Christian education begins at birth. Initiation into church life is important for the development of a little Christian, but it is even more important to read books that are correct in the Orthodox sense. In the literature of this kind, children's Christian stories play an important role.

It is much easier to develop good qualities in children using the example of stories, stories and poems of the Orthodox persuasion. Such literature awakens the best feelings, teaches kindness, forgiveness, love, strengthens faith and hope, helps not to become discouraged, sort out one's feelings, behave correctly with peers, and more. Books in which children's Christian stories are printed should be in every family where there are children. Such works are written by both domestic and foreign authors, among whom there are ordinary people, priests and even monks.

Tales of goodness that conquers all

One of the most striking in order to encourage a child to do good deeds are stories of this kind. Here, for example, is a story called "The Little Lamp" by John Paton. It tells about a little girl who does not go to school yet, but, without knowing it herself, does a very necessary and good deed, visiting her old grandmother. Lena (that was the name of the baby) even asked her mother what she was doing, why the elderly woman rejoices, calling the baby a ray of sunshine and her consolation.

Mom explained to her daughter how important the presence of a girl is for an old grandmother, because she feels so lonely, and Lena consoles her with just her appearance. The little girl learned that her little good deed was like a candle, from which a huge torch was lit on a lighthouse that showed the way to ships in the darkness. And without this spark, there simply would not be a big flame. So the good deeds of every person, child, no matter how inconspicuous they may be, are simply necessary in this world and are pleasing to the Lord.

Short stories for the little ones

O. Yasinskaya wrote short Christian instructive stories for kids. They have everything that the Orthodox need. One of the stories called "The Secret" from the collection "The Little Christian Woman" teaches to be compliant, selfless, to do something pleasant and kind to another, to always be ready to help. In a story about two sisters, the secret of a happy life according to Christian laws is hidden. And nothing else is needed in the relationship between people for a peaceful and embraced by love and understanding of life.

And the story “What the bees teach us” shows by their example how children should love their parents and take care of them, especially if illness or old age limits their strength. After all, this is the commandment of the Lord "Honor your father and your mother." She must always be remembered.

Christian poems, stories

In addition to instructive stories for children, there are many poems and riddles written for a small Orthodox Christian. For example, Marina Tikhonova writes not only Christian stories, but also poems and riddles. Her collection "Orthodox Poems for Children" is permeated with happiness family life, goodness and light. The collection includes several poems, riddles about God and everything connected with Him, and the story "At the Christmas Tree." It tells about a family who decorates the Christmas tree with a garland, toys, rain and a star before the holiday. Parents explain to children what Christmas means and New Year, holiday tree, decorations on it. The whole family thanks the Lord for the wonderful gifts each has received. The story evokes such strong emotions and feelings that you want to take decorations yourself, hang them on the Christmas tree and thank God for everything, like the heroes of history.

Where did I come from?

Perhaps this is the most embarrassing question for parents from a grown son or daughter. But the kids keep asking about everything. Christian stories will help the little listener find an answer to this question, and his mom and dad will be told what to say in such cases. The story about the boy Mitya, which is called "The Very First Dad", was written by Andrey Ermolenko. This story contains a hint to parents and an explanation to the child about who the Heavenly Father is, where children come from. Very touching and instructive story. Everyone with children should read it.

Athos for a child's heart

This is the name of the book written by the monk Simeon Athos. In fact, all Christian stories are a kind of sacred Mount Athos, which destroys pagan temples in every heart, building a fortress of the truth of God, strengthening faith, spirit, nourishing all the best that is in a child or adult.

With his stories, the monk unobtrusively introduces the children to the common truths of the Lord. At the end of each story is the conclusion that follows from it. The stories are all small, even the smallest Christian can easily listen to them to the end. The book teaches children (and parents too) humility, faith in God, goodness, love for the Lord, see miracles in the usual, draw conclusions from everything that happened, think first of all about others, judge yourself for your mistakes, do not try to blame others for something, not to be proud, to be brave in deeds, not in words. In addition, the book teaches that sometimes misfortune also brings good, and a simple life is already happiness. To find the Kingdom of Heaven, you need to work hard. for the sake of real love you have to give everything, and then Heaven will be closer. This is what a monk teaches.

And in this light, the strength and depth of Children's Love is revealed - here it is, the wisdom of God, because a child loves not for something. It is not easy to save a child's heart, but it is precisely such people who are saved. The monk teaches not only kids, his Christian stories, stories - and science to adults.

It would be useful to read the work "On the Frog and Wealth." The main idea of ​​the story is this: if you want to take, you will live an earthly life, and if spiritual life is to your heart, learn to give. The monk of Athos wrote many more wisdoms in the form of instructive and interesting stories. This book is useful to everyone who has set foot on the righteous path.

Christian stories are needed at every age as a help on the path to God. When reading to a child, parents themselves draw light and kindness, which helps them to go the right way and lead their children. May God be in every heart!

In this section you will find Orthodox stories and fairy tales that tell about eternal values. Most of the stories are events that took place in real life with true believers or non-believers.

IN modern world there is so much different literature that it is easy for an ordinary person to get lost in this sea of ​​idle talk and strange morality. People (and children in particular) are taught to love only themselves, cater to their interests and strive for global goals. But is it really that important? Does this make a person truly happy?

Orthodox story for children

When I was little, my grandmother often took me to church. On Sunday we got up early in the morning, cut fresh flowers in a flower bed, filled a basket with fruit from our garden, and walked along a long slanting street that led straight to the church fence. Upon entering the Church, the grandmother first of all laid food out of the basket on the memorial table, then placed the flowers in one of the large vases in front of some icon and took her usual place in front of Nikolushka the Wonderworker.

