radioimlemesou
Instagram
Metropolitan Athanasios on the need for both mother and father and maternal tenderness in spiritual fatherhood
What the video says
The speaker explains that a person needs both a mother and a father, and that each parent should embody qualities of the other: the mother needs fatherhood and motherhood, while the father must have maternal affection for his children. He recalls Saint Sophronios, their elder, teaching that a spiritual father should have the tenderness of a mother toward his monks.
This maternal care is described with concrete examples: telling a child to dress warmly, not to get cold, to come home early, and to pay attention to various things. The speaker notes this tenderness goes beyond the physical father's relationship, possessing a subtlety that makes one reflect, and he calls it beautiful and good.
Key moments
- A person needs both mother and father; the mother needs fatherhood and motherhood, the father needs maternal affection for the children.
- Saint Sophronios, their elder, said a spiritual father must have the tenderness of a mother toward his monks.
- The speaker illustrates maternal care with examples: "dress up," "don't get cold," "come home early," "pay attention to this, pay attention to that."
- This tenderness surpasses the physical father's relationship and has a subtlety that makes one think.
- The speaker calls this maternal subtlety beautiful and good.
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol speaks on the necessity of both maternal and paternal roles in human life. He asserts that a person requires both a mother and a father, and that each parent should embody qualities of the other: the mother needs fatherhood and motherhood, while the father must have maternal affection toward his children.
The metropolitan references Saint Sophronios, whom he identifies as their elder, who taught that a hegumen, or spiritual father, must possess the tenderness of a mother toward his monks. He then provides a vivid illustration of this maternal care, quoting the kind of attentive words a mother speaks: "Dress yourself, do not get cold.
Come home early. Pay attention to this, pay attention to that." Metropolitan Athanasios explains that this tenderness surpasses the physical father's relationship and carries a subtlety that may cause slight discomfort yet brings joy. He concludes by describing this maternal subtlety as beautiful and good.
Main points
- A person needs both mother and father; the mother requires fatherhood and motherhood, the father requires maternal affection for the children.
- Saint Sophronios, their elder, taught that a spiritual father must have the tenderness of a mother toward his monks.
- The metropolitan illustrates maternal care with examples: "Dress yourself, do not get cold. Come home early. Pay attention to this, pay attention to that."
- This tenderness surpasses the physical father's relationship and has a subtlety that makes one reflect.
- The metropolitan calls this maternal subtlety beautiful and good.