The Catalog of Good Deeds

"Let the children come to me, so not to hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (Mark, 10: 14-15).

Christian education is a permanent challenge within the frameworks of the Church. Not only did our Lord and Savior continuously teach the word of God during His early mission, but the Church as a whole has looked upon Christian education as one of its essential ministries from the beginning. As the first Christians joined the Church "they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers" (Acts, 2:42).

The greatest gift, the most precious inheritance that we have to give to our children is our Orthodox Faith. Jesus makes it clear that He wants children to come to know Him, and that He considers it a grave offence for an adult to hinder this process or lead the child astray: "whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew, 18:6).

The primary goel of Christian education in the Church is to evoke and nurture the faith in Jesus Christ. The Church nurtures a living awareness of the resurrected Christ in our midst, who is the true Celebrant of Sacraments and the true Teacher of His people, and makes Himself known to use by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The whole range of Orthodox educational material - books, filmstrips, visuals, Bible Studies, lives of saints contemporary discussion of Christian values - becomes effective to the degree that communicates the love and sprit of Christ.

The focus of our efforts to educate our beloved children in the Orthodox Christian Faith must remain in our Sunday School program. When we bring our children regularly to Sunday School we provide them with a gift of knowledge that has a lifelong value and significance.

The need of Christian education is as immediate as when the disciples first appealed to Jesus: "Teach us to pray" (Luke, 11:1).

Christian education is an essential and abiding ministry in the Church. As other important ministries, it is never finished. It can be as vital and meaningful as the whole body of the Church makes it through provision of adequate personal, spiritual and financial resources.

The validity of Christian education is demonstrated by the truth that a well informed Christian is a spiritually committed Christian within the greater body of the Church. The commission of Christian education comes from the Lord Himself: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matthew, 28: 19-20).

Sunday School of St. Elisabeth Convent

In October the Sunday School of St. Elisabeth Convent begins a new academical year. Children can study there from the age of 6. In our Sunday school they learn about God and the Orthodox Church, about the Christian sacraments, Christian life, saints and Holy Fathers, and of course together they attend liturgy, confess, and take the communion.

In our Sunday school there are singing and drawing hobby groups; national puppet theatre "batlejka" , which children like very much, and a studio of national art, where children are learning icon-painting and tessellating, make the icon cases and decorate church items.

Apporximatley 150 children attend the school every Sunday. At our school there is also a group for young teenagers, who gather on Sundays or any other day. Together they pray to Holy Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sofia, and discuss various spiritual topics that are of interest to the or issues that worry them. What is more, they often organize festal celebrations with the children from the junior groups of the Sunday school, take part in pilgrimages and visit different holy places, help in restoration of Belorussian churches and maintain contact with the other brethren. Many of them work in the workshops of the convent and take part in Orthodox fairs. Alsom the young people visit the boarding home for children with special needs and make them feel as part of a greater Orthodox Christian family.

Learn more abot the sunday school of St. Elisabeth Convent.

Source: http://www.stathanasiosnj.org/the-importance-of-sunday.html

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

Uprooting Self-Will

As has been stated before, the child will do nothing at church which he has not learned at home. Children, not being hypocritical by nature, act according to what they have been taught by their parents. Curiously, parents are often unaware of what they have really taught their children until they see the results manifested in public. That is why this book began with the child at Divine Liturgy—with all the incipient problems highlighted. It is often easier to choose to blame the traditional Orthodox Church for making the church atmosphere uncomfortable for parents of uncontrollable children. But if we are honest with ourselves, then we are forced to take a hard look at our home life and our methods of discipline in order to find out where we went wrong.

What most of us will find when we view our child-rearing methods through an Orthodox perspective is that we have allowed the child to develop a powerful self-will. We have come to expect disobedience rather than obedience from the child. Indeed, we have often conformed ourselves the child's will, striving to mold ourselves to the child's every whim and desire, desperate to win and hold the child's love and approval.

