VERTOGRAD
Orthodox Journal
Newsletter No. 5, Saturday, January 8, 2004. 10:45 P.M.
CHRIST IS BORN!
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Nativity Epistle of Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal and Vladimir
- Open Letter of Fr. Michael Ardov, Rector of Moscow ROAC parish, to the Editor of Nasha Strana (Our Country), Buenos Aires
DOCUMENTS
NATIVITY EPISTLE OF METROPOLITAN VALENTINE OF SUZDAL AND VLADIMIR
To the Most Reverend Archpastors, Clergy and Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church
"Today the Virgin giveth birth to Him Who transcendeth being;
and the earth proffereth a cave to Him Who is unapproachable;
Angels and shepherds sing praises together;
the Magi travel together with a star;
for for our sake He Who is Pre-eternal God;
is born as a Young Child."
(Kontakion of the Nativity of Christ)
My beloved brethren, Archpastors and Pastors,
and Brothers and Sisters, beloved in the Lord!
On this holy night of the birth of Christ, I extend to you my sincere greetings from the ancient city of Suzdal, which by the providence of God, has been chosen to be the spiritual center of the Orthodox Church of Russia.
In accordance with the will of God, we have again been found worthy to see this wonderful day, upon which heaven and earth together sing praises to Him Who was born in a humble cave in Bethlehem, the divine Christ-Child. This greatest of events had previously been announced by the angel: "For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11-12).
To earth is born the very divine Word Himself, about Whom the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian so loftily testified saying: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." (John 1: 1, 4-5).
A little more than two thousand years ago, this divine Light came into the world which lay, and even now continues to lie, in the darkness of sin and apostasy from God "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not"-in the words of that same Apostle John, speaking about the incarnation of the Savior,-“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God” (John 1:11-12).
The rational mind of man will never be able to attain unto the mystery of God's incarnation in Bethlehem. This mystery requires reverential faith and love in humility, which must proceed not from some expectation for self-enrichment, but from the animated reaction of a beating human heart to the Gospel's good news concerning the Savior.
Indeed, how is it possible for the mind of man to fathom that the Creator of the whole world, of all that is visible and invisible, has Himself come to earth in created human flesh? How can one comprehend that He Who is more expansive than the entire universe, He Whose words cannot be contained even by the whole world, is now placed in a tiny manger in a humble little cave in Bethlehem, after being born from an earthly Virgin? Truly, as St. Gregory the Theologian says, the mystery of the birth of the God-Man is impossible to grasp with the mind, for it transcends the laws of nature. But what is impossible for the mind is nevertheless possible for the heart, and that which wise men cannot accept, is revealed in simplicity to the uneducated shepherds of Bethlehem.
God became incarnate upon earth in order that we, who are born of earth, might become God; being united with Him through His grace. The path of deification, the complete unification of our human nature with God, begins with the humble acceptance of the news of the birth of Christ, with a complete turning away from our former unrighteousness, and with a firm decision to begin life over again, carefully and observantly keeping all of God's commandments.
How grace-filled it would be to begin this new life in Christ on the feast of His holy Nativity, after sincerely repenting of all of one's sins, and having partaken of the divine Body and Blood of the Lord!
But to set out upon the path of deification requires no small amount of labor, and great humility. The labor consists mainly of unceasing prayerful concentration, which begins with the mind and then passes over to the heart, with the constant repetition of the Jesus Prayer. This labor of prayer, however, cannot be successful without abstinence; without a constant spiritual fast. But this little labor, which we bring to God in accordance with the desire of our hearts, over the course of our entire lives, cannot begin to compare with that superabundance of joy, light and warmth, which the Lord grants to His followers here on earth, and a thousand times more, in His heavenly kingdom.
The lives of thousands of Christian saints, who by their experiences attested to the reality of this deification, leave no room for doubt. Let us, therefore, follow their inspired example, for the Lord bids each one of us directly, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." (Lev. 11:44).
My fellow worshippers, dearly beloved in the Lord!
The feast of the Nativity of Christ coincides with the beginning of the new year, inasmuch as our modern reckoning of time stems from this event. As we enter the new year, it is essential that we take some stock of the year now drawing to a close. For each one of us, the conclusions that we make should be accompanied by a penitential recognition of our mistakes and sins, which must include a firm decision to never repeat them.
I most humbly, therefore, ask forgiveness from all whom I may have offended during the course of the past year.
