Who Are “Within the Church”? An Exchange Between Fr. Theodoretos (Mavros) and theologian Nikolaos Sotiropoulos

(From the Greek periodical, The Hagiorite, written and published by the ever-memorable Hieromonk Theodoretos [Mavros], Issue 8, September–October 1994 edition.)

 

 

 

A few months ago, the well-known spiritual father of the Sinai desert, Fr Adrian, repudiated the ecumenism of the New Calendar and joined the Church of the Old Calendar, after having ascertained in practice as well the erroneous teachings of today’s bishops of “Orthodoxy.” This, as was natural, did not please many New Calendarists, both clergy and lay theologians, since it calls their course into question and leaves them exposed before their spiritual children, who will rightly wonder what is happening.

For this reason, the periodical The Cross published an extensive comment (Aug. 1994, p. 134), observing with regard to Fr Adrian that “he did not exhaust all the means available.” In the writer’s opinion, before breaking communion with the Church of the New Calendar, he ought “to have sent circular letters to Christians throughout the world, in which he would have denounced the drift toward ecumenism of those persons who ought to have been guardians of the Orthodox faith.” The writer’s proposal concerning written protest had been employed extensively by those who, for many years, had struggled against erroneous teaching, and it produced no result; only the breaking of communion troubles them and exposes them. Thus, Fr Adrian preferred the path of action. To this end, he visited Australia and Canada, where the Greek diaspora flourishes, in order to denounce the heresy. The result? He was immediately expelled by the “Orthodox” archbishops and bishops of those regions!

For this reason, having perceived that they had by now become hardened, in the words of the divine Paul, he decided to safeguard himself by walling himself off and joining the ranks of the Old Calendarists.

Saint Theodore the Studite, whom The Cross cites as a struggler “within the Church,” applied an economy that was sufficiently strict even in the matter of the emperor’s unlawful marriage alone, breaking communion with all those chiefly responsible for the adulterous union and with those in communion with them. During the period of the Iconoclast heresy, however, the break in communion was universal: no Iconophile communed with the Iconoclasts, since the opposing sides were clearly divided, and everyone who confessed faith in and reverence for the holy icons was relentlessly persecuted. This was the situation in the Church of Byzantium. There were, however, other Local Churches and Patriarchates that did not participate in the heresy and that remained in communion with the Iconophiles.

Today, however, matters are far worse than during the Iconoclast period. The Pentarchy of the Patriarchates and all the Autocephalous Churches are in communion and cooperate with one another, persecuting those who resist the heresy of Ecumenism. Consequently, the only path remaining for anyone who wishes to remain uninvolved in the heresy and in condemned communion is the path of walling-off and communion with the Churches of the Old Calendar. The venerable tradition of Orthodoxy and the sacred Canons approve the above stance, regarding those who act in this manner as “worthy of honor”!

Unfortunately, the editors of The Cross, despite all that has been written over the course of thirty years, persist in maintaining that they can be Orthodox, like the confessors of the past, while at the same time remaining in communion with all the Churches that teach error or are in communion with such error! They call this a struggle “within the walls of the Church,” whereas it means precisely the opposite: they are within error and outside the truth! There were also certain abbots in the time of Saint Theodore who, possessing their monasteries and commemorating the heretics, thought that they were doing something pleasing to God and exercising discernment, just as the editors of The Cross do. To them the Venerable Father wrote:

“And now permit me, most honored Father, to speak more freely. You are not without responsibility simply because you were arrested by the emperor’s men and nevertheless remained free... If, after your arrest, your reverence suffered none of the things mentioned above [that is, the torments to which the faithful were subjected], forgive me, but you were deceived, brother. And do not justify yourself to me by saying that you are preserving the churches and the sacred images in the temples unharmed, as well as the commemoration of the Patriarch. Others who have fallen babble the same things. These things cannot be preserved unless there has been a betrayal of the Orthodox confession. For, I ask you, what benefit is there if we, who are called and are the temple of God, have been destroyed [through failure to confess the faith], while we take care of lifeless temples?… Alas! Others are dying, others are being exiled, others are being scourged, others are being imprisoned; others are being given refuge by the mountains, the deserts, the rocks, and the caves; and we, remaining in our homes, imagine that we shall remain unharmed. By no means…”

“I have said these things out of love for you and as a reminder that those who act in this way are deserving of punishment…” (P.G. 99, 1365 A–C).

And to Abbot Theophilos:

“...And you, most wretched man, having been ensnared by soul-destroying communion and remaining in that place of destruction—for so it should be called, and not a monastery—say that all is well... And what brethren have you preserved, when you have corrupted them through your destructive communion, even if you have kept them supplied with food? A scandal to the world, an example of denial, an incitement to perdition, flesh and not spirit, darkness and not light...” (Ibid., 1337 C).

Behold how the true Fathers of the past thought and acted, and above all the great Theodore, whom Fr Justin Popović regards as the “fearless confessor of the theanthropic truths.” Blessed are those who humbly imitate his course; truly wretched, however, are those who distort his words in order to justify their remaining in the heresy...

* * *

“Who Are ‘Within the Church’?”

(From the periodical, The Cross, Issue no. 391, November–December 1994)

 

The Old Calendarist hieromonk Fr Theodoretos Mavros criticized our comment entitled “He Did Not Exhaust the Means Available” (August 1994 issue, p. 134). That comment concerned the well-known spiritual father of the Sinai desert, Fr Adrian, who abandoned that spiritual outpost and joined the respected Old Calendarist group of Fr Cyprian of Phyle and Oropos. His criticism was published in the periodical The Hagiorite (Issue 8), which he himself publishes, under the title “Who Are ‘Within the Church’?”

In this text, Fr Theodoretos, using excerpts from letters of Saint Theodore the Studite, attempts to demonstrate “who are within erroneous teaching and outside the truth.” And, in his opinion, these are those of us who follow the New Calendar.

At first, we thought of replying on the theoretical level. Since, however, every argument admits of a counterargument, we avoided that temptation. Besides, toward the end of the above-mentioned text, Fr Theodoretos himself refutes what he has written, since, in support of his assertions, he cites the opinion of the great Serbian theologian of our century, the blessed Fr Justin Popović, writing as follows: “Behold how the true Fathers of the past thought and acted, and above all the great Theodore, whom Fr Justin Popović regards as the ‘fearless confessor of the theanthropic truths.’”

An Answer to Himself

It would perhaps be sufficient to stop here and not continue developing our thoughts, since the passage just quoted constitutes, for those who know the persons and circumstances involved, an answer by Fr Theodoretos to himself. For those, however, who are unfamiliar with Fr Justin Popović, we note the following. Fr Justin Popović had studied the Fathers of the Orthodox Eastern Church as deeply as very few others had, and Saint Theodore the Studite in particular. And since the ever-memorable Father united theory and practice in his life, we would have expected him to have walled himself off and to have had no communion either with the Patriarchate of the Serbian Church or, consequently, with the other Patriarchates. Nevertheless, he did not wall himself off, but fought his battle within the bosom of the Church, being among the first to combat the heresy of Ecumenism and to characterize it as a “pan-heresy.” Are we to suppose that Fr Justin failed to understand the deeper meaning of the words and deeds of Saint Theodore the Studite, that “fearless confessor of the theanthropic truths”? We dare not even whisper such blasphemy.

Then the Lord also granted our Church men endowed with spiritual sight, among whom were the ever-memorable Elders Porphyrios and Paisios. These grace-filled Elders never advised those who followed the New Calendar to wall themselves off, “safeguarding themselves through walling-off and joining the ranks of the Old Calendarists.” The reason is self-evident.

But let us also turn to those Elders who possess the gift of spiritual fatherhood. There are Old Calendarist spiritual fathers who hear the confessions of New Calendarist faithful without regarding them as heretics or compelling them to wall themselves off. And, so as not to create friction within the most sympathetic ranks of the Old Calendarists, we shall refer to two departed spiritual fathers, Fr Neophytos Kalofountis and Fr Niphon Astyfides, beneath whose epitrachelia many New Calendarist souls found spiritual rest. Indeed, during the first years of the schism, Fr Neophytos followed a strict policy toward New Calendarists and would not receive them for confession, until the Lord Himself rebuked him, saying: “Why are you driving away My children?”

