4Real Forums: Unit Study on the Mass

Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.

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Erin
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Posted: Aug 05 2006 at 8:20am \| IP Logged

In four weeks time we will be attending our annual Catholic Homeschool Camp and our once a year opportunity of attending Latin Mass.

I've been trying to think of what rabbit trail to follow next and it occured to me that it would be very timely to delve deeper into understanding more about the Mass. Another good reason is that ds7 will be making his FHC at camp

I've spent time today readingElizabeth and Theresa'sblogs gleaning information and inspiration on notebboking and rabbit trails.

Theresa's pictures have inspired me to encourage the children to create an outstanding notebook. I want to really prepare well this time. Does anyone have any suggestions for websites with lesson plans, pictures, ideas etc. Or any great ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you

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MichelleW
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Posted: Aug 05 2006 at 3:14pm \| IP Logged

I found two books that have really helped with this. "The How-To Book of the Mass" by Michael Dubruiel explains the purpose, symbolism, right attitude, etc. for EVERY possible element of the Mass. It is wonderful! Did you know that the doors are supposed to be heavy so that each person entering must pause before the doors and slowly open them? This is to remind us that Jesus Christ said, "I am the door." It also symbolizes that we are entering into God's Holy Place THROUGH Christ our Door. There is so much more, but this is the kind of book I was looking for awhile back when I wanted to teach my children the Mass. We did not need something for novices, because we already know and love the Mass, but I wanted to take it apart completely and look at every element and enjoy it's symbolism and meaning.

Another book I have been enjoying is "The Mass of the Early Christians" by Mike Aquilina. This one is really for parents, but it is just fascinating to see the development of the Mass from the early Christians to today.

I know this doesn't specifically answer your questions, but I hope it helps a little...

Michelle

momwise
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Posted: Aug 05 2006 at 11:14pm \| IP Logged

Erin,
The Catholicmom site has quite a few printable items for a Mass unit, mostly coloring sheets and word searches. Scroll down to the box that says: Prayer and Treasures of Our Faith
Coloring and Activity Pages and check them out.

EWTN has a really fun
kids' site but it's not really printable. However dc can learn about the Sacraments, names of things in the church and play games.

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Posted: Aug 06 2006 at 4:55am \| IP Logged

Erin,
Don't miss these plans. They take you step by step through the Easter Vigil Mass. Even though that is not the one you will be attending and the plans aren't for a Tridentine Mass, there are lots of good ideas there.

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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)

Erin
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Posted: Aug 07 2006 at 9:00am \| IP Logged

Gwen

Thank you for the Catholic mom site

I've been checking it out.

Elizabeth

I'd forgotten about alice's Easter Vigil notebook, thanks for the reminder

I've just spent the weekend pulling together a unit study. For a core book I'm using a little gem by Sr Monica called 'Come to Mass' printed in the 50s. I'm also relying on Maria Montessori's The Mass Explained to Children so between them I've outlined a day by day idea of what I want to cover and what I want their notebook to reflect. Normally I wing the notebook but this time I think with a definete plan we should accomplish more.

One problem I find is that the really great books with the incredible detail are on the Latin mass. As we attend the Novus Ordo (there is no Latin Mass here) I'm trying to combine the two. So whilst I am relying on the other two books to 'plot my course' I'm also cross referencing with the Sunday Missal.

If anyone is interested I can give you an outline of what I've planned. I could even give a step by step once done. Anyhow today we started with making our covers and I think dd4's page was gorgeous

I'm really praying that we will all come to a deeper understanding of the Mass from this study.

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MichelleW
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Posted: Aug 07 2006 at 10:53am \| IP Logged

I would love to see what you have planned, and what you accomplish. This is such an exciting project!

Michelle

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Posted: Aug 07 2006 at 12:19pm \| IP Logged

In addition to all the great resources mentioned here, I would say that the best teaching tool we have found for the Mass is the missalette itself. The children really loved going through it slowly and creating their own books to carry with us to church.

As you follow this most important of all Rabbit Trails, you will also want to read "The Weight of a Mass" by Josephine Nobisso (who is, by the way, a Catholic homeschooling mother).

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Posted: Aug 07 2006 at 1:40pm \| IP Logged

Erin,

I think this Child's Missal is going to be our "spine" for studying the Mass this year.I haven't received it yet, so I haven't seen it in person. But I've read about it several places and it really looks to be a gem.

