Governments around the world turned Pascha 2020 into a livestream event. As unsettling as that was, most Orthodox bishops put the best spin possible on the situation. It was temporary, we were assured by our Shepherds in Christ. This was a “crisis.” Our governments had only our safety in mind. Everything would eventually go back to “normal.” Only “fanatics” would oppose reasonable policies to save lives from a deadly virus. Even as the last year wore on and restrictions continued, we were counseled to have patience. Now that a second Pascha in the Age of Covid has passed, we can clearly see that for millions of Orthodox Christians, “normal” is nowhere in sight.
In Greece, the bishops agreed to begin the Paschal services at 9 p.m. on Saturday to comply with a curfew. Celebrating the Resurrection of Christ on the 2nd Day is absolutely uncanonical. As should be no surprise, not all Greek priests were willing to go along. So far, we know about six priests from Thessaloniki who dared to hold Paschal services at the appointed time in violation of the curfew. These heroic priests are now facing charges:
Six priests from Thessaloniki began the Easter service according to the tradition of the Church – at midnight from Holy Saturday to Resurrection. Now they will stand trial. The Greek authorities have opened a case of violation of quarantine measures against six priests from Thessaloniki, who refused to serve the Paschal Matins and Liturgy at 21.00, according to the publication Vima Orthodox . According to the publication, the case was brought against the priests, who, according to the tradition of the Church, began Easter Matins at midnight from Holy Saturday to Resurrection.
At the same time, in connection with the current measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the Greek authorities, together with the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, decided that Easter services should begin at 21.00 on Holy Saturday.
We must pray for them as they face this persecution. In Cyprus, the government demanded the Church limit attendance to only 50 faithful, all of whom had to provide proof of vaccination. Otherwise you had to be in the courtyard. Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou issued a stinging rebuke of this mandate.
Vaccines were not required only in Cyprus. Admittance to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem was restricted to only the fully vaccinated:
The faithful gathered at The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, waiting for clergymen to emerge with the Holy Fire from the Edicule, a chamber built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was buried and rose from the dead after being crucified.
Only a few people in the church wore masks, and there was no distancing. Entry was restricted to those who were fully vaccinated.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee has ordered churches to segregate congregations into vaccinated and non-vaccinated sections. George M. Cantonis, President of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, announced in an email that all students, faculty, and staff will be required to be fully vaccinated by August 17, 2021. No word on what will happen to those who have a moral or practical objection to experimental vaccines which make use of aborted fetal cells. One would assume either distance learning, or a transfer to a more Orthodox seminary would be required.
While all of this is happening, in Canada churches are being closed, services interrupted, and pastors being arrested for “inciting people to go to church.”
15 days to slow the spread has turned into forever, and the persecution of those who refuse to go along is only beginning. As we go forward into an unknown future, all Christians, Orthodox and otherwise, need to keep some essential things in mind for the good of our own souls.
Praying for the Government Doesn’t Mean Accepting Tyranny
Orthodox Christians pray for their government leaders and strive to follow laws as good citizens. Our obedience, however, is not absolute. Orthodox Christians are not required to surrender the practice of our faith simply because the government demands it. Quite the opposite, in fact:
In everything that concerns the exclusively earthly order of things, the Orthodox Christian is obliged to obey the law, regardless of how far it is imperfect and unfortunate. However, when compliance with legal requirements threatens his eternal salvation and involves an apostasy or commitment of another doubtless sin before God and his neighbor, the Christian is called to perform the feat of confession for the sake of God’s truth and the salvation of his soul for eternal life. He must speak out lawfully against an indisputable violation committed by society or state against the statutes and commandments of God. If this lawful action is impossible or ineffective, he must take up the position of civil disobedience
Christians have allowed governments to close our churches, limit our attendance at divine services, dictate our liturgical practices, change the day of Pascha, and even arrest our priests for following the canons as they were taught. Where the line is between “apostasy” and “doubtless sin” can be debated, but our current compliance is surely one or the other or both. Orthodox Christians may bear all things for Christ, but we are not called to passively accept attacks on our Faith. As Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou said of the situations in Greece and Cyprus:
One who lives The Resurrection may also Protest! The people of the New World Order are scared of this. As it seems these people want the Orthodox to celebrate Pascha not on the 3rd Day, the Day it should be, on the Sunday.
