“A Glimpse at Parenting Toward the Kingdom: a Companion Guide” by Kendra Hunter, Kristina Tartara, Stephanie Petrides, and Dr. Philip Mamalakis

Ancient Faith Publishing’s Parenting Toward the Kingdom: a Companion Guide is aptly named. It is both a companion and a guide to parents whose aim is to help their children toward the Kingdom of God. Intended as a study guide to be used alongside Dr. Philip Mamalakis’ well-received book Parenting Toward the Kingdom (read our 2017 review, https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/gleanings-from-a-book-parenting-toward-the-kingdom-by-dr-philip-mamalakis/), this spiral bound book both supports and extends the original book while also personalizing it for each reader. This companion guide was written by a team, Kendra Hunter, Kristina Tartara, and Stephanie Petrides (who each led a parenting group in their parish, discussing the original book), along with Dr. Philip Mamalakis. Their investment in the project is evident through the insights in the companion guide.

The guide is set up in 10 sessions, each focusing on one or more chapters of the original book. (The authors suggest that it may take more than one group gathering to do justice to one “session” in the guide, so discussion groups should be open to some flexibility in extending their session discussions as needed.) There’s a prayer to open each session that includes a different part of the “Akathist to the Mother of God: Nurturer of Children” each time. Following the opening prayer, there are eight different segments in every session that open the discussion. These include additional insights from Dr. Mamalakis. They also incorporate individual experiences, allow parents to reflect on their past actions, encourage individualized practice, help parents set goals for future actions, and briefly review the session’s learnings. There is ample room for readers to write down their own insights, ideas, and goals in the guide’s pages. Each session’s pages are sprinkled with relevant quotes from the original book.

Parenting Toward the Kingdom: a Companion Guide offers a practical way for parents to take a close look at their parenting, consider how to apply the principles in the original book within the context of their own home, and set themselves up for growth in parenting their children toward the Kingdom of God. The book is intended to be used in a group setting, so that parents can bounce ideas off each other and support each other in their ups and downs. In order to get the best benefit from this book, the reader will have to invest time and thought into each session. This companion guide will enable parents who make that investment to become better parents, and better lead their children towards the Kingdom of God.

Purchase your copy of Parenting Toward the Kingdom: a Companion Guide at https://store.ancientfaith.com/parenting-toward-the-kingdom-a-companion-guide/ 

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Education Ministry thanks Ancient Faith Publishing for providing a copy of this book for us to review and share.   

Reviewed by Kristina Wenger, educator, podcaster, co-author of Tending the Garden of Our Hearts.  

After reading the 2017 review of Parenting Toward the Kingdom (https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/02/08/gleanings-from-a-book-parenting-toward-the-kingdom-by-dr-philip-mamalakis/), and learning that there are six principles of child rearing which the Mamalakis family follows, you may wish to explore some or all of those principles a little deeper. We have linked our shorts posts for each principle below. May God help (and forgive!) all of us as we parent, grandparent, godparent, and otherwise raise His children towards His Kingdom!

1. Always parent with the end in mind. https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/09/13/on-orthodox-christian-principles-of-child-rearing-principle-1-always-parent-with-the-end-in-mind/
2. Respond, don’t react. https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/on-orthodox-christian-principles-of-child-rearing-principle-2-respond-dont-react/
3. Understand struggles in terms of the values and the virtues of the Kingdom of God. https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/on-orthodox-christian-principles-of-child-rearing-principle-3-understand-struggles-in-terms-of-the-values-and-the-virtues-of-the-kingdom-of-god/
4. Separate feelings from behaviors. https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/11/01/on-orthodox-christian-principles-of-child-rearing-principle-4-separate-feelings-from-behaviors/
5. Teach the joy of obedience. https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/on-orthodox-christian-principles-of-child-rearing-principle-5-teach-the-joy-of-obedience/
6. Teach the joy of repentance. https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/on-orthodox-christian-principles-of-child-rearing-principle-6-teach-the-joy-of-repentance/

“Come, Stay, Fetch” by Summer Kinard, Illustrated by Kathryn Tussing

If you were a dog in the time of Christ, what would His life and ministry look like to you? What would you hear Him say? How would you respond? Park End Books’ new board book offers its readers the chance to consider these questions, and see for themselves. Come, Stay, Fetch, written by Summer Kinard, and illustrated by Kathryn Tussing draws its readers into the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ through simple commands that dogs are trained to recognize. 

