Remember them. There follows the repetition of the prayers "Lord, bless", "In the name of the Father...", "Glory to Thee, O God..." and "Glory to the Father...". In these prayers, we do not ask God for forgiveness of our sins, we do not ask for mercy on us. In the prayer "Lord, bless" we ask for what? D. God's blessings on our works[1]. H. What do we promise to do in the prayer "In the name of the Father..."? U. Only good deeds. H. What do we do with the prayers "Glory to Thee, O God..." and "Glory to the Father..."? U. We praise or praise God. H. You, of course, have heard the prayer "Lord, have mercy" many times; Stand up and say it. The disciples say a prayer. In this prayer we call God the word Lord and ask Him to have mercy on us. Have mercy in another way, you can say: "Forgive me, do not punish for sins." In this prayer we pray to whom? What do we call God? What do we ask of Him? How else can I say have mercy? You know that God is one, but in three Persons; name the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. In the prayer Lord, have mercy, we do not name the Persons of the Holy Trinity, but pray to God alone. We already know two prayers: one to God alone, in which we glorify God; and another, in which we praise one God, but in three Persons. What kind of prayers are these? U. "Glory to Thee, O God..." and "Glory to the Father...". In the prayer "Lord, have mercy" we ask God alone to have mercy on us, and there are prayers in which we ask one God for this, but in three Persons. Listen, I will read you such a prayer. The teacher of religion reads the prayer "Holy God...". How many times is the word holy said in this prayer? U. Three times. H. First we say Holy God, then Holy Mighty, then Holy Immortal. In this prayer we call God the Father – the Holy God, God the Son – the Holy Mighty One, and God the Holy Spirit – the Holy Immortal. You see that in this prayer we name all three Persons of the Holy Trinity[2]. Who do we call the Holy Immortal? Holy God? Holy Strong? What do we call God the Father? You know that God is in three Persons, but He is one. In the prayer "Holy God..." we name three Persons, and then we say: have mercy on us. When we ask something of two or three, we do not say "give," but "give"; And in this prayer we do not say "have mercy," but "have mercy." By doing so, we show our faith in one God. We pray in this prayer to whom? U. To God alone. H. In how many Persons? What do we ask of God? D. That He would have mercy on us. H. How to say "have mercy" in another way? After that, the whole lesson is repeated, followed by memorization of the prayer in chorus and individually. You hear this prayer both at school and in church. It is always read three times in a row. All people always sin before God, and it is necessary to pray for all people that God will have mercy on them. Everyone says "have mercy on us", and not only me. All people are children of one God, they are all brothers, and therefore it is necessary to pray not only for each oneself, but for all people. The answers of the disciples are assumed on the basis of the previous explanation of the prayers given.^ The prayer "Holy God..." is also called the Trisagion.- Ed.^

Lesson 14. Teaching the prayer "God, be merciful to me a sinner"

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Showing a picture of the parable of the publican and the Pharisee; looking at it. Christ's Teaching on Behavior in Prayer. Presentation of the parable with instructions on the picture. Teaching the Prayer of the Publican; explanation of it; memorization. Moral Application. The teacher of the law shows a picture illustrating the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. H. Look, children, who is drawn in this picture? D. Two people[1]. H. Where are they standing? U. In the church. H. How do they stand: next to each other or in a different way? Y. One in front and the other behind. H. Are they both looking in the same place? One looks up, and the other looks down. H. What do people do in church? U. Pray to God. H. So why did these two men come to church? U. Pray to God. You have already heard that Jesus Christ lived on earth and taught people how to live in God's way. Once He taught people how to stand at prayer. That's what He said. Two people came to church to pray to God. One was proud, and the other humble; the proud one was called a Pharisee, and the humble one was called the publican. What was the name of the proud? How - humble? In this picture, both of them are depicted: which, in your opinion, is a Pharisee and which is a publican? U. The one who raised his head is a Pharisee. Z. the Pharisee stood forward and began to boast before God. He said: "I thank Thee, O God, that I am not like other people, robbers, offenders, or like this publican: I fast twice a week and help the poor"[2]. Where did the Pharisee stand? What did he start doing? What did he say? See, here he is standing in front, with his head up and boasting before God. And the publican stood behind, did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven and prayed thus: God, be merciful to me a sinner[3]. Where did the publican stand? How did he stand? How did he pray? To whom did he pray? What did he ask of God? What did he call himself? And what did the Pharisee consider himself to be? He boasted that he was doing everything right, in truth. Remember: he who always does everything in righteousness is called a righteous person. What is the name of a person who does everything in truth? Who is called righteous? What kind of person did the Pharisee consider himself to be and what kind of publican? God forgave the publican, but did not give His mercy to the Pharisee, because he condemned others and praised himself. He prayed wrong, but the publican did it right. The prayer of the publican is still read by people, it is called the prayer of the publican. Let's remember it. Memorization of prayer follows. There is no need to condemn anyone; There is no need to say that we are better than people and that other people are worse than us. Whoever is proud is the worst of all: even if he does something bad, he will still praise himself. And boasting will make him completely bad. The first answer is: "People"; it is followed by the question: "How many are there?" etc. The task of the teacher of the law is to guide the students to the desired result in accordance with the children's answers, which cannot be foreseen.^ Cf. Lk. 8, 11-12.- Ed.^ Luke. 18, 13.- Ed.^

