Status Updates From Great Lent: Journey to Pascha

“As we make the first step into the "bright sadness" of Lent, we see—far, far away—the destination. It is the joy of Easter, it is the entrance into the glory of the Kingdom. And it is this vision, the foretaste of Easter, that makes Lent's sadness bright and our lenten effort a "spiritual spring." The night may be dark and long, but all along the way a mysterious and radiant dawn seems to shine on the horizon.”

Since it is impossible to cover here all aspects of family life, I will concentrate on one of them.

the beauty of the service, the unique lenten melody of "Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight as incense... wonderful effort of religious education which is being made today in our church schools will mean very little unless it is rooted in the home and family life. What then could and should be done during Lent at home?

Brothers Karamazov-says: "A man who from his childhood can remember good things is saved for his whole life."It is very significant that he makes this remark after recalling his mother taking him to the Presanctified Liturgy,

It is certainly the home, the very style and spirit of family life, and not the school, not even the Church, that shapes our fundamental world view, that shapes in us that fundamental orientation of which we may not even be aware for a long time, but which ultimately will become a decisive factor. Dostoevsky's
"staretz" Zosima—in The

In the Orthodox world view, the home and the family constitute the first and most important area of Christian life, of application of Christian principles to daily existence.