For most of her history, the Orthodox Church ministered to the faithful under various monarchies. Monarchy is a system of government that has little to do with our modern concepts of freedom and human rights. Even under practically absolutist monarchies, however, the Holy Fathers distinguished between real monarchy and tyranny. St. Gregory was an opponent of Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate. Gregory called Julian a “universal enemy.” Gregory explicitly denied that Julian’s power was from God and thus worthy of obedience:
“What demon instilled this thought in you? If every authority were acknowledged as sacred by the very fact of its existence, Christ the Savior would not have called Herod ‘that fox’. The Church would not hitherto have denounced ungodly rulers who defended heresies and persecuted Orthodoxy. Of course, if one judges an authority on the basis of its outward power, and not on its inner, moral worthiness, one may easily bow down to the beast, i.e. the Antichrist, ‘whose coming will be with all power and lying wonders’ (II Thessalonians 2.9), to whom ‘power was given… over all kindred, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwelt upon the earth shall worship him, whose names were not written in the book of life of the Lamb’ (Revelation 13.7-8).”
“Pandemic” or not, the Church cannot continue to bow down to, and cooperate with, tyranny without serious consequences. One of which could be our eventual submission to the Antichrist. We cannot hide behind “obedience to the law” and pretend that our cowardice is some kind of virtue.
Related Posts:
Bishops Can’t Just Do Whatever They Want
In an article titled The Broken Covenant, an anonymous group of OCA clergy makes it very clear that the office of the bishop is not all-powerful. Bishops are obliged to preserve the Faith as it was given to them. They are not empowered to add to, or subtract from, the Orthodox Faith. The obedience of the clergy and the Faithful to the bishops is conditioned on their adherence to Holy Tradition:
We have been hearing about personal obedience to the bishop. We priests and have always been servants of Christ and the Church. Now we are servants to the bishops? Priests have been told that they were not to think only to obey. The implication is that the bishop will think for the priest. Every Liturgy we pray being endowed with the grace of the priesthood. We ask God to cleanse our soul of an evil conscience. The pure witness of our priestly conscience has been replaced with the bishop’s conscience alone. Freewill is replaced with tyranny of a temporal magisterium that can change from day to day. This is the definition of a cult and not the Holy Church. We did not swear obedience to a bishop for anything outside the Holy Tradition. The bishop has no authority in the parish or the life of a priest where he departs from it.
For priests who have faithfully served for years to suddenly be labeled unfaithful because they are presiding over Liturgical worship “in accordance with the Tradition and norms of the Church” is alarming. Saving people from temporal death is not our job! Everyone in the history of the world has thus far died. The Church has one job and only one! And that is to offer the antidote for death which was entrusted to the apostles. The same is given to every priest, as well as to the Bishop. The antidote is not a vaccine. It is Christ.
Recognizing the limits on the authority of bishops is Orthodoxy, not Protestantism. The bishops cannot make vaccination a criterion to attend Divine Liturgy or to seek ordination. It is outside the scope of their power. Doing so, even under the guise of “the law,” is an abuse of their authority as bishops. Governments do not have the right to change the practice of the Orthodox Faith. Neither do the bishops.
The Russian Orthodox Church and other foreign hierarchs have denounced “vaccine passports.” Unfortunately, in North America, we are only aware of Archbishop Mark of Philadelphia and Eastern America (Orthodox Church in America) taking a stand that vaccination cannot become a prerequisite for participation in Church life:
The past year has truly been a rollercoaster ride for all of us and we need to be mindful and considerate of those suffering from isolation, fear, anxiety, depression, substance abuse and loneliness, as well as those who have lost loved ones. Additionally, divisions occurred as people lost the ability to discuss differing opinions on a variety of matters. Hopefully, we are encouraged by the drastic decrease in the number of hospitalizations and deaths attributed to COVID 19 since mid-January, even before significant numbers were administered the experimental COVID 19.
