CATECHESI DEL BUON PASTORE Consiglio Internazionale. Foglietto N. 12, September 2008

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1 CATECHESI DEL BUON PASTORE Consiglio Internazionale Foglietto N. 12, September 2008 There are so many beautiful news items and contributions that we cannot resist the urge to send them without waiting longer. So here, immediately, is Foglietto N. 12. The first gift is from Alessandra Bonetti; it came on March 29. During the last meeting of the Consiglio Internazionale we had asked her to write something about the smallest children, the piccolissimi. She is very obedient and sent us Part One. (So there will be more.) In the meantime let s enjoy and learn. I wish to correct what I had said in the previous Foglietto: The Catechesis was introduced in Panama by Herminia Wasserzug who gave the first course in June As Alessandra says in her writing: Herminia couldn t go on with the courses because of the great distance between Panama and Argentina, and called Alessandra. CATECHESIS TO THE SMALLEST I have been asked to write about the catechesis of the children from 18 months to 3 years of age. It is not easy to talk about this subject. I really don t know where to begin, so I will start by telling briefly about my own experience, the experience that has helped me to go deeper into the subject and to be able to say: God wishes to manifest Himself to children from a really early age. All that is needed is to be at hand, believe, prepare oneself, and above all learn how to see and enter into the mystery of the smallest child, the TEACHER. I have the good fortune of being a Montessori directress that, we could say, came out of the hands of Adele Costa Gnocchi, and then to have met Sofia Cavalletti and been part of the First Course of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in 1961, and again in , and always to have been in contact with this reality since that time. I have worked for almost 30 years with children from 0 to 3 years in Montessori environments. This has allowed me to discover the deep richness of this age, an age extremely rich, rich in everything. I have been able to see this richness through the Montessori training for working with children 0 to 3. I am also a Montessorian who is religious. (Not every Montessorian is!) So I have been trying for many years to find the means to satisfy the spiritual and religious needs that I found in the small children that were entrusted to my care. It has been a long work of research, trials, suffering, loneliness, and misunderstandings, but also of joyful experiences and of great professional, spiritual, and religious enrichment. Certainly the smallest have enriched me so much! My research is not yet finished, although now I need the help of other persons who believe, investigate, and give of themselves to help the smallest find their deepest nourishment. I think that I have consumed Sofia Cavalletti s book, The Religious Potential of the Child, not only by reading and study, but also in my verifying that what Sofia mentions also happened to me with my children, even if they were younger. Page 1 of 8

2 With all the knowledge of the human being that this work gave me, I have been able, at a certain point, to say to my colleagues and to the children s parents, who were the greatest obstacle to my work (because they said I had to respect their religious beliefs), that the RELIGIOUS NEED OF THE CHILD is a sensitive period, as all the other ones, that the child has to live in order to be formed, and without which the child would miss a very important part of his formation. I can say that this has needed a great amount of work, a lot of study, lots of patience not many failures with the children, maybe none. Finally, I was so certain of my point that I had no fear to speak (and I still don t have it now), even in highly cultured environments, of this sensitive period of human beings. This is the beginning. Now I have to convince those who would like to try that without the knowledge of the child of this age, of all his needs and capacities, one does not go far. We are before a world of which we still know very little and to which very little credit and study is given in order to understand, to know where and how adult intervention might be needed. Recently I had a short experience with a group of the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa. They had taken a 15-day course of Level I of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in January I met them again in December They had had a brief experience in a newborn atrium. In almost all of them was the joy of discovery, of the first days of work, of the experiences, of doubts but from the second day, I realized that all or most of their problems were related to their poor knowledge of the human being at this age or a little older. It was not easy they all wanted to know more about the materials and how to present them to the children to convince them to take a step backwards and to return to try to go deeper into the knowledge of the child. The story of Maria Montessori, in one of her last courses, came constantly to my mind. She said, pointing out her finger, Look at the child and all looked at her finger. And the child? The sisters left with this homework for the next months, until we met again: Work on the knowledge of the child, not so much on your books. Look at the children with new eyes, with the small or great techniques that we have learned. Gain experience in this sense, looking at them, knowing them! I think I tired them with my insistence on this because their great worry was to measure everything, copy what could be copied on the material but maybe not. I hope they had also listened to me. It is of great importance to know who is before us. Who is this small child? What does he need? What is his need or his greatest desire? Let us change the subject. I believe, because of my experience, that we cannot think of giving the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to children 18 months old, or very small, without giving them also the possibility to satisfy the other great needs typical of this age. Because of this experience, I say, and feel certain about it, that we cannot ONLY take them to the atrium. It is also necessary to give these little ones the possibility to build themselves on the human level. My experience in several Italian Montessori environments, and now in the Montessori Center of Spirituality-Atrium of the Good Shepherd in Panama, is to offer to the tiny child all the Montessori activities that help the whole of human development and, with them, the religious announcement as an essential part of the program. Page 2 of 8

