children will check on their Alleluias often, making sure they are still under the prayer table as we await and prepare for this greatest feast of the liturgical year!
As the children entered the Atrium on Wednesday and Thursday of this week they saw two changes to the environment. First, they noticed the crosses above the prayer table. These sixteen crosses will remind us to pray for the 2nd grade children (eight in our school and eight in our Community Atrium) as they begin a more intense preparation for receiving their First Communion or as they accompany their classmates who are making these preparations. Next, the children noticed the extra materials in front of the prayer table, which returning children identified quickly and excitedly as "Burying Alleluias" work!
In speaking about this practice of "giving up" saying and singing Alleluia during Lent, we talked about the beautiful, joyous meaning of this word: "Praise the Lord!" Because Lent is a season of quiet and listening, we give up this word but look forward to the day when we will sing many, many extra Alleluias as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter. One 2nd grader described it this way: "If we say 'Alleluia!' during Lent it would be like celebrating that Jesus died. At Easter we sing 'Alleluia!' to celebrate because He is Risen!" The container holding our Alleluias will remain under our prayer table in the Atrium until our Easter celebration of the Liturgy of the Light. You can be sure that the children will check on their Alleluias often, making sure they are still under the prayer table as we await and prepare for this greatest feast of the liturgical year! Comments are closed.
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Carolyn Kohlhaas
CGS Catechist and Formation Leader (Levels I, II, and III) Categories
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April 2024
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