Your help to the site and parish

Ascension of the Lord (Selection of materials on the site)

Calendar - archive of entries

Site search

Site headings

Orthodox calendar

Ascension of the Lord

St. Simeon the Stylite on Divnaya Mountain (596). St. Nikita, stylite of Pereyaslav (1186). Blzh. Xenia of St. Petersburg (glorification 1988).

Mchch. Meletius Stratelates, Stephen, John, Serapion the Egyptian, Callinicus the Magus, Theodore and Faustus and with them 1218 warriors with their wives and children (c. 218). St. Vincent of Lerinsky (up to 450). Martyrs, in the Fereydan Valley (Iran) suffered by the Persians (XVII) (Georgian) (movable celebration on the day of the Ascension of the Lord).

Morning – Mark, 71 readings, XVI, 9–20. Lit. – Acts, 1st part, I, 1–12. Luke, 114, XXIV, 36–53.

At Great Vespers, “Blessed is the man” is not sung. At Matins there is magnification: “We magnify You, Life-Giving Christ, and honor the Divine Ascension into Heaven with Your Most Pure Flesh.” After the Gospel - “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ.” Catavasia “Divine veil...”. Instead of “The Most Honest,” we sing the choruses of the holiday. 1st chorus: “Glorify, my soul, Christ the Life-Giver who ascended from earth to Heaven.”

At the end of Matins and at the Liturgy, dismissal: “Who in glory has ascended from us into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God and the Father, Christ our true God...”.

At the liturgy there are antiphons of the holiday. Entrance verse: “God rises up with a shout, the Lord with a sound of a trumpet.” Trisagion. Instead of “Worthy” - “Magnify, my soul... You are more than your mind and words....” Instead of “You have seen the True Light...” - “Thou art ascended in glory...” (before giving up).

In the evening of the holiday, Great Vespers is performed with the entrance and the Great Prokeme.

We congratulate the birthday people on Angel Day!

Icon of the day

Venerable Nikita Stylite of Pereyaslavl

Venerable Nikita Stylite

Venerable Nikita Stylite of Pereyaslavl was a native of the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and was in charge of the collection of government taxes and taxes. In 1152, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky moved the city of Pereyaslavl and the stone church in the name of the All-Merciful Savior to a new location. In connection with the costs of building the city and the temple, increased collection of taxes was carried out from the city residents. Nikita, who led these collections, mercilessly robbed the residents, collecting huge sums of money for himself. This went on for many years. But the merciful Lord, who wants to save all sinners, led Nikita to repentance.

One day he came to church and heard the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Wash yourself and be clean, take away wickedness from your souls... learn to do good... deliver the offended, judge the orphan (protect the orphan) and justify the widow” (Is. 1, 16-17). Like thunder, he was shocked by these words that penetrated the depths of his heart. Nikita spent the whole night without sleep, remembering the words: “Wash yourself and you will be clean.” However, in the morning he decided to invite friends to forget the horrors of the past night in a cheerful conversation. The Lord again called Nikita to repentance. When the wife began to prepare dinner to treat the guests, she suddenly saw a human head, then an arm, then a leg floating up in the boiling cauldron. In horror, she called her husband, and Nikita saw the same thing. Suddenly his dormant conscience awoke in him, and Nikita clearly realized that with his extortions he was acting like a murderer. “Woe is me, I have sinned a lot! Lord, guide me on Your path!” – with these words he ran out of the house.

Three miles from Pereyaslavl there was a monastery in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Nikita, where Nikita, shocked by a terrible vision, came. With tears, he fell at the feet of the abbot: “Save the perishing soul.” Then the abbot decided to test the sincerity of his repentance and gave the first obedience: to stand at the monastery gates for three days and confess his sins to everyone passing by. With deep humility, Nikita accepted his first obedience. Three days later, the abbot remembered him and sent one monk to see what he was doing at the monastery gates. But the monk did not find Nikita in the same place, but found him lying in the swamp; he was covered with mosquitoes and midges, his body was covered in blood. Then the abbot himself and his brethren came to the voluntary sufferer and asked: “My son! what are you doing to yourself? "Father! Save the perishing soul,” answered Nikita. The abbot dressed Nikita in a hair shirt, brought him into the monastery and tonsured him as a monk.

Having accepted monastic vows with all his heart, the Monk Nikita spent days and nights in prayer, singing psalms and reading the lives of holy ascetics. With the blessing of the abbot, he put heavy chains on himself and dug two deep wells at the sites of his monastic deeds. Soon the monk intensified his feat - he dug a deep round hole and there, placing a stone cap on his head, stood, like the ancient stylites, in fiery prayer. He saw only the blue sky and night stars from the bottom of his pillar-well, and a narrow underground passage leading under the church wall - along it the Monk Nikita went to the temple for divine services.

Thus, having labored a good deed in the monastery of the Great Martyr Nikita, the Monk Nikita himself ended his life with a martyr’s death. One night, the saint’s relatives, who came to him for a blessing, were seduced by his shiny chains and crosses, mistaking them for silver, and decided to take possession of them. On the night of May 24, 1186, they dismantled the covering of the pillar, killed the ascetic, removed his crosses and chains, wrapped them in rough canvas and ran away.

Before the morning service, the sexton, who came to Saint Nikita for a blessing, discovered a dismantled roof and reported this to the abbot. The abbot and the brethren hurried to the pillar of the monk and saw the murdered saint, from whose body a fragrance emanated.

Meanwhile, the killers, stopping on the banks of the Volga River, decided to divide the loot, but were surprised to see that it was not silver, but iron, and threw the chains into the Volga. The Lord also glorified these visible signs of the saint’s secret exploits and labors. That same night, Simeon, a pious elder of the Yaroslavl monastery in the name of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, saw three bright rays of light over the Volga. He reported this to the abbot of the monastery and the elder of the city. The council of priests and numerous townspeople who came to the river saw three crosses and chains “like a tree floating in the waters of the Volga.” With reverence and prayers, the chains were transferred to the monastery of the Great Martyr Nikita and placed on the tomb of the Monk Nikita. At the same time, healings occurred. Around 1420–1425 Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow, blessed the discovery of the relics of Saint Nikita. The abbot of the monastery and the brethren performed a prayer service, then they opened the birch bark with which the incorrupt body was wrapped, but suddenly the grave was covered with earth, and the relics remained hidden. In 1511–1522 a chapel was erected in the name of St. Nikita, and in the 19th century, Archpriest A. Svirelin composed an akathist to the saint.

Troparion to St. Nikita the Stylite of Pereyaslavl

In the Orthodox sense, you have hated youthful desires/ and adopted valiant morals, you have defeated the enemy,/ and in your prudence you have pleased God,/ and from above you have received from Him the gift of miracles,/ drive away your ailments, heal your illnesses,/ Nikita is more glorious, // pray to Christ God, yes will save our souls.

Translation: Having hated youthful passions with your Orthodox mind and began to struggle courageously, you defeated the enemy, and in your zeal you pleased God, and from above you received from Him the gift of miracles: driving away demons, healing illnesses. Glorious Nikita, pray to Christ God to save our souls.

Kontakion to St. Nikita the Stylite of Pereyaslavl

For the sake of Christ from your servants you endured the necessary death/ and you received the crown of incorruption from Him,/ and you grant healing to those who come with faith from your honorable grave,/ O Reverend Nikita,// Father about our souls.

Translation: For Christ's sake you endured violent death from your servants and received from Him an incorruptible crown, but you grant healing to those who come with faith from your revered tomb, O Venerable Nikitas, prayer book for our souls.

Prayer to St. Nikita the Stylite of Pereyaslavl

Oh, all-honorable head, like the most blessed Father, Nikita the Martyr! Do not forget your poor to the end, but always remember us in your holy and auspicious prayers to God and do not forget to visit your children. Pray for us, good father and chosen one of Christ, for you have boldness towards the Heavenly King, and do not keep silent to the Lord for us, and do not despise us, who honor you with faith and love. Remember us, the unworthy, at the Throne of the Almighty and do not stop praying for us to Christ God: for you have been given the grace to pray for us. We do not think that you are dead, even though you have passed away from us in body, but even after death you remain alive. Do not give up on us in spirit, preserving and keeping us from the arrows of the enemy and all the charms of the devil, our good intercessor and man of prayer. Even though your relics are always visible before our eyes, your holy soul with the angelic hosts, with the disembodied faces, with the heavenly powers at the Throne of the Almighty God rejoices with dignity. Knowing that you are truly alive even after death, we bow down to you, and we pray to you, and we pray for us to the Almighty God for the benefit of our souls, and ask us time for repentance and it is not forbidden to pass from earth to Heaven, and bitter ordeals, and the princes of the air, and eternal torment will be delivered from us, and the Kingdom of Heaven will be an heir with all the righteous who have pleased Him, our Lord Jesus Christ, from all eternity. To Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, together with His Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Reading the Gospel with the Church

The Holy Church reads the Gospel of John. Chapter 12, art. 19-36.

19 The Pharisees said to each other: Do you see that you do not have time to do anything? the whole world follows Him.

20 Of those who came to worship on the holiday, there were some Greeks.

21 They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying: Master! we want to see Jesus.

22 Philip goes and tells Andrey about this; and then Andrew and Philip tell Jesus about this.

23 Jesus answered and said to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; and if it dies, it will bear much fruit.

25 He who loves his life will destroy it; But he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.

26 Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant also be. And whoever serves Me, My Father will honor him.

27 My soul is now indignant; and what should I say? Father! deliver Me from this hour! But for this hour I have come.

28 Father! glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it and will glorify it again.

29 The people stood and heard That, said: it's thunder; and others said: The angel spoke to him.

30 To this Jesus said: This voice was not for Me, but for the people.

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.

32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me.

33 He said this, making it clear by what kind of death He would die.

34 The people answered Him: We have heard from the law that Christ abides forever; How then do You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?

35 Then Jesus said to them: For a little while yet the light is with you; walk while there is light, lest darkness overtake you: but he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

36 As long as the light is with you, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light. Having said this, Jesus walked away and hid from them.

(John chapter 12, 19-36.)

Cartoon calendar

Orthodox educational courses

CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF LIVING WATER: Homily for the 5th Sunday after Easter, about the Samaritan

IN O name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

IN Today Sunday we remember the gospel conversation with the Samaritan woman. The service glorifies Christ, who, in a conversation with a woman from the village of Sychar, made it clear that the Source of living water leading a person to eternal life, - It is he. He who wants to quench his bodily thirst can go to a well dug in the ground, but he who wants to quench his spiritual hunger must go to Christ.

Download
(MP3 file. Duration 09:34 min. Size 8.76 Mb)

Hieromonk Nikon (Parimanchuk)

Preparation for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism

IN section " Preparation for Baptism" site "Sunday school: on-line courses " Archpriest Andrei Fedosov, head of the department of education and catechesis of the Kinel Diocese, information has been collected that will be useful to those who are going to receive Baptism themselves, or want to baptize their child or become a godparent.

