Traditions of Orthodox upbringing of children in the family. Orthodox traditions of the Russian family

Evteeeva Marina, student of grade 11a

Research work within the framework of the annual municipal Christmas readings.

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Municipal educational institution

"Gymnasium No. 17"

g.o. Elektrostal

Research work " Orthodox traditions in the modern family

Work completed

Evteeva Marina,

11th grade student

Supervisor

Ermakova Natalya Vladimirovna,

teacher of Russian language and literature

2012

Introduction……………………………………………………………3

Family: tradition and modernity ………………………5
Sociological research…………..……………..7

Essay analysis
Interview

Conclusion…………………………….………………………..9

Application…………………………………………………………………10

Introduction.

Bless, Lord, the family - the crown of creation.

Holy trinity of the earth - Child. Mother. Father.

And humanity itself is nothing - a family.

E. Yevtushenko.

When I chose a topic for research,I remembered one case: once two girls (about my age) entered the church right in front of me. They did not cross themselves and bow. The girls also looked inappropriate: instead of a skirt - jeans, there were no scarves on their heads, their hair was loose. The friends were talking loudly, discussing the icons and laughing, thereby disturbing the rest of the parishioners.

It seems that the girlfriends did not even suspect that they were demonstrating extreme ignorance and disrespect for others. Maybe their parents did not explain to them how to behave in church? After all, it is the family that imperceptibly for a person forms a model of his behavior.

And the Orthodox traditions that have developed since the time of the Baptism of Russia,called to dofriendly and strong families, created an atmosphere of comfort and mutual understanding. For many centuries, they have been the basis of the family way of life in our country.

After the revolution of 1917 there is an overthrow of the autocracy in the Russian Empire and the abolition of Orthodoxy.Atheism has become public policy the new Soviet government, whose task was to destroy the value system of an Orthodox person. And this is natural, because a person without moral and spiritual values is the best tool of labor in the hands of the authorities.

Eventually many of our traditions, (for example, fasting, regular church attendance on Sundays and holidays, pre-dinner prayers, etc.) have either gone into oblivion or have changed a lot and lost their deep meaning.

Therefore, the purpose of the study is to study which traditions preserved in modern families.

Research objectives:

- compare modern and Orthodox family models;

Find out what place Orthodox traditions occupy in our lives;

Suggest possible ways to strengthen religious foundations in society.

To achieve the goal, I used the methodssociological survey and analysis of essays about the families of students of my school. These are the main stages of my research.

Family: traditions and modernity.

Family traditions are the usual family norms, behaviors, customs and attitudes that are passed down from generation to generation. They distribute roles in all areas of family life, establish rules for intra-family communication, including ways to resolve conflicts and overcome problems that arise.

In Orthodox culture, there is a clear hierarchy in the family, based on obedience to God and spiritual love. According to Christian doctrine The family is an organism created in the image of the Church.The head of the family is the husband, and this is natural, because he is older than the wife in Creation. Children are a gift of God, and both spouses should take care of their child, reveal his strengths and talents, set an example of a virtuous Christian life.

The holy fathers and pastors of the Church write about this:

Priest Alexander Elchaninov: "For the upbringing of children, the most important thing is that they see their parents living a big inner life."

Saint Theophan the Recluse: “Father and mother disappear into a child and, as they say, do not have a soul. And if their spirit is imbued with piety, then it cannot be that it, in its own way, does not affect the soul of a child.

If the father does not listen to Christ, does not live according to God's commandments, then he is a disobedient person. If a wife does not honor her husband, she also does not have obedience. How can such people raise an obedient child? The conclusion suggests itself.

According to historical evidence, when raising children, parents always combined strictness with love. Discussing the actions of children, parents always pointed to eternal life: a virtuous and God-obedient person goes to Paradise, and a sinner goes to Hell.

In order to instill in their children the habits of Christian life, parents constantly took them with them to divine services, visited the sick and those imprisoned in dungeons with them, observed fasts, prayed, and so on.

And now let's try to study the situation in modern families. Does it comply with the above rules? This is what we have to figure out.

Social research.

To begin with, let's figure out what traditions are most common in modern families.Our school hosts an annual children's essay competition about the family.. I decided to study the work of the students.

After carefully reading the essays, you can see that the guys describe mostly secular traditions.

The habit of actively spending the weekend leads among the most common traditions. Children love to go on excursions, go to the cinema, ride bicycles, ski, skate, go to swimming pools and much more.

Annual trips are also quite common. For example, Melnikov Ivan from the 7th grade said that his family had already visited many countries of the world. And in the family of Natalia Makeeva, there is a tradition to go to St. Petersburg every year.

And here is a poem written by a student of the 7th grade Shcherbakova Ksenia:

Every family has traditions

We are taught not to fall face down in the dirt,

Worthy to live and not the abyss!

We are forbidden to envy, steal,

No need to be afraid of the truth and lie,

Honor age and old age do not offend!

Everything comes back to the offender!

Listen carefully and also forgive,

And everyone just needs to understand -

This is definitely wise advice.

Taken from the biblical covenant!

The family of Sergey Riffel has relics - icons of the Most Holy Theotokos, Kazan Mother of God, and St. Pitirim of Tambov, the Wonderworker. These icons are inherited and are highly valued in the family.

The full text of the papers can be found in the appendix.

As we can see, there are very few descriptions of religious traditions in the writings. Perhaps the fact is that children are not interested in religion? Or does the modern family not pay enough attention to Orthodox customs? Therefore, there was a need for the next stage of the study.

I spent sociological survey of residents of Elektrostal. 105 people took part in it. For the objectivity of the results, people took part in my survey different ages and different professions.

According to a sociological survey: 87% of respondents consider themselves Orthodox Christians.

However, only 17% are familiar with the full content of the Bible, 24% are partially acquainted, and 59% of the respondents have never read it.

To the question: “What religious customs are observed in your family?” - 5% noted the observance of fasts.

Orthodox holidays are in the lead - they are celebrated by everyone who considers themselves Orthodox Christians, that is, 87% of respondents.

Only 15% attend church regularly.

13% are engaged in Bible study.

Finally, 37% pray daily.

It was said above that 87% say Orthodox holidays. Among them are Christmas, Epiphany, Maslenitsa and Easter.

The results of the study showed that despite the events that took place in the 20th century, the generations living at the beginning of the 21st century still retained faith in God, passed on the Orthodox traditions of our ancestors to the new generation. This is the undoubted merit of the Russian Orthodox Church.