I was near her, and if I got tired, I sat down with the other guys on the bottom step of the stairs leading to the upper choir. At first glance, nothing clouded the cloudless picture of my quivering and at the same time carefree churching. But this is only for the first. In fact, I was terribly afraid. And this fear literally permeated my entire childish nature. And, I must say that my parents, unlike my grandmother, were people who did not believe in the slightest. Once, on Easter, we traditionally came to my grandmother, and my mother decided to sweep the yard. I was then, no more than four years old. So, granny (whom I love immensely, respect and consider the wisest woman in the world) told my mother such a story. It was in the Soviet years. One mother went to work in the field for Easter. And she locked her children (I don’t even remember how many there were) at home. While the mother was in the field, there was a strong fire, and her children burned out. All this happened because working on such a big holiday is a terrible sin. Here God punished the negligent mother.

I remember how when I heard my grandmother's story, I almost fainted from fear. After all, I already knew then that our Lord is Omniscient, which means that He sees all our deeds and thoughts, good and evil, and even the tiniest, at first glance, insignificant pranks. Mom, of course, did not pay any attention to this story, but I began to fear God. And this fear grew stronger the closer we came into contact with Him. For example, looking at the icons that hung in my grandmother's house, I unconsciously began to lower my eyes, remembering the candy I had eaten before dinner, or how I shot the cat Barsik with grapes. It was especially bad for me in the Church. The other guys whispered, giggled softly and joyfully set fragrant wax candles in their places. But I did everything precisely and dryly, fearing a terrible unknown punishment that could catch me locked up at home, just like the children of that unfortunate woman.

From the outside, everyone considered me a very conscious and responsible boy. I was often entrusted with various important tasks. For example, to transfer notes to the altar, to give the priest a censer, to go to the kitchen for prosphora. Once I get up with a tray full of freshly baked prosphora along the sills, and suddenly the side door of the temple opens and some tomboy comes flying at me from all over. I didn’t even know his name, because I had only seen him a couple of times in the service. I mean flying down, and the tray with prosphora also flies. Separately, of course. A tomboy, no, to help me. As if nothing had happened, it turns around - and remember your name.

I am sitting on the ground. I am hurt and hurt, and most of all scared. It's one thing to steal sweets before dinner, and quite another to spoil the prosphora. And then it was summer, the weather was dry. The prosphora fell to the ground and did not get dirty at all. That is, put it back on a tray - no one will know. I would like to call someone, yes to confess. But instead, for some reason, I put the prosphora on a tray and brought it to the Church.

In fact, this incident remained unnoticed by anyone. The service ended, the people dismantled the prosphora and dispersed. Grandma and I also went home.

Here I am walking along the road and I am so scared that at least lie down and die. Heavenly punishment seems to be all around. And when they came home - in general: the roof falls on me, and food rises across the throat, and various deadly diseases manifest themselves. I wanted to tell my grandmother about everything. But it's a shame. Somehow he survived the night, and in the morning he asked to go for a walk and ran to the Church. I was then only in my seventh year, so I had not yet been invited to confession, otherwise I would have repented according to the form.

So I run to the Church. Monday morning. Of course, there is no priest. There is only a grandmother by candlelight. And father Evgeny, our rural father, lived right there in the house at the Church. I speak:
- Oh, I can't, I'm dying. Call me dad.

The old woman grumbled that, they say, it was useless to distract the priest from his work, but she called him anyway.

Here comes Father Eugene. He took me with him to a small room - a library. He sits on a chair and listens. And I'm already hysterical, tears from my eyes in three streams. I say:
I don't want to die young!

Father, strictly:
“Even though you are not yet seven years old, child, you need to repent.
Well, I repented. He told me all about the prosphora, and added that I was terribly afraid of God and did not want to burn like that aunt's children.

Father Eugene became serious. He asked me in detail who told me such a horror story, and then he explains:
“If our God punished everyone like this, both believers and non-believers, there would be no people left on Earth at all. Just imagine, they tell you that in the yard of such and such a house there is an evil dog that is ready to tear everyone to shreds. What will you do?

I replied without hesitation:
“Of course I will never go to that yard.
- And if they tell you that this dog can only attack one person. That is, for example, one will be torn apart, but the others will not be touched.
“I won’t go anyway,” I insisted. Who wants to be torn apart by a dog?

Father Eugene smiled:
“You know, I probably wouldn’t have gone to that dog either. - he paused, and then continued, - But our Lord, in the same way, knowing that He would be betrayed by inhuman torments, without hesitation went to his cross. Both for the good and for the bad. For the sake of all the people in the world, most of whom never believed in Him.

I thought:
- It turns out that He was very sorry for all of them?
- It turns out that way. Now tell me, can He who is capable of such boundless pity for people do something bad to them?

I almost burst into tears again. ( I am writing this now and I think what a roar-brown I was in my incomplete seven years!) I felt so sick because I was afraid of God for so long. But He, for the sake of everyone and for the sake of me, endured His sufferings. This means that He is not evil at all, but on the contrary, He is very kind, the kindest in the world.

And from that day on, my young life changed dramatically. No, I did not start having fun in the Church with other guys and commit other pranks with impunity. I was still restrained in my actions and thoughts. Only now I was afraid not because I could receive some unknown punishment there. I was just very afraid of offending my dear and loving God.

