The Saint Euphrosynos Cafe

Kosmas, if you like please contact me privately.

Constantine

Incognito1583 wrote:

Orthodoxy would be totally united today if men could find it within themselves to be obedient to God and the rules of the Church.

Perhaps you need to check your definition of "Orthodoxy". It means true glory, the right glorification of the true God. It is the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. It is the faith of the Orthodox Church and does not change. Everyone who holds the true faith in the true Church is united. Those who do not hold the true faith are not in the Church and of course are not united. You can not expect unity amongst men when they do not hold the same faith. Those who hold the true faith are naturally obedient to God and the rules of the Church.

Incognito1583 wrote:

Orthodoxy allowes too much egotism.

The faith of the Orthodox Church does not allow egotism. Where do you get these pronouncements? Who has taught you such a thing?

Incognito1583 wrote:

There is too much freedom and virtually no accountability and authority.

Humans are created free, it is part of our nature. It is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how we use it, but it can not be considered "too much". Yes, there is accountability and authority in the Church..., the more you talk, the more I wonder if you have ever seen or known an Orthodox person ever in your life. You keep describing "orthodoxy" as something completely foreign to what I know and experience it to be. What authority are you accepting that has taught you such evil and blasphemous things about God's Holy Orthodox Church which he has established for the salvation of mankind.

Incognito1583 wrote:

Men destroy everything they touch. Men are evil.

Men are fallen and there are some who allow evil have rule them, but men were created good.

Incognito1583 wrote:

They destroyed the Orthorox Church.

This is not possible. Our Lord promises that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It is not within the power of man for him to destroy the Church.

Incognito1583 wrote:

You people can't even tell me where the Orthodox Church is with certainty and authority.

I can tell you with certainty and authority, but as I said before, you do not believe me and have called me a schismatic and a cultist, so why should I continue to give you more of my time?

Incognito1583 wrote:

You can only give me opinions. And your opinion contradicts the next man.

And therefore it is up to you to discern the truth. You must ask God and no one can do it for you. But if you are not ready to hear or will be the proverbial dog running back to his vomit, then it does not matter how many times someone tells you the truth, you will continue to clap your hands over your ears and say "I don't hear you, I don't hear you".

Incognito1583 wrote:

These bishops have got to get together, comb through their differences and work on a plan for unity.

They do communicate. They each know what faith the others hold. Those who hold the one Orthodox Faith are united. Everyone else who desires the true faith is welcome to join.

Incognito1583 wrote:

They don't care or are oblivious to the fact that they are causing scandal to good people.

People can only be scandalized and led astray when they put their hope in something other than God and His Holy Truth and Church. And, again, I get the impression that you have never met an Orthodox bishop, because I don't know any who are oblivious or cause scandals.

Incognito1583 wrote:

I can't even go to church today because men destroyed these churches.

Again, it is not possible for men. If you can not go it is either your lack of willingness or that you do not know the truth. (Perhaps because you are not yet willing to follow it.)

Incognito1583 wrote:

Mankind is evil.

That is not what the One True Holy and Glorious God, Creator of all things visible and invisible has taught us. You will not find it to your advantage to contradict Him.

Kosmas wrote:

Premise-
If these facts are even close to the truth then it is doubtful that Bishop Matthew was right with God:
http://www.trueorthodoxy.org/schismatic ... rors.shtml

1st. B. Matthew as an Athonite monk asked his Spiritual Father if it was wise for him to go to Greece Proper to combat the New Calendarists. His Spiritual Father said "No." He went anyway without the blessing of his Father which is automatically enough to make the above premise true.

2nd. Now the term vicar-bishops (Xorioepiskopoi) were applied to bishops who were not full bishops but rather of a village or rural countryside. They were dependent on the Bishop of the city and Vresthena was not a city but a village. The spiritual authority of vicar-bishop Matthew was dependent on Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina, in whom he was publically and privately disobedient to.
http://www.dimaras.gr/vresthena/english/history.htm

3rd. About circumventing on not just one but MANY canons which requires to have at least 3 Bishops for ordaining a Bishop is immutable. The Apostles themselves understood this as absolute. So that even if there was just ONE bishop who had grace, that would satisfy the requirement. Again, God would have provided TWO Bishops IF v.b. Matthew was a slave of God.