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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)

Maddie
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Posted: Aug 07 2006 at 4:45pm \| IP Logged

CHC has a great study guide available online for "The Weight of a Mass", it's free. It has very helpful insights to the book.

Erin,
We are also planning on studying the Mass for the next few months, do I need to pm you or will you post your unit study outline here?

By the way, as an Aussie, have you ever heard of Our Lady's Catechists books? A dear friend of mine was a nun for 8 years or so (before Mother Superior told her she did not have a vocation) and she used Australian catechisms while teaching Catechism as a sister. They are beautiful, but my copies are falling into ruin as they must be 60-70 years old. There are three books in the series. They are "My First Confession", "First Communion", and "Confirmation". I'm curious if they have been reprinted in Australia? Ever heard of the order?

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Erin
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Posted: Aug 08 2006 at 6:23am \| IP Logged

Alice and Maddie,

I do have the 'Weight of the Mass' I think it the most beautiful Catholic picture book we own. The Miracle of St Nicholas would be my second choice.

Thank you Maddie for the info about the online course, I didn't know that. I've never heard of Our Lady's Catechists books, I'll follow up on that.

Elizabeth,

I think I've seen the Child's missal. sounds good.

Michelle and Maddie,

If you're interested I can post what we did at the end of each week. I think the plans prior to being done aren't the best as mine are often unrealistic

I'm happy to post here, although maybe I can work out how to take photos and could pm them to you, unless I can post them here.

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Maddie
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Posted: Aug 08 2006 at 7:33am \| IP Logged

Looking forward to seeing your plans, Erin. Thank you!

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jdostalik
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Posted: Aug 08 2006 at 7:37am \| IP Logged

Erin,

I don't think anyone mentioned one of my favorites--
The Mass Book for Children.

We've used this alot and my kids loved it. The authors have written two other books as well that are lovely...

Thank you for inspiring me to start a lapbook project on the Mass with my own little ones...

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Erin
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Posted: Aug 13 2006 at 3:29pm \| IP Logged

Jennifer,

I have seen the Mass Book for children. however it is very pricey over here so I didn't get it. Perhaps I should have given it a better look. Glad to have inspired you

Maddie,

My supplier followed up on Our Lady's Catechists Books, apparently they can be gotten from Canada, but the Confirmation one is out of print. I can ask for the address if anyone wants it.

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krygerzoo
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Posted: Aug 13 2006 at 4:32pm \| IP Logged

I love the King of the Golden City. You can get a beautiful audio tape of Simonetta reading the book from the St. Philomena Foundation. It is just so lovely!

I am also preparing my dear son who is 7 for the Holy Eucharist! He'll be my third kiddo to enjoy the Banquet with us!

Peace, Katherine
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momma to kiddos Ramsey Kenneth '05, Claire Louise '01, Collin Edward '99, Cassidy Grace '97, and missing my darling Kaden Michael (1994-2005) in Heaven

mary
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Posted: Aug 13 2006 at 4:55pm \| IP Logged

erin, i would love to see your plans/notebooks as well.

Maddie
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Posted: Aug 13 2006 at 6:40pm \| IP Logged

Thanks for the follow-up, Erin, I'd like the address. Sure hope it's the old ones I have as they need serious replacing

!

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Sarah in SC
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Posted: Aug 13 2006 at 7:43pm \| IP Logged

Elizabeth wrote:

This is a FABULOUS and beautiful book! You will love it!

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Erin
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Posted: Aug 13 2006 at 11:40pm \| IP Logged

threesilosfarm wrote:

Thanks for the follow-up, Erin, I'd like the address. Sure hope it's the old ones I have as they need serious replacing

Maddie

Here is the address. Hope you have success

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Erin
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Erin
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Posted: Aug 14 2006 at 12:53am \| IP Logged

As promised here is an outline of what we did for our first week. I thought it easier to post week by week. I allowed an hour and a half to two hours to cover the materials and for five children to notebook.