Orthodox story READ online

Tolik had been to the Church before. On Easter, for example, or on Epiphany, when they dived together with the boys into the hole, in front of the admiring girls. But, just like that, without the herd mind - never. “And why go there at all, to this Church?” thought Tolik. Until that day, until the most difficult, most unpassable and not automatic exam happened to him. Technique and technology of industrial production (TTPP). And this is for a freshman, who also has a mustache that doesn’t grow normally!

But, as they say, you can't go against the program. And it was then that Tolik decided, out of his own need, to go to the Church for the first time. What exactly to do and how, he did not know exactly. But he understood one thing - if this does not help, his deeds are bad.

TTPP, even with a very strong desire, Tolik would not be able to learn. It seemed that all the circumstances from the first to the last minute of his stay at the university developed in such a way as to push him against this already difficult subject, to put him on opposite sides of the barricade. First, Tolik was called to meetings of student activists, which for some reason were held during school hours and precisely at the TTPP classes. Then the meetings seemed to stop, but other urgent matters came up: once he moved the furniture from the classroom being repaired, another time he took an urgent envelope from the dean's office to the post office, the third time he took someone to the first-aid post. And then, realizing his complete ignorance in matters related to the smelting of iron and steel, as well as the principles of operation of dairy and meat plants, the obliging Tolik finally despaired and began to voluntarily, on legal grounds, look for reasons to skip a difficult subject.

And now, having been unofficially blacklisted by the gray-haired professor Tomushev, who was famous throughout the university for his steadfastness, Tolik stood in front of the church porch, pondering how they are fed in the current army and what prospects open up for an economic geographer - a dropout.

He entered a low, dark church. From the outside, it seemed like a tiny house, accidentally hidden among the giants pressing on it from four sides - high-rise buildings. And inside, it was just a little more than a matchbox. To the left of the entrance stood a tray with candles and a basket for money, two steps later, some kind of icon lay on a high stand, two more steps later, the Church ended with a yellow candlestick on which several candles burned.

Of course, one can say that there is nothing complicated in church rituals. He crossed himself, bowed, put a candle, asked Whom he needed, and the deed was done. It's all the same when you're next to me knowledgeable people, or at least grannies, eternal residents here. They do - you do, they stand for endlessly long church ceremonies - you leave. Because they have nowhere to hurry. You have your whole life ahead of you, so much to do. It's another matter when there is no one in the Church besides you... No one at all.

Tolik embarrassedly stretched out his hand for a candle, but immediately pulled it back, took money out of his pocket, had already put it in, but then, after thinking, put the money back in his pocket and took out another, more weighty one. Somehow the serious issue is resolved.
Then he took two steps, clumsily placed the candle on the candlestick, crossed himself in a sweeping manner, closed his eyes, and wished with all his might to pass the exam. ( No wonder they say - thought is material!)

On this, his ritual could be considered finished. Tolik turned around and was about to leave the Church, when suddenly, from behind the central wall, in which a small inconspicuous door was formed, a young priest slipped out, dressed in uniform with a heavy cross on his chest. He looked a little bigger than Tolik, and this strange vision made the first-year student freeze in place, in a stupid stupor. Probably, it was worth saying something, because the Church was so small that young people would definitely not be able to disperse in different directions without hitting each other. But how to address a stranger? To an elderly, wise, gray-haired priest is one thing. I think they are called holy fathers? Or, pops. No, priests are rude. And here's how...

The priest smiled kindly. Tolik smiled back. Somehow, carefully slipping to the candlestick, without even hitting the standing one, the priest began to extinguish the small dying candles and put them in a box. Tolik already wanted to go out into the street in silence, but fear and thoughts about the upcoming exam made him open his mouth. It turned out kind of stupid:
Excuse me, do you work here?
“I serve,” the priest replied, wiping the candlestick with a gray rag.
Probably new? Tolik continued. He himself heard all the absurdity of what was said, but he could not stop.
“You could say that,” the priest smiled. - Fifth year of seminary. That's determined so far for this parish.
“Ahhh,” Tolya muttered. - You look younger.
“I am often told about this,” the priest turned around and looked him intently in the eyes. – Exams? he asked, as if guessing Tolya's thoughts.
- Yeah.
— Yes, I also have my last session in a month. I don't even believe it.
“So you have exams there, too?” Tolik asked with interest.
Everything is like in a normal university. Only the items are different. But there are also secular ones - the Russian language, for example, philosophy, physical education.

Tolik began to ask the priest many different questions. Never before had he seen someone live who studied in a seminary and was a priest at the same time. After some time, Father Vadim (that was the name of the stranger) asked Tolik:
“Did you just come by, or for some specific problem?”
Actually, I do have a problem. Serious. I probably won't pass one exam. He is very difficult. And then they will take me into the army. And my study was covered with a copper basin. Parents will be upset, it's scary to even think about it.
- Have you prepared for the exam? – the priest-seminarian asked Tolik.
“Preparing,” he admitted honestly. And he added - read one ticket.
- One of one? Father Vadim chuckled.
“One of fifty-five,” Tolik sighed, and his cheeks flushed. - No, actually I’m not a loser, I didn’t have triples in my school certificate. It just all came together so badly. At first I wanted to cram to the last, and then I despaired and read only one ticket.
“Desperation is a serious sin,” the priest told him. - You probably didn't know?
“I didn’t know,” Tolik answered frankly.
“Well, that’s okay,” Father Vadim encouraged him. - The main thing is that such practices should not become a habit. And once, as they say, you can beg.
- Like this?
- Very simple. Our Lord is merciful. It is not for nothing that they say - the teaching is light. Now you pray here and ask Him for help. Just be sincere and promise that you will never again be so dismissive of your studies.
- And what will work? Tolik asked in surprise.
“If you sincerely ask, it will definitely work,” the priest confirmed. “Come and see me sometime later, I’ll tell you such stories from my seminary life after the service – you won’t believe it.”
After that, Father Vadim left, but Tolik remained and wholeheartedly asked God to help him pass this difficult exam.

