A non-commemorator homily: "The Christ of Orthodoxy and the false christ of Ecumenism"

 Monk Savvas of Great Lavra | January 27, 2019

 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Honorable and pious fathers, venerable mothers, and beloved brothers in Christ

By the grace of the Holy Trinity-God and with the blessing of the Most Holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are once again among you, beloved fathers, fellow strugglers in this good fight against the devilish pan-heresy of the forerunner of the antichrist, which is called ecumenism. It is a heresy that promotes a false christ, different from the Christ of our Orthodoxy, our Lord and Savior, the second Person of the Holy Trinity.

According to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, heresy is likened to a deadly epidemic disease that infects the body of the Church, and through this disease, spiritual death ensues. According to Saint Gregory Palamas, heresy is a second form of atheism because it proclaims a non-existent, false christ who cannot save man.

The manner of confronting heresy throughout our entire Church history, according to Holy Scripture, the councils, and the teaching of the Holy Fathers, has been, is, and will remain only one: to preserve the dogma as we have received it, unchanged and undefiled, by breaking communion with the heretics, the corrupted members of the Church, who essentially cut themselves off from the true vine.

And although, without exception, all the Holy Fathers and Confessors confronted heretics by breaking communion with them, with the primary goal of awaiting an Orthodox Synod that would condemn the heresy and especially those who lead it and those who follow it, this is not happening today. For the first time in the history of the Church, there is confusion regarding what we must do or rather what we should have done long ago, and as a result of our inactivity, the pan-heresy of ecumenism has been strengthened, and recently it has even been ratified synodally as supposedly official Orthodox teaching.

This destructive indifference is due to the fact that the so-called traditionalist theologians, priests, and laity, because of their lack of a sacrificial spirit, have not proceeded to the necessary and useful application of Canon 15 of the First-Second Council of Constantinople, from the time of Saint Photius the Great. This canon encapsulates the entire tradition of the Church regarding the stance toward heretical bishops before their synodal condemnation, establishing the breaking of ecclesiastical communion (the cessation of commemoration) with those who attack the faith, the Holy Canons, and the Tradition of the Church.

Thus, these same theologians, educated in the worldly environment of Protestant theological schools, distort the Canon with their own heretical sophisms and proclaim ideas incomprehensible to Orthodox believers and foreign to the Holy Fathers. Thus, some now claim that:

1. this Canon 15 is not mandatory but optional because the canon does not mention any specific penalty;

2. those who break communion with ecumenist bishops not yet synodally condemned, even for doctrinal reasons, provoke or create schism in the Church;

3. protests must be made at the right time and with evidence;

4. we must not separate from the Church, implying that the bishop is the Church and being separated from him would mean losing our salvation;

5. we must wait for a council to condemn those who preach heresies and only then break communion with them;

6. the struggle must be carried out within the Church;

7. whatever we do must be according to the advice of saints and God-illumined spiritual fathers;

8. it is preferable to be in delusion within the Church than to be in truth outside of it;

9. only when they reach common communion with heretics (this being the "red line") will we break communion with the ecumenist hierarchs;

10. we can attend the services of ecumenist heretics because they have not been judged and deposed by any synod, and therefore the mysteries they perform are valid. Such people direct the faithful to priests who profess Orthodoxy only in words but, in deeds, betray it and accept the robber synod of Crete;

11. some argue that the breaking of communion should be a form of protest and should last "for a time" (that is, for a limited period).

All these interpretations of the application of Canon 15 are anti-patristic and heretical, as evidenced by the way the Holy Fathers practically applied it throughout the history of the Church.

In the fifth sticheron of the Resurrection, at Vespers on Saturday evening (Tone 1), our Church sings: "Let us praise Him who willingly, in the flesh, was crucified, suffered, was buried, and rose from the dead, saying: Strengthen Your Church in the true faith, O Christ, and reconcile our life, for You are good and the lover of mankind."

