CHAPTER 13 - THE TRUE ORTHODOX (From the book "Women in Soviet Prisons")

"Women in Soviet Prisons" is a powerful biographical memoir written by Latvian author Helēna Celmiņa and published in English in 1985 by Paragon House Publishers. The book provides a rare, vivid, and highly detailed first-hand description of the daily realities, systemic cruelties, and unique subculture experienced by female inmates inside the post-Stalinist Soviet Gulag system.

*Note: True Orthodox in USSR was the canonical Russian Orthodox Church that followed St Patriarch Tikhon and rejected the apostate and schismatic Metropolitan Sergius and his declaration of 1927 of submission to the communists.

Lives of Saints Constantine and Helena (4th century)

 

Saint Constantine, known in history as the Great, was born in the third century A.D. to Constantius Chlorus, the Roman emperor, and his wife, Helena. Constantine's father, Constantine, followed the rites of the state Roman religion and was considered an idolater. However, unlike others, he was not committed to pagan religions; instead, he strove to know the true God. Pious in his outlook, he raised his son Constantine well, teaching him to turn to God and seek help from above, not from idols. Merciful, he treated Christians with compassion, who were then being tortured by other unbelieving emperors. He not only refrained from persecuting Christians but also sought to protect them from persecution. Christians in the western lands under Constantine's rule were therefore at peace, while in the east, Diocletian and Galerius persecuted them in every possible way.

Letters to my sister (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov)

No. 1. On earthly life and humility

I tell you sincerely—you are happy because you are walking the path to salvation, because you have come to understand that man must seek his happiness not in the temporal and earthly, but in the Divine and eternal. What is man on earth? A traveler. What is death? The era from which our real life begins. Wandering long in this darkness of night, amidst weaknesses and temptations, guided by the light of true faith, we finally reach the boundary that separates light from darkness. Happy is the man who has become a true Christian.

Epistle of Apostle Barnabas

 

According to the unanimous testimony of the ancient Fathers, the author of the epistle was the Apostle Barnabas, a companion of the Apostle Paul. However, modern patrologists largely reject his authorship based on an analysis of the text. The work was written after 70 CE. In ancient times, many Fathers included the text of the epistle in the canon of the New Testament. In the Codex Sinaiticus, it is placed after the Apocalypse.

The epistle resolves the contentious issue of Christianity's relationship to Jewish law: the author seeks to demonstrate that Judaism has been abolished by the Lord's saving work, as foreshadowed by the Old Testament prophets. The epistle contains 21 chapters; with the exception of the introduction and conclusion, it is divided into two unequal parts, the first (2–17) dogmatic, the second (18–20) moral.

The first part reveals the essence and meaning of the Old Testament. The Jews misunderstood the law, which must be interpreted not by the letter, but by the spirit. The evidence of the Old Testament declares the sacrificial cult instituted by Moses and the Jewish ritual services to be of no significance and invalid. The author then explains the purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God and the atoning death of Christ.

The author then examines Old Testament ordinances in detail. Thus, Old Testament circumcision should be understood spiritually—as the circumcision of a person's hearing and heart. Dietary laws have a moral and mystical significance: the prohibition against eating the meat of certain animals implied abstinence from the sins embodied by these animals. The Jews misunderstood what was said about the Sabbath and the temple: the Lord spoke of the Sabbath that would be celebrated at the end of time; as for the temple, the Lord spoke of the temple of our hearts, in which God dwells.

The second part of the epistle contains a teaching on morality, exemplified by two opposing paths of life—the path of light and the path of darkness (eternal death). On one are the angels of God, on the other, the angels of Satan. The path of light consists of loving the Creator and Redeemer and keeping His commandments, confessing one's sins, praying with a pure heart, and so on. The path of darkness is all that destroys the souls of men.

The author concludes the epistle with a request to follow his instructions and a reference to the imminent coming of the Lord. He demonstrates that the Law of Moses has eternal significance in its spiritual meaning, making it binding on Christians as well.

* The title of the essay in Greek – Βαρναβα ἐπιστολή.

One Hundred Words about the Love of Truth (Saint Nikolai Velimirovich of Serbia)

 

1. The Lord said: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" ( Mark 1:14-15 ). True repentance is not simply regret for the sins committed, but a complete conversion of one's soul from darkness to light, from earth to heaven, from oneself to God.

