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| Pictured are various Saints and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Catacomb Church |
The following is excerpted from "Russia's Catacomb Saints" by I.M. Andreyev and Fr. Seraphim Rose. It is from a "catacomb document" of 1971 which is found in this now out-of-print book.
"We believe that if the world does not perish, sooner or later there will be a Local Synod of our Church in liberated Russia, to which the fruits of their labors and exploits - for the long period without a Synod (for one cannot call Synods those convocations of Soviet hierarchs which the Council of Religious Affairs organizes together with the Patriarchate) - will be brought forth by the Moscow Patriarchate and by the persecuted Russian “Catacomb” Church, to which the authors of this article belong, and of the continuing existence of which they consider it a sacred duty to bear witness - at the first opportunity that has offered itself.
"We believe that if the world does not perish, sooner or later there will be a Local Synod of our Church in liberated Russia, to which the fruits of their labors and exploits - for the long period without a Synod (for one cannot call Synods those convocations of Soviet hierarchs which the Council of Religious Affairs organizes together with the Patriarchate) - will be brought forth by the Moscow Patriarchate and by the persecuted Russian “Catacomb” Church, to which the authors of this article belong, and of the continuing existence of which they consider it a sacred duty to bear witness - at the first opportunity that has offered itself.
To this future Synod the “Catacomb” Church will bring the testimony of the purity of her faith, unstained by any kind of compromises with the enemies of Christ; for prayer that has been bought is impure prayer. The “Catacomb” Church will bring also the testimony of the exploits, in the name of Christ, of her martyrs and confessors, whom we have already mentioned above. She will bring also the testimony of her unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, by which alone she has fortified herself and lived already for decades, preserved by Divine grace amidst persecutions and betrayals.
For just as the Soviet kingdom is a prefiguration of Antichrist, so also the “Catacomb” Church is the nearest of all prefigurations of the Church at the time of Antichrist—the Woman clothed with the sun who has fled to the wilderness. Her garments are woven of the exploits of saints. It is just as in the time of the Prophet Elijah, when the Lord preserved for Himself seven thousand faithful, until the time known to Him alone...
The Sergianists constantly deceive the church people, affirming that in their church there is no perversion of dogma. Our conscience testifies that it is not dogmas affirmed by the Church that have been perverted, but rather the very nature of the Church—the freedom given her by our Lord Jesus Christ has been trampled on. The soul of a sincere believer can never come into contact with the fullness of freedom in the Sergianist church, because the Sergianist sin will constantly torture it. Sergianism has perverted the doctrine of the Holy Church which was handed down by the Apostles and in the writings of the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church. Concerning this there is the testimony of the exploit of martyrdom and confession of the saints who have departed from the Sergianist church organization.
In this terrible period of human history—the fall of the world into the abyss of hell—the shattered Christian world, which is close to our heart, must become inflamed with universal love. The sufferings of the Russian martyrs call to a joining together around Christ in a great triumph of love. Then God’s love will pour out its grace in abundance on His Church. The Church of Christ will recognize herself, her fullness, and will incarnate this in the last church dogma, which manifestly will show that Sergianism is outside the Church."