Why attend CGS formation? Here’s what previous participants have to say…

“I did Level 1, Part 1 of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in early 2023. It was an amazing experience that has enriched my faith and has now become a way to pass on our faith to the next generation. I would recommend it to anyone keen on helping youngsters find their spirituality and meditative space in the Lord.”

A parishioner and grandmother

“Being part of the formation training has impacted my classroom RE teaching and learning in subtle but powerful ways. It helped me to see how going slower and deeper impacts on children’s understanding. I really appreciated the engagement and richness of the “hand-on” aspect of Atrium and have blended this into my teaching. Within my classroom I have set up a mini Atrium which the children (2 at a time) use as a calm, reflective space. Formation also helped me gain further understanding and knowledge of Catholic liturgical practices.”

A teacher in a Catholic school

“Picture your very own Monastery…but one that children can go to. Where the Holy Spirit works, guides, loves and teaches through the many presentations of the CGS. You will enjoy learning more about your Catholic Faith and be inspired to grow your own relationship with God alongside the many children you will meet through this work.

“I have the privilege of journeying alongside children at a Catholic Primary School and am constantly touched and amazed with how The Holy Spirit touches the hearts of these children and mine as well. 

“The CGS will equip you with the knowledge you need to deliver presentations so that you will have the confidence to put everything into practice…and over time it will come naturally to you. Furthermore, you will have ongoing support.”

A volunteer in a school atrium

“Going for the formation has changed the trajectory of my faith as a young person. It has deepened my relationship with God, as the course fully covers the theology behind the catechism. The theory within it, is complemented by the practical aspect, by showing the presentation and linking it back to the teaching. This is a course that cannot be missed and will bring your faith to a different perspective. This is something that cannot be missed.”

A uni student

“I feel so blessed to attend the formation course level 1 of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in early this year.

“To be honest I just feel like a child going to the Atrium rather than attending a training to become a catechist. I really enjoyed the presentations. They touched deep inside my heart. 

“I also find making materials was also very useful. I love it.

“The leaders and the supporting team are very enthusiastic and helpful. The course was well organised. I like how the albums pages were assigned to each group and checked by the trainers so by the end of the course we could be able to complete all the album pages.

“Overall, I had a great experience attending this course.“

A mum and Montessorian

“The formation course was the start of a journey I truly wasn’t expecting. It was a clear call to action that rocked me to the core. In the Atrium, our children’s stillness and soulful connection with God is awe-some.”

A parishioner interested in CG

“My name is Coradel, I am Catholic by birth.

“The CGS level one course had deepened my understanding about my faith. I was able to experience the gift of the Montessori way of teaching children about our Catholic faith. The Education to wonder is my favourite part because it is limitless and very powerful when reading the Bible and living our everyday life.“

A parishioner and mother

“The course was of course very helpful in working with the children in the atrium, but it was also good for my own faith and life outside of the atrium as well.  In the world with the internet at our fingertips we don’t often take the time to wonder, we can easily find answers to things we want to know.  This formation helps you step away from that, to reflect, to learn to ponder God’s mysteries and to share that with others.  It made me realise it’s good to not have all the answers, it’s good that God doesn’t tell us everything about himself, the joy of discovery and wonder are great gifts to us.  It has helped me as an adult to ponder and explore, affecting the way I view the world around me, and the way I share my faith with others, both children and adults.”  

An assistant in an atrium

“I first attended CGS formation 9 years ago and was blown away from the first presentation. CGS not only presents the essentials of the faith to children in a way they can grasp, it helps us adults become more childlike in our faith and encounter God in a new, deeper way. Having seen how CGS has impacted my children and the other children I work with in the atrium, I believe everyone in any way connected with Catholic children should attend CGS formation so they can understand and support their religious needs more fully.”

A CGS catechist

What is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd?

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a religious education programme rooted in Scripture and liturgy. It was developed over many years of observation of how children of different ages responded to different religious themes.

What we do

Catechists are formed in an understanding of the general and religious development of children, in observation, and in how to prepare the special place where Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is carried out – the atrium – so that they can learn from the children which “face of God” the children need to be shown.

Children are then given presentations which meet the observed needs, individually or in small groups, using tactile materials. The catechist uses only enough words to convey the essence of what the materials represent, and invite children to ponder with them the great mysteries of our Faith. The children are then free to respond to what they have heard and experienced, by working with the materials themselves, through free art expression, through prayer at the prayer table, or whatever other way they are directed by their “inner teacher” (the Holy Spirit).

The materials

CGS atria are arranged with the materials in topic areas such as Biblical geography, Baptism, Parables of the Kingdom of God, and the Paschal Mysteries. Ideally, there are separate atria for different age groups: ages 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12. There are also some toddler atria for children as young as 18 months. All materials are available for the children to work with once they have been shown what they are for; they may use them for as long as they hold their interest, carefully replacing them ready for someone else to use when they are done.

The young child – ages 3 to 6

In the Level I atrium, catering for children around 3 through to 6, most presentations are given to the children individually. In this age group, the children are especially attuned to relationship, so the nurturing of their relationship with God, their Father, is a large focus of the work with the children. The parable of the Good Shepherd provides rich imagery of God’s unconditional love for us and has been observed to be deeply meaningful to children in this age group. It is ideal to start this formation no later than 4 years old, to give the child time to really develop his or her relationship with God before the reasoning mind takes over and there is a danger that the religious experience can be one based on rules, rather than on love.

6-9 year-olds

The Level II atrium, for children around 6 through to 9, caters particularly for this developing sense of morality, building on what was experienced in Level I and helping the child start to respond to God’s great love by loving, in a concrete way, in return. Moral parables such as the Good Samaritan pose to the child the question, “How do I love God and others?” This child at around 7 or 8 also becomes ready to regularly experience the love and mercy of God through the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation.

CGS at St Pius X, Melville

The atrium at St Pius X is able to cater for children from 3 years until around 9 or 10. We would love for new children to be able to experience the joy of being in a place especially prepared for them to encounter God in a way that meets their particular needs. Contact us to find out more.

Could you be called to help?

We need adults to join our very small team of catechists so that we can welcome even more children to our atrium. Formation as a catechist is transformative. It also requires a humility that lets us stand back from what we think we know and let the child, through our observation, show us what is needed. Assistants to the catechists are also an essential part of the atrium: full formation is not required for this, though a small amount is required to understand the role – this would be provided at St Pius.

For more information, visit cgsusa.org, cgsaust.org.au, or listen to this podcast. The guiding principles for catechists in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Christchurch Atrium

Watch this video from an atrium in Christchurch, New Zealand, to get a feel for what we offer.

Upcoming training in New Zealand

We are currently looking at organising more training in New Zealand. If you are interested in training or know someone who is, please fill in this questionnaire to help us determine how best to meeting formation needs.

The youngest trainee from our first training, who mostly behaved appropriately, but didn’t pay all that much attention. She’s now 5 and loves the atrium 🙂

 

Fundraising raffle

As our next lot of training approaches, it’s time for a spot of fundraising to make sure we can pay for it! This won’t just benefit our atrium – it’ll also help us subsidise trainees who can’t afford to pay for themselves and aren’t being sponsored by their parish/school.

We are running a raffle with some pretty sweet prizes (pretty sure it’s not just us that’ll think that!) and would LOVE your support. You can also just donate a small amount if you’d prefer.

Follow this link or fill in the form below to buy tickets and share with anyone who likes free stuff and/or would want to support CGS.

Here are details on the 8 prizes. Please note that a couple are only available within Hamilton, but these can be gifted to friends/family if the winner doesn’t live here, or donated to someone in our parish who needs a helping hand!

Thank you for your support!

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Kete article – how we started

I haven’t figured out how to insert the Kete Korero (Hamilton Diocese magazine) in here, but we had an article in there last issue. Below is the text.

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St Pius X Parish, Hamilton

Last year while Fr Gerard was walking across Spain, a lovely Jesuit priest from Australia looked after St Pius X parish for a few weeks. I was talking to him one day after Mass, and mentioned that my boys were at a Montessori preschool. He asked if I’d ever heard about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I hadn’t.