3 We can do this in Panama, three consecutive days a week in the mornings, and this is enough to allow the small child s integral construction and to take him to the listening and to the Announcements that are inserted during the life of each day. This reality has been happening for three years already and is a very great and joyous success. THE KNOWLEDGE OF ONESELF At this age, the small child doesn t own himself and does not really know who he is. He attempts to express his personality and to show what he is already capable of doing, but he must still build much his movements, language, and order (orientation). The child must accomplish a very great work. He needs the help of Intelligent Love and the possibility to himself become the judge of his conquests. He needs an adequately prepared environment, where he can freely make his own experiences and also prepared adults that can help him with this. In this environment is the corner of the Announcements, with the picture of Jesus and the children, a small table with the tablecloth of the liturgical color of the season, a candle, and flowers. The children notice immediately that this is not a material that they can use as the rest of the materials, and look at it and ask themselves about it. They wait and quite soon they receive an explanation, during a session that will reveal to them the hidden secret. The preparation for this meeting is extremely important. The catechist prepares the chairs in a semicircle and calls the children to come and sit there. It is good from the first sessions to allow some time for the children to sit properly and, with very, very few words, show above all how we must sit. I open a parenthesis: at this age, the child generally sits on the edge of the chair. This is not the correct position; it is the one that spontaneously comes to him. We must show him how to sit with his whole body and to rest his back on the back of the chair with his spine straight. It is the only way in which we can be sure that oxygen will arrive to his brain and will allow a correct listening. It is also important that their hands rest on their knees and, last of all, we ask the small child to look at the eyes of the catechist. (These are the essential things, but the process is long.) Then the catechist turns her eyes to meet each of the children s eyes, and tries to have them do the same. (This does not happen with all the children the first time.) Then she invites the children to listen because she wants to tell them something very beautiful. In the preparation of the listening it is important for the catechist to be in contact with each child. She must be the one to find the best way to be in relation, so that each child will feel himself or herself the one, the object of her attention and love. She can say the name of each child so that he or she will identify him or herself and be known by the others. She can get up and help each child to be more comfortable, caress his head or shoulder softly, say some words very, very few to reassure them, if needed. This preparation time is not superfluous at all. It is most important and it doesn t matter if it takes some time, as long as we think the children can take it. Besides all we said above, there is the awareness of our own breathing: how we breathe, how our heart beats, how air enters and leaves our lungs, nose, and mouth. Being attentive to this, helps the child to be aware of himself this is already happening on other levels and in this present moment gives him a new awareness of which he is normally not conscious. After some of these times of preparation, we can notice changes in some children and realize how each child really is. Page 3 of 8

4 It will be very possible and we must not be frightened if it happens that during the first meetings the children will not respond at all, or even act opposite to what is being said. It does not matter. We can sing generally singing attracts attention and then we can finish the session. Sometimes there are children who do not wish to participate. We must not force them to come. We allow them to go on with their work, but it is important that they don t disturb the group. Unexpectedly we will see the child come and sit on the edge of his chair and listen. Experience has shown me that, without the time of preparation, the children will not listen to me, there will be no peace in them, there will be no active participation; instead I will see the children moving on their chair, bored and annoying. We cannot think either that the preparation will lead to a perfect body behavior during the whole meeting. It is important to have it so that the meeting will begin with the correct position, then the child will find his own. His attention will show us that he has found it. At this age, each meeting normally lasts 10 to 15 minutes, not more. At the point of deep listening, sometimes it lasts longer. The subject may lead to a longer listening. This happens little by little after months of catechesis with the little ones. The preparation of the catechist is essential: what she will say, how she will say it, how long it will take. An extra word tires or confuses the small children; a word less and the children won t understand. It will be them who will show us whether we are doing well. The whole environment, prepared for the child s self construction, is of great help for this preparation. This is why I say that, at this age, we cannot offer the Catechesis exclusively. The Montessori line drawn on the floor is very important. The children use it for their movement exercises: walk, jump, run, carry objects... it is an indirect preparation that bears fruit in due time. Another most important aspect is the attitude of the catechist: how she lives this relation with the children, how she prepares herself for it, how she invites them. Her attitude, if spontaneous, joyful, natural, and sincere makes the child feel the love of the person that invites him and the child responds to it positively or not. The catechist must believe in the importance of the preparation, of the knowledge of the human being at this age, of his deep needs, and that one of these deeper needs is to have the Love of Jesus transmitted to him. She must know that what she wishes to transmit she must have herself. I am not referring only to the content of the announcement, but also how she moves, sits, talks, sings and listens FIRST ATTEMPT It is so difficult to write on what has been the research of many years of work with small children from 18 months to 3 years of age. I will begin by telling an episode that happened in the Atrium of the Good Shepherd in Panama in December We have called the atrium of the smallest the pre-atrium because we didn t know what to call it. At the last meeting of the Consiglio Internazionale, it was decided to call it: Catechesis of the Smallest, while waiting to find a really suitable name. Most probably the children will help with this, because they are the teachers. This atrium, born in 1994, is the work of Herminia Wasserzug and has been growing since then. In March 2001 the Center of Montessori Spirituality-Atrium of the Good Shepherd was inaugurated. It is a big building that includes three atria for Level I and II. There are other rooms meeting rooms, study, kitchen, etc. Page 4 of 8

