Lenten Activities At St. Martin’s

Lenten Activities at St. Martin’s School

Lent is a special time of prayer, fasting, and alms-giving at St. Martin’s School. As part of Lent, St. Martin’s School tries to help those who are in need through our Lenten food drive. Our goal is to collect more than 9,000 food items by Holy Thursday. This year not only will each class prepare for Lent in a special way, but also the entire school will do a Lenten Project. Each student will be making finger rosaries this Thursday and will have them blessed at the next school Mass on Thursday, March 19. We will then place the blessed finger rosaries in the church and food pantry for parishioners to take and to know that the student at St. Martin's are praying for them. Pre-K students will each choose a special Lenten sacrifice. Highlights include: helping to clean up the house; going to the store without a fuss; leaving the dog alone; not coloring on the walls; and not losing my parents’ keys anymore. We will also study the Stations of the Cross and have weekly Walking with Jesus Lenten reflections. The Kindergarten class will be charting their good deeds, giving prayers to God, being kind, and doing a Lenten sacrifice. The 1st grade students brainstormed a list of sacrifices (giving up something or doing something extra). Each school day a different student picks from the purple bag, and whatever the sacrifice is, they will all follow it for the day. The 2nd grade students will be discussing different sacrifices that they can each make during the Lenten season. They will also be learning about the Stations of the Cross, the Last Supper, and Passover. The 3rd grade students lead the school into Lent with the Bury the Alleluia on Shrove Tuesday. They will also take a Lenten journey with daily activities to enrich their Lent and learn about the Stations of the Cross. The 4th grade students will learn that Lent is a time of reflection, sacrifice, and prayer by reflecting on sacrifices that they can make during the season of Lent. They will also be reciting a decade of the rosary each class. The 5th grade students led the Ash Wednesday school Mass. They will reflect on five positive things that happened that day and stop negative comments and actions. They will do a Lenten service project that benefits the school community. The 6th and 7th grade will be creating (with the rest of the school) decade prayer beads. Students will be stringing 10 beads with a crucifix while saying a prayer. These will be left in baskets in church for people to pick up to carry. On each decade will be a card that says a prayer was said for you by a St. Martin student. The 8th grade students will be practicing for the Living Stations of the Cross and creating a reenactment of the Lord’s Passion that they will present to the school and parents. They will also keep a daily journal of the things they are grateful for and reflect upon all of them at the end of Lent.