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"No one man, or group of men, can himself speak for the Church of Christ.  It is nonetheless possible to speak from within the Church, in conformity with Orthodox tradition; and it is this that we shall attempt to do."

Fr. Seraphim Rose Orthodox Word #1 Jan-Feb 1965 p. 17

The Nine Ranks of Angels

The Celebration of the Sobor (Assemblage) of the Leader of the Heavenly Hosts Michael, and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Hosts Commemorated on November 8 (Church Calendar)       The Celebration of the Sobor (Assemblage) of the Leader of the Heavenly Hosts Michael, and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Hosts was established at the beginning of the IV Century at the local Laodician Council, which occurred several years before the First OEcumenical Council. The Laodician Council by its 35th Canon condemned and renounced as heretical the worship of angels as creators and rulers of the world and it affirmed their proper Orthodox veneration. A feastday was established in November – the ninth month from March (with which month the year began in ancient times) – in accordance with the 9 Ranks of Angels. The eighth day of the month was decreed for the intended Sobor (Assemblage) of all the Heavenly Powers – in conjunction with the Day of the Dread Last-Judgement of God, which the holy fathers called the "Eighth Day", – since after this age in which the seven days [of Creation] have elapsed will come the "Eighth Day", – and then "shalt come the Son of Man in His Glory and all the holy Angels together with Him" (Mt. 25: 31).        The Angelic Ranks are divided into three Hierarchies: – highest, middle, and lowest. In the Highest Hierarchy are included the three Ranks: the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. Closest of all to the MostHoly Trinity stand the six-winged Seraphim [Seraphimy] (Flaming, and Fiery) (Is. 6: 12). They blaze with love for God and impel others to it.       After the Seraphim there stand before the Lord the many-eyed Cherubim [Cheruvimy] (Gen. 3: 24). Their name means: outpouring of wisdom, enlightenment, since through them, – radiating with the light of Divine-knowledge and understanding of the mysteries of God, there is sent down wisdom and enlightenment for true Divine-knowledge.       After the Cherubim – stand God-bearing through grace given them for their service, the Thrones [Prestoly] (Col. 1: 16), mysteriously and incomprehensibly upholding God. They serve the uprightness of God's justice.       The Middle Angelic Hierarchy consists of three Ranks: Dominions, Powers, and Authorities.       Dominions [Gospodstva] (Col. 1: 16) hold dominion over the successive ranks of Angels. They instruct the earthly authorities, established from God, to wise governance. The Dominions influence rule by miracles, they quell sinful impulses, subordinate the flesh to the spirit, and provide mastery over the will to conquer temptation.        Powers [Sily] (1 Pet. 3: 22) fulfill the will of God. They work the miracles and send down the grace of wonderworking and perspicacity to saints pleasing to God. The Powers give assist to people in bearing obediences, encourage them in patience, and give them spiritual strength and fortitude.       Authorities [Vlasti] (1 Pet. 3: 22, Col. 1: 16) have authority to quell the power of the devil. They repel from people demonic temptations, uphold ascetics and guard them, helping people in the struggle with evil ponderings.       In the Lowest Hierarchy are included the three Ranks: Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.       Principalities [Nachala] (Col. 1: 16) have command over the lower angels, instructing them in the fulfilling of Divine commands. To them are entrusted to direct the universe, and protect lands, nations and peoples. Principalities instruct people to render honour to everyone, as becomes their station. They teach those in authority to fulfill their necessary obligations, not for personal glory and gain, but out of respect for God and benefit for neighbour.       Archangels [Arkhangely] (1 Thess. 4: 16) announce about the great and most holy, they reveal the mysteries of the faith, prophecy and understanding of the will of God, they intensify deep faith in people, enlightening their minds with the light of the Holy Gospel.        Angels [Angely] (1 Pet. 3: 22)are closest to all to people. They proclaim the intent of God, guiding people to virtuous and holy life. They protect believers restraining them from falling, and they raise up the fallen; never do they abandon us and always they are prepared to help us, if we so desire.       All the Ranks of the Heavenly Powers have in common the name Angels – by virtue of their service. The Lord reveals His will to the highest of the Angels, and they in turn inform the others.        Over all the Nine Ranks, the Lord put the Holy Leader ("Archistrategos") Michael (his name in translation from the Hebrew means – "who is like unto God") – a faithful servitor of God, wherein he hurled down from Heaven the arrogantly proud day‑star Lucifer together with the other fallen spirits. And to the remaining Angelic powers he cried out: "Let us attend! Let us stand aright before our Creator and not ponder that which is displeasing unto God!" According to Church tradition, in the church service to the Archistrategos Michael concerning him, he participated in many other Old Testament events. During the time of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt he went before them in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Through him the power of the Lord was made manifest, annihilating the Egyptians and Pharaoh who were in pursuit of the Israelites. The Archangel Michael defended Israel in all its misfortunes.        