Our son and his fiancée don’t feel at home in the Western Rite parish we have attended since Covid began. They prefer the Greek parish he was raised in. On the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, our son planned to receive a blessing before a six-month stint of active duty. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Many Covid restrictions at the Greek parish were recently relaxed or lifted. Cheered by the return of some normalcy, quite a few parishioners had been less than zealously following the remaining protocols. This state of affairs had so angered the priest, that he used his entire homily to severely scold his wayward parishioners for their sinful degeneracy. He denounced their failure to keep their masks securely over both nose and mouth. Some were even removing them entirely once in their pews! Parishioners had failed to social distance in the communion line. There was hugging and other physical contact between family groups! There were parishioners removing their masks while in line to receive communion, instead of immediately before the chalice. He was disgusted that parishioners getting some Eucharist on their lips had wiped their mouths on the cloth. Worst of all, some parishioners were still trying to kiss his hand when receiving a blessing.
There were other breaches of Covid etiquette, but I won’t bore you with all the details. Our son described his priest as “completely indignant.” Instead of preaching repentance on St. Mary of Egypt Sunday, the priest chose to verbally berate his flock for their insolent disregard of the tenets of Holy Faucism. After such a tongue lashing, our son felt awkward approaching his own priest. With his fiancée, he quietly exited the church after dismissal and came home.
Our son will now ship out to a potentially dangerous active duty rotation without a blessing. From birth, he has always had a blessing before major travel. This time he wanted one, but was too afraid of his own priest to even approach him. Perhaps next time, he will decide he doesn’t want or even need a blessing.
The Greek parish is all alone among the local Orthodox in its faithfulness to Covid. Our Western Rite parish never had many restrictions, and has long since discarded the few it once had. The local Serbian parish simply ignored Covid the entire time. They are none-the-worse for it. The local OCA parish has announced an end to all restrictions (including masks) at the end of May. Our state is wide open. A few localities have mask mandates, but they can be comfortably ignored by anyone who chooses to breathe fresh air. But for the Greeks, there is no end in sight.
Which makes any thinking person ask, why?
There is no scientific basis for the policies the Greeks are so dedicated to enforcing. Masks, social distancing, attendance limits, and even lockdowns are predicated on the novel notion of asymptomatic viral spread. The asymptomatic spread narrative was effectively destroyed by the publication of a Chinese study involving nearly 9.9 million individuals. It revealed not a single case of COVID-19 could be traced to an asymptomatic individual who had tested positive. This result was confirmed by a meta-analysis published in JAMA by researchers in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and the Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. If you are under 70, then your chance of dying from the virus after casually meeting with people who have no symptoms is 0.00035%, or 1 in 285,714.
Not only are masks unnecessary, they are also ineffective. Mask-specific research failed to find any benefit to them. Whether one mask, or the currently recommended double masks, they simply don’t work against an aerosolized virus. Now that 15 days to slow the spread has become more than a year of misery, experience has given us a lot of empirical evidence attesting to the futility of mandatory masking. When you compare areas with mask mandates to areas without, the ones without do the same or better.
There is no evidence in favor of the effectiveness of masks to “stop” a virus, but there is plenty of evidence that they cause harm. One study of over 25,000 school-aged children identified 24 distinct health issues associated with wearing masks. The study demonstrated that masks harm children physically, psychologically, and behaviorally. Not just children are impacted. This is a link to an article with over 20 documented reasons why masks are harmful.
I often wonder, how many young Orthodox children no longer remember what church was like before everyone wore a mask and what has that done to them?
The laptop class can throw on a mask for 15 minutes while grabbing a latte and congratulating themselves on their outstanding civic virtue. School kids and blue collar workers wear wet, dirty, disgusting pieces of cloth over their mouths for many hours at a time. This practice has made many ill, quite a few seriously. An example is the wife of a local politician who made her employees wear masks all day long. She did as well, until all-day masking sent her to the doctor. This is from her social media post about her mask-induced illness:
I went to the doctor today with a droopy eyelid and a swollen neck. Turns out what started as a slight case of maskne (a true condition, comes from wearing a mask), turned into something worse. One eyelid has drooped and my neck is swollen. Chances are my throat would have closed up if I hadn’t sought treatment. The doctor put me on a heavy duty prednisone treatment. I am COVID vaccinated and if you see me maskless in public, it’s not a sign of disrespect to you. I will totally social distance.
