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CHILDHOOD

RELIGION



Imprimi Potest:

^ MARTINUS, O.S.B.
Abbas S. Benedicti De Atchison

Atchisonii, die II lulii, 1936.

Nihil Obstat:

lACOBUS H. GRIFTITHS, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum

Imprimatur:

«« THOMAS EDMUNDUS MOLLOY, S.T.D.
Episcopus Brooklyniensis

Brooklynii, die VI lulii, 1936.

Copyright

International Catholic Truth Society

Brooklyn, N. Y.



ChildKood Religion

Rev, Edgar Schmiedeler, O.S.B., Ph.D.

Director, the Family Life Section,

N. C. W. C,

•

EACHING their children their religion

V-/ is a subject that lies close to the heart of

God-fearing Catholic parents. They realiije

that the element of religion must permeate the

entire educational process if the children are

to receive a genuine Christian training. They

appreciate the fact that their religion is a mat-

ter of the utmost spiritual importance to their

little ones, and, at the same time, that it is a

highly constructive force in the training of

their characters, in the shaping of their per-

sonalities. They appreciate the honored privi-

lege and sacred duty of parenthood, the privi-

lege and the duty of cooperating with God in

forming Christ in the souls of their little ones.

They know that theirs is the lay priesthood in

its most glorious form.

A well-ordered and well-disciplined Chris^
tian family, a domestic world in which a good

and upright example is constantly set by the

parents and other members of the household,

is the environment that is needed for bringing

about the true end of the education of the

little one. Particularly is it the environment

needed for his religious training. Speaking of

this environment in his Encyclical on Christian

Education, His Holiness, Pius XI, reiterated

the age-old doctrine of the Church regarding

it : ‘"The first natural and necessary element in

this environment,” he writes, ‘‘is the family.



2 Childhood Religion

and this precisely because so ordained by the

Creator Himself. Accordingly that education,

as a rule, will be more effective and lasting

which is received in a welbordered and welb

disciplined Christian family.” The spirit of

the home is, of course, the most important

element. And in the case of the Catholic
home it should not be too much to expect that

this spirit be truly the spirit of Christ, a spirit

which can result only from studying Christ’s

life and imitating it, from living His life by

thinking, judging, and acting as He did and by

increasing His life within the soul through

prayer and the sacraments. Where such a

spirit will be found within a home, there too

will be found a “well-ordered and well-dis-

ciplined Christian family.”

There are certain very special advantages to

early religious training given a child in his

home. Certainly outstanding among these is

the fact that instruction within the family

circle is associated with the child’s sentiments

of love for his parents. This lends an appeal

in the case of training within the family circle

that is lacking in the more formal training

coming from the school or from other sources.

Fortunate the little one, therefore, in whose

mind the truths of religion are intermingled

with his earliest recollections of home, parents

and loved ones.

Worthy of particular note, too, is the fact

that the child himself during his preschool

years in the home is equipped with certain

qualities which make much of his religious

training a relatively simple matter, provided

only he be brought into contact with the

knowledge of God and His truths. These



3Childhood Religion

qualities are, for instance, simplicity, faith,

curiosity, and activity and should be made the

most of. Of course, it is of great importance

that special consideration be given the abilities

and the educational needs peculiar to the child

of such tender age.

Principles of Early Spiritual Training

In The Catholic Family Monthly, Sister

Mary, I.H.M., who has given much attention

to the study of the moral and religious develop-

ment of children, sets forth certain principles

as basic in the early spiritual training of the

child, and then deduces a number of practical

conclusions from them. Both may well be

listed here for the convenience and guidance

of the parent.

The principles:

The child at baptism is a child of God en-

dowed with supernatural life.

Holiness is the presence of grace unim-

peded by the human will.

Men have the power of winning grace,

that is, more supernatural life, for others.

Knowledge of God is the necessary pre-

liminary to union with God.

Habits in accord with rational nature are

a necessary foundation for the work of

grace.

The conclusions or facts deduced from the

principles:



4 Childhood Religion

The baptised preschcx>l child is in the state

of grace.

He cannot impede grace before he reaches

the use of reason.

Parents can win grace for the child.

Knowledge of God can be given the child

as his intelligence develops.

Habits of virtue can be formed, thus ren*'

dering him amenable to the greatest activity

of grace.

By the time he reaches the age of reason,

the personality of the child can be so formed

in knowledge, in habits, and in attitudes, that

the higher powers, reason and free will, will

find a life of active cooperation with grace

both natural and easy.

Religious Truths Children Know

It should be very useful to parents who are

interested in the religious training of their

children to have some appreciation of the re-

ligious knowledge that is actually acquired by

children in their preschool years. Sister Mary,

collaborating with Margaret M. Hughes, has

set forth the facts regarding such knowledge,

as shown by a group of 1,218 children of pre^

school age studied by them. The data found

in their brochure on The Moral and Religious

Development of the Preschool Child reveals

the following:

1. Some children show an appreciation of

their creation by God very early, in fact, at

two years of age. TwO'thirds show their ap^

preciation at about the four year, six month

level. The idea practically reaches the one

hundred mark at the six year, six month level

for Catholic children.



