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<v Speaker 1>Hey, everyone, God bless you. Thanks so much for tuning in.

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<v Speaker 2>In my opinion, one of the most important and counter

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<v Speaker 2>cultural aspects of formation that we do in the Church

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<v Speaker 2>is by lifting motherhood to its proper position. And the

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<v Speaker 2>West has decided that motherhood can be mocked, motherhood can

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<v Speaker 2>be destroyed, it can be thrown on the ground and

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<v Speaker 2>stamped on and spit on, which is exactly what's happening

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<v Speaker 2>and has been happening for some time in our culture.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're going to be an orthodox Christian, if you're going.

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<v Speaker 2>To actually become a person who is a disciple of Christ,

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<v Speaker 2>you're going to have to have a radical change in

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<v Speaker 2>your thoughts about motherhood. You're going to have to abandon

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<v Speaker 2>the cultural hostility that we see everywhere, not just in

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<v Speaker 2>the birth rates, of course, which are the most catastrophic

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<v Speaker 2>witness to the abandonment cultural devaluation of motherhood and of

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<v Speaker 2>humanity in general, since we don't care about having children

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<v Speaker 2>anymore who are the image of God. Utter foolishness, Utter foolishness.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not just the birth rate, but also the percentage

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<v Speaker 2>of those who are not getting married and are never

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<v Speaker 2>becoming mothers is just absolutely sky rocketing. And if you're

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<v Speaker 2>going to be a Christian, and you're going to be

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<v Speaker 2>you're going to escape from this dark and falling world

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<v Speaker 2>into the light of God. You have to change your

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<v Speaker 2>mind about the glories of motherhood.

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<v Speaker 1>And you can do that by living in the Church.

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<v Speaker 2>Because the Church is herself a mother, the greatest of

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<v Speaker 2>all mothers, and her nurturing love is well it's the

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<v Speaker 2>foundation of our success in the Christian life. Saint Paul

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<v Speaker 2>calls the Church our mother and says that the Church

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<v Speaker 2>is the Jerusalem above who is our mother. We also

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<v Speaker 2>in the Church teach people to understand and know and

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<v Speaker 2>love the most pure Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. Her presence

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<v Speaker 2>is so civilizing, her radical mother, not just of her son,

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<v Speaker 2>our Lord Jesus Christ, but of the whole Church. She

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<v Speaker 2>relates to us as a mother and teaches us how

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<v Speaker 2>to accept love and be loved and value motherhood. I

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<v Speaker 2>want to read to you now a brief paragraph or

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<v Speaker 2>so about a number of saintly mothers that I have

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<v Speaker 2>found encouraging and who have what shall I say, rocked

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<v Speaker 2>my world and helped me to be more human. This

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<v Speaker 2>is what love is. This is how the Church produces beauty.

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<v Speaker 2>The opposite, of course, is the harlot of Babylon, who's

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<v Speaker 2>also a mother, an awful mother, a mother of harlots

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<v Speaker 2>and all the abominations of the earth. We reject that

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<v Speaker 2>kind of fake, bogus satanic motherhood and all of its

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<v Speaker 2>substrata that we see in our culture today, and we

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<v Speaker 2>embrace true motherhood, motherhood of the Church, the motherhood of

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<v Speaker 2>the Virgin Mary, and of all the saintly women who

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<v Speaker 2>have put the love of God and the love of

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<v Speaker 2>their families above everything else. Let me tell you about

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<v Speaker 2>a few glorious mothers. Saint Macrina the Mother, the grandmother

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<v Speaker 2>rather of Saint Basil the Great. She was outstanding for

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<v Speaker 2>her intellect and piety. She was a disciple of Saint

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<v Speaker 2>Gregory the wonder Worker, teaching her family how to have

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<v Speaker 2>a spiritual father. In the reign of Diocletian, she abandoned

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<v Speaker 2>her home and hid in the forest and desert places

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<v Speaker 2>with her husband Basil. Although their home was confiscated, they

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<v Speaker 2>felt no pangs of regret. Can you imagine she modeled

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<v Speaker 2>being attached to the things above and not being a materialist.

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<v Speaker 2>Stripped of everything except their love for God, they settled

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<v Speaker 2>in the ancient forest and spent seven years there, and

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<v Speaker 2>by God's providence, goats would come from the mountains and

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<v Speaker 2>provide them with food. Saint Emilia the mother of Saint

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<v Speaker 2>Basil the Great, so that was Macreeena of the Grandmother.

