DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ST. JOHN, ARCHBISHOP OF SHANGHAI AND SAN FRANCISCO
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ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS (USPS 412-260)
is published monthly by St. Nectarios American Orthodox Cathedral,
10300 Ashworth Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98133-9410.
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OCW, 10300 Ashworth Ave. N., Seattle, WA. 98133-9410
Fr. Neketas S. Palassis, Editor Email: frneketas@stnectariospress.com
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Fax: 206-523-0550

DECEMBER, 2006, Vol. XL, No. 12 (1567)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. ENCYCLE LETTER OF ST. MARK OF EPHESUS
2. PEARLS FROM THE HOLY FATHERS
3. A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
Just as the demons recognize that it is very important for them to hide themselves from a person, so also for a person himself it is important to understand that they are the original committers of sin, the source of our temptations, and not our neighbours, not we,  when we lead a life of service to God--not by accident.

Bishop Ignaty Brianchaninov


1.  ENCYCLICAL LETTER
OF SAINT MARK OF EPHESUS

        The many writings of St. Mark occasioned by the false Union of Florence are an important source material for all who wish to understand the position of the Church of Christ as against the heresies of the Roman Church, as well as against the pseudo-Orthodoxy that proclaims that "nothing separates us" precisely where the Fathers have pronounced anathema. The present Letter was written probably in July of 1440 as an answer to the promulgation in Constantinople of the false Union.

TO ALL ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS ON THE MAINLAND AND IN THE ISLANDS.  FROM MARK, BISHOP OF THE METPOPOLY OF EPHESUS.-REJOICE IN CHRIST!

        TO THOSE WHO HAVE ENSNARED US in an evil captivity and desire to lead us away into the Babylon of Latin rites and dogmas could not, Of course, completely accomplish this, seeing immediately that there was little chance of it, in fact that it was simply impossible; but having stopped somewhere in the middle, both they and those who followed after them, they neither remained any longer what, they were, nor became anything else. For having quit Jerusalem, a firm and unwavering faith, but being in no condition and not wishing to be- come and to be called Babylonians, they thus called themselves, as if by right, "Greco-Latins," and among the people are called "Latinizers." And so these split people, like the mythical centaurs, confess together with the Latins that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son and has the Son as Cause of His existence, and yet together with us confess that He proceeds from the Father. And they say together with them that the addition to the Creed (of the Filioque) was done canonically and with blessing, and yet together with us do not permit it to be uttered. (Besides, who would turn away --from what was canonical and blessed?!) And they say together with them that unleavened bread is the Body of Christ, and yet together with us do not dare to accept it. Is this not sufficient to reveal their spirit, and how that it was not in quest of the Truth (which, having in their hands, they betrayed) that they came together with the Latins, but from a desire to enrich themselves and to conclude not a true, but a false Union.

II
        But one should examine in what manner they have united with them; for everything that is united to something different is naturally united by means of some middle point between them. And thus they imagined to unite with them by means of some judgment concerning the Holy Spirit, together with them expressing the opinion that He has existence also from the Son; but everything else between them is divergent, and there is among them neither any middle point nor anything in common. just as before two divergent Creeds are uttered; likewise there are celebrated two Liturgies, divergent and discordant one with the other- one with leavened bread, the other with unleavened bread; divergent also are baptisms: one performed with triple immersion, the other with 'pouring’ over the head from above, and one with anointing with chrism, the other completely without; and all rites are in everything divergent and discordant one with the other, and likewise, the fasts and church usages and other, like things. What kind of unity is this, when there is no apparent and clear sign of it? And in what manner have they united with them, desiring also to preserve their own (for in this they were unanimous) and at the same time not following the traditions of the Fathers?

III
        But what is their own "wise" opinion? "Never," they say, “ has the Greek Church said that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father; she has said simply that He proceeds from the Father, thus not excluding the participation of the Son in the Procession of the Holy Spirit. Therefore (they say) both before and now we exhibit unity.”

        Alas, what absurdity! Alas, what blindness! If the Greek Church having received it from Christ Himself and the Holy Apostles and Fathers, has said that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, but has never said (for she has received this from no one) that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son, then what else does this signify than that she affirms that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father? For if He is not from the Son, evidently, He is only from the Father.

