Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. God's love for people; the need of people to glorify Him in prayer. The meaning of the word "glory". Study of the prayer "Glory to Thee, O our God...". The meaning of Slavic words in the prayer "Glory to the Father...", its study. Moral Application. H. Whose is everything in the world? U. God's. H. And who gives us everything we need? U. God. H. God gives us everything and gives us everything good, because He loves us. And whoever gives people something good, do people reproach or praise him? [1] U. Praise. H. God always gives everything we need, and smart people always praise God. We praise people with words, and God can be praised with words. What are our words to God called? U. Prayer. H. Then people praise God with what? U. Prayer. H. When people praise God, they say the prayer: "Praise be to Thee, O our God, praise to Thee." When we want to praise someone, we say about such a person that he is nice. In the same way, in prayers, instead of the word "praise", they say glory. How is "praise" said in prayers? U. Slava. Now we will remember the prayer: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee. The prayer is memorized first in chorus, and then individually[2]. "Glory": how else to say it? U. Praise. H. When we say the prayer: Glory to Thee, O our God... To whom do we pray? U. God. H. What do we do with this prayer? U. We praise God. H. By this prayer we praise God alone. And in how many Persons does God exist? U. In three persons. H. Name the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. D. God the Father... H. We glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Just now we said the prayer: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee. In the same way, people pray to all three Persons of the Holy Trinity: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. "Glory" in any other way? U. Praise. H. So, when we praise all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, then we say: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Let's remember these words. Memorization follows. People praise God now and always, and will never cease to praise Him. This is what they say in the prayer "Glory to the Father...". Now," they say in prayer today. How does the prayer say the word "now"? U. Now. H. What does it mean now? U. Now. This question must be answered by several students in order for the meaning of the Slavic word to be assimilated. The same is done when memorizing other Slavic words. Z. "Always" in prayer is said ever. How - "now"? What does it mean ever? What does it mean now? We have said that people will never cease to praise the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And in prayer they say: ... forever and ever. How is it said that people will never stop praising God? U. Forever and ever. H. What does it mean forever and ever? How are the words "now" and "always" said in prayers? To the prayer: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, we will add the words: now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Now let's read a prayer. In this prayer, to whom is "glory" said? U. To the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. H. When is this "glory" said? U. Now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. H. Is this true? U. That's right. H. And how do we say the word "true" in prayer? U. Amen. H. Let us add this word to the prayer and read it in its entirety. This is followed by reading, and then memorizing the prayer. Today we have said that everything in the world is God's; God loves us, gives us everything we need. For this, we praise God with prayers. When we praise God, we say: "Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee." God in Three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and therefore we praise God with another prayer: "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen." Now you, children, know the four prayers and read them in the morning and in the evening when you pray to God. When you learn more other prayers, then read them too, and I will tell you when to read which prayers. The expressions "blame", "blaspheme" and the like are unfamiliar to children, and therefore here "praise" is contrasted with the word "scold" in the Russian meaning of the latter.^ This rule must be observed in the study of each prayer, and in the following exposition instructions about choral and single memorization will not be made.^

