In the context of Sunday of the Myrrhbearers, His Eminence Archbishop Calinic of Suceava and Rădăuţi proposed a Christian woman’s Decalogue.

The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church has designated the third Sunday after Holy Pascha as Christian Women’s Sunday beginning in 2020 to underscore the role and significance of Christian women in the life and mission of the Church and Romanian society.

A Decalogue for the Christian Woman

1. Worship the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Creator of all, Who blessed you to be born, and respect the parents from whom you were born.

2. Pray to God, you who were born under guilt, so that, through Baptism, you may grow blamelessly, like the lily, regardless of the land in which you will grow.

3. Bless God, Who has blessed the fruitfulness of your womb with the birth of children, for good increase and salvation.

4. Thank God that He preferred you to be co-creators with Him in the growth and multiplication of the human race.

5. Dress and adorn yourself with the porphyry of virtues and wisely watch over the spiritual welfare of your house.

6. Be a crown to your man, being created for his help and praise so that you may enjoy his love and honour.

7. Adorn your heart’s inner self with modesty, temperance, honesty and good deeds so that you may not be caught in the soul-destroying nets of this world.

8. Beware of the friendship of those with alluring words, who, like a lake with blooming lotuses, hide the crocodiles of mischief in their souls.

9. Persevere with complete wisdom in faith, simplicity, love and the sanctification of life, making yourself an example to your children, whom you can raise in obedience and love of God and fulfilling His will.

10. Be zealous like the myrrh-bearing women, and do not avoid bringing the gifts of your love to the Lord Christ, His Mother and the Saints, who intercede for all humankind so that you may enjoy eternal cohabitation in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Photography courtesy of the Roman and Bacau Archdiocese