The next day, at exactly half past eight in the morning, Tolik, together with other classmates, entered the auditorium, where brand new, freshly printed tickets were laid out on a large table. Thinking that before death you still won’t breathe, Tolik decided to be the first to pull the ticket. The comrades did not object, and the gray-haired Tomushev only skeptically muttered something under his breath.

Tolik stretched out his hand, his fingers trembled, as if seized with a cramp, and picked up the light white ticket.
“Ticket number fifty-three,” Tolik began to read. And then the letters swam before his eyes. The ticket contained exactly the questions that he taught. It was almost impossible to believe in such luck. Barely able to stay on his feet, Tolik reached his seat, flopped down on a chair and tried for some time to recover. And then he took a pen and wrote all the answers.
On that day, he got four in the exam. Well, because you can't give five to someone who has skipped almost all discipline classes.

The very next Sunday, Tolik ran to the Church. He sniffed into a tiny wooden box, and stood alone until the very end of the service, listening to solo singing from nowhere. When it was all over, father Vadim again slipped out from behind an invisible door and smiled affably at Tolik, as if he were an old acquaintance:
- Well, student, how is the exam?
“It’s impossible to believe…” Tolik began.
- Did you give up? Father Vadim asked, completely unsurprised.
- Passed - passed! It works, but I did not even think ...
“Do you think if everyone knew that it worked, we wouldn’t have a queue here?” Well, here's a student, it happened for the first time, but for the future, study yourself. Don't tempt fate.
“I understand,” Tolik nodded. And I didn't understand at the same time. How did it all come about? After all, there were so many tickets.

Father Vadim looked at him, smiled once more and disappeared behind an inconspicuous door.
Some old woman approached Tolik:
“Milok, are you going to take a candle?” And I need to close the Church.
- How to close? Tolik asked. “And father, why did you come out the back door?”
— What else father? the old woman was surprised.
- Well, such a young one, father Vadim. Seminarian.
“There aren’t any here,” the old woman replied. - And there are no others. How many perishing ask determine on our parish priest. It would be nice to be young, but where can you get so many of them? Here I open it here on Sundays for three hours, so that if anyone wants to light a candle, pray ...

For the coming academic year, the applicant Anatoly Dolzhikov submitted his documents to the Theological Seminary. He had no doubt that it would be no easier to study there than in a secular university. But he just couldn't do it any other way.

Orthodox story for children READ

Sasha was already seven years old. Not that very much. But still, not a lot. Youth, after all, and this sounds solid, and responsibility. This year Sasha was going to enter the first grade. Mom took him to the nearest school in advance so that Sasha would be checked, so to speak, for professional suitability. Today, modern schools have become like universities. It has its own reception committee. If, for example, a child enters a school with an English bias, then even before learning, please know the alphabet, some words, and so on. But, Sasha, fortunately, he did not go to an English school. And there was none in their city.

But there was Margarita Semyonovna Berest, whom everyone from young to old was afraid of. To understand her character, it is enough just to find out that a special red corner was arranged in Margarita Semyonovna's apartment with portraits of Gogol, Pushkin, Dostoevsky and other luminaries of Russian literature. So, waking up in the morning, first of all, she went to this corner and asked her idols to give her strength to enlighten young fragile minds. Margarita Semyonovna did the same before going to bed.

It just so happened that it was in the year when Sasha was going to enter the first grade that Margarita Semyonovna was appointed head of the admissions department for schoolchildren. She talked for a long time and in detail with each future student, checked his knowledge, and at the same time the knowledge of his parents, and then distributed the children into classes - A, B, C or D.

Sasha and her mother entered a spacious office. Soft sunlight penetrated through a thin tulle curtain, glided over the desks, walls and the woman sitting at the teacher's table.

Those who entered greeted. Margarita Semyonovna pointed to the desk in front of her. They obediently sat down.
“Well, hello,” she said kindly. - How old are you, dear?
"Seven," Sasha replied timidly.
“It will be eight in November,” Mom added.

Margarita Semyonovna adjusted her glasses:
“Eight is serious. Well, let's not waste any time. Tell me, my friend, do you know the name of the great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin? - pronouncing the surname, she slightly raised her voice, as if trying to emphasize the significance of the voiced person.

Sasha nodded uncertainly. In fact, he knew Pushkin well, knew his fairy tales and even the poem “At the Lukomorye there is a green oak tree” by heart. He just felt a little uneasy right now.
“This is very good,” the woman said, and immediately took out a weighty volume from somewhere. - Let's start with the poem Ruslan and Lyudmila. Read the first page to me,” she handed Sasha a book.
“Excuse me,” my mother intervened timidly, “what is the program like now? It seems that in my time we read this poem in the fifth grade.
“Now is not your time. And not even mine,” Margarita Semyonovna remarked sharply, and Sasha’s tone made everything somehow go cold inside. He looked at the book and was silent, feeling the prickly gaze on him on the top of his head.
- Well, why are we here, will we sit until morning? - the teacher insisted.

Sasha swallowed the lump in his throat and whispered:
- I can't.
- What? asked Margarita Semyonovna. - I didn't hear it.
"I can't read," repeated the boy, without taking his eyes off the book.