As your Bishop, I insist each of you respect the conscience and privacy of your brothers and sisters in Christ. No one is to be asked if he or she has or has not received the injections. No one is to be denied full participation in the Divine Services or parish life regardless of his or her decision. No one should be judged or criticized one way or the other.
We Must Overcome Moral Blackmail
We need to be very, very clear. We are not in a scientific debate. There is no “science” supporting lockdowns, mask mandates, mandatory vaccines, closing schools, curfews, and closing churches. Here is a link to 27 studies that prove lockdowns do not work to save lives. This is a link to an article from an MD and former editor of a medical journal in which he states, “Based on extensive review and analysis, there is no question in my mind that healthy people should not be wearing surgical or cloth masks. Nor should we be recommending universal masking of all members of the population.” He is just one of thousands of researchers and physicians who oppose mandatory masking of healthy individuals. MIT researchers recently found that, “The risk of being exposed to Covid-19 indoors can be as great at 60 feet as it is at 6 feet in a room where the air is mixed.” There is no science behind the magic “six-foot” rule or the “three-foot” rule. It was all made up.
As for vaccines, their potential side effects and lack of benefit make them of little use, except perhaps for those at advanced age and substantially elevated risk. Dr. Michael Yeadon, Pfizer’s former Vice President and Chief Scientist for Allergy & Respiratory, spent 32 years in the industry leading new medicines research. Dr. Yeadon has publicly rejected the ongoing mass vaccination campaign:
In the U.K., it’s abundantly clear that the authorities are bent on a course which will result in administering ‘vaccines’ to as many of the population as they can. This is madness, because even if these agents were legitimate, protection is needed only by those at notably elevated risk of death from the virus. In those people, there might even be an argument that the risks are worth bearing. And there definitely are risks which are what I call ‘mechanistic’: inbuilt in the way they work.
There has been no logical cost / benefit analysis of any of these measures, including the vaccines. After over a year, we have massive empirical data which is being followed in places like Florida and Texas, while being ignored elsewhere. For anyone paying attention, there appears to be a concerted effort by powerful political and commercial interests to subvert reality for power and profit.
If this were a scientific debate on the merits, then we would have already closed the door on Covid and moved on with our lives.
While the facts are against them, the pro-Covid forces have a powerful weapon. Christians are particularly vulnerable to “moral blackmail.” Instead of fighting Christianity, the powers-that-be have learned to co-opt and weaponize Christian concepts such as self-sacrifice, unselfishness, protecting the least among us, etc. We have many examples of this from all over the Orthodox world, but one recent attack on a Roman Catholic priest by a left-wing Christian group is very illuminating:
The new Faithful America petition states in part, “As Christians who follow a healing savior, we are called to care for the sick and respect the God-given laws of nature. Right now, that means supporting vaccines, masks and social distancing, just like Pope Francis. Fr. Altman is endangering not only his own parishioners but every essential worker they meet, and should be removed from St. James the Less Catholic Church before he can risk even one more life.”
If you rely on science to question the narrative, you are endangering people. You are selfish. You are risking people’s lives. You are, in fact, a bad person. Christians lacking proper spiritual discernment, and this includes many bishops, fall for this moral blackmail, repeat it, and justify it. “If it saves one life…” so we hear, time and again. But we never hear about the vaccine injuries and deaths, the broken lives, the suicides, the economic devastation, the health risks of masks, and the spiritual harm. Those things are simply ignored as our moral leaders embrace a faith which is not Christian, but rather something entirely new – a globalist, syncretistic faith that uses Christian language to disguise something wholly Satanic.
It is not selfish to “follow the science” for real, as opposed to the fake science which is little more than “follow the leader.” It is not selfish to live and worship as God intended, free of the fear of death. It is not selfish to forego experimental vaccines out of concern for one’s own, God-given health. It is not selfish or anti-social to protect our children from the impacts of masks and the threat of long-term effects from unproven vaccines they do not need.
