 It is for me a pleasure to speak with you and good Catholics and family fathers. This is the hope for the renewal of the church. Well, I consider this the greatest grace of my life to have been born into a Catholic family where both parents were deep believing Catholics, my father and mother, and not only them, but also the grandparents from both sides were very deep believing Catholics. And so I grew up in this ground in this good soil, I would say, which I consider the greatest grace of my life, even more than the priesthood and the episcopacy. Because the Catholic faith, this is the greatest richness which we have, here on earth, because without faith, the true faith, we will not go to heaven. We will not fulfill the will of God. And therefore, so important and fundamental is the mission of the Catholic family. So, I received the Catholic faith, I would say, with Mother's milk, and this should be done by all Catholic mothers. So, since I can think and remember, I always prayed, so my first remembrance was a prayer which my mother taught me and my father, so my first remembrance from my childhood when I was maybe three or four years old, this was the family prayer. So, we were all kneeling together, I was the youngest, we were four siblings and the parents, we were kneeling down and praying. So, this was my first remembrance from my childhood. And I am grateful to God that I could receive this. And the other thing which I remember also that I was observing my parents praying also. So, not only we together, but as a child I could see with how they pray by themselves. Before going to bed or in the morning. And so, this is first which I would like to share, the importance of the family prayer and to teach the child since the youngest age to pray. And the mother has to give as a little bit with the mother's milk the faith. And so my mother, she did this, when she was feeding us and so she always said a prayer so that with this material food God should already bless the soul of this child. So this did my mother. And then before my mother told me that she always prayed to God as a girl that God sends her a believing, a good Catholic husband. And so, and God gave her this. And so, she was called Mary and he, my father Joseph, so Joseph and Mary. And both prayed that God will give them this pose. Whom God had chosen. Therefore, I would start when we speak about family before founding a family to the young people who are now preparing themselves for marriage and family. And even, for example, my grandmother, she always said to her children, my mother and my uncles and aunts, you have not to seek your future husband in dancing parties or and so on. But God will give you, when you will pray, the good spouse from God had chosen. So did my grandmother always teaching already when the children were so teenagers and they could already understand the problem, the nature of family and so on. And so this is also the task of the parents when the children are growing in this age, when they are already thinking about marriage, to say them, please pray that it should now start that God give you the spouse whom he has chosen from all eternity. And so, and the other is also important. You see this, the family is created by God. And this is a God, a creature of God, the most beautiful here on earth because it is, because God had chosen the family to come to us, the Holy Family. And so I would only add still this point that to a family also is good to include the grandparents. So they have to build up a culture of Catholic generations. So it is so important because it's an organic creature of God. And so it is good when grandparents are believing and giving their example also to their grandchildren by faith, not only the parents, of course the parents are the first one, but also the grandparents. This would I also add so and maybe those who are now in your age 40, 50 and so, you will become maybe soon also grandfather, grandfather, grandparents. And so then you have a task very important also to transmit to the grandchildren the Catholic faith also by example. Yes, I would say maybe for the youngest children who cannot concentrate himself. It is sufficient, maybe one decade for Rosary and the other children. So we can continue to pray the entire Rosary with the parents, but maybe the little one it's sufficient maybe for them a short term, maybe one decade and then they can go to bed or before it depends on the family you can arrange. But the idea is that for little children I think it could be too much the entire Rosary but give them a shorter prayer and so they will love the shorter prayer. And then when they are growing they will add another one, another decade. And so organically you can add this and grow. This is the general rule I would say. And then also I think when the children are growing then they can understand even when this prayer, the Rosary is sometimes a burden or so. The parents can teach these children that this brings you blessings. This is something positive because when you are learning in school it's also sometimes you have to make some effort. Without effort you cannot get a good diploma in school or in the profession. Why not to do some effort also in prayers? But try to explain to the children that this is out of love for God. Not only to do a duty but only to show them this is now a time which you are giving exclusively to God who is our Father, who gave us all what you have, who is so good with us, who gave his life and blood for us on the cross and so on. And then you can give to him maybe these 20 minutes or half an hour. So when you explain the meaning to give the prayer out of love and gratitude to God and the other aspect also I think in education the aspect of sacrifice but in a positive way that sometimes we have to do some little renounce sacrifices in order to be stronger spiritually. And like we do bodily exercise, physical exercises or others in the school. So also in religious life we have to show the positive meaning of sacrifices. I would say to every Catholic Father you are a kind of Joseph. Because there is no better example of a Catholic Father than Saint Joseph because God gave this man as an example also. It means a Catholic Father I think has to give more an example. Not so much with words