Venerable Daniel of Katounakia as an Expression of Hesychastic and Confessional Self-Consciousness – A Rule of Confessional Ethos

Nikos E. Sakalakis, Mathematician

Venerable Daniel of Katounakia was a hidden source of the Holy Spirit, which quenched the thirst of the hearts of Orthodox Christians. From the outset, he understood that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was evolving into a “center of ecumenistic renewal,” and for this reason, in a written message concerning the “Future Ecumenical Council,” he prophetically laid out—as a matter of distinct duty toward Orthodoxy—the apostatic deviations of the “council” (2016–Crete). To a certain high-ranking clergyman who was under the influence of an ecumenistic conception of love, he emphasized: “This mindset prepares the ground for heresy. The Fathers devoted time, labor, and blood for the true faith. They endured exiles, imprisonments, tortures, and death. We cannot be indifferent to doctrine. We are all entrusted with the sacred duty of handing down Orthodoxy unadulterated to future generations. We shall give an account—each according to his position—for how faithful he remained to Orthodoxy. For without faith, we are cut off from the Church, through which we become partakers of Divine Grace. Without grace, love cannot come, for love is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Love without Christ is not true, but self-serving and false.”

The exercise of this form of Ecclesiological–Dogmatic scrutiny by Venerable Daniel unequivocally underscores his distancing [lack of spiritual communion] from the company of the love-preaching Patriarchal Ecumenists, who, in the name of love, were plunging the faithful into heresy.

Without the right faith—this vehicle of spiritual life—we cannot be exalted “at the right hand” of Christ, for the worldly manner of love employed by the heretics leads one to Hades.

Undoubtedly, the law of gravity in the spiritual realm is dreadful; for this reason, the prayer of the Church emphasizes:

a) “The Lord shall exalt His people”

b) “He shall exalt the horn of His Christ”

c) “The humble have been exalted”

d) “He shall exalt the meek in salvation”

and e) “Christ is on Earth—be ye exalted.”

First Comment: I remain astonished (for years now) at the exceedingly poor portrayal of the ancient Fathers, at the so inexplicably consistent silence regarding their feast days—such as those of St. Mark of Ephesus, Venerable Theodore the Studite, Venerable Maximus the Confessor, and other giants of the Orthodox Church—on the part of the [Official - tr.] Metropolis [of Demetrias] and its clergy. Vigils are dedicated to contemporary Saints (we do not object), though unfortunately these often carry ecumenistic “spiritual” undertones.

Question: Are the aforementioned Fathers of lesser spiritual weight than the modern Saints? The “contemporary” ecumenist bishops, unfortunately, are kindling torches for other religious forms (pan-religion).

I understand why they do not honor these great Fathers with dedicated churches and vigils: because they are a LIGHT that BURNS the heresy of Ecumenism. I hold within myself the certainty that these great Saints (if it exists at all) have the dimmest vigil lamp before their icons. I dare say that even my own article—my lamp—is very poor in flame.

Second Comment: Let us recall that the ecumenists adopt all forms of modernism and innovation, and they assail the Church of Christ through the teaching of the so-called “branches,” which they say differ from one another [merely] in doctrine and way of life; they also fail to distinguish baptism and the Eucharist from those of the heretics, considering them likewise sufficient for salvation!

These things they teach “under the pretext of brotherly love or a supposed union of the separated Christians.”

The pan-heresy of Ecumenism is not perceived, is not discerned by the great multitude of the Orthodox, because it is unimaginably deceitful, because it “overflows” with love and compromise with the world of faith.

The devil struck at the hearts of the Orthodox, who failed to realize that the ecumenists eliminated a fundamental dogma (the 9th article of the Symbol of Faith) of our belief. What meaning does it now have to say, “In ONE Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church”?

In 1924, the division of the Orthodox began with the introduction of the “new calendar,” as a gate of entry for ecumenism, which unfortunately has divided the body of the Orthodox even to this day!

In Patristic confessional-theological writings, there exists as a foremost priority—and as their central shared consciousness—the safeguarding of the right faith.

Today, when heretical saprophytes—whether of Eastern or Western form—promote their heretical content as the Church’s path toward the future, we preserve our ecclesiological memory and recall within our conscience our Evangelical–Patristic self-awareness, considering that any resemblance between the heretics of old and certain figures of our time is not accidental!

The Orthodox faith and its confession are interrelated and mutually defining concepts.

The expulsion of Ecumenism from the Church will not arise through a form of parthenogenesis, without struggles and confrontations. Venerable Theodore the Studite emphasizes:

“Therefore, when the matter concerns the faith, it is not permitted to say: ‘Who am I? A priest? Not at all. A ruler? Nor even that. A soldier? And where? A farmer? Not even this. A pauper, merely obtaining my daily food. This matter does not concern me.’ Woe, the stones cry out and you remain silent and indifferent?” (P.G. 99, 1321 B)

We are all under responsibility and shall give an account before Christ for negligence and indifference.

Undoubtedly, we are advancing into the apocalyptic times foretold in Scripture, in which Satan orchestrates his most insidious assaults. The Orthodox faith is under trial.

The poisonous vapors of unbelief, materialism, Ecumenism, and pan-religion have also contaminated the spiritual atmosphere of Greece, while the appointed sentinels raise no new bulwarks.

Regarding today’s ecclesiological disorder, the words of Saint Cyril of Jerusalem are timely:

“Formerly, the heretics were manifest; but now the Church is filled with hidden heretics.” (Catechesis XV – Θ)

 

Greek source: https://aktines.blogspot.com/2025/11/blog-post_609.html