Raising Orthodox Christians – Previous

The Monastery is pleased to announce the re-commencement of our Orthodox Parents Group. Since the pandemic broke out and the first lockdown, the group had paused its meetings, but now with God’s help and the blessing of the Abbot Fr Prodromos, the group is re-starting, with new fresh material for informal discussions on raising our children within Orthodoxy in a troubled world, where we may live in the world but are not of the world. The group meets on alternate Thursdays 10am to 12pm, and often has guest speakers who give us insight and ideas on Orthodox parenting, especially of young children. Many Saints, including St Porphyrios and St Paisios have repeatedly emphasised the importance of the first few years of life in shaping the character of the child – and the influence of the mother, the father, the grandparents as well as any other primary caregivers is paramount.

The Virgin Mary as a Mother: What we can learn from her example (12 August 2021)

With God’s Grace, the Orthodox Parents Group met today at the Monastery. The discussion was centred around the paramount role of the mother in the upbringing of her children and what we can learn from our beloved and most Holy Mother of Christ, the Virgin Mary.

The first characteristic we notice in Panagia is her obedience and complete trust in God as well as her humility. When Archangel Gabriel announced to her the conception of Christ, She said ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.’

In the icons depicting Panagia with Christ, we can see a lot of attributes of the way She mothered our Lord. The serenity, sincere care, unconditional love, understanding and self-sacrifice are some of these attributes.

Panagia always gazes at her son with so much love and tenderness. In the icon of Panagia Galaktotrophousa (Panagia Breastfeeding), one can see how she provides the first food to her baby, food full of both material nutrients for his physical growth and the nutrients of love, calmness and tenderness.

In other icons, Panagia can be seen playing with Christ as a toddler, helping him to study, or walking with him as an older child. All these show how she was always present, especially in the early years of Christ’s life, to guide him and protect him. This can also be observed when she lost Him at the Temple when he was 12 and was looking for Him for three days. When She found Him, She proclaimed ‘Where were you my son? We have been looking for you’, showing how much she cared for Him and loved Him.

All the effort Panagia put into the upbringing of her Son is evident also in the love and respect Christ shows to her. When Panagia asked Him to help out with the wine at the Wedding at Cana, the Lord immediately responded to her request, doing as She asked. Amazingly, on His last moments on the Cross, in His immense suffering and pain, the Lord thought of His Holy Mother, asking St John the Theologian to look after her as his own mother!

When we as mothers put all our effort, through our Christ-like example in the upbringing of our children, imitating Panagia, fully trusting our lives in the Lord, and using all the tools our Church offers in our disposal, such as the advice of our spiritual father, the regular confession, and participation in the Mysteries of the Church, then with our humble prayers our Lord and Panagia will always be there to guide us, help us in this so important role, and protect our children in these trying times.