This expression "in the true faith," in this case (in Greek, it is a single word, orthodoxia, in the dative case, but it is translated with the accusative case—translator's note), which we read in the above sticheron, means "with true faith or through true faith." Therefore, the text would be: "Strengthen, O Christ, Your Church through true faith."

What, then, is Orthodoxy? Is it the Church? If we want to be precise, it is not the Church itself but something through which the Church is upheld. It is the health of the body of the Church (that is, the Church is called Orthodoxy when it is entirely healthy in faith – translator's note). Conversely, heresy is a disease in the body of the Church. Just as many diseases can attack the human body while the state of health is singular, in the same way, there are many heresies that can attack the members of the Church, whereas Orthodoxy, the state of health within it, is singular.

It is indeed remarkable how each cell of any organism functions. It knows its exact mission, its role within that organism, and it operates and acts according to a program imprinted in its nucleus by the Creator, namely in its DNA.

There, in the center of each cell, all the characteristics of our body are imprinted, and as the body develops or grows, the cells are guided by this plan that exists within them. They take their place, are formed, multiply, replace themselves, fulfill their functions harmoniously, and the organism functions properly: it is healthy. If something goes wrong, if a cell deviates from the program imprinted in it, then it no longer fulfills its purpose, it "goes mad," becomes erratic, multiplies uncontrollably, and turns into a cancerous cell. At that point, the tumor must be removed with the surgeon's scalpel.

Similarly, the cells of the Body of the Church that are attacked by heresy deviate from their purpose and no longer fulfill their work properly within this Body. They turn into spiritual cancers and are removed from the healthy Body of the Church. The Orthodox Christian is a healthy cell of the organism, of the Body of the Church, which knows and fulfills its purpose. That is, it is well-positioned and steadfast on its path toward likeness to God, toward deification.

To better understand the meaning of Orthodoxy, let us examine the compound word: orthi + doxa (orthos = straight, doxa – derived from the verb dokeo – meaning opinion, belief, or faith). Thus, the primary meaning of Orthodoxy is: right faith, true opinion, or true belief. However, because, according to the psalmist, "every man is a liar," any human opinion or belief regarding the purpose of man is false.

Only God's opinion, that is, the teaching that comes from Him, the one He has revealed to us, is right and true. The One who created us is the One who revealed to us our lofty purpose and calls people willingly to fulfill it. Orthodoxy is the true answer to our existential question (where are we headed? – translator's note). It is not a product of human rationalism but is the revelation of God. It is the truth revealed to man by the Holy Trinity.

On the day of Pentecost, the birthday of Christ's Church, the Most Holy Spirit entrusted the Holy Apostles with the "entire" true faith, that is, Orthodoxy. This is our priceless treasure, which we have received through the Holy Fathers from the Apostles and have undertaken to preserve unchanged, whole, as a sacred covenant.

It is the experience of the uncreated grace of God, the participation in His divine energies, which is granted to the worthy, that is, to the Saints. These Saints, who have reached these heavenly states, like the Holy Apostle Paul, have tasted the joy of God's glory, have heard "unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Corinthians 12:4), and they themselves have left us the "guidance" necessary for us to also reach this state, which cannot be expressed in words. This is the teaching of the Church, which we have received as expressed in Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition.

Both Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition cannot be interpreted outside the boundaries of Orthodoxy. Any attempt to approach the divine mysteries through reason or logic has led to heresy. For those who have not reached the spiritual stature of the Holy Fathers (and we are among them), there remains nothing for us but to humbly follow the interpretations of the Holy Fathers, as it is written in the Synodikon of Orthodoxy: "according to the theology of the God-inspired Saints and the faithful mind of the Church."

Having acquired the experience of the Holy Spirit—the same experience as that of the Holy Apostles and the Fathers before them—the Holy Fathers are the only infallible interpreters of the God-inspired texts. These Saints, who lived in past centuries and still live today, were able to recognize true teaching (Orthodoxy) and distinguish it from false teaching (heresy). Thus, gathered in councils, they condemned heresies and clarified the truth, not as newly discovered dogmas, but as "the faith once delivered to all the saints," thereby elucidating and formulating it.