Bringing our reflections to a close, we have this, in conclusion, to say to our beloved Fr Theodoretos, who, admittedly, has struggled for thirty years, including with his pen, in defense of the sacred things of our faith:

Reverend Father, Fr Justin and the other Fathers did not regard the safeguarding of the salvation of New Calendarists as consisting in their walling themselves off from the Church and joining one of the Old Calendarist groups, as Fr Adrian did. We do not know whether this has ever occupied your thoughts. You, of course, defend what you write on each occasion, armed with the learning you have acquired through studying the thought of the Fathers of our Church. But perhaps, in addition to this, you also need something else—something that will bring into harmony within you the thought of the Fathers with the God-pleasing way of life of the aforementioned holy men. Examine this.

* * *

Contemporary “Seers”

By Hieromonk Theodoretos Mavros the Hagiorite

 

My dear Mr Soteropoulos, I would not have returned to the subject had you not noted in your commentary (The Cross, Dec. 1994, p. 198) certain things foreign to the Tradition of our Orthodoxy. In the above commentary, you express admiration for the “seers,” as you call them—that is, those endowed with foresight, as they are commonly described—such as Fr Paisios, Fr Porphyrios, and others. You then emphasize that the aforementioned Elders never advised the faithful of the New Calendar to follow the Old Calendar. But did they ever advise them to do anything that would protect them from the anti-Orthodox actions of the Ecumenical Patriarch and his satellites? Never! On matters of faith, they maintained silence—a silence culpable and condemnable according to the Holy Fathers. Yet they spoke at great length about prayer and almsgiving, traveling kilometers to locate good-quality water underground and hidden treasures (!), while remaining indifferent to the treasure of Orthodoxy being plundered by its supposed guardians! Nor did they miss an opportunity to exhort the faithful to obey the Church—that is, the Ecumenical Patriarch, Iakovos of America, Parthenios of Alexandria, Sotirios of Canada, Stylianos of Australia, and all those in communion with them. According to this line of conduct, neither should you have criticized Stylianos of Australia or Sotirios of Canada, just as your “seers” did not!

You forget that when Fr Paisios was asked by a journalist “how he viewed the presence of Bartholomew on the Ecumenical Throne”—Bartholomew, I repeat, who excommunicated you—he replied in all seriousness: “God, in His providence, has given us the best Patriarch for these difficult years”!! (Kathimerini, 27 November 1993). Surely you too, dear Nikolaos [Sotiropoulos], must feel ashamed on behalf of the… “seer”! I also remind you that the Athonite Fathers who supported Stylianos of Australia in his erroneous teachings received their blessing from these very “seers”!

Do not the bishops and clergy of the New Calendar continue to follow this same policy to this day, calling the Old Calendarists heretics while at the same time embracing the actual heretical Papists (and only them?), considering it a great honor to concelebrate with the arch-ecumenist and Latin-minded Bartholomew, or with Methodios Fouyas, who even prayed together with fire-worshippers at Assisi?

Is it ever possible for these “seers,” who remain indifferent to the above erroneous teachings, to constitute a criterion of Orthodoxy? Do you not see that they had become playthings of the Evil One, since nothing they said is in harmony with the patristic, anti-heretical teaching, thereby becoming a cause for so many souls to remain in communion with the heresy? Do you not remember that in the past as well, certain men who were truly saints, in their simplicity, followed a heresy, without the confessing Fathers who were then the luminaries of the Church imitating them in their slippery course?

Consider the “courtesy” and “kindness” of contemporary heretics—Jehovah’s Witnesses and Protestants, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and so forth—especially of their teachers. Why are we not moved in the least by this “courtesy” of theirs? Because we know that their doctrines and teachings are unsound. We ought to do something similar with the words of the “seers.” Since they stand in glaring contradiction to the venerable Tradition of Orthodoxy, we should pay no attention whatsoever to their words. We should regard them as snares leading simple souls to perdition—souls for whom Christ died!

Consequently, in matters of faith and confession, we should not examine which path Fr Justin or Fr Porphyrios follows or followed, but which path ought to be followed in accordance with the Sacred Canons. This is precisely why they are called canons: so that we may regulate ourselves according to what they enjoin.

With regard to the Old Calendarist Fr Neophytos, concerning whom you write that “he followed a strict policy toward New Calendarists and would not receive them for confession until the Lord Himself rebuked him, saying, ‘Why are you driving away My children?’,” I have the following to observe. By the above, you yourself acknowledge that Fr Neophytos was within the Church, since the Lord Himself urges him to receive His children—and not only Fr Neophytos, but also all those who imitate the ecclesiastical course of this good spiritual father!

To the above you will surely reply: “And where are we to go, Fr Theodoretos? Do you not see how many factions there are among the Old Calendarists?” I agree that their divisions constitute their “Achilles’ heel,” but I by no means accept this objection of yours as a logical or theological argument, and here is why: Let us suppose that there were no Old Calendarists; what, then, should the New Calendarists do? Should they continue indefinitely and indifferently in communion with erroneous teaching, tolerating everything, as they do today? And something else: in your opinion, WHEN should New Calendarist clergy and laity break communion with those who teach error? WHAT ELSE, in your judgment, must the Ecumenists do before the bishops and clergy who are called “conservatives” repudiate them?

You urge me to search for and find something “that will bring into harmony within me the thought of the Fathers with the God-pleasing way of life of the ‘seers.’” I am unable to find it! And this is because the words and deeds of the Holy Fathers were on the same wavelength: they taught by doing and acted by teaching. But the words of the “seers” whom you admire stand in complete opposition to the teaching of the Holy Fathers! And this is because the Saints emphasized that “we cannot be saved if we live an upright life but neglect the right doctrines” (Chrysostom, Homily 13 on Genesis).

What we need, therefore, is another kind of harmony: the harmonizing of our life with the truth-bearing teaching of the Holy Fathers of the Church, if we wish to belong to Her, since, according to the great Palamas, “those who are of the truth are of the Church.”

Those who are of the truth, then, are of the Church—not those who are in communion with the Greek Patriarchates, as is continually emphasized. We must all learn that the Church has mystical and sacramental, not administrative, foundations, lest we suffer what the Westerners suffered, who followed the Pope into error so as not to find themselves outside the Church!

I remind you, on this occasion, that the Patriarchate of Antioch has already entered into communion with the heretical Monophysites, and the event passed unnoticed! Moreover, in the Church of the Life-Giving Spring in Athens (Akadimias Street), a Monophysite priest serves the Liturgy! These things do not trouble the bishops of the New Calendar; they only hasten to seal the private church of Fr Adrian in Zakynthos because he adopted the traditional calendar!

Reflect on all these things, dear Nikolaos, and pray that God may strengthen you to follow the path of our Holy Fathers, for it is deeply sorrowful to struggle throughout one’s life against various heretics and, in the end, to find oneself in communion with the “pan-heresy” of our age—Ecumenism!

 

Greek source online: https://orthodox-voice.blogspot.com/2015/03/blog-post_973.html

 

 

 

Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attica and Boeotia of the G.O.C. Visits America and Speaks to The National Herald

Theodore Kalmoukos | October 2, 2026

 

 

BOSTON. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Attica and Boeotia of the G.O.C., of the Archdiocese of the G.O.C. of Greece under Archbishop Kallinikos, speaks for the first time in an interview with The National Herald (“TNH”) about the remarkable work being carried out in his Metropolis, which is supported exclusively by the faith and love of the faithful. It should be emphasized that the Church of the G.O.C. receives no financial or other support whatsoever from the state, unlike the Church of Greece, whose hierarchs and priests are salaried as civil servants.

He is visiting the G.O.C. Metropolis of New York because Gerontissa Synkletiki is to be honored at the Cathedral of Saint Markella in Astoria. She taught the Greek language and the Orthodox Faith to hundreds of children of the Greek-American community.

The interview is as follows:

TNH: Your Eminence, thank you for your willingness to speak with The National Herald. What is the purpose of your visit to New York?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: I, too, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and I pray that you may have the strength to continue the work you carry out among the Greek-American community through The National Herald—a work of preserving our Romiosyne identity under difficult circumstances. The principal purpose of my coming to America is the Hierarchical Concelebration of the Divine Liturgy that will take place at the Holy Cathedral of Saint Markella in Astoria, New York, on Sunday, October 4. There, following a decision of the Holy Synod, a special tribute will be paid to the ever-memorable Gerontissa Synkletiki Strati, that emblematic figure of the Greek-American community who devoted her life to the education of thousands of children and to nourishing them with the life-giving streams of Orthodoxy and Hellenism, while making a significant contribution to the broader society of New York.

