I was blessed to be able to visit India a few weeks ago. I visited the South, Kerala region, and Nagpur in the centre of India. I gave there lectures at two theological seminaries. But that is not what I will write about.
Instead, I want to share an experience.
India, as most know, is a rather poor country. Whatever the reason, is not the focus of this text.
Growing up in “the west”, I have been spoiled to have most things I have ever wanted, even if I don’t actually need most of these things.
The poverty in India is in some cases extreme, unimaginable really. While visiting the slums in Nagpur, it was hard to keep tears away and the feeling of hopelessness invaded my heart – I felt ashamed and empty. However, what I experienced there, changed me.
The people I met, poor people, some almost naked with no earthly possessions, gave me a gift. A gift more valuable than any earthly item, more valuable than any amount of gold and more precious than any diamond.
They gave me love and kindness. One word, one smile, directed at me, a complete stranger. The gift of kindness and love, given by those that by our standards have nothing. Yet, now I know and I am sure – they are richer than I ever will be. God is Love, and even if these simple people don’t “know it”, they live it and they share it, from their hearts.
We, in the developed Western world have all but forgotten this most precious thing we can, we must, share with others.
This summer I was fortunate enough, thanks to God, to again visit Russia. Those that have dealt with me in any way, know I love the country very much; especially the more rural parts of it!
In various situations today, especially online, the terms “Holy Russia” and/or “Third Rome” have been thrown around a lot. They are usually trying to refer to modern day Russia, and not historical Holy Rus’. It is claimed Russia is Holy.
Having visited Russia a few times and being in everyday contact with friends living in Russia, I thought I could share my opinion and observations.
Modern Russia is a complicated place. It’s recent history (communism) clashes with it’s a bit older history (Tsarist Russia) and in the middle of all that you find the Orthodox faith and also a fair bit of westernization of the society, especially in the big cities, most notably Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Let me set out by simply saying: modern day Russia is not holy. Or at least not as it is claimed by some.
Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeeyev) recently stated about the notion of “Third Rome” that “I don’t think that today, we can use concepts that were formulated many centuries ago. They reflected a certain historical reality, but they can hardly be applied to the current reality”[1]. He further explained that today, the majority of Russians do NOT in fact practice their Orthodox faith, which for the Church is a “a great missionary task”[2].
During my visits in Russia, I was faced with a country of contrasts. On one hand, Christianity is not something of the past there, like is the case in say western Europe. Rather the faith is truly present there today, more than in any other country perhaps. Orthodoxy is an accepted part of the society. If one visits a church on a big feast, it will most likely be almost full of people – this can’t be denied and neglected.
It can’t however be a reason for triumphalism.
The Russian society, just like western societies, is filled with issues. Moral issues like abortions, divorces and alcoholism are just a few we can here mention. Likewise, the nostalgia that many older people hold for the Soviet Union and for that system, while they claim they are Orthodox Christians, is simply put bizarre.
On the other hand, Holy Rus is alive in the monasteries. Hundreds of monasteries where holy men and woman fight for salvation and pray for the world is simply a miracle of God.
The Russian society is on one hand turning more to the western ideas of “freedom”, at the same time it is preserving aspects of the Orthodox faith. We can therefore easily say that Russia is a real battlefield for the Church.
The fight to keep the youth in churches, to re-establish the Christian morals as the standard of the society and to fight God-less ideologies of today like the LGBT-movement and abortions which are promoted so hard in western Europe.
Russia is however not Holy. Far from it.
But there are signals that it might one day soon again truly become Holy. With the support of the State (which as history shows, is a two-edged blade) Christian ideals are being implemented into laws and schools. Thanks be to God for this.
“Two Romes fell, a third one is still standing, there will not be a fourth one.”
Lets us pray and hope that Russia will indeed become this true and eternal bastion of Christianity until the coming of our Lord.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Philip the Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Xenia of St. Petersburg, St. Matrona of Moscow, all the Elders and saints of Optina monastery and all the saints of Holy Rus – God save us!
Those who are my friends and followers on social media, have seen in the past few weeks that I have been reading the writings of St. Clement of Rome (+101AD). In particular his Epistle to the Corinthians. I got a wonderful collection of 1000+ books of the Church fathers for 3,74 USD (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Ante-Nicene-Post-Nicene-Fathers-Collection-ebook/dp/B00KYBSUUM) on Kindle, so I have it all on my phone and tablet, reading whenever I find some time.