Childhood Religion 5

2. The preschool child begins to develop

very early the concept of the existence of His

Creator in Heaven. This idea may be said

to be well established by the fourth year.

3. The notion of Heaven as a reward for

good people is not so familiar to the child as

that of God dwelling in Heaven. Yet it is

present after the fifth year in the majority of

cases. Non-Catholic children betray less spirit^

ual appreciation in this concept by their

greater concern for what happens to the mortal

remains of the deceased.

4. The concept of the existence and office of

Guardian Angels is not so well developed as

are several moral concepts. However, the find-

ings of the study suggest that more could be

expected here; that the potentialities of the

children are left undeveloped.

Moral Truths

In the same study the following facts were

brought out regarding the moral truths known

by the members of the group

:

1. A high percentage of children show an
appreciation of the necessity for obedience in

the first two years of life. The concept is

practically universal before the child is of

school age. His notion of the sanction of

obedience and his reasons for being obedient

are more slowly and completely developed.

2. He is aware of the principle of individual

rights very early. This is shown by his con-

sciousness of the rights which others have to

their possessions.

3. He recognizes the need of replying truth-

fully to a direct question about his behavior

by the age of five years. However, his ideals



6 Childhood Religion

do not demand that he take the initiative in re^

porting on himself even at the age of seven.

4. The concept of love of parents is recog'

nized at a very early age, 60 per cent giving

evidence of it at the three year level.

5. The concept of goodness is not yet ex'

pressed by the average child at the age of

seven years. The highest peak which this con'

cept reaches includes only 40 per cent of the

subjects and is reached at the age level of five

years and six months. The percentages at the

six and seven year levels are lower than this.

6. The composite data show that the period

of moral growth is especially rapid from three

to five years, while the growth from five to six

is less pronounced. Hence the period for in'

stilling the simple, fundamental moral concepts

and the corresponding habits of action which

will root these concepts firmly in the life of

the child, is before five years. Apparently

there is the closest relationships between the

rapid development found in the fundamental

moral concepts between three and five years

and the general accelerated mental develop'

ment of children which is characteristic of this

period.

On the basis of their study the two came to
the following general conclusion: “Viewing

the moral and religious development of the

child as a whole we may, therefore, infer that,

1) the basis for some of the fundamental and

necessary moral concepts have their beginning

in the preschool years before, presumably, the

individual receives any formal training; 2)

moreover, not only beginnings have been made,

but for several concepts considerable progress

has been attained in these early years; 3) from



Childhood Religion 7

data in several problems where the stage of

development of the moral or religious concept

tested depends upon the activity and planned

direction of the parent rather than upon ac^

quirement through the child’s life experiences,

it is apparent that great possibilities for moral

and religious development remain latent in

most children. Since the average moral de"

velopment curve indicates great possibilities

for training during the preschool period, and

since parents, good parents, desire the fullest

and best development of their children, it must

be either that they are not aware of these

possibilities or that they do not know how to

utilize the power for good that is theirs.

‘'Hence, we come to the conclusion that par^

ents today need, first, to be made aware of

the undeveloped spiritual potentialities of pre^

school children, and secondly, to be given

some specific, practical suggestions for develop"

ing these possibilities. The home, in most in"

stances, has the exclusive care of the children

until they reach schoohage. The increased

leisure of women, through the many aids avail"

able in household tasks, should free the mother

to give more direct and personal attention to

the children. That they are willing to give

this personal attention without consideration

of cost to self, the carrying out of the minutiae

of the schedule for the child’s physical welfare

amply proves. The mother should know her

power and her opportunity in the moral and

spiritual development of her child at least as

well as she at present knows the requirements

for his physical welhbeing. This necessity is

forced upon her because her duties toward the

child include not merely the care of his physi"



8 Childhood Religion

cal needs, but also the responsibility for his

training to good citizenship for time and etern-

ity.”

The foregoing study, therefore, as well as

others that have been made show that children

of preschool age do, as a matter of fact, have

many religious and moral concepts. But, at

the same time, they show latent possibiUties

for considerably more knowledge in these fields.

They show, for instance, that while children

are capable of certain religious notions and

moral ideas at the age of three or even before,

great numbers of them do not come into pos-

session of them until some years later. Again,

they show that children of six years, who are

attending school, are usually quite sensitive to

the ideas of religious duty and are readily in-

fluenced by religious motives, while many of

the same age or thereabout, but not yet in

school, are lacking in religious motivation.

Their obedience, for instance, is merely a nat-

ural act, quite unrelated to any truth of re-

ligion. They obey simply because their parents

demand obedience of them. There can be but

one reasonable explanation of this, and it is

that many Catholic parents are not making

the best of their golden opportunities for the

religious training of their children in the pre-

school years.

As soon as the child enters the Catholic

school he is taught to act from religious motives

and shows his ability to do so. Many parents

are obviously failing to train their children to

do this. In general, retardation in from one to

three years in the development of moral quaU-

ties has been found to the common occur-

rence, while even greater retardation showed



Childhood Religion 9

itself in the matter of religious development.

