http://www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org/01-08/shepherd8.html
From The Shepherd, January 2008:
"Bishop Andronik has been known to our brotherhood and to some of the congregation here for many years. We ask the faithful to remember him and Bishop Sophrony in their prayers as they undertake the most onerous ministry within the Church. At all times and in all places the responsibility of the Bishops and the burden they bear is great, but it will be especially so for these brave men. When a year ago, one of the hierarchs who was advocating the union with Moscow was asked what would happen to those hierarchs who disavowed it and might constitute a continuing ROCA, his response was crystal clear and unambiguous: “We shall annihilate them!” This response itself did very little to allay our fears that Soviet influence had not altogether departed from the post-Soviet Russian Church, and was perhaps more worthy of a wolf than a shepherd, but it does indicate how, for the love of Christ’s flock, Bishops Andronik and Sophrony have exposed themselves to dangers. May the Chief Shepherd Himself guard them, keep them, strengthen them and guide them, and grant them Many Years!"
Prophecies About Russia
1. Anonymous Greek Prophecies found in St. Sabbas Monastery (8th or 9th century):
The last days have not yet arrived, and it is completely wrong to consider that we are on the threshold of the coming of the antichrist, because one last flourishing of Orthodoxy is still to come, this time in the whole world, headed by Russia. This will take place after a terrible war in which either one half or two thirds of humanity will perish, and which will be stopped by a voice from heaven.
To read more click here.
The last days have not yet arrived, and it is completely wrong to consider that we are on the threshold of the coming of the antichrist, because one last flourishing of Orthodoxy is still to come, this time in the whole world, headed by Russia. This will take place after a terrible war in which either one half or two thirds of humanity will perish, and which will be stopped by a voice from heaven.
"And the Gospel will be preached throughout the world".
1) For until that time there will have been preached, not the Gospel of Christ, but the Gospel distorted by heretics.
2) There will be a period of universal prosperity - but not for long.
3) In Russia during this period there will an Orthodox tsar, whom the Lord will reveal to the Russian people.
And after this the world will again be corrupted and will no longer be capable of correction. Then the Lord will allow the enthronement of the Antichrist.[1]
To read more click here.
XI World Russian People's Conference
.
http://www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org/0407/shepherd9.html
This is just more evidence the MP is really not against ecumenism. And that ROCOR-MP is right in step. But also there is a wonderful letter from Bp. Agafangel to Met. Laurus. Can anyone find more information, like, who was that ROCOR Bishop?
http://www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org/0407/shepherd9.html
This is just more evidence the MP is really not against ecumenism. And that ROCOR-MP is right in step. But also there is a wonderful letter from Bp. Agafangel to Met. Laurus. Can anyone find more information, like, who was that ROCOR Bishop?
Murdered Clergymen & Monastics
.
AN INTERFAX report, dated 25th August claims that since 1990, 24 Orthodox priests and two monks have been murdered in Russia. The most widely known of these and the first to suffer, in this post-Soviet period was the Archpriest Alexander Men. One, Archpriest Alexander Zharkov was murdered shortly after leaving the Moscow Patriarchate to place himself under the then separate Russian Church Abroad in 1997. The last listed is Hegoumen Avenir Smolin, the rector of the church of the Ascension of Our Lord in the town of Furmanov, who was killed during the night of 21st/22nd August this year. The Interfax report makes no comment on the reasons for these frightful crimes, which indeed might have been various.
-From the Shepherd Magazine Oct 2007
FROM ST. SERAPHIM'S MONASTERY IN GREAT BRITAIN:
Our community recently learnt that His Grace, Bishop AMVROSII of Habarovsk (Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church) and the priest DIMITRY accompanying him were savagely attacked and beaten on 26 March 2001. They had just celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the attackers were ready and waiting for them. It does not appera to be a random incident. The unknown young men who attacked the clergymen handled police batons very skillfully. Vladyka AMVROSII was placed in intensive care and remained unconscious for several hours. The motive of the attack was not theft, nothing was stolen. The criminals demanded that he immediately leave town.
On 11 June 1997 Archpriest Alexander Zharkov of St. Petersburg was accepted into the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad from the Moscow Patriarchate. He became the Rector of the Church of the Holy-Nun-Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. The militia stormed the chapel of the Holy-Nun-Martyr Elizabeth, abusing the clergymen during the Liturgy and forcibly searching the fully vested Father ALEXEI Tarkhov. The militia demanded the keys and the state authorities confiscated the parish finances. The parish was charged with being "unregistered". However, they had been seeking registration for seven years. Fr. Alexander ZHARKOV’s body was found near Tsarskoye-Selo on 1/14 September 1997. His murderers were never found. This puts us in mind of another dissident: Fr. Alexander MEN. His murderers were also never found.
AN INTERFAX report, dated 25th August claims that since 1990, 24 Orthodox priests and two monks have been murdered in Russia. The most widely known of these and the first to suffer, in this post-Soviet period was the Archpriest Alexander Men. One, Archpriest Alexander Zharkov was murdered shortly after leaving the Moscow Patriarchate to place himself under the then separate Russian Church Abroad in 1997. The last listed is Hegoumen Avenir Smolin, the rector of the church of the Ascension of Our Lord in the town of Furmanov, who was killed during the night of 21st/22nd August this year. The Interfax report makes no comment on the reasons for these frightful crimes, which indeed might have been various.
-From the Shepherd Magazine Oct 2007
FROM ST. SERAPHIM'S MONASTERY IN GREAT BRITAIN:
Our community recently learnt that His Grace, Bishop AMVROSII of Habarovsk (Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church) and the priest DIMITRY accompanying him were savagely attacked and beaten on 26 March 2001. They had just celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the attackers were ready and waiting for them. It does not appera to be a random incident. The unknown young men who attacked the clergymen handled police batons very skillfully. Vladyka AMVROSII was placed in intensive care and remained unconscious for several hours. The motive of the attack was not theft, nothing was stolen. The criminals demanded that he immediately leave town.
On 11 June 1997 Archpriest Alexander Zharkov of St. Petersburg was accepted into the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad from the Moscow Patriarchate. He became the Rector of the Church of the Holy-Nun-Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. The militia stormed the chapel of the Holy-Nun-Martyr Elizabeth, abusing the clergymen during the Liturgy and forcibly searching the fully vested Father ALEXEI Tarkhov. The militia demanded the keys and the state authorities confiscated the parish finances. The parish was charged with being "unregistered". However, they had been seeking registration for seven years. Fr. Alexander ZHARKOV’s body was found near Tsarskoye-Selo on 1/14 September 1997. His murderers were never found. This puts us in mind of another dissident: Fr. Alexander MEN. His murderers were also never found.
Moscow Honours Met. Sergius
.
MOSCOW HONOURS PATRIARCH SERGIUS
THE “CHURCH GAZETTE” (15/3/07) reports
that in January- February of 2007, in many dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate, celebrations occurred on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the birthday of its ‘father-founder.’ the author of the Declaration of 1927: Sergius, the first Patriarch put in this post by Stalin. The official Internet site of the MP “Pravoslaviye.Ru” noted in its eulogy: “24th January sees the accomplishment of 140 years since the birthday of the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Sergius (Stragorodsky - 1867-1944). This outstanding theologian active in church and society, by the will of God, governed the Russian Orthodox Church for a period of almost twenty years.” Conferences dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birthday of Sergius were held in the dioceses of the MP and the academic world. Vitaly Shumilo comments: “It is remarkable that the veneration with monuments of Sergius Stragorodsky is being organized on the threshold of the signing of the ‘Act of Canonical Unity’ between the MP and the ROCOR(L). Apparently, not by chance the fact that the signing of this report takes place precisely in 2007, which is the 140th anniversary not only of the birthday of the father-founder of Soviet Patriarchate, but also the 80th of the day of publication of his apostate Declaration of 1927, and what is more... the 90th anniversary of the Bolshevik God-hating Revolution in 1917. The Act of Unia of the Synod of Metr. Laurus and the Declaration of Metr. Sergius thus become one both spiritually and chronologically. This ‘coincidence’ is very symbolic, testifying not only to the complete capitulation of former hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad before Sergianism, but also to their terrible moral (and not only canonical) fall.… As is known, the Synodal commission of the ROCOR(L) on the union with the MP officially recognized the activity of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) as an ‘ascetic achievement [podvig] of first hierarchical service in the worst years of existence of the Church in the Soviet Union.’ This was the first time such a high appreciation was heard from the side of the official representatives of the ROCOR in regard to one of the most offensive figures of recent church history, which marked the beginning of the division of Russian Church and falling away of its part from the purity of true Orthodoxy. In some recent statements of Patr. Alexis (Ridiger) it is evident that the MP is prepared for Sergius Stragorodsky’s canonization, in connection with this the acknowledgement from the ROCOR(L) side of his actions as this ‘exploit of service’ is very far reaching. By this acknowledgement of the Church Abroad all actual obstacles are removed, which had existed until recently to the realization of this undertaking, so necessary for a ‘theological-canonical justification’ of Sergianism itself.” The English of this translation is rather halting and one can regret the vehemence and intemperance of expression with which the commentator speaks, but his words do express a truth.