Now these plans could be easily added on to, including using the great resource suggestions here. However I only decided to do this unit two days before starting so had to use what resources we had. In fact this was probably better as usually I find we never use all of what I plan anyway, this time we are

Resources used in first week: Children's Bible (just use your favourite)
Sunday Missal
The Mass Explained to Childrenby Maria Montessori, this is a core book to my unit but if you had another treasure explaining the Mass in detail to children substitute it.
Come to the Mass by Sister Monica, publ in 1956. Similar information to Maria Montessori's book but condensed.
100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 1: Design and make a front cover titled Holy Mass.
The night before I did a search on google, type in sacrifice + Catholic Mass in images for some great pictures. I saved these in my photos for better clarity and had them printed and ready. You may well already have some holy cards suitable. My dc enhanced their picture/s with lace, ribbons and metallic markers. We used some beautiful sheets from Trademark Catholic Stationary

Day 2: Read from the Bible the stories of Abel, Abraham and Melchisedech's sacrifices to God. Discuss with the children why these were pleasing to God. What is a sacrifice and the need for one. Also what is needed for a sacrifice,
1. It must be a visible gift
2.It stands for the person offering the sacrifice.
3. It is offered to God.
4. It is offered on an altar.
5. The gift must become a victim by being changed or destroyed.
6. It is offered by a priest chosen by God.
We also discussed the pre-figurement of Abraham's sacrifice to Christ's own sacrifice. We also discussed the continuation of Jewsih traditions in our liturgy. And how Melchisedech was the first to offer bread and wine as a sacrifice.

Once again the night before I had searched for images this time on 'Abel + sacrifice' etc. It all goes so much smoother having it all prepared (wonder why it took me so long to work this out

) The younger children then chose which of the three was their favourite story and pasted and decorated that picture. Dd13, typed a narration of Abraham's sacrifice to accompany her picture. Ds11, copied the paragraph from the Sunday missal in the Mass proper 'Look with favour on these offerings and accept them as once you accepted the gifts of your servant Abel, the sacrifice of Abraham our father in faith and the bread and wine offered by your priest Melchisedech.' Ds chose to trace a picture of Abel's sacrifice. Ds9 wrote one sentence summing up his chosen story complete with picture

Day 3:Read about the Last Supper and the sacrifice of Jesus.
We then discussed how Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, for the perfect sacrifice both the giver and the gift must be perfect. We talked aobut original sin and Adam and Eve. We discussed how on Holy Thursday Jesus gave his apostles the power to do what He had done. I also wanted the children to understand the difference between the bloody sacrifice of Calvary and the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass. Much of this we have covered over the years but it is always good to refresh and often some of it is new to the younger ones.

I had printed out images of the cruxifixion the night before and also had a number of holy cards suitable. The children pasted their choices accompanied by short statements relating to the sacrifice of Christ and the Mass.

We also covered the four purposes of prayer at Mass,
To Adore Him, To Thank Him, To Make up for our Sins, and to Ask Him for the Help we need. Dc wrote these out with some lovely pictures of prayer hands.

Day 4:Next we looked at what is neccessary in preparing physically for the Mass.
Maria Montessori's book was invaluable for its information. Only a little bit was not applicable in the Novus Ordo, however we discussed the other anyway as the childen do attend a Latin Mass yearly.

We read about the Altar of Sacrifice, an Altar Stone, Altar Cloths, a crucifix, a tabernacle, the sanctuary lamp, candles, missal, altar steps, bell, credence table and the cruets. I wanted the childen to know the names and their symbolic meanings. For example the three altar steps are for the three virtues Faith, Hope and Cahrity, and also symbolize Christ's walk to Calvary. Most objects they already knew it was interesting to see how much they had noted.

I copied a page from the 'Come to Mass' book which had a picture of the altar with all the above objects on it. These were lablelled and explainations were at the bottom of the page. Perhaps you may have a book with something similar or an internet search may be successful

This page they laid out according to their various preferences and made attractive.

Day 5: The Sacred Vessels.
Once again Maria's book is more than adequate.

(Can you tell I am impressed with this book?)
We read descriptions and uses of the Chalice, Paten, Purificator, Pall, Corporal,Burse, Ciborium and the Chalice Veil. Although dc don't see the Chalice Veil

I still discussed it.

Similar to the day before we pasted pictures of the sacred vessels and their names and descriptions. It was interesting to see the various ways dc did this.

Photos to follow.

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cathhomeschool
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Posted: Aug 14 2006 at 9:39am \| IP Logged

Here are the beautiful photos that Erin mentions. Erin, thank you for sharing the plans and pictures. They are so inspiring!

-- dd 5yo --

-- ds 7yo --

-- ds 9yo --

-- ds 11yo --

-- dd 13yo --

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