TNH: When was your Metropolis founded?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: It was initially founded as the “Diocese of Attica and Diavleia” in 1971, with the ever-memorable Akakios Pappas [the Younger] as its first hierarch, while the following year it was designated a “Metropolis.” It received its present name in 1999, when I was elected its ruling hierarch. It comprises twenty-five parish churches, sixteen chapels, and thirty holy monasteries. Within our metropolitan district are, among others, monasteries well known in ecclesiastical life, such as the Monastery of Venerable Irene Chrysovalantou in Lykovrysi, the Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery in Thrakomakedones, the Panachrantos Monastery in Megara, and the Monastery of Saint Sophronios in Kouvaras. Twenty-one priests, two deacons, and one hundred and fifteen monks and nuns serve within the Metropolis.

TNH: How is the Metropolis supported financially? From where are the salaries of the Metropolitan and the priests paid, and, more generally, how are the churches and monasteries maintained, since, as far as I know, you receive no financial support from the state?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: Indeed, we receive no financial support from the state. We are sustained through the sacrifices and love of our flock. One thing that moves me in connection with our livelihood is that quite a few of our priests have large families. When we carry out our duty with love and the fear of God, the Lord does not abandon us.

TNH: Approximately how many thousands of faithful comprise your flock?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: About thirty-six thousand. This is due to the fact that, with God’s help, we succeeded in incorporating into our fold the large influx of repatriated Greeks from Pontus, who followed the traditional calendar.

TNH: How was this made possible?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: When I was consecrated a bishop, a devout man came and asked me to visit Aspropyrgos, where there was the Church of the Holy Trinity, saying that the people there were in need of spiritual guidance and, moreover, were outside any Synod. I visited the small church and immediately came to love both the people and the place. The church was received into our Synod, and every week I would give a talk. For a long time, the audience did not exceed five faithful. I persevered. In time, the five became ten, the ten became twenty, until it became necessary to enlarge the church and, initially, to build three more churches to meet the needs of the growing flock. For several years, every week I gave a talk in all four churches, with large numbers of the faithful attending. Also, for eight years, every week I visited four homes where families would gather, and I would convey two spiritual messages, while giving them copies of Holy Scripture, icons, and the Greek flag.

It should be noted that the first time I visited Aspropyrgos, knowing that many Pontians lived there, I thought, “A Soumela must be established here.” I did not confide this thought to anyone until 2013. In the end, this dream was truly fulfilled as if by a miracle in 2022, when the opening of the doors of the Holy Pilgrimage Church of Panagia Soumela in Aspropyrgos took place. There God deemed us worthy to enshrine the holy relics of the Holy New Martyr Kassandra of Trebizond (1677), an ancestor of the great heroes of the Greek Revolution, Alexandros and Dimitrios Ypsilantis.

TNH: What does your pastoral ministry include?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: With the invaluable cooperation of dedicated volunteers, we care for the formation of our young people through the Catechetical Schools. Every week, material prepared according to academic standards is distributed to the catechists for three different age groups. Alongside ecclesiastical subjects, we have also incorporated topics from Greek history into the curriculum. Furthermore, since 2017 we have organized the “Garden of Soumela” Camps in Vilia, Attica. This year they were dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Exodus of Mesolongi, as part of the Metropolis’s commemorative activities under the title “Έξοδος στην αιω‘ΝΙΟΤΗ’τα” [“Exodus into Eter‘YOUTH’nity”, a Greek wordplay combining eternity and youth].

A noteworthy cultural initiative consists of the large-scale productions we stage on religious, national, and literary themes, several of which have been posted online, as well as the free provision of Byzantine chant lessons. Our social outreach also includes the distribution of goods and blood drives, which are held three times a year with significant results.

TNH: Your Eminence, to which Archiepiscopal “faction” of the Genuine Orthodox Christians do you belong? If I am not mistaken, there are more than five.

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: I would prefer not to use the term “faction,” but rather to say that I belong to the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece under Our Beatitude, Archbishop Kallinikos. Unfortunately, the “factions” are far more than five, a situation due to the absence of legal protection. The struggle of the Old Calendarists began with great purity of intention, but this most unfortunate fragmentation has undermined that just struggle. Nowadays, anyone can put on a mitre and pose as the “Archbishop of the G.O.C.”

TNH: How many Metropolises make up your Synod? Where is it headquartered?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: It is headquartered in Athens and consists of the Archdiocese and thirteen Metropolises within Greece, as well as sixteen Metropolises and Dioceses abroad. Of these, in America there are the Holy Metropolises of America and Toronto, and the Dioceses of Boston, and Etna and Portland.

TNH: Why do you think this “schism” between the Old and New Calendars has continued to exist for more than a century, given that the New Calendar is essentially the Old Calendar “corrected”?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: The calendar was changed not out of concern for correction or astronomical accuracy, but for the sake of the “simultaneous celebration of the great feasts by all the Churches” (meaning also the heterodox communities), according to the 1920 encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Yet, as we have seen, this simultaneous celebration was disrupted within Orthodoxy itself. What, then, was the benefit? If astronomical accuracy had been the objective, the calendrical practice of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem could very easily have been maintained. The truth is that, if the Church of Greece had treated the first Old Calendarists with the appropriate love and understanding, the situation might have been different. Unfortunately, mistakes were made on both sides. As for why the schism continues to exist, this is directly connected, on the one hand, with Ecumenism and, on the other, with the self-interest of many who make a source of gain out of the piety of unsuspecting faithful.

TNH: Has a century not been enough to heal the wounds?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: Unfortunately, the wounds of the first five decades after 1924 widened the divide. Even today, there are elderly people scattered throughout Greece who still speak of the harsh persecutions.

TNH: What do you think should be done today, in an age of dialogue with every kind of Christian confession, and even with non-Christian sects and factions? Can the power and dynamic of love, goodwill, and unity still be brought to bear?

Metropolitan Chrysostomos: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” He continually exhorts us to let our inner light shine before men, so that they may see our good works and glorify our heavenly Father. This must be our direction. The world needs to see the light with which the human soul can be flooded only through Orthodox Theology. We see this in countless examples from the lives of the Saints.

 

Greek source: https://www.ekirikas.com/o-mitropolitis-attikis-kai-voiotias-g/

Miracles That Corroborate the Traditional Orthodox Faith

by Professor John Kallianiotis, University of Scranton

 

 

“Greeks regard foreign sights with greater wonder than sights at home.”

(Pausanias [2nd-century Greek geographer])

 

Prologue. Traditional Orthodoxy was established in the year 33 A.D. at Pentecost and subsequently reaffirmed by the Apostolic Synod of 49 A.D. The process of consolidation continued with the Edict of Milan, issued by St. Constantine the Great in 313 A.D., and the Orthodox Faith was reinforced by the First (Ecumenical Synod of 325 A.D., in Nicaea, Bithynia. This Synod of the 318 God-bearing Fathers also regulated the Orthodox Christian Festal Calendar in accordance with the Julian Calendar, which had been in effect since 46 B.C. [1] At the ensuing (Ecumenical and local Synods the Orthodox Church was further upheld and safeguarded by way of correct dogmas. Having given a Christian orientation to classical Greek culture through Holy Tradition and the theology of the Church Fathers, Orthodoxy spread to the peoples of Northern and Eastern Europe, making them our brethren in the Lord. With the passage of time, through the subjugation of Western Europe by the Franks—through the agency of the eternal enemy of mankind and adversary of the Lord, the soul-destroying Devil—the West came to espouse various innovations and human philosophies (heresies), the result being the Schism of 1054. One ensuing innovation was the change of the calendar (the Church’s Festal Calendar) by order of Pope Gregory XIII, in 1582. [2] We Orthodox, however, did not accept this novelty, since the Festal Calendar was fixed by the God-bearing Fathers (through the Holy Spirit) and became thereafter a sacred ecclesiastical Tradition of our Orthodox Faith. The Orthodox Church condemned this change in the calendar, and a great many miracles confirmed the incorrectness of this decision by the Roman Catholic (Western) Church to celebrate the Saints on different days than those of their actual celebrations.

Unfortunately for Orthodoxy, at the beginning of the 1920s certain Hierarchs who were ignorant of the magnitude of their responsibilities, of the truth of Orthodoxy, and of Holy Tradition, along with its dogmas and Canons, succeeded in insinuating themselves into the Patriarchate of Constantinople [3] and the Church of Greece. [4] This apostasy of theirs led them into error and innovation, for they accepted and imposed on our Orthodox people the anti-Orthodox Papal (Gregorian) Festal Calendar. They imposed it by force and through persecution, with the aid of the anti-Christian government, [5] on those who desired to remain loyal to traditional Orthodoxy. There have been, however, a multitude of visions and miracles that have demonstrated the erroneous nature of the New Calendar.

