HOW DID WE GET HERE?

[Sean]

This is an excellent article, with the exception of one little phrase against the founding fathers of HOCNA. The author makes all the right assertions as to why ROCOR is headed on a path to apostacy, but fails to make the connection that a full tenth of ROCOR's clergy saw the writing on the wall twenty years ago. These self-same false shepherds who have hijacked the Church Abroad have either forced into retirement or systematically assassinated the characters of every influential figure who threatened their agenda. They are the agents of Satan, and this year their apostacy will be complete, to the destruction of countless souls.

HOW DID WE GET HERE? This was an invited talk, scheduled to be given
at
11:00 a. m. on 28 Nov/11 Dec, 2003, at the Clergy Conference of the
Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Nyack, New York. The talk was
canceled.

Published in "Living Orthodoxy" #155, Vol. XXVI #5,
Sept.-Oct., 2006 by
St. John of Kronstadt Press, Liberty, TN

Beloved Metropolitan, Archpastors, and Pas­tors: I ask for
your blessings
and for your prayers for my family and myself. Thank you for asking me
to come
to this conference. I am an American convert to Orthodoxy, and was
invited to
give the convert perspective on the issue at hand.
The prime issue at hand is not whether to normalize relations
with the
Moscow Patriarchate; rather, it is whether we can say categorically and
with
God's authority that the Moscow Patriarchate has grace.
My family's journey to the Orthodox Church began in the late
1970s. We
began to realize that the watered-down Protestantism of our youth was
missing
something. When we first began to search for that something, we had no
idea
that it would lead us to the Orthodox Church. In fact, we spent quite
some time
visiting a variety of Protestant denominations, realizing with each
visit that
they lacked that "something" we were looking for. We both began
to wonder if
that "something" perhaps didn't even exist. After we had
been at this search
for some time, a friend of ours sent us a copy of a letter written by
Bishop
Ilarion in the late 19h century. This letter was his response to an
invita­tion
for the Russian Orthodox Church to join the then-fledgling World Council
of
Churches. (Even as Protestants, we realized that the whole concept of
the
W.C.C. was demonically inspired and smacked of a one-world church.) This
same
letter stated plainly that "we" (the Orthodox
Church) had the truth, and there was no reason for us to join with
the W.C.C.,
since the Russian Orthodox Church em­bodied the Truth. Bishop
Ilarion then
invited those churches (from the W.C.C.) to join the Orthodox Church.
Because
he made such an emphatic statement regarding the Truth, we
real­ized that our
own challenge was before us: To decide if this church did, in fact,
embody the
Truth.
We then bought a copy of Timothy Ware's book, The Orthodox
Church, and
read it over and over with hunger. After months of prayer, and with
great
anticipation and some fear (that we might be once more disappointed) ,
in the
summer of 1980 we decided to visit an Orthodox Church. What we found
was an
English-language mission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of
Russia
at­tached to the Cathedral of the Holy Transfigura­tion in Los Angeles, California. This mission was run in a small school room; it had a
plywood
iconostasis and paper icons. In spite of its small size, there were
about 30
people crowded into the room, standing shoulder-to- shoulder, including
some
pi­ous Old-Calendar Greek families who joined ROCOR because of the
Calendar
issue. The singing was off-key and alternated between Byzan­tine
and Russian
chants. It was August, and the temperature was well above 100 degrees.
There
was no air conditioning. The room was so crowded that we could barely
fit inside (we had two small chil­dren with us who were both in
diapers). When
the Ektenia of the Catechumens began, we were ush­ered out into the
hallway. As
we stood in the hallway while the Ektenia of the Faithful
pro­gressed through
the rest of the Divine Liturgy (and in spite of the spartan
surroundings) , we
were both struck with the unambiguous realization that we were standing
outside, and that God was inside, and that we were, at that moment,
separated
from Him – not only physically, but spiritually as well.