        Do you know what is said concerning the Generation?  "Begotten of the Father before all ages." Would anyone add here "only of the Father"? Yet it is precisely thus and in no other way that we understand it, and, if need be' will express it. For we have been taught that the Son is begotten of none else, but only of the Father. Therefore too John Da- mascene says, on behalf of the whole Church and all Christians: "We do not say that the Holy Spirit is from the Son.",, And if we do not say that the Spirit is also from the Son, then it is apparent that we-thus say that the Spirit is only from the Father; therefore a little before this he says: "We do not call the Son Cause," and in the next chapter: "The sole Cause is the Father.

        What more? "Never," they say, have we considered Latins heretics, but only schisma-   tics." But this too they have taken from them (the Latins), for the latter, having nothing with which to accuse us in our doctrine, call us schismatics because we have turned away from the obedience to them which, as they think, we should have. But let us examine the matter. Will it be just for us likewise to show them kindness and place no blame on them in matters of the Faith?

        It was they who gave the grounds, for the schism by openly making the addition (the Filioque), which until then they had spoken in secret; while we were the first to separate ourselves from them, or rather, to separate and cut them off from the common Body of the Church. Why may I ask? Because they have the right Faith or have made the addition (to the Creed) in an Orthodox fashion? Surely whoever would begin to talk like that would not be right in the head. But rather because they have an absurd and impious opinion and for no reason at all made the addition. And so we have turned away from them as from heretics and have shunned them.

        What more is necessary? The pious canons speak thus: 'He is a heretic and subject to the canons against heretics who even slightly departs from the Orthodox Faith.,   If, then, the Latins do not at all depart from the correct Faith, we have evidently cut them off unjustly: but if they have thoroughly departed (from the Faith) -- and-that in connection with the theology of the Holy Spirit'. blasphemy against Whom is the greatest of all perils --'then it is clear that they are heretics, and we have cut them off as heretics.

    Why do we anoint with chrism those of them who come to us? Is it not clear that it is because they are heretics? For the seventh canon of the Second Ecumenical Council states: As for those heretics who betake themselves to Orthodoxy, and to the lot of those being saved, we accept them in accordance wit@ the subjoined sequence and custom: Arians, and Macedonians, and Sabbatians, and Novatians, those calling themselves Cathari ("Puritans") and Aristeri ("Best"), and the Quartodecimans, otherwise known as Tetradites, and Apollinarians we accept when they offer libelli (recantations in writing) and anathematize every heresy that does not hold the same beliefs as the Catholic and Apostolic Church of God, and are sealed first with holy chrism on their forehead and their eyes, and nose, and mouth, and ears, and in sealing them we say: 'The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.'

        Do you see with whom we number those who come from the La tins? If all those (enumerated in the canon) are heretics, then it is clear that these (the Latins) are the same. And what does the most wise Patriarch of Antioch,, Theodore Balsamon, say of this in reply to the Most Holy Patriarch of Alexandria, Mark? "Imprisoned Latins and others coming,to our Catholic churches request communion of the Divine Sacraments. We desire to know: is this permissible?" (Answer:) "He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad (St. Matt. 12: 30; St. Luke 11: 23). Because many years ago the celebrated Roman Church was separated from communion with the other four Most Holy Patriarchs, having apostatized into customs and doctrines foreign to the Catholic Church and not Orthodox (it was for this reason that the Pope was not deemed worthy of sharing in the commemoration of the names of the Eastern Patriarchs at Divine Services), -- therefore we must not sanctify one of Latin race through the Divine and most pure Gifts (given) by priestly hands, unless he shall first resolve to de- part from Latin dogmas and customs and shall be catechized and' joined to those of Orthodoxy."-