Each page or spread features a dog, observing Christ and those around Him, in a particular moment of His ministry, His death, or His resurrection. A single command graces the image, along with at least one scriptural reference related to it. Summer Kinard’s distillation of such important moments in Christ’s time on earth into simple commands is at once soothing and brilliant. The reader understands that the Gospel is simple, that it can be communicated in basic language, even though it is simultaneously unfathomable because of the depth of God’s love for humanity.

Kathryn Tussing’s simple but engaging illustrations draw the reader to consider the dog’s perspective on the moment; especially since they are done in a color scheme that dogs can see! The hues may seem subdued to human eyes, but they allow a truly canine perspective of these moments in Christ’s earthly life. And what an experience it is, to look with a dog’s eyes! Every moment is an adventure, from the eagerness in the dog’s eyes when Christ says, “Come!” as He invites all to follow Him; to the struggle on the dog’s face when Christ says, “Wait” in Gethsemane; to the ears-flopping-full-gallop at the joy of hearing the angel say, “Fetch!” at the resurrection.

Naturally, dog lovers will enjoy this book’s perspective. But any family who wants to learn more about Christ, or any teachers wishing to engage their class in the Gospels in a slightly different way will find this book to be a beautiful opportunity to do just that. The reader will be driven to scripture, in order to read all of the passages related to each picture/command, and they will see for themselves the beauty of the different Gospel writers’ accounts; then draw their own conclusions of how the command relates to that moment in time.

Readers will step away from this sweet board book grateful that “even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table” (Matthew 15:27). Christ’s earthly life not only brought hope and healing to those around Him at the time. He also commands those of us who have come into being, since, to follow Him. And in His great mercy He heals and saves us, too. All we need to do is “Come!”, “Stay!”, and “Fetch!” 

Purchase your own copy of Come, Stay, Fetch by Summer Kinard, Illustrated by Kathryn Tussing at https://parkendbooks.com/shop/come-stay-fetch-the-gospel-according-to-dogs/

Note: thanks to Park End Books for sending us a copy of Come, Stay, Fetch so that we could read it and write this review.

Reviewed for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Education Ministry by Kristina Wenger, educator, podcaster, co-author of Tending the Garden of Our Heart.

A Glimpse at the Book “Nine Deer & Me” by Melinda Johnson

If an angel appeared before you, and told you to begin a journey to your true home, what would you do? This very thing happened to Saint Abigail, many years ago. “Nine Deer & Me” tells her story. 

Author and mother Melinda Johnson has given young Orthodox children yet another beautiful picture book to enhance their library. “Nine Deer and Me“ is a counting board book. But it is no ordinary counting book: this book encourages children to practice their counting in the context of a beautiful recounting of Saint Abigail‘s journey. 

Illustrator Amandine Wanert brings Saint Abigail to life in her simple, but eye-catching, drawings. Each scene includes items that readers can count each time they read.  Wanert’s playful use of lines and light enhance the charm of the animals and characters found in the book.

Readers will be encouraged by Saint Abigail’s diligence in following the angel’s directions. They will rejoice with Abigail to see how God provides for her along the way! And readers can count on being challenged to follow God‘s instructions in their own life.

Reviewed by Kristina Wenger, educator, podcaster, co-author of Tending the Garden of Our Hearts

Purchase your own copy of the book here: https://store.ancientfaith.com/nine-deer-and-me/

Learning About a Saint: St. Artemius of Verkova (June 23/July 6 and October 20/Nov. 2)

In 1532, Cosmas “The Lesser” and his wife Apollinaria, pious peasants in the Russian village of Dvina Verkola, had a son. They named him Artemius. Cosmas and Apollinaria raised their son to love and honor God with his life. Even from an early age, Artemius lived a virtuous Christian life. Some sources say that by the time he was five, Artemius didn’t want to do what other kids his age did. Instead, he loved to work and tried to help his parents however he could with the household chores. He happily obeyed his parents, and any free time he had left when chores were finished, he spent in church. If he couldn’t be in church, he’d sneak away to where no one could see him, and pray.

