ORTHODOX MISCELLANY- History, Ecclesiology, Spirituality, and the Struggle Against Ecumenism

“Matthewite ecclesiology,” as we shall henceforth denominate it, may be summarized by the following three points: (1) The Church of Greece has become schismatic and heretical on account of the calendar change and ecumenism. (2) Its Mysteries are invalid. (3) The Church of the True Orthodox Christians of Greece is the real Orthodox Church of Greece. Orthodox ecclesiology, as set forth by Metropolitan Chrysostomos, may be summarized by the following three points: (1) The Church of Greece has become liable to judgment by a Pan-Orthodox Synod for schism and heresy on account of the calendar innovation and its ecumenism, respectively. (2) With regard to its Mysteries, it is up to a Pan-Orthodox Synod to pronounce a decision. Until such a time, they are NOT to be repeated, nor is there any provision for the use of Chrism, supposedly for the sake of œconomy. (3) The Old Calendarist Orthodox do not constitute a separate Church, but are the anti-innovationist congregation of the Church of Greec...

Romiosini: Diocesan Bulletin of the Holy Metropolis G.O.C. of North and South America , Vol. 1, No. 1, Series II, 2007. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kmphsNVFP5RXQwRlA4cjl4TUE/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-HHPgbt8DxSOeFWUhaMW5FQ

In Greek: Elder Savvas the Hagiorite (1913-1991) , by his disciple Elder Alypios the Hagiorite. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ejVVRI2C91KXw1Vs6dP8eUWsvbiuhco6/view?usp=sharing

ΠΗΓΕΣ ΕΚ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΤΕΡΙΚΗΣ ΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΕΙΑΣ ΔΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΠΟΤΕΙΧΙΣΗ [Sources from Patristic Literature on Walling Off], by Panagiotis Tsallos, historian. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UExpWuUr4dq79H86di20kiYQNtE2DBu0/view?usp=sharing

Trekking Guide to Mount Athos: https://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Athos/General/TrekkingGuide.html

St. Chrysostomos praised Stalin at a very specific moment [in time] for two specific reasons: a. because the latter stopped the persecution of the Church in the face of the common danger of the Germans (we clearly know today that he did so out of necessity and not out of love for the Church) and b. because a Pan-Orthodox Council was being prepared in Moscow (finally held in 1948) at which the Saint hoped to resolve the calendar question. Clearly, when his hopes were dashed, he did not repeat such a characterization. - Nikolaos Mannis, comment on April 12, 2018. Source: https://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.com/2014/08/blog-post_40.html   - (ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΥ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΥ ΚΑΡΠΑΘΑΚΗ (ΜΕΡΟΣ Α΄) [On Matthew Karpathakis (Part A)]

“I am not returning [to the new calendar] because in this case, under my supervision and within the framework of the canons and ecclesiastical propriety and legitimacy, the governing of the Old Calendarists will remain faithful to the traditional calendar status quo, as it remained after the departure from the calendar struggle of the bishops of holy Zakynthos [Chrysostomos Dimitriou], Christianoupolis [Christophoros Hatzis], and Diavleia [Polykarpos Liosis]. Moreover, there is also the fear that these Orthodox-minded Old Calendarist people, remaining without pastoral supervision, may seek it from the bishops of the Monastery of Keratea [that is, the Matthewite fanatics].   - Η Φωνή της Ορθοδοξίας [The Voice of Orthodoxy], Issue No. 154, 1953.

  The 1952 Resignation of the Hierarchy of the Church of the G.O.C. of Greece MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE OLD CALENDAR BISHOPS [Submitted to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Education on November 3, 1952. Original copy contained in the Archives of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, and Sports, Athens. After Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina’s resignation was refused by the PTEOK Board of Directors and others, it was rescinded on November 27, 1952.] The following undersigned Bishops of the Old Calendar, the former Metropolitan of Florina Chrysostomos, Bishop Christophoros of Christianoupolis, and Bishop Polykarpos of Diavleia, having gathered for a meeting at the residence of His Eminence, the former Metropolitan of Florina Mr. Chrysostomos, located in Athens, on Krissis Street 24, on 3 November 1952, and having reviewed the general situation of the Old Calendar issue, exchanged thoughts and opinions. Unanimously and with a clear and uninfluenced consci...

