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“ For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth: and everyone who is of the truth will hear my voice ” ( John 18:37 ).
It is extremely significant and deeply instructive for us that the first week of Great Lent concludes with a feast in honor of Holy Orthodoxy. And it is deeply regrettable that in these difficult times of ours, this glorious feast is often not celebrated with the due solemnity it rightly deserves. The reason for this, one might think, is that many in our time, even among the clergy, not excluding those of the highest rank, do not clearly grasp what Orthodoxy is—why it is so infinitely dear to us, why we should value it so highly and preserve it as our greatest treasure, unmatched by any earthly treasure of this perishable world.
A widespread, “current” opinion these days is that Orthodoxy is just one of many varieties of Christianity, along with others that have every right to exist and are even, to one degree or another, equal in value.
If we turn to the history of the Christian Church and take the trouble to become thoroughly familiar with it calmly and impartially, without any prejudice, we will easily become convinced that only Orthodoxy is true Christianity - the Truth to which, in His own words, the incarnate Only Begotten Son of God came to earth to testify ( John 18:37 ).
As we know, the devil, the eternal enemy of human salvation, even in the manger, plotted to destroy our Savior, in order to prevent Him from accomplishing the work of our salvation. When he failed, he turned all his malice against Him, using as his weapons the pride, vanity, lust for power, and ambition of the Jewish high priests, elders, scribes, and Pharisees.
When these evil schemes of his collapsed, and his very power was trampled upon by the Resurrection of Christ, he, first through the Jews, and then through the pagans, raised the most cruel and bloody persecutions against the followers of Christ, in the hope of wiping Christianity off the face of the earth.
But these enemy's machinations were not crowned with success, and even the opposite: Christianity became the dominant religion in the then cultural Greco-Roman world.
The cunning enemy, however, did not lose heart from the defeats he had suffered.
He then raised a new battle against the Christian faith, which he hated – against that Divine Truth which the incarnate Son of God brought to earth for the salvation of people – a battle incomparably more difficult and dangerous.
At his instigation and inspiration, people, seduced by him through pride and ambition, began among Christians themselves, within the Church of Christ itself, as the holy Apostle Paul had foreseen ( Acts 20:30 ), to stir up disputes about faith, various disagreements and divisions, putting their own purely human conjectures and considerations in place of the Divinely revealed Truth.
Thus, heresies and schisms arose, which threatened to undermine from within the life-giving and saving power of Christ’s teaching for people, replacing the Truth with lies.
In order to expose and condemn these heresies, false teachings and schisms, the “guardians” of Divine Truth, the successors of the holy apostles, the Fathers of the Church – the bishops – began to gather at Councils – Local and Ecumenical, in order to, with the universal “conciliar” mind, clarify and determine once and for all for all Christians the obligatory and immutable teaching of the Church, establishing how they believed everywhere, what they always believed, what everyone believed (St. Vincent of Lirin ).
It was then that the true Christian faith – the right faith, in contrast to the heresies and sects that also called themselves Christian, began to be called “Orthodox.”
So, this is what Orthodoxy is!
Orthodoxy is the pure and unadulterated Truth, brought to earth for the salvation of people by Christ the Savior: it is the authentic Teaching of Christ on faith and piety (life according to faith), preserved in all its purity and integrity, set forth by the holy apostles in Holy Scripture, carefully explained and interpreted by their legitimate successors - the apostolic men, the holy Fathers and teachers of the Church in the Holy Tradition of our Orthodox-Catholic Eastern Church, which alone, having changed nothing in this teaching, is to this day, in all fairness, called the "Orthodox Church."
Unfortunately, in our time, a living interest in the sublime truths of faith and a correct understanding of them, and especially their application to life, commonly called “piety,” has been so lost that many sincerely think that the entire difference between Orthodoxy and other confessions lies only in rituals, and since “rituals,” they say, “are a secondary matter, and God is One,” then what difference does it make what faith one belongs to: “as long as one believes in God and is a good person.”
This is a fashionable, current opinion.
But is this true?
God is One, Christ is One, but for some reason there is not one faith: there are many different faiths.
If God is One, then can all these different faiths be equally true and, therefore, equally saving? After all, if God is One and Christ is One, then doesn't this obligate all who sincerely believe in Christ to have everything pertaining to their faith and piety be one: identical, not different?
This is precisely the truth that the Word of God affirms, saying: “ One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all...” ( Eph. 4:5-6 ).
