It is often said that children learn much by imitation be it words or actions. The words they hear in their home and environment are typically what they take into their own vocabulary. Numerous psychologists, neurologists, and language development experts have all affirmed this and countless studies can support how important the "language environment" is for language development.
So...why not give them holy language to imitate? I'm talking about exposing children - even young children ages 3, 4, 5, etc... - to the divine language of the saints!
Here is an example from a typical children's prayer book:
"Jesus, I want to love You forever with my whole heart. Make me all Yours and only Yours."
Now, this is a beautiful prayer! Do not misunderstand me. In fact, I pray in this "plainer language" often with the kids. Yet compare this with...
"I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life. I love You, O my infinitely lovable God, and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You. I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally...My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You, I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath." (St. John Vianney)
My point in sharing this is not in saying that one prayer is "better" than the other but that one does, in fact, express a deeper outpouring of one's love and desire for God...all by its use of language! We can find this language by reading the various writings and meditations of the saints to our children.
I think it totally makes sense to bring things down to a certain level for children to understand, be it truths of our Faith, certain Scripture passages, etc... Yet often we forget about "raising them up" to a higher language that can more deeply express one's love for God as well as take them deeper in the spiritual life. This is why it's important to read the writings and prayers of the saints to our children as well.
Right now during the nighttime meditation I pray with my two oldests boys (almost 4 and 5 and a half), we've been reading and praying with some selections from St. Alphonsus Ligouri's The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ for Lent. (You can actually print it out in pdf form from the link, it's only about 10 pages if you print back-to-back!). In it, St. Alphonsus walks us through the Passion of our Lord based off of Scripture and provides some deeper insight by sharing things that our Lord had revealed about His suffering to various saints throughout the centuries. He moves us through the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the Cross, the crucifixion and Jesus' agony on the Cross. Then there are reflections of the seven last words of our Lord on the Cross.
***A quick side note: We should not be afraid to talk about the suffering of our Lord with our children, so long as we do it tactfully, lovingly, and almost sorrowfully because this was certainly a sad thing that our Lord was treated this way, and all because of our sins. One should also take into account their child's sensitivies. Each child is different. For example, I have a friend whose daughter (Joseph's age) sometimes cries from sadness when her mom talks or answers her questions about the crucifixion (a beautiful thing in reality - if only we could all shed those tears!). So prudence must be taken into account. Yet others may not be this way at a young age; they may even be drawn to it. I think - at least I experienced myself - sometimes we may have a bit of a fear of talking "too much" about the crucifixion with our children and thereby "fast forward" only to the Resurrection of our Lord. In all honesty, I was afraid they'd develop some kind of inordinate love for violence; but the Lord cleared this up for me and I was proven wrong. When we speak of our Lord's Passion with reverence, love, and sorrow - namely, in His Spirit - we can be assured our children will be safeguarded against such absurd inclinations that this violent and cruel world would make us fear and thus avoid discussing the suffering and death of our Lord. And in the end is always the Resurrection and Christ's conquering of sin and death!
St. Padre Pio when we was a little boy (just 5 years old) was very drawn to the Passion and suffering of our Lord. He would think often about it and "act it out himself," because, as he told his mother, he wanted to suffer with our Lord (Meet Padre Pio by Patricia Treece). Now, if one has read even just a bit of Scripture and the writings of the saints, this desire to suffer with our Lord out of love for Him is a sign that one wants to walk upon the path of true sanctity: The path of the Cross. All the saints say that the Passion of Christ should be the preference for our meditation if we which to arrive at perfection most quickly. Through this meditation we will be filled with sorrow and contrition for our sins and the sins of the world as well as deep thanksgiving and love for our Savior who bore this all out of love for each one of us, thereby making us adopted sons of the Father and capable of spending eternity in heaven. In this meditation we find it all: Sorrow and contrition, humility and repentance, as well as hope, joy, mercy, thanksgiving and love toward our Savior and the promise He obtained for us through this.
Ok, back to what I was getting at with St. Alphonsus Liguori. Instead of "I'm sorry for my sins - even the sins in my thoughts - which have caused you to suffer at Your crowning with thorns," we can have much more by regularly reading to them the words of the saints:
O my Jesus! what thorns have I added to this crown with my sinful thoughts to which I have consented! I wish I could die with grief! Pardon me, through the merit of this grief, which You did then accept in order to pardon me. O my Lord, thus bruised and thus despised! You have taken upon Yourself all these pains and mockeries in order to move me to have compassion upon You, that, at least through compassion, I may love You, and no more displease You. It is enough, O my Jesus; cease to suffer more: I am convinced of the love that You have for me, and I love You with all my heart. But now I see that it is not enough for You; You are not satisfied with thorns, until You find Yourself dead with anguish upon the cross. O goodness! O infinite love! Miserable is the heart that loves You not. (St. Alphonsus Ligouri)
What beautiful and deep language! What expressions of sorrow and love!
Do I edit some things as I read? Yes...if I find that a certain spiritual concept is a little beyond them at this age (For example, in some diaries of the saints you'll read how they described themselves as "wicked" or "worthy only of hell and all sufferings and torments." I'll replace this with milder language such as "sinners" or "not worthy of heaven without Christ," respectively. In my opinion, it is too premature in their budding spiritual lives to speak in such strong terms. Only when one gets to a certain point in their spiritual maturity can they understand why a saint would describe themselves as such. Again, prudence is necessary...). I'll also edit if there's too much historical or background information that might confuse them and take away from the idea. Sometimes I'll also edit as I read by throwing in an extra adjective or synonymn that further helps them understand a word they otherwise wouldn't know. (For example, "condemned" with "sentenced to die").
If we frequently expose our children to the "language of the saints," I do believe we will find them repeating these similar expressions in their prayers and own words. It will inspire a greater reverence for our Lord and the mysteries of our Faith and cultivate a deeper love for the things of God.
Here is a great website that provides you with links to more books than you could need...and all free. You'd just have to print it out.
You'd be surprised what they take in and what they will repeat themselves...and all on their own!
Let us lift our hearts and minds and words up toward heavenly things!
The Assumption by Peter Paul Rubens