Photo: SamwiseGamgee69
For children, the feast of the Nativity is no less important than for adults. And for some of them, Nativity is not just Christmas trees, gifts, and festive meals, but also includes some important life stories. The Orthodox journal Foma decided to ask children, mostly students of Orthodox schools, to share their stories. Children from Moscow and the Moscow region, Kirov, and the Nizhny Novgorod and Tver Provinces sent their works. The best stories were published by Foma and are presented here in translation.
One star burning
Photo: simech
I got sick last year, on the eve of the bright feast of the Nativity of Christ. I was really upset because I couldn’t go to church for the festal Nativity service.
Then my mother told me about the Bethlehem star, which always appears in the sky on the eve of Nativity. I really wanted to see it. I ran to the window, but there wasn’t a single star in the sky.
When I went to the window again, I saw one, single small star in the dark sky. It was small, but shone very brightly. It burned and sparkled in the huge, dark sky.
It was a real miracle!
When I remember this star, I feel light and joyful in my soul!
If you ever get sick on the eve of Nativity, don’t despair. Wait for a miracle, and it will certainly happen on this bright Nativity night!
Masha Ivanova, 9
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Province
Where there is true joy
Photo: lacygentlywaftingcurtains
We usually celebrate Christmas with our relatives, but this year, my parents and I were far away from home. I remember driving for a long time along a dark, unknown road in Belarus. My parents didn’t know what to do: to drive home without stopping, or to stop for the night at a hotel on this unknown road. In the end, they decided it would be better to stop. We took our things to the room where were going to spend the night. Then we went to look for a place where we could have some dinner.
It was the Christmas Eve, but we weren’t in a festive mood. There was a Christmas tree on the central square with confetti scattered around it. It was a reminder of New Year’s. The only place we could have dinner turned out to be the café on the first floor of our hotel. There was music thundering and a happy group of people dancing. We entered cautiously and sat down at an empty table. We ate our modest supper and watched the extremely happy people. Then we went up to our room and went to sleep. Everything was foreign: the people, the music, the food, the furniture in the room, the smell.
When they woke up my brother and I, it seemed it was still the deep of night on the street. We got in the cold car and again started off down the dark road. Neither streetlights nor windows in the houses were aglow. It seemed like everyone had left. Finally, the car stopped in the parking lot by the monastery walls. We got out of the car and saw living people, rushing to the same place we were. We went to the church and were amazed how many people were there. The service had already started. We heard the familiar chanting and my parents sang the familiar words. The situation in the church was unfamiliar, and the people all around were strangers, but I felt festal joy in my soul. It seemed to unite everyone in this unfamiliar place. And when we received fresh prosphora after the service, it seemed to be the most delicious treat.
I realized that true joy is not where there is dancing and noisy fun, but where there is quiet Divine singing and flickering candles.
Nikita Kukharenko, 10
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Province
The first meeting
Photo: Barta IV
I don’t remember how old I was then, but I was very young. I was young enough that all adults seemed like giants to me, since I barely reached their knees. And then this happened.
There’s usually a manger scene in our Znamenny Church along with the Christmas tree. I know what it is now and what’s included in it. But I was a little girl then and it was the first time I realized there was something special on the left side of the church. I really wanted to look at it!!! I grabbed my mother’s hand, forgetting about everything else, and stepping carefully, crept forward. There were a lot of people at the Nativity service, although it was the second service, not at night. Mama didn’t seem to be able to keep up with me; she stayed behind somewhere, and I sifted between the tightly packed people… and here there was a miracle awaiting me!
Under the lower branches of the Christmas tree was a small manger scene: a cave in which lay the Christ Child in a manger under the light of the Bethlehem star. The Most Holy Virgin Mary was kneeling before Him, and St. Joseph stood at some distance, with animals lying and standing and surrounded by the Magi. Everything shone with a wondrous, extraordinary light, it seemed to me then. I can’t describe what I was feeling at that moment. It wasn’t a child’s dream come true or a beautiful picture from some familiar fairytale. It was completely different! As I understand now, I was experiencing my first personal meeting with God then.
Yes, my parents had been taking me to church from infancy. I would look at the icons, get up on my feet, run up to them, and they would take me in their arms and I would venerate the icons. The face of the Lord on an icon was one thing, but for me, quite young then, the Holy Infant, lying in a cradle and stretching out His arms right for me, as I felt then, was another thing.
I also remember that the parishioners forgave me for my stubborn desire to get to the manger scene at any cost. Save them, Lord, for their indulgence. They freed up a little space for me, and I squatted down and carefully looked at all the figures. To me, they were alive. I also remember that the light coming from a hidden lampada somewhere inside seemed to me like the true light of the Nativity star, which indicated the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ to the entire world. I still remember this often. Nothing special happened externally, but I’ll never forget the joy of that wondrous meeting. It has settled into my heart.
Now, as a teenager, I really wish that such warm communion with God would always be present in my heart, but I’m often pained that it happens so rarely. Why? Thinking about it, I come to the conclusion that the TV and internet are to blame, although I don’t watch anything vulgar. Immersing myself in all of this, unfortunately, I forget about God. My studies in the Orthodox school, conversations with my parents, singing on the kliros, and good books help me return to Him. How joyful it is in my soul when I return… As the Scriptures say: Become as little children.
Panya Bobacheva, 13
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Province
Waiting for a star
Photo: Lawrence OP
Paid Work Starts Here
I was still young the first time I learned about the Nativity, although I’m still not very old. They put me to sleep, and before sleep my mother told me a wondrous Gospel story: There were shepherds, angels, Joseph and Mary, and, of course, the Magi. The story about the Divine Child was very interesting, but more than anything in it, I remember the description of the appearance of the new star. When the Magi saw the new star in the skies, they understood that the Messiah was born.
