STATEMENT REGARDING "INVALID MYSTERIES" Part 2

 

STATEMENT REGARDING "INVALID MYSTERIES" (Part II)

 

The Church of Greece since 1924 has been split in two. About one-fourth of the people of Greece, and probably over half of the monks and nuns, belong to the “Old Calendarist” jurisdictions which have refused to follow the innovations of the latest Patriarchs of Constantinople and have broken communion with them. For this they have suffered persecutions, imprisonments, even martyrdom at the hands of their Orthodox brothers—the Greek government, supported by the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the State Church of Greece. The latter (the “New Calendarist” churches) have excommunicated the Old Calendarists, proclaiming their Holy Mysteries to be without grace; until very recently (and perhaps even now, I don’t know) children born of Old Calendarists marriages were officially registered with the government as “illegitimate”—something even the Protestants do not suffer in Greece. In return, the Old Calendarists have excommunicated the New Calendarists, and some of them (but not all) have declared and believe their Mysteries to be without grace.

- Excerpt from a letter by Fr. Seraphim Rose to Mr. Stamos, Palm Sunday, 1978.

 

A few days ago, prompted by various articles, we took a position (here: http://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.gr/2017/06/blog-post_15.html) with a clear Statement in which we expressed our opposition to the position of the New Calendarists regarding "invalid Mysteries," while also requesting a similar Statement from the authors and blogs of the new calendar, who had been involved in the issue of the unity of the Anti-Ecumenists and its obstacles, concerning the corresponding position of the Old Calendarists regarding "invalid Mysteries."

Although so many days have passed, no one dared to take a position, except for two notable exceptions: Archimandrite Paisios Papadopoulos and the theologian Mr. Nikolaos Savvopoulos  who proved the sincerity of their intentions. NO ONE ELSE!

Therefore, after our initial public statement, these two Declarations will remain as they are, as a reproach to the rest of the New Calendarist blogs and authors, who did not dare to take a public position.

However, something very important must also be noted. As is well known, within the Old Calendarist community, there are two positions regarding the issue of the Mysteries of the Innovators.

We aligned ourselves with this position:

1. Which is expressed in the Official Ecclesiological Document of our Synod, where it is clearly stated that It "does not provide assurance concerning their validity," referring to the Mysteries of the official Churches, "having in view the convocation of a Major Synod" (the Document here: https://hotca.org/pdf/TrueOrthodoxOppositionEcumenism.pdf ).

2. Which is analyzed in the relevant Encyclicals of the former Metropolitan of Florina, St. Chrysostomos (+1955):

"It is not only individual Bishops acting in isolation who are not justified in holding or stating such an opinion regarding the invalidation of Mysteries and the repetition thereof, since they have no competence or authority in this regard, but not even a local Orthodox Church has the right to annul the validity of Mysteries without the judgment of the whole Church, whose exclusive right it is to deprive clergy who fall into heresy, and neither repent nor reject it, of the right to celebrate valid and efficacious Mysteries; for, whoever does not have the ability to confer a Divine gift is, consequently, not entitled to withdraw it."

(Pastoral Encyclical, June, 1, 1944)

 

"Hence, we draw the conclusion that a recognized Orthodox Church only loses her Orthodox character and the validity of her Divine Mysteries when she is recognized as heretical or schismatic by a Pan-Orthodox Synod, which alone has the right to withhold from her the Grace and the Divine validity of her Mysteries, since it alone has the right to impart these to her. In view of this, since the sanctifying Grace and validity of the Divine Mysteries are not bestowed by the Bishop or the Priest who celebrates them—he being simply a means or an instrument for imparting Grace—, but by the Orthodox character of the Church, in whose name these Mysteries are celebrated, what may be an un-Orthodox understanding of certain ecclesiastical questions that are, in the expression of Saint Basil the Great, capable of solution cannot diminish, much less remove, the Orthodox character of a Church or the validity of the Mysteries that are celebrated in her name... The demagogy and the opportunism of the contrary opinion lie, on the one hand, in the hope of attracting other converts to the Old Calendar, brandishing the invalidity of the Mysteries of the New Calendarists as a bugbear, and, on the other hand, in keeping these followers, and especially the gullible and the lukewarm, in our sacred struggle."

(Clarification of the Pastoral Encyclical, Athens, January 18, 1945)

 

3. Which was also declared by the Russian Church Abroad, under Saint Philaret (+1985) (from whom our Bishops derive their Apostolic Succession):

"Regarding the question of the presence or absence of grace among the New Calendarists, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia does not consider itself or any other Local Church to have the authority to make a final decision, since a categorical assessment of this matter can only be made by a duly convened, competent Ecumenical Council, with the obligatory participation of the free Church of Russia."

 ("Orthodox Word," November - December 1974)

 

Therefore, after what was written in our two Declarations, we kindly ask that if, over time, you encounter dissenters who complain to you about this issue of the validity of the Mysteries, you refer them to these Declarations, thus demonstrating who truly desires unity and who is indifferent, or perhaps does not even wish for it.

 

Blogs "Κρυφό Σχολειό" and "Εν Τούτω Νίκα"

 

Source: https://krufo-sxoleio.blogspot.com/2017/06/blog-post_26.html