4th. The vivar-bishop Matthew suffered a stroke and only his RIGHT SIDE became paralyzed. Thereby he himself should have stepped down as the Canons and common sense dictates. Of course he did not and instead had his Nun hold his right hand during the psuedo-consecration.

5th. After his death during the exhumation there was controversy over his remains. One witness described them as "Unholy."

Even if ONE of these are TRUE then the whole argument that bishop Matthew was a true Bishop is invalid as he went against the very heart of what a Bishop is suppose to be.
He should have never left the Holy Mountain as his spiritual confessor told him.

It is a little long to post here, but I have posted correspondence which answers at least #s 1,2 & 5 on my LiveJournal Blog.
#3 has been answered often. I am inquirering into #4 and will answer it one way or the other as soon as I can.

Kosmas wrote:

Premise-
4th. The vivar-bishop Matthew suffered a stroke and only his RIGHT SIDE became paralyzed. Thereby he himself should have stepped down as the Canons and common sense dictates. Of course he did not and instead had his Nun hold his right hand during the psuedo-consecration.

The response to this is here:
Again, Setting the Record Straight

Fr. Seraphim is a Saint because he gave up his own will to serve God alone, just like any Saint. so he wasnt as insanely holy as someone like St. Anthony, but that doesn't mean he's not a Saint. Anyone who finds salvation is a Saint and there really is no doubt that Fr. Serahim has. If you read his bio there are several post-death miracles mentioned too, since that seems to be the kind of thing you're looking for.

And St. Tsar Nicholas II wasnt killed only for the empire, bc he was also head of the Church at the time (it wasnt the proper relationship btwn Church and State, but thats how it was nonetheless). The Bolsheviks obviously wanted to take down the Church too.

jckstraw72 wrote:

Fr. Seraphim is a Saint because he gave up his own will to serve God alone, just like any Saint.

All monks do this. I also do this. Why are we not saints? You need to do better than that, seriously. You people repeat these kind of statements like mantras, but you don't even think about what you are saying. ALL MONKS GIVE UP THEIR OWN WILLS TO SERVE GOD. This is expected for a monk. This does not make them saints.

jckstraw72 wrote:

so he wasnt as insanely holy as someone like St. Anthony, but that doesn't mean he's not a Saint.

As I have pointed out again and again, there is nothing he ever achieved in terms of detachment and holiness, that is not also achieved by any normal monk. Father Seraphim was singled out because he became "Russianized." He learned the language and culture. He was also highly educated. That, and that alone is why the Russians deify him. And most of this deifying comes from people in the MP.

jckstraw72 wrote:

Anyone who finds salvation is a Saint and there really is no doubt that Fr. Serahim has.

You're criteria for sainthood is too low. And you have no proof Father Seraphim found salvation. Just because humans idolize him, does not mean God thinks the same way. That which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God. "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets". [Christ].

jckstraw72 wrote:

If you read his bio there are several post-death miracles mentioned too, since that seems to be the kind of thing you're looking for.

Those are pseudo-miracles from people (Russians) who are desparately looking for an excuse to deify him. They consider Father Seraphim a saint, because he became Russianized. These people do not love God or Orthodoxy. They only care about preserving their culture and nation. The Church is nothing but a social club to them.

jckstraw72 wrote:

And St. Tsar Nicholas II wasnt killed only for the empire, bc he was also head of the Church at the time (it wasnt the proper relationship btwn Church and State, but thats how it was nonetheless). The Bolsheviks obviously wanted to take down the Church too.

More lies and propaganda from MP Russians. They made him a saint because he was highly esteemed by the world. But God thinks differently.

PriestMark, the sad fact of the matter is that when I ask where the Church is, I get virtually as many opinions here as there are people. This is all subjective and reminiscent of evangelical Christianity --- which we are headed for unless we put a stop to this anarchy right now. But we won't because people are too disobedient and prideful.

Several months ago I predicted that Archbishop Ambrose would leave Gregory in Colorado due to somekind of conflict. Well, what do you know? This has happened. These kind of people like Gregory are not capable of getting along with other bishops. They have an innate need to be feisty. They do not care for unity. They only care for their own selfish agendas. They do not care about the scandal they cause people. Their actions are so predictable. There is something wrong with Gregory -- either mentally or spiritually or both.