By Elder
Joseph of Vatopaidi
I will tell you
of another characteristic of a proper spouse, which is extremely difficult to
find in our day. But we did encounter one such person.
He was in
every way a perfect character, a Christian, and completely social. He married
late, around thirty years old, not because he was averse to marriage, but
because he thought that was how it should be. So he said his prayers with
faith, and found himself a young girl and married her. The girl was young, ten
years younger than him. Soon after he married her, she began her mischief. He
pretended not to notice; he regarded her as his daughter and himself as her
father. However, they had important business interests overseas and they had to
go there, even if only temporarily. So he took her and they went abroad. When they
arrived, she became very obstinate, and would say to herself: "He did this
on purpose, to estrange me from my environment. I will desert him." So she
abandoned and left him. She came back to Greece, and where do you think she
went? To one of those "casino" places, and began to live the life of
a free woman—one who is paid.
The husband
however, from the day that she left him, never stopped praying with tears and
insisting, in fact exhorting God: "All Good One, I will not retreat, I
will not leave You alone; You were the One who gave me my wife. 'By the Lord is
a man and woman harmonized' (according to the Bible). I want my wife. If the
young girl has been deceived, must she be lost? Why did You come down to earth?
Didn't You come to find the lost ones, to heal the sick, to resurrect the dead?
I will not retreat. I will not let You rest. I want my wife; bring her back to
me." He wept for two whole years.
His prayer
was eventually heard and the young woman came to her senses. "Oh my,"
she confessed, "God will have to create another Hell, because this one is
too small for me!" So she sat down and wrote him a letter, saying: "I
dare not address your name; I have no such right. If I return, will you accept
me as your servant?" He replied: "My love, why did you mention that
word and hurt my feelings? Wasn't it me who sent you on a vacation and I was
longing for my love to return to my open arms?"
So, he went
and waited for her at the airport, as they had arranged. When she arrived, she
fell down and began to beat herself and cry. He took her in his arms. "My
love, why are you like this and hurt my feelings? I was longing to see you
again. Let's go home now; we never parted—I was always with you." And this
young girl proved herself to be a faithful wife from then on.
And that is
the stance that a man—a husband—should take.
Orthodox
Heritage-
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