Mary Is the Mother of the Church
Objectives: The students will be able to
- identify that Mary is the Mother of the Church
- describe how we honor Mary
- recite the prayer Hail Mary from memory
- define assumption
Review: Prayer, questions and vocabulary words from last week’s lesson
Vocabulary Words: (Write words on the board and discuss with class)
Assumption- Mary being taken up body and soul into heaven
Immaculate- free from sin
Ave Maria- Hail Mary
Plan:
gardenofpraise.com- Mary, the Mother of Jesus lesson with questions, memory verse, quizzes, puzzles, etc.
therealpresence.org- The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ
spirituality.org- Mary, A Role Model For Our Times lesson
dacapofoundation.com- Mary, Mother of the Church lesson
ewtn.com- Overview of Church Teachings, Doctrines Explained, Apologetics, Devotions, Excerpts from Church Doctrines, etc.
sophiainstituteforteachers.org- Mary, the Mother of God and Our Mother lesson
thereligionteacher.com- Do Catholics Worship Mary?
wikipedia.org- Mother of the Church
catholicdigest.com- Mother of the Church
catholicstand.com- Mary, Mother of the Church: A New Celebration
opusdei.org- Mary, Mother of the Church
Lesson for Younger Students:
Introduction: Who takes care of you by fixing your meals, helping you dress, and nursing you when you are sick? (Mother)
Who may take the place of your mother in caring for you?
To what large family do you belong? (The Church)
When did you become a member? (At baptism)
Who leads the Church? (The pope)
Who is the pope? (Pope Francis I) (write Pope Francis I on the board)
The Church has a mother too. Do you know who she is? (Mary)
What did Mary say when God wanted her to be the mother of Jesus? (Yes)
Mary’s yes made her the mother of Jesus and of God’s family, the Church.
When did Jesus give us Mary to be our mother? (When he was dying on the cross.)
After Jesus went to heaven, Mary stayed on Earth to take care of the Christian family.
One day Mary went to heaven to live with Jesus. He did something special for his mother. Jesus took Mary bodily to heaven. When we die, our bodies will be buried in a grave. We will rise on the last day. The last day is when Jesus comes back to Earth to judge the living and the dead.
Mary has been holy all her life. So Mary was taken up, body and soul, into heaven. This is called the Assumption (write it on the board).
Mary takes care of us. She prays for us and asks Jesus to bless us. She helps us be like Jesus so that we can live forever with Him.
There are special times when Catholics honor Mary. The month of May is Mary’s month. (Print Mary and May on the board.) The names even look alike.
Mary has special feast days during the year. What do you think we should do on these days? (Try and honor her in a special way.)
How can we honor Mary? (By trying to be like her; by praying to her, by singing songs to her.)
Next Sunday, our church is celebrating the Crowning of Mary (write this on the board). A statue of Mary will be brought into the church and she will be crowned with a wreath of flowers. We call Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. We will be able to give gifts of flowers to be laid at Mary’s feet during the celebration. Her special shrine with fresh flowers will be kept going all through May. We will pray and sing songs as well. One special and famous song will be sung, “Ave Maria” (write this on the board) which means Hail Mary.
Mary likes us to ask her for help. We should pray to Mary often. What might we pray to her?
Do you know any prayers to Mary? (Hail Mary)
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Discussion: It is important for us to honor our mom’s every chance we get. Our government thought it was important enough to give mom’s their own holiday. What day is this? (Mother’s Day)
Should Mother’s Day be the only day we take time out to thank mom though? Why or why not?
Introduce story: Who will always love you? Here is a story about a mother’s love for her son. Read story- “Love You Forever” by Robert Munsch
Ask the following questions after reading the story:
1. Did his mother always like his behavior? No.
2. What would she do when he was really asleep? She would pick him up and hold him. She would rock back and forth and sing that she would love him forever as long as she was living.
3. What would she do when he was all grown up? She would drive over to his house and do the same thing when he was really asleep.
4. When she was too old to do that any more, what did her son do? He picked her up and rocked her back and forth. He sang that he would love her forever as long as he was living.
5. What did the son do when he came home after doing that to his mother? He went into his baby daughter’s room when she was sleeping. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth. He then sang the same song that his mother used to sing to him.
6. Who will always love you? Your mother.
Activities:
Introduce activity: What are the special prayers to the Blessed Virgin which are said with the use of beads consisting of the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be to the Father (Doxology)? (The Holy Rosary)
web.archive.org- Hail Mary (mini book)
web.archive.org- Our Father (mini book)
dltk-kids.com- The Lord’s Prayer (mini book)
Directions and template. (Catholic version posted)
web.archive.org- Apostles Creed (mini book)
Rosary- references, activities, coloring, crafts, games, puzzles, worksheets, etc.
The Catholic Toolbox- Hail Mary Activities
Crafts:
Introduce craft: Who is the mother of Jesus? Who does your mother love? Mother’s Day is coming soon so we are going to make something special for her.