Over the course of the past year, the Lord has blessed our holy Orthodox Church with peace and quiet. The horrible campaign of slander that appeared on the scene during the preceding years, has come to nothing. Except for a few minor things, church life in our God-saved city of Suzdal has proceeded well.
However, in many other places and in some of our other dioceses, there were persecutions and attempts to mute the voice of the Russian Orthodox Church. With the collaboration of the apostates of the Moscow Patriarchate, who lay claim to having a religious monopoly in our country, persecutions were intensified on our communities in Zheleznovodsk, in the region of Stavropol, in Kursavka, in the Tver region, in Latvia, and in several other places.
On this day of the great feast of the Nativity of Christ, we especially earnestly offer up our prayers "for all who suffer and are persecuted for the holy Orthodox Faith."
Over the course of the past year, by the will of God, I visited our communities in the USA, in Switzerland, in Bulgaria, and in several of the dioceses of Russia.
I am very happy to be able to report to you that far away, in the land of the Americas, in the country of Haiti, interest in Orthodoxy is growing steadily and the number of those who belong to the Church is growing among people who have never been ethnically or culturally connected to Orthodox tradition. This is an especially interesting development because these newly converted American Haitians have converted to Orthodoxy in its pristine purity, without the baggage of any historical waves of corruption which from time to time, most unfortunately, have prevented even our own countrymen from finding the true Church. We prayerfully greet our brethren in the USA, in Latin America, in Western Europe, in Haiti and in Bulgaria with our whole hearts, and we thank God that He has revealed unto them the true Church.
My dear brothers and sisters!
The contemporary world often subjects the Church’s faithful children to various trials and tribulations such as the Church of Christ has never before seen in Her history. Not being able to make the correct response to these trials, some of Her children, unfortunately, have become scandalized and have ended up on the verge of schism. Usually, this situation arises as a result of emotions, passions and ignorance, since, in fact, the universal Church has within its Tradition an answer to every problem that troubles people today.
The Lord said in the Gospel, “Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.” (Matt. 18:7). In our days, and not without the participation of certain active persons inside the Moscow Patriarchate, a certain new temptation concerning the introduction of new methods of keeping track of people digitally has begun making the rounds, namely, UPC, bar codes, electronic microchips, magnetic strips in passports, etc. Many see in these things the seal of the Antichrist, and others see in them the precursors of the seal of the Antichrist.
The Jews of antiquity, living at the time of the birth of Christ, also saw a temptation in the “digital IDs” of their day, which was augmented by Augustus Caesar. The Gospel states that our Lord, Jesus Christ, was born in Bethlehem because His Mother, the all-holy Theotokos, and the righteous Joseph, the Betrothed, had returned to their native city of Bethlehem, where their ancestor King David was born, in order to take part in the great census. This was the first time that there had ever been a universal census in the ancient world, and there can be no doubt that had it taken place in our day and age, many would see the seal of the Antichrist in it as well. Nevertheless, the Holy Family, including the newborn Christ-child, did take part in this enrollment.
What objection could a Christian have against any of these numbers and electronic codes? Could it be because they permit the government to control one’s every step, movement, and purchase? But should a true Christian be afraid of such control? In the words of our Savior, “There is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest.” (Mark 4:22). We do not hold any “secret beliefs.” We do not form any secret underground organizations. We do not take part in any conspiracies. Quite to the contrary! We are called to preach the Gospel to the whole world openly; “from the housetops.” In many instances, thanks to our openness and honesty, many of the smear campaigns that were directed against our Church have fizzled out on their own. If anyone wants to follow us around and spy on us, let him! In the final analysis, a genuine Christian should be ready to endure any sorrow for the sake of Christ, even martyrdom.
But on the other hand, we should not show complacency and carelessness, observing the “signs of the times.” From the moment of the fall of the first human beings, the world has been moving constantly towards its end, for a short time before which, the Antichrist will set up his reign and will perpetrate the worst persecution of Christians ever. Without a doubt, our day and age is closer to the coming of the Antichrist than any other, however, it is not ours to know the “times and the seasons,” and the Gospel expressly forbids us from trying to figure them out. For us individually, the end of the world could come at any time, for at any moment our earthly life could be cut off.
