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Instruction in piety and the fear of the Lord should be from infancy, as soon as children begin to understand at least a little. 1. Because this age, as a gentle age, is convenient for the perception of good or evil. I explain it as follows. An empty vessel can hold everything: water, or wine, or beer, or kvass, or something similar. So a young man can absorb good or evil teaching. 2. What children learn from childhood, when they reach adulthood and in old age, they will do. I explain this in the following way: a new vessel, especially an earthen one, is what it is first filled with, so it will smell until it is destroyed. So, for example, if you drink oil, you will smell like oil; if you drink wine, you will stink of wine. So it is with a young man: whatever teaching he drinks, he will emit a smell all his life. If he is instructed in the fear of the Lord, then all his life he will emit a favorable aroma of good morals; if he is taught evil, then he will reek of evil even to the end. Another example. Just as a small tree is inclined towards whatever side it will continue to grow until the end, so will a young boy: whatever he is first taught, he will have an inclination towards until the end of his life. If you lose children who die small or as infants, thank God for delighting them, so that the malice of their minds does not change, or deceit does not deceive their souls (Wisdom 4:11). And so you send your fruits to Christ into His heavenly Kingdom. Also give thanks that you will not take care of them in Christian upbringing and instruction: for parents for children who are not instructed in a Christian way will be severely tortured before the judgment of God. When you are deprived of adults and children and you have wealth that you had to leave as an inheritance to children, then you can invest it in the hands of the poor - the brethren of Christ - with spiritual benefit; and so you will have not one or three, but many heirs and you will receive that inheritance with many profits in the next century. If you remain poor after the death of your adult children, give yourself to the providence of Christ, the Son of God, who feeds everyone and cares for everyone. Some parents raise and support their children so tenderly and weakly that they do not want to punish them for their crimes, and so fearlessly and willfully allow them to live, while others use immeasurable severity and satisfy their anger and rage over them rather than punish them. Both of them sin. Everywhere excess is vicious: severity and reckless mercy are condemned in every rank. One leads young people who are naturally prone to all kinds of evil into relaxation, self-will, corruption and obvious destruction, while the other instills grief, irritation and despondency in them. Everywhere moderation and the middle path are praised. Therefore, pious parents must adhere to the middle path. The duty of parents to their children. 1. As soon as children begin to come to their senses and understand the teaching, they should immediately be poured with the milk of piety and brought to the knowledge of God and Christ, the Son of God, so that they know: who is God, in whom we believe and whose name we remember, and confess, and pray; and who is Christ and how He should be venerated; For what reason are we all born into this world and baptized, and what do we expect after death? For our present life is nothing other than the path along which we go to eternity: good - to prosperous, evil - to unfavorable. We are not born into this world for the sake of honor, wealth, sweet food, beautiful clothes, rich houses and other things, for we leave all this behind at death. But we are born in order to live piously here, and to please God, and after death to go to Him and to abide in His eternal bliss. Otherwise, if we were born for this life, then we would have to stay here forever, but we see the opposite. So, we are born for another life and enter on the path of this world in order to come to another. For this reason, we are baptized, and we believe in God and Christ, the Son of God, and we call on His name, and we go to Church and pray - that we may receive this future bliss from Him. All this and other things must be offered to young children at the beginning, so that when they come to age, they come to the knowledge of God, and the Christian position and hope. From here one can expect good hope in a young heart, if one is brought up this way from the beginning. Both evil and good are firmly rooted in the youthful heart, and what we learn in youth, when we reach perfect age, we remain, just as a young tree leans towards which side, and stands to the end. Therefore, such a pious education of youth is needed. And when the parents themselves either cannot or their rank does not allow them to do this, they need to look for suitable mentors and teach their children. Many teach their children foreign languages ​​and arts, but do not teach them in the matter of piety, which makes it clear that they themselves do not know this, although they are called Christians. It is useful for the sake of society and commerce and to teach foreign languages, but the sacraments of faith must be taught, and it is absolutely necessary, and only one thing is necessary (Luke 10:42). What is the use of French or another language when the language is learned, but the heart is not taught good? The tongue flows well and beautifully, but the heart is idle without faith and emits the stench of unbelief, which is disastrous for both careless parents and children. 