2. Without this complete conversion, repentance is nothing more than playing with God and one's soul. But one does not play with God. He has mercy on the repentant, but He severely punishes those who do not repent, or who repent incompletely and insincerely. And when He wounds, the wound is deep, and no one but He can heal it.

3. The pinnacle of repentance and faith in the Gospel is revealed by two passages of Holy Scripture . What is man? "I am a worm, and not a man" ( Psalm 22:7 ), says the prophet David. And what should man be? "You are gods and sons of God" ( Psalm 82:6 , John 10:34 )—these words came from the lips of Christ the Savior Himself. To turn a worm into a god and a son of God is the pinnacle of repentance and faith in the Gospel.

4. What does it mean to believe in the Gospel? It means to believe in the Good News that the heavenly messenger, the Son of God, brought to mankind. In other words, it means to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Revelation. And Christ's Revelation is the greatest discovery since the creation of the world. It alone can transform a worm into a man who is God and the Son of God.

5. Why did no one before Christ proclaim the Good News? None of so many sages, philosophers, teachers, lawyers, kings, and prophets? None of them could have known the Good News or proclaimed it. Because they were earthly and of the earth, and they spoke earthly things (cf. John 3:31 ). They spoke like sons of earth, not like sons of heaven. And they spoke of heaven—as far as they spoke—while looking at the earth and dragging themselves along the earth.

6. Therefore, all religions and philosophies before Christ were gloomy and pessimistic, wavering and vague. So it was in Hellas, and in India, and in Egypt, and in Persia. So it was in earthly, balanced China. So it was in ancient Mexico among the Incas, and indeed among all the peoples of that time who did not know God. None of those faiths and philosophies deserves to be called Good News. The most brilliant poet of antiquity, Homer, once said: "It is better to live as a shepherd in this world than as a king in Hades." As a man of earth, he could neither see clearly nor speak joyfully.

7. Only the "Son of Man who came down from heaven" ( John 3:13 ) could testify to what is in heaven—what God is like , what spiritual things are like in that world, what the spiritual world is like, and what happens to human souls after death. He testified to what He saw and heard. His testimony was entirely empirical on the spiritual plane. He did not testify according to earthly logic or the conclusions of the human mind, or according to the wisdom and philosophizing of earthly man, but according to what He saw and heard. He was a heavenly messenger of heavenly things. He came into the world to testify to the truth (see John 18:37 ), which no one born on earth could faithfully testify to. And He called His testimony the Good News.

On the thirst for Truth and on blind faith and that the essence of life is holiness according to the words of the Lord: seek first of all the Kingdom of God

From Orthodox Church Teaching: Forgotten Thoughts by Saint Andrew of Ufa said in 1903

One of Russia's finest sons, I.S. Aksakov, titled one of his articles discussing church life: "Some Outrages of Russian Life and, in Particular, the Causes of the Spread of Stundism." In this article, he writes, among other things: "We classify the appearance of the Stundists in the Kherson province as an instructive outrage... This society was founded by those workers who lived with the colonists (i.e., the Germans)." Having become accustomed to observing neither the holidays nor the fasts sanctified by the Orthodox Church, they maintained this custom upon returning to their native villages... An investigation into this matter began several years ago..." Aksakov believed that an investigation was necessary, but not a police one, nor one targeting the Stundists... "Why not find out," he wrote at the time, "from what parishes these workers, infected with the teachings of the colonists, came... Did any of these unfortunate workers even know the Lord's Prayer before joining the colonists , and not only in the Novorossiysk region... but also here in central Russia, we propose making just one test: how many parishioners know the Lord's Prayer accurately, without distorting it ?! " In Aksakov's opinion, the result then would have been extremely shameful. Such are the opinions of I.S. Aksakov, an expert on Russia and Russian needs. In our opinion, the result now would not have been better either.

THE SPIRITUAL LANDSCAPE OF RUSSIA HAS UNDERGONE A DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION OVER THE LAST CENTURY. IT CAN BE DESCRIBED AS PHENOMENONAL SHIFT FROM THE ATHEISTIC COMMUNISM OF THE SOVIET UNION TO A HYBRID STATE OF "ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN" COMMUNISM TRADITION OF THE PRESENT DAY.

(Excerpts from various famous and trustworthy authors)

Feast of Pentecost

 

"And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all gathered together in one place. And suddenly a sound like a mighty wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and they sat on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…" (Acts 2:1-4)

Dear brothers and sisters!