One day, when he was twelve, Artemius and Cosmas were working together on their farm work. They were out tilling their fields when a thunderstorm suddenly appeared overhead. Artemius couldn’t even run for cover before a lightning bolt struck him and killed him. It was June 23, 1545.

At that time, many people in the region were superstitious, and they believed that a sudden death like Artemius’ was a terrible thing. They thought that he died suddenly because God was judging Artemius for something bad that he had done. Because of this, the people wouldn’t bury him or even give him a proper funeral! Instead, his body was taken to a meadow, where a wooden shell was placed over it, and a fence was built around it.

Thirty-two years later, a deacon named Agafonik was out gathering berries when he saw a bright light shining right up into the air. As Agafonik came closer to the light, he saw the body of Artemius, covered with tree branches, lying in a clearing. The light was shining up into the air right above the boy’s body. The body was incorrupt – he had not decayed at all – in fact it looked to Agafonik like he was just sleeping there! The deacon ran to get the priest and the other villagers. Because his body was incorrupt after all of those years, the whole village knew that Artemius was very holy, so they brought his body back to the courtyard in front of St. Nicholas’ church. They placed it in a coffin covered in birch bark, and kept it in the courtyard of the church.

At that time, there was a terrible flu that was going through the village of Verkola, and many people were dying from it. One man, Kallinik, had a son who had this flu. Kallinik was afraid that his son would also die. He went to the church of St. Nicholas and prayed. He begged Christ to heal his son. He also asked the Theotokos, St. Nicholas, and even Artemius to pray for his son. Then he took a piece of birch bark from Artemius’ coffin back to his home, and placed it on his son’s chest. His son was immediately healed! Kallinik told others in the village what happened. Other villagers who took pieces of the bark from Artemius’ coffin to the sick people in their homes found that their loved ones were all healed, as well!

In the years since his incorrupt body was discovered, there have been other times when St.Artemius has healed people. Sometimes he appears to the people that he heals, and talks with them. For example, once there was a man from Kholmogor named Hilarion who went blind. He was very sad and didn’t feel like doing anything anymore because he couldn’t see. But on the feast of St. Nicholas, St. Artemius came to him. Artemius was holding a staff in his left hand and a cross in his right hand, and he told Hilarion, “Arise, Christ heals you by the hand of His servant Artemius. Go to Verkola, bow down before his coffin, and relate everything to the priest and the peasants.” As soon as St. Artemius finished speaking, Hilarion could see again!

In 1584, people who were grateful for St. Artemius’ help and prayers built a side chapel for him. They moved his body into that chapel from the courtyard where it had been ever since it was found. Years later, St. Artemius healed a military commander’s son. The commander was so thankful that he built a whole church dedicated to the saint! In 1619, St. Artemius’ relics were moved to that church. The church burned down thirty years later, but St. Artemius’ relics were found.

In 1648, more than a hundred years after Artemius died, Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich of Russia ordered that a monastery was built and named for St. Artemius, and placed under his protection. His relics were taken to the monastery with his name so that people could continue to venerate them and ask for his prayers. Over the centuries many miracles were attributed to these relics by people who have approached them with true faith in Christ. Besides healing people from illnesses and blindness, God has also healed lame and deaf people through the prayers of St. Artemius. He has interceded for men and women, old people and young people; and there are so many miracles that God has worked through this saint that one source said it would be impossible to write them all down. Glory to God for His work through this holy child saint!

In the summer of 1918, as the Bolsheviks began to terribly persecute the Orthodox Christian Church, St. Artemius’ relics were among those that were destroyed. Even though his earthly relics have been destroyed, we know that this holy saint is still alive with God, and that he continues to pray for those who ask him to do so! And he has not stopped appearing to people in visions.