In spite of the heat, in spite of the singing, in spite of the
plywood
and paper, in spite of the children crying, we were both struck with an
im­mutable fact that hit us like a sledgehammer: This Church had
that
"something". It wasn't until later that we began to realize
that that
"something" was God and His grace.
Since we became Orthodox, we have read and listened and learned
what you,
our beloved Bish­ops, have taught us.
We learned from Archbishop Averkyl that the Russian Church in
Exile has a
love for the Truth, and that the Orthodox Church is the "pillar and
ground of
the Truth."2 further, that we are com­manded by theApostle to
"walk in the
Truth"3 and, following the warning of the great Father of the
Church St.
Gregory the Theologian, we do not want to "become betrayers of the
teaching of
the faith and Truth, communing in the leaven of the Evil One and
joining
ourselves to the plague­ridden ... apostates from the Truth."4
Archbishop
Averky warned us, however, that "The Russian Church Abroad is dear
to us beyond
price, but only insofar as it actually remains the lawful heir of the
previous
Russian Orthodox Church."5 Vladyka reminded us of the words of St.
Athanasius,
Arch­bishop of Alexandria:
"We must not serve time, but God." Archbishop Averky
warned us that there
will not be a cry that says: "Forward! Forward! To the
Antichrist!" No, he
taught us, it will be much more subtle; it will seem on some levels to
even be
good; he taught us, however, that as members of the Russian Church
Abroad the
age-old motto of the true Church of Christ remains in full force:
Stand... remain unmoved!6
Although these times call for us to "move forward" and to
"overlook our
differences" , Arch­bishop Averky states plainly: "For us,forward' is only the
constant spreading , as predicted by the Word of God and the Holy
Fathers of
the Church, of Apostasy' and its crown: Antichrist, of whose
near arrival so
many are already so openly speak­ing." Vladyka warned us not to
become the
"salt which has lost its savor." He concluded by saying:
"Whoever thinks
otherwise, whoever is inclined tomarch in step with the
times,' consequently,
has already entered into some sort of compromise with the evil of
this world,'
leading to the Antichrist, and is not a member of the Russian Church
Abroad,
even if he formally continues to belong to it." 7
Archbishop Averky taught us that – more than anything on
earth – we
should value our Church's freedom.8 As an American convert, I am
eternally
grateful to the Russian Church Abroad for accepting my family where we
may
partake of the Mysteries of the True Faith. I also smile at the
realization
that - in spite of her own weaknesses and shortcomings – my own
country, the
United States of America, was entrusted by God Almighty to preserve this
kernel
of the True Faith when the Synod relocated here. Part of that decision,
no
doubt, came from the Synod hierarchy realizing that the spiritual
freedom of
the Church could, in fact, be preserved in this country.
As a convert to Orthodoxy, I also had to learn what it meant to
be in a
Church that is a "hierarchal" church. Not only did I read about
the
difficulties with the Greek Archdiocese and the calendar issue, but also
the
history of the Metropolia. Finally, following my entry into the Church,
there
was the crisis that centered around the Boston Monastery. Through these
troubled times, we were lead by our hierarchs, as we should have been. I
was
struck by the strong words of Dositheus:
"The dignity of the Bishop is so necessary in the Church that
without him
neither the Church nor the name Christian could exist or be spoken of
at all...
He is the living image of God upon earth... the fountain of the
Sacraments." 9
You taught us further that the bishops of the Church were the
sole source
of authority for the presbyters: No priest had the "right" to
celebrate the
Mysteries except at the express appointment and authorization of his
Bishop.
Thus, the Ortho­dox Church and Its Faith are defined by its
hierar­chy. The
hierarchs of the Church are the guardians of the Faith, and through them
the
grace and authority to perform the Holy Mysteries flow. Once one becomes
a
bishop, the Holy. Scriptures warn you to:
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock,
over which the
Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God."10
Further, the Scriptures demand that:
"A bishop must be blameless as being the steward of God..
