Lord and Master: A Unit Study on the Prayer of St.

Ephraim for Orthodox Christian Children

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. power, patience, But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love unto me, Your servant. King, Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed are You unto ages of ages. Amen.
We dont know much about the life of St. Ephraim. He lived the life of an ascetic in 4th century Syria. Now, we would call him a monk, but at that time, monastic life was still being formed and defined. However you name it, St. Ephraim sought God and his salvation in a desert life of prayer and quiet. St. Ephraim was a prolific writer. He composed poetry and hymns. He is best known, however, for the prayer frequently used during Lent which bears his name. This penitential prayer compactly sums up the Lenten season of contrition and growth. Lord, please take from me the things that pull me away from You, and give me the things that draw me close to You. Simple, yet incredibly profound. The Prayer of St. Ephraim is commonly known by children as the prostration prayer. Any Orthodox parent with a young child has seen how this prayer attracts children, as it gives them a chance to get their whole bodies involved in worship. We all have a lifetime of lessons to learn from the Prayer of St. Ephraim, and the earlier the better. The following study attempts to explain the words of the prayer and help you engage the mind and heart of your child in the Lenten season. This is a unit study, which means that lessons from many subject areas (math, science, literature, music, history, etc.) are drawn from this one topic. If you homeschool, you could use this as a basis for your curriculum. If you dont homeschool, you could use this as a supplement to your home Faith education. In fact, this study doesnt have to be used at home, since many elements would easily apply to church school or retreat use. There are a lot of ideas in this study. Dont feel like you have to use them all! Think of it as a buffet. Just take out and use what works for your plate and leave the rest behind. This is a study that I designed for use with my child in the primary grades. However, it could be toned down for a younger crowd or built up to include older children. Again, this is the frame, use it how you need it. * A note about translations. English speaking Orthodox Christians know that there are a great variety of translations out there for the hymns, prayers, and Scriptures used by the Church. You might use a different translation of the Prayer of St. Ephraim. Thats o.k.! The words may be different, but they should be synonyms. Adjust the study to use the words your child prays. This study will be released in sections and is completely FREE. Please check back frequently for updates, and please tell anyone you know who might find this information useful. If there is an interest, plans are in development to offer more studies of this type through Orthodox Christian Craft Supply. Let us know what you think! May you and your family have a blessed Lenten season!

2012 Amy Hendrickson-Ries Orthodox Christian Craft Supply www.orthodoxchristiancraftsupply.com www.craftycontemplative.wordpress.com

Chapter 1 The Spirit of Sloth

The spirit of slothfulness is a spirit of laziness. Sloths are slow moving creatures. They sleep for twenty hours a day and move in achingly slow motion. Does that mean sloths are bad and lazy animals? Not at all. Learn about these fascinating creatures to see that being slow is the best thing for a sloth. It protects them from predators and helps them survive on their diet of leaves. Slothful behavior for a sloth is not a problem. They are living exactly how God created them to be. The problem is when we stop living how God created us to be and take on lazy, careless habits. Choosing what we want, when we want it, is not Gods plan for us. Its laziness. Working out our salvation is choosing to work toward God in each moment. It is a spirit of dedication and commitment to a life in Christ. Lord, take from me the spirit of sloth. Help me not to be lazy and always thinking only about what I want to do. Thank You, Lord, for blessing us with times of rest. Those times are good and peaceful moments for our souls and bodies. Forgive me, though, for the times I choose to rest when I should be doing other things. Help me to use the tools and talents you have given me to live a life dedicated to the work of seeking You.

Science: Examples of Laziness and Work in the Animal World

1) Sloths Resources we enjoyed: - Slowly, slowly, slowly said the sloth by Eric Carle - As wonderful as books are, it really takes a video to do a sloth justice. A YouTube search will produce many cute and funny sloth videos. Preview and watch as desired. - Search the internet for sloth coloring pages and let your child choose a few. For Fun/Review: Get down on all fours and race like a sloth with your friends and family. The winner is not who crosses the finish line first, but who imitates a sloth the best.

Ant: the Slothfulness 2) The Ant: the Busy Alternative to Slothfulness Resources we enjoyed: The Life and Times of the Ant by Charles Micucci Ant Cities (a Read-and-Find-Out Science book) by Arthur Dorros Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg Any version of Aesops The Grasshopper and the Ant If weather permits, take a nature walk and observe ants. If you cant find any, attract some. Put scraps of food, especially sweet foods in an outside area that is easy to observe. Check back often and see how long it takes for ants to find the food. For further experimentation, especially with older children, set out different types of food (honey, bread, cheese, meat, fruit, etc.) and document which food attracts the most ants. First, have your child write down what they did to set up the experiment (or dictate to you to write down). Then, write a hypothesis expressing what they think will happen and which food will attract the most ants. Check the food every hour and document progress. At the end, write or draw a conclusion showing the results of the experiment and any observations of ant behavior. Math: Sing the song: The Ants Go Marching (to the tune of When Johnny Comes Marching Home) The ants go marching one by one. Hoorah! Hoorah! The ants go marching one by one. Hoorah! Hoorah! The ants go marching one by one, The little one stops to suck his thumb, And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain. Boom, boom, boom! two by twothe little one stops to tie his shoe three by threethe little one stops to climb a tree four by fourthe little one stops to shut the door five by fivethe little one stops to take a dive six by sixthe little one stops to pick up sticks seven by seventhe little one stops to pray to heaven eight by eightthe little one stops to rollerskate nine by ninethe little one stops to check the time ten by tenthe little one stops to say: THE END!

