Day 1 (Monday)
Psalm 118 (119): 105-112
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to observe your righteous ordinances.
107 I am severely afflicted;
give me life, O Lord, according to your word.
108 Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord,
and teach me your ordinances.
109 I hold my life in my hand continually,
but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts.
111 Your decrees are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
112 I incline my heart to perform your statutes
forever, to the end.
Discussion questions:
1) Who is talking? (if there is no answer, you can ask: Is it God talking here? Or is it some person, some human being, like us? (It's a human being talking, probably King David)
2) Who are they talking to?
3) How do we know who is talking, and who they are talking to? (answers might be: because they are in trouble, because they are asking God for help, etc)
4) Do any of these prayers seem like something we might want to say to God? What kind of things do you like to say to God when you pray?
5) What does the person praying here say is a source of strength and comfort to him? (Answer: God's word, law, ordinances, etc)
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Hymn from the Orthros (sunrise) Service for September 1st, the Feast of Indiction (the Church New Year)
O Provider of seasons producing fruit * and of rains from the heavens for those on earth, * accept now the fervent prayers that Your servants present to You, * and deliver Your City from every necessity. * And may Your tender mercies be lavished on all Your works. * Therefore we entreat You, bless our comings and goings, * guiding aright the works of our hands for our benefit, * O our God, and bestow on us * forgiveness of our every offence. * For You are the One who brought the universe * from nonexistence into being, as the One who can.
Discussion questions:
1) What do you hear this hymn talking about? (Answers: seasons, crops/fruits, work, comings & goings, forgiveness, God's creation of the world)
2) This is a prayer for starting the new Church year. Does it seem like a good prayer for starting a new School Year too?
3) Did you notice why the hymn says it makes sense to ask God for help when we start a new year and new tasks? (answer: because God provides the seasons that we move through in life, and the rain and crops that nourish us as we live, and because He made everything, even the universe itself – so it makes good sense to ask Him to help us as we move through these things)
Day 3 (Friday)
Luke 1:57
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty savior[g] for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon[h] us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Discussion questions:
1) What happens in this story? (a baby is born; neighbors argue with parents about what the baby should be named; a man talks after being unable to talk for awhile, and boy does he try to make up for all that silence!)
2) Do you know who this baby grows up to be? (answer: John the Baptist – see if they know where his icon is inside the Church. If not, tell them that he's next to Jesus on the Iconostasis/Icon Screen)
3) What is strange about the baby being named John? (usually babies were named after their father or mother, or some other close relative. If you like, you can read the beginning of the Gospel of Luke and see why they named the baby John. Long story short – an angel told them to)
4) What does Zachariah say about God in his prophecy (verses 68-80)? (God takes care of His people; the Lord is coming to them; He is sending a prophet to prepare the way for the Lord; He is giving light and peace to people sitting in darkness and death).
Scripture passages from the NRSV. Hymn on Day 2 from http://www.agesinitiatives.com