Lesson 15. Teaching the Prayer "O Most Holy Trinity..."

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Repetition of the Trisagion. Transition to the prayer "O Most Holy Trinity..."; its reading by the teacher of the law; division into parts; indication of appeals and their content; explanation of the meaning of Slavic expressions. Inference. We already know one prayer to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, in which we ask God to have mercy on us. Let us remember this prayer. The disciples read the prayer: "Holy God...". In this prayer, we first name all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and then we ask God alone to have mercy on us. Today we will learn one more prayer to all the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Stand up, all of you, and listen more attentively. The teacher of the law reads the prayer separately and clearly: "O Most Holy Trinity..." Sit down and listen. Now I will read only the beginning of the prayer: Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Repeat these words. We say: Most Holy Trinity, to whom do we pray with these words? Then we say: have mercy on us, – what do we ask of the Most Holy Trinity? Who is the First Person of the Holy Trinity? Second? Third? In the prayer "Holy God..." We call God the Father God, God the Son the Mighty, God the Holy Spirit the Immortal, and in the prayer "O Most Holy Trinity..." The Persons of the Holy Trinity are called differently. In this prayer we call the first Person the word Lord, the second the word Master, and the third the word Holy. What do we call the first Person? Second? Third? We call the first Person the Lord and ask Him: cleanse our sins. What do we ask of God the Father with these words? D. That He would cleanse our sins. H. By what word do we call Him? W. Lord. H. Our body is made unclean from filth, and our soul is made unclean from sins. We ourselves wash off the dirt from the body with water, and only God can cleanse our soul of sins. That is why we ask God to cleanse our sins. What makes the body dirty? What does the soul come from? What do we do when the body gets dirty? Who can cleanse sins? How do we pray to God about this? After the Father, we call God the Son by the word Lord, and we ask Him: Forgive our iniquities. You know that God has given people His law. Whoever does not live as God commanded him to live, sins or, in other words, commits iniquity. God loves us, gives us everything we need, but we do not obey Him and are guilty of this before Him. When someone offends us, and then asks for forgiveness, then we forgive the offender. And God forgives those who ask Him for forgiveness even more quickly. That is why we ask God in prayer to forgive our iniquities. We pray to Him: O Lord, forgive our iniquities. Who does iniquity? To whom are people guilty of iniquity? What do we do when the offender asks us for forgiveness? From whom do we ask forgiveness for our iniquities? What word do we use to call God the Son? With what words do we ask Him for forgiveness? After God the Son, in prayer we call God the Holy Spirit by the word holy. We pray to Him thus: Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities. The word weakness, or dumb, how can we say it in another way? U. Illness, illness. H. When a person is sick, what is done to him? U. Treated. H. A healer will be called to the sick person to visit the sick person and cure him, or, in other words, heal him. Not only the body, but also the soul can get sick. She knows what God has commanded her to do, but she cannot do it because she is assailed by sickness or infirmity. Then no healer can help the soul, and only the Holy Spirit can heal it. That is why we pray that the Holy Spirit will come and heal our spiritual illnesses, or, in other words, visit and heal our infirmities. In prayer we say: Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities. How to say otherwise, visit? Heal? Infirmities? What do we call the Holy Spirit? What do we ask of Him? How do we pray for this? In this prayer we ask the Holy Trinity to have mercy on us: God the Father to cleanse our sins, God the Son to forgive our iniquities, the Holy Spirit to visit and heal our infirmities. If we pray to God fervently, then God gives us what we ask of Him. He gives us because He is very kind, and for this kindness we should always praise or glorify Him. Therefore, at the end of the prayer "To the Most Holy Trinity..." we promise to glorify God. We end this prayer with the words: ... For the sake of the name of T. You already know what the words in the name mean; the same is meant by the words of the name T for their sake. Here we recall the explanation of the prayer: "In the name of the Father...", and then follows the memorization of the prayer: "O Most Holy Trinity...". When you pray, remember that you are guilty before God of your sins, and remember that God is very kind: He loves us and gives us everything we ask of Him. Both in joy and in sorrow, trust in God and pray to Him always.

