The Relationship Between the Living and the Deceased (Part 2)

 

As we observed, when a man dies, the properties of the soul which are not connected with bodily functions and life in the perceptible world remain and retain their capacity to be exercised. Conversely, the reposed can no longer do anything spiritually that would contribute to or exclude his salvation, [1] nor can he sin, [2] nor, of course, can he do anything for the healing of his passions and the forgiveness of his sins, which accompanied him at his death and continue to exist even after the event that has occurred. After death, as many Fathers affirm, repentance is impossible. [3] The reposed who did not repent at the moment when he ought to have done so resembles, as to his condition, the foolish Virgins, who, when the Bridegroom arrives, no longer have oil in their lamps nor any means by which to obtain it (Matt. 25:1–13). [4]

Indeed, from the hour of death, only the prayers of the living and the supplications to God can accomplish something for the reposed, so that the soul may become worthy to pass into a better condition. For this reason, the prayers of the living on behalf of the reposed are of great importance and constitute a great responsibility for the living with regard to the condition and the final lot of the reposed.

Saint John Chrysostomos invokes, on this subject, the solidarity that unites all the members of the one body of Christ, as well as the fact that, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, within the bosom of this body certain members who are stronger can and ought to hasten to the aid of the weak (1 Cor. 12:12–26). They have the ability to entreat God, Who bestowed these graces upon them, to grant them also to those for whom the stronger and the saints pray through their intercession.

“For God is accustomed to grant benefits to some for the sake of others. And Paul shows this when he says: ‘So that the grace given to us may become an occasion for many to give thanks to God for us’ (cf. 2 Cor. 1:11). Let us therefore not grow weary of helping those who have departed from life and of offering prayers for them. For this reason, we pray with boldness for the whole inhabited world and commemorate them together with the martyrs, together with the confessors, together with the priests. For we are all one body, even if some members are more glorious than others. And it is possible to secure forgiveness for them from every side, through the prayers, through the offerings made for them, and through their communion with those who are commemorated together with them.” [5]

The prayers and other “supplications” of the living on behalf of the reposed certainly cannot be imposed against their will. Respect for the freedom of each person is an invaluable principle for Orthodox theology and anthropology, since it is emphasized that God does not wish to impose upon man anything that is contrary to his will. In this spirit, the reposed can benefit from the supplications of the living or, more precisely, from the grace that God grants in response to these supplications, only to the extent that such a thing does not oppose their will or their deeper desires. This framework is analyzed by Dionysios the Areopagite, when he explains the nature of the priest’s prayers on behalf of the reposed during the funeral service:

“Then the divine hierarch approaches and performs a sacred prayer for the reposed. This prayer entreats the divine goodness to forgive all the things in which the reposed sinned through human weakness and to number him in the light and in the land of the living, in the bosoms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the place where every pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away. But someone might wonder why the hierarch entreats the divine goodness to grant the reposed forgiveness of his sins and to bestow upon him the luminous and Godlike state of the saints. For, if each one is to receive from divine justice the recompense of the deeds he did in this life, whether good or evil, and since the reposed has now completed his actions on earth, how is it possible, through a priestly prayer, for him to pass into a different state from that which he deserves?  I, however, following the divine Scriptures, know that each one will indeed receive the corresponding recompense. For the Lord says that ‘he shut against him,’ and also that each one will receive the things he did through the body, whether good or evil. But that the prayers of the righteous, during the present life and much more not after death, act only on behalf of those who are worthy of such sacred prayers, this is taught to us by the true traditions of the divine Scriptures.

Was Saul benefited by Samuel? Did the prayer of the prophet benefit the people of the Hebrews when they were unworthy? Just as, if someone seeks to partake of the light of the sun while he himself is destroying his sight, he cannot enjoy the gift of light which the sun offers to healthy eyes, so also he who seeks the prayers of the saints without being suitably prepared nourishes vain and unprofitable hopes, since through his indifference to the divine gifts and the good commandments he removes himself from the natural energy of grace.

I say, therefore, according to the divine Scriptures, that the prayers of the saints are entirely beneficial in this life in the following way: if someone desires the sacred gifts of God and has a suitable spiritual disposition to receive them, while at the same time recognizing his own weakness, and approaches some holy man and asks him to become a fellow-worker and supporter in his supplications, then he will certainly be benefited with this supreme benefit. For he will obtain the things he asks, since the divine goodness accepts both his own humble self-knowledge and his reverence toward the saints, as well as his praiseworthy desire for the sacred requests and his Godlike disposition. As for the aforementioned prayer which the hierarch addresses for the reposed, it is necessary to set forth the tradition which we received from our God-taught teachers. The divine hierarch is, as the Scriptures say, an interpreter and revealer of the divine ordinances; for he is ‘an angel of the Lord Almighty.’ He has therefore been taught by the God-given words that to those who lived in holiness the most radiant and divine life is justly rendered, according to the just measures of the divine judgment, while the man-loving goodness of God overlooks the stains that came from human weakness. For, as Scripture says, no one is completely clean from every defilement. The hierarch, therefore, knows that these things have been promised by the true divine words. For this reason, he prays that they may be fulfilled and that these sacred recompenses and rewards may be given to those who lived in holiness.” [6]

 

1. See THEOPHYLACT OF BULGARIA, “Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke,” XXII, 13, PG 123, 880.

2. See JOHN CHRYSOSTOMOS, “On the First Epistle to the Corinthians,” XLI, 5.

3. See THEOPHYLACT OF BULGARIA, “Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke,” XXII, 13, PG 123, 880. Confession of Faith of Peter Mogila, corrected by MELETIOS SYRIGOS (1643), Part I, questions LXIV–LXV; MELETIOS SYRIGOS, Against the Calvinist Chapters and Questions of Kyrillos Loukaris, p. 141 ff.; JOHN OF KRONSTADT, My Life in Christ, Bellefontaine 1979, p. 55.

4. JOHN CHRYSOSTOMOS, “On the Gospel According to Matthew,” LXXVIII, 1.

5. JOHN CHRYSOSTOMOS, “On the First Epistle to the Corinthians,” XLI, 5, PG 61, 361.

6. “Ecclesiastical Hierarchy,” III, 4, PG 3, 560–561.

 

Greek source: https://entoytwnika1.blogspot.com/2026/05/2.html

 

The Holy Spirit unites, not divides

The New Divisive Action of Patriarch Bartholomew

Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis | June 1, 2026

 

 

1. The New Tower of Babel: Globalization and Ecumenism

The great feast of Pentecost gave us the prompting for the writing of the present text, during which the God-moved writers of the exquisite hymns present the salvific dimensions of the descent of the Holy Spirit “in the form of fiery tongues upon the holy disciples and apostles” and of His permanent presence and energy thereafter in the life of the Church. One important dimension of the energy and action of the Holy Spirit is the unity of all those people who become members of the Church through Holy Baptism and are incorporated into the one and unique body of the Church, which has Christ as its head. It has been written that Christ is the head of the Church, while the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, which gives life to the body and connects, unites, the members with the head and with one another. [1]

The Church and the Holy Spirit are connected ontologically; there is no Church where the Holy Spirit does not act. As Saint John Chrysostom emphatically stresses: “If the Spirit were not present, the Church would not have been established; but if the Church is established, it is evident that the Spirit is present.” [2] The same God-bearing Father teaches that there is nothing in the life of the Church, nothing of all that relates to our salvation, which does not come from the Holy Spirit:  “…For tell me, what among the things that constitute our salvation has not been dispensed to us through the Spirit? Through Him we are delivered from slavery, we are called to freedom, we are led up to adoption as sons, and, so to speak, we are refashioned from above; we lay aside the heavy and foul-smelling burden of sins; through the Holy Spirit we see choirs of priests, we have orders of teachers; from this source also come gifts of revelations and charismas of healings, and all the rest, whatever is wont to adorn the Church of God, has its supply from here.” [3]

This view of Chrysostom, that all things in the Church are supplied by the Holy Spirit, constitutes a common place of Orthodox teaching. Basil the Great, for example, frequently enumerating the gifts and energies of the Holy Spirit, chiefly in his work On the Holy Spirit, says that “there is altogether no gift that reaches creation without the Holy Spirit.” [4] This is also repeated by the much-beloved hymn of Pentecost among the Orthodox: “The Holy Spirit supplies all things; He pours forth prophecies, perfects priests, taught wisdom to the unlettered, showed forth fishermen as theologians, He holds together the whole institution of the Church.”

Very quickly, the divided and fragmented idolatrous world, with the spreading of the Church throughout the whole world, found in the salvific preaching of Christ a great unifying factor, which, in a unique and unrepeatable way in history, united all people into one new, Christian ecumene; especially from the time when Constantine the Great, moved by God, discerned that the only spiritual power that could achieve unity in the multicultural and multireligious — interreligious — vast Roman Empire was Christianity. The Pax Romana, with political and military, and even economic, measures, was not able to unify the world as the Pax Christiana subsequently succeeded in doing, unwaveringly for one millennium and, in the second millennium, amid divisions, not by wars and violence, but by the preaching of peace, concord, love, humility, and reconciliation.

