About the book: With this present volume, we continue the publication of the counsels of the Blessed Elder Paisios with themes on the family and the ordeals people undergo caused by the crisis the institution of family faces in our times. The Elder used to say that the majority of the letters he received were from people who had family problems. He attributed these problems to people having withdrawn from God and to their self-centredness.
“In the old days,” he would say, “life was more peaceful and serene; people had patience. Nowadays, everyone has got a short fuse - people flare up right away; no one can tell them anything. And then, automatically, they go straight for divorce.”
From early on, the Elder took an active role within the great family of the Church, as he felt that he no longer belonged to his own small family. He acquired divine love and became a child of God. This is why he felt all people to be his brothers, and loved each and every one “with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:8). He used to say to us, “When I see an old man, I say that he is my father. When I see an old woman, I say that she is my mother. When I see a young child, I see that child as my brother’s child. I love everyone. For some I feel glad and for others I feel pain. Do you know what this is?” So, according to each one’s circumstances, he would become their child, brother, father, grandfather. As a member of the Body of Christ, he not only prayed with pain for those who faced problems in their families, but he also helped with his advice, when it was asked for, for even the most private aspects of family life, even though he himself lived as an ascetic.
He also cited examples of men who were the head of their household and of mothers who may not have had the spiritual opportunities of a monastic individual, yet lived holy lives. And this was how he motivated us to continue our struggle with greater philotimo. Some of these themes were supplemented with excerpts from the letters of the Elder, which were given to us by priests and devout lay people.
This volume - published with the blessing of our Archshepherd, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicodemos of Kassandreia - comprises an introductory chapter and six parts. Many of its themes emanate from conversations held between the Elder and the Abbess, and with some of the Sisters.
The introductory chapter entitled “The Young Facing the Two Paths of Life” emphasizes that both these paths of life - married and monastic- as curved by the Church, are blessed.
The second part focuses on the parents’ obligations and responsibilities for their children’s proper nurturing, placing special emphasis on the importance of the good example, the parents’ “silent exhortation” toward the children and the mother’s role.
The third part discusses childhood, the joys and difficulties from infancy to adulthood, as well as the children’s obligation toward their parents. The children’s lifelong respect and love for their parents ensure the blessing of God.
The fourth part of the book provides simple and practical advice on how to live a spiritual life within the family. In this way, children and parents are guided in living their life day by day according to the Gospel, whether they are at home or at work, which should contribute - as much as possible - to their godly perfection and not suffocate them with constant anxiety.
In the fifth part, which relates the various trials and hardships people face in their life, the emphasis is on how much consolation and power are given by God to those who confront these difficulties not only with patience, but also with doxology. Illness, disability, slander can be a blessing for those who have grasped the more profound meaning of life. By undergoing hardships, one can settle sins or save up for a heavenly reward.
Finally, the sixth part contains themes on how to properly confront death and prepare for it.
We would like to thank those who read the manuscript of this volume, and quite respectfully contributed to its completion. We pray that these spiritual counsels of the Elder will help the family, which, especially today, is undergoing a crisis due to the fact that the commandments of God are being scorned and obliterated. We pray that the family will find its true destiny within the bosom of the Church, so that parents and children can have a foretaste of Paradise even in this life.
Family Life is translated from the Greek by Reverend Fr Peter Chamberas and edited by Anna Famellos Eleftheria Kaimakliotis in cooperation with the Holy Hesychasterion "Evangelist John the Theologian" in Thessaloniki, Greece.
About the author: About the author: The Blessed Elder Paisios was born on 25 July 1924. From the time that he was a child, Elder Paisios lived an ascetic life, and was nourished by the lives of the Saints, whose feats he sought to imitate with great zeal and admirable precision. He practised unceasing prayer, cultivating all along the virtues of humility and love.
He led an ascetic life on Mount Athos, in the Holy Monastery of Stomion in Konitsa, and on Mount Sinai in Egypt. He lived in obscurity, giving himself completely to God, and God in turn revealed him and gave him to the whole world. He guided, consoled, healed and granted peace to multitudes of people who sought him. His sanctified soul overflowed with divine love and his saintly face radiated the divine Grace. All day long, he tirelessly gathered the human pain and imparted divine consolation.
He is the founder of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti of Thessalonik, Greece, which he also guided spiritually for twenty-eight years (1967-1994). After suffering excruciating pains, which, as he used to say, benefited him more than the ascetic struggles of his entire life, he fell asleep in the Lord on 12 July 1994.