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<v Speaker 2>Of course, Basil also has a sister of Saint Macgreena

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<v Speaker 2>and named after the grandmother. Saint Emilia, the mother of

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Basil the Great, bore ten children and endowed each

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<v Speaker 2>of them with a Christian spirit, so that at least

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<v Speaker 2>six of them became Saints Basil the Great, Gregory of Nissa,

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<v Speaker 2>Peter of sebast Novcratius, Macrina Theo Savilla. She founded a

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<v Speaker 2>monastery in her old age, where she lived with her

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<v Speaker 2>daughter Macrina, and where she entered into the Rest and

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<v Speaker 2>the Lord on the eighth of May in three seventy five.

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<v Speaker 2>Saint Martha followed the practice of rising at midnight to pray,

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<v Speaker 2>visited the poor and the sick constantly. This is one

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<v Speaker 2>universal of Godly mothers is that they have hearts of compassion,

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<v Speaker 2>and they teach us, especially their sons. They teach their

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<v Speaker 2>sons how to have sympathy, how to combine a quest

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<v Speaker 2>for strength, but with tenderness, like our savior has. She

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<v Speaker 2>ended up living and being buried at the base of

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<v Speaker 2>her son's pillar. She spent her last decades listening to

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<v Speaker 2>his daily preaching, because he would preach at three o'clock

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<v Speaker 2>in the afternoon, at the ninth hour, I believe, and

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<v Speaker 2>she would listen to him, and she lived and ended

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<v Speaker 2>up being buried at his pillar.

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<v Speaker 1>Incredible women, Incredible mothers.

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<v Speaker 2>Glorious mothers provide powerful support for their children in the

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<v Speaker 2>midst of a dark world of temptations. Think of the

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<v Speaker 2>righteous Solomonia and her seven Maccabee's sons. Two courses, it

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<v Speaker 2>says in the scriptures, were open to this mother, that

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<v Speaker 2>of religion and that of preserving her seven sons for

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<v Speaker 2>a time as the tyrant had promised. She loved religion more,

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<v Speaker 2>religion that preserves them for eternal life. According to God's promise.

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<v Speaker 2>The mother of the seven boys more than any other

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<v Speaker 2>mother loved her children. In seven pregnancies. She had implanted

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<v Speaker 2>in herself tender love towards them, and because of the

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<v Speaker 2>many pains she suffered with each of them, she had

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<v Speaker 2>sympathy for them. That's what a pious mother does. She

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<v Speaker 2>calls her son to act for God's sake. Glorious mothers

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<v Speaker 2>lift their sons up, They pick them up, they orient them.

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<v Speaker 2>This is how mothers can help sons who are weak

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<v Speaker 2>or are falling by their courage. And of course, I

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<v Speaker 2>think some of you may know the story of the

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<v Speaker 2>incredible mother and wife of Saint James, the person this

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<v Speaker 2>is November twenty seventh, who he who was so high

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<v Speaker 2>up in the Persian kingdom, the best friend of the Emperor,

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<v Speaker 2>of the Pagan Emperor, who under great and extreme pressure,

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<v Speaker 2>entered into the house of Pagan worship and knelt, and

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<v Speaker 2>his mother and his wife disowned him, gave him a

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<v Speaker 2>stentorian rebuke for participating in Persian worship, and by this

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<v Speaker 2>brought him to his repentance. And he offered every part

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<v Speaker 2>of his body as he was chopped to pieces, as

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<v Speaker 2>an offering of repentance to Christ for having compromised himself.

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<v Speaker 1>Where would we be without our mothers.

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<v Speaker 2>We lift our voices in thanksgiving to God for our

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<v Speaker 2>pious mothers, lived our voices in praise to them with

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<v Speaker 2>great gratitude, acknowledging how much we cherish them, how much

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<v Speaker 2>we love them. And I say to all of you

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<v Speaker 2>who are looking for a wife, look for a wife

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<v Speaker 2>who will be a great mother. And all you young

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<v Speaker 2>ladies who are anticipating being wed, embrace the incredible calling

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<v Speaker 2>of motherhood. Follow the Virgin in this most sublime, holy,

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<v Speaker 2>meaningful calling to actually bear children the image of God

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<v Speaker 2>and to raise them as beautiful, beautiful servants of the

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<v Speaker 2>Holy Trinity. That may the Lord save us all by

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<v Speaker 2>our mother's prayers.

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<v Speaker 1>Amen.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, everyone, I hope you've downloaded the Patristic Nectar app

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<v Speaker 2>on your phone. It is a treasure trove of soul

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<v Speaker 2>nourishing content, and I hope you'll consider becoming a regular

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<v Speaker 2>donor to Patristic Nectar today.