He appeared to Jesus Son of Navin (Joshua) and revealed the will of the Lord at the taking of Jericho (Nav. / Josh. 5: 13-16). The power of the great Archistrategos of God was manifest in the annihilation of the 185 thousand soldiers of the Assyrian emperor Sennacherib (4 [2] Kings 19: 35); also in the smiting of the impious leader Antiochos Illiodoros; and in the protecting from fire of the Three Holy Youths – Ananias, Azarias and Misail, thrown into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worship an idol (Dan. 3: 22‑25).       Through the will of God, the Archistrategos Michael transported the Prophet Avvakum (Habbakuk) from Judea to Babylon, so as to give food to Daniel, locked up in a lions' den (Kondak of Akathist, 8).       The Archangel Michael prevented the devil from displaying the body of the holy Prophet Moses to the Jews for idolisation (Jude 1: 9).       The holy Archangel Michael showed his power when he miraculously saved a lad, cast by robbers into the sea with a stone about his neck at the shores of Athos (Athos Paterikon).       From ancient times the Archangel Michael was famed by his miracles in Rus'. In the Volokolamsk Paterikon there is included a narrative of the Monk Paphnutii of Borovsk with an account of Tatar "baskaki" (tax-gatherers) concerning the miraculous saving of Novgorod the Great: "And wherefore Great Novgorod never was taken by the Hagarites... when by the sufferance of God for our sins the godless Hagarite emperor Batu devoured and set aflame the Russian land and was come to the New City (i.e. Novgorod) and God and the MostHoly Mother of God shielded it with an appearance of Michael the Archistrategos, which did forbid him to enter into it. He [Batu] was come to the Lithuanian city and did come towards Kiev and did see the stone church over the doors of which the great Archangel Michael had written and spoken unto the prince his allotted fate: 'By this we have forbidden entry into Great Novgorod'".       Intercession for Russian cities by the MostHoly Queen of Heaven always involved Her appearances with the Heavenly Hosts, under the leadership of the Archistategos. Grateful Rus' acclaimed the MostPure Mother of God and the Archangel Michael in church singing. To the Archistrategos Michael are dedicated many a monastery, cathedrals, court and merchant churches. In old Kiev at the time of the accepting of Christianity, there was erected a cathedral of the Archangel, and a monastery also was built in his name. Archangel cathedrals stand at Smolensk, Nizhni Novgorod, Staritsa, a monastery at Great Ustiug (beginning XIII Century), and a cathedral at Sviyazhsk. In Rus' there was not a city, wherein was not a church or chapel, dedicated to the Archangel Michael. One of the chief temples of the city of Moscow – the burial church in the Kremlin – is dedicated to him. Numerous and beautiful icons of the Chief-in-Rank of the Highest Powers are also in his Cathedral. One of these – the Icon "Blest Soldiery" –written in the Uspenie (Dormition) Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, where the saintly soldiers – Russian princes – are depicted under the leadership of the Archistrategos Michael.       From Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are likewise known the Archangels: Gabriel – strength (power) of God, herald and servitor of Divine almightiness (Dan. 8: 16, Lk. 1: 26); Raphael – the healing of God, the curer of human infirmities (Tobit 3: 16, 12: 15); Uriel – the fire or light of God, enlightener (3 Ezdras 5: 20); Selaphiel – the prayer of God, impelling to prayer (3 Ezdras 5: 16); Jehudiel – the glorifying of God, encouraging exertion for the glory of the Lord and interceding about the reward of efforts; Barachiel – distributor of the blessing of God for good deeds, entreating the mercy of God for people; Jeremiel – the raising up to God (3 Ezdras 4:36).       On icons the Archangels are depicted in accord with the trait of their service:       Michael – tramples the devil underfoot, and in his left hand holds a green date-tree branch, and in his right hand – a spear with a white banner (or sometimes a fiery sword), on which is outlined a scarlet cross.       Gabriel – with a branch from paradise, presented by him to the MostHoly Virgin, or with a shining lantern in his right hand and with a mirror made of jasper – in his left.       Raphael – holds a vessel with healing medications in his left hand, and with his right hand leads Tobias, carrying the fish [for healing – Tobit 5-8].       Uriel – in raised right hand hold a bare sword at the level of his chest, and in his lowered left hand – "a fiery flame".       Selaphiel – in a prayerful posture, gazing downwards, hands folded to the chest.       Jehudiel – in his right hand holds a golden crown, in his left – a whip of three red (or black) branches.       Barachiel – on his garb are a multitude of rose blossoms.       Jeremiel – holds in his hand balance-scales. © 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos. _____________________ We know the names of only these few angels listed above.    (Notice that Cupid is not on the list.  Cupid is a demon.) For a story about the Archangel Raphael, see the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha.

