Twenty six patterns of living to enhance the glory of your Marriage
1. Do everything with love and prayer.
2. Always see yourself and your spouse as partners on the road of life, the path to holiness, the journey to the Kingdom of Heaven.
3. Be faithful in morning and evening prayers together, no matter how brief, as far as possible; and be faithful in attendance at church. Remember, husbands, that as the head of the family, the spiritual and material well-being of your home is ultimately your responsibility.
4. Conflict resolution: find a way to resolve conflicts as soon as possible. Perhaps this will mean letting the one who feels the most strongly about a situation have the final say about it.
5. Ask forgiveness whenever something comes between you, no matter how small or large.
6. When your spouse is talking to you, really listen, with full attentiveness. Demonstrate that you have really listened by responding accordingly with your mind and your heart.
7. Always keep your word to each other, and give a full explanation and apology whenever you’re not able to.
8. Do your daily chores and other jobs around the house faithfully, even cheerfully, without having to be reminded, as a way of serving God through serving your family.
9. Have regular weekly family meetings/conferences to discuss issues of common concern; this is more important with children as they get older.
Happy Ecclesiastical new year!
On September 1st, the Orthodox Church commemorates the Beginning of the Indiction, that is, the Ecclesiastical New Year.
Before the Greek (or Constantinopolitan) Indiction was introduced by St. Constantine the Great in 312 and decreed by the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea (325 A.D.), the day of Indiction varied based on local tradition.
The word Indiction is birthed from the Latin word meaning to proclaim. It established the annual land tax to support the needs of the empire and its armed forces and was issued for 15-year cycles.
It was the month of September when the harvest was gathered and thanksgiving offered to God (see Exodus 23:16), a festival connected to the Saviour’s entry into the synagogue in Nazareth whose passage from the Gospel of St. Luke (4:16-22) is read on September 1st.
It was also the month of September when St. Constantine, through the power of the Holy Cross, defeated Maxentius and granted Christians freedom of confession.
Basis for communion with God: Love not intellect
Some Protestant theologians see the Word as the only means of divine revelation. They say it was intended for our intellect. But this is a sign of a person distinct from us rather than one in union with us. This view explains their emphasis on Bible study and their denigration of the sacraments and all that is considered mystical. It is a denial of Orthodox spirituality. This view implies the Word does not have a spiritual task. But we all sense there is more than an intellectual understanding of God. We sense that there is something beyond an intellectual understanding. We seek and yet cannot completely know. The reality is that the Word of God impacts us in a dynamic way. It was intended for the soul and not just the intellect. The Word awakens faith in us. This demonstrates that there is a direct relationship involved between us and the Word. Our Church Fathers do not limit us to only an intellectual dimension of the mind but speak of the "feeling of the mind and our relationship with God."
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"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"