Part II Methodologists recommend a lot of ways to study prayers, and in a small article it is not possible not only to analyze, but also to describe them[1]. Therefore, we find it necessary to point out only two extremes in this respect and the method of studying prayers recommended by the exemplary programs for schools of the Ministry of Public Education. At one extreme, the teaching of prayers is limited to students memorizing only one Slavonic text of prayers without any explanation from the teacher of the law. Study of the text by some from the words of the teacher of the law, and by others through the presence of students during school prayers. The last method is called prayer. Its main advantage is the fact that when it is used, younger children learn to pray not through lessons, but through joint participation in prayer with older students. The other extreme in the method of studying prayers consists in the excessively fragmented division of the latter into separate sentences and words. This method is a chip from the method of solving complex arithmetic problems. In arithmetic it is applied with obvious benefit for the cause, but in the study of prayers it not only does not contribute to the achievement of the main goal of this study, but, on the contrary, pushes this goal into the background. When conducting lessons according to this method, it is not possible to teach children to pray, but to gymnastics of their mental abilities. This method was fully developed and applied in the methods of N. Strakhov, priest Platonov, V. Tikhomirov and A. Sokolov. The latter formulated this method of studying prayers with the greatest certainty, and therefore we will give a lesson plan according to his methodology. According to it, the course of the lesson is as follows: 1) a biblical story or a repetition of historical facts studied earlier in several stories; 2) a conversation about the content of the prayer; 3) generalization of what was said in the conversation - the Russian translation of the prayer; 4) translation of some words and expressions into Church Slavonic; 5) writing down Slavic words with translation in notebooks[2]; 6) a coherent translation of the prayer into Church Slavonic, and 7) the final memorization of the explained prayer from memory[3]. As a basis for this method of studying prayers, a general didactic rule is given: "The student should memorize only what is accessible to his understanding by itself or as a result of a preliminary explanation from the teacher." The method recommended by the programs for schools of the Ministry of Public Education comes close to the method indicated by Mr. A. Sokolov, and differs from it only in the rearrangement of the parts of the lesson. According to the instructions of the program, after the story and conversation, the teacher of religion reads the prayer itself in the Slavonic language, then the translation of individual Slavonic expressions into Russian, the translation or paraphrase of the prayer by them, the re-questioning of the students, with a gradual generalization of the questions, and finally, the memorization of the prayer. The use of certain methods in teaching prayers depends entirely on the personal views of the teacher of the law, which is not rejected by the program, but at the same time we consider it useful to cite the following considerations. The sequential use of any one method in the study of all prayers can hardly be called expedient. Each prayer in its external structure has its own distinctive features and therefore must be studied and explained by means of a special method peculiar only to it. The prayer "O Virgin Mother of God..." clearly follows from the story of the Annunciation and the Virgin Mary's visit to the righteous Elizabeth, the publican's prayer is from the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, but the prayers "Most Holy Trinity...", "Glory to Thee, O God...", "Glory to the Father..." and others cannot be deduced from any sacred-historical narratives, and therefore their addition to the latter will always be arbitrary. In particular, the study of prayers without any explanation does not in the least contribute to instilling in children the need for conscious, rational prayer, and an excessively detailed explanation of them reduces the lesson of the Law of God to the level of explanatory Slavonic reading. The initial reading of the prayer in Russian contradicts the general didactic rule about the transition from the known to the unknown. Pupils, who are present at school during the morning prayer and in church during divine services, become acquainted, even if half-consciously, with the Slavonic text of the prayers, and the Russian translation is a complete novelty for the children. The translation of each Slavonic word only complicates students and is never remembered by students, not only first-year students, but also students in the middle and senior departments. The very basis for a detailed explanation of prayers - memorizing only what is understandable - is false. Most prayers contain such lofty Christian truths that are assimilated only by faith and are inaccessible to the understanding of the human mind, not only by young students, but also by adults. Therefore, when explaining and memorizing prayers in the first section of elementary school, the teacher of religion should not be guided by any general rules, but should be guided by the content of each individual prayer and the degree of development of the students.

The complete denial of rationality and consciousness in poetic works is decadence, and to bring them under the standard of cold rational analysis is the negation of all poetry. The teacher of the law must strive to direct the students to the path of truth, and therefore, in the partial implementation of this aspiration, when teaching children to pray, he must without fail explain in the latter everything that is accessible to the child's understanding, and not try to explain what is inaccessible to the child's mind. What is not clarified in the first part of the school can be clarified in the second and third, which is quite possible and even necessary when using the concentric method of teaching. On the basis of the latter consideration, the narratives about the Transfiguration of the Lord and the Dormition of the Mother of God, which are prescribed by the program of church schools, do not fit here. These two stories can only take place in the sequential course of Sacred History and are not included in the course of the first part. It seems that their transfer to the second year of study is fully within the competence of the teacher of the law, and this transfer does not constitute any offense. It is necessary to distinguish the method of study from the method. Only three methods of teaching the Law of God have been developed up to the present time, and there can be very many methods. The same method can be used differently by different teachers.^ During the first half of the school year, of course, this is completely unthinkable, and in the second half it is difficult.^ See: A. F. Sokolov, Metodika Zakona Bozhya dlya pravonouchitelya narodnykh shkol: 6th ed., ispr. Moscow, 1897. P. 98.^