And so, we should expend every effort, as much as is possible, to guard ourselves from the destructive influence of the world. Among the faithful of our Church there are to be found certain ascetics who refuse to carry a passport at all. We respect this decision, but nevertheless, we recognize that not everyone is able to bear it. According to the prophecies of the holy Fathers, on the seal of the Antichrist, which he will cause to be placed upon the forehead and upon the right hand of those who worship him, there will be written, “I come to thee voluntarily.” This means that the Antichrist will require a conscious devotion to him after a conscious rejection of Christ. Accordingly, the main distinguishing characteristic of the seal of the Antichrist will be a conscious rejection of Christ. If then we are not required to renounce our Faith upon receiving these various forms of identification, could they be considered the seal of the Antichrist? It would seem that the ID cards of the old Soviet regime would be closer to fitting that description.
Our Synod of Bishops has examined the issue of today’s forms of digital ID cards, time and again. Our Church recognizes that these IDs are one step in the overall preparation for the coming of the Antichrist, and for this reason, our faithful children should avoid them, if at all possible. It is, however, absolutely forbidden to agree with the idea of implanting microchips under the skin, whereby they become part of the human body, as this infringes upon the integrity of human nature as it was created by God. Other electronic devices which do not have this characteristic, and are therefore less unacceptable, nevertheless do form part of the electronic world which surrounds us, with all of its computers, scanners, and other computational devices, with which we all must live, like it or not.
Dearly beloved children of the Church of God!
Once more, with all my heart, I greet you with the present glorious feast, and I wish for you all that no temptation of our present world should darken your spiritual joy, nor should hamper you in your approach to the divine Christ-child.
With abundant love in the Lord,
Lowly Valentine,
Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir
Suzdal
Nativity of Christ
2004/2005
OPEN LETTER OF FR. MICHAEL ARDOV, RECTOR OF MOSCOW ROAC PARISH, TO THE EDITOR OF NASHA STRANA (OUR COUNTRY), BUENOS AIRES
Dear Nikolay Leonidovich,
Please accept my immense gratitude for the copies of the newspaper that you sent, and for the flattering references concerning me. I have read Nasha Strana only sporadically until now, but each time that I have read it, I have been struck by the main characteristics of your publication - honesty, and a stand which is rooted in principle. I was thoroughly delighted to see in your newspaper the first use of the term RF-ia. This was a true find, indeed! With the red banner flying overhead, the Masonic pentagram on its forehead, and Mikhalkov’s anthem on its lips, RF-ia looks like the direct descendent of the bloodthirsty Sovdepia.
And now, on to the issues of Nasha Strana that you sent me. I read them all at once. God bless you and your staff! The White emigration is, indeed, still alive! There is still some powder left in the magazine!
But I will cut directly to the problems concerning the Church, which is the main area of interest for me. All of your writers and reporters suffer from one essential flaw; they are too obsessed with current events, and do not bother to look into the not-too-distant past.
If we compare the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia with the history of Russia, we can find some similarities. It is appropriate to compare that which took place at the Sobor of October, 2000, which destroyed the reputation of the Church Abroad, with the revolution of October, 1917. In both cases, there was a usurpation of power by completely cynical people who were, to put it simply, “agents of Moscow.” But nowadays, practically no one remembers that the Church Abroad also had its own sort of February revolution, perpetrated by the same powers, which pushed the present shameless bishops into the embrace of President Putin and Patriarch Ridiger.
In my opinion, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was, for decades, the most implacable of the enemies of Communism. It suffices to recall the Epistle to the World Conference (Genoa) of 1921, which was published by the Sobor held in Sremsky Karlovtsy. In part, it says the following:
“Peoples of Europe! Peoples of the world! Have compassion on our good, open, noble-hearted Russian people who have fallen into the hands of criminals on a world scale! Do not support them, do not strengthen them against our children and grandchildren! Rather, show assistance to those of our Russian citizens who are honest. Arm them, send them your volunteers, and help them to eradicate the Bolsheviks - that cult of murder, pillaging, and blasphemy - from Russia, and from the entire world.”
The Church Abroad always exposed the Bolsheviks and their accomplices for what they were, independently of how “cold” the war may have been between the USSR and the West, without looking over its shoulder all the time at the statements of the Kremlin’s ideologues about “peaceful coexistence” or “détente.” And, understandably, the Soviet agents waged a merciless war against the “Karlovtsy.”