This fragmentation and multiculturality of the old world, which led to rivalries, wars, and violence, those who preach the alleged New Age and the New Order of things are attempting to bring back today tyrannically and in secret, with boasts about technological and electronic achievements, by which, as was also shown in the crisis of the Coronavirus infection, they are attempting to manipulate the world against Christ, against the Church, to deprive it of peace, rest, defense against evil and sin, fearlessness before death, and to render people timid and frightened beings, obedient to their destructive commands and directives. It is a new insolence against almighty God, which, unfortunately, the unworthy, servile, and sold-out ecclesiastical leadership not only did not oppose, but also joined in committing the same insolence by agreeing and cooperating.

It is a new Tower of Babel, the Tower of Globalization and Ecumenism, which for a century they have been raising with insolence and audacity, attempting, while boasting of the capabilities of science, to place Christ and His Church on the margins, and to inaugurate the “New Age” of the tyranny and terrorism of the Antichrist.

Certain hymns of Pentecost lead, in a God-inspired way, to these thoughts, allowing us to understand that God can easily stop any blasphemous insolence and audacity and restore unity in Christ and knowledge of God, since from the day of Pentecost the All-Holy Spirit acts and works within the Church, uniting people with the Holy Head, Christ, and with one another.

The kontakion of the feast, which always seeks to summarize the spiritual message of the celebrated event or Saint, says: “When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the nations; when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all to unity, and with one accord we glorify the All-Holy Spirit.” …

Along the same line, the doxastikon of Vespers also says: “The tongues were once confused because of the daring of the tower-building; but now the tongues have been made wise, because of the glory of the knowledge of God. There God condemned the impious by their fault; here Christ enlightened the fishermen by the Spirit. Then speechlessness was brought about, for punishment; now concord is inaugurated, for the salvation of our souls.” … [5]

2. “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us”

Indeed, from the day of Pentecost a wondrous unity and concord was inaugurated within the Church, because of the continual presence and energy of the Holy Spirit. The kontakion’s phrase “He called all to unity,” which we quoted, became and continues to become a reality.

Of course, from the time of the Apostles until today, disruptive and divisive phenomena have not been absent from the history of the Church; these are usually caused by Luciferian egoism and pride, which also became the cause of the Devil’s losing his unity with God, being darkened, and then trying to darken others also, as the chief instigator and accomplice of divisions and schisms.

There exists in the life of the Church through the ages a wondrous unity and concord, whose agent and creator is the illuminating and unifying presence of the Holy Spirit. Decisions are not monarchical and tyrannical, but synodal and collective, always being taken in the Holy Spirit. And when it sometimes happens that human designs and antichristian powers hinder the illuminating and unifying presence of the Holy Spirit in synodal assemblies and processes, then the Holy Spirit withdraws from those synods and enlightens individual hierarchs, clergy, monks, and laypeople to restore true synodality, so that the Holy Spirit may return and act in a unifying manner.

The Apostolic Council of Jerusalem (49 A.D.) became the model of all subsequent councils, because it expressed the faith of the whole Church and not of certain persons or groups. The Acts of the Apostles, narrating the matters of the Council, write that “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the presbyters, together with the whole Church.” [6] And at the end of the decisions which resolved the differences and divisions, the chief and decisive factor of unity and concord, the Holy Spirit, is placed: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” [7] Indeed, this phrase has accompanied all the decisions of councils ever since, although sometimes it is pretended and false, because even heretical and schismatic councils seek to present their decisions as having been taken in the Holy Spirit.

3. The excommunication of heretics and schismatics does not harm the unity of the Church

The Holy Spirit-inspired function of this synodal system was kept unswervingly by the Holy Fathers; for this reason, even until today the Church is One and undivided, identified with the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the Orthodox, and united in faith, worship, and administration.

The excommunication of heretics and schismatics from the body of the Church does not impair unity, but strengthens it and safeguards it, as is proven in practice by all the synodal decisions against heresies and schisms, and as the 15th Canon of the First-Second Council of St. Photios the Great (861 A.D.) states with emphasis. This canon, defending the clergy who cease the commemoration of the name of a heretical or heresy-professing bishop, declares that these clergy not only must not be condemned, but, on the contrary, must be praised and honored. For they did not turn against true and genuine bishops, but against false bishops and false teachers. And they did not cut the unity of the Church by schism, but were zealous to deliver the Church from schisms and divisions: “Such persons are not only not subject to canonical penalty for walling themselves off from communion with the one called bishop before a synodal determination, but they shall also be deemed worthy of the honor due to the Orthodox. For they condemned not bishops, but false bishops and false teachers; and they did not cut the union of the Church by schism, but were zealous to deliver the Church from schisms and divisions.”

During the first millennium, the unity of the Church was threatened by great heresies and schisms, but through the oversight of the Holy Spirit the wounds and injuries were limited to the minimum. Even when heresies sometimes dominated the administration of the Church for long periods of time, they were not able to capture the whole, the fullness of the faithful of the Church, where, as in a great and genuine council, the Holy Spirit was acting and preserving unity. For those of us who occupy ourselves with and research ecclesiastical texts, the agreement that exists among the Holy Fathers of all eras causes wonder; this is due to the fact that the same Holy Spirit guides and illumines them, and of course it is not possible for the Holy Spirit to contradict Himself with different instructions in each era.

This agreement of the Fathers and this unity is also due to the fact that the later Fathers follow the earlier ones as instruments of the Holy Spirit, and do not nullify or question their decisions. The phrase “following the divine Fathers,” together with “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit,” are the fixed lines of the synodal and patristic course, whose basic characteristic is the condemnation and severance of heresies and schisms, so that the unity of the Church may be preserved unharmed.

4. Papism, and now the Ecumenism of Bartholomew, of those before him and those with him, dangerously strike at the unity of the Church

The second Christian millennium began with the formalization of the secession of Papism from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church in 1054 A.D. It was indeed an insolence against God and His Church, especially against the Holy Spirit, through the heresies of the filioque and of the denial of the uncreated Grace of the Holy Spirit.

The ecclesiology of the Vatican abolishes the synodal system and the phrase “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” The pope is placed above the council, and everything is decided “as it seemed good to the pope.” As we had written earlier, the Papists believe that the successor of Christ after His Ascension into the heavens is not the Holy Spirit, as Saint Gregory the Theologian writes, [8] but Peter, and the pope as Peter’s successor. The Ecclesiology of Papism moves and develops along the line Christ – Peter – pope, while Orthodox Ecclesiology follows the line Christ – Holy Spirit – Apostles, that is, council. [9] According to the apt observation of the Russian theologian Paul Evdokimov, “while Orthodoxy is lived as a continuing Pentecost, drawing from this the principle of a collective, synodal authority, in the West Rome is affirmed as a continuing Peter, the sole ruler and representative of all the powers of Christ.” [10]

The consequence of this unspiritual course of Papism was that, under the guidance not of the Holy Spirit but of the pope, dozens of heresies and delusions were adopted, the chief of which was that of the First Vatican Council of 1870, concerning the doctrine that the pope does not merely have the primacy of authority over the whole church, but is also infallible.

Indeed, with regard to the timeliness of our own days concerning the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, and evidently under the influence of notions similar to those of today, as well as for the exaltation of the clergy over the people, they deprived the laity of communion of the blood of Christ under the natural element of wine, and they distribute only the body under the strange form of the unleavened host, thus avoiding the use of the holy Lavida, the little spoon of the unbelievers and blasphemers of the most holy and greatest mystery of the Divine Eucharist.

This first attempt at building a Tower of Babel, with the pope exalted above the stars to the heights of divinity, according to the example of Lucifer, did not take long to bring about the confusion of theological tongues within the bosom of Papism, through the various heresies of Protestantism. Unity was lost not only in relation to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, since there was agreement neither in faith, nor in worship, nor in administration, but also within the bosom of Papism, with Protestantism intensifying and increasing the confusion in theological language. The West, without the active presence and action of the Holy Spirit, became dechristianized and secularized.

Unfortunately, the Orthodox Church too is now following this path, with the Ecumenical Patriarchate taking the lead from the beginning of the 20th century. In another study of ours we analyzed, on the basis of texts and sources, this abandonment of the holy spiritual and patristic line which was faithfully maintained up to and including the 19th century, [11] but was then abandoned by those regarded as great figures of patriarchs in ecumenistic circles, yet in truth incorporated into the plans of the “New Age” and the “New Order” of things, such as Patriarchs Joachim III, Meletios Metaxakis, Athenagoras, and the present Patriarch Bartholomew.

The changes in the faith of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church were not enough for us: the recognition of heresies as churches and the ratification of our participation in the “World Council of Churches,” that is, of heresies, by the pseudo-council of Kolymbari in Crete (2016), as well as the abandonment of the synodal manner of convocation and functioning of the “Council.”

The intended change in the administration of the Church was not enough for us: the imitation of the papal primacy of authority by the Ecumenical Patriarch and the newly developed heretical ecclesiology concerning the “first without equals” (primus sine paribus), which was applied through the divisive intrusion into the boundaries of another ecclesiastical jurisdiction during the recognition of the schismatics of Ukraine.

