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Wolfman Tom was a ruthless murderer in nineteenth century Russia. This is the captivating true story of how God transformed this hardened criminal into a saint through the fire of repentance. Until the end of time, his story will be an example of repentance and salvation for anyone who has fallen deeply into sin.
This ornament kit includes 7 pre-printed shrink-plastic sheets and instructions to make seven easy-to-make (for all ages) ornaments including:
Entry into Jerusalem * Christ the Bridegroom * Christ Washing the Disciples Feet * The Last Supper * "Before Thy Cross We Bow" * The Burial of Christ * The Resurrection of Christ
Special note for parish schools: Custom bulk orders can be made of specific images with special discount pricing. Please e-mail paideaclassics@att.net for more information. *Be sure to use permanent markers like Bic or Sharpie brands.
Elegant watercolor illustrations highlight the beauty of this feast day. The simple, psalm-like poems are written especially for children, but the whole family will enjoy them. A wonderful book and series for children's Pascha baskets & from Godparents!
This ornament kit includes 7 pre-printed shrink-plastic sheets and instructions to make seven easy-to-make ornaments including:
Forgiveness Sunday * The Feast of the Annunciation * Sunday of Orthodoxy * St. Gregory Palamas * The Adoration of the Cross * St. John of the Ladder * St. Mary of Egypt Click here to order. Special note for parish schools: Custom bulk orders can be made of specific images with special discount pricing. Please e-mail paideaclassics@att.net for more information.
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Sunday School Within the Orthodox Church
By Danial Christ
In the 1780's, Sunday School was started as a school for the poor. They did not teach religion but rather basic math, science, and literature to students who could not afford school themselves. They had it on Sundays because even children worked 6 days a week back then and Sunday was their day off. As childrens' rights grew and the Industrial Revolution provided for more opportunity for children to go to school, the need for basic instruction in math, science, and literature decreased and the emphasis moved to religious education, particularly the Bible.
The importance for this in Protestant churches is obvious. If religion is your own reading and interpretation of the Bible, then religion and how religious of a person you are, is dependent on how well you know the Bible. This is much different than the Orthodox Church's belief. The Church had already established 1200 years earlier that salvation was not through knowledge but through participation in the life of Christ (see the apologetics response to gnosticism). Participating in the life of Christ and sanctifying our bodies is the full reason we go to church. We participate in the life of the Christ through the sacraments of the church. The confusion comes in the fact that we know we need to learn the Bible and educate ourselves. That is a given. So we, as Orthodox Christians, in the U.S. started Sunday School like the Protestants.
Of course we should learn, and Sunday School is a perfectly good thing for that. However, when we place a higher importance on Sunday School than on the Liturgy, we have placed things in the wrong order of importance. We must recognize that we must get our knowledge from the source of knowledge - Christ. We also must recognize that the Church Fathers knew that education was important but they placed the priority on the sacraments of the church. However, they also incorporated education into the services and sacraments. This is why we have sermons, icons, and extensive prayers. Icons are not simply objects to venerate, they educate us. Priests do not give sermons to listen to themselves speak, they give them to educate. We do not pray because God needs to hear lots of words. We pray so that we may understand. God already knows. Listen to our prayers. Do we sing I have seen the light, the true light to let God know? We sing it to tell us - we have seen the light - to gain understanding ourselves. Do we read the Gospel to let God know what happened or for us to learn the Gospel? No. In the Liturgy, we learn who Christ is, we experience God.
The priority must be made on the sacraments of the church where we receive God into our lives. Without God, nothing is possible. We have to ask ourselves - why we have Sunday School before the Liturgy is over with? We also have to ask ourselves - what are we teaching our kids? Kids are smart. They see where we place the importance. I agree Sunday School is important but why is it only important for children? Are we telling our children that the adults already know everything? My solution is simple. Both the children and the adults should go to Sunday School after Liturgy. By sending the kids off during the Liturgy, we are telling the children that Sunday School is more important than what we do in church. Also, why do we expect the children to be able to sit through church when they graduate highschool when they have never done it before? In the Orthodox church we learn by doing, we are supposed to be disciplined. We are supposed to practice our faith. This does not mean doing as little as possible. This means we learn to fast by fasting not by talking about it. We learn to pray by praying. We learn to read the Bible by reading it. Monks devote their whole lives to praying, attending the services, and reading the Bible. They don't learn spirituality from Sunday School. Sometimes I hear parents say they don't know enough to teach their children. It is our responsibility to learn and it is our responsibilty to teach our children. Our lack of education is not ever going to be from lack of Sunday School but lack of parents praying with their children, lack of parents reading the Bible, lack of teaching them to fast by fasting. In short, the problem is our lack of practice.
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