We remember that after the end of the Second World War, when the expansionism of the Communists grew by leaps and bounds, there were two major victories over the Church Abroad. The first was when that part of her that existed in China was destroyed. The second was when, in 1948, the Israeli government gave all of the properties within its territory that had belonged to the “Karlovtsy” over to the “Soviet church.”
However, the agents of the Soviet Union were unable, at that time, to destroy or enslave the Church Abroad, partly because the person managing the affairs of the Synod was the unbending and uncompromising Count Yury Pavlovich Grabbe, (later, Protopresbyter George, and from 1979 on, Bishop Gregory), the confidant and right-hand man of three First Hierarchs: Metropolitans Anthony (Khrapovitsky), Anastasy (Gribanovsky), and Philaret (Voznesensky).
Here is a notable episode from the history of the twentieth century. During the spring of 1972, an important pilgrim visited the Holy Land - Patriarch Pimen of Moscow, who had just recently been elected to that lofty position. Visits of this kind always had a propagandistic effect as their aim. They were designed to convince the outside world that there was “freedom of religion” inside the USSR, and that the Moscow Patriarchate was no puppet of the Bolsheviks, but a completely normal local church. In those days, the head of the Church Abroad’s Mission in Jerusalem was Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe), the elder son of Protopresbyter George. Through the efforts of these two men, the significance of the Patriarch of Moscow’s visit was lessened and watered down. In the archives of Bishop Gregory, there is a copy of a letter that he had once written to one of his supporters, V.I. Alekseev. The future bishop wrote:
“May 25/June 7, 1972
Dear Vasily Ivanovich,
My doctors have been insisting that I get of New York for a while and go to a place with a warmer and more moderate climate. So, I have chosen Jerusalem, from where I am writing this letter. I am staying at the highest point, on the Mount of Olives, and the air here is wonderful.
I arrived on the second day after Patriarch Pimen and his entourage left. For now, my general impression is that his visit didn’t do much for Moscow in spite of the great expense and all of the pomp and circumstances. Pimen showed only too clearly that he is not someone who amounts to much. Both the Jews and the diplomatic corps noticed that he didn’t say anything without having a specially prepared cheat sheet in hand. The main theme of his speeches was attacking us. The most active one of them was Juvenaly. In every case, if he didn’t have his cheat sheet, Pimen deferred all questions to him for an answer.
I haven’t met with the Greeks yet, who are clearly confused when face to face with us, and who have the feeling that by bowing down in front of the Muscovites and receiving their gifts, they have somehow been sullied by it. By the way, several of them showed a rather open disdain of them since Fr. Anthony has been doing a good job here of informing them about the true nature of the Moscow Patriarchate…
I am sending you a copy of a rather important statement concerning the visit of Patriarch Pimen. I consider it to be very important. As you know, there was a ten year gap in the biography of Patriarch Pimen, ending in 1946. If he, being a hieromonk, served in the military and reached the rank of colonel, then he would have had to renounce his faith. Aside from that, military service is incompatible with the priesthood.
Thus, he may have been liable to being defrocked, let alone being a candidate for the patriarchal throne, and, in general, couldn’t even be a bishop.”
It is my deeply held conviction that this very incident, the somewhat unsuccessful visit of Patriarch Pimen to the Holy Land, is what motivated the powers that be in Moscow to make an important decision: the Grabbes, both father and son, must be removed from the leadership of the Church Abroad at any cost. However, as long as Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) was the First Hierarch, this goal was unattainable. But as soon as this hierarch went to the Lord, Moscow’s agents, who were already in force inside the Church Abroad, were able to realize what can only be called a revolution.
At the Sobor of 1986, in addition to violations of canonical and civil law, the manufactured “case” of Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe) was examined, resulting in his being chased out of the Church Abroad. And his father, Bishop Gregory, a man who had run the affairs of the Synod for 55 years, was literally forced into retirement. His newly vacated position was filled by none other than Archbishop Laurus (Shkurla), presently First Hierarch, who, as we now see, was assigned the job of completing the process of the inglorious unification with the patriarchate, i.e. of the complete subjugation of the remnants of a once valiant Church to the dictates of Moscow.
Bishop Gregory (Grabbe) was covered with all kinds of filth his entire life. This continued on even after his retirement, and in a certain sense, continues on even until today. Alas! Amongst the Russian émigré society there have been found but few people who bothered to question the nature of the incessant slander and ask themselves: Who profits from this harassment, and what could be the goals of the evil persecutors of such a wonderful man? There is another question: Is it really possible that Metropolitans Anthony, Anastasy and Philaret were so stupid? And yet, not only were they well disposed toward their assistant, they trusted him completely.