cut & paste from: http://www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org/0407/shepherd9.html
MOSCOW HONOURS PATRIARCH SERGIUS
THE “CHURCH GAZETTE” (15/3/07) reports
that in January- February of 2007, in many dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate, celebrations occurred on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the birthday of its ‘father-founder.’ the author of the Declaration of 1927: Sergius, the first Patriarch put in this post by Stalin. The official Internet site of the MP “Pravoslaviye.Ru” noted in its eulogy: “24th January sees the accomplishment of 140 years since the birthday of the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Sergius (Stragorodsky - 1867-1944). This outstanding theologian active in church and society, by the will of God, governed the Russian Orthodox Church for a period of almost twenty years.” Conferences dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birthday of Sergius were held in the dioceses of the MP and the academic world. Vitaly Shumilo comments: “It is remarkable that the veneration with monuments of Sergius Stragorodsky is being organized on the threshold of the signing of the ‘Act of Canonical Unity’ between the MP and the ROCOR(L). Apparently, not by chance the fact that the signing of this report takes place precisely in 2007, which is the 140th anniversary not only of the birthday of the father-founder of Soviet Patriarchate, but also the 80th of the day of publication of his apostate Declaration of 1927, and what is more... the 90th anniversary of the Bolshevik God-hating Revolution in 1917. The Act of Unia of the Synod of Metr. Laurus and the Declaration of Metr. Sergius thus become one both spiritually and chronologically. This ‘coincidence’ is very symbolic, testifying not only to the complete capitulation of former hierarchs of the Russian Church Abroad before Sergianism, but also to their terrible moral (and not only canonical) fall.… As is known, the Synodal commission of the ROCOR(L) on the union with the MP officially recognized the activity of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) as an ‘ascetic achievement [podvig] of first hierarchical service in the worst years of existence of the Church in the Soviet Union.’ This was the first time such a high appreciation was heard from the side of the official representatives of the ROCOR in regard to one of the most offensive figures of recent church history, which marked the beginning of the division of Russian Church and falling away of its part from the purity of true Orthodoxy. In some recent statements of Patr. Alexis (Ridiger) it is evident that the MP is prepared for Sergius Stragorodsky’s canonization, in connection with this the acknowledgement from the ROCOR(L) side of his actions as this ‘exploit of service’ is very far reaching. By this acknowledgement of the Church Abroad all actual obstacles are removed, which had existed until recently to the realization of this undertaking, so necessary for a ‘theological-canonical justification’ of Sergianism itself.” The English of this translation is rather halting and one can regret the vehemence and intemperance of expression with which the commentator speaks, but his words do express a truth.
cut & paste from: http://www.saintedwardbrotherhood.org/0407/shepherd9.html
Letter Of Lesna Sisters
.
Letter of Lesna Monastery sisters concerning their passage under the jurisdiction of the True Orthodox Church of Russia
Dear in Christ friends and benefactors of our monastery! Christ is Risen!
We wish to inform you that as of the feast of Mid-Pentecost, 19.04/02.05.2007, our monastery will be under the jurisdiction of the True Orthodox Church of Russia. Beginning on Tuesday evening with the Vespers of the feast, we will His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop Tikhon, Archbishop of Omsk and Siberia, as our ruling hierarch.Many of you knowour unwillingness to accept the pending union of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church Abroad and of our reluctance to follow that path. Our decision was not made lightly. We gave it much thought, sought the advice of many, prayed hard and wept throughout this troubled time.
Sincerely and from the bottom of our hearts we thank our many, many friends and well wishers, from many different jurisdictions, holding the most varied opinions and headed in various directions, for the assistance that they have offered and for the support that they have voiced as we struggled to come to the right decision in choosing a new path for our monastery.We understand that not everyone will agree with us, but we ask you to believe that we have acted according to our conscience, and that we felt we could not decide otherwise without betraying our past, our heavenly protectors, our instructors and the sisters who have gone before us.We do not press anyone to follow us, we do not condemn anyone, nor consider them to be "without grace" or "outside the Church". Our times are very complicated and treacherous and it is truly difficult to come to a decision and to discern the best way without being swayed by one's passions.We do not feel that we have the right to condemn anyone that has come to different conclusions in these matters.The great majority of our sisters support our decision. We will not force anyone to comply with it.And we will assist those sisters that decide otherwise to find homes with other monastic communities.
Some of you have expressed doubts about various jurisdictions, pointing out the weaknesses, mistakes or faults of certain hierarchs.We wish to clarify that we did not choose hierarchs that we liked personally, but the Church body and path that we felt best preserved and perpetuated the teachings and traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
Along with the rumours of our refusal to accept union with the Moscow Patriarchate, there has been much talk over the past few months of an imminent move by our monastery to Russia.It is true that since the appearance in Russia of parishes of the Church Abroad, and once sisters from the former Soviet bloc countries began entering our community, we had hoped to found a dependant monastic community there and undertook several steps in that direction.This is something our abbesses had prayed and hoped for, consciously preserving our monastery as a largely Russian-speaking community, with services in Church Slavonic and the traditions of pre-revolutionary Russian monasticism.We do hope eventually to start at least a small skete in Russia.On the other hand, we are well aware of all of the risks and dangers involved in doing business and even just plain living in contemporary Russia, especially for inexperienced foreigners, and we have no intention of dropping everything in Provemont and forcibly transporting our sisters to some unknown destination.We intend to continue our monastic life within the walls of our presentmonastery according to our strength and financial possibilities.
Many of you know of the complications with the legal status and ownership of our property.The church, houses and land in Provemont officially belong to the so-called "Association of Friends" of the monastery, comprised of clergy and laity from many different jurisdictions; in short, of everyone except the sisters of the monastery. It is entirely possible that our adherance to the True Orthodox Church of Russia will lead to claims on our property, to legal action, to inter-jurisdictional squabbling and financial difficulties.Many lawyers and notaries have assured us on numerous occasions that, as the monastery has been paying the property tax on this real estate for many years in it's own name and from it's own funds, and has maintained the estate at it's own expense, with virtually no help from the hierarchy of the Church Abroad, it de facto belongs to us and that it is impossible to evict us.Nevertheless, our uncertain situation worries the sisters, and we ask for your prayers and support.
Ever since its foundation ina largely non-Orthodox area on the borders of the Russian Empire, our monastery has been open to all that seek God and the Truth, and such, God willing, it shall always remain.All pilgrims to our miracle-working Icon of the Mother of God of Lesna or wishing to venerate our many other spiritual treasures will always be welcome, and we will accomodate them as best we can according to our means and our monastic rules.In questions regarding participation in our liturgical life and in the Sacraments we will be guided by the instructions of our hierarchs.
Our life will undoubtably change to some degree in these new circumstances.We do not know if we will be able to continue celebrating the Divine Liturgy daily, as for now only Hieromonk Evfimy (Trofimov) is remaining with us.We hope to continue celebrating the entire cycle of services, but we will have to take into account a smaller community and the necessity of providing for ourselves.Financially the monastery is managing, but donations have always been a great help, and we have no idea as to what sort of assistance we can rely on in the future.When the nuns in San Francisco seperated themselves from the Church Abroad they were accused of taking funds that were intended for a monastery specifically of the Church Abroad.We dare to hope that you have made your donations with the intent of supporting our monastic life regardless of what jurisdiction we were under.
We humbly ask your prayers for us as we embark on this new path.Metropolitan Philaret, who considered Lesna his summer home, left us the words "…that which ye have already hold fast…" (Rev. 2:25) as his last testament, and such is our intention.The recently reposed Metropolitan Vitaly, who twice convened Church Councils at our monastery, ended his days in exile and poverty, and we do not fear a similar fate.Our sense of the unceasing protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, St. John of Kronstadt's letter preserved here, promising not to abandon our monastery, the appearance of St. John of Shanghai to the guardian of his chapel in San Francisco, reminding him that Lesna needed help, and the recent news that the remains of our foundress, Abbess Catherine, were discovered incorrupt, fill us with hope and strengthen our faith in the prayers and intercession on our behalf in heaven.And we ask your prayers for us sinners.
