Bishop Petros Astyfides on Grace

"I want to be sincere with you, I respect your strictness, but my faith is different. I believe that the Holy Mysteries of the New Calendarists possess grace. And you know, it’s a very good thing that I did not sign the 1974 Encyclical. I did not, and of course I know the hypocrisy of those who did. They didn't believe in it and would never have dared to [originally] introduce it."

- Metropolitan Petros of Astoria, during a visit to the Holy Synod of the Matthewites in 1986. Quoted by Archimandrite Kyrikos Kontogiannis (later Matthewite Metropolitan of Mesogaia) in A Brief Sketch of the New Calendarist and Florinite Schisms, 1989, pages 24-25 (in Greek).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monument to Orthodoxy: The Trial of a Zealot

  Monument to Orthodoxy: The Trial of a Zealot   We present to you the minutes of the trial of the Athonite Zealot Monk Theokletos Germanos (in the world, Thomas Vasileiou), which took place in 1973. The reason for the trial of Fr. Theokletos was his cessation of the commemoration of the name of the then Patriarch of Constantinople Dimitrios. The dialogues are particularly revealing regarding persons and views, and Fr. Theokletos' boldness is most impressive, reminiscent of the ancient Fathers in times of heresy. PATRIARCHAL EXARCHY 1) President: Metropolitan Maximos of Stavroupolis 2) Exarch: Metropolitan Dionysios of Drama 3) Exarch: Metropolitan Titus of Rethymno and Mylopotamos   COMMITTEE 4) Protos : Elder Archimandrite Mitrophanes of Hilandar 5) Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Dionysiou, Archimandrite Gabriel 6) Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Philotheou, Archimandrite Papa-Ephraim [later Abbot of St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona] 7) Former Abb...
Read more

On Anti-Ecumenism: Words versus Actions

  On Anti-Ecumenism June 2016 Anti-ecumenism is a movement that opposes ecumenism. Anti-ecumenism employs two strategies of warfare against ecumenism. One group of anti-ecumenists is selected and appointed by ecumenism itself—this speaks volumes. To make it more understandable, it is similar to how one politician might be pro-American, another pro-German, another Anglophile, another Russophile, and so on. The other group of anti-ecumenists consists of the Hellenophiles = those with a Greek spirit, the Christ-minded, the genuine Orthodox. Of course, there are also the counterfeit = false Christians, that is, the hypocrites who deceive the simple faithful because, as the saying goes, they present a good outward appearance = facade, while inwardly they are full of impurity. The pan-heresy of Ecumenism, since the beginning of the previous century, has been attempting by every means to conquer Orthodox Hellenism. Ecumenism has dissolved the boundaries of respect, invaded Orthodoxy, and ...
Read more

Letters to a Troubled Monastic by Archpriest Gregory Williams (+2016)

Letters to a Troubled Monastic: Excerpts From Recent Correspondence Between a Monk and Fr. Gregory Williams  Monk: Christ is risen! Thanks again for your thoughtful and thought-provoking letter, Father. Fr. G: I understand too well the dilemma in which you find yourself, and am quite certain it is one which is widespread. I make no claim to being able to determine whether any hierarchy “has grace” or not. Indeed, I’m quite convinced this is an unanswerable (and perhaps altogether unwise, even false) question. I think we’re assured that the Holy Spirit “bloweth where It listeth”. Does the Holy Spirit watch over and at least in some sense guide my children (and friends) who find themselves on a radically different path from mine (even entirely non-Orthodox)? I certainly hope so. Is He active throughout the world, even in people & places where the true Faith is completely unknown? To say otherwise would, I think, be heresy. So that’s not where the “solution” is to be found. Are ma...
Read more