5 Because of my concern to have an atrium that could satisfy the needs of the smallest, I had two other rooms built in a very short time. They were connected to the other building, using a small piece of land that we had. We could begin the work with the smallest in autumn of I first had to prepare the persons who would work with the children: Eufemia, Edith, and Milka. I could personally show them how to be with the smallest children only for very short periods of time because it is very difficult for me to sit on tiny chairs. I helped Eufemia especially because she already had more experience with the work in the atrium and in Montessori pedagogy. It was she, with the help of Edith, Maribel, and other catechists, that would develop this work. But let s go to the episode I was going to talk about. It was November and the children had already seen some of the infancy of Jesus presentations. They had heard about the birth of Jesus and this time they were going to listen to the adoration of the shepherds. Eufemia had to leave unexpectedly. It was necessary to give this presentation because it was Wednesday, the last day in which the children come to the atrium. Eufemia knows this is a meeting day for other catechists, so she goes to find Massimina and Minerva, and asks Minerva to go to take her place with the tiny children. Minerva does not feel ready to do this, but you cannot say no to Massimina, and the children are already waiting. Minerva is very tense; she is almost frightened. These smallest ones make her feel very insecure and she does not know how to deal with them although she is the catechist of Level I. She goes. Both Minerva and Massimina had had some doubts regarding the catechesis of the smallest children. They had not gone to see and sometimes not even listened to what Eufemia told. Imagine now going and taking her place but they both go. They are immediately astonished by the attitude of the children, how they could remain seated, and their longing to listen, even if Eufemia was not there, and these women were totally new to them. They were all ready and Minerva gave the presentation. After that they sang then they remained there and did not know what to do or say, but the children did not move. Minerva said: Would we like to say something to Jesus who is born and who the shepherds went to visit? Isabel says: I love you, Jesus. Another one crosses his hands on his chest and says: He loves me. Another one says, He is my friend. Another one: He is my friend and the friend of my mother. Another one begins to sing a song and another one gets up and dances. Others sing, all sing, and again, He loves my father, He loves my grandmother and me He is my friend. Massimina and Minerva are overwhelmed. It is like they are suffocating, they feel such a presence of the supernatural and such a spontaneity and joy in the words of the children that they are certain of being before something unexpected, great, new. Even though they had been with children 3-4 years old, they had not seen such a spontaneous reaction. They are ready to talk about it to everyone and as often as they can. This year we have, for the first time, a group of 15 3-year-old children, 10 from the experience of the Atrium of the Smallest. Reina is the catechist. She shows them the atrium and some materials and then they sit at the prayer corner. Reina welcomes each child, repeats the name of each one and then takes the picture of Jesus with the children and says: Let s look here. Who can this person be that stretches his arms and. Isabel, who has been in the preatrium for two years, says He is the Good Shepherd. Page 5 of 8