Appearances and Miracles Prove the Correctness of the Old Calendar. In 1924, when Patriarch Meletios IV (Metaxakes) and Archbishop Chrysostomos I (Papadopoulos) of Athens and All Greece decided to change the Festal Calendar (which is based on the Julian Calendar) handed down by the Fathers and to adopt the Papal Calendar (the Gregorian Calendar), the latter sent out an Encyclical [6] to be read in all of the Churches in the country, so that the faithful might be informed of the change.

In the village of Myloi, Karystos, in Evboia, the then parish Priest, Father Ioannes (papa [Father]-Giannes [John]) read this Encyclical on Sunday, March 10,1924, which date was altered to March 23. Two days later the faithful were supposed to celebrate the Annunciation of the Theotokos. The simple, yet faithful villagers who were present that Sunday in the Church of St. John the Forerunner in Myloi crossed themselves and whispered to one another: “See, the time has come when Papoulakos said that they would make Latins of us.” [7]

At the end of the reading of the Encyclical, papa-Giannes, acting on the orders of his Bishop, sternly adjured the faithful not to be absent from Church on the following Tuesday, when they would celebrate the Annunciation of the Theotokos according to the New Calendar. The faithful left after the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, deeply distressed over this imposition of the Papal Calendar upon Greece.

On Monday afternoon, the eve of the putative Annunciation according to the New Calendar, the wife of the mayor of the village, Olga Rongas, sent her eight-year-old son to let out their goat, so that it could graze. On the way, the boy passed in front of the Church of St. Paraskeve, [8] seeing there an unknown Priest with a white beard, who called the boy to him. [9] The devout boy drew near and kissed the hand of the Priest, who asked him: “Whose son are you, young man?” And the young boy replied: “I’m the son of Nikos Rongas, Pappoule [an endearing term for a Priest, derived from the Greek for ‘grandfather’].” “Tell your father not to go to Church tomorrow, since it is not the Annunciation. If, however, he does go, your brother, the soldier, will be in grave danger.” “Alright, Pappoule. I will go and tell him.”

The young boy went to his house and told his mother what the unknown Priest had said to him. Mother and son together returned to St. Paraskeve’s so that the mother could meet the Priest, but the Priest was no longer to be found there. In the evening, the mother recounted all of these things to her husband. They were frightened by this warning of the unknown Priest and so did not go to Church the following day, the day of the “Annunciation.”

Papa-Giannes was incensed that the mayor had not accepted the New Calendar. That evening, in the village coffeehouse, in front of everyone, papa-Giannes said: “The mayor did not obey the decision of the Church, but believed in his son’s fairy tales.” This Orthodox stand of the family of Nikos Rongas was followed by other villagers, who threw away the fish that they had cooked for the “Feast of the Annunciation” and kept the Fast.

A few days later, the Rongas family received a letter from their son, Georgios, who was a soldier, in which he wrote as follows: “My venerable parents, you should know that yesterday, when we were celebrating our national holiday according to the New Calendar, a stray bullet grazed my hand without breaking any of the bones. Everyone here assured me that it was a miracle that I was saved, and that I had a Saint looking out for me! I am fine now.”

On hearing all of this, papa-Giannes tried to excuse himself by saying that these people were right, but that he could not violate the orders of his superiors, since otherwise he would lose his livelihood. This Priest continued to celebrate services according to the New Calendar and to intimidate those Christians who followed the Old Calendar. Within the year, however, at the end of the Feast Day of the Church according to the New Calendar, while crossing the small bridge over the river in his village, papa-Giannes slipped and fell into the river, where, unfortunately, he drowned. [10]

Another event occurred on the Feast of the Prophet Elias according to the Old Calendar (July 20,1925). [11] Evangelos Makres, from the village of Aetos, Karystos (Evboia), did not go to the Church (of the Holy Martyrs Timothy and Maura) to which his wife, who followed the Old Calendar, went by herself, but took his son and his mules and they went to bring wood from the hillside in Kastanies, Oche. His wife had told him that they should not go for wood that day, since it was the Feast of the Prophet Elias, but he did not listen to her.

They chopped the wood and made ready at midday to load up the mules, so that they could return to their village. At that moment, they saw before them an Elder with a white beard and a most radiant and sweet countenance, who said to them: “What are you doing there, my lads?” “We’ve been chopping wood, Elder, and we’re preparing to load up so that we can leave,” answered the elder Makres. “But do people work on a day like this?” asked the Elder. “And what day is it today, Elder?” “Today, my lads, is the Feast of the Prophet Elias,” the Elder replied, and he immediately vanished from their sight, just as he had appeared.

They then realized, both father and son, that this Elder was the Prophet Elias and, trembling with fear, they put aside the wood, knelt, crossed themselves, and returned to their village. There, they related to everyone what they had seen and heard that day at Oche. Thenceforth, die elder Makres and his son followed the Old Calendar, as did the majority of their fellow villagers.

The next event is noteworthy, because it involves an appearance of the Lord Himself. On Sunday, June 27, 1935, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to a virtuous fifteen-year-old goatherd, Evangelos Anastasiou Tzitzoudes, in the village of Amorion, Didymoteichon, on the River Hebros. [12] During this appearance, the Lord expressed distress over our behavior: people’s denial of Him, our doing away with the Wednesday and Friday fasts and the lenten periods, our failure to keep Sundays and Feast Days as days of rest, and our non-attendance at Church.

He spoke also about the language of the Divine services and that of the Holy Gospel, saying that it should be katharevousa [puristic Greek] and should not be translated into the very impoverished Modem Greek language. The Lord especially stressed the issue of the calendar and said that the faithful should return to the Old Calendar, which He, the Lord, had Himself appointed, since it was by this calendar alone that the Feasts of the Saints, the Apostles, and the Prophets were to be celebrated. “On the days on which you should be celebrating, you work,” He complained. As He said these things about the calendar, the Lord was deeply distressed and wept. He stated repeatedly that it was necessary for us to repent and to take His way and forsake the way of the Devil.

Yet another noteworthy event occurred to the holy Elder Father Ioannes (1899-1966), Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. Demetrios in Amphiale, Piraeus. [13] During a period of bitter persecutions against true Orthodoxy there was a shortage of Churches for the traditionalist Orthodox, owing to the occupation of the existing Churches by the innovating New Calendarists. For this reason, Father Ioannes [the more formal Greek for “Giannes,” or “John”] restored and refurbished the ruins of an ancient monastery, that of the aforementioned St. Demetrios in Amphiale, Piraeus, and later founded a new monastery, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, in Nea Pentele, north of Athens.

On one occasion, while he was at prayer in the Church, Father Ioannes had a unique vision: Christ showed him an immense plain, where black and white sheep were grazing. Father Ioannes asked the Lord in astonishment: “Why are half of the sheep white and half of them black, and not goats?” He then heard a most harmonious voice saying: “The white ones are all those who uphold the holy dogmas and the holy traditions, and the black ones are those who have violated both dogmas and traditions.” In addition, in another vision of Christ, the Lord told Father Ioannes to receive New Calendarists for Confession. In fact, when New Calendarists approached him for this purpose, they realized their error and returned to the Old Calendar. These revelations of Father Ioannes confirmed that the Old Calendarists (the white sheep) are those who are absolutely correct in their Orthodox Faith.

Epilogue. At various times, on days when Feasts were celebrated according to the Old Calendar, very many miracles and appearances of Saints, the Honorable Cross, Holy Light, a Holy Cloud, and of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself have been noted and recorded, and these all confirm the necessity of returning to the Julian Calendar ordained by the First (Ecumenical Synod, which determines the Feasts of our Holy Orthodox Faith and preserves our Holy Tradition. Nonetheless, numerous innovators, schismatics, ecumenists, and individuals with other purposes, but primarily people who are ignorant of the truth and of the commandments and Canons of the Orthodox Church, follow the New, Gregorian (Papal) Calendar. In essence, these poor folk celebrate on their own, there being no Feasts on those days on which they celebrate, and they sin in working on the days of the actual Feasts and in not honoring them.

