• Training |
Teachers and Catechists Liturgy Planning This is to assist you in planning a liturgy with your class. Explanations and Web sites are provided to further assist you in your planning. Environment A class can personalize the church by creating banners and posters that reflect the theme, season, or special characteristics of the celebration. The environment should be created through a tasteful and appropriate display that will highlight the parish, school, or religious ed. program in its celebration of the Eucharist. Out of courtesy, inform the Priest who is saying the Mass so he is not surprised by the changes to the worship area. (He may even give you some helpful suggestions!) Scripture Readings Scripture readings for each day of the year are already selected so all you have to do is locate and copy them so students can practice them before the Mass. You will want to give the students the opportunity to practice in the church and the use of a live microphone. Try to keep the practice simple and brief. The daily readings can be found in the Lectionary, (the book that contains all of the readings for the Mass.) This is available in the church. The school or DRE may also have a copy in their possession. Some parishes and schools have a Children's Lectionary that is especially created for children's liturgies. When using the lectionary you will need to know what liturgical season your Mass will be celebrated in (i.e. Ordinary Time; Advent; Lent; or Easter) and what Cycle the readings are in (Cycle A, B, or C). The Church is currently in Cycle B for 2000 and will be in Cycle C for 2001. (The parish missalettes also list the season and cycle for the readings.) The National Conference of Catholic Bishop's (NCCB) website provides online all of the readings from the lectionary, as well as, the liturgical season for each day of the year. You can get this information at: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm Prayer of the Faithful The Prayer of the Faithful (PF) can be created entirely by your class or your Priest has a book of them that you can choose from. There is an opening and closing prayer to the PF that the Priest says. Your class can create these. They are usually brief prayers that lead into and conclude the PF. The PF does follow an order as you may have observed at Mass. The PF starts by praying for the leaders of a given community, i.e. Church, nation, school, etc. and concludes with the sick, suffering, and faithful departed. In between these two elements you can address any theme you have chosen or special needs your community might be addressing. One rule of thumb is to try and be as inclusive as possible. It is better to pray for the needs of all rather that just a few, though the few can get special mention. For example, "For Mary Jones who is in the hospital and all those who are sick and suffering, let us pray to the Lord." Be sure to include a concluding phrase to alert the community to their need to respond, like "…let us pray to the Lord" or something similar. You will also have to create the response that you want to be returned to each PF by the community. "Lord hear our prayer" is the most recognizable response for the congregation but almost any response created by your class can be used (just don't make it too long.) You may wish to pass out 3x5 cards in class and ask each student to create one Prayer of the Faithful. Students can read them to the class and then you can pick 6 to 8 of the best to be used during the Mass. Eucharistic Prayer and Final Blessing The prayers throughout the Mass are usually chosen by the Priest from the Sacramentary, (the book that contains the order and prayers of the Mass), however, your Priest may give you the option to choose the appropriate prayers that he will use during the Mass. This is something you and/or your Priest may or may not want to do, talk to your Priest or liturgist. These prayers include various options of the Eucharistic Prayers, opening and closing prayers, as well as, the final blessing. Your school library, DRE or church has a Sacramentary which you can use to choose these prayers. Be sure to give your selections to the Priest well ahead of time so he knows which prayers you've recommended. Music Your choice of music will depend upon whether or not you will have the accompaniment of instruments with your singing. If you are fortunate enough to have a musician he or she can suggest some songs that you can use during the Mass. If there is no choir or instruments to assist you with the music a basic rule to keep in mind is to choose songs that the students are familiar with. You don't want to be the only one singing. It's always good to practice the songs you'll be using before the Mass. If it is possible, plan to practice the songs with the entire school body before Mass begins. A selection of hymns can be found in the back of the missalettes and/or in the song books located in the church. The school or DRE may have song books to be distributed among the students for children's liturgies. The More the Merrier Involve your students in the Mass according to your class desires, needs, and what your Priest is comfortable with. You can use students as altar servers, artists to create the banners or posters, lectors for the readings, those who read a Prayer of the Faithful, students to process the gifts (hosts, water, and wine) up to the altar during the offertory, and those reading or singing the meditation. Involve as many students as practical. Don't feel that you must involve every single student on the day of the liturgy, this would become too time consuming and a logistical nightmare for you. Overview If you'd like a brief overview of the Mass, vestments, and liturgical colors you can go to the following Web site:
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