Plan. The story of the teacher of the law about the visit of the righteous Elizabeth. The conclusion of the prayer "O Virgin Mother of God..."; explaining it and memorizing it. Repetition "It is truly meet...". Moral Application. After the Annunciation, the Most Holy Virgin Mary went to another city to visit one of Her relatives, the righteous Elizabeth. When Elizabeth saw the Virgin Mary, she rejoiced at Her and said: "Glorified art thou among women, and glorified is thy Son." In Slavonic, these words are said as follows: Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb[1]. Righteous Elizabeth called the Virgin Mary glorified because Jesus Christ was born of Her. That is why the Archangel Gabriel called the Virgin Mary glorified among women. To whom did the Virgin Mary go after the Annunciation? What was the name of this relative? What did Elizabeth say to Her? Why did she call the Virgin Mary glorified? Who else called Her that? You heard last time that the Archangel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary: "Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with Thee; blessed art Thou among women." And when the Virgin Mary came to the righteous Elizabeth, Elizabeth said to Her: "Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of Thy womb." With these words, the Archangel and the righteous Elizabeth glorified the Virgin Mary. With the same words we glorify the Virgin Mother of God in prayer. The Archangel Gabriel and the Righteous Elizabeth glorified the Virgin Mary even before Her birth of the Saviour, and we glorify the Virgin Mother of God now, after She gave birth to the Saviour Jesus Christ, and therefore to the words of the Archangel Gabriel and Righteous Elizabeth we add the following words: "... for Thou hast given birth to the Saviour of our souls." Instead of "because" in Slavonic it is said as; "The Savior," says the Savior. This is followed by the reading of the prayer by the teacher of the law and its memorization by the disciples, and then the repetition of the explanations. What is the Slavic word for "because"? Like the "Savior"? How is it in Russian? Whom do we glorify in this prayer? What do we call the Virgin Mary? Why do we call Her the Mother of God? With what words do we glorify Her? What did Jesus Christ save us from? Now we know two prayers of the Mother of God. Let's repeat them both. The prayer "It is truly meet..." follows. The Mother of God lived on earth in poverty. She knows all our needs by Her own experience. She loves all people and always prays to God for them, and God does everything that the Mother of God asks. She will pray for you before God, too, if you pray to Her yourself. Lux. 1, 42.- Ed.^

