Some Categories of Pastoral Care

Saints’ Lives in the Curriculum

Saints’ Lives in the Curriculum

Some Sunday School teachers, for example, love monasticism, so they speak only about its saints and neglect the others. It is as though, by doing so, they are encouraging their students to love the monastic life and its saints, which may create in them a sense of guilt if they choose marriage when they grow up.

Therefore, the saints’ lives included in the curriculum should be comprehensive and cover every category. Among these are the following:

1. The life of Saint Mary the Virgin and her feasts.
2. The lives of the Holy Apostles and the Apostolic Fathers.
3. The lives of the saints of the Holy Bible, both men and women.
4. The lives of the monastic saints, both men and women, and the anchorites.
5. The lives of the pastoral saints: Patriarchs, Bishops, and Priests.
6. The lives of the holy martyrs, both men and women.
7. The lives of the saints of repentance, both men and women, such as Saint Augustine, Saint Moses the Black, Saint Pelagia, and Saint Mary of Egypt.
8. The lives of saints who held no ecclesiastical office, such as Saint Anba Roueiss.
9. The lives of the righteous laypeople.
10. The lives of saints who began as magicians before entering the faith, such as Saint Cyprian, and the magician Athanasius in the account of the martyrdom of Saint George.
11. The lives of the saints who defended the faith (Apologists), such as Saint Athenagoras, Saint Athenophorus, and others.

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