So many heretical deviations of Patriarch Bartholomew were not enough for us, since he no longer takes into account either “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit” or “following the divine Fathers,” but he too, like the pope, is building within the space of Orthodoxy a new Tower of Babel, which, however, will soon collapse, because confusion and disagreement have already begun in the language of theologians and clergy.

He had to dare to strike even at unity in Divine Worship, agreeing with the planners throughout the world of the closing of churches and of fear regarding communion of the body and blood of Christ. The slips of the hierarchs of the Ecumenical Throne throughout the world, concerning the abandonment of the traditional manner of distributing the Divine Eucharist with the Holy Lavida, in America, Australia, Great Britain, Holland, Germany, Belgium, and elsewhere, are scandalous. Mask-wearing priests masquerade and debase the Great Mystery, being masqueraders themselves and not ministers of the Priesthood. And instead of rebuking them and censuring them synodally, he covers them, transforming a pastoral issue that until now did not exist into a great problem requiring pan-Orthodox treatment. We create a problem and then seek to solve it in an un-Orthodox and anti-traditional manner, even with the hypocritical and reassuring declaration “that we in no way intend to depart from what has been handed down to all of us by our blessed Fathers.” These things are written by Patriarch Bartholomew in a patriarchal letter which he sent on June 1 to the primates of the autocephalous churches, concluding with the following: “In view of the conditions being formed, we desire to hear Your fraternal reasoning and thoughts, so that together we may proceed to the pastoral treatment of the challenges to the established manner of distributing Divine Communion.”

The reasoning of the patriarchal letter is ecclesiologically worse even than the slips of the hierarchs of the Throne and of others who debase the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, because, as was rightly written, “it raises an issue out of nothing. It raises a question that does not exist, precisely in order to give it existence. To elevate it into a field of reflection!!!” [12] If the declaration that we are not going to change what the Holy Fathers handed down to us is indeed valid, and one of these things is the distribution of Divine Communion with the Holy Lavida, this alone was sufficient to bring the hierarchs of the diaspora into line, but also to send a message to the other churches to conform at last to an Orthodox position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

In any case, the synodal decisions of the Church of Greece and also of the Church of Crete pleasantly surprised us. The first decided, during the session of June 3, and indeed after it had taken cognizance of the Letter of the Ecumenical Patriarch, that “the procedure for distributing Divine Communion to the faithful remains as it is and as it has been handed down to us by the Holy Fathers and by our Holy Tradition.” The second “unanimously announces, and in every direction, that the All-Holy Mystery of the Divine Eucharist is non-negotiable, and ecclesiastical experience bears witness that the established manner of distributing the All-Holy Body and the Precious Blood of our Christ to the faithful is not a cause of illness; for this reason, it is not subject to any discussion or dialogue.” [13]

The concern, however, remains, because both at the pseudo-council of Kolymbari and in the Ukrainian matter we had synodal Orthodox decisions, which were finally abandoned so that most might align themselves with the un-Orthodox positions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which under its present leadership does not seek to support and express the Orthodox Tradition, nor to function synodally and patristically in the Holy Spirit. It adopts and supports innovations and delusions and proceeds to actions that destroy the unity of the Church, as happened with the calendar reform of 1924, with our participation in the “World Council of Churches,” with the pseudo-council of Crete, with the Ukrainian pseudo-autocephaly, and now with the manner of changing the distribution of Divine Communion.

In any case, instead of helping toward the prevalence of a unified theological line and a unified theological language, expressing the agreement of the Fathers (consensus Patrum), by its post-patristic — anti-patristic — line it causes confusion and divisions which will inevitably provoke the intervention of God, so that the building within Orthodoxy of the new Tower of Babel of Ecumenism and Globalization may be stopped, and the unity and concord of the Holy Spirit, of the Apostolic and Patristic Tradition, may return; so that Orthodoxy may again put on the tunic of Truth, as we chant in the kontakion of the Sunday of the Holy Fathers before Holy Pentecost: “The preaching of the Apostles and the doctrines of the Fathers confirmed one faith for the Church; and she, wearing the tunic of truth, woven from theology from above, rightly divides and glorifies the great mystery of piety.”

 

NOTES

1. See Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis, Following the Divine Fathers: Principles and Criteria of Patristic Theology, Thessaloniki 1997, p. 157.

2. On Holy Pentecost 1, 4, PG 50, 459.

3. Ibid. 2, 1, PG 50, 463.

4. On the Holy Spirit 24, PG 32, 172B.

5. The relevant Old Testament account of the Tower of Babel is found in the book of Genesis 11, 1–9.

6. Acts 15, 22.

7. Ibid. 15, 28.

8. Oration 31, 29, Fifth Theological Oration, On the Holy Spirit, EPE 4, 244: “Christ is born, He precedes; He is baptized, He bears witness; He is tempted, He leads up; He works miracles, He bears witness together; He ascends, He succeeds.”

9. Protopresbyter Theodoros Zisis, Following the Divine Fathers, p. 180.

10. Paul Evdokimov, Orthodoxy, Vasilis Rigopoulos Publications, Thessaloniki 1972, p. 41.

11. See the study “From Orthodoxy to Ecumenism: The Great Overturning of the 20th Century,” in our book Holy and Great Council: Should We Hope or Be Concerned?, “To Palimpsiston” Publications, Thessaloniki 2016, pp. 15–48.

12. Sofia Tsekou, I discern a staged scene… or rather, backstage activity, AKTINES website, June 2, 2020.

13. See the website Romfea.gr, 27.5.2020.

 

Greek source: https://katanixi.gr/p-theodoros-zisis-to-agio-pneyma-enonei/

The Relationship Between the Living and the Deceased (Part 1)

 

The Church has always felt the need for prayer for the reposed. According to John Chrysostomos, this is a custom of the Church, which was established by the Apostles themselves. He even considers that the Apostles did not leave the custom and the law in vain, including in the holy and fearful Mysteries of the Church the commemoration of the reposed. Undoubtedly, they did this because they knew what the benefit and the significant good is that results for the dead. In the work “On Those Who Have Fallen Asleep in Faith,” which is attributed to John of Damascus, this position is confirmed. In the Second Epistle to Timothy, we see the Apostle Paul himself praying for his deceased disciple Onesiphoros (2 Tim. 1:18).

The “supplications” on behalf of the dead take, according to tradition, three basic forms: prayer (liturgical or individual), the offering of the Eucharist, and almsgiving. The Fathers insist on the usefulness of the supplications on behalf of the reposed. John Chrysostomos writes on this: “The offerings on behalf of the dead are not made without reason, the entreaties are not made without reason, nor the almsgivings without reason; the Holy Spirit ordained all these things, because He wants us to benefit from one another.” [1] Mark Eugenikos makes the same observation and considers that this is verified by the fact that it is an ancient and universal tradition: “That the liturgies, prayers, and almsgivings that are done on their behalf benefit those who have reposed in faith is testified also by this very custom of the Church, which prevailed from of old, as well as by many and various words of teachers, both Latin and Greek, which were spoken and written at different times and places.” [2]

The Fathers and the theologians consider that, of all the “supplications” for the dead, the most important is that which takes place during the Divine Liturgy. [3] Gregory the Great, more than anyone else, confirms this theory, basing himself on various incidents of visions and revelations. During the celebration of the Divine Eucharist, the priest prays that the sins of the commemorated reposed may be purified through the blood of Jesus Christ, while at the same time immersing in the Holy Chalice particles of the bread which he had previously cut in their name.

On the other hand, the reposed who are in Hades can receive, to the extent possible, a relief and alleviation of their punishments. [4] This is also confirmed by a very ancient work that enjoyed authority, in which a revelation made to Saint Makarios is cited: “Whenever you feel compunction for those who are being punished, and wherever you pray for them, they are relieved a little.” [5]

John Chrysostomos repeatedly develops the issue in question. Many passages of his works refer specifically to the relief that the prayers of the living offer to the souls of the reposed who are being tormented:

“As far as possible, let us not mourn only with tears, but with prayers, supplications, almsgivings, and offerings. For these were not instituted without reason, nor do we vainly make commemoration of the reposed during the divine mystagogy and approach on their behalf, entreating the Lamb who is before us, Him who took away the sin of the world, but so that some consolation may result from these things for them. Nor does the one standing at the altar, when the dread Mysteries are celebrated, cry out without purpose: ‘For all those who have reposed in Christ and for those who perform the commemorations on their behalf.’ For, if the commemorations were not made for their sake, these things would not be said either. For our things are not a theatrical performance — may it not be; these things are done by the ordinance of the Holy Spirit. Let us therefore help them and perform commemoration on their behalf. For, if the sacrifice of the father cleansed the children of Job, why do you doubt that when we offer on behalf of the reposed, some consolation results for them?” [6]

And elsewhere he writes: “Let us therefore weep for them and help them as much as we can; let us devise some help for them, small indeed, but able to help. How and in what way? Let us ourselves pray and entreat others also to make prayers on their behalf, and let us continually give alms to the poor on their account.” [7]

John Chrysostomos considers that prayers for reposed sinners are not sufficient by themselves:

“Let us give alms; and even if he is unworthy, God will have compassion. The more sins he has committed, the more he needs almsgiving. Let us not concern ourselves with tombs, nor with adornments of the dead. Place widows beside him; this is the greatest ‘funeral tribute.’ Mention his name, call everyone to make supplications and entreaties on his behalf; this will move God to compassion. And even if not directly through him, still through another he becomes a cause of almsgiving. And this is a doctrine of God’s love for mankind. Widows standing around and weeping can snatch someone not only from the present death, but also from the future one. Indeed, many have benefited from almsgivings done by others for them; and if not fully, at least they found some consolation.” [8]

 

1. “Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles,” XXI, 5. PG 60, 170. On the Epistle to the Philippians, III, 4.