But the traditions and knowledge about Orthodoxy that have been preserved are superficial. They have not yet firmly entered our lives. And this must be promoted through the education and enlightenment of people. Remember, because the destruction of traditions occurred through the propaganda of atheism. Soviet authority pointed out the advantages of the socialist regime, turned to culture and science. This is how we, the younger generation, need to act.

Show people why it is so important to return the traditional Christian way of life to the family. Get young people interested too. For example, through the media. But it is important not just to show programs about Orthodox culture (which exist, but are lost in the flow of information), but to turn to artists with a request to film a beautiful Feature Film about a strong Orthodox family. Then a person will see the difference in the relationship between a religious family and his own, where, perhaps, there is a tense situation,there is no cohesion and unity,and perhaps such a film will make them change something in their lives.

As practice shows, pilgrimages to the holy places of our Motherland have a positive impact on families. These excursions provide new knowledge in the field of history and theology, architecture, art and just Orthodox culture. And most importantly, they unite religious people, give them the opportunity to communicate and share life experience.

In our city there are also pilgrimage services from the church and tourist offices. For example, the Molva-Tour agency offers trips to Optina Pustyn, Shamordino, Tikhonov and St. Diveevsky monasteries, etc. Usually pilgrims are deeply religious people, church-goers, but in our time they are joined by those who wish to gain faith or establish themselves in her.

Conclusion.

So, the main objectives of the study are completed. In my opinion, it is necessary to strengthen and spread Orthodox foundations in family life. After all, all the traditions and customs listed above are centuries-old forms of communication between man and God. Religious education lays in a person the spiritual basis of life and a moral model of behavior.

“Home education is the root and foundation of everything that follows,” said St. Theophan the Recluse, the author of numerous works on education.

Undoubtedly, it is possible to achieve the high goals of Orthodox education, to solve its tasks, to fulfill its requirements, if all subjects of education - the family, the state, the Church - are included in the educational process.

Application.

In the poll 105 people took part.

1) Age:

2) Social status:

3)Education:

The results are as follows:

1) Do you consider yourself an Orthodox Christian?

2) Are you familiar with the content of the Bible?

3) What religious customs are observed in your family?

4) What Orthodox holidays are usually celebrated in your family?

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the holy Apostle Paul says: “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.” (1 Corinthians 7:14)

What do these words mean? Children of unbelieving two parents are not sanctified by the Word of God, the word is not sown in the hearts of children, because a child is like a blank sheet of paper and what you write on it will be! If you write pagan vanity and lies, they will be unclean, and if the word of God is holy, then they will be holy! For from the unclean you are defiled, but from the holy Word you are sanctified! For it is commanded to parents 6 “And let these words which I command you today be in your heart. 7 and teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house and as you walk along the road, as you lie down and as you rise…”

I can’t say that our family is somehow very different from other families in our country. There is nothing unusual and outstanding in it. However, for me it is the best.

Every person loves and appreciates his home and his family. After all, the house is considered its own fortress, where you can hide from any life's adversity, and the people who live in it, who will always understand and support in difficult times - this is the family. And its role for each of us is huge. After all, all the first sensations and ideas of a person are connected with the family, when he is just beginning to realize the world. And subsequently, it is in the family that such human concepts as love and care are formed. No wonder the family is called a cell of society, a small homeland. It is in it that the human personality is formed, the upbringing of the child takes place. Therefore, it usually depends on what kind of family a person had, and what he became. For me, my family is the most important thing in my life. The family for everyone is those very beloved and dear people who have been with him since childhood.

Our parents are Orthodox people, they raised us in the faith.

I do not know how and how our family would live from year to year, without faith in God, without observing Orthodox traditions.

What do they mean for our family? Everything.

It just so happened that we all, while still babies, accepted the rite of baptism, although in Soviet time church visits and the baptism of children were not welcome, so the church was attended mainly by the elderly and the elderly, there were few young people in churches.

It's hard for me to believe it now. After all, now I can openly tell you about the Orthodox traditions that are kept in our family. Among these, I include, first of all, the observance of fasts, we fast, confess and take communion. On Forgiveness Sunday, we ask each other's forgiveness. At Christmas we praise Christ, at Easter we shine Easter cakes and instead of greeting we say: “Christ is Risen!”. On Epiphany - we collect consecrated water, dip in the spring. We consecrate candles at the Meeting. On Radonitsa, we visit the graves of the dead.

Those who are getting married are getting married, dead relatives are being buried and praying for their salvation. All this has become so organically included in the life of our family that we simply cannot live in any other way.

We observe a pious tradition - to light an unquenchable lamp in the house, which burns constantly. There is a special prayer read when the lamp is lit: “Light, Lord, the extinguished lamp of my soul with the light of virtue and enlighten me, Your creation ...” The burning lamp marks that the Law of God is a lamp to a person in his life, because our faith is light . The light of the lamp reminds us of the light with which the Savior illuminates our souls.

There are many icons in our house, there is a Bible and a prayer book, from my mother's grandmother there was an old Psalter. Mom says that the Lord hears our prayers, keeps us and helps.

Orthodox traditions in holidaysmy family.

Each family has its own unique traditions and customs. Our family celebrates many Orthodox holidays. Some of the main holidays are Christmas, Epiphany and Easter.

Christmas

Christmas is one of the most beautiful and mysterious holidays. On the night before Christmas, girls tell fortunes about their betrothed, make wishes. My mother used to tell fortunes with her friends when she was young. This day seems fabulous.

There is a Christmas tree in the house, and we cover festive table. Many guests come to us. We give gifts and receive them ourselves.

Baptism

Another of the holidays that is customary to celebrate in our family is Epiphany. On this day, our family goes to the spring in the village of Gotovye. Many mysterious and interesting things happen on this day.

People talk about miraculous healings from illnesses. We collect holy water from the spring and bring it home. Throughout the year, in the mornings, we drink this holy water to purify our souls and to health.

Easter

Easter is considered the brightest holiday. It usually happens in the spring and therefore we all already have a spring mood. A week before Easter, we pluck willow branches, go to church and bless them. Then we touch each with a branch so that there is health and well-being in the family.
Ends great post. We bake Easter cakes, paint eggs, put beautiful patterns on them and exchange them with family and friends. Everyone tries to smile at each other. It becomes so light in the soul, as if you hear the singing of angels.

Be sure to go up to the bell tower on Easter night and ring the bells. This gives us a charge of vivacity and joy for the whole year.

All holidays are good, each in its own way. But they are united by the fact that they carry the energy of goodness, beauty, good mood and mutual understanding between people.

It is difficult to imagine our life without faith in God. Our mother knows and remembers all Orthodox holidays and traditions, and I know that faith in God, observance of Orthodox traditions elevates a person above everyday life, strengthens the spirit, and helps in various misfortunes.