Hence, the practical conclusions that parents

today need, first, to be made aware of the un-

developed potentialities of preschool children,

and secondly, to be given some specific prac-

tical suggestions for developing these poten-

tialities. The general retardation indicated in

the foregoing study should do much to make

them realize these undeveloped abilities. The

few observations in the following paragraphs

may throw some further light on the subject.

What the Child Can Know

There are, of course, differences in the abil-

ity of children, and consequently there will

be differences in their religious knowledge,

even where the same amount of training is

given them. But it seems safe to say that the

average child, if taught to say some simple

prayers during his second year, will attain to

some religious information by the time he is

two years old. By that time, too, the idea of

the creation of things about him by God can

gradually be brought home to him. By the

age of three he should have some appreciation

of the fact that God is everywhere, in Heaven

and near us even though we cannot see Him.

Some notion of Heaven, of Christ’s life, of his

own guardian angel, should be within the

child’s reach at the age of three. Certainly

no later than his fourth year should he have

some appreciation of the fact that the Christ

Child is God; that He came among us as a
child because He loved us; that He died in

order to win Heaven for us. By the next

year, his fifth, he should be capable of appre-

ciating in some measure the truths that God



10 Childhood Religion

is a spirit and that there are three persons in

God.

The first moral ideal that the child will learn

is that of obedience. The need for this vir^

tue must be brought home in daily life to the

child even from his first year on. Gradually

thereafter he can be motivated to obey ‘"be^'

cause father or mother want it,” and still later,

after the concept of God has developed, be^

cause God wants it and expects it of him. The

fulfillment of little duties or chores about the

house may be expected of him from about his

second year on. More difficult ones can be

assigned by the age of three. By four, little

services for others can be expected of him.

By this time, too, his acts should be extensively

supematurali2;ed or based on motives such as

winning heaven, pleasing God, or pleasing

others for God’s sake. Since, by the age of

three he has some notions of right and wrong,

he should from that time on gradually be

taught to do that which is right in order to

win the approval of God, his guardian angel,

or his parents, who represent God. Such

motivation should be fairly well developed in

him by his fourth or fifth year. Concepts of

obedience, truth, duty, right and wrong should

also show considerable development by that

age.

During his preschool years, too, the child

can be given a fairly clear idea of the meaning

of sin, of grace, and of some of the means of

grace. A little more detailed attention will
be given these topics later.



Childhood Religion 11

How to TeacK tKe CKiH

Methods

How to make the most of these potentialities
of the child for his religious and moral trains

ing is of no less importance to the parent. One

of the main things that he must come to ap'

preciate in this regard is the fact that both

formal and informal education methods must

be made use of. Something can be accom-

plished by way of inculcating abstract ideas.

But it must not be overlooked that the Httle

one appreciates more readily the things he can

see and feel than mere abstract notions. Mere

verbal teaching and general abstract ideas have

their place but they will not influence the

young child as will either the example of par-

ents or, for instance, visual education by means

of religious pictures, statues, crucifixes, etc.

The example of the parent is outstanding for

the two'fold reason of the child’s highly de-

veloped power of imitation and the bonds of

affection that bind parent and child in unison.

Visual education is helpful because it permits

of distinct image forming. The parent will

make no mistake in seeking to make points of

both doctrine and practice interesting by vitah

is;ing them with something that appeals to the

imagination: pictures, stories, dramatizations,

etc. So, too, will references to the things the

child already knows prove particularly helpful.

God’s Works

One of the most satisfactory ways of bring-

ing before the child the idea of God is to lead



1 2 Childhood Religion

him to observe and admire the beauties of cre-

ation. Not a few opportunities can be found

for the parent to call his attention to the fact

that God made the beautiful world in which

we live. Having pointed out to him time and

again the beauties of sky, tree, and flower, as

wonders that his Father in Heaven has made

for him, the child will come to think of Na-

ture and God in one and the same mental

breath. As the writer has stated elsewhere:

“In his early years the child is readily filled

with wonder and awe at his natural surround-

ings. It is the wonder age in which the little

one sees mystery in every bit of foliage, in

every bird’s plumage, in every cloud and star

of the heavens. By teaching the child to ob-

serve nature he can be led to see the hand of

God in all things, and he will grow in rever-

ence because of it. The lesson must, of course,

be oft-times repeated and at opportune mo-

ments. When interest is aroused by the ap-
pearance of the first flowers of spring-time,

that is the time to point out that God sent

them to grace the earth. A beautiful sunset,
a winter snowfall clothing the earth with a

garment of white—^these are among the won-
derful works of God. Such repeated observa-

tions will enable the child to grasp the idea of

God as Creator of all things and will lead him

more and more to realize and appreciate the

power of God.”

Holy Pictures

Again, there is the value of religious pic-

tures on the walls of the home, and the bene-

fits to be derived from showing and explaining

illustrated books to the child. These will give



Childhood Religion 13

him a more vivid idea and more lasting im-

pression of Our Lord and the saints than ab-

stract explanations alone can possibly give.