With profound gratitude and always with love in Christ,
Abbess Macrina and sisters
19.04/02.05.2007
Mid Pentecost
This is taken from THE SHEPHERD issue April 2007
Letter of Lesna Monastery sisters concerning their passage under the jurisdiction of the True Orthodox Church of Russia
Dear in Christ friends and benefactors of our monastery! Christ is Risen!
We wish to inform you that as of the feast of Mid-Pentecost, 19.04/02.05.2007, our monastery will be under the jurisdiction of the True Orthodox Church of Russia. Beginning on Tuesday evening with the Vespers of the feast, we will His Grace, the Most Reverend Archbishop Tikhon, Archbishop of Omsk and Siberia, as our ruling hierarch.Many of you knowour unwillingness to accept the pending union of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Church Abroad and of our reluctance to follow that path. Our decision was not made lightly. We gave it much thought, sought the advice of many, prayed hard and wept throughout this troubled time.
Sincerely and from the bottom of our hearts we thank our many, many friends and well wishers, from many different jurisdictions, holding the most varied opinions and headed in various directions, for the assistance that they have offered and for the support that they have voiced as we struggled to come to the right decision in choosing a new path for our monastery.We understand that not everyone will agree with us, but we ask you to believe that we have acted according to our conscience, and that we felt we could not decide otherwise without betraying our past, our heavenly protectors, our instructors and the sisters who have gone before us.We do not press anyone to follow us, we do not condemn anyone, nor consider them to be "without grace" or "outside the Church". Our times are very complicated and treacherous and it is truly difficult to come to a decision and to discern the best way without being swayed by one's passions.We do not feel that we have the right to condemn anyone that has come to different conclusions in these matters.The great majority of our sisters support our decision. We will not force anyone to comply with it.And we will assist those sisters that decide otherwise to find homes with other monastic communities.
Some of you have expressed doubts about various jurisdictions, pointing out the weaknesses, mistakes or faults of certain hierarchs.We wish to clarify that we did not choose hierarchs that we liked personally, but the Church body and path that we felt best preserved and perpetuated the teachings and traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
Along with the rumours of our refusal to accept union with the Moscow Patriarchate, there has been much talk over the past few months of an imminent move by our monastery to Russia.It is true that since the appearance in Russia of parishes of the Church Abroad, and once sisters from the former Soviet bloc countries began entering our community, we had hoped to found a dependant monastic community there and undertook several steps in that direction.This is something our abbesses had prayed and hoped for, consciously preserving our monastery as a largely Russian-speaking community, with services in Church Slavonic and the traditions of pre-revolutionary Russian monasticism.We do hope eventually to start at least a small skete in Russia.On the other hand, we are well aware of all of the risks and dangers involved in doing business and even just plain living in contemporary Russia, especially for inexperienced foreigners, and we have no intention of dropping everything in Provemont and forcibly transporting our sisters to some unknown destination.We intend to continue our monastic life within the walls of our presentmonastery according to our strength and financial possibilities.
Many of you know of the complications with the legal status and ownership of our property.The church, houses and land in Provemont officially belong to the so-called "Association of Friends" of the monastery, comprised of clergy and laity from many different jurisdictions; in short, of everyone except the sisters of the monastery. It is entirely possible that our adherance to the True Orthodox Church of Russia will lead to claims on our property, to legal action, to inter-jurisdictional squabbling and financial difficulties.Many lawyers and notaries have assured us on numerous occasions that, as the monastery has been paying the property tax on this real estate for many years in it's own name and from it's own funds, and has maintained the estate at it's own expense, with virtually no help from the hierarchy of the Church Abroad, it de facto belongs to us and that it is impossible to evict us.Nevertheless, our uncertain situation worries the sisters, and we ask for your prayers and support.
Ever since its foundation ina largely non-Orthodox area on the borders of the Russian Empire, our monastery has been open to all that seek God and the Truth, and such, God willing, it shall always remain.All pilgrims to our miracle-working Icon of the Mother of God of Lesna or wishing to venerate our many other spiritual treasures will always be welcome, and we will accomodate them as best we can according to our means and our monastic rules.In questions regarding participation in our liturgical life and in the Sacraments we will be guided by the instructions of our hierarchs.
Our life will undoubtably change to some degree in these new circumstances.We do not know if we will be able to continue celebrating the Divine Liturgy daily, as for now only Hieromonk Evfimy (Trofimov) is remaining with us.We hope to continue celebrating the entire cycle of services, but we will have to take into account a smaller community and the necessity of providing for ourselves.Financially the monastery is managing, but donations have always been a great help, and we have no idea as to what sort of assistance we can rely on in the future.When the nuns in San Francisco seperated themselves from the Church Abroad they were accused of taking funds that were intended for a monastery specifically of the Church Abroad.We dare to hope that you have made your donations with the intent of supporting our monastic life regardless of what jurisdiction we were under.
We humbly ask your prayers for us as we embark on this new path.Metropolitan Philaret, who considered Lesna his summer home, left us the words "…that which ye have already hold fast…" (Rev. 2:25) as his last testament, and such is our intention.The recently reposed Metropolitan Vitaly, who twice convened Church Councils at our monastery, ended his days in exile and poverty, and we do not fear a similar fate.Our sense of the unceasing protection of the Most Holy Mother of God, St. John of Kronstadt's letter preserved here, promising not to abandon our monastery, the appearance of St. John of Shanghai to the guardian of his chapel in San Francisco, reminding him that Lesna needed help, and the recent news that the remains of our foundress, Abbess Catherine, were discovered incorrupt, fill us with hope and strengthen our faith in the prayers and intercession on our behalf in heaven.And we ask your prayers for us sinners.
With profound gratitude and always with love in Christ,
Abbess Macrina and sisters
19.04/02.05.2007
Mid Pentecost
This is taken from THE SHEPHERD issue April 2007
Comments on Letter To A Godson
I read with interest this latest, expanded version. A couple of comments. The list of monasteries & convents is actually longer: St. Edward's in England; Holy Protection in Bluffton AB; the Moss Beach convent (rumor has it they are moving toward fleeing the crumbling ROCIe for Vl. Andronik's omophorion). I have accepted the task of editing & preparing for publication (paid, in the interest of full disclosure!) the book to which Joanna refers ("Espionage Church", now titled "KGB/FSB's New Trojan Horse"). Basic editing is now complete, and it is likely the book will be ready to go to press not too long after Pascha.
I have a vested interest here: Fr. Joseph came to Orthodoxy in my parish, and I would have baptized him myself had I not been critically ill with malaria when the time came (lamentably, I was neither asked for, nor gave my blessing, for him to be baptized, as he was, at the Resaca monastery, now in the JP). I encouraged him to go to Holy Cross (wish I had had more foresight!), though not without misgivings. It just seemed the only possible door at the time.
I have no recollection of telling him that his help wasn't needed in Haiti -- heaven knows I, and the Church there, need some! Realistically, however, he was not linguistically equipped for the task -- either French or Creole is essential.
For more information on this, go to haitianorthodoxmission.org on the web.
I have a vested interest here: Fr. Joseph came to Orthodoxy in my parish, and I would have baptized him myself had I not been critically ill with malaria when the time came (lamentably, I was neither asked for, nor gave my blessing, for him to be baptized, as he was, at the Resaca monastery, now in the JP). I encouraged him to go to Holy Cross (wish I had had more foresight!), though not without misgivings. It just seemed the only possible door at the time.
I have no recollection of telling him that his help wasn't needed in Haiti -- heaven knows I, and the Church there, need some! Realistically, however, he was not linguistically equipped for the task -- either French or Creole is essential.
For more information on this, go to haitianorthodoxmission.org on the web.
SIR's Attitude Towards The Union
http://www.synodinresistance.org/Administration_en/E1a4015EnosisMPDiasporas5-07.pdf
Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Greece
Holy Synod in Resistance
The Holy Synod in Resistance
and Her Attitude Towards the Union of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad with the Moscow Patriarchate
I. Introduction
1. On the Feast of the Ascension of our Savior, Thursday 4/17 May 2007, upon completion of the process of rapprochement, union was realized, at a fully official level, between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, under His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus, and the Moscow Patriarchate.
2. Thus, the venerable Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has fully united, through the Moscow Patriarchate, with all of the ecumenists, that is, with the so-called official local Churches, which have adopted or tolerate the New Calendar, participating in the ecumenical movement and its various institutional organs, on the basis of 1920 Encyclical of the Church of Constantinople.
3. An immediate consequence of this union is the now total relinquishment by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad of the splendid anti-ecumenical Tradition that she articulated under her third Chief Hierarch, the very saintly Metropolitan Philaret (†1985), and which she expressed with singular theological clarity, depth, and consistency.