Did the Lord create many different Churches?
Didn't He say clearly and definitely: “I will build my church ( namely , one Church, and not many different churches!), and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it ” ( Matthew 16:18 )?
Can we really consider these words of our Savior to be false, unjustified, blasphemously admitting that “the gates of hell” nevertheless “overcame the Church,” dividing it into many different churches?
No way! We will not allow ourselves to commit such terrible blasphemy against the Son of God!
Only one - one single Church was founded by the Incarnate Only-begotten Son of God for the salvation of people: it alone, founded by Him Himself, and not by ordinary sinful people, has always existed, exists now and will continue to exist until the end of time.
What could be unclear here?
You just have to firmly believe in this and not be too clever!
And it is from this very cunning wisdom that such a multitude of all sorts of false churches and “denominations” have come into being, which hotly and self-confidently declare a claim to possess the Truth, without having it, and often preach obvious lies and all sorts of fabrications that flatter the corrupted human heart.
The True Church is all Truth, and there is not, nor can there be, within it any shadow of falsehood or error. Individual members of the Church, even the highest-ranking hierarchs, may sometimes, relying solely on their own reason, err and fall into error, but the Church as a whole never does.
She, and She alone, the True Church is Infallible.
This is because its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, abides in it until the end of the age ( Matthew 28:20 ), and the Holy Spirit inspires and guides it ( John 14:16–17 ).
This assertion of ours is not unfounded, for it is based on the clear teaching of the Word of God: “...the church of God is living, the pillar and ground of the truth” ( 1 Tim. 3:15 ) – so says the great apostle of the Gentiles, St. Paul.
Anyone who lies or falls into error is immediately cut off from the Body of the Church by the invisible judgment of God, falls away from it, thereby losing hope of salvation, and can again be reunited with it only through sincere repentance.
For this reason, no lie is inherent in the Church and is not tolerated within it. Therefore, there can be no dissent, no disagreement, no divisions within it.
The holy Apostle Paul speaks clearly about this, instructing the first Christians: “ Now I exhort you, brethren, beware of those who cause contentions and strife, apart from the doctrine (contrary to the teaching) which you have learned, and avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly: who with good words and blessings deceive the hearts of the innocent” (that is: with flattery and eloquence they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded - Rom. 16:17-18 ).
“... Let ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one mind, of one mind (that is: have the same thoughts, have the same love, be of one accord and of one mind): nothing out of zeal or conceit (do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit), but in humility of mind, doing more honor to one another than to yourselves” ( Phil. 2:2-3 ).
What does the now fashionable movement of ecumenism look like from the point of view of such a clear and categorical teaching of the Word of God?
Isn’t it a complete lie, alien to the true Church and intolerable within it?
While demanding complete unanimity and one-mindedness among Christians, the Word of God speaks just as clearly and categorically about how true Christians should treat false heretical teachers who distort the true teachings of the Church:
“ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine (that is, the doctrine preached by the holy apostles) , do not receive him into your house, and do not say “greet him ” (that is, do not greet him – 2 John 1:10 ).
“ Any man who is a heretic, after the first and second admonition (after the first and second admonition) reject” (turn away – Titus 3:10 ).
Is this what modern Christians do – or are they ashamed of the demands of the Word of God, as being “outdated,” “out of date,” and not “progressive” enough?
That is why all these ecumenists and all kinds of modern “unifiers” are lying about the Truth, trying to unite the incompatible: truth with lawlessness, light with darkness, Christ with Belial, the faithful with the unfaithful ( 2 Cor. 6:14–15 ).
What can we say, then, about the hierarchs, leaders, and spiritual directors of modern Local Orthodox Churches who have joined the ecumenical movement and become full members and active participants in the World Council of Churches? Do they still have the right to consider themselves Orthodox?
We are not even talking about a whole series of canonical rules of the Orthodox Church that prohibit prayerful communion with heretics, for which excommunication from the Church is prescribed, and for bishops and clergy - defrocking (see Apostolic Rules 45, 46 and 65 and Laod. Council 32, 33 and 37), for many now believe that the canons in general have “fallen behind” the far “advanced” life, and that they must all be abolished or remade so that there are no restrictions for anyone and everyone can do whatever they please - at their own pleasure.
