Quote

This does not come from a Church Father but very thought provoking nonetheless.


All sins are attempts to fill voids. - Simone Weil

traditions...

Why are traditions important? Why should I emphasize traditions in my home?

I’ve been reading an article I found in the Handmaiden, Fall 2002, written by Ginny Nieuwsma titled Lest We Forget: Keeping Traditions. I really like was she has to say about small ‘t’ traditions and there importance. Knowing what traditions are important to my family and me, will help me map out the vision of my family that I am trying to determine. But why should traditions be important? Why do we do the things we do? What difference does it make if our dyed eggs on Pascha are red or green? Or whether or not we buy our communion bread or not? Why celebrate and honor our patron saints? The list could go on for a VERY long time.

Nieuwsma say “Those who have come before speak with a collective wisdom about life and eternal truths, and about how to pass those on to the next generation. We must keep this process of handing down the faith active. Strengthening this link between the past and the future is the best way to guarantee that our children will know what’s important, and what must be cherished.”

I love it when she says, “As human beings, we crave events to look forward to, and anticipation sparks joy and creativity.” There is no better place to be to anticipate events throughout the Church year. What JOY!

“Keeping the traditions of the Church will help us remember God and keep Him at the center of our lives. This will not happen by accident. We must be deliberate and determined to repeat those things that have been given to us, and repeat them, and repeat them. Why? Because as humans, God knows we are so inclined to forget.”

“The small, everyday traditions that we embrace help guide us down a straight path.” Which is what I NEED; guidance!

Share with me what some of your family’s small ‘t’ traditions are that you’ve developed over the years. What ways are you teaching your family to always remember God and to keep Him the center of your lives?

Quotes I found on "Children"

"Many teach their children about worldly politics, others teach them to speak foreign languages: French, German, Italian, and in this spend no trifling sums. Others endeavor to teach them commerce and other arts. But hardly anyone teaches them to live in a Christian manner. However, without this, all learning is nothing and all wisdom is madness. For what does it profit a Christian to speak Italian, French and German, if he lives in an ungodly manner? What use is it to be skilled in commerce and the arts if one lacks the fear of God? God will not ask you whether you taught your children French, German or Italian or the politics of social life--but you will not escape divine reprobation for not having instilled goodness into them. I speak plainly but I tell the truth: if your children are bad, your grandchildren will be worse, and the evil will thus increase...and the root of all this is our thoroughly bad education. "
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

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First give your children virtue as an inheritance and then distribute your estate also.
Saint Basil the Great

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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