Creating and Keeping Traditions for Holy Week

Every year we slowly add new ideas and continue with old ones for celebrating Holy Week. We have concluded our academic work for the term so that this week we can focus exclusively on preparing ourselves for the grand finale.

Last year as a family we coloured in pictures of the Stations of the Cross throughout the week. Then Daddy ‘judged’ which was the best colouring in and the ‘winner’ was chosen to hang on the wall. By Good Friday we had a complete set for meditations. The children are eager to re-visit this one.

This year we are keen to add a new tradtition, the making of apostles to renact the Last Supper, Passion of Our Lord and the Resurection. We were inspired by Tracy and Theresa’s wooden apostles. The children will be also creating scenery to accompany their apostles and co. A table for the Last Supper, a hill for Calvary and a tomb for the Resurrection should be do-able.

For the last couple of weeks we have been reading the story from Palm Sunday through to the Resurrection. Afterwards the children have either dictated narrations and found pictures to accompany their work or have coloured in pictures applicable to the story. We have not yet completed our readings so we will continue this.

Last year we read Benjamin’s Box and the children loved it. At the time I made up my own resurrection eggs based on the book and as it was too late to buy eggs I just placed the scripture verse and accompanying item in an envelope. This year I made it to Spotlight, have purchased my plastic eggs and we will use them. For some other ideas on making your own eggs there are some great ideas here as well as directions on making your own Stations of the Cross box.

We are planning on making a Stations of the Cross box for the little ones to use on Good Friday when we read Mary Joslin’s Station of the Cross. Another book we will enjoy this week is The Tale of Three Trees.

For years now during Holy Week we have decorated eggs. Blowing out the contents of eggs gives me a headache and the smashing of the egg when you blow a little too hard on the nail is frustrating. This year we are going to try painting foam eggs. For a bit of inspiration we will first read Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco first for inspiration. Traditionally we have painted our eggs on Holy Saturday.

All of this obviously is to help turn the mind and heart to the Passion and Death of Our Lord and to His Resurrection. May you all have a Blessed Holy Week.