Our family is very friendly. We love to get together not only on holidays, but also when someone needs help, support. Each of us has his own character, his own destiny, but there is also something in common - this is kindness and diligence. From generation to generation, the commandments recorded in the Bible are passed down: to be diligent, meek, kind and merciful. Grandmother often told parables to us. Explaining their meaning, she said that one should not be angry, think badly about people, one must always act according to conscience.

We have grown older, everyone already has their own families. But like our parents, we raise our children in Orthodoxy. The main example for our children, as well as for us, remains our mother, now a grandmother. She instills in her grandchildren the love of God and we, as parents, only support her in this.

We try to bring our children to church every Sunday, as well as on major holidays, for communion.

After the service, they go to Sunday school, where they learn a lot about the Christian Faith from mother.

They take an active part in Orthodox concerts, with pleasure they sing poems and songs glorifying the Lord.

Together with the children, we collect herbs and decorate the house on the feast of the Holy Trinity, dip them in the holy spring, bake larks for the feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs.

I think this is very good for the younger generation of our family.

They say that every person has his own guardian angel. I'm happy because I have it. This is my large and friendly family, whose traditions I sacredly honor and respect,

One thing worries me, will it always be like this, will we be able to preserve the Orthodox traditions of our family and pass them on to our children and grandchildren. I hope we can with God's help.

So, I was only able to tell a little about my family and write about what foundations Christianity gives us and what traditions an Orthodox family should live by.

I think that we should strive for the continuity of the faith of family generations. How I wish there were more and more families that observed Orthodox traditions.

Love is patient, kind,
Love does not envy, love does not bring
worn, not proud, not outrageous,
does not seek his own, is not provoked, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything,
Love never betrays...

The family is a certain fundamental sign of a person, the same as reason and religiosity. Saint Philaret, Metropolitan of Moscow said:“God, having co-created the first people, entrusted them and their descendants with the further creation of people into the world, entrusted, as it were, the continuation of His creative action. What a great gift!"

Modern society is divided into people of believers and atheists, into true Christians who live according to the rules of the Church and honor God, and people who are far from faith, vegetating in worldly fuss. Family and spiritual values are passed on from generation to generation, but many families are just starting their Orthodox path from the very beginning, having lost continuity due to almost a century of persecution of the Church. How to create an Orthodox family in modern society and preserve traditions Orthodox family? This question is asked by many truly believing Christians who are striving to create a Small Church out of the family.

Family traditions are a huge workshop in which everything is intertwined – inspiration, play, joy, creativity, skill, precision, art… Traditions inspire the space of events and create the atmosphere of our home… What is the atmosphere of our family like?

Children in an Orthodox family for the first time in their lives encounter submission to the authority of their father and mother, and this experience is the most important on the difficult path of life, softened by love for a person who rules and demands submission. By following the instructions of the parents and observing the prohibitions, the child gains inner freedom, realizing that the authority of an older person is not intended to break his character, humiliate or enslave. Taking punishment not as a punishment, but as an indication, the child learns to live correctly. In an Orthodox family, parents must learn to restrain and suppress their anger, not to be irritated, and to be able to punish with love.

Seeing how his parents love him in a Christian way, the child learns the experience that will be useful to him in the future: how to create an Orthodox family, create in it an atmosphere of striving for God, i.e. to realize the statement - "family - Small Church".

There are often many children in an Orthodox family, and every child is loved. Each of our days consists of many events, and the family day, like a large collage, is written out with all the colors of its events, feelings, deeds, moods, weather. The upbringing of children in an Orthodox family is based on love and trust in each other. The elders help their parents to educate the younger ones, while gaining experience for their future family life, and the younger ones take an example from them. Babies live and grow up with a sense of Faith instilled in them by their parents. In shaping the child's soul, it is important to bring up the right attitude to work. We teach children to help their parents in everything: collect their toys, sweep the floor, wash the dishes, help with cooking.

Joint prayers support the traditions of the Russian Orthodox family, unite it and allow children to get used to the fact that it is impossible to live without talking to God. One of the most important pious traditions of the Orthodox family is the participation in home prayer of ALL its members. Morning, evening prayers, reading the Gospel spiritually unites the family into a single whole. In our family, they were very fond of singing akathists in chant, in addition to reading prayers together, this is the most unifying custom of our family, started by my grandfather and continued by my parents.

In my family, I try to constantly engage children in needlework. We draw, do stained glass painting, batik, decoupage, sculpt from plasticine and salt dough, work with plaster, make applications from paper and natural materials. We also make music with our eldest daughter, and our daughters learn songs and poems together. By the days of the angel and birthdays, we make gifts with our own hands - we paint mugs and vases, sculpt pictures from salt dough, make beads from dough for grandmother, make photo frames, and with the youngest we sculpt flowers from plasticine and seeds.

We also prepare for church holidays with the whole family. For example, for the feast of the Nativity of Christ, we make a nativity scene with all the gospel heroes, straw and animals. We make souvenir angels for congratulations of loved ones, acquaintances in the temple and Sunday school. By Easter with children, we germinate wheat, make chickens, paint and paste ornamental eggs. Working with natural materials instills in children love and careful attitude to nature and all living things.

All these activities take a huge amount of time, and many believe that such activities are not so important. And it is very important that children do it with great pleasure. The finished work, something made with your own hands, causes so much joy in the child. In fact, aesthetic taste, love of work, perseverance, purposefulness, the ability to bring things started to the end (which is very difficult, but extremely necessary for a person throughout his life) - all this is formed in a person in the process of these activities.

The family becomes a source of love for children. The atmosphere of the family strongly influences the formation of the spiritual image of the child, determines the development of children's feelings, children's thinking. This general atmosphere can be called "the worldview of the family." Children who have grown up in an atmosphere of love carry it in themselves further, creating their families, filling the earth with this love. Love is the only creative force.

But even with due proper upbringing children in an Orthodox family there are great difficulties in communicating children in a secular society. How to explain to a child that what he sees and what he has to face is wrong? How to instill immunity to everything that can negatively affect the formation of a child's soul? It is necessary to invest in the child a conscious understanding of his Christianity. Here is an example, a real life situation.

My sister's eldest daughter is 8 years old, now she goes to the 2nd grade of an Orthodox gymnasium in the city of Serpukhov. But 2 years ago they sent her to a kindergarten to prepare for school, and problems immediately began. At home, the children played certain games with strictly selected toys. But there the girls played with completely different dolls and other games. Favorite game is witches. Although the child was explained why it was impossible to play it, how could he be in a team all day long in which she had no one to play with, and she spent the whole day alone? It was a big stress for the child, and I had to take her out of there.

