St. Gregory the Wonderworker and St. John the Beloved

OBJECTIVE

This module aims to educate the students on the lives and stories of the Church Fathers to help them develop fundamental knowledge of Church history. Also, the students should be able to identify how these Fathers developed a strong relationship with God, which aided them in trials and tribulations when defending the Orthodox Faith.

We hope to teach the children about two of our church fathers, Saint Gregory the Wonderworker and Saint John the Beloved. We want to explain that both of these church fathers played an important role in helping the spread of Christianity as well as allowing the will of God to be manifest in their lives.

INTRODUCTION & HOOK - 5 Minutes

Please review the previous week's lesson. (5 minutes)

Ask the students: Is it more important to follow the will of God or our own will? Do you know examples of those that followed the will of God? (Moses, St Mary, etc) How did they react to God's calling to serve Him?

Today we will talk about two saints who followed the will of God - Saint Gregory the Wonderworker and Saint John the Beloved.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 5 Minutes

Memory Verse
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

Encourage the students to think about how St. Gregory and St. John followed the will of God during today's lesson.

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 20 Minutes

St. Gregory the Wonderworker (213-270 AD)

St. Gregory was born in the city of Neocaesarea into a pagan family (ask the children if they remember what pagan meant from last week). He received a good education and was very knowledgeable, but this knowledge did not satisfy his thirst to understand the truth, which was revealed to him through the Holy Gospel. For the rest of his studies, Saint Gregory went to Alexandria, which at that time was known as the center for pagan and Christian learning. He went to a religious school where a famous teacher named Origen taught, and he later became Origen's student for eight years.

Saint Gregory led an ascetic life of celibacy (he did not get married) and purity. At a young age, a harlot came up to St. Gregory and demanded that he pay her for a sin he had supposedly committed with her, which he did not. Saint Gregory told her that she had mistaken him for someone else, but the woman did not stop and continued to demand that it was him. Saint Gregory then asked his friend to give her the money, and as she took the unjust payment, she immediately fell to the ground, possessed by a demon. Saint Gregory said a prayer for her, and the demon left her. This was just the beginning of Saint Gregory's miracles.

The saint then desired to live a life of solitude, so he fled from the world and went into a desert where he fasted and prayed, attaining a high spiritual level. He loved living in the wilderness and wanted to remain in solitude, but the Lord had another plan for him. When the bishop of his town departed, they sought St. Gregory to make him the new bishop, but they didn't know where to find him. One day, while the people were gathered, they heard a voice saying "Seek Gregory the hermit and set him a Bishop over you." They sent a party to search for him in the wilderness, and when they couldn't find him, they decided to take the Bible and pray the prayer of ordination over him as if he were present with them. Then an angel appeared to St. Gregory in the wilderness and said to him, "Rise up and go to your town, for they have made you the bishop over it and refuse not, for it is the Will of God." Gregory immediately rose and went to his town, Neocaesarea, where the people met him with honor.

The preaching of the saint was direct, lively, and fruitful. He taught and worked miracles in the name of Christ: he healed the sick, he helped the needy, he settled disputes and complaints.

On one occasion, two brothers were arguing over who owned the lake after their father passed away, as the fish they caught made a good living. When Saint Gregory suggested that they split it evenly, the brothers didn't like his idea and were going to fight. St. Gregory prayed all night at the shore of the lake, and the next morning, the lake had dried up and was just farmland. The brothers then split the land between them equally. Another time, during the construction of a church, he commanded a hill to move and make room at the place of the foundation.

When Christians started being persecuted, Saint Gregory led his followers to a mountain and raised his hands to heaven, praying. An informant told the soldiers where Saint Gregory went, but when the soldiers tried to find them, they did not see them despite passing them multiple times. Eventually, the soldiers gave up and went away. The informer was struck with amazement, he repented of his ways and became a fervent Christian.

When Saint Gregory first became a bishop, there were only seventeen Christians in Neocaesarea. At his death, only seventeen pagans remained in the city and the rest were Christian

Throughout his life, St. Gregory performed many miracles, giving him the title of Wonderworker. He completed his life and departed in peace in the year 270 A.D.

St. John (6-100 A.D.)

St. John the Beloved was born from his parents, Zebedee and Salome, in Galilee. He grew up as a fisherman, and one day, our Lord Jesus Christ called him and his brother James to follow him to be his disciples. St. John and his brother had strong faith in our Lord and were given the nickname "sons of thunder," as a display of their strong faith in the work of God without fearing the power of man.

During the Last Supper, St. John sat directly next to Jesus Christ and leaned on his shoulder. He was the only one of the disciples to stand at the foot of the Holy Cross with St. Mary and the other faithful women. After the death and Ascension of our Lord, Saint John went to Asia to preach. Next, he went to Ephesus with his disciple Prochorus on a ship, which got shipwrecked on the way. They ended up, by the grace of God, returning to the same island, where they met together and thanked God for taking care of them. Saint John went from region to region preaching the holy Gospel and converting people to the faith. (Resource on where he traveled in the synaxarium. Saint John wrote the Fourth Gospel according to St. John, and the book of Revelation. He also wrote the three epistles known by his name.

When Saint John felt that he was about to leave this world, he called the people and gave them the Holy Eucharist. In the year 100 A.D. he asked his disciples to dig a pit for him, where he departed. He was the only disciple who did not die a martyr.

DISCUSSION (Challenge) - 10 Minutes

Recall the story of St. Gregory the Wonderworker.
1. What is his position? Student, monk, then bishop.
2. Why is he called the Wonderworker?
3. Recall one miracle.
Recall the story of St. John the Beloved.
1. What is his position? One of Jesus's disciples
2. Name one fact about him. Example: he leaned on Christ's shoulder at the last supper.
3. Was he a martyr?
How did both St. Gregory and St. John follow the will of God? Example: St. Gregory the Wonderworker followed the will of God by leaving his desired solitude to become the bishop of his town; St. John the Beloved followed the will of God by becoming a disciple rather than staying a fisherman.

LIFE APPLICATION - 5 Minutes

We can learn from these saints' examples by encouraging the students to pray for the will of God to guide us when making decisions, rather than rely on our own. Introduce the kids to WWJD - "What Would Jesus Do?", and encourage them to think about what Jesus Christ would do when faced with their situation.

ACTIVITY - 10 Minutes

Option 1 (virtual / in-person): Simon Says

Just as St. Gregory and St. John followed the will of God, the students can play a fun game where they follow the instructions of the leader, "Simon", to win.
Simon Says Rules
Bring a prize or candy for the winner, if possible.

Option 2 (in-person): If St. John's travels were discussed. Set up stations in the room which are the cities that Saint John went to preach. Have the kids go in order from the city to city starting with the Island they were on after the ship-wreck.