Theme: Saint Patrick, Enlightener of Ireland
Mini-study on Saint Patrick and the Holy Trinity.
Feast day: 17th of March
Overview
For the Bookshelf
For the Toy Shelves
Saint Patrick Printables and Colouring Sheets
Outings
The Life of Saint Patrick
Introduction
Watch a fourteen-minute video, "Storytime with Presbytera: Saint Patrick", or in Gaelic a four-minute video, "Pàdraig Naomh".
Activity 1
Learn to sing the chorus of "Pàdraig Abstol, Alleluia!"
Activity 2
Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. Make twisty pipe-cleaner snakes. Put them all in one basket or tub, then roll a dice and count out that many snakes into a second basket or tub. Repeat until all the snakes are gone.
Lunch Snack
Literally any green food arranged like a three-leaf seamrag.
Activity 3
Make a Trinity shamrock craft, such as this one. You could display it on a background stamp-printed with three corks or a capsicum.
Activity 4
Watch a one-minute video: "Còig Criomagan Latha Fhèil Phàdraig".
The Holy Trinity
Introduction
Watch a four-minute video, "St. Patrick's Bad Analogies".
Activity 1
Make triangles, squares, and line segments from toothpicks and playdough. Use them to make 3D shapes. Which is the strongest? What does that tell us about the Holy Trinity?
Activity 2
Make nine large equilateral triangles (skewers, out of cardboard, etc) and colour each corner: red, blue, and yellow. Try to put all these triangles into one large triangle. Then, try to make sure that each corner where the triangles meet has one of each colour.
Lunch Snack
Make triangle food.
Activity 3
Make a trinity knot stained-glass suncatcher or a triskelion knot.
Activity 4
Learn the "Trinity Song" to the tune of Frère Jacques:
God the Father, God the Father,
God the Son, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit,
Three in One, Three in One.
The Sign of the Cross
Introduction
Watch a six-minute video from Rocko's Music Factory: "The Sign of the Cross".
Activity 1
Read through Part 8 of St. Patrick's Breastplate:
Crìosda leam / Christ with me
Crìosda romham / Christ before me
Crìosda na mo dhèidh / Christ behind me
Crìosda annam / Christ within me
Crìosda fodham / Christ beneath me
Crìosda tharam / Christ above me
Crìosda air deas orm / Christ at my right
Crìosda air tuath orm / Christ at my left
Then, taking an icon of Christ, act it out: move the icon in front of, behind, to the left to the right, et cetera, as you read out the poem. For "Christ within me", do not swallow the icon; hold it between arms and chest, or bend over around it.
Activity 2
Practice making the sign of the cross. Make sure to imagine it as two lines across your body, rather than four points.
Discuss and practice the hand shape: three fingers for the Trinity and two pointing down for Christ's two natures. Really, making the sign of the cross is like a mini version of Patrick's Verse 8.
Lunch Snack
.
Activity 3
Make a Sign of the Cross pop-stick necklace, with numbers to remind you which order to make the points in. Wear it on your chest like a pectoral cross - or like St. Patrick's breast-plate.
Activity 4
Learn to sing "Dia air mo chulaibh" to the tune of "Be thou my vision".