Today we celebrate the great and radiant feast of Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, descended upon the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. This is not simply a historical event to be remembered; it is the birthday of the Church, which is the Body of Christ, and a continuation of the Incarnation of Christ, where Christ now acts in the Church through the Holy Spirit sent by the Father.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, having completed the entire economy of our salvation—His incarnation, His life of perfect obedience, His crucifixion, His life-giving resurrection, and His glorious ascension into heaven—He did not leave us orphans. Before His ascension, He promised: "It is good for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go away, I will send Him to you" (John 16:7). Having completed His earthly mission, Christ the Savior sends the Holy Spirit from the Father, the Spirit proceeding from the Father and sent by the Son, to continue and fulfill in us what Christ accomplished for us.

The Holy Spirit is not an abstract force or impersonal energy. He is the Third Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity, the Lord and Giver of Life. On this day, He descended not only on the Apostles but on all who will believe through their word. The Church was born not as a human organization, but as a divine-human reality, a living organism filled with the uncreated grace and power of God.

Why was the Holy Spirit sent? So that we might be sanctified and led to Theosis, that is, to union with God. This is the primary goal of the Christian life. Christ became man so that man, by grace, might become god. The Holy Spirit makes this possible. He purifies us, enlightens us, and perfects us. He transforms our weak and fallen human nature into the temple of the living God. As St. Athanasius the Great teaches, the Son of God became incarnate "so that we might become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

On the day of Pentecost, the apostles, who had feared and hidden, were transformed into bold witnesses. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead now elevated them from spiritual cowardice to apostolic boldness. This same Spirit is given to each of us in the Sacraments of the Church, especially in Holy Baptism and Chrismation. Every time we partake of the Holy Eucharist, every time we pray attentively, every time we struggle with sin and practice virtues, the Holy Spirit works within us to conform us to the image of Christ.

The goal of our lives is not simply to be moral people or good parishioners. The goal is Theosis: to become by grace what God is by nature. This is possible only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As St. Seraphim of Sarov said, the true goal of Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit abides in us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) become the natural fruits of our lives.

May the Holy Spirit, who descended on the day of Pentecost, descend into our hearts, sanctify our lives, unite us even more deeply with Christ and lead us all to the fullness of Theosis!

An analysis of the recent encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIV ''Magnifica Humanitas'' about the dangers of AI and protecting the dignity of man from it.

The full encyclical can be read here:

https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html

In Magnifica Humanitas, the Pope operates from a baseline of modern Western humanism. He views the human person as possessing an inherent, functional moral compass that is under threat from external forces namely: a technocratic elite, corporate greed, and the "perfect machine/AI." The underlying assumption is that if we can just "disarm AI" through rigorous international ethics and social justice, human goodness will prevail.

St. Justin Popovich fiercely critiqued this exact worldview. He argued that Western European culture committed a fatal error by substituting Papism and Humanism for Christ. In his view, Papism (the dogma of papal infallibility) was the ultimate expression of humanism because it elevated a human being to the status of a divine criterion of truth.

St. Justin wrote that humanism attempts to build a world around Homo-deus (the Man-god) rather than Theanthropos (the God-man, Christ). When you look at the AI problem through this lens, the AI is not an external monster invading an innocent humanity. Rather, AI is the ultimate mirror and amplification of fallen human pride which is man trying to create an idol in his own image to achieve immortality and omniscience without God.

The Pope opens his encyclical by stating that humanity faces a choice: either build a new Tower of Babel or construct "the city in which God and humanity dwell together." (Point 7 of the encyclical) While this sounds beautiful, from an Orthodox standpoint, it represents a secularized, moralistic millennialism. It implies that through human treaties, ethical codes, and proper technological stewardship, we can restore paradise.

Orthodoxy teaches that the world remains fractured by the Fall. True peace, justice, and brotherhood are eschatological realities, they belong to the Kingdom of Heaven and the transfiguration of creation at Christ’s second return. Expecting secular governments to implement a "moral ecosystem" to save humanity from AI is an illusion born of a Pelagian mindset (the heresy that human beings can achieve goodness through their own willpower without divine grace). It is also the heresy of chiliasm to build a paradise on Earth with the fallen man not cured from sin. Which is what the antichrist will build according to St Ignatius Brianchaninov (see this chapter called ''On miracles and signs'' http://orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/st-ignatius-brianchaninov-miracles-and-signs.aspx)

The Pope’s encyclical frames the human ideal through the lens of moralism by being a "good citizen," practicing solidarity, and respecting human rights. In this view, the ultimate goal of humanity is a harmonious, ethically regulated earthly existence where AI is safely kept in its place.