4. In 1994, the Holy Synod in Resistance established full Eucharistic communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, on the basis of the common anti-ecumenist self-understanding of the two Synods, which was evinced chiefly through their non-communion with all of the official ecumenist jurisdictions.
5. However, this communion was finally severed in 2005, as it became evident, on the one hand, that the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was on a steadfast and irrevocable course towards union with the Moscow Patriarchate and, on the other hand, that she had jettisoned her anti-ecumenist outlook and her coöperation with the Holy Synod in Resistance; but the formal declaration and complete implementation of this rupture was postponed out of extreme oikonomia, so as to take effect without further ado, immediately, and automatically upon the opening of communion between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate.
6. The truly disappointing eclipse of an outstanding champion against the syncretistic heresy of ecumenism provokes the deepest sorrow among Old Calendarist Orthodox anti-ecumenists everywhere. This sorrow, however, is mitigated by the very gratifying news that a significant portion of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad disagrees with the union that has been accomplished and is now regrouping as an independent jurisdiction, in the awareness that it constitutes the authentic continuation of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
7. The Holy Synod in Resistance will, with especial joy, continue to have communion with this portion of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, as long as it truly desires such communion, and also as long as it possesses a clearly anti-ecumenist self-understanding, not maintaining any kind of communion, directly or indirectly, with the Orthodox ecumenists.
8. To this end, we have deemed it expedient to publish on our website the more pertinent official documents of the Holy Synod in Resistance, which, on the one hand, clearly attest to the responsible way in which she handled relations with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad during the years 2000-2006, and, on the other hand, contain the unshakeable bases for communion with the “remnant chosen by Grace” (Romans 11:5), that is, that portion of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad which rejects the recent union with the Moscow Patriarchate.
9. Furthermore, our aim in publishing these official documents is to demonstrate how superficial and, in many ways, irresponsible is the wish and suggestion expressed by certain New Calendarists that the much-fragmented Old Calendarist Orthodox should emulate the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad by placing themselves under the official ecumenist jurisdictions, since the latter forget or overlook that, while the historical basis and occasion for the rift among the Russians (1917-) has been removed and no longer exists, it was quite different from the dispute which divided, and continues to divide—since it still exists and is, indeed, reinforced daily—, the Orthodox into ecumenists and resisters (1920, 1924-).
From the Chancery of the Holy Synod in Resistance
Fili, Attika, 10 May 2007 (Old Style)
Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot
II. Documents
1. Epistle, Protocol No. 340 (1 January 2001)
2. Statement on the Recent Rapprochement Between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate
3. Epistle, Protocol No. 408 (11 October 2004)
4. Epistle, Protocol No. 409 (5 December 2004)
5. Epistle, Protocol No. 412 (22 November 2005)
6. The Unity and Common Perspective of the Old Calendarist Orthodox Anti-Ecumenists of Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria
Old Calendar Orthodox Church of Greece
Holy Synod in Resistance
The Holy Synod in Resistance
and Her Attitude Towards the Union of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad with the Moscow Patriarchate
I. Introduction
1. On the Feast of the Ascension of our Savior, Thursday 4/17 May 2007, upon completion of the process of rapprochement, union was realized, at a fully official level, between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, under His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus, and the Moscow Patriarchate.
2. Thus, the venerable Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has fully united, through the Moscow Patriarchate, with all of the ecumenists, that is, with the so-called official local Churches, which have adopted or tolerate the New Calendar, participating in the ecumenical movement and its various institutional organs, on the basis of 1920 Encyclical of the Church of Constantinople.
3. An immediate consequence of this union is the now total relinquishment by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad of the splendid anti-ecumenical Tradition that she articulated under her third Chief Hierarch, the very saintly Metropolitan Philaret (†1985), and which she expressed with singular theological clarity, depth, and consistency.
4. In 1994, the Holy Synod in Resistance established full Eucharistic communion with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, on the basis of the common anti-ecumenist self-understanding of the two Synods, which was evinced chiefly through their non-communion with all of the official ecumenist jurisdictions.
5. However, this communion was finally severed in 2005, as it became evident, on the one hand, that the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad was on a steadfast and irrevocable course towards union with the Moscow Patriarchate and, on the other hand, that she had jettisoned her anti-ecumenist outlook and her coöperation with the Holy Synod in Resistance; but the formal declaration and complete implementation of this rupture was postponed out of extreme oikonomia, so as to take effect without further ado, immediately, and automatically upon the opening of communion between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate.
6. The truly disappointing eclipse of an outstanding champion against the syncretistic heresy of ecumenism provokes the deepest sorrow among Old Calendarist Orthodox anti-ecumenists everywhere. This sorrow, however, is mitigated by the very gratifying news that a significant portion of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad disagrees with the union that has been accomplished and is now regrouping as an independent jurisdiction, in the awareness that it constitutes the authentic continuation of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad.
7. The Holy Synod in Resistance will, with especial joy, continue to have communion with this portion of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, as long as it truly desires such communion, and also as long as it possesses a clearly anti-ecumenist self-understanding, not maintaining any kind of communion, directly or indirectly, with the Orthodox ecumenists.
8. To this end, we have deemed it expedient to publish on our website the more pertinent official documents of the Holy Synod in Resistance, which, on the one hand, clearly attest to the responsible way in which she handled relations with the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad during the years 2000-2006, and, on the other hand, contain the unshakeable bases for communion with the “remnant chosen by Grace” (Romans 11:5), that is, that portion of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad which rejects the recent union with the Moscow Patriarchate.
9. Furthermore, our aim in publishing these official documents is to demonstrate how superficial and, in many ways, irresponsible is the wish and suggestion expressed by certain New Calendarists that the much-fragmented Old Calendarist Orthodox should emulate the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad by placing themselves under the official ecumenist jurisdictions, since the latter forget or overlook that, while the historical basis and occasion for the rift among the Russians (1917-) has been removed and no longer exists, it was quite different from the dispute which divided, and continues to divide—since it still exists and is, indeed, reinforced daily—, the Orthodox into ecumenists and resisters (1920, 1924-).
From the Chancery of the Holy Synod in Resistance
Fili, Attika, 10 May 2007 (Old Style)
Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot
II. Documents
1. Epistle, Protocol No. 340 (1 January 2001)
2. Statement on the Recent Rapprochement Between the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarchate
3. Epistle, Protocol No. 408 (11 October 2004)
4. Epistle, Protocol No. 409 (5 December 2004)
5. Epistle, Protocol No. 412 (22 November 2005)
6. The Unity and Common Perspective of the Old Calendarist Orthodox Anti-Ecumenists of Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria
Letter To A Godson
.
The "Godson" is a monk in ROCOR-MP (by default). He was baptized in 2000 in Tennessee. A few short months later he was made a novice at Holy Cross in West Virginia. I'm not his official godmother, but if he has one at all, I am she.
Dear Father,
This letter is going to cause you discomfort one way or the other. But if you are one who did not just slide into the union with no difficulty, this letter may also offer you a certain relief. This letter took months to compile, yet it is only the tip of the iceberg. I'm going to ask you to please read it through at least once and ponder it at least alittle, before deciding if you will show it. I fear once you show it, it will be confiscated and you won't get it back.
Out in the world, KGB infiltration of ROCOR is no secret anymore. Very soon there will be available in English a secular book written by an x-KGB agent which has an entire chapter devoted to ROCOR (included in this packet). An earlier x-agent wrote that there would be a "fake downfall of communism to put the west to sleep, but the communists would still have control." Gorbachev also said that "the fall of communism was only for western consumption", i.e. it was not real, and that he "would never be anything but a communist." Another x-agent writes about the "phoney collapse of the Soviet Union." But, let's back up alittle...
"Lenin realized immediately after the revolution that he could not compete with the Church in ideology or credibility among the people. The only solution he saw was the destruction of the Church. He first applied this tactic to the Church leaders, then to the congregation. But the Faith remained, only it was hidden. This was bad news for the party. They realized they hadn't destroyed religion, they had only driven it underground. And for Soviet officials - whose greatest fear was always their own people - this secretive, private expression of religion was more dangerous.
"The Soviet regime, under Stalin, solved this problem through a typical KGB technique: Penetrate your target and control it. This way, the organization becomes just a mirage. The process was started no later than the mid-'50's. By the late '80's, the Church was fully penetrated." (ROCOR was part of the program, and penetration of ROCOR began at nearly the same time. ROCOR was aware of MP penetration, but not aware it was being penetrated also.)
(Today, some can sense it, there is a "spell-like thing" around us that prevents us from grasping the full horror of this. Kind of like when the heterodox talk about demons, but don't really believe in them; if they did, they would behave differently.)
