The Spiritual Inheritance of St. Chrysostomos the New, Confessor and Hierarch

Greek source: The Voice of Orthodoxy, Nos. 348-349, October 10, 1960 (O.S.), pp. 2-3.

 

 

The memorial service [for St. Chrysostomos the New] that was performed, and the memorial gathering that followed in the afternoon, may be characterized as a manifestation of the deepest respect and sincere gratitude. From all parts of Greece, they arrived at the Holy Church of Saint Paraskevi, in order to venerate with compunctionate reverence the precious bones of a confessor Hierarch, whom his age wronged. And even the memory of our ever-memorable shepherd Chrysostomos continues to electrify souls with as much intensity as his living presence captivated them.

The Ecclesiastical Committee is praiseworthy for the organization of the whole solemn manifestation on Sunday. Beyond these manifestations, however, enormous obligations are born with respect to his work and memory; obligations whose fulfillment is connected with the very being of our Sacred Struggle!

The former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos, from 1935, when together with the other hierarchs he joined the honorable and noble camp of the zealots of Orthodoxy, gave it a particular form, which raised our movement into ideal spheres. Of course, from the very beginning we note that the honor of organizing the movement belongs entirely to the venerable fathers of the Holy Mountain, who pointed out the dangers of the deviation, and to those first laymen, who thrust forward their breasts in the defense and protection of the principles and ideals of Orthodoxy.

The former Metropolitan of Florina, however, succeeded in bringing the movement to the fore and in framing it within the bounds of ecclesiastical propriety and seriousness.

He purified the idea from every intolerance, fanaticism, and passion, and preserved it from reckless adventurist undertakings which would have caused it to disappear completely. At the same time, he gave the movement its true character: defense!

Some explosive characters will perhaps be displeased with this characterization; for them, clamorous noise and destructive upheaval are the only way to conduct a struggle. Thus, in the name of Orthodoxy, they overthrow fundamental institutions of Orthodoxy, and thereby transform Orthodoxy into an unjustifiable obstinacy!!

Defense, however, was recommended by the heaven-treading Paul himself, when he said, “stand fast and hold fast”; and history confirms that defense is at times more crushing than attack and bears fairer fruits. Many times, from the ashes of those defending themselves there sprang up the flowers of victory and triumph.

Defense presupposes the deepest faith in the providence of God and sincere respect for Orthodoxy. How many times did the ever-memorable Chrysostomos not say: God will do what I did not do. Have patience and forgiveness.

Every action outside the sphere of cool-headed and prudent defense gives rise to canonical crimes, which, however much their perpetrators may justify them by the principle of necessity, do not cease to constitute a terrifying responsibility.

The spiritual inheritance, therefore, of our ever-memorable shepherd is Defense.

And this inheritance we are obliged to respect. God surely loves Orthodoxy more deeply than men do, and He is able to make worthy use of honorable struggles. On this we must not doubt!

The focal point of the concern of our Sacred Struggle is not only the form of its administration from above; it is the cohesion and spiritual preservation of its members.

The Ecclesiastical Committee, which is composed of pious and zealous fathers, supported by the clergy and laity of all Greece, can very well transform the strugglers into a holy and God-chosen flock, capable of surviving and of keeping the banner of Orthodoxy raised.

And it will achieve this because it possesses precious resources. Then, in harmonious cooperation with the various factors of our Sacred Struggle, it will also achieve the solution of the problem of Leadership, without this solution complicating the situation from the canonical side, and without making us appear as frivolous and laughable persons.

The soul of our ever-memorable shepherd watches over us, blesses us, and commands us from the holy, supercelestial, and noetic altar: “Let us stand well, let us stand with fear,” because piety, if it is not accompanied by prudence and respect for the holy order of Orthodoxy (canons and practice), then develops into Montanism, into Old Believer-type schism, and into the spectacle of “Bishops” holding a pastoral staff with one hand and with the other... their wife.

O Lord, deliver us from such aberrations.