We emphasize this point because the Papists and, in general, all heretics believe that there is a development in dogmas and that, over time, humanity receives new revelations. For this reason, the Papists continually formulate new, unheard-of dogmas. The Holy Fathers, however, clarified what was already known from the beginning whenever doubt arose regarding it. The God-bearing Fathers confronted each heresy as soon as it appeared, and through their God-inspired teaching, they firmly expressed the sound doctrine of the Church.

Throughout time, various heresies have arisen. The Church has been tried more by heresies than by persecutions and pagans. The Gnostics, Sabellians, Arians, Apollinarians, Nestorians, Pneumatomachians, Monophysites, and Monothelites were some of the heretical groups cut off from the body of the Church. However, when the storm of Iconoclasm struck, the Church was greatly tested because the Iconoclasts did not appear as innovators but as preachers of a return to the original simplicity of the Church. They considered the veneration of holy icons to be something foreign that had infiltrated the Church and insisted that it should be abandoned. They viewed the veneration of holy icons and relics as idolatry and fought against it. The Holy Fathers of that time immediately recognized this deception and opposed it.

For if miracles were performed through the shadows and handkerchiefs of the Holy Apostles, how much more through their icons and holy relics, to which the faithful, of course, did not offer worship (as to God) but veneration. By venerating the Holy Icons and Holy Relics, "the honor passes to its prototype" (Saint Basil the Great). These truths were wonderfully formulated by the Holy Fathers at the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

However, for approximately a century, the Church of Christ was persecuted, while the official Church of the time was iconoclastic. On the patriarchal throne of Constantinople and the great metropolitan thrones of the Empire, the iconoclastic "hierarchs" insulted the Orthodox as heretics "who believe in wood." The Orthodox clergy were few and persecuted, serving the few and frightened faithful at the risk of their own lives.

The Church then revealed new Martyrs and Confessors, and when the time of trial passed in an unexpected manner, the restoration of Orthodoxy took place after the death of Theophilos, the last iconoclast emperor. After 116 years of severe trials (726–842), the small flock of the Orthodox was recognized, and the "official Church" of the iconoclasts collapsed like a house of cards. Since then, the heresy of iconoclasm has not reappeared, except with the emergence of Protestant groups, which originated from the Latin Papist heresy, seven centuries later. To this day, Protestants, despite all their other differences, agree in their insistence on the heresy of iconoclasm. In their writings, as we have observed with our own eyes, they glorify the iconoclasts of the period 726–842, just as we today bless the Orthodox iconophiles.

The apostolic reading of the Sunday of Orthodoxy (about "Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens") reminds us that the Church always, in every century, lives the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection, in a continuous anamnesis and repetition.

The trial was followed by victory, and this again by trial. This happened both before and after iconoclasm. The same continues to happen to this day. When it seems that the flame of true faith flickers, almost on the verge of extinguishing, suddenly everything is unexpectedly overturned, and the flame of Orthodoxy is reignited. This is also happening today.

For this reason, we who have broken ecclesiastical communion with those who accept the heretical council of Kolymbari must not be afraid or disheartened by the state prevailing in our Church, but instead take the example of the Martyrs and Confessors and rejoice that we are following their path, which keeps us within the Church.

After iconoclasm, Papism, Barlaamism, and the period of Western Venetian domination in the East attempted to extinguish Orthodoxy, which, however, once again triumphed. This was thanks to the struggles of the Three New Hierarchs: Saint Photius the Great, Saint Gregory Palamas, and Saint Mark of Ephesus.

The anathemas against Barlaam, Akindynos, and the Latins in general were added to the Synodicon of Orthodoxy and are proclaimed during the procession with the Holy Icons as an eternal rebuke of the Latin-minded! Then another trial followed, this time from the East. The conquest of most Orthodox lands by the Mohammedans became an occasion for new martyric struggles. And once again, Orthodoxy survived.

