Comenius' School of Infancy/Chapter 10
CHAPTER X.
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
1. “Rejoice not in impious children. If they be multiplied rejoice not over them; since the fear of God is not in them. For it is better to die childless, than to have impious children.” So said the wise son of Sirach. Above all things, parents should be careful to imbue their children with truth, and not be satisfied with merely outward piety; apart from this, knowledge and manners, however refined, may be more injurious than beneficial; just as a knife, a sword, or a hatchet in the hand of a maniae, the sharper it is, the more dangerous it becomes.
2. In the first and second years, because of their tender age,[1] and from the reasoning faculty nob yet being developed in children, little can be effected in this matter beyond what God, through nature and His own internal grace, effects; still, by some means, the beginning of our duty towards them and of theirs towards God must be laid, so that we may coöperate, as far as we can, with God and nature. For although we cannot teach piety to new-born infants, we can, by exercising piety in them, lay in them the foundation of piety, through prayer and by surrendering them, in holy dedication, to Christ the Redeemer, imploring likewise for them the care of the Eternal Teacher, the Holy Spirit.
3. As soon as parents are aware that God wills to grant them a child, they should, with ardent prayer, solicit from Him blessing and sanctification for their offspring. The expectant mother, accompanied by her husband, ought daily, without intermission, to pour out prayer to that effect, and to live through the whole period of her time, piously and holily, that the offspring, having a place already within their hearts, may share with them in the beginning the fear of God.
4. After God has brought His gift from darkness to light, and presented it to their eyes, the parents (as a certain pious theologian advises) ought in honor of the grace of God, as manifested in His recent gift, to receive the new stranger into this world with a kiss. For true is the confession of the holy Maccabean mother, who said: “We know not how infants are conceived; we ourselves give to them neither breath nor life, nor do we knit together the members of their body. But the Creator of the world is the maker of the human race.”
5. If parents see the new-born alive, sound, and complete in its members, they ought forthwith to return humble thanks to the munificent Donor, and fervently pray that through His holy angels He will protect it from all evil, and make its education felicitous by granting to it a heavenly blessing.
6. The parents should then make provision for returning the gift to its Almighty Giver through a pious dedication, fervently praying that the most merciful God would deign to save His own creature in Christ, and by granting it the Holy Spirit, as an earnest of salvation, to ratify and confirm His own choice. Likewise they should piously promise, that if God will bestow on their child life and health, they will withdraw it from all worldly yanity and carnal corruptions, training it up piously for His glory. So Hannah in fervent prayer devoting her son Samuel to God, before and after conception, and after his birth, obtained a blessing for him. For it is not in the nature of the Divine mercy to repel from Himself that which is consecrated to Him in humility and fervor. On the contrary, if parents treat this matter with carelessness, God gives them disobedient children, that it may be obvious to the eye that those blessings are gratuitous and bestowed by Him alone.
7. The efficacious initiation of children into piety may be begun in the second year,[2] when reason, as a little lovely flower, begins to unfold itself and to distinguish things.[3] For then the tongue is loose, they begin to utter articulate words, their feet acquire strength, and they prepare themselves for running. This is now the most favorable opportunity to begin the exercises of piety; yet little by little; the steps by which this may be done I will now indicate.
8. First, when the elder children pray or sing before and after meals, it should be provided that the infant be accustomed to silence, to sit or stand quietly, to compose the hands and keep them so. Children may easily be accustomed to this, provided others set before them a good example, and during the requisite time keep their hands folded also.
9. Secondly, that from their lips may now go forth the praise of God, children should be taught to bend the knee, to fold the hands and look upwards, and say little prayers, especially this very little one, “O God my Father, be merciful to me for the sake of Thy Son Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen.”[4] Within a month or two this prayer may be fixed in their memories. They should next be taught the Lord’s Prayer, not all at once, but the first petition within the space of a week, every day, morning and evening, repeating it once or twice; for what else has its attendant to do? It is likewise proper that as the child advances in reason it should be accustomed, as often as it requires food, to say its own little prayer.[5] When the child has mastered the words and retains in memory the first petition, the second ought to be added, and repeated during two weeks. Then the third should be joined to these, and so on to the end. In this way a child will more easily retain in memory the Lord’s Prayer, than if, according to the usual manner, the whole were recited at one and the same time. For thus it is forced to be learning it during two or three years, and even then will not remember it correctly.
10. In the third place, it may be shown to the child, by pointing with the finger to heaven, that God is there, who made all things, from whom we have food, drink, and clothing. Then, that the child may understand why we, during prayer, look up to heaven, this little prayer may be added: “O my God, grant me a heart fearing Thee, obedient to father and mother, and everywhere in everything pleasing Thee. Impart to me Thy Holy Spirit to teach and enlighten me, through Jesus Christ Thy beloved Son. Amen.”
