In modern Bulgarian Church history, Epiphany was established in 1929 by a decision of the Holy Synod as the Day of the Christian Family and Youth. It was considered a holiday for all students, a day off from school. The holiday used to begin with the Divine Liturgy, where parents and children would receive Holy Communion together. During the atheistic socialist regime, however, this family tradition was forgotten, and in modern times it is often stripped of its spiritual meaning.

We invited Father Sergiy Pavlov, rector of the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Mladost district of Sofia, to discuss the challenges of the modern world and the path to a thriving Christian family. According to Father Sergiy, today the family is not considered a fundamental value by many young people, who seek more rights and freedoms than duties and responsibilities within the family. That is why it is difficult to create a family that can survive in such conditions.

"Many people's idea of family is what we see in romantic Hollywood films," Father Sergius notes. - They're not prepared for what they might face after marriage. No one has taught us how to live family life, all we know about it is what we have seen in our own families. Therefore, when we start a family and see that it is not what we expected, we tend to run away from the difficulties. 

The Christian family is different - it has different values from the secular family. If in a secular family the effort is to avoid the painful and difficult aspects of life together, so to say - to take the wide road, in Christianity the effort of the couple is quite the opposite - to take the narrow road".

In the Christian family, the capital virtues are humility, patience, meekness. Such a family would be very healthy, Father Sergiy notes, adding that the difference between the Christian and the secular family also lies in the common goals. In a secular family, more attention is paid to financial stability and support in life's problems, and to producing offspring. In the Christian family, however, these earthly priorities are secondary and salvation is paramount.

The struggle is not so much for power, but above all to put God first - emphasises Father Sergiy. - To follow Him, wife and husband, side by side towards the Kingdom of Heaven, helping each other. In this way, both grow as individuals, using what God has given them to serve others through Him. And this is the meaning of the Christian family - the stronger spouse bearing the weakness of the weaker and helping him to rise spiritually," the priest explains:

"The spouse who is more spiritual should help the other, by his prayer, by his example, both should support each other. So the family is like an oasis of spirituality in this secular desert, like a little church. It is easier for women to turn to God in the beginning, while men need to hear logic, they need proof. In such cases, as the Apostle Peter said, "let the woman show the man by her example what faith really means, so that he may turn to salvation and to God without exhortation and without being persuaded". ("Wives, in the same way, be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if some do not believe the word, they may be won without word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct". (1 Peter 3:1-2, ESV)

In this sense, the priest recalls the words of St Seraphim of Sarov: "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and then thousands around you will be saved, including those closest to you in the family". And in the Christian life we find evidence of these words. Whether it is because one of the spouses or even one of the children becomes stronger and richer in God, we see how all the members of the family are changed," Father Sergiy concludes.