In the last century, the 20th century, new trials and persecutions shook the entire Orthodox world. Atheism passed through fire and sword in the Slavic countries as well as in your country, Romania, so that all these nations would give new Martyrs and Confessors, and then atheism collapsed before the astonished eyes of humanity. However, before atheism disappeared—or rather, as soon as it came to dominate the countries of Eastern Europe—a new trial emerged: the pan-heresy of ecumenism.

We have all heard of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, commonly known by its English name: AIDS. Infection with the HIV virus gradually weakens, neutralizes, or destroys the immune system of the body (its defense system), and as a result, the person becomes vulnerable to any kind of infection.

Thus, ecumenism does the same. It destroys the spiritual immune system and leaves Christians exposed to all kinds of heresies. For this reason, Saint Justin Popovich, who reposed in the Lord after ceasing the commemoration of heretics (years before – translator's note), called ecumenism a pan-heresy.

Ecumenism attacks the Orthodox criterion—the uniqueness of revealed truth—and considers that all heresies, and even all religions, contain elements of truth that can lead man to salvation. It diverts man from his true purpose, which is deification, and leads him toward other goals.

The degradation caused by ecumenism in our spiritual defense was gradual and progressive. Ecumenism began 118 years ago, with the heretical encyclical of 1903 issued by the Freemason Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople, continued with the imposition of the new calendar by the also Freemason Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis, and was consolidated through the participation of the Orthodox Churches in the so-called W.C.C., where all dogmas and Ecumenical Councils were annulled through the heretical Protestant ecclesiology of love, the primacy of the pope, and finally the pseudo-council of Kolymbari, in which all heresies were recognized as canonical churches, having a common faith and dogma.

Before all these things happened, there were exchanges of messages between religious leaders, common prayers, common religious ceremonies, joint declarations and agreements, common gatherings at symposiums, conferences, even cruises for discussions aboard ships, and any other common activities one might imagine, so that the Orthodox conscience of the faithful would be annulled, leading them to believe that there is no essential difference between Orthodoxy and heresy, between Christianity and Judaism or Islam or Buddhism. Until they reached the point of giving Communion to heretics in Orthodox churches! However, as Saint Paul says: "What fellowship has light with darkness? And what agreement has Christ with Belial, or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?" (II Corinthians 6:14-15). We will not mention here the reference to the Holy Canons that are violated by this syncretistic behavior, so as not to be tiresome. After all, these canons are known to all of us, more or less.

The common teaching of all the Holy Fathers is that Orthodoxy is the only truth, revealed from above, and it has no connection with the human inventions that constitute heresies and various religions. Upon this truth, which until now has been self-evident, the ecumenist heretics come today not only to contest it but also to call the Holy Canons, which prevent them from doing so, "walls of shame" and "laws of hatred." Yet these are the walls that delineate and defend Orthodoxy. For the Lord Christ Himself tells us in the parable of the vineyard that He placed boundaries for His Church: "a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard and hedged it about..." (Matthew 21:33). The new illuminators of ecumenism want the Church to be "without borders," supposedly in the name of love! Therefore, they tear down the enclosures and boundaries.

However, this is precisely an act of hatred and not of love. For if the boundaries between truth and deception are not distinct, how will those in deception recognize the truth and eventually come to their senses (have their conscience awakened)? And why do they accuse us of tearing the Church apart and claim that our preaching is one of hatred, when they should instead accuse the Holy Fathers of the same, as we follow them step by step and trace our path after theirs?

Of course, the ecumenists always declare that their actions are undertaken to attract heretics to Orthodoxy. But what is the fruit of their efforts after so many decades? The various heretics have not even come closer to Orthodoxy; rather, they have moved further away from it, and they have drawn these (the ecumenist Orthodox) far from Orthodoxy as well.