Heart Picture Fame
Need: Craft foam cut into the shape of a heart with oval cut out of the center for child’s picture, sticky magnets, glue, glitter, items to glue onto frame, colored construction paper, stapler, crayons, magic markers
Directions: Stick sticky magnet on back of heart frame. Have students decorate their frames for their Mom’s. Show students how to make a simple envelope with the colored construction paper and staple. Students can decorate their envelope with crayons and magic markers and put their frame inside as a present for Mom. You can also use paper lunch bags to put present inside that the students decorate. Have students get help from their father or someone from home to find a picture of them to glue to the back of their frame so you can see their picture on the front side.
Introduce art craft: What do we need to make to go with the gift that we are making for our Mom’s? A card.
dltk-holidays.com- Mother’s Day Printable Poems and Cards
Print out cards and have students color and tape to their gift envelopes/bags after they have put their gift inside.
Rosary Crafts:
catholicicing.com- Make A Giant Rosary With Kids
catholicicing.com- Make A Rosary Book
catholicicing.com- Make an edible rosary
catholicicing.com- How to Make a Rosary with Kids
A simple rosary that kids can make using supplies found at any craft store.
catholicicing.com- Celebrating the Month of Rosary
Rosary ideas and crafts link up
through-my-is.blogspot.com- Spiritual Medicine Craft
How to make a rosary:
Making a Rosary- Rosary background and information. Excellent step-by-step directions to make a simple rosary. (Kids Explore America’s Catholic Heritage, page 159-161).
e-scoutcraft.com- Making a rosary using Seine Twine Mason Line, 6 gold pony beads, and a small piece of leather
ehow.com- How To Make Rosary Beads
ehow.com- One-Decade Rosary Directions
catholicmom.com- A DIY Stepping Rosary (in Ten Easy Steps!)
Games:
Introduce game: What’s a perfect game to celebrate Mother’s Day?
gameskidsplay.net- Mother May I?
Honor Your Mother Game
Need: 1 sponge
Directions: Cut the sponge into a large heart. Have the students sit in a circle. The teacher turns her back to the students and she says, "Pass, pass, pass." The students then pass the heart to their right around the circle. When the teacher says, "Stop," the child holding the heart has to say a reason why they love their Mom or whomever is taking care of them.
The following games are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted. All graphics/images/clipart etc. used on these activities are not my own and are from various internet sources
Introduce game: Who is the Mother of our Church? Mary
Mary is the Mother of Our Church (file folder game)- The objective of the game is to answer questions about Mary to receive a letter tile and spell Mary.
Introduce game: Do you know the prayers in the Holy Rosary? Let’s find out.
Hail Mary (file folder game)- A fun way to practice and see how well you know the Hail Mary prayer. (Scroll down to Games.)
Name That Prayer (file folder game)- The objective of the game is to get to FINISH first by answering questions about prayers. Review prayers in the rosary.(Only use the question cards for prayers of the rosary.)
Rosary Bingo- Review the rosary while playing Bingo (15 cards)
The Holy Rosary Game- Practice reciting the Holy Rosary while you compete against others.
Snack:
Introduce snack: What would be a nice thing for you to do for you Mom on Mother’s Day? Discuss. Then talk about making breakfast for their mother and what they could make for her. Make a breakfast that they could make for their mother for Mother’s Day.
Puzzles & Worksheets:
4catholiceducators.com- 3 Hail Mary word search puzzles
wordsearchfun.com- Apostles’ Creed (word search)
wordsearchfun.com- The Rosary (word search)
web.archive.org- Blessed Are You Among Women (crossword)
These puzzles are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted.
Mary is the Mother of the Church- (word search)
Mary is the Mother of the Church- (crossword)
These puzzles below are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted.
Hail Mary- (crossword)
Hail Mary puzzle- All you need is some heavy paper and a copy machine. Copy puzzle and have the children glue it on some heavy paper and color. Then have the children cut on the lines to make a puzzle. Have the children put the puzzle together to practice Hail Mary. Put puzzle pieces in an envelope or ziplock bag.
Hail Mary Puzzle #2- All you need is some card stock and a copy machine. Print puzzle on card stock and have the students cut on the lines to make a puzzle. Have the students put the puzzle together to practice Hail Mary. Put puzzle pieces in an envelope or Ziploc bag.
Worksheets:
The worksheets below are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted. All graphics/images/clipart etc. used on these activities are not my own and are from various internet sources.
The Hail Mary Worksheet- To find out how well the students know The Hail Mary, have the students fill out the worksheet using the word bank.
Hail Mary Roll a Prayer- Cut out prayer strips. Students roll a die to collect all the pieces to their prayer. The first one to collect all the pieces to the prayer is the winner. Students then glue in the spaces provided the prayer in the correct order.
Rosary (worksheet)- multiple choice and fill in the blanks
The following worksheets are from: 100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Ellen Rossini
The Rosary, Part I- In the left column, are the names of the fifteen mysteries. The right column contains brief descriptions of each mystery. Write the letter of the description next to the name of the correct mystery. (100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Ellen Rossini, page 77).
The Rosary, Part II- Connect the letters from the previous activity in their final order to solve the dot-to-dot puzzle. (100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Ellen Rossini, page 78).
The Hail Mary- Use the words in the word bank to complete the sentences. (100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Ellen Rossini, page 79).
smp.org- She Is Your Mother
As students complete this worksheet, they will explore what it means when we say that Mary is the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church.
