Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Easter Garden Project

1. Children in Lent- Introduction
2. (Below) Ash Wednesday to Saturday 

1. Children in Lent -  Introduction
(A resource for home, school and parish)
by Ann Marie Lee
with supplementary material by
Maeve Mahon, Tonya Hanly, Elaine Mahon and John Paul Sheridan

This Lenten course is written for parents, guardians, teachers and lay ministers working with children of Primary School age. The contents can be adapted to suit the age and understanding of the children you are working with. Materials include

Themes, Stories, Games, Prayers,  and The Garden Tomb Project

The idea is to focus on a different ideas, themes, stories, games with formal and informal prayers each week and choose activities that link into the theme of through Lent to Easter..

*The Weekly Themes are written to be read to the children and discussed with them. Read the theme slowly, follow it with discussion, read/ tell the relevant story and close with some prayers. Allow the discussion to flow, even if it goes off the immediate track. Children need to have their story heard.

*The Stories are written to stimulate the imagination of the children, with plenty of strong concrete images which help to convey the meaning of the theme in practical terms.

*The Games were chosen because, besides being great fun, they can be a focus of discussion on how we behave towards one another. Asking the children how they felt, being restricted by the rules of the particular game, helps them to get in touch with their feelings of frustration, anger, annoyance, satisfaction and joy, while communicating and co-operating with others.

*The Crafts you can pick and choose as you think them helpful and fun.

*Some of the Prayers are for more formal settings and follow regular Litugical guidelines. Other prayers some of which were written by the children of the fourth class in Archbishop McQuaid Primary School in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin. They could be read by the children themselves. Encourage the children to write some prayers of their own.

The Garden Tomb Project is a six week evolving background programme of building up to the Easter resurrection scene in the Garden near the tomb of Jesus. It is constructed week by week by the children beginning in Week 1, keeping them in mind of the events of Jesus' life, especially in those last weeks before his death. The visual impact of the events from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, as played out by the figures in the garden, will remain etched on the minds of the children, just as the events surrounding the birth of Jesus are because of the crib, the star and the three wise men.

As the weeks of Lent go by you will be able to access each week by clicking on the list below.
The Easter Garden Project will begin on the 1st Sunday of Lent

Enjoy the season of Lent!

2. 
Ash Wednesday - Saturday after Ash Wednesday Feb 17 - 20

Theme : Our Sacred Space for Lent
Lent is a time when we are given the opportunity to reconnect with God. It reminds
us that when we were baptised we were connected to Jesus for life and that through
our baptism we are called to be people who walk with God always. Our Lenten
Sacred Space can contain symbols of baptism to remind us where our journey with
God began and of our promise to always walk as a child of the light.

Helpful hints
Consider using sand to represent Jesus’ time in the desert as the base for your Sacred
Space in Lent. You might also use some purple cloth. Place a bible, a bowl of holy
water and a baptismal candle in the Space this week. Encourage the children to bless
themselves with Holy Water during the days of Lent.

ASH WEDNESDAY PRAYER SERVICE
“If we really want to love
we must learn how to forgive”
...Mother Teresa

(This Prayer Service can be led by a priest, chaplain or teacher. It might be possible for sixth class
students to go to Mass in the parish and bring back the ashes which will be distributed during this service.
Otherwise you might ask the priest to bring some ashes to the school.)

LEADER: The cross of ashes that is placed on your forehead on this special day is a sign for everyone to see that
you are willing to keep trying to be the best person that you can be and to believe the Good News. These ashes
were once the palms of Palm Sunday, so they are also ashes of hope. They remind us that we are all part of God’s creation.

OPENING HYMN: Gather Round (Alive-O7 p.300)

LEADER: Loving God, let us pray that we will try harder to love you in all the things that we say and do this season
of Lent. May we always be people of repentance and forgiveness. As we remember your death, Jesus, we know that
it was a sign of God’s great love for us. Live in our hearts this Lent and help us to share this love with our families,
friends and everyone we meet in school and at home. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

LIGHTING OF CANDLE: Loving God, you know all of our needs. We light this
candle as we offer ourselves to you today during this service. The light of this candle is
a remembrance of our Baptism when we were welcomed into this special family. We
remember today the promises that we made to try each day to live as you ask us to.
May your light and love always surround us. Jesus said that a candle is not lit to be
put under a basin. It’s lit and put up high in order to give light. May we be lights at
school and at home. May we be a light to everyone we meet each day. Amen

ALL SING: Christ be our Light (Alive-O5 p. 110)

READING: Isaiah 43:2-4

Do not be afraid, for I am with you,
I have called you by your name,
I love you and you are mine.
I love you with an everlasting love.
You are precious in my sight.

READING: John15:9-1
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obeymy commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's
commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.

DISTRIBUTION OF ASHES:

LEADER: If you are ready to carry the Good News of Jesus to everyone
that you know, come forward to receive the ashes on your forehead.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel is said as the ashes are distributed to
each person.

CLOSING PRAYER: Dear God, as we wear these ashes today, help us to remember
that you always love us. May we always make time for you in our busy lives. Help us
to turn away from things that take us away from your love.

CLOSING HYMN: Clouds Veil (Alive-O6 & 8)

Games for Ash Wednesday

Download the Games pages in PDF format. (3 pages.)

HOW LONG DOES LENT LAST?
There are forty days in Lent. But there are two ways in which we can count those forty
days. The first is to begin on Ash Wednesday and end on Easter Sunday. The second
is to begin on the First Sunday of Lent and end on Holy Thursday.
In 2010 Ash Wednesday is on February 17th. If Lent ends on Easter Sunday, April 4th,
does that make forty days? Let’s see:

2. In 2010 the First Sunday of Lent is on February 21st and Holy Thursday
is April 1st. Does that make forty days? Let’s see:

SO WHY ARE THERE 40 DAYS IN LENT?
There is a very good reason for having forty days in Lent. The reason can be found by
looking up the following references in your bible:
• Matthew, chapter 4, verses 1-11;
• Mark, chapter 1; verses 12-13;
• Luke, chapter 4, verses 1-13.