She has already been vaccinated and wearing a mask made her very sick. Yet she still feels the need to apologize to her husband’s constituents for not wearing a mask around town. This obsequiousness on her part to the new normal helps explain why the Greeks are so attached to Covid interventions.
Masks, social distancing, and even lockdowns are all part of a new civic religion. It is not about science. Not real science anyway with its frumpy concerns about facts and data. No, this is about being a good person and conforming to the approved narrative. It is all about faith. Think of the mask as the new baptismal cross – at a glance you know who is and who is not “on your team.” It is the mark of a true believer. Especially when you wear two masks, alone and outside.
The Greek Archdiocese is run by men who rub elbows with the ruling elites around the world. For them, virtue signaling in the approved manner is practically second nature. They know all the right people. They have all the right opinions. They wear all the right masks.
Or it could be just garden variety psychosis. The relentlessly negative reporting of the past year plus the Nonpharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) seem to have driven a goodly portion of our population completely insane. Among the affected, there is an ongoing competition to be the most terrified of a disease with a 99.9% survival rate for those under age 70. Have some Greek Orthodox gone over the edge and now cling to magic talismans the way they should cling to Christ? Should the Church really be promoting that level of fear? Or should we be teaching people to overcome fear and live Orthodox lives?
It could be more sinister, of course. There are reputed links between the Church of Constantinople and both Freemasonry and the forces behind the Great Reset.
Regardless, the motivations really don’t matter at this point. In June 2020, we wrote a letter to the Greek Metropolitan of Atlanta asking him what would be necessary for our Greek parish to get back to normal. What objective measures would indicate things were now “safe?” His Eminence had no answer for us then, nor does he have one now. Neither does Fauci nor anyone else in the government, as you can see from this exchange with Rep. Jim Jordan.
Over the past year, poor leadership in the Church has hurt many souls. It is past time for all Orthodox parishes in all jurisdictions to stop waiting for an “all clear” signal from the CDC or any government agency that may never come. As we approach the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is time for all of us to be about our Father’s business. His blessing and protection are all we need.
Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America, a COVID refugee from the Greek Archdiocese
Perhaps a private list can be made, and shared with those who email the OR staff directly. Maybe this will better hinder potential “fed” activity
There is a UK directory. Technically not an issue to do, but you make a good point.
https://againstvaccinepassports.com/
My apologies, I meant a private list of Orthodox Churches in America that do not require/enforce masks (I live in California so you can imagine the difficulty).. this comment was supposed to be a reply to the following OR Staff Comment:
“That is very unfortunate to hear about ROCOR. If this continues much longer, then we’ll open a directory section on the site and allow readers to post names and addresses of mask-free parishes. We were hoping to put this behind us, but we keep hearing that in other areas of the country, practically all jurisdictions are still enforcing these NPIs.”
I’m in a rare place. My Greek parish has done away with these restrictions, even though the state requires them. Our priest repented for not treating the liturgy as it should be (from the first round if restrictions).
Masks are now an option and this has caused many to leave or watch via screen in a back room.
I believe our parish will continue to shrink. Whether this is a good thing or bad thing will be left up to God.
[…] https://orthodoxreflections.com/faithfulness-to-covid-at-the-expense-of-souls/ […]
Ben David is right in his comment.
I marvel at how every Liturgy we pray and hear the words of the Psalmist: “put not your trust in princes” and yet so many are trusting these elites of questionable character and motivation over Holy Tradition and the Spirit of God. Symbols have power and beyond the fact that they are medically useless and even harmful, they are a symbol of submission to the tyrant of this world, a dehumanizing of the self, and an acquiescence to the spirit of fear…in short, very spiritually harmful.
Excellent and truthful article. The Chicago Metropolis has to be one of the worst. It’ll be interesting to see how much $$$ flee the parishes. I took a trip recently and attended a GO parish under Metropolitan Alexios. I called the priest before my trip to discuss a few things and found out he didn’t enforce the mask mandate. I went to service and not one person was wearing a mask. Glory to God! I’ve only been to church in Chicago one time since the mask mandate started. While I don’t believe in the mandate or lockdowns, I also have a medical condition that makes wearing the mask intolerable. I tried to get a medical exemption from my parish priest, he would not have it! I consulted another parish, no go. They are likely afraid of the Chicago Metropolise’s tyrant in charge. I it interesting that the GO is discriminating against those in the flock who have disabilities and cannot wear a mask. How is that following Orthodoxy? They should ask, what would Christ do?