1950 New Calendarist / Old Calendarist Unification Proposal Tentatively Agreed to by Metropolitan Chrysostomos (Kavourides), formerly of Florina and Archbishop Spyridon (Vlachos) of Athens and All Greece,                      On account of the negative effects of the continuing G.O.C. divisions, civil persecutions, the sectarian and radicalizing influence of Matthewite-minded individuals, and the international scandal associated with the Matthewite Panagia Pefkovounogiatrissa convent in Keratea. English translation from the original Greek. 1. The Old Calendar bishops should commemorate the Holy Synod, and their priests should commemorate them [the Old Calendar bishops], as they have until today. 2. The holy churches of the Old Calendarists are to be accountable to an Old Calendar Exarch, and he, in turn, to a state representative trusted by the [official] Church, and the state representative ...

  The 1938 GOC Compromise Proposals Proposal to the Official Church for a compromise and resolution on the calendar dispute, dated January 15, 1938 (N.S.), signed by Metropolitan Germanos of Demetrias (presiding bishop of the GOC) and Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina, in summation: 1) Remove all penalties against Old Calendar clergy. 2) Recognize the ordinations of Old Calendar bishops, and summon the dissident bishops Matthew of Bresthena and Germanos of the Cyclades to justify their actions. 3) The adoption of the new calendar should not be considered final, but provisional. 4) Those who want to utilize the old calendar should be free to do so without being prosecuted. 5) Convene a council on the subject of the calendar by Great Lent, 1939. 6) Appoint Old Calendar bishops as members of the council. 7) Make the final decision of the proposed council binding on everyone. 8) Abolish the dissident Community of the G.O.C. (which had aligned itself with Bishop Matthew) and give i...

The position of some that we should tell the faithful that the mysteries of the Ecumenists are invalid because, otherwise (if we say they are valid), we will not persuade them to adhere to the walling off, is clearly dishonest and condemnable. It introduces fear, coercion, and misleads the faithful. And where does the deception lie? In not telling them that the problem lies in the defilement they receive by having communion with heretics, whether they [the Ecumenists] have valid or invalid mysteries. The word of Scripture is clear: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). And if the faithful are indifferent to the fact of defilement and the only thing that interests them is receiving the mystery of Holy Communion, even if they receive it from priests who commune ...

  Three Examples of the Moderate Confession of Russian True Orthodoxy in the 1990s and 2000s: Bishop Lazarus of Tambov, Protopriest Lev Lebedeff and Archbishop Tikhon of Omsk   Fr. Victor [Potapov]: Vladika, on one hand you do not recognize the Moscow Patriarchate; you did not become a member of the MP, but, as I understand, you do not deny the sacraments of the Moscow Patriarchate. Your branch of the Catacomb Church does not rebaptize, it does not re-ordain priests.  Bishop Lazarus [of Tambov]: This is not my personal opinion; it is the position of those well-educated priests with whom I associated. Fr. Vladimir Krivoliutsky belonged to a group led by Metropolitan Cyril of Kazan, a moderate. Fr. Sergius Tigrov was of like mind. They recognized the Mysteries [of the Moscow Patriarchate] because dogmatically there were no violations concerning the Orthodox teaching about the Holy Trinity, and the Mysteries were performed according to the rules of the office. True...

“Orthodoxy and Ecumenism: Papocentric Globalism and the ‘Invisible Unity’ of the Church,” by Archimandrite Cyprian (Gioules) of Saints Cyprian and Justina Monastery, Fili, Attica [now Metropolitan of Oropos and Fili]. Presented on February 27 /March 12, 2006, at the Fourteenth Convocation for Orthodox Awareness. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-02GVdjtVIW-9SzSO8Jhfo0x92oMZITZ/view?usp=sharing

  The Patristic Doctrine of Creation , by Fr. Seraphim Rose. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17vhVBJwz-EB-tUOK6CnP83ocLFTZn2aT/view?usp=sharing

  Ecumenism: A Path to Perdition , by Ludmilla Perepiolkina (1999). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBJvOHppjE_qDwRpM6oi2yBIsYy-PvfJ/view?usp=sharing