2. Since, according to Scripture, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Ps. 110:10), then first the fear of God should be planted in young hearts, for youth, naturally inclined to evil, is turned away from evil by nothing more than this fear, like every person. And in order to plant the fear of God in their hearts, they need to be often reminded that God is everywhere and is present next to every person, and no matter what a person does or thinks, he sees, and no matter what he says, he hears, and for every word, deed and thought of evil he is angry, and will judge, and will deliver sinners to eternal torment, and will reward righteous and good people for their good deeds, and he who sins or does evil can in fact execute, as we read in stories and the same thing happens today. This needs to be instilled in them at the beginning, so that they avoid all evil not only openly, but also secretly; so that, like children before their parents, slaves before their masters, and subjects before the authorities, they do nothing indecent, but act reverently, so they too would act and walk with fear before God, who watches over everything, and would think that God is next to them, and sees all their actions, and can execute them when they act badly. And even if it happens that people do not see a bad deed, then God, greater than all the light and the Judge of all, sees everything. From such teaching and reasoning about God, the fear of God can be instilled in the young, which both the old and the old need to remember... Parents should punish faulty children. So the Word of God commands them: do not leave the young man unpunished: if you punish him with a rod, he will not die; you will punish him with a rod and save his soul from hell (Proverbs 23:13-14). We see that God Himself loves His children, but out of love He punishes them, for the Lord punishes whomever He loves; he beats every son whom he receives (Heb. 12:6). Likewise, carnal parents should follow God and discipline their children out of love. That desperate love is blind, which leaves faulty children without punishment, just like the true and wise love that humbles their willfulness with punishment. He who spares his rod hates his son; and whoever loves punishes him from childhood (Proverbs 13:25; also see about this Proverbs 29:17; Sir. 7:25; 30:1-13). 4. There should not be immeasurable severity in punishment, as the apostle commands: fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, so that they do not lose heart (Col. 3:21), but to follow the middle path, as said above. 5. They need to present themselves as the image of good deeds. Youth, and every age, is better taught to virtue by a good life than by words, for especially young children have as a rule the lives of their parents, and what they notice in them, they themselves do, whether it be good or bad. Therefore, parents should both protect their children from temptations and set an example of virtuous living for their children when they want to instruct them in virtue. Otherwise they cannot succeed in anything. They look more at the lives of their parents and reflect this in their young souls, rather than listening to their words. Every word of a mentor, connected with life, fair and strong, is an instruction, especially a parental instruction. 6. The very nature of parents attracts and convinces them to love their children; even the dumb ones love their offspring. Therefore, there is no need to talk about this, as long as love is not reckless, as said above. 7. Parents should pray to God for their children, so that He Himself may instruct them in His fear and make them wise for salvation. 8. How harmful neglect of the correct upbringing and punishment of children is for both the parents themselves and their children - everyone can see from the above and is shown by the story of Elijah, the priest of Israel, who, because he did not properly raise and did not punish his sons for their insolence, was punished by God himself, and his children (see 1 Samuel 4:17-18). The duty of children to their parents. 1. Children should love their parents from the bottom of their hearts and be grateful to them, for they were born from them and raised by them. Natural law and conscience convinces everyone of this. 2. They are due obedience, as the apostle commands: children, obey your parents in the Lord (Eph. 6:1). 3. Show them loving respect in word and deed. 4. When they are punished in word or deed, accept the punishment for the good, do not be indignant, do not grumble at them, but, recognizing your crime, with humility, love and regret ask for their forgiveness. 5. In need and old age, feed them and serve them with all zeal. 6. For lawless children who do not honor their parents, terrible punishments are prescribed in the law of the Lord. Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death (Ex. 21:21). Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death (Lev. 20:9).