For this reason, the Holy Apostle Paul advises: "Reject a heretical man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned" (Titus 3:10-11), and the Evangelist of love, Saint John the Theologian, says of the teachers of deception: "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds." (2 John 10-11).

In light of the above, the Holy Fathers of the Church did not engage in endless dialogues with heretics, akin to negotiations for resolving differences over national borders. The truth of the faith is a non-negotiable value. It is not possible to reach an agreement between Orthodoxy and heresies through mutual concessions from both sides.

Saint Mark of Ephesus says regarding this matter: "For this reason, avoid learning compromise, and do not teach what is not steadfast, clear, and certain, for compromise is a guise that seeks to reconcile everyone, but it is lame in both feet, swept away by every wind, having as its only strength the wickedness newly painted within it." And in a letter to George Scholarios (who later became Patriarch Gennadius of Constantinople), he states: "Church matters are in no way corrected through any compromise. Between truth and falsehood, there is nothing. Just as what is outside the light is necessarily in darkness, so too he who deviates even slightly from the truth, we say according to the truth, lies in falsehood."

However, I believe there is no need for further argumentation regarding what is self-evident to anyone with normal reasoning: the boundaries between truth and falsehood are clear and real!...

Yes, some conservatives will say to us: we also see the danger of ecumenism. But you, by breaking ecclesiastical communion, have left the Church and have not stayed to fight within it, as we have. You should not abandon the ship of the Church in times of peril.

However, this is not the case. We have not abandoned the ship of the Church. What has happened, however, is that during the journey, some officers of the crew and a portion of the passengers fell into a shared madness and plunged into the waters of the heresy of ecumenism. We, who have remained on the ship, with willing hearts, bring back onto the ship any shipwrecked person who comes to their senses and wishes to return to it.

It does not matter that those who have left the ship are more numerous than those who have remained. What matters is that we stay on the ship of Orthodoxy, steadfast in what we have received. The so-called anti-ecumenists who, however, are in communion with heretical bishops who accept the Council of Crete, despite claiming to understand the madness of ecumenism, have obeyed the command of the reckless officers (fallen into heresy), that is, the ecumenist bishops, and have abandoned the purity of the faith for the sake of unity and obedience to their ecumenist leaders.

Another example given by the same conservatives: The thieves (that is, the heretics) have entered the house of Orthodoxy, and instead of staying to resist the thieves, we went outside and began throwing stones at the windows, calling those who continue to resist the thieves to come outside as well. However, again, this example is flawed. Because not only have we not left the house, abandoning it to the thieves, but from the very beginning until today, we have resisted the invaders of Orthodoxy.

However, when we saw that some of our fellow residents were yielding to the thieves and facilitating their takeover of the house of Orthodoxy, we isolated the rooms of those who had yielded, building a wall so that at least our area, where we are, might be defended and we might better resist the invaders.

But is it possible that you, the few, have the truth and are on its side? Are you the only ones who are truly Orthodox? We often hear this question. However, if quantity or numbers are the criterion of truth, then even those who ask us this question are not in the truth. For how many of the ecumenists among the Orthodox are in connection with the approximately 6 billion people on earth? They number 200, at most 300 million, and are in countries with a birth deficit, lacking natural growth.

The other 5.7 billion people, a number that continues to grow, are Confucians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Papists, etc. The multitude is not the criterion of truth. In the time of the Flood, only one family believed in the truth and was saved in the ark, while the rest of humanity perished in the waters. Holy Scripture says: "Better is one righteous man who does the will of the Lord than thousands of transgressors," and the truth-speaking mouth of the Lord Christ said: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)

So, do you consider yourselves the only Orthodox Christians on earth? This is the question our brothers who persist in the innovation of ecumenism ask us. We respond that we continue (of course, always unworthily) the tradition and struggle of the Saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John of Damascus, Theodore the Studite, Maximus the Confessor, Gregory Palamas, Photius the Great, Mark of Ephesus, and the Kollyvades Saints—that is, the struggle of the One, Holy, Apostolic, and Catholic Church. And now is the moment to say something very important, which gives meaning to our entire anti-heretical struggle. I ask you to pay attention to this because it is the key to the patristic interpretation of how, why, and until when the fight against heresy must continue.