As Orthodox Christians, we need Apostolic leadership in the face of increasing persecution. Unfortunately, in too many places such leadership has been in short supply. Nevertheless, we must continue to pray for the illumination of our bishops. As we do, we must tell the truth and live our lives openly, without fear, trusting that God will care for us and supply us with the leaders we need. Despite all that is around us, in this Paschal period, we can triumphantly shout, “O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen.”
Keep the faith, and do not despair, for as Psalm 91 proclaims:
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America, a COVID refugee from the Greek Archdiocese
While I too find the change from midnight to 9pm ridiculous (what difference does this make to the transmission of a virus?), the statement you make that this would make “Celebrating the Resurrection of Christ on the 2nd Day” would be incorrect. The ‘day’ according to ancient Jewish thought begun at sunset, so according to this rule 9pm would be Sunday the 3rd day. This is also the tradition of the Eastern Roman Empire and monastic communities such as Mount Athos.
On the other hand, this stinks of the calendar heresy that still persists in the Orthodox world. I guess blind rule following is still going strong for some church leaders.
In Christ,
A new reader.
That was a direct quote in the article from a sermon by Metropolitan Neophytos. His words, not ours. While you are correct, it is also true that Pascha was always celebrated after actual midnight.
Jordi, I believe celebrating our Lord’s resurrection before midnight creates a fundamental theological problem.
That problem being that when we harmonize the gospels, it appears the rolling away of the stone coincides with the resurrection.
If that’s the case whether you use Jewish or Roman time the resurrection happened in the morning of the third day. 9pm would not be in keeping with this fact.
I live in Minnesota, USA. We just lifted the mask mandate, and all guidance (except perhaps at airports and medical facilities?) will be lifted by the end of June. Minnesota tends to be pretty safely blue in elections, and yet because vaccination rates are high enough, we’re able to lift these restrictions that have seemingly primarily irked folks on the right. (For what it’s worth, I always vote 3rd party, specifically https://solidarity-party.org/)
There’s debate about efficacy and policy, but overall, masking & distancing work — not just for COVID, but pretty much any particulate-spread disease. As a result, our parish held outdoor services (and limited indoor, when that became possible) and used multiple spoons. As Saints Augustine, Basil, and others have said, it is a shameful thing to see Christians talking scientific nonsense, when we believe God is the Creator of what science studies.
It’s bizarre to me that a temporary call for limited, non-essential measures, applied to all sectors (churches are not being singled out), which is now opening back up to full normalcy, has brought out so much “zeal”. The Apostles did not use spoons at the Last Supper, nor mandate their use. “The Sabbath was made for man” and spoons were made for the celebrants of the Liturgy, as mere tools.
That said, all of your examples in the first section are clearly overreach. COVID vaccines should not be more mandatory than any other vaccine (which sometimes are, but in very specific circumstances). Holding a limited, masked, etc gathering at midnight is no different than at 9pm. (Our church had a midnight Paschal service, outdoors, masked.)
Of course those governments who are overreaching should be pushed back against. I am glad I don’t live in a place trying to do those things.
But it isn’t fear of death to want to prevent others from avoidably dying of a respiratory disease, and it isn’t some kind of “sheeple” act of obedience to trust the vast majority of epidemiologists and doctors, over a minority.
Getting vaccinated is like getting your brakes fixed on schedule — some mechanics are malicious and will try to overcharge or break something else, and some are “dissenters”, and will say you don’t need to fix them at all unless they are very obviously totally broken, but the vast majority will say you need new brakes regularly, and will do the job for you honestly. Fixing your brakes also not only helps you be safe, but helps keep you from crashing into other folks.
So let’s push back against genuine overreach — and still get our brakes fixed.
It is great, Chris that we agree on the egregious examples of overreach. They are absolutely beyond tolerance. And your point is very well taken, there is no difference in the action of a virus at 9 p.m. versus midnight. That does get us back to the nature of so many NPIs – they are simply arbitrary rules that really do not have any grounding in science.