The aforementioned miracles in Myloi and in Aetos, the miracle in Amorion involving the appearance of our Lord God Himself, and also the two visions of Elder Ioannes in Amphiale confirm the error of our apostate “spiritual” leaders and of the division that they have created within Orthodoxy, which division the Lord permits by reason of our sins. We need great repentance, unceasing prayer, and humility, and we need to return to the House of the Father (the Old Calendar), so that the Most Compassionate Lord might have mercy on us and forgive our innumerable sins, which have turned Greece, Orthodox countries in general, and the entire planet into a Golgotha. [14] Our individual and collective sin has led us to the loss of Divine Grace, and there is a danger of our being abandoned by the Lord, Who abides with us only on account of the constant entreaties of His and our Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos. I pray and hope for our repentance and for the return of those in error to traditional Orthodoxy, to the end that the abiding Grace of our Lord might be with all of us to the end of our days.

[Translated from the original Greek text by Archimandrite Patapios.]

 

NOTES

1. The Julian Calendar is ascribed to Julius Caesar and was devised by the Greek astronomer Sosigenes (46 B.C.).

2. The New Calendar was proposed by Aloysius Lilius and decreed by Pope Gregory ΧΠΙ on February 24,1582. In a letter, the Pope called on Patriarch Jeremias II (Tranos) to introduce the New Calendar into Orthodoxy, but he refused. A great many supernatural events took place in Italy during this period, demonstrating the erroneous decision of the Pope to impose the New Calendar.

3. The Patriarchs during this period were: Meletios IV (Metaxakes) (1922- 1923), Gregory VII (1923), and Constantine VI (1924-1925). See Archimandrite Basileios Stephanides, Εκκλησιαστική Ιστορία [Church history], 5th ed. (Athens: Ekdotikos Oikos “Aster,” 1990), p. 799.

4. Chrysostomos I (Papadopoulos) (1923-1938).

5. The anti-Christian Liberal Party of Eleutherios Venizelos and the pro-Venizelos officials under the leadership of Plasteras and Gonatas contributed to the imposition of the New Calendar. The governments in this dramatic period were those of Stylianos Gonatas (November 27,1922-January 11, 1924), Eleutherios Venizelos (January 11,1924-February 6,1924), Georgios Kaphantares (February 6,1924-March 12,1924), and Alexandras Papanastasiou (March 12, 1924-July 25, 1924).

6. This Encyclical, numbered 430, of March 1,1924, was published in Εκκλησία [the official publication of the Church of Greece—trans.] on March 8,1924.

7. See Βοανεργές, Vol. XII, No. 69 (September-October 2013), pp. 33-35. Papoulakos passed through the villages of Kavontoro, Evboia, and there are many accounts by grandfathers and grandmothers to this day concerning his admonitions and prophecies. He “embarked” by sea at the village of Evangelismos on an overcoat that he had, and sailed thereon to Andros. A villager who wanted to follow him as his disciple was afraid of getting onto this “boat” (the overcoat) and remained in Evangelismos (according to accounts by the sainted Maria N. Kallianiotou).

[“Papoulakos” was the monk Christophoros (Christos Panagiotopoulos, in the world). In the mid-1800s, Father Christophoros was active in the formation of modem Greece and the reestablishment of the Orthodox cultural heritage of the country after centuries of enslavement under the Turkish Yoke. He became a monk late in life, but his exploits, when combined with those attributed to him in what are in some cases feats exaggerated by myths taken from his nonetheless extraordinary and miraculous deeds, are numberless, rich in moral lessons, and greatly inspiring—trans.]

8. This small Church of St. Paraskeve is located on the property of its owners, the family of the sainted Antonios Kallianiotis.

9. One of my brothers went to Athens some years ago, and one Sunday morning he attended services at the New Calendar Church near the house in which he was staying. At the end of the Six Psalms, a Hieromonk of majestic appearance, wearing an epanokalymmavcho [the veil covering a monastic kalymmavchion] and with a long black beard, emerged from the Altar, approached him, and said to him: “I am leaving and going to another Church, since I am not at peace here.” The man was so baffled that he said not a word to that unexpected Hieromonk.

10. Similar evil incidents befell the civil persecutors of die Old Calendarists and the persecutors from the gendarmerie of Kavontoro, as I was told by a certain elder, Panagiotes Boubalos.

11. See Βοανεργές, Vol. XII, No. 69 (September-October 2013), pp. 35-37.

12. See “Θεία Έμφάνισις σ’ ένα Τσοπανόπαιδο τοΰ Άμορίου” [A Divine appearance to a shepherd boy from Amorion], Holy Hesychasterion of the Transfiguration of the Savior, Avlonarion, Evboia (undated).

13. See Hieromonk Akakios,'Άγιος Ιωάννης Αμφυάλης Πειραιώς: Ό Γέρων τής Αγάπης καϊ Πατήρ των Πτωχών [St. John of Amphiale, Piraeus: The Elder of love and father of the poor] (Avlonarion, Evboia: Hieron Hesychasterion Metamorphoseos tou Soteros, 2012). See also John N. Kallianiotis, ‘“Άγιοι Γέροντες τής Παραδοσιακής ’Ορθοδοξίας: 'Άγιος ’Ιωάννης τής ’Αμφιάλης” [Holy Elders of Traditional Orthodoxy: St. John of Amphiale], http://antioikoumenistes.blogspot.com/2013/12/blogposthtml; idem, ‘Ό Γέροντας Πατήρ ’Ιωάννης ’Αμφιάλης Πειραιώς” [The Elder Father John of Amphiale, Piraeus], Άγιος Αγαθάγγελος Έσφιγμενίτης, Vol. XLIII, No. 255 (January-February 2013), pp. 24-28; idem, “Ό 'Άγιος Γέρων ’Ιωάννης τής ’Αμφιάλης” [The Holy Elder Ioannes of Amphiale], http://christianvivliografia.wordpress.com/2012/ ΙΟ/31/όάγ-γέρων-ίωάννης-τής-άμφιάλης.

14. The catastrophe of Asia Minor and the current crisis in all sectors in Greece are the result of our abandonment by the Lord, on account of our apostasy of nearly a century. Consequently, the repentance of three or more generations will be needed.

 

Source: Orthodox Tradition, Vol. XXXI (2014), No. 3, pp. 19-25.

2002: Old Calendarist Archbishop of Athens Chysostomos: “The Restoration of True Orthodoxy Must Take Place at a Pan-Orthodox Council”

[Blog Admin. note: Translated to emphasize differences of understanding, which unfortunately continue to exist in the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece.]

 

Archbishop Chrysostomos (Kiousis) of Athens is the head of the largest Synod of the True Orthodox (Old Calendarist) Church of Greece, which did not recognize the official Orthodox Church of Greece’s adoption of the new calendar in 1924. In an interview with our portal, the head of this branch of the True Orthodox Church of Greece speaks about the present situation and the positions of the Church under his leadership. Interview posted on July 8, 2002.

 

 

Please tell us about the present situation of your Church: how many dioceses, monasteries, and metochia do you have, and in which countries?

You can find the statistical information you are asking about in the annual calendar published by our Holy Synod. Speaking in general terms, I can tell you that our Holy Synod comprises 10 hierarchs in Greece and two in America. Our Synod includes approximately 180 parishes and 85 monasteries, served by about 145 clergy in Greece and abroad. Outside Greece, we have a presence in North America and in several European countries. We do not have enough clergy to meet the needs of our flock, and many of them serve several parishes.

Do you have contacts with other True Orthodox Churches?

We conducted a dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. After the schism that occurred within it, there has been no progress, and we remain in a state of waiting until the situation becomes clearer. The dialogue with the Matthewites was interrupted because of their internal problems.

What distinguishes you from the other True Orthodox Churches of Greece? Could you explain the reasons for your recent separation from the Synod of Metropolitan Kallinikos [of Lamia]?

Two Local Churches cannot exist within the same canonical territory [χώρο]. We represent the Church of the True Orthodox Christians of Greece, from which the Matthewites, the Auxentites, the Cyprianites, and those who are with Kallinikos Chaniotis broke away.

With the Matthewites, we have no substantial difference in our understanding of matters of faith. [Emphasis added.] There is—in my opinion—only a difference in mentality. We regard them with sympathy, but the problem is that they do not do the same, and there is a great deal of fanaticism among them. After the divisions that have occurred among them, I think that they have grown weaker and that they have no future.

With the Cyprianites, we have a different understanding of ecclesiology. We reject the concept of a “Mother Church,” which Cyprian and his associates see in the New Calendarist Church [as did St. Chrysostomos the New Confessor – Blog Admin. note]. The Cyprianites have not experienced any significant growth in Greece. For the most part, they are New Calendarists. It is true, however, that they have good “PR,” an area in which we lag behind them.