Thus, the purpose of this holy anti-heretical struggle, following the example of the Saints mentioned above, is twofold. First, as children of the Church, as pious Orthodox Christians, we want to preserve our faith intact, without innovations, so that we may give a good account at the fearful judgment before Jesus Christ, as the Holy Apostle Paul, the Apostle of the Nations, tells us: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

The second purpose, equally as important as the first, is that we, as faithful children of the Church, as its members, defend, inform, and help our brothers and sisters—the other children and members of the Church—to escape the death-bringing pan-heresy, fulfilling the Gospel commandment: to love your neighbor as yourself. For, according to Saint John Chrysostom, you cannot be or understand what it means to be a Christian if you do not help your brother toward his salvation.

Thus, the ecclesiastical struggle we are waging is aimed not only at the return of our brothers (bishops, priests, monastics, and laity) deceived by the pan-heresy of ecumenism to Orthodoxy but also at awakening the rest of the world—whether they belong to another religion or are condemned heretics (Papists, Monophysites, etc.)—and integrating them into the bosom of Orthodoxy. In other words, our struggle is one of Orthodox mission. According to the Holy Fathers, every Christian, especially in times of heresy, must become an Orthodox missionary.

Saint Theodore the Studite mentions in the 81st Epistle (P.G. volume 99, columns 1321 A-C) the following: "The commandment of the Lord is not to remain silent in times when the faith is in danger. For He says, 'Speak and do not keep silent,' and: 'If anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him' (Hebrews 10:38), and: 'If these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out' (Luke 19:40). Therefore, when it comes to faith, we cannot say: Who am I? A priest? Not at all. A leader? Neither this. A soldier? From where? A peasant? Not this either. I am poor and procure only my daily bread. I have no reason or concern for such a matter. Alas, the stones will cry out, and you will remain silent and indifferent...? For not even the poor man himself will have any excuse on the Day of Judgment, for now he does not speak and will be worthy of condemnation for this reason alone."

Saint John Chrysostom says: "He who does not speak the truth is accountable for the blood of the sacrifice of the souls of those who are deceived!"

Saint Theophan the Recluse tells us: "But if you have already abandoned sound doctrine, what business do you have with what happens in the Church on the part of those who have not abandoned it? By the very fact that you have adopted a different opinion on various matters from that which the Church maintains, you have separated yourself from the Church. It is not the entry in the register of the baptized that makes someone a member of the Church, but the spirit and content of their beliefs. Whether or not your teaching and your name are explicitly pronounced as being under anathema, you are already subject to it when your opinions oppose the teaching of the Church and when you persist in them. Anathema is dreadful. Renounce your evil opinions!"

And Saint Basil the Great tells us: "To remain silent and say nothing when the faith is in danger is, in itself, an act of denial, while rebuking (heretics) is a sincere confession (of faith)."

Another argument we might hear is that, even if you are right about what you say regarding ecumenism, it is wrong to break communion. It is better to fall into delusion within the Church than to think rightly outside of it.

This argument has no testimony of support from the Holy Fathers and is contrary to all logic, for the Church is the true vine, as the parable of the vineyard tells us. And the branch does not bear fruit outside the vine of the Church. One cannot think rightly outside the Church while falling into delusion within it. Some who are not living members of the Church may fall into delusion, but her true members do not, for they know their purpose and strive to fulfill it with the help of Christ: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

It is evident that if someone considers themselves to be in delusion, it means they are not united with Christ, that is, they are not in the Church. But even the past actions of the Church teach us that whenever the faithful have indeed recognized an error in faith (a heresy) publicly preached by a church leader, they have cut off all ecclesiastical communion with him, even before any synodal judgment of him.

