The Nativity Season

Opening Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thy nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worshipped the stars
Were taught by a star to adore Thee,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know Thee, the Orient from on high.
O Lord, glory to Thee!

Discussion Starter

Begin by asking the following:

• When have you had to wait for something important to happen?
• What are some things you could hardly wait to receive?

Discussion

Talk about the words of the Troparion. Make sure students know that "nativity" means birth, and that a "feast" in the Church is a special day of celebration. So the "Nativity Feast" is the Church's celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ on earth. Ask students what other name we give this feast; the answer of course is Christmas. Point out that the Magi were wise men for far away lands, astronomers who paid attention to the stars. They were brought by a special star to the cave where the baby Jesus, the holy Son of God, was born. Jesus Christ is theSun of Righteousness. (You may want to review some of this in the weeks to come. For this lesson, ask: Did the Magi have to wait to see the Sun of Righteousness? (Yes, they traveled far from their home countries.)

Nativity Icon

 Put out the bowl of treats (making sure you have something appropriate for any child with allergies or dietary restrictions), saying that we must wait until the end of class to share them. If children become agitated at not having the treats right now, put them away and say you will bring them out at the end of class. Discuss how we have to wait for many things: for mealtime, our turn during games, our birthdays, etc. During the Nativity Fast, we are waiting for a special birthday, the birthday of God's Son, Jesus.

Show the children the icon of the Nativity.  Help the children identify the various figures in the Nativity icon: Mary, Joseph, the animals, the shepherds, the magi, and especially the anticipated baby Jesus.

How does it feel to have to wait for something you want to happen? Is it difficult to wait?

We wait through the weeks of the Nativity Fast, until Christmas Day when we celebrate the birthday of Christ. Not until the day of Christmas will we hear the priest exclaim, “Christ is Born!” And we will answer, “Glorify Him!” But what does it mean to “glorify” Him? When we answer, “Glorify Him,” we rejoice and celebrate with all of creation (and all those in the icon) that Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, has been born so that God could be here in our midst to help and save us.
Say: As you can see in the icon, the Magi had to wait and follow a star to the cave where Jesus lay. The shepherds, hoping and waiting for Christ, went with haste to Bethlehem praising, rejoicing, and celebrating the upcoming birth of Jesus. So too, we can go through these days of the Nativity Fast, sometimes called Advent, waiting as the shepherds did and finally arriving at the feast of the Nativity. Like the Magi, our hearts can praise His glorious and miraculous birth, so that on Christmas day we may sing with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” So, what do we say when our priest says, “Christ is Born!”? We will answer, “Glorify Him!” (Practice with the children by exclaiming, “Christ is Born!” with them answering each time “Glorify Him!”)

Advent Calendar

Talk with the children about calendars: how they help us to keep track of important days/dates to remember, e.g., birthdays, anniversaries, important events, etc. Ask if their mother or father writes important things on a calendar at home. Are their birthdays marked in a special way on a calendar? Distribute empty calendar pages (see the list of church commemorations provided with calendar). Discuss a different commemoration each week as you go through the unit, and give each child a sticker to paste in their calendar.

Additional Activity

Older children could create an aid, such as a paper chain, which can help their families prepare for the Nativity. They can begin the paper chain with the first session, creating seven links. On each link, the child can list one thing he or she can do to help others or to anticipate the coming of Christ. Encourage them to think of such actions as praying before the Icon of the Nativity, working on a service project, being kind to siblings, etc. Brainstorm a list of things they could do to anticipate the coming of Christ.

Wrap Up

As students are cleaning up and preparing for closing prayer, ask the following:

• How will the Advent calendar help you wait for the Birth of Christ?
• Sometimes, does waiting for something make it even better when it comes?
• Talk about some words from the hymn that will be used for the closing prayer. the word "virgin" refers to Mary, the Mother of God. "Transcendent" means greater than any other. “Unapproachable” does not mean that Jesus is frightening or not accessible; rather, in this context “unapproachable” means we should approach Him with love and respect, because He is God.
  
• Enjoy the treats together.
  

Closing Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today the virgin gives birth to the transcendent one,
And the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable one.
Angels, with shepherds, glorify Him.
The wise men journey with the star,
Since for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child!

Opening Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thy nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worshipped the stars
Were taught by a star to adore Thee,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know Thee, the Orient from on high.
O Lord, glory to Thee!

