LENTEN GARDEN

Nature speaks a language which all small children understand, and we are able to use this language as a strong foundation on which the child can build coherent thoughts in later years. The concepts of ‘death’ and ‘resurrection’ may only become accessible to us in maturity, but we actually live with them quite comfortably from day to day, surrounded as we are by the manifold pictures from “Nature’s Book.’ Each time a little seed swells and splits apart, giving up its own existence to grow into new life, there before us is the mystery of death and resurrection.

Such pictures are everywhere, but perhaps none is so vividly descriptive as that of the caterpillar transformed into a butterfly. The young child can unite wholeheartedly with the beauty and wonder of this picture; it is for him, and for us all, a parable of Easter. So at this time of year we build a garden within which we can lead our children from Lent into Easter, from the caterpillar to the butterfly, from night into day.

YOU WILL NEED:

n An old metal or plastic tray, which will hold water. It can be as large as you like (drip-trays from old cookers are excellent, or fairly small, and other items must be scaled accordingly

n Three or four mossy rocks, or large pebbles

n A suitable branch for the ‘tree’ (see below)

n Lump of clay or plasticine, or some other stable holder for the ‘tree’

n Shallow glass dish for the ‘pond’ – brown or dark green ceramic would also be suitable

n A little sand, gravel or very small shells

n Moss

n Small flat pebbles or little stones

n White candle in a holder

n You may also need: black plastic sheeting, newspaper, cloth or veil in pale yellow or green, some soil, a strip of bark or rough wood

The Seasonal Table could be a place to make this garden, especially if it catches the morning sun. Protect the table with some newspaper and a sheet of black plastic or dustbin liner and cover with a cloth. Place the tray on top and arrange a little grotto on it with the rocks. Alongside the grotto place the lump of clay, wrapped in a plastic bag to keep it clean. The lump should be ‘mountain shaped’ with the weight spread out at the base. Push the branch that you have chosen as the Lenten Tree into the lump so that it is quite stable. The branch that you have chosen as the Lenten Tree into the lump so that it is quite stable. The branch could be of oak, ash or any other tree with a strong gesture in the twigs, and the buds should stay tightly closed for the week.

Place the ‘pond’ dish well forward on the tray. Scatter some sand, gravel or shells in it and fill it with water. Arrange moss over the rest of the tray, concealing the lump of clay and carpeting the grotto. If you have had a bowl of earth on the seasonal table it could be incorporated into the Garden, otherwise include an area of soil between the moss, maybe at the base of the Tree. With the small pebbles make a winding path of stepping stones leading from the base of the Tree to the grotto. Span the pond with a strip of bark or wood as a little bridge. Position the candle (with the holder beneath the moss) near the grotto entrance. The Garden is now complete and should be well soaked with water. It remains throughout Holy Week as a quiet background for the Easter preparation.

Here are some suggestions as to how the Lenten Garden could be woven into the children’s activities during Holy Week:

Six small white cake candles are evenly spaced along the path between the Tree and the grotto. On Palm Sunday, at some convenient moment of the day, the large candle in the Garden is lit, and from it is taken a light for the first small candle furthest from the grotto. This is allowed to burn right down. Each day, preferably at the same time, another small candle is burnt, until the very last candle at the entrance to the grotto is burnt on Good Friday. Holy Saturday is a day of waiting when only the large candle is alight—perhaps at story time.

On Palm Sunday, when the Garden has been completed, some grass seed can be sprinkled on the soil area and lightly forked in. Ideally, the shoots should only become visible on Easter Sunday so if the room is very warm this activity could be put off until Maundy Thursday. On this day it is rather special to sprinkle some wheat grains on the soil, press them down into the earth and water them well. They will sprout and shoot very dramatically in a few days.

On Good Friday a child will enjoy making a little caterpillar out of green plasticine or wax, wrapping it carefully in a small square of real silk (white or cream in colour) and placing it on the moss inside the Grotto. On Holy Saturday the caterpillar is still there, but on Easter Sunday morning only the silk remains, and a butterfly hovers in the branches of the Easter Tree.

Although the Garden must be kept damp all the time, Holy Saturday could be a good day to make more of a ritual of the watering. Choose a pretty jar to hold the water if you do not have a sprinkler.

Easter Sunday arrives, and the Lenten Garden has been transformed overnight into an Easter Garden, to the great surprise and delight of everyone.

ALL YEAR ROUND By Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-clinton, Marije Rowling