The Gospel is the way, the Truth and the Life. Christ is our Lord and God. The Heavenly Kingdom is our destination, it is achieved through the Love of God and Neighbour. Sin distracts us from these two commandments, so we run from it.

Our Faith is this simple.

Hi everyone. Feel free to join our new chat. If anyone wants to discuss/post poetry, beautiful writings or images, and encourage others to love more, this is the perfect place. There might not be a lot of people joining, but worth trying :).

https://news.1rj.ru/str/love_patience_truth

What better gift can a mother give to a child than wholeheartedly loving it with joy before it is even born, and waiting with excitement to spend her entire life with them? Imagine being born and coming into the world being held by a mother who is ecstatic to have you, and she wanted you, and she wants you, and you are important to her, of course, she knows about the sleepless nights, the worries, the struggle, but her love is greater than any fear! Joyful giving is contagious, not only from person to person but from mother to child too. Let us be joyful then, and let us love and sacrifice for others, but importantly, with joy. Giving with joy is like putting a 100x multiplier on your acts of kindness. The Lord loves a cheerful giver (2Cor 9:6). Leisure does not fill our cup as much as loving others in a cheerful way! :)

My Christian, you must love your wife as your companion, and not consider her as your slave, for she is a creature of God, just as you are. God was crucified for her as much as for you. You call God Father, she calls Him Father, too. Both of you have the same Faith, the same Baptism, the same Book of the Gospels, the same Holy Communion, the same Paradise to enjoy. God does not regard her as inferior to you,

-St. Kosmas Aitolos

“There is nothing stronger than the feeling that comes to us when we hold our children in our arms. Their helplessness touches noble strings in our hearts. To us, their innocence is a purifying force. When there is a newborn child in a house, the marriage in a way is reborn. A child brings the married couple close together like never before, reviving in their hearts strings that have been silent. Before young parents, new purposes arise, new wishes appear. The life at once gains a new and deeper meaning.”
- Saint Alexandra Feodorovna

1) Whoever wants to ignite the hearts of others with love for Christ must himself be aflame with this love.

2) We do not live to do the things that we please, but to do with love the things that we must.

- St. Alexandra Feodorovna

Guard your tongue against complaining of your spouse.
Not only does it reflect terribly on yourself and your ability to control your emotions, but it also riles up those feelings into a storm that probably started out as simply an irritation. People say you need to vent and ‘let it all out’. You don’t.
This simply make a the problem feel bigger than it is and you may have friends taking your side and complaining of your spouse. The person you promised to love, cherish, honour and obey. Keep your promise and God will reward you for every hard time that you got through together.

• From your point of view, should women work?

“If they want to. The children shouldn’t be cast aside. There are different types of women: For some, if they don’t work, they’ll completely wither up, while others, on the contrary, like not working and prefer to sit at home. There were various types of women in the past too, such as Princess Olga — state wives and housewives. Both are fine. I don’t think we need to artificially make something up here. There are women who are happy just to deal with children. It’s a special gift. Not everyone has it. Everyone has different gifts. Previously, when women stayed home, it was a household or an estate with cows, goats, and chickens. If it was a rich home, then she also had to watch after the servants and farmhands. The woman was a real businesswoman. She had work with a large house, not just sitting within four closed walls.”

• Very often you hear Orthodox women say: “I don’t want a husband or children at all…”

“If they don’t want them, they don’t have to have them. God will help them. We’ve always had 'chernichki' [women in black] — who devoted their entire lives to serving God. They worked at ordinary jobs and helped at church in their free time, and it was they who defended many churches during the post-revolutionary persecutions. Such active women can help with missionary work now, with charitable deeds…”

• In Europe there’s a movement — “child-free” — voluntary childlessness. “Child-free” people claim that their lives can be complete without offspring. How do you feel about them?