Lesson 8. Prostrations and blessings

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. Repetition of all memorized prayers. Symbolic actions during prayer: making the sign of the cross, bowing; the importance of the latter in everyday life and in our relationship to God; division of prostrations into large and small; the significance of both. Blessing of parents; the priest's blessing is private and public; The meaning of both types of blessing. H. Let us remember today the prayers that we have learned. What do we ask of God when we say, "Lord, bless"? Who will read the prayer "In the name of the Father..."? To whom do we pray in this prayer? What do we promise to do? Who among you will say: "Glory to Thee, O God..."? Glory to the Father..."? What does "glory" mean? "Now"? "Ever"? "forever and ever"? "Amen"? When we pray, how many fingers do we fold? What hand? What do we do with our hands? Where do we put our hand? Now tell me, children, what do we do when we put the cross on ourselves? U. We bow. H. Do we always bow in the same way? U. No, we bow sometimes to the ground, and sometimes less. H. Sometimes we tilt our heads only to the waist. Stand up, all of you, and make a bow to the waist... Such a bow is called a waist or small bow. Sometimes we reach the ground with our heads; Such a bow is called a prostration to the ground or greater. Why is a small bow called a waist bow? Why is the big one called earthly? People pray standing on their feet, but don't they pray in another way? U. On his knees. Now we know that during prayer we need to stand in front of the icon, look at it, put a cross on ourselves with three fingers, make either small or large prostrations, and read the words of the prayer. Why we make a cross on ourselves, you will soon find out, but for now we will talk about prostrations. Do you bow to any of the people? In answering this question, the disciples usually enumerate the teachers of the law, the teacher, relatives, etc. All these people are older than you, so we bow to which of the people? U. Who is older than us. H. What does the teacher of the law do for you? U. They teach us. H. And what about the father and mother? U. They feed and clothe us. H. Father and mother feed and clothe the children, the teacher of religion and the teacher teach them at school, the elders teach the children goodness, all the elders take care of us. When we bow to the elders, we bow to show our gratitude for their concerns. God cares for us more than all people, and therefore we bow to Him during prayer. What do we show God by our prostrations? U. Our gratitude[1]. H. We make only small prostrations to people, but we bow to God to the ground and kneel during prayer. In addition to the fact that we make a cross on ourselves, we sometimes ask that either our father and mother or a priest make a cross on us. When we want to do something important, we ask our father and mother to make a cross on us, and when we meet with a priest, we ask him to do it. When a father, mother, elder or priest makes a cross on us, this is called a blessing. Whoever blesses, reads a prayer. Only good words are said in prayers. "Good" is also called good. What is called a blessing? What is the other way to use the word "good"? What does good mean? "Blessing" means a good word, and during the blessing, the one who blesses, reads a prayer and makes a cross with his hand on the one he is blessing. Whoever wants to receive a blessing stretches out his right hand with the palm up, and after the blessing kisses the hand of the one who blesses. At the same time, the teacher of the law must show how the hands are folded to receive the blessing. Now stand all up and show how to fold your hands when you need to receive a blessing. We must say to God before starting any work: "Lord, bless," but both parents and priests bless in the name of God, because they read a prayer during the blessing. Therefore, the blessing of parents or a priest is God's blessing. In church, of course, you saw that the priest sometimes turned his face to the people and made a cross with his hand. It is he who blesses all the people. We always need God's blessing, and therefore the priest blesses the people during each service in the church. Now we will repeat everything that we have talked about today. When we pray, we stand before the icon, make a cross on ourselves with three fingers of our right hand, make a waist or prostration to the ground, and read prayers[2]. By bowing, we show our gratitude to God for all that He gives us. During the bow, we bow our head either only to the waist, and then the bow is called waist or small, or we bow our head to the ground, and then the bow is called earthly or great. We not only read the prayer ourselves and make the cross on ourselves, but we also ask our elders to do the same. The elders give us a blessing. When we are blessed by our parents or a priest, then we are blessed by God Himself, and He helps us in our affairs. Therefore, children, when you meet a priest, ask him for a blessing, and when you want to do something important, ask for a blessing from your parents. Do this not only now, but also when you grow big. The blessing of parents and the priest gives happiness in deeds. Note. The teacher of the law must pay serious attention to the blessing of the hand, so that it is not just a kiss of the hand extended to the person being blessed. A deeper meaning of prostrations can be clarified in the explanation of the service.^ The time of kneeling prayer, in accordance with the church rule, can be indicated in the explanation of the service.^

Lesson 9. The creation of the invisible world. The Fall of the Angels. The prayer "Holy, Holy..."