Sitting next to my mother, her cheeks turned slightly pink. And, not at all because she paid little attention to her own child. No, Sasha read very hard with his mother, and with his grandmother, and even with his father when he returned from the flight. But the letters did not want to make friends with him. They seemed to be playing hide-and-seek, showing their true face only for a moment, in order to immediately hide, mingle in the crowd of their faceless brethren. And it's strange - Sasha did not show any other signs of developmental delay. From the point of view of modern medicine, he was perfectly healthy. To be honest, having lost her last hope, my mother really counted on the school. She thought that her son would come to class, and there he would meet a miracle teacher with many years of experience, and everything would somehow work out by itself.

Margarita Semyonovna got up and walked slowly up and down the room. It would probably be better if she said at least something. But she was silent, and this silence shook the air in a strange way.

Finally, she sat down in her seat.
- Yes, in the modern world, alas, other ideals. Today, TV and all these push-button devices are replacing us with something that can bring real joy. The boy is not to blame. The family is the institution that is primarily responsible for shaping young minds. In your case, I can only say one thing - if a child has not learned to read by the age of eight, the problem should not be voiced in a half-whisper. You need to shout about it with all your might. Unfortunately, in our city there is no such school that deals with problem children. I think you should contact the district center.
"Wait," said Mom. But, you have no reason...

Margarita Semyonovna did not let her finish.
Do you think I have no reason? Do you know that at one time I headed the regional commission for the selection of applicants for Moscow universities! Even the late governor turned to me for help in writing especially important documents. My word in the education of our city weighs much more than you can imagine.
“Please give us a chance,” Mom almost cried. The look on her face would make anyone's heart flutter. But not at Margarita Semyonovna's.
- And why haven't you used your chances for eight years? Recruitment of students ends on the tenth of August. I don't think you can change anything in two months.
“So we still have time until the tenth of August?” Mom squared her shoulders.

There was no trace of her former sorrowful expression on her face. There is only one calm, tense expectation.
Well, if it makes you feel better, then yes. Just keep in mind that the admission of documents to the district school for problem children ends at about the same time. You can miss your place there too.
“Thank you,” Mom said, took Sasha by the hand and left the classroom.

June afternoon was unusually gentle. From the heat I did not want to hide in the shade. On the contrary, the sun shone softly, carefully stroking the boy's golden hair, caulking his small nose, and casting a mother-of-pearl sheen on the tall and slender mother's dress. They walked slowly. Neither of them wanted to talk.

On this day, Sasha and mother wandered for a long time along the cozy city streets, smelling of fresh mint, and cherry plum, and raspberries, and chicken coops, and much more than so familiar and ordinary.

And then a bell rang somewhere. Mom and Sasha stopped, involuntarily listening to this strange and at the same time ordinary sound. They seemed to realize for the first time that here in their little world there is a bell tower that rings for some reason at this evening hour.

Without saying a word, still under the influence of their heavy and silent thoughts, they headed along an ordinary quiet street, along ordinary one-story houses to where an unfamiliar call came from.

The temple, and with it the bell tower, was opened just a few weeks ago. Maybe right now the heavy, battered bell rang for the first time after many years. And maybe that's why mom and Sasha were so surprised by his ringing. Although it's hard to say for sure.

The small Church in honor of St. Nicholas looked like it should be for a two-hundred-year-old building that had not been under any state protection for many years. Some windows were boarded up due to the lack of glass; instead of steps, a boardwalk with bricks was constructed at the front porch. Through the gray-blue walls, the blackness of the base of the structure was visible.

Several old women with confident steps approached the door and one by one disappeared into the black obscurity.

Sasha looked questioningly at her mother. Children always do this when they don't know something. Mom took him by the hand, and after the old women dived under the arch of the two-hundred-year-old architecture.

A few years will pass, and the smell that they first felt in the Church will become as familiar and familiar as the smell of cozy city streets. But now something subtle, fragrant, soothing and even magical seemed to them in the unusual surroundings. Someone's correct and very high voice brought out the motive of an unfamiliar song. Everything was strange and at the same time unpretentious, as if Someone had predestined this smell, this song and this place in general to be here from the beginning to the end of time.

...Probably enough time had passed, because the old women began to disperse, and my mother and Sasha were still standing in the Church, not daring to move. Someone called out to them softly. Mom, as if waking up from a deep sleep, looked at the man standing next to her. He was an ordinary gray-haired priest, such as was sometimes drawn in textbooks on scientific atheism. But, unlike those characters, this one had warm eyes:
“The service is already over,” he said calmly, “is there anything I can help you with?”
"I don't know," Mom blurted out by itself.

It happens when you so easily lay out everything that is in your soul to a complete stranger. It’s as if you are pouring all your burden on him, only because he is not your own and you don’t feel sorry for him. Mom talked about her trouble and, it seems, even sobbed at times. And Sasha just stood there. He knew that today he made his mother worry again and with all his heart he wanted to fix it.

The priest listened attentively to the speaker, and when she stopped talking, he asked:
“Well, why did you decide that everything is so hopeless?”
- How? Mom didn't understand. It suddenly seemed to her that the priest was not listening to her at all, and this made her feel uneasy.
- If a person tries to solve the problem on his own, but nothing comes out of it, this is not a sign of hopelessness. It just means that here, as, indeed, everywhere and always, we are powerless without God.