Lesson 21. Teaching the Lord's Prayer

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

(first part) Plan. The concept of the Apostles; their activities and name; a request for teaching prayer; reading the Lord's Prayer; the meaning of its name; God is the Father of the universe; the reason for calling Him heavenly; Slavic expressions of these words. People are God's children; the duty imposed on them by this title; Explanation of the first petition. The concept of the Kingdom of God; its advantages over the kingdoms of the earth; the need to pray for him; Second petition. Obedience to God in heaven; a paraphrase of this expression; the text of the third petition. Repetition of the explained part of the prayer. Moral Application. H. You children know that Jesus Christ lived on earth and taught people how to live in God's way. Many people came to hear His teaching. Of all the people, Jesus Christ chose 12 people who were always near Him and always listened to His teaching. They knew the teachings of Christ well, and Jesus Christ sent them to teach other people. Therefore, these 12 people are called messengers, or apostles, of Christ. How many people did Jesus Christ choose from among all the people? What did they do? Why did Jesus Christ send them? What are they called? Who is called a messenger in general? What does the word Apostle mean? The Apostles were always near the Lord Jesus Christ. Once He was praying with the Apostles. When He finished praying, the Apostles said to Him: "Lord, teach us to pray!" [1] Then the Lord Jesus Christ said: "Pray thus: Our Father..."[2] There follows a clear, separate reading of the prayer by the teacher of the law. Who taught this prayer to the Apostles? The Lord Jesus Christ. We have other prayers as well, but the Lord taught people only one prayer, and therefore, in order to distinguish it from others, it is called the Lord's Prayer. Why the Lord's Prayer called the Lord's Prayer? Whom did Jesus Christ teach it? How many Apostles were there? What did they do? When did they ask Jesus Christ to teach them how to pray? Who takes care of everyone in the family? U. Father. You know that the whole world is one big family, and everyone has one father - God. God lives everywhere, but on earth we do not see Him, but in heaven His angels and the souls of holy people see Him. That is why God is called our Heavenly Father. We pray to our Heavenly Father. "Father" in Slavonic is Father. What is the Slavic word for "father"? What does Father mean? "Heavenly" in Slavonic: Who art in heaven[3]. What is the Slavic word for "heavenly"? What does it mean: Who art in heaven? In Russian we say: "Our Heavenly Father", and in Slavonic: Our Father, Who art in heaven. To whom do we pray when we say: Our Father?... Why do we call God our Father? Why - Heavenly? How are the words "Our Heavenly Father" said in prayer? We call God our Heavenly Father, so do we call ourselves whose children? U. By God. H. We bear the name of God because we call ourselves God's children. God commands people to do only what they do? U. Only good ones. H. What are the names of those people who obey God in everything and do only good deeds? U. Saints. H. Do we all always do only good things? U. Not always, we sin. H. We cannot become saints ourselves, and only who can do everything? U. God. H. Therefore, we need to ask God to help us live holy, so that we do not bear the name of God in vain. We say in prayer, "Help us to live holy, for we bear Your name." In prayer, these words are said as follows: Hallowed be Thy name[4]. How do these words speak in Russian? What do we ask of God in them? We bear the name of God on ourselves and must take care to live holy, so that we do not bear the name of God in vain. Many peoples live on earth: Russians, Germans, Chinese, Turks, English... Each kingdom is ruled by its own king. There is also a Kingdom in heaven - the Heavenly Kingdom. Angels and the souls of holy people live in this Kingdom, and God rules over this Kingdom. On earth, in every Kingdom, there are both good and evil people: thieves, robbers, offenders, deceivers, but only saints live in heaven. This means that the Kingdom of God is better than all the kingdoms of men. If all people obeyed God in everything, then there would be the same kingdom on earth as in heaven. It would be good for people to live then. Therefore, we need to ask God that the Kingdom of God come soon, that all people obey God in everything. Jesus Christ taught people to ask God for His Kingdom to come. In the prayer these words are read as follows: ... Thy kingdom come. Who on earth governs each kingdom? Whose Kingdom is in heaven? Who lives there? Who reigns? Which kingdom is better? When can the Kingdom of God be on earth? Who do you need to ask for it to come? How do we ask for this in prayer? The angels and the souls of the saints obey God in heaven in all things. "They obey God," in other words, they do the will of God. What is another way to say the words "obey God"? What do the words fulfill the will of God mean? Where do the angels and the souls of the saints live? We ask God for His kingdom to come to earth. And this will happen when people on earth will obey God in everything or will fulfill His will, as the angels and saints do God's will in heaven. In prayer we say to God: ... Thy will be done, as it is in heaven and on earth. When can the Kingdom of God come to earth? How can we say the words "obey God in all things"? How do we ask in prayer that people on earth do the will of God, as the angels do in heaven? Today we learned that the Lord Jesus Christ chose 12 people from among the people; He sent them to teach other people, and that is why they are called messengers or apostles. The Apostles asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. The Lord taught them the Lord's Prayer. This prayer is called the Lord's prayer because of this. In it we call God our Heavenly Father and ask Him to help us live holy: we ask that His Kingdom come to earth and that all people on earth do His will, as angels and saints do it in heaven. In Slavonic, this prayer is read as follows: "Our Father...". Memorization of the explained part of the prayer follows. In this prayer we call God our Heavenly Father. Good children obey their father in everything. Let us also obey God in everything, let us do only good deeds, so that even unbelievers may see that we are not called children of God in vain. Let us fulfill the will of God, as the angels in heaven do it. Lux. 11, 1.- Ed.^ Luke. 11, 2.- Ed.^ The meaning of certain expressions: izhe, esi, and, etc., can be clarified by the student no earlier than the second year of study.^ The literal translation of these words does not explain anything to the children, and the given interpretation to a large extent corresponds to the text of the prayer and is accessible to the understanding of children.^

Lesson 22. End of the Lord's Prayer

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Repetition of the memorized part of the prayer. The absence of bodily needs in Angels and their presence in people; petition for them in the Lord's Prayer; the fragility of man on earth; The consequence of this is a petition for bread only for today. Our duty to God is to do only good; the impossibility of our atonement for our sins and a request for forgiveness. It is our duty to forgive our debtors; The parable of the king and the lender. The concept of temptation and its purpose; the example of Job; evil is from men and the devil; a petition for deliverance from evil. Repetition of the text of the prayer. H. Last time we learned the beginning of the Lord's Prayer, today we will finish it, but first we will repeat the beginning. Why the Lord's Prayer called the Lord's? To whom did the Lord give it? How many Apostles were there? Why are they called so? To whom do we pray in this prayer? What do we call God? Why the Father? Why Heavenly? What do we ask of God? Angels live without a body and do not eat anything, but people, as long as they live on earth, need food, need bread. People cannot do without it, they need bread. Everything in the world is God's, which is why we ask Him for the bread we need. The word "necessary" in Slavonic is vital; We are in prayer and ask for our daily bread. How does "necessary" mean in Slavonic? What does vital mean? Say all this word more clearly, because it is difficult. We will not always live on earth: we will all die. Today we are alive, and tomorrow we can die. A dead man does not need anything. Therefore, it is necessary to ask God for bread only for today[1]. We ask God: "Give us our necessary bread today." "Give" in Slavonic dazhd; "today" - day. Remember these words. "Give us our necessary bread today" in Slavonic it is said as follows: give us our daily bread today. Let's repeat these words and memorize them. What can people not do without? How does "necessary" mean in Slavonic? Whose is everything in the world? From whom should one ask for daily bread? What is the Slavic word for "give"? Do we know when we will die? How long should we ask God for bread? What is the Slavic word for "today"? What do dazhd mean? today? How do we ask for the necessary bread in prayer? When a person does something bad, for example, offends someone, steals, that person is judged and punished. We often do things badly that we do not obey God, and we need to be punished for this. But God has pity on people and expects that the sinner will stop sinning and live in God's way. God does not punish us for each of our sins, because He loves us. He gives us all the good things and in return commands us to do only good deeds. With good works we must repay God for all that He gives us. Whoever borrows and does not repay, that person remains due, that person has debts. We constantly receive from God all that is good, and we ourselves do not pay God for it, which means that we are constantly accumulating debts to God. To disobey God is a sin, which means that our debts to God are our sins.