11. Afterwards the Apostle’s Creed should be taught in little portions,[6] so that the child may completely know it before the end of the third year; of the fourth year, however, with slower children. This may easily be done by reciting morning and evening, and before and after food, in the first month the first portion only; in the second month, the second portion with the first; in the third month, the third portion with the second and first, and so in succession. When a new portion is learned, it may be repeated until the child has completely mastered the words. It may also be permitted to children, when prayer is concluded, to rise from their knees and recite the confession standing, that thus they may be accustomed to distinguish between what is and what is not prayer.
12. This will be the proper time to speak occasionally of God, so that, when He is mentioned, children may be accustomed to reverence, venerate, and love Him. To this, however, they should be instructed according to their capacity; for example, pointing up to heaven you may say, “God dwells there”; turning their attention to the sun, “Lo, God made the sun, by whch He shineth upon us”; when it thunders, “Lo, He threatens the impious,” etc. Likewise promising them, if they willingly pray to God and obey father and mother, that God will give them beautiful attire, but if not, that He will punish them. And when any new clothing is given them, a repast, or anything that pleases them, it ought to be said that God gives them these things. If they visit where there is a dead body, or accompany a funeral, show them the dead body as covered with earth in the grave, or an animal that has been killed, and say, “God destroyed them because of wickedness.” All these things should be done in order that the power of God may be impressed upon their mind.
13. If the things here written seem childlike to any one, my answer is, that they are so; for the matter here treated belongs to children with whom we cannot proceed otherwise than in a childlike manner. Christ Himself, in His word and in His life, speaks to adults in no other way than as children; for, in truth, we are children, understanding divine and heavenly things not as they are in themselves, but according to our capabilities; and yet God descends to our infirmities; why, then, should not we condescend to the weakness of our children?
14. When they have learned the Confession of Faith, the Ten Commandments may be gradually given them,[7] and in the same order which has been advised with respect to the Lord’s Prayer and the Confession of Faith; so that the Ten Commandments may not be learned all at the same time (for in this way the natural ability may be blunted and impaired), but by portions. For example, the first precept daily for a whole week, in the morning after breakfast, and in the evening after supper, the second precept should be next, and as it is somewhat longer, it may occupy two or three weeks; the third and fourth during the same time; the fifth during two weeks; the sixth to the ninth should be taken together, and learned in the course of two weeks; and when the tenth has been learned, the whole should be repeated distinctly at the several prayers. And now the child itself may recite them, but in the presence of its father or mother, or nurse, or another person appointed to the duty of seeing that it makes no mistakes, and of setting it right when hesitating. Attention to gestures, however, ought not to be forgotten, for the child should not be allowed to look this way and that, to swing itself to and fro, or move its hands; but by all means accustom it to devotional propriety. In this it should be instructed and encouraged, nay, compelled by rebuke or chastisement, if requisite, by the rod or by a refusal of its repast, until it obey. With the view to this, children should be counseled before or even during prayer. If, after all, they transgress, punishment should follow, either at the time, or when prayer is ended, so that they may be aware that proper attention must be insisted upon. All must be done prudently, however, lest, instead of loving, they should begin to dislike sacred things.[8]
15. In the fifth year, an evening prayer ought to be added to the exercises of piety; for example: “I thank Thee, my Father in heaven, through Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, that Thou hast graciously kept me all this day by Thy free mercies. I pray Thee to pardon all my sins, which I have naughtily done; kindly keep me by Thy grace all through this night; for into Thy hands I give up myself, my body and soul, and my all. May Thy holy angels be with me, so that Satan may not be able to say I am his. Amen.” This prayer to be followed by the Lord’s Prayer.
16. When children have learned this prayer, the following morning prayer may be learned: “I give Thee thanks, my heavenly Father, through Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, that Thou hast kept me all through the past night from all evil. I pray Thee, preserve me all through this day from every sin and wickedness; so that all I do and all my life may please Thee. For into Thy hands I give myself up, body and soul, and my all. May Thy holy angels attend me, so that the devil may not geb any right in me. Amen.” To this also the Lord’s Prayer is to be added.
17. Children will now readily learn, from daily recitation, to ask a blessing at table and to return thanks.[9]
18. That the piety now taking root in the heart may not be subject to hindrances, it will be useful—indeed highly necessary at this age—to guard against occasions of evil, by using every possible effort, that nothing vile or impious, tending to contaminate the mind, may be presented to the eyes or reach the ears of children. For as, according to the testimony of Solomon, He who is first in his own cause seems just; and according to the saying of just counsels: What appertains to nobody becomes the property of the first occupant, so likewise it is everlasting truth that first impressions adhere most firmly to our minds. Whatever first attaches to the tender age of children, whether good or bad, remains most firmly fixed, so that throughout life it may not be expelled by any after impression.
