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
Marriage and Possible Alternativees: The Pursuit of Wholeness and Holiness
A few decades ago the term "open marriage" entered our vocabulary. We also learned about "prenups," i.e., marriage qualified in various ways by formal prenuptial agreements. These days we barely blink when we hear about couples living together or when we encounter marital breakdown ending divorce – divorce often followed by remarriage and (then even more frequently) by another divorce. (A frightening statistic: At this point the average length of a marriage in the United States is five years.) If TV ratings and star salaries offer any indication, we as a society see nothing amiss in sex and marriage as these are presented on Friends, where sex has become a recreational activity and marriage a running joke.
Jul 14, 2008, 10:00

Family life : Before marriage
To Meet Your Love
Many boys and girls think they must lose their virginity as soon as possible, as if it were something unnecessary and unfashionable. They boast of their “first time” among themselves. And the one who “hasn’t yet” is often mocked in a company where the rest “already have”. But for a believer, it is very important to keep chastity not only during teenage years, but until marriage. Sex affects your future, the life of your partner, as well as the lives of your children. For those who tell their stories here, these are more than just words; their experiences have given them important knowledge.
Jul 8, 2008, 10:00

Family life : Before marriage
Some Old Proverbs For Some Young Couples
Marriages are made on earth. Or rather not made, but carefully constructed, piece by piece, over years, decades and generations, like a giant jigsaw puzzle. As far as I am concerned, the only really happy marriages are the ones that last a lifetime, as much as fifty, sixty, seventy and even eighty years. This is the love that makes the world go round.
Apr 22, 2007, 01:17

Family life : In the Family
Young Children in the Orthodox Church
Of course, we Orthodox Christian parents want to bring our children to Christ. We bring them to be baptized, they are present with us at the Divine Services, they receive communion regularly. Isn't that enough? No, we are still holding them back if we are waiting for them to absorb Orthodoxy by osmosis. Their bodies may be in the church, but their minds and spirits are far away.
Apr 20, 2007, 00:58

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 : Abortions
Getting rid of the hunger problem by decreasing the number of the people who eat.
When I speak about the abortion problem, I always remember an old Soviet slogan which you could see in every Soviet city: "The work of Lenin is alive". This work is really alive: the first Communist country was the first country in the world that legalized the killing of unborn children.
The Communists had brought a lot of terrible things into human civilization: a new model of economics, new literature, new morals and new logic. In line with this logic, they made a new discovery: "One can get rid of the hunger problem by decreasing the number of people who eat.
Apr 10, 2007, 19:44

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 : Abortions
I had an abortion
When I was 24 I was unbelievably dependent on my mother. There is probably no reason to talk about the prehistory of our family. I will limit myself to say that practically all my life my mother was seriously sick, and her physical sickness put stress on her psych. The atmosphere at home was constantly oppressive—unbelievable petty-mindedness, suspiciousness, self-will, and hysterics... My smallest attempts not to follow my mother's commands ended in scandals, serious accusations, and the most frightening, phrases about how my disobedience will unavoidably make my mother deteriorate and die.
Aug 30, 2006, 02:50

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 : Abortions
Looking For Advice in All the Wrong Places
I realized I was pregnant when the smells from chemistry class kept making me sick. A friend convinced me to go her doctor in town. He diagnosed pregnancy immediately, saying, "Such a shame, another young one." He told me not to worry, that "it" could be "taken care of." He never once said anything about keeping the baby, but gave me a card from the local abortuary.
May 10, 2006, 01:50

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 : Before marriage
Celibacy, Marriage or "free love" - Which way to choose?
The problem of gender. The enigmatic side of sexual attractions. A healthy direction for sexual draw. Marriage or celibacy? Marriage and virginity – the two ways. Monasticism.
Jun 30, 2005, 00:25

Family life : In the Family
Royal Martyr Tsarina Alexandra. Selective Writings
In looking for examples of truly radiant ones we find a loving mother, a devoted wife, a struggling Orthodox Christian, and one who truly loved Russia - the Holy Royal Martyr Tsarina Alexandra (Romanov), Russia's last Empress.
May 31, 2005, 23:10

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

Family life
The Upbringing of Children
A Christian upbringing lays a moral and spiritual foundation in a child, while a scholastic education aims at developing his mental abilities. These are two different activities. There is no reason to think that scholastic education automatically facilitates the moral development of a child. Some people may be very educated but ill-bred and unspiritual. On the other hand, totally uneducated peasants can be highly spiritual and moral people.
Jan 24, 2005, 21:00