Spirituality Module

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the Orthodox Spirituality module is to teach the children how to implement prayer in our lives. In Kindergarten, we will go over the fundamentals of how and when to pray. The children will also learn memorized prayers, psalms, and church hymns that are used in the Divine Liturgy and in our Orthodox prayers. Week 5 is the capstone week to review and serve together.

TOPICS BY WEEK

Please read through all of the lessons in this module in preparation for this lesson.

• Week 1: How and When to Pray
• Week 2: The Power Prayer
• Week 3: Hymns and Prayers
• Week 4: What are Psalms
• Week 5: Capstone

MILESTONES

Scripture: Our Lord teaches us how to pray in the Holy Gospels, including the Lord's Prayer which is introduced in week 3. Week 1 and week 2 uses the teachings found in the Gospels and the Epistles to teach the kindergartens the foundation for a life of prayer. The Psalms of King David, in week 4, give the kindergarteners the words of prayer that the Church offers us in the Agpeya and the Liturgy. Although the Holy Bible is written by many authors, the life of prayer is a common theme throughout.

Spiritual: Pope Kyrillos VI said, "There are no bad days and good days, but there are days of prayer and days without prayer." We strive to instill the importance of daily communication with our Heavenly Father into our kindergarteners.

Social: The spirituality module introduces individual prayer and community prayer. Prayer that is shared among family, peers in Sunday school, and the congregation in the Divine Liturgy is all holy and heard by God. Also, praying for members of our community is an important aspect of our Christian duty to each other.

Rituals: There are many ritualistic aspects in our individual prayer life and as a community. How to stand, kneel, and use our whole bodies while praying will help the kindergarteners focus more on their time in prayer. Also, the environment that we encourage them to set up in their homes should mimic the rituals of the church, including icons and the consecration of a holy place in which to pray.

PARENTS CORNER

Every lesson contains suggested practices and routines for you to send out to parents/guardians on a weekly basis. The ultimate goal is to give parents tools necessary to educate their children every day, creating an Orthodox Christian home. Encourage parents to create a prayer corner in their home or kindergartener's bedroom to practice daily prayers as a family. Also to create routines within their day in which the child should expect the family to come together to pray.