"The Moscow Patriarch (has always been) gravely concerned over the existence of the Russian Church Abroad. Serge Schmemann, Moscow correspondent of THE NEW YORK TIMES, on the eve of the visit of Patirarch Alexis I to the United States, correctly noted:
'The small Church Abroad is...a constant reminder of the past about which the Moscow Patriarch and the Patriarch himself would rather forget'. (Nov. 9, 1991)'."
(most of the above is quoted, below is from me:)
THE FORCE THAT BROUGHT US COMMUNISM ALSO BROUGHT US THE UNION AND FOR THE SAME REASON. Hear this. I'm taking about the Mystery of Iniquity. This is explained in a book published in the 80's called BITTER FRUITS OF A SWEET CAPTIVITY, which is now considered contraband. The only way I can think of to summarize it, is that this is the Mystery of Iniquity working the same thing through every medium including, and especially, the Church. Keep this in mind as you ponder our current events and current history.
Why have so many, both clergy and laity, done a "flip-flop", like you describe with Fr. Luke? At first Fr. Luke was against the union, then he became pro-union. Pro-union in every way. All obstacles were forgotten. Same with Bishop Gabriel. Same with TOO MANY others. Why? Various reasons. Satan uses whatever weakness is particular to a person.
But, one reason is...
Some of our hierarchs are KGB agents that penetrated long ago and gained our trust, pretending to be ROCOR in their hearts. Then when the laity observed change of heart in their trusted leaders, they reasoned that the change must be God-pleasing. The changing of hearts was/is assisted by demons. Actually some of the pro-union arguments can be very persuasive/tricky, unless you are uncommonly objective/alert. And unless you have all the undistorted facts. If someones just simply can not conform (twist) their minds to accept the union whole-heartedly, they are told to "be obedient to your hierarchs", "be humble, don't think you can know better than your hierarchs". The supposed vast numbers of clergy who go along with the union is used as proof of its goodness.
But in reality ROCOR has lost more than 1/3 of its clergy to this issue since it started in 1999, the Lesna Convent, St. Edward's Monastery, Holy Protection in Bluffton, other monasteries, at least a few stray monastics, whole parishes and unnumbered stray laity. One stray nun, Maria, didn't have to leave her convent in Gethsemane, she was expelled and forcibly removed by Bishop Mark for speaking out against the union. So, not everyone has forgotten that we are the Church Militant and that the enemy never sleeps. If you, Father, find yourself unable to remain in the union, Fr. Gregory and I will cover your finances and show you all your options, some you won't expect.
The 3 people who helped you come into Orthodoxy (me, Fr. Gregory, Bp. Ambrose) are all against the union. I'm enclosing writings from each of us (mine is this letter).
I realize you do not want a debate. Neither do I. But I hope you will consider some information and a perspective that I do not believe has been made available to you. First I need to make sure you know that the internet is not necessarily all bad. (The Wall Street Journal is on the internet.) I believe you have only been given pro-union information; or if you were given any anti-union information, it's been filtered through a pro-union prism.
Included in this letter are:
-PUTIN'S ESPIONAGE CHURCH -A chapter on ROCOR from a recent book by an X-KGB agent soon to be published in English.
-WHERE I STAND - (And How I Got Here) - Maxim, a man near your age who is seeking monasticism, tells his story. To understand him better it helps to know that "Annunciation" is the Old Calendar OCA parish. "New Martyrs" is the ROCOR-MP parish. "Fr. Joseph Sunderland" used to be the priest at "New Martyrs". In 2001 Fr. Joseph Sunderland left and took 1/3 of the parish with him. Fr. Joseph's parish is now "St. Joseph's of Petersburg". The replacement priest for New Martyrs, Maxim does not name, but refers to as "the priest". The Fr. Herman that Maxim refers to is the defrocked monk Herman from Platina who now lives in prelest and needs our prayers.
-LETTER OF LESNA SISTERS - Concerning their passage under the jurisdiction of the True Orthodox Church of Russia.
-SIR'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE UNION - Synod In Resistance's official statement posted on their website. I've included a list of the titles of the supporting documents, but not the documents themselves. This represents Bp. Ambrose.
-FR. GREGORY'S OPEN LETTER of December 2006. This was emailed to friends and posted on all available Orthodox internet forums.
-HOW DID WE GET HERE? by Dr. Timothy Clader - This was an invited talk, scheduled to be given at 11:00 a.m. on 28/Nov/11 Dec..2003 at the Clergy Conference of the /Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Nyack, New York. The talk was canceled.
-END TIMES BY ELDER AMBROSY OF OPTINA - End Time Instructions.
-PROPHESIES ABOUT RUSSIA - A collection that includes the prophecy of the Eldress Agatha.
-INTERVIEW WITH MET. KIRILL showing he knows how to say what is pleasing to us, but in the end he admits unity with the Roman Church is his goal. This he says in word.
-JESUITS DONATE BOOKS TO RUSSIAN ORTHODOX - This article shows Met. Kyrill's same goal, but this time in deed. Met. Kyrill is next in line after Patriarch Alexii II.
-YARMOLINETS ON ASTORIA - An article translated from a Russian Newspaper about Met. Laurus/Bp. Gabriel suing the parish in Astoria. Yarmolinets is the name of the reporter.
-2007 DECEMBER: CRISIS IN HAITI - Reader Nicholas of Haiti gives a first-hand account of ROCOR-MP trying to take their property in Haiti.
-MURDERED CLERGYMEN & MONASTICS - 3 short news clips
-MOSCOW HONOURS MET. SERGIUS - A report of the Church Gazette 15/3/07
-BLACK CLOUD OVER MOSCOW - An essay by a ROCOR deacon, November 2006
-MP IS NOT "MOTHER" - The Nativity Epistle of ROAC Met. Valentin 2003/2004
- THE NORTH AMERICAN SOVIET UNION -An article from "Dumbing Down America" showing the Mystery of Iniquity working to bring about one world government while simultaneously working to bring about one world church.
***
Now, Father, please let me respond to some points you bring out in your recent letters:
1. You mention a few times the "extremists", "factions", "right-wing". Yes. The right-wing extremists (often called schisms) are the SUPER-CORRECT that Fr. Seraphim told us about. The wording is much changed in his new biography from his old one. However, Fr. Seraphim, at the time was talking about the splintered Greek Church. As he predicted, today, they are numerous and not in communion with each other. This has started to happen in the Russian Church, too.
Considered left-wing extremists were the modernists, renovationists, ecumenists, ie: SCOBA (the "Club", "official" churches). They are all in communion with each other. This club was formed for the purpose of validating themselves.
The MIDDLE PATH, the ROYAL PATH, was always ROCOR. Neither to the right nor to the left. ROCOR always held to the traditions without going overboard. ROCOR never declared that the left-wing was graceless, for example. And ROCOR never condoned modernism, etc. She upheld the Traditions, but always did strive to seek the True Spirit of the Law, rather than the Letter of the Law.
2. You wrote that ROCOR no longer had a valid reason to exist. This is simply not true. Without canon law experts (lawyers) on our side, we didn't know our options. It is quite possible we earned our own right (Bishop Daniel thought so). It is certain we could have canonically continued, which is what ROCOR-PSCA did. I'm aware that ROCOR-MP says ROCOR-PSCA is in schism. But, ROCOR-PSCA is recognized by the 3 other Royal Path Churches (Old Calendar Bulgarians, Old Calendar Romainians, Synod of Resistance in Greece). These are ROCOR's original friends, who recognize ROCOR-PSCA as the continuation of the original ROCOR. All 3 Royal Path Churches are in communion with ROCOR-PSCA.
3. ELDRESS AGATHA'S PROPHECY - When this prophecy is put in the context of a collection of related prophecies, it becomes clear that the True Church hasn't triumphed in Russia, yet. There needs to be a really bad war first, and then a God-given Tzar who will "First of all he will introduce order in the Orthodox Church, removing all the untrue, heretical and lukewarm hierarchs. And many, very many - with few exceptions, all - will be deposed, and new, true, unshakeable hierarchs will take their place." A Super-Correct priest who used to be in ROCOR pointed out that also the baptisms the Eldress spoke of are not taking place. I'm including a Collection Of Prophecies For Russia in this letter - you will see.
Some of the Super-Correct say that the Catacomb Church is still hiding. It's possible, but doubtful. They were effectively eliminated by the KGB. RTOC claims to be the Catacomb Church, but our Bishop Agafangel tells us that the RTOC of today is not the heir of the Catacomb Church. The Lesna Convent made a prior decision long ago to go into the RTOC in the event of the union. I wish they had held off making their decision until after ROCOR-PSCA was an option. But, by leaving ahead of time, they avoided being sued.
