The Orthodox Home

Creating an Orthodox Christian home

Creating an Orthodox Christian home begins with the icon corner, also known as “The Bright Corner”. This becomes the center for every domestic church,  and is where the family gathers together for their common prayers, bible readings, and devotions. The icon corner also declares to visitors that this is a Christian home, whose head is Jesus Christ. Because the father serves as a sort of domestic priest, it is important that he leads, whenever possible, his wife and children in the family prayers and devotions.

The icon corner should display, along with the usual icons of Christ, and the Holy Virgin, the patron saint icons of all family members. A wonderful practice from ancient times is to have a family icon written so that all family members patron saints are represented in the same icon. This bright corner is also a wonderful location for the wedding icons of the husband and wife.

The Orthodox family should try as best they can to have dinner together every night of the week. And since there are often school or work related activities that don’t always allow everyone to be together for that all important family meal, every effort should be made to make this happen as often as possible. The blessing of the food, with the father or mother making the sign of the cross over the meal with their fingers together as they do when blessing oneself, should never be avoided. If we always say a blessing over our food at home and give thanks to God for all He has given us, we are more likely to do so when at school or in a restaurant.

Television, and the overuse of the Internet, are wreaking havoc on family life. We must, therefore, not allow these foreign invaders into our home, and replacing Christ as head of our household. Bad habits are hard to overcome, so replacing television with family time in the living room seem difficult at first, but it is an essential foundation of any Christian home.

We must also guard our home from other invaders, such as inappropriate magazines, books, and internet content, that would undermine the essential values of our Christian faith. If you’d not want your priest to see a certain magazine or book in your home, it shouldn’t be there in the first place. And whatever music is played in the home should be uplifting, and be devoid of all profanity and vulgarity.

Regular family meetings where everyone has an opportunity to talk about things of concern, and where the atmosphere is loving, open and safe, help create trust and a sense of security for everyone. It is natural for parents to argue on occasion, but arguments should never take place in front of children, for they need to feel secure and safe. Boys need to see their fathers as icons of Christ in the home, demonstrating the biblical image of a husband and father. Men need, for the sake of their children, to give witness to the importance of prayer and church attendance. Statistically, children whose father is a church goer are far more likely to remain in church as adults. Fathers should not leave spiritual instruction up to their wives, for they will be held accountable before the Throne of God for their children.

Men should not let their wives do all the house cleaning and cooking. In an age where both husband and wife often need to hold down jobs in order to make ends meet, a woman’s work is not just household work. She should not have to come home from work and be expected to do all the housework and cooking by herself. Men need to teach their children, by example, to help around the house, and show honor and respect for their mother.

Children should be given a small allowance (according to age) so they can learn to manage money, and an important part of money managing is the tithe. The biblical command to give ten percent of one’s income back to God is almost never taught in the Orthodox Church, which is why so many clergy are given such meager salaries, and parishes have to hold church festivals. When we fail to tithe we are stealing from God! A child who tithes ten percent of his allowance will grow into an adult Orthodox Christian who tithes.

These are but basic suggestions for creating an Orthodox home. If you begin to implement these suggestions, the Lord will reward you with a family that stands strong, and your children will grow up as spiritually healthy Christians, grounded in biblical teachings and moral fortitude. Your grandchildren will, in return, be raised with the same biblical principles, and you will be the most blessed grandparents on your block!

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Sunday November 27, 2016 / November 14, 2016
23rd Sunday after Pentecost. Tone six.
Eve of the Nativity Fast.

Holy and All-praised Apostle Philip (1st c.).
New Hieromartyrs Demetrius, Alexander, Victor, Alexis, Michael, Michael, Theodore, Peter, Alexis, Sergius, Nicholas, Basil, Alexander, Nicholas, Demetrius, Demetrius, Porphirius, Basil, George, Basil, Sergius priests, Nicholas deacon, New Hieromartyr Aristrah, Martyr Gabriel and Virgin-martyr Anna (1937).
New Hieromartyr Theodore priest (1940).
New Hieromartyr Sergius priest (1941).
Venerable Philip, abbot of Irap near Novgorod (1527).
St. Justinian the Emperor of Byzantium (565) and his wife St. Theodora (548).
St. Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessalonica (1360).
New Martyr Constantine of Hydra (Mt. Athos) (1800) (Greek).
St. Dyfrig (Dubricius), bishop in Hereford and Gwent, hermit of Bardsey Island (ca. 550) (Celtic & British).
St. Malo (Machulus) of Brittany (7th c.) (Celtic & British).
New Martyr Panteleimon the Youth of Asia Minor (Greek).
St. Alberik, bishop of Utrecht (784) (Neth.).
Repose of St. Alexander Nevsky (Alexis in monasticism) (1263).

Scripture Readings

Matthew 28:16-20

The Great Commission

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Ephesians 2:4-10

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Luke 10:25-37

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”

28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”

29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”