It is necessary to return the process of educating the younger generation to the traditional Orthodox course. With an appeal to Orthodoxy, the family includes such traditional forms of spiritual life and life for Russian culture as: visiting the temple, prayer at home, fasting, pilgrimage trips, holidays of the liturgical circle and name day, and, in addition, consecration life cycle families in the sacraments of weddings, baptism of children, funerals and regular commemoration of the dead. The developed culture of life of believers has another name - "confessional practice", that is, forms of serving God, proven by generations, forms of communication with the shrine. Numerous studies show that faith and participation in the life of the Church have a consolidating effect on the family. The churched family actively cooperates with the outside world - both with its Orthodox part and with the secular one.

Frequent visits to the temple are also an opportunity to meet and communicate with like-minded people.

Joint trips to nature, family viewing of new children's film, trips to grandmother's birthday, making gifts for her with her own hands - these are the necessary components of the family, the key to mental health, maintaining a favorable microclimate.

In my family, for example, there were nightly readings before bedtime. The Pope read to us the lives of the saints for the past day, and then other books. So we learned to understand the thoughts of relatives, in intimate conversations we became closer and dearer to each other. This is one of the warmest childhood memories. Now we are trying to introduce this practice with our children. This does not depend on the age of the baby. Believe me, the child's psyche perfectly perceives the information that is given to it, and in due time your child will surprise others with his erudition and level of development. And if personal development takes place in the family, be sure that you will not have problems understanding your own child even when he grows up.

My father, grandfather and great-grandfather were priests. Therefore, the most important tradition was and remains the meeting of all holidays in the temple. It's all church holidays and Angel Day, and birthday ...

most revered children Christmas is a holiday in our family. After the Nativity Fast, we happily go to the church for the night service to celebrate this celebration. The holiday is associated with the birth of the God-man, the Son of God Jesus Christ. All Orthodox people rejoice at this event, singing the glory of the Lord. After the Divine Liturgy, we went home and, upon entering, immediately sang the troparion and kontakion of the feast. Christmas is always a special joy for a Christian. And later, at Christmas time, they went to visit relatives and friends of Christ to glorify. Children sang the troparion of the holiday, carols, recited poems prepared for the holiday. This is indeed a bright and solemn action. In my soul, this holiday will remain the best memory of childhood and family.

But with special spiritual warmth and trepidation, we are preparing for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, Easter. Children learn poetry, make crafts and prepare gifts and greeting cards. We create beauty around ourselves in order to feel the Holiday even more strongly. This is how we try to express our state of mind joy and happiness through our actions and deeds. Orthodox Christians do this with reverence and awe in their souls, because they understand the importance and significance of these actions. Man cannot live without harmony with himself, and he can achieve this harmony only with God.

During the First Week of Great Lent and Holy Week, every day is filled with a special meaning. We wholeheartedly experience the Suffering and Death of the Savior, during Holy Week we try to strictly observe Great Lent and limit ourselves not only in food, but also in entertainment. Communion on Maundy Thursday was also very reverent for us. Indeed, on this day, the events of the Last Supper are remembered. AT Good Friday our hearts are filled with sorrow for the Savior. In our church, they always wove a large wreath of fresh flowers for the Shroud, and the children carried it during the procession. These very touching and unforgettable feelings of our children's involvement in the service penetrated deeply into children's hearts. On Holy Saturday we consecrate Easter cakes, Easter and colorful eggs, and on Easter we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ with the whole Orthodox world!

During the Easter week, matinees were held at home, where everyone showed what they managed to prepare for the holiday, and received gifts from a strict but loving judge - our grandfather and wise grandmother.

There is much more to remember. This is the Trinity, when not only the temple, but the whole house was decorated with greenery, these are larks baked for the Annunciation, and also the very memorable service of the Burial of the Most Holy Theotokos, when only girls carried a wreath woven for a shroud during the procession. But I want to say one more thing. Even great-grandfather started in our family that everyone, especially children, leaving home, said: “Forgive me and bless.” It seems to me that it is very important to receive a parental blessing when leaving the house.

The topic I touched upon today is extremely relevant in modern society - a society in which all traditions and the spiritual experience of previous generations have depreciated. Every Christian in his life and in his family must revive pious Christian traditions, inculcate to my children love for them, so that they live a full-blooded Christian, church life. After all, a society that does not keep good examples in its historical memory does not have a foundation for building its future.

T. A. Epel,

mother of Priest Dmitry Epel,

cleric of the temple Al. Nevsky,

N. Tagil.

Municipal budgetary educational institution

secondary school with. Penza

Municipality "Tomarinsky urban district" of the Sakhalin region

REPORT

Orthodox traditions in the family

Prepared by: Kimpel Alevtina Anatolyevna,

teacher of Russian language and literature

With. Penza

2014

Introduction

A people is a living organism, the cells of which are families. If the family structure of the people is violated, then the society begins to get seriously ill. It is in the family that the transfer of experience from one generation to another takes place. We, as a people, are weakening, because the fortress of the people is in the fortress of the family, and the family of Russia is practically destroyed. Love for something (for the Motherland, for the whole world, for a random person) begins with love in the family, since the family is the only place where a person goes through the school of love.

Today, state and public organizations are trying to offer ways out of the family crisis - without solving the problems of marriage, all long-term development programs of the country lose their meaning.

Active participation in the search for such ways is also taken by Russian Orthodox Church , which speaks not just about the family as the basis of a spiritually healthy society, but about marriage as a sacrament that opens the way for spouses to God.

However, all the efforts of the Church, state and society will be in vain if each of us does not understand that the weakness of the modern family is primarily the result of our own unpreparedness for marriage, stereotypes and illusions that determine what we expect from modern life. Many accepted in contemporary culture ideas about human relations, sex, marriage are not only completely false, but doom those who follow them to inevitable misfortune. The most important and harmful illusion of modern man is the conviction that one can become happy through the satisfaction of one's egoistic desires and needs. (“Take everything from life”, “We must try and choose” - these slogans younger generation can be hung in front of the entrance to the supermarket). There is an attitude towards marriage, as to something trial, and to another person, as to a thing: it came up, it didn’t fit, it presses, it doesn’t press. The culture of permissiveness, proclaiming free relationships, perceives the family as a new entertainment. The secret of marriage, which binds two people in eternity before the face of the Lord, is replaced by fantasies and fleeting emotions, self-sacrifice and love by the desire to obtain the greatest benefit or pleasure from the marriage transaction. It is not surprising that the family game does not last long. And happiness is possible only where a person gives himself, sacrifices himself for the sake of those he loves. Only sacrificial love makes people happy.

