Dr. Pat's Orthodox Super Sunday School Curriculum

ST. GREGORY PALAMAS

Objectives:

1. Students should know his name and be able to tell his story briefly.
2. Students should know that Gregory defended the Holy Spirit in the Trinity.
3. Students should memorize the Jesus Prayer.

Possible Lesson Plan:

1. 1.   Open with prayer.
2. Tell the story of St. Gregory Palamas:

Gregory was born in the royal city of Constantinople more than a thousand years after the time of Jesus. At age 7, both of his parents died, and Gregory was an orphan. But, the orphan boy was a favorite of Emperor Andronicus II, who sent the boy to school, where Gregory studied all about science. Science, howev­er, did not interest Gregory; his interest was in the Lord Jesus. He soon began studying about the Lord and gave up his life in the court of the emperor to spend his time in monasteries. He was only twenty years old.

When Gregory was 30 years old, he became a priest. He had learned well from the monks around Constantinople and Mt. Athos. They had taught him the Hesychast Prayer, or Jesus Prayer. The monks would bow in prayer, concentrate on the Lord, and recite, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” As the monk prayed and prayed, over the years he would grow closer to the Lord and experience the light of the closeness of Jesus. With Jesus as the sun, Gregory and the other monks could feel the light and warmth of His shining rays. “Hesychast” means calm or silence – with busyness it’s not easy to draw close to the Lord! In fact, Gregory, as a priest/hermit, would spend 5 days as a hermit, drawing closer to God, and Saturday and Sunday ministering to the Lord’s people as a priest.

             But, in those days, a man named Barlaam was teaching also. Barlaam had never been a monk; he had studied about Jesus but had not spent years in prayer just getting to know Jesus. In fact, Barlaam didn’t believe that people could get to know Jesus, not to really feel Him near, until after they died. He made fun of the monks and called them “Belly-button-gazers” because they spent so much time kneeling and bowing in prayer.

Later in life, Gregory was made Archbishop of Thessalonica. He suffered many times because of his teachings; he was thrown out of his home, was thrown in prison, and was even captured by the Moslem Turks. While a prisoner, awaiting ransom, Gregory even preached to the Turks. But, finally, before his death, two church councils in Constantinople held firm for Gregory’s teachings and told all of us that we can know and feel the presence of God in our daily lives.

3. First discuss the Holy Spirit: Review the stories of the dove at Jesus’s baptism, the tongues of fire at Pentecost, the Transfiguration, the death of Stephen, and the conversion of Saul. Who are the persons of the Holy Trinity? Remember the sign of the cross and the three fingers, the shamrock and the three leaves of St. Patrick. Can you feel Jesus in your heart, as did Gregory Palamas? In the creed we learn, “the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father; with the Father and the Son He is worshipped and glorified.” Do you remember which heresy put the Holy Spirit below the Father and the Son? (Macedonius, condemned by the Second Ecumenical Council)

4.   Memory work for this week is the Jesus Prayer. As a learning game, play Jesus Prayer Scramble: Make two or three sets of cards, each with one card containing one word of the Jesus prayer. Divide the class into teams. Give each team a stack of cards, mixed up. See which team can first arrange the cards in the correct order. Can each student say the Jesus Prayer?

            5.    Make a Gregory Palamas bookmark: Cut out the front and back on the next page and glue to cardstock. Punch a hole at the top for the ribbon. After the children have colored the pictures, cover with clear Contac paper or laminate to waterproof (if desired) and tie a double pretty ribbon at the top.

6. Close with prayer: Practice bowing and saying the Jesus Prayer with the students until they know it by heart!