Lesson 1. The Unity of God in Essence and His Spirituality

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. The initial rules of discipline are: a) one person must answer; b) raising the arms; c) simultaneously standing up and sitting down; d) the purpose of learning at school. Definition of the Law of God. Prayer in front of icons; the number of the latter. Prayer to God; His unity in essence; the icon is visible, God is invisible; His incorporeality or spirituality. Teacher of the Law[1]. Hello, children! You are all here to study. You will all study together, in the same way, and you will now do everything in the same way. Sit up straight, put your hands on the table. So good. Now stand all together, just without noise... Now sit in the same way. The exercise with standing up and sitting down is done until the children get used to standing up and sitting down at the same time and without noise. Now you are sitting well, and I will talk to you. I will ask you, and you will answer. What will I do? Student[2]. Ask. H. And what are you going to do? U. Answer. H. Now you all answer together, and you can't tell who is right and who is wrong. Not everyone should answer, but only the one whom I ask. Who should be responsible? U. Who do you ask? H. If I ask, "Who knows," then he who can answer must raise his hand. What should the one who will be able to answer do? U. Raise your hand. H. Where are we sitting now? U. In the school. H. And what do the children do in the school? U. Study. H. Do you know what the children learn at the school? U. Read, write. H. This will be taught to you by the teacher, and I will teach you how to live in God's way. What am I going to teach you? U. How to live in God's way. If possible, all students are involved in the answer to this question. H. Now stand up, all of you, and listen better. The teaching about how to live in God's way is called the Law of God. Let's repeat it all together. The disciples repeat the last definition in unison, and in order to maintain order and achieve uniformity, the teacher of the law makes the measure with his hand. After 3-4 times the answer in unison, the same thing is repeated by the students one by one. The disciples sit down, and only the one who answers stands up[3]. Now I will ask you a little differently: what is called the Law of God? If the disciples do not give a proper answer to this question, the teacher of the law formulates it himself, and the disciples only repeat the ready-made answer[4]. So, we are going to learn what? U. To the Law of God. H. We will learn the Law of God, or, in other words, how we should live in God's way. First of all, God told people to pray. Do you ever pray? U. We pray. H. You do well to pray, because God commanded you to pray. And when you pray, what do you look at? U. On the icon. H. Then we pray before what? U. In front of the icon. H. Do we all pray before only one icon? U. No, in front of different icons. H. Does this mean that there is one icon in the world or there are many of them? U. There are many icons. H. And to whom do we pray? U. God. H. We all pray to the same God. This means that God exists alone. These words can be put in short: in essence, God is one. Let's repeat it all together. The disciples stand up and memorize in unison: "In essence, God is one." We, children, pray to God in front of icons. We see icons, but do we see God? U. No, we don't. H. What do we see on the icon, what is painted on it? U. Face. H. Whose face does it look like? U. On the human. H. In man, besides the face, what do we see? U. Arms, legs, head... H. Do you not know what all this is called together? U. Body. H. So what do we see in people? U. Body. H. We see people because they have a body. We don't see God, so He doesn't have anything? U. Bodies. H. God does not have a body. He lives without what? U. Without a body. H. Whoever lives without a body is called a spirit. Students first memorize this statement in chorus, and then answer one by one. God lives without a body, so who is God? D. God is Spirit. H. Who is called the Spirit? U. Who lives without a body. H. Who lives without a body, can he be seen? U. It is impossible. H. What we see is called visible, and what we do not see, how should we be called? U. Invisible. H. Then God is what kind of Spirit? U. Invisible. We children have now learned that God is essentially one; He is the invisible Spirit. We look at the icon and pray to the only invisible God. The word "Teacher of the Law" is further abbreviated - Z.- Ed.^ The word "Student" is further abbreviated - U.- Ed.^ The whole class stands up when memorizing the main points and when answering in chorus, to arouse the attention of the students. For this purpose, at the beginning of classes, an exercise is made in the simultaneous straight standing up of the whole class. The use of standing up of the whole class will not be indicated during the lessons, since it depends entirely on the mood of the students, and the teacher of religion can see for himself when it is needed.^ In order to train the pupils in the ability to build their speech correctly, some teachers require them to give so-called complete answers, i.e., answers with the repetition of the proposed question. In the latter case, the words in the question should be arranged in the order in which they should follow in the answer.^

