March 15, 2022; class # 23 (Luke 9:28b-36)
Simon Peter, John, and James experienced a vision of
Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah. (The
Transfiguration.) CLICK for this lesson at YouTube.
Let’s begin with the Sign of
the Cross:
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of your
faithful. Light the fire of your love in them.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created,
and you will renew the face of the earth. We ask
this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day: Saint
Louise de Marillac.
March 15th is the feast day for Saint Louise de Marillac.
Saint Louise was born in 1591 in France. That’s 431
years ago. She married and had a son. Twelve years after
she was married, her husband died. After her husband
died, she began helping Saint Vincent de Paul, organizing
women to help the sick, the poor, and the neglected. The
women were called "Daughters of Charity." Saint
Louise is the patron saint of social workers. Saint
Louise taught people, “Love the poor and honor them
as you would honor Christ Himself.”
This coloring sheet shows St. Louise (on the left). On
the right is St. Louise with one of the Daughters of
Charity. The Daughters of Charity wore large white hats
that looked like wings or butterflies.
Liturgical Calendar: We are in the season of Lent now. Wherever you
were at Mass on Sunday, the priest was wearing a purple
chasuble. Lent is the time before Easter. It is one of
the two purple seasons of the Church calendar. This is
Father Giese at Mass on Sunday:
GOSPEL: At Mass this
weekend, the Gospel reading was from the Gospel of Luke.
The story is called “The Transfiguration of
Christ.” Every year on the 2nd Sunday of the season
of Lent, the Gospel reading is the story of the
Transfiguration of Christ.
Jesus took
Peter, James, and John with Him to pray at the
top of a mountain.
Awakening
from sleep, Peter, James, and John had a vision:
They saw Jesus praying. His face changed, and His
clothes became as bright as a flash of
lightening.
Moses and
Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus.
A voice came from a cloud. It said, "This is My Son, whom I have chosen.
Listen to Him."
ASK:
What do you think?
QUIZ: This quiz was made by people
in England who work at teaching children the same as we
work at teaching you. All around the world, little
Catholic children are being taught the same lesson this
week. If you do not know an answer, look back in your
children's bulletin, and you can find the answer. Transfiguration quiz.
ART: Many artists have
depicted the Transfiguration of Jesus. Below are images
of some of those works of art. If you click a picture,
you will see a much larger version. For some of the
pictures, you can click on the larger version and see an
even LARGER version.
The first is a mosaic. It was made in
about 565, a little more than 500 years
after Jesus was crucified. A mosaic is a picture that is
made by putting little pieces of tile together to make
the picture. This is in the ceiling of the Monastery of
Saint Catherine, at Mount Sinai, in Egypt. It is in a
part of the ceiling that is curved, like a dome. The
artist represented Jesus as the light of the world:
Here is a second image of
that mosaic. You can better see the location of the
mosaic in the ceiling:
The next is a painting. It was made sometime in the 1100s,
about 900 years ago. It also is in Saint Catherine's
Monastery, at Mount Sinai, in Egypt. It appears to be a
fresco, painted directly onto a wall:
The next painting was made in about 1300,
a little over 700 years ago, by the artist named Duccio. It is about 18 inches by 18 inches -- about a
foot-and-a-half square:
The painting is called "The
Transfiguration." It is part of the large piece of
art called "Maestą."
We have looked at other paintings that the artist Duccio
made for the Maestą. Together, the paintings
told the story of Jesus' life. Last week, we looked at
this artist's painting about the Temptation of Christ,
when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days and the devil
tried to tempt Jesus. Earlier, we looked at this artist's
painting that shows when Jesus called Andrew and his
brother Simon Peter to be Apostles, to be fishers of men.
All three paintings are in the bottom row of paintings on
the backside of the Maestą. The painting of the
Transfiguration is the 2nd from the right, below:
The Maestą was made to be put
on an altar inside a huge church building in Italy. The
piece of art had two sides, and it had different
paintings on each side. (Side 1.) (Side 2.) The
art piece was inside the church for about 450 years.
Then, it was cut into pieces, leaving many individual
paintings, and the individual paintings are now all over
world. The Transfiguration painting is in an art gallery
in London, England.
The next art was created in 1403, by the
artist Theophanes the Greek. The artist painted on wood. The piece is
six-feet high and about four-and-a-half feet wide. It is
in an art gallery in Moscow, Russia:
The next painting was made in 1487, by Giovanni Bellini. The artist used oil paint on wood. The
painting is in a museum in Naples, Italy. The painting is
almost four feet high and five feet wide:
Next is a painting by Raphael. He worked on the painting until he died in 1520,
five-hundred years ago. It was his final work. It is
painted on wood. It is more than 13 feet high and nine
feet wide. It is in an art gallery in the Vatican City.
The painting shows the Transfiguration of Jesus at the
top. Below that depiction is a depiction of the next
episode from the Gospels (Luke 9:37-43) -- a father begging Jesus to heal his son, who
is possessed by a demon:
The next painting is by Peter Paul Rubens. It was painted in 1605. It is
oil paint on canvas. It is 22 feet wide and over 13 feet
high. It is in a museum in France, in the city of Nancy.
Like Raphael's painting of the Transfiguration, this
painting also has a scene below the scene of the
Transfiguration:
The next painting is by James Tissot. He painted this in
about 1890. It is watercolor over a
pencil drawing on gray paper. It's about nine inches high
and about six inches wide. It is at a museum in Brooklyn,
New York:
SNACK: Remember our
prayer before meals?
Bless us, O Lord, and these gifts that we are about to
receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen. [Girl
Scout cookies & juice]
CRAFT: The
Transfiguration. Click on the image to download
and print:
Step # 1: Inner portion was cut-out in advance of class.
(Blue paper is showing behind the cut-out portion.)
Step # 2: Children used colors of their choice to show
rays of sunlight. (Crayons.)
Step # 3: After children colored as they wish, clear
contact paper was put on the front and on the back. Then,
the children cut around the outer black oval. The
sun-catchers can be taped to a window or hung at a
window, thusly:
CLOSING PRAYERS: Time
to say goodbye. :-) We'll begin with the Our Father.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy
Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Saint Michael the Archangel, please defend us in
battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and
snares of the devil.
May God rebuke the devil, we humbly pray.
And do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by
the Power of God, cast into hell Satan and all
the evil spirits,
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of
souls. Amen.