Practice skip counting,calculating doubles, and/or multiplication facts. For younger/middle children: Option one: gather cereal pieces, popcorn, or another small food item. Make several groups with two pieces per group. Point to each group as you count. Traveling two by two. Two in this group plus two in this group equals. Move on to the next group. Four plus two more in this group equals. Tailor the number of groups and how far you count to the level of the child. By twos to ten; by fives to fifty; etc. Eat the math manipulatives when youre done! Option two: Draw a picture of two faces with no eyes on a piece of paper. Have your child draw in two eyes on each face. Continue with this idea. Four legs on a dog. Six ducks in a pond. Eight legs on an octopus. Let your child explore the possibilities. For older children: if your child is learning multiplication, reinforce that multiplying is a quick way to add in groups. Four times two is the same as adding four groups of two. Use beads, coins, or food items to demonstrate. Practice multiplication tables. the 3) More Busy Workers in Nature: the Squirrel Resources we enjoyed: One More Acorn by Don Freeman Sing the song Grey Squirrel, Grey Squirrel Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, shake your bushy tail. (shake your bottom) Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, shake your bushy tail. (shake your bottom again) Wrinkle up your little nose. (wrinkle and wiggle nose) Put a nut between your toes. (hold hands up to mouth and nibble imaginary nut) Grey squirrel, grey squirrel, shake your bushy tail. (shake your bottom) Play Find the nut Younger children: hide an object of your choice, pretending its a nut and your child is the squirrel. Have your child find the object, giving them the clues of warmerhottercolderice cold, etc. Middle/older children: make it a scavenger hunt. Ask your child questions about information he/she has learned about squirrels, ants or sloths. For each correct answer, give another clue of the nuts location.

Faith and Literature

Read any version of The Little Red Hen Being slothful and lazy means that we want the good things in life without working for them. Slothful people expect everyone else to do things for them. Being a Christian means living our lives not for ourselves, but for God. The work we do is not for us, its for God and others. If we do not love, we cannot expect to receive love. If we do not work, we cannot expect to receive a reward.

Read the Parable of the Talents Matthew 25:14-30 The Church reads this parable on Holy Tuesday. The talents in the story were money, but we can also learn from this story by talking about our abilities and talents. God gave each of us talents. They are not the same. In Romans 12:3-8, St. Paul tells us that we each have an important part in the Church. You are really good at one thing. I may be really good at something completely different, but together, we make one body in Christ. Your talents are the things you can use to help the body of Christ be its best and strongest. Youre valuable. We need you! You and all the wonderful things about you belong to God. We must use our talents and not expect everything to be given to us. Lazy slothfulness gets us nowhere. God rewards those who seek Him. What are the talents you can use to seek God and help the body of Christ? Craft: Using Your Talents

Print and cut out the following hymn, sung at Bridegroom Matins for Holy Tuesday. Then, print, color, and cut out the piggy bank image.

abi bility Let each of us according to his ability talent grace Increase his talent of grace stewards And, as faithful stewards of grace, Master's We shall be accounted worthy of the Master's joy. Make us worthy of this, O Christ our God, In Your love for mankind.

Cut out a piece of paper in a 6 square. Glue the hymn to the center of the page. Cut out circles from a contrasting colored paper to look like coins. Have your child write down one of his/her talents on each coin. What is a talent? Sports and artistic pursuits are completely valid choices and celebrations of Gods design of the human body and mind. However, dont forget to lead your child to think outside the talent box. Other talents that lift up the body of Christ include: sharing, being a good listener, being a good loser, and being quick to obey. Is your child a good reader? A use of that talent could be reading during family prayer or entertaining a younger sibling. Is your child compassionate? A use of that talent could be making a card for a sick neighbor or comforting a hurt/sad friend. Spend time discussing talents and how we can use all of our abilities, big or small, to show the love of Christ to everyone we meet. When youve finished with the circles, glue them around the center caption. Attach a ribbon or string to the back for a display hanger.

Saints: Lives of the Saints: St. Innocent of Alaska St. Innocent of Alaska was born in Russia. He was a pious boy who loved the Church from his youth. When he was only seven years old, he read the Epistle during the Divine Liturgy. St. Innocent grew to become a deacon and then a priest. St. Innocent thought his life would be lived out in Russia, serving his local people. However, God had other plans. Russia was actively trying to establish the Orthodox Faith in what is now the state of Alaska. They needed priests who could tend to the native people, the Aleuts, who lived in Alaska, as well as reaching out to those who had not yet heard the Gospel. Traveling to Alaska was a long and difficult journey that took five months. When St. Innocent and his family arrived, they instantly went to work. Even the children helped with the work of maintaining and improving their church and home. St. Innocent spent many, many days and years traveling through the vast landscape to visit his spiritual children. He traveled thousands of miles by kayak, dogsled, snowshoe, and even by reindeer. St. Innocent further expressed his love for the people in a dramatic way. The Aleut people had no written language. It was impossible for them to have printed copies of the Scriptures or service books that the average person could read and understand. St. Innocent developed an alphabet for the Aleut language, translated Scripture and other spiritual works into that language, and wrote his own books instructing the people in the Orthodox Faith. Years went by, and St. Innocent returned to Russia. His wife died, and he thought that he would spend the rest of his life in quiet prayer as a monk. Yet again, there were different plans for St. Innocent. He was made a Bishop and then Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church. St. Innocent worked for God his entire life. Frequently, it was not in his plans to work so long and so hard. However, he never allowed himself to fall into laziness. Whenever and wherever he was needed, he willingly went. When God called, his only response was to answer yes. The Church remembers the Glorification of St. Innocent on October 6th and the Repose of St. Innocent on March 31st.