2. “Refutation of the Latin Chapters Concerning Purgatorial Fire,” PO 15, p. 40.

3. See JOHN CHRYSOSTOMOS, “Homilies on the First Epistle to the Corinthians,” XLI, 5; GREGORY THE GREAT, “Dialogues,” IV, 57–60; LEONTIOS OF NEAPOLIS, “Life of John of Cyprus,” 24; SYMEON METAPHRASTES, “Life of Saint Theodosios the Cenobiarch,” 17, PG 114, 484–485.

4. Apart from the patristic passages, see, among the Orthodox theologians, METROPHANES KRITOPOULOS, “Confession of Faith,” in E. J. Kimmel-Weissenborn, Monumenta fidei Ecclesiae orientalis, vol. 2, Jena 1851, pp. 194–195; BISHOP SYLVESTER, Essay of Orthodox Theology, vol. 5, Kiev 1897,

5. Sayings, Makarios 38. We cite an excerpt in chapter 8, note 35.

6. “On the First Epistle to the Corinthians,” 41, 4–5. PG 61, 361.

7. “On the Epistle to the Philippians, Homily III,” 4. PG 62, 204. 58

8. 58. “On the Acts of the Apostles, XXI,” 4. PG 60, 169. 59.

 

Greek source: https://entoytwnika1.blogspot.com/2026/05/1.html

A Canon to the All-Holy Spirit by St. Maximos the Greek (+1556)

St. Maximos the Greek (+ 21 January 1556) was imprisoned in Russia, banished to the Monastery of Volokolamsk, where he suffered from hunger, bitter cold and all kinds of torments. There he was bereft of everything, even being deprived of Holy Communion and books, yet prayer alone sustained him. The Lord did not abandon him, but one day an angel appeared to him and said: "Have patience! You will be delivered from eternal torment by the sufferings here below." To thank God for this heavenly consolation, St. Maximos composed a poetical canon in honor of the Holy Spirit. Deprived of paper and pen, he wrote it on the walls of his cell in charcoal. This canon is sung on the Monday of the Holy Spirit in certain Russian and Serbian monasteries.

 

 

A Canon to the Divine, Worshipful & All-Holy Spirit, the Paraclete

By Saint Maximos the Greek

In Tone IV

Ode 1

lrmos: He who was slow of speech, having been covered with divine darkness, gave utterance unto the divinely written law; for, having shaken off the mire from his noetic eyes, he beheld the One Who Is and learned the understanding of the Spirit, uttering praise with hymns divine.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

O Master, Who of old didst feed Israel with manna in the desert, fill Thou my soul with the most Holy Spirit, that for such I may continually serve Thee in God-pleasing manner.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Making bold, with Thine incorporeal ministers I sing to Thee the hymn of the thrice-holy cry, though I am earth and ashes, O true Trinity and all-good Unity.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Ever assailed in my soul by the storms of destructive passions and spirits, I set my hope of salvation on Thee, the most good Paraclete, in that Thou art God.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Wretchedly drowning in the depths of ignorance and the slumber of grievous negligence, I cry out to Thee, Who art wholly all-pure: Deliver me from this corruption of soul!

Glory…

O thou who didst conceive in Thy virgin womb Him Whom the Father begat from within before time began, by thy mighty power free me who am enslaved by the pleasures of the belly.

Now and ever…

Thou alone art truly the holy ground, in that thou gavest birth to the divine Life of all. O Theotokos, unto thy Son show my soul forth as fertile ground.

Ode 3

Irmos: Of old, the mere prayer to the mighty God of understandings by Hannah the Prophetess, who bore a contrite spirit, broke the bonds of her barren womb and the reproach of the childbearing, which was hard to bear.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Great is the knowledge of Thy goodness, O Holy Trinity: it is the restoration of that which was created according to Thy divine image, which Thou didst ineffably show forth by the all-wondrous incarnation of One of Thee, as a divine habitation.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

O Master, adorn my mind with Thy holy gifts and thoughts of sacred reverence, that in tranquility and holy disposition of soul I also may glorify Thee, 0 divine Paraclete.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

I pray Thee, O Master: Let not the hidden movements of the flesh destroy me, which are produced within me by the passion of pride, for they most vilely defile my wretched soul.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

With the bit and bridle of the fear of God curb Thou the onrushings of my shameless soul, that I may hymn and glorify Thee with great reverence and sober thought, 0 divine Comforter.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Utterly corrupted by many lusts, I hasten with faith to Thee, the all-radiant Sun. With Thy divine light deign Thou to enlighten the eyes of my soul, O divine Paraclete.

Glory...

As the one who fed the Life of all, O pure Mistress, with thy divine visitation deign thou to give life to my soul, which hath been slain by vile passions.

Now and ever...

O all-pure one, show me to be an eager and speedy doer of the life-creating commandments of thy Son, ridding my soul of grievous division and deep slumber.

Then say these verses:

Save Thy servant from misfortunes, O good Comforter, for the unclean demons greatly and constantly assail me with vile thoughts and illusions.

In thy compassion look down upon the grievous hardness of my heart, O most hymned Theotokos, and enlighten the darkness of my soul.

Kontakion in Tone I

In hymns let us reverently praise and magnify the Life of all, the ever-flowing Well-spring of divine gifts, the most Holy Spirit, as of one essence with the Father and equally eternal with the Son; and with faith let us worship Him as God.

Another verse:

I worship Thee, O Master, Comforter and God. Have mercy and save those who worship Thee, confessing Thee to be God!

Ode 4

Irmos: O Word, Thou King of kings, Who alone issued forth from such a One as Thou wast Thyself - from the Father Who is without cause and Thy Spirit, Who is equal to Thee in might: As our Benefactor, Thou didst truly send forth the apostles, who chant: Glory to Thy dominion, O Lord!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

O Lord, vouchsafe that I may hear Thy much-desired invitation, which will then summon all Thy saints to the heavenly bridal-chamber.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Man who was condemned through the deception of the author of evil didst Thou seek out and save, O Holy Trinity, and Thou hast glorified him. My heart, which hast grown weak through grief, do thou strengthen with Thy might from on high, and rouse Thou my thoughts.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Pierce Thou mine accursed carnal-mindedness with the fear of God, as with a nail, and afright Thou my soul with the thought of the torments which are to come.

Refrain: O most holy Theotokos, save us! O most hymned Theotokos, enrich thou my lowly soul with divine gifts, bringing low the height of greatness.

Glory...

O Theotokos, show thou my soul to be the sacred dwelling-place of thy Son, dispelling its countless defilements.

Now and ever…

By thy supplications, O most hymned one, make me steadfast in the fear of God and love, for I am grievously perishing in confusion of soul.

Ode 5

Irmos: O radiant children of the Church, receive ye the fiery dew of the Spirit, the cleansing of sins which bringeth deliverance; for now from Sion hath the law gone forth: the grace of the Spirit in tongues of fire.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Direct my life to Thy saving commandments, O transcendent Trinity, and enlighten my soul with Thy life, I pray Thee.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Be Thou well-pleased to loose me from the bonds of grievous transgressions which gird me about, O All-good One, and furnish me with wings through love of chastity.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

With Thy divine grace, O Paraclete, enlighten my soul, which hath been darkened by the passions, and drive away from it the deep darkness of ignorance.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Utterly undaunted, all the days of my life I anger Thee with vile deeds and words, O All-good One. Deliver me from this ungodliness.

Glory...

O most hymned one who alone gavest birth to the Well-spring of all wisdom, recall to reason my soul which hath become foolish through violating the divine commandments.

Now & ever…

O pure one, repel from my soul the evil thoughts which continually afflict it, and enrich me with God-pleasing instructions.

