SSCORRE!
Saint Sophia Cathedral
Online Resources for our Religious Edification
TOPIC OF THE WEEK –
Christmas Traditions and Our Time of Glad Tidings and Joy
“When people ask me what my family Christmas traditions are, and how we are supposed to feel during this season, I take pause. Are we supposed to have some special family traditions? If I don’t, am I somehow deficient or wanting? What are we supposed to feel, and what if I don’t feel that way? …”
Adult/Family
“…Feelings have to do with attitude. We can choose to have an attitude of joy and thankfulness, even while we are grieving our losses or are irritated by the secularization of the Feast. Choose to be cheerful, because the Lord likes a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:11). Choose to be thankful, because God has cared so much and loved so much that He chose to send His only begotten Son. With this truth in mind, we can cut through all the noise of the season to discover what there is to be thankful for….”
Read the entire article here.
Preschool/Elementary
Read some of our favorite books for the season for fasting and saint’s feast days:
by Exaltation Press
by Ancient Faith Publishing
by SVS Press
Middle School
- “Admittedly, there is a lot of noise that accompanies the Christmas season. It is annoying that the marketers begin decorating at the end of October and the commercials urge us to overspend and purchase things that have nothing to do with the Feast. It is offensive that the great ascetic, Saint Nicholas, would be dressed up to be fat and silly, and that the radio plays silly songs about snowmen and sleigh bells. If we are deliberate, however, with a little effort we can get beyond all this silliness to put Christ back into Christmas. We can replace the radio with recordings of the Feast, schedule the parties within our control to after the feast, use our alms-giving and fasting to do good for others, and encounter in everything the Christ who is born to us. We aren’t going to change the world’s celebration, but we can witness to Christ from within it. Acts of charity bring us closer to the many who are in need.”
Listen to and learn the hymns of the season in English:
Archangel Voices – Christ is Born Give Glory! full album
Purchase the CD here
High School
“We now find ourselves in the Nativity Fast. (The Fast begins on November 15 – 40 days before the Nativity.) It is always easy to slip into the temptations of “why should I fast?”; “It’s difficult to fast!”; “No one else is fasting!”; “I don’t like the rules of fasting!”; etc. But, most often, we lose track of one simple word: “obedience.” Here’s what Fr. Alexander says about obedience in one of his diary entries:
The benefit of obedience: the soul frees itself for things interior when its exterior life is taken over by someone else, as in military service, the monastery, the family.
It is good to be obedient to the Church! There is great benefit in freeing from the earthly cares and being reminded of God’s eternal love for us now and in the world to come.”
Have you had the same temptations of thought? What do you think of Fr. Alexander’s explanation about obedience and it’s benefits? What kind of ‘interior’ things is the soul free for when exterior things are simplified? What other exterior things besides food can you simplify during this Nativity fast season? View the Preparation Plan image in the Adult/Family section above for ideas about interior things you can add in your life.
The Nativity Fast is a less strict fast than Lent – most days fish and oil are allowed. See the schedule. If you are already fasting, kali dynami! If you are not fasting this season, or have never fasted, talk to your parents – it is not too late to try it for this season!
This home study series is intended to encourage all who participate to keep the period of the Nativity Fast Christ-centered. It follows the Liturgical readings of the Church and suggests ideas for putting our faith into action in this busy period of our life. There is a study sheet for each week of the fast.
A Message from Maria Spanos
I am passionate about our Orthodox Christian faith and seek to help others learn as much as they can about it. My purpose here is to share online resources that help strengthen our relationship with Christ and bind us closer to His Church. I believe they are invaluable in learning about our precious Orthodox Tradition, and are a great aid for teaching family members, friends and others about Orthodoxy. ~Maria
Two of my favorite quotes:
“A true Christian behaves in this life so that it may be a preparation for the future one and not only a life here below. In his actions, he does not think what will be said of him here but of what will be said there in heaven; he represents to himself that he is always in the presence of God, of the angels and all the saints, and remembers that someday they will bear witness of his thoughts, words, and deeds.” — Saint John of Kronstadt
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“Of all the holy works, the education of children is the most holy.”
— St. Theophan the Recluse