Discussion Starter

Begin by asking the following:

• How do we feel when we get something?
  
• How do we feel about the person who gave us a gift?
• How would we feel if we received a nice gift and didn't  know who gave it to us? 
• How do we feel when we give a gift?

Troparion of St. Nicholas

Distribute the Resource Handout Troparion of St. Nicholas to the class.  Recite or sing the Troparion (Tone 4 ) several times and discuss with the class its general meaning. Ask: How is it possible that a person can get riches through their poverty, which means extreme poorness? (Let children give answers and express their ideas; help them see that many people who give up trying to get worldly wealth then have time and energy to give to prayer and doing good to others. These things give us spiritual riches--closeness to God, real love for other people, and the assurance that God's promises of His Kingdom are real. Nicholas and many others, long ago as well as today, have this experience of a special kind of "riches.")

Cards for Shut-ins

Materials needed for a charitable project include an explanatory note for the children to take home so their parents can be aware and give approval. Each child will make a card for a specific shut-in  in the parish. Talk about what a shut-in  is and what their lives might be like.

Decorate the cards with bright colors to attract attention, or use holiday stickers for decoration. Have the students write a note to the shut-in for whom they are making the card. Plan to distribute the cards. Consider, for those children who are willing, having the shut-in become a “prayer partner” during the Nativity Fast, with the child communicating regularly with the shut-in through cards.

Shoes

Some cultures leave shoes out so that St. Nicholas can fill them with treats. This could be done outside the classroom door during class for a wonderful surprise. This could be done on the exact day of St. Nicholas’s commemoration, the eve of December 6th. Consider holding a festival for children close to this feast day, when the children could leave shoes out at the beginning of the session on a Saturday morning. During the festival, the children could make banners of St. Nicholas to be used for the Festal Liturgy in a procession of children before the Little Entrance.
If the bishop is coming for a visit soon, the children could learn to sing the greeting hymn for the bishop (see the book Orthodox Hymns for Children).

Wrap Up

As students are cleaning up and preparing for closing prayer, ask the following:

Closing Prayer

The Life of St. Nicholas

Read one of the following attached Resource Stories with the class:

• The Life of St. Nicholas
• Saint Nicholas of Myra
• St. Nicholas Archbishop of Myra in Lycia

Pause often to emphasize St. Nicholas' good deeds, kindness and generosity.  Also pause often to ask students to make “text-to-self” or “text-to-world” connections--times in their lives when they or people they know of helped someone or did acts of kindness and generosity, as the saint did.

Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4. Have each group choose an event from the saint's life and do a brief role play. Afterward, ask each group to tell why they chose the event they did. This can lead to an interesting discussion (which can be brief) of what in the life of St. Nicholas appeals to each child (or group) the most.

Opening Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thy nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worshipped the stars
Were taught by a star to adore Thee,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know Thee, the Orient from on high.
O Lord, glory to Thee!

Activity

Play a recording of the Kontakion for the Nativity of Christ, or Christmas Kontakion.

Note:  Attached to this lesson is an MP3 file which you can download and burn to a CD for use in class.

Discussion Starter

After playing the kontakion ask the following:

• How does knowing this kontakion help us to understand the birth of Christ?
• What kind of a person do you think wrote this hymn?
• How can the hymns of the church (the kontakia) help us to learn more about saints, and to understand them better?
•  How can these saints help us to learn more about ourselves?

As you discuss this hymn, define “kontakion” as a sermon in verse accompanied by music.  Also, remind the students that “transcendent” means greater than any others, or above the material universe. “Unapproachable” does not mean that Jesus is frightening or not accessible; rather, in this context “unapproachable” means we should approach Him with love and respect because He is God.

The Life of St. Romanos

Read this brief account of the life of St. Romanos with the class:

Romanos was born in Syria in the fifth century. He moved to the city of Constantinople and helped the bishop and priests in the great church of Hagia Sophia. At night he stayed alone and prayed, often sleeping in a field or in a smaller church outside the city.

Romanos was not a good singer or reader. Once, on Christmas Eve, the feast of the Nativity of Christ, he began to read some prayer verses as part of the service. His reading was so bad and hard to understand that someone had to replace him, and people laughed at him.

