A MUST READ BOOK TO UNDERSTAND THE HERESIES OF ''PATRIARCH'' KIRILL AND THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE

Full book here: https://followthesaints.com/books/the-heresy-of-patriarch-kirill

The book is an Orthodox Christian apologetic study, authored by Silouan Wright and Panagiotis Makris, that compiles primary quotations and patristic responses to argue Patriarch Kirill’s public theology departs from historic Orthodox teaching.

The book presents arguments that (a) documents Kirill’s words and actions, (b) contrasts them with consensus patrum, and (c) argues for canonical remedies such as cessation of commemoration.

Sunday of the Myrrhbearers - The Risen Christ and the Myrrhbearers (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him" (Mk. 16:1).

In today's Gospel reading there is talk about the visit of the Myrrhbearing women "when the Sabbath was past" to the tomb, the encounter with the Angel and the information that "He is risen, He is not here." The encounter of the Myrrhbearers with the Lord is not described here, but we know very well that the Myrrhbearing women not only were found worthy of the angelic apparition and were the first to be informed of the Resurrection of Christ, but also were found worthy to see the Risen Christ. This is an event of great importance and significance. That is why in the person of the Myrrhbearers, female nature and in general all human nature is honored.

THE MYRRH-BEARING WOMEN (Archimandrite Tikhon Nevidimov)

"Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18)

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord!

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Today, in the radiance of Easter joy, the Church remembers those who remained with Christ when the world turned away from Him. We remember the Myrrh-Bearing Women – those whose faith was not loudly proclaimed, but was active; not confessed in words, but sealed with life, tears, love, and faithfulness.

These are not just pages of biblical history. This living, historical presence: Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Cleophas, Solome, Joanna, Susanna, and others—those who followed Christ along the dusty roads of Galilee, who served Him from their estates, who stood at the Cross when the apostles fled in fear, who were the first to arrive at the Tomb while it was still dark.

They stood at the Cross—not as heroines, but as grieving mothers, sisters, and disciples. Their hearts were pierced with pain when the Lord was lifted up onto the Tree. They saw everything they had hoped for crumble. And even after the Savior's death, when it seemed all was over, when only despair remained—they did not leave. They went to the Tomb. Without hope. Without a miracle. Only with Love. Only to anoint the body. To remain close, at least, to the Shadows of Christ.

But it was to them—not the apostles, not the high priests, not the philosophers—that the risen Lord first appeared. Why?

Because Love is beyond knowledge.

Because Love is the foundation of faith.

Because Love is beyond even hope.

They didn't believe they would see the Living One—but they didn't stop loving the Dead One. And so they met the Living One.

While Peter wept, Thomas doubted, and the other apostles hid behind doors, the myrrh-bearing women were already preaching the Resurrection.

And even if they weren't listened to. Even if the men brushed them off: "Their words seemed empty to them." But with God, there are no "empty" words, spoken with love and tears.

And so—victory. Christ comes into the upper room, closed by fear. He Himself confirms the message brought by the women. Their truth conquers male unbelief. Their faithfulness breaks down the walls of fear. Their love opens the doors of eternity.

Perhaps we are those apostles who hide in fear of the world? Or are we Thomas, who demands proof? Or perhaps we are myrrh-bearers? Not in strength, not in knowledge, not in loud confession, but in daily, patient, loving fidelity.

And so, even now, someone stands at the crucified Body—in the form of a ruined temple, a blasphemed priesthood, persecuted Orthodoxy. Someone goes to the Tomb—when faith seems dead and prayer unanswered. Someone carries myrrh—when the heart is exhausted, but love has not faded.

When the world rejects the truth, when even within the Church itself there is pain, division, scandal, weakness—you remain. Because Christ is not somewhere "above," but here—in the Mystery of the Church. And you do not leave. You stay—not for proof, not for a miracle, but because you love.

The myrrh-bearing women are an image of spiritual courage. They are the motherhood of faith. This is tenderness transformed into confession.

Today the Church says to every soul: be a myrrh-bearer. Do not be afraid to go to the Tomb. Do not be afraid to remain close when all have departed. Do not fear love, which is stronger than death.

Let each of us take one thing from this week:

When everything collapses, when there is nothing, Love remains. And this Love reveals the Resurrection.

Amen.

What is prelest (spiritual deception)? (Saint Theophan of Poltava)

An example of Monk Iliodor:

Among the students at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy was a monk named Iliodor. He was distinguished by his spiritual fervor and heightened zeal. The Holy Fathers warn of such students that they can easily fall into "spiritual delusion," into spiritual self-delusion. This occurs because, out of self-confidence and arrogance, they begin to struggle without due humility, trusting in their own strength rather than in the Lord. And the Lord allows this to happen to them, or rather to us, in order to teach us reason and humble us, for falling into this spiritual malady of self-importance and self-delusion is the beginning of all terrible troubles. For Scripture says: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" ( Proverbs 16:18 ). "Before a fall, the heart of a man is haughty" ( Proverbs 18:13 ). “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” ( Luke 18:14 ).

Mystical proof of the existence of God (Saint Theophan of Poltava)

"Hardly anyone would dispute that the truth of Divine existence is the most central of all possible and actual truths of human knowledge, both in its theoretical and practical significance. It is equally close to the simple believing heart and to the mind rich in scientific knowledge. Philosophers dedicate their "works" to it, poets are inspired by it. Finally, it represents the ultimate support for every person in moments of life's difficult trials..."