Ode 6

lrmos: O Christ Master, our purification and salvation, Thou didst shine forth from the Virgin, that Thou mightest rescue from corruption Adam, in whose fall our whole race fell, as Thou didst save the Prophet Jonah from the belly of the sea monster.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Embittered in mine accursed soul by bitter carnal passions, and drowning in them as in the uttermost depths, I pray to Thee, O Savior: Through the streams of the fountain which is in Thee impart life unto me!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

All Thy mysteries are truly worthy of great silence, for Thou art three Persons in one Essence, and, united, Thou remainest without confusion. O unoriginate Trinity, save me, the creature of day [fashioned by] Thy hands!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

The Son is believed to be wholly, completely and essentially in the Father, as is the Spirit; for from [the Father], as from a single principle, are they both emitted co-eternally, yet they remain themselves, in their life-creating hypostases.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Having armed himself against me in every way with the abominable goads of youth, the vile one hath thereby defiled my soul and my whole life. O all-good Paraclete, heal me with the fruits of repentance!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

In mind have I fallen into grievous perils, and I am wholly beset by perplexity, and am falling into divers misfortunes; and like a boat upon the waves of the sea am I bestormed. O all-good Comforter, quickly rescue me from this grievous battering, I pray Thee!

Glory…

I have stumbled into a grievous fall, breaking my vows to thy Son; yet do I entreat thee, O immaculate one, as the well-spring of compassions and the abyss of loving kindness: Render Him merciful unto me!

Now & ever...

With thine invincible and divine power ever repel from my soul the destructive assaults made against me by mine invisible enemies, O Virgin, and grant me spiritual weaponry and a strategy [to use] against them.

Kontakion in Tone 2

O Most Holy Spirit, Thou life, light and consolation, hope and delight of all: Vouchsafe Thy gifts unto those who acknowledge Thee to be God, equally enthroned with the Father and the Son; and grant them remission of sins.

Ode 7

lrmos: The melodious music of instruments sounded forth, calling men to worship the inanimate idol wrought of gold; but the radiant grace of the Comforter preferreth that they cry: O Holy Trinity, Who art equal in power and equally without beginning, blessed art Thou!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Having rid me of all wickedness and evil morals, O Savior, with the most holy gifts of the divine Paraclete enrich me who chant: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Soften my heart, which is harder than any iron or stone, O Savior, that, saved, I may cry out with true compunction: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Theologizing, let us hymn the Son, the Spirit and the unoriginate Father in a single Essence and three Persons, [crying]: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Slavishly overcome by wicked and sinful habits, I pray, falling down before Thee, the Master of all: Deliver me from this vile bondage!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

With Thy mighty power be Thou well-pleased to make steadfast my soul, which hath been weakened by sin, that, saved, I may cry out: O God of our fathers, blessed art Thou!

Glory…

With divine reason and fervent repentance deign thou to enlighten my mind and my soul, which hast been grievously darkened by sin, O thou who art full of the grace of God, that with the archangel I may sing unto thee: Rejoice, 0 Mistress!

Now & ever…

Since the iniquitous and passion-fraught movements of my flesh have utterly done me to death, O Theotokos, plant thou the grace of the Paraclete in my soul, that in sacred manner I may ever glorify thee, the All-holy One.

Ode 8

Irmos: The thrice-radiant image of the - Godhead looseth bonds and bedeweth the flame; and all of fashioned creation blesseth as is Benefactor the one Savior and Accomplisher of all.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Release me from the destructive burning of iniquitous thoughts, O my Jesus, that I may glorify Thee with a pure heart.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

With Thine incorporeal ministers we hymn Thee, the most high and all-accomplishing Trinity; and we, Thy servants [made] of dust, exalt Thee supremely.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Staving off from my soul the destructive assaults of mine invisible foes, 0 Paraclete, be Thou well-pleased for Thy grace to dwell therein.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee! The petitions which in prayer I vigilantly ask of Thee in deed and with fear and love, O Comforter, do Thou vouchsafe unto me.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

O Master, in ways that Thou knowest, heal Thou my soul, which is ever bedeviled by prideful satanic thoughts.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Having sinned more than the harlot and Esau, I flee to Thy compassions: Turn not Thy grace away from me, O All-holy Paraclete!

We bless the Father, the Son and the Spirit: the Lord. Loving sin far more than all other men, O most hymned one, I flee unto thee. Save me, thine unworthy servant!

Now and ever…

O most hymned one, show me to be a lover of the divine philosophy of the Truth, setting me aright with fear and love.

Ode 9

Irmos: Rejoice, O Queen, thou glory of mothers and virgins! For even the most skillful and divinely eloquent mouth is able to hymn thee as is meet; and every mind is at a loss to understand thy birth-giving. Wherefore, together we glorify thee.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

O my Savior, Enlightenment and Defender: At the holy supplications of Thine all-pure Mother turn me not away from Thy divine joy.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Falling prostrate with fear, I who am dust worship Thee with the heavenly hosts, and cry out to Thee with love: O Most Holy Trinity, glory to Thee!

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Save me who hymn, worship and glorify the dominion of Thine unapproachable glory.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Teach me goodly morals, the instruction of the law and the understanding of the divine dogmas, that I may hymn thee in pleasing manner, O divine Paraclete.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Deign Thou to vouchsafe unto me the joyful festivity of all the righteous who have been well-pleasing to Thee, that with them I may hymn Thee, O all-holy Comforter.

Refrain: Glory to Thee, O our God, glory to Thee!

Blotting out the terror of my soul and all its diverse evils and badness, O holy Paraclete, adorn it with the crown of the virtues.

Glory…

O most immaculate Virgin, by thy holy supplications heal my wretched soul, which hath been corrupted by all manner of fornication.

Now and ever…

O divine Mediatress between God and man, convey this, my poor supplication, to the divine Paraclete, I pray thee, O most holy Theotokos.

Then again: 

Save Thy servant from misfortunes, O good Comforter, for the unclean demons greatly and constantly assail me with vile thoughts and illusions.

In thy compassion look down upon the grievous hardness of my heart, O most hymned Theotokos, and enlighten the darkness of my soul.

And these troparia:

It is truly meet to magnify Thee, the Word of God, before Whom the cherubim tremble and are filled with awe, and Whom the hosts of heaven glorify: Christ the Bestower of life, Who without change became incarnate of the Virgin.

It is truly meet to magnify with glorifications and to glorify with fear Thee, the most-Good and Most Holy One, the Preserver of our life, the Great and Awesome One, Who with the Father and the Son dost reign as God over all things visible and invisible, the Spirit of God Who proceedest from the Father.

Glory…

With divine hymns we all hymn Thee as God: the Father, the Son and the divine Spirit, the tripartite Might, the single Kingship and Dominion.

Now & ever…

O Mistress, Mother of the Deliverer, accept the supplications of thine unprofitable servants, and thereby grant deliverance of sins and the acceptable correction of a God-pleasing life.

PRAYER TO THE ALL-HOLY SPIRIT

O Master, all-good Paraclete, Who art One of the holy and worshipful, consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, accept this poor entreaty which Thou hast allowed to be offered unto Thee by a man sinful and condemned; and forgive me mine offenses, voluntary and involuntary. Cleanse me of my hidden [sins], and take pity on Thy servant [in the face of the sins] of others. Extend Thy favor to me, the sinful and unworthy, visit the infirmity of my soul with Thy grace, and heal its broken state.

Have mercy on me, O Master, Paraclete and God! Have mercy on me, sanctify my soul and body, enlighten my mind and reason, and cleanse the conscience of my soul from all defilement. And from impure thoughts, from the plottings of the wicked and the intentions of the bad, from all vainglory, pride and self-aggrandizement, from arrogance and audacity, from satanic insolence, and from all pharisaical hypocrisy and mine every evil habit, do Thou utterly deliver me for the sake of the glory of Thy name. And grant me sincere repentance, contrition and humility of heart, meekness and serenity, and all Christian reverence, understanding and spiritual skill, with all nobility, thankfulness and perfect patience.

Yea, O God, for the sake of the glory of Thy name hearken unto me, the sinful one who prayeth to Thee, and vouchsafe that for the remainder of my wretched life I may sincerely repent of mine iniquities with all humbleness of mind, chastity and true temperance, having put away all doubt, double-mindedness and insensitivity; and fully preserve me in a pious and Orthodox confession of the Christian Faith, O Master, that I may be vouchsafed all the days of my life to hymn thee without doubting, to bless and glorify Thee, and to say: O holy God, unoriginate Father! O holy Mighty One, His Son Who is equally without beginning! O holy Immortal One, Holy Spirit Who proceedest from the Father and abidest and restest in the Son! O most Holy Trinity, glory be to Thee! Glory to Thee, O Holy Trinity, Who art consubstantial, life-creating and indivisible!

Glory to Thee for all things!

Glory to thee, O Mother of God, refuge of the faithful, deliverance for those beset by evils, and divine consolation of my soul! O thou who art full of the grace of God, my most wretched soul, which hast been wounded by the arrows of the enemy, do I entrust to thine almighty intercession; and protect and save it unharmed by the wiles of the demons, that I may cry out to thee: Rejoice, O unwedded Bride!

 

Source (typos corrected):

 https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2013/01/st-maximus-greek-canon-to-all-holy.html

 

St. Philaret of New York: An Epistle to Mount Athos (1980)

 

To the pious monks of Athos, the Holy Mountain, the Sacred Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia wishes joy. May grace and peace be with all the inhabitants of the Holy Mountain of Athos who are faithful to Holy Orthodoxy.

Your epistle on the subject of the dialogue with the Roman Catholics reached us only after a considerable lapse of time.* We read it with such attention as befits the importance of that question for each Orthodox person. The Sacred Synod of Bishops has subsequently resolved to inform you of our decision.