.holding fast
the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may
be able
both to exhort in sound doctrine and to confute opponents. For there are
also
many disobedient, vain babblers and deceivers." "
As a convert to Orthodoxy, I was aghast at the utter cruelty and
demonic
force of the Communist state in Russia. During those initial years of
uncer­tainty, the Soviets would intimidate the faithful in many
heinous ways.
One of the favorite means of shocking the faithful employed by the KGB
was to
greet parishioners who were arriving at church with their crucified
priest
hanging, naked, upside down spread-eagle over the center of the Royal
Doors.
The Soviet state would ask little children if their parents ever said
prayers
at home, or had icons. If the innocents said "Yes", their
parents would
disap­pear soon thereafter, never to be seen again. Those same
children were
then raised and indoctrinated by the state. Other parents would be
cowed into
submission and not tell their own children about the Faith at all. I
could go
on and on, but the tale of atrocities and murders and terrorism and
blood­baths
seemed endless. Much of it was not aimed at political
enemies; rather, it was aimed specifically at Orthodox Christians.
Besides the
many innocent clergy who perished during those years, the Tsar himself,
having
abdicated the throne, was a power­less layperson, but was –
together with his
family – nonetheless murdered because he was Orthodox.
All of these atrocities were carried out by the Communist Soviet
state:
the same state to which Metropolitan Sergius pledged full allegiance
(while
tens of thousands of his fellow clergymen went to their deaths). Why
was
Sergius' capitulation so important? What difference did it make?
You taught us, dear Vladykas, that our Church is a Church defined
by the
Faith of its bishops. If Sergius defined the faith of his church, then
how did
Sergius' church choose its replacement bishops once many had fled
Russia or
were murdered?
There is no question that the main tool by which the Communist
state
implemented its ter­rorism and strongarmed its policies was with the
KGB.12 The
KGB hand-picked its members from those people who were particularly
cold and
ruth­less. One had to "prove" one's worthiness to become
a member of the inner
sanctum of the KGB. This proof could come in many forms: Murders and
tortures
of the faithful, ghastly acts of terrorism; destruction of churches and
holy
places; intimidation of the faithful, etc. This same KGB became the
breeding
ground and source for most – if not all – of the bishops of the
Moscow
Patriarchate. 12 These bishops were hand-picked by the KGB as looking
and acting
and seeming like pious pastors, but they were, in fact, KGB agents,
selected
for their viciousness and cruelty. The Mitrokhin Archives even names
the KGB
code names for their agents who became bishops in the Moscow
Patriarchate. 13
Even the present "Patri­arch" of the Moscow
Patriarchate, Alexsi II, came up through the ranks of the KGB. As a
KGB agent,
he was known as "Agent Drozdov."14
Following the annihilation of the hierarchy by Stalin, it was
systematically replaced by Commu­nist-state- approved bishops.15
These "bishops"
have then – following all of the "external" rituals of the
Orthodox Church –
systematically ap­pointed many additional bishops. It can safely be
said that
all of the current bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate are KGB
operatives or
were personally chosen by the same.16
The KGB also orchestrated the joining of the Moscow church to
the World
Council of Churches. This was useful as a political tool to the KGB:
Its
faithful hierarchs17 and representatives to the W.C.C. denied –
often
indignantly – all reports of persecution of the Church by the Soviet
state.
Tales of outright deception, lying, and pro­paganda – all to aid
the Soviet
state – were the order of the day with the KGB agents in the W.C.C.
This method of infiltration ofvarious organiza­tions by the
KGB, with the
eventual aim of taking it over, has been their modus operandi for many
years. It
was used by the KGB to take over most of the Eastern block countries
and other
countries in Central America and throughout the world with­out
ever even
firing a shot. They simply infiltrated their agents within the body of
the
government, organization or church, and then began to take control with
time.
It is a highly successful method that they have used over and over and
over.18
When Satan unleashed his unbridled fury on the Russian land in
1917, it
was always assumed by many of the faithful that one of the evil
one's goals was
the destruction of religion. This fact seemed obvious because of the
millions
of clergy and pious laity that were imprisoned, tortured and murdered,
and the
tens of thousands of churches and monas­teries that were physically
destroyed.
It is curious, however, that the evil one never seemed to quite finish
the job.
There were still a few churches standing; there were still some
scattered
services going on here and there; there were still a few bishops left.
The
Soviet state was simply preparing the church – the Moscow
Patriarchate – to be
remade in its own image. With the numbers decimated and the faithful
cowed, the
Central Committee recognized all along that the ultimate control of the
Church
rested in controlling the Episcopal ranks. The Evil One knew that the
Faith of
the Church was defined by Her
bishops.
The godless Soviet state has had 80 years to replace the ranks of
the
hierarchy with its own. How am I to believe that any of their present
hierarchs
are even Christians? Based on the simple truths of their selection and
their
background, I can only conclude that they all must be agents of the
Antichrist.
I have been presented with no data to support any other conclusion.
As converts to the Faith, you have taught us, holy fathers, that
the
Orthodox Church is a Church defined and upheld by its Bishops. How can
we find
grace in a church that has avowed enemies of Christ not only within it,
but
leading it? We have been told by some that the laity have maintained the
faith,
and that even though the hierarchy is corrupt, the Moscow Patriarchate
still
maintains its grace because of the deep faith of the laity.
I am sorry, but this statement flies in contrast to all that I
have been
taught by you and have learned about Orthodoxy.
You also taught me, dear bishops, that the day of reconciliation
with the
Moscow Patriarchate would come when several conditions were fulfilled.
These
included the glorification of the New Mar­tyrs, the rejection of
Sergianism,
and the rejection of ecumenism. It also included the Apostolic
injunc­tion that
any clergy who are traitors of Christ (apos­tates) must be
defrocked and can
only reenter the Church as laymen.19
If the rumors I have heard are true, it seems that we, as the
faithful of
the Russian Church Abroad, are not demanding the repentance and
defrocking of
these apostate bishops; instead, there are some who would even consider
the
Patriarchate to be grace-filled and submit to her "bishops".
Glorifi­cation of
the New Martyrs came about begrudg­ingly and half-heartedly;
Sergius is now the
topic of a book that calls him a "Man of God"20 and the MP
still participates
in the WCC and is expanding its interaction with the Vatican. So much
for the
fulfillment of the conditions.
In a letter to Sergius, Metropolitan Anthony declared
Sergius' infamous
declaration to be no less than an act of treason against the Church.
Since the
fundamental goal of the KGB is to eradicate reli­gion, the dealings
of the MP
hierarchs who are KGB agents should be considered to be even worse than
treason.20
How am I, a convert to the Orthodox Faith, to deal with all of
this?
I am eternally grateful to the Church Abroad for showing me the
fullness
of Holy Orthodoxy. In spite of worldly pressures, poverty and dwindling
numbers, the Faith has been preserved by the Church Abroad just as
Patriarch
Tikhon envi­sioned, and as our Lord promised:
"Upon this rock will I build My Church; and the gates of
hell shall not
prevail against it."21
I, for one, am not bothered by our lack of glorious cathedrals or
swelling numbers. These are, after all, the last times.
Perhaps this odd topic of "unification" with the
Patriarchal church is
only a wild and vicious rumor. This is my most sincere hope. Sadly, I
have also
heard that the Patriarchate has offered the Synod autocephaly if only
the Synod
will recognize the grace of the Patriarchal church. I am not only
reminded of
the same type of actions being taken by the Pope with the Uniates, but
– even
more poignantly – I am reminded of the great tempta­tion that
Satan presented
Christ:
"Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceed­ing high
mountain, and
sheweth Him all the king­doms of the world, and the glory of them;
and saith
unto Him,All these things will I give Thee, if thou wilt fall down
and
worship me.' Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: For
it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou
serve.
Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto
Him."22
I hope that you know that those of us who left our ethnic and
familial
roots to become Orthodox are particularly unnerved by this news, and
are hoping
against hope that the information on the website is false. Placing
familial and
cultural values at a higher level than the basic tenets of the Faith
will
completely negate the very reasons that I turned my back on my ethnic
and
cultural back­ground – and much of my family – to become
Orthodox.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with un­believers:
for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion
hath
light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial?"23
"Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the council of
the
ungodly...." 24
It is my sincere hope that these talks of
"reconcili­ation" and
"unification" and "overlooking our little differences"
are just talk. From my
perspective as a convert to the Faith, it is certainly not easy to walk
away
from your comfortable ethnic and cultural background. Nonetheless, when
you are
making that trip from darkness into the Light of the Truth, it is
precisely
because you are searching for the Truth, and not some cultural
equivalent. I am
happy that I made that journey, and I hope and pray that it may give me
the
means to salvation, unworthy as I am. I also hope that those whom I
know and
love are not taking a walk in the opposite direction.25
"I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore
come out from
among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing;
and I will receive you. And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be My
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."26
Just as the Soviets – through all their persecu­tions,
programs and
propaganda over the past eight decades – have created a puppet
Russian Ortho­dox
Church to serve the state, and have now unleashed it by declaring it and
their
Fatherland to be free, so unwittingly have they provided us the freedom
to
establish our churches in Russia for the resurrection of the Holy Faith.
This
is the same Holy Faith that was entrusted to us – the ROCOR – to
maintain in its
fullness over that same time.
Let us rise to meet the challenge as the Church Militant on
earth. Our
path is clear: There can be no uniting of Christ with Belial. Let us
bring back
to the true Orthodox faithful in Russia the Church as She has
flourished and
been preserved in freedom from bondage to the Evil One and his Soviet
state.
Let us bring to them what the Soviet church cannot:
"[The] Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such
thing; but that
it should be holy and without blemish."27
Let us step away from the external trappings of the church: For
just as
the Divine Liturgy was served in that sweaty little classroom 23 years
ago, and
just as it was served on the breast of an imprisoned saint, and just as
it has
been served anywhere the faithful are gathered, so it can be celebrated
without
the beautiful Orthodox churches occupied by the Soviets and their
agents. God
does not need our stone or wooden edifices; He needs the hearts of the
faithful!
"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good
pleasure to give
you the Kingdom." 28
Looking back 2000 years at the Roman Em­pire, one can see
how the world
stage was set for the Advent of Christ. Looking today, one can see how
the
world stage has been set by the Soviet state and its relations with the
U.N.,
and the W.C.C., with their mutual goal of establishing world peace
through
one-world government and a one-world church. Using the tools of
satellite
television and the internet, their mutual goal is more readily and
instantly
available through mass communications to all peoples throughout the
world.
Is it possible that even our most esteemed and pious leaders
could be
drawn into this deceit? I hope and pray to God that this could not be
so.
There is a holy and pious and heartfelt desire on the part of all
of the
faithful of the Russian diaspora that someday Russia would be
(spiritually)
resur­rected. Since the dawn of the Communist revolu­tion our
premise has
always been that Satan was seeking to completely destroy the Church;
i.e., to
obliterate it from the earth. It is abundantly clear, however, that
this was
not the Evil One's goal; rather, Satan sought to recreate the
"Orthodox Church"
in his own image: To present himself as an "angel of light."
St. Paul warns us
of this very possibility in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, and
he
speaks directly to the issue of the ranks of the bishops (apostles) in
the
Church:
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves
into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is
transformed
into an angel of light." "
Then what happened to the resurrection of Holy Russia? Are we to
conclude
that the blood of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Land had
no
voice before the throne of God? I would submit that this resurrection
has
already been taking place right in front of us. The New Martyrs were
glorified.
The Royal Martyrs have rightly assumed their place on the right hand of
the
Throne. Holy Orthodoxy has spread to all the ends of the world. These
are the
fruits of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and they are
happening
now, and have been happen­ing all around us!
"But... but...," you say, "is this all there is? What
about the glory of
the Patriarchate? What about the huge churches, trimmed in gold, with
booming
deacons; what about the glory of the Fatherland?" It is this very
thought that
the Evil One has used to such effect with some of the pious faithful.
As a
convert to Orthodoxy, looking at this with non-Russian eyes, it is
plain and
clear to me that Satan has recreated the Moscow Patriarchate in his own
image
to provide this illusion to the faithful, and, in turn, to drag them
unwittingly to the edge of the abyss.
I say: Awake, sleeping giant! It is time for the Church Abroad to
take
its rightful place in history and fight this "abomination of
desolation"30, 31
that has set itself up in Christ's place.
I am reminded by the words of our Savior regarding the last days,
and
hope that they are not upon us:
"And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ;
or, lo, He
is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall
rise, and
shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the
elect."
32
Finally, I am reminded of Bishop Ilarion's re­sponse to
the invitation
from the W.C.C., which was to refuse to join them, but to instead ask
them to
join the Orthodox Church. It seems to me that it is once again time to
refuse
discourse with the MP in regards to joining it or recognizing its
grace;
rather, it is time to invite the MP to repent and join the True Church.
My prayers are with our little remnant of the True Church.
In Christ -
Timothy J. Clader, M.D.
Choir Director and Parishioner
Protection of the Mother of God
Russian Orthodox Church
Rochester, New York, USA

ENDNOTES 1 Archbishop Averky, On the Russian Church Abroad,
from the
writings of Archb. Averky, reprinted from Stand Fast in the Truth,
compiled by
Fr. Demetrios Serfes, pp. 3-5, and republished by the St. John of
Kronstadt
Press, Liberty, TN
2 I Tim 3:15
3 II John 1:4
4 cf. the Works of St. Gregory, Part I, p. 192
5 ibid, Archbishop Averky, On the Russian Church Abroad
6 cf. the words of Bishop Theophan in On Orthodoxy, with Warnings
about
Errors against It, p. 7
7 ibid, Archbishop Averky, On the Russian Church Abroad, p. 4
8 A particularly moving passage on this topic is found in I. M.
Andreyev's masterpiece Russia's Catacomb Saints (St. Herman of
Alaska Press,
Platina, CA 1982, pp. 48-49), as follows:
"After the death o£..Patriarch [Tikhon], his successors
one after another
were banished. And then Metropolitan Sergius, becoming head of the
church,
published the Decla­ration known to everyone, which acknowledged
the joys and
sorrows of the Soviets as his own and declared all martyrs political
criminals.
"All Orthodox Russia was shaken, and delegations with
protests extended
to Metr. Sergius from all corners of the land.
"As a member of such a delegation from the Petrograd Diocese
I [I. M.
Andreyev] too came to Moscow. In the Metropolitan' s reception room
forty people
were waiting, and everyone of whom I asked his reason for coming
replied that
he had come as a delegate to see the Metropolitan. Russia had not
accepted the
Declaration!
"The Metropolitan received us out of order. Finding out the
reasonwhywe
had coma, he reaffirmed everything written in the Declaration, and in
answer to
our convictions called us counter-revolution aries' andschismatics. ' Not
taking his blessing, we left without obtaining anything.
"Soon the churches that did not accept the Declaration began
to be
closed. In Petrograd only one remained, but everyone who entered it was
registered and later arrested. This was the time when the atheist
Soviet power
demanded of believers that they go to churches of the official Church.
[i.e.,
the Moscow Patriarchate]
"I, too, was arrested and banished for five years. At
Solovki I
encountered many hierarchs of the true Church. And there we already had
our
Catacomb Church.
"In the concentration camps the persecution against faith
was completely
open: priests were shorn and shaved, forbidden to wear cassocks and
crosses.
For making the sign of the Cross a new term of imprisonment was given.
