AUGUST 5th + The Year Of Our Lord 2021
www.burningbushbrotherhood.com
“The crisis of modern man is arrhythmia,”[1] Fr. Roman Braga
Who is the Burning Bush Brotherhood? We are indeed a real brotherhood of priests brought together by the grace of God. Yet formal organization is not the essence of the Brotherhood. As it has been said before by others under the same name,[2] it is not a mass movement in the secular sense or a political expression. It is a call for “an interior revolution,”[3] a rededicating of ourselves to the eternal life of the Church in Christ Jesus. This Brotherhood is convinced by the Holy Orthodox Tradition that one of our main ailments is spiritual arrhythmia. Our impure hearts have lost the beautiful harmony of beating in time with the heart of the Church. We see this happening at an unprecedented rate due to the brokenness of our times.[4]
The Burning Bush Brotherhood is a call for all faithful Orthodox Christians to look deeply within and ardently seek to re-harmonize our beating hearts with Christ and His Church. This, we confess, will only be possible through a faithful clinging to the Holy Traditions of the Faith. For too long have we allowed the beat of worldly reasoning to dictate the rhythm of our hearts. If we, one by one, will re-attune our hearts to Life in Christ, then this interior revolution will spill over into our world. Our Lord has said, “The one who believes in Me, even as Scripture said – rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly.”[5] This Divine Spring, ever-flowing from the inner life of the Saints, is the only hope in this epoch of the last times.
Words written in Romania after the Second World War need little adjustment to describe the spirit of our age: “Suddenly we found ourselves in the presence of Communism, this beast with an apocalyptic stench, with an odor of vodka and military sweat, filling the country with posters announcing carnivals and meetings; it was a time of yellow press, political prostitution and a reversal of values. We were overwhelmed with the fear that these waves of evil would transform us all into an anonymous mass without form, without conscience, without responsibility. Where could we hide if not in the chambers of our soul? And here the miracle happened – man searching for himself met God; he entered into the realm of the Holy Spirit.” [6]
Here, in the depths of our souls, we begin to hear the voice of the Lord crying out “Fear not! I am with you. Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Only in our Lord Jesus Christ will we find life and truth. Only through giving our hearts over to Him will we find peace and renewal in the midst of the storm.
We have spoken out and will continue to speak, and we call you to join this fold mystically. The enlisting will be one made in collective prayer and struggle, by taking a firm resolution to stand firm in the Faith against the evil one and the attacks being made upon the Bride of Christ, the Church. Our battle is best fought on the battlefield of the heart. So, we share the sentiments of those confessors in Romania who first chose “Burning Bush” for their movement. “The name Burning Bush was selected not simply because it is a familiar symbol of the Mother of God but, more specifically, because she is a type of perfect prayer, as the Akathist of the Burning Bush says, ‘…in her for the first time the heart of God and the heart of man beat and remain beating together’ (Kontakion 8).”[7]
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We ask all those who would join this movement to:
- First, firmly resolve no longer to align your heart with the sinister, arrhythmic beat of this world that is infecting the faithful through secular-humanistic reasoning and ecumenism and undertake to cultivate deeper repentance. The heart must be turned away from sin and love of the world and back to love for God, who is calling the world to repentance through the crisis of the past eighteen months. Spiritual struggle must become the priority of our lives if we ever hope for God to deliver us from the current tragedy we experience. Every action should relate itself to the heart, “that existential center in us; otherwise it becomes superficial and loses authenticity.”[8]
- Second, make a simple offering to the Lord of praying daily, in addition to your regular rule of prayer, saying the Jesus prayer three-hundred times and to the Panaghia one-hundred times (“Most Holy Theotokos, save us”). For, “during prayer, man enters into a divine rhythm, the rhythm of the Holy Spirit.”[9] Acquire an icon of the Theotokos of the Burning Bush, take the upcoming Akathist of the Burning Bush off our website,[10] and pray it once a week with us. Choose a number of prostrations to do each day to humble yourself before God in seeking His grace and mercy. He gives both in abundance to the humble who cry out to Him. This small rule helps us cultivate an interior life, the only way we will find healing from the insanity around us.