        Do you hear how they have departed not only in customs, but also in dogmas foreign to those of Orthodoxy (and what is foreign to Orthodox dogma is, of course, heretical teaching), and that, according to the canons, they must be catechized and united to Orthodoxy? And if it is necessary to catechize, then clearly it is necessary to anoint with chrism. How have they suddenly presented themselves to us as Ortho- doxii they who for so long and according to the judgment of such great Fathers and Teachers have been considered heretics? Who has so easily made" them Orthodox? --It is gold, if you desire to acknowledge the truth, and your own thirst for gain; or, to express it better: it did not make them Orthodox, but made you like them and carried you into the camp of the heretics.
v
        "But if," they say,  “ we had devised some middle ground (compromise) between dogmas, then thanks to this we would have united with them and accomplished our business superbly, without at all having been forced to say anything except what corresponds to custom and has been handed down (by the Fathers)." This is precisely the means by which many, from of old, have been deceived and persuaded to follow those who have led them off to the steep precipice of impiety; believing that there is some kind of middle ground between two teachings that can reconcile obvious contradictions, they have been exposed to peril....

        If the Latin dogma is true that the Holy Spirit proceeds also from the Son, then ours is false that states that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father (and this is precisely the reason for which we separated from them); and if ours is true, then without doubt theirs is false. What kind of middle ground can there be between two such judgments? There ' can be none, unless it were some kind of judgment suitable to both the one and the other, like a boot that fits both feet. And will this unite us?....

VI

        But, someone will say, how shall we regard those moderate Greco- Latins who, maintaining a middle ground, openly favor some of the Latin rites and dogmas, favor but do not wish to accept others, and entirely disapprove of still others? One must flee from them as one flees from a snake, as from the Latins themselves, or, it may be, from those who are even worse than they -- as from buyers and sellers of Christ. For they, as the Apostle says, suppose that gain is godliness (I Tim. 6:5), of whom he adds: flee these (I Tim. 6:11), for they go over to them (the Latins) not in order to learn, but for gain. What communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (11 Cor' 6: 14-15).

        Behold how we, together with Damascene and all the Fathers, do not say that the Spirit proceeds from the Son; X while they, together with the Latins, say that the Spirit proceeds from the Son. And we, together with the divine Dionysios, say that the Father is the sole Source of the supernatural Divinity while they say together with the Latins that the Son also is the Source of the Holy Spirit, by this clearly excluding the Spirit from the Divinity. And we, together with Gregory the Theologian, distinguish the Father from the Son in His capacity of being Cause;' while they together with the Latins unite Them into one in the capacity of being Cause. And we, together with St. Maximus and the Romans of that time and the Western Fathers, "do not make the Son the Cause of the Spirit";  while they, in their Conciliar Decree (Act of Union), proclaim the Son "in Greek, Cause, and in Latin, Principle" of the Spirit. And we, together with the Philosopher and Martyr Justin, affirm, "As the Son is from the Father, so is the Spirit from the Father", while they say together with the Latins that the Son proceeds from the Father immediately, and the Spirit from the Father mediately. And we, together with Damascene and all the Fathers, confess that it is not known to us in what consists the difference between generation and procession while they, together with Thomas (Aquinas) and the Latins, say that the difference consists in this, that generation is immediate, an

procession mediate. And we affirm, in agreement with the Fathers, that the Will and Energy of the Uncreated and Divine Nature are uncreated; while they, together with the Latins and Thomas, say that Will is identical with Nature, but that the Divine Energy is created, whether it be called Divinity, or the Divine and Immaterial Light, or the Holy Spirit, or something else 'of this nature, and in some fashion these poor creatures A. worship" the created "Divinity" and the created "Divine Light" and the created "Holy Spirit." And we say that neither do the Saints receive the Kingdom and the unutterable blessings already prepared for them, nor are sinners already sent to hell, but both await their fate which will be received in the future age after the resurrection and judgement; while they, together with the Latins, desire immediately.after death to receive according to their merits, and for those in an intermediate condition, who have died in repentance, they give a purgatorial fire (which is not identical with that of hell) so that, as they say, having purified their souls by it after death, they also together with the righteous will enjoy the Kingdom (of Heaven); this is contained in their Conciliar Decree (Act of Union). And we, obeying the Apostles, who have prohibited it, shun Jewish unleavened bread; while they, in the same Act of Union, proclaim that what is used in the services of the Latins is the Body of Christ. And we say that the addition to the Creed arose uncanonically and anticanonically and contrary to the Fathers; while they affirm that it is canonical and blessed -- to such an extent are they unaware how to conform to the Truth and to themselves! And for us the Pope is as one of the Patriarchs, and that only. if be be Orthodox; while they with great gravity proclaim him Vicar of Christ, Father and Teacher of all Christians. May they be more fortunate than their Father, who are also like him: for he does not greatly prosper, having an antipope who is the cause of sufficient unpleasantness; and they arc not happy to imitate him.