Of
course there was no question of any open services. The relics ofsaints
were
exhibited for mockery in an anti-religious museum with blasphemous
inscriptions- even the saints suffered with us! The monks of Solovki who
remained there as specialist­laborersw ere forbidden to have any
contactwith the
prisoners under penalty of death. It was especially difficult before
great
feasts: it was impossible to gather even in twos, no one was allowed
anywhere
without special passes, night rounds were made more frequent, sentries
were
doubled. In order to pray one had to be ready at any minute for a
martyr's
death. And we were ready for it, always carrying with us, like the
first
Christians, a Particle of the Holy Gifts. I brought such a Particle
abroad and gave it to Metropolitan Anastassy.
"And not only were we ready to die, but many did die,
confident that
somewhere there, outside the reach of the Soviet authorities, where
there is
freedom-there the Truth was shining in all its purity. There people
were living
by it and submitting to it. There people did not bow down to
Antichrist. And
what terror overwhelmed me when, fairly recently, I managed to come
abroad and
found out that some people here spiritually' recognize the
Soviet church.
Spiritually! Many of us there fell,for fear of the Jews,' or
giving in to the
temptation of outward cooperation with the authorities. I knew priests
of the
official Church [MP] who, at home, tore their hair out, who smashed
their heads
making prostrations, begging forgiveness for their apostasy, calling
themselves
Cain-but nonetheless they did not have the strength to decide upon
martyrdom.
But even they spiritually did not recognize the Red Church. But these
others
abroad-it is precisely spiritually that
they submit to it. What good fortune that our priest-martyrs, in
dying, did
not find out about this betrayal!"

9 What is a Bishop? Published by the St. John of Kronstadt
Press,
Liberty, TN
10 Acts 20:28
11 Titus 1:5, 7, 9-10
12 From the Records of the Council for Religious Affairs to the
Members
of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
published
in Russian 1974; English translation, Monastery Press, 8011 Champagneur
Ave.,
Montreal, H3N 2K4 Que. 1981
13 Andrew C, and Mitrokhin V: The Sword and the Shield, the
Mitrokhin
Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, Published by Basic Books, A
member
of the Perseus Books Group, NY, NY 1999 ISBN 0-465-00310- 9 pp. 486-507
14 ibid, p. 507
15 ibid, p. 501
16 I. M. Andreyev: Russia's Catacomb Saints, St. Herman of
Alaska Press,
Platina, CA 1982
17 ibid, p. 487
18 Crozier B: The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union, @ 1999
Prima
Lifestyles, ASN 0761520570
19 Apostolic Canon Number 62, The Rudder (Pedalion), English
Translation
of John Nicolaides, 5th Ed., Athens, Greece, 1908; Published by The
Orthodox
Christian Educa­tional Society, Chicago, IL 1957, pp. 107-108
20 Last Will and Testament, Archbishop Antony of Los Angeles, 24
Nov/7 Dec 1995 21 Matt 16:18
[20 Apparently there is a typo here as the original article
lacks two #
20 footnotes.]
22 Mt. 4:8-11
23 II Cor. 6:14-15
24 Ps. 1:1
25 I. M. Andreyev: Russia's Catacomb Saints (St. Herman of
Alaska Press,
Platina, CA 1982, p. 51):
"This is why the question of our jurisdictional divisions is
not a
question of `quarrels of bishops over portfolios.' No, it is a
question of
cooperation (or tacit agreement) with the forerunners of Antichrist, or
else
uncompromising battle against them. This alone separates us from those
who have
broken away from the Truth; but it does not separate us from the
Russian
people, for there the soul, even if it is invisible, even if it has
retracted
within itself, is still alive, is not spiritually enslaved; it is drawn
to the
light of Truth."
26 11 Cor. 6:16-18
27 Eph. 5:27
28 Lk. 12:32
29 II Cor. 11:13-14
30 Matt. 24:15
31 Mk. 14:14
32 Mk. 13:21-22