The Orthodox Church and Eschatological Frenzy - The Recent Proliferation of “Antichristology”and Its Perilous Side-Effects: Proposals for Curing the Eschatological Fear of Marks (Seals) and Numbers , by the Special Commission to the Holy Synod in Resistance (October 2010). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OdxuU8VIl3OZ93fx8FPnTcu9pwcIH3e0/view?usp=sharing

ΑΓΙΟΠΑΤΕΡΙΚΗ ΕΡΜΗΝΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ ΙΕʹ ΚΑΝΟΝΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΔΕΥΤΕΡΑΣ ΣΥΝΟΔΟΥ (861-2 μ. Χ) [“The Holy Fathers’ Interpretation of the 15th Canon of the First-Second Synod (861-2 AD)”], by Hieromonk Savvas Lavriotis. https://drive.google.com/file/d/13PdPIkagJCuGspwmOm4tpGoPmAofqSFU/view?usp=sharing

“Ecclesiology of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Romania,” by Metropolitan Vlasie Mogarzan (pre-2014).  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DFvcpSN4dZv3luNrAPsMkTpVgCiQSdIC/view?usp=sharing The above translation, downloaded from an official Romanian ecclesiastical website, is poor to say the least. The original Romanian version is archived here:  https://web.archive.org/web/20140204063527/http://www.manastirea-amd.ro:80/prezentare-AMD/eclesiologia-bisericii-ortodoxe-de-stil-vechi-din-romania.html

“The Ecclesiological Position of the Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Bulgaria,” by Bishop Photii of Triaditsa (2013). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H70aOEjjp6gyvexmDysh2UnvjInU3oav/view?usp=sharing

ПРАВОСЛАВИЕ И ИКУМЕНИЗЪМ [“Orthodoxy and Ecumenism”], by Archimandrites Seraphim (Alexiev) and Sergius (Yazadzhiev) (Bulgaria: 1992) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F5vwfRfYuLnkuDTKaFuV1nwD_OYG0AL5/view?usp=sharing

EKUMENIZAM I VREME APOSTASIJE [“Ecumenism in the Age of Apostasy”], by Hieromonk Sava Janjić (Prizren, Serbia: 1995). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x_IxsUo774eQ37jsLXi2qJOflWnmZqoc/view?usp=sharing

“ Părtășia la erezie” – expresie biblică și patristică ["Fellowship with heresy" - Biblical and Patristic Cxpressions], by Mihai-Silviu Chirilă. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r4egj5KFe-s_aBquGFlSS5HiS46q-v25/view?usp=sharing Observații critice ale Pr. Spiridon, de la Schitul Rădeni, județul Neamț, la ​studiul scris de Mihai-Silviu Chirilă "Părtășia la erezie - expresie biblică și patristică" [Critical remarks by Pr. Spiridon, from the Hermitage of Rădeni, county Neamt, to the study written by Mihai-Silviu Chirilă "Fellowship with heresy - Biblical and Patristic Expressions"] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N9qOWI3KhI2gpuRvqUtPOfuHRCsAN4QH/view?usp=sharing

ΤΟ ΑΓΙΟΝ ΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ Η ΔΙΑΧΡΟΝΙΚΗ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΑΣΗ ΕΝΑΝΤΙ ΤΩΝ ΑΙΡΕΣΕΩΝ [Mount Athos and its Timeless Attitude Towards Heresies], by Monk Chariton the Hagiorite (Mount Athos: 2017). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u6uSRw4PQ7dEiHa4cbpw5Pa2I0X0mvWT/view?usp=sharing

  Fr. Cyprian [Koutsoumbas, +2013], Hegumen of the newly received monastery [of Saints Cyprian and Justina] in Fili, had obviously discerned the importance of the spirituality of the ailing Bishop Chrysostomos [Naslimes, +1973] of Magnesia, whom he visited in person at least twice during that period [ circa 1970], in order to benefit from his patient bearing of the cross of sickness, as well as to receive his blessings; this was done in combination with visits he made to Eldress Makrina [Vassopoulou, +1995] of the Holy Monastery of Panagia Odigitria in Portaria, Pelion, who was the spiritual child of Hieromonk Ephraim [Moraitis, +2019] the Athonite, later Abbot of the Monastery of Philotheou on Mount Athos, and finally of [St. Anthony the Great Monastery in] Arizona, America. Fr. Ephraim, at that time, was not commemorating the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople [Athenagoras I, +1972] on Mount Athos and when he went to the metochion in Portaria, he liturgically commemorat...