Mom looked at the priest incredulously.
“Here, for example,” he continued his thought, someone is sick. Sick long and hard. Doctors treat him, treat him, they try this way and that, but nothing comes out of them. What does it say?
- About the fact that a person cannot be helped? Mom asked innocently.
- The fact that there is a cause of the disease, how else, just from the place where the doctor stands, it is not visible. But the all-seeing Lord knows about this person's illness even before it appeared, knows about its causes, about what it is for, what it leads to.
— You want to say that our problem also has its own reason, which is not visible at first glance?
- I want to say that in your case it is impossible to talk about hopelessness, since you have not even tried to use the strongest and most effective means ...

On that day, Mom and Sasha did not leave the Church empty-handed. They carried with them a tiny prayer book, in which the most important prayers were collected - Our Father, the Symbol of Faith, the King of Heaven, the Virgin Mother of God, and a few more.

Now, every evening, before going to bed, mother prayed in Sasha's room, trusting in the Creator and His all-good mercy with every corner of her loving heart. When the tenth of August came, it was Sasha who read the prayers, not his mother. Surprisingly, in just two months he managed to learn how to read in a way that other guys could not even in a few years. All because when a person does not rely on his own strength, but surrenders himself into the hands of the Lord, his life, and with it all the skills, goals, plans and dreams, no longer go along a thorny mountain path, but along a wide bright road, illuminated by a wondrous light, invisible to our earthly eyes.

From the author. This is my very first story ever. You know, it happens like this, one tiny event in life, seemingly unimportant, changes everything. Turns upside down. Here it is... Someone asked me a long time ago to write a story for a charity Christmas competition. Almost without looking, I sketched a plot from everyday life, only slightly connecting fantasy. And after that she began to write. Clumsily, a lot, but from the heart. She gave up teaching and her favorite geography, which she dreamed of almost all her life, and set off on a long voyage through the waves of plots and fictional destinies.

So, my dears, as they say, do not seek. Read with your heart, not with your eyes. Morality, it's almost always on the surface.

…Have you never seen a miracle in your life? If this is so, then I sincerely feel sorry for you, because without miracles, any person, no matter who it is, a young guy or a gray-haired woman, immediately turns into a decrepit old man. Such a person leaves for work in the morning, returns home in the evening and does not expect anything miraculous, because, probably, his mother and father told him in childhood that miracles do not happen. And he believed.

In our small town in the very south of Mother Russia, in a large nine-story house, one such person lived with a dachshund dog. Ever noticed how some animals can look like their owners (or their owners)? Well, just one face! And this uncle's dog was very similar to him - he looks so frowningly, bares his teeth and just wants to bite all passers-by. One day I was walking down the street with my dog, so this dachshund ran into my poor dog and bit his side. I cried, and my uncle also shouted after us not to go here again and something else bad ... I don’t remember.

And everyone in the house didn't like him. Because he didn't talk to anyone. Pass by local grannies, slam the front door. Well, what can I say. We even, sinfully, gave him various bad nicknames behind his back. For example, because he once threw a potato out of the window at the neighbor boys so that they would not cackle in front of the window at night, we called him that - Potato.
Not far from our house there is a small church, which does not even have its own building - an elongated low hut and a cross over the entrance. But it is always so crowded there, because the priest - Father Peter - is a wise and even, they say, perspicacious man. The monks come to him for confession. And we go, although not as often as we would like.

Well, on Christmas Eve, my mother and I went to an all-night service in this church, somehow squeezed into a crowded room and, not noticing anything around, plunged into that extraordinary moment of the last hours of Lent, after which humble Christian abstinence and sorrow are replaced by soulful rejoicing and communion joy, together with hundreds of other Orthodox believers from all over the world. The choir was already singing “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”, and suddenly I noticed in the corner near the icon of Nikolushka the Wonderworker that same uncle - Potato. I stand and cannot believe that he, too, came to church for Christmas. I pull my mother’s hand, show it to her quietly and see that she is also surprised no less than me. I could no longer immerse myself in prayer. She just stood, and her heart was very bad, but she looked at her uncle.
And when the service ended, I asked Father Peter to confess me, and there, on the lectern in front of the Holy Gospel, I repented to him of how badly I thought about this man and that during the service I did not pray with everyone, but imagined God knows what.

Surprisingly, the priest immediately understood who I was talking about. He absolved me of my sins, and then told this story.
Twelve years ago, there lived in Moscow one big friendly family: father, mother and four children. They did not live richly, but everything was enough. Dad worked as a plumber, and mom stayed at home and raised children. Fortunately, they had their own apartment. Left over from my grandmother. One fine day, there was a big fire in this house, and when dad returned home, he found to his horror that his entire family had died. It is hard to imagine what happened to the man after that. He quit his job, life lost all meaning. A few years later, meeting him on the street by chance, one might think that this is a drunken bum who was born like that. One day, having drunk a lot, he decided for the first time to part with his life and even himself was surprised that this thought had not occurred to him before.

I went to the subway and waited for the train. When the wind on his head had already begun to move greasy hair, warning of the approach of the train, he took a step forward and found himself ... not under the car, but in some unknown place. It was very warm and light hearted. As in childhood. Suddenly, someone touched him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw his wife, and next to all his four children.
- Well, thank God! - he said, - so I died and went to heaven.

“No,” the wife answered sadly, “you didn’t die, and even if you did, they don’t take suicides into paradise.” Why are you living your life so uselessly?

“I don’t need anything without you,” the man said.

“Live, because you did not give life to yourself, and it is not for you to take it away. And we are waiting for you here, and there is no time for us. It seems like only a minute ago we broke up with you.

He looked at his wife and smiling children nearby. The little one waved his hand fervently at him.