A Demonic Vision and a Heavenly Vision

The unfortunate vision of Euthymios told in his own words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UgV87UbcA4

______________________________________

A Genuine Vision

At the death of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop Adelphios of Arabessos, suffered profound grief, because St. John had died in exile after having been deposed.  Bishop Adelphios prayed to know where St. John abides in heaven.  The Vision of Bishop Adelphios is included in the Great Synaxaristes, November page 571.

The Vision of Bishop Adelphios

Bishop Adelphios, who warmly received the saint of God in Koukousos, learned of the saint's repose.  He mourned his friend's departure and entreated God with tears that he might reveal what blessedness John attained.  He was pained by the thought that Saint John was deposed.  He desired to know if the saint was among the bishops or the laity in the heavenly mansions.  He implored God to reveal which rank of saints his friend was now to be found among.  Adelphios was granted his request while praying, though he was unsure whether he was in the body or out of the body, but was in a kind of ecstasy, where he beheld a radiant youth.  He took Bishop Adelphios by the hand and led him to a wondrous place where he beheld the choir of the holy teachers of the Church.  Bishop Adelphios carefully examined each countenance, but alas, he did not see John.  Bishop Adelphios was much distressed by the saint's absence.  Another angel took him by the hand, and asked, "Why art thou departing from this place with a heavy heart?  If anyone should enter sorrowing, they leave cheered.  Though thou didst enter with cheer, yet thou departest in sorrow!"  Bishop Adelphios admitted, "The reason I am grieved is that I thought I would see my beloved John among the choir of Church leaders."  The angel said, "So thou considerest John a preacher of repentance?"  "Yea," said the bishop.  Another angel, standing at the gates of paradise, said, "A man still in the body is unable to see the holy John.  He stands before the throne of the Lord, which is surrounded by the cherubim and seraphim!"  Hearing such news, Bishop Adelphios glorified God Who vouchsafed him this mystery.  Thus, Saint John, after passing through many fiery trials in his lifetime, emerged as victor and now rejoiced before the throne of God, glorifying the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This account is given by St. John Moschos, Pratum spirituale 128 (87, 2992-2993); George Amartolos, Chronicon lib. IV. CC.III (110, 737); and George Kedrenos, HC (121, 633-636).

Discussion:

For every miracle of God, Satan has a cheap substitute.

When the demons see that somebody has become a firm believer, then one trick they use is to present the believer with a false Christ.  Euthymios' experience is loaded with clues, one after another, that this was a demonic experience.  Everything was there except the light at the end of the tunnel...

Just calling it "an experience" should be the first tip-off that something is amiss.

Another clue is that Euthymios tells the story to anyone, – a true visit from God would be hard to reveal to anyone, and then only with great caution.

• Unconditional love:

In the presence of God, the saints have always reported godly fear.  Such as St. Paul when he was blinded.  Or St. Peter, after the great catch of fish.  Unconditional love is what some people report experiencing in "confession" with the pseudo-elder Ephraim.  Unconditional love is a worldly idea.  The term is not used in the Orthodox description of God's attributes.

• Sleep Paralysis.
This is undeniable definite evidence of the demonic.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

Read in the wiki definition of sleep paralysis.

Many people who experience sleep paralysis are struck with a deep sense of terror when they sense a menacing presence in the room while paralyzed. 

I don't see how any cases of sleep paralysis could have a scientific explanation – it is so clearly a paranormal thing.  I know a man who experienced this every night with nightly visits from the demons who were punishing him for renouncing witchcraft.  Here is another case.

https://app.box.com/s/pt8uij4nwf4pfykrqy4ab4qynkv54cp3

See the article "Never Kneel" page 13 in the PDF, page 24 of the magazine

What verified genuine vision from heaven causes sleep paralysis?  It is not uncommon for people who have had heavenly visions to report that they are not sure if they were awake or asleep, but nobody reports sleep paralysis in a genuine visit from heaven.

• The demon was speaking to Euthymios "in tongues" where Euthymios did not know the language but understood (interpreted) the words on another level.  Same as charismatics.  Is it surprising to learn that Euthymios was taken to charismatic churches by his parents as a child?

• We see at the end of the video there is a message for the world:  like so many demonic encounters.

• In another You Tube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj-6ivz8PzQ Euthymios reveals what God told him about his future: that Euthymios was going to do something very pleasing to God in the future.  This is a very typical prophesy ("word") given by the charismatic demons.

• Note the obvious absence of humility.   From the Desert Fathers comes this anecdote: 

The devil appeared to a very humble monk as an angel of light and told him, in order to pull him down into arrogance: "I am Gabriel and I came to salute you, for you have many virtues and are worthy."

