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| St. Paul, bishop of Starobela |
In July, 1927, Metropolitan Sergius issued his notorious declaration placing the Church more or less unconditionally in the hands of the God-fighting atheists. Bishop Paul came out strongly against the declaration, and together with Archimandrite Clement of the Kiev Caves Lavra, Archimandrite Macarius, Igumen Eustratius, Igumen Barsanuphius and other prominent clergy from Kiev
and Kharkov, he joined the Josephite branch of the Catacomb Church at the beginning of 1928.
and Kharkov, he joined the Josephite branch of the Catacomb Church at the beginning of 1928.
On April 3/16, 1928, Bishop Paul wrote to an unnamed sergianist hierarch:
“Father, Brother and Friend. I greet you with the bright Feast Day of Christ’s Resurrection, which delivers us from the gates of hell, and from death, leading us to eternal life and which illumines us in the knowledge of the Truth. I come from among Christ’s unworthy servants who belong to the ‘resistant’ Church which has gone into the wilderness to distance itself from its external enemies and from its ‘legal friends’ which are hiding in wait to devour the Bride of Christ for her attempts to avoid union and communion with, and in order to not partake in the blasphemy of the Adulteress of Babylon. Through prayerful contemplation, we desire that you learn the meaning of our dark and troubled times in relation to your salvation and for a more perfect ability to lead the souls which have been entrusted to your care for eternal salvation in Christ Jesus.
So, now that you are lamenting that ‘peace is lost and the division among us is growing’. But I, on the other hand, am rejoicing at this. If there was no protest against the antics of the Sergianists from the divinely-wise archpastors, from the venerable fathers and God-loving laity, then I, a sinner, without delay would begin to ask God to bring an end to my life, so that I would not have the depressing
inevitability of seeing the adulterous, bloodied, former Bride of Christ and would not have to endure the looming calamity which all the faithful will endure as a result of her disgraceful acts.
inevitability of seeing the adulterous, bloodied, former Bride of Christ and would not have to endure the looming calamity which all the faithful will endure as a result of her disgraceful acts.
It is for this reason that I rejoice both in the disturbance of the peace and in the division of the Church Militant of Christ which, by God’s allowance, is undergoing great trials. Remember, these arguments and divisions are occurring, not in a body that is of one mind. They are not occurring within a united community, which would indeed be very sad. But they are occurring within a community which is
multifaceted and very much at variance with itself. This is quite healthy for the pure Body of Christ’s Church. By God’s allowance the evil one is sifting us like wheat, but our Lord Jesus Christ is praying for us, that our faith does not waver. By God’s mercy my faith that the Kingdom of God on earth is indefectible is not shaken. Until my last breath I will despise those who are trying to save the Kingdom of God, the Church, by forming a union with the dark powers of him who dwells in the depths. He is still bound by the chains of the Lord and only now, quite strongly and noticeably, makes his hideous countenance visible to see if it is not time for him to begin his decisive and final actions.
multifaceted and very much at variance with itself. This is quite healthy for the pure Body of Christ’s Church. By God’s allowance the evil one is sifting us like wheat, but our Lord Jesus Christ is praying for us, that our faith does not waver. By God’s mercy my faith that the Kingdom of God on earth is indefectible is not shaken. Until my last breath I will despise those who are trying to save the Kingdom of God, the Church, by forming a union with the dark powers of him who dwells in the depths. He is still bound by the chains of the Lord and only now, quite strongly and noticeably, makes his hideous countenance visible to see if it is not time for him to begin his decisive and final actions.
This is not the first time he has shown his detestable countenance. He showed his dark face the last time during the earthly life of the Saviour, when He was taken at the garden of Gethsemane. The Lord said to those who captured Him: ‘this is your hour and the power of darkness’ (Luke 22.53). Similarly, during the reign of Julian the Apostate, when St. Basil the Great – the great trumpet to Truth and oracle of the Holy Spirit – prayed that the Emperor Julian would not return from his Persian campaign, so that he could implement his unlawful designs on the Church.
It was similar for the Church during the iconoclastic period. And so now we have a new order. Metropolitan Sergius simply spits on the examples which the Holy Fathers have given us and has had the audacity to introduce despicable ravings (one simply cannot call it prayer) into the Holy of Holies – welcome apostasy! One can rephrase the Sergianist prayers to read like this: “for the successful introduction of apostasy, let us pray to the Lord,’ or ‘for the successful rooting out of the people’s
faith in Christ, let us pray to the Lord’.
faith in Christ, let us pray to the Lord’.