Pictures appeal to the child because the latter’s

sense faculties are more highly developed at

this time than his intellectual ones. Hence, no

Catholic home should be without some good

religious pictures on the walls. Fortunately,

too, there are to be had at very reasonable

cost today some excellent illustrated booklets,

prepared precisely to aid parents in their tasks

of teaching their children religious truths. The

well-trained school teacher today is awake to

the value of pictures as a means of educating

the young child. The parent should learn to

imitate his example and make use of this im-

portant means for imparting religious instruc-

tion. Such visual education is in fact more

necessary in the case of the preschool child in

the home than it is in the case of the little one

of school age.

Children are naturally interested in children.

Hence, it should be a fairly simple task to

make the Christ Child known to the little one

by directing his attention to Him in pictures.

There are so many of these pictures in which

He appears; for instance, Raphael’s ‘"Madonna

of the Chair,” Murillo’s “Children of the

Shell,” and Corregio’s “Holy Night.” Large

and small copies of these can be had in rich

coloring that appeals to the child. Other pic-

tures, such as that of the Crucifixion or some

of Christ’s miracles should also be shown and

the child taught to pick out the main charac-

ters on the pictures. Other activities in con-

nection with pictures are, to have the child sort

them out, to arrange them or put them into



14 Childhood Religion

his own picture book or scrap book. Gradu'

ally, too, he can be given completion exercises

in the form of pictures cut first in two parts

and later in four or more. These and similar

activities will keep the small child happily as'

sociated and wholesomely occupied. More

than that, they will help to acquaint him with

the truths of his holy religion.

Sister Mary also gave attention to this mat'

ter in her studies of children. She has this to

say of the recognition by them of Jesus, Mary,

and St. Joseph pictorially presented: “The

representation of Our Lord in the aspect of

Redeemer is quite familiar to Catholic children

at an early age. The Infant Jesus is less well

recognized. Our Lady is letter known to

children in the Nativity than in the Crucifixion

group. In neither case do children show a

knowledge of Our Blessed Mother consistent

with their age. St. Joseph is relatively unfam'

iliar to most children, while St. John and St.

Mary Magdalen are practically unknown.”

Apparently, then, there is room for further use

of holy pictures by parents in the religious

education of their little ones.

The Story Telling Method

The practice of telling stories is also helpful

in teaching the small child his religion. One

mother speaks as follows of this method: “I

am a strong believer in the story telling method

of imparting religious and other knowledge.

I fear too many parents today are not making

the most of this particular method of pro'

cedure. If we tell stories of a religious nature

it is indeed remarkable how close even the

child of three or four years feels to God and



Childhood Religion 1

5

how much he will rely on prayer. I have often

wished, upon hearing my own tots having a

heart to heart talk with God in their little

prayers, that I might express my own wants

with such freedom and confidence.”

The telling of stories may well be closely

linked with the showing of sacred pictures to

the child. As the child learns to pick out the

various personages represented in the picture

he may also gradually be taught in simplest

terms the meaning of the entire scene or be

told the story that it is meant to convey.

Among the first stories to be taught him should

be such as are concerned with the childhood

of Christ, the story of the Nativity, the com^

ing of the Wise Men, the Presentation in the

Temple. These and similar religious stories

should be repeated again and again. The child

does not grow tired of such repetition. In*'

deed, he delights in it. By the age of four

the little one can begin telling the stories him-

self. By this time, too, he should be able to

appreciate the story of his patron saint’s life

and also of other saints, notably child saints.

Sister Rosa has with particular clarity and in

considerable detail discussed this interesting

and useful topic of teaching the child his re-

ligion through stories. Her own words may

well be given at some length. She writes:

“Stories of the Child Jesus the mother will tell

her child perhaps at the bedtime hour, perhaps

at some other fixed time of the day. These,

when he has learned to talk, he can repeat to

her and to father.

“Much of this can be done with the two

and the three year old child, more with the

four year old to whom the Boy Jesus will



16 Childhood Religion

appeal. The story of His praying at Mary’s

knee, His going up to the temple when He
was twelve, His teaching the doctors there till

His Mother and St. Joseph found Him, and

then His going down to Na^;areth and being

subject to them—^these stories with the pictures
and handwork increase the child’s knowledge

of the friendship with the Boy of Nazareth.

‘The public life of Our Lord offers a vast

amount of material. The story of the stilling

of the waves opens the way to teaching the

two natures—His human body weary, falling
asleep in the boat. His Divinity quelling the

waves. The healing of the lepers, the raising

of the daughter of Jairus to life, the feeding of

the thousands with a few loaves and fishes

show His omnipotence and goodness. One

small boy concluded from a study of these

stories, ‘He was always helping people.’

“The story of the Baptism introduces the

Blessed Trinity. The Heavenly Father was

already known from the early days when the

Child Jesus was pictured leaving His Father

in His heavenly home to come down to us

because He loved us and wanted to show us

the way to heaven. The story of Christ bless-

ing little children always is the favorite. . . .