R This section consists of five cataclysmic conversations in which the content of Orthodox dogma within the framework of the Creed is revealed, the sequence and meaning of the rites performed at Baptism are explained, and answers to common questions related to this Sacrament are given. Each conversation is accompanied additional materials, links to sources, recommended literature and Internet resources.

ABOUT course conversations are presented in the form of texts, audio files and videos.

Course topics:

• Conversation No. 1 Preliminary concepts
• Conversation No. 2 Sacred Bible story
• Conversation No. 3 Church of Christ
• Conversation No. 4 Christian morality
• Conversation No. 5 The Sacrament of Holy Baptism

Applications:

• FAQ
• Orthodox calendar

Reading the lives of saints by Dmitry of Rostov for every day

Recent Entries

Radio "Vera"

TV channel Tsargrad: Orthodoxy

He serves the Lord with prayer and tells children about the beauty of God's world with the help of paints. Hierodeacon Paisiy (Novozhenov) from the Holy Dormition Monastery in the city of Staritsa near Tver - amazing person. The author of books and films on spiritual topics, he is engaged in icon painting, makes watercolor illustrations for children's books and runs an art studio at the monastery educational center"Image". The drawings of Father Paisius' students are lively and pure, touching the soul, causing tenderness and joy. A conversation with him about how and what the monk-artist teaches the children.

- Father Paisiy, where do the guys come to the monastery circle from? Are these the children of parishioners?

The great joy is that my current students are absolutely secular children. These are ordinary schoolchildren who do not go to church, children who are not from Orthodox families. There are even a few Muslim girls. Honestly, I don't know how this happened. This is some kind of miracle! Just think: secular children come to a monastery to see a monastic teacher. Sami! Not because their parents brought them. This is a wonderful opportunity to tell the children about God and Orthodoxy.

I have the most difficult option- mixed groups. Children aged 6-14 years study in them. There are exactly 50 children, they are divided into two groups of 25 students. The students are mostly schoolchildren in grades 4-7, but there are older and younger artists.

- How did you recruit current students? And how long have you been teaching art?

In 2003, I started teaching fine arts at the Palace of Culture. I liked this work so much, it inspired me so much that now I can’t imagine my life apart from teaching activities. Since then, I have been constantly involved in organizing clubs, studios, Sunday schools and electives - in Sergiev Posad, Rzhev, Tver. Now in Staritsa, in the monastery where I was sent six months ago.

When I arrived in this city, the first thing I did was go to the schools - we have three of them. I walked through the classes, in each of them I opened a large folder with the best children's drawings of previous students and showed it to the children. He invited everyone to the art studio at the monastery. A lot of schoolchildren came - as many as 44 people! Then they started bringing friends, brothers and sisters, and in the end we have 50 children.

Once upon a time, when I was in second grade, a young art teacher from an art school came to class, showed me her graphic works, and invited me to school. I liked the drawings so much that I went to study. And now I use this technique myself.

- Father, how are you conducting your classes? What do you pay attention to?

The most important and most difficult thing is creating the right learning atmosphere. On the one hand, the teacher needs to try to make it interesting for children - so that a good, cheerful, friendly environment is formed in the classroom. It is also important to structure lessons so that students acquire skills and knowledge, and reveal talents.

I constantly tell them that they must develop their talents, be purposeful, work every day on self-development, and try to determine their inclinations. And there are already small glimpses. One day a little girl came up to me, her name is Mashenka, and said in a whisper: “Father Paisiy, it seems I have my own talent.” Let me explain what I'm talking about. What I draw on the board, this student redraws exactly. The other kids mostly improvise on the theme “what Father Paisius showed us,” and this, of course, also has its own meaning. Unique things are obtained, sometimes even in the style of Picasso. And this girl very accurately follows what is shown on the board, correctly conveys the proportions and contours, and even guesses the angle of the line. It was as if my drawing had been transferred to her piece of paper - only in a smaller form. Before that, I constantly said: you have a special talent, develop it. She only giggled in response. And then I thought of it in my little head.

By convincing children that they are gifted, I do not provoke pride, but teach them to take a responsible attitude towards their talents

Here I would like to clarify: by convincing the children of their talents, I do not provoke pride in them, but teach them a responsible attitude towards their talents. Gifts are from God. And they cannot be neglected, but, on the contrary, they must be multiplied. Therefore, I constantly instill in children that time is precious, that life is built from a young age.

Sometimes I take the book “The Tale of Lost Time” by Evgeniy Schwartz and read excerpts from it aloud while they draw. So that a deeper understanding of the preciousness of time enters into the children, especially in adolescence, when their future life. Sometimes, unnoticed by others, I lean over someone, helping to draw, and quietly say some useful word.

- How do you deal with mischievous people?

If something bad is clearly manifested in one of the children, without making fun of him in front of the whole class, I give advice in private. Even big spoilers must be tolerated. Reasonable, of course. But you shouldn’t cut off a diseased branch ahead of time, while there is still hope of healing. I have good example about this theme. A student came to me - with the most bad behavior. In winter, when I left school, he would throw a lump of snow at me, the teacher and the clergyman, in the back. And he did a lot of other bad things. Both the principal and the teachers constantly pointed him out to me and prepared him to be expelled from Sunday school.

I thought: well, I’ll put up with him a little longer. I was sure that the boy was doing this out of stupidity, not out of malice. After all, I felt giftedness and passion in him. I think it was because he was very emotional, hyperactive. I called him for conversations, told him what he needed to hear about his behavior, tried to reach the very depths of his heart. And, you know, soon there was victory. Here, perhaps, it was not our conversations that were the reason, maybe some life circumstances, but soon the boy became more serious. This, of course, is the Lord working on those who show hope. This spoiler became the best student. Better even than those who were considered the most well-behaved. And now he is studying in his third year at the Moscow seminary. Good guy, taller than me.

Students in front of the teacher are in full view. In the studio you can see very clearly what bad habits someone has. It seems to them that I don’t notice them, I’m standing half-turned, but I see everything. I understand who is a spoiler, who is cunning, who is ready to offend others, who is despondent because there is discord in the family between parents. Today they all lack the kindness of adults, some kind of tenderness.

- How can we teach children themselves to be kinder if there is not enough kindness around them?

How? I don't know. But I never offend children or scold them. I hope that this spirit of kindness will be communicated to them without teaching, passed on as a state. You can teach through both silence and sympathy, listening to their childhood experiences about who in the yard said and did what and what to do now.

In extreme cases, if they start to indulge too much, I use the “complaining” technique. Like a good old grandmother who repeats: “Oh, what should I do now?!”, I begin to walk around them and complain. They realize that they have crossed boundaries and calm down.

I hope the guys will remember how to get out of unpleasant situations by covering the mistakes of others with love

And when someone knocks over a jar of gouache onto the snow-white floor, I don’t look at them with frenzy, saying, “What have you done!”... Out of habit, they freeze and look at me, eyes wide open. Because they know the equivalent of punishment in such cases from experience secondary school. But this is where I have a chance to show how the teacher takes their blame. I immediately calm them down, carry a bucket and start washing the floor. And they join joyfully and, like obedient angels, wipe everything clean. And this is how we keep each other on our toes. I really hope that when they become adults, they will remember how to get out of unpleasant situations without scandals and screams, but by covering up the mistakes of others with love.

Every time the guys stop drawing and start talking about something, laughing, joking, it seems to me that the strict order of the lesson is being violated. At these moments I remember the engraving by Pieter Bruegel: “If the teacher is a donkey at school.” It depicts a donkey in a teacher’s caftan, and around him children are chaotically doing whatever they want. This is, of course, unacceptable. The lesson must be systematic, with discipline. But without bending, without tightening the nuts. Colleagues often tell me: “Be stricter with your children.” But what does “stricter” mean?

More than half of the students do not have fathers because their parents are divorced. This is a tragedy for a child. One boy doesn’t even have a mother, she abandoned him, the guy has a grandmother. Another boy’s mother died in an accident... Well, how can we be strict with these guys, what kind of statutory discipline should we impose?!

Sunday school is a good time, and it will be remembered for the rest of your life.

Sunday school is a different mood, a fun lesson in good communication. This time should be especially memorable and enjoyable. It is not necessary to provide a lot of information here, to arrange drills and cramming on the topic “what color should the lectern be.” The main thing in Sunday schools is to teach the spirit of a moral good life. Even if sometimes classes are carried out in a funny way, but with all this, a cultural space is created, a creative cultural and ethical field that shapes the souls of children. This good time will be remembered by the children for the rest of their lives. And it doesn’t matter that in such a lesson the student may not write anything down on the white sheet of the notebook. The child contemplated life itself and rejoiced in it, looked at the faces of his comrades and laughed heartily, and his memory turned out to be a notebook, a wonderful day remained in it, and this memory will support him in the future in all the hardships.

What I mentioned in several examples above are some of my principles that I came to while working with children.

- Father Paisiy, what is the global goal of your pedagogy?

I am sure that art can transform a person’s soul, instill a sense of justice, and encourage people to perform noble deeds. Through daily improvement in the sciences and arts, students come to understand the laws of spiritual life. Subsequently, someone will become a doctor, someone a teacher, and someone a scientist, but everyone will gratefully remember their music and drawing teachers, who inspired them to the feat of life, who managed to instill in them an understanding of the beauty of the world and greatness human soul.

- Where did you learn painting yourself?

Before the icon painting school, I was lucky enough to study as a painter-teacher in Tverskoy art school named after Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov. Before becoming a monk, he studied at the surprisingly interesting icon painting school at the Moscow Theological Academy in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The Lavra is a unique place for Russian Orthodox culture. Outstanding people gather here creative people: the most experienced icon painters, masters of restoration and gold seamstresses, regents, philologists-editors, composers, directors, photographers, missionaries, talented teachers, professors, art historians, writers, thoughtful monks-prayerists.

For five years we studied ancient Russian painting, made lists ancient icons Pereslavl Museum, Rostov Kremlin, Novgorod Museum, Icon Hall Tretyakov Gallery, visited ancient monasteries located in the “Golden Ring” of Russia. All this gave a good idea of ​​the essence of Russian Orthodox art and instilled an understanding of the truly lofty and beautiful. The icon painting school took place traditional technique icon painting, monumental painting - fresco, restoration of icons. Everything that I learned and saw there is very helpful in my work on manuals on Orthodox culture.

The training time became an invaluable time to get acquainted with the thousand-year heritage of the culture of Holy Rus', its temples and paintings - from Staraya Ladoga to Yaroslavl. We talked with the Lavra elders - schemamonks and elder archimandrites, communicated with interesting people. And to the best of our ability, we drew spiritual wisdom from them.

I believe that it is in such educational institutions that correct education is realized, when, along with intellectual development, a relatively healthy spiritual life takes place.

- And when you started teaching children how to draw, did everything work out right away?

Of course, at first I made a lot of mistakes. But through this experience I understood better: it is necessary to thoroughly study the methodology and history of pedagogy. For this reason, four years ago I decided to enter Tver University at the Department of Theology of the Faculty of Education. And now I’m glad I did it. This was extremely necessary in order to take a more competent approach to preparing lessons for schoolchildren.

