Family life : Bringing up children
An Orthodox View on Child Abuse
Even more widespread in our society is the emotional abandonment of our children. Children are not "wanted", they are a "burden," it is not "fashionable" to have children. The neo-paganism of our times repeats the attitudes of the enemies of the child of every age.
Oct 9, 2008, 10:00

Family life : Bringing up children
“Blessed Are the Pure in Heart for They Shall See God”
Parents are for the child the first door to the Kingdom of God. By the way the parents live a godly life, they provide the first example of God’s love and care. Saint Theophan the Recluse (The Path to Salvation) advises that “the upbringing in the home is the root and foundation of everything that follows.” Setting a right foundation, then, is the first priority of the parent for the child. When an infant has such a beginning in life, there is little that can change his belief later as he matures. The foundation of belief becomes a part of the concrete, so to speak, that hardens and forms the person the child grows into.


Sep 19, 2008, 10:00

Family life : Bringing up children
Finding God's Will for Your Life: Principles for Young Adults
It has been said that at the end of your life the only things that really matter are the people you loved, the people who loved you, and what you did for God. The importance of our other accomplishments, however great, do not have the same significance. They even tend to fade into oblivion and be forgotten. How then do we discern what is truly important in our lives? How do we make our major decisions (what career to pursue, whom to marry, etc.)?
Sep 4, 2008, 10:13

Family life : Bringing up children
SUNDAY'S CHILD AND DEATH, Part 2
In Part I of this article, we looked at some ways that both meanings of death - the physical and the religious meanings - could be presented to children. That discussion, however, centered around death in general and didn't involve explaining the death of someone the child knew. What should an adult tell a child when someone the child has known dies? What kinds of reactions can the adult expect? Should the child be encouraged to attend the funeral and the burial? How can the adult help the child to cope with the loss?
Aug 16, 2008, 10:14

Family life : Bringing up children
SUNDAY'S CHILD AND DEATH, Part 1
Like Timmy's mother, many adults often find that explaining the death of a relative or friend to children is not an easy thing to do. It's difficult to know what to say and how to say it so children can understand and accept what they are told without being overwhelmed by the fact of death or people's responses to it.
Aug 13, 2008, 10:01

Family life : Bringing up children
Children and Television
Mythological television characters replace parents, relatives, the Saints, and Christ as role models. A normal American fourteen-year-old girl talks with her mother (in terms of actually discussing a subject in an intelligible way and in a sensible context) only about four minutes a week! Listen to your family's dinner conversations. Can they compete with hours of TV? Or for that matter, what do Church services mean to your children in terms of the thousands of hypnotic, mindless hours before the television? As family communication decreases, television watching increases. And as the TV devours more and more hours in young children's lives, almost nothing can compete with it for attention.
Jul 22, 2008, 10:01

Family life : Bringing up children
On Giving Children the Sense of the Beautiful
What models of outward beauty can parents then provide for their children today, as alternatives and antidotes to the contemporary cult of ugliness?
Apr 19, 2007, 14:06

Family life : Bringing up children
Parents need to love the child...
So, first of all, parents need to cultivate this quality of dignity and self-respect in themselves. And if they encourage this in their children, if they set the example, the children will become true Christians. They will become worthy people and the Christian truths will be the core of their lives, not just knowledge. Because the scariest thing is when a person says one thing, but does another.
Mar 31, 2007, 14:12

Family life : Bringing up children
The Upbringing of Children
The Orthodox church always regarded the family as the main source of the Christian enlightenment of children. The Apostles used to call the family the "domestic church" and taught spouses to strive conjointly for a spiritual life.
May 30, 2006, 11:19

Family life : Bringing up children
Raising Children
When the child is yet young, begin to train him/her in sympathy and consideration for others and in unselfishness. By these means he/she will grow up to understand that the material things of this world are not the most important things for Orthodox Christians. Your life-style and example will be the greatest influence on your child in this matter.
Aug 24, 2005, 01:00

Family life : Bringing up children
Children in Church
Every Christian mother considers it one of her primary obligations to teach her child prayer as soon as his consciousness begins to awaken - prayer that is simple and easy for him to understand. His soul must be accustomed to the warm and fervent experience of prayer at home, by his cradle, for his neighbors, his family. The child's evening prayer calms and softens his soul, he experiences the sweetness of prayer with his little heart and catches the first scent of sacred feelings.


May 19, 2005, 01:50

Family life : Bringing up children
Teaching Our Children to Pray
When the Road to Emmaus staff first decided to talk to an Orthodox mother about children and prayer we pictured an experienced woman with grown-up children and the leisure for a long interview. After some discussion, however, we decided on Inna Belov, a young mother with a three-year-old son, “in the midst of the fray.” At a time when her joys, fears and concerns about raising an Orthodox child occupy most of her waking hours, we found Inna’s spontaneous reflections both fresh and intriguing.
Apr 16, 2005, 01:40