Theone I am also in the Chicago area and our parish has not enforced masks nor discriminated though who wear them. Feel free to get my email from the webmaster and email me.
Excellent article. I appreciate this so much. Thank you. It’s hopeful for me to know I’m not the only one thinking similarly.
I’ve been fortunate to live in an area where the OCA parishes in the neighboring county do not require masks.
It is going to be interesting to see the Orthodox demographic changes after all of this. Almost constantly I see people leaving one parish for another to flee from these ridiculous mandates. We wanted Orthodox unity in America and this may be the organic way of making that happen, it seems the Greeks (and ironically the OCA) will be the biggest losers in American Orthodoxy when all is said and done.
What total bollocks. This article only perpetuates the false belief that God will protect you from disease. However God also allows disease, right? He also allows us to learn from science and to have vaccines for all other diseases that in the past KILLED PEOPLE. For all of you who are so cavalier about the Faith, remember this, if you receive the Holy Gifts in an unworthy manner, sickness and death can be the result. The Eucharist isn’t magic. Wear a mask. Wash you hands. Don’t be stupid.
Did you read the part of the article in which it was clearly argued that, scientifically, the mask, social distancing, and surface contact avoidance policies are what is bollocks? Asymptomatic spread is not a thing. It has never been a thing. Masks have shown no effectiveness in any case. And the virus is not transmitted readily by contact with surfaces. Did you also happen to see the part about how all the other Orthodox parishes in the area of the contributor have either given up these policies or are in the process of giving them up? You are absolutely correct – receiving unworthily is an invitation to sickness and death. The Eucharist is not something to be taken lightly. States and localities all over the country are getting rid of their mask mandates. Why are you posting a comment at this point telling us to still wear masks? What are you waiting for to feel safe to live your life and go to church normally? And, what do you have to say about the documented harms that mask policies cause? Why are the effects of masking not important, especially when they affect children so badly?
Are wearing a mask and washing your hands magic?
Do you think masks are magic?
For the healing of soul and body….Holy Communion for sure isn’t magic because it’s God Himself, the bloodless sacrifice for us stupid people.
Sadly, the covid insanity is pulling at the fabric of our Church. Anyone who wants to wear a mask? Go for it. Wanna take a “vaccine” tested and manufactured with aborted babies to keep yourself alive, go for it. At the end, we will all have to answer for how we chose to participate in this very sad chapter of our existence.
Lord have mercy on us all. Truly.
Thank you for another superb article. I wonder if there’s a way to create a list of Orthodox parishes that do not require masks. The info might have to be collected privately or by word of mouth. I can’t imagine any churches being bold enough to announce it on their website. At least I haven’t seen any doing that.
Which is the “one, true Church of Christ”, my local Orthodox Churches who mandate masks or my local Protestant Churches where masks are optional? Social distancing and good ventilation are enough!
As a 74 year old veteran I refuse to wear a mask in GOD’S Holy Temple!!
Wow….makes you think. In Canada there’s a church that I’m guessing is of some Protestant variety. The pastor is in a maximum security jail (I’ve read), and their house of worship is fenced up all around with black material covering the fencing so the laity can’t look in. The crime? Saying no to the mandates to worship. Maybe this pastor is feeling a little like St. Paul. Talk about taking one for the team.
WE started attending the Serbian Church
Never too late, however we left OCA ten months ago for Patriarchal/ ROCOR.Wasn’t waiting around.
Many ROCOR parishes are in lockstep with Faucism. Would love to know where the ones that aren’t are.
That is very unfortunate to hear about ROCOR. If this continues much longer, then we’ll open a directory section on the site and allow readers to post names and addresses of mask-free parishes. We were hoping to put this behind us, but we keep hearing that in other areas of the country, practically all jurisdictions are still enforcing these NPIs.
Maybe in the directory also list the parishes where venerating the icons, gospel and cross is allowed, prosphora is allowed to be sent to the alter for commemoration, have an functioning church school, coffee hour, no sign up for attendance. It’s not just the masks.
Very true. We have hesitated to do this for a number of reasons. But with vaccine passports as well, it looks like we really could permanently split into factions. We will mull it over.
As useful as many would find this, I fear it would put parishioners in the position of “giving a kiss as did Judas” inadvertently. We don’t want to give local governments and “terrible bishops” a hit list.
I think such a public list would be unwise. 1-1 correspondence or word of mouth would hinder government intervention.