- Third, gather together with fellow Christ-minded believers and offer the above prayers together, study books from a recommended reading list we will post, and encourage one another in Christ the Lord. We are seeking to ignite, by God’s grace, interior revolutions. Now is the time, for the day is far spent and night is at hand.[11]
Brother clergy, resolve to uphold the Faith and feed Christ’s sheep at all costs. Faithful laity, likewise uphold the Faith. Pray for your bishop and priests, that they may stand firm in the one Faith in these difficult times. Encourage your clergy to uphold the Faith without compromise. Let us all firmly reject the wolf in sheep’s clothing, humanistic-ecumenism, that is infiltrating the Church.
As a brotherhood, we have discerned it best to remain concealed at this time. For, “It is not the noise or religious demagogy that strengthens the faith; these are rather a manifestation of vainglory, because the Church does not have heroes—the Church has saints—and saints do not beat their drums on the streets. The Burning Bush [is] not a mass movement, but an individual conversion, and interior revolution.”[12] This movement is not about our identity, but calling to the remembrance the Divine Spirit that ignited the fiery zeal that engulfed the Saints. We do not promote anonymity for personal gain, but for the continuation of this work.
These meager offerings we hope serve as tinder for a consuming divine fire, “I have come to cast a fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled”[13]! Our hope is that we all may begin to burn ever more with the divine fire that does not consume, as is imaged in the Burning Bush.
We have heard the pain and witnessed the tears of the Church suffering from spiritual malnourishment, and call all hearts to beat together in an ignited voice, petitioning the Lord to “grant us with one mouth and one heart to glorify and praise [His] all-honorable and majestic name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.”[14]
Click here for a PDF version of this letter.
[1] Fr Roman Braga, Exploring the Inner Universe, HDM Press, p. 112
[2] The original Burning Bush Movement was founded in 1945 in Romania by Sandu Tudor.
[3] Fr Roman Braga, 121
[4] Please see our “Open Letter” in which we elaborate some deep concerns of the times.
[5] Jn. 7:38
[6] Fr Roman Braga, 115
[7] Fr Roman Braga, 114
[8] Fr Roman Braga, 112
[9] Ibid, 114
[10] We will have this Akathist available soon.
[11] Cf. Romans 13:12
[12] Fr Roman Braga 121
[13] Lk. 12:49
[14] The Holy Anaphora
[…] potir, cu o singură linguriță. Și îmi vin în ajutor acum niște credincioși americani, „Brotherhood of the Burning Bush” – „Frăția Rugului Aprins”, americani convertiți și care se inspiră, prin părintele […]
[…] potir, cu o singură linguriță. Și în vin în ajutor acum niște credincioși americani, „Brotherhood of the Burning Bush” – „Frăția Rugului Aprins”, americani convertiți, și care se inspiră, prin părintele […]
[…] acum niște credincioși americani, „Brotherhood of the Burning Bush” – „Frăția Rugului Aprins”, americani convertiți, și care se inspiră, prin părintele […]
How do we contact them? Do they have an email address?
Protestants have “movements”, especially the Pentecostals and Charismatics. Movements come about because someone perceives the “church” (small ‘c’ here) is woefully missing God’s will. All of the tent revivals of the 50s and 60’s were outside the structured ‘church’ (again, small ‘c’).
I was unaware movements (their word, not mine) could and did actually happen in Orthodoxy. That they claim to have a “movement” is a major stroke of hubris even among Protestants as it insinuates a sizeable following (the sign of a heretic). In RC, these things always take on a life of their own and become a permanent fixture under some “order” pulling people away from simple parish life. When these appear, it is a statement that the local church is not doing its job, which is not true across the board. In other words, it is a quazi-Church(big’C’here)organization/movement that circumvents the bishop and local priest/confessor because it gives spiritual directives, issues guidance.
Of course, they would keep their anonymity, they are supplanting the bishop and his appointed vicars. While, I have issues with bishops, I’m not erecting work-a rounds to their authority planting my own stamp/image/ and likeness on others (the father-principle). This Brotherhood does just that.
All efforts to remedy misbehaving bishops, should be within already existing jurisdictions; Not, quazi-Church or para-church organizations/movements.
The more I read, the verbiage (like Manfred said), the tone, the direction, the directives, something smells rotten here.
Indeed.
What people should do now is:
1. Get and stay informed about the current issues – not to impose discussions on anyone, but for not being manipulated and deceived by politicians and mass media, in order to make the right decisions for yourself, in order to stand your ground when challenged.