but with his example. And show the children really this paternal goodness, this paternity. I mean that the children can trust in him, that he protects them and simply gives an example. And so therefore a Father has to measure his words because he's an example, especially then for the boys when they are growing and to be just and when sometimes a Father has to be also I mean severe in some situations then he has to do this out of love for the children. So the motivation and show to them that this is for the benefit for these children. So but the interior attitude of a Father is of course the selflessness to be really at a disposition for the children, for the family to protect them and give an example. So my advice is more dear fathers give an example more than words but give an example, especially prayer. And even fathers have to also exercise patience. Patience and then God will provide. Sometimes one has to pray, they can resolve all the things. Pray and trust to God and he will resolve. And so this is my advice to the fathers. The mothers of course she is the heart of the family and this is so beautiful vacation to be a heart. And here surely here is our lady the mother the best mother which we have is our lady. The Blessed Virgin Mother and so every Catholic mother has to imitate her to be a good mother. And here I think that the Catholic mother should be tried to be always with the children close to them, accompany them and then also of course to pray. This is the first task of a mother together with a father and the mother is the heart and the mothers try to show to your children really the love that they always can come to you in every situation. So the mother has to create an atmosphere of love in the family and also in the future when the children are growing then they are knowing I can come to my mother. Even when they are adult they can come to the mother. She can understand them and even when not always maybe a situation where a mother can agree with some decisions but she has to show the love that she is the heart where all the children can come. And so this is my advice for a Catholic mother for the children. It's of course my advice to you to always to pray to God that you will always keep love and reverence for your parents. This is inseparable. So you have to always to have a kind of respect to your parents. This is commanded by God and also love. And pray always that you will keep this respect, loving, feeling respect to your parents even if maybe there will could be some conflicts or disagreements but you have always the children to pray that you will keep in any case a deep respect and love for your parents. More gratitude for your parents. And of course we have to pray for your parents also. This is to the children I would say. Of course the obedience will always bless the obedience of the children when they are of course still minor aged. Of course there could be some situations where the adult children cannot obey the parents when for example one of the children will want to go to to consecrate his life, her life to God either in the priesthood or in the monastery. And when the parents are contrary to this decision I hope that a Catholic parents should not be contrary to such a decision but in this case of course the children have to obey God before the parents but still keeping respect and love for the parents always. And even when there are some disagreements maybe on issues which are of this daily life and so on but keep always our respect for your parents and our love. This is a good question and it's timely because we are living really in a difficult time but we have to know that every difficult time God prepared for us special graces which he gives for difficult time. I would say difficult time graces and this he prepared for the families who are struggling to keep the faith and the fidelity to God in these really unbelieving and corrupt world which we are living now. And as Saint Paul is writing to the Christians the first generation live as children of God in midst of a corrupted and perverted society. This road is already Saint Paul. So we are now facing maybe even worse situation than then but we have to trust that God will give you and is giving you special graces when you are keeping your faith and continue your fitness and then I would say you have to stay and to teach your children to be witnesses. This is the second name of a Christian. Say this from the little age you are a Christian, you are a witness and this is a beautiful task and the other name of a Christian is be courageous. So courageous to be timid and political correct is the contrary to Christian. So you are a Christian boy, you are a Christian girl, you can say to your children your second name is witness to be a witness and to be courageous and this gives your dignity, your personal dignity also and hence we are personal dignity to be a courageous person because you are faithful not to ideology but to Christ who is a person, who is God, who is my savior, who is my king who is the king of kings, to him I am faithful. So we have to teach the children continuously this fidelity to Christ or our savior the king and our Lord. So and then also I think it would be good to teach the children and to read them concrete examples from saints from the lives of the saints, their good literature we can read to them to the children, good maybe of a martyr there are plenty of stories of good examples of martyrs of all ages of all times of all state of lives, children, youth, adult person and so on. So you can give to these literature or to read or to look some good video or film about courageous witness and this will be in the memory of the children when they will later from childhood they will remember this story of a good Christian witness and there are also current witnesses I mean from the recent persecution time from the communists also we can find them in good literature also so this I would encourage these and for the boys it would be good to train them maybe in scout groups in good Catholic for the typical manly courage it's not only spiritual but only also human to improve this attitude of witness and courageous. Well today as I see in the Western world the public schools are so already contaminated with the anti-Christian