15 October 2013

The Liturgical Colors (CGS)

A continuing series about my Level I, Part 1, training in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

materials for Liturgical Colors

I showed some pictures yesterday of the materials for the Liturgical Colors. I know from a list we've been given that there is a presentation about the Liturgical Calendar. But in CGS younger children (or perhaps any beginner) is shown this very, very simple lesson on the Liturgical Colors. It just names the four colors and assigns them to before the feast, the feast, and after the feast. And then the feast of the Holy Spirit.

That's it. No Advent, no Lent, no commemorations of martyred saints, but one more repetition of the four times, pointing to the four colors of chasuble, and then it's already time to show how to put the work away. Because, as our trainer said, "This is a three-year-old. They're itching to work with these materials themselves!" 

That's another difference between GP and CGS: in GP the majority of materials are presented to all the children at once. The whole session is structured around an expectation that most weeks there will be a group lesson, much as we expect a Scripture lesson and sermon at our weekly church service. In CGS many lessons are presented to a select group, or even an individual, while the other children get on with other work (as can happen during Response Time in GP).

presenting the Liturgical Colors

Our trainer explained that the Liturgical Colors work is very good for children who need to move and expend energy. The child is shown how to carry a single frame with two hands, and immediately asked to help carry the materials from where they are housed. The child may help the catechist put the work away at the end of the presentation and still have energy left to work on their own, taking all the materials back out again.

So the overt goal is to introduce the liturgical colors (and laying groundwork for learning about the calendar), but indirect goals slowing the child down and even teaching skills transferable to ceremonial processions.

1 comment:

  1. Sheila15 October, 2013 20:40

    Very interesting that so much is going on at one time. How does the catechist decide who will get the presentation?

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