By the intercession of the All-holy Theotokos, the fathers of Athos have throughout the ages overcome various misfortunes and temptations, ever standing guard over Holy Orthodoxy. These temptations are growing in the apostate world which surrounds us, in which the might of Antichrist reveals itself ever more manifestly. They not infrequently lure from the path of truth individual bishops and the entire hierarchies of certain Churches who forget that their true task is to preserve, protect and preach the faith of the holy apostles and fathers of the Church. The first and second canons of the Seventh Ecumenical Council remind us of this in particular. According to the latter, a hierarch must have the fervor “to read with discernment, not cursorily, the holy canons, the holy Gospel, the book of the divine Apostle and all the divine Scriptures, to progress in accordance with the commandments of God and to teach the people entrusted to them.”

From the writings and decrees of the holy hierarchs who were faithful to this command, the Tradition of the Church was formed, which, as the first canon of the Seventh Ecumenical Council expresses it, must serve for all Orthodox as a “testimony and direction.” And we, having been driven from our homeland as a result of its enslavement by the enemies of God, see the principal aim of our life to be the preservation of that pure Orthodoxy which we have inherited from our forebears.

At the outset of our exile, we found consolation in the oneness of mind and the love of the other Orthodox Churches, since their leaders had not yet begun to push towards union with the heterodox, setting such a goal above the steadfast preservation of the faith of the holy Fathers.

In recent years, various actions and statements of representatives of the Orthodox Churches, of which you also write, have repeatedly caused us consternation and grief, inasmuch as we have found them to be more attempts to please the heretics than any desire to bear witness to the world of the genuine truth of Holy Orthodoxy. We see particular danger in the modernization and ecumenism foretold in the Apocalypse as the manifestation of indifference to the truth (Rev. 3:15-16). The intrusion of modernism began with the acceptance of the new calendar, which was introduced not for the purpose of strengthening Orthodoxy, but in the name of rapprochement with the heretical West.

For this reason our Church has never accepted this calendar and has not participated in the so-called ecumenical movement. We maintain that its fundamental principle, which aims at the unification of all who call themselves Christians without oneness of mind in the dogmas of Orthodoxy, is contrary to the principles established by the holy Fathers. We know and we understand that the holy Fathers did not seek to conclude agreements with those in error but rather called upon them to renounce their heresy, to confess the truth and unite with the holy Church of Christ. For this reason we declared in the past to His All-Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch, that we will not accept any compromising agreements with the heterodox and that we do not recognize the Russian Church which is participating in these negotiations, for, apart from us, it does not have a free, legitimate hierarchy which can speak in its name. There is sufficient evidence that the patriarch in Moscow and other hierarchs in Russia can neither be elected, nor govern freely, but are appointed and govern in accordance with the directives of the antichristian, atheistic regime. Its seal is set on their right hands, which sign resolutions pleasing to the godless regime.

Under such conditions it has been with great spiritual consolation that we have become acquainted with the statement made in behalf of the monks of the Holy Mountain on the subject of the recent conferences on the island of Rhodes between representatives of the Churches of the East and the Latins. It is in agreement with our faith, is close to our hearts and brings us joy.

We give thanks to our Chief Shepherd Who has inspired you to make such a statement which is Orthodox in content, and we beseech God, that He instruct you to oppose every manifestation of modernism and the spreading of the heresy of ecumenism, which contradicts the Fathers’ dogma that there is but one true Church in the world. Of this, Canon 68 of the Council of Carthage writes that she is “the dove, the sole mother of Christians, wherein all eternal and life-creating mysteries are salvifically received, which, moreover, subject all that remain in heresy to great condemnation and torment.”

We hope that all of you God-loving monks of the Holy Mountain will not forsake the struggle for the preservation of true Orthodoxy, just as we do not intend to forsake it, even were we to remain in the world as but half of the minority of which the Savior spoke, saying: “Fear not little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Lk. 12:32).

May the all-holy Mother of God cover us all with her precious omophorion, and through her prayers may she strengthen you and us in the fearless confession of the holy Orthodox Faith.

† Metropolitan Philaret,
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

† Bishop Gregory,
Secretary of the Synod of Bishops

 

* See http://orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/athos.aspx

Source: Orthodox Life, Vol. 30, No. 5, September-October 1980, pp. 11-13.

 

St. Philaret of New York: Faithfulness to the Truth

 

I would like to say a few words to you concerning the temptation which is spreading everywhere like a wide flooding river. This is the temptation of the so-called ecumenism, which urges all people to unite, regardless of whatever faith they may profess; uniting everyone, in order to create what they call the true church of Christ. I wish to briefly draw your attention to the following: those who urge us to participate in this ecumenism say: every church, every denomination possesses a certain portion of Christianity, of the truth of Christ, therefore every denomination is obligated to contribute its portion of the truth into this common spiritual treasury and in this manner one church will be created. In other words, it is proposed to every denomination that they acknowledge that their faith is not completely true, but only in some part, while the rest, being falsehood and in error, must be rejected upon entering into this artificial union. But one must be completely aware of what is being required of us through this appeal to join ecumenism. Here is what we are required to do: we must declare that we only possess a portion of the truth, as they said; this means that our Faith is not completely true, not all Orthodox teachings are Truth, but merely some part, the rest being in error.

Which Orthodox person would agree to recognize that in his holy Orthodox faith something is amiss, that it is only partly just and true? Never will any firm Orthodox Christian conscience accept this. Nowadays people's consciences have become too flexible when they agree to many things such as this, which a Christian conscience must not accept. Who among us would agree to accept that in our Faith something is incorrect? In that case, what would holy St. Seraphim of Sarov and the holy righteous batushka Father John of Kronstadt, who lived according to this Faith, who glorified it and rejoiced in it then say to us? And then, what would they say to us if we started to say that not all is correct in this Faith? They would repudiate with indignation not only our words but us as well.

So let us remember, that already for this reason alone it is impossible for us to enter into this ecumenism. Our Orthodox Church knows that She stands in the Truth. She offers this Truth to everyone; She reveals it to all; She does not conceal it within Herself hidden away, unknown to others, but invites all to recognize this Truth. But She can never deny this Truth, nor will She ever deny it, nor will She ever recognize Her Truth to be falsehood and agree to this madness.

Therefore, for us there can be no place where there is talk of ecumenism, because its attractive exterior side nonetheless covers up that falsehood about which I just told you. Remember well, beloved ones: our Orthodox Church possesses the entire fullness of Truth, and not some mere portion of it.

The Orthodox Church maintains the Christian Faith the same as the holy apostles passed it down to us.

Even the Catholics agree that it is primarily in the Orthodox Faith that everything is preserved just as it was during the holy apostles' time. They merely defend their innovations, and in not recognizing these we carefully persevere in preserving that which the holy apostles and holy fathers have given us as our most precious inheritance. And we must never agree to enter into such company where we would be told: you have only a portion of the truth and all the rest is in error.

Let them go their own way, if they do not wish to recognize that we possess the complete, pure Truth -that is their business, and we cannot go along with them. The Orthodox Church carries Her sacred contents, Her Faith, and will thus carry it through until the end of the existence of the human race here on earth. Therefore, let us thank God even more and appreciate that we are the children of the Russian Church Abroad, the Church which has made it its goal to preserve inviolate our holy faith, our primordial Russian, Orthodox piety, and to preserve it in that form in which our pious ancestors preserved it, and to carry this pure glad tiding until the day for which we all hope. That blessed day will come when the Lord will have mercy on the Russian land and Russian people, and piety will be enthroned there, as it once had been in Holy Rus'. But while we live this lot in exile, while we belong to this Russian Church Abroad, I repeat again, let us thank the Lord for this and try to be true to Her in every way.

These days, frequently a person falls away because of worldly reasons, because of earthly benefits, seeking earthly well-being. But which Orthodox person does not remember that no matter what a person may seek or strive for, death will put an end to it all, and beyond death lies having to answer before the Divine Truth, answering the foremost question - were you faithful to the Lord Savior, the Divine Establisher of the Church, and to His Holy Church and Her Truth? And if we preserve this faithfulness, then our lot in eternity will be blessed, and if not, we will face inescapable grief and sorrow.

Let us also remember how inconsistent a human is in pursuing good, and therefore let us pray to the Lord, that by His omnipotent power, Hе make us steadfast in preserving the purity of the Truth and steadfast in goodness, so that we may not succumb to any contemporary enticements. How full of all sorts of things is our current life! All types of vain activity, all filth and shamelessness! How much malice, falsehood, how many lies and deception there are!

Life has now become difficult; life has become perverted and filthy as never before; and it is difficult for a Christian to pave his narrow path amongst all this vain commotion and filth of which life is now full. And since we are unstable, for we easily succumb to temptation, since we are not firm in goodness, we must beseech the Lord that the Lord strengthen us, so that we are not merely called, but that we be genuine Orthodox Christians. Amen.