"Look, you must have made a mistake," the humble monk answered, without losing his composure.  "I am still living in sin, and for this reason I am not worthy to see angels."

• To learn to discern false visions from true, read lives of saints for more examples of true heavenly visitations.  And for specific information on the charismatic demons, read Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future by Fr. Seraphim Rose.  Also, read Soul After Death which discusses the now popular near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences.

Scriptural Basis of the Orthodox Faith

Theology - The Orthodox Church

The Scriptural Basis of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Bishop Anatolius of Mohilew and Mstislaw

An excellent book for explaining to Protestants and others who accept the Holy Scriptures as a guide, that the Church established by Christ has been maintained by the Holy Spirit and still exists - the Orthodox Church. Practices, tradition, doctrine of the Orthodox Church are answered by scriptural references. Concise, yet comprehensive. Prayerful reading of it can only lead to the eventual conclusion that The Church is the Orthodox Church. 0-89981-028-4 Price: .50 [3 copies for $1.00]

http://easternorthodoxbooks.blogspot.com

Scriptural Basis of the Orthodox Faith

   The Orthodox Faith

Anatolis, Bishop of Mohilew and Mstislaw

   Translated by Nicholas Bjerring

original edition 1873, Reprinted 1974

Eastern Orthodox Books

The Orthodox Faith

"If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater."  

I John v. 9

"Without faith," dear brethren, "it is impossible to please God," thus teaches the inspired Apostle St. Paul, "for he that cometh to God, must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" [Heb. xi. 6].  "For what man knoweth that things of a man, save the spirit of man, which is in him?  even so the things of God, knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" [I Cor. ii. 11].  God, in his infinite goodness, has revealed to his Church such a knowledge concerning Himself, that human reason, in its own strength, and by its own exertions, is unable to attain to an equal knowledge.  But, if God has revealed Himself to us, then we can make no more blessed use of our reason, than to subject it to the belief in the divine revelation, to believe the Word of God; for if reason cannot but sanction a belief in human testimony, then without all doubt the divine testimony merits from us a greater belief.  "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater," saith St. John [I John v. 9], and the truth of his revelation God in his own time confirmed by supernatural signs of his omnipotence, -- by wonders and prophesies.  

In accordance, then with the divine revelation, and with the teaching of the Church, we believe in one God [Deut. vi 4; I Tim. i. 17], in three Persons, who in the Holy Scriptures are called God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost [Matt. xxviii. 19].  God the Father was not born, and does not proceed from another person; God the Son was born before all eternity; God the Holy Ghost proceeds before all eternity, from the only God the Father; but these three Persons of the most Holy Trinity are of perfectly equal divine dignity.  This triune, self-existing [Ex. iii. 14], eternal [Is. xli. 4; Ps. xc. 2], infinite [Luke 1. 33; Ps. cii 28], omnipresent [Jer. xxiii. 24], all-wise [Rom. xi. 33], omniscient [I John iii. 20], all-good [Ps. cxlv. 9], all-just [Ps. cxlv. 17], all-holy [I Sam. ii. 2], and omnipotent [Ps. cxv. 3]. 

God, in the beginning of time, called by his omnipotent Word the visible and invisible world [Gen. i. 1] into being from nothing; that is, first God created the blessed realm of his own glory, when He gave to the purest spirits of angels their being [Job xxxviii. 6,7].  In the beginning all the angels were good and holy.  Some of them, immovable in holiness, in love, and in striving after good, constantly praise God [Ps. ciii 20], and fulfill his counsels respecting nations, countries, and [Is. vi. 3] churches; and even every single believer receives through the blessing of God in baptism, a guardian angel [Matt. xviii.10].  These angels, however are of assistance in the attainment of salvation, only to those whose own will it is to inherit eternal life.  [Heb. i. 14; John i. 12; Ps. xxxiv. 8].  Other angels have not remained steadfast in goodness, but have sinned before God [Jude 6]; and having remained forever in wickedness, have become the eternal enemies of God and man; and who endeavor, with all kinds of temptation, to bring men under the yoke of sin [II Thess. ii. 9, 10], in order to plunge us into the same misery to which they are themselves subjected [Matt. xii. 43, xxv. 41; IIPet. ii. 4]; wherefore they are called devils [John viii. 44].  

After the creation of the spirits, the triune God created in six days out of nothing, by his sole word, "Let it be!"  the visible world, i.e. the habitable earth, the surrounding firmament, besides all the lights of Heaven, all that fills the earth, the worlds, and the air; and finally, the first man [Gen. i. 3-28], from whom is descended the whole human race [Acts xvii. 26].  God first formed from earth the body of the first man, Adam, breathed into him an immortal soul [Gen. ii. 7], and formed out of his rib a companion [Gen. ii. 22] during a deep sleep, into which God had caused him to fall.  The first man, since, through the grace of God, he was innocent and free from sin [Eccl. vii. 30], resembled not only the angels of God,  but had in himself even the image of God [Gen. i. 27], which immediately at his creation was granted him, i.e. he possessed clear and perfect wisdom [Gen. ii. 20, 23], his will striving only after goodness [Eph. iv. 24], so that in his heart, true righteousness and holiness burned with pure love to God alone; therefore the conscience of the first man was calm and peaceful.  In such a state our first parents held complete dominion over all the creatures surrounding them [Gen. i. 26], and even the abode of our first father, called Eden [Gen. ii. 8], was a place of unspeakable bliss and purest joys.  

Had our first parents continued in the state of innocence, and had they kept the commandment given them by God, they would have remained blissful, not only themselves, but they would also have transmitted their immortality and bliss to their posterity -- the whole human race.  But the original innocence and felicity of our first parents ceased as soon as, having been seduced by the evil spirit that had entered into the serpent, they had eaten of the fruit of the tree forbidden by God [Gen. ii. 16, 17].  By the transgression of the divine commandment, they plunged themselves and the whole human race into the saddest and most miserable condition [Rom. v. 14].  Since that time we are begotten from sinful seed, conceived in sin [Ps. li. 7]; all the inclinations of the heart draw man to evil from early childhood [Gen. vi. 5].  Evil thoughts and desires are constantly arising in his reason and mind [Rom. vii. 18]; each human being feels in himself an overbalance of sinful emotions above good and blissful wishes [Rom. vii. 19]; all men have become objects of the anger of divine justice [Eph. ii. 3]; the whole human race has come to resemble the leper, who is not able to help himself by his own strength.  None among men, even among the just, could discover any remedy to satisfy the divine justice for the sins of the human race; for also the just feared the divine judgment, since they felt in themselves the power of sin [I John i. 8]; no angel, however exalted in nature, was able to restore man to his pristine condition, to open to him anew the ways to eternal salvation, for creative power was thereto necessary [Eph. ii. 10]; no created spirit ventured to take upon itself the mediation of reconciling man to God, because the offended God -- an infinite being -- needed an infinite satisfaction -- a sacrifice of inestimable worth [Heb. vii. 23, 24].  

But God, foreseeing from all eternity the miserable condition of mankind, caused by the fall of our first parents, had predetermined, moved by his goodness and love, to give us again eternal felicity [Eph. i. 4].  To this end, it pleased our Heavenly Father, before the creation of the world, that man should again be placed in a condition, in which it would be possible for him to attain eternal happiness [John iii. 6].  The only Son of God willed to become man [Ps. xl. 7,8], in order to satisfy the justice of God for the sins of mankind, and to offer men the means of their redemption [Heb. x. 7-10]; at the time it pleased the Holy Ghost to come to us, to sanctify and renew us [Tit. iii. 5].  But in order that it may be known to men if only in part, what great benefits the mercy of God has designed for the human race, the Holy Spirit has revealed in the Sacred Scriptures, and we believe, that the second Person in the Holy Trinity, who redeemed us from sin and eternal death, is the only Son of God [John i. 18], the Wisdom [Prov. viii. 22] and the Word of the Heavenly Father [John i. 1].  He was begotten of God the Father before all eternity, in an inconceivable manner without passions; true God [I John v. 20] from the true God, being of one essence in the Godhead with the Father [John x. 30], by whom every thing has been created [John i. 3].  As of the light that is seen in the sun, that light is born, which being of one and the same nature with the first, is seen in the whole world.

