We know from the lives of the saints and from Holy Scripture that from their mother’s womb, children can sense the presence of God.

If parents’ understanding of marriage is not directed towards their home life, their children suffer directly.

There are many prophecies about a time when there will be apostasy on such a scale, that those who at that time simply preserve their faith will be greater than the ascetics and miracle workers of the past.

The same spiritual principle applies to all of us: are we not now ashamed of things from our own past which at the time never troubled our conscience? If our children only hear lectures about wearing this and that, and never hear about how we acquire the grace of God, what will inspire them to remain Orthodox? They will look elsewhere if they have a spiritual quest. We must see the hearts of our teenagers and not only the outward appearance, however outrageous we may find it.

The question for Christians who are already married and raising children is not: “How can I reduce to a bare minimum my family obligations so as to be ‘free’ to lead a ‘more spiritual’ life?” It is rather: “How should I nurture within my family life my love for God and my neighbor?

Children may sleep with a prayer-rope in their hand or under their pillow—and they may include saying the Jesus prayer (even only a few times) in their prayers.

It is sad when teenagers say, “I’d never dare tell my mother that,” or “My father would be shocked if I even asked.

The criterion of my spiritual health is this: what is the state of relations between me and those with whom I live? No other criterion is higher. Family life is the measuring stick of Christian progress for those who live in the world.

When we speak with our children, we should be really listening to them. Sometimes Christian adults have only half an ear for children, unless perhaps they speak about God....Even when we are busy, we have to feel whether a small child’s question is serious enough to make us interrupt what we are doing, because the opportunity to answer that question may not occur again. A child has to reach a certain maturity before serious answers can be postponed.