“As the seasons of the Church year come

along the child will catch the spirit of each

from his parent’s instructions: in Lent the

story of the Passion, at Easter the account of

the Resurrection, and at the Ascension,

Christ’s return to His Father in heaven.’’

Parents are not likely to expect too much

of the child regarding this story-telling method

of teaching him his religion. It is hardly less

than astounding what can be done through it



Childhood Religion 17

if fathers and mothers really set themselves to

the task. Recently the writer came across a

preschool child of five years of age who could

tell in considerable detail practically every

story in the Bible History, and even point out

the moral contained in a number of them. The

child gave no evidence of exceptional bright-

ness. However, his mother had taken pains

with him in the matter of teaching him his

religion. She had in his first years obtained

for him a well-illustrated child’s Bible History

and had regularly helped him with suitable

explanations to understand the illustrations and

the stories they portrayed. He showed the full

eflFects of his excellent training.

The Project Method

The child also learns readily by doing

things. Hence the value of the project method

in teaching him. This can go hand in hand

with learning through pictures and story-tell-

ing. Thus, the child can learn to draw a

cross, to fill in picture outlines with colored

crayons, to make a crib or other sacred object

from cut-out pictures. Somewhat later he can

work with plasticene or clay, modeling a crib,

the cave at Bethlehem, or the sheep of the

shepherds on the hillside. To be sure, the
attempts will be crude and imperfect. But

they will have value nonetheless.



18 Childhood Religion

The Child’s Prayers

Normally, the first efforts of parents to

train the child in his religion will center in

teaching him to pray. And one of the first

tasks in this connection to confront the par^

ents will be that of teaching him to make the

Sign of the Gross. A certain amount of repe^
tition and drill will be required, since making

the Sign of the Cross is quite a complicated

act, say, for a child of a year and a half or

two years. Not only will the child need to be

shown repeatedly how to make the Sign of

the Cross correctly but he will also have to be

helped to do so time and again.

It is not an exceptionally difficult task to

teach a child to memori2;e a few short prayers

during his early years. Among the first words

that he learns to pronounce should be the

names of Jesus and Mary. Some children

may be taught to say a very simple impro'

vised night prayer by the age of two. Much,

if not all of the ‘‘Hail Mary’’ may be known

by the little one of three or four. Differences

of ability will, of course, show themselves

here. In all cases repetition and drill will be

necessary. This naturally calls for patience

on the part of the parent. A considerable
measure of patience is necessary, too, because a

child easily forgets prayers that he apparently

knew well before. Simply neglecting to recite

his prayers for a time may be the reason for

this. Or again, a spell of sickness may be the

cause. But taken all in all, it is a relatively

simple task for a parent to teach even the

child of two or three to say some prayers.

Certainly that is the view of the father



Childhood Religion 19

of three school children who penned the foh

lowing lines: “There is no difficulty in teach^

ing them to pray,” he writes, “any more than

there is in teaching them to memori^ anything

else. The only one of our children that we

really had to take pains with was the oldest.

Even in his case the task was relatively simple

—largely a matter of an occasional few words
of praise whenever he did well. Quite some

time before he was two years old he had the

notion that he was a sort of chanticleer and

that he could not possibly eat until he had

said his meal prayers. As soon as Number

Two was able to talk she drew our attention

to the fact that she also prayed, although for

a long time her voice was quite inaudible. The

older child soon taught the younger the pray'

ers he knew. The rivalry in prayers before

and after meals really became intense, how'

ever, when Number Three began to take a

hand. He is almost two years old now and

there is not the least question who is leading

in prayer. I think it good practice to permit

the youngest who is able to do so to lead the

prayers for some time at least.”

To be sure, one can create difficulties here

as one can in other matters of child training

by demanding too much of little ones, by in'

sisting, for example, upon teaching them too

many and too lengthy prayers. But there is

no benefit to be derived from such a practice.

Indeed, it may prove both hampering and hurt'

ful. The child’s first prayers should be short

and simple. It is also preferable that they be

in verse, as for example, the following little

invocation in honor of one’s patron saint:

“Oh, Holy Patron, pray for me and teach me



20 Childhood Religion

how to follow Thee!” Verse is the natural

language of children. Its rhythm, that is the

simple tones succeeding each other at agree'

able intervals, attracts and holds the attention

of a child. Rhythmical verse gives him some'

thing to follow that he uses gladly and this

makes memorizing a pleasure. It calls forth

effort that it would otherwise be very difficult

to elicit from children. The average child

will recognize and enjoy the rhythm of the

verse some time before he can grasp the sense

of the words that are used. This, in fact, may

easily lead him to learn the verse quite in'

correctly—a thing that should not be toler'
ated by the parent. Neither inaccuracy nor

slovenliness in prayer should be permitted even

in the cases of very young children.