The writings of St. Clement are special. At first I felt like I was reading an Epistle from the Canon of the New Testament. It felt very much like reading St. Paul. This of course shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has read St. Clement, but I had never read him and to me this was a revelation of deep spiritual significance. Growing up spiritually, one dealt usually with quotes or short parts of the writings of the various Fathers of the Church. But here, reading everything St. Clement has written, step by step, I truly understood why these writings are so important to us, why they are alongside the Bible and the Ecumenical Councils (which are the Church Fathers speaking in ONE voice!) the very core of the faith handed down to us.
The writing of St. Clement are salvivic in their nature. Considering they are written circa 1925 years ago (!!), they are still as relevant as ever. One is amazed at how theologicaly and spiritual relevant they are. Even more when we consider that the faith St. Clement preached came directly from the apostles, which tradition claims some of he met. This same faith is still alive today. Even after the 7 Ecumenical Councils which defined the faith against heresies, St. Clements writings are all in line with that, showing us that he truly was a holy man inspired by the Holy Spirit – just like St. Paul and others before him.
I will here quote a part of his Epistle to the Corinthians that stuck with me:
The First Epistle of St. Clement to the Corinthians.
Chapter XXIV.
“God continually shows us in nature that there will be a Resurrection.
Let us consider, beloved, how the Lord continually proves to us that there shall be a future resurrection, of which He has rendered the Lord Jesus Christ the first-fruits by raising Him from the dead. Let us contemplate, beloved, the resurrection which is at all times taking place. Day and night declare to us a resurrection. The night sinks to sleep, and the day arises; the day [again] departs, and the night comes on. Let us behold the fruits [of the earth], how the sowing of grain takes place. The sower goes forth, and casts it into the ground; and the seed being thus scattered, though dry and naked when it fell upon the earth, is gradually dissolved. Then out of its dissolution the mighty power of the providence of the Lord raises it up again, and from one seed many arise and bring forth fruit.”
Kontakion, Tone 4.
O Clement and Peter,
You are worthy of all praise!
Holy and unassailable strongholds of the Church;
Inspired models of true faith and devotion:
Guard us all through your intercessions!
Our father among the saints, Clement the Bishop of Rome, Pray to God for us!
In 2015-2016 when I was doing research for my bachelor thesis about St. Justin Popovic, I interviewed Metropolitan Amfilohije of Montenegro, spritual son of St. Justin.
We came into the topic of the papacy and he said the following about the situation and Pope Francis. Keep in mind, this is 4 years ago and I am by no means defending Francis or even bashing him – simply I am delivering what Met. Amfilohije said.
“I had the conversation with the current Roman Pope Francisco when I was at his inauguration as a representative of our church. So we spoke in the evening. I got to know him in Buenos Aires when he was the bishop there. So I told him: ‘Your Holiness, some newspapers published that you had said that Christ is the Head of the Church. Just so you know, your words made us in the Orthodox Church very happy.’ He said: ‘I am against papolatry.’ Then I told him that Popes before him were different, aggiornamento… As you are new Pope now, you should do something. He asked me: ‘What shall I do?’ I replied: ‘You know the decisions of the first Vatican Council, where the primacy of the Roman Pope was defined, so he became infallible. Just so you know, the Orthodox Church will never accept such a position of the Roman Pope.’ I saw him thinking about that, deep in his thoughts. But I can see he is not for papolatry, by his behavior and some statements. He’s seriously thinking about it. There is no doubt.”
The “traditional” Papists will most likely say “of course he says this, he is not a real pope”…
I think this short quote shows some of the positivity felt within Orthodoxy when Bergoglio was made pope – If he has lived up to this or not, I will not judge now and here.
When I created this blog thingy, I promised myself not to write my views or even experiences, but to try to stick to what I find in my research (which of course will be colored by my views in some way anyway). Just having finished the Great lent and entered the most joyful period in the Church calendar – the most joyful period in our existence! – I feel this is something I need to share.
The issue of travelling during the Great lent (or any fast).
In todays world, the dietary aspects of the fast (avoid animal products and oil) is rather easy to keep, even during travels (its popular to be vegan these days). After the first week of the Great lent, I went to Japan for a conference and stayed there for two weeks, as a vacation. Full of confidence and pride that I would “keep the fast” there, my dear priest friend told me, before I left, that he didnt think it to be a good idea to travel for such a long time during lent, especially if it can be avoided – and in all honesty I could have just stayed for one week, but chose to stay longer (come on, its Japan!). The issue, as I mentioned before, was not the food, I “kept the fast” in that way.