We have to hand it Vladyka Gregory. He understood exactly which way the wind was blowing, and that is why he reacted so stoically to his evil-breathing detractors, and, one may say, with true Christian meekness. In 1963, he wrote to one of his supporters, Archpriest Alexander Trubnikov:
“Thank you for your letter and for your kind words. This is not the first time that I have been the subject of intrigues and attacks. For now, they have abated a bit, but at one time, they were very intense, and, of course, have yet to be be exhausted. They will come back to bite me whenever they get a chance. My only consolation is that they arise not so much from personal enemies, but from those who wish to weaken our center and divide our Church.”
But I would like to return to the Sobor of 1986. The Canadian bishop Vitaly (Ustinov) became the new Metropolitan of the Church Abroad. God bless him, but aside from his inarguable piety, he is a man of limited mental capacity and extreme pridefulness, and it is not very difficult to gain control over such people. “Moscow’s agents” manipulated this First Hierarch for as long as it took for all of the older bishops of the Church Abroad to die off and it became possible for the course of the ship of the Church to be radically altered. Then the unfortunate Metropolitan Vitaly was kicked out into “retirement” so that he would not be underfoot and get in the way.
But let me return to the fate of Bishop Gregory. Even though he was already retired, he nevertheless tried to take part in the life of the Church. In particular, there are no less then seventeen letters and reports addressed by him to the Sobors, the Synod, and the Metropolitan in which he warned his fellow bishops, literally pleaded with them, not to swerve from the salvific course upon which the Church Abroad had always proceeded. But, alas, this was a voice crying in the wilderness. Take, for example, the report of Bishop Gregory to Metropolitan Vitaly of July 17/30, 1993, Concerning Rapprochement with the Moscow Patriarchate. Here he mentions the regular contacts with the “Sergianists” that were already taking place with Archbishop Mark (Arndt). This report concludes with the following sentence:
“I must again ask for an answer to my prior question: When, and from whom, did Archbishop Mark, or any of our bishops, receive the authority to enter into a dialogue or talks with the Moscow Patriarchate?”
Vladyka Gregory received no answer to his question this time either.
Less than a year later, he wrote a lengthy letter to the Metropolitan which one could call sorrowful and prophetic. Here are several excerpts from it:
“For all these years of the existence of our Church Abroad, we were respected and famous for nothing less than our uncompromising adherence to the canons. Others hated us, but they dared not show disrespect for us. Now, however, we have shown to the whole world that the canons are nothing more to us than empty words, and we have become a laughingstock in the eyes of all who have any kind of connection to ecclesiastical questions.
At the Lesna Sobor, you yourself permitted yourself to tell those of us who were in attendance, that now is not the time to be bothering with the canons, but that we have to act quickly. You, who are the helmsman of the ship of the Church, triumphantly, before the entire Sobor, announced to us that we have to hasten to set sail upon a course without sails and without a rudder. At the time, I was greatly dismayed by your words, but knowing your irritation with me for insisting upon the necessity of abiding by the canons, I nevertheless hoped that all was not lost and that our bishops would somehow be able to shake off the nightmare of the last few years.
Think, Vladyka, of the tens of thousands of Orthodox souls that we have scandalized, in Russia and abroad. Do not console yourself with the thought that if there is blame to be had, that it lies equally upon the shoulders of all of our bishops. The main part of the blame lies squarely upon your shoulders, as the leader of our Sobor. …
I was a witness and participant in the glorious period of the life of the Church Abroad, and now, with pain I look upon what I regard to be her inglorious end. …
It is absolutely essential for you to abruptly and decisively alter the course of our Church’s administration back in the direction of observing the canons, before it is too late. Vladyka, please do not allow your name to go down in the history of the Russian Church as being connected, not with the peaceful continuation of the development of church life, but with her radical and shameful destruction, in Russia and abroad.
March 24/April 6, 1994
Bishop Gregory”
As can be expected, there was no response.
I would be very pleased, my dear Nikolay Leonidovich, if my letter to you would happen to appear on the pages of your most esteemed publication.
With that, I call down God’s blessing upon you and your staff.
Sincerely yours,
Archpriest Michael Ardov
(C) Vertograd, 2004. http://www.vertograd.blogspot.com/
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