Among the earlier prayers to be taught a

child should be the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love,

and Contrition. They should be taught, how'

ever, in short form. At the age of three or

four the following forms would seem suitable:

Act of Faith
:

Jesus, I believe in Thee

Act of Hope: Jesus, I hope in Thee

Act of Love
:

Jesus, I love Thee

Act of Sorrow: Jesus, I am sorry

and will do better

And at the age of five the following:

Act of Faith : O my God, I believe
in Thee; strengthen my faith in
Thee

Act of Hope: O my God, all my
hopes are in Thee; confirm my

hope in Thee

Act of Love : O my God, I love
Thee; teach me to love Thee more

arid more



Childhood Religion 21

Act of Sorrow: O my God, I am
sorry for having offended Thee

and will try to do better.

Some children at this age may be capable

of even more elaborate Acts, as for example,

the following Act of Contrition: O my God,
I am sorry for all my sins. I do not want to

sin again. Help me to do better and to sin

no more. Help me, for I want to be more

like You.

Certainly among the first of the more

lengthy and formal prayers that the child

should be taught are the “Hail Mary” and the

“Our Father.” To be sure, the young child

will not fully understand the full meaning of

these prayers, and for some time the parent

will even have to help along, supplying what

the child will omit. Still, the properly trained

tot of only three or four years should be able

to grasp in some measure the notions ex^

pressed in the Lord’s Prayer: that God is

the Father of all; that He is in Heaven; that

His name should be honored; that He gives

us our daily bread, etc.

Not a little guidance regarding the particu-

lar prayers appropriate to children at various

age periods can be obtained from the follow^

ing words of a mother and former school

teacher who has successfully reared a family

of children of her own: “I am a firm believer

in ‘bending the twig,’ hence I think reUgious

training should start in the very cradle. It

was my own custom to pray at the crib of my
little ones. If such a practice does not teach

the child anything, it is at least a good thing

for the parents themselves. It is truly re^



22 Childhood Religion

markable how early the children tried to imi^

tate the rest of us in making the Sign of the

Cross. Even as babies in their high-chair

they soon learned that no food would be

given them until prayers before meals had been

devoutedly said. I find that the average child

of two years will enjoy story telling and may

be told in simple language of the Christ Child

and then gradually taught simple prayers to

be said before retiring and after rising. A
little prayer to his guardian angel helps won-

derfully to make any child forget his fears

in the dark. A normal child of four should
be able to memorize, and in some degree un-

derstand, the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary,

the simple Acts, and by the age of six or

seven, the Apostles’ Creed.”

Praying versus Saying Prayers

While teaching a child merely to memorize

some formal prayer which he can say by rote

may be a relatively simple task, teaching the

preschool child really to pray, that is, to

speak to God intelligently and with under-

standing, will involve no small amount of

patient effort on the part of parents. This

teaching is not a thing apart. It should go

hand in hand with the general religious train-

ing of the individual and should follow as

closely as possible upon tne more mechanical

task of memorizing his first formal prayers.

The child may not grasp the meaning of the

words of his earliest prayers, though every rea-

sonable effort should be made to teach him

prayers made of words which he can under-

stand and expressive of thoughts and feelings

that he really has. Nor will he at first realize



Childhood Religion 23

the need for prayer nor the good of prayer.

But, with growing intelligence he will gradu-

ally learn what prayer really is, not only

through instruction and guidance by the par-

ent but also through example or the hearing of

sincere appeals to God on the part of others.

Indeed, in his early years the example of his

father and mother and other grown-ups about

him, and the whole religious atmosphere of

the family circle, will exert a most far-reaching

religious influence over him. The child at this

age is exceedingly imitative and such practices

as saying grace before and after meals, the

reverent repetition of simple prayers with the

child while kneeling before bed time all seems

in some indescribable way, peculiar to the lit-

tle one, to direct his mind even before he can

comprehend the meaning of formal prayers.

The small child seems to learn intuitively from

the heartfelt invocations to God of his elders

who pray aloud with him.

As soon as the child is capable of grasping

even in a vague sort of way the notion of a

Supreme Being, the fundamental foundation

for teaching him to pray has been laid. The

parents should then make it a point to bring

the idea of God more and more into the life

of the child and link it with his daily prayers,

thereby vitali2;ing them.

Respect for Sacred Articles

Another thing that the parent should early

teach the child is respect for and the reveren-

tial use of medals, holy pictures, and other

sacred articles. All these things are impor-

tant to his religious life. They help to enrich

it and to make him both holy and happy.



24 Childhood Religion

"‘Even the busiest of mothers,” writes one

parent, “can explain to a child why we use

sacramentals, why medals are worn, why we

use holy water. And if they do this they
create a reverence in childhood which, I firm-

ly believe, takes much deeper root than most

of us are wont to believe. I am a strong be-

liever in early impressions being the most

lasting. If a child is taught early the value of

prayer, is taught in his first years to call upon

the name of Jesus in danger and in tempta-

tion and to raise the mind to God in short

prayers many times a day, and is taught rev-

erence and respect for sacred things, although

the world may efface some of this, I have die

strongest hopes that his faith will never be

entirely lost.’’