 

Russian source: Sermons and Teachings of His Eminence Metropolitan Philaret, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, vol. I, published by the Russian Orthodox Youth Committee in honor of his 50th anniversary of ordination (1931-1981), pp 18-21. It is noteworthy that this is the first sermon printed in the book, rather as if it were a basic position statement.

English source: Living Orthodoxy, Vol. XXX, No. 3; May-June 2010, #177, pp. 17-18.

Metropolitan Philaret of New York: The Guardian of the Lord’s House

Protopriest Alexei Mikrikov (+2023)

Assigned to Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, NY

Translated from the Russian by Eugenia Chisholm and verified against the original published in Volume 2791 of Nasha Strana, March 2006; there are some variances in versions published on various websites. Published in Living Orthodoxy by St. John of Kronstadt Press.

 

 

Some History

Beginning in 1945, Archimandrite Philaret (Voznesensky), subsequently the First Hierarch of ROCOR, and the entire Far East diocese, were being forced to enter the Moscow Patriarchate, since at the time the Soviet army had occupied China and established total Soviet control.

The Soviet power immediately branded all Russian émigrés “enemies of the people” and, within half a year, had arrested 50,000 people, including the young and elderly. All fifty thousand Harbin residents were transported to the USSR. Beyond Atpor Station, fourteen thousand of them were executed; the remaining thirty-six thousand were sent to concentration camps where they were starved as described in the book Father Arseny. It is assumed that they all perished in concentration camps. (Among those killed were people such as K. Rodzaevsky, together with his Fascists, as well as people from Osano who collaborated with the Japanese.) Every third young man in Harbin was seized by the Soviet forces, taken to the USSR, and annihilated in a concentration camp. The Soviet totalitarian regime annihilated them because of their Orthodoxy, for refusing to recognize the sergianist heresy, which teaches conscientious submission to the theomachists.

Overall, the Soviet regime killed around seventy million Orthodox people, destroyed more than thirty thousand churches, confiscated land and property. It committed the genocide of the Russian Orthodox people, caused civil war, blasphemed God, and ripped out the people’s faith in God through fear and terror. Who could obey such a regime in good conscience and collaborate with it?

The remaining Russian residents of Harbin were forced to accept Soviet citizenship. However, Archimandrite Philaret openly refused to do this. Also, when he served divine liturgy he never commemorated the Soviet regime. He delivered thundering sermons on truth and falsehood, after listening to which it seemed to us that these were the final days of his life. He openly served panikhidas for the murdered Tsar Nicholas II and his entire Royal Family, and said in his sermons that the most important thing about the Great Martyr Tsar was that he had the mind of Christ and therefore could not be brainwashed and did not have the perfidious spirit of anti-Christ that had gripped all of Russia. He also brought together young people for meetings at which he explained the teaching of Christ.

Father Philaret Under Torture

The city of Harbin, Manchuria had been occupied by the Japanese from 1904 to 1945. The Japanese tried with all their might to hold onto this Chinese province, since it provided enormous material advantages to Japan and gave access to the mainland, which made Japan strong in an international military-political sense. But the Russian émigrés were a problem for the Japanese because of their unique non-Asian mentality. With the aim of using young Russians for military purposes, the Japanese first attempted to stamp out that social-religious mentality of our émigrés. With this objective they positioned an idol of the goddess Amateresa across the road from the St. Nicholas Cathedral, so that Russian people arriving for services would first bow in the direction of the idol before entering the cathedral to worship God.

Metropolitan Melety reacted immediately: he issued an epistle in which he explained that it was impermissible to bow to the idol. Then the Japanese began to accuse Metropolitan Melety and the clergy of committing acts against their authority.

Archimandrite Philaret objected particularly resolutely to the Japanese. Then the Japanese seized him and began to torture him. They cut open his cheek and almost gouged out one eye, but he tolerated the torture. Then the main torturer told Father Philaret: “We have an instrument fired by electricity, through the use of which everyone has agreed to comply with our demands, and you will comply too.” (Father Philaret told me personally about this.)

The torturer brought the red-hot electrical instrument. Then Father Philaret prayed to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker with the words: “Saint Nicholas, help me; otherwise, there may be a betrayal.” The time for torture arrived. The torturer undressed him to the waist and began to burn his back with the red-hot iron. And, oh — a miracle occurred! Father Philaret could smell the burnt flesh, but felt no pain. His soul was joyful. The torturer could not understand why he was silent and not shouting and writhing from unbearable pain. Then the torturer turned and looked at Father Philaret’s face. When he saw his face, he knew he had been defeated. He waved his arms and muttered something in his Asian language and ran away, defeated by this super-human strength of endurance.

No one could endure such sufferings without the help of Christ God. But the suffering was so intense that he was close to death. Father Philaret, who was near death, was given to his relatives to be cared for. At this point in his account he grew silent. Later on he told me: “I was in veritable hell.” But God did not allow him to die. The wounds healed; only his eye remained somewhat displaced. The Japanese no longer wished to claim the bows of the Orthodox people. Until now I had not told everything that I had heard from Father Philaret, since I thought that everyone knew about these things.

Sergianism as Paganism

As young people living in China under the Soviet regime, experiencing violence and the fear of death, we quickly understood its anti-Christ nature. We realized that if God did not stop it that it would spiritually break all the people, making them zombies and forcing them to serve world evil.

It became clear that in his 1927 Declaration Metropolitan Sergius, on the advice of flesh and blood, out of fear of losing his life, having fallen into delusion, called everyone to in conscience obey the Soviet regime and collaborate with it. If the Lord said, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36), then in his Declaration, Metropolitan Sergius was attempting to save people’s bodies, ignoring the eternal damage to their souls. This was precisely the pagan understanding of good and evil. This was precisely the betrayal and gross sin which Metropolitan Melety and Father Philaret in the Far East diocese and Father Arseny, “with many people” in Russia, feared to commit.

But in attempting to save the bodies of people according to the pagan method, Metropolitan Sergei doomed one third of Russia to the obliteration of both human bodies and souls — for through his Declaration he permitted the Soviet regime to officially classify those who did not accept it as political criminals. Is this not the greatest crime committed by the supreme church authority, before God and before the Church?

I realized that the anathema pronounced by the Holy Patriarch Tikhon against the Soviet godless authority and its collaborators is indeed God’s might condemning the Soviet regime and all its collaborators. Are not the words of Christ God, that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for these to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, applicable to the sergianists who committed this gross mistake and sin?

Then the answer to the question “what then is sergianism?” became clear to me. It is the encoding of the Orthodox consciousness with the pagan understanding of good and evil, through violence and morbid fear instilled in the population by the Soviet regime, with the aid of the supreme church authority. This is not a comforting answer, but it is one derived from the personal reality of life and the clear example of the life and service in the Russian Orthodox Church of Archimandrite Philaret.

Father Philaret and Metropolitan Melety, together with all the clergy, did not bow down before the idol of the goddess Amaterasa — but Metropolitan Sergius bowed down before the godless regime, leading all the clergy and people into error and sin.

After the Declaration the clergy changed. Father Arseny used to say: “What could the people glean from such pastors? What kind of an example are they? We raised our people poorly for we did not instill in them the deep foundation of Faith. Remember all of this! Remember it! This is why our people so quickly forgot us, their servants; they forgot the Faith and took part in the destruction of churches.” Father Philaret’s path was different. He rejected sergianism, did not collaborate with the regime… and he was esteemed as a leader of great spiritual authority by the Russian émigrés of Harbin.

An Attempt on the Life of the Confessor

Then, in October 1960, the Soviet régime, brimming with malice, decided to annihilate him through fire. This is how it happened: one night in the wee hours of Sunday, Archimandrite Philaret was awakened at about 2:00 am by a strange odor in his house, so he walked through into the parlor, in the corner of which was a storeroom. As he related, from under the door of the store-room a pungent, sharp-smelling smoke was pouring out. He went straight to the bathroom and poured water into a basin, returned to the storeroom and, having opened the door, he splashed the water in the direction of the origin of the smoke. Suddenly there was a loud explosion accompanied by intense fire. The fire burned him and the shock wave of the explosion pushed him with great force, lifting him and throwing him across the entire parlor and pushed him against the exterior door. Fortunately, the door opened outward. The impact of his flying body tore off the hinges, and he fell on the ground, deafened but alive. When he came to, he saw the house burning like a torch. Archimandrite Philaret realized that a thermic bomb had exploded which burned down the house in mere minutes.

That same night a certain Zinaida Lvovna, a member of the sisterhood of the church and Mercy House, had walked out of her home which was across the street from the church at around midnight. She saw fire trucks standing in the street near the church, but there was no fire. Such an incomprehensible and unusual accumulation of firefighting vehicles surprised her. Around two hours later, when the sound of the exploding bomb woke her, she immediately went out on the street and saw the house almost completely burned, [the remains of] which the firefighters were extinguishing. Meanwhile, Archimandrite Philaret was standing on the front steps of the church, shivering from cold, suffering from severe burns and contusion. Zinaida Lvovna immediately understood that the fire had been set by the Soviet authority with the purpose of killing Father Philaret. She quickly crossed the road and invited him into her house.