Tokyo
What was the issue however, is the part of fast that is equally as important (actually most important) – the prayer life. To pray more, pray “better” and to find peace inside – to be close to Christ. This prayer is so so necessary in order to get into the mood of Great lent, which should be a mood of repentence and humbleness. This, as I quickly learned, was harder “to keep” while in Japan. Not because of Japan as such, but because of being out of rhytm, not in accordance to my normal routines and in a foreign place. I simply couldnt pray good in the capsel hotel I stayed at and the exitement of being again in Tokyo (my favorite city) made my mind and heart more often than not to focus more on that, than prayer and closeness to Christ. Tokyo has a wonderful Orthodox cathedral with many services and a friendly and open Orthodox community – but being out of my comfort zone and away from my routines – I still struggled.
I am therfore sharing this here – if you can, avoid long travels during fasts and especially during the Great lent. I was humbled very quickly and the lesson it taught me is something I will carry with me forever. I am weak and need all the peace and balance possible to even try to attain some sort of prayerful state that is so important always, and especially during lent.
Tokyo is a Great city – but perhaps best visited outside the Great lent.
During my master research I wrote a bit about the general view on Greeks in Moscow in the 17th c, most notably before the Nikonian reforms.
Russia was on its rise and was de facto the only sovereign Orthodox state in the 17th century with an Orthodox leader. This role of world leader for Orthodoxy, the Russians saw as being given to them in succession from the Greeks and the fallen Byzantine Empire. The orthodoxy of the Greeks was not doubted from a historical point of view. The consensus that the faith came from them was clear and never questioned. This notion wasn’t so clear in this regard in the 17th century however. The fall of the secular aspect of the empire, the city of Constantinople, was just one of the falls as seen by Russians. There was a strong belief in Russia that the Greeks of Constantinople had not just fallen to the Ottomans, but also into heresy in some degree.
The council of Ferrara-Florence in the 15th century was the first argument for this. At this council, all the Greek bishops signed a Union with the Papist Rome – except St. Mark of Ephesus. It was viewed upon in Russia that the Greeks had sacrificed the purity of the faith in order to try to get military help. This union was seen by many as the cause for the fall of Constantinople and rise of Moscow – the Ottoman invasion was seen as God’s punishment on the Greeks for their union with the arch-heretic, the Pope of Rome. After the fall of Constantinople many in Russia continued to question the orthodoxy of the Greeks. Ware writes that during the 15th and 16th century it was very common for Greeks to celebrate liturgies and commune together with the Latins – de facto in practice be in full eucharistic communion with them.
Another historical fact that is striking is that which tells us that Greek clergy were not allowed to celebrate liturgies while in Moscow, due to their much too close affiliation with not just the papist, but also the Muslims. The clergy of the Phanar in Constantinople was said to be at very good terms with the Sultan, with many speculating that the Sultan himself approved new clergy and bishops before ordinations. Those friendly towards the sultan Greeks were to be called “the Phanarians”, something used in a negative way up until the modern day. Many Greek clergy let their hair grow long and they shaved their faces – the Russians viewed shaving as a papist practice and the long hair as a Muslim influence or something imposed by the Ottomans. It is interesting to point out that shaving the beard was forbidden by the Russian Stoglav council of 1551 – which explains these negative views on this practice done by the Greeks.
In order to correctly understand the situation of the Greeks of Constantinople, one must remember that only a few decades prior to the Ottoman invasion, the city of Constantinople was the cultural and spiritual capital of the Byzantine orthodox world. Hence the fall of the city into the hands of the Ottomans affected all aspects of life within the now ruined Byzantine Empire as well as outside the borders of the Empire which the Greeks often called “land of the Barbarians”. This notion of Rus being the land of the Barbarians was something that remained in its essence within the Greeks – and it was something that the Russian did everything they could to counter by showing that they now de facto were the sole defenders of Orthodoxy.
The view on Greeks during the years prior to and during the reforms were mixed with a tilt of negativity. While there was complete authority given to the great Greek Church fathers and saints – there were serious doubts about the contemporary practices of the Greeks. As history showed us however, an influential minority in Moscow viewed the Greeks in a more then positive light, putting their trust entirely in their orthodoxy and basing the reforms on the Greek practices.
My master research was about the Nikonian reforms in Russia in the 17th century and about the emergence of the Old Believers that took place as a direct consequence of the schism that the reforms causes. This is a small part about the Priestless Old Believers that I wrote – I might continue to post more of the text in the future. I find the Priestless very interesting to study and their theological views, especially on the Church and the nature of the Church, are very interesting.