ideology and the immorality and the gender ideology that I think it is quite impossible to send the children to these schools, to the public schools at least we have to then we have good Catholic schools who are still independent and have a good program even good moral program also this will be also a good solution to send the children to good Catholic schools I mean they have to be proven Catholic schools not only Catholic schools by name but truly and so for example in France I have made some visits in France in good private Catholic schools where a priest is a chaplain for example where in the school is a chapel and there is a holy mass every day those who want can come and during the day during the breaks some children can go to the chapel and adore the blessed sacrament and also creates a sense of community that we are not alone this is also a positive value of a good Catholic school but if this is not possible for various reasons then of course the homeschooling is a good solution for the education of the children and maybe in this system of homeschooling it would be good that some families join together this also first to spare energy and professors but also to create a small community that the children can because the children they want to have friends and to have a little community to this is good for them I think that maybe not only when it's possible I don't know it's maybe it's not always possible but where it's possible it would be good to join some families together for the children so that they can play together also this is very important for a child that they can develop in playing with other children in behaviour also or to give a patron to the homeschool a saint maybe a youth saint so it will be a patron so they can invoke him first for protection for health and imitate him so and in homeschooling it's also important maybe to develop also some recreation moments for children to make some kind of I would say some kind of scout work with them they can explore the nature and so it's always important also of course besides the prayers and religious formation well I think you have to in this case to take account to your simply to your forces physically and mentally and do what you can not to overburden yourself because you have the mothers have still other children they have homework and so it should be also considered her task as a housewife and the housework and so therefore maybe to distribute prudently the amount of lessons let us say for the homeschooling to reduce them so that it's not harming or it's not so overloading you in an excessive manner or to invite maybe a teacher to the home for some classes a teacher let us say mathematics or which is neutral I mean where you can invite some good person even who is not so believing but he is giving this neutral scientific effect geography or but the other issues which is more more I would say delicate as history or as literature so it's entering the ideology then you can keep for yourself but the simple the objective and difficult lessons you can invite another person to give this so to equilibrate your for your capacity I mean I was not reading English but I think simply the good the good lives of the saints I mean they are collections of the saints it would be also good to rate them and they are in English also for example butler it's a it's a various volumes of butler Alben Butler for the life of saints for example and yes or others more recent who are good collections of biographies of saints or simply of heroic persons so you can you can find them and and good stories it's always important to give the children good examples stories or good and maybe also from history examples from history from church history or so which are positive which are have an educational value this and then also possibly when the children are growing apologetic literature apologetics the fans of our faith here you can use I think a lot of material of Archbishop Fulton train his lectures there are plenty apologetical things for example even they are very valuable for the English speaking world the lessons of Fulton train well his his name was Alexi Alexi Zarytsky he was a Ukrainian priest he was born close to Lviv to in the western Ukraine and he even though the Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest they can marry you know there's a marriage clergy but he consciously decided to be a celibate priest and then he was a seminarian in order to dedicate himself completely to the souls for the Lord and even so he had he could be legitimately a marriage priest also but he made the option to be a celibate priest not a religious priest but to be in the world but a celibate priest and so he was a very zealous young priest in Ukraine in his parish and so but then when came the communists they forced all the Greek Catholic priests from Ukraine to to renounce the Catholic faith it was meant to renounce the the unitivist atop this is wrong and to accept the orthodox patriarchate of Moscow and and he was refusing this and therefore he was arrested by the police by the secret catch of me police and was he had to be judged in trial and they said to him you have not to renounce Christ no because the orthodox church we have the same sacraments you have only to renounce one point of the Catholic faith the papacy so one only one point and and to accept to be orthodox priest not to be more in union with Rome and then he answered if I will renounce the papal primacy that papacy I will renounce the entire gospel so this he answered into the judge it is for me the same as I would renounce the entire gospel so he did not renounce the fidelity to the Roman apostolic see and therefore he was imprisoned and put in prison even though I forgot to mention that before they said to him even you we will make you a bishop you can become a bishop but only renounce your fidelity to the Holy See and be independent from the Holy See he said no and then he was clearly conscious that what will be the consequences of his fidelity to prison and then he was sent to Siberia to various camps of concentration where people usually died because of these horrible situations there in human situations and he remained faithful and then when he was freed from the camp he was sent to Kazakhstan from