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

From this lesson, students are introduced to some stories from Holy History, which are necessary for understanding prayers and are required by the curriculum of the Law of God in school. Plan. The beginning of the world; clarification of the concept of "created"; the concept of the visible and invisible world. Angels, their spirituality; the ministry of Angels: their depiction on icons; the grounds for depicting them in the form of people with wings; Angels good and evil; the distinction of the Angels according to merit: Archangels, Cherubim, and Seraphim. The Concept of Holiness, the Fall of the Angels. Devil. Coherent presentation of the lesson. Teaching the prayer "Holy, Holy...". Moral conclusion. Z. Do you children already know that at first there was no heaven, no earth, no people, but only who? U. One God. H. Who did the whole world? U. God. H. Of what did He make the world when there was nothing? U. Out of nothing. H. God made the whole world out of nothing. "Made out of nothing" in another way, they say, "created". We will now say that God created the whole world. As the saying goes, "made out of nothing"? U. Created. H. What does it mean to create? Who created the whole world? Everything we see is called what? U. By the visible world. In addition to the visible world, there is also a world that we do not see[1]. This world is called the invisible world. What kind of world is there besides the visible? U. Invisible. H. Do you remember who lives, but you can't see Him? U. God. H. You already know why you can't see God. U. Because He lives without a body - He is a Spirit. In addition to God, there are other incorporeal, invisible spirits, and all of them were created by God first of all in the visible world. These disembodied spirits are called the invisible world or Angels. What are the names of invisible spirits[2]>? Do Angels have a body? Angels live without a body, but God sometimes sends them to people to tell them what is needed, and then angels become like people. Of course, you saw people with wings painted on icons in church - these are Angels. I will show you the icon, and you will tell me where the Angel is painted on it. At the same time, the icon of the Annunciation is shown, on which the disciples easily find the image of the Archangel Gabriel. Angels do not actually have wings, but draw them with wings because they soon do what God tells them to do. Birds fly many times faster than people walk, so the Angels do what God commands them to do much faster than people. That is why angels are drawn with wings. Who do angels become like when God sends them to people? Why does God send them to people? How are angels depicted on icons? Why are Angels drawn with wings? There are many angels, and God created all of them good, good. How did God create all the Angels? God does nothing wrong, so He created all the Angels good. Remember: whoever does only one good thing is called holy. God does only one good thing, so what should He be called? St. Saints. H. In the beginning, all the Angels were holy spirits, but they are not all the same. They have senior Angels - bosses and there are just Angels. The Elder Angels are called Archangels, Cherubim, and Seraphim. One of the older Angels did not want to obey God, became proud and became an evil angel. Who is called a saint? What were all the Angels like at first? Are all Angels equal? What are the Elder Angels called? What did one of the angels do? What did he become? The first evil angel is called the devil. The devil confused many other good Angels with him; they did not obey God and also became evil. These evil angels are called unclean spirits. What is the name of the first evil angel? Who is the devil? What did the devil do to the other angels? What have the other angels become? Why did they become evil? What are they called? After the lesson, students are offered to review the questions set out in this synopsis, and then a coherent presentation of the lesson is made. According to the degree of development of the pupils, this exposition should be divided into two or three parts. God made the whole world out of nothing, or created it. Everything we see is called the visible world. In addition to the visible world, there is also the invisible world. The invisible world is called invisible, disembodied spirits or Angels. God sometimes sends angels to people, and then angels become like people. On icons, Angels are depicted with wings, because Angels soon do what God commands them to do. There are many angels. All of them were created by God before the visible world. At first, all the angels were good; they all obeyed God. Whoever always obeys God, always does everything as God commands, is called holy. All the angels were holy at first: they did only one good thing, because they obeyed God in everything. One angel became proud, ceased to obey God and became evil. The first evil angel confused the other angels with him, and many other angels became evil or unclean spirits. But not all the angels were proud; there are very many holy angels left. Good Angels live with God and always praise Him. A certain holy man saw God and heard the angels praise Him. The angels sang the following prayer: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, fill heaven and earth with Thy glory. They sang the word "holy" three times, and then added that God is glorified by both heaven and earth. Let us also remember this angelic song; You hear it in church during Mass. The memorization of the angelic doxology follows. Let us always glorify God both in words and in our deeds. By works God is glorified by the one who obeys Him in everything. Let us also obey God, because it is better to be good than evil. God Himself is very good and loves good people, but the evil ones are constantly angry and thus torment themselves. Here first a general concept of the invisible world is given, and from this general concept a transition is made to the particular, the Angels. The deduction of the general concept from the particular was made in the communication of the concept of the visible world, and therefore the secondary application of the analytical method in this case is superfluous.^ The translation of the word Angel is not made, since the Russian word messenger is as incomprehensible to the disciples as the Greek word Angel.^

