A husband once complained to Saint John Chrysostom that his wife did not love him. The Saint replied; Go home, and love her. But you don't understand, said the husband. How can I love her when she doesn't love me? Go home and love her, the Saint repeated.

Even here we can see how the Great Hierarch echoes the words of our teacher Saint Paul, when he instructs us on what real love is, "Love suffers long and is kind" and it does not seek it's own. In the previous post we can see that St. Paul charged husbands to love their wives, therefore it is of no surprise that this was the remedy of St. John for the man who was not doing his part. Is love still love if it is conditional on receiving something back? For if your wife does not love you, and reviles you, and may even use you, should we not listen to the teachings of our Lord who teaches us to love and pray for such people? Is our wife not a gift from the Lord, given to us for our salvation? The Lord taught, as I loved you, you must also love each other.

“It is natural to marry, but it must be more than natural; it must be a yoke, borne by two people under the Church.”
- Saint Basil the Great

Within these words of the saint, one can hear the echo of the great Saint Paul " Submit yourselves to one another in the fear of God", as he explains, wives should submit themselves to their husbands, and husbands should love their wives, she should reverence her husband, and he should nourish and cherish his wife, and this should be done with vigour so that both benefit from the obedience required, and thereby gain humility, which helps them enter the kingdom of heaven. For the great Apostle and Saint Peter says "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”. See the wonderful uniformity and simplicity of the Gospel, how it shows us the one true way of life and the path to the one greatest and most wonderful place, the Kingdom of Heaven.

Beauty and virtue

Beauty is awe-inspiring,
and a sight to behold.
Drawing attention to itself,
and captivating those around.

The world will go out of its way,
for the person of beauty,
The world will change,
based on a person's appearance,

Beautiful people know,
the power that it brings.
While those around are aware,
that it is their weakness.

Virtue is put in second place,
and not as appreciated as beauty.
It is hidden,
and not shown readily.

The world will not appreciate virtues,
and the virtuous person will be unseen, unless maybe for their beauty.
For the virtuous person is humble
and does not seek exaltation.

Their ways are meek,
Their love is great,
Their steps are firm,
Their dedication is strong,

The world will not validate these things,
and people will let these go unseen.
But the Lord sees all who walk in his ways,
and takes note of all their great deeds.

@preaching_love

"If you manage to inspire just one person, you have accomplished more than a thousand men."

I don’t do too many prayer requests and what not, but if you have the time to pray for my family and I. We are being baptized tonight and my wife and I are being confirmed in the church also. Thank you and have a blessed Holy Saturday.

I forgot to add "Mum" for British people

Do you fit the criteria?