FEAST DAYS DURING ADVENT 2015

The Curriculum outlines a number of key concepts about Saints at level 1, 2 and 3 and encourages the exploration of lives of Saints at each level. At Level 4 it includes an exploration of other people who have shown Christian values at work and contemporary witnesses to Christ. It is useful to be aware of these when we are teaching about the Saints during this Advent Season

Level 1: The Saints: God’s special friends who are part of the family of the Church in heaven

Level 2: Saints are those who love God and are in heaven with God after death. The Church honours them with a feast day

Saints are a great example of how to live and Christians ask their help in prayer

Level 3: Saints : Witnesses to Christ in the past

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is a key concept at Levels 3 and 4

Level 3: Mary was specially preserved by God from all sin

Level 4: Mary was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure form all personal sin throughout her life.

This understanding of Mary is found at all levels of the curriculum:

Mary as Mother of God and our mother too. Mary called and chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. Mary courageously choosing to say yes to God.

The following are some resources for celebrating the Feast Days of the Advent Season

FEAST OF ST NICHOLAS DECEMBER 6

This year the Feast of St Nicholas coincides with the Second Sunday of Advent and therefore it is not celebrated as a liturgical feastday. The children will enjoy learning about St Nicholas and so it is appropriate to talk about him in the classroom.

This website, http://www.stnicholascenter.org/ , is full of useful facts and activities about St Nicholas of Myra

Level 1

There is a picture to colour on page 3

Level 2:

The children might colour the picture and complete the activity on page 4

Level 3 & 4

http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/who-was-st-nicholas

This short video about St Nicholas and how he became known as Santa Claus might be of interest in senior classes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeb_oH5_OJE

The video above is of the poem, The Night before Christmas’, referenced in the History Channel video.

Fill in the blanks to finish the sentences.

The words in the box will help.

1: St Nicholas has _ _ _ _ in his sack.

2: There is a letter S on the _ _ _ _ _.

3: St Nicholas has a _ _ _ _ _ beard.

4: St Nicholas brings _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ to boys and girls.

5: The little boy is _ _ _ _ _ _ on the chair.

6. St Nicholas has a _ _ _ _ _ on his hat.

cross white asleep presents chair toys

FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION DECEMBER 8 The following information will help the teacher explain the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and will also deepen the children’s knowledge of Mary Level 3 & 4 Every year, on December 8, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On this day, we remember that Mary was conceived without sin, and so chosen from the very first moment of her life to be the mother of Jesus. The Church tells us that Mary never sinned throughout her life. God kept her free from sin. Tradition tells us that Mary’s parents were called Joachim and Anne although this is not mentioned in the bible. May and October are the months during which the Church honours Mary in a special way. Mary has many titles. She is called Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Star of the Sea, Queen of Peace, Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin Mary, among many others.

HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION. The feast of the Immaculate Conception is one of the special days during the year that we are asked to go to Mass, no matter what day of the week it is. We call these special days Holy Days of Obligation. The activities on pages 6 and 7 will help consolidate the children’s understanding of this concept and encourage them to reflect on how much they know about Mary.

See how many questions you can answer about Mary in the activity below

TRUE OR FALSE? Circle the correct answer.

1. Mary lived in Jerusalem. True / False

2. Mary was married to Joseph. True / False

3. The angel Geraldine told Mary that she would have a baby. True / False

4. Mary’s sister was called Elizabeth. True / False

5. Jesus was Mary’s only child. True / False

6. Mary is the only woman who never sinned in her whole life. True / False

7. The Church honours Mary in a special way in May. True / False

8. Mary’s mother’s name was Amelia. True / False

9. Mary’s baby was born on November 25th True / False

10. Mary was conceived without sin True / False

11. Mary’s father’s name was Joachim True / False

12. Mary lived in Bethlehem with Joseph True / False

13. Mary was born without sin True / False

14. Mary is sometimes called the Queen of Heaven True / False

FIND OUT

What other days in the Church are Holy Days of Obligation?

Use google to help you find the answer!

Make a list of the Church’s Holy Days of Obligation in your Religion copy.

MARY HAS MANY NAMES OR TITLES.

SEE HOW MANY YOU CAN FIND IN THIS WORD SEARCH

Q T H I M O T H E R O F C H R I S T A S U V L M W M X W V F D N L A E F M C E N E Q H M L G A K R L E A W X X Y V Y N A E V W A Y O W R D K H N N V S O L T J I N L M C U R Z R T J G D V T X U L I K T O F L U Y C A Y H L Q Q I S C E O H D S F K L L O H V M Y U P C D Q F X O O S I P C C A Q Q S R Y C A A V C S N G L A R E W R T C S U C J L K D D N L F V Z L H A I D E C F E E R V O U C W O U Y T S C C B A C D V B O E F B H Z R G X P U R F E I H O X E S S Z N Q N E E M X Z K Y O A D J N Z E K V D Q O H W J C Y L G P P K T H C R U H C E H T F O R E H T O M L S J X E Z W R A S O W M A F N P X M J E G V L P P K Y H M S L Z E N F T C A M H T O F T K X U Y V R T N D T G S D A A Q Q Z W I X J R J O U G N V T H E T C J J X T I O R A T S G N I N R O M Z L S R S P C G N M I B U D V H I Y I H C O S Y H

