Page 14 - Lessons and Activities on Prayer

3
the gLory Be (doxology)
Catechist background
e Glory be prayer was created in order to help people understand and express the truths of the catholic faith. it is comforting to know there is a short prayer that contains some very basic beliefs.
e phrase “Glory be to the Father, to the son, and to the holy spirit” was rst used around the year 300 to remind people that Jesus used these words when he taught the disciples to go out and baptize (Matthew 28:19). e prayer also focuses on the blessed Trinity; there are three divine per- sons in one God. each person in the Trinity has a speci c role. God the Father is the creator as well as the one who chooses us and calls us to be sons and daughters. God the son shows us God the Fa- ther, and redeems us by his death on the cross. God the holy spirit gives us new life and witnesses to God the son.
e next section of the prayer—“as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end”—came later. is phrase con rmed that there really are three persons in one God. e Glory be prayer is said at the end of each decade of the rosary.
ere are also longer versions of the Glory be prayer. if you look carefully at the Gloria found in the Mass, it has the same basic faith beliefs.
Prayer
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
glory Be LeSSon PLan 1
Objectives
□ To learn the Glory be prayer through making shamrock hats
□ To sequence the Glory be by putting phrases in order
materials
□ Paper for making a white band that will t around each child’s head
□ Green construction paper for making shamrocks
□ Shamrock template (page 16)
□ Black fine point markers
□ Phrases of the prayer handout run o on
cardstock, two pages per child
lesson
▪ Gather the students together. discuss the idea that the Glory be is a very short prayer that contains some of our basic beliefs as catholics. Talk about the mystery of the Trinity, three persons in one God: God the Father, God the son, and God the holy spirit. Tell how shamrocks are symbols that are sometimes used to illustrate the Trinity.
▪ explain that this prayer is used as we pray the rosary.
▪ display the words of the Glory be on the board or chart paper. Pray it with the children.
▪ use the template to make a Glory be hat. ▪ at the end of the class, send home the
parent letter along with the shamrock hats and the materials for the game “Pop.”
14
Twenty-Third Publications Sample