What's wrong with this picture? It is a perfect photographic negative of what Orthodox family life is supposed to be. Black is white and white is black whenever we embrace worldly standards of parenthood. This also means that we are calling good (strict discipline and high standards) evil (repressive, fanatic) and evil (no discipline, low standards) good ("affirming", understanding of "differently-abled" children).

Self-will, once it is firmly established, is so antithetical to Orthodoxy that it will render spiritual growth impossible. It is the responsibility of the parents to impose their will upon the child, even in the smallest details, even in the seemingly insignificant areas of the child's life.

The will of the parents should be imprinted upon each step— of course in a general way. Without this, the behavior of the child can easily become corrupted. After enjoying himself according to his own will, the child always returns unwilling to obey even in the smallest things; and this if it happens only once—what then can one say if this part of bodily activity is completely neglected? How difficult it is later to uproot self-will, which so quickly seats itself in the body as in a fortress. The neck will not bend, the hands and feet will not move, and the eyes will not even wish to look as they are told.

But on the contrary, a child comes out ready to obey any kind of order when from the very beginning he is not given total freedom in his movements. In addition, there is no better training in being the master of one's body than by forcing it to exert itself according to orders. (St. Theophan the Recluse, Raising Them Right, Conciliar Press, 1989, p. 34.)

Take, for example, a toddler who becomes obstinate about food. The child is given a healthy breakfast but he refuses to eat because he would rather play at that moment. He screams and cries and thrusts the food away from him. Fine. Let him get down. A parent cannot and should not force a child to eat. However, the child should not be offered any more food until a specific time determined by the parent, preferably the next mealtime. If the parent becomes obsessive about the child's eating habits to the point where the child is fed on demand, the child will learn:

1). The world revolves around me. My desires supersede those of my parents and they must act according to my will.

2). It is important that I never feel hungry or uncomfortable in any way.

How could one expect such a child to respond to the idea of fasting when he comes of age? It is especially important that the child not connect the idea of "love" with the idea of "instant gratification." Otherwise, all attempts at helping the child to grow spiritually will be greeted as frightening portents of abandonment.

From very early childhood the child must learn that he will eat food given by a parent or permitted by a parent at the time decided by the parent. He will play when and where the parent decides. A child must learn from infancy to look to his parents for guidance and not to his own will. We must be careful here to note that overcoming self-will is not easy at all. We must expect to struggle and sometimes have unpleasant confrontations with our children. This can certainly be exhausting but if parents give in to their children's demands, even once, spiritual ground is lost that is very difficult to regain. A child who cries in order to get his way, for example, will cry for everything once he finds that this method moves the parents to sympathy. This so-called "sensitive" child is merely a manipulator of the feelings of others. To cater to this kind of manipulation as though it were a touching character trait is to develop the child into a self- involved cry-baby who will be unable to "cope" with anything he chooses to avoid.

Daily Life

The Orthodox family gets up in time to say their morning prayers together. If this means missing some sleep, bear in mind that it is not only a good spiritual discipline for the adults in the family, but a tremendous example to the children of where the family's priorities truly lie. Of course, extenuating circumstances might render this schedule impractical. If a member of the household works nights, for example, he should be allowed to say his prayers later.

Before eating or drinking anything, each member of the family should have some antidoron or a sip of holy water. By this act we remind ourselves that every good gift comes from Our Father in Heaven. When children begin each day with prayer and by partaking in holy things, they will be far less likely to associate piety and godliness as attributes to be considered on Sunday at Church.

In our culture, breakfast is likely to be a hurried, informal meal. However, this is no excuse to forget either the blessing or one's table manners. If the children are attending public school, chances are that they have picked up some fairly deplorable habits which must be vigilantly corrected. As with any other meal, complaints about the food must not be tolerated. The day should start with a nutritious meal but that does not mean that the mother must become a short-order cook catering to each individual whim.