6 Reina is astonished and marveled; in her experience children don t discover that Jesus is the Good Shepherd until they are around 4 years old, and never from the picture. She tells the other catechists about this, and they remain for some time reflecting on the capacity of the smallest to arrive to this synthesis. Their marvel continues. FROM VIA DEGLI ORSINI Here is the meditation that took place in the atrium of Via degli Orsini with children 8-9 years old on the parable of the workers called to the vineyard (Matthew 20). I find it especially interesting to notice how the children meditate on the sacred reading, interpreting the scripture with the scripture. All their language is biblical! After reading the scripture, with no introduction (I only explained v. 3, saying that the workers were on the street waiting for someone to give them work), the children, who had listened to the parable with great attention, immediately expressed great indignation regarding the behavior of the Owner of the vineyard: - He is unjust. - He is bad. I remarked that Jesus had said that the kingdom of heaven is similar and that maybe they needed to understand better. Each one opened his Gospel and, as we read the parable again, we presented the material. One child, T., practically led the meditation: T.: I think that the Owner is God, because when He created, He created one thing on the first day, another on the second day, another on the third day here it says that He went out at one hour, then at another, then at another. The owner is God!! (We had meditated on the accounts of creation in October.) B. (child): It is not possible; it is unjust. B.: But if there is the kingdom, it is God s. Me: If God is the Owner, who could the workers be? Almost all: We are the workers. Me: And what is working in the vineyard? T.: Using the arms of light forgive, love your neighbors. (We had worked during Lent on the arms of light. ) Me: What do you think, do you agree? B.: Yes, because the work is to use the arms of light. Yes, the arms of light are the work and to use them is exhausting. B.: But the worker who was called first did not use an arm. Me: Which one? B.: Don t look at the speck in your neighbor s eye, because he was looking at the one who had not worked at all! Page 6 of 8

7 Me: What can the coin, that the Owner gave all the workers, mean? B.: It cannot be a coin. T.: It is communion. Me: Could you explain more? T.: Or maybe it s the Holy Spirit, or maybe it s Resurrection. B.: Yes, because He gives it during the night. B.: Then the one who worked for only an hour is like one who is near death. Me: Jesus, on the cross, forgave one who had been a thief all his life, just because... B.: Because he said Remember me? B.: Jesus said to him that he was taking him to paradise. T.: The two thieves that were crucified with Jesus are those who injured the man in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Me: What do you think? What should the first worker have said? B.: He should have been glad. B.: But it is unjust. Me: What does the owner want? B.: That all work in the vineyard. B.: That is why he goes out so many times. Me: We should go on thinking. Let s go to work now. T. (while she gets up, carrying her chair): The first worker is wrong, because he has not even realized that working in the vineyard is already a great gift. Amen. Alleluia. A LETTER SENT TO SOFIA FROM JELICA, APRIL 10, 2008, FROM DAKOVO We were all sitting in a circle for prayer and a child (L.), 4 years old, said: In my room, where I sleep, I have made the atrium. I have a Good Shepherd and so many sheep that my mother has bought and there I remain for a long time. I also have the candle. I am afraid to light it. My mother lights it. My atrium is the most beautiful of all the rooms. Before going to sleep, I always ask my father to take the cross from the wall so that I may be able to kiss it. Page 7 of 8

8 A little girl (N.), 4 years old, says: I always chat with Maria of the Lord. She knows me; she is always with the Good Shepherd and always with me even when I sleep. I am afraid of nothing. He is with me. A boy (J.), 6 1/2 years old, was working with a girl on the Bible. Unexpectedly, he came near me, his face joyful, and said: Jelica, you are in God. I was very surprised and remained without words, then he went on: I am also in God and so is Maria (the girl who was working with him) and also all the thieves are with Him, because He is good... Then he went back to work. A small boy (P.), 4 years old, was working with the tomb. He asked us to read the Gospel for him. After the reading he said: They didn t find the body of Jesus, because he is risen. His body is like the precious pearl. A very beautiful and strange thing happened in the atrium during Lent. At the end of the time in the atrium, a child, 5 years old, asked Sister Domagoja (another catechist) to read The Found Sheep. When she finished, he asked her to read it again and again, up to 13 times. While Domagoja read the Word, he would get up and do lots of things. He would close the door that was open, picked small things from the floor and took them to the basket, put everything in perfect order. While he was doing these things, he did not allow Sister Domagoja to interrupt the reading because, he said: I listen. His face was so in peace and full of joy. FROM MARY MIRRIONE To finish, this news, too beautiful, troppo bella really, sent by Mary Mirrione. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd has arrived where it was meant to arrive. I was speaking yesterday with Sister Claire, one of the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx. She told me that on Good Shepherd Sunday a small group of the sisters took the Good Shepherd material into the prison there. She said that the prisoners, who are usually loud and often rude, sat in silence and in peace as the parable was presented. When it was finished they had a profound joy! It seems that even the most lost sheep can hear the voice of his Good Shepherd in the essentiality of our work. Alleluia! Alleluia! I also say to you: Alleluia, Alleluia. I send you a big hug. Francesca Translated by Maria Ludlow Page 8 of 8

CATECHESI DEL BUON PAST ORE

CATECHESI DEL BUON PAST ORE Consiglio Internazionale Foglietto N. 19, Spring 2010 Translator s Note: I have incorporated into this translation the most recent addition Francesca sent (February 12, 2010).