| September Prayer Service |
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Beginning of Year Prayer Services Beginning of Year Prayer Service Ideas A Class Prayer for Beginning the School Year Prayers
Particularly Suitable for the Beginning of the Year
Before prayingIt may be helpful to engage the children in discussion of how they might take responsibility for Prayer Times during the year ahead - preparing the room, gathering what might be needed, clearing space.Before praying, you might discuss
JuniorsThe experience of prayer need be just a quiet gathering of reassurance and encouragement. If older children are present with newcomers, they might be careful to express welcome and care. Children in Reception Classes may benefit from more regular short and simple prayer services while senior children may prefer to prepare for something more elaborate and special.SeniorsSenior children preparing for Confirmation or in their final year of school can be given additional responsibility orroles in arranging the environment for prayer. Children will benefit from positive experience of "example" and "witness" rather than hearing the words as abstract ideals. Beginning of Year Prayer Service IdeasA Class Prayer for Beginning the School YearThe children work in twos or threes to write the prayer which they will use at the Beginning of School Year Prayer ServiceResources: Paper & Pens Select
themes
• Recognition
of Need for the Blessing of God
Pair
Off
1.
First Sentence: Address God ("Name God")
2.
Second Sentence: Acknowledge an aspect of the work of God ("Say something
about God")
3.
Third Sentence: Relate this aspect to the theme ("Say what's in your heart").
This part need not be petition, but may be praise or thanksgiving.
Arrange Prayer Arrange the prayers in the order in which they will be said. One child from each group reads the parts which form the long prayer. Allow a silent pause between each part. Create
and environment for prayer by acknowledging what the experience of working
together has done.
If
you are having a Prayer for the Start of the Year in your own Classroom,
you might ask the children to bring
2000
NamesThe list of names in the class might be used as a gathering to pray. Names could be read from the Roll Book or children could affix their own (decorated) names to a poster. The title page of a religious education copy-book could have some care lavished on it at this time of the year, allowing children to depict themselves, their favourite pastimes, places and abilities on the first page of the copy-book. Leave a page or two blank to be returned to and elaborated during the year.Befriend a SaintThe class chooses a saint to be their patron or patroness during the yearThird Fourth Fifth Sixth Resources: Books of Saints, Local History, Catholic Online has an alphabetic index of Saints with Search options. The Cloud of Irish Witnesses lists saints and prayers from the Church of Ireland's calendar. These sites will be useful to children searching for details of Saints of personal or local importance. A general Internet search may return other sources of information. Discuss what is a Saint? Who is a Saint? What Saints does the class know about? Where do they see images about them? (Homework may be to bring back suggestions. ) With the class, choose a Saint to be a guide during the coming year. Make
an outline on a poster to be filled in as the year goes on, adding illustrations,
details, 'colouring' the person chosen. From time to time, reflect
on how they lived, their society, dress, food, priorities.
Pray In prayer, invoke this saint's help and develop a prayer which is the class's expression of their relationship to this person. As the children learn about the person they have chosen, they can write and use their own prayers. Beginning of Year PrayerA prayer to use or adapt at the start of the School Year.We
give you praise, O God,
Prayers
Particularly Suitable for the Beginning of the Year
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