Currently I am working on a program for teaching fine arts in Sunday schools. For now the work is in limbo. In my opinion, before hastily publishing theoretical manuals, they need to be tested, refined, taking into account realities, and only then released.

Teaching in Sunday schools is, in principle, not an easy task. Fine arts teachers, for example, need knowledge in the field of world artistic culture and church art. The theory received in universities needs to be translated into categories that children can understand. One day, one of the guys in class asked why the distances in the landscape always seem blue, because the trees that grow there are green. I remembered interesting book“Painting” by J. Vibert, which talked about the refraction of light, types of rays, their length and the nature of passage through various media. I started telling the children about all this. Little guys, 7-9 years old, looked at me in bewilderment. And I kept talking, could not fully express my thoughts clearly, in the end I was completely confused and barely completed the explanation. The students looked at me dumbfounded. I realized that I had confused them with complex explanations and they were unlikely to catch anything.

It is necessary to speak to children not only in the language of words they understand, but also in the language of concepts accessible to their perception.

This incident made me take a more serious approach to the issue of adapting the theory of fine art. We need to speak to children not only in the language of words they understand, but also in the language of concepts that are accessible to their perception.

However, it is not always possible to find methodological manuals To the right topic. Therefore, I am already accustomed to the fact that I often have to develop certain lessons myself. I am sure that over many years of teaching, many of my fellow teachers develop interesting ideas and techniques. I would like to find a platform where I could meet with colleagues and discuss current problems in teaching “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture”, “World Artistic Culture”, fine arts, and the history of Christian art. I don’t consider myself a professional in the field of teaching at all, but I am looking for like-minded people with whom I can discuss the problems of this area.

From the notes of Father Paisius

I told the kids about the history of our monastery, about how 900 years ago two monks came here, developed the territory, and built a wooden cell. He also told about how the fire happened in the monastery. In essence, the stories of the founding of all Russian monasteries are similar. Without fail, the first monks, when they arrived, quickly built small temples, and fires were always a typical occurrence. It is interesting that the children, these little sensitive analysts, surprisingly perceptively depicted everything they heard step by step.

The first drawing was dedicated to a skinny ascetic monk with a pickaxe in his hand. He sullenly hammered away at the limestone mountain. There is a lot of limestone in Staritsa, and there was a large mining of white stone here. One of the boys asked: “Can it rain?” How accurate! This is also an image of temptations and difficulties that are always present during the founding of monasteries.

Another boy drew several lightning bolts in the sky, and one of them hit the monk right in the head. Skufya saved him. The strong monk continued his work as before, and the boy explained that in those days there was no lightning rod. I allowed the presence of such energy. After all, grace is also a kind of Divine energy that helps in deeds. However, I became wary: “What will they come up with next?”

The girls reduced all the severity to nothing. The sun shone in their drawings, the earth blossomed after the rain. One girl asked: “Can there be a dog there?” She carefully depicted a spotted Dalmatian puppy next to the black figurine of the hermit. I would never have thought of this. Soon all the girls' drawings depicted Dalmatians, flowers, roses, and birds. In general, in the end we founded a cheerful monastery.

When I go and knock on the wooden beater, calling for service, I see several dozen wonderful sparrows perching on the electrical wires, they are not afraid of my knock, they look with curiosity and chirp. Looking at them, I think that the monks are the wires of a power plant through which spiritual energy moves to the cities. The wires are simple in appearance, and small birds can sit safely on them, but at the same time, the power that passes through them then moves apart bridges, illuminates the streets, and turns on the lights in thousands of apartments. I knock on my beat, remain silent and think: how to connect the broken bridges between God and hundreds of our compatriots who do not know Jesus Christ? How can we illuminate the dark streets of false teachings with the light of Christ, in the darkness of which so many people are wandering today?

The training program includes:
-painting (technique of working with paints);
-drawing (technique of working with pencil);
- applied creativity(handmade crafts).

A special training program will make it easy to develop drawing skills and fine motor skills, creativity and creative thinking of the child. The program creates interest in creativity.
It develops imagination, fantasy, and emotional responsiveness.
Harmonizes a child (can calm an overexcited child, or “wake up” a inhibited child).
Helps train attention, memory, thinking as such, as well as hard work and independence.
Forms skills in visual arts.

At every lesson we learn something new, solve riddles, and talk. THERE IS TALENT IN EVERY CHILD! THE MAIN THING IS TO DEVELOP IT CORRECTLY!

Very often after a lesson I hear from parents: “It can’t be! My child doesn't draw THAT much at home! But he can’t! You drew this for him)))” NO! I didn't draw. It’s just that when little students come to my lesson, I see in them an adult, absolutely talented, I sincerely BELIEVE in their abilities, and most importantly, I never forget that EVERY PERSON CAN DRAW. You just need to help him open up a little.

To scold or not to scold a child for failure? Because something didn't work out for him? PRAISE!!! We criticize because they do not meet OUR expectations. It is likely that the child put in ALL HIS efforts, but it simply didn’t work out…. And we immediately think that we didn’t try and start scolding. As a result, we completely discourage the desire to continue doing anything further. And we develop a fear of making mistakes. A child’s mistakes must be approached differently!!! There is no need to throw out your indignation, your fatigue after a hard day at work, getting angry at the unjustified expectation!!! What should be done? You must first note all the BEST things that the child did in this work. It can't be that EVERYTHING is bad. There's definitely something good. And you, as an experienced and adult person, should see this and show it and praise the child. And in general, the baby sees what he depicted, completely different from us. There can be no cliches here. On the contrary, we need to develop individuality in a small artist, and not if we draw something, then everyone should have everything the same. Every person, even the smallest, has the right to express his thoughts in his own way.

