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In Penza nun Sofia talks with teachers about spirituality

19:26 | 10.10.2017 | Religion

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Penza, 10 October 2017. PenzaNews. The deputy head of the Obnin spiritual and educational centre "Faith, hope, love" nun Sofia (Ishchenko), who visited Penza for the second time, talked with local teachers about spirituality.

In Penza nun Sofia talks with teachers about spirituality

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The meeting, which had been announced as a lecture, was held in the concert hall "Oktyabr" in a dialogue format.

Before it began, the Archbishop Seraphim of Penza and Nizhnelomovsk turned to the assembled.

He drew attention of teachers of Orthodox culture foundations and teachers of Sunday schools present in the hall to considerable experience of nun Sofia, who had been engaged in spiritual education in a city with rich scientific history for many years, which was a difficult task.

The Archbishop asked the teachers to be attentive to the subject of the meeting as those were spiritual issues that became crucial in the struggle for the younger generation.

The guest immediately asked to turn on the light in order to see people’s faces. She suggested that the teachers engaged in the conversation and defined the concept of culture.

"I liked one of them. It is very simple but succinct. Culture is defined as religion, science and art of a certain nation at a given period of time," nun Sofia said.

She concluded that in that context "a Russian culture" was a synonym to "an Orthodox culture".

"It is necessary to all teachers and officials engaged in the sphere of education to understand it," the deputy head of the spiritual and educational centre explained adding that "the soul is Christian by nature".

According to her, even though the church in Russia was separated from the state, teachers were required to engage in spiritual and moral education of children. At the same time, according to the nun, moral education meant religious one.

"There is no morality without religion. The basis is religious understanding of the world in the society. Moral and everyday rites, standards of conduct and other things develop out of this basis," she said.

Illustrating the thought, nun Sofia gave the following example: a Russian woman would not hide her face behind a veil because it was not stipulated by her religion, while a Muslim woman could not help hiding hers behind a yashmak.

During the lecture that arouse genuine interest among the listeners, the Penza teachers were able to share their views on the principles of spiritual upbringing of children and to ask questions of interest.

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