On the history of the family crisis.

The strongest blow to the Russian family was inflicted in the 20th century - in no Christian country for a long period of time were people in power who believed that the family should disappear. But it was precisely from such positions that the Bolsheviks acted in the first years of their rule. Civil marriage, introduced by them, was essentially an officially recorded procedure of casual and temporary cohabitation. From the end of the 1920s to the beginning of the 1930s, the doctrine of some kind of new socialist marriage was gradually developed, but the population, having tasted the fruits of the possibility of an easy conclusion and dissolution of marriage, having received state sanction for fornication, is already beginning to be weary of marriage ties. Here it is necessary to say about the significant "contribution" of collectivization, which involved the elimination of the last social stratum that preserved the traditions of the patriarchal Russian family that still existed.

In the post-war years, families are created mainly without any guidelines, for any Christian values. The country found itself in a situation where the bulk of the population (already in the 40s and 50s) did not even consider Christian marriage for themselves, it simply was not in their minds. In addition, during the war we lost a huge number of not just male, but the most capable, responsible population. Now our women had to take on those public, professional, social, including family duties that men should fulfill. Boys from an early age fall into the hands of a woman. Nurseries, kindergartens, clinics, and even the situation is complicated by the absence or incompetence of fathers who do not perceive themselves as men - fathers. From the very beginning, a dependent is brought up, a person who perceives his future wife at the same time as a mother who will bear the main burden life together, and as a livelihood hostess.

If we want to form Christian family in our country, we must focus on the deep theological canonical traditions of the Church, which are:

1. In a high family status. If the family does not occupy one of important places in a person's life, then he will never be able to create a strong family. The system of values of the Orthodox modern family man is as follows: God - family - public service (or service to people) - personal interests.

2. In the right way of the family. Everything in this and spiritual world the Lord created hierarchically. And in the family it is simply necessary. Each member of the family should have their own place in this hierarchy.

God - father - mother - grandfather - grandmother - older children - younger ones.

3. Connection of generations. For the upbringing of an adult, a strong connection between generations is required. A child from infancy should absorb the industriousness of parents.

How to help today's young people find the right path to achieve happy marriage?

First, sound the alarm and relentlessly fight child molestation through the media. It would be desirable that the subject "Ethics and Psychology of Family Life", filled with Orthodox content, be returned to school curricula.

Substantiation of the need for socio-pedagogical and spiritual support of modern Russian family

One of the causes of the crisis in the spiritual and moral sphere of modern society is the destruction of the traditional foundations of the family. Crisis phenomena in family life are diverse:

Moral ideas about marriage and family are destroyed:

Marriage in the modern world has ceased to be an expression of sacrificial love and spiritual unity;

Almost completely lost the idea of the need for lifelong fidelity of spouses and the indissolubility of marriage ( Russia continues to rapidly increase the number of divorces);

Marriage, raising children began to be perceived as a heavy and undesirable burden.

2. The foundations of the family are damaged:

In fact, the hierarchy of family relationships has been completely destroyed;

The traditional way of family life has been lost;

Broken tribal and family ties between generations;
- traditional attitudes of obedience, reverence, respect for elders have been ousted from modern life and replaced by active opposition to the authority of adults, ignoring the opinions of parents and teachers.

3. The traditional perception of parenthood and childhood has been lost:
- the cult of success in life, material well-being, professional and social growth has led to a catastrophic decline in the social prestige of motherhood and fatherhood;

The birth rate continues to decline: parents increasingly began to see children as an unnecessary burden, an obstacle to achieving success in life ( for 10 recent years mortality in Russia significantly exceeds the birth rate, the population decreases by 750 thousand people annually; according to experts, the demographic catastrophe will lead to a reduction in the number of Russians by another 22 million people over the next 15 years);

There is a growing number of abortions that are not recognized as grave sins ( out of 10 children conceived in Russia today, only three are born);
- the number of unwanted children, orphans with living parents, homeless children is increasing.

4. The deformation also affected the sphere of family education:
- lost the traditional understanding of family education as a voluntary "baptism", sacrificial parental love, work and efforts aimed at establishing a spiritual community with children;
- not having the skills to live together with the child the events of family life, most of parents seek to “pay off” personal communication with the child with expensive gifts, computer and other equipment, depriving children of active participation and support;

The continuity of the pedagogical tradition in the family has been interrupted, parents show amazing illiteracy in matters of development and upbringing priorities in different periods of childhood, they have no idea about the patterns of formation of the spiritual and moral world of the child;
- the loss of traditional moral guidelines by parents leads to the fact that the family is unable to keep the young from vice, but often provokes them to sin;

Representatives of the older generation who raised their children in nurseries, kindergartens and pioneer camps are not ready to fulfill the social roles of grandparents: they do not know the traditional methods of nurturing small children, avoid active participation in the upbringing of older grandchildren, and are unable to help children and grandchildren. wise mentorship and cordial participation.

5. The consequence of the crisis of the family are numerous childhood problems:
- an extremely high percentage of children with deviations from the norm in the state of health, emotional-volitional development and behavior, most of the problems are provoked by a violation of intra-family parental and child-parent relationships;

The processes of formation of the moral sphere are disrupted: in young children, the assimilation of a system of moral standards gives significant failures, school-age children do not have the skills to coordinate their behavior with a certain system of moral rules and guidelines, a cult of cruel power reigns in the youth environment, the unlimited dominance of material values over spiritual ones;

Spiritual and moral underdevelopment, the lack of clear ideas about vice and virtue push teenagers onto the path of alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, and crime;

The rising generation of Russian children has not formed a sense of responsibility to the family, society, nation, state;
- due to the spiritual and psychological emptiness of family relationships, children and adolescents are burdened by being in parental home, replacing the family with a "party" in the companies of peers.

6. The system of public upbringing and education cannot change the situation, make a positive contribution to the restoration of traditional values families:

The theme of chastity, love, fidelity almost does not sound in the content of education programs;

AT curriculum schools lack the subjects "Spiritual and moral foundations of the family", "Fundamentals of morality";

So far, attempts to introduce into the education system filled with cynicism programs of sexual education, valeological education of children and adolescents have not been completely suppressed.

7. Modern society has lost the idea of purity and chastity:
- in the socio-cultural space, the media, topics of a family, educational orientation are raised extremely rarely, haphazardly and drown in a stream of secondary information, vulgarity and vice;

Mass culture and the media have become instruments of moral corruption, they promote violence, cynicism in the sphere of family relations, exalt the sinful passions of “free love”, sexual promiscuity, all kinds of perversions.

