Advice for a Good Marriage and family

Advice for a Good Marriage and family

May God be with you!

I was so pleased to see this. As I continue to grow in faith I find more ways to grow in my marriage as well! We have such a rich history as Christians from the Bible to the Church Fathers and other Saints.

I wanted to share something which Pope Benedict shared regarding a wonderful Saint and marriage.

God bless you!


The Pope gives St. John Chrysostom's key to preventing divorce

Pope Benedict during today's audience at St. Peter's Square



Vatican City, Sep 19, 2007 / 09:35 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI continued in his series of catecheses on the subject of the Fathers of the Church today in his General Audience. The church father that the pontiff drew upon is the saint known as the “Golden Mouthâ€, or perhaps more commonly as St. John Chrysostom.


The Holy Father stressed how St. Chrysostom teaches that if young couples want to avoid divorce, then they should be formed in their faith before marriage and once married, they should form their children from a young age.


St. John Chrysostom’s life
The Pope began by recalling the fact that this year marks the 16th centenary of the death of St. John Chrysostom, who was born in Antioch, in modern-day Turkey, in the year 349. "Called Chrysostom, meaning 'golden-mouthed,' for his eloquence, it could be said that he is still alive today through his works," the Holy Father observed.


"Ordained a deacon in 381 and a priest in 386, he became a famous preacher in the churches of his city; ... 387 was John's 'heroic year'," said Benedict XVI, the year of "the so-called 'revolt of the statues' when people destroyed the imperial statues as a sign of protest against the rise in taxes."


The Holy Father then went on to observe how this saint "was one of the most prolific of the Fathers, of him we have 17 treatises, more than 700 authentic homilies, his commentaries on Matthew and Paul, and 241 letters. He was not a speculative theologian. He transmitted the traditional and certain doctrine of the Church at a time of theological controversies, caused above all by Arianism,†a heresy which asserted that Jesus was only human.


Modern message of St. Chrysostom
Benedict XVI focused on how "St. John Chrysostom was concerned that his writings should accompany the integral - physical, intellectual and religious - development of the person." The Pope then explained how St. John thought a person should develop in their faith as they grow.

In his works, the saint highlighted the importance of childhood because it is then "that inclinations to vice and virtue appear. For this reason the law of God must, from the beginning, be impressed upon the soul 'as upon a wax tablet'."

Childhood, said the Pope referring to the saint's writings, "is followed by the sea of adolescence in which the gales blow violently as concupiscence grows within us."


For an age such as ours, that is witnessing constant attacks on the family, St. John Chrysostom had great words of wisdom for couples planning to marry. The eloquent church father said, "that a well prepared husband and wife close the way to divorce: everything takes place joyfully and children can be educated to virtue. When the first child is born, he or she is like a bridge: the three become a single flesh because the child brings the two parts together and all together they constitute a family, a little Church."


The Pope also recalled how the saint used to address his writings to the lay faithful who, "through Baptism, take on the priestly office, royal and prophetic. ... This lesson of Chrysostom on the authentically Christian presence of the lay faithful in the family and in society is today more important than ever."
 
"that a well prepared husband and wife close the way to divorce: everything takes place joyfully and children can be educated to virtue. When the first child is born, he or she is like a bridge: the three become a single flesh because the child brings the two parts together and all together they constitute a family, a little Church."


This quotation is very good thinking~
 
When the first child is born, he or she is like a bridge: the three become a single flesh because the child brings the two parts together and all together they constitute a family, a little Church."
"

A a saint of God this statement gives me pause- never is a young marriage under more strain as when a newborn comes into the houe- infact the entire relationship completley shifts gears .
 
Don't want to get into divorce again as I know it is a contention in the church but just to say that sometimes to achieve piece, it is the best way to go.

But yes, preparation before marriage and classes are very useful and probably if I had , had them maybe my marriage would have worked or I would not have gotten into it in the fisrt place. But these are all learning lessons that the Lord in His mercy and grace brings us through and we can be of help and comfort to others through these experiences.

they should form their children from a young age.

Grow up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.

This of course is why children are a blessing , to teach and instruct them at a young age in Christ's way and desires so even when they depart from their salvation , they will be drawn back at some point in their lives as Christ promised. Our sole purpose is to provide them spiritual food that they too can make the ultimate decision to accept Christ into their hearts as Lord and Saviour of their lives.:bible:

Genesis 2:24
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
 
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