How to tell a child about Orthodoxy? 12 colorful books for little whys

Children always have a lot of questions. And children of believing parents have even more of them! Who is Jesus? Why go to temple? Why can't you have sausages during Lent? Where does the Mother of God live? Are there unicorns in heaven? Who is “father”? And why does he have such a long beard? And dozens more different “hows”, “whys” and “whys”.

The series “Children about Orthodoxy”
will tell boys and girls about the essence of the Orthodox faith and about various aspects of church life: about church, prayer, fasting and Christian virtues. Conversations about faith will be fun and simple.

The authors of the series were clergy, teachers and theologians who know exactly how to reach children's hearts. Each book is illustrated by modern and talented artists.

Have you already seen the new items in the series?

“For children about Orthodoxy. About Jesus Christ"

The world of Orthodoxy is amazing and multifaceted. But no matter how varied and interesting church life is, the main thing in it is Christ. The new series “About Jesus Christ” describes the earthly journey of Jesus of Nazareth, and talks about those immortal truths that he proclaimed to people.

“For children about Orthodoxy. About the Mother of God"

The Virgin Mary was destined to change the history of the world. Change not with the help of politics, war, money, but exclusively with the help of pure and sacrificial love. She gave earthly life to Jesus Christ, gave him care and tenderness. The second new product in the series will tell children about the life of the Virgin Mary and why she is called “the mother of all Christians.”

“For children about Orthodoxy. About virtues"

No matter how the world around us changes, human virtues remain unchanged. Friendship, loyalty, responsiveness, love, mercy. The book will introduce young readers to these noble qualities and tell about examples of courage and knightly bravery familiar to us from biblical history.

“For children about Orthodoxy. About the Church"

What is the Church? Who invented it and why? And why should we go there? You will find answers to these and other questions in the volume “For Children about the Church.”

“For children about Orthodoxy. About posts"

Thanks to this book, children will learn about what fasting is, why it is needed, what is the difference between fasting and fasting foods, and why from time to time it is important to give up your favorite delicacies.

“For children about Orthodoxy. About Confession"

The book will help the child prepare for his first confession, tell him about the history and meaning of the sacrament, and explain to him the meaning of such concepts as “sin” and “repentance.”

“For children about Orthodoxy. About prayer"

Why do you need to pray? To whom do we turn in prayer? Do you need any special words and place to talk with God? What role does an icon play in prayer? Who are the saints, and how can they help us? Young readers will learn about all this from the volume “On Prayer.”

“For children about Orthodoxy. About God"

Who invented and created our planet? How and why did man appear? Who is God? Even as an adult, it can be difficult to answer these deep questions. The author of the book “Children about God” tells about the Creator of the Universe in a competent, accessible and very interesting way.

“For children about Orthodoxy. About the temple"

Walking through the pages of this book, kids will go on an excursion to a real Orthodox church, learn how everything is arranged inside and out, why adults visit the church every Sunday, and what services are performed there. The journey will be complemented by bright pictures with explanations.

“For children about Orthodoxy. About the Priests"

Orthodox “men in black” - who are they, what do they do and what is their mission? This publication will help children become more familiar with the role of the priest in the temple and his special ministry.

“For children about Orthodoxy. About liturgy"

Liturgy is the main worship service of Orthodox Christians. How can you tell kids about it so that they can feel like they are not just random visitors at the service, but full-fledged participants? To help - a volume “For children about the liturgy.”

“For children about Orthodoxy. About the holidays"

In this book we have collected all the most important and interesting things about the meaning and history of the main Orthodox holidays. After reading it, the children will not only be able to list all the twelve holidays, but will also understand the meaning of each of them.

Education in Orthodoxy

Children in an Orthodox family are taught from childhood to help each other, and the basis of their interaction is trust and love. Faith gives meaning to every action. Labor plays a special role: it is natural for children to clean up after themselves not only their toys, but also to participate in cleaning the house, washing dishes, and helping their mother and father with housework. Moreover, such work does not have any special meaning, as is the case with secular education - it is a natural process.

Orthodoxy is based on several points:

daily work for the benefit of the family;
joint creative and everyday work of adults and children;
family traditions related to matters of faith.

Morning and evening prayer is perceived not as a formality, but as a conversation with God, in which the child feels the need. This cleanses the soul and forces you to evaluate your actions from the outside, often critically, on a daily basis. A very important point that psychologists talk about when correcting family problems: children should learn to feel not guilt, but a sense of shame for their misdeeds. Orthodoxy makes it possible to develop precisely this feeling, which has a beneficial effect on the behavior of children and their relationships with others.