Siberia to Kazakhstan to a kind of house arrest domestic arrest so he could not move yet to remain there in the city and be always under the control of the secret service of the police but he was hearing that there are so many Catholics without priests it was in the 50s beginning of the 60s last century and so he was traveling all around the Soviet Union secretly and it was illegally it was against the law even he had no passport they took him away and so he was traveling all around only to save souls and he was conscious that when the police will arrest him again he will brought again to the camps he could live in this house where he was in Karaganda in Kazakhstan under house arrest at least it would be better than in a camp of concentration and so he traveled and so he came to my parents in the Ural Mountains where my parents were also under the situation of in internation it is called when people are in a situation of internation so the police is watching on them so this was a situation of my parents in the Ural Mountains and there were thousands of Catholics there, Germans and Father Alexi came secretly to them frequently I mean frequently it was maybe twice a year it was frequently because before his arrival the people had no priests for 10 years no priests 10 years without sacraments so my parents my grandparents mothers they were living almost 10 years without sacraments but they were keeping the Catholic faith in daily prayers of rosary in daily reading of the catechism short parts of the catechism of the good catechism and the biblical stories so and so the holy cross stations and so they kept this and they were baptizing the children they own by their own because they were no priests at least they could baptize their children and marry and make the marriage because according to the kennel law you know that when one month is no priest then the spouses can validly marry in the Catholic crowd before two testimonies and so these Catholics did so this form of marriage in the emergency and baptizing the children by themselves the mothers and the grandmothers were baptizing the children so myself I was baptized by my mother and so and then came the father and he spent there all the days and he was hearing confessions days and nights because imagine thousands thousands of people when he came only once or twice a year they have to confess and he did not know when the police can come because in every moment the police could come and it happened sometimes and so he even could not rest because his conscience was so delicate that he said I cannot rest now because then maybe 10 or 20 people cannot receive a solution from the sins I have to confess and so and then he celebrated Mass always in the night and then give Holy Communion and then he was fleeing to another point to another place always disguised in another clothes and once it was a situation where he was celebrating starting to celebrate Mass my mother was present and the police were arriving and then still not yet entering but because the Germans they lived together in a ghetto in a part of the city small and so the police were already entering one part of this ghetto and then my mother said to him Father Alexi come I have to hide you because the police is not coming and she took him and she brought him out of the German ghetto to another part to another street where Russian people were living and then there was a small room where he she put him in this room and locked the room but before she locked she she left something to eat there for him so he could eat and and now then she said now Father Alexi you can rest I will lock you at least in rest and you can eat something and when it will dark be we will flee from here and so it was winter and so when it was becoming dark maybe five o'clock in the afternoon she came with her aunt the sister of my grandfather and they both took him and they were fleeing and so my elder siblings they were little children and so mother left them by her mother by my grandmother and these two ladies took Father Alexi in the night the fleeing 12 kilometers by snow minus 30 degrees below zero frozen and then they came to the next railway station a small village and then they were waiting for the train that he can flee with the train to another city my mother bought him the ticket for Father Alexi and this was a very small waiting room they had to wait still for the train to come and so and suddenly the door is opening and the police is entering and and going directly to Father Alexi and he is seeing how the police is coming to him and on his side was my mother and the other side was the home and the police man asked him where you are going and he was so shocked he could not answer and my mother she said this is our friend we are accompanying him and my mother took the ticket and gave this to the policeman and said see here is the ticket and the police were seeing the ticket and said to the Father Alexi please do not enter the last car of the train it will be dismembered in the next station I wish you a good trip and went away went out and no one saw this policeman after there was no and Father Alexi said to my mother this was an angel from God sent us and I will be all my life thankful to you what you have done for me because it was dangerous for my mother she would be arrested she would come to the prison of course and she had two little children in the house and then Father Alexi said to my mother in every holy mass I will pray for you and for your children and when God allows I will visit you once again and after this my parents moved from Ural mountains after one or two years they were freed and they could move and they moved from Ural mountains to Central Asia to Kyrgyzstan where I was born it is in the Central Asia south of Kazakhstan on the border of China and then we had a little house there and he came he found us he traveled thousand kilometers from Garaganda to Kyrgyzstan to find us and then he celebrated the holy mass secretly in our house and I was a little child I was one year old and my mother put the cradle on the side where he was celebrating so I was already his older boy when I was one year old and then he blessed me said my mother and the other siblings and then he had to flee and then when he entered again after our