The lack of sound religious and moral upbringing of our youngest generation constitutes one of the greatest evils of our time, an evil against which we must struggle at all costs; otherwise humanity will inevitably come to utter ruin and moral decay.

Was it not for this reason that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, elevated marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament and sealed it with the blessing of His Church — so that those entering into marriage might not lack the necessary grace and help from above in fulfilling the duties of the married state, among which the most important is precisely the upbringing of children?

The heart of a child, as one of the holy Fathers says, is like soft wax, upon which with equal ease may be impressed either the image of God or the image of Satan. Which image it will receive undoubtedly depends on those who place their seal upon it — and those are none other than the parents, who pass on to their children both their body and their soul.

The material is presented in abridged form from the book:
Hieromartyr Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia,
“Conversations on Orthodox Upbringing of Children” (1888–1889).

To be continued.