HELP OF CHRISTIANS

HOLY MARY

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

MARY MOTHER OF GOD

MORNING STAR

MOTHER OF CHRIST

MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

MYSTICAL ROSE

QUEEN OF ANGELS

QUEEN OF PEACE

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FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE DECEMBER 12 Level 3 Our Lady has appeared in many places throughout the world to many different people. She often brings a message of hope, inviting people to turn back to God, and to pray. Mary appeared to a girl called Bernadette in Lourdes in 1858, and also to three children in the Portuguese town of Fatima in 1917. In 1879, Mary appeared in a village called Knock in County Mayo.

Read the following story to the children The Story of a Beautiful Lady On Saturday, December 9, 1531 a man called Juan Diego set off to walk the 10 km journey to Mass. Juan was a member of the Aztec people and he had become a Catholic. He was on a hill called Tepeyac near Mexico City when a beautiful woman surrounded by light appeared to him. She told him that she was the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the true Mother of God. She told Juan that she wanted the local bishop to build a church on that hill so that the people would have somewhere to go and pray. Mary told him that she wanted a place where she could show how much she loved the people. She said that they could come to this place and ‘Ask for my help. Here I will listen to people’s prayers, and I will help them.’ Juan did what Mary asked and went to the bishop. The first time he went the bishop didn’t believe him. Juan told Mary that perhaps she should send someone else to talk to the bishop. But Mary told Juan that she wanted him to do it, to be her messenger. The second time the bishop asked for a sign that the woman really was the Mother of God. When Juan gave Mary the bishop’s message she told him to come back on the following Monday.

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Juan’s uncle became very sick and so he could not go back to see Mary on the day that she had said. The following day Juan’s uncle was so sick that Juan decided to go and get the priest to come and visit him. On the way to get the priest Mary appeared to Juan again. She told him not to be worried about his uncle that he would be alright. Then she sent him to the top of the hill to gather the flowers that he would find there. It was the month of December and Juan was sure that no flowers would be growing but, he did what Mary asked him. To his surprise when he got to the top of the hill there were the most beautiful roses growing there. Juan picked the roses and carried them back to Mary. She took the roses and arranged them in his tilma or cloak. Juan went back to the bishop. When the bishop saw Juan he wanted to know what was in his cloak. When Juan opened his cloak the beautiful roses fell out. The bishop was very surprised to see roses in December. But, he was to have an even greater surprise because as he stood there, a beautiful painted image of our Lady began to appear on Juan’s cloak. The bishop was so overcome that he shouted out, ‘The Immaculate!’ and knelt down to ask Mary to forgive him for not believing Juan. At the same time that this was happening Mary appeared to Juan’s uncle and cured him. She gave him another message for the bishop. She told him to tell the bishop that she would ‘crush the serpent’s head.’ The bishop did not understand the Aztec language that the man spoke and he thought that he said ‘Guadalupe,’ the name of a Shrine to Mary in Spain. He decided to call her Our Lady of Guadalupe. Juan Diego’s cloak was made from the fibres of a cactus plant. Normally this would only have lasted about twenty years. But Juan’s cloak with the image of Mary on it can still be seen today. It is kept in Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

Check understanding by asking the following or similar questions

• Who was Juan Diego? • Where was he going? • How long was his journey to Mass? • What was the date?

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• Who did the Lady say she was? • What did she want him to do? • Why did she want a church or shrine built on the hill? • What happened the first time that Juan went to the bishop? • Did Juan want to go back a second time to the bishop? • What did the bishop ask for the second time? • What happened to stop Juan returning to our Lady on the Monday? • How did Juan meet our Lady again? • What did she ask him to do this time? • Was the bishop surprised when Juan returned? • What surprised him most? • How did the bishop show that he was sorry? • Why did the bishop give her the name Our Lady of Guadalupe?

The Icon of our Lady of Guadalupe

Show the children the picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe as she is painted on Juan’s coat. Use the chart below to explain some of the symbols in the icon. The children can then colour their own picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe on page 12

SYMBOL MESSAGE

Rose coloured dress with gold lace; fur around the neck and cuffs

Queen

Gold brooch with black cross The man who brought the Catholic faith to Mexico had the same cross on his ships. His name was Cortez

Three Fingers together Three persons in one God

Surrounded by light as if she is standing in front of the sun

She is hiding the sun. The Aztec people thought that the sun was a God. If Mary hides it then she is more powerful than the sun.

An angel holds the hem of her dress

This shows that she came from heaven

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