Concerning the Validity or Invalidity of the Mysteries of Uncondemned Ecumenists

Protopresbyter Angelos Angelakopoulos | March 20, 2022

Many wonder whether the holy Mysteries performed by Ecumenist clergy who are heretical and not synodally condemned are valid or not.

If we wish to be consistent with ecclesiastical history and the practice of the Holy Fathers, we must emphasize that the validity of the ecclesiastical Mysteries cannot be questioned, whether they are performed by those who have not been orthodoxly and synodally condemned as heretics and defenders of heresy and schism, or by those who have not separated themselves from their heretical false shepherds and false teachers.

Unfortunately, some "zealots" have claimed the opposite in the past, as well as recently, having excessive zeal and "not according to knowledge." One of the erroneous theories of the schismatic [sic] Zealot Old Calendarists, which was also the cause of their major divisions, is that they claim that as soon as an Orthodox clergyman preaches heretical doctrines or an Orthodox Church commits some illegality, they automatically fall from Divine Grace and are cut off from the Church.

Of course, according to Orthodox teaching, this happens only after a synodal trial and condemnation of them, [1] or when they themselves abandon the Orthodox Church, which is the steward of Divine Grace.

The heretical or schismatic-communing clerics, since they have not yet been condemned by an Orthodox Synod, perform valid Mysteries, as St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite explains in the second footnote of the 3rd Apostolic Canon: "However, if the synod does not effectively carry out the deposition of the priests or the excommunication or anathematization of the laity, these priests and laity are neither deposed in action nor excommunicated or anathematized ... the command of the Canons, without the practical execution by the second party, that is, the synod, is incomplete and does not act immediately or by itself prior to judgment." [2]

Therefore, the cleric loses the priesthood after a just synodal condemnation, as St. Nikodemos again notes in the second footnote of the 28th Apostolic Canon: "For he who has been justly deposed, both inwardly by reason of his unworthiness and outwardly by the Synod, has lost the efficacy of the priesthood." [3]

Among many other examples of saints of our Church, we will limit ourselves to mentioning only the following two:

a) St. Anatolios, Patriarch of Constantinople (03-07), was ordained in the 5th century by Dioscorus, the Monophysite heresiarch, who at that time had not yet been condemned. Despite this, the validity of his ordination was accepted, as attested by the Seventh Holy and Ecumenical Council: "The most holy Patriarch Tarasios said: What do you say about Anatolios? Was he not the exarch of the holy Fourth Council? And behold, he was ordained by the impious Dioscorus, with Eutyches present. And we, indeed, accept those ordained by heretics, just as Anatolios was accepted. And again, it is truly the voice of God, that the children shall not die for the sins of their fathers, but each shall die for his own sin; and that ordination is from God. Since some may perhaps doubt concerning Anatolios, let what pertains to him be read." [4]

b) St. Cyril of Jerusalem (18-03) received episcopal ordination from Akakios, the Metropolitan of Caesarea, who was a declared Arian (and indeed the leader of a faction of the Arians), but still remained and functioned within the Church, as he had not yet been synodally condemned. [5]

Can we then claim that the heretical Dioscorus and Akakios, before synodal judgment, did not perform valid Mysteries? If yes, then we directly question the ordination and priesthood of the two saints of our Church, Anatolios and Cyril, and render them unordained and false bishops, which is absurd and, even more so, blasphemous!

St. John Chrysostom asks: "Does God ordain all, even the unworthy?" And he answers: "God does not ordain all, but He works through all, even if they are unworthy, for the salvation of the people." [6] That is to say, "Does God ordain everyone, even the unworthy? Certainly, God does not ordain everyone, but He works through all, even if they happen to be unworthy, for the salvation of the people."

Our father among the saints, Nektarios, Bishop of Pentapolis, [7] the Wonderworker, says the following concerning the divine Mysteries:

Concerning the persons performing the Mysteries

1. For the divine Mysteries to be performed and completed mystically, the following are required:

(a) A priest, who must be canonically ordained by the Church and commissioned by the Church of Christ, which is the only entrusted authority, having received the command from the Greatest High Priest, Christ, who is the sole celebrant of the Mysteries. For it is not the persons who perform the Mysteries and transmit Grace, but Christ, the Great High Priest Himself, who both offers the mystery of the Eucharist and is offered, and both gives and is given, and sanctifies those who partake.

(b) They must be performed according to the tradition of the Church, which was handed down to the Church by the holy Apostles.

2. The Catholic (Orthodox) Church permits only those who are canonically sealed, called, and ordained, as required by ecclesiastical tradition, and who do not hold any pernicious heresy, to celebrate the liturgy.

Concerning the moral perfection of those who perform the Mysteries

3. The moral perfection of the priest performing the Mysteries, or the degree of his faith, does not contribute at all to the performance of the Mysteries, even if these are lacking in him, because he is an instrument of the Church and acts on behalf of the Church, and God gives the Grace on behalf of the Church. If he is unworthy, he will give account for his boldness, but the Mysteries are still performed and completed.

4. The Church, as a divine institution, has the Spirit; and since the Spirit remains in the Church of Christ forever, the Church, regardless of the moral character and faith of individuals, possesses the Spirit within itself forever. The Church is Christ, because it is His Body, and He is its Head.

Concerning the completion of the Mysteries

5. The completion and sanctification of the Mysteries, as independent acts, are not only separate from the priest who performs the mystery, but they are also independent of the moral perfection and faith of the one receiving the mystery. The mystery was performed, the sun rose, grace was poured out, the word was spoken, those with eyes saw, the sensitive ones felt, those who hear listened, and those with minds to understand understood; however, the blind, the deaf, the insensitive, and the slow of mind slept and showed no interest. On the day of judgment, they will be without excuse, for due to their willful negligence, they deprived themselves of the saving Grace. This applies to the members of the Church, for the Mysteries are performed only on behalf of the faithful.

