Children in the Church
by Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky
Every
Christian mother considers it one of her primary obligations to teach her child
prayer as soon as his consciousness begins to awaken-prayer that is simple and
easy for him to understand. His soul must be accustomed to the warm and fervent
experience of prayer at home, by his cradle, for his neighbors, his family. The
child's evening prayer calms and softens his soul, he experiences the sweetness
of prayer with his little heart and catches the first scent of sacred feelings.
It is
harder for a child to take in the atmosphere which prevails in church. At first
he just observes. He sees people concentrating and rites he does not as yet
under stand and hears incomprehensible words. However, the very solemnity and
festivity of the church have an uplifting effect on him. When a two year-old
child wants to take part in church, to sing, speak or make prostration s-in
this we can see his uplifted state of soul, with which he is involuntarily
infected. we say this from simple observation.
But
there is also something higher than our sense perceptions. Christ is invisibly
present in church and He sees the child, blesses him, and receives him into the
atmosphere of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Grace envelopes him as a warm wind
wafts over a blade of grass in a field, helping it to grow up slowly and
gradually, to put down roots and develop. And so the mother hastens to bring
her child to Christ, to His grace, regardless even of whether he has any under-
standing at all of this contact with the gift of grace. This especially
concerns the Eucharist, the very closest union with Christ. The mother brings
her infant. to this mystery while he is still a baby lying in her arms. Is the
mother right?
Suffer the little children to come unto Me, for of such is the
Kingdom of God
Can you
really say with certainty that there and then in the fields of Palestine these
children had already understood Christ's teaching, had been sitting at the
Teacher's feet and listening to His preaching? Do not say this, for the
Evangelist himself remarks that they brought
unto Him also infants, that He would
touch them: but when His disciples saw it, they rebuked
them. In bringing their little ones, the mothers' purpose was simply that
His hands should touch the children, and not that He should teach them divine
knowledge.
Allowing
children to have contact with spiritual grace is one of the first, basic
concerns of a Christian who thinks about his children, and the task of
Christian society, which is concerned about its youth. There is the door to a
correct Orthodox Christian up bringing. Enlightenment, compunction and joy, as
they awaken in the infant's growing consciousness are an external indicator of
the act that the little Christian is feeling warmth from the divine source in
himself. And even if he does not feel it, the invisible action of God's grace
does not stop; only we do not see it, just as we do not see the effect of the
sun on our own health instantly and at once. In Russian literature we have such
apt examples of the disposition of children's souls during preparation for
confession and communion, after confession and after communion of the Holy
Mysteries.
Nevertheless,
how often it is forgotten that herein lies the key to organizing religious
education. How often, on seeing the inadequacy of religious education, we pick
up the programs and re-work them, lay the blame on the textbooks and the
teachers-and forget about the importance of the c h u r c h and the influence of
the services; certainly we do not always ask ourselves the question:
"But
did the children go to church?"
As the
child grows up, he should enter more deeply into the life of the Church. The
child's mind, the youth's mind must be en- lightened by the church services,
learn from them, become immersed in them; the church should give him knowledge
of God.
This
matter is more complex. The task of religious education will be fulfilled only
when we teach our children to love church
When
we, the adults, organize church services, make arrangements for them, shorten
or lengthen the order of service and so on, we are accommodating ourselves to
our own concepts and needs, or simply convenience, understood in adult terms.
But in so far as the concepts, needs and spiritual strivings of children are
not taken into account, the surroundings are often not conducive towards making
children love church. This is nevertheless one of the most important means of
religious education; let the children come to love the church, so that they may
always attend church with a pleasant feeling and receive spiritual nourishment
from it. And since parents often cannot help here, if only because not
infrequently they are irreligious themselves, we are often compelled, when we
think about our Orthodox children, to place this work into the hands of the
Church.
Just as
we are not afraid of destroying a devotion to learning and books, or love for
our national literature and history by making our child r e n come running to
class at the sound of a bell and sit at desks, and by immersing them in an
atmosphere of strict discipline and compulsion; so also, one might think, we
would have no reason to be afraid of using a certain amount of compulsion in
the matter of attending church, whether it be part of school regime or an
expression of self- discipline on the part of youth organizations – both those
that are connected with school and those that are not. But certainly, if this
remains just compulsion, and to such an ex tent that it creates a psychological
repulsion in young people-this will show that the aim has not been attained,
that the method has proved to be inadequate and the compulsion in vain. Let the
child brought by your will express a desire to remain there through his own
will. Then you will have justified your action.
And
again we say: it is not only natural, psychological effects that take place in
children’s’ souls in church, but the action of grace. Our whole concern should
be that the soul of the baby, child or youth should not be closed to holy
impressions, but should be freely opened; and then it will no longer need
effort, force or any other form of self-compulsion; it will be nourished free1y
and easily and joyfully.
There
is one thing that must not be for gotten: human nature requires at least a
minimal degree of active participation. In church this can take the form either
of reading, or of singing, or of decorating and cleaning the church, or of some
other activity, even if it is only indirectly connected with the services.
The
indisputable importance of the church and of communal church services for the
religious upbringing of children constitutes one of the arguments in favor of
the Orthodox understanding of the mystery of Baptism: that is to say, an
argument in favor of baptizing children at a very young age, as we do in the
Orthodox Church. Baptism is the door through which one enters the Church of
Christ. One who is not baptized-which means he is not a member of Christ's
family- has no right to participate in the life of this family, in its
spiritual gatherings and in its table-the Lord's table. Thus our children would
be deprived of the right to be with us in church, to receive the blessing in
the name of the Holy Trinity, to communicate the body and Blood of Christ. And however
we may influence them in our family at home, how ever much we might teach them
the Gospel, we would be depriving them of the direct action of heavenly grace,
and at best we would arouse a thirst for faith in them-but we would still be
keeping them far from the heavenly light and warmth, which comes down,
regardless of our human efforts, in the Mysteries, in all the services, in holy
prayers. How grossly mistaken are those religions which recognize only adult
baptisms.
The
holy maidens Faith, Hope and Love, and the holy young bride Perpetua, who be-
came martyrs, are witnesses to the fact that adolescence is an age prepared
even for the highest active participation in Christ's Church. The baby in his
mother's arms in church who cried out, "Ambrose for bishop!" and by
his exclamation determined the choice of the renowned Ambrose of Milan for the
episcopal cathedra-this baby is a defender of children's rights to an active
participation in Christ's Church.
And so
let us take some trouble over our children: first let us give them the chance
to take more part in church-and in a wider and more elevated form than just
giving the censer to the priest; and secondly, let us adapt ourselves somewhat
to our chi1dren when praying together with them.
Let the
children be conscious that they are members of Christ's family.
Let the
children come to love church!