Jesus Christ taught people to ask God for forgiveness for their sins. He taught us to pray in the following way: "... and forgive us our sins" or in Slavonic: ... and forgive us our debts[2]. What did Jesus Christ teach people to ask God when they sin? How do we ask God for forgiveness of our sins? The Lord has commanded us to love all people as ourselves. We must do good to people, and if they offend us and ask us for forgiveness, then we must forgive them. If we forgive our offenders, then God will forgive us, and if we do not forgive, then He will not forgive our sins or debts to God. Jesus Christ taught about it in the following way. One man owed the tsar a lot of money[3]. The king called him to him and began to demand the debt. The debtor had no money, and he began to ask the king to wait. The king took pity on his debtor and completely forgave him the debt. He left the king and met another man who owed him a little to him, the king's debtor. The king's debtor began to demand the debt from his debtor. He had no money, and he began to ask to wait for the debt. But the tsar's debtor did not want to wait and put his debtor in prison. The king learned of this, called his debtor to him again and said to him: "I have forgiven you all the debt, and you had to forgive your debtor. You did not do this and for this you yourself will be in prison." We sin a lot before God, much more than other people sin against us; but God will forgive us our sins, if only we will forgive people. Jesus Christ taught us to pray for the forgiveness of sins in the following way: "... forgive us our sins, as we forgive our offenders." These words in Slavonic read: ... and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Job was a man of good life, but many misfortunes happened to him at once: all his possessions perished, all his children died, and he himself fell ill. However, Job did not rebuke God and said: Blessed be the name of the Lord from now until forever. A little time passed, and the righteous Job again became rich, children were born to him again, and from his grief he himself became even more righteous and kinder. Bad people are punished for bad deeds, and Job was a righteous man, therefore, God did not punish him, but sent grief so that Job would become even better. When God sends grief to a righteous person to become even better, it is called temptation. What is called temptation? Why does God send him? Not all people can endure grief so as not to murmur against God. If some misfortune happens to us, then perhaps we will not endure any grief or temptation. Therefore, in prayer we ask God:... and lead us not into temptation.

But grief can be done by evil, evil people or our evil enemy - the devil. God can do anything. He can make it so that neither the evil devil nor evil people will offend us. That is why we ask the Lord to deliver us from evil people and from the devil. In prayer we say: ... but deliver us from evil. Who can make us grief? Who can prevent this? How do we ask for this in prayer? This is followed by a coherent memorization of the Lord's Prayer. Note. If this lesson turns out to be beyond the strength of some students, then it is divided into two parts: the first - until the sixth petition, and the second - until the end of the prayer. The doxology is memorized in the second section of the school. The explanation that bread in the Lord's Prayer refers to all human needs is beyond the power of first-year students.^ The division of this petition into two parts is made because of the importance of the length of the preceding explanations.^ See: Matt. 8, 21-35.- Ed.^

Lesson 23. Repetition of the Lord's Prayer and clarification of its content

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Repetition questions about the name of the Lord's Prayer; about the Person to Whom we turn in it; about calling Him the Heavenly Father. Explanation and translation of Slavonic expressions up to the fourth petition; The general content of this part of the prayer. Translation of expressions from the fourth petition to the end of the prayer; the content of the last four petitions. Repetition of the text of the prayer. Application. H. We have memorized the Lord's Prayer. This prayer is called whose? Why is it called the Lord's Prayer? To whom do we pray in it? To whom is the Person of the Holy Trinity? What do we call Him? Why do we call him the Heavenly Father? How do you say the words "Our Heavenly Father" in prayer? What do we ask of Him when we say, "Hallowed be Thy name"? Thy kingdom come? Let there be a will?... With all these words, we ask God to help us live holy, to receive the Kingdom of God now, on earth, and after our death in heaven. Repeat this and remember. What do we ask for with the words: Our bread?...... And leave it?...... And don't enter... but save me?... In the words of the Lord's Prayer to the words "Our daily bread..." we ask the Lord to help us live holy, and receive the Kingdom of God, and from the words "Our daily bread..." we ask God to help us live without sorrow and need on earth. Therefore, in the Lord's Prayer we ask God to help us live holy and without sorrow[1]. A repetition of the Slavonic text of the prayer follows. The Lord's Prayer is read, children, by Christians both in church and at home. At home, it should be read in the morning, evening and before meals: before breakfast, before lunch and dinner. In it we ask God for everything we need, and therefore we must firmly know the Lord's Prayer and read it when it is due. Although these words do not fully embrace the content of the Lord's Prayer, the children cannot assimilate more, and therefore in the first section of the school even such a brief explanation is sufficient.^

Lesson 24. The story of the Nativity of Christ and the adoration of the Magi