St. Gertrude Church
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Register
    • Parish Staff
    • Parish History
    • Parish Boundaries
    • Church Architecture
    • Media
    • Give
    • Employment
    • Strategic Planning Process
  • Adults
    • Asking Life's Big Questions
    • Considering Becoming Catholic
    • Looking for a Prayer Group
    • Desiring Formation
    • Seeking to Serve
    • Needing Support
  • Children & Youth
    • Athletics >
      • Boys Basketball
      • Boys Volleyball
      • Cheerleading
      • Football
      • Girls Basketball
      • Girls Volleyball
      • K-2 Instructional Basketball
      • Track and Field
      • Wrestling
    • St. Gertrude School
    • Age 3 – Grade 3 (CGS) >
      • Sacramental Formation (Grade 2)
    • Grades 4 – 6 (Family Faith)
    • Grades 7 – 8 (Junior High) >
      • Confirmation Prep (Gr. 7-8)
    • Grades 9 – 12 (L'alto: High School)
    • Liturgical Ministries for Youth >
      • Choir: Schola Cantorum
      • Choir: Collegium
      • Choral Scholar Program
      • The Sons of St. Joseph
      • St. Anne and the Child Mary Guild
    • Cub Scouts
    • Boy Scouts
  • Sacraments & Worship
    • Lent 2025
    • Mass & Confessions >
      • Worship Programs
      • Mass Intentions
      • Dominican Rite
    • Infant Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • Matrimony
    • Anointing of the Sick
    • Funerals & Bereavement
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Music >
      • Sacred Music Series
  • Parish Portal

Catechesis of the Good
​Shepherd

Age 3 – Grade 3
REGISTER

What Is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd?

At St. Gertrude Church and School, we are blessed to offer the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. CGS, as it is commonly referred to, is a Montessori-influenced faith formation experience for children. Sessions take place in a prepared environment, called the atrium, which is filled with beautifully handmade child-size materials. 
During the CGS weekly sessions, children are invited into prayer, given a presentation that is based on Scripture or the liturgy, and allotted time for personal work. The catechist is attentive to each child’s unspoken desire: “help me come closer to God by myself.”

St. Gertrude Church and School is happy to offer CGS Level 1 (for children ages 3–6), Level 2 (for children in grades 1–3), and one session of Level 3 (for children in grades 4-6). 


2024–2025 CGS Offerings

Registration for 2024-2025 CGS sessions opens on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at 9 a.m. If you have any questions, please contact Kristen Eggers at [email protected].

Note: Parents who wish to bring a child forward to receive First Reconciliation and First Communion in second grade should be sure to enroll their child in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd as a first grader (if not before).
REGISTER
2024–2025 Session & Calendars
Google and iCal can be found on the Children & Youth homepage. 
Level 1 Sessions (ages 3*–6)
  • Sunday, 8:15–9:45 a.m.
  • Sunday, 10:15–11:45 a.m.
  • ​Monday, 4–5:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, 4–5:30 p.m.^
  • Tuesday, 6-7:15 p.m.
  • Thursday, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.​
Level 2 Sessions (grades 1-3)
  • Sunday, 8:15–9:45 a.m.
  • Sunday, 10:15–11:45 a.m.
  • Monday, 4–5:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, 4–5:30 p.m.^
  • Tuesday, 6-7:15 p.m.
Level 3 (grades 4–6)
  • ​Tuesday 4-5:30 p.m.
*Children must be three years old by June 1, 2024, and fully potty-trained and independent in using the restroom. To ensure readiness, three-year-olds must attend a screening. After you register your three-year-old, we will be in touch to schedule the screening.
^Siblings of children in Level 3 have priority registration for this session.

What Is the History of CGS?

Picture
Beginning in the 1950s, CGS was developed by two Italian Catholic laywomen, Dr. Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi. Sofia was a Hebrew scholar, and Gianna worked as a Montessori classroom educator. Together, Sofia and Gianna observed children for decades, learning the most essential Christian messages that met the spiritual desires for each age group. From this, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd was born.