Lesson 2. The Omnipotence and Eternity of God

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Review of the previous lesson. The concept of icons. God's creation of the world. God's omnipotence and His eternity; clarification of the last concept. God's Providence. Moral conclusion. Z. Let us remember, children, last time we talked about whom? U. About God. H. Who is God? D. God is Spirit. H. Who is called the Spirit? U. Who lives without a body. H. Is it possible to see God? U. It is impossible. H. We do not see God, so we call Him[1] which one? U. Invisible. H. And who is depicted on the icon? U. God. H. We have never seen God, can we draw Him? U. No, we can't. H. If no one saw God, then it would be impossible to draw Him. There were people who had seen God. God then took on human form. People saw God and then began to paint Him on icons. What is an icon? U. God is painted on it. H. These words can be said in short: the icon is the image of God. Stand up, all of you, and remember this. The invisible God appeared to people, so then what was He made? U. Visible. H. Did God remain visible forever or was He only visible for a time? U. Only for a while. H. What is it called visible? U. What do we see? But now we do not see fields, meadows, forests... Is it all visible or invisible? U. Visible. Z. Yes, all this is also visible, because although we do not see them now, but if we go to the field, to the forest... then we will see them. Now we will remember this: everything that can be seen is called the visible world. The last position is memorized in chorus. Tell me, what do we see here? U. Desks, blackboard, table... Z. And on the street? U. Houses, fences... Z. In the forest? U. Trees. H. And if we look up? U. Sky, sun, moon, stars. H. Where did the desks, the table, and the houses come from? U. They were made by people. H. Can something be done by itself? For example, can a shirt make itself? U. No. It was sewn by people. H. Could people make the sun, the moon?... U. No, people can't do that. H. People cannot do everything. Could the sun, the moon... to do it yourself? U. No, nothing is done by itself. H. The sun, the stars... They could not do it themselves, people could not make them either, and do you not know who is higher than people? U. God. H. Yes, God is more than anything in the world, He did everything: the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the river... for He alone can do all things. He can do everything and is therefore called omnipotent. Remember well: God can do everything and therefore is called almighty. After memorizing the last point, a repetition of what has been learned is done. We have learned that God is essentially one; He is the invisible Spirit, omnipotent. We have said that desks, blackboards, tables... Who did it? U. People. H. Who came first: the desks or the people who made the desks? U. There used to be people. H. The sun, the moon... God did. Who was before: the sky, the sun... or God? U. God was before. H. Yes, God was first of all. There was no time when God did not exist: God always existed. There was no heaven, no earth, no people, but only one God. Everything we see has a beginning, but does God have a beginning? U. No, God had no beginning. H. Will everything we see remain forever? For example, will our clothes remain the same forever? U. Our clothes will wear out. Z. And desks?... U. They will break. H. And we, people, will always live on earth? U. No, we're going to die. H. Everything visible has an end, but God has no end: He will never die! And what else does God not have? U. Beginnings. H. God has no beginning and no end. Arise, all of you, and repeat after me: He who has neither beginning nor end is called eternal. God has no beginning and no end, so what is He called? U. Eternal. H. Who is called eternal? U. Who doesn't... H. What have we learned about God today? God is an omnipotent, eternal Spirit. H. Who is called the Almighty? U. Who can do everything. H. Who has done everything in the world? U. God. H. When we make a thing, whose thing will it be? U. Ours. H. God made all the world, so whose is everything in the world? U. God's. H. We do not take our own, but God's, who gives us everything? U. God. H. Everything we need is given to us by God. He cares for us[3], loves us. Therefore, we also need to love God, obey Him, and always do what He commands. When working with children, the use of pronouns is inconvenient and therefore should be avoided. In the proposed notes, pronouns are used for the sake of brevity, but in the lessons they should be replaced by nouns.^ The term created is clarified in the 9th lesson^ Standing up of the whole class is used when memorizing the main points and when answering in chorus, to arouse the attention of students. For this purpose, at the beginning of classes, an exercise is made in the simultaneous straight standing up of the whole class. The use of the whole class standing up will not be indicated during the lessons, since it depends entirely on the mood of the students, and the teacher of the law can see for himself when it is needed.^ The term God's Providence is better explained in the third part.^

Lesson 3. The Necessity of Prayer, the Concept of Prayer. Explanation of the prayer "Lord, bless"