The immoral ideology of modern society, which upholds the liberal values of Western culture ( selfishness, permissiveness, self-affirmation at any cost), aimed at the final undermining of family foundations, completing the collapse of the family: the cult of pleasure and fornication, artificial carelessness, the psychology of Disneyland with incessant entertainment and escape from real life into the world of illusions - all this fiercely attacks fragile souls.

It is obvious that the priority of earthly interests over spiritual and moral values, the destruction of the family, the loss of its educational functions leads to the entry into an independent life of infantile, morally and spiritually handicapped young people, which undoubtedly undermines the roots of the well-being and stability of Russian society.

For Russia, with its centuries-old Orthodox culture, all this is unnatural and disastrous. As noted His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia: “We are rooted in Eastern culture with its commitment to traditional values, a certain way of life, primordial ideas about the value of the family, the inviolability of moral rules, the strength and significance of patriotic feeling” .

There is only one way out of the current crisis situation: to help strengthen the family through:

1. Restoration in the public mind of the traditional value of marriage, family, prestige of motherhood and fatherhood.

2. Revival of the national cultural, historical and religious traditions.
3. Creative recreation in modern conditions of the traditional way of life of society and the family.

4. Formation in the state of a system of socio-pedagogical and spiritual and moral support for family education.

Report

Christian traditions of piety as the basis of spiritual

moral education and education of modern teenagers

Performed by Gusarova Oksana Mikhailovna

teacher of Russian language and literature

MOU secondary school №1 them. N.L. Meshcheryakova

Cities of Zaraysk

Moscow region

We all have a colossal responsibility for educating the next generation.

Only with your whole life, where every word is inseparable from the deed, can you testify to enduring spiritual values .

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II

Modern man lives in a diverse, multicultural world. Comprehension and awareness of life occurs through the development of national traditions, the traditions of civilization. The education system of society, along with the family, should ensure the completeness of the entry of each person into this diverse world of various traditions. Based on the centuries-old experience of creating the life and way of life of the multinational people of Russia, it is possible to single out the cultural layers of education, interconnected by social relations:

1. National tradition. Mastering the national culture, native language, national way of life, native faith, the experience of spiritual life, the practical development of moral prescriptions;

2. folk tradition. Mastering a state culture common to all, a single language, social relations, legal and ethical norms of a civilization common to all. Knowledge of the way of life of the people, their values and faith;

3. The emerging tradition of the world community. Mastering the language, etiquette and basic knowledge necessary to enter the global community.

The Orthodox tradition recognizes the original spirituality of man and the reality of the natural moral law found in all people. Thanks to the natural moral law, the fundamental rules of the moral life of man and society are recognized. Church tradition claims that this law is given by God and is the property of all people, it guides each person in the choice of good. This is manifested in moral torments, or torments of conscience, in people who have transgressed the norms of the natural moral law and do not recognize its objectivity.

AT church tradition spirituality is consideredlike the grace of God , as a Divine energy that animates the individual spirit of a person and directs him to God. This special power, acquired in the church life, enables a person to moral perfection. This power manifests itself in social life of a person, in his worldview, in his behavior, in the desire to do good and keep the world, in the qualities of a person, which are usually called virtues. This is an external manifestation of spiritual life, which in secular life is usually called intelligence.

The essence of conjugation of the concepts of "moral" and "spiritual" in the concept of "spiritual and moral development" most closely reflects the theological concept of "perfection-aspiration". In the process of spiritual formation (advancement of a person to union with grace), the energies of a person, without being suppressed, assimilate new system consistent with the action of grace. Human development can be defined as becoming oneself or the realization of the true Self through the discovery of the image of God in oneself, in self-consciousness, in the life and activity of a person.

Becoming is the desire of a person to overcome the boundaries of his nature, to go beyond its limits, without being separated from it, the desire to surpass it. Spiritual development is the process of gaining personal existence by a person. The unity of development and spiritual formation has a procedural, target character and is manifested in the fact that true development becomes possible only in personal existence. Spiritual life must be revealed to everyone in himself. In order to discover the spiritual world in yourself and at the same time learn to feel, notice and comprehend your inner life, you need to learn to understand yourself, you need to weaken the power of desires and external impressions, and this requires solitude, silence, major changes in the mental state.

The concept of "education" is based on the word "image". Holy Bible testifies to the creation of man by God in His image and likeness (Gen. 1, 26-27; 5, 1-2). In the Orthodox tradition, the meaning of the concept of "education" is revealed as the restoration of the integrity of a person, involving the development of all his forces, all his sides, located in a certain hierarchical dependence.

The content of traditional domestic education was determined by the need to create conditions for the awakening and development of spiritual life, to preserve the inner world of the child from the power of passions and sin, to develop all the rational forces of the soul (mind, will and feelings), to know oneself and the world as a Divine creation, to realize one’s special calling into this world and take responsibility for your life. The combination of the spiritual formation of the child and the development of all his forces with the knowledge of the world and man allows us to consider traditional education as a phenomenon of the spiritual culture of Russia. The educational process in traditional Russian pedagogy was aimed at preserving and developing the giftedness of children. It was impossible for the school alone to cope with such a task. At the same time, the content of school education was determined by the task of scientifically based knowledge of the world and the formation of ways to express one's inner world. The problems of spiritual development were solved by the family and the Church.

Education in the Orthodox tradition is understood as salvation. It is only in this setting that education in the Orthodox tradition acquires its meaning as preparation for life in eternity already here on earth. The creation of conditions for the spiritual and moral development of a person, for the acquisition of personal existence, the assimilation of a saving, morally demanded spiritual experience by a person is the essence of the process of education in Orthodox pedagogy.

In the Orthodox tradition, education is seen as special case repentance, when a person realizes his imperfection, his ignorance, and not only realizes, but also strives to transform himself. The Orthodox approach to education is based on the understanding that knowledge is not taken, but acquired in the process of learning, when it is aimed at a person’s readiness to realize, understand and accommodate God-given knowledge, when erudition is supplemented by intuition, a living experience of Communion with God. Education is reduced to the knowledge of truth as revelation, testimony and description. Pedagogical support of the innate human need for knowledge of the truth and communion with God is the essence of education in the Orthodox tradition.