An American iconographer, Philip Zimmerman, who was living near Johnstown, PA, had a waking vision of a child saint. The child saint asked him to “paint what he saw for the children at the Village.” Mr. Zimmerman pondered the vision and prayed about it, and finally about 5 years later, he painted what he had seen, the holy saint Artemius. After that, St. Artemius appeared to Mr. Zimmerman additional times, confirming what he had seen in the dream about the saint’s hagiography. At that time, Fr. John Namie was directing Antiochian Village. He coordinated the selection of a site and the building of a rock shrine for the icon on that site. The icon stands there in its shrine to this day, to the right of the entrance to the St. Ignatius Church, in the midst of Antiochian Village Camp. St. Artemius’ shrine stands watch over the huge fields of Antiochian Village, even as the saint watches over – and prays for – the children and adults who spend time there.

 

Through the prayers of St. Artemius the Righteous Child Wonderworker, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

 

Here are some related links and discussion ideas that may be helpful  to your family as you learn about St. Artemius:

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This blog shares St. Artemius of Verkova’s story in detail, and includes several icons of him. https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2010/10/saint-artemius-of-verkola-righteous.html

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St. Artemius has a lot to teach Orthodox Christians of all ages about being faithful to God in all that we do!

Parents: what are we doing to live Godly, obedient lives? Do we run to help others or to go to Church, or to pray whenever possible, as St. Artemius did? Are we raising our children in godliness and modeling the faith for them?

Children: what are you doing to show your love for God? Do you obey your parents and try to help them with as many chores as you can, like St. Artemius did? Do you love to be in Church and to pray more than you love to play with your friends?

None of us is St. Artemius, so probably we have a lot of work to do in these areas, in order to become like him. We can’t change our hearts all at once, but we can BEGIN to change to be more godly. We can start  with small steps. For example, whenever there’s a thunderstorm, perhaps we can let it remind us of St. Artemius’ faithfulness to God. When we remember his example of godliness, we can ask him to pray for us that we will grow to be holy and faithful, too.

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Your family can learn St. Artemius’ troparion and chant it together on one of his commemoration days. Or maybe you’ll want to sing it whenever there’s a thunderstorm!

Troparion (tone 2)

By the command of the Most High, the sky was darkened with rain clouds,

lightning flashed, threat’ning thunder clashed,

and you gave up your soul into the hands of the Lord, O Artemius most wise.

Now as you stand before the Throne of the Lord of All,

you grant healing unfailingly to those who come to you with faith and love,

and you pray to Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

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Together as a family, you can listen to St. Artemius’ story in Ancient Faith Radio’s podcast, “Tending the Garden of our Hearts”: https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/tendingthegarden/st_artemius

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What other wonderworking saints does your family know? Find a list of saints that are known to help by praying for specific needs here: http://www.saintbarbara.org/growing_in_christ/praying_to_the_saints

Can you find St. Artemius of Verkova in the list?

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Iconographer Philip Zimmerman is still writing icons, and he even leads iconography classes! Check out his website here: https://www.philzicons.com/

 

On Pursuing Virtue: Obedience

Author’s note: We have written about virtues before (see https://orthodoxchristianparenting.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/on-pursuing-the-virtues-an-introduction/), and now we are continuing the series. There are so very many virtues for us to acquire! Fr. Thomas Hopko’s book “The Orthodox Faith, Volume 4, Spirituality,” offers additional virtues, some of which we will now study. May the Lord have mercy on us and grant us grace as we learn to better walk in His ways!

Fr. Thomas Hopko’s chapter on obedience helps us understand how important the virtue of obedience is to an Orthodox Christian:

In the Orthodox spiritual tradition, obedience is a basic virtue: obedience to the Lord, to the Gospel, to the Church (Mt 18.17), to the leaders of the Church (Heb 13.7), to one’s parents and elders, to “every ordinance of man” (1 Pet 2.13, Rom 13.1), “to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 6.21). There is no spiritual life without obedience, no freedom or liberation from sinful passions and lusts. To submit to God’s discipline in all of its human forms, is the only way to obtain “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rom 8.21). God disciplines us as His children out of His great love for us. “He disciplines us for our good, that we might share His holiness” (cf. Heb 12.3–11). Our obedience to God’s commandments and discipline is the exclusive sign of our love for Him and His Son.

