✦ Children's Formation
Catechesis of
the Good Shepherd
A contemplative approach to children's religious formation, rooted in Scripture, Liturgy, and the child's own capacity for relationship with God.
✦ What Is CGS?
A Method Born from
Listening to Children
The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd was developed in Rome in the 1950s by Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew scholar, and Gianna Gobbi, a Montessori educator. Together they began working with a small group of children, presenting the parable of the Good Shepherd — and were astonished by the depth of the children's response.
What emerged over decades of work with children across many cultures and countries is a method of religious formation that is not primarily about transmitting information, but about facilitating encounter — between the child and the living God, mediated through Scripture and Liturgy in a prepared environment called the atrium.
At Magdalene House, we celebrate CGS in the Eastern Catholic tradition, drawing on the rich iconographic, liturgical, and theological heritage of the Christian East to enrich the child's encounter with Christ. The Divine Liturgy, the icons, the feasts and fasts of the Eastern liturgical year — all of these become living materials in the atrium.
"The child has a capacity for God that adults have often lost — or buried. Our task is not to give the child something new, but to help them recognize what they already carry."— Sofia Cavalletti, The Religious Potential of the Child
✦ The Method
Four Principles of
the Catechesis
The Child's Capacity for God
CGS is founded on the insight of Sofia Cavalletti that children have a natural and profound capacity for relationship with God — that they are not empty vessels to be filled with information, but persons already in relationship with the One who made them. The catechist's role is to nourish what is already there.
The Atrium
The atrium is the prepared environment in which CGS takes place — a sacred space distinct from the ordinary classroom, furnished with materials that invite the child into contemplation and work. It is modeled on the atrium of the early Christian basilica, the space of preparation before entering the sanctuary.
Work, Not Lessons
In the atrium, children do not sit at desks and receive lectures. They choose their work freely from the materials available, handling three-dimensional objects, drawing, writing, and reflecting. The catechist presents the material and then steps back, allowing the child's own contemplation to unfold.
Joy as the Sign of Truth
Sofia Cavalletti observed that children who encounter the parable of the Good Shepherd respond with unmistakable joy — a joy that is the sign of a deep resonance between the proclamation and the child's own deepest longing. CGS trusts this joy as a theological criterion: what truly nourishes the child will produce delight.
✦ The Three Levels
Formation for Every
Stage of Childhood
Level I
The Atrium of the Good Shepherd
Level I introduces the youngest children to the essential proclamation of the Christian faith: God is love, and that love has a name — Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Children in Level I work with the parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10), the geography of the Holy Land, the Mass/Liturgy, and the fundamental relationship between God and the child.
Works in the Atrium
Level II
The Atrium of the Kingdom
Level II deepens the child's encounter with the person of Christ through the parables of the Kingdom. Children at this level are capable of greater moral and historical reflection, and the CGS curriculum responds to this by introducing the history of salvation, the prophets, and the moral life as a response to the love of God.
Works in the Atrium
Level III
The Atrium of the Adolescent
Level III accompanies children on the threshold of adolescence as they begin to ask deeper questions about identity, vocation, and the meaning of their lives. The curriculum at this level is more explicitly theological and historical, exploring the early Church, the Creed, the sacramental life, and the call to discipleship.
Works in the Atrium
✦ For Parents
Partnering with
Families
CGS does not replace the family as the primary place of religious formation — it supports and enriches it. Parents are the first catechists of their children, and the atrium is designed to extend and deepen what begins at home.
We offer a parent orientation session at the beginning of each year, and we encourage parents to visit the atrium and see the materials their children are working with. Many parents find that the CGS materials open up their own faith in unexpected ways.
Children in the CGS program attend the atrium during the Divine Liturgy on Sundays, returning to the nave for the Liturgy of the Faithful and Holy Communion. They are not separated from the worshipping community — they are formed within it.
✦Do my children need to be baptized to attend?
Children of any background are welcome in the atrium. CGS is a place of encounter, not a gatekeeping mechanism. We welcome children who are inquiring, children who are catechumens, and children who are fully initiated.
✦What is the time commitment?
CGS takes place during the Sunday Divine Liturgy. Children attend the atrium for approximately 45–60 minutes and return to the nave for the Liturgy of the Faithful. No additional weekday sessions are required, though optional family formation evenings are offered periodically.
✦How do I enroll my child?
Contact Fr. Joseph directly to express your interest. We will schedule a brief conversation to introduce you to the program, answer your questions, and place your child in the appropriate level. There is no enrollment fee.
✦Can I become a CGS catechist?
CGS catechists undergo specific formation training. If you feel called to serve in this ministry, speak with Fr. Joseph. We are always looking for adults who love children and who want to accompany them in their encounter with God.