visit Kazakhstan he was arrested immediately by the secret police Kajibi and put to the prison to the camp of concentration and there he had to suffer he was three children suffered one and a half year and then of the consequences of this he died and therefore he is deadified as a martyr and so in this father Alexei he said that the Catholic faith is our greatest richness and this is the faith of our fathers that keep this faith faithfully and then he said also when you have all the richness of this life but you have not a faith you have nothing but when you have the faith the Catholic faith and even you have almost nothing of the material goods you have all you possess all things this he several times he repeated this and he experienced this in his life and so this is for me a modern saint of our times father Alexei and also he left a very good advices for families I would share this with you in one of his letters to his brother his brother was married he gave some advices and he said here on earth there is no more happy life than the life of a husband and a wife who are Catholic and faithful and who love each other and respect each other so he wrote and then he said a marriage life the life in marriage is a perpetual school of love he wrote his brother and said that and the secret of family life especially the marriage life the secret is that you have continuously to exercise yourself in acts of self renunciation so sometimes you have to see to yield to the other to and then the other to mutually he said it has to be mutually and this is the secret that we have always to out of love for each other we have to renounce sometimes to our words to be silent to accept something from the other even when I cannot but and the other the same so it is a mutual so we have husband and wife they have to exercise this and this is also a grace so this is the task of the mutual school of love said Blessed Alexi of a married couple and to my as I told once already once one time my mother she told me always when I was a priest I was in Rome and I was calling her regularly and the last word which he is she spoke to me always you remain faithful to Jesus and then when I became Bishop she was still alive and one priest friend of our family she came to congratulate my mother with my appointment and she answered that my son became a bishop it's not it is not so much for me important but for me it's the most important that my son remains faithful to Jesus and I'm so grateful to these and so and my father he always she very much loved my mother and when we already were adult with four siblings and then we sometimes when we met together this occurrence we already were already adult I was already pleased and the others were married and then when we were sitting together and sometimes my father started to cry and said to all my children I will say now to you I have the best wife which God gave me in my life this is your mother even when they were already in aged he when we were little he did not say to us because we didn't understand but when we already adult and he said this to us and this is a beautiful witness also for the Catholic husbands I would say please show to your children that you love and respect your wife and of course mutually also the wife says to respect but this is so important in a family life to exercise this and to always do you know another what I would share also my parents they said to us often times even my father these words of the Lord seek first the kingdom of God and all the rest will be given to you and they said to us children that all of these words in all their life when they married seek first the kingdom of God and his will and the rest God will give you and so it was our experience in my life we were living in difficult situations in the Soviet Union but we were not rich no but it was only sufficient for us to live in a in a with dignity but we were not rich we had not but it was good God provided always the necessary for us and in a that's so we could live in with dignity not with richness and wealth no but with dignity and but we were strengthened with the faith and so and then God will give you that more then you have to accept this with gratitude more wealth to do good works my final words first I would like as a bishop to thank you good Catholic fathers good Catholic mothers who are hearing me and especially those who are generously large families you have you have accepted the children which God gave you I would like to thank you and even the sacrifices but it is worthwhile these sacrifices because you gave to God citizens of heaven your children will be citizens of heaven the hope for all eternity and so and so please continue your generosity God will always got his most more generous when you are generous with him and accepting the children his love every child except his love every child even it even if it will be the tense or so on but accept his love and God will provide and so this is my gratitude to you dear parents of large families and then also thank you for your witness in this difficult life that you are now doing the song schooling please continue this maybe it would be good to make a group of families in your neighborhood and strengthen mutually to do some meetings maybe and to have a priest who is a good priest who's a really authentic priest who can give you good advice is as a father spiritual father to your families to this group of families maybe because and pray that God will give you a good priest in your neighborhood or in your area where you are living maybe it would be sufficient that this priest can come periodically not so often but it will be sufficient as in our time father Father Alexi came twice a year and then it was sufficient then for us he gave us so much spiritual nourishment and well and today the priest can give you talks through Skype and Zoom and other means so it is also possible I mean so this is what I would say and then continue to cause the prayer in the family it's the most important and ask the Lord and the Holy Family that you will practice always strive to practice the mutual love and forgiveness and patience this is so necessary and so beautiful and then consecrate your always repeated repeatedly to the Holy Family. Continue your good work, continue.