On the feast of Sts Joachim and Anne, Archbishop Calinic of Suceava and Rădăuți urged families hoping to have children to pray and cultivate patience in humility.
“Make your family and your home a place of prayer, remembering that peace, faithfulness and the good tears born of humility bring down the Kingdom of Heaven into your heart,” Archbishop Calinic urged.
His Eminence explained that prayer follows a different rhythm from worldly things: “God is the One who does not delay, but prepares; the One who seeks the depth of the root, not the splendour of the leaf.”
Archbishop Calinic of Suceava and Rădăuți encouraged spouses hoping to have children to become “gateways through which grace may pass”.
“Sts Joachim and Anne were not only the parents of Mary according to the flesh; by dedicating her to God from infancy, they prepared the way for the coming into the world of the incarnate Son of the heavenly Father.”
Patience
Archbishop Calinic presented Sts Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Mother of God, as an example of patience and prayer.
“Honour the Holy and Righteous Ancestors of God Joachim and Anne, for they are an icon of faith that remains steadfast even when the sign is delayed, and thus bears good fruit.”
“Learn from the example of patience and hopeful waiting shown by the Holy Parents, for God does not work at the pace of the world, but at the pace of eternity,” Archbishop Calinic added.
In conclusion, His Eminence emphasised that material possessions can be used to cultivate edifying virtues, “so that you may be deemed worthy to hear the voice of Him for whom all things are possible”.
Photo: Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuți
