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| Elder Ephraim (left), Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios (center), Metropolitan Augoustinos (right) |
Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona on the Marxist heresy of the Sergianists:
"Patriarch Tikhon, foreseeing a bleak future for the Russian Church, issued a decree to the Bishops outside Soviet Russia, granting them the right to organize self-governing synodal bodies. Despite this, the exiled Russian Hierarchs, having lived in an atmosphere of utmost loyalty to the law and obedience under the Tsar, insisted, during their first few years of exile, on maintaining contact with their base (Patriarch Tikhon and his successors) and to seek from there approval for their more momentous decisions at least—though this was difficult under their circumstances at the time (persecutions, banishments, etc.). This communion was abruptly cut off by the capitulation of the locum tenens and later Patriarch Sergius (Stragorodsky) in his infamous declaration—something totally unacceptable to the Bishops in exile—, assuring the full submission of the Church to the atheist regime and ordering the faithful to show full obedience to and pray for the Soviet authorities. In my opinion, this rupture in communion was justified by the Canons, which provide for the cessation of all commemoration of the first Hierarch of a local Church in the event that he preaches heretical teachings; for Marxism is not only a political system, but entails a secular worldview, indeed a heresy."
(Source: Orthodox Tradition, VOL. IX, NO. 1, pp. 17-18)
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Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios on the Russian Orthodox Catacomb Church:
"…during our days, in Orthodox lands like Russia, if the faithful people wish to celebrate a Divine Liturgy, a Liturgy in the true sense that would fulfill the needs of the faithful people, they celebrate in the forests and deserts. Do you know how long these Russian Divine Liturgies Last? They uphold the Typikon of the Holy Mountain [Athos]. You will be shocked. They stand twelve to thirteen hours in the woods, in the cold. This is the meaning of heroism. The Church has fled to the desert once again. This information is common knowledge..."
(Source: A homily given on April 25th, 1982. This information can be found in Volume III of the Elder’s commentary on the Book of the Revelation, on page 205.)
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Metropolitan Augoustinos Kantiotes of Florina on who truly represents the Russian Church:
"It is not the appropriate time for the convening of an Ecumenical Synod, because we ask moreover: Who will take part in this Synod? The Hierarchs of the Russian Church with the notorious Nicodemos [he is referring to Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov* - editor] at the head? But the Russian Church, trampling underfoot Synodical decisions, decided as of late to administer the Spotless Mysteries to the Papists and thus preached union with the Papal Church. And also, they recognized as Orthodox the Raskolnikovs, the old believing Russians, who not only for the difference of Typicon, but also for heretical teachings had been condemned by Synods of the Russian Church. Concerning them the ever-memorable professor Papa-Michael, who knew well the Russian matters, wrote, that the consequence of the errors of the old believers adulterated true Orthodoxy in Russia. Against these struggled also the ever-memorable Hierarchs Eugenios Voulgaris and Nikiphoros Theotokis.
So will the Hierarchs of the Russian Church who came into mystagogical communion with the heretics be accepted in the Ecumenical Synod? But besides this both the Russian Church and the other Orthodox Churches behind the iron Curtain unfortunately are not free to express their convictions according to the Orthodox conscience. But they speak and write under the pressure and terrorism of an atheist totalitarian regime, a pressure and terrorism worse than that, under which, as we have seen, the Hierarchs of the Robber Synod at Ephesus in 449 would convene. Or perhaps it is false, that the notorious Nicodemos of Leningrad during the meetings of the Inter-orthodox Committee in Rhodes was found to be in constant communication by phone with the Kremlin in order to receive directions from there?
And while at these sessions such Hierarchs are participating, who are under the atheistic terrorist regimes of the lands behind the Iron Curtain, on the contrary, those who should be the first to participate in the Synod, and whose word should weigh more, will be absent. These are the modern Confessors of the Faith, those who survived the frightful persecutions of the Red Beast and who bear in their body the stigmata of the Lord Jesus."
[*This Metropolitan Nikodim was the spiritual mentor of the one who is now commonly called "Patriarch Kirill". He collapsed and died (in 1978) in Rome thus fulfilling the prophecy of Blessed Pelagia of Ryazan who once told him "You will die like a dog at the feet of your pope!" - editor.]
(Source: «Χριστ. Σπίθα» (φ. 344/Ἰούλ.-Σεπτ. 1971) καὶ τὸ βιβλίο Σφενδόνη Β΄ (Ἀθῆναι 1989, σσ. 133))