Serbia: St. Sava

ST. SAVA OF SERBIA

 

Objectives:

  1. Children should be able to tell the story of St. Sava, using their storyplates.

 

Possible Lesson Plan:

  1. Open with prayer.

 

  1. Tell the story of St. Sava and the devil:

One day, as the devil was walking down a steep mountain path, he saw the good and gentle St. Sava, a priest of Serbia, coming up the path. St. Sava greeted the devil warmly and asked him what he would like best to do. The devil answered, “I would like to grow vegetables, if you would help me.”

So St. Sava and the devil became partners. They decided to grow onions. Soon there were beautiful green shoots coming up all over the field. Since they were partners, St. Sava asked the devil which half he would prefer.  The devil answered, “I’ll take the half above ground and you can have the part under the ground.” St. Sava agreed. Soon the onions were ripe. Above ground were dried up stalks, but underground were beautiful red onions!

The devil was furious. Next they grew cabbages. The devil insisted on having the part under the ground this time. St. Sava again agreed. Soon the cabbages were grown. St. Sava cut the beautiful heads above ground; all that was left was the brown roots underground for the devil.

Now the devil was even angrier. They decided to grow potatoes. The devil asked for the part above the ground. And, again, the devil got worthless leaves, while St. Sava had a crop of beautiful underground potatoes.

                  Next they decided to grow wheat. The devil chose the underground part, and Sava was happy to get the beautiful yellow stalks of wheat. The devil was left with worthless stubble. The devil was in a terrible rage. St. Sava crossed himself and the devil vanished from sight, never to return to match wits with such a good and godly priest.

 

Add St. Sava to your timeline.

 

  1. Feed the Elephant True/False Questions:

True                                                     False

            St. Sava was from Serbia.                               St. Sava was from Baltimore.

            The devil tried to trick Sava.                          The devil got all the good vegetables.

            Sava got all the good vegetables.                   The devil was smarter than Sava.

 

  1. St. Sava was a real saint in the land of Serbia. Look at some pictures of Serbia (library books, etc.) What is the land like? The people? The clothing? The food? They really do eat onions, potatoes, and cabbage!

 

  1. Discuss the devil a bit: Who is he? (Lucifer, a fallen angel) Do you remember our lesson on angels? Review that lesson a bit. What is an angel like? What happened to Lucifer? Now he is called Satan, and the lower angels who followed him are called demons.  Does the devil try to help us, or hurt us? Did the devil want to help Sava? Did the devil win? Do we need to be afraid of the devil? Is God greater than the devil? Sing the Veggie Tales song: “God is bigger than the “devil”, man…” a few times, until the children are singing along.

 

  1. Make St. Sava’s vegetable plate. Color a paper plate brown; this is the ground. Tape the tops and bottoms of the vegetables cut from construction paper above each other. Tell the story of St. Sava.

 

Close with prayer: Lord, make me wise as St. Sava when dealing with the evil one.