In the Orthodox tradition, a person is seen as a spiritual hypostasis of human nature. The gradation of a person's spiritual growth is defined in terms of "face", "face" and "mask" (St. Pavel Florensky). In the "face" there is the embodiment in the life and personality of the image of God, the manifestation of it to the world. The “face” is characterized by the manifestation of perfection-aspiration. With the loss of perfection-aspiration, a mask appears, a “mask”, which falsely points to the non-existent. In psychological terms, the difference between the "face", "face" and "mask" is manifested in the differentiation of the external and internal life of a person. As you approach the “face”, differentiation should decrease, otherwise it should increase.

Each person, being born into this world, carries the flesh, blood and spirit of his people. He absorbs his national culture with his mother's milk, masters his native language. The way of life and values of the people become its own way of life.

In the modern education system, we also observe a departure from the completeness of solving the problems posed, and this applies not only to Russia, but also to most developed countries. Two approaches usually prevail: a shift towards national education or the adoption of globalist trends as the basis for the purpose and content of education. Both approaches give rise to social tension in society, opposing or equalizing the national culture, the culture of civilization, in the bosom of which the state was created and strengthened, and the emerging culture of the world community.

Three can be distinguished mandatory element cultural and educational space, interconnected by social relations:

1. National education and upbringing. Mastering the national culture, native language, national way of life, native faith (“national being”);

2. National, or state, and civilizational education and upbringing. Mastering a state-forming culture common to all, a single language, social relations, legal and ethical norms of a civilization common to all. Knowledge of the way of life of the state-forming people, its values and faith (“national unity”);

3. World education and upbringing. Mastering the language, etiquette and basic knowledge necessary to enter the global community.

National upbringing and education begins in the family and can be continued in the system of preschool and additional education. Mastering the national way of life and spiritual and moral values can take place within the framework of the school or regional components state standard education in places of compact residence of citizens of one nationality, as well as in national and confessional educational institutions. National upbringing and education allows, within the framework of their cultural, historical and religious tradition, to master the transfer of experience of spiritual life.

Popular, or state, and civilizational upbringing and education is carried out in the state education system, or, as we used to say, in the secular education system. It provides, along with the study of the fundamentals of science, the study of moral norms and values, culture, common to the entire multinational people and developed in the process of its centuries-old existence, and also introduces the way of life and religious beliefs of the state-forming ethnic group.

For every child from an Orthodox family, there is a meeting between the Church and life at school. The question of the relationship between the Church and the school in the Orthodox tradition is broader than the teaching of religious doctrine or Team work in education. Of decisive importance is not the formal subordination of the school to the church charter, but the internal, spiritual influence of the Church on the school. A school can lead children to God not by words about Him, but by where it spiritually directs the movement of the soul, by which it ignites and inspires the children's heart.

Pedagogical experience Soviet period, as well as the achievements of modern secular pedagogy, should be studied, rethought and involved in their methodological developments in the practice of the church school. The method of dialogue and the problematic method of teaching, Shatalov's reference signals and Zankov's method of activating students in the learning process, the experience of Sukhomlinsky, Amonashvili and many, many innovative school methods of recent decades have the right to life in a church school. This also applies to extracurricular activities. The problem of Orthodox education and Orthodox school mainly consists in the training of qualified Orthodox teachers. Having faith, they must also have a high intellectual and methodological level and sufficient level readiness to implement at school the conditions of the process of spiritual and moral development of children within the framework of the Orthodox tradition.

In order for a society to survive and preserve its unique culture, there must be a transfer of those spiritual, value orientations on which society has been based for hundreds of years. A reasonable reform of the modern education system today should be determined by the idea of historical continuity of generations, the idea of sustainability of the value dominants of the national culture, which should not be lost in the process of intensive interaction with other cultures in the new world of global technologies.

The task of education is to ensure the historical continuity of generations - formulated among the main priorities of the national doctrine of education. To ensure this priority, it is necessary to build new cultural foundations of national education, it is necessary to build the goals of education hierarchically, to consciously determine the goal of introducing new generations into the life of tradition as hierarchically dominant. In education, the goal of mastering the tradition is hierarchically dominant in relation to the goal of transferring basic knowledge, skills and abilities to new generations. The assimilation of tradition in the forms of education presupposes three elements - knowledge of the tradition, the experience of its assimilation, and the construction of personal existence on the basis of this experience.

In order for the school to be able to solve the problem of mastering the tradition, in the educational process it is necessary to ensure the development, in addition to knowledge, skills, and other content elements, such as: experience labor activity; an experience creative activity; values and meanings of tradition; experience of interpersonal communication based on the values and meanings of tradition; spiritual life experience. Culture and spirituality are instilled in a person from childhood on the primordially Russian traditions, on humanity, on classical literature and music, on faith - in the family, preschool and school institutions. Saving money on culture and education, in fact on children, has led to what we have now. Drunkenness and lawlessness, murders and suicides of young people make us doubt the correctness of our methods of education and our policy.

Cultural needs are the result of both secular and spiritual education. To understand and love serious and complex art, to have a respectful attitude towards God, your parents and the elderly, representatives of other nationalities and religions, you need a subtle mental psychology, a long practice of human communication, a living positive example of parents. This is a long process, it takes many years. Developed taste, decency, spirituality are the result of the cultural development of the family throughout the history of more than one generation.

The teacher's work is aimed at the spiritual and moral development of children, that is, at the discovery of the image of God in the child's soul. The student must be placed in such conditions when he must, quite consciously and individually, work on changing his habits, temperament, character, and memory. Children should more often turn to such concepts as “joy”, “suffering”, “forgiveness”, “conscience”, “sadness”, so that they think about the high and beautiful with their mind and soul.

We need to change the children's authorities. They should be Russians national heroes, whose names were entered by history in the holy calendar. A rich example is the images of spiritual literature. It is necessary to introduce the child to books, to visiting museums, listening to classical music, reading fairy tales. It moves the soul forward and upward. The word, music, color - all together affects the psyche and soul of a person. It is a pity that individual television programs, especially foreign and modern Russian detectives, do not affect in the best way. The psyche of a teenager is arranged in such a way that he does not immediately realize the intention of the author and director - to show evil in the name of good. Scenes of violence, a feat hired killers. Daily pressure leads to disastrous consequences: a teenager becomes a potential rapist, a mentally unhealthy person. Children are naturally imitative and receptive to everything that surrounds them. They borrow a lot from the people with whom they are in constant communication. Education is not just teaching. The mentor usually has a much stronger effect on the child by silent teaching by his deeds than by words. The teacher has a great influence on the personality of the child, but this influence is more complex and subtle than we usually think. Our weaknesses and vices are repeated in our students - we need to know and remember about this. The influence of the teacher, although not directly, can nevertheless be strongly extended to the families of students. Most of all, the teacher educates not only by methods and techniques, but by his very personality, and this happens quite unconsciously: both the teacher and the student may not realize how deeply the teacher's features leave their mark on the child. And at the same time, it is not what we call for that influences, but what we really are: our tastes, habits, assessments, and much more. No pedagogical pretense is possible at school.

