Walking Holy Week

The week leading to Easter Sunday marks the holiest week in the Church. From Palm Sunday through the Easter Vigil, Catholics walk a week filled with powerful events and emotions. We witness betrayal and despair. We experience sadness, fear, and hope. To complement your Holy Week lessons, find downloadable activities for your Pflaum Gospel Weeklies level here.

• As children get older, they will remember the significance of each day of Holy Week. Until then, What Happens When? will help guide Venture students through the sacred days of the Triduum.

• If you haven’t already prayed the Stations of the Cross with your class, this is the ideal time. Brainstorm with older students a list of those suffering in our world and remember these people as you pray the stations. For young children, this is a good exercise to help them remember the order of events related to the Passion and Death of Jesus. (The traditional Stations of the Cross include some events that are not scriptural. If you want to lead your students through a Scriptural Stations of the Cross, find a version used by Saint John Paul II here. Be aware that these will not line up with images of the stations you may have in your church.)

• We could just focus on the happy highlights—Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. But explain to the children that before we share the joy of Jesus’ Resurrection, we must also walk through the sad times of Holy Week. Share this Good Friday prayer service with your families.

• Easter Vigil is a night filled with celebration and welcome. We celebrate that Jesus is not held by death, and we welcome new Catholics into our Church family. This Vigil activity sheet gives Visions students a guide to the symbols and order of this very special Mass.

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