Lesson 10. The concept of sin. The Fall of the Angels. Soul. Reward beyond the grave

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. The original holiness of the Angels; the concept of sin; Sin is a violation of the law. The fall of the devil and other angels; the impossibility of their communication with light spirits; expulsion from heaven as a consequence of the fall; the life of evil spirits after they were cast down from heaven; their malice, envy and temptation of people. The temporary assumption of the human form by the Angels. The temporary life of the soul in the human body; mortality of the body and immortality of the soul; different state of souls after death. The Last Judgment; future life. Application. H. People who always obey God do only good, good deeds, because God commands them to do only good. And those who do only good are called what? U. Saints. H. All the Angels obeyed God, so what were they all like? U. Saints. H. Now remember: he who does not obey God does evil, or, in other words, sins. And whoever sins is called a sinner. Who is called a sinner? Who is sinning? Do you remember the name of the teaching about how God commands us to live? U. By the law of God. H. Then disobedience to what is called sin? U. To the Law of God. H. The devil and those angels whom he confused did not obey God and became what kind of saints? U. Sinners. They became sinful, evil, and it became impossible for them to live together with the good, holy Angels in heaven. If a bad person came to the hut and began to swear or fight, what would the owners do to him? U. They would have chased him away. The devil went against God, and God drove him out of heaven together with the evil angels for this. What did God do with the devil and the evil angels? It was good for the angels to live in heaven as long as they obeyed God, but when God expelled them, they began to live badly. They are always angry with everyone and envy everyone. They also envy people and incite them to bad deeds. How did the evil angels live while they obeyed God? How did you start living after that? Who are they angry with? Who is envied? What are the things that confuse people to do? After that, a repetition is made in the form of a coherent story, first by the teacher of the law, and with the help of the latter by the students. A coherent story is concluded during the lesson, it is only necessary to release repetition questions. After assimilation by students, a moral application is made. He who does good deeds obeys whom? U. God. H. Whoever sins, obeys whom? U. The Devil. H. What spirit is the devil? U. Evil. H. Can good be expected from the evil? U. No, you can't. H. Therefore, let us fear the devil and let us not sin. Even the name of an unclean spirit does not need to be commemorated. And when do people remember his name? U. When they swear. H. Do not swear in any way, especially with a black word, because by swearing we offend people and act in concert with the devil. There is no need to say bad words at all, because this is a sin. When God sends Angels to people, do the Angels become like whom? U. On people. H. Then people see the body of the angels. In all people we see the body, but in the human body there is a spirit that we do not see. This invisible human spirit is called the soul. What do we see in people? What lives in the human body? What is the name of this invisible spirit? When a person dies, what happens to the body? U. It's rotting. H. Can a spirit die? U. No, he's immortal. H. The soul of man is immortal: it will live, but not all souls live in the same way. The souls of those people who obeyed God, did not offend anyone, did good, live well; but the souls of sinners are tormented. How do the souls of good people live? How do the souls of sinners live? The time will come when the bodies of all people will come to life. Then God will come to earth and judge all people. This judgment of God is called the Last Judgment. Whoever obeyed God, God will then give him a good, happy life, and sinners will be condemned to eternal torment together with the devil. Do people's bodies die forever? What will happen when they come to life? What is God's judgment called? What will God give to holy people? To what will He condemn sinners? With whom will they suffer? Children, love God, obey Him! God's judgment will be for everyone: for the saints it will be joy, and for sinners it will be torment.