From the beginning of the world thus had been predicted by God, step by step in several and manifold ways, the advent of the Son of God in the flesh into the world [Gen. iii. 15, xii. 3, xxvi. 4]; and not only was foretold by the prophets the time of his appearing [Gen. xlix. 10; Dan. ix. 24-27], but also the signs had been stated by which He was to be known [Is. vii. 14, xi. 1,2, liii. 4-12; Micah v. 2; Zach. ix. 9; Ps. ii. 2].  Finally, in the fullness of the time, these predictions, prophecies, and descriptions of his appearing were realized; and we believe, that the only Son of God, through the agency of the most Holy Spirit, descended into the body of the Holiest Virgin Mary [Luke 1. 35], took flesh from her purest blood [John i. 14], perfectly like ours, sin excepted, and in taking a human soul [John x. 17, 18; Acts ii. 27, 31], became true man [I Tim. ii. 5], without ceasing to be true God [Rom. ix. 5]; so the He is God-man, called on earth Jesus Christ, in whose person two natures, the divine and the human, are united, unmixed, unchanged, undivided, and inseparable.  [*Dogma of the Fourth General Council of the Church]  Therefore is the ever-Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ, the true bringer-forth of God [Is. vii. 14; Luke i. 43], without all comparison, more worthy of praise than the Cherubim, and more glorious than the Seraphim.  At the same time we believe that our Lord and God Jesus Christ, after He had taken human nature and human weakness, although proving his divinity  by miracles, which before his coming had been unheard of [Matt. viii. 3, 13, ix. 22, xii. 13, xiv. 19, 25; Luke xvii. 14; John v. 8, ix. 43], yet became poor for or sakes [II Cor. viii. 9], suffered in the course of his life different dangers [Matt. ii. 13; Luke iv. 29], denials, and troubles [Mark xi. 12; Luke ix. 58], calumniations, humiliation, and persecutions; that finally, after He had illuminated us with the light of the true knowledge of God [John i. 18], and had revealed to us the will of the Heavenly Father [John vi 40], having been betrayed by his disciple for the satisfaction of the sins of the human race [I Tim. ii. 6; John i. 29], He suffered revilings, disgrace, and the torture of the Cross; died and was buried under Pontius Pilate [Matt. xxvi. 47-75, xxvii].  His body being in the grave, our Savior's soul descended into hell, to liberate thence the souls of those, who from the beginning of the world, awaited his appearing [I Peter iii. 18-20]; Eph. iv. 8, 9], but on the third day after his burial, He rose from the grave by the power of his divinity.  

After the resurrection He appeared frequently within forty days to his disciples, in order to instruct them continually in the secrets of His divine kingdom [Acts i. 3].  The work of redemption being completed, our Lord Jesus Christ ascended in his flesh to heaven, before the eyes of His disciples [Acts i. 9], and is now sitting at the right hand of God [Mark xvi. 19], i.e., He received  also in his humanity all power in heaven and on earth [Matt. xxviii. 18], for the promoting of the kingdom of grace, or the Holy Church instituted by Him [I Cor. xv. 25].  Directing for this purpose all the changes arising in the world, the Savior defends his Church by his providence, from all secret and open calumniation, malice, and persecutions of the enemy, so that the gates of  hell shall not prevail against it [Matt. xvi. 18]; but for the continual edification of the Church, in which according to his promise, He is always present by grace [Matt. xxviii. 20], He institutes by the Holy Ghost her priests and teachers [Eph. iv. 11, 12], and directs and guides them by the same [John xvi. 13], to use the Word of His truth aright; wherefore the Church can never apostatize from the faith, or lack in the truth, or fall into error.  Thus, trusting in the doctrine of the Holy Apostles, we acknowledge that our Lord Jesus Christ is the only chief Shepherd [I Pet. v. 4], the only mediator between God and man [I Tim. ii. 5], the only High Priest separate from among sinners [Heb. vii. 26], the only Head of His Body -- the Holy Church [Eph. i. 22, 23], the only King of this his kingdom of grace [Luke i. 33; I Cor. xv. 25]; for the Church is exclusively the kingdom of God on earth [Mark i. 15; I Pet. ii. 9], and Jesus Christ is God, who will not give his glory to another [Is. xlii. 8].  Christ's kingdom of grace shall continue to the end of the world [I Cor. xv. 25].  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with Him [Matt. xxv. 31], to judge the quick and the dead [John v. 29]; then shall follow the kingdom of glory and felicity, of which there shall be no end [Luke i. 33].  

We also believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, who before all eternity, in an unconceivable manner, proceeds from the same God the Father [John xv. 26]; and we acknowledge, moreover, at the same time, that according to this procession, the Holy Ghost is true God [Acts. v. 3, 4], from the true God [I Cor. iii. 17; II Cor. vi. 16]], of one substance with God the Father and God the Son [I Cor. ii. 11; Matt. x. 20; Gal. iv. 6]; to be adored and praised together with the Father and the Son [Matt. xxviii. 19]; that the Holy Spirit spoke by the Prophets and the Apostles [II Pet. i. 20, 21], that through the mediation [John xiv. 16], and for the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, He guides us in the way of repentance [Ps. xxxix. 11]; through the secret working of his grace, awakens in us groanings of prayer [Rom. viii. 26], begins in us every good action, and cooperates with us in completing the same [Phil. ii. 13]; cleanses us from sin, and sanctifies us through the means of the mysteries or sacraments of the Holy Church [Tit. iii. 5, 6], and impresses upon our heart the pledge of the spirit of adoption [Rom. viii. 15], and leads every true believer to salvation.  