What is religion?

If you read about the everyday life of ancient tribes that existed thousands of years ago, you can easily find signs that people believed in deities.

There were many of them, and each saint was responsible for his own sphere.

They turned to some gods to make it rain.
To others - to help in the fight against enemies.
Still others were asked for help in trouble and illness.

This is how religion was born - belief in a supernatural helper called God, and the ability to contact him through prayer.

Time passed, people's beliefs changed, matured and united into groups. Today there are many religious movements, the supporters of which may be hundreds, or perhaps billions, of people.

Every religious belief includes:

standards of morality and ethics;
behavior rules;
a set of rituals and rites with the help of which people turn to shrines, asking for help in daily matters.

There are three main religions in the world today. All other beliefs are just branches from them with their own small subtleties. The most important principles of life are preserved in any religion.

The youngest religion is Islam

The youngest world religion in terms of age appeared among the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century and is translated as “submission.”

But being young does not mean that there are few believers in it - today there are about 1.5 billion people from almost 120 countries of the world among the followers of Islam. The ideas of Islam were brought to the people by Mohamed, who was born in Mecca, declaring that he was the chosen one of Allah (the god of Islamists) to carry out his sermons.

The holy scripture of Muslims - this is the name given to those who have chosen Islam as their religion - is the Koran, which includes all the sermons of Muhammad.

An Islamic shrine is a mosque where believers come to pray 5 times a day. Many researchers believe that young Islam took its entire basis from the Christian Bible, adding Arabic traditions: here, too, there is God’s terrible judgment and demons, paradise and Satan.

According to the Muslim Koran, a person lives to pass all life's tests, serving Allah and preparing for the afterlife. The most serious sins in Islam are gambling and drunkenness, as well as usury (this is when you give a loan and demand to return it in a larger amount, charging interest).

And true Muslims never eat pork. Muslims are especially attentive to fasting during the month of Ramadan, when even a crumb of food is not allowed during daylight hours.

Islam has a religious law called Sharia, the judgment of which sometimes does not fit into modern conditions - for serious sins and violations of the Koran, Muslims are stoned to death, for minor offenses they are beaten with sticks. Such punishments are still preserved in some areas of Islamic states.

The oldest religion is Buddhism

The Buddhist religious movement arose in the 6th century BC in India.

History associates the emergence of Buddhism with the name of Siddhartha Gautama.

According to ancient legend, at the age of 29 he left his luxurious home when he saw the “truth of life”:

old age in the form of a decrepit old man who caught his eye;
illness through meeting a seriously ill person;
death from a collision with a funeral procession.

In search of truth, he reflected and meditated, realizing the inevitability of putting up with the obligatory moments in life. As a result, he found the meaning of existence of everything that surrounds us, and, as Buddhists say, he became enlightened, therefore he was called Buddha.

The truth about the fate of man, found in the depths of his consciousness, Buddha began to share with others - this is how the sacred book Tipitaka arose.

It lists all the main religious ideas of Buddhism:

suffering in life is inevitable; to get rid of them, you need to renounce earthly desires, striving to achieve nirvana - the highest state of the soul;
a person himself determines his future destiny by his actions, being reborn in another life into a new living being, who you will be later depends on how you behave in this life;
good behavior is kindness and the ability to have compassion for others;
the right path in life is honesty;
correct speech is the absence of lies;
the correct action is not to harm anything living, not to steal and not to have bad habits;
proper training is the understanding that anything can be achieved if you put in the effort.

Today, Buddhism is supported by more than 500 million people in different countries.

Buddhists in Asia, the Far East, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Cambodia devote all their free time to meditation in monasteries, trying to achieve this highest state and free themselves from the shackles of life.

The Buddhist headquarters is located in Bangkok. Representatives of this religion choose divine statues as shrines, to which they lay flowers.

Cultural scientists believe that without understanding Buddhism, it is impossible to understand the great culture of the eastern peoples of India, China, Tibet and Mongolia. Buddhism is also present in Russia; you can communicate with its fans in Kalmykia or Buryatia.

This is interesting! The name of the Buddhist canons "Tipitaka" means "triple basket", which is usually interpreted as "three baskets of the law." Scientists believe that perhaps the sacred texts of the rules, written in ancient times on palm leaves, were kept in wicker baskets.