The Auxentites in Greece have split among themselves, and what remains of them is disappearing.

As for those with Kallinikos Chaniotis of Lamia, that is a different case. They broke away from our Church in 1995 without any dogmatic dispute. In their statement, the six hierarchs of that time pointed to two issues: the procedure by which the former Euthymios of Thessaloniki was condemned for canonical offenses, and the reconsideration of the case of Paisios and Vikentios, who had renounced our Church by going over to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, but later returned under pressure. This was the cause of the division in 1995, and the Synod deposed them. God, however, condemned the apostates through their eventual disintegration. Two of them, Metropolitan Stephanos of Chios and Ioustinos of Euripos, repented, returned, and were received back into the Church; they were subsequently restored and are now members of our Holy Synod. The other two, Paisios and Vikentios, betrayed their confession and went over to the Patriarch of Constantinople; after going there, they were even reordained. And this is a sign of condemnation and abandonment by God.

The two aforementioned men—Kallinikos Chaniotis and Euthymios Orphanos—proceeded with ordinations and formed an anti-synod and an anti-church. They gathered around themselves all the disreputable clergy in order to give the appearance of some supposed strength. In reality, they have only small groups of supporters, and for that reason, in their calendar they list our own parishes and monasteries in order to conceal their weakness.

As for what you call “reunion,” we see the matter differently. Our Church is not divided, and anyone who has fled from under her shelter may return with repentance. The door of repentance always remains open.

What is your opinion of the present condition of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) and the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (ROAC)? Do you believe that there are True Orthodox Christians in Russia?

We proceed from the understanding that, after the establishment of Communism in Russia, True Orthodoxy in that country was represented by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia abroad and by the Catacomb Church within Russia. Over the past fifteen years, however, the situation has become very confused, and there is a great deal of disorder. Here in Greece, we have so many problems awaiting resolution that we have not devoted sufficient attention to studying the state of affairs on Russian territory. Therefore, we cannot give a categorical answer to your question. What we are certain of is that, in Greece, True Orthodoxy is represented by our Church. Beyond that, we cannot say anything further.

The Churches of “World Orthodoxy” are now withdrawing from the ecumenical movement [sic]. Some Churches have already withdrawn from the World Council of Churches (WCC). The Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate is also preparing to take such a step. Does this allow us to say that “World Orthodoxy” is gradually breaking with its ecumenical errors and slowly purifying itself?

Your question is hypothetical. We have no grounds for such optimism. If they were all to return to True Orthodoxy, it would be a great joy for us. As for the process of self-purification of which you speak, our view is as follows: if the official Orthodox Churches were to return to True Orthodoxy, their canonical restoration could take place at a Pan-Orthodox Council [emphasis added], which would vindicate the confessors of the Faith and in which, as far as possible, the entire pleroma of Orthodox bishops steadfast in the Traditions would participate, together with the repentant hierarchs, who, in the presence of the Orthodox bishops, would offer repentance in the same manner as the Iconoclasts at the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

In your opinion, how possible is a rupture between the Moscow and Ecumenical Patriarchates? Would this be beneficial for Orthodoxy?

This question too is hypothetical. If the schism were to occur for reasons of faith—that is, because of a return to True Orthodoxy and a renunciation of ecumenism—then, of course, it would be beneficial for Orthodoxy. However, we see nothing of the kind on the horizon.

The present head of the Greek New Calendarists, Archbishop Christodoulos [+2008], is known as a “conservative.” Does this not increase the popularity of the New Calendarists in Greece and lead to a decline in the number of Old Calendarists?

Your information is likely inaccurate. Christodoulos is not regarded as a “conservative” even among the New Calendarists. On the contrary, he is considered a “modernist,” because he wishes to introduce liturgical innovations and recognized the Pope as the Bishop of Rome by receiving him in Athens. Conservative New Calendarists subject him to considerable criticism, especially two university professors who are also clergymen—Fr. George Metallinos and Fr. Theodore Zisis.

We do not know of a single Old Calendarist who has become a New Calendarist under the influence of Mr. Christodoulos. If anything, the opposite is true.

What do you think about the process of Greece’s integration into the European Union? What spiritual dangers does this process pose for True Orthodox Christians?

The danger of secularization always threatens us, both outside and within the European Union. Our efforts are directed toward strengthening a sound Orthodox mindset among the faithful. When believers have been inoculated with the spiritual antibodies of True Orthodoxy, then they are living members of the Church, and they are able to withstand any spiritually harmful environment. No one can harm our soul unless we ourselves betray it. Therefore, spiritual vigilance is necessary.

 

Russian source:

 https://web.archive.org/web/20120614121018/http://portal-credo.ru/site/print.php?act=rating&id=7

Beyond Saving: On the Loss of Substance within the Church

Hubert Windisch

[Blog Admin. note: This article pertains to the Papal Church in Germany, but the symptoms of their contagion clearly parallel what has infected the Orthodox Church today.]

 

 

Inconsistency exists when something is inherently no longer right, i.e., when the outside and the inside no longer match, when words and actions diverge, and when claims and reality contradict one another. This can be the case with individual persons, groups or political parties, major organizations such as the churches, or it can affect an entire commonwealth—that is, a state.

Let us look, for example, at the designation “RC” [Roman Catholic] of the Church. This designation claims an identity that is often no longer present in reality. This is illustrated by just three examples:

1) In the Diocese of Hamburg, parents are up in arms because their children are now expected to consume non-Christian material (LGBT, etc.) in sex education classes at Catholic schools. They turn to Rome. Rome admonishes the diocesan school authority in a response dated July 6, 2026, to the critical parent network, pointing to Catholic doctrine and the Christian image of man as found in the 2019 guidelines “Male and Female He Created Them.” The new sex education curriculum is mandated anyway. Rome remains silent. Contempt for parents, abuse of children!

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

2) In the Diocese of Mainz, the bishop notes the new letter from the Roman Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments dated June 17, 2026, banning lay preaching during the celebration of the Eucharist, and even considers it correct, but chooses not to intervene against the now widespread practice of lay preaching. Misplaced tolerance as a pastoral method.

3) The cardinal of Munich issues a guide for the liturgical blessing of irregular, and thus also homosexual, relationships, even though not even the sophisticated Roman document Fiducia Supplicans permits this in this explicit manner. Rome remains silent and tolerates it. Anything goes.

The loss of substance within the Church due to inconsistency is enormous. We can watch the erosion of the “institution of grace” (Michael Ebertz) in fast motion. “RC” is rapidly becoming “DC,” i.e., differently Catholic, as the former chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, once boasted with regard to the Synodal Path. However, this very quickly turns into an “NC,” a no-longer-Catholic. This development hurts all the men who want to be or become priests in an honestly Catholic way; the faithful who want to experience a dignified celebration of the Eucharist with an authentic sermon on Sunday and who try to shape their daily lives through prayer and the sacramental life. For all of them, the Church is often no longer a home, but an externally still-functioning hollow space in which they freeze and starve spiritually.

The background and driving force for this loss of substance is, to put it metaphorically, a Church that has been moved from solid rock onto quicksand, primarily due to the so-called Bergoglian magisterium with its decisions prone to heresy and indeed apostasy (e.g., Abu Dhabi, Pachamama, Singapore, Amoris laetitia, Fiducia supplicans, among others, cf. Gavin Ashenden, The Quicksand Under the Cathedral). Everything is now called a (pastoral) process; truth is synodal, the journey is the destination. But if the journey is the destination, the journey no longer has a destination. That is the inconsistency of relativism. In reality, the so-called Synodal Path in the Church of Germany is nothing other than an attempt to institutionalize this inconsistency. And Rome is rushing to keep up on a global church scale

From a socio-religious perspective, a Church presenting herself in this manner is beyond saving. This is because the internal events described will create a substantial negative pressure inside the structure of the Church. At a certain point it will rupture the outer shell, and the system will implode. The Church herself, however, will not perish. In oases and on islands of contemporary history, and increasingly in catacombs, a (holy!) remnant of the faithful will gather, celebrating worship reverently with a few priests—whether in the Vetus or the Novus Ordo—having the Word and Sacrament as nourishment for their lives, and hearing anew the word of the Crucified and Risen One: “Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the world” (Mt 28:20).

