Mona Lisa Makeover

Imagine someone walking into the art museum to do this to the Mona Lisa! They'd be arrested for graffiti, at a minimal I'm sure! Imagine the state of shock that Leonardo di Vinci would be in at such altercations to his masterpiece...., as if the way he created her is just not good enough! 

Yet everyday around the world, millions of young girls, college students, middle aged moms, and aging grandmoms apply lipstick, paint their nails, apply haircolor, enhance their body with implants, pierce their ears and endure the pain of getting a tatoo all to look more "beautiful" or just a bit younger. A little "blush" here and there....no harm done right? Besides, isn't it fun to be "girly?" Where's the harm in aiming to look 20 years younger?


Hasn't anyone ever said....you're already perfect...just the way you are! In fact, God likes you BEST without all that stuff! -You are perfect in His eyes! If He wanted our toenails purple, He would have made them that way. True beauty for the Christian is to be clothed in Christ and His Saints. looking like them! Take a look at the icons of our Church. In other words, to imitate Christ in human modesty and dress. If we are women, let us be truly women, with appreciation for our femininity and respect for our bodies. Let us reject the vanity of materialism -  and instead, teach our youth how truly attractive the Christian virtues of patience, humility and chastity are.

Let us adorn ourselves with inner embellishments of the soul, and discover beauty as God created it. Remember, our kids are watching! How will we explain that they don't need mascara, but we do?

ACTIVITY - Before revealing the lesson, pass out clear projector sheets and ask each young person to draw a self portrait of what they are wearing on that exact day. Include logos and t-shirt graphics, jewelry, make-up, hairstyles, hats, etc. Then gather them, and hold them up, one by one in front of an icon of Christ at the same approximate size 8.5x11. Ask your students.....can they see Christ through each person? Does Christ look a bit foolish with earrings? The final message is that we all bear the image and likeness of Christ and must show this to others in our appearance and very importantly, our actions. It is much easier to say we are Christians than it is to BE an Orthodox Christian.

Orthodox Games On-the-Go

Lately, we have needed quick, on-the-go Orthodox fun. Below is what we've come up with that has brought much joy to us all with very limited supplies! Give these ideas a try:

"I'm thinking of an Orthodox Saint...." - One person starts by offering a few clues about a certain Saint in mind. Possibly if they are a soldier, or queen along with a detail of two from their life or martyrdom, relics or miracle stories. The person who guesses correctly, young or old, gets to go next!
This is a fun game for car rides or while waiting in line!


"Saint Flashcards" - This game is also great for a group. Call two children/adults up front, to stand side by side. The moderator begins by flashing these Orthodox cards to both at the same time and slightly cover the name.  The person wins the card by shouting out the correct Saint first. Keep count of which two people in the group have won the most correctly, for a final showdown. Winning is not as important as of course, brotherly sportsmanship!
An alternative is to have kids challenge the adults for two teams!

**Consider giving a prize, like an Orthodox chant CD or Book, Prayer rope, etc**
 
"Orthodox Charades "- Begin by writing down a single word that comes to mind about Orthodoxy on small strips of paper, to be folded and added to a basket. For example, "Jesus Prayer, Incense, Metanoia/Prostration, Martyr, Unction, Bishop, Icon, Altar, Monk, Prayer Rope, Mandili/Headscarf, etc"  Keep in mind you can use any language your group speaks! Sitting in a circle, or semi-circle begin with the first person who draws a word and must act it out in gestures for all to guess it without speaking! The person to guess correctly goes next, or play in teams and keep score of correct answers in a minute!

Homosexuality & Adam / Eve

Most Orthodox Christians are unaware that Adam & Eve were created and lived in virginity. Yes. That's right. "Be fruitful and multiply" was a command that was enacted upon after the fall. (Ch 4 of Genesis, St John Chrysostom teaches that Adam "knew" Eve after) There was no marriage in Paradise. There was no hetero-sex, nor homo-sex . They lived as angels.

It can be shocking, but this is the teaching of St Chrysostom, St Gregory of Nyssa even though he was married, Saint Maximos, and St Gregory the Theologian to list a few.

If we understood our own sexuality correctly, we could see the distortions today based on purely earthly indulgences. Saint Maximos teaches that God never intended for us to live as the animals, in passionate physical rage, uniting in a beastly way flesh to flesh. Flesh itself, was given after the Fall.

Granted, God foresaw the fall of Adam & Eve and hence blessed the marriage bed between one woman and one man, however, this too has perimeters for a healthy Christ-centered relationship that ultimately leads to its' goal, the salvation of both individuals. Remember, marriage in itself is no guarantee for a place in heaven, neither is celibacy.

Consider the numerous successful attacks of the evil one today to entice and enslave mankind into sin: There are marriages of vasectomies to have as much sex as wanted, condoms and birth control, exploration before marriage, outside marriage, divorce, homosexuality, bestiality, pornography, masturbation, sex with pregnant women whose seed man has already planted...no farmer returns to the field he has already seeded, he waits patiently for the fruit to come.

Think about the self control and watchfulness that the Church advises us to... married couples are expected to abstain during fasting days, often lengthy 40-day periods and before Holy Communion. Widows are encouraged to live in celibacy, chastity is one of the greatest virtues of self control. Bishops and monastics willingly take on this vow and struggle daily to approach Christ and leave behind pleasures of the flesh. A couple who cannot procreate are no less in value before God, because lying together is not a means to an end, in otherwise this is not their salvation!

Lastly, the ultimate example, Christ came into the world thru Virginity. He himself lived in virginity and honors His holy Mother as more glorious than the angels for her virginity, as our example.