Google to the rescue.

I was blown away by what I found.

Over the year my eldest son had been at Montessori, I had come to really appreciate the distinctive nature of Montessori education. I loved that it was based on years of observation by Maria Montessori of how children learn and what they are capable of. I loved that this observation continued in the classroom and each child was respectfully treated as an individual person with individual needs and capabilities. I loved that the children could work, learn, and see to their physical needs independently (yes! from age three and even younger) because the environment was set up perfectly to allow that. I loved the three year age groupings, chosen according the planes of development the children were in and allowing them to learn from and teach each other. I loved the order and serenity of the classroom. I loved that the children learnt not just maths and language and geography, but grace and courtesy and practical life skills too. Basically I loved it all and considered it to be a beautiful method of enabling the human person to flourish on (almost) all levels from a very young age.

There was, however one area of learning where it was up to my husband and me alone, with no help from the school: the Faith. This was something that was not going smoothly with our 2 and 4 year olds. They weren’t the type to like to join in things and got self conscious (or just silly) during Mass and prayer times. Picture books were some use, but limited. Trying to explain abstract concepts was futile since their brains were not yet capable of abstraction. When I discovered Catechesis of the Good Shepherd I knew I had finally found the answer to helping young children form a relationship with God and I wondered if we would ever have access to it.

I went back to google. I searched for atria in Hamilton. Unsurprisingly, nothing. I couldn’t find much else in New Zealand either (I’ve since learned of more but they were not easy to find!). Then I had a conversation with two mums who were also planning on sending their children to our Montessori preschool and they mentioned there was an atrium at St Mary’s in Tauranga, and how wonderful would it be for us to have access to one too.

At this stage we had no plans to set up an atrium, but I wanted to know more. I searched for books on the topic and found “The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd in a Parish Setting” on fishpond.co.nz for $5. In January of 2014 I went away for a week, read the book and did a lot of praying, and came home convinced we needed to start the Catechesis in our parish. I just had no idea how.

To set up an atrium, one needs to attend officially sanctioned training and get a manual with all the instructions on how to make what. It is possible to start without doing this, but it would be very difficult to implement the programme faithfully and in a way the children would get the most benefit. It seemed there was training in Australia occasionally, and plenty in the US, but those didn’t seem like options. Eventually I found out about training being run by an Anglican parish in Dunedin in June/July.

I approached Fr Gerard, who was very supportive of the idea, and once the parish council had approved it I tried to convince people to go to the training. I assumed I couldn’t, due to having a tiny baby. But no one was interested, so after lots more prayer and correspondence with the trainer, we decided I would go to Dunedin for the 3-6 age group portion of the training and the trainer would come back to Hamilton in January 2015 to train more people and give us enough to start up with the 6-9 age group also.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2015 and we have a wonderful committee of 4 (sadly one other had to leave Hamilton for work reasons) mums who have been working extremely hard to put everything together to run the training at the end of January and start atrium sessions shortly afterwards. A few other parishioners have also signed up to train as catechists and there has been some other involvement from the parish, but we’d love more. An extremely generous carpenter in Putaruru has made items proportioned to small children – an altar, a baptismal font, a sacristy cabinet, a lectern, a tabernacle, and a model of the City of Jerusalem. The atrium is very slowly taking shape and we will continue to add to it as the liturgical year progresses, and probably for several more years to come.

You can follow our progress on our website: cgsstpiusxhamilton.wordpress.com or facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cgsstpiusx

Below is an outline of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS)

The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is a formation process for children aged 3-12 years. It is grounded in scriptural and liturgical study using the Montessori principles as a tangible, yet indirect self-teaching method used for Christian developed by Dr Sofia Cavalletti and Dr Gianna Gobbi since 1954.

The Catechesis is based on the principle that the child desires to draw near to God. The process allows children to hear the Gospel through the use of sensorially rich materials. The children are free to work with these materials that represent essential proclamations of the Christian message.