For example, when Nestorius, the predecessor (many centuries ago – translator's note) of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, preached his heresy, the faithful clergy and laity of Constantinople immediately broke ecclesiastical communion with him. They did not wait for his condemnation, nor did they say that it is better to remain united in the Church of Constantinople and err in faith than to be outside it and think rightly! The cessation of commemoration of the preacher of heresy was the duty of every Orthodox cleric. This duty is supported by Apostolic Canon 31 and fully clarified by Canon 15 of the First-Second Council of Constantinople: no one should break ecclesiastical communion with their church leadership citing personal faults of their superior, but they must do so if their bishop or priest is proven to err in matters of faith—that is, when they publicly preach a clear heresy.

In any other situation, obedience is mandatory, even if our church leadership wrongs us, punishing us without cause. Even then, we must endure and not break ecclesiastical communion. For when faith is not in danger, we should consider the proverb, "For other sins of ours, we are now being punished," and place our hope in God to grant us justice.

However, to recognize that the shepherd preaches heresy and to commemorate him as Orthodox is mockery and hypocrisy. For the so-called ecumenist cleric (for example, Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus, Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpaktos, and so many others), when facing the people during the sermon, may denounce the heresy of ecumenism. But as soon as he turns to the altar and prays to God, he commemorates the one who preaches heresy as someone who "rightly teaches the word of truth." The question arises: whom is that preacher mocking, the people or God?

Some, completely lacking patristic arguments, claim: we are not defiled, nor do we participate in heresy if we do not separate ourselves from it, as long as we have an Orthodox mindset. This argument essentially declares that our faith is personal and lacks ecclesial (universal) dimensions. It also implies that we are not members of a body with the same faith and way of life, but rather that we belong to an association or a Protestant group, where each person—and especially a bishop—can believe whatever they wish, without their faith influencing others.

However, this is essentially heresy, because in Orthodoxy there is unity of faith, not of opinions or personal beliefs. There is Holy Tradition, from which anyone who deviates becomes a heretic. There are the Holy Canons and the Saints, who define when we are defiled and how participation in heresy occurs. This idea (from the previous paragraph) is as if someone were to say: I believe, and you cannot accuse me of denying God or accepting heresy unless you hear me openly preaching it in my own words.

The Holy Fathers have established when we deny and when we accept or confess God, not only through words but also through actions, even through signs of denial or approval, and certainly through silence, which is the third form of atheism. Therefore, for someone to establish matters of significant faith issues individually or in their own way is a clear form of Protestantism.

Of course, there are also those who claim that they do not separate themselves from heresy because, in doing so, they place themselves outside the Church and prefer to fight within it. These so-called anti-ecumenists are, in fact, followers of Zizioulas’ theory of episcopocentrism, which we analyzed earlier, thereby nullifying the words of Saint Gregory Palamas, who expresses the timeless patristic interpretation regarding the relationship the faithful must have with the Church: "Those who belong to the Church of Christ belong to the truth. And those who do not belong to the truth do not belong to the Church of Christ."

These individuals, in fact, subject themselves to a heresy of the worst form of papism, which nullifies the teachings and deeds of our Saints and stands in opposition to the perennial patristic confrontation of heresies and heretics. It is also a very grave blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, who has spoken and always speaks through the Holy Fathers.

There are also some who, under the guise of piety, but in reality possessing a false piety, support and advise us as follows: "Everything that is done should be without haste, after much prayer, careful analysis of all the parameters of the issue, with the enlightenment from above of charismatic and God-inspired fathers..." (see Legământul magazine, 2016, no. 109).

The patristic response to this is: "When it comes to dogmas, we must not wait for a revelation from above, but hold fast to what we have received, even if an angel from heaven should come to proclaim another gospel to us." (Saint Theophylact of Bulgaria, in P.G., volume 124, column 525A). These individuals not only mock the Holy Fathers but also nullify the Orthodox Patristic Holy Tradition, advising us to follow the guidance of so-called enlightened and charismatic fathers, while the solution established by the Church itself through the Holy Canons, from the Holy Spirit, regarding what we are obliged to do in times of heresy, is cast into the trash!

