Elder Porphyrios on Children
“Don’t pressure your children,” says Elder Porphyrios. “Whatever you want to say to them, say it with your prayers. Children don’t listen with their ears. They’ll only listen to what we want to tell them when divine grace appears and enlightens them. When you want to say something to your child, say it to the Theotokos instead and she will do all the work. Your prayer will become a spiritual hug, which will embrace your children and captivates them….”
A disciple of the elder recounts putting this into practice: “The first time I went on vacation with my children after the death of my husband, my eldest son found some friends there. He would be missing in the afternoons. I didn’t know where he went or what he did. Well, I said to him, ‘Come on, son, don’t leave me again…” and all those things that mothers usually say. He, however, did not listen to me. So one day I remembered what the Elder Porphyrios had said to me. When the boy left I picked up the Canon to the Mother of God and started to read it. Before I was able finish, my son came in and said, ‘Mom, where did you say you wanted us to go this afternoon?’” (Elder Porphyrios, Ioannidis, Pg- 203.)