48 - St Mary the Beautiful Dove

Objective:

Learn from St. Mary to be calm like a dove and to respect the church.

 

Introduction:

Bring a picture of a dove and show it to the children. Tell them that a dove is very quiet, gentle, and calm. Bring them a picture of St. Mary (maybe with doves around her) and remind them that she is the mother of our Lord Jesus. Tell them that we call St. Mary the Beautiful Dove, because she is so calm, gentle, and beautiful like a dove. Today, we can learn from St. Mary, even when she was a child like us, how she was calm and helpful.

 

Lesson Outline:

When St. Mary was a little child, she was staying in God’s house. Do you know how we should behave when we are in God’s house? We should be quiet and calm. This is how St. Mary was all the time. She never spoke in a loud voice, but was always singing and praising God with beautiful hymns. St. Mary was a very good child. She was also taking care of a lot of things in the church. When the time of prayer was over, she always made sure that God’s house is clean and that everything is in its place. She was very happy to help out in God’s house. Whenever the priest asked her to do something, she would obey and do it right away. She was a very good helper in God’s house and God was very pleased with her and she was so special that the angel appeared and talked to her and she became the mother of Jesus. Our Church is named after Saint Mary. Every church has pictures (icons) for Saint Mary because she is very special. This month all the churches celebrate Saint Mary.

Let us learn to be like St. Mary: calm, quiet, obedient, and helpful. We should love and take care of our church like St. Mary did. For example, whenever there is trash, we must look for the trash bin and use it. Whenever we find a church book out of its place, we should return it to its proper place.We should also like to help mom and dad around the house. Now, we know what it means for us to be calm like St. Mary, …. no screaming or yelling …, and to do what our parents ask us to do without saying ‘NO!’….. Do not whine about what we want, but obey. …. Be very quiet in church….. and never run inside the church, etc....