You can lift up your mind and heart to God while walking, working, in a crowd, and in solitude.
His door is always open.
Saint Tikhon
simplicity
We do not need riches or learning in order to know the Lord, we must simply be obedient and sober, have a humble spirit and love our fellow-men. The Lord will love a soul that does this, and of His own accord make Himself manifest to her and instruct her in love and humility, and give her all things necessary to find rest in God.
Saint Silouan the Athonite
Christ is joy
Christ is our Friend, our Brother; He is whatever is beautiful and good. He is everything. In Christ there is no gloom, melancholy or introversion, whereas man suffers from various temptations and situations that make him suffer. Christ is joy, life, light, the true light, which makes man glad, makes him fly, makes him see all things, see all people suffer for all people and want all people to be with him, close to him.
Saint Silouan
adorned with His Grace
Man is made of the dust of the earth, but God so loved him, that He adorned him with His grace and fashioned him in the likeness of the Lord.
Saint Silouan the Athonite
kindling Divine Love
The more wood you pile on a fire, the more heat you get, and thus it is with God – the more you think on Him, the more you are fired with love and fervour towards Him. He who loves the Lord is always mindful of Him and remembrance of God begets prayer.
Saint Silouan
intent on God
“We eat and drink every day, yet on the morrow our bodies need food and drink again. In like manner, the recollection of God’s bounties never wearies that soul, but disposes her still more to think on God.”
Saint Silouan
living catechism
Raising children – in the world but not of the world – truly this is a magnificent arduous labor – impossible without God
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Whether your children attend private school, public school or are homeschooled, one of the best ways to give our children an excellent Orthodox education, is to take them to Church – not just on Sunday mornings, but Vespers and any Festal Liturgy or service that you can attend. An Orthodox catechism begins at Baptism and is hands on : young lives fed by the Sacraments and steadfast timeless seasons of the Church : integrated into the fabric of liturgical life.
Life lived through the Church’s seasonal rhythms seeps into the core of a child’s being. This is the perennial unshakable and fortifying foundation of Truth and Love.
In a world where truth is relative, our children are bombarded with the noise of consumerism peddling false messages of self worth, ephemeral instant gratuity and distorted images of what it means to be fully human, joyful and even content. It’s constant drone it can be alluring.
A parent must “walk circumspectly” in the Faith and “redeem the time:”, while they are yet young. None of us knows whether our child will become one who is part of the increasing numbers of youth leaving the Faith…. and so it is no vain labor to let the Lord build the house (Psalm 127:1) and strive as a family to live the Faith sincerely and wholeheartedly.
“In the education of children, the most important thing is that they should see their parents leading an intense spiritual life.” Father Alexander Elchaninov
Faith is transmitted through parents; it is a living gift of nourishment. Children and especially teenagers and young adults crave Truth and authenticity. Parental devotion to the Lord enables children to love and know their Creator – a thirst quenching, life sustaining relationship. It is a noble goal : striving to live the Greatest Commandment, rearing children in the Faith – through word and deed – bringing them to Church regularly and making that a priority.
It is necessary for everyone to know Scriptural teachings, and this is especially true for children. Even at their age they are exposed to all sorts of folly and bad examples from popular entertainment. Our children need remedies for all these things! We are so concerned with our children’s schooling, if only we were equally zealous in bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Saint John Chrysostom
the early years
parenthood is a martyrdom
a constant effort, tending to the soul of another
a hope-filled life
cultivating . instilling . loving . healing . nurturing . encouraging . educating . praying
within the seasons, grace and space
life fashioned of Faith, in the Church
“It will enough if you take care to instruct your children in the fear of God and instill them with an Orthodox understanding, and by teaching them to be faithful, you protect them from any manner of thinking that is foreign to the teachings of the Orthodox Church. The good that you sow in the hearts of your children, while they are young, will blossom forth in their hearts when they come to full maturity after enduring the bitter trials of school and contemporary life which often break off the branches of a good Christian upbringing.”
Saint Ambrose of Optina
outside air
Television dulls children’s minds. They lose the ability to think on their own, to think critically…
Television has done us great damage.
Saint Paisios the Athonite
anxiety dissolves with Faith
“What is true for parents is also true for teachers.
With prayer and sanctity you can also help children at school. Don’t attempt to correct bad situations with human methods. No good will come of this. You will only produce good results with prayer. Invoke the grace of God on all the children, for divine grace to enter their souls and transform them. That is what it means to be a Christian. You teachers transmit your anxiety ot the children, without realizing it, and this affects them. Anxiety dissolves with faith. What is it that we say?
“We commit our whole life to Christ our God.”
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