Many of our 10+ year old kids are getting to see my favorite work in the Level III atrium: The Cardinal Virtues. The presentation lays out the 4 Cardinal Virtues.
The first three: Justice, Prudence, and Fortitude are the virtues that push us to do the good. The last one: Temperance, is the virtue that holds us back from over-indulgence.
The word "Cardinal" comes from the italian word that means "hinge." This is important because our whole lives "hinge" on the degree to which we have (or have not) these virtues.
As the children are introduced to the "sister virtues"--they see that virtues like meekness, patience, gratitude, and humility all relate somehow to the Cardinal virtues.
To the left is the box that was made for this work. We have a Level III catechist who wrote out all of the virtues (cardinal and sisters) and their definitions on the back, as well as the arrows pictured below. This is a great part of CGS because that catechist is probably the most familiar of all of us with these virtues because of her hard work in preparing this for us.
This part of the Virtues work is my favorite! The children are invited to read stories from the bible and make their own judgments of whether or not the actors in the scene were exemplifying or deficient in a virtue. The little arrows have plus and minus signs on them for the children to point to the parts that they notice a + or - for the virtues.
This helps them to see the world in the light of the virtues. The more we can, with God's help, develop the virtues in our life, the better our world will work. (Just like the hinges on a door!)
Until next time!
Mandie DeVries, CGS Catechist & Director of Religious Education
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