Metropolitan Sergius and those of like mind with him are falling over left and right in their conviction that they are making decisions in order to save the Church, that is, to save the Ship which is the Church. But it is clear even for one with the most simple understanding of Christianity that the Church is none other than the Kingdom of God, and according to the words of the Saviour, it is to be found within us. Can it really be true, that God’s Kingdom which is within us, needs this whole
repulsive system which Metropolitan Sergius has developed in regard to secular authority? 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).
repulsive system which Metropolitan Sergius has developed in regard to secular authority? 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. One bishop, a member of the Sergianist Synod, babbled his sad epistle to his flock exclaiming, ‘without burdening anyone or
anything, the appeal from July 16/29 1927 created a peaceful environment for Metropolitan Sergius for the benefit of the Church, under the protection of Soviet law.’ It is difficult for me to make out who said this; whether it was a scoundrel, a wretch or an utter fool. I would have never believed that this thought could be that of an Orthodox Christian, a member of the Sergianist Synod, as he calls himself, had I not read this epistle with my own eyes.
anything, the appeal from July 16/29 1927 created a peaceful environment for Metropolitan Sergius for the benefit of the Church, under the protection of Soviet law.’ It is difficult for me to make out who said this; whether it was a scoundrel, a wretch or an utter fool. I would have never believed that this thought could be that of an Orthodox Christian, a member of the Sergianist Synod, as he calls himself, had I not read this epistle with my own eyes.
Can it be that it would not disturb you and, in fact, that you would be glad if there were no protest and righteous indignation in the face of the malicious work of Metropolitan Sergius and those with him? I, personally, am not able to endure this horror, so I go to the desert. I reject all ‘legalization’, I have become the servant of the ‘militant’ part of the pure Bride of Christ. In the current ecclesiastical situation, every ‘legal’ Church without fail becomes an adulteress of the Babylonian Apostasy. I
cannot not fail to be disturbed and suffer in the face of the bloodied and adulterous visage of the Church. This is because I am both adulterous and a great sinner myself and I have a great need for a Church which is more pure than we are, a Virgin who wears the white garment of chastity, completely pure, an unstained Bride of Christ, which can save me, a great sinner.
cannot not fail to be disturbed and suffer in the face of the bloodied and adulterous visage of the Church. This is because I am both adulterous and a great sinner myself and I have a great need for a Church which is more pure than we are, a Virgin who wears the white garment of chastity, completely pure, an unstained Bride of Christ, which can save me, a great sinner.
You might ask: ‘But Metropolitan Sergius did not transgress against any Church Dogmas; why must we prematurely disavow him?'
Well, this is why I disavow the Sergianist Church. Externally it may seem that the Church of Christ is whole and that everything is in order. But through apostasy the head is already severed. No matter how much Metropolitan Sergius might proclaim his faithfulness to Orthodoxy, already the main component is gone. The result is not a Church, but an ecclesiastical/political organization. It is present not as the Ark of Salvation, but as a Sergianist rowboat – which is not seaworthy...
...The Sergianist church is teaching a false interpretation of the Word of God. It has confused normal times with apocalyptic times and has brought forth a frivolous approach to Holy Scripture and an almost categorical misunderstanding of the spirit and power of the Word of God which distinguishes between normal times (Matthew 22.21; Romans 13.1-7; I Timothy 2.1-7) and abnormal times (Luke 22.53; II Thessalonians 2.1-12; Revelation 13) with great precision. It also distinguishes between normal human society and the iniquitous society which those who seek eternal life must avoid bowing down to… Metropolitan Sergius unveils his total ignorance that the Word of God clearly distinguishes personal enemies (Matthew 5.44) from enemies of the Church (Matthew 18.7; I John 2.19; I Timothy 1.19-20; Titus 3.10 and others) and enemies of God (Psalms 67, 82, 36; Luke 19.14, 27; Matthew 12.32 and others) in his unbelievable declaration of October 8/21, 1927.
If Metropolitan Sergius and his accomplices and sympathizers prayed according to the dictates of the Christian Church, they would not have signed such a shameful declaration. We are to pray about our personal enemies in different ways. For example, concerning our personal enemies, Christians are directed to pray in the following way: ‘Save, O Lord, and have mercy on those who hate and wrong us and do us harm, do not leave them to perish on account of us sinners.’ We pray in the following way for the enemies of the Church: ‘for those who have departed from the Orthodox Faith and are blinded by pernicious heresy, illumine them with the light of Thy knowledge and unite them to Thy Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.’ The Church prays for the enemies of God in the following way: ‘Mayest Thou take away the loathsome and blasphemous rule of the Hagarenes (one can interchange a more appropriate word here).’
In regard to the given question, the Sergianist Church completely ignored the traditions of the Church and the practice of the Ecumenical Church which has never prayed for the well-being and prosperity of blasphemous persecutors and tormentors who attempt to crush the Christian Faith. On the contrary, the Church has prayed to enlighten them by the light of the Gospel of Truth, or in the case of incorrigible adversaries and extreme cruelty, She has prayed that God destroy the enemies of Christianity...
