Children's Faith Formation

Children's Faith Formation (Religious Education)

Zerlina Kirchen,
Coordinator of Lifelong Faith Formation
Contact Information:
Phone: (847) 671-6429
religiousedcoordinator@outlook.com

All Catholic grade school students in public school should be enrolled in Religious Education Classes.

Sacramental Information

The Religious Education program has a 2 year consecutive attendance requirement for the reception of the Sacraments of Communion and Confirmation. 1st Reconciliation & Communion are usually celebrated in 2nd grade and Confirmation is celebrated in 8th Grade.

Special Sacraments Class
Students in grades 3-7 who need to receive the Sacraments of 1st Reconciliation & Communion will be enrolled in this class in their second consecutive year of attendance in the Religious Education Program. This class is designed to be a separate class to prepare the students for these sacraments. This class meets on a separate Saturday each month from
9-11am.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, October 2nd
11:30am First Family Mass
The 4th grade will be reading & bringing up the gifts and we will have the blessing of the religious education staff at this Mass.

Tuesday, October 4th
6:00-8:00pm Religious Education Class

Saturday, October 8th
9:00-11:30am Religious Education Class

Wednesday, October 12th
7:00pm First Communion Parent Meeting

Saturday, October 15th
9:00-11:00am Special Sacraments Class

Tuesday, October 18th
6:00-8:00pm Religious Education Class

Saturday, October 22nd
9:00-11:30am Religious Education Class

Mass & Service Hours

Students in grades K-8 have a certain number of Mass and service hours they must complete each year.
For Mass hours, if you attend in person, you need to get a bulletin signed by the priest or a volunteer.
While Cardinal Cupich's dispensation for attending Sunday Mass is in place, students can also earn their hours by watching Mass on TV or online. To get credit, they must fill out an online Mass worksheet which you can find below.
Students can earn service hours through various activities which are listed on the service hours direction sheet below. For each act of service the children do they must complete a service hour form. The form is below.
Students can turn this form in to their catechists when they attend class in-person or they can scan it or photograph it and email it to the Religious Education Coordinator.

ONLINE MASS WORKSHEET

SERVICE HOURS FORM

About Our Program

Our Religious Education classes meet in person twice per month at the Wagner Street entrance of the religious education building either on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-8:00pm or Saturday mornings from 9:00-11:30am. We also have a homeschool (remote) option available. We are committed to giving our students in grades K-8 the tools they need to grow and mature in their faith by:

Gathering for prayer every class
Celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Advent & Lent
Encouraging faithful discipleship through the completion of Mass & service hours
Through enrichment opportunities during the year like the Seder Meal, Teaching Masses, & Church Tours
Offering opportunities for participation during Mass by reading or bringing up the gifts during our monthly family Mass or by joining parish ministries like Altar Serving

Registration Information

Registration is still open for the 2022-2023 program year! The last day to register your child is Saturday, October 22nd. You DO NOT need to be a parishioner of Holy Virgin Martyrs to enroll your child in the Religious Education Program. You can still enroll your child by arriving early on a class day or you can fill out and submit your registration form online by clicking the link below. When you submit your form online the coordinator will email you to confirm that your form has been received and send you a statement of what your total tuition and fees will be. You can submit your payment and child's Baptism and Communion certificates by mailing them to 4157 Atlantic Ave. Schiller Park, IL 60176 or dropping them off on a class day.

Below are the links for our registration materials:
To fill out and submit your registration form online, click HERE

To download a copy of our registration form, click HERE

For the 2022-2023 calendar, click HERE

For the religious education handbook, click HERE