Here is what we really want to know, however. In every article on the subject we provide charts, quotes, and links to actual data / scientific studies that prove lockdowns, church closures, mask mandates, etc. have no beneficial effects. They don’t save lives, and the cost benefit analysis indicates that they do great harm. In fact, the article you commented on had links to mask studies (proving no efficacy) and 27 studies that showed lockdowns have no benefit. We didn’t include this in our article, but take a look at this chart below illustrating how masks have made no difference in Vietnam:
So obviously, we have simply not met our burden of proof. This matters to us because we don’t believe we are done (nationally) with these policies. We fully expect them come back in the Fall during flu season when Covid “cases” are likely to spike. Nor is Canada done, which is important to us as many contributors come from Canada. We feel that illustrating the ineffectiveness of these policies is the best way to avoid going through this nightmare again. You seem to be a reasonable person, but you still believe the masks, distancing, and other policies are efficacious. Our question to you is – what evidence is persuasive to you that this is the case? What is it that convinces you? If we could figure out what you base these beliefs on, then it would help us to know how to present our case.
As to the multiple spoons, this article is from an Orthodox MD and is very thoughtful on what they experienced in Toronto. It is worth a look if you have time.
We would also question this statement: But it isn’t fear of death to want to prevent others from avoidably dying of a respiratory disease, and it isn’t some kind of “sheeple” act of obedience to trust the vast majority of epidemiologists and doctors, over a minority. There are tens of thousands of MD’s and other experts, several who contribute to this site, who questioned all of these measures. We don’t believe those who questioned the efficacy are in the minority. Nor do we believe the ones advocating for these measures have any science. If we look at the flip-flops on masks from Fauci (no effectiveness, then suddenly a strong advocate), from the CDC in general (must wear a mask, even if vaccinated, then suddenly the administration is in political trouble on a lot of fronts and the masks are no longer required), and even on the subject of whether asymptomatic spread even exists (Fauci dismissed so did the WHO, then suddenly switched), then one has to ask questions about what is the real agenda? The CDC has now said no need for vaccinated to wear masks, yet multiple states are actively ignoring that and are still mandating masks. Is this really science?
Finally, on the vaccine, We can further your “brake” analogy by asking – should someone who does not have a car get a set of brakes fixed? The possible side effects of the vaccine mean that it is really only needed by a small percentage of individuals. At best. We have written about that on multiple occasions. In the age ranges in which survival is over 99.9%, the vaccines are more dangerous than the disease. Another extension, should someone get their brakes fixed twice? There is no science behind asking someone with natural immunity to get vaccinated. As many as 100 million Americans have already had their “brakes fixed” and are just fine on their own. Why the push to get these people vaccinated? We don’t do that with any other disease, so why this one?
We would ask you to look at our links and quotes in these two articles:
https://orthodoxreflections.com/vaccine-passports-digital-control-and-the-orthodox-christian-fight-for-freedom/
https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-hard-sell-on-covid-vaccines/
For us, the fact that “cases” were in steep decline prior to mass vaccination is itself proof that vaccines are not needed by the majority of the population:
Just as with NPIs, if you would be kind of enough to let us know what kind of information would be decisive in your view of vaccines, were would be most appreciative.
(I don’t really plan to get into the spoons issue, but it’s worth pointing out that the Eucharist can get a priest “buzzed” if there’s too much wine left over, because it retains the outward effects of the wine that has been made the Body and Blood. Or celiac faithful may experience very real pain from consuming the bready portions of the Eucharist. Simply by being a physical object, any sacred object is a surface and can hold germs. This shouldn’t be surprising, as a bacteria or virus is not in itself evil, and most of them have a good role in the environment.)