After breakfast, when various members of the family have made their way to work or school, the traditional Orthodox mother will find herself at home with her smaller children. Or, if she is homeschooling, all her children will be there with her. The children will not be at a day care center while she is at work because then we would not be discussing the traditional Orthodox home. Frankly, the concept of a mother dropping her children of each day at an institution in which a few underpaid employees attempt to supervise several children at once is antithetical to the idea of Orthodox homelife. The mother who wants to instill true Christian spirituality in her children must be there to see to it herself.

Though cleanliness and orderliness in the home are important and should not be neglected, the Orthodox mother should avoid the use of television as a babysitter while she attends to household chores. No matter what the sponsors of children's shows may try to tell us, there is very little on television which is actually instructive or substantial. The rapidity with which the images are shown have a mind- numbing affect on a toddler and afford them little opportunity for interactive play. Television does, however, become addictive and parents who indulge this addiction usually end up experiencing the very unnerving phenomenon of their small children demanding to see "their" programs and throwing tantrums when their demands are not met.

Far more instructive is the constant verbal communication that should be taking place between mother and child. This is how a young child learns to speak correctly. If the child is allowed to play in the same area of the house where the mother is doing her chores, they can have a lot of positive interaction without the mother having to leave her tasks and devote her entire attention to the child. In addition, some time should be set aside for the mother to read stories and play games with the child. A mother is her child's first and best teacher provided she does not turn her responsibilities over to the television set.

This is also a good time to introduce children to concepts of beauty and harmony, particularly in the area of music appreciation. Without worldly biases, small children inately love that which is lovely. Peaceful and intricate melodies not only calm babies and small children but help them to form a preference for that which is beautiful. As the child grows, he will come in contact with cynical peers who identify their world view with nihilistic noise. The best protection an Orthodox parent can offer is to instill in the child a love of beauty and a belief in good, as embodied by the Orthodox Church and expressed in many ways by those who love God.

What else can a young child learn at home with his mother? Other than the basic skills necessary for functioning as a social being, the Orthodox child is forming a conscience and it is critical that this conscience be formed correctly. He must not be shielded from the fact that he is a fallen creature capable of sin and in need of repentance. This self-knowledge must be cultivated. The mother must be strong and look at her child in the light of what is best for his eternal soul. She must:

1) Firmly insist that every command she gives to the child, even the seemingly least significant, be obeyed. If obedience is not forthcoming, there should be immediate and unpleasant consequences. A mother who sighs and smiles after such a transgression, saying, "I just can't get him to do a thing I say," has abdicated her responsibility for the child's soul.

2) Teach the child to respect other people's property. This may mean that the mother will find herself endlessly repeating, "Is that yours? No, that is not yours. Don't touch." This will not only help instill a certain humility in the child (I am not the center of the universe. Everything does not belong to me), but it renders the child far more trustworthy in situations where he is not under constant supervision.

3) Teach the child to ask permission. Anyone who has visited an Orthodox monastery knows that the monks ask a blessing of the abbot before they do anything - begin their work, go out on an errand, take a drink of water. This not only helps the monks spiritually in accepting authority and acting in obedience, it helps the abbot maintain good order in the monastery. If a monk were to take food without asking, how would the abbot know whether the brothers had enough food for the evening meal? The same is true in the Orthodox household. If a child must ask permission before eating, then the mother knows how much food he has eaten and whether or not he might make himself sick by having more. If the child must ask permission before he goes out to play, the mother knows where he is and will not spend time franticly searching for him.

Permissiveness is not kindness. A young child who has bonded to his mother from infancy desires to please her. His willfullness and rebellion do not make him happy; they are merely traits of fallen humanity. Some modern theories teach that it is wrong to make a child apologize when they have done something wrong. They surmise that since the child is not able to feel genuine contrition, we make the child into a hypocrite by forcing them to say what they do not feel. The baptized Orthodox Christian child does indeed feel the inner imbalance of his soul when he has sinned. He must be taught to recognize the source of that imbalance and to express the repentance that is necessary for him to be restored to harmony with God.