... The man opened his eyes, lying on the concrete floor of the platform. A disgruntled policeman leaned over him. A few days later, a man sold an expensive apartment in Moscow, gave part of the money to the nearest charity center, and left for a small southern Russian town, bought himself a dachshund dog and lived with her in a half-empty apartment with peeled wallpaper left over from the previous owners.

“That’s it,” said the father. - Judge not lest ye be judged. And the fact that he is angry at the whole world is because he does not understand why he has to suffer alone on earth for so long and wait for a meeting with his family.

Do not separate children and reading books. The word is the conductor of a person at any moment of his life, it can both hurt and educate. Orthodox books for children lack universality. Each copy of the family chooses to your taste.

What to read to preschoolers

Childhood is not only a period of knowledge of the world, but also a time of character formation and soul development. It is important for parents not to miss this important moment.

Children's literature is the foundation on which the child will build his spiritual life, it is one of those first steps along which the child will rise to Christ.

Stories and Orthodox fairy tales for children tell readers about the faith itself and its great followers, they contain the meaning of good and evil, a good attitude towards relatives and friends. That is why good parents often ask similar books in bookstores.

Bible for children

• Often found on the shelves of church stores Bible for children. Colorful illustrations and a simple, understandable language for presenting information to a modern child allows you to understand the essence of good and evil, choose the right guidelines in life, learn about your ancestors and what is said in the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps the child will not be able to immediately master the entire book, so it is recommended to periodically return to it. Biblical parables form a special spiritual frame, which in the future the child will enrich with his life experience. Without knowledge of the Bible, we are not given to understand how to resist vice.
• Probably every child has been to church at least once. And if a child grows up in a believing family, then he should know the saints depicted on the icons. For such families Priest S. Begiyan wrote the book "Lives of the Saints for Kids". In it, he tells about the earthly path of ordinary people and explains why they became saints and look at us from icons with severity and love, so that it seems that they know everything about us.
• Orthodox teacher B. Ganago published a book with many answers to children's questions "For Children About the Soul". Short stories and instructive stories make children think and reflect, charge with positive and teach kindness and tolerance. Young readers learn to see the beauty of the world, cultivate self-sacrifice, kindness, generosity and fidelity. All the works of B. Ganago are imbued with the idea of ​​the need to rely on the Almighty for support in any life situations.
• Children's prayer book of the publishing house of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent This is not just a collection of prayers. Each of its sections is preceded by an article that tells about faith, the Sacraments of the Church, about the correct attitude to prayer and its creation. A special place is given to the Jesus Prayer, which helps each person to grow in piety.
• "terrestrial life Holy Mother of God for children" as presented by V. Nikolaev. A large colorful book tells about the life on earth of the Virgin Mary and Her Son Jesus Christ. Good stories will be of great benefit to little Christians, they will help them choose life priorities and a worthy path in life.
• Book "Bible Traditions" was invented by K. Chukovsky specifically for preschoolers. It describes eternal truths over which time has no power. The book includes legends about the creation of the world, about Adam and Eve, about Noah and his ark, about the global flood, about the Tower of Babel, the prophets. This edition will be interesting to read in a warm family circle.
• The book "Summer of the Lord" by I. Shmelev written in 1923. The writer tells about the life of the country at the end of the 19th century. The depth of the world, its traditions, holidays, trips to holy places is shown to children through the eyes of a merchant's son. He sees all situations from different angles, feels good and evil, understands the need for repentance and change in life. The reader imperceptibly becomes a participant in the ongoing events.

  "Summer of the Lord" by I. Shmelev

• The work of C. Lewis "The Chronicles of Narnia" created at the beginning of the twentieth century. The publication consists of seven books, writing style - fantasy. The reader discovers a magical country, into which several ordinary guys from England fall. Here animals understand human language, talk and make friends with people. There is a lot of magic in the country, good fights evil, friendship and compassion are tested by difficult tests. At the end of the book, the author tells the children about the sacrificial love of the Creator of the World, about His Resurrection. Lewis reveals many Christian truths to readers, thereby filling children's hearts with drops of faith in God.
• "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery- a novel in the form of a fairy tale-parable by a writer-pilot from France. The Little Prince is a hero from a distant planet, who allegedly met the author in the Sahara. The boy tells the writer that his homeland is a small asteroid that needs to be put in order every day, because his beloved beautiful rose grows there. Although the protagonist, before meeting with the author, traveled to many planets and met a whole string of human passions, his fragile childish soul, in spite of everything, remained pure. The book teaches readers to love and see the depth of real feelings hidden behind external, sometimes negative qualities.

On Christian parenting:

Literature for teenagers

The modern world is full of vices and temptations that destroy the psyche of children and contribute to the degradation of the individual. That is why the interests of the child, especially the teenager, must be directed in the right direction.

Evening comes, darkness falls on the city and the children go to their beds to fall asleep sweetly. But before enjoying pleasant dreams, every child loves to listen to fairy tales that remain in the heart for life. Then why not combine business with pleasure and read to your child at night useful and instructive parables for children.

A parable is a short story that contains the wisdom of our ancestors. Often, parables for children are instructive stories on some moral topic. Previously, they were used as one of the ways of raising children, since they are understandable to every child, easy to remember and as close to reality as possible. Thus, parables differ from fables, which are very allegorical and not always clear to young listeners. Children's parables tell about friendship, family and family values, about good and evil, about God and much more.