Lesson 11. The Creation of Man. The Fall of Men

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Plan. The creation of the visible world in six days. The act of creation of man; the names of the first people. Paradise. The Life of Adam and Eve in Paradise. The first commandment. The envy of the devil. The temptation and fall of the first people with an indication of the event in the painting; The first consequence of sin. Concepts of conscience. The expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise. Conclusion from the story. We know that God created the whole world. What does it mean to create? First God created the invisible world, and then the visible one. What is called the visible world? What do you see here? What do we see in the field? in the forest? in heaven? All this God created in six days. In how many days did God create the visible world? In five days, God created the heavens, the earth, the water, the grass, the trees, the fish, the birds, and on the sixth day, He created man, and then He breathed life and an immortal soul into the human body. On what day did God create man? What did He do first? What did God make the human body out of? What did I blow into it? What kind of soul did God breathe into the human body? First God created man, and then woman. So, how many people did God create? W. Two. The man's name was Adam, and the woman's name was Eve. God planted a good garden for them, which was called paradise. In this garden or paradise Adam and Eve began to live. What was the name of the first man? Woman? What did God plant for the first people? What was the name of this garden? What grows in the garden? U. Apples, berries. H. Different apples and berries are called fruits. In Paradise there were many trees on which all kinds of fruit grew. Adam and Eve ate them and were full. It was good to live in paradise. God told them to work, but the work was not hard. Sometimes God came to people in paradise and talked to them. What was there in paradise? What grew on the trees? What did Adam and Eve eat? How did they live in paradise? What were they doing there? What kind of work did they have? Who came to people in paradise? What was God doing there? Adam and Eve in paradise did not get sick at all and could not die. God gave people everything they needed. For this, people had to love God and had to show their love in deeds. For this purpose, God gave the law; He said to Adam: "Of every tree in the garden you shall eat the fruit, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil alone you shall not eat." What did God give to people in paradise? What were people supposed to do for this? How were they to show their love for God? What did God give people for this? What did He say to Adam? You already know that the devil is always jealous of everyone. The devil became jealous that Adam and Eve lived well in paradise. He climbed into the serpent and asked Eve: "Is it true that God did not command you to eat the fruit of the trees of paradise?" [2] Eve answered, "No, God has not commanded us to eat of the fruit of the tree alone, for if we eat it we shall die." The devil replied to Eve: "No, you will not die, but you yourselves will become gods!" [4] Who was jealous of Adam and Eve? What did the devil do? What did he say to Eve? What did she say? What did the devil say to this? After the story and its repetition, the students are shown a picture of the Fall. What is depicted in this picture? U. Sade. H. Who is standing in the garden? U. Woman. H. Near what is it standing? U. Near a tree. H. Who is coiled around the tree? U. Zmey. H. What does a woman do? U. Tears up an apple. H. This picture is what I have just told you about. The serpent seduced Eve. She plucked the fruit and ate it. Then Adam also ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. They did not obey God; and you already know that whoever does not obey God sins. So what did Adam and Eve do? U. Sin. H. When they sinned, they were ashamed. Do you ever feel ashamed, children? To this question the answer is usually obtained: "When you lie, then you are ashamed." From this answer it is not difficult to deduce the general concept of conscience. Lying is not good, and that's why it's embarrassing when you tell a lie. In general, after any bad deed, a person becomes ashamed. This happens because every person has a conscience. As soon as you do a bad deed, your conscience will begin to torment you. If you do something and you are ashamed, it means that this is a bad thing, you should never do it. Adam and Eve did badly, sinned, and they felt ashamed. Adam and Eve sinned and became what kind of people? U. Sinners. It was impossible for sinful people to live in paradise, and God expelled them from paradise. After that, life became bad for Adam and Eve: they had to do hard work to get their food. How did people live in paradise before they sinned? How did they begin to live after that? This should be followed by a coherent story, divided into two parts: the life of the first people before the Fall and the Fall. As long as people obeyed God and did not sin, they felt good, but as soon as they sinned, a bad life began for them. The same thing happens in the world today: a good person lives better both in wealth and in poverty than a sinful person. Cf. Gen. 2, 16-17.- Ed.^ Cf. Gen. 3, 1.- Ed.^ Cf. Gen. 3, 2-3.- Ed.^ Cf. Gen. 3, 4-5.- Ed.^