There are also those who speak of "discernment," "red lines," and "common chalice." That is, they claim they will break communion only if a common chalice with the pope is established. Before anything else, let all those who support the above theory show us at least one canon that speaks about the common chalice, and we will resume commemoration based on it. However, no such canon exists. All the canons speak of breaking communion when there is joint prayer with heretics, because this inherently signifies a shared faith between those who pray together.

It is very clear that by failing to separate ourselves from heretics, according to the Canon of the Church and the law of God, we all become defiled by heresy and are thereby separated from our Lord Jesus Christ. Separation from Him is death and eternal hell, whether it occurs through sin or, again and again, through heresy.

The essence of the entire struggle against the pan-heresy of ecumenism, as well as against any other heresy, is the breaking of communion with heresy and heretics. This is the beginning of healing. In the case of any illness, the healing work performed by the doctor involves the following stages:

1. Diagnosis of the illness;

2. Treatment of the illness;

3. Complete recovery.

If the spiritual doctors—the shepherds of the Church—remain only at the first level, that of diagnosing, this is not only useless but also destructive. Limiting ourselves to diagnosing heresy by writing theological texts, organizing conferences, synaxes, and one-day religious events to condemn heresy, but not proceeding to confront it, actually means contributing to the spread of heresy and, ultimately, its domination over us.

It is necessary to act in a patristic manner, cutting heresy out of the body of the Church. And because no heresy exists without a head but is propagated by someone, we cut off the causes of heresy, that is, we separate ourselves from the heretical bishop—in this case, the heretical Patriarch Bartholomew Arhondonis—and from those who have already accepted the Council of Crete and are in communion with him. We cease all ecclesiastical communion with them and with those who silently agree with them, awaiting an Orthodox synod that will officially condemn and excommunicate them.

The ecumenist heretics, and now also the so-called anti-ecumenists who are entirely in communion with the heretics who signed in Crete, insult us, slander us, and accuse all of us who follow the traditions and commandments of the God-bearing Holy Fathers, claiming that "we create schism and place ourselves outside the Church," that we have invalid Mysteries, thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit, simply because we break communion with them and do not follow them in their fall into heresy. Moreover, some of them dare to call us schismatic-heretics! We, the small and poor flock, prefer to follow the continuous Holy Tradition of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, becoming "followers of the Holy Fathers."

Let us have steadfast faith, and with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church and has promised regarding His true Church that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," let us not fear but remain firm by His grace, even if all abandon us and we are left alone, following the Holy Martyrs and the Holy Apostle Paul, who tells us:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35, 38-39)

The struggle of separating from heresy is harsh, unique, and filled with slander and pain. For us, who have been persecuted and exiled for more than two years, and who face accusations of schism, of intending to create our own Church with bishops, of leading the fight toward Old Calendarist factions, of not recognizing the Saints, of seeking leadership and primacy—we consider, on the one hand, that being defamed for the love of Christ through the most shameful lies is a blessing, and on the other hand, we pray for those who call themselves Christians yet utter such lies. May God enlighten them, bring them to their senses, and lead them to repentance, for they themselves become a cause of scandal for the faithful who wish to follow the path of confession.

I pray that God, through the prayers of our Most Blessed Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, may grant us the strength to follow the example of the Saints, to preserve the faith as we have received it—whole and without innovations—even if it requires us to be persecuted unto death, and in this way to give the good answer at the fearful judgment of Christ, to whom belong glory, honor, and worship, together with His Father without beginning and His Most Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

 

Translated from the online Romanian edition: https://ortodoxlogos.ro/2024/04/07/hristosul-ortodoxiei-si-hristosul-fals-al-ecumenismului-o-omilie-din-anul-2019-a-parintelui-sava-lavriotul/