Romanos was embarrassed and sad. He poured out his grief in front of the icon of the Mother of God, and a wondrous thing happened--she spoke to him in a gentle, loving voice. She gave him a scroll (a rolled-up paper with musical notes written on it) and told him to eat it. This may seem strange to us, but it was a wonderful gift from the Mother of God, because the next day Romanus was able to sing and even to write or compose hymns. In the church on the evening of that Christmas Day he sang, in a beautiful voice, the first hymn he ever wrote. It was the Christmas Kontakion, which begins, "Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One..."

Romanus was made a deacon, and became a teacher of singing and songs. We still sing many of the hymns he wrote. For his wonderful service to the Orthodox Church, and for all the beautiful music he created, Romanus was made a saint.

Note: You may want to consult the Resource Handout The Life of St. Romanus for more details. Also in the Resource section is the lengthy Kontakion on the Nativity of Christ. Though the children are a bit young to study this, you may want to look through it, for your own interest and edification as an example of St. Romanus' writing. Note its many Biblical references and the way they are tied to our experience as Christians.

The Lives of St. Barbara & St. Herman

Read the life of St. Barbara which is given in full as a resource, and the life of St. Herman in the Resource Handouts for St. Herman attached to this lesson. After reading both with the class, ask:

How is St. Barbara a model for us? How is St. Herman a model for us?

Which areas of their lives most impress you? What could you take from their examples for your own life as an Orthodox Christian?

Activity

Teach the kontakion as it is sung today in your parish. (There are various versions with slightly different words; for example the text of the hymn and the recorded version, both in this lesson, are somewhat different.)

Extra Activity

Wrap Up

As students are preparing for closing prayer, ask the following, and let students give their own answers:

• How will you read and listen to the kontakia in the future differently?
• What is the importance of the kontakia we read today about St. Barbara and St. Herman?
• How do these kontakia help us to understand the saints better and eventually ourselves?

Closing Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today the virgin gives birth to the transcendent one,
And the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable one.
Angels, with shepherds, glorify Him.
The wise men journey with the star,
Since for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child!

Opening Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thy nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worshipped the stars
Were taught by a star to adore Thee,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know Thee, the Orient from on high.
O Lord, glory to Thee!

Discussion Starter

Begin by asking the following:

• Did Jesus have a family?
• Who were his mother and earthly father?(Mary and Joseph)
  
• Who were his grandparents? (Mary's parents were Joachim and Anna)
  

This is Your Family

Identify different members of your family. Add their names to the branches of the trees. Have children find small pictures that could represent their  mother, father, brothers, sisters, etc. For example, a picture of a camera might represent a family member sho takes a lot of pictures, or a picture of a pool might represent someone who likes to swim. These can be added to the tree. Say to each child, “This is your family.”

Jesus’ Family

Just as you have a family, Jesus’ family was very important to Him, also. We remember Jesus’ family in our church services. Just as we made the trees with our families, Jesus also had grandmas and grandpas. Have each child make small drawings of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Joachim and Anna and add them to the tree. Explain that we read the names of all of Jesus’ grandpas and grandmas and great-grandpas, etc. in church on the Sunday before the Nativity Feast.

Child of God

Have each child write the words “Child of God” onto a round medallion. Have the children add a Polaroid picture of themselves on the reverse side. Decorate in any manner, and add to the Family Tree drawing, by punching a hole in the tree drawing and adding the medallion with yarn. Or, the child can wear the medallion home.

Extra Activity: Reading Time

Read the two pages of the Old Testament prophecies about the family of Jesus from Christ in the Old Testament: Prophecy Illustrated (“Song of David” and “Root of Jesse”). Show the children the beautiful pictures. Remind them that these verses are about Jesus’ ancestors.

Wrap Up

As students are cleaning up and preparing for closing prayer, review the following:

• Who were Jesus’ ancestors?
• Who are your ancestors?

Closing Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today the virgin gives birth to the transcendent one,
And the earth offers a cave to the unapproachable one.
Angels, with shepherds, glorify Him.
The wise men journey with the star,
Since for our sake the eternal God was born as a little child!

Opening Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thy nativity, O Christ our God,
Has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
For by it, those who worshipped the stars
Were taught by a star to adore Thee,
The Sun of Righteousness,
And to know Thee, the Orient from on high.
O Lord, glory to Thee!