In our art studio we try to follow exactly this.

And most importantly, never engage in creativity with your baby if you are not in the mood. Children are emotionally very sensitive: a child will not draw if he does not feel your passion. One girl very often hums while drawing, thereby expressing the flight of her soul. And some parents also can’t sit still, they try to make their own amendments to the children’s drawings, especially dads. Our first exhibition of works took place at the opening of the Sunday school. From October 7 to October 14, children's drawings were on display in kindergarten No. 25 in Lipetsk. New exhibitions are currently being planned. Take a look at our work - no two are alike!!!

Learning to draw: about drawing lessons in Sunday school at the temple in Kostino
Author: teacher of the Law of God Ekaterina Bocharova, hramvkostino.ru

A significant factor in a successful creative process is the psychological environment in which Sunday school students express themselves and improve. During the classes, little artists are allowed to freely communicate with each other, consult, share their impressions - all this creates a friendly atmosphere in which the children look for answers to their questions, learn to be attentive, and notice the beauty of God's world and man. In the process of drawing, a young person develops the skills and abilities necessary for later life: seeing, observing, focusing, analyzing, and ultimately, feeling. Children who draw develop creative thinking, they begin to see the whole picture “as a whole”, not individual items or a person, but in the environment, in the environment.

Of particular interest is the variety of types and forms of classes conducted. Each lesson is not similar to the previous one, each has its own unique twist:

Teamwork. On a large format of paper, children develop a composition based on a given or chosen topic, make a drawing and begin to work with paints. Often they disagree with each other, then teachers and “apprentices” all learn together to resolve misunderstandings, listen to each other, give in and come to a common decision. Often these collaborations subsequently they are decorations for performances, fragments of scenery at Sunday school holidays.

Drawings on a separate sheet. This type of creativity is characterized by the artist’s greater concentration on his emotions, feelings and desires. Here the individuality of each child, his personal preferences, views on individual things and the world as a whole is more clearly visible. The smaller the canvas format, the more attention is required from the young painter to small details and subtle nuances of the future masterpiece.

Works on the poem. The guys try to reproduce on paper their associations from what they heard poetic work. This could be a poem associated with the time of year or with the state of nature, with a holiday or, for example, with shades of the same color:

S. Cherny
Green verses (fragment)

All the edges are turning green,
The pond is turning green.
And the green frogs
They sing a song.

Christmas tree - a sheaf of green candles,
Moss is a green floor.
And a green grasshopper
I started a song...

Poetry makes a child think and gives rise to his creative thoughts, which will be reflected in a future drawing. It is interesting that the final result may have nothing to do with the poem; it becomes a colorful expression of the child’s emotional mood, formed under the influence of the rhymes he heard.

Poetry illustration. In this form artistic work The guys make sketches on the topic they heard. It is especially good to reproduce in color those poems in which the beauty of nature is vividly and in detail described, for example:

I. Bunin
Leaf fall (fragment)

The forest is like a painted tower,
Lilac, gold, crimson,
A cheerful, motley wall
Stands above a bright clearing.
Birch trees with yellow carving
Glisten in the blue azure,
Like towers, the fir trees are darkening,
And between the maples they turn blue
Here and there through the foliage
Clearances in the sky, like a window.

Drawing from life. Most often this thematic still lifes. By completing such tasks, children learn to compare shades and shapes, try to correctly convey the proportions of objects and their color, and become familiar with the basics of perspective.

Carrying out imagination work on the topics: “kindness”, “what I would like to see from the window in spring”, “the world illuminated by God’s light”. In such works, teachers set students various artistic tasks, for example, working with a limited amount of paints, using shades of the same color, etc.

Portraits. Probably one of the most difficult and interesting visual genres. Sometimes the children are given the task of drawing a portrait in an image. For example, a portrait of a desk neighbor in the image of a season or a fairy-tale hero. This is done so that it is more interesting to draw and the little artist learns to compare shapes, sizes, and moods.

Paper crafts, appliques, works in mixed media using interesting materials and tools. Thanks to the creative approach of teachers, children have the opportunity to gain painting skills not only with pencils and paints, but also with crayons, pastels, and graphite. Work is carried out using corrugated and compressed paper, a variety of fabrics.

In the classroom there is always an atmosphere of creativity and mutual interest between the children and each other. The foundation of the classes is self-expression and the child’s free will. Nobody forces or forces anyone. From teachers individual approach to each of the children, based on respect for the child as a unique individual. Work often takes place under classical music. Works by famous composers promote concentration and a more sensitive perception of the world around us. Music usually sets the mood to match the theme of the lesson and allows children to come up with more interesting solutions.

Tamara Yuryevna: We try to conduct classes in such a way that in the process of drawing the children learn not only the skills of working with shape, color, perspective, but also develop good qualities in themselves: hard work, attention to each other, the ability to bring the work started to its logical conclusion, perceive the authority of elders, feel harmony and beauty. After all, drawing is a wonderful way that allows you to look at God’s world with different eyes and try to change yourself for the better.

Nina Yurievna: The main goal Our lessons are about meeting children with God. We strive to ensure that children, through the perception of beauty, learn to notice manifestations of Divine love, care and mercy for people. We hope that our classes will help students and their parents become kind, sympathetic, sensitive people, members of the Church, and true Christians.

Explanatory note

The teaching of drawing in our school is somewhat contrary to the currently generally accepted methodology. The school has three main goals:

Do not ruin the natural gift of a student capable of drawing;
- teach how to draw and develop the artistic taste of children who do not have any innate inclination to draw;
- prepare students for further professional training without causing harm.

