OOD answers it completely and correctly. People often try to attack the traditional Orthodox Churches with these arguments, when the facts clearly speak for themselves. I am going to break this argument off of the main thread ans the main thread is about patron saints, not how can we try to demean one another.
XB!
Dear Fr Nikolai
I agree totally. We should not speak in such a way about our saints.
Do the various "traditionalist" synods commerate Saint Silouan the Athonite? I'm particularly interested in ROAC and GOC here. Thanks for any help.
Priest Siluan wrote:Those news were surely official. Also all what that better we know about St Silouan comes from the book of "Staretz" Sophrony (Sakharov) which is not very reliable.
Why do you say this? You do not consider Father Sophrony as a true Startez... Why? Why is this book suspect? It is the first time I hear that
Priidite, poklonimsja i pripadem ko Hristu.
Let us remind ourselves, that the ROAC never existed at the time of Saint Silouan the Athonite. So the issue is whether or not, Saint Silouan took any positions regarding the Old Calendar/New Calendar division. Saint Silouan died in 1938. Meaning, the creation of the stable Synod lead by Metroplitan Chrysostom was allready in place. Meaning, the Anathema saying the New Calendarists are gracless all came following that. If this happened, then Mount Athos fell into that anathema. Why? Well a lot of Monasteries changed to the new Calendar, just as Vatepaedi, which has returned back in 1965!!! And one of them was Saint Panteleimon, which returned back to the old a couple of years back after the changed. So what does that mean? Can one play with grace? One is graceless one day, and the other is not? Lord Have Mercy! If we accept Saint Silouan, then we accept that he was spiritual father of many New Calendarists, Yes, New! And Elder, (to be glorified Saint) Sophronius (Sophrony) of Essex, who has compiled all the information for his spiritual father's glorification is graceless too? By all means, the Athonites didn't ban new calendarists, unlike Matthew, he openly did. As an Athonite. Elder Joseph the Hesychast could've ceased the commemoration of the Patriarch, but he did not, he even spoke against the struggle. Is he graceless? Of course not, same case with Saint Silouan. He didn't meddle himself with this issue, and kept communion with the new calendar, I suppose he is graceless too no?