19. In a court of justice, no doubt, the accused may justify his own cause; the judge having been better informed, the accused overthrows the cause of his accuser, by refuting the allegations, the coloring being dispersed; for whichever of the two parties, whether the former or the latter, pleads his cause most satisfactorily, the judge (being mature in age and understanding) pronounces sentence in favor of that one, commanding the other to depart; but the mind of this early age, just unfolding itself, represents wax, upon which any impression may be made when it is soft,[10] so that when it hardens it retains that impression, and will receive no other save with difficulty and violence. These, however, differ still wider, since the wax may be softened by fire so as to lose the former impression; whereas the brain can by no means be forced to lose what it has once received. I maintain that no art or method can be devised by which a man can efface an impression which he has once received, even if he himself desire it, and much less at the command of anybody else. It was therefore wisely observed by Themistocles that he would rather desire the faculty of forgetfulness than of remembering; because, whatever the force of our natural memory has apprehended, it easily retains and rarely permits it to be removed.
20. Nothing, therefore, more requires the care of parents who really desire their children’s safety, than that, while instructing them as to all good things, they should likewise secure them against the access of all evil things by conducting themselves piously and holily,[11] and by enjoining the same on their families and all their domestics.[12] Christ declares in the case of such as act otherwise, “Woe to him that offends one of these very little ones”; and Juvenal, although a heathen, has left it upon record: “The greatest reverence is due to a child. Whatever base things you design to do, despise not the years of your child.”
COLLATERAL READING.
Adler’s Moral Instruction of Children, Chap. IX.; Fénelon’s Education of Girls, Chaps. VII. and VIII.; Herford’s Students’ Fröbel, Chap. IV.; Laurie’s Primary Instruction in Relation to Education, Chap. VIII.; Malleson’s Early Training of Children, Chap. V.; Necker de Saussure’s Progressive Education, Book III., Chaps. VII., VIII., and IX.; Pestalozzi’s Leonard and Gertrude; Richter’s Levana, Second Fragment, Chap. IV.
- ↑ Comenius, like Fénelon, recognized that reason was necessary for religious instruction. The latter, in L’Éducation des Filles (Paris, n. d.), says: “We have already remarked that early infancy is not adapted to the exercise of the reasoning faculty on account of the limited knowledge of children. We should, nevertheless, endeavor, without placing their faculties under unnatural restraint, gently to turn the first exercise of their reason to the knowledge of God.”
- ↑ Rousseau delays religious instruction until the sixteenth or seventeenth year. “When the imagination has once seen God,” he says, “it is very rare that the understanding conceives Him.”
- ↑ “The faculty of reasoning,” says Locke, “seldom or never deceives those who trust to it.” Dr. G. Stanley Hall says: “Logic has a very high educational value as reason approaches its maturity, and may become a passion as early as the high school; but with young children the prime, if not the sole, question is to know what the soul is ripe and eager for.”
- ↑ Madame de Maintenon, who wrote most intelligently on the education of girls, said: “Let piety consist rather in the innocence of their lives and in the simplicity of their occupations than in the austerities, the retirements, and the refinements of devotion.”
Kant was in entire accord with Rousseau that religious instruction did not belong to the period of early childhood. He says: “Religious ideas always suppose some system of theology, and how are we to teach theology to the young, who, far from knowing the world, do not yet know themselves.”
- ↑ “The child accustomed from its earliest years to pray, to think, and to work,” says Pestalozzi, “is already more than half educated.”
- ↑ Miss Elizabeth Harrison, who has written at length on this subject, in her Letters on the Elementary Principles of Education (London, 1808), takes another view of such instruction. She says: “I believe the recollections of most people who have been educated by pious parents will furnish them with numerous instances of the inutility of loading the memory at an early period with creeds and catechisms which are totally beyond the comprehension. Even those which are best adapted to childhood lose all their meaning when detached into the small and broken portions, by the repetition of which they are committed to memory.”
- ↑ Comenius shared with Luther the religious conceptions of the Reformation. The latter asks: “Is it not reasonable that every Christian should know the Gospel at the age of nine or ten?”
- ↑ Professor [[Author:Earl Barnes}} observes: “Any punishment which leaves the child in a worse state of mind than it found him, which leaves him ugly and revengeful, or cowardly and hopeless, is wrong; and from the point of view of the intelligent teacher has been a failure, What the child ought to feel has nothing to do with the case. Our problem is the same as that of the physician: How has the remedy which we have applied actually affected the patient? has it left him better or worse than he was before?”
- ↑ This practice of children instead of parents saying grace at the table is quite common in Germany at the present time.
- ↑ Comenius here gives expression to Locke’s tabula rasa theory.
- ↑ Carlyle says: “To teach religion, the first thing needful and also the last and only thing is the finding of a man who has religion.”
- ↑ Perhaps no modern writer has expressed the ideal of religious instruction in better form than Dr. William T. Harris. He says: “The highest religion, that of pure Christianity, sees in the world infinite meditations, all for the purpose of deyeloping independent individuality; the perfection of human souls not only in one kind of piety,—namely, that of the heart,—but in the piety of the intellect, that beholds truth, the piety of the will, that does good deeds wisely, the piety of the senses, that sees the beautiful and realizes it in works of art.”