After the great scandal caused among the faithful in the year 1926 by the celebration of Pascha on an anti-canonical date, by the light of a small lamp barely illuminating the darkness of the cell in the wilderness of Pocrov Skete, Father Glicherie wrote the following to Bishop Nicodim:
Most Reverend Master,
The discussions held at Neamț
Monastery have disturbed both me and everyone present there. Many of the monks
and brethren from the monastery have also come to know that what you have done,
by changing the calendar, is an error. Here at Pocrov Skete, I have not
presented the change of our Church calendar as a matter of the Church's
progress, as Your Grace has done at Neamț, but rather as something that harms
our Church and, if not corrected, leads to ruin and spiritual desolation.
The fact that both one calendar
and the other formally use the same units of measurement, such as hours, days,
weeks, months, and years, does not mean that they measure the same object. Our
Orthodox Julian calendar measures liturgical time, as established by the Holy
Fathers at the First Council of Nicaea. Since then, it is known that liturgical
time is measured with such units of measurement as the day (the cycle of the
day), the week (the cycle of the week), the month (the mineal cycle, of the
month), and the year (the cycle of the year).
The liturgical day is divided
into four services of the Hours and the services of Vespers, Matins, and the
Liturgy. Between these services, the services of Compline (Great or Small) and
Midnight Office may be added.
The liturgical day is divided
into 4 night watches (from sunset to sunrise) and 4 day watches (from sunrise
to sunset). And it is not at all by chance that the services begin their
reckoning with the evening, and not with midnight or morning. In Orthodoxy, the
evening symbolizes the existence of the world from its creation until the
Incarnation of the Savior, while Matins (the morning service) and the Liturgy
proclaim precisely the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of the Lord.
The liturgical week does not begin with Monday, as we are accustomed to
according to the secular calendar, but with Sunday—the Day of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
The liturgical week is divided
into 7 liturgical days, each with its own significance, which gives each day a
distinct character of worship. Thus, the liturgical day of Monday is dedicated
to the Heavenly Powers; Tuesday is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist;
Wednesday to the Holy Cross of the Lord and His betrayal for the thirty pieces
of silver; Thursday is dedicated to the Holy Apostles and Saint Nicholas;
Friday is dedicated to the Passion of the Savior and His bodily death; and
Saturday is dedicated to all the Saints of God.
The cycle of the year is divided
into three unequal periods, unlike the Western calendar, which divides the year
into four quarters or two semesters, all of equal duration expressed in months.
In our Church calendar, the first period is called the Triodion, beginning
three Sundays before the start of Great Lent and ending on Holy Saturday.
The second period of the
liturgical year is called the Pentecostarion; it begins with Pascha Sunday and
ends with the Sunday of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, lasting 50 days. The
third period of the liturgical year is called the Octoechos; it begins the day
after the Sunday of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and ends on the Saturday
before the Sunday of the Publican (with which the Triodion begins).
Since the date of Pascha changes
from year to year, so do all the starting and ending dates of the three periods
that make up the liturgical year. Thus, while the two periods of the liturgical
year—the Triodion and the Pentecostarion—have fixed durations, the period of
the Octoechos can last from 26 to 34 weeks. Besides this, the year also
contains another subdivision, which does not form a cycle, namely the monthly
Menaia. Each day of the year is assigned to a monthly Menaion—the Menaion for
each month. The Menaia contain services dedicated to Saints, as well as to the
Theotokos, the Savior, the Archangels, etc. Thus, the Menaia include the
fixed-date feasts, meaning those feasts that fall on the same day of the month
every year.
This order of liturgical time was
established at the First Council of Nicaea and supplemented at other Councils.
However, this order of liturgical worship has never been changed until now,
when we are confronted with the chaotic order of the new Western calendar,
which disrupts this arrangement, measuring only astronomical time and not
liturgical time as well.
If the Synod of our Church keeps
pace with the modernizations proposed by Archbishop Meletios Metaxakis of
Constantinople, then this means that we willingly turn ourselves into enemies
of the Church of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Therefore, I do not accept them
and counsel all Christians and servants of the Church of Christ not to accept
them, since all these aim to break the dogmatic and canonical wall of the
Orthodox Church. Our duty is to watch over the borders of Orthodoxy, lest the
enemies of Christ break through the wall of the Church, after which they will
enslave us spiritually.
