38 - Prayer: Maximus and Domatius

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

Lesson No. ( 38 )

References 

The precious gem (Al Khareeda Al Na Reessa) Part I The Fifth Generation Maximus and Domadius - Alexandria, the Garden of the Monks. 

Notes for Servants ★ Do you feel that you are in need of prayer and that prayer for your soul is like food for your body? 

Do you contemplate prayer before reciting? ★ Have you tested the power of prayer and its effect in your life and how the Lord answers your prayer? The Scripture says: "Knock and it shall be opened unto you". Try to pray more earnestly. ★ Beloved, remember that a successful service is supported by prayers and that without prayers the service would not succeed. Even if you can affect the pupils' thoughts through your words, you cannot move their hearts without prayers. The Scripture says that those who heard Peter's words on the day of Pentecost were cut to the heart. 

Objectives General: Continuous prayers = prayer all the time. Specific:The children will be able to: 

1. Learn about prayer and it’s power; B. Know that if God is our best friend, then he wants to hear from them all the time; C. Pray even if they feel tired or sleepy, so that they may defeat the devil. 

Bible Verse 

"Always ought to pray, and not to faint." 

(Luke 18:1) 

Teaching Aids 

The saints’ icon. 

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) Teacher should prepare the appropriate questions to emphasize the objectives during the lesson. 

Story Time 

Maximus and Domadius were two brothers. Their father was King Phalintianus (Lauindius) King of Rome. Phalintianus brought them up well and instructed them in the Christian faith. They used to pray, because the Scripture says: "Always pray". They used to fast all the year round, breaking the fast only on feast days, and they used to celebrate all the Saints' feast days. When Maximus was 17, and Domadius reached 25 years of age, they decided to become monks. The two brothers prayed, saying, "Jesus, we love you and we desire to become monks. Guide us to a holy place. Amen." After they had prayed, they said to their father, "Allow us to visit the monastery." Their father agreed. The two brothers thanked God for answering their prayer. The Lord guided them to a monastery in Syria, to Father Aghabius. They reached the monastery in Syria and met Father Aghabius. They told him, "We want to become monks." The priest said, "The monk's life is difficult. You will not be able to bear it." Maximus and Domadius answered, "May God strengthen us and we are ready to work by our hands and pray and fast." Father Aghabius was glad to hear this and dressed them in the monks’ garb. He taught them how to work with their hands and make sails for ships. King Lauindius was worried about his sons because they had been gone for so long. He looked for them everywhere, but in vain. He was very sad. 

One day, one of the king’s officers was travelling on a ship and he saw that there was a big cross on the sail and the two names Maximus and Domadius were written on the cross. The officer was surprised and said to the sailor, "What are these names?" The sailor said, "These are names of saints that live in our town." The officer said, "What do they look like?" The sailor answered, "The younger has a short beard and the elder has a long beard. The two are dressed in black." "Is this their ship?" asked the officer. "No, it is mine, but I bought the sails from them and when I discovered that they were good- hearted people, I wrote their names on the sail of my ship as a blessing." The officer continued asking questions to know everything about them. When the officer knew where they were, he informed King Lauindius, who together with the Queen and their daughter visited the saints and tried to convene them to go back with them, but the saints refused and preferred the lives of monks to that of princes. Their father was pleased with them and asked them to pray for him and for the palace. They promised to do so and he left his sons in peace. 

Father Aghabius advised them to go to Egypt to stay with St. Macarius. Maximus and Domadius stayed with Father Aghabius until he died. After that, they went to St. Macarius thought them how to weave baskets and give them to the night guard. The two brothers worked very hard and dug themselves a cell. They covered it with palm leaves and made an opening for light to enter. They spread two mats on the ground and made a wooden cross and raised it to the top of the door of their cell. They spent three years in that place, speaking to no one. They left the cell only to go to church. St. Macarius wanted to kmow how are they doing, so he went there to visit them. They welcomed him and were pleased to see him. Maximus and Domadius bowed to him and kissed his hands and continued their work. When night came, St. Macarius said, "I shall spend the night with you." They spread out a mat for him beside the wall. St. Macarius brought a brick of stone and put his cloak on it and made the sign of the cross, shut his eyes and pretended that he was asleep, but in fact he was praying to God, asking Him to reveal everything about the two saints. The two saints also pretended to sleep, and when they saw that St. Macarius had closed his eyes, they stood up and prayed. They made the sign of the cross and continued praying all the night long. They bowed down and St. Macarius opened his eyes and saw the cell lit up as if it were daytime and 

he saw angels around the saints holding swords to drive demons away. The two saints went on praying until the morning. They then lay down and slept. St. Macarius pretended that he was fast asleep, and then he got up rubbing his eyes. The two saints also rubbed their eyes and stood up again to pray. 

After they had finished their prayer, St. Macarius said to them: "Remember me in your prayers." They said to him, "The saints' prayers, and your prayers father" and they bowed to him. 

A few days later, the elder brother fell ill. The younger brother went to St. Macarius to bring him over. Saint Macarius prayed for him but it was the sickness of death. He died. St. Macarius prayed for him and buried him. After three days the younger brother died and St. Macarius prayed over his body and buried the body. Their pure bodies are buried in an old church sanctuary in the Baramous monastery. There is a cavern in the monastery called the King's Sons' cavern. May the blessing of their prayers be with us. Amen. 

Discussion 

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

Learning Activities 

Activity Sheet.