Home | About Us | Conferences Resources News | Useful Links | Contact Us | Members Login Resources        Photos of the Conference inservice workshops Downloads Celebrating Lent in School Suggested Prayer Service (Lent 2009) Celebrating Lent in School        Lent brings an opportunity for the religion teacher to connect the student with the season of Lent. It’s also a time when the student prepares for the celebration of Holy Week where they have the opportunity of deepening their relationship with Christ.        In this season of Lent symbols are very important. Covered statues, stations of the cross, sand, stone, the colours of purple and grey are a few of the rich symbols which may be used to create a sacred space in your school.        So why not!!!! Some activities that could be useful for Lent are as follows:        Posters and banners may be displayed in the classroom or prayer room highlighting the season. The films ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ or ‘Passion of the Christ’ may be shown. Classroom and/or school liturgies are highly recommended. Prayer services for Ash Wednesday and each week of Lent are very valuable. It may not be possible to have a prayer service for the whole school on Ash Wednesday but a prayer service over the four weeks would be great. Distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday is recommended. A useful time is during break and lunch. Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance before the Easter holidays is highly suggested. Stations of the Cross are very popular in schools, particularly if they are well planned and organised. This may take the form of a prayer service format or celebration outside on the school grounds where various locations are chosen for each station. A lot of preparation is involved in this but can be very an enriching experience. Trocaire have distributed an excellent Lenten pack which contain the traditional posters, collection box. This year they include a cd disk indication some of their projects worldwide. This pack is an ideal resource for the season.        What are you doing for Lent? Some suggestions on what you might take on for Lent as a project! - Take a Trocaire box and put some spare coins in daily/weekly. Encourage the pupils to take one too. - Attend daily Mass in your parish or school. This could be recommended to Junior or Leaving Cert. students. - Reflect on the daily scriptures. - Carry out a good deed. This could involve visiting an elderly person or doing their shopping. - Pray before the main meal at home or pause when you hear the angelus bell ringing. - Help out with a household task. - Give up something you are addicted to. This may be sweet things, drink, and cigarettes.        The above are some suggestions. You may have your own. The important thing is to try and enter into the season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.               Suggested Prayer Service Lent 2005        Preparation Beforehand: The following pointers may help in celebrating a meaning prayer service for Lent.