Our Lord was the ultimate example for us of what obedience looks like. His obedience was a marker of His humility, according to Fr. Thomas, who points to St. Paul’s discussion of Christ’s humility in Phil. 2:8. St. Paul explains that, in His humility, Jesus was obedient to His Father to death, “even death on a cross.” Our Lord obeyed God in everything that He did.

Fr. Thomas goes on to talk about the fact that there is no shame or demeaning in obeying God. Rather, doing God’s will is actually glory and life for whoever does it! Obedience is our greatest joy, and the way that we achieve the highest dignity. It is the way of perfection for everyone, even for Jesus Himself.

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered, and being made perfect He became the source of salvation to all who obey Him (Heb 5.8–9).

Disobeying God is the source of all sin, according to Fr. Thomas. When we refuse to submit to God, sorrow and death are the result.

St. John’s gospel records for us the words of Christ, who here tells us how important it is for us to obey God:

He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.… If a man loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and we will come and make our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. (Jn 14.21–24).

May we all grow in the virtue of obedience, and thereby love God as we should!

Find Fr. Thomas Hopko’s discussions of the virtues here: https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-virtues 

Here are some scriptures, quotes from saints, and quotes from Orthodox resources that can help us as we work on attaining the virtue of obedience in our own life:
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“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 28:1)
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“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
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“…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
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“Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.” (Philemon 1:21)
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“…Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)
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“The grace of the Holy Spirit which is given mystically to every Christian when he is baptized acts and is manifested in proportion to our obedience to the commandments of the Lord. That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments of the Lord more, grace acts with him more, while if he obeys them less, grace acts within him less. Just as a spark, when covered in the ashes of fire becomes increasingly manifest as one removes the ashes, and the more firewood you put the more the fire burns, so the grace that has been given to every Christian through Holy Baptism is hidden in the heart and covered up by the passions and sins, and the more a man acts in accordance with the commandments of Christ, the more he is cleansed of the passions and the more the fire of Divine grace lights in his heart, illumines and deifies him.” ~ St. Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain
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“One should not oppose authorities who act for good, so as not to sin before God and be subjected to His just chastisement: ‘Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves’ (Romans 13:2).” ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov
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“The truly intelligent man pursues one sole objective: to obey and conform to the God of all. With this single aim in view, he disciplines his soul, and whatever he may encounter in the course of his life, he gives thanks to God for the compass and depth of His providential ordering of all things.
For it is absurd to be grateful to doctors who give us bitter and unpleasant medicines to cure our bodies, and yet to be ungrateful to God for what appears to us to be harsh, not grasping that all we encounter is for our benefit and in accordance with His providence. For knowledge of God and faith in Him is the salvation and perfection of the soul.” ~ St. Anthony the Great
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“I can’t give you an example of what real obedience is. It’s not that we have a discussion about the virtue of obedience and then I say “go and do a somersault,” and you obey. That’s not obedience. You need to be entirely carefree and not thinking at all about the matter of obedience, and then suddenly you are asked to do something and you are ready to do it joyfully.” ~ St. Porphyrios
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“…obedience is the medicine compounded of virtues, giving life to those who drink it, and the knife which, with one cut, cleans festering wounds. A man who, in faith and simplicity, has chosen to wield this knife, at once cuts off all passions, more completely than anyone…” ~ St. Gregory of Sinai
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“He who wishes to tear up the account of his sins and to be inscribed in the Divine book of the saved, can find for this purpose no better means than obedience.” ~ Sts. Callistus & Ignatius
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“At its heart, obedience is not the destruction of the will, or simply “doing what you are told.” Obedience requires a union of trust with God in which we recognize that the direction of our life is a gift rather than a choice of our own devising. It is a movement of the heart towards God rather than an assertion of the self. This, however, cannot be coerced. There is no obedience with coercion.” ~ Fr. Stephen Freeman, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2014/01/15/obedience-and-the-modern-world/
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“Being obedient means learning to make choices that foster freedom, love and joy not simply in my life but yours as well. It isn’t so much a matter of my being obedient to you (or the other way around) but our being obedient together to God Who is the source of all good things. Obedience, in other words, is mutual; what we do together and not what I do alone.” ~ from http://orthochristian.com/91304.html