CONCLUSIONS:

The Orthodox tradition manifests itself in two typological forms - as a cultural-historical tradition and as a Church Tradition. The development of a person from the point of view of the Orthodox tradition is becoming oneself, or the realization of the true Self, through the creation of oneself.

In the Orthodox tradition, the meaning of the concept of "education" is revealed as the restoration of the integrity of a person, involving the development of all his forces, all his sides, located in a certain hierarchical dependence.

Education in the Orthodox tradition is understood as salvation. Only in such a formulation does education acquire its meaning as preparation for life in eternity already here on earth. The creation of conditions for the spiritual and moral development of a person, for the acquisition of personal existence, the assimilation of a saving, morally demanded spiritual experience by a person is the essence of the process of education in Orthodox pedagogy.

Education is a special case of repentance, when a person realizes his imperfection, his ignorance, and not only realizes, but also strives to transform himself. From this point of view, the learning process can be seen as helping a repentant person striving for the heights of holiness. Pedagogical support of the innate human need for knowledge of the truth and communion with God is the essence of education in the Orthodox tradition.

In the Orthodox tradition, a person is seen as a spiritual hypostasis of human nature. The gradation of a person's spiritual growth is defined in terms of "face", "face" and "mask" (St. Pavel Florensky). In psychological terms, the difference between the "face", "face" and "mask" is manifested in the differentiation of the external and internal life of a person. As you approach the “face”, differentiation should decrease, otherwise it should increase. Human creativity can serve as an indicator of the spiritual growth of a person: the intensity of creative life and its axiological content.

The successive connection of upbringing is manifested in the invariable direction of the spiritual and moral development of the personality: a person is called to evade sin and strive for holiness, which is the nature of God.

The main tasks of a secular state school are to introduce the child to the world of their own civilization and to provide an opportunity to participate in the life of the world community. The assimilation of tradition in the forms of education presupposes three elements - knowledge of the tradition, the experience of its assimilation, and the construction of personal existence on the basis of this experience.

The vocation of a teacher in Orthodox awareness is revealed only in the context of understanding the meaning of this profession and the meaning of the life of every person. The nature of teaching work can be fully understood as service. The teacher's work is aimed at the spiritual and moral development of children, that is, at the discovery of the image of God in the child's soul. The calling of a teacher should be looked upon as a gift. True signs The gifts of teaching are sincere love for children, love for teaching, and especially the spiritual joy that a teacher experiences in his work. The influence of the teacher, although not directly, can nevertheless be strongly extended to the families of students. Most of all, the teacher educates not by methods and techniques, but by his very personality.

From the speeches of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy

I would like to recall two laws in the field of spiritual education. The first of them: no one can teach a student what he does not do himself. And second: the student cannot understand the new until he fulfills in his life what he already knows. Main secret Christianity is Christ living in us. We proclaim the Kingdom of God, which has come in power and entered into our souls and our lives. God acting in people, and people serving God in spirit, is the Church. And a priest, an educator who has not come into contact with the secret Church from within, is untenable.

***

The main component of spiritual education is spirituality itself, that is, the ability not to talk about Christ, about the Church, but to live in Christ and in the Church. Without the spiritual blessing and guidance of the Church, the centuries-old moral foundations, without which neither the state nor the people are able to exist and flourish, turned out to be shaken and undermined in all structures of people's life.

We are faced with a great, responsible and holy task - to return to our people its Orthodox traditions, the faith of the fathers and to resist the mission that various missionaries and sects are carrying out today, trying to fill the spiritual vacuum that has formed as a result of seventy years of education of the people in the spirit of unbelief, denial spiritual values. ***

If we miss a few more generations, we don’t create moral immunity in them, we don’t revive in their souls the striving for high ideals, we don’t root in them the feelings of faith and love, the search for the truth of God, and there will be no Russia in the world.

The very existence of our people depends on the extent to which we manage to cope with the task of education, to renew almost interrupted cultural traditions.

***

today before Orthodox people there are enormous tasks of comprehending Russian national culture, Russian history, Russian literature. Russia is needed not only by itself, but by the whole world, like the Russia of Feofan the Greek, Andrei Rublev, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, St. Sergius Radonezhsky and Seraphim of Sarov. We all have a colossal responsibility for educating the next generation. Only with your whole life, where every word is inseparable from the deed, can you testify to enduring spiritual values.

***

We hope that our Russian teachers and leaders of national education, with their high moral sense and responsibility for the spiritual and moral development of children, their health, mental and bodily, will be able to jointly put up a barrier to the corrupters of innocent children's hearts. The sacred work of education is difficult, one has to perform it for an insignificant reward, or even completely free of charge. However, a teacher who works in the name of the highest cause on earth cannot but understand the dignity of his mission, cannot but believe in the success of his labors.

***

Without spiritual development and deepening of personality, without lofty ideals of serving truth, goodness and beauty, without awakening the image of God in his soul, a person becomes more and more enslaved and becomes a slave to the things he created. For a person who has lost moral guidelines, everything seems acceptable and acceptable - and the destruction of children in the womb, which has received an unprecedented, truly industrial scale, and thoughtless experiments with the heredity of living individuals, and the corruption of minors, and the desecration of everything bright and pure.

***

What is the best way to help children? It is impossible to save children without the Church. Caring for children has always been considered sacred, because childhood itself is defenseless. That is why the work of teaching is great and holy. At the heart of Orthodox education has always been the openness to true reality, life in Christ. For us Orthodox, the most important thing is in the very center - this is the Divine Liturgy. In the liturgy there is a living meeting with our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are all united in Christ. The Divine Liturgy sanctifies not only man, but all nature, and enlightens the whole structure of creation.

***

In state schools, the weakest point is the upbringing of children, but instructions continue to appear with instructions to “prohibit both religious and atheistic education in schools.” If there is no religious or atheistic upbringing in school, then there is simply no upbringing.

Orthodox upbringing and education has been tested by the centuries-old experience of the Russian people, testified by our saints, the best people of the Russian land. It has formed a great nation, which has created a mighty state, a great culture and literature, a special unique structure of spiritual life. It would be good for all of us together, by joint efforts, to better understand the traditional foundations of education and upbringing in Russia and the possibility of their application in modern circumstances of life, to try to create a concept and program for the spiritual enlightenment of Russia. The task of education has always been one of the most important social tasks.