4. You sing a familiar song when you say, "Trust your Bishops" That echoes and replays all through ROCOR-MP constantly these days. Anyone who is uncomfortable with the union can just trust their bishops. This is false obedience. False humility. You can't be obedient to disobedience. Their disobedience is to our ROCOR Fathers. This union we have now is not the one our Fathers envisioned.
Father, I DO trust my Bishops. Vladyka Agafangel, Vladyka Andronik, Vladika Sophrony. My Bishops did not fall asleep. They withstood. I love them. I trust them. I hear their voice, and I recognize their voice. These are my true shepherds.
Of the ROCOR-MP bishops I'm ashamed. For what they did to ROCOR. Also that they are suing parishes for not submitting to them. (Oxnard CA, Buena NJ, Astoria NY, ... They even sued the local Greek Church for giving emergency pastoral care to the Oxnard flock.) They threaten to cause trouble in Haiti, but we are hoping they will give up there. This is shameful. Do you recall when I visited you, and at the meal Bishop Gabriel said a word about Fr. Ambrose's leaving? He said true Christian things like, "we hope he finds peace" and "the door is always open for his return". Where is this Christian Charity towards the non-submitting parishes today?
5. About Fr. Luke. My kindred-spirit friend here in Oregon says this:
" Well, yes, how to understand your Fr. Luke Murianka? Except someone that I know, Daniel Olson ( a long time friend and helper of that Fr. Luke) did ask him directly some time ago: 'What do you think about the union, Fr. Luke?' Fr. Luke said, 'I am against it, but I am too old to go anywhere else'. (i.e. to leave his Jordanville Monastery)..."
I suspect many people flip-flopped for this very reason - they saw the union coming and they talked themselves into believing it's right, rather than suffer the great upset (and loneliness) in their lives it would cause to remain believing otherwise. One indication that this is the case you supply to me in quoting Fr. Luke. He has joined them in their wistful sighings about the "Fatherland." What is this sentimental slop? Fr. Luke is half American. Bp. Gabriel is doing it, too. What gives? He is from Australia. Our first love is supposed to be for Christ and His Kingdom, not "Fatherland".
6. It is also a common misbelief (wishful thinking?) that the MP has repented. The idea that they repented in the 90's and we just didn't publish it, is new to me. Actually, during that time the KGB was adding the newest of the new martyrs to the rolls. If they repented, what? Then did they change their minds in the 21st century? Certainly now we see no evidence of any repentance. We see the opposite. Stalin is praised, Sergius is a hero. There is a push to have him canonized. Even non-Orthodox people can see there is no repentance. (See Putin's Espionage Church, paragraph 4.)
7. The Ecumenical Patriarch's direction towards unity with the Pope disturbs you. Good. You should be disturbed. His push is not going to stop. You know Satan, he may only gain an inch in a whole generation, But then the next generation he gains another inch. This is the Mystery of Iniquity incessantly marching towards the End and the One World Religion of Antichrist. And after the Patriarch Bartholomew dies, he will be replaced by one even more determined, crafty, skilled.
8. Is MP against ecumenism? Or is MP for ecumenism? I think it's both, depending. Both the actions and the words are contradictory. MP insists on being in the WCC in order to represent Orthodoxy, so as to not permit the EP to have a "free rein" on this platform. But, by a mere presence in the WCC, Orthodoxy is offered on the smorgasbord of religion choices. This is degrading to Orthodoxy. Let the EP put his adulterous orthodoxy on the smorgasbord, and let us keep our pure Faith in a more honorable place.
PLEASE LET ME ADD THIS:
This is an intoduction to a lenghty and extremely scholarly essay on recent history, written in 2005 by a ROCOR priest who joined the Super-Correct. Remember that the Super-Correct are the modern day Pharisees. Christ told us to listen to their words, but not follow their example.
"Liberation or Deception?
"The apparent fall of communism throughout most of the Soviet bloc in 1989-91 raised hopes of a restoration of True Orthodoxy in Russia, which, if they seem naïve in retrospect, were nevertheless very real at the time. In retrospect, we can see that the changes introduced by glasnost’ and perestroika were less fundamental than at first appeared, and that the spirit and power of communism was far from dead when the red flag was pulled down from over the Kremlin on December 25, 1991. If some of the economic ideas of the revolution were discredited, its fundamental concepts – the replacement of the Church by the State, God by the people, Tradition by science, Spirit by matter – remained as firmly entrenched as ever.
"Nevertheless, the changes were significant enough to indicate the beginning of a new era. If we seek for historical parallels, then perhaps the closest is that presented by the Edict of Milan in 313, when the Emperor St. Constantine the Great came to an agreement with the pagan emperor Licinius whereby the persecution of the Christians in the Roman empire was brought to an end. The problem for the Christians of the 1990s was: no Constantine was in sight, and what leadership there was squandered the opportunities presented to it.
"Russian Orthodox Christians reacted to these changes in three different ways. The True Orthodox Christians of the Catacomb Church were cautious, fearing a deception, and in general remained in the underground, not seeking to register their communities or acquire above-ground churches in which to worship. The Moscow Patriarchate (MP) – or “Soviet church”, as it was known among True Orthodox Christians - was fearful that its monopoly position in church life under the Soviets would be lost in the new democracy. Nevertheless, it took the opportunity presented by the new legislation to receive all the money budgeted for church restoration by the Russian parliament and open many churches (1830 were opened in the first nine months of 1990 alone). The third force in Russian Orthodox life, the ROCOR, which throughout the Soviet period had taken a public position against the MP and in support of the True Orthodox Church, decided to open parishes on Russian soil and thereby provide an alternative for believers who on the one hand did not want to join the MP, but on the other hand were not prepared for the rigours of catacomb life.
"However, the first question that had to be answered by all sides was: how were the political changes to be evaluated? Was the collective Antichrist really dead? If so, then had the end times, paradoxically, come to an end? Or was this only a temporary “breathing space” in which the Antichrist was preparing a new, subtler, and more deadly onslaught?"
--The rest of this essay gets really detailed. Here tho', this author speaks of the clergyless Catacomb faithful. Many of them have found parishes of ROCOR-PSCA which has a strong and rapidly growing presence in Russia. But many of them, I suspect, are like my aged Russian Matushka friend, who lives far from any church she is willing to attend. She will not set foot in an MP church, and even fears someone might have her commemorated in an MP church. These are the people I feel we have failed. Before the union we had at least a mystical connection with the Catacomb Faithful who keep the True Church in their hearts.
CONCLUSION:
In this packet is just the tip of the iceberg, and not even the worst of it. The worst is too hard to believe all at once, the pieces of evidence have to come in one at a time. Or else because of overload, it appears absurd like a product of a wild imagination or paranoia. Some of the "flip-flops" for example are extremely suspicious. However, many of the lies have been exposed: the lie that MP is "Mother", the lie that ROCOR would remain self-governing, the lie that ROCOR no longer had a right to exist, the lie that communism is over, the cover-up of Blessed Philaret and rewriting of St. John M., and as my kindred-spirit Oregon friend summarized:
"...So, I believe with you, that a main SIGN that this union was very very wrong & downright IMMORAL, is exactly HOW it was forced upon us....by many many deceptions/lies of all degrees/misinformation./threats & removal from positions of any opponents, etc & ...done, shall we say, 'in the dark, by night', etc.. A bishop to rule by deceit/force/lies/threats? I think not! So, to me, one of the greatest proofs that this union is very very wrong, is....the WAY IT WAS FORCED UPON US!"
Love in Christ, Joanna
To Read The Godson's Response Click Here.
The "Godson" is a monk in ROCOR-MP (by default). He was baptized in 2000 in Tennessee. A few short months later he was made a novice at Holy Cross in West Virginia. I'm not his official godmother, but if he has one at all, I am she.
Dear Father,
This letter is going to cause you discomfort one way or the other. But if you are one who did not just slide into the union with no difficulty, this letter may also offer you a certain relief. This letter took months to compile, yet it is only the tip of the iceberg. I'm going to ask you to please read it through at least once and ponder it at least alittle, before deciding if you will show it. I fear once you show it, it will be confiscated and you won't get it back.
Out in the world, KGB infiltration of ROCOR is no secret anymore. Very soon there will be available in English a secular book written by an x-KGB agent which has an entire chapter devoted to ROCOR (included in this packet). An earlier x-agent wrote that there would be a "fake downfall of communism to put the west to sleep, but the communists would still have control." Gorbachev also said that "the fall of communism was only for western consumption", i.e. it was not real, and that he "would never be anything but a communist." Another x-agent writes about the "phoney collapse of the Soviet Union." But, let's back up alittle...
