The Catalog of Good Deeds

Canon to St. Sergius.

In Tone VIII

ODE I

Irmos: The wonderworking staff of Moses, * striking and dividing the sea in the figure of a Cross, * once drowned Pharaoh the pursuing charioteer, * while it saved the fleeing people of Israel * as they marched on foot, * singing a song unto God.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Emulating Christ who humbled Himself for our sakes, even taking the form of a servant, thou didst love humility and, mortifying the soul, destroyed the passions. By copious vigil and prayer, thou hast ascended the mountain of freedom from passion, O Sergius full of riches.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Adorning thy soul with streams of tears as a lamp is adorned with light, thou hast offered up thyself as another Isaac, O Saint, and hast sacrificed thine heart unto God.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O most blessed Sergius, who from thy mother's womb hast shown thyself by thy threefold cry to be a servant Trinitarion and who, illuminated by the light of the threefold Sun, dashed the armies of devils like unto one destroying a spider's web!

Theotokion: Thou hast given birth outside the laws of nature to the Giver of the law. He Who was both God and man. As He is good, do thou who art all undefiled entreat Him to look away from or iniquities as we for ever cry aloud: ‘Let us sing to the Lord for He hath greatly been glorified’

ODE III

Irmos: O Christ fortify me on the rock of Thy commandments, * Thou who in the beginning established the heavens with understanding * and established the earth upon the waters, * for there is none holy but Thou, O only lover of mankind.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

In thyself, as an example of good things to thy disciples, thou hast drawn to salvation many souls who, separated from worIdly passions, found their comfort in the joy of paradise.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O blessed Saint, thou hast flowered like a fruitful olive-tree in the house of God, anointing with oil the souls of those who sing thy praises with love, O Sergius, and who cry aloud to Christ with faith: 'There is none holy save Thee, Who lovest mankind.'

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O blessed Saint, by watchful vigils thou didst put to sleep the soul-corrupting passions: and therefore, O Divinely-wise Sergius, hast thou ascended to dwell in the heavenly chambers, having received the grace of healing.

Theotokion: O Theotokos , thou appearest higher the cherubim and seraphim, for Thou art undefiled, and thou alone hast received in thy womb the uncontainable God. Wherefore we the faithful bless thee, who art pure, in song.

ODE IV

Irmos: Thou, O Lord, art my strength and Thou art my power, * Thou art my God and Thou art my joy, * Thou who, while never leaving the bosom of Thy Father, visited our poverty. * Therefore with the Prophet Abakum I cry to Thee, * ‘Glory to Thy power, O Lover of mankind!’

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O Father, thou art a temple of the all-holy Spirit, a river full of living waters, an unshaken foundation of the Church, the confirmation of those living the monastic life, wherefore O Father Sergius, thou art rightly called a wonderment.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O glorious Sergius thou, as also did the Prophet David, anointed thy bed each day with streams of tears, until thou didst dry up completely the depth of passion; wherefore we reverence thine ever honored and holy memory.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O Saint Sergius, it was vouchsafed unto thee to see Christ face to face, not 'through a glass darkly', but with the glass truly abolished; and this also parted thee from this world sending thee aloft to thy beloved Desire.

Theotokion: By the prayers of her that bore Thee, grant us O God, as Thou alone art without sin, the cleansing of our transgressions committed in ignorance and grant unto Thy world peace.

ODE V

Irmos: O Light that never sets, * why hast Thou rejected me from Thy presence, * and why has the alien darkness surrounded me, the coward that I am? * But do Thou I implore Thee direct my ways * and turn me back towards the light of Thy commandments.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O wise Saint, thou didst dwell without wavering in acts of asceticism and up unto thine own departure these practices thou didst thus firmly adhere to, whereby incorruptible bliss hath plainly been vouchsafed unto thee.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Possessed of a mind sharpened to listen to God, thou didst subdue the soul-destroying passions and reaped fruitful sheaves, feeding those who praise thee, O Sergius, Saint and Father.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Bright has been thy life, O Saint Sergius, and known unto all the ends of the earth, filled with divine beauty, with prayer and fasting and love towards Christ Who loveth mankind.

Theotokion: Having thee as wall, and watched over by thy protection, we bless thee exulting in thy divine glory: For thou, O all-pure one, pourest forth gladness and rejoicing upon our souls.

ODE VI

Irmos: Cleanse me O Savior, * for my iniquities are many; * and bring me up, I beg Thee, from the depths of evils * for unto Thee have I cried * harken unto me, O God of my salvation.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Pray the Deliverer without ceasing to grant the remission of sins unto those who celebrate thy holy memorial, O blessed Father, that they may receive the heavenly Kingdom, where the voices of those that keep festival make all men glad.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Made strong in Christ, thou, O Sergius, hast torn to pieces with thy steadfast mind all the craftiness of the evil one as though it were a web and thou hast shown thyself, O Sergius, to the world as a most radiant light.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Shining with the divine light, and now living with the angels in heaven, do thou ever remember those who honor thy memorial with faith, O Saint Sergius of memory eternal.

Theotokion: In truth thou hast raised on high the fallen nature of man, for thou hast borne in thy womb without seed, O Mother of God, Him Who unchanged is the visible Son, the divine image of the Father and His equal.