If Metropolitan Sergius and his accomplices and sympathizers prayed according to the dictates of the Christian Church, they would not have signed such a shameful declaration. We are to pray about our personal enemies in different ways. For example, concerning our personal enemies, Christians are directed to pray in the following way: ‘Save, O Lord, and have mercy on those who hate and wrong us and do us harm, do not leave them to perish on account of us sinners.’ We pray in the following way for the enemies of the Church: ‘for those who have departed from the Orthodox Faith and are blinded by pernicious heresy, illumine them with the light of Thy knowledge and unite them to Thy Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.’ The Church prays for the enemies of God in the following way: ‘Mayest Thou take away the loathsome and blasphemous rule of the Hagarenes (one can interchange a more appropriate word here).’
In regard to the given question, the Sergianist Church completely ignored the traditions of the Church and the practice of the Ecumenical Church which has never prayed for the well-being and prosperity of blasphemous persecutors and tormentors who attempt to crush the Christian Faith. On the contrary, the Church has prayed to enlighten them by the light of the Gospel of Truth, or in the case of incorrigible adversaries and extreme cruelty, She has prayed that God destroy the enemies of Christianity...
Legalization of the Church of Christ, or Kingdom of God, in the current circumstances is simply absurd and nonsense. To speak about legalization of the Kingdom of God in our circumstances is the same as talking about a round square or dark light, hot ice, etc.
The ‘legalization’ of the Church of Christ, that is, legalization without parentheses, real legalization right now in these circumstances is unthinkable. If we can even talk about legalization, then it can only be in an ironic sense because otherwise any other legalization without fail will deprive the Church of Christ of ‘the Kingdom of God within you’ – the inner Bride of Christ, and as a result caused great harm to the incorruptible and pure Body of the Church of God.
...Since the sergianist church has put on the crimson robe of the adulteress, it
has thereby become guilty and criminal in everything.”
In May, 1928, Bishop Paul wrote another large epistle entitled: “On the modernization of the Church, or on Soviet Orthodoxy".
He wrote: "Metropolitan Sergius, not personally in the name of himself and his Synod, but in the name of the whole of the Orthodox Catholic Church, has bowed down to the man-god, who speaks pride and blasphemy… Decide for yourself what to call those church leaders who, out of one side of their mouth teach people to sing ‘Hosanna!’ to the Son of God, and out of the other side they teach people to praise the sons of perdition who blaspheme the power of the Cross. They teach people to sing ‘Hosanna!’ to those people who make it their main task not only to annihilate the Christian Faith, but also to obliterate man’s most natural instinct to glorify the Creator. Decide for yourself what we should call that place where, instead of teaching people true Christianity and salvation, people are taught one of the mysteries of iniquity – modernization, a well-known ploy to ‘satanize’ the ‘little flock’. They teach those who are not able, or with difficulty, to decipher the finer questions of Orthodox Christian piety and who blindly follow Church leaders with authority.
Concerning the modernized church or Sergianist 'Orthodoxy', I, a sinner, believe that, as regards such church activists, we must call them not only heretics and schismatics, but apostates from God. Metropolitan Sergius brings into the church service a heresy unheard of in the history of the Church, the heresy of modernized departure from God, - of which the natural consequence became confusion and division in the Church. Can one, after this, affirm that the declaration and activity of Metropolitan Sergius concerns only the external life of the Church, and does not touch in any way the essence of the Church's Orthodoxy? In no way can this be said. Metropolitan Sergius, by his self-wise and evil-worshipping declaration and the anti-Church work which followed it, has created a new modernized schism or Sergianist modernism, which while preserving for the 'little ones' a fiction of Orthodoxy and canonicity is even more criminal than the first two modernizations of 1922 and 1925.
And so Metropolitan Sergius has put under his feet not only the external, but the very inner essence of the Orthodoxy of the Church, since his 'hosanna' to Christ and Antichrist, which is now being performed in Christian churches, touches the very essence of Christian Faith and presents by itself clear apostasy, the falling away from the Faith, and the departure from God.
Metropolitan Sergius has not just rent asunder the external order of the Church, but has corrupted the internal integrity of Orthodoxy as well. It is clear that this ‘Hosanna!’ which we currently proclaim in our Christian Churches both to Christ and to the Antichrist penetrates to the very core of the Christian Faith and is an obvious apostasy, that is, a falling away from faith. Thus those who continue to hear
this Sergianist pride, and even more so, those who spread it, cannot be instructors and guardians of piety because they unwittingly offer demonic deception and error to those thirsting for truth and salvation along with Christian leaven and salt. Everyone who listens to such a teaching will receive impiety in place of piety, and falsehood instead of truth. Instead of receiving joy and spiritual comfort, they will receive bitterness and ultimately will lose hope in salvation.
So I implore you, brother, do not comfort yourself with the false ideas that we can ignore the external in order to preserve the internal purity and order of Church life, for Metropolitan Sergius is turning the very essence of Orthodoxy upside down.”