Using Art to Help Kids Pray Through Holy Week

I'm honored to be contributing to the Heart of the Revival, the newsletter for the National Eucharistic Revival. Previous articles include Pope Benedict XVI's Legacy of the Love for the Eucharist (with quote coloring pages for kids) and tools to help share The Gift of One Holy Mass (including Mass offering cards).

This month's article is about helping kids pray through Holy Week using art. I love using Visio Divina, a companion of Lectio Divina, to help kids (and adults, myself included!) study and pray deeply with a beautiful piece of sacred art.

To make that easy, I have a guide to Visio Divina and a selection of public domain art ready for you to use during Holy Week. You can read all about it and see the rest of the resources here.

Along with the Visio Divina steps, here are some general discussion questions that work for most pieces of sacred art:

• What do you notice as you observe this piece of art? What sticks out to you?

• Who is present in this image? What is taking place?

• Can you connect this art to a story from the Bible? What details did the artist include?

• Where is the focal point of the art? Are there any details happening in the background?

• Which colors stand out to you? Do you think they symbolize anything important?

• What do you notice about the expression of the people? What can you guess about their emotions, thoughts, or actions?

• How does this piece of art make you feel? What questions does this art make you want to ask?

• What can we talk to Jesus about as we reflect on this artwork?

Click here for the set of printable art in at 11x17" size or 8.5x11" size:

(PS, you can print full color pages like this for around 50 cents each at a local office store. It is an inexpensive way to bring art into your home to use for prayer, study, and projects! You also can look up these titles on your computer or smart tv and view them digitally.)

Click here for the Visio Divina Guide in English:

And click here for the Visio Divina Guide in Spanish:

If you'd like to sign up to receive the Heart of the Revival Weekly Newsletter, sign up here.

Visio Divina with Bl. Fra Angelico

Today is the Feast Day of Blessed Fra Angelico. Known far outside just Catholic circles for his beautiful frescos and incredible talent as a painter, he was a Dominican friar who found his inspiration from his faith. Born in 1395 as Guido di Pietro and died in 1455, he was just officially beatified in 1982 by Pope John Paul II. At his beatification, JP2 said, "Fra Angelico, by consecrating himself to God, succeeded in becoming more man, not only with others but for others. His works are a perennial message of living Christianity, and at the same time a highly human message, based on the transhumanizing power of religion, by virtue of which every man who comes in contact with God and his mysteries becomes similar to him in holiness, in beauty, in bliss; that is, a man according to the primordial designs of his Creator."

I think that the occasion of his feast day is a perfect time to do some prayerful Visio Divina with some of Fra Angelico's work. I've pulled together a selection for you here, but you can find tons more in the public domain. Pull them up on your tv or smart board to examine more closely, and you can use these Visio Divina guides if they are helpful!

Click here for a slideshow with ten of Bl. Fra Angelico's paintings:

Click here for the Visio Divina guide for younger kids:

Click here for the Visio Divina guide for older kids:

Click here for the general Visio Divina steps:

And here is a set of other posts that use Visio Divina as a tool for prayer:

Art of the Blessed Sacrament Visio Divina*

Lenten Visio Divina Galley Walk*

Sacred Art for Advent & Christmas*

Memento Mori Visio Divina*