Ἐπίσκοπος Mαγνησίας Xρυσόστομος Nασλίμης (1910–1973): Ἀκατάβλητος Ἀγωνιστὴς Πίστεως καὶ Ὑπομονῆς [Bishop Chrysostomos Naslimes of Magnesia (1910-1973): An Invincible Struggler in Faith and Fortitude], by Bishop Klemes of Gardikion. Vol. 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uSNqvhX3ls6e_qYzQlVU9af_v8NcQWBd/view?usp=sharing Vol. 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I_fN4hmYzuxHke6G-ifjrPechpvzTSGv/view?usp=sharing

“The Censure of Error and the Confession of Orthodox Truth in Relation to Contemporary Ecumenism,” by Bishop Klemes of Gardikion, dated February 8/21, 2010. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kmphsNVFP5OC16dWMtalk2TTQ/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-wHQ6TTJC3M8feh3OVJRd1Q

Refutation of an “Encyclical Sermon” by a Hierarch of the New Calendar Orthodox Church of Greece and a Wily Denigrator of Anti-Ecumenists and “Old Calendarists” Who Have Walled Themselves Off From His Church , by His Grace, Bishop Klemes of Gardikion, dated June 9/22, 2014. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GEA-PbvvAmKQQlq2sD80_v-9lbqF9izz/view?usp=sharing

  ON THE NEW RESISTERS ~ An Email Excerpt from Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Etna (+2019) ~ Dear …. May God bless you. Thank you for the article about Mt. Athos and several well-known clergymen in Greece who have finally spoken out against the ills of “world” Orthodoxy and its religious syncretism. “Walling off” is fine. But then comes the question of whom one should commemorate, who will ordain clergy, where one will turn for synodal governance, and, to be honest, where one will find security for his property and the organizational and external necessities for practicing the Faith. Simply to become independent is a better definition of schism than defining it by reference to joining Bishops, clergy, and faithful who have correctly and rightly organized in an ecclesiastical fashion in resisting heresy, whether we like that fact—and them—or not. As a result of this misunderstanding, many of those who have walled themselves off (and non-commemorators on the Holy Mountain a...

“Schism” or “Walling-Off”? The Calendar Question and the Heresy of Ecumenism , by Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, dated May 25, 1998. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1kmphsNVFP5MnJmQ3NCV3NVWHM/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-7BLlwthO1-8Ywhw2LkfS0w

“An Open Epistle to Orthodox Christians Everywhere from the True (Old Calendar) Orthodox Church of Greece,” by Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili (+2013). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TQ-wihYQaoTj1wzHfv2acPA9GuUp06GD/view?usp=sharing

“Appendix 1: Kontoglou on the Old Calendarists,” from Two Modern Greek Titans of Mind and Spirit: The Private Correspondence of Constantine Cavarnos and Photios Kontoglou (1952–1965) , by Archimandrite Patapios and Archbishop Chrysostomos (Etna: 2014). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a698OnsXjXlbcRl-s9W9179xb4HXuGYx/view?usp=sharing

  Letter on the Calendar Issue This letter was originally written in 1968 to Dr. John Johnstone, Jr., of Kirkwood, Missouri, by Monk Ephraim of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, Massachusetts. It was written in answer to his questions concerning the New Calendar and its adoption. In a revised form, it appeared as paper No. 2 in the St. Nectarios Educational Series in 1975.   Dear Doctor: I pray that this letter finds you well in the grace and peace of our Savior. When we first received your letter concerning the new calendar and the manner of its adoption, we were misled by Fr. Meyendorff's statement that the change had taken place as a result of the adoptions of the Vatopedi Synod of 1923. We did not check to see whether in fact such a synod had taken place and we took it for granted that it had. What was new to us was Fr. Meyendorff’s contention that the new calendar had once been "adopted" by a synod of the Orthodox Church. When our elder, Fr. Pant...