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Lesson 3 is short both in content and volume. This is done so that the information from the first two lessons is thoroughly repeated in the third lesson, and so that this information is more firmly assimilated by the students. Plan. Review of what has been learned. The belonging of all created things to God. The need for people to turn to God; the form of this address and its name. Moral conclusion. H. You, children, have you heard that whose is everything in the world? U. God's. H. God has done everything, but there is nothing of ours. However, we take what we need. Is it possible to take someone else's without asking? U. It is impossible. H. And when we want to borrow something that is not ours, what do we do? U. Ask the owner. H. What do we say to the owner? U. We say, "Give us or let us take your thing." H. Everything in the world is God's, then, to whom should we say in every matter? U. God. H. Everything in the world is God's, and therefore in every matter we must say to God, let me. Only to God we say differently - bless. How do we speak to God? U. Bless. H. Do you not know how we call God in another way? U. By the Lord. H. That is why we say: Lord, bless. Our words to people are called conversation, and our words to God are called prayer. What are our words to God called? U. Prayer. H. What is prayer? U. Our words to God. H. To whom do we say, "Lord, bless"? U. God. H. How should these words be called? U. Prayer. Before starting any work, we must certainly ask for God's blessing, because everything in the world of God, we must say the prayer: "Lord, bless." Never forget this, children, and God will help you in your affairs. You have heard that we usually say "allow," and in prayer we say "bless." We speak Russian among ourselves, and in prayers we speak Slavonic. We will also learn other prayers in Slavonic. In church, they read and sing in Slavonic.

Lesson 4. Attributes of God: omnipresent, omniscience, wisdom and goodness

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Review of the first three lessons briefly; We do something where we are. God has done everything - He is everywhere; the term "omnipresent". We know what we have seen, where we have been. God is everywhere - He knows everything - "omniscience". He does everything well - smart. God created the beautiful world - He is all-wise. God gives people everything - He is good. H. You and I know that God is essentially one; He is the Spirit, incorporeal, invisible, omnipotent, eternal. He made the whole world. Wherefore what is He called? U. Almighty. H. God has always been and will never die, so what is He called? U. Eternal. H. Everything in the world is God's, so what should we do before starting any work? U. Pray to God. H. Everything and everywhere in the world was done by God. Tell me, children, what did you do at home in the morning? U. Dressed, washed... H. What are you doing now? U. We are learning. Can you dress, wash and walk at home now?... U. No, we can't, because we are not at home now. H. Then we can do anything only where we are. God made everything everywhere, so where is He? U. Everywhere. H. Yes, God has done everything in heaven and on earth, which means that He is, or, in other words, exists everywhere. God exists everywhere, can you not guess how He should be called? U. Omnipresent. H. Yes, omnipresent or omnipresent. Let us repeat this word. Now tell me, why is God called omnipresent? D. Because He is everywhere. H. You, children, are now sitting in the school; Do you know what is here? U. We know. H. Do you know what there is in places where you have never been? U. No, we don't. H. Yes, where we have not been, we do not know those places, but we know only what we see or have seen before. Do we just know? U. What we see or what we have seen. H. We can see all the places where we are. If we sit in the school, we see everything that is in the school; if we go into the field, we will see all that is in the field; Where we are, we will see those places. And what we see, we know. Where is God? U. Everywhere. H. Then God sees and knows one thing? U. No, God knows everything. H. God knows all things, so what is He to be called? U. Omniscient. Z. Omniscient or in other words, omniscient. "I know" is said differently: I know; "omniscient" is otherwise said omniscient. Why is God called omniscient? We said that God sees and knows everything, so is there anything that can be done quietly from God? U. No, God knows everything, He'll see everything. H. Who did everything in the world? U. God. H. God did everything and did everything well. The sun shines well, trees and grass grow well... Everything we look at, God has done everything in the world well. Do you not know what is called the one who knows a lot, who can do a lot? U. Smart. H. Such a person who knows a lot, knows how to do many good things, is called smart or wise. God knows everything, He made everything in the world, so we call Him the smartest, the wisest, or, in other words, the wisest. What does it mean to be wise? U. The smartest. H. Whom do we call wise? U. God. Why do we call Him all-wise? U. He knows everything and has done everything well in the world. H. God did everything, so whose is everything in the world? U. God's. H. Who gives us everything we need? U. God. H. Why does He give to us? U. For free. H. And to whom is it given freely: whom is loved or whom is not loved? U. Who is loved. H. God loves us and gives us everything we need, and gives us everything for free. Will the miser give anything for nothing? U. It won't give anything. H. God gives all things freely because He is very kind. "Very kind" is also said to be "very good". Students memorize the last word in chorus. What does it mean to be all-good? U. Very kind. H. Now we have learned that God exists everywhere, and therefore what is He called? He knows everything... In what way, how else? God did everything well, - what is it called? He gives us everything freely, so what is He called? Let us repeat all that we have said about God. God is essentially one, He is an incorporeal, invisible, omnipotent, eternal, omniscient, all-wise and all-good Spirit. The names of God's attributes are not memorized by students in order, since this memorization is both unattainable and aimless. Moral conclusions were made in the course of the lesson, and therefore they are no longer made.