Archdiocesan Value Education

Centre - AVEC
Don Bosco Youth Services – Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019
Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com

PRAYER SERVICE
Children’s Day

“You are the rainbow of our lives…”

1. INTRODUCATION

Teacher Animator: A warm welcome to one and all present here for this prayer
service on this auspicious day - the 14th of November - the birthday of our great
leader, Late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was a great lover of children. In tribute to
that love we celebrate Children’s Day today. Hence we the teachers of (name of the
school) are happy as we fondly remember our leader as well as you dear students.

On this wonderful day we want to say that each one of you is precious and
important and that you are a wonderful creation of the Almighty. You are the
‘rainbow’ of our lives, full of promise for a better tomorrow. Hence through this
prayer service we want to wish you the best of life and also ask for God’s blessings
on you so that you continue to live as bright and shining stars of our country. So let
us all begin this service by surrendering ourselves to God and coming to Him with
child like trust and confidence in his care and love for us as we sing the hymn – Just
Like a child.

2. HYMN: Just Like a child (Pray Sing 23)

3. INTERCESSORY PRAYERS WITH GOD’S WORD

Teacher: Dear students, we love you and care for you, and on this your special day
we want to say something to you in the words of our Heavenly Father.

Leader: “See, I have carved you on the palm of my hand, I will never forget you
even if your mother forgets you” (Is 49:15)

Teacher I: Dear students, God has created you with immense love and perfection.
Each one of you is a marvel of His creation - His love. Hence you are special and
wonderful. You are a Miracle. We pray that you always continue to keep up to His
wonderful work in you by spreading His love to all around through your thoughts,
words and deeds.

Leader: May they be one Father, as you and I are one…. (Jn. 17)

Teacher II: “United we stand divided we fall” is one of the sayings we have often
heard. Dear students, your continuous effort as one family to keep the flag of the
school flying high through studies, sports, various competitions, etc. have been

*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values*

 Archdiocesan Value Education
Centre - AVEC
Don Bosco Youth Services – Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019
rewarding. Tel:that
We pray 24154477 E-mail:
like in school, avecmatunga@gmail.com
you continue to work hard for your country
too and in this way build a bright future for India, because in you lies the hope of a
bright tomorrow.

Leader: “Satya is what is good and what is true. When therefore a work is well
done the end of that work is satya” (Bhagvadgita 17:26)

Teacher III: Truth is the pathway to a peaceful and successful life. The thought that
one has lived a life of sincerity and truthfulness, makes one feel fulfilled and happy.
Dear Students, on this auspicious day we pray that each one of you lives a truthful
life, overcoming all hurdles of falsehood, thus building the kingdom of peace and
Justice.

4. SYMBOLIC PRAYER

Student Commentator: We feel for your prayer dear teacher, and also for the
trust and hope that you place in us, to build a bright future for our country and so
we pledge through this small prayerful gesture that we will try to promote peace
and love all around us.

(An empty vase is kept in the centre of an outline map of India drawn in a
prominent place before hand. The map could either be a rangoli or drawn on a big
chart paper. The students at their appropriate turns will place flowers in the empty
vase.)

i. White lilies: (5/6 students belonging to different religions place the white lilies in
the empty vase)

Student I: Lord we place these white lilies in the vase. These represent the sign of
peace. We humbly pray that each one of us be filled with inner peace of heart and
mind because, only then can we be a sign of peace to others through our acts of
love, care and understanding.

ii. Red Roses: (5/6 students go forward and place red roses in the vase)

Student II: Lord, we place these red roses in the vase. These are a sign of love. We
pray that we learn to love everybody around us not because they are our friends, or
have done good to us or for any other reason, but love them just as they are
irrespective of their caste, creed, or sex because you are God, and Father of us all.

iii. Green Ferns: (5/6 students go forward and place the green ferns in the vase)

Student III: As we place these green ferns in the vase we pledge that we will
always move forward enthusiastically through hard work and dedication. Lord, we
know that the right foundation to a successful future is hard work. Give us the
courage to say ‘no’ to any kind of false means of attaining success, and reach our
goals only through sheer hard work.

*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values*

 Archdiocesan Value Education
Centre - AVEC
Don Bosco Youth Services – Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019
iv. Tel: of
Different kinds 24154477
flowers: E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com
(5\6 students place different kinds of flowers in
the vase)

Student IV: Lord we place the different flowers as a sign of our diversity and pray
that although we belong to different religious and have different cultures we
continue to contribute to the good of our country as one family.

5. CONCLUSION

Teacher Animator:

If we want to build a strong and beautiful India we have to learn to preserve the
varieties of goodness in our diversities. Only then can we create something
beautiful and wonderful like the vase we see before our eyes. Hence let us a strive
to make our country a beautiful place to live in; a place where love peace and joy
have made its home. Let us with all our strength and might make the best use of
the freedom won for us 62 years ago. As a sign that we all - young and old - will
strive to illuminate the future with our good deeds and actions, some of us shall
carry lighted lamps and place them on the outline map of India while all of us will
sing with one voice.

6. HYMN: A Light within the World (Pray Sing 207)

*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values*

 Archdiocesan Value Education
Centre - AVEC
Don Bosco Youth Services – Matunga, MUMBAI 400 019
Tel: 24154477 E-mail: avecmatunga@gmail.com

- Adapted from RAYS Magazine Sept.- Oct. 1997. Vol. 25 No. 3

Organized by: Amrut Dhara Don Bosco Animation Centre, Kapadvanj

*Building a New Humanity Through Universal Values*