"Lenin realized immediately after the revolution that he could not compete with the Church in ideology or credibility among the people. The only solution he saw was the destruction of the Church. He first applied this tactic to the Church leaders, then to the congregation. But the Faith remained, only it was hidden. This was bad news for the party. They realized they hadn't destroyed religion, they had only driven it underground. And for Soviet officials - whose greatest fear was always their own people - this secretive, private expression of religion was more dangerous.
"The Soviet regime, under Stalin, solved this problem through a typical KGB technique: Penetrate your target and control it. This way, the organization becomes just a mirage. The process was started no later than the mid-'50's. By the late '80's, the Church was fully penetrated." (ROCOR was part of the program, and penetration of ROCOR began at nearly the same time. ROCOR was aware of MP penetration, but not aware it was being penetrated also.)
(Today, some can sense it, there is a "spell-like thing" around us that prevents us from grasping the full horror of this. Kind of like when the heterodox talk about demons, but don't really believe in them; if they did, they would behave differently.)
"The Moscow Patriarch (has always been) gravely concerned over the existence of the Russian Church Abroad. Serge Schmemann, Moscow correspondent of THE NEW YORK TIMES, on the eve of the visit of Patirarch Alexis I to the United States, correctly noted:
'The small Church Abroad is...a constant reminder of the past about which the Moscow Patriarch and the Patriarch himself would rather forget'. (Nov. 9, 1991)'."
(most of the above is quoted, below is from me:)
THE FORCE THAT BROUGHT US COMMUNISM ALSO BROUGHT US THE UNION AND FOR THE SAME REASON. Hear this. I'm taking about the Mystery of Iniquity. This is explained in a book published in the 80's called BITTER FRUITS OF A SWEET CAPTIVITY, which is now considered contraband. The only way I can think of to summarize it, is that this is the Mystery of Iniquity working the same thing through every medium including, and especially, the Church. Keep this in mind as you ponder our current events and current history.
Why have so many, both clergy and laity, done a "flip-flop", like you describe with Fr. Luke? At first Fr. Luke was against the union, then he became pro-union. Pro-union in every way. All obstacles were forgotten. Same with Bishop Gabriel. Same with TOO MANY others. Why? Various reasons. Satan uses whatever weakness is particular to a person.
But, one reason is...
Some of our hierarchs are KGB agents that penetrated long ago and gained our trust, pretending to be ROCOR in their hearts. Then when the laity observed change of heart in their trusted leaders, they reasoned that the change must be God-pleasing. The changing of hearts was/is assisted by demons. Actually some of the pro-union arguments can be very persuasive/tricky, unless you are uncommonly objective/alert. And unless you have all the undistorted facts. If someones just simply can not conform (twist) their minds to accept the union whole-heartedly, they are told to "be obedient to your hierarchs", "be humble, don't think you can know better than your hierarchs". The supposed vast numbers of clergy who go along with the union is used as proof of its goodness.
But in reality ROCOR has lost more than 1/3 of its clergy to this issue since it started in 1999, the Lesna Convent, St. Edward's Monastery, Holy Protection in Bluffton, other monasteries, at least a few stray monastics, whole parishes and unnumbered stray laity. One stray nun, Maria, didn't have to leave her convent in Gethsemane, she was expelled and forcibly removed by Bishop Mark for speaking out against the union. So, not everyone has forgotten that we are the Church Militant and that the enemy never sleeps. If you, Father, find yourself unable to remain in the union, Fr. Gregory and I will cover your finances and show you all your options, some you won't expect.
The 3 people who helped you come into Orthodoxy (me, Fr. Gregory, Bp. Ambrose) are all against the union. I'm enclosing writings from each of us (mine is this letter).
I realize you do not want a debate. Neither do I. But I hope you will consider some information and a perspective that I do not believe has been made available to you. First I need to make sure you know that the internet is not necessarily all bad. (The Wall Street Journal is on the internet.) I believe you have only been given pro-union information; or if you were given any anti-union information, it's been filtered through a pro-union prism.
Included in this letter are:
-PUTIN'S ESPIONAGE CHURCH -A chapter on ROCOR from a recent book by an X-KGB agent soon to be published in English.
-WHERE I STAND - (And How I Got Here) - Maxim, a man near your age who is seeking monasticism, tells his story. To understand him better it helps to know that "Annunciation" is the Old Calendar OCA parish. "New Martyrs" is the ROCOR-MP parish. "Fr. Joseph Sunderland" used to be the priest at "New Martyrs". In 2001 Fr. Joseph Sunderland left and took 1/3 of the parish with him. Fr. Joseph's parish is now "St. Joseph's of Petersburg". The replacement priest for New Martyrs, Maxim does not name, but refers to as "the priest". The Fr. Herman that Maxim refers to is the defrocked monk Herman from Platina who now lives in prelest and needs our prayers.
-LETTER OF LESNA SISTERS - Concerning their passage under the jurisdiction of the True Orthodox Church of Russia.
-SIR'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE UNION - Synod In Resistance's official statement posted on their website. I've included a list of the titles of the supporting documents, but not the documents themselves. This represents Bp. Ambrose.
-FR. GREGORY'S OPEN LETTER of December 2006. This was emailed to friends and posted on all available Orthodox internet forums.
-HOW DID WE GET HERE? by Dr. Timothy Clader - This was an invited talk, scheduled to be given at 11:00 a.m. on 28/Nov/11 Dec..2003 at the Clergy Conference of the /Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Nyack, New York. The talk was canceled.
-END TIMES BY ELDER AMBROSY OF OPTINA - End Time Instructions.
-PROPHESIES ABOUT RUSSIA - A collection that includes the prophecy of the Eldress Agatha.
-INTERVIEW WITH MET. KIRILL showing he knows how to say what is pleasing to us, but in the end he admits unity with the Roman Church is his goal. This he says in word.
-JESUITS DONATE BOOKS TO RUSSIAN ORTHODOX - This article shows Met. Kyrill's same goal, but this time in deed. Met. Kyrill is next in line after Patriarch Alexii II.
-YARMOLINETS ON ASTORIA - An article translated from a Russian Newspaper about Met. Laurus/Bp. Gabriel suing the parish in Astoria. Yarmolinets is the name of the reporter.
-2007 DECEMBER: CRISIS IN HAITI - Reader Nicholas of Haiti gives a first-hand account of ROCOR-MP trying to take their property in Haiti.
-MURDERED CLERGYMEN & MONASTICS - 3 short news clips
-MOSCOW HONOURS MET. SERGIUS - A report of the Church Gazette 15/3/07
-BLACK CLOUD OVER MOSCOW - An essay by a ROCOR deacon, November 2006
-MP IS NOT "MOTHER" - The Nativity Epistle of ROAC Met. Valentin 2003/2004
- THE NORTH AMERICAN SOVIET UNION -An article from "Dumbing Down America" showing the Mystery of Iniquity working to bring about one world government while simultaneously working to bring about one world church.
***
Now, Father, please let me respond to some points you bring out in your recent letters:
1. You mention a few times the "extremists", "factions", "right-wing". Yes. The right-wing extremists (often called schisms) are the SUPER-CORRECT that Fr. Seraphim told us about. The wording is much changed in his new biography from his old one. However, Fr. Seraphim, at the time was talking about the splintered Greek Church. As he predicted, today, they are numerous and not in communion with each other. This has started to happen in the Russian Church, too.
Considered left-wing extremists were the modernists, renovationists, ecumenists, ie: SCOBA (the "Club", "official" churches). They are all in communion with each other. This club was formed for the purpose of validating themselves.
The MIDDLE PATH, the ROYAL PATH, was always ROCOR. Neither to the right nor to the left. ROCOR always held to the traditions without going overboard. ROCOR never declared that the left-wing was graceless, for example. And ROCOR never condoned modernism, etc. She upheld the Traditions, but always did strive to seek the True Spirit of the Law, rather than the Letter of the Law.
2. You wrote that ROCOR no longer had a valid reason to exist. This is simply not true. Without canon law experts (lawyers) on our side, we didn't know our options. It is quite possible we earned our own right (Bishop Daniel thought so). It is certain we could have canonically continued, which is what ROCOR-PSCA did. I'm aware that ROCOR-MP says ROCOR-PSCA is in schism. But, ROCOR-PSCA is recognized by the 3 other Royal Path Churches (Old Calendar Bulgarians, Old Calendar Romainians, Synod of Resistance in Greece). These are ROCOR's original friends, who recognize ROCOR-PSCA as the continuation of the original ROCOR. All 3 Royal Path Churches are in communion with ROCOR-PSCA.