2. Apart from that: Have fun (if possible: Old-normal style) to keep your emotional balance.
Now, the suggestions of that “Brotherhood of the Burning Bush” are totally detrimental to that. Time-consuming machine-gun style prayers will prevent people from doing 1. and 2. and might throw them emotionally and spiritually off the cliff.
Those texts from that “Brotherhood” clearly give the impression of being written by someone with a very dark view and no joy in his life. And zero writing skills. It reads like a parody. If there were more than a handful of brothers in that “Brotherhood”, there should have been at least one to point out to better cut that whole verbosity by 90% and come to the point.
Famous quote from Austrian writer Karl Krauss:
“Es genuegt nicht, keine Gedanken zu haben. Man muss auch unfaehig sein, sie auszudruecken.”
Which means:
“It is not sufficient to have no thoughts. One also needs to be incapable of expressing them.”
There are plenty of movements within Orthodoxy. Orthodox Christian Laity, AHEPA (though with masonic overtones), Philoptocos, etc. In Orthodox countries, there are all kinds of Orthodox movements. In Russia, there is a movement of Russian men to reclaim Christian masculinity. There was a movement I read about in another Orthodox country to encourage bigger families. The difference, between these movements and Protestantism, is that these movements will never set up a “church.” They are comprised of Orthodox Christians.
One thing that really happens to us is that we run everything through an “American filter.” Not everything is one step away from becoming the next heretical church down the block.
Ok, Interesting.
I understand the unease at not knowing who these men are. Unfortunately we’ve seen over the last year and a half that seeing and knowing a leader is no guarantee we can trust them.
I would like to know who they are. Maybe one day we will. But for now, as I look at who they are and what they are calling for, I ask “where is the danger at this point?” They are not calling for any formal organization for people to join. They are not asking for any money. They are not calling for schism or for anyone to leave the Church. They are calling for increased prayer, increased repentance, and unity of soul in upholding the purity of the Faith. All appropriate goals.
Remember, these are unique times. This isn’t even like Soviet Russia. In a sense it’s worse. It’s more subtle, more insidious, and those of like mind are trying to move forward without the support of the bishops, who should be our shepherds in all this.
If the BBB calls for anything that is out of bounds I will not hesitate to call them out, just as I have other clergy over the last year. Until then I see no reason to assume the worst.
Those are good points for sure. But here is another side.
I have been told by our mission priest that I need to go to my confessor and repent of my association with this site; I have not, and will not as that would be to betray my Orthodox brethren who see obvious errors speaking out(how are they not equally Orthodox?). I am being–or at the very least, have been–tracked by clergy. Our parish priests know exactly who I am and what I have said, and I have no doubt it all is forwarded to the bishop (So, what!); and I have written knowing they are listening (used it to my advantage); and I have said a whole lot more in my communications with them directly; gone toe to toe on key issues.
But, that is exactly what needs to happen, somebody is finally listening; if all we do is complain among ourselves, we just sour on the Church and share our commiseration.
But, I believe things are changing, they are listening and as things go back toward more restrictions we’ll find out because hierarchy will have opportunity to do things differently. Will they channel the government again? Or will they like St John Chrysostom, tell the government to repent (imagine that).
Interestingly, I have not yet been sanctioned. Perhaps it is because I have too big a footprint in our parish. Ever since I came to Orthodoxy in 2013, I have more or less made myself almost indispensable by the hundreds of hours I have contributed doing maintenance on the parish campus. Having planted over twenty new trees, built a prayer garden, and fixed scores of problems, to sanction me would be a gross injustice because I have demonstrated a clear, undeniable vested interest in MY church; this is my church (my Church) and when folks mess with it I take it personally. Being a member of my parish cost me something as there is no place on campus from which things I fixed, planted, or built cannot easily be pointed out.
My point? Sacrifice, risk, and buy-in demonstrate commitment. If you have a complaint and you have no buy in, your voice is unjustified (are you really one of us?). Until I see that risk, vested interest, sacrifice in the “Brotherhood”, I will be a bit skeptical. But I do like what they say.
While I have yet to be sanctioned by Church authority, I know every time I post, I roll the dice. But some of us are better situated to take on the hierarchs because I have nothing to lose. And, without offense, there can be no judgment (God does not intervene); they have everything to lose.
