St Porphyrios
December 2nd
He was from a large family. He only had two years of school before going to work watching his families sheep. He used the quiet time inthe fields to read about St john the hut Dweller. He wanted to be like him. He wanted to become a monk for years before he was able to travel to Mt Athos and join the monks as a teenager. One of his sisters also became a nun. The Holy Spirit gave him a gift for seeing things that were too far away for eyes to see. He saw through the Holy Spirit. He could see into the Earth as well and into the hearts and minds of people (like knowing if someone was lying). He insisted that he had not learned how to do anthing special, it was by the Grace of God.
He very much enjoyed living on Mount Athos, but after about 5 years he got seriously ill and had to leave. He was ordained a priest in his twenties (that is very young-especially since he did not have any education). He served as a priest in Athens during World War II. He worked in a hospital as a confessor and gained many spiritual children over the years. He worked at the hospital for about 30 year.s After the war he worked very hard to start a monastery. It had been his dream. He did start a monastery called Holy Transfiguration. Hard work and his illnesses weakened his body but not his devotion to Christ. As he made plans for burying his body, he prepared his soul for heaven.
Saint Nicholas
December 6th
Saint Nicholas is famous for secretly giving coins to poor families so that the daughters could get married. He was famous for his generous heart. He is the Patron Saint of Children (and sailors and Russia). This is how many of the legends of St. Nick giving presents to kids at Christmas time got started!
Saint Nick was from the south coast of Asia Minor, a place called Patara. During his ministries he traveled all the way north to the important meeting in Nicea with all the bishops. During this meeting there was an theological argument and Saint Nicholas defending our Faith and also slapped the heretic Arius in the face! The bishops created a statement about our faith that explains the Trinity, we know it as the Nicene Creed- I believe in One God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth…
St James the Persian
A story of a faithful family. St James was raised in a christian home and became a soldier in the Persian emperor’s court around 400AD. Emperor Izdegerd was so imposing that James offered sacrifices to the pagan gods rather than tell the Emperor that he was Christian. When Jame’s mother heard what happened she scolded him in a strongly worded letter. His Mom would not standby his denial of Christ. The letter made St James sad and he felt alone, and so he repented.
His fellow soldiers turned him over for interrogation. When he refused to deny Christ, they started cutting off fingers, toes, then hands and feet and arms and legs… while St James prayed and praised the true God until he was beheaded. Saint James is rememebered as a Greatmartyr because he died for his faith in God.
St Aglaia (Aglae)
December 19th
St Aglaia was a wealthy young Roman women. She had a slave named Boniface. They were not married, but lived as if they were. They knew it was sinful to live together without being married. They looked for a way to repent.
Aglaia learned that relics gave strength and protection to Christians who had them in their homes. So she sent Boniface to the east where Christians were being persecuted. He was supposed to bring home the relics of a martyr to guard them at her house. Boniface joked that if he failed and died on the trip she could keep his bones as relics. She scolded him and reminded him this was an important spiritual task. That made him think, the entire trip about how unworthy he was to have relics.
When he finally reached the persecutions, he was so moved by the strength of the Christians that he announced himself to be Christian was tortured too. People talked of his strength during torture, how angels protected him. Hundreds of people became Christians because of his story. The group he traveled with sadly returned his body to Aglaia. She built a church to hold his relics and lived the rest of her life in prayer and repentance at a monastery. They were buried together.
The star shining God’s light
The Magii seeking
The birth of our Lord
The angels announce to the sheppherds
alaska archangels Cain and Abel Christmas coloring Constantine the Great February hospitality icon coloring january Jesus in Bethany Jesus Prayer Lent magi Mama Moment Martha and Mary Name-day nativity orthodoxchristian orthodox christian crafts Orthodoxfamily orthodox kids Orthodoxkids Orthodox Mother Orthodox Saints Pascha Pharisee Presentation of Christ Prophetess Anna Publican Righteous Simeon Saint Stephanie saint Syncletica Saint Winifred spyridon St Alexandra St Constantine St Edmund St Elizabeth St George St Helen St Hilarion St Porphyrios St Raphael of Brooklyn St Tikhon
For more coloring pages, see the links below!
December 2021
Blessed feast, may God bless you and keep your family! We just celebrated Thanksgiving and a birthday, so now our house is ready to switch into Nativity mode! While we’ve been fasting, it doesn’t feel like Christmas to us until after we celebrate the Harvest… New this month! December page images are all updated with…
December
Nativity Greetings! Please enjoy all the ideas and coloring pages. I hope they enrich your Nativity preparations and help you create fantastic memories with your Sparks!
September 2020
St Porphyrios is added for December! Please enjoy the many coloring pages for September. As we get back to school, I’ll add any fun projects we do- unit 1 frogs!
Sparks 4 Orthodox Kids 