As you state, with all the various countries, states, cities, (and even in some cases large companies!) making their own policies, some of them are clearly less based on the available evidence than others. Regarding masks, the WHO in their document here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care-and-in-healthcare-settings-in-the-context-of-the-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)-outbreak state a number of recommendations, based on the specific context. The needs of medical professionals is often much different from that of the average person going to the store. (And the increased exposure is why medical staff end up worse off if they use a cloth mask.) On page 8 (“Guidance on mask use in community settings”) they provide some studies regarding use of masks, and basically conclude that masks may be effective (some studies showed significant reduction in rate of infection, some showed little difference). So the advice is basically to wear a mask just in case. This is similar to a 2011 meta-analysis of the masking: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5779801/ (It focuses on flu, but says 8 of 9 studies showed some effectiveness against SARS, which is more similar to COVID.) And here is another, very recent, paper, which concludes pro-mask: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/05/19/science.abg6296
(As for distancing, “six feet” has been a guideline for flu, which is also a coronavirus, since at least 2009: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103680054)
Looking at the broader picture, “surgical” masks have been used by many folks in the medical and dental professions, for decades. It seems odd to me that their use would suddenly become a political or even spiritual concern. Perhaps there is an analogy to handwashing. It’s almost no effort, isn’t usually done as well as medical authorities would recommend (one is supposed to wash one’s hands for what, 20, 30 seconds? very few people really do that…), serves to protect both the one doing it and those around them, folks who just plain don’t want to do it get pretty fussy when called out about it (yes, I’ve confronted folks who haven’t washed their hands after using the bathroom at my workplace), and most importantly, one should still do it, even if imperfectly.
You say the vaccine is more dangerous than the disease for some. Do you have a source for that claim? If so, for what (age/sex/location/occupation/etc) groups does this hold true?
My understanding of the main motivation for mass-vaccination is not, in most cases, to directly save lives. You are right to say this would only apply to the most vulnerable. But mass-vaccinations are done for their indirect effects, sort of like a controlled burn to prevent a wildfire. By reducing or eliminating viable hosts for the disease to meaningfully occupy, those who would be otherwise vulnerable are much less likely to ever have exposure to begin with. There are some good demonstrations of how this works, such as this one: https://ncase.me/covid-19/
As for why we should immunize folks who already were sick, one can point to the flu (which is also a coronavirus) for an example of a disease that kills many each year (though much, much less than COVID has) and against which one is not protected by last year’s exposure. Or children being vaccinated for chickenpox even if they had it (because it can be contracted again, and sometimes can lead to shingles).
(I’m not sure what specifically you were intending to focus on from the two links.)
The notion that “as many as 2/3rds of Americans” have had the virus is not supported by the testing that has been done. CDC estimates that from February 2020 to March 2021 about 35% of Americans contracted the virus: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/burden.html
>>flu, which is also a coronavirus
You are kidding me, right?
“Flu” is influenza. Influenza are a whole different genera of viruses. Actually, they aren’t even in the same PHYLUM as coronaviruses. Stick to talking about something you know about buddy. That would not include “the Science.”
One more reason I am personally less concerned about the situation: https://mcusercontent.com/1430b1abf229250e4bb498adc/files/f7a5c8b9-6bbb-1758-9350-e3024771f0b6/_78_DIOCESAN_DIRECTIVE.pdf
Axios to Archbishop Paul!
Much prayer is needed for all of our and Hierarches, Bishops, laity and the entire Church. Pray for them, with pain of heart as St Paisios says, do not fall for the tricks of hating them as individuals – I do so all the time, may God forgive.
Until there is a Synod, they are valid Bishops and clergy – there is no self-applying Canon.
“If we judge a Priest and are wrong, we have a burning coal in our mouth. If we judge a Priest, and we are right, we have a black coal in our mouth.” Elder Ephraim
Leave them to God, and pray for them: St Kosmas, “if I don’t tell you the truth, God will put me in hell.” That is about him being a Priest, when he would anger the Bishops for being “extreme.”
There are zero incorrupt relics of ecumenist theologians, so stop listening to them and read the Lives of Saints. One can remove themselves from a parish “preaching bald headed blasphemy.”
A Elder in Greece has given this advise:
” Do not cause a scene or fight with these people. When asked, simply and humbly say, “My conscience does not permit me to wear a mask in church”. If they ask you to leave then quietly leave. If others choose to wear a mask in a church while giving you the freedom not to wear one, then that is their sin, it has nothing to do with you. ”
We, in our pride, are likely not those (I can’t) who can argue with someone in the Temple about masks and not feel rage or passions or judgement. But, one can show that it is not right, and help others see that they are not the only one who feels confused and disgusted wearing a mask in His temple!