Kontakion, In Tone VIII:

Smitten with the love of Christ thou, O Saint, * hast followed Him without looking back, * hating all the pleasures of the flesh * and shining like the sun upon the land of thy birth: * wherefore Christ hath enriched thee with the gift of working miracles. * Remember us who honor thy radiant memory that we may call to thee: * Rejoice! O Sergius thou Divinely-wise one.

Ikos:

Having heard the sound of the Gospel, thou didst set aside, O Father, all the wisdom of the flesh, and counted as dust wealth and glory, fighting against the passions as one without flesh, thou hast been vouchsafed the honor of standing with the choir of bodiless angels. Receiving the gift of understanding which thou dost grant to those who sing unto thee thusly: Rejoice! O Sergius, saint and bearer of God; thou heavenly man and earthly angel: Rejoice! thou dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit; Rejoice! thou who by prayer hast received a gift bestowed by God; Rejoice! For before thy birth, thou didst cry out glorifying the Holy Trinity Who glorified thee in this life and after death. Rejoice! Pillar of chastity by whom every passion hath been vanquished. Rejoice! For from thine early childhood thou didst follow Christ. Rejoice! Intercessor for the salvation of those that run to thee; Rejoice! pride of the land of thy birth. Rejoice! thou who adorned with prophecy foretold the future as though it were today. Rejoice! for by thy prayers the adversaries are conquered. Rejoice! pride and confirmation of truly believing people. Through thy prayers keep us unharmed by the enemy that we may cry to thee: Rejoice! O Sergius, Divinely-wise one.

ODE VII

Irmos: The fire in Babylon once stood in awe of God’s descent. * And so the Youths in the furnace, * dancing with joyful steps as in a meadow, * sang, ‘Blessed art Thou the God of our Fathers!’

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

In the furnace of flaming temptations divine grace bedewed thee, O Saint, and it showed thee to be full of light in thy desire for the Trinity, and crying aloud: Blessed art Thou, O God of our Fathers.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O glorious Sergius, despising the world, thou didst live as an Angel on earth and thereby vouchsafed a place in the angelic choir. Wherefore we venerate thee with faith, O thou who art worthy to be called a wonderment.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O Saint, wise in God, travelling unto the calm haven, thou didst shun the sea-wanderings of this world, being a saving pilot for those sailing the rough seas of this life and who cry aloud: blessed art Thou, O God of our Fathers.

Theotokion: O Virgin, a rod has sprung forth from the root of Jesse, an all-blessed Fruit, that bears a Flower of salvation for those who cry aloud with faith to thy Son: blessed art Thou, O God of our Fathers.

ODE VIII

Irmos: In his wrath the Chaldean Tyrant made the furnace blaze, * with heat fanned sevenfold for the servants of God; * but when he perceived that they had been saved by a greater power * he cried aloud to the Creator and Deliverer, * ‘O ye Youths bless, O ye priests praise, * O ye people, highly exalt Him unto all the ages’.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O most blessed Sergius, thy light bearing feast hath filled with joy and spiritual gladness, with fragrance and enlightenment, those who have thee as their defender and as their rule of monastics.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Thou didst ascend upwards to God with unceasing prayer and from there enlightened by the radiance of the threefold sun, established a stronghold of struggle against the enemy. Thou didst lead companies of monks towards a new life, crying aloud to Christ: bless Him, O ye children, praise Him, O ye priests, O ye people exalt Him above all for ever.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

O Sergius, strong in fasting, never slothful in prayer, on earth thou didst shown patience in temptation, crying: bless Him, O ye children, praise Him O ye priests, O ye people exalt Him above all for ever.

Theotokion: O all-pure Mother of our God, cleanse the sinful sores and temptations of my soul steeping them in the waters that flow in copious streams from the side of thine Offspring: for I cry unto thee and take refuge in thee, and call upon thee, who art full of the grace of God.

ODE IX

Irmos: Heaven stood amazed and the ends of the earth astounded: * for God hath appeared to mankind in bodily form, * and thy womb hath become far wider than the heavens. * Wherefore, O Theotokos , * the ranks of Angels and of humans magnify thee.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Thou, filled with the manifestation of spiritual radiance, hast appeared as a lamp lighting front afar, and shining the light of reason upon us, thou hast shown thyself to be the habitation of the most divine Trinity.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Christ gave thee, wise Sergius, to the land of Russia, a great teacher indeed who directed the land of his birth in the right direction, pouring forth teachings sweeter than honey from which as from a vessel we faithful draw.

Refrain: O holy Father Sergius pray to God for us.

Having conquered the soul-destroying passions, thou, as a true shepherd, hast tended the reasonable flock of Christ, ever reading it with the grace of the Spirit as with flowers from paradise.

Theotokion: O thou who hast found favor, we sing thy praises in psalms and with voices that are never still we cry aloud: Thou hast poured forth joy for all.

Troparion, In Tone IV:

As a virtuous ascetic athlete, and true warrior of Christ our God * fighting fiercely the good fight against the passions during this earthly life, * laboring in song, vigil and fasting thou wast an example to thy disciples. * Wherefore, the Holy Spirit made His abode in thee * Whose activity adorned thee with radiant beauty: * Since thou hast great boldness towards the Holy Trinity * remember thy flock wisely gathered by thee * and forget not as thou didst promise to visit thy children, O holy Father Sergius.

Kontakion, In Tone VIII:

St Sergius of Radonezh

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"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

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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

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