“Anyone who is capable of speaking the truth but remains silent, will be
heavily judged by God, especially in this case, where the faith and the very foundation of the
entire church of the Orthodox is in danger. To remain silent under these circumstances is to
betray these, and the appropriate witness belongs to those that reproach (stand up for the faith).
St. Paisios of Mount Athos:
“You see people abusing and reviling holy and sacred things and
others not saying anything. Being meek on such an occasion is demonic.”
St. Nikodemos of Mount Athos:
“If the discussion and the question proposed is about the Faith
and the Traditions of our Church, then even the most meek and quiet and peace-loving person
must fight and defend these matters.
St. Meletios the Confessor:
“He who keeps silent about the truth keeps Christ in the tomb... to
keep silent about the right Faith is truly a great danger, which leads to eternal punishment and the
pit of perdition. It is not right, it is not lawful, it is not fitting for those of right belief to be silent
at all when those eager to promote deception and error violate the laws of God. Where God is at
stake, says one of the great Fathers [St. Gregory the Theologian], and the forces of harm and
destruction are aimed directly against Him, what faithful Christian can keep silent? Who can be
at peace at all? For silence betokens acquiescence. It is better to stand up to those who do not
think aright than to follow them in their errors, separating ourselves from God and uniting
ourselves to them.
St. Justin the Philosopher:
“... everyone who can speak the truth, and yet speaks it not, shall be
judged by God, as God testified by Ezekiel, when He said, 'I have made you a watchman to the
house of Judah. If the sinner sin, and you warn him not, he himself shall die in his sin; but his
blood will I require at your hand. But if you warn him, you shall be innocent.'”
St. John Chrysostom:
“If it is not safe for one to stay aloof when a man is being wronged, of
what punishment will he not be worthy who keeps silent and looks the other way when the
Divine Laws are being affronted?”
St. Gabriel Urgebadze the holy Fool for Christ:
“When they are blaspheming your faith and
you stay silent, you become worse than that blasphemer.”
St. Gregory the Theologian:
“For we are not as the many, able to corrupt 2 Corinthians 2:16-17
the word of truth, and mix the wine, Isaiah 1:22 which makes glad the heart of man, with water,
mix, that is, our doctrine with what is common and cheap, and debased, and stale, and tasteless,
in order to turn the adulteration to our profit, and accommodate ourselves to those who meet us,
and curry favor with everyone, becoming ventriloquists and chatterers, who serve their own
pleasures by words uttered from the earth, and sinking into the earth, and, to gain the special
good will of the multitude, injuring in the highest degree, nay, ruining ourselves, and shedding
the innocent blood of simpler souls, which will be required at our hands.”
St. John Maximovitch:
“A search for compromise will be the characteristic state of the people’s
faith. Directness of confession will vanish. People will subtly justify their fall… People will
grow used to apostatizing from the truth and will be accustomed to the sweetness of
compromise.”
St. Benjamin of Petrograd:
“The reasoning of some, perhaps outstanding pastors is strange:
‘We have to preserve our living forces,’ that is, give into everyone for their sake! Then what is
Christ for? It is not the not the Platonovs and the Chuprins and the Benjamins and those like
them who save the Church, but Christ. That point on which they are trying to stand is destruction
for the Church- it is wrong to sacrifice the Church for oneself. Now is the time of trial. People
are sacrificing everything for the sake of political convictions... Cannot we Christians display a
similar courage even unto death if we have some faith in Christ and the life of the age to
come?”
St. Paul of Starobela:
“On compromising to keep the churches legally open and unpersecuted:
‘Can it be that we must sell out Christ and the Kingdom of God to save Church property (church
buildings, offices, utensils)? What is the difference, then, between Judas and our contemporary
‘sellers of Christ’? Judas sold the Lord and Teacher for 30 pieces of silver, but his present-day
followers do the same thing for the temporary maintenance of their material comfort, external
order, and for property made of wood and stone (churches, buildings). But they have made a
grave error. They will not succeed in preserving either their own comfort, or external order, and
the office buildings and the churches are sure to be lost and perish. Just as Judas did, they sold
the imperishable for the perishable, the heavenly for the earthly.’”
St. Mark of Ephesus:
“That which concerns the Church, O man, is never put right through
compromises: there is no mean between Truth and falsehood.”
St. Hermogenes of Tobolsk the Hieromartyr:
“Brother Christians! Raise your voices in
defense of the Church's Apostolic Faith, the holy things of the Church, the Church's heritage.
Defend your right to believe and confess your faith as you learned it in days of old, as you were
taught it by the holy apostles, the holy martyrs, the God-wise fathers of the Church, the Christian
ascetics. Take care of the holiness of your souls, the freedom of your consciences. Say loudly
that you have been accustomed to pray and save yourselves in the churches, that the holy things
of the Church are dearer to you than life itself, that without them salvation is impossible. No
power can demand from you that which is against your faith, your religious conscience: 'We
must obey God rather than men', said the holy apostles. That is what we, too, must say. The
apostles joyfully suffered for the faith. Be you also ready for sacrifice, for podvig, and remember
that physical arms are powerless against those who arm themselves with powerful faith in Christ.
Faith moves mountains, 'the faith of the Christians has conquered the pagan boldness'. May your
faith be bold and courageous! Christ destroyed hades. He will also destroy the snares of the
enemies of our Church. Believe- and the enemy will flee from before your face. Stand in
defense of your faith and with firm hope say: 'Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered!
St. Theodore the Studite:
"It is a commandment of the Lord, that one must not remain silent in
the event that the Faith is at risk. For He says ‘speak out, and do not remain silent'.." (Acts 18:9)
And "If he retreats, my soul does not favour him". (Hebr. 10:38) And "If they remain silent, then
the stones shall cry out" (Luke 19:40). Thus, when it comes to the Faith, it is not possible for one
to say, "Who am I?
At a time like this, when Christ is being persecuted through His Image, one is obliged to
fight, not only if he is superior in rank and in knowledge by preaching and teaching the Orthodox
word; but even if he is in the place of a student, he still has a duty to reveal the truth courageously and speak freely. These are not the words of me, the sinner, but of the divine
Chrysostom, along with other Fathers.”