And if we take into account that many of the leaders of these churches, representatives of the hierarchy and clergy, not to mention ordinary laypeople, are now even joining anti-Christian organizations or openly proclaiming the atheistic, God-fighting power as “the power from God,” which must be obeyed “not out of fear, but out of conscience,” placing themselves in complete service to the enemies of Christ and making themselves their obedient tool, then it becomes downright scary!
What have we come to?!
And is it possible to close our eyes to all this and carelessly lull ourselves and others, assuring them that there is nothing special about it, that it has always been like this?
Something may have happened, but not like this, not on such a huge, one might say all-encompassing scale, when there is almost no healthy space left, and an honest, sincere Christian does not know where and with whom to go, who he can trust.
Unable, after a protracted, centuries-long struggle, to simply destroy the Church, dark satanic forces have in our day, with particularly fierce energy, attacked the Church, attempting to take control of it from within, in order to use it, through its pliant servants, for their own ends. The decline of faith and true Christian love facilitates this, while the vain pursuit of publicity, vain fame, and the search for material gain directly contribute to these satanic plans.
And so, as a result, we have the sad picture that we now observe: the salt is overwhelmed.
Many people in our time forget that the Church is the Church: that it is not some earthly, human institution, but a Divine institution, whose highest purpose is the salvation of souls into eternal life, that there is no place for any politics or diplomacy in it, and that it is unacceptable to dissemble, trampling on one's conscience, in the name of any purely earthly goals, even if they are covered by the false slogans of “peace for the whole world,” “the common good,” and even imaginary “Christian love” and “humility,” which is now so fashionable.
All this modern falsehood and hype and fascination with some kind of high politics and secret diplomacy, to which not only ordinary but also the highest servants of the Church are now being intensively drawn, set themselves the task of nothing other than preparing the future world domination of the Antichrist, who must lead a single (united from all the religions of the world) false church and a single world (united from all nationalities) state.
It is therefore not surprising that in our day, simply calling ourselves “Orthodox” has become insufficient, not quite definitive, and that is why all true believers in our suffering homeland now call themselves “true Orthodox Christians,” wishing to emphasize that they do not belong to the formal “Orthodox Church,” which has sinned against true Christianity with its unnatural alliance with the enemies of Christ the Savior.
And if we consider what is happening now with "Orthodox Christians" in the so-called free world, where ecumenism reigns supreme and where almost everyone has already united in the so-called "World Council of Churches," then one cannot help but agree that a more accurate designation: "True Orthodox" is appropriate here as well—in contrast to those who, while calling themselves "Orthodox," have in fact already renounced Orthodoxy, retaining only its outward appearance.
It is necessary to remember and know: the true Church of Christ cannot proclaim and affirm any kind of lie or enter into fellowship or cooperation with the enemies of Christ!
And therefore, all those bishops, clergy and laity who participate in this lie and in one way or another are friends and cooperate with the enemies of our Lord and Savior are “Orthodox” only in name.
And again and again, we involuntarily recall the truly prophetic words of our wondrous Russian saint, Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky, about what will happen in the last times:
“Although the Christian name will be heard everywhere, and churches and church ranks will be visible everywhere, all this is only an appearance, while inside there is a true apostasy” (Commentary on Thessalonians, p. 492).
Are we not already seeing something similar?
After all, Orthodoxy is not something abstract; Orthodoxy is not only faith, but also life according to faith – life in accordance with faith, which is usually called piety.
And so, it is quite characteristic that all these modern ecumenist modernists, who still call themselves "Orthodox," with a kind of self-satisfied frivolity reject all the ascetic teachings of the Holy Church, in which the spirit of Orthodox piety is most fully and vividly expressed, such as, for example, the feat of abstinence - fasting of soul and body.
And for us, who remain faithful to true Orthodoxy, it cannot but be especially significant and highly instructive that the feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, as it were, crowns the first, most strict week of Great Lent.
Let us strive for the feat that expresses the essence of our Orthodox Christian faith—the feat of imitating Christ in bearing the cross and self-crucifixion (see 1 Peter 2:21 ; 1 Corinthians 9:25–27 ; and Galatians 5:24 )—the faith of ascetics. And striving lawfully, as the Word of God teaches, let us endure all things for the Truth, not deviating from it, as many do today, out of cowardice or self-interest.
And let us firmly remember: where there is no feat, where there is no standing for the truth, there is no Orthodoxy - there is no true faith in God and in His Christ, Amen.