Why do we need an astronomical
calendar if we have that of the Holy Fathers? For the astronomical calendar of
the Pope of Rome has many shortcomings. What will we do with the Fast of the
Holy Apostles if we permanently accept the new calendar? Have you ever
considered this, that the new calendar can no longer regulate the liturgical
rhythm nor the proper observance of this fast I am speaking about now?
The new calendar shifts
fixed-date feasts by 13 days compared to the same feasts in the Orthodox
calendar of the Holy Fathers, that is, the Julian calendar. Thus, over a period
of several years, according to the new astronomical calendar, we will lose, if
not entirely, then partially, the Fast of the Holy Apostles. This is because
the beginning of this fast is determined by a movable feast, namely Pascha,
while its end is determined by a fixed-date feast, namely June 29, the feast of
the Holy Apostles. We know that the Sunday after Pentecost is the Sunday of All
Saints. We also know that Pascha can only fall between March 21 and April 25,
according to the old calendar (or, if you prefer, April 3 to May 8 in the new
calendar). Depending on these dates, Pascha is considered "early" or
"late." If Pascha "falls early," the Fast of the Holy
Apostles is longer. If Pascha "falls late," the Fast of the Holy
Apostles is shorter.
What many do not know is that
this Fast holds great importance, and its shortening contradicts holy tradition
as well as the holy canons. What happens if Pascha falls on May 8, according to
the new calendar? Then the Sunday of All Saints would have to be celebrated
after the feast of the Holy Apostles, which is completely wrong. It would also
mean that the feast of the Holy Apostles would fall on the Wednesday after
Pentecost, resulting in only two days of fasting during a period when the holy
canons forbid fasting.
What will happen when there are
two calendars in the Church? The Divine Liturgy represents a work of the entire
Church, taking place throughout its entirety, symbolizing the unity of the two
worlds (heaven and earth), when time unites with eternity. With the adoption of
the new calendar, the harmony in which the local Orthodox Churches honored
their feasts has been broken. Thus, while the Russian Church, the Serbian
Church, together with Mount Athos and the Church of Jerusalem, sing,
"Today the Virgin gives birth to Him who is above all being...," the
new-calendarists sing, "In the Jordan, when You were baptized, O
Lord...". While the Churches faithful to the Patristic tradition sing the
Troparion of the Lord's Baptism, the Churches of the new calendar sing the
Troparion of Saint Macarius the Great.
Even if you say that Pascha will
still follow the old calendar of the Holy Fathers, this is a cause of scandal,
for in an Orthodox Church, its guidance cannot follow at times the new calendar
and at other times the old calendar. And, as it is evident, you promised one
thing and did another. Great was the scandal among the faithful when the Synod
of the Orthodox Church gave the order that Pascha be celebrated this year
(1926) according to the new calendar, to coincide with the heretical Catholics
of the West.
How will you be able to justify
this, when in Constantinople in 1583, the Holy Fathers decreed as follows:
"All those who would dare to alter the decree of the Holy Ecumenical Great
Council, which was first held at Nicaea in the presence of the God-loving
Emperor Constantine, a decree concerning the Holy Celebration of the Saving
Pascha, shall have no communion with the Church and shall be removed from it if
they stubbornly oppose the well-established and divinely ordained commands; and
this is said regarding the laity. However, if any of the clergy of the
Church—bishop, presbyter, or deacon—after this decree should dare, for the
rebellion of the people and the disturbance of the churches, to separate
themselves and celebrate the Holy Pascha together with the Jews, such a one the
Holy Council has condemned to alienation from the Church."
As you know, here at Pocrov, we
have never conformed to the orders of this now-schismatic Synod when it issued
decisions against the holy canons, despite the threats you have made to me on
multiple occasions. Nor will we ever celebrate God's Pascha on the same day as
the Catholics, but only together with the Orthodox Church. If, as you command
us, we were to celebrate the Lord's Pascha on a date set by heretics and
schismatics, would we not fall under the anathema of the Holy Fathers?
Even if this anathema may not be
recorded anywhere, the angels of God will write it in their records. And I
believe it is no longer necessary for this anathema to be spoken aloud against
the unfaithful, since the Holy Fathers have already anathematized those who
violate the righteous law of the Church of Christ, especially concerning what
has been commanded to us regarding the Resurrection of the Lord. What further
anathemas and curses would be needed for those who transgress this law, since
they are already condemned by the Holy Fathers?
