29- Anba Barsoum Al-Iryan

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen

Lesson No. (29)

References
Sinaxarium 5th Nissy
The Saint Anba Barsoum Al-Iryan

Notes for Servants
-Those Saints sacrificed all that they owned because they loved the Lord with all their hearts. They
left everything and followed the Lord.
-For the Lord's sake, they left everything, they considered it all as nothing, so that they might gain
Christ. They crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
-They took up their cross and presented their life upon it as a sacrifice of love. Through the sign of
the cross they could overcome all the powers of the enemy.

Objectives
General: The Power of the Cross.
Specific:
The children will be able to ...
A. Know how important is the Cross in our lives.
B. Learn about the power of the Cross.
C. Use the Cross to protect their homes and their lives

Bible Verse
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

( Galatians 6:14 )

Teaching Aids
The servant distributes crosses.

Instruction
(1) Review last week's lesson.
(2) Who remembers the verse?
(3) Remind the children about the church occasions for the coming week.
(4) Servant may start with the following questions:
a. What do we usually do when we begin our prayer?
b. What do we usually do when we are afraid or when we are in the dark?
c. What do we usually do when we see a snake or a serpent?
(5) Teacher should prepare the appropriate questions to emphasize the objectives during the
lesson.

Story Time
We shall see one of the Saints who won victory over (overcame) a snake with the power of the
cross. St. Barsoum was born in a rich family. His parents were very, very rich and were pious people.
They brought him up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord and true Christianity. He devoted himself
to prayer, reading the scriptures and receiving the HolyCommunion. His parents died when he was young.
His uncle took all the property and possessions that belonged to Barsoum's parents. St. Barsoum hated
money and property and despised all possessions. He did not want to quarrel with his uncle about such
trivial things.
The saint left home and everything and went outside the city. He devoted himself to prayer day
and night. He used to fast for long times. One day St. Barsoum went to St. Abu Seifein Church in Old
Cairo. When he arrived at the Church gate and was about to enter the Church, the servant did not allow
him to enter the Church and the following dialogue ran between them:
Servant: Where are you going gentleman?
The Saint: I am going to the den.
Servant: You are not allowed to go there.
The Saint: Why?
Servant: Don't you know what is in there?
The Saint: What is in there?
Servant: There is a very big snake in the den and nobody can enter there.
The Saint: I shall enter the den and the Lord Jesus will be with me so the sight of the snake will not
frighten me... The Lord has given us authority to trample on serpents, scorpions and envy power
of the enemy.
Servant: May the Lord be with you.
The Saint was not frightened. He was sure that the Lord Jesus was with him. When he entered
the den, he found a big serpent there. He crossed himself with the sign of the cross and prayed.
The saint went towards the serpent and when he was close to the serpent, he crossed it with the
sign of the cross and said to it, "Stand still where you are." The serpent subdued immediately to the Saint.
The Saint lived inside the den and the serpent kept itself within the limits of its place and did not do the Saint
any harm. All the people came to that place to receive its blessing and to visit the Church and St. Barsoum
Al-Iryan.

Discussion
1 - Follow up the story by talking about it with the children.
2 - Continue the discussion while the do the activity.

Learning Activities
Activity Sheet.