But precisely because of this great significance, it has long evoked diametrically opposed attitudes. While for some it is clearer than daylight, for others it is a mere phantom of an undeveloped imagination.

Truth and Spirit (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov)

Do not be deceived by the conceit and teachings of those deceived by conceit, who, disregarding the truth of the Church and Divine Revelation, assert that truth can speak within you without the sound of words, and instruct you by itself, through some vague and unclear action. This is the teaching of lies and their confidants .

The hallmarks of a false doctrine are obscurity, vagueness, opinion 21 , and the dreamy, bloody, and nervous pleasure it engenders. It is achieved through the subtle effects of vanity and lust.

Fallen humanity approaches holy truth by faith; there is no other way to it. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" ( Rom. 10:17 ), the Apostle teaches us.

The word of God is truth ( John 17:17 ); the commandments of the Gospel are truth ( Psalm 119:86 ); every man is a liar ( Psalm 116:2 ). All this is attested to by Divine Scripture. How then can you expect to hear the voice of holy truth from one who is a liar?

Life of Saint Leo Bishop of Catania, Sicily (+789)

Saint Leo, the saint of God, the son of noble and pious parents, hailed from the region of Ravenna. For his pure life and intellect, he was honored with all the sacred orders in due order, and upon the death of Blessed Sabinus, Bishop of Catana, he was elevated to the episcopal throne by God's election. The city of Catana is located on the island of Sicily, not far from Mount Etna, which still spews fiery lava. Upon accepting the episcopal throne, Saint Leo also assumed all the labors befitting his new rank. He cared for orphans, the poor, widows, the sick, and the straitened, feeding and clothing them at the expense of church property, and healed their ailments with his prayers. He was a merciful father to his children and a faithful shepherd of his flock, but to demons and their servants he was as terrifying as a lion to wolves. In his days there was a certain sorcerer in Catania, named Heliodorus; he was the son of pious parents who believed in Christ, and had himself been enlightened by holy baptism, but later secretly renounced Christ and began to serve demons, having learned sorcery from a Jew. Thus he was considered a Christian, but in fact he was a pagan, a servant of demons and a great sorcerer, no better than that ancient sorcerer Simon, whom the holy chief apostles Peter and Paul put to death by their prayers. Heliodorus was like him in all things: performing astonishing magical miracles, he, through his suggestion, caused people to imagine that rivers were flowing on dry ground, on roads and in the streets, so that citizens of both sexes, naked, crossed through the middle of the city, as it seemed to them, a river; he turned stones into gold, but only for a short time; In the markets he caused great losses to the merchants with his sorcery; he so aroused noble maidens, the daughters of honest and dignified citizens, to carnal sin with his magic that, forgetting shame, they left their homes and parents and ran to various places for the sake of fornication. When the hegemon Lucius reported him to the kings Leo and his son Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the kings sent a command to arrest him; but Heliodorus himself gave himself up to the people who were looking for him; he boarded a ship with them in Catania and landed that same day at Constantinople, having sailed in one hour a distance that only people sailing from the West - from Sicily to the East - to Thrace can imagine. Appearing before the kings, he was condemned by them to death, but immediately before the kings' eyes he became invisible and again appeared in Catania; Having been summoned a second time to Constantinople and condemned to beheading by the sword, the sorcerer again became invisible at the very moment when the warrior, raising the sword above his head, swung it with such force that the sword struck only the air; and again this sorcerer found himself in Catania.

Advice to contemporaries

Dear brother in Christ,

I am glad to greet you in the Lord, and thank you for your letter. I understand how serious these questions are, and I will try to answer you with the same seriousness.

First of all, I must tell you this: judging by everything, there are no truly God-bearing elders in our day —like, for example, the Optina elders who once guided people by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and not by their own understanding or the interpretation of the Holy Fathers. This path of spiritual guidance is not given to our time—and, frankly, with our sins, weaknesses, and spiritual corruption, we do not deserve it .

On Zealotry (Saint Seraphim Rose)

Letter 218 (excerpt). Apodosis of Ascension, 1976 [May 29/June 11, 1976] Dear Daniel,

…Before going ahead, we must stop and find out where we are. We wish to be

zealots for true Orthodoxy, and our Church leaders have indicated clearly that we must have no contact with the Moscow Patriarchate and similarly enslaved Churches; must refrain from participating in ecumenist activities and must be aware that ecumenism is eating away the very Orthodox fiber of most of the Orthodox Churches, beginning with Constantinople; and must be zealously pursuing a path of true Orthodoxy ourselves, not only in outward acts but especially in spiritual life,  but without falling into false zealotry “not according to knowledge”—a point that Vlad. Averky especially emphasized. About the latter danger we have been learning much of late from the situation of the Old Calendarists in Greece, which can help us to avoid some mistakes “on the right side.”

Orthodox teaching on atonement and original sin

The following is the complete, extracted text of the two chapters from Acquiring the Mind of Christ: Embracing the Vision of the Orthodox Church by Archimandrite Sergius (Bowyer). These chapters are presented together because they form a unified Orthodox presentation of atonement (salvation).