Confirmation Door & Pentecost Self Portraits

"When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.  And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.  Then there appeared to them as tongues of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim." ~Acts 2:1-4

We often don't get to celebrate Pentecost during the school year, as it falls fifty days after Easter (this year it is on June 4th). I thought I'd share a quick art idea connecting Pentecost and the Sacrament of Confirmation. With a little review of the Sacraments, you can work Pentecost in any time of year.

As part of our review of the Sacraments of Initiation, my students learn more about the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We read several passages from Scripture, including the account of Pentecost above.  We talk about how the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, has always existed and will always exist.  And we connect that the Holy Spirit that was received by Mary and the Apostles at the first Pentecost after the Resurrection is the very same Holy Spirit that the students will receive at their Confirmation.  We will use this Confirmation Foldable and add it to our Confirmation page in our Fulton Sheen Notebooks.

Then we did a basic art lesson about self portraits (balance, proportions of the face, size of features, looking in a mirror, etc.) and the students each created an image of their own face.  They also used red, orange, and yellow paper to create flames hovering above their heads.

The results were awesome!  I hope that it helps the kids start to internalize the relationship with the Holy Spirit they are invited into, and how it is strengthened by Confirmation.  We displayed the Pentecost Self Portraits on our classroom door (no bulletin board=creativity) with a fiery dove, wind and a "Come Holy Spirit" sign.  This completed our Doors to the Sacraments for Christian Initiation: you can see Baptism here and the Eucharist here.