We believe, moreover, in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church; acknowledge that she is therefore one, because true believers in Christ, in whatever times or regions they live, form one spiritual body [Eph. iv. 4-6], which as the body of Christ [Col. i. 24], has one head Christ the Savior [Eph. i. 22], and is animated by one Spirit of God.  We believe that the Church is holy, because sanctified through the doctrine, through the sufferings and the blood of Jesus Christ [Eph. v. 25-27], she is yet continually sanctified by the prayers and the gracious mysteries of the New Testament.  We acknowledge that the Church is Catholic or universal, because she is not limited to any place, to any time, or to any people [Col. i. 5, 6, iii. 11], but comprehends the true believers of all places, of all times and nations [Gal. iii. 9].  We call the Church Apostolic and Orthodox for reason that, although as the building of God, she can have no other foundation than Jesus Christ [I Cor. iii. 10, 11], she yet is built upon the doctrine of all the Apostles, which doctrine the Church also holds unchangeable, in the sense and understanding of the Apostles and Prophets [Eph. ii. 19-21], since in this way she preserves uninterruptedly from the Apostles the succession of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, by means of the ordination of her priests and teachers by the imposition of hands [Acts xiii. 1-4].  At the same time, we acknowledge it the duty of our conscience to follow the doctrine, the ordinances, the statutes, and the guidance of the Holy Church, because our Saviour in reference to the  shepherds of the Church said: "He that heareth you, heareth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me" [Luke x. 16]; and because whoever shall neglect to hear the Church, shall be as a heathen and a publican [Matt. xviii. 17].  

Finally we invoke in our needs and in our repentance the saints whose lives have been well pleasing to God, because standing on a higher grade of nearness to Him, they beautify, strengthen, and bring to God by their intercession, the prayers of the faithful [Rev. viii. 3, 4].   

We surrender to the mercy of God the souls of those departed in the faith, who have failed to do worthy repentance [II Macc. xii. 43], hoping that the prayers that are offered for them may help them in securing a blessed resurrection, especially when they are connected with the offering  of the bloodless Sacrifice of the Body of Christ, as well as the charities which are brought trustingly in their memory [John xiv. 13].    

We acknowledge, moreover, and receive the New Testament mysteries [or Sacraments] of the Holy Church, inasmuch as we believe that in Holy Baptism we are born of the Holy Ghost to a spiritual and holy life [John iii. 5], and are become partakers of the evangelical grace [Mark xvi. 16], and we acknowledge only one baptism [Eph. iv. 5], because a man is born only once, either naturally or spiritually.  In the anointing of myrrh [or chrismation] we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which prosper and strengthen  us in the spiritual life [II Cor. i. 21, 22].  In the Holy Supper of the Lord, we receive, under the form of bread and wine, the real Body and the real Blood of Christ unto eternal life [John vi. 58].  In the confession, while the priest declares the forgiveness of the sins that have been confessed to him, we are freed from them invisibly by Jesus Christ Himself [Matt. xviii. 18].  In the ordination of priests, the Holy Ghost installs, by the imposition of Episcopal hands, regularly chosen men for the administration of the mysteries of Christ, and the feeding of his flock [Acts xx. 28].  In marriage, the matrimonial union between the bridegroom and the bride receives a higher blessing [Eph. v. 31, 32], and God is invoked in behalf of them, for the grace of pure harmony in the blessed production and the Christian education of children; in the last unction of the sick receive, by anointing the body with the holy oil, the infirmities of the soul, as well as of the body [Jas. v. 14, 15].  

Lastly, in the belief in Jesus Christ, we expect the resurrection of the dead, which shall take place at the time appointed in the counsels of God, -- through his omnipotence, at the end of this visible world, in which the bodies of the departed, united with their souls, shall arise and become spiritual, incorruptible, and imperishable [I Cor. xv. 53, 54], and shall appear before the tribunal of Christ [Matt. xxv. 32], at which every one shall receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad [II Cor. v. 10].

And we hope, that for the faithful, who love God and do good, there shall follow thereupon such a blissful life [Matt. xiii. 43], as we are not able to imagine [I Cor. xv. 49]; but that the unbelieving and impenitent sinners shall be cast into eternal fire, and given up to eternal pain [Matt. xxv. 41, 42].

Thus, dear brethren, the eternal truth itself, Christ our Savior has taught us.  This belief we have received from the Holy Apostles; such and no other doctrine our predecessors have held, and the general and local councils and the teachers of the Church have confirmed; our Orthodox Catholic Church follows this doctrine; for this faith the martyrs spilled their blood and preferred death to the present life.

Therefore, whoever abides firm and immovable in this faith even until death, testifying his belief by good works, so that neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword shall separate him from the love of God [Rom. viii. 35], the same shall without all doubt, attain eternal salvation!

--Amen

Photo of Fr. Seraphim praying

from Fr. Lawrence's collection

Fr. Lawrence was a bit over-zealous in his admiration of Fr. Seraphim.   Although it is possible, it is not likely that Fr. Seraphim is "beholding and apprehending heaven" in this photo.  

