Celebrating Easter

We celebrated Easter in the atrium with the Liturgy of Light on Sunday. It was a great morning! I wish I had pictures of the celebration itself, but I was too busy to pick up the camera. Instead I have some photos from our feast afterward. Thank you so much parents for donating food and drinks. The children really do enjoy eating together.

You can read more about the Liturgy of Light celebration, which in based on the Easter Vigil service, in this previous post.

Remember - the season of Easter is 50 days! We have until Pentecost (May 19th) to live in the joy of the Resurrection. What ideas do you have for keeping Easter in your family life? It can be as simple as lighting a white candle at meals or saying a special prayer together before bed time. 

Easter is a great season in the atrium. We can't wait to see your children on Sunday mornings!

 

Happy Easter!

Liturgy of Light 2012

We celebrated the Liturgy of Light with all three atria last Sunday. It was a lovely morning! You can read about this celebration in a previous post. One dimension I particularly enjoyed this year was seeing children grow into new roles in the celebration. It was great to have children new to the atrium applying the wax to our candle, and older children being leaders and readers in the celebration. It is such a joy to be a part of the children's growth over their years in atrium!

I wasn't able to take many pictures, but here are a few for you to enjoy!

Our newly decorated paschal candle and the individual candles
that each of us held as we "received the Light of Christ."

Ready for the feast!

Thank you parents for bringing food for our feast! It was enjoyed by all!

Liturgy of Light This Sunday!

This Sunday we will celebrate the Liturgy of Light with the children in the Good Shepherd and True Vine Atria. I love this special day and am happy that it always comes a week or two into the Easter season. After all the fun of the dresses and candy are forgotten, we gather to celebrate the deeper joy of Easter with the children. I have copied a post from last year describing the celebration below, so read on to learn what we will be doing! 

On Sunday, we will celebrate Easter with the Liturgy of Light in the atrium. The image of Jesus as the light is an ancient one, and resonates deeply with the children. Over the years, catechists observing children in the atrium found this image recurring in the children's prayer, conversation, and art work. With the Liturgy of Light, we celebrate the light and life of the risen Christ, which is more powerful than death, and which we all share by virtue of our baptism.

This liturgy is based upon my favorite service of the year - the Easter Vigil. We gather with the children in a darkened hallway, where we decorate the paschal candle with pieces of wax and light it for the first time. Then we process behind the candle into the atrium, stopping to chant three times along the way.

In the atrium, I sing a short section of the "Exultet," a song of praise and blessing over the paschal candle. A child reads the scriptural account of the resurrection for us. Then each person is handed a small candle, lit from the paschal candle, with the words, "receive the light of Christ." We hold the candles on our laps for a short time of prayer and singing, then place them around the paschal candle. Our celebration ends with a rousing rendition of "This Little Light of Mine" and a feast!

Click here to see pictures from last year's celebration.

The Paschal Candle

The paschal candle is a symbol of the Risen Christ which speaks very powerfully to children. In Church, the paschal candle is placed on its stand and blessed in the sanctuary during the Easter Vigil each year and it remains throughout the fifty days of the Easter season. The paschal candle is also present for baptisms and funerals, which I think is quite beautiful.

Isn't the paschal candle from our atrium lovely? It looks a bit different than the paschal candle which we have in Church so I thought I'd tell you about it.

Before we begin the Liturgy of Light Celebration in the atrium, we show the design of our Easter candle to the children, beginning with the cross in the center. We teach the children the names of the the two gold symbols on the candle - the alpha and the omega - which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Together they remind us that God is the beginning and the end. We also place the numbers for the current year on the candle to remind us that God is present with us today. I love the words that we say with the children while they press the wax pieces onto the candle. Here they are for you to enjoy.

Christ, Yesterday and today (place the vertical piece of the cross)
The beginning and the end (place the horizontal piece of the cross)
The Alpha (place the A)

And the Omega (place the Ω)
All time belongs to God (place the 2)
And all the ages (place the 0)
To God be glory and power (place the 1)
Throughout every age forever (place the 1)
AMEN

In the Good Shepherd Atrium children can prepare a paschal candle as we do in the celebration, using a candle and pieces made of felt. Often an adult or another child will repeat the words above as the child prepares the candle. It is always a popular work with the children in the weeks after the celebration. Children also like to draw pictures of the paschal candle throughout the Easter season.

Photos from the Liturgy of Light

My last post described a bit about the Liturgy of Light Celebration from the atrium last Sunday. Here are some photos, taken by parishioner Kimberly Shepherd of Kat's Eye on Life, for you to enjoy!

Gathering in the hall to begin our celebration.

The children apply the wax decorations to the paschal candle.

The procession following our paschal candle to the atrium.

"The Light of Christ." "Thanks be to God!"

The paschal candle.

"Receive the light of Christ."

Singing and praying with our candles.

This Little Light of Mine!

Everyone enjoys a good Feast! Thank you for bringing the food!

Liturgy of Light Celebration

On Sunday, we celebrated Easter with the Liturgy of Light in the atrium. The image of Jesus as the light is an ancient one, and resonates deeply with the children. Over the years, catechists observing children in the atrium found this image recurring in the children's prayer, conversation, and art work. With the Liturgy of Light, we celebrate the light and life of the risen Christ, which is more powerful than death, and which we all share by virtue of our baptism.

This liturgy is based upon my favorite service of the year - the Easter Vigil. We gather with the children in a darkened hallway, where we decorate the paschal candle with pieces of wax and light it for the first time. Then we process behind the candle into the atrium, stopping to chant three times along the way.

In the atrium, I sing a short section of the "Exultet," a song of praise and blessing over the paschal candle. A child reads the scriptural account of the resurrection for us. Then each person is handed a small candle, lit from the paschal candle, with the words, "receive the light of Christ." We hold the candles on our laps for a short time of prayer and singing, then place them around the paschal candle. Our celebration ends with a rousing rendition of "This Little Light of Mine" and a feast!

Check back soon for more photos of our Liturgy of Light Celebration.