Since they have not yet been condemned and deposed by an Orthodox Synod, the Mysteries they perform are certainly valid. But how does their performance benefit them? The performance of the Mysteries and the partaking of the Most Pure Mysteries is for their judgment and condemnation, for the Precious and All-Holy Body and Blood of Christ is fire for those who knowingly sin unworthily and unrepentantly, especially the heretical ecumenists, whom it burns. How is it possible for them, on the one hand, to commune with the very God-man Christ and, on the other hand, to persist unabated in the satanically driven and cursed Ecumenism?

The great dogmatist of our Orthodox Church, St. John of Damascus, [8] says: "Holy Communion is called and truly is communion, because through it we are in communion with Christ and partake of His flesh and divinity. Moreover, through it we are in communion and unity with one another. Since we partake of the one bread, we all become one body of Christ and one blood and members of one another, by becoming of one body with Christ.

Therefore, with all our strength, let us be careful not to receive communion from heretics, nor to give it to them. For the Lord says, 'Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine,' so that we do not become participants in their false beliefs and their condemnation. If there is union with Christ and among ourselves, we are certainly united by will with all who partake together with us; for this union happens by will and not without our consent."

In conclusion, we Orthodox cannot receive communion in churches from the hands of Ecumenists, especially together with the vaccinated and masked, because by our consent and will, we are united with them.

Despite the above, ecclesiastical teaching does not consider the ecclesiastical communion of the faithful with those who are not condemned as heretical or schismatically inclined to be indifferent.

Thus, while their Mysteries are valid, those who partake of these Mysteries with an attitude of indifference toward the betrayal of the Church by those performing them are accountable for their disregard of this danger.

St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, in his letter to Antonianus regarding pre-synod communion with those who had fallen and apostatized during the early persecutions, instructs: "But if anyone, before our Synod and before the decision chosen by the entire Synod, has rashly communed with the fallen, he himself should be prevented from communion." [9]

Among many other relevant recommendations of the Saints, the holy Joseph Bryennios, teacher of Saints Mark of Ephesus and Gennadios Scholarios, Patriarch of Constantinople, referring to the decisions of the Patriarchal Synod of 1405-1406 concerning the then-attempted union of the Uniate Cypriots with the Orthodox of Constantinople, recounts the following synodal prohibition towards the Cypriots: "If they confess the Pope of Rome as holy and regard his bishops as their own bishops, you must not commune with them... and if they align themselves with the bishops of the Latins (for to align with them is to commune with them; and he who communes with an excommunicated person is also excommunicated), you must not commune with them." [10] Thus, Joseph Bryennios clearly states, echoing the synodal decision of Orthodox Constantinople, that communion and joint prayer of the Orthodox with those who have officially prayed together with heretics or accept their priesthood as valid is not permitted.

St. Athanasius the Great says decisively: "...those who openly hold impious beliefs must be rejected, and those who claim not to share the views of Arius but still commune with the impious must be avoided. And especially those whose mindset we reject, we must flee from communion with them. If anyone pretends to confess the right faith but is seen communing with those, you should urge him to cease such a practice; and if he promises to do so, treat him as a brother; but if he stubbornly persists, then reject him." [11]

The schismatic heretics of Ukraine, as well as those who commune with them (the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria, the Church of Cyprus, and the Church of Greece), are incapable of salvation. This is established by the excommunication imposed on them by the Holy Canons, the 45th Apostolic Canon [12] and the 2nd of Antioch, [13] which serve as a prelude to their eternal separation from the flock of Christ.

It is, of course, understood that in the case of joint prayer and concelebration between Orthodox ecumenists, who have not yet been synodally condemned, and condemned heretics (such as Papists, Protestants, Monophysites, Anglicans, female bishops—priestesses) or non-Christians, or with the leaders of the schismatic heretics of Ukraine, Epiphanius Dumenko, and of Skopje, Stefan Vezlanovski, and their associates, the services and "Mysteries" are entirely invalid and devoid of grace.

NOTES

[1] St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, The Pedalion, ed. V. Rigopoulos, Thessaloniki 2003, pp. 4-5, 696.

[2] Ibid., p. 5.

[3] Ibid., p. 29.

[4] Mansi 12, 1042C.

[5] Archimandrite Epiphanios Theodoropoulos, The Two Extremes: Ecumenism and Zealotry, ed. Holy Convent of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, Troizina, 2nd ed., Athens 1997, p. 91.

[6] St. John Chrysostom, EPE 23 (495-505).

[7] St. Nektarios of Pentapolis, "On the Divine Mysteries of the Holy Church of Christ: Part A—On the Mysteries in General," in Collected Works, vol. VI, ed. Holy Metropolis of Hydra, Spetses, and Aegina, Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity (St. Nektarios), Aegina, Athens, 2012, pp. 155-158.

[8] St. John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, ch. 86, "On the Holy and Immaculate Mysteries of the Lord," ed. P. Pournaras, Thessaloniki 2002, p. 375.

[9] “Si quis vero ante concilium nostrum et ante sententiam de omnio concilio statutam lapsis temere communicare voluisset, ipse a communicatione abstineretur”, PL 3, 790A.

[10] Volume II, p. 19.

[11] PG 26, 1188.

[12] St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, The Pedalion, p. 50.

[13] Ibid., pp. 407-8.

Greek source: https://sotiriosnavs.com/peri-tis-egkyrotitos-i%ce%84-mi-ton-mystiri/