Being that we are in the midst of Holy Week, approaching the Sacred and Holy Triduum where we enter more deeply into the Paschal Mystery of our Lord's suffering, death and resurrection, I thought I'd share this post to encourage us to do so also with our children.
One way to pray and meditate, among many others, especially with younger children, is by using images of sacred art. I may have mentioned in the past that I feel it is worth gathering images of sacred art by building up a collection of holy cards, collectible postcards or cards, as well as even just printing pictures off of the internet and laminating them. We can give these to our children to look at from time to time to meditate on and let them "wonder" at it.
Body and Soul: Why we use these external signs and symbols to teach our children
The Resurrection by Van Dyck (1631)
One of the beautiful things I love about our Catholic faith is that the Church understands
that we are both soul and body. Because of the fact that we experience through our five senses and primarily because of the fact that God became man, became flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ, we as Catholics use many "external signs" to point us toward the spiritual. Here, we can use sacred art to help lift our hearts up heavenwards.
The Lord knows we are not just spirits. Angels are pure spirit. Christ came in the flesh - as a Person. This is one reason why we as Catholics do not believe the idea of the church is just a spiritual thing but also incarnational - containing a visible body and structure. Christ perfectly "wedded" humanity with divinity. Even after Christ ascended into heaven, he's still entirely human in heaven because Scripture tells us that He ascended with His Body up towards the Heavenly Father. His Body didn't disappear. Our Lord, as He is in heaven, is still 100% human and 100% divine, hence we profess "true God and true man." This is a mystery of our Faith that's been professed throughout the centuries...
"We think that God the Word was united to the flesh, each of the two natures remaining what it is. This is why Christ is one, God and man; the same, consubstantial (homoousios) with the father as to the divinity and consubstantial with us as to the humanity." [Second General Council of Constantinople, 553 A.D.]
Even before that, the heretic Arian tried to present the impossibility of Christ being both entirely human and entirely divine. Consequently, the Council of Nicea was convened in 325 A.D. to counter this heresy. Attended by some 220 bishops, the Catholic Church condemned this heresy and gave us the creed which is now called the Nicene Creed (and we still recite at every Mass!). If you would like to understand more about this union of Jesus' human and divine nature, please read this brief essay.
Anyway, because of this union of the body and spirit in our Lord, this is why the Church teaches...
"As a being at once body and spirit, man expresses and perceives spiritual realities through physical signs and symbols. As a social being, man needs signs and symbols to communicate with others...The same holds true for his relationships with God." (CCC #1146)
I wrote a post a couple years ago about why we as Catholics use so many signs and symbols.
Meditating on the Paschal Mystery with our children
To meditate using sacred art, give them an image of sacred art for them to look at (I like to let mine choose so they're more inclined towards it). I found this great site "accidentally" (although with the Lord, we know there is no such thing!) called 54 Free Paintings of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. To my surprise, many of the paintings I had never seen before, so I was all the more excited about discovering this!
Now, keep in mind, you can do this same thing with any other mystery of our Faith. I've also done this with all my children present, keeping it simple and only 5 minutes long or so. But I find it's more deeply done with my oldest son who is five and a half since he's learned to focus himself pretty well now.
Here's a suggestion on how to go about this...
1. Do your normal preparation for prayer (place yourself in God's presence, ten seconds of silence, etc... however you might go about this) and ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit, "O God come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me" (Psalm 69:2). (Perhaps play chant music in the background throughout this meditation...)
2. Tell them to look closely at their sacred images (give them twenty seconds of silence or so)
Gethsemane by Carl Bloch
3. Ask them what it looks like is happening in the picture.
4. Now tell them to "put yourself in that picture." (It's helpful to read the Scripture verses that accompany the image). Then pause for a few moments of silence again.
And when he was come to the place, he said to them: Pray, lest ye enter into temptation. And he was withdrawn away from them a stone' s cast; and kneeling down, he prayed, Saying: Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said to them: Why sleep you? arise, pray, lest you enter into temptation. [Luke 22:41-46]
"Now think these things in your heart and love Jesus. Give Him a big hug with your heart. Tell Him you love Him..."
5. Tell them, "Now that you're in that picture..." {Here's a few questions you can ask them to get them rolling...}
How does your heart feel? Tell our Lord...
What things do you see?
What do you smell?
What do you hear?
What do you taste?
Can you feel anything or touch anything in that picture that you're in?
Does it make you think of anything else?
Does something that's happened to you or in your life remind you of that?
(Remember, with children, sensible reflections are best - really perhaps with all of us! - because it makes it more of a tangible experience).
"Now tell Jesus in your heart about what you're thinking and all that's on your mind. Love Jesus and let Him know. (Leave a little time for silence as they do this).
As we do this, the kids will usually share their reflections and reverently speak out loud to Jesus. I do this with them to guide them by example.
6. Direct them to ask God for a certain grace they think they need (it helps to suggest whatever applies to their reflections, the current meditation, or what you as a parent see they need help with in their life right now).
7. Tell them, "Now that we were blessed to spend such special time with our Lord, let us take time to thank Him and pour out words of love and adoration from our hearts to Him." Then I also like to conclude with a Hail Mary since our Lady is always praying with us to her Son. :) End with the sign of the cross.
8. After, you can talk about it more or answer questions if it seem natural. Sometimes they'll ask questions during the meditation and that's ok too! :0)
Of course, this is by no means a verbatim "script;" take the liberty to tweak things as you will. I just like to write it like this because for myself, I always find these "concrete examples" very helpful.
As I pray with the kids, I always go back to St. Teresa of Avila's words, "The important thing is not to think much but to love much." So it's helpful to remind the children - in whatever prayers they're saying - to "think of Jesus in your heart and love Him with your heart," or "Give Him a big hug with your heart," (which comes from the Catholic Children's Treasure Box series, a beautiful classic of Catholic stories and lessons).
Hope this helps!
May we all enter more deeply into our Lord's Passion and death during this Holy Week so that we may rejoice more fully on Easter when we celebrate His Resurrection. God bless you!