Lesson 16. The Jesus Prayer and the prayer "Be the name of the Lord..."

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Summary of prayers for mercy learned earlier. Jesus Christ is the benefactor of people, His forgiveness of sinners on earth. Prayer to Him, its name, meaning and content. The cause of our misfortunes; their purpose; the glorification of God in adversity. History of Job; its significance; the prayer of Job; explanation of it; the conclusion and result of Job's patience. We now know three such prayers in which we ask God to have mercy on us. The first prayer is "Lord, have mercy", the second - "Holy God..." and the third - "To the Most Holy Trinity...". In all these prayers we pray to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity. And you know that the devil was overcome by Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ lived on earth, He did a lot of good to people. He made the blind see, made the lame healthy, the deaf hearing, forgave the sins of sinners. Which Person of the Holy Trinity is Jesus Christ? What is the name of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity? Jesus Christ is God the Son, or, to put it another way, the Son of God. He forgave people's sins when He lived on earth, so people pray for the forgiveness of sins not only to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity together, but also separately to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The prayer to Jesus Christ reads as follows: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. This prayer is called the Jesus Prayer. In it, we call the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and ask Him to have mercy on us. Holy people constantly read this prayer silently, and the Lord always had mercy on them. Let us also remember this prayer and read it silently as often as possible. Memorization of prayer follows. In the Jesus Prayer and in the three prayers that we read today, we ask God to have mercy on us, not to punish us for our sins. But it happens that the Lord punishes us. You know that sometimes people get sick, are ruined by fires, become poor from crop failure or thieves, and suffer insults from people. When some misfortune happens to a person, it means that the Lord punished the person for his sins so that the person would come to his senses and stop sinning. We don't obey God, we don't do what He tells us to do, as long as everything is going well for us. If a person sins all his life, then he will become very bad. When the sinner dies, he will suffer endlessly. God loves people, does not want them to perish, and sends misfortune on a person so that he comes to his senses and stops sinning. What do we ask of God in our prayers: Lord, have mercy, Holy God?... Does God always forgive us? What happens to people when God punishes people? We are to blame for every misfortune, and God sends us grief because He loves us and wants us well. Therefore, we should endure grief with joy and praise or glorify God. One righteous man showed us how to endure trouble. Righteous Job lived in the world for a long time. Job was a rich man; He had seven sons and three daughters in the family. Once Job was sitting at home. Suddenly a worker ran to him. The laborer said to Job: "We were ploughing in the field, and there our enemies attacked us; all the workers were killed, and the cattle were stolen." Before the worker had time to finish, another ran and said: "Fire fell from heaven on your sheep and burned them together with the shepherds." As soon as the second worker said this, the third came running and said: "We were grazing your camels, when the enemies attacked us, killed the shepherds, and stole the cattle." As soon as the third said this, the fourth worker ran up and said: "All your sons and daughters were visiting your elder brother. Suddenly a strong wind blew; The house fell down and crushed everyone to death." At once, many misfortunes fell upon the righteous Job. He was rich and in one day became poor; He had a large family, and suddenly there was no one. But Job did not complain about God, but said: "Surely, it is God's will that I have nothing left. For everything, the name of the Lord must be praised"[1]. God knew that Job was righteous, and He showed Job to all people how to endure sorrow. Who is to blame for all our grief? Why does God send us misfortune? What does He want to do when He sends us grief? How should we endure grief? What should they say about God then? What kind of man was Job? What was he rich in? Why did God send him woe? What happened to Job? What did the first employee say? What is the second? the third and fourth? What did Job say? The words of Job: "... it is necessary to praise the name of the Lord" became a prayer. In Slavonic, it reads as follows: Blessed be the name of the Lord from now until forever. How to say the words in Russian: Budi... blessed, you have already heard, and the word from now or now means "now." What does it mean from now? Until forever - in other words, "forever". And you already know what "forever" means. It is necessary to praise the name of the Lord both now and later, without end. In Slavonic it is said: Budi... Pray, children, both to the Holy Trinity and to Jesus Christ, that God would not punish us for our sins, and if the Lord punishes you with anything, then glorify the name of the Lord in grief. The Lord punishes us because He wants us well. Grief is hard to endure, but God will give happiness afterwards. As for the righteous Job, I will tell you that after his misfortune God again gave him even more wealth. Again Job had seven sons and three daughters. Job praised God in grief, and God gave him happiness. In the same way, God gives joy to every person after grief, if a person endures grief and does not complain. See: Job 1:20-21.- Ed.^

