May 2008 Activity 2

Jesus’ Sacred Heart Burns for Peace

Use this activity from Ann Ball’s Crafty Catholic Kids: Great Activities for Family Fun and Faith to create a Mexican-Style Sacred Heart Candle and encourage students to use this candle at home to pray for peace. Use the following prayer with the candle or encourage students to write one with their families or write one of their own.

Prayer for Peace

Sacred Heart of Jesus, grant us the grace to pray and work for peace. May we comfort Your Sacred Heart with acts of kindness and with prayers for others who do not have peace. We light this candle together as a family dedicated to peace in our lives and in our world. Amen.

Mexican-Style Sacred Heart Candle

You will need:

• Tall glass votive candle, plain white
• Bottle of black or gold fabric paint or artificial leading glass paint
• Bottle of glitter fabric paint (optional)
• Glass paints*
• Paint brush
• Can of spray glitter or white glue and powdered glitter
• Thin line black permanent marker
• Pattern

Copy the pattern below onto the glass candle using a thin line permanent marker. You can draw the pattern free hand, or copy it from the book, cut it out and trace around it onto the glass.

Using gold or black fabric paint or artificial leading glass paint, go over all the lines. Make a scalloped or wavy line around the top of the candle with the glitter fabric paint about an inch from the top. Highlight the cut on the heart and one side of the drops of blood with the glitter fabric paint. Allow to dry thoroughly — about four hours. Paint your candle inside the lines with the transparent glass paints. You may need to paint one part, let it dry and then paint the rest. Let dry. Finish with a light coat of spray glitter. If you like, add highlights with white glue and glitter.

Alternative: If you don’t have glass paints, you can mix white glue with a few drops of food coloring to substitute.