Discovering Orthodox Christianity
Our group of St Felix English Courses in the missionary center «Atrium» in Saint-Petersburg welcomes everyone interested in the Orthodoxy, language learning and the missionary work!
Here are some notes about our previous meeting and ideas for studies during the week:
April 3rd is the 3rd Sunday of the Great fast — the Sunday of the Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross
1) SPEAKING SKILLS
We’ve got acquainted with the new students and read the Gospel according to saint Luke 10:1-12 about the 70 apostles. St Aristobulus, the first bishop of Britain, is commemorated on March 28th. He is mentioned by St Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans 16:10. Also, Alena told us about the Mystery of Baptism. Her retelling was really interesting!
2) LEARNING TIPS
You can explore the study videos of Englid.com to get ready for the test on English Tenses. This site is a useful resource with numerous short videos grouped according
— to the level (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced)
— to the topic (Pronunciation, Vocabulary, expressions, Grammar, Speaking, Writing, Comprehension, culture and tips, IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, slang and business English)
— to the teacher (there are 11 of them)
3) PRAYER
We were singing the Creed again, in two different melodies (see previous news). It was so exiting! If you are interested in good English and prayer, choose at least one of English Orthodox chants a day to sing it, I think, this will be very helpful. You find lots of chants in the list of audios of the public page «Discovering Orthodox Christianity».
4) DICTIONARY
We played a «Guess what» game with the words beginning with letter «E» from our Orthodox dictionary. We’ve noticed a remarkable association with the word «Eucology» — it is a book for the good «ecology» of our souls.
NOUNS: Easter, Eden, elder, Emperor, entable, epigonation, epitrachelion, Eucology, Evangelist, Ever-Virgin.
St Aristobulus, the first bishop of Britain, is commemorated on March 28th
5) STUDY SHEETS
The new study sheet is about the Mystery of the Holy Baptism.
We’ve done the first vocabulary task. We worked with the words:
— sinful + sin + to sin
— crucified + crucifixion + to be crucified
— dead + death + to die
— resurrected + resurrection + to be raised up
— alive + life +live
— free + freedom + free
We’ve constructed the missed forms and filled in the gaps in the Epistle to the Romans 6:5-11.Try to do it on your own with the rest of the tasks from the first page for the next meeting.
«For if we have been united together in the likeness of His …, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His …, knowing this, that our old man was … with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of … . For he who has died has been … from sin. Now if we .… with Christ, we believe that we shall also … with Him, knowing that Christ, having been … from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be … indeed to sin, but … to God in Christ Jesus our Lord»
6) USEFUL LINK
I want to share with you today the collection of links to the Orthodox Patriarchates, Archdioceses, Dioceses, monasteries and seminaries all over the world: http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/Churches.html
7) LISTENING + DISCUSSION
The next video sermon is about the third Sunday of the Great fast — the Sunday of the Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH9rPyFEwL4
Father John Vass of the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church will tell you how the Tree of the Cross can affect your life.
Here are some word and expressions for better comprehension:
— remind us of the suffering
— side having been pierced by the spear
— crown of thorns
— kneeled in fervent prayer
— acceptance of God’s will
— «Why hast Thou forsaken me?»
— on behalf of all the humanity
— this separation is torment
— gaze upon the cross
— so that we would not be eternally separated from God
— struggle to sacrifice our will
— overcome our own desires
— generosity
— convicted, guilty
— experienced all of this
— death, suffering, persecution
— «Let it be according to Thy will»
— increase our prayers
— to inspire us to continue in perseverance
— not knowledge but bitterness
— Saint Theodore the Studite
— great joy and motivation
— follow God’s commandments with greater zeal and fervor
— strengthen our faith
— abstain from all sin
— Saint Theophan the Recluse
— participate in the nailing
— crucify ourselves
— not in a literal sense
— crucify our passions, our sinful desires
— pride and selfishness
— make the good choice
— blessed to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life, the Tree of the Cross
Файл: https://vk.com/doc138131879_437407354?hash=31c1ffd5d67c0e4afc&dl=de0ea2131c204ad63f