3. ELDRESS AGATHA'S PROPHECY - When this prophecy is put in the context of a collection of related prophecies, it becomes clear that the True Church hasn't triumphed in Russia, yet. There needs to be a really bad war first, and then a God-given Tzar who will "First of all he will introduce order in the Orthodox Church, removing all the untrue, heretical and lukewarm hierarchs. And many, very many - with few exceptions, all - will be deposed, and new, true, unshakeable hierarchs will take their place." A Super-Correct priest who used to be in ROCOR pointed out that also the baptisms the Eldress spoke of are not taking place. I'm including a Collection Of Prophecies For Russia in this letter - you will see.
Some of the Super-Correct say that the Catacomb Church is still hiding. It's possible, but doubtful. They were effectively eliminated by the KGB. RTOC claims to be the Catacomb Church, but our Bishop Agafangel tells us that the RTOC of today is not the heir of the Catacomb Church. The Lesna Convent made a prior decision long ago to go into the RTOC in the event of the union. I wish they had held off making their decision until after ROCOR-PSCA was an option. But, by leaving ahead of time, they avoided being sued.
4. You sing a familiar song when you say, "Trust your Bishops" That echoes and replays all through ROCOR-MP constantly these days. Anyone who is uncomfortable with the union can just trust their bishops. This is false obedience. False humility. You can't be obedient to disobedience. Their disobedience is to our ROCOR Fathers. This union we have now is not the one our Fathers envisioned.
Father, I DO trust my Bishops. Vladyka Agafangel, Vladyka Andronik, Vladika Sophrony. My Bishops did not fall asleep. They withstood. I love them. I trust them. I hear their voice, and I recognize their voice. These are my true shepherds.
Of the ROCOR-MP bishops I'm ashamed. For what they did to ROCOR. Also that they are suing parishes for not submitting to them. (Oxnard CA, Buena NJ, Astoria NY, ... They even sued the local Greek Church for giving emergency pastoral care to the Oxnard flock.) They threaten to cause trouble in Haiti, but we are hoping they will give up there. This is shameful. Do you recall when I visited you, and at the meal Bishop Gabriel said a word about Fr. Ambrose's leaving? He said true Christian things like, "we hope he finds peace" and "the door is always open for his return". Where is this Christian Charity towards the non-submitting parishes today?
5. About Fr. Luke. My kindred-spirit friend here in Oregon says this:
" Well, yes, how to understand your Fr. Luke Murianka? Except someone that I know, Daniel Olson ( a long time friend and helper of that Fr. Luke) did ask him directly some time ago: 'What do you think about the union, Fr. Luke?' Fr. Luke said, 'I am against it, but I am too old to go anywhere else'. (i.e. to leave his Jordanville Monastery)..."
I suspect many people flip-flopped for this very reason - they saw the union coming and they talked themselves into believing it's right, rather than suffer the great upset (and loneliness) in their lives it would cause to remain believing otherwise. One indication that this is the case you supply to me in quoting Fr. Luke. He has joined them in their wistful sighings about the "Fatherland." What is this sentimental slop? Fr. Luke is half American. Bp. Gabriel is doing it, too. What gives? He is from Australia. Our first love is supposed to be for Christ and His Kingdom, not "Fatherland".
6. It is also a common misbelief (wishful thinking?) that the MP has repented. The idea that they repented in the 90's and we just didn't publish it, is new to me. Actually, during that time the KGB was adding the newest of the new martyrs to the rolls. If they repented, what? Then did they change their minds in the 21st century? Certainly now we see no evidence of any repentance. We see the opposite. Stalin is praised, Sergius is a hero. There is a push to have him canonized. Even non-Orthodox people can see there is no repentance. (See Putin's Espionage Church, paragraph 4.)
7. The Ecumenical Patriarch's direction towards unity with the Pope disturbs you. Good. You should be disturbed. His push is not going to stop. You know Satan, he may only gain an inch in a whole generation, But then the next generation he gains another inch. This is the Mystery of Iniquity incessantly marching towards the End and the One World Religion of Antichrist. And after the Patriarch Bartholomew dies, he will be replaced by one even more determined, crafty, skilled.
8. Is MP against ecumenism? Or is MP for ecumenism? I think it's both, depending. Both the actions and the words are contradictory. MP insists on being in the WCC in order to represent Orthodoxy, so as to not permit the EP to have a "free rein" on this platform. But, by a mere presence in the WCC, Orthodoxy is offered on the smorgasbord of religion choices. This is degrading to Orthodoxy. Let the EP put his adulterous orthodoxy on the smorgasbord, and let us keep our pure Faith in a more honorable place.
PLEASE LET ME ADD THIS:
This is an intoduction to a lenghty and extremely scholarly essay on recent history, written in 2005 by a ROCOR priest who joined the Super-Correct. Remember that the Super-Correct are the modern day Pharisees. Christ told us to listen to their words, but not follow their example.
"Liberation or Deception?
"The apparent fall of communism throughout most of the Soviet bloc in 1989-91 raised hopes of a restoration of True Orthodoxy in Russia, which, if they seem naïve in retrospect, were nevertheless very real at the time. In retrospect, we can see that the changes introduced by glasnost’ and perestroika were less fundamental than at first appeared, and that the spirit and power of communism was far from dead when the red flag was pulled down from over the Kremlin on December 25, 1991. If some of the economic ideas of the revolution were discredited, its fundamental concepts – the replacement of the Church by the State, God by the people, Tradition by science, Spirit by matter – remained as firmly entrenched as ever.
"Nevertheless, the changes were significant enough to indicate the beginning of a new era. If we seek for historical parallels, then perhaps the closest is that presented by the Edict of Milan in 313, when the Emperor St. Constantine the Great came to an agreement with the pagan emperor Licinius whereby the persecution of the Christians in the Roman empire was brought to an end. The problem for the Christians of the 1990s was: no Constantine was in sight, and what leadership there was squandered the opportunities presented to it.
"Russian Orthodox Christians reacted to these changes in three different ways. The True Orthodox Christians of the Catacomb Church were cautious, fearing a deception, and in general remained in the underground, not seeking to register their communities or acquire above-ground churches in which to worship. The Moscow Patriarchate (MP) – or “Soviet church”, as it was known among True Orthodox Christians - was fearful that its monopoly position in church life under the Soviets would be lost in the new democracy. Nevertheless, it took the opportunity presented by the new legislation to receive all the money budgeted for church restoration by the Russian parliament and open many churches (1830 were opened in the first nine months of 1990 alone). The third force in Russian Orthodox life, the ROCOR, which throughout the Soviet period had taken a public position against the MP and in support of the True Orthodox Church, decided to open parishes on Russian soil and thereby provide an alternative for believers who on the one hand did not want to join the MP, but on the other hand were not prepared for the rigours of catacomb life.
"However, the first question that had to be answered by all sides was: how were the political changes to be evaluated? Was the collective Antichrist really dead? If so, then had the end times, paradoxically, come to an end? Or was this only a temporary “breathing space” in which the Antichrist was preparing a new, subtler, and more deadly onslaught?"
--The rest of this essay gets really detailed. Here tho', this author speaks of the clergyless Catacomb faithful. Many of them have found parishes of ROCOR-PSCA which has a strong and rapidly growing presence in Russia. But many of them, I suspect, are like my aged Russian Matushka friend, who lives far from any church she is willing to attend. She will not set foot in an MP church, and even fears someone might have her commemorated in an MP church. These are the people I feel we have failed. Before the union we had at least a mystical connection with the Catacomb Faithful who keep the True Church in their hearts.
CONCLUSION:
In this packet is just the tip of the iceberg, and not even the worst of it. The worst is too hard to believe all at once, the pieces of evidence have to come in one at a time. Or else because of overload, it appears absurd like a product of a wild imagination or paranoia. Some of the "flip-flops" for example are extremely suspicious. However, many of the lies have been exposed: the lie that MP is "Mother", the lie that ROCOR would remain self-governing, the lie that ROCOR no longer had a right to exist, the lie that communism is over, the cover-up of Blessed Philaret and rewriting of St. John M., and as my kindred-spirit Oregon friend summarized:
"...So, I believe with you, that a main SIGN that this union was very very wrong & downright IMMORAL, is exactly HOW it was forced upon us....by many many deceptions/lies of all degrees/misinformation./threats & removal from positions of any opponents, etc & ...done, shall we say, 'in the dark, by night', etc.. A bishop to rule by deceit/force/lies/threats? I think not! So, to me, one of the greatest proofs that this union is very very wrong, is....the WAY IT WAS FORCED UPON US!"
Love in Christ, Joanna
To Read The Godson's Response Click Here.