What frost is for flowers, so is the transgression of the parents' will for a child; he cannot look you in the eyes, he does not desire to enjoy kindnesses, he wishes to run away and be alone; but at the same time his soul becomes crude, and the child begins to grow wild. It is a good thing to dispose him ahead of time to repentance, so that without fear, and with trust and with tears, he might come and say, "I did something wrong." (Ibid, p. 43.)

In the evening, the family is reunited. The evening meal should be taken together. Sadly, our society has largely abandoned the concept that it is important for the family to come together in joyful fellowship at the end of the day. Frantic accommodation of various schedules, snacks taken in front of the television, grazing from the refrigerator — these have taken the place of meaningful conversation and the bonding of parents and children around the dining room table. Let it not be so for the Orthodox family. The hectic pace of life being what it is, the evening meal may be one of the few times we have during the work week to relax and enjoy one another's company. This is where children learn how to make congenial conversation and have a chance to tell the important events of their day. It should be an opportunity for everyone at the table to talk about the things that interest them with the people they love most. This is not the occasion for the mother to tell her husband about the transgressions of the younger children, or for heated arguments of any kind, or for adolescent sullenness, or for complaints about the food. Informality within the family does not mean that we are free to be our rudest and crudest with those who must put up with us. It means we are free to express our love and interest in those with whom our lives are entwined.

At whatever time is most suitable to bring the entire family together, we say our evening prayers. This may be followed by the daily scripture reading or a reading from the lives of the Saints. These are very beneficial for children as it gives them spiritual heroes to emulate. If, when we begin the practice of spiritual readings, younger children become squirmy and inattentive, we must not be discouraged. They will soon accept whatever is routinely done and will understand what is said better with time.

In Conclusion

For Orthodox Christians, every day is dedicated to God. Our earthly concerns must always be secondary to our spiritual concerns. This is what our children must see and experience always. When there is a Feast Day of the Church, the Orthodox family must make every attempt to be present at the services for the Feast. If this means missing school or work, the sacrifice of that time will only help to underline the fact that worship of God is a priority. When, for some reason, it is impossible for the family to attend services on a Feast Day, they should make an effort to either say some of the prayers from the services in their icon corner at home (if they have the books) or teach the children the significance of the feast day and read the appropriate scripture readings from the Bible. At all times, the children should be made aware of festal and fasting periods and what is expected of them during these periods. The more they know of the cycle of the Church calendar, the more Orthodox children will feel themselves to be a part of the greater Body of Christ.

Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/youngchildren.aspx

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

The symbol of the Christian Faith has been and will always be the Cross, for it is the sign of our Redemption by Our Lord Jesus Christ Who came to earth to suffer for us by being crucified upon the Cross. When people wish to show that something is dedicated to Christ they mark it with a cross. The Cross is placed on church buildings, on the Holy Gospel, on the sacred vestments, on banners, and over the graves of the departed. All Christians wear their baptismal crosses because they are dedicated to Christ.

How to make the sign of the cross

When we are at prayer we rededicate ourselves to God by making the Sign of the Cross on ourselves. First we join the first three fingers of our right hand together (the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger), and we bend the other two fingers down to the palm. We then trace on ourselves the Cross by touching the three joined fingers of the right hand to the forehead, the breast, the right shoulder and the left shoulder. After forming the Cross on ourselves we slightly bow our heads to express to God our reverence and humility.

