I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.

This Christmas, Deacon Peter Huynh is inviting children to help us celebrate the birth of Christ through art and prayer.

Deacon Peter has held 2 children’s art contests for Stations of the Cross booklets, which have been very successful. This year, he wants to begin a Christmas art contest along the same lines.

“The first three volumes of the Stations of the Cross were a great hit,” Deacon Peter says. “Many kids connected with a book that had other kids their age express in artwork what they felt and thought about what Christ went through at Calvary. The parents and teachers really liked how art and theology blended so well together for an elementary student to read, meditate, and pray.”

For the Stations of the Cross booklets, Deacon Peter paired the children’s art with brief reflections by his fellow Legionary brothers. For Christmas, he wants the children themselves to write the reflections. The contest will have 2 parts: an artwork contest open to children in grades 2–5, and a ‘personal prayer’ contest for children in grades 6–8.

Deacon Peter chose 25 themes for the children to base their art and prayers on, and the final booklet will be a countdown to Christmas, beginning December 1.

“I have chosen 25 key events in the life of Mary, Elizabeth, Zachariah, John the Baptist, and of course, the Christ Child. This enables the young readers to get familiar with other characters involved in the story of the birth of Jesus and broaden their vision of what happened.”

Deacon Peter is accepting submissions for the contest through January 6, 2013, and will have the books ready for Christmas 2013.

“I hope this book serves as one of the way our young ones prepare for this wonderful and sacred reality of our history of salvation,” he says.

For more information about the Christmas art contest, see the instructions here or contact Deacon Peter at phuynh@legionaries.org.