I read his face more down-to-earth, as if he could be praying intently to God asking Him to forgive him and his brothers, to show him how become a better servant, to cause his heart to love as He loves, to help and heal certain brothers in distress and to enlighten their blindnesses...etc.   All the while realizing how helpless and hopeless we are without Him, thanking Him, loving Him, etc., with all these feelings and more wrapped up into a simple, "Lord, have mercy."  For most of us this is all the Lord asks of us: heartfelt sincere attentive prayer.

more of Fr. Lawrence's collection here:

Fr. Lawrence Photo Gallery

https://picasaweb.google.com/FatherLawrence

try this links to reach photos:

https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sisqtel.net/~williams

Here is the link to photos related to Fr. Seraphim

https://web.archive.org/web/20040208033901/http://www.sisqtel.net:80/~williams/icons-pics.html

Fr. Seraphim about the Calendar

Fr. Seraphim's first calendar

NOTES ON THE CALENDAR

The date according to the Church (Julian) Calendar always precedes that of the civil calendar; whenever only one date appears, it is that of the Julian Calendar.  Scriptural references are according to the King James Version.

The Calendar follows the usage of the Russian Church Outside of Russia.  Some saints are commemorated on a different day in the Greek calendar.

To the list of saints in the Russian calendar, which incorporates the calendars of other Orthodox lands, have been added some recently-canonized saints of Greece and Rumania as well as those pre-Schism Western saints whose names have been approved by bishops of the Russian Church Outside of Russia.  The order of names in the daily list of saints follows in general the Russian calendars, except that those saints in some way directly connected with the American land have been placed first: St. Herman of Alaska (with New-martyrs Juvenal and Peter); Sts. Sergius and Herman, patrons of St. Herman's Valaam Monastery which sent the first missionaries to America; St. Innocent of Irkutsk, patron saint of the American Mission; and St. John of Kronstadt, first saint to be canonized in America.  The feast of the Repose of St. Herman (Nov. 15) is a local tradition of Spruce Island Hermitage, Alaska (Archimandrite Gerasim) and the St. Herman of Alaska Hermitage, Platina, California.

At the end of the daily list of saints there occasionally appear commemorations in italics: these are more recent ascetics, bishops, and martyrs not yet canonized, for whom it is appropriate to celebrate requiem services.

Saint Herman Orthodox Calendar

"The true Christian is a warrior fighting his way through the regiments of the unseen enemy to his heavenly homeland," taught St. Herman of Alaska.  The Orthodox Calendar is the record of the sources from which the Christian warrior must draw to fight this spiritual warfare; and what a source of inspiration it is!  On every day there are commemorated the God-pleasing combatants who have preceded us: prophets, apostles, martyrs, hierarchs, ascetics and monks, fools for Christ, so that their name and example will give us courage in battle and fervency in our Orthodox confession and life; for on the day of their commemoration in the Calendar, as the Blessed Metropolitan Philaret of Moascow has said, they draw especially near to the earth and are especially attentive to our prayers.  On every day readings from Holy Scripture are appointed as weapons for battle, so that the Orthodox Christian may learn daily to prepare himself with instruction from God's word in accordance with the lessons by which the Church wishes to enlighten and inspire us.  Likewise, the regular cycles of feast and fast are presented to that the individual Christian can integrate his life with the whole plan and history of battle which the Church sets before us.

The sacred Calendar of the Orthodox Church is quite distinct from the civil (originally papist) calendar of Western lands, the civil date being thirteen days in advance, and teh feasts dependent on the date of Pascha being almost always a week or more apart.  In this one may see a special providence of God to us Christians of these last times.  In a pagan world which just happens to preserve some of the outward signs of Chrstianity, it is often difficult for an Orthodox Christian to persueade others – and soemtimes even himself – that he is really not the same as those others who use the name of Christ out of habit, whilst neither correctly believing in Him nor accepting His Church.  But God has granted us weak ones the special grace of setting us apart from the world and its now-paganized "Christian" feasts.  What Orthodox American, for example, will not rejoice that he can celebrate the feast of Christ's Nativity in befitting quietness and solemnity, long after the vain and raucous spirit of "Santa Claus" has departed?  Or that, nonetheless, on the civil holiday of December 25 he is free to attend the services in honor of the first Saint of the American land, St. Herman of Alaska?  Or that for him Pascha remains a day apart, not confused with pagan "Easter rabbits"?  Or that even the diabolical mockery of "Halloween" is overcome for him by the new feast of the glorious wonderworker of our own country, St. John of Kronstadt?

The late Archibishop John Maximovitch of blessed memory, a shining light of inspiration to the Orthodox Christians of these times, always insisted that children in the church schools under his charge learn to observe the commemorations of the Church Calendar, unfailingly being absent from school on all