Orthodox theology rejects this flat, horizontal vision. The goal of human life is not merely to be "good" or "moral"; it is to be transfigured and filled with the uncreated energy of God. As the Church Fathers famously stated:

"God became man so that man might become god." — St. Athanasius the Great

We are called to achieve Theosis—to become gods by grace, acquiring the Holy Spirit and overcoming death itself.

By reducing the human calling to mere morality, the Papal view strips humanity of its supernatural destiny. If our only goal is to maintain a moral society free from AI enslavement, we are aiming tragically low. A perfectly ethical society that is not united to Christ is still a society heading to the grave and hell.

In conclusion if a human being is not actively moving toward God through repentance and the sacraments, he will inevitably create idols. AI is the ultimate idol of the West, a digital calf built from the gold of human intellect, worshipped because it promises to solve our problems without requiring us to crucify our egos.

Trying to fix the AI crisis with humanitarian ethics won't help much, as people are suffering from the sinful nature which is a much deeper problem that won't be fixed by just liberating them from AI influence, The only antidote to this is the salvation found in Christ through His Body the Church which makes us gods by grace and restores and trasfigures our fallen nature.

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P.S. While the pope is mostly wrong for analysing the AI issue from only a humanistic point of view, it can be still helpful to understand the dangers of AI on man's psychology overall, there is also another topic that the pope treats in this encyclical: the problems of war and calls for peace and love, this is important especially with the satanic rhetoric of KGB Russia and KGB Moscow Patriarchate that justifies this war by calling it ''holy'' so here the pope is more Christian than the satanic regime of Russia but still operates on a humanistic level without the need of repentance and trasformation in Christ, But the thing is that it is not the problem of this current Pope Leo XIV but of the Catholic Church as a whole that was founded on humanism and rationalism since it fell from the Orthodox Church in the XI century, to fix all their heresies the catholics inluding the Pope must repent and return to the Orthodox Church, the Only True Church-The Body of Christ!

But I still respect Pope Leo XIV for speaking out on all these issues while not agreeing with his theological interpretations.

Anniversary of the fall of Constantinople (29 May 1453)

 

Today is the anniversary of the fall of the Orthodox Roman Empire incorrectly labelled by the west as ''byzantium'', it fell because the emperor and most bishops except St Mark of Ephesus and his allies, betrayed the Orthodox faith, by signing the Union of Florence (1439) and capitulated to the Pope of Rome, it was later rejected of course.

The last emperor was Constantine XI

The Orthodox do not consider Constantine XI a saint, though there are some who incorrectly, personally consider him so because of their love of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire. However, the last Emperor has never been recognized as a Saint due to his heretical beliefs and his compromising of the Faith in order to gain material aid from Latin lands. When the Empire was in need, he sought Latin military aid by reaffirming the heretical statements of the Council of Florence.. And it is said that he defiled the Church of Agia Sophia the day/night before the Fall with a blended Divine Liturgy and Latin mass. In attempting to preserve an earthly Empire, he lost a Heavenly Kingdom. In contrast, there is Tsar Lazar of Serbia, who gave up an earthly Kingdom for the Heavenly. The Faith is always more important than earthly possessions.

Here is a brief info about St Tsar Lazar:

According to general and ancient folk tradition, an Angel of the Lord appeared to the saintly Prince Lazar before this battle and asked him which kingdom he wished to choose: would he choose the earthly kingdom or the Heavenly Kingdom. After prayerfully pondering the question, the Prince, who yearned for heaven, replied to the Angel of God: “If I should choose the earthly kingdom, it is only for a brief time, and is momentary and transitory; but the Heavenly Kingdom lasts always and forever.” Thus the God-loving Serbian ruler decided in favor of the Kingdom of Christ the king in the heavens.

By St. Justin Popovich, Life of St. Lazar quoted from:

(https://followthesaints.com/books/the-heresy-of-patriarch-kirill/the-heavenly-kingdom-st-lazars-choice)