When we join our three fingers together it is as if we wanted to say: "I believe in God, One in the Trinity; in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; not in one person, but Three Persons; not in three gods, but One God." When we bend the other two fingers of our right hand down to the palm it is as if we were saying: "I believe that Our Savior Jesus Christ, Who is at the same time Real God and Real Man, the God-man, came down to earth for our salvation." We touch our forehead to ask God to sanctify our thoughts; our breast, to sanctify our senses; our shoulders, to strengthen our wills for the doing and keeping of God's commandments. When we make the Sign of the Cross we bear the inscription: "I belong to Jesus Christ"; and we show thereby that we want to live and act not for ourselves but for the Lord our God. As the Cross is being made we say the following prayer (unless we are saying another prayer at the time): "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." We say these words to make it clear that we want to belong to God and serve Him alone.

When to make the sign of the Cross

God is always near us because He is everywhere. He always sees us just as He sees everything. But during prayer we are especially close to God: we stand before Him, speak to Him and He listens to us. Because of this, while praying, we sign ourselves with the Cross more often, and especially before and after each prayer in order that we may not be distracted in saying them. We also make the Cross on ourselves when we enter church or approach any sacred object or kiss an icon, and many times during church services. We should make the Sign of the Cross in the morning in order to obtain the blessing of God for the day; in the evening to ask for his protection during the night; at all the important moments of our life: when in danger, in sorrow, in joy; before all important undertakings that they may turn out well; at mealtime to invoke God's blessing and to give Him thanks.

The first Christians used the Sign of the Cross constantly. Tertullian, a writer of the latter part of the second century, says of it: "At every motion and at every step, entering in or going out, when dressing, bathing going to meals, lighting the lamp, sleeping or sitting, whatever we do, or whithersoever we go, we mark our foreheads with the Sign of the Cross."

St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes: "Let us not be ashamed to confess the Crucified Christ; let us boldly make the Sign of the Cross on the forehead, and on everything; on the bread which we eat; on the cups from which we drink; let us make it at our going out, and coming in; when we lie down to sleep, and when we rise, when we journey, and when we rest: It is a great safeguard, given to the poor without price, to the weak without labor. For this is the Grace of God; a token for the Faithful, and a terror for evil spirits."

The Power of the Sign of the Cross

St. John. Chrysostom, a Father of the Church, praised in the fourth century the great veneration in which the Sign of the Cross was held by Christians of his time: "More precious than the universe, the Cross glitters on the diadems of emperors. Everywhere it is present to my view. I find it among princes and subjects, men and women, virgins and married people, slaves and freemen. All continually trace it on the noblest part of the body, the forehead, where it shines like a column of glory. It is made over sick animals, over persons possessed by demons, in war, in peace, by day, by night, in pleasant reunions and in penitential assemblies. It is a question of who shall seek first the protection of this admirable Sign.. What is there surprising in this? The Sign of the Cross is the type of our deliverance, the monument of liberation of mankind, the souvenir of the forbearance of Our Lord. When you make it, remember what has been given for your ransom, and you will be the slave of no one. Make it, then, not only with the fingers, but with your faith. If you engrave it on your forehead, no impure spirit will dare to stand before you. He sees the blade with which he has been wounded, the sword with which he has received the deathblow." This teaches us how we ought to reverence the Cross".

With good reason has the Sign of the Cross been so highly venerated by the Holy Martyrs and Confessors of all times, for by their own experience they have learned that it is a symbol of power. Armed with this sacred Sign, the Martyrs went forth to battle with the wild beasts in the amphitheater, walked calmly to the stake to be burned, bowed their necks to the sword or exposed their bodies to the last. They braved the terrors of the dungeon or went willingly into exile. Even tender virgins and children defied the power of the tyrant and suffered death in its most terrible forms. Many other Christians went alone into the desert wastes to practice lifelong penitence, sustained and encouraged by the same never-failing source of supernatural strength. It will be our strength also in times of trial, our victory in temptations, our pledge of perseverance.

What the sign of the Cross means to us.

For Orthodox Christians the Sign of the Cross is a wield and a safeguard against temptations and dangers that threaten the life of the soul. Whenever we are oppressed by temptations we may repulse them by the Sign of the Cross. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says: "Let us make the Sign of the Cross boldly and courageously. When the demons see it, they are reminded of the Crucified; they take to flight; they hide themselves and leave us."

