Saint Gregory Palamas in the Present Age of the Heresy of Ecumenism

Metropolitan Photios of Demetrias | March 15, 2017

Address on the Sunday of Saint Gregory Palamas

 

Most Reverend Holy Hierarchs,

Revered Fathers,

Beloved brethren in Christ,

First of all, allow me to convey to you the wishes and blessings of His Beatitude Archbishop Kallinikos, who, due to reasons of force majeure, was unable to be here with us despite his great desire to do so. Nevertheless, I am certain that, although he is physically absent, he is undoubtedly present in spirit and rejoices with all of us for the success of this event.

Today's event is, in a way, a continuation of the Feast of the Sunday of Orthodoxy and is justly celebrated today in the co-capital, following a Synodal decision, in which your predecessor and namesake, the Holy and Most Reverend Gregory, Metropolitan of Thessalonica, presided.

I said that today is the continuation of the Sunday of Orthodoxy because, although last Sunday we celebrated the triumph of Orthodoxy over heresies, today we honor, in the person of Saint Gregory Palamas, the example of an ideal Hierarch, through whom Orthodoxy triumphed in his time.

Indeed, in the person of Saint Gregory Palamas, there was not merely the ideal combination of Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy, but furthermore, this Saint also left us the method by which we too may become partakers of these two vital characteristics for our salvation.

For the hesychastic method and the ascetic way of life lead us to purification from the passions and to communion with the uncreated energy of God, which is theosis.

But if the teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas have timeless value in every era, allow me to point out that, especially in our present time, when the heresy of Ecumenism prevails, this Saint holds particular significance for yet another reason.

For he taught us how to engage in a sincere dialogue with those of different beliefs without deviating from the framework of the Holy Canons and, moreover, while confessing the truth of the Orthodox faith.

As is well known, the Saint was captured by the Turks and remained in their hands for about a year until he was ransomed and set free. During his captivity, the Sultan asked him to engage in a dialogue with the Chiones, members of a group of Islamized former Jews. The Saint, using the Old Testament and the very arguments that the Islamists themselves employed, confounded them, proving the truth of the Orthodox Faith and the divinity of Christ—without compromises, without evasions, without common prayers, and without participation in the ritual meals (Iftar) of the Muslims.

What a difference from the tactics of today's Ecumenists! Unfortunately, the present-day Ecumenist hierarchs dare to invoke the example of Saint Gregory Palamas, concealing the vast differences between the confessional dialogue of the Saint and the treacherous dialogues of the Ecumenists. Allow me to conclude with this.

Today, even here in Thessalonica, some conscientious clergy of the official Church have begun to cease the commemoration of their Ecumenist bishop, invoking the 15th Canon of the First-Second Council. This step is good, but incomplete.

"Turn away from evil and do good," says the Psalmist. It is not enough to cease communion with the Ecumenists, that is, to turn away only from evil. They must also do what is good, namely, to unite with the true Church.

They must not forget that what they are now realizing was understood by thousands of other clergy and laity several decades earlier. The struggle against Ecumenism did not begin now, in 2017; it started earlier, in 1924, when the calendar change was implemented for Ecumenist reasons. Those who resisted at that time constituted the continuation of the Orthodox Church in Greece. Therefore, those who today (even belatedly) recognize the corrupting plans of the Ecumenists—plans that were foretold in the heretical 1920 encyclical of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, began to be implemented in 1924, and continue to be applied to this day—are obliged to unite their efforts with those who began the struggle earlier.

The Lord will reward those who came to labor at the eleventh hour equally with those who were engaged from the first hour and "bore the burden of the day and the scorching heat," according to the Parable. As the prayer states: "If anyone has arrived only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid of his delay, for the Master, being generous, receives the last as He does the first. He gives rest to him of the eleventh hour as to the one who labored from the first. He has mercy on the last and cares for the first; to that one He gives, and to this one He bestows His grace."

And finally, let me point out that those who now cease commemorating the Ecumenist bishop while still maintaining communion with those who commune with the heretical hierarchs accomplish nothing. This struggle leads to a dead end. For "everyone who communes with the excommunicated shall be excommunicated."

We pray that God may enlighten them so that they may do His will.

Most Reverend Metropolitan Ambrose of Philippi and Maroneia, my warmest congratulations on your inspired speech.

Most esteemed Choirmaster and brother in Christ, Nikolaos, you are worthy of praise for your rendering of the hymns.

Most Reverend Metropolitan Gregory of Thessalonica, please accept, on behalf of our Beatitude Archbishop and the Holy Synod, warm congratulations on the successful organization of the entire event.

 

Greek source: https://orthopraxiaa.blogspot.com/2017/03/blog-post_0.html