The adult’s task is to prepare the sacred space for children, called ’the atrium’, so they can respond to this holy relationship, first proclaimed to them through Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Themes are offered in such a way as to develop the religious potential present in every child.

Our first session!

After a lot of work we finally got there! We’ve had our first session, and it went extremely well. A couple of the children were really shy but had mostly settled in by the end, one was not in the mood at all, one or two others had their moments, but on the whole they seemed to really enjoy it and behaved very well.

Lucia was the catechist for this session and did a wonderful job – so good at keeping a straight face too!

After being shown how to walk and talk in the atrium, the children took a seat and took turns practising walking and carrying chairs.

Then they were taken on a tour of the atrium.

Taking a good look at the altar area.

Then there was the introduction to the prayer table, with a consideration of some short Scripture passages.

Then the children were free to draw about what they had heard (or totally unrelated stuff…) and work with the preliminary works.

One is drawing hospitals and sharks and killer whales (!?) and the other, Noah’s ark.

And the session ended with a short prayer. Some of the children also got to take turns putting out the candle while they were waiting for everyone else to put away their work.

Training highlights

We covered a lot in our training, but here are a few photos of some of the presentations.

Getting ready for the procession to the prayer table to change the cloth from the green of the time of growth to the purple of waiting. This procession is done at the start of Advent.

The prayer table after all the Advent items were placed on it. Purple cloth, Advent wreath, prophecy card, the plant (we didn’t have flowers, which is what would normally be there), plus the Good Shepherd statue, little Bible, and snuffer.

The Annunciation diorama – the first of the Infancy Narrative dioramas.

The set up for an Infancy Narrative presentation – the prayer table with the purple cloth and lit candles corresponding to the week in Advent. Mary with an empty crib, waiting.

Adoration of the Shepherds. The three Infancy Narratives we didn’t do this time are the Visitation, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Presentation in the Temple.

The Preparation of the Chalice.

 

 

The prayer table after the Easter procession and changeover.

Part of the first Baptism presentation.

We haven’t yet got a stand for our Paschal candle so a small jug stepped in for that presentation!

 

 

Vestments and liturgical colours

The vestment sets in the atrium have a dual purpose. The chasubles by themselves teach the liturgical colours, and the set as a whole teaches what the priest wears, why, and the prayers that go with them. Our sets are finally finished and we’re just waiting on the standing hangers for the chasubles and the figure for the full set.

Amice, alb, and cincture. We got our pattern for the vestments from here. It took a bit of thinking to put everything together but we got there 🙂

Chasubles and stoles. Still trying to figure out exactly where the stoles are supposed to be kept (separate or with the chasubles). It’s going to be wonderful having our trainer have a look at what we’ve done when she arrives next weekend, to clear up confusions and give us some tips!
We have just re-entered Ordinary time, or the time of growth, signified by green.

The other marker of liturgical time in the atrium is the prayer table, which carries a cloth of the colour corresponding to the liturgical season in which the children are meeting. It seems that only the four main colours are used in the atrium, for the sake of simplicity, so on Gaudete and Laetare Sundays, when the priest wears rose, the atrium will use the colour of the season – purple. We haven’t yet worked out exactly how it works when the colour of the day is different to the season, for example if a solemnity falls on a Sunday of Ordinary Time. So many details!

Our prayer table. We still need a Bible on a stand or cushion.

This is part of our liturgical calendar, showing the Sundays of the year. More detailed information here.

Biblical geography

In order to have an idea of what part of the world Jesus came from, there is a small geography area in the atrium. This consists of a globe, a topographical map, and a puzzle map of the different regions (both maps as of Jesus’ time, not modern day).

A simple “sandpaper” globe delineating only land and sea. We will put a mark for Israel and one for Hamilton.

Our topographical map is not quite finished, but close enough. The three markers are for Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth. Ours is very modest compared to what it could be – see here for an ideal one – but will serve its purpose.

Puzzle map of the regions of Israel at the time of Jesus. Unfortunately by the time we found a picture showing exactly where the sea should be, there was too much of it (there should be more land between the brown piece and the sea), but it’s close enough. The children will learn the names of each region from a control chart and have access to maps they can colour and label.