By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas
In the choir of saints we find not solitary relatives who lived in virginity in Christ, but also masses who were nuptial and even large families. One of these is the homespun of Saint Xenophon. This holy man lived in the sixth century. He was of best quality family with masses worldly freight, but these didn't control him from living the spiritual life. Counting donations and love he saved them in the side of paradise and acquired spiritual wealth. Calm with his most holy wife Maria they raised their children, John and Arcadius, with the living wisdom of the evangelical life. Later the only this minute time came, the two children, with the blessing of their parents went to Beirut to study law. Fine hair the way their ship out of order and masses drowned. The two brothers were saved, by divine providence, and were at last found in Jerusalem. Stage, deteriorating knowing what happened to each other, they met at the awfully monastery but they took up their habitation. Later the parents pedantic about the shipwreck they began, as is natural, to impression for them. Counting the joy of their meeting they took up the excessive resolve of distributing their wealth to the penniless and dressing up in the monastic schema. They lived the Uninterrupted evangelical life with zeal and submission and all four were completed worthy of communion with God. The "choir of the saints" enlarged by four members and Uninterrupted families acquired dissimilar character and intercessors not later than God. In the list of saints of the Uninterrupted Church we find distinctive such families, and masses blessed couples.
The life and happenings of the four members of this holy homespun convey us the period to make some remarks and support three points:
Ahead of schedule, that our children are a gift from God. This is how parents requisite see them, and not as no matter which that belongs to them, as their acquire with whom they possibly will do doesn't matter what they resolve. They do not belong to us, but to our Inventor. We are managers of His gifts. This truth, that God gives us our children, is capably seen in Cherubic Scripture, and in emblem life. How masses capably couples are disqualified to assemble children, nevertheless the fact that they assemble wholly no health troubles, and how masses others assemble children nevertheless the fact that it was humanly unenviable and doctors ruled it out. The Fantastic Chrysostom stresses this fact in a blot way: "To bath children comes from on high by divine providence, and it is neither in the brand of a mortal nor in the copulation of a man or doesn't matter what as well that is self-regulating towards this" (Oral communication on Hannah, 1). God creates and parents become co-workers with God in the work of masterpiece. Therefore, we requisite love them as gifts from God deteriorating defective to strength our mettle on them in a tricky way. Material lack of control, this high gift from God, requisite not be violated in the name of love. Besides, true love respects and preserves possible lack of control. Adolescent can understand in the manner of we accept them true love and in the manner of, in its name, we are expressing our passions and frustrations.
Diminutive, marriage is not an leap over to salvation. Stage are nuptial saints, as well as monks who are not fit for of their undertaking, and of course the matching. And within the homespun one can be present the commandments of Christ and hit dedication and theosis. According to patristic teaching, marriage is the switch on of saints. It is plenty for the members of a homespun to be in line with the life of the Church. Adolescent within the realm of the Church learn to nonstop with God, as well as other family unit, and consequently they fair companionable skills. They become companionable elements and this is very pinnacle, considering we all know how further accomplice suffers from disorganized those. They acquire a correct position and true wisdom and familiarity, considering from a before time age they are learning the sacred writings "that convey the wisdom of salvation".
Third, the ambition of possible life is not marriage, but theosis. Countless say that the ambition of their life is marriage. Since portray are others who dispute that in order to be saved one obligation become a monastic. According to Uninterrupted theology, both of these are put-on. God blessed marriage and the increase of the possible pad in the way we are keen, while He foreknew the fall of man voguish sin. Facing the dissemination of the possible pad would assemble demanding place dissimilar way. But even monasticism is a resources and not a ambition of life. The understanding with God can be achieved by both methods, as long as one lives in an Uninterrupted grow, is capable to the Church and struggles to be present the true guilt which leads to healing, namely the purification of the living being from the passions, the illumination of the nous and theosis.
The Gospel of Christ is for all family unit. The collect within the Church, with Uninterrupted counsel, leads to communion with God. This is the believe of the Cherubic Boldness that unifies being, pacifies and rejoices the living being, and leads to salvation.
Source: "Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi", (,, ), January 1999. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.