At the same time, because I love the Church, I understand the “peace” of the parish is to be preserved at all costs and never openly speak with fellow parishioners on these issues unless asked (only once, in private); this site is the soundboard for that at this point. Everything has its place and the temple, parish life, are not the place for argument or political statements.
As for the Brotherhood, time will tell. With nothing risked, there is nothing gained. Perhaps to a large degree, they have blunted their message by remaining in the shadow.
Here is what is aggravating: nobody (ironically)wants to show their faces. At the behest of government, bishops made knee jerk decrees, from ivory towers, echoed through priests. Does the Church really function this way? Was it meant to function this way? How is the Brotherhood not just more of the same masked anonymity?
I hear ya brother. I do. I don’t think I have a satisfactory answer here. I can really see both sides. Your caution is probably wise. I think I’ve become so dissolutioned with the leadership I can see that I’m prepared to trust these men who I can’t see. I guess I figur I’m not sure they can be any worse. Doesn’t make me right. I think it’s just where I’m at right now.
At this point, I have some serious reservations about this Brotherhood. To be clear, St Paul said to know those who labor among you (1 Thes. 5:12, see also 1:5 and 2 Thes. 3:7). You cannot know anyone until you have been around them and watched them work, heard them speak, and witnessed their fruit, unless you are clairvoyant (most of us do not have that gift yet). Anonymity prevents us having any real knowledge of who they really are. Like the “vaccine”, my approach is to wait and see. Many, many things are cloaked as good, when in fact they are not and time will tell, the nature of all things will eventually be revealed. Satan’s first ploy is ALWAYS to get you to take the bait, when you are hooked, he reels you in. It may be fine, but at this point, I know nothing of these men and will just watch and pray.
John,
You have serious reservations – you are not alone.
I have serious reservations, too.
Quote from the “Brotherhood”: “ These meager offerings we hope serve as tinder for a consuming divine fire, …” That style of writing is gross and pure Kitsch and in and of itself an affront to anyone literate beyond the mere technical sense.
Also, suggesting sets of hundreds of repetitive prayers, anonymously, to an anonymous audience will with some probability do more harm than good and might very well amount to spiritual abuse of people who are under enormous strain because of the events of the past 18 months, anyways.
Also, it is not helpful at all to combine quite distinctive issues.
One might actually be relieved that more attention is being paid now to basic hygiene (multiple spoons, no kissing), but at the same time vehemently oppose mandatory masking and promotion of experimental genetic manipulation sold as “vaccinations”.
So, whoever perceives it as his moral duty to raise concerns about one or more specific points should just have enough integrity and backbone to do so.
Since the start of this whole corona-thing, doctors, lawyers, scientists, teachers and others have come forward and expressed criticism and opposition to the prevailing view (or maybe rather what is perceived as the prevailing view). On their own.
We have multiple doctors and one lawyer that contribute here regularly. Anonymously because all professionals are in danger of losing licensing if they are spreading “misinformation.” This is an example:
https://twitter.com/aginnt/status/1424088188465844224?s=21
The situation in Canada is worse. One MD who sends us information quietly helps nurses avoid the jab, but is terrified that anyone will find out because that will be the end of his medical career. Priests would fair no better under most bishops. Opposition has a real cost. We are fast approaching a time when we will no longer have the protection of being anonymous. The tech is too pervasive, the mandates too widespread. Never fear, we will all face this head on.
Understood.
Anyways, that “Brotherhood of the Burning Bush” is highly, highly dubious. Their annoying writing style should make all alarm bells shrill.
With regards to approaching the point where opposition becomes dangerous:
Watch from Session 43: Interview with Naomi Wolff
https://corona-ausschuss.de/en/
What website? I have been unable to locate.
Top of the article is the link.
Really appreciate the focus on inner life. Recently I heard a monk say that what we need most of all is the tears of repentance, that flow not from our eyes but from our hearts. That is the core of the Christian life.
Will your reading list include non-Orthodox works, or non-religious books (fiction, for example)? Personally I believe fiction plays a critical role in the shaping of our mystical experience of the Church. Looking forward to your reading list in full; I have many suggestions, but there wasn’t a way to message you directly on your website.
More info on Sandu Tudor available here:
https://infogalactic.com/info/Sandu_Tudor