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The purpose of life is not to resist it or to indulge in it, but to live. As St. Ireneaus in the early second century observed, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive" as we see in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Marriage as a spiritual path moves along the "narrow path that leads to life" between these two extremes where the Divine Energies and the vital sap of daily life in the world converge. The Orthodox Church holds marriage in honor as a Mystery of the Church-a means of Grace uniting heaven and earth-where the word and action of the Lord turn ordinary water into the wine of the Spirit creating an effervescence in the soul of the partakers

Man was created with free will. Its power was compromised by the fall. It is further dimished by delusion and the passions. We escape them through true faith, worship and fasting. Our freedom increases as these negative forces decrease.