Mary, Mother of God

Christmas Adventure

Our Lady has a lot to offer Catholic parents. It was not easy being the Mother of God. She encountered many difficulties and sorrow. Joseph and Mary were not rich, although they made sure that Jesus had all that he needed. They obeyed the law; they obeyed the laws of the government and of God. We do not find many references to Mary, in the Gospels. However, the few times that she is mentioned, show that many times she accompanied Jesus, she followed her son; she was at the wedding in Cana, she was with him during his passion, she remained with him, standing under the cross. Afterwards, she remained with the apostles. 

Pray/say the The Magnificat, the prayer Mary used to praise God, Luke 1, 46-55.

The Song of Mary
And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear HimFrom generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,And exalted the lowly.53He has filled the hungry with good things,And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.

A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 2, 8-20

Glory in the Highest

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this willbe the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Using the puppets, the children will retell the story of the shepherds going to the stable to meet with Jesus. Let them retell the story as if they were one of the shepherds. Just as it was suggested for Christmas, the children may say this story before or after lunch.

The angels invited the shepherds to go visit Jesus. Where can we go to meet Jesus? The church is the special place where we can meet Jesus. During this week, go to church together and stay there for a while. Tell the children that Jesus enjoys listening to them, telling him about the gifts they received, how they spent their holidays, and what they did not like doing! Jesus is always waiting for us to talk to him.

  1. Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Mary, Mother of God. Let’s have a Treasure Hunt … how many churches, chapels or sanctuaries, dedicated to Mary, will you manage to find? During the coming days, visit places dedicated to Mary. Some may not be so easy to find, since they are not at the centre of the village, like the Annunciation Chapel, at Rabat and Zurrieq, and the Immaculate Conception, at Mellieha and B’Bugia.
  2. Make the crossword puzzle. (see below)
crossword puzzleDownload

Say the Hail Holy Queen prayer.

Prepare and download from below:

The wise men on the camelDownload
HaroldDownload
StarDownload