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50 - St. John Chrysostom

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

 

Lesson No. ( 50 )

References 

The Precious Gem (Al Khareeda Al Nafeessa) Part I, p.265. 

Notes for Servants 

* When we read about one of the saints, it is not enough that we glorify them. We should learn from their lives as Saint John did. 

* JohnChrysostomlearned fromJohn the Baptist to fight for the truth even before the rulers without fear for their lives. Can you do that yourself? Can you teach your children to follow that teaching?  

Objectives  

General: Showing courage in announcing the truth. 

Specific: The children will be able to: 

  1. Confess their faith and witness Christ with full confidence; 
  2. Learn that they do not have to be killed to become martyrs, it is enough for them to suffer for His name; 
  3. Know that if they deny Jesus before man, He will deny them before His Father. Bible Verse 

" All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. " (2 Timothy 3:12) 

Teaching Aids 

Servant to prepare their own. 

Instruction 

(1) Review last week's lesson. 

(2) Who remembers the verse? 

(3) Remind the children about the church occasions for the coming week.

Story Time 

JohnChrysostomwas not an Egyptian, but he was a foreign scholar whom the church all over the world loved and valued. He was born in Antioch and was brought up in the Christian faith. He was famous for his virtue, piety, righteousness, courage and boldness in telling the truth. The saints called him the Second John the Baptist.  

John was ordained deacon, and soon he was chosen to be the Patriarch of Constantinople. 1. Where was St. John born? Who brought him up? 

  1. Why was he called the Baptist? 
  2. Where was he ordained a Patriarch? 

We know that the children of God who are honest and sincere always meet with temptations and persecution as the Scripture said. The devil tries his hardest to always fights these people by any means and John Chrysostom was no exception. 

Empress Indoxia was furious with John because he reproached her for her recklessness by saying that her actions that were not appropriate.  

Empress Indoxia passed by a field belonging to a widow, and liked it. She then took the field from the widow (by force) and kept it for herself. The widow complained to John Chrysostom and requested him to restore her field back to her from the Empress. The saint wrote to the Empress, but she did not answer him. He sent some people to request her to give the field back to the widow, but she refused. John intended to punish her by using the authority of the church. So when she came to the church on the Feast of the Cross to attend the Holy Mass, he stood by the door and did not allow her to enter the church. One of her guards drew out his sword to kill him, but the guard suddenly found his hand to be paralysed. The Empress returned to her palace.  

This saint suffered from many persecutions that caused his death. John was eloquent and fluent in preaching. That is why he was called Chrysostom or Golden Tongue. He wrote many beautiful writings such as essays, sermons, interpretations of the Bible and several letters. The blessing of this saint be with us all, Amen. 

  1. Why was he given the title "Chrysostom"? 
  2. Why was the queen angry with him? 
  3. How did the Pope punish her? 
  4. What are the works of this saint? 

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.

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