I asked my mother: “If a new star appeared then, does that mean it still exists?” She answered me: “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve,[1] and we can’t eat anything until the star appears—it’s the same Nativity star that all Christians await. It is the brightest, most beautiful, and most mysterious. Look out the window tomorrow evening and you’ll see it.”
For me, the word “Sochelnik” meant something very juicy [“сочный”—“sochny”] and delicious, so I didn’t understand why we wouldn’t eat anything that day. Now I understand that on the threshold of the birth of the Christ Child, everything freezes and waits, and you forget about food and games. And sochivo is a really delicious dish made of wheat, raisins, nuts, and honey, eaten to keep up strength before the mystery that will soon occur.
So in the evening I was sitting impatiently at the window and waiting for the Nativity star to appear. I sat, I sat, and I fell asleep. I woke up when my mother roused me saying: “Hey, sleepyhead, you overslept the star appearing. Look, it’s shining there!”
Since then, the Gospel story of the Nativity of Jesus Christ and the appearance of the Bethlehem star is connected with real life, which is all around and can be simply seen in the sky and on earth.
Look! It’s shining there!
Petya Pushkin, 10
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Province
Instead of a sister
Photo: chris.alcoran
I would like to tell my Nativity story. 2015 had arrived! The fireworks died down, we sorted out all our gifts, we visited and congratulated our relatives and friends, and the Nativity Fast ended…
I have two wonderful brothers. The older is Nikita and the younger is Paul Paulich. And I really wanted a sister!
So, on Nativity, I asked God to give me a sister: small, beautiful, wonderful. I wanted to dress her up, braid her hair, and play our girly games with her. I didn’t have to wait long. In the spring my mother told me we would have a baby. God heard me! I was very glad!
Several months passed, and then on December 30, a new child was born. It was a boy--Theodore. At first I was upset—after all, I had asked for a sister! But then, when my father and mother brought him home, I saw how funny and cute he was. I rejoiced! We’re friends now. Now I have three brothers.
So, if you believe and entreat God with your whole heart and soul for what you really want, for something important and beautiful, then the Lord will certainly hear you! Listen to God and listen to your soul! Be happy!
Blessed feast of the Nativity of Christ!
Masha Vichuzhanina, 9
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Province
To give joy
Photo: Lawrence OP
I always reread the story of the appearance of the Son of God on Earth on Christmas Eve. My heart stops in my chest and my eyes fill up with tears. Every time, I wait for a miracle with trepidation and excitement. And it seems the whole world is awaiting it together with me.
As I’m walking home from the night service with my family, the voice of the Nativity choir still resounds in my soul. Snow swirls in the light of the streetlights. And I’m sure that something wonderful will happen in the morning. But one day, I realized that I myself can make a small miracle for children.
This happened in 2015. I was in second grade at St. George’s Orthodox School in Krasnogorsk. It was my second year studying at the “Shore of Childhood” theater studio of the municipal center of spiritual culture in Krasnogorsk, under the direction of Vladimir Anatolievich Zharkov. We started preparing for our Christmas pageant already in September; rehearsal after rehearsal, we did a lot of hard work and were very tired.
I had a small role as a bear in “Little Red Riding Hood.” Everyone was really nervous before the start. I looked out into the hall from backstage. The audience was already there, and there were many children. They were making noise and talking excitedly. Then suddenly everyone got quiet. The multitude of tiny faces froze in anticipation…
The show was delightful. The audience thanked the actors, loudly clapping. I was standing on the stage thinking that we had also created a small Nativity miracle. With God’s help and to the glory of God, all together we gave the people a joy that became part of the joy of the Nativity, which will revive and warm their hearts.
We’re preparing a show for the Christmas pageant again this year. It will be story of the friendship between a fox and a chicken. I hope the little kids and their parents will like it and take away some happy memories, as part of the mystery of Nativity. After all, the Lord creates the miracle of the Nativity by the hands of man.
Egor Gurov, 10
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Province
A candle for the elderly
Photo: David Kidd
My most memorable Christmas was when I was a preschooler. My sisters were in the musical fairytale “Christmas Candle.” Olga played the main role—the role of the candle. They sang so beautifully!
And from this fairytale we went to a home for the elderly and disabled to congratulate them. And I took part in it! We went to the rooms where the patients who couldn’t walk lived and congratulated them and gave them gifts. And they sang the troparion of Nativity together with us. It was very touching, and I will remember this Nativity forever.
Boris Chugunov, 10
Semenov, Nizhny Novgorod Province
Two bundles
Photo: Thomas Hawk
It was eleven years ago… I remember this morning snowfall… I remember looking out the window and waiting for something. Probably some kind of miracle… I remember how my father said to me: “Let’s go, Nastyushka!”[2]
We got in the car. I was in the back seat, of course. I was still very young (five years old), but I was already quite an independent and smart child. We were going, the headlights were shining, but the road was difficult to see because of the snow.
Fortunately, we arrived without incident. My father said to wait for him in the car. He returned a few minutes later with a bouquet of red roses. We headed off somewhere else. It smelled like a hospital. Everything is fuzzy from that moment for some reason; I don’t remember the hospital itself very well. Maybe I was driven mad by the stupefying smell of chlorine and some kind of medicine.
Then my parents showed up—my mother with the bouquet of flowers, and my father was carrying two heavy bundles, tied with blue and light blue ribbon. I didn’t even notice how my father stepped away, but I remember how I rejoiced at these bundles. They were my brothers, born on the day of the Nativity of Christ.
Anastasia Chernyshova, 16
Kirov
