The Apocalypse of Our Days

Report of Archbishop Vitaly of Montreal to the Council of Bishops in 1983

 

 

Our pastors and their flock live in contemporary conditions of a particular spirit, which can be called, without the slightest exaggeration or any kind of mystical enthusiasm, pre-apocalyptic. There is no longer anywhere in the whole universe a single ruler or government that governs its people, by the mercy of God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The restraining anointed one of God has been taken away from the earth. The Constantinian era of grace-filled rule has come to an end. The last book of Holy Scripture has been opened in life—the Revelation of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. The heir of the Byzantine Empire, the Orthodox Russian state, no longer exists. The whole world has been divided between two forces: on the one hand—militant godless communism, and on the other—the so-called democratic Western world, in which freedom still faintly glimmers. The latter, outwardly, for the superficial observer, is fragmented into countless Christian and non-Christian religions and sects, but inwardly it is bound together, as if with cement, by the spirit of Antichrist.

In the Providence of God, the grace-filled epoch of rule by Orthodox sovereigns was given to us so that we might quietly, freely, and consistently save our souls. The anointed one of God protected us from the unbearable fiery temptation which has now fallen upon the whole world in the form of communism and Masonry. But we, through our sinfulness, became absorbed in vanity. Each one occupied himself with his own craft, his own profession. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, and even simple masters of every kind of work on earth turned their earthly occupations into their religions, giving to them all their time, their strength, and their heart.

For their Orthodox faith, such people had very little space left, if anything remained at all—often only the formal performance of rites, and even that only because it had to be done, because it was customary, because all society lived that way, and one could not fail to keep pace. The Son of God descended from heaven; the Almighty God became Man in order to deify us. Whole hosts of righteous ones, prophets, wonderworkers, and fools-for-Christ passed through our boundless land. The Lord sent us remarkable preachers and profound theologians; the works of all the holy fathers were published, and the Holy Scripture—from pocket format to magnificent liturgical books. Brochures, leaflets, and prayer books were distributed in the millions or sold to our people for mere pennies. In all the dioceses journals and missionary leaflets were printed. And all this, like the prophecies of old, began to grow weak before the boundless vanity into which our people were sinking. Our Russian literature, in the apt expression of Professor Andreyev, always being a kind of spiritual pulpit, vividly reflected the spiritual process of the gradual spiritual fall of our people. From the carefree “old-world landowners,” sunk in the indulgence of culinary pleasures, there began to arise individual boorish Bolsheviks like Nozdryov, and not far beyond there already appeared the outline of the ideological atheist Verkhovensky, from whom there is only one step to Lenin. And what is to be done?

In our, perhaps bold, opinion, the Lord, in order to lead our people out of this dead end of vanity, which is gradually plunging them to the very bottom of hell, commands His angelic host to open the gates of hell and to release upon our people, and after them upon the whole universe (“for judgment begins with My house”), demons who would sting men and awaken them from their sinful sleep. By this final and extreme providential measure, the Lord wishes to bring His people, His own people, to their senses and to lead them out into the light of God. To all the careless laborers who have become absorbed in earthly affairs, sooner or later—and to each one individually—the fatal question will be put: with whom is he? With Christ or with the demon? And this question will be posed not by a bishop, not by a priest, from whom they are accustomed to hear all this and whom they no longer listen to, but by the demon and through his servants, upon whom will depend all the success of earthly life, all the wealth, all the earthly glory of these masses of men absorbed in vanity. What a shock there will be for them, what an upheaval!

“Thou hast made all things in wisdom, O Lord,” and Thou dost make them so. The Lord has compelled the demons to bring the world, which has been absorbed in vanity, to its spiritual essence; and that essence is this: that the Almighty Lord exists, that demons exist, that the Kingdom of Heaven exists, that hell exists, and that this world passes away like a mist. And when such a fatal question is posed, every human soul will tremble, will be entirely changed, will be shaken, yet it must make the inevitable choice; and there will no longer be any place for spiritual neutrality. It will no longer be possible to remain as if aside; it will no longer be possible to maneuver spiritually, to evade, or to hide. No one will be able any longer to take refuge anywhere; everyone will be found, everyone will be brought out from the darkness, from the corners, and there will be an end to every kind of spiritual diplomacy and temporary neutrality. The choice is simple and clear: light or darkness, Christ or Belial.