Biblical and Orthodox parables for children

For centuries, the Bible has been the most famous book in the world. It's not only sacred texts for Christians, but also the greatest monument of the cultural heritage of mankind. Biblical parables are found on the pages of the Old and New Testaments. Of course, it will be difficult for young children to understand all the sacred meaning that is hidden in biblical texts, but with the help of parents, the child will be able to understand them. The most famous Orthodox parables for children are the parables “ About the prodigal son”, “ About the publican and the Pharisee”, which tell children about mercy and forgiveness, the parable “ About the Good Samaritan”, which teaches kids kindness and compassion, and many others. Jesus Christ very often communicated with his followers through parables, since they help to understand the meaning of all that is hidden.

Short parables for children

Some children, especially very young ones, do not like long stories; it is much easier for them to understand short texts with simple conclusions. In this case, you can read short parables for children to the child every evening. And each time an instructive and interesting story which will remain in memory.

We especially recommend friendship parables for children- for example, the parable of the nails. Very often children say something evil and bad to their friends and relatives. This parable will help them understand how important it is to appreciate loved ones and not offend them with careless words.

Children's parables about good and evil are probably the most useful for our younger generation. After all, a child does not have life experience, so it is difficult for him to distinguish bad from good, good from evil, white from black. You need to teach the kid basic concepts, and parables about good and evil for children will be most useful. We recommend reading: " Good fox", "Grandfather and death".

Parables can teach everything. The most important and useful little stories are parables about family and family values, because there is nothing more important in our life. It is especially useful for children to read parables about a mother, about love, about good and bad, about truth and lies.

Teach and educate your child from early childhood, then in the future he will grow up to be a good and kind person, responsive to the suffering of others, merciful and honest. Only in this way will our world become kinder and cleaner!

Orthodox stories for children. The Lord is with you...

A Lenka lived with her mother in a small village in the forest. She studied in the first grade, and the school was in a neighboring village. They lived quietly, amicably, it seemed to the girl that she and her mother were the happiest ...

That evening, which Alyonka will always remember, her mother baked pancakes. She lifted the frying pan, gasped suddenly and doubled over in pain, all she could do was put the frying pan aside.

"Mommy, Mommy, what's wrong with you?" - Alyonka rushed to her.

Mom barely got to the bed and groaned:

- I don’t know, daughter, run for a neighbor.

Alyonka rushed to the neighbors. The kind old woman Vasilievna immediately ran after her. Mom lay down and moaned. She was so pale that even her lips turned white.

“It’s a bad thing,” said Vasilievna. - My son came to the paramedic in a car, I'll run after them.

Alyonka stayed with her mother. She was crying softly and pressed her face to her mother's hand.

The paramedic quickly examined the patient and briefly said:

- Appendicitis. To the city, for an operation, urgently!

- Alyonka, dear, only my mother could whisper. She looked anxiously at her neighbor. She understood without words.

Don't be afraid, we won't leave! Vasilievna said through tears. I will come in.

A neighbor could not take Alyonka to her place: her husband is a drinker, there are scandals every day.

And then they took my mother away. Before getting into the car, she suddenly squeezed Alyonka's hand tightly and whispered:

The Lord is with you, daughter.

Stop the noise of the car. Vasilievna sat down, cried, hugged Alyonka, said: “Go to bed, you have to go to school tomorrow!” - and went home.

Alyonka kept thinking about her mother's words... "The Lord is with you..." They never talked about God.

In the corner they had an icon of the Mother of God with the Child in her arms, still inherited from her grandmother. Yes, a couple of times in the city they went to the church. Alenka liked it: it was very beautiful, but it was not clear.

The girl approached the icon. The face of the Mother of God was so kind, calm. Elena stopped crying. Soon she felt that she was very tired, and lay down, still looking at the icon. Suddenly she remembered that in the morning she had to go to school, she became very scared: she had to go in the dark, through the forest.

Alyonka always walked, holding tightly to her mother's hand, and even then she shuddered at every rustle ... How can she go alone? With these disturbing thoughts, Alyonka did not notice how she fell asleep.

And she dreams that she is walking through the forest, and he is not scary at all, bright, beautiful, as if in summer, no, even more beautiful! beautiful flowers grow, which are not on earth, the birds sing wonderfully, and the light above the forest is brighter than the sun. Alyonka walks through this extraordinary forest, hears from everywhere a whisper beautiful, like music: “The Lord is with you ... The Lord is with you ...” And she will not understand: this is a dream or not.

The girl got up and got ready for school. When she stepped outside the threshold, she froze: it was cold, the wind was howling, the forest seemed black. And again quietly: “Do not be afraid, the Lord is with you…” She boldly ran along the path and managed to get to school on time.

Alyonka returned in the evening and cleaned the house herself. Somehow fired up the oven. Vasilievna came, brought milk and cake, sat with her.

How are you here alone? Are you scared? asked the neighbor.

No, it's not scary, - Alyonka smiled. But she didn’t tell about what she heard, and she didn’t know such words to tell.

So the days went by.

Meanwhile, my mother recovered and returned home. Alyonka rushed to hug her, kiss her, crying and laughing with joy.

Dear daughter, how did you manage alone? Mom asked.

Alyonka looked into her eyes and suddenly said quietly and seriously:

I am not alone, the Lord is with me. And with you, mommy. He is here. And everywhere…

The mother hugged her and cried. How could she tell the little girl now how she prayed to God for her while in the hospital?!

They approached the icon, knelt down, and crossed themselves. How to express that joy, that gratitude that overwhelmed their hearts?

Glory to Thee, Lord! Mom whispered.

Thank You Lord! - Alenka whispered smiling.

They talked about many things that evening. And in the morning we got up early, early and went to the city, to the church.

Elena Mikhalenko