A Holy Weekend ~ Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday

1. First prayer for Thanksgiving for Holy Communion
2. Jesus Prayers - hand out the prayer ropes in the blue bag
3. Pascha Passports - hand out stickers. Have someone who has not put up a cloth icon put up the one for Palm Sunday on the quilted Lenten Journey poster.   Note that there is no postcard icon for Palm Sunday.
4. Share prosphora (hopefully someone has given this to you before the lesson)
5. Intro the lesson - read last 2 pages (on St. Lazarus and Palm Sunday) in Lent! Wonderful Lent!
6. Show the laminate icons of and pass it around (for them to see and venerate)

Info for you as teachers:

As the kids will be able to tell from

the book, Lent, Wonderful Lent!,

this ‘bridge weekend’ in between

Great Lent and Holy Week

comes with great joy and movement!

*

Teaching Section / tell the kids the following:

This weekend has two parts:

On Saturday, Christ comes to Bethany and raises St. Lazarus from the dead!

Lazarus had been dead for four days when Christ

came to his grave.  Mary and Martha were in grief - very sad - because

their brother Lazarus had died.  They knew that if Christ had come earlier,

He could have healed Lazarus of his illness.  They could not understand why

Christ did not come until it was too late.  And Jesus is sad too - Jesus weeps

at Lazarus’s tomb. Yet, right when everything is very sad, Jesus prays

to God the Father and tells Lazarus to come out from the tomb!

And Lazarus does come out!!!  

So Christ in raising Lazarus point to His own Resurrection that happens on Pascha,

when everyone celebrates by saying:

CHRIST IS RISEN!!!

*

But before Pascha is the day we have right now - the second part

of this special weekend:

Palm Sunday!

And what happens on Palm Sunday? What do the children do??!!!???

Do you know?

{have room for discussion here}

The song for Lazarus Saturday tells us:

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your Passion,

You confirmed the universal resurrection, O Christ God!

Like the children with palms of victory,

We cry out to You, O Vanquisher of Death;

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!

Ask the children, showing them this icon:

Do you see the children in this icon

getting palm branches

and laying down cloaks for Jesus and His donkey to ride on?

{allow time for discussion on the kids looking at this icon}

Let’s read a book that will show us how both Lazarus Saturday

and Palm Sunday are reasons for us to be very happy -

as the book says, be glad!

{read book now}

*

Craft Time:

Draw pictures of this special Holy Weekend!

Ideas:

~Draw our Lord Jesus Christ raising Lazarus from the dead

~Draw Jesus riding on a donkey while children put

  Palm branches and cloaks on the ground

~Draw how happy Mary and Martha are to see their brother

Lazarus alive again