Your Graces! We have already entered the beginning of the era of this great choice. From beneath our very cathedras the souls of men are being stolen from us; they are being eaten away from within, leaving us only an empty, barren shell. We must know this. This is the pressing reality of the world problem of our days. The temptation is burning, fiery. It stands before us openly, and therefore in this there is both the will of God and God’s permission. We shall be witnesses of astonishing changes in people. Those known to us until now, seemingly pious people, will suddenly become traitors, completely changing their spiritual countenance; and on the contrary, those who until now seemed asleep will become zealots of piety even unto death. Only those will choose Christ and stand on the side of the Lord who personally love Christ—those for whom Christ the Savior and Provider is everything in all things, day and night.

The Lord has permitted all evil forces to take such power upon the earth, such temporary earthly almost-omnipotence, and this situation dictates to us archpastors the application of the most important, eternally effective tactic—to unite all our flock to the almighty grace of God, the Holy Spirit. There are no longer any who assist us in this our pastoral labor: there is no restraining anointed one of God holding back evil, there is no genuine Christian society, and no Christian school. Even the legislation once inspired by the Holy Gospel throughout the Christian world is being replaced, diminished, or simply abolished. We are alone. Before the Archangel’s trumpet shall sound to all born of the earth the great “Let us attend” at the terrible Coming of Christ, we must now say to our flock our own archpastoral “Let us attend,” revealing the picture not of a coming trial, but of the temptation already acting, of the inevitable choice. Let us not deceive ourselves, nor indulge in any illusions: a great multitude of the Orthodox will not endure such a burning trial and will fall with a great fall. Before the earth and all the works that are in it are burned up, everything light and superficial will burn away—everything that trusts in wealth, success, and earthly glory—and there will remain only those who sincerely love Christ, devoted to Him even unto death… loving only Him, their Savior, and no one and nothing else.

Before such a formidable picture of evil already triumphing, it is incumbent upon us archpastors not only to speak a strong word to our flock, but also to set into action all the richness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, who always abides in the Church of Christ. All our flock has already been made partakers, through all the sacraments, of the grace of the Holy Spirit, and it is fitting for us only, by every accessible means of pastoral labor, to kindle this fire into a flame, to do everything within our power so that, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, we may become all things to all men, that we might save some. As concrete measures, it is necessary to convince all the faithful to abandon the old practice of partaking of the Holy Mysteries only once a year, if anyone still to this day adheres to this little commendable custom. All our pastors should be persuaded themselves to pray before performing the holy mystery of confession, so that the Lord may grant them the gift of love, wisdom, compassion, and mercy. Our entire flock should also be instructed concerning the necessity of praying before going to confession, so that the Lord may grant them the gift of the Holy Spirit of true repentance, the gift of compunction, contrition for their sins, the gift of tears that wash our souls with the water of the second baptism—which our confession ought to be, and not a momentary acknowledgment of one’s sins.

It would also be good for all our publishing houses to print everything that is best, most penetrating, and not routine, that has ever been written in Orthodox spiritual literature about confession and the communion of the Holy Mysteries, this source of the rebirth and renewal of every Christian soul. This must be preached before every fast; lectures must be given about it; small and large gatherings should be organized not only for youth but for everyone, both great and small. At such gatherings it is necessary not only to read lectures, as their organizers often become carried away with, but above all to direct attention to the purely spiritual and formative side of the gathering. Several days should be devoted to questions that a person often carries in his soul for many years without receiving a true Orthodox answer to them. Then a living connection will arise between the souls of the visitors and the pastors; the entire gathering will become prayerful; with each day more and more people will be preparing for communion; and with the daily services it will sooner resemble not a conference but a pilgrimage—which will be the highest summit of the spiritual success of such a gathering.

The aforementioned fiery temptation is already in action and is about to knock at the door of every pastor and every member of the flock. Therefore, pastors must be very vigilant and, as far as possible, visit those among their parishioners who stand upon the ladder of social or material success—those to whom this spiritual ultimatum will first be presented. When visiting them, it should be pointed out that a day will come in their lives when, in their ascent from success to success, they will reach their “ceiling,” and then this ultimatum will be set before them point-blank, and they will feel themselves standing on the edge of a sharp knife. Of course, Your Graces, let us not deceive ourselves: no prior knowledge, however painstaking, however exhaustive of all the twists of evil, knowledge of all the corridors of the underground of hell, will save anyone or rescue anyone, but only a living, personal, fervent love for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In life one has had occasion to observe how the most subtle investigators of the dark powers ended their existence miserably in their very ranks.

Such are the conditions of contemporary life in which our pastors and our flock live.

 Russian source:

https://sinod.ruschurchabroad.org/Arh%20Sobor%201983%20dokl%20m%20Vitaly%20Apok%20nashih%20dnei.htm