 

 

Source: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/theologian-laments-how-anything-goes-in-the-church-now/

 

The Divine Appearance of the Honoured Cross

 

Introduction

The first appearance of the honored Cross occurred in the year 312, in October, during the time of St. Constantine the Great. It appeared in the sky at noontime and was composed of radiant stars, with the words, “By This, Conquer”. Thus, by this first manifestation, the honored Cross became the labarum, the standard, of the first Christian empire, which served the purpose of proclaiming and conveying our Orthodox Christian faith and piety throughout the known world.

The second majestic appearance of the Cross took place during the reign of Emperor Constantius, the son of St. Constantine the Great, in the holy city of Jerusalem on May 7th, 351, the day of Pentecost, when St. Cyril was bishop of Jerusalem. The honored Cross was comprised entirely of a certain divine light visible to everyone for a week, and in magnitude it stretched from Golgotha and the Church of the Resurrection all the way to the Mount of Olives.

In this pamphlet, we have eye-witness descriptions of the third appearance of the Cross. These descriptions are provided by individuals still living in 1975, when the first edition of this pamphlet appeared in Greek.

In the early 1900s and especially in the 1920s, there were strong anti-Church and secularist forces in power in Greece and in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. These forces introduced the Gregorian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is adequate for the functions of business, the stock exchange, and other worldly, secular activities. Liturgically, however, it is in no way possible to reconcile the Gregorian calendar with our canonical, Orthodox Christian Paschalion. Moreover, the introduction of a Church calendar change by a local church created an unacceptable liturgical disunity within the Church Itself.

Vast numbers of the people of Greece refused to accept these anti-canonical, anti-Church changes being forced upon them by state police power. Such people suffered persecution, imprisonment, and deprivation at the hands of secular police powers. But the spiritual eyes of true Orthodox Christians saw clearly even if, at the time, they did not completely comprehend the evil of the new calendar. It was a forerunner and a sign of the greatest heresy in the history of the world—Ecumenism. Many people, however, became confused. Some began to waver. Just as the Arians were in control of the worldly power in 351 and were able to force their heresy upon the empire, so at this time, the calendar innovators controlled the worldly power of Greece. In such a troubled and dangerous time, the All-Merciful God heeded the needs of His people. Again, as in 351, God sent a wondrous apparition of the sign of the All-Honourable Cross to seal the truth and put the false teachers to shame.

The appearance of the Cross took place in this manner:

In 1925, on the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the All-Honourable and Life-giving Cross of Our Saviour, September 14 according to the Orthodox Church calendar (September 27, new style), the all-night vigil was served at the Church of St. John the Theologian in suburban Athens. By nine o’clock that evening, more than two thousand of the Orthodox faithful had gathered in and around the church for the service, since very few true-Orthodox churches had been accidentally left open by the civil authorities. Such a large gathering of people could not, however, go unnoticed by the authorities. Around eleven P.M. the authorities dispatched a platoon of police to the church “to prevent any disorders which might arise from such a large gathering.” The gathering was too large for the police to take any direct action or to arrest the priest at that time and so they joined the crowd of worshippers in the already over-flowing courtyard of the church.

Then, regardless of the true motives for their presence, against their own will, but according to the Will which exceeds all human power, they became participants in the miraculous experience of the crowd of believers.

At 11:30 P.M., there began to appear in the heavens above the church, in the direction of northeast, a bright, radiant Cross of light. The light not only illuminated the church and the faithful but, in its rays, the stars of the clear, cloudless sky became dim and the church-yard was filled with an almost tangible light. The form of the Cross itself was an especially dense light and it could be clearly seen as a Byzantine cross with a crossbar toward the bottom. This heavenly miracle lasted for half an hour, until midnight, and then the Cross began slowly to rise up vertically, as the cross in the hands of the priest does in the ceremony of the Elevation of the Cross in church. Having come straight up, the Cross began gradually to fade away.

Human language is not adequate to convey what took place during the apparition. The entire crowd fell prostrate upon the ground with tears and began to sing prayers, praising the Lord with one heart and one mouth. The police were among those who wept, suddenly discovering, in the depths of their hearts, a child-like faith. The crowd of believers and the platoon of police were transformed into one, unified flock of faithful. All were seized with a holy ecstasy. The vigil continued until 4:00 A.M., when all this human torrent streamed back into the city, carrying the news of the miracle because of which they were still trembling and weeping.

Many of the unbelievers, sophists, and innovators, realizing their sin and guilt, but unwilling to repent, tried by every means to explain away or deny this miracle. The fact that the form of the cross had been so sharply and clearly that of the Byzantine Cross, with a crossbar at the bottom for a foot-rest, completely negated any arguments of accidental physical phenomena.

The fact that such an apparition of the Cross had also occurred during the height of the first great heresy must impress the Orthodox with the importance of the calendar question and of all that is connected with it. No sensible person can discuss this issue lightly, with secular reasoning or with worldly arguments. Innovators, like the Arians in 351, are left without extenuation or mitigation.

By this third appearance, our Lord and Saviour has confirmed from on high that we are to remain faithful to the heritage we have received from our Holy Fathers, and which was codified by the First Ecumenical Council and sealed by almost two thousand years of usage by the subsequent Ecumenical, Local and Pan-Orthodox Councils of our Church.

We pray from the depths of our hearts that the honored Cross may enlighten the souls of all mankind and lead them from error to the fulness of the faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, so that not only all Orthodox Christians, but all peoples in every land may, “with one mouth and with one heart,” glorify the all-venerable and majestic name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* * *

THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER

— Synaxarion —

On the 14th of this month, we observe the feast of the honored and Life-giving Cross, whose Universal Exaltation we celebrate, and whose Appearance over Athens in the year 1925 we commemorate.

Verses:

A new appearance of the Cross of light, O Saviour,
Putteth to shame them who would mingle light with darkness.

On the evening of September 13th, 1925, a large gathering of traditional Orthodox Christians were celebrating a vigil service in honor of the feast of the universal Exaltation of the honored and life-giving Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This vigil was held at the small country chapel of St. John the Theologian at the foot of Mount Hymettus near Holargos, a suburb of Athens.

It was about 11:30 in the evening when, above the holy temple and in a direction pointing from the East to the West, a luminous white Cross appeared in the sky. Its brilliance outshone that of the stars on that cloudless night and its light shone only on the church building, the court surrounding the Church and the multitude that had gathered there. The horizontal line of this heavenly Cross inclined toward the right, and there was a smaller second horizontal line lower down on the Cross. Some two thousand people saw this marvelous phenomenon for over half an hour, after which it began to fade little by little. Overwhelmed with sacred emotion, all those present fell to their knees and wept, chanting praises and glorifying God “with one heart and one mind”.

The vigil continued in an atmosphere of unspeakable contrition and finished at about 4:00 in the morning, at which time the entire throng of the faithful returned to the city, speaking of nothing else except that nocturnal manifestation of God’s grace.

This marvel, confirmed and proclaimed by the very police force that had been sent to the site by the new calendar authorities to arrest the priest and disperse the faithful, was a divine confirmation of the noble, lawful and sacred struggle of the traditional Orthodox Christians for the sake of the beliefs and the Holy Traditions of our Orthodox Catholic Faith.

* * *

“I TOO WAS THERE”

Eyewitness Accounts of the Appearance of the Cross
Over the Church of St. John the Theologian
at Mount Hymettus, September 14th, 1925

Since the country chapel of St. John the Theologian was at that time very distant from Athens, our “Association of the Orthodox” used it as our “Metropolitan See”. There, we would gather every Sunday and on the Great Feasts according to the traditional Church calendar and hold our vigils. The first priests who refused to follow the innovators and to serve our pastoral needs were the ever-memorable Father Parthenios of Iveron monastery [on the Holy Mountain, Athos] and Father John Floros.

On that night when the Honored Cross appeared, I was at the Holy Mountain for a certain matter pertaining to our sacred struggle, and, to be specific, I was attending the vigil for the Exaltation of the Honored Cross at the Sacred Monastery of Xeropotamou, which itself celebrates that particular feast day. During the time of the Liti, when a portion of the precious Wood of the Cross is brought forth so that all may venerate It, I knelt and with many tears prayed with these words: “O Cross of Christ, protect our brethren from the persecutions of the innovators, especially tonight when our faithful are keeping vigil at the chapel of Saint John the Theologian.” After a few days, when I was at the Sacred Skete of Saint Anne, I learned of the great miracle of the appearance of the honored Cross.

ANDREW VAPORIDES
Member of the Administrative
Committee of the Association of the Orthodox

* * *

I was one of the men from the Police Institute who were sent to stop the vigil that night, some fifty years ago, at the country church of St. John the Theologian.