At our school, children learn artistic perception of the world in literature lessons, folklore games, labor training, calligraphy. In art classes he is taught to draw and love this activity. From 6 to 12 years of age, children are offered a simplified (non-professional) method of detailed sketching in a specifically developed sequence. various items living and inanimate nature. The child completes the drawing with his own frame. In addition to this work, children learn to draw from memory, but only those objects that have been drawn in detail.

The need for independent creativity is satisfied in reading and history lessons, when children are asked to illustrate various stories (6 hours a week).

Older children spend most of their art lessons copying artists' works.

The works to be copied have been carefully selected. They should show the author's personal kindness and love for the world around them. By “pulling” himself up to the author’s vision of the world, the child sometimes overcomes his own negative inclinations.

By the age of 12, many children acquire a strong interest in artistic creativity, the desire to capture what you see yourself, delicate taste, a sense of composition, color.
At the age of 13, with this baggage you can already move on to vocational training.

The school may have an icon-painting class, a class of masters decorative creativity, painting and graphics.

But if the school’s capabilities do not allow further additional training, then we can be satisfied that the children at least have developed the skills and desire to draw.

Thus, the goal of active education has been achieved: love and ability for the subject have been cultivated.

I year of study
Explanatory note

In the first year of study, drawing lessons are closely intertwined with other academic subjects.

During reading lessons, children color drawings made by the artist in an alphabet coloring book. During history lessons, children illustrate the teacher's story ( homework); illustrate learned poems; a lot of drawings are done in science lessons; in Church Slavonic, the Cyrillic alphabet (alphabet) is drawn rather than written.

Thus, children's craving for independent creativity is satisfied.
Therefore, in drawing lessons, children are taught how to draw a specific object. At the same time, taking into account the young age of students, it is not used professional approach(it can only cause boredom and despair), but an easier way. Children perform a step-by-step contour drawing of, for example, a ladybug.

While drawing, you need to use riddles, songs, and fairy tales about the creature being depicted. If you tell something good about the object being captured while working, then it will be much better. The child must love what he depicts. You should get maximum effort from your child, especially when coloring. Children, at their own discretion, add whatever their heart desires to the drawn object. The drawing is “taken” into a frame, which the child can come up with himself if he is first shown 5-6 possible options framing of works.

It has been noticed that children open to the world, fill the space around the depicted object big amount bugs, flowers, etc. Their frames are intricate, everything is painted brightly, colorfully and carefully. In other words, there is a desire to involve other creatures in the work of creative Love (and in the Christian understanding, the act of Creation).

Indifferent to life, lethargic or very selfish children leave the space around a poorly drawn object deserted. Certain mental anomalies are also visible in sharp angular lines; the desire to make depicted objects smaller indicates not only visual defects. The choice of color is also characteristic. Craving for dark colors(purple, blue, black) is always alarming: expect an inadequate reaction from a child in an ordinary everyday situation. Pale, fawn shades do not always indicate spiritual sophistication, but more often that the baby has the soul of an old man. He is lethargic, apathetic, and does not like fun children's games.
Copying drawings devoid of these shortcomings forces the child to strain his mental strength as much as possible, introducing himself to the generosity of the artist’s soul, to his spiritual health.

And vice versa, forcing only the child to express himself with moral problems, you once again record and aggravate the illness of his soul.
Drawing lessons in our school, to one degree or another, heal the child's soul.

1.Performing contour drawings of objects flora. (Mushroom, acorn, cherries, apple, bunch of rowan, pine cone, spruce twig, leaves).
2. Making frames with floral patterns.
3. Making frames with geometric patterns.
4. Making contour drawings of various insects. ( Ladybug, fly, ant, beetle, butterfly, bee).
5.Performing contour drawings of pets. (Cat, pig, dog, cow, lamb).
6.Performing contour drawings of animals. (Bunny, bear, fox, hedgehog, mouse).
7. Making contour drawings of birds. (Chicken, cockerel, hen, gosling, duckling, sparrow, owl, swan).
8.Performing contour drawings of fish. (Whale, crucian carp, ruff, pike).
9. Performing contour drawings of inanimate objects. (Sun, bagel, cup, samovar, stove, dress, mittens, fur coat, boots).
10.Coloring with colored pencils.
11.Drawing from memory of previously depicted objects of living and inanimate nature.
12.Performing drawings with a complex composition consisting of several previously drawn objects.
All contour drawings are done from the board, in detail, behind the teacher.

Methodical features

All types of work are not performed in strict sequence, but interspersed with each other. Drawings are made in one plane. For a six-year-old child, contour and color similarity are important. To prevent drawing objects of living and inanimate nature from becoming a boring activity for a child, these objects are given some anthropomorphism, for example: a bear has pants on, a cockerel has boots, a chicken has a bow on its head, the rays of the sun are braided, mushrooms and acorns have braids. , apples have eyes, mouths, arms and legs, etc. As already mentioned, you need to tell a fairy tale, or ask a riddle, or sing a song about the object being drawn.
If the material is not selected, then in your own words talk about the benefits that the depicted animals, plants, etc. bring to people and nature. When drawing a lamb, you can ask children a number of questions and tell them the answers. For example: What do we make from lamb wool? What could be better than felt boots in our walking winter? What are mittens made of? Who knows how feta cheese melts in your mouth?

When drawing a birch leaf, remember how much good a birch tree gives people: firewood, birch bark, tar, bathhouse brooms, etc.

Let me remind you once again: love begins everything. The child must love what
what he depicts.

Riddles offered to children should be figurative, and several riddles can be asked about one subject.

