The kingdom of heaven, dearly beloved, is compared to earthly things, so that our soul may rise to the unknown from that with which it is familiar.
– Gregory the Great
truisms
I have something greater then this soul - because of my wretched and sinful life I will probally never be saved and my soul will probally burn- so to me, the greatest thing i have is ; the Love for the Triune God, his Blessed Mother who has protected me all my life and all the Angels and Saints known and unknown to humankind...
spiridon / a filthy dog of this world
First, and Last, and Always
in CHRIST
Parenthood is THE single most powerful discipleship and charity “program” on the planet. It’s time that I get that through my thick skull and start taking that responsibility seriously. I may not be a priest or a Mother Theresa, but I am a Dad and everyday I can chose to be a terrible, mediocre, or an amazing one - a life changing one!
A father of four.
The simplest means for confining the will within its proper bounds lies in disposing children to do nothing without permission. Let them be eager to run to their parents and ask: May I do this or that? They should be persuaded by their own experience and that of others that to fulfill their own desires without asking is dangerous; they should be put in such a frame of mind that they even fear their own will.
-St Theophan the Recluse, "The Path to Salvation" p 58
...the family is a countervailing force in society. Public life is individualistic. It's oriented around goals like self-development, self-advancement and personal happiness. (This is, of course, even more true in America today than in the Russia of the 19th century.) The goal of family life, on the other hand, does not revolve around individual choices but around the unconditional union of souls. When we get married, and then when we have kids, we learn, sometimes traumatically, to say farewell to the world of me, me, me.
"God loves you so much. And you need to understand, honey that no one DERSERVES communion...not mommy, not daddy, not anyone - no matter if they fasted perfectly and said ALL their communion prayers. It is out of God's love that we are able to take communion. We fast and we say our prayers so that we are better prepared to take communion, but we don't cheat God when don't say our prayers or don't fast - we cheat OURSELVES out of an opportunity to practice discipline and to experience communion in a deeper way."
A father to his daughter, before communion.