Regarding the topic of marital relations Elder Paisios wrote in one of his epistles:
Concerning marital relations of married priests and laity, which you related to me: since the Holy Fathers do not define “how often” [to have marital relations] exactly, we must conclude that it is not defined, for everyone cannot be put into the same mold. The Fathers leave it to the discernment, zeal, spiritual sensitivity and strength of each person. That I may be more easily understood, I will share instances of spiritual warriors—again, married priests and laymen—whom I have known.
Among them there are those who came together after their marriage and had one, two, or three children, and afterward lived in chastity. Others come together once a year for childbearing, but otherwise live as brother and sister. Some abstain only during fasting periods; and others are not able to attain even this. I also know some who come together once in the middle of the week, so as to be three days before and after Holy Communion. Some stumble over even this, for which reason Christ’s first word when He appeared to the Apostles after His Resurrection was, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you . . . Receive ye the Holy Spirit: Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained”. [1] Read more →
Saints Joakeim and Anna are the Most Dispassionate Couple
—Geronta, tell us about Saints Joakeim and Anna, the ancestors of God. You once started to speak of them.
—Since I was little I’ve had a great veneration for the Holy Ancestors. Surely I’ve told one of you about wanting them to give me the name Joakeim when they made me a monk. We owe them so much! Saints Joakeim and Anna are the most dispassionate couple ever! They didn’t have a fleshly mind in the slightest. Read more →