“They break the commandment of God to be fruitful and multiply. It’s one thing when someone doesn’t want to get married — that’s fine. But if you’re married and don’t want to have children, then you sin, and quite seriously so. They are onanists, and not just spiritually. This was Onan’s sin: He didn’t want children.”

Hieromartyr Daniel Sysoev
Interview with Elena Tyulkina

Love helps a lot, my dear daughter. “Love with brotherhood surpasses great wealth.” Have love one for another, because from love springs forth mercy. Love suffereth long and is kind … love vaunteth not itself: is not puffed up … seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity …. Love never faileth (cf. I Cor. 13:4-8). If only we had this, then we would have genuine spiritual love! If we have love, we have all of these. Love makes you endure illness and even makes it dear to you, because it cleanses you of all filth. And if you have love for Christ, you’ll endure everything, both abuse and mockery. From love also comes patience. Then you’ll no longer be disgusted by someone who’s sick; it will seem to you that he smells like perfume. The greatest act of love is to take care of a sick person. If you take care of him with love and patience, he’s saved through you, and you’re saved through him.

It’s an impure act when you become angry. Anger does not do the work of God and does not bear the fruit of love. When you’re angry, the Spirit of God is not present, neither is the spirit of love; it’s the spirit of pride and vainglory that’s present.

- St. Paisus of Sihla (Recently canonised)

"I will take you my dear daughter, whoever you are, and I will show you how you can become a glistening diamond. It doesn't matter who you were before this day, how many nights you spent crying over relationships that didn't work out, how many nights you cried outside of the club, how many times you felt used and discarded by others. You are of value, no matter how others will make you feel. Come back now my dear daughter, we need you more than ever, help me enlighten the world in true wisdom, in true Love, and in every good thing... (continued in next post)

- The Church's call to young women (prose)

Continue reading here ⬇️
https://news.1rj.ru/str/preaching_love/149

Full text

"I will take you my dear daughter, whoever you are, and I will show you how you can become a glistening diamond. It doesn't matter who you were before this day, how many nights you spent crying over relationships that didn't work out, how many nights you cried outside of the club, how many times you felt used and discarded by others. You are of value, no matter how others will make you feel. Come back now my dear daughter, we need you more than ever, help me enlighten the world in true wisdom, in true Love, and in every good thing. And yourself, become a shining adornment in the fabric of humanity, leading others to a life full of hope, love and joy. Come back my dearest daughter, I will fight to protect you, to restore your dignity, to restore your value, something that the modern world has tried to take from you so many times, and it won't stop. Even if it feels like the entire world is coming to an end, and the end of the world is near, come, and be safe in my arms. Come back dear daughter, to Christ our Lord, and to our Mother Church, and let's give the world the last and final spark of all goodness and truth, before it is the end."

- The Church's call to young women (prose)

Love your wife every single day
Love her with all you can give her
Appreciate her, cherish her
Let nothing in this world be more valuable to you than her,
Nothing material, nothing earthly and passing,
Nothing that distracts you from the true purpose in life,
Getting closer to God, and being the best husband and father you can be
So with his help, surprise her with small acts of kindness,
Show your affection in simple ways,
But also give her space and freedom,
Give much, show the way, but don't demand nothing in return,
Don't burden her with your weight,
Instead, carry yourself the weight of all the family,
Give her her freedom, just as God gives us our freedom
Be the best example of virtue you can be,
Do not force, do not shame, do not use coercion,
But love a lot, and lead the way

@preaching_love

A great lecture from Fr. Paul Truebenbach. Find link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXRj0cC6SHc

Smash the devil.
Submit to the Lord Jesus Christ!

(The image above is of St. Marina)

DIY automatic bird bath, everyone should do this in the hot weather. Just get a plate of water, get a bottle, poke holes in the sides of the bottle (in line with how deep the plate is), fill the bottle with water and close the cap. It will continue refilling the plate as long as there is water in the bottle, then you can just refill the bottle.

In peace let us pray to the Lord...

Always make some time for your wife, even if you are busy :).