The Sign of the Cross is also a source of knowledge revealing to us the chief mysteries of our Holy Faith, both by the words uttered in making it and by the action itself. The words "in the Name" instead of "in the names" express the fundamental truth of tri-unity of God; while the mention of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit declares that in this One God there are Three Persons, thus teaching the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

The Sign of the Cross is likewise a prayer. It is an appeal to heaven made in the Name of Him who in submission to the will of His Father, "humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:8); of Him who declared, "If you ask the Father anything in my name He will give it to you" (John 16:23). Hence we begin and end our devotions with the Sign of the Cross in order that our petitions may be more acceptable at the Throng of Grace.

When we are assured by Christians of all ages, but especially by those of the first centuries, that we have at our command so powerful a weapon in the Sign of the Cross, it is much to be regretted that we do not make better use of it in our times. Never did the world array before the child of God enemies so numerous or so insidious as at the present time. They assail him on every side, not only with sword and fire, but also with false philosophies, with pride of intellect, with religious indifference, with materialism, with denial of God. It is more difficult to combat for a lifetime against these enemies than it would be to gain the Martyr's crown in a momentary struggle in the amphitheater. If for the first Christians, trained in the school of the Apostles and their immediate successors, the frequent use of the Sign of the Cress was so necessary, is it not also indispensable to us? Let us then follow the pious custom of our Fathers in the Faith and make the Sign of the Cross more frequently.

Make the Sign of the Cross Reverently

Still more deserving of censure are those Christians who indeed make the Sign of the Cross, but make it carelessly. It is true there is a tendency to do mechanically what a person does often, but for that very reason, if for no other, particular attention should be bestowed upon such things. It is seriously to be doubted whether persons who make the Sign of the Cross carelessly receive the graces attached to the proper use of the sacred Sign. To those who make the Sign of the Cross hurriedly, without due deliberation, with the whole hand, or simply wave their hand in the air fanning their breast, St. John Chrysostom says: "The demons rejoice in this frantic waving." On the other hand the Cross traced correctly, with faith and reverence, dispels demons, calms sinful passions, attracts Divine Grace, and gives us the strength to do good and expel that which is evil.

We must never be ashamed of the Sign of the Cross lest Christ be ashamed of us. The devil rejoices when be sees anyone neglect to make this sacred Sign for he knows that the Cross is his destruction and a Sign of victory over his temptations. When circumstances require it, one should not hesitate to sign himself with the symbol of Redemption. The Sign of the Cross inspires self-respect by teaching the true dignity of man. It is a reminder that we were purchased with the infinite price of Christ's Precious Blood, that we are brothers of Jesus Christ. It sanctifies our members with the sanctification they derive from His. It stamps the unity of God on our forehead, the seat of the mind; it seals our heart and breast with the remembrance of the love of the Father; it strengthens our shoulders to bear the Cross of the Son; and it maintains an unbroken union of love with the Three Divine Persons by means of the Holy Spirit.

Excerpt from The Orthodox Companion by Rev. David F. Abramtsov published by Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, Englewood, New Jersey, 1994

Source: http://www.stlukeorthodox.com/html/parishinfo/signofthecross.cfm

Help support the ministry of St. Elisabeth Convent

Visit the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Search This Blog

featured Slider

Back to Sunday School: The start of the new year at the Sunday School of St.Elisabeth Convent

Why is it important to take your children to Sunday school?

Young children in the Orthodox Church. Part 2: The Orthodox Child at Home

Making the Sign Of The Cross

Partners

Search This Blog

featured Slider

Back to Sunday School: The start of the new year at the Sunday School of St.Elisabeth Convent

Why is it important to take your children to Sunday school?

Young children in the Orthodox Church. Part 2: The Orthodox Child at Home

Making the Sign Of The Cross

About Our Blog

Most Popular Posts

Partners