The Old Calendarists were keeping vigil there, because it was the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross.

Since many people had gathered—more than two thousand individuals—we did not attempt to seize the priest as we had been ordered, but we sat down quietly in the nearby court and waited for them to finish.

At about 11:30 at night, we heard a loud and strange uproar coming from the shouts of the multitude. Without any delay, we ran to see what was happening—and we saw. The whole multitude of the faithful was in a state of excitement. Some were weeping and others, crying out “Lord, have mercy,” were kneeling and had turned their eyes toward heaven, and yet others were fainting, overwhelmed with great emotion. Then we too looked and beheld the marvel: an enormous radiant Cross, very high above the church, was illumining the whole area. At first, we were seized with fear, but immediately we came to ourselves, and forgetting the purpose for which we had been sent, we fell to our knees and wept like little children.

Of course, it is superfluous for me to tell you that, filled with emotion, we attended the rest of the vigil to the end—no longer as persecutors, but as faithful Christians. In the morning when we returned to the Institute, we told everyone about the great marvel which we had been deemed worthy to see. Afterwards there was an investigation and all of us swore under oath that we had seen the Precious Cross clearly, high in the sky.

JOHN D. GLYMIS
Retired Police Officer
78 Aristotle Street
Peristeri [a suburb of Athens]

* * *

We went to celebrate the vigil for the feast of the honored Cross in 1925. Because of the persecutions, we used to have our vigils in remote country chapels. At night, the police arrived, led by a lieutenant, in order to arrest the priest. At 11:30 p.m. I was outside with most of the people. Then the Cross appeared with a great deal of light! Everyone knelt and prayed. The police saw the miracle and, from enemies they turned into friends and they joined the congregation! The appearance of the honored Cross lasted well over a quarter of an hour.

ALEXANDER CONTOS
64 Macedonia St.
Tsakós St. Paraskeve

* * *

On that night in 1925 when the Precious Cross appeared, I was making the last run with the tram which I was operating. I had reached Omonoia Square [in downtown Athens], and was going around the square when I saw everyone looking up toward heaven and crying, “Look!—the Cross!—the Cross!” Immediately I stepped on the brakes and stopped the vehicle. I stuck my head out the tram’s door and I, the unworthy one, also saw the Precious Cross of Our Lord—may His Name be glorified; it was shining over Mount Hymettus. I don’t remember how long this lasted. I know only one thing—the Precious Cross which I saw that night turned me into a different man. Since then, everyone in my family has become a faithful child of the Church of the True Orthodox Christians.

ATHANASIOS PRIMALIS
Retired Tram Conductor
17 Kavales Street
Nicaea [a suburb of Athens]

* * *

I was 18 years old then. Together with my mother of blessed memory, I went that night to keep vigil at the chapel of St. John the Theologian near Hymettus. We had prepared to receive Holy Communion. Around 11:30, when, if I remember correctly, the service of Great Vespers for the Exaltation of the Cross was being chanted, a divine appearance of the honored Cross occurred in the sky. Its light was so strong, the entire area was illumined. We all knelt in prayer and could not be satiated in looking upon that divine Gift. What made an equally great impression on me was a blind man who was kneeling beside me and had his closed eyes turned toward heaven; in a voice broken with sobs he was crying out: “Lord, have mercy.”

ELIAS ANGELOPOULOS
78 Adrianopolis St.
Analepis, Pancrati (Athens)

* * *

Others still living when this pamphlet was first published: Euthymia nun, abbess of the Sacred Convent of the Dormition of the Theotokos on Mount Parnitha; George Tzimopoulos, 7 Makrivianni St., Athens; Stamatina Zavalis, Stratigos Liossi St., Ano Liossia, Athens; George Kottis, 35 Photios Konytsas St., Piraeus; John Davaris, Paiania.

* * *

THE PRESS — BOOKS

In conclusion, we include excerpts from the daily press of that time, as well as from books published over the years regarding this awesome miracle of the appearance of the honoured Cross.

 

A photograph of the first page of the Athens daily “Script” for September 28th, 1925 n.s. (Note: by the Gregorian calendar, the feast day of the Cross falls on September 27). The text of the headlines reads as follows:

THEY WHO CELEBRATED THE FEAST
OF THE HONORED CROSS
ACCORDING TO THE OLD CALENDAR
[BECAME] WITNESSES OF A TRUE MIRACLE
— THE SUBSEQUENT COMPUNCTIONATE SCENES —

* * *

“Aside from this, however, we think that the appearance of the Heavenly Cross on the day on which the traditional Church calendar celebrates the Exaltation of the Honored Cross constitutes yet another notable divine confirmation of the correctness of the convictions of those who follow this calendar. Furthermore, it offers the leaders of the Church today [i.e. the new calendar bishops] a helping hand from Heaven, so that they may review their uncanonical decision to introduce unilaterally the new calendar into our Church, [thereby] tearing it away [literally, “schisming it”] from the great Body of Orthodoxy” (GOADS, Athens, 1925, Arsenios Kotteas, monk of the Holy Mountain Athos, p. 67).

* * *

“Two thousand people on their knees and weeping, witnessed this exceptional phenomenon of the grace of God for over half an hour, because the honored Cross hovered directly over the church! The police themselves saw the miracle and were awestruck by the event; they left their weapons aside and joined the faithful to offer glory and supplications to the Lord of Glory! The Archbishop (Chrysostom Papadopoulos) alone, after a few days, in his evil convictions, expressed doubt as to what had happened, thereby imitating in this way Annas and Caiaphas, the Jewish high priests who crucified the Lord; for when they were notified by the Roman authorities of the miracle of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, they sought to hide the truth from the people. . .” (A Censure of Apostasy, Athens, 1933, by Fathers of the Holy Mountain, pp. 273-4).

* * *

“During one such gathering of the Christians at the sacred temple of Saint John the Theologian near Mount Hymettus, a vigil for the feast of the Exaltation of the Honored Cross was being celebrated with the ever-memorable priest John Floros, a clergyman fervent and zealous for the things of Holy Tradition; at that feast celebrated according to the traditional Church calendar, the sign of the honored Cross appeared in the sky, as it had once appeared to St. Constantine the Great, the Equal to the Apostles” (The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Athens, 1961, by Stavros Karametsos-Gabroulia, p. 63).

* * *

“The great Miracle of September 14th, 1925 will never be forgotten! . . . we offer a description of this miracle to our beloved readers, so that our young people may learn, and so that our adults may never forget, the mighty and marvelous deeds of our Faith” (Orthodox Observer, September-October, 1962).

* * *

“A fiery and brilliant Cross in Heaven shone down and encompassed the holy temple, shining with the intensity of the light of the day. This divine sign of the honored Cross filled the frenzied persecutors with terror and withheld their hands. But it also filled the multitudes of the faithful with gladness and rejoicing as they fell to their knees in tears, praising, thanking and glorifying this sublime act of the Lord. This miracle manifestly demonstrated God’s approval, for the purpose of strengthening our invincible faith” (The Life and Works of Archbishop Matthew, 1861-1950, Athens, 1963, p. 88).

* * *

“We mention this event as a third miracle which confirmed the truth of the Orthodoxy of our Fathers, by the appearance of the honored Cross above the small chapel of St. John the Theologian in the sky, at the foot of Mount Hymettus, during the vigil of the Exaltation of the Honored Cross, September 14th, 1925. More than two thousand people were present at this vigil, together with that singular and ever-memorable priest, Father John [Floros]. The Minister of the Interior at that time was General George Kondylis, who on learning of the assembly of such a great multitude, sent a platoon of police led by a lieutenant to arrest the priest and disperse the throngs of the faithful. It was almost midnight and the Liti of the feast was being chanted, when the sign of the honored Cross appeared over the faithful, shining brilliantly. Overwhelmed with emotion, the entire assembly knelt weeping. The church service stopped, and everyone cried out, ‘Lord, have mercy,’ the police threw down their weapons and cried, ‘We too are Christians!’ The officer in charge submitted a deposition to the Ministry of the Interior, and the widely-read newspaper ‘Hellenic’ published an extensive account about the miracle.” (The Calendar Schism, Athens, 1975, by Mark Haniotes, monk, p. 214).

 

Most of the material presented here was taken from the Greek-language periodical, Ta Patria, published in Piraeus, Greece, in 1975. Translated by the Holy Orthodox Church in North America, 2005.