The Idea of Sin

As the little one’s conscience develops and

he comes to see more and more clearly the

distinction between right and wrong, the par-

ent must try to bring before him a correct

understanding of sin. Even the tone in which

a mother will correct a child when he does

wrong will lead him to realize that he is doing

something that he should not do. But this

will hardly suffice to give him a definite con-

ception of sin. This is a concept that is not

altogether easy to teach the little one. Con-

crete examples cannot be used since they might

suggest evil to him. There should, however,

be no objection to calling his attention to mean

acts on the part of others, particularly such as

will naturally arouse feelings of contempt, and

then telling him that these are things that God

does not like, that they are offensive to our



Childhood Religion 25

Heavenly Father Who does so much for us and
gives us so many things.

Still another way to introduce the idea of

sin is to tell the story of the fall of Adam and

Eve, pointing out that after their sin they were

not children of their Heavenly Father any

more and that God was no longer their be-

loved friend. The stories of the Prodigal, of

the Fallen Angels, the Deluge, and the Lost

Sheep may also be used for this purpose. So,

too, may at least some of these serve as a

means of bringing before the child’s mind the

notions of sorrow for sin and of asking par-

don for it. These latter concepts should not

be so difficult to teach. A welbtrained child
will have been taught from his earliest years

to acquire the habit of being sorry for any

misdeed of his, and of asking forgiveness of

his parents whom he has displeased. As he
arrives at the knowledge that sin is an offense

against God and displeases Him, he will also

readily see the propriety of expressing sorrow

for it and asking God’s pardon.

The Notion of Grace

While, for the sake of clearness, the notions

of sin and of grace are here in part treated

separately, in teaching the child they may to

advantage be brought to his attention at one

and the same time. In their efforts to bring

home to the little one the idea of grace the

parents may well begin by trying to give

him some appreciation of what the Sacrament

of Baptism, which he received as a new-born

babe, means to him. They will teach him

that when he received that sacrament, God

made his soul pure and beautiful; that He



26 Childhood Religion

came to abide with him, to live with him; that

then he was holy, and God’s love and truth

were in him. But when he does things which

are against God’s love and truth, in other

words, when he commits sin, his soul loses its

beauty and its holiness. They will teach him

that some sins are very great and take away

all holiness and beauty from the souls of those

who commit them. None of God’s love then

remains in them. And should they die at that
time, God could not take them to His heavenly

home. Instead they would have to go where

all bad people go.

All this should logically suggest the Sacra^

ment of Penance, for the reception of which

the child should gradually be given some prep"

aration as he approaches school age. It can

be pointed out to him that God is so eager

that His love and His life remain in our souls

that He has given His priests power to forgive

sins that have unfortunately been committed,

thereby restoring to the soul the life and beau"

ty which it had lost. The story of the Prodi"

gal may well serve to bring home to the little

one the essentials of the Sacrament of Penance,

namely, examination of conscience, sorrow for

sin, resolution of amendment, and the confes"

sion of sin.

The Mass and Holy Communion

Two other highly important means of grace
with which the child should be given some

acquaintance even during his preschool days

are the Mass and the Holy Eucharist. The

two go hand in hand. Knowledge of them

will normally be acquired gradually over a

period of several years. When the child is



Childhood Religion 27

first taken to church, say at the age of two,

he will have no understanding of the meaning

of the Mass. Nevertheless, it is well to take

him even at this tender age and begin teach-

ing him to behave in Church, to genuflect be-

fore the Blessed Sacrament and to fold his

hands. By the age of three he can be told

that the priest prays at Mass and that he

should also pray. Perhaps at the age of four

he will be able to grasp in a measure the no-

tion of Christ coming down upon the altar at

the quiet of the Consecration. From then on

his interest in the Mass should be developed

more and more through his learning to observe

the priest more closely during the course of

the Mass. By repeating to him often the

stories of the Last Supper and of the Cruci-

fixion, the child will come by the age of five

to grasp at least something of the great mys-

teries of the Mass and of the Holy Eucharist

—mysteries which he never will be able fully
to grasp but which will be a source of happi-

ness and of help to him throughout life, in

proportion to the measure in which he comes

to comprehend and love them.

Perhaps verses, such as the following by

Sister Mary Gertrude, will prove helpful to

parents in teaching the child of five or six

years further to appreciate the Mass and the

Blessed Sacrament:



28 Childhood Religion

The Altar

A is for Altar,
before it we pray

Our Lord dwells upon it

by night and by day.

He cannot be seen,

but we kneel and adore.

O Lord, I believe
May my faith grow still more!

The Changed Bread

B is for Bread

that is used in the Mass

Unheard and unseen

a great change comes to pass:

“'!l^is is My Body’’

—

the priest says the word.

And the bread becomes truly

The Flesh of Our Lord.

The Chalice

C is for Chalice
the wine cup of gold

Our Lord’s Precious Blood

in the Mass it will hold.

For the wine becomes changed

to the Blood of Our Lord,

Then by people and priest

is devoutly adored.

Finally, with regard to grace, the child must

not only be taught its meaning and the vari-

ous channels through which it may be received,

but must also have impressed upon his mind

from his early years the importance of co-

operating with grace. He must be taught that

to increase the grace of God in his soul should



Childhood Religion 29

be his aim throughout life, that God continue

ally offers him more and more of this spiritual

life but that he must cooperate with Him by

making use of His graces. He must be brought

to realize that without such cooperation on

his part there can be neither the full flower'

ing of the possibilities of his religious develop'

ment nor the accomplishment of God’s will

in behalf of his soul, namely, its ultimate

sanctification and eternal salvation.

