Конференция-презентация "St Seraphim of Sarov"

Ladies and gentlemen, dear children,

We are glad to greet you at our conference dedicated to the memory of one of the greatest Russian saints - St Seraphim of Sarov.

I think that everybody in this conference hall knows the story of the life of St Seraphim of Sarov. Maybe you’ve heard this story or read it in Russian. But today we’re going to present it in English. Our senior pupils (of the 10^th form) have prepared a presentation for you.

We’ll tell you the story of the life of Father Seraphim and then we’ll ask you some questions to check your understanding. Then at home you’ll write a summary of the story and the best summaries will be awarded some prizes.

2. Презентация новых слов (Presentation of the words):

Before the start, I’d like to remind you some useful words and phrases to help you to understand the story. I think that all of you have got a sheet of paper with the Wordlist on the one side and questions to the story on the other side (оформляется в виде раздаточного материала. См. Приложение 2). Now look at your Wordlist and …

So, we have prepared to listen to the story. Please, listen to it attentively because you’ll have to answer our questions after the story.

3. Презентация (Presentation of the story): St Seraphim of Sarov

St. Seraphim of Sarov (Приложение 1, слайд 1) is a great Russian Saint who lived in the 18^th century. He was born on July 19, 1759 in the town of Kursk. His Christian name was Prokhor. His parents were Isidore and Agatha Moshnin. They were very pious. They helped to build several churches in Kursk (Приложение 1, слайд 2) and always helped those who were poor and sick.

When Prokhor was 7 he fell down by chance from the top of the bell tower scaffolding (Приложение 1, слайд 3). But, miraculously, he remained unhurt. Then at the age of ten Prokhor became very ill, he was very near death when, one night, he dreamt that the Mother of God came to him (Приложение 1, слайд 4) and told him that he would soon be well. Later that week a church procession (Приложение 1, слайд 5) with a famous Kursk Korennaya Icon of the Mother of God passed by the Moshnin house (Приложение 1, слайд 6). Agatha took the child and carried him outside to kiss the icon. The sick boy kissed the icon and soon became completely well.

Prokhor loved God and His holy Church very much and from his childhood he wanted to become a monk. He went on pilgrimage to the famous Monastery of the Caves in Kiev (Приложение 1, слайд 7) and consulted with staretz Dosithei who told him to go to Sarov Monastery. At home his mother Agatha blessed him with a large brass cross, which he wore until his death (Приложение 1, слайд 8). Then in 1778, at the age of nineteen, he and a few friends went to Sarov, where he was received into the Monastery (Приложение 1, слайд 9).

Every monk in a monastery has some duties. So did Prokhor. He worked in the bakery and in the carpenter's shop. He was always busy. When he had some free time he would go to the forest alone to pray. Everyone loved him. He was quiet, meek and obedient, and his heart was always turned towards God. He loved church services very much and tried to attend them as often as he can and he practiced the Jesus Prayer unceasingly.

In 1780 Prokhor became very ill, he was near the death again. And again the Mother of God appeared to him, this time together with the Apostles Peter and John. She pointed at the sick Prochor and said, "This is one of our kind." Then he was told again that he would become well. Shortly after this he was completely healed.

When he was 27 Prochor was made a monk (Приложение 1, слайд 10) and given the name Seraphim which means "flaming" or "burning." It is also the name of the angels which are closest to God. And indeed, his heart was always burning with love for God. Sometimes during church services he would see angels in the altar. Once he saw the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Приложение 1, слайд 11) shining brighter than the sun. At the age of 3l he became a priest and for a long time he served Liturgy and received Holy Communion every day. A year later, like the ancient Desert Fathers, St. Seraphim went to live alone in a dense pine forest (Приложение 1, слайд 12).

He built a small hut in the forest and made a bed of rocks on which he slept. His food consisted of one loaf of bread, which he brought weekly from the monastery, and a few vegetables, which he was able to grow in the rocky land. So he had very little food, but he shared it with the wild beasts that came to his door (Приложение 1, слайд 13). Sometimes a large bear came to Seraphim’s door for food, which he took from the hands of the hermit. There in the forest Father Seraphim was bitterly attacked by the powers of evil. But he survived all this spiritual battles through prayer and fasting. One thousand nights and one thousand days he prayed unto God on the stone (Приложение 1, слайд 14): in the deep forest at night and near his own hut in the daytime.

Later Father Seraphim isolated himself even further, not visiting the monastery for three years. He wanted to become closer to God through total silence, as the great Desert Fathers had done. Then he returned to the monastery but shut himself up in his cell, where he spent another five years separated from communication with any of the brothers.

But he had been chosen by God for another task. And he opened his door one day and since that time he began to receive people who came to him for guidance and spiritual counsel. But prayer remained the rhythm of his life all the time, even when he was interrupted by the concerns of others. Hundreds of people who needed his help and comfort came to see the Saint - young and old, rich and poor (Приложение 1, слайд 15).

Father Seraphim greeted all his visitors with the words "Christ is risen, my joy." To many of them he advised, "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved." He did not need the visitors to tell about themselves, as he could see what each had on their soul. Many stories and miracles of the Staretz were preserved by the nuns of Diveevo.

Father Seraphim was about 74 years old when he fell asleep in the Lord. He died in the manner in which he had spent the greater part of his life – in prayer (Приложение 1, слайд 16). Early in the morning on 2/15 January the brothers smelled smoke coming from staretz’ cell. They broke down the door and found the body of St. Seraphim kneeling before the Icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” (Приложение 1, слайд 17). Smoke was coming from his open Bible.

Even after his death, St. Seraphim continues to perform miracles (Приложение 1,

слайд 18). He appears to many people in dreams, and comforts and heals those who pray to him with faith. Let us too pray to St. Seraphim that he will inspire us to become more like him, burning in our hearts with love for God.

We have finished the presentation but we haven’t finished our conference yet. And now it’s high time to answer our questions.

Questions:

1. When and where was Father Seraphim born?
2. Who were his parents?
3. What was his first, Christian name?
4. Who cured Prokhor when he was near the death at the age of ten?
5. Who told Prokhor to go to Sarov monastery?
6. When did he enter the monastery?
7. What name was he given when he was made a monk?
8. Did he see a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ during one of the church services?
9. Why did he go to the dense pine forest?
10. How long did he pray unto God on the stone in the forest?
11. Why did people come to Father Seraphim when he returned to the monastery?
12. How did he greet his visitors?
13. When did Father Seraphim fall asleep in the Lord?
14. Does he continue to perform miracles after his death?

Well done, dear children, well done!

As I can see you have understood almost everything. We hope that our presentation was interesting for you and I think that it will help you to prepare the summary of the whole story at home.

You’ve got the sheets of paper with the questions you’ve just answered (Приложение 3). To make the summary you have to match the questions on the left with the correct answers on the right and write them down in full sentences. The authors of the best summaries will be awarded. Please bring your summaries on …(day) .

Now it’s time to say goodbye. Our conference has finished. Thank you for your attention.

Источники (Sources):

1. Chosen Lives of the saints/Избранные жития святых: Сборник текстов и упражнений для домашнего чтения по английскому языку / Авт. – сост. Г.В. Базылева. – М., 2006. – с. 49 -65.
2. St Seraphim of Sarov// Orthodox America, 1982, Issue 22, Vol.III, No.2, http://www.roca.org

Список приложений:

1. Приложение 1 – Компьютерная презентация слайдов о житии преп. Серафима Саровского.
2. Приложение 2 – Список новых слов и выражений.
3. Приложение 3 – Таблица – задание на соотнесение вопросов и ответов.