The Bezpopovtsy, the priestless Old Believers, believe in the most basic teaching that the Antichrist is reigning in the world – and this Antichrist manifested himself in the reforms. They believe that anyone who has used the new reformed rite have lost their apostolic succession – which is why they reject any clergy or hierarchy. This is also why they don’t partake of the Holy Eucharist at all and in most cases just have baptism as a mystery and a sort of confession to elders in some form – but without any absolution as such. They are much more fundamental in their rejection of the reforms and tie it closely to the eschatology of the Church. They preached the imminent end of the world right after the schism took place and an adherence to the old faith above all. There are many different separate communities of the Bezpopovtsy and they are usually very closed and cautious towards the outer world. They completely reject any worldly ideologies and try to block any influence of the Antichrist on them and their faith.
The most fundamental belief held by the Bezpopovtsy is the before mentioned already happened coming of the Antichrist, which they believe manifested itself in the Church reforms done by Nikon and his supporters. Anyone wishing to join the Bezpopovtsy must be baptized – regardless of the baptism they might have had before (Православная энциклопедия p. 704-724) . The liturgical practices of the Bezpopovtsy are based, with modifications, on the traditional monastic cycle of prayers, called sometimes the “prayers of the hours” – the Horologion. All parts in the service books that should be normally said by a deacon or priest, are omitted and the Ektenias are replaced with various numbers of “Gospodi Pomiluj” (Lord have mercy). Because of the lack of clergy and the divine liturgy, the Bezpopovtsy churches usually lack an altar and a classic iconostasis separating the Most Holy place from the rest of the church. Instead they have an iconostasis placed on the eastern wall of the church. This iconostasis looks as a typical one. In some cases, the Bezpopovtsy have inherited churches from groups that have priests and might keep the iconostasis as it classically was – but remove the altar from inside the sanctuary.
Directly after the reforms, priests who were ordained prior to the reforms were accepted as fully valid by these groups – however after some time passed they all had died and so groups who rejected clergy ordained in the new rite became what is today known as the Bezpopovtsy. The year mostly associated with the begging of this movement is usually 1694 when there took place a sort of Old Believers council in Nizhni Novgorod. On this council the priesthood was rejected due to the death of all bishops and priest ordained in the old rite, or as Bezpopovtsy would say, ordained in the real Orthodox Faith, or Old faith. They also viewed and view the Nikonians as the tools of Satan. While their rejection of the priesthood has today become their most famous belief, they have had made attempts to find clergy that adhered to the old faith and practices. There was even a trip made in 1730 by a group to Palestine in an attempt to find “real” priests, i.e. not corrupted(Православная энциклопедия p. 704-724). In 1765, there was a meeting of the Bezpopovtsy and a group of Old Believers accepting the priesthood and an attempt to unite under one bishop was made – the idea was to take the uncorrupted hand from the relics of St. Metropolitan of Moscow Jonah and put it on the head of the candidate, de facto consecrating him bishop with a dead saintly bishop’s hands (Православная энциклопедия p. 704-724).
In my PhD work, I have one chapter dedicated to a (brief) history of Liturgical authority and legislation within the Orthodox Church, with a focus on the Byzantine Church.
As this blog is named after the Trisagion hymn that we so often chant in Church and during private prayer, I thought it fitting to shortly share what I found about its origin in the Divine liturgy (not its initial origin as a prayer – but how it became part of the eucharistic liturgy).
Orthodoxy is very often, and sometimes rightly so, accused of being too close to state powers at various points in history – but this is actually a good fruit of such a relationship. Why? Emperor Theodosius was actually the one who ordered the Church the singing of the Trisagion hymn to be part of the liturgy. This took place in the 5th century, as claimed by St. John Damascene (St. John Damascene, De Fide Orthodox, Chapter 10).
In the Church of Constantinople, the Emperor had of course a very special place. So much so that he personally could and did, as we see, affect the liturgical practices of the Church. This authority was of course not an official teaching of the Church; however, it is clear it existed and did so largely due to the understanding of the Emperor as the Christian Autocrat, a divinely appointed universal Emperor. The Emperor was not secular rule – he was God-appointed rule.
We will be judged by the fruits of our labours and actions – this seems to be a good fruit of Emperor Theodosius.
I am an Orthodox Christian PhD student in theology in Paris. As many of you know I posted things on my Facebook and/or Instagram – but I thought I might collect everything in one place. I will here post all things connected to my theological studies and Orthodoxy overall. I did my bachelor on St. Justin Popović, my Masters on the Nikonian reforms and the Old Believers in Russia and my PhD is about the first Uniate (Greek Catholic) service book and the union of Brest – so my posts will be about these things and all in between that – overall about things connected to the Orthodox faith. God bless you all and pray for me.
Priest Phillip Calington 