But the Chinese chief fireman, seeing that Archimandrite Philaret was alive, accused him of setting the fire and wanted to arrest him. However, the astute Zinaida Lvovna quickly turned to the Chinese authority and said: “It appears that you positioned your firetrucks in advance, knowing that a fire would break out? Who informed you in advance about the fire?”

The fire chief was at a loss for words and could not provide an answer. Meanwhile, Zinaida Lvovna and Archimandrite Philaret reached her house, in which there was a room without any windows. She situated Archimandrite Philaret in there, for she knew that the Soviet killers could penetrate a window and kill him.

The next day, Sunday, some young people came early for service, but the church was closed and the house where the rector had lived was burned to the ground. I managed to meet Zinaida Lvovna and found out from her what had happened that night. I asked for permission to see Father Philaret.

At first glance I saw Father Philaret in a state of utter physical exhaustion and pain. His burnt cheek was dark brown. But the expression in his eyes revealed firm submission to the will of God and a joyful fearlessness in service to Him and the Orthodox people. I went numb from the unexpectedness of this sight, for it was immediately obvious that he was a hair from death. Yet he avoided death by some miracle. And suddenly I hear his greeting:

“S’prazdnikom” (Greeting on the feast — tr.). He said this greeting the same way people say “Christ is Risen!” on Pascha. Tears flowed from my eyes instead of a response. I had not cried since I was a child. But here, a 20-year old grown man, I stood on my knees before him without speaking, tears streaming, and kissed his right hand.

I then understood that he, like the fourth Babylonian youth, had become a Man of Fire who did not burn up in the Chinese thermic oven of the 20th century, stoked by the theomachist Krushchev, seventy times greater than the one fired up by Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century BC. It became clear that the grace of God had saved Father Philaret for his firm and fearless fulfillment of Holy Patriarch Tikhon’s commandment.

Two months passed. He began serving again, and within half a year was able to live independently in the mezzanine over the church. But suddenly he moved back to Zinaida Lvovna’s. We were told in confidence that one day Archimandrite Philaret had returned to his cell after service, opened the door with his key and entered. But suddenly he saw the tips of enormous shoes protruding from under the drapes. Realizing that a murderer sent by the Soviet régime stood there, he walked over to his dresser, pretending to take something from it, and quickly walked out of his cell, locking the door. After this episode a man from the Chinese police came to Zinaida Lvovna’s and asked why Archimandrite Philaret doesn’t spend the night in his cell. She immediately understood the situation and answered that he was physically weak and exhausted.

Not long afterwards, Father Philaret, through spiritual discernment, discovered a picture of satan under the altar table in the church at Mercy House. The picture was immediately removed. The Soviet authority did not know how to aggravate or mock a man with apostolic boldness and faith which made him the bearer of the invincible grace of God.

Having passed through all temptations, having passed through fire and water in the spiritual and literal sense, Archimandrite Philaret had received a gift from God: no matter who turned to him with any request, by his prayers God satisfied the request of the petitioner. After his death this gift has been magnified.

More Attempts on His Life

In 1961 Archimandrite Philaret moved to Australia, where he again entered the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. But apparently, a mitred protopriest said on November 2, 2003, he first offered his “repentance” and only then was consecrated Bishop of Brisbane. Of what did this “repentance” consist if he had never accepted the mistakes of sergianism, if he had never recognized the evil war against God by the Soviet regime as good, if he had always been faithful to the Church, the true homeland and the people?

There was a third attempt on his life in the 1970s, on Pascha, when he had already become Metropolitan and First Hierarch of ROCOR and lived in the USA. But the attempt was unsuccessful.

A fourth attempt was made on a ship, when Metropolitan Philaret was returning from France after a visit to the Lesna Convent. On the return voyage an unusual phenomenon occurred in the ship’s boiler: suddenly, in the middle of the day, such an intense fire started up in the boiler that the smoke stack became white-hot. The ship’s captain, seeing no way to diminish the intensity of the fire, which threatened to melt the smoke stack (thus fire would engulf the entire ship and devour all its passengers), came at this critical moment to Vladika Philaret and asked him to pray, for, according to his view, only God could save the ship and passengers. Vladika Philaret heard what the captain had to say and immediately began to pray to God. Between ten to twenty minutes later the smoke stack had cooled to red; within the hour it was once again black. God had granted them salvation! The captain came to Metropolitan Philaret, kissed his hand and emotionally thanked him for his prayers… Now let’s ask ourselves, how could the flame have acquired such a catastrophic intensity? Did this happen on its own? Or, just as before, was the evil hand of a KGB agent involved in order to annihilate Vladika?

Since then, almost half a century has passed. I myself have been serving in ROCOR as a priest for more than thirty years. I also have always followed my spiritual father and never commemorated the Soviet regime, nor did I collaborate with it. Therefore, I believe that I have never been under the anathema of the Holy Patriarch Tikhon. But that same mitred protopriest [who alleged Vladyka Philaret’s “repentance”] unabashedly asserts that Metropolitan Philaret and all the “Chinese émigrés” supposedly automatically fell under the anathema of St. Patriarch Tikhon because they happened to be living on territory of the Moscow Patriarchate from 1945 to 1961. How could this be — for they loved Christ God and never betrayed Him, never accepted the mistake of sergianism, and did not collaborate with the Soviet regime?

I protest such inhumane misunderstanding and condemnation. In the beginning of the 21st century do not the incorrupt relics of Metropolitan Philaret prove that God holds him as a saint for his battle against the pagan understanding of good and evil, for not agreeing with the mistake of sergianism, for not collaborating with the godless authority?

If, during the Soviet era, sergianism created a pagan mindset, after the Soviet regime ended this sergianist mindset is already turning into an anti-Christ mindset. Therefore unification must begin with a general condemnation of the error of the supreme church authority at a council of all Moscow Patriarchate and ROCOR bishops. Only after this condemnation would we be able to approach one Chalice of Christ, for oneness of mind would have been achieved.

On the Road Toward Disaster

If the union of ROCOR and the Moscow Patriarchate is made without a preliminary condemnation of the sergianist heresy and anathema against ecumenism, it will lead to a spiritual catastrophe for ROCOR, causing the anathema of St. Patriarch Tikhon to extend onto ROCOR — something which was never the case for Metropolitan Philaret. He was never a cunning slave who lost his personal grace.

If the union occurs without a preliminary condemnation of the sergianist crime and ecumenism, will not the organizers of the unification within ROCOR become co-participants and collaborators of those who crucified Christ God? Will this unification not take place under the carnivorous mockery of the dead Soviet régime and the still living enemies of Christ?

It must also be noted that the glorification of the Holy Tsar Nicholas and all the New Martyrs started in Russia from a copy of the Myrrh-gushing Icon from ROCOR — yet the MP supreme church authority did not want to glorify the Great Martyr Tsar Nicholas and the New Martyrs. The glorification only took place when the supreme church authority could no longer oppose the will of the people or the miraculous sign of the fragrant myrrh streaming from the icon of St. Tsar Nicholas and his royal family.

The Guards of the Lord’s House

Terrifying news is coming out of Russia that Patriarch Alexei II with his hierarchy wish to glorify Patriarch Sergius for his Declaration of 1927, this gross mistake and lie. A certain Sergei Fomin calls Sergius “The Guard of the Lord’s House” in a book with the same title.

Can the supreme church authority of ROCOR accept this without a loss of its own grace and falling under the anathema of St. Patriarch Tikhon? No, it cannot! This is my own conviction; I am not forcing it on anyone, but having taken on this ecclesiological mindset, I cannot reject it even until death.

The 1927 Declaration of Metropolitan Sergius, for the consciousness abroad, is an impassable abyss dividing the MP and the Church in the diaspora even until the Lord’s dread judgment. St. Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Melety, Father Arseny, Father Philaret — these could be called the Guardians of the Lord’s House, but not Sergius under any circumstances.

Regarding Myself

The martyric podvig of Father Philaret had such a strong impact on me that I completely joined his belief and outlook. The number of such faithful was constantly increasing. But I will admit that the fear of pain enslaved me; I was afraid I could not withstand such torture if it happened to me. Upon arriving in Australia, I would have nightmares. It seemed that the Communists were pursuing me; I would run from them and finally wake up in horror with cold sweat on my brow. For approximately thirty seconds I could not get my bearings. But then I would remember I was in Australia and would calm down. This went on for about three years.

I understood well that I was weak and sinful and therefore was afraid to become a priest. I even thought of running away from the Holy Trinity Seminary, where I was studying. But Metropolitan Philaret learned of this. When he saw me next he said to me: “What is this I hear? Watch out, or I’ll box your ears!” Then I completed seminary. I was very fearful of entering the priesthood, which Vladika Theodosy of Australia insisted I do. Before I entered the priesthood, Vladika Philaret phoned me in Australia and blessed me. Then I calmed down.

In Australia, when I was already a priest, I met with Vladika Philaret. Again I said to him: “Vladika Philaret, I won’t endure torture, but I think I could take a bullet if God helps.” He didn’t answer. I understood that he would pray for me not to lose my faith and become a sergianist.