Lesson 17. The Story of the Nativity of the Mother of God and Her Entry into the Temple

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Remembering the name of the Mother of God. The names of the parents of the Mother of God, their grief and prayers. Nativity of the Virgin Mary; Her entry into the temple as the fulfillment of the vow of Her parents; icon and leading questions. The life of the Mother of God at the temple; the fruits of this life. Edification. H. Do you remember from whom Jesus Christ was born on earth? The Virgin Mary gave birth to God and therefore is called what? Today I will tell you about the Virgin Mary Herself. The father of the Blessed Virgin Mary was called Joachim. Remember this name; Repeat it all. The Virgin Mary's mother was called Anna. They were righteous people, but they had great sorrow. They lived to old age, and they had no children. They fervently prayed to God that God would give them a child, and promised to send their child to study at the school at the temple. A temple is like a church. What were the names of the Virgin Mary's father and mother? What kind of people were they? What did they pray to God for? What did you promise to do? Whoever prays fervently to God, God gives him what a person asks of Him. God gave Joachim and Anna a child: they had a daughter, and they named her Mary. In autumn there is a holiday - the Nativity of the Mother of God, then we celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary. When you live to see this holiday, then you will know what kind of holiday it is. Now there will soon be another feast - the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple. I will tell you about this holiday now. Joachim and Anna promised to send their daughter to study at the temple or at the church. There was a school there, and pious people sent their children to study there. When the Virgin Mary was three years old, Joachim and Anna brought her and her friends to the church. Look at this icon. Here is a little girl painted - this is the Virgin Mary. Girls are also drawn around - these are her friends. Behind them are an old man and an old woman - these are Joachim and Anna. The Virgin Mary goes up the stairs, and at the top stands the eldest above the priests, or, in other words, the high priest. He met her and took her to the temple[2]. When did Joachim and Anna bring the Virgin Mary to the temple? With whom did they bring Her? Who met Her on the stairs? Who is the High Priest? Where did he lead the Virgin Mary? The Virgin Mary was brought to the temple, so the feast that we will soon have is called the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. The Virgin Mary lived at the temple until she was 14 years old. There she prayed to God, studied, worked and read divine books. From Her childhood and after, until Her death, She lived as God commanded Her to live, and for Her holiness God Himself was born of Her - Jesus Christ. Never, children, be lazy to pray, to study the Law of God and other sciences; Do not be lazy and generally work. Those who live righteously, God gives them happiness on earth and a good life in heaven after death. The lesson is conducted before the feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple.^ Until the children know anything about the division of the temple into three parts, it is useless to talk about the Entry of the Virgin Mary into the Holy of Holies.^

Lesson 18. Teaching the prayer "It is truly meet..."