CGS began at St. Gertrude Parish in 2014. We’ve grown from having one temporary atrium space with a handful of trained catechists to two permanent atria and one portable atria with over 20 trained catechists in the school and church. Over 250 children are currently participating.

What Do Children Learn?

Level 1
Children ages 3–6

​"He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
— John 10:3


Children in this age range are in the absorbent stage of development and filled with wonder and awe. Our youngest friends joyfully encounter the Good Shepherd and discover his unconditional love and care. They come to know Jesus as the light of the world (and love singing “Christ is light, in him there is no darkness”).

​While in the atrium your child might learn:
  • The Parable of the Good Shepherd
  • The Model Altar
  • Baptism
  • Infancy Narratives
  • Kingdom of God parables
  • Gestures of the Mass
  • Liturgical Colors
  • Geography of Israel
  • Last Supper (Cenacle)
  • The Land of Jerusalem
  • The Empty Tomb
  • Practical Life
Level 2:
Children ages 6–9

Developmentally, 6- to 9-year-old children are ready for a deeper understanding of their relationship with Jesus, their families, and their communities. The parable of the true vine is central to their work as they ponder Jesus’ words: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing”. 

While in the atrium, your child might learn:
  • Salvation History
  • Moral Parables
  • Prayers of the Mass
  • Synthesis of the Mass
  • Holy Bible
  • Further Geography Work
  • Maxims
  • Sacrament Meditations
  • Personal Missal Making
  • Communal Prayer - child led​
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Through CGS, we also offer a beautiful meditation series for our children preparing for the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion.
For more information about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, please visit www.cgsusa.org.

Contact

Picture
Mary Beth Thiemann
Picture
Kristen Eggers

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Mary Beth Thiemann, coordinator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, at ​[email protected], or Kristen Eggers, office coordinator, at [email protected]. You can also call the Evangelization office at (513) 561-5954.
Picture
6543 Miami Ave Cincinnati, OH 45243
Phone: (513) 561-5954 | ​Fax: (513) 561-5184
Parish Office Hours: Mon.–Fri., 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Facebook
Youtube
  • Register as a Parishioner
  • News
  • Bulletin
  • ​SafeParish
  • Contact Us
  • ​Maintenance/Facility Request
  • Employment​
  • St. Gertrude School
  • Archdiocese of Cincinnati
GIVE
  • About
    • Mission & Vision
    • Register
    • Parish Staff
    • Parish History
    • Parish Boundaries
    • Church Architecture
    • Media
    • Give
    • Employment
    • Strategic Planning Process
  • Adults
    • Asking Life's Big Questions
    • Considering Becoming Catholic
    • Looking for a Prayer Group
    • Desiring Formation
    • Seeking to Serve
    • Needing Support
  • Children & Youth
    • Athletics >
      • Boys Basketball
      • Boys Volleyball
      • Cheerleading
      • Football
      • Girls Basketball
      • Girls Volleyball
      • K-2 Instructional Basketball
      • Track and Field
      • Wrestling
    • St. Gertrude School
    • Age 3 – Grade 3 (CGS) >
      • Sacramental Formation (Grade 2)
    • Grades 4 – 6 (Family Faith)
    • Grades 7 – 8 (Junior High) >
      • Confirmation Prep (Gr. 7-8)
    • Grades 9 – 12 (L'alto: High School)
    • Liturgical Ministries for Youth >
      • Choir: Schola Cantorum
      • Choir: Collegium
      • Choral Scholar Program
      • The Sons of St. Joseph
      • St. Anne and the Child Mary Guild
    • Cub Scouts
    • Boy Scouts
  • Sacraments & Worship
    • Lent 2025
    • Mass & Confessions >
      • Worship Programs
      • Mass Intentions
      • Dominican Rite
    • Infant Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • Matrimony
    • Anointing of the Sick
    • Funerals & Bereavement
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Music >
      • Sacred Music Series
  • Parish Portal