Saintliness or Godlessness?

By making a reasonable use of the many

golden opportunities that are theirs for the

religious training of their little ones within

the home, parents can keep them from their

earliest years close to God, close to Christ.

Indeed, they can make them other Christs;

they can make them child saints. For we

may well call the little one in whom something

approximating perfect development takes

place, primarily in the supernatural and moral

orders, a child saint. What an alluring op'

portunity for the true Catholic parent! The

increasing number of biographical sketches of

holy children in our own day, show that saint'

hood in these little friends of Christ is by no

means an impossible ideal. They show, too,

that not a few parents, coming from various

walks of life, are in our modem world making
the most of these sacred opportunities that are

theirs, and are really producing such religious

prodigies in their homes.

Unfortunately, however, we also find the

contrary. We find parents today who in
sorry contrast to the foregoing type deliberate'

ly deny their own little ones the very know!'



30 Childhood Religion

edge of their Heavenly Father and of holy

things. The type is well illustrated by the ^

mother who some time ago strenuously ob- :

jected against including in a book for children

a picture of two tots kneeling in prayer, and

then expressed herself about it as follows: “If

such a picture were put into the hands of my
children, I should be in for a bad half hour

trying to explain what prayers were and why

they did not form a part of their routine. I

would not bar the book from the house to save

myself this trouble, but I think it is vastly

improved by the omission of such a picture,

for a great many children today are brought

up without ever hearing of God and religion.

Mine are among them.

“To introduce a small child to the idea of

an omnipotent Father may easily rob him of

his self-dependence. He may form the habit

of leaning on some person or power instead of

growing up in the belief that he alone must

meet and solve his problems as they arise. One

might jeopardize the whole future happiness of

a child by telling him that he is accountable

to God for what he does and not to his own

conscience.”

That is an example of what must be con-

tended with today. One might no longer be

shocked to hear such words from the mouth

of Lenin or Stalin, but coming from the pen

of an American mother, from one of the intel-

ligentsia, so-called, it is quite a different story.

And there are a number of erratic people

among us who are weak enough to be led

astray by such jargon. It seems almost in-

credible to what extremes man’s pride and

conceit can lead him.



Childhood Religion 3

1

It need not be argued, of course, that no

Catholic parents share any such attitude

toward the child and his religion. Indeed,

they are all justly shocked at such utter god'

lessness. But, on the other hand, is it not

equally true that many among them are not

leading their little ones on definitely toward

saintliness? Is it not true that many of them

are not measuring up to what is properly ex'

pected of them with regard to the religious

training of their children in the home? Surely

no one could hesitate to answer in the af&rma'

tive. And it is for all such to aim definitely
higher. They must come to appreciate more

fully the importance of the early years in the

spiritual development of the little ones whom
God has entrusted to their care. They must

learn to accept anew the sacred responsibili'

ties of parenthood. They must acknowledge

in practice the wondrous opportunities that

are theirs as members of the lay priesthood.



32 Childhood Religion

Studj) Outline

1. Why has the home special advantages in trains
ing the preschool child in his religion?

2. Name some of the main principles on which
the early spiritual training of the child must be

based. What conclusions are to be deduced from

these principles?

3. What religious truths can the preschool child
learn to know? What moral truths? At what par^
ticular age period can he learn to know these various

truths?

4. Show how the idea of God can be brought
home to the little child through the medium of the

wonders around him.

5. How can holy pictures be used to advantage
in the religious training of the child? Name some
of the pictures that should prove particularly helpful.

6. Show the value of the religious story in the

child’s spiritual training.

7. Give examples of projects of a religious nature

that the child might be given to do.

8. What is the value of verse in teaching the
small child to pray?

9. What unnecessary difficulties do parents at
times create in trying to teach their diildren to

pray?

10. Formulate some prayers suitable to a child

of four or five years of age.

11. What is the distinction between praying and
“saying prayers?”

12. What sacred articles might be brought to the
attention of the little one in order to teach him

reverence for holy things?

13. How may the child be taught the notion
of sin?

14. How may the child be taught the notion
of grace?

15. How can the child be given some apprecia^
tion of the Sacrament of Baptism? The Sacrament
of Penance? The Holy Eucharist? The Mass?

16. Name some child saints of our day.



FOR CHILDREN

Prayers for Little Ones

The Life of Our Lord for Children

Confession Prayers for Children

Communion Prayers for Children

The Child's Mass Book

Our Lady's Feasts

The Story of St. Joseph for Children

Jesus, Our Friend

Confirmation for Children

The Our Father for Children

The Hail Mary for Children

The Holy Ghost, God of Love

SPECIAL OFFER— 12 titles for 7Sc, includes postage.
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INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY
407 Bergen Street Brooklyn, N. Y.

(Printed in U. S. A.)