Instead, this passion has consumed our society and distracted us away from our true calling: We are called to return to Paradise, to be sanctified and freed from all forms of slavery of sin. If you are struggling against anything above, keep at it, for in this work God will be pleased! 

(I'd be happy to post additional resources from Church fathers)

Check out this link for Teenager resources on the topic, or download my workbook on VIRTUES here:

NEW Orthodox Book for Christmas

 "Children of all ages are invited to enter into the feast day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in this second book offered by the Sisters of All Saints Greek Orthodox monastery. Here you will find the rich and poetic words of Orthodox hymnography and illustrations based on traditional byzantine iconography. This humble offering will inspire every reader to worship and bow down to our Creator who became incarnate for our salvation."

ORDER NOW the second book of this series as a Christmas gift for your families. Contact the Sisters at hagionpanton@gmail.com

All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Direct Archdiocesan District
P.O. Box 802
1676 Middle Rd.
Calverton, NY 11933

Parenting by Chrysostom

"When we teach our children to be good, to be gentle, and to be forgiving- all attributes of God; to be generous, to love their neighbor, to regard this present age as nothing, we instill virtue in their souls, and reveal the image of God within them. This then is our task: to educate both ourselves and our children in godliness; otherwise what answer will we have before Christ's judgment seat?...

Let us be greatly concerned for our wives and our children and for ourselves as well. The good God Himself will bring this work to perfection, so that all of us may be counted worthy of the blessings He has promised."

- St John Chrysostom  (Whose feast is celebrated today, Nov 13)

Icon Family Tree

If you haven't created your very own "Family Icon" consider doing so with your children or Sunday school classes.  First we printed out the tree design and colored it, then we trimmed and added our icons of the Patron Saints for each member of the family. We cut the icons out of old catalogs and calendars we had. An icon of Christ was centered in the trunk of the tree, as we added the words of Christ in Greek - "I am the true vine + Ye are the branches" below. We had a little too much fun with the glue and glitter, then mounted it on construction paper, with two holes and string at the top. It hangs as a sort of a tapestry in our home. If you'd like, you could also write at the top "God bless the _______ Family."

For us, it has been a joy for our children to learn who they are named after. We have the habit of asking our kids, "Who has the name from Agios Vasilios? Who has the name from Panagia? From Saint Helen, and Saint Stefanos"  (our Family Icon needs an update with the birth of our daughter last year!)

We hope our tree will continue to grow outwards and spiritually upwards!

A Baptism Toast

"The common thing that brings all of us together, is our love for _______, and our desire to offer her/him the best beginning. Think about all the things we do for the newest member of our family...we make a safe home, with a safe bed and a safe car seat for her/him. We take her/him to the doctor for vaccinations and care for her/him to the best of our abilities, without her/him ever asking for it, but just because we love her/him. This is exactly the reason why we bring her/him to the Church today.

Today, we offer ______ the beginning of a life grounded in the principles of faith,  kindness to others, and love for herself/himself as God's most important creation. She/he will be able to grow up with the best medicines for her/his mind, body and soul because she/he will begin receiving the holy Sacraments. Today, she/he was sealed with the chrism of the Holy Spirit, her/his hair was cut as her/his first offering to God, and she/he was clothed in the armor of new baptismal clothes with the symbol of the holy cross that will be her/his strength against all of life's challenges. She/he received the name of a great Orthodox Saint, whom will serve as__________'s role model in a world where young girls/boys struggle to find a holy example of chastity, true beauty/love and charity.

Lastly, did you know that today she/he also received her/his guardian angel, whom we might not see but whom we can believe is with her/him, protecting her/him especially when we cannot!

For all these reasons, we thank you for being with us today and for your prayers. We ask that you don't forget our ________ as we return to the busyness of life, but that each of us remember our responsibility to offer ________ the very best of a Christian life."

New Book for Orthodox Children

Introducing the first book, "Our Hymn to the Mother of God" as part of a full-color hard bound Orthodox children's series now available for purchase by the Sisters of All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery in Calverton, Long Island, New York. It has been a joy to work with them to publish this special project, as their idea of using the hymnology of the Church to retell the story to children just couldn't be more appropriate!

The spiritual poetry on each page is matched with wonderful original illustrations by Sister Theonymphi in the style of Byzantine iconography, which means you won't find anything theologically wrong like a cartoon image of Christ! The heavenly scenes will inspire all children to contemplate our Almighty God.

Here are a few sneak peaks, and the information for ordering: The sisters hope to soon make their copies available through Amazon online, as well as parish bookstores, etc.
 
ISBN Number: 978-0-9835602-0-3

All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery
1676 Middle Road
Calverton, NY 11933

Order by Phone: (631) 439-5603
Order by E-mail: hagionpanton@gmail.com

The next books already in process are titled, 

"Our Hymn for the Nativity" and  

"Our Hymn for Holy Pascha"

Pre-orders are already being accepted.

Choosing a School

Training Up a Child: Educational Options for Orthodox Christians

Excerpts from online article by
Bishop THOMAS (Joseph), Ed.D.,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

"Before you examine the school’s ability to teach academics, however, it is absolutely necessary that you determine whether the school is Christian-friendly, Christian-tolerant or anti-Christian. If you find the school to be Christian-friendly and capable of teaching academics, you may want to utilize it as part of your responsibility to rear and educate your children. If, however, the school is merely Christian-tolerant or is anti-Christian, it behooves you to look for other choices. Let me stress that in raising your children, it is their eternal salvation which should be at the top of your priorities. This is your responsibility before God."

"Whatever teaching method you choose, Christ must be at the head of the classroom. The icon of Christ is what your children must view in you, in their teachers, on the screens of their computers, and in the faces of their peers."

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

*** Special thanks to Ashley who first posted this article ***