A Thunderbolt from St. Mark of Ephesus Against the Latins

Encyclical “To all the Orthodox Christians found throughout the earth and the islands” (1440–1)

Archimandrite Meletios Vadrachanis

 

 

“Just as throughout my life I was separated [walled off] from them, so also at the time of my departure and even after my passing, I reject any relationship and union with them, and I adjure you and command you:

“Let none of them approach my funeral or my memorial services or any other event of our own faction.”

 

This encyclical was written a few years before the Fall [of Constantinople], from the island of Lemnos. There, Saint Mark of Ephesus had been exiled by Emperor John Palaiologos at the demand of the Latin-minded Romans, because Saint Mark would not close his mouth but continuously spoke out against the most impious and God-hating Latins.

These unionists, when they saw that they had failed to impose the false union of Ferrara-Florence, resorted to underhanded actions and theological sophistries in order to mislead the more naive.

Later, in the 16th century, these things would be systematized by the Latins, and thus Unia would be created. Consequently, the Latin-minded unionist Romans are the forerunners and preparers of Unia, together with Pope Innocent IV (1243–1254), who in 1254 issued an encyclical and permitted the customs and traditions of the Easterners to be tolerated, with the ultimate aim of their gradual abolition and the complete Latinization of those united—thus, of the Orthodox with Rome.

1. This encyclical of Saint Mark, in which he confronts the Latin-minded Romans and the dogmatic deviations of the Papists from Orthodoxy, we shall present in a summarized adaptation.

The Papists are heretics and not merely schismatics, as the Latin-minded claimed.

a. Those among the Papists who come to Orthodoxy are received through chrismation with holy myrrh—and sometimes they were even re-baptized—classifying them together with the Arians, Macedonians, Sabbatians, Novatians, and other heretics of the 4th century.

Silvester Syropoulos, who recorded the history of the Council of Florence, says that Saint Mark emphasized this to the Orthodox delegation, “but our Church kept it silent, because their nation is great and more powerful than ours,” and “those before us did not wish to officially name the Latins as heretics, awaiting their return and seeking friendship.”

b. Saint Mark cites the phrase of Saint John of Damascus: “We do not confess that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son” and the phrase of Saint Photios: “A heretic is he who even slightly deviates from the right faith, and he is subject to the laws against heretics.” Therefore, the Latins, on account of the Filioque alone, are heretics.

c. The Latin-minded say that the Papists are schismatics because that is how they consider us—since they have nothing heretical to accuse us of, except that we ceased to submit to them. So then, shall we repay them in kind and call them schismatics, while in fact they are heretics?

d. The Patriarch of Alexandria Mark asked the Patriarch of Antioch, Theodore Balsamon—a renowned canonist of that time—whether he could give the Holy Mysteries to Latins.

He replied that this could not be done, since the name of the pope—to whom they are subject—is not commemorated in the hierarchical Divine Services of the Church.

And it is not commemorated because the Papists have “customs and dogmas foreign to the Orthodox,” and therefore heretical.

The Latins must be catechized in the Orthodox faith, chrismated, and only then received.

Therefore:

I. From where, then, did they suddenly appear to be Orthodox—those who for so many years, and by the Fathers and Teachers, were judged to be heretics? Who so easily made them Orthodox?

If you wished us to speak the truth—and for your own benefit—rather, it is they who were supposedly made Orthodox, but you, having been made like unto them, were pushed to the side of the heretics.

II. When will there be unity?

When customs, traditions, and dogmas are united. And this will come about through the return of the Papists to the Orthodox tradition and theology.

Now we have two creeds, leavened and unleavened liturgy, two kinds of baptism (that of the Orthodox by triple immersion, that of the Papists by pouring; the baptism of the Orthodox with chrism, that of the Papists without chrism), double and entirely different customs and traditions, fasts and ecclesiastical orders, and other such things.

How, then, can there be union when there is no unity in these things?

2. There is no middle ground in matters of dogma.

In diplomacy and politics, many ambiguous or vague terms are used—understood by each person according to his preferences—in order to achieve agreement and rapprochement. But between truth and falsehood, between affirmation and denial, between light and darkness, between Christ and Belial, there is no middle.

The Greco-Latins or the Latin-minded or the Uniates are hybrid creatures, fond of pursuing mixtures; they are like the centaurs in mythology. Gregory the Theologian calls them kothornoi* and men who go wherever the wind blows. A modern person might compare them to “the hodja’s oven.”

The Council of Ferrara-Florence, which attempted to apply a middle ground in dogma, is like that assembly which decided to build the Tower of Babel, or like the council of Caiaphas which condemned Christ. Those who participated in the Council of Florence and agreed with the Papists are the ones of whom the prophet Jeremiah speaks: “The leaders of My people did not know Me; they are foolish children and not understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have not known.” (Jer. 4:22)

3. What should be our stance toward the Latin-minded?

Let us avoid them as we would a snake. Let us avoid them as we would those who exploit and traffic in Christ. These are the ones who “suppose that godliness is a means of gain” (1 Tim. 6:5). These are “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.” These are ministers of Satan, who “transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:13–15). “Such men serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and blessings they deceive the hearts of the simple”; “yet the firm foundation of the faith stands, having this seal” (Rom. 16:18; 2 Tim. 2:19).

“Therefore, flee from them, brethren, and from communion with them: ‘If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, even if it be an angel from heaven, let him be anathema’ (Gal. 1:8–9). ‘If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not greet him; for he who greets him partakes in his evil works’ (2 John 10–11).”

We do not know whether the contemporary ecumenists, both clergy and laity, have in mind what Saint Mark of Ephesus says. Let them study it, and let them come to their senses—if they wish to remain Orthodox.

 

* Literally, “kothornos” was a special type of footwear used by actors in ancient tragedies, with thick soles and a very high heel. Because it could be worn on either foot—right or left—it came to signify a double-dealing person, one of weak character, changeable and opportunistic.

Source: Χριστιανική Σπίθα, May 2006

***

Saint Mark of Ephesus unequivocally teaches and exhorts to walling off (ἀποτείχισις), even at the end of his life, through his testament:

“Just as throughout my life I was separated [walled off] from them, so also at the time of my departure and likewise after my repose, I reject any relationship and union with them, and I adjure you and command you:

Let none of them draw near to my funeral, or to my memorial services, or to any other event of our own faction, in order to attempt to gather jointly or concelebrate with our own.

For this would mean to mix what is unmixed.

And they must in all things be separated from us, until God grants the good correction and peace of His Church.”

(Patrologia Orientalis, Volume 25, Belgium, 1973, pp. 347–348.)                                                                                            

 

 

Greek source: https://apotixisi.blogspot.com/2026/01/blog-post_39.html