Gods Providence has given the United States many jurisdictions as a blessing – because He is outside of Time, and Covid is not something that “caught God off guard.”
Just as He gave us Martyrs for Iconoclasm in the Triumph of Orthodoxy, writings which say “do not gaze as the Latins do” but says KISS the Icons, who kept Churches open in times of plague where bodies piled in streets!
He gave us confessors, who did not hate, but held to the faith – it didn’t matter what they said, “you say others are damned? What do you hate the Emperor? You cause division in the Church! Think of those of weak faith!”
Does this not sound familiar? The heretics and apologists are not unique. They are not glorified as Saints, but neither are any persons who were schismatics!
https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/resisting_like_st._maximus
“He said (St Maximus): At least for me, that all belongs to God and God will decide, but there’s only one thing I have to tell you. He kept repeating [this] until they cut his tongue off and cut his arm off and put him in jail till he died. He said: I just have to keep saying to you: What they have written is not true. What they are forcing us to say and do is not true, and therefore we cannot accept it. We just simply cannot, because we do believe it’s not true.”
There are ZERO incorrupt relics of ecumenist theologians. Leave them to God.
“Very difficult days are coming. Take care of your soul! Gather and give your fight!” Elder Ephraim
“In the future, Orthodox Christians will be divided – every society will come, ‘we are not asking you to deny Christ, but to accept all religions, as “paths up the mountain”‘ – Fr Daniel, Sysoev, New Martyr
“They will legally introduce carnivals in the Church with a law.” Elder Vasileios of Kafsokalivia, 2012
“Do not tolerate any more foolishness or misguidance from priests or archpriests. Do not turn a blind eye for you will be co- responsible. The Saints are forewarning you.” St John Maximovitch
There are ZERO incorrupt relics of ecumenist theologians. Leave them to God.
The Church is once again in an era of outright, blatant persecution. How long until the churches are required to only allow vaxxed inside? In Cyprus, no passport, no inside. First it was masks for entrance, and now it will be the jab. The fear and division is palpable. With many of our clergy and hierarchs accepting the jabs, those of us who decline, are left to fend for ourselves.
Those six clergy who did the right thing took one for the team, and they’ve made it clear which kingdom they prepare for.
I do NOT respect or honor the ordination of Bartholomeow, Elpidophorus and many of his clerics. It is time for them to celebrate the sexual orgies with the Papists of which they in their sexual debauchery revel in. Screw them all along with their Leadership 100, Philoptowhores and Ahepa. We want to see lots of sexual debauchery rather than false worship of christ by these so called Orthodox christians. And don’t tell me to show love….I and many others have had it. And if they need help, I will make it personally possible to have their sex parties rather than liturgies and prayer services.
Well-done to the six fathers who maintain tradition. But are they not, at the same time, state employees? Or have they eschewed their pensions?
Leo, Christ is risen!
That’s all you got? Insults? In light of the tyranny that’s already here and will only get ramped up, maybe NOW would be a good time to ditch the schismatic rhetoric and focus on helping one another.
Excellent article, covering about all the important points. Months before Pascha of 2020 I was warning that those behind this hysteria were not going to let it end. After the travesty of government intrusion in our worship and the Bishops bowing to secular government, the view was expressed of hope for it to end. I said then that the same would continue into Christmas and that Pascha of 2021 would be more of the same. It seems I was correct. There is no virus and there certainly is no pandemic. There is a new world order agenda and psyop operation ongoing. I really don’t want to hear another Bishop talking about any of this until they repent because they say the government is our friend and have suggested that the injections are not an issue even though cell lines from aborted babies were used in development of all the shots and people are getting sick and dying from them. Now we are being segregated? This is almost the last straw.
Covid Refugee
You russian schismatic heretics are hilarious scum.
Was it approvingly quoting a Greek Metropolitan that gave us away as Russian scum? Or was it supporting Greek priests who were unjustly arrested? Maybe the St. Gregory quote?