VII
        And so, brethren, flee from them and from communion with them; for they are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself if transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also he transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works (II Cor. 11: 13-15) And in another place the same Apostle says of them: For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, hut their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal (Rom. 16: 18; 11 Tim. 2: 19). And in another place: Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers,  beware of the concision (Philippians 3: 2). And then, in another place: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you$ let him be accursed (Gal. 1: 8) See what has been prophetically foretold, that "though an angel from heaven  .. so that no one could cite in justification of himself an especially high position. And the be- loved Disciple speaks thus: If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, and give him no greeting; for he that giveth him greeting is partaker in his evil deeds (II John 10-11).

        Therefore, in so far as this is what has been commanded you by the Holy Apostles, -- stand aright, hold firmly to the traditions which you have received, both written and by word of mouth, that you be riot deprived of your firmness if you become led away by the delusions of the lawless. May God, Who is All-powerful, make them also to know their delusion; and having delivered us from them as from evil tares, may He gather us into His granaries like pure and useful wheat, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom belongs all glory, honor, and worship, with His Father Who is without beginning, and His All-holy and Good and Life- giving Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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 2. PEARLS FROM THE HOLY FATHERS

       By means of some earthly and carnal affec­tion, by which a man in his natural will is bound, sin en'tices him, until it becomes to him a fetter and a chain and a heavy weight, sinking and stifling him in the world of wicked'ness, and not allowing him to come to the surface and get to God. Whatever a man has loved in the world, weighs down his mind, and holds it down, and will not let him come up.
       In this balance, with its bias to the scale of evil, all mankind hangs and is tested, Christians and all, whether dwelling in cities, or in mountains, or in monasteries, or in fields, or in deserts; be' cause the natural will of man entices him to set his affection, say, on property, another on gold and silver, another on the wis'dom of the eloquence of the world for the sake of the glory from men; another has loved power, another glory and honours among men, another wrath and anger—for yielding quickly to it is loving it—another unseasonable conversations, another jealousy; . . . Whether it be a little thing of the world or a great that ties him, the man is kept down by it, and not allowed to rise. Whatever passion a man does not bravely war against, is an object of his affection; and it holds him fast, and weighs him down, and becomes to him a hindrance and a fetter, preventing his mind from going up to God and pleasing Him, and from serving Him only and thereby proving fit for the kingdom and obtaining eternal life.
       Saint Macarius the Great, Fifty Spiritual Homilies,
       Homily V, pp. 45?6
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       He who does not receive at once, is the more kindled through God’s delay and patience, and the more desirous of the good things of Heaven, and every day adds to his longing and diligence, his running and striving, and every disposition of virtue, his hunger and thirst after that which is good, not slacking for the sinful suggestions which are present in the soul, or turning aside to despise or forget or despair; nor again under pretence of patience will he give himself over to slackness, using this argument, that “Some day or other I shall receive the grace of God,” and from this enticed by sin into carelessness. On the contrary, so long as the Lord Himself in His delay is patient over him, testing the faith and love of his will, the man himself ought the more keenly, the more laboriously, without giving in, without turning faint, to seek the gift of God, having once for all believed and assured himself, that God is true and cannot lie, Who has promised to give His grace to those who ask with faith to the end, in all per­severance.
       St Macarius the Great, Homily XXIX, §3

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3. A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
      Due to illness and other circumstances, the production of THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN WITNESS was severely disrupted during the last six months. We hope to be back on schedule within a few months.
      Recent changes in the US Postal Service have made it financially impossible to continue sending the OCW outside of the United States, and increased the mailing costs within the U.S.  There is a link to the OCW on the website of St. Nectarios Press, www.stnectariospress.com and we encourage all who are able to read it there. Please let us know if you no longer need paper copies.




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