All Christians know about the
Descent of the Holy Light on Holy Saturday in the Church of the Lord’s Tomb in
Jerusalem. This Light comes only according to the calendar of the Holy Fathers.
Do you believe that the Holy Light will come twice this year—once on the day
when you want to celebrate Pascha according to the new calendar, and again for
the Churches that have not abandoned this corrupted Western calendar? Why is it
that all the miracles that occur every year in the Holy Places, such as the
Holy Light, the cloud of Tabor, the turning back of the Jordan, take place only
on the date set by the liturgical calendar of the Church, that is, the Julian
calendar of the Holy Fathers, and never on the date of the astronomical
calendar? Do you not understand anything from all these miracles, or do you
wish to hide God’s truth from the people? What will we answer before God, who
will judge us according to our deeds, if we are ashamed to confess the truth of
the Orthodox faith
You know very well that many of
the servants of the Church, upon leaving the meeting to which you summoned us
at Neamț Monastery, rejected what you proposed for us to do. And before the
icon of our Sovereign Lady, we vowed not to accept those anti-canonical
innovations of the new calendar. I, as I vowed the monastic vows of life before
our Sovereign Lady, the Mother of God, so I vowed to reject your entire
hierarchical synod if it does not turn back from its corrupt and fallen
counsel, which has strayed from the Grace of God. If you desire the new
calendar, let it remain only for the secular world, as it has been since 1919,
but do not bring it into the Church of Christ, where everything is measured by
that liturgical calendar of the Holy Fathers, through which the militant Church
on earth is united in heavenly harmony with the Triumphant Church composed of
those already in Heaven, in the Kingdom of God.
For this reason, what is done on
earth is also done in heaven, and when a feast is celebrated on earth, it is
celebrated in heaven as well. This signifies harmony between the two Churches.
And the astronomical calendar is far from achieving this harmony.
Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us
that "no servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other."
We cannot serve both God and mammon. Therefore, behold, for nearly two years I
have waited for the Synod of the Orthodox Church to correct its decisions
regarding the canons of the Holy Fathers, but, as I see, not only has it not
corrected them, but it is heading further toward ruin. For this reason, I have
not agreed to serve together with Your Graces since the year 1924, at Neamț
Monastery, because the canons of the Church forbid me from celebrating the
Liturgy with schismatics. During this time, as everyone at the Diocese of Neamț
knows, here at Pocrov the order of services has continued only according to the
old calendar.
During all this time, you have
tried to sway me toward your new calendar, just as you did when you summoned me
personally to the diocese. I recall these attempts, including the lures you
extended to me with the abbacy at Vovidenia Skete, or the rumors that I was not
obedient to the Synod, and so forth. To these is added the decision from this
year (1926) regarding the celebration of Pascha together with the Catholics.
All of this compels me to completely renounce your schismatic Synod and to
follow the path of wandering in the wilderness of these mountains.
If any of my disciples wishes to
follow me into the wilderness for the name of God, I will take him with me.
However, as I see, only one of them, Father Deacon David, is ready to sacrifice
himself for Christ. Even if you accuse us of religious fanaticism, as you have
done until now, we know that "he who is faithful in what is least is
faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in
much." I am fully convinced that the Pope’s calendar cannot be more
"correct" or more "accurate" than the calendar of the Holy
Fathers.
From this point onward, I will
give my disciples the kiss of farewell, and to Your Grace, these lines written
in the Spirit of God's Law, through which I inform you that I, Hieromonk
Glicherie Tănase, abbot of Pocrov Skete, am relinquishing the leadership of the
skete due to the fall of the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church into the
schism of the new calendar. Together with Hierodeacon David, we will attempt to
live independently, not knowing where, but under the protection of our
Sovereign Lady, the Mother of God, and for the preservation of the Orthodox
faith of the Holy Fathers from the Seven Holy Ecumenical Councils.
Please appoint another abbot for
this skete, as I will leave here forever.
Servant of Christ,
Glicherie Tănasă
Year 1926.
(Note: The original document of
this epistle being damaged, its partial content was reconstructed through
information gathered orally.)
Romanian
source:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220814192318/https://lumea-ortodoxa.ro/index.html@p=2594.html
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