ROC – The value of human life according to the Church

22 August 2019

The value of human life according to the Church

Fr Thalassios is sick and won’t make it today, that’s why we decided to leave confession for next time and talk today about another subject which is very topical: the value of human life according to the Orthodox Church.

Note: next Thursday is the beheading of St John

I would like to share some thoughts with you based on my experience as a scientist and as a mother, and then based on what the Fathers of the Orthodox Church say.

As a scientist having worked on babies and mothers for years, I have witnessed the love and yearning of everyone involved around the conception, birth and care of a baby.

I can attest to the fact that the life inside our womb is a separate life to us, with its own DNA, genetic program, body, and feelings. It’s own soul.

The Fathers of the Church say how the baby is a human from the time of conception.

God so much loves this human being inside our womb, that from the very time of conception starts preparing our body to nourish this baby not only during the 9 months during which the baby resides in our womb, but also after it’s born, during the weeks, months or even years of breastfeeding. God put in place all these mechanisms through our genetic makeup to ensure this happens, to ensure this new human being will have the best start in life after birth. And when I say best, I do mean it: because latest research has shown us that in breastmilk there are not only nutrients for the optimal growth of the baby, but also numerous immune factors for the immune protection of this vulnerable new human, and even stem cells from the mother’s body to give optimal developmental signals to this baby for the optimal development of the brain and all its organs!

So, this that God so eloquently and carefully and in so much detail designed, WE kill. And we kill it brutally, inhumanely, savagely. Is THIS who we really are? Is THIS who we want to be? Is THIS who we want our children to be, our children whom we chose to have and therefore belong to the category of humans?

“Development of the children begins with the parents. When the child is conceived, if the parents are calm or angry, if they blaspheme or if they pray, all these things the fetus perceives and is affected by them. The fetus hears and feels within the mother’s womb. Yes, it hears and sees through the eyes of the mother. It understands the movements and feelings, although their mind is not developed. If the face of the mother becomes darkened, the child also will become darkened. If the mother gets angry, the child will also. When the mother feels sadness, pain, fear, stress, etc, the child also will experience them. If the mother does not want the fetus, if she doesn’t love it, then it will feel it and create wounds in its little soul that will accompany the child throughout their life. Conversely, when the mother has joy, peace and love for the fetus, it secretly transmits it to the child, as it happens when they are born. This is why a mother must spend a lot of time in prayer, to love the fetus, to read the hymns and psalms, to live a holy life, so that the child also will be holy” (St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva).