Lent Countdown and Intention Chain!

~by Veronica G

I'm just so excited about Lent this year. Its the first Lent that I haven't been pregnant or nursing in 4 years. The year before that, my husband had been hospitalized with C. Diff. The two years before that, I was doing active ministry. The year before that I had Malaria, and the year before that I was on a mission trip.

This is the first year, I get to choose what to sacrifice, or add.  More importantly, I get to share it with my children, the oldest of whom is just starting to understand the life and seasons of the Church.

I have a ton of plans to teach them about Lent, and here is the first great idea!  (note: while I like the idea of humility, I admit I'm not very good at it..... because my ideas (that God gives me) are just. so. great! )

Lent Countdown, and Intention Chain!

What you will need if you would like to do this too!

-a list of intentions, people to pray for, things to give up, and Lenten activities.
-lots of purple construction paper
-glue
-scissors
-tape
-stickers, glitter, markers, etc
-one sheet of another color of construction paper.

Weeks ago, I started making a list of intentions, sacrifices, people to pray for, causes, small devotions, activities with the kids, and bible stories that are integral to Lent.  I am making different ones for every day because 40 days is a long time for Children to focus on one thing. I know they will not be able to complete these intentions in full.  However, I can ask them to start a rosary with me, until they run away. I can ask them to say a prayer for the unborn, or their Godbrothers. The intentions also present challenges to me, like teaching them a new song using my guitar, or doing activities with them to help them understand Mass, or a Saint, or learn a new prayer. These are teaching intentions for me.

Today is Ash Wednesday. 

To welcome Lent, we started our activity right after (the kids had) breakfast. I think this was mainly an attempt on my part to not think about breakfast and the coffee I wasn't having as a small sacrifice for the day. However, now that I've talked about it, I'm reminded of today's scripture: Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father."  Man, Lent is tough! 

Here's what we did, and how we did it! 

We cut the purple paper into long strips, making 40 strips total. 

 This is a very Montessori - and therefore very Catholic idea! 

 Then the kids decorated the strips. 

Decorated Strips

 and then they got bored, so we went to Ash Wednesday Mass, and started again after nap time. 

We cut up the intentions and pasted them onto the purple strips. 

We chained the strips together into chains of SIX. (and one chain of 3 for the rest of this week)

Then we cut up the other paper into SIX strips, one for each SUNDAY of Lent.  

Sundays in Lent are days for rejoicing, but still part of Lent.  Our Sunday strips have challenges on them, but more joyful challenges - like "Love Each other", "Rejoice in God's Gifts", "Be Gentle", "Practice Humility", "Find Peace" and "Celebrate Family"

 Then the Blue Sunday strips were used to connect the purple weekday strips into one big long chain.  We hung it on the wall by the kitchen table. Every day we will take a link and accept whatever the challenge, prayer, or sacrifice is.

I also brought out two purple candles that we will light during mealtime, to remind us of the season. I actually have a plan for a candle holder, but alas, we've got to leave some things for the other 39 days (plus Sundays) in Lent!

God bless you as you travel on your Lenten journey.

May your sacrifices by joy-filled and lead you to more fully understand Christ's Passion.