"Remember that the earthly Fatherland with its Church is the threshold of the heavenly Fatherland, and therefore love it warmly and be ready to offer your soul for it."

+ St. John of Kronstadt

when it's going good praise God, when it's going bad praise God, always ask for the grace to do God's will.

—In girls, femininity should be cultivated primarily. This is primarily modesty, the ability to listen without interrupting… But in our culture a girl is always in first place, and she gets extra attention. I once had a thought: Boys should always be cared for, loved, and given affection; but girls should be held with an iron hand. Why? Because if a boy is accustomed from childhood to love and not hatred or severity, he will be gracious to his own family, and decide everything with love. But a spoiled girl will be spoiled for the rest of her life. When she gets married she will start “demanding her rights” from her husband. Nothing will be right or good enough for her. Many family problems come from this. You recalled Elder Paisius. He wrote a wonderful article on family relationships. He said that our whole world today is in a binary system—1 and zero. When a wife tries to stand in front of her husband, the value of that family is 01; when the wife stands behind the husband, that is the zero behind the 1, the family value is 10. To the woman the elder would say: Here, look at the value you want to give your own family. Do you want to be in front of your husband, or after him?

Therefore the girl should be taught this relationship. Of course, she has to be taught a lot of things; she should know how to do things. I am amazed when I come to a home and the lady of the house doesn’t know how to cook or sew—at age 30-35. They say that these days you can buy everything. Why sew or cook? They don’t know how to keep house at all. Whose fault is it? The parents’ fault—they never taught their daughters how to keep house.

The man should know how to earn money, to have a skill that will bring money into the family; but the girl should prepare herself to be a mother, and not with only one or two children. She should know how to keep house on a high level and how to solve household problems in the best possible way. This is the meaning of femininity. And there is boldness in this also—in taking your place. This is also boldness, and not weakness. After all, nothing touches a man more than women’s tears. That is why women’s tears are also a power. But this power should not be abused.

GG

Video from IHS

Take Your Kids to Adoration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irLkwdkeotw