Importanța Muzicii Religioase în modelarea caracterului moral-creștin al elevilor cu cerințe educative speciale
The Importance of Religious Music in Shaping the Moral-Christian Character of Students with Special Educational Needs

Summary/Abstract: Music, in general, and religious music sanctifies the soul, the mind and the life of man. Religious music brings doxology to God. Music is the source of human thoughts, the impetus of imagination, taking us to everything that is good, sensitive, beautiful and spiritual. Music conveys emotional sensitivity, an indescribable psychological and intellectual force. Music helps to form the aesthetic sense; by harmony and melody; it is a means of educating and cultivating the soul. It remains transparent to let the beauty and depth of the human soul be seen. Music is of divine origin and innate in human nature, it is an activity by which man expresses the spiritual experiences and noble feelings. Among all the arts, music gives the most expressiveness and communication, it has the most calming effect on the soul and it goes into the secret depths of the heart. Music coexists with other arts: sculpture, painting, writing, poetry that keeps the evidence of the spirituality and culture of a people. Truly valuable music should bring us closer to God and make us become more virtuous. Religious music is “the spiritual bread” of believers. It is a confession type of the Christian-Orthodox teaching of faith. Religious songs improve the spirit, and when we enter an Orthodox church, we have the feeling that we enter eternity, by the contemplative silence, which inspires and brightens us, not close to the peers with whom we sing, in a communion of love and Christian experience.The Orthodox liturgical service bring together the words, icons and songs, as essential elements of sacred art, into a single doxological manifestation. The serenity of the Orthodox service is shown by experiencing the joy of thanking God for all the gifts received. These smooth ascents and descents of tonality remind us of the Romanic light space. The songs change the mood of the soul or perhaps they shape the character of the person who listens to them attentively; since ancient times, music has been the art of educating the spirit and morally making the young people to be responsible adults. Religious music is an echo of angelic chants, whereas the joy of liturgical songs must be associated with the joy of the mystical meeting with our Savior Jesus Christ, in the Holy Eucharist. The formation of character and complete personality is the priority ideal of religious education. This ideal can be achieved by didactic objectives, methods and means that aim at the knowledge and internalization of moral, aesthetic, intellectual values that, combined, can guarantee the achievement of the proposed finality, namely the formation of a moral-Christian character of educated people. Moral-Christian education, for the fulfillment of man, implies, from a theological point of view, the work and inspiration of divine grace. The Church sums up all the modalities of education, because, with the help of the Church, man receives the dogmas, the faith truths, he actively participates in the liturgical life and, at the same time, he receives the praise of God, by the descent of the Holy Spirit, among people. The Church offers the child a variety of education: the intellectual education (the truth of faith that addresses the cognitive field), the moral education (by biblical and patristic models, it addresses the socio-affective field, by offering examples of behaviour), and the aesthetic education (expressing prayers in the form of songs, church paintings, church architectural, by cultivating and sensitizing the aesthetic sense of information). All these elements point out the complexity of the educational act caught in the Church, the harmonious development of man by the values offered by it, according to the three dimensions of education: Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Education in the Church transforms people, transfigures them, bringing them closer to God and to the Holy Trinity. The religion teacher in the special school promotes and supports art therapy by religious music. The way in which the teachers make moral-Christian education in the classroom depends, to a large extent, on their attitude to children with special needs and on the resources available for their learning. They treat the students with dignity and respect, and they have special consideration for the situation when children with special educational need to find themselves. There are teams of specialists, together with representatives of the Christian-Orthodox Church. The religion teacher must be a model for the pupils; to convey the faith truths in a pleasant, interesting, attractive way, so that the knowledge of pupils is full of affectivity, to sensitize, by opening the way to internal intuition, in order to “understand the unseen”. Moral-Christian beliefs are the guarantee of the transformation of theoretical, grounded and necessary accumulations into acts of moral conduct, towards the correct transposition of the teachings in everyday situations, whether at home, in the Church, at school or in the group of friends. Music, especially for children with various ailments, can lead to relaxation and tranquillity by reducing tension, it bring along tonic moods and safety moods, it enables communication, especially in the case of children with special educational needs, those with autism spectrum disorders, or those who are shy or anxious. Religious music has beneficial influences on the neuronal activity, the neurotransmitter stimulation, as well as the cardiac function. It can be considered “a real balm for the brain”. As for children with mental suffering and hyperkineticism, religious music helps to reduce aggression; it catches the attention of the disabled child for a longer period; it favours cooperation in the group and it enables team activities; it ensures a psychological, disconnecting comfort in individual activities. Religious songs point out love between people, tolerance, kindness, obedience, peace, goodwill and philanthropy, especially during the great Christian holidays. Melodic harmony brings peace and joy, it cultivates virtues and character qualities. By means of the religious education we try to stimulate the creativity of children . By creativity we mean the development of the pupils’ ability to create an original product, stemming from talent, spontaneity and creative imagination. Music can become a support in the development of emotional intelligence and social adaptation of children and young people. Everything the students learn during the religion class finds its purpose in shaping the integral personality of a good Christian. This is how one can get to know and experience the evangelical, divine teachings. Under the careful guidance of the educators, children can express by paintings, songs, prayers and the work of their skilled hands, the fact that the gifts of the Holy Spirit pour out like a bright stream of love and talent, shared with the people in thousands and thousands of nuances and works. The moral-Christian education shapes the meaning of the child’s life and an existence way, in a communion of love, trust and attachment to God and to the fellow human beings. The moral-religious education deals with the soul and with its powers: intellectual, volitional, emotional sensitivity and the freedom to choose what we want to become in life. As a religion teacher in a special school, I always strive to shape the moral-Christian character of children and teenagers by entrusting them with pre-education and Christian formation. I am convinced that each person represents a unique value. By the Christian baptism and with the help of divine grace, we have become children of God, and He guides us as an all-mighty and loving Father. Keywords: religious music, moral-Christian character, art-therapy.

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