Our Catholic schools are committed to fostering the faith both inside and outside of the classroom, and special liturgical seasons are a good opportunity for diving deeper. When Principal Mandy Kaul wanted to offer families at Nouvel Catholic Central Elementary School in Saginaw a way to spend time together intentionally practicing their faith, she found a unique idea online:  family prayer boxes.  

"Our goal as a Catholic school is to nurture not only the minds of our students but also their souls," Mrs. Kaul said. "I wanted to offer families a meaningful way to experience this season together. Faith is not just something we practice at church or at school; it should be a part of our daily lives." 

For Advent last year, Mrs. Kaul, administrative assistant Jenny Sprague and the Kaul family assembled about 250 boxes filled with a magnetic Advent wreath, prayers and an activity for each week. Families could make craft stick nativity scenes, a prayer cube and a birthday cake for Jesus, and students were challenged to write notes of encouragement.  

“We received good feedback from the Advent boxes and decided to do them for Lent as well,” Mrs. Kaul said, adding that when families learned NCC was also offering Family Lent Boxes, they were very excited. 

“Like our Advent Boxes, the Family Lent Boxes are designed to help our families spend time together in prayer and make Lent more meaningful,” she said.  

Each box is filled with items to create a dedicated prayer space:  a purple cloth (purple is the liturgical color for Lent), a white plate to fill with sand, representing Jesus’ time in the desert; two small hearts to represent God’s love for us; a pipe cleaner to form a cross and six stones, one for each Sunday in Lent. A color-coded ring offers ideas for each week that go along with the three pillars of Lent:  prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 

“Each Sunday, you read the prayer, fasting and almsgiving cards for the week and add a stone to the sand,” Mrs. Kaul said.  

For example, the cards include a challenge to pray for those who have no one to pray for them, to ‘fast’ from screens for one day or to, as a family, find 10 items in your home to donate to others.  

“My hope is that the Family Lent Boxes and Lenten Prayer Spaces will help serve as a reminder to follow Jesus, talk to him and to do the things Jesus wants us to do,” Mrs. Kaul said. “I was so impressed and moved by some of the pictures and feedback from the Family Advent Boxes, and I’m excited to see how the students will respond to the Lent Boxes!”