By the end of the first year, children should be able to:

1. Draw in detail, following the teacher, a number of objects of living and inanimate nature, make a contour drawing.
2. Carefully color your outline drawing with colored pencils.
3.Draw a frame with a floral or geometric pattern for your drawing.
4. Draw from memory individual objects of living and inanimate nature (about 10 pieces).
5. Draw a picture with a complex composition, where there are several objects that the child can draw from memory.
6. Use colored pencils and trace the contour lines with a bright felt-tip pen. Coloring with a felt-tip pen is prohibited.

II year of study
Explanatory note

The second year of study duplicates the classes of the first year. As before, children learn contour drawing and coloring with colored pencils. The composition of the drawing becomes more complex, the poses of the depicted birds and insects change, i.e. a different contour drawing is done.

Ill year of study (8-9 years).
Explanatory note.

In the third year of study, the work of years I and II continues. The scope of drawn objects expands, the composition becomes more complex, and the variability of frames increases.

Lessons are accompanied by reading works of art(teacher reads).

By the end of the third year, children should be able to:

1.Draw a rather complex composition from the board after the teacher
drawings.
2.Draw about 30-40 objects from memory different positions
(pose).
3.Create an intricate pattern for the frame.

IV year of study (9-10 years)
Explanatory note

In the fourth year of study, detailed sketches from the board are supplemented by drawings of postcards and various pictures. At this stage, an individual approach is important. It is necessary to take into account the innate drawing abilities of individual students and give them more complex pictures to draw. Since the teacher knows his students well (the children have another teacher in almost all subjects), he should feel what he wants to draw in this moment for a child: a plant or home interior, or an illustration for a fairy tale.

In the fourth year, work begins on three-dimensional image. The first three-dimensional drawings are flowers and the temple of God.

The teacher shows how to convey volume using color on the board with colored chalks (you can also use white ones) using the example of a rose.

In the fourth year of study, children are offered a detailed drawing of initial letters from ancient Russian handwritten books. (“Gospel”, “Apostle”), screensavers and frames are copied from the same books.

By this time, in the lessons of the Church Slavonic language, the children learned to write small texts, so you can take this skill to a fundamentally new level in drawing lessons. After all, writing Cyrillic letters is an art.

Also in the fourth year of study, the first design work is done. Children make their own little illustrated books of proverbs or ABC pages.

1. Work on a three-dimensional drawing. Conveying volume using color.
Image of flowers (poppy, rose, rose hip, peony, pansy). Detailed drawing by the teacher.
2. Image of the temple. Three-dimensional drawing (Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral). Detailed drawing by the teacher.
3. Drawing three-dimensional pictures.
4. Drawing photographs.
5. Drawing from memory.
6. Work on the Cyrillic alphabet.
7. Work on the design of your books or just pages.
8. Copying initial letters, frames, headpieces from Old Russian manuscripts.
9. Drawing contour drawings (in detail).

Methodical features

Starting this year, an individual approach is possible. All children should begin to learn how to convey volume using color. But those students who, after repeated attempts, cannot do it beautifully, can continue to draw pictures with a flat image. This remark also applies to design work, and the drawing of complex capital letters and sketches.

Children who have innate drawing abilities are the first to master these types of work. Others can try again in the middle or at the end of the year, or postpone these activities until the next class.

All students periodically draw from memory, come up with Cyrillic letters, come up with their own frames for drawings, and copy individual objects of living and inanimate nature after the teacher.

By the end of the fourth year, children should be able to:

1. Make contour drawings from memory of about 30 living and nonliving objects
nature (in different positions).
2. Color carefully with colored pencils.
3. Choose your own colors when coloring with a pencil.
4. Execute volumetric drawing roses, poppies, peony, pansies.
5. Draw some initials after the teacher, copying from the board
letters from old handwritten books, copy frames, screensavers.

V year of study (10-11 years old)
Explanatory note

In the fifth year of study, the work of the fourth year continues.
Working with a pen is fundamentally new. Students complete some pen and ink drawings using shading.
Drawing lessons are supported by calligraphy lessons, during which children write Cyrillic letters and sayings from the Holy Scriptures with a pen.

The fifth year of study completely coincides with the content of the fourth year. The only difference is that new postcards with three-dimensional images are used for sketching; as before, preference is given to images of beautiful flowers and temples. Last year's postcards are distributed to students who were unable to cope with a three-dimensional drawing before.
By the end of the 5th year, children should learn to perform the same work as by the end of the 4th grade, but at a higher level.
Individual students must make little books. (“ABC”, “Proverbs”, “Studies from the Holy Scriptures”, books with folklore texts).

VI year of study (11-12 years old)

In the sixth year of study, the most capable children begin to work in watercolors. Coloring with colored pencils for 5 years and working with pen and ink prepared the children to quickly master the watercolor technique.
In the sixth year, work continues on drawing pictures (postcards), which are replaced by photographs for some children. Copying photographs prepares children for sketch work in the open air. Drawings are made from memory, and the ability to work with ink and pen is improved. Children learn to illustrate books.

By the end of the sixth year of study, students should be able to:

1. Make sketches from memory of about 40 objects of living and inanimate nature.
2. Use color to convey volume.
3. Draw in pen and ink using shading. Make your own handwritten book and decorate it artistically.
4. Some students should be able to draw photographic images.
5. Some students should be able to use watercolors.

VII year of study (12-13 years old)

Begins in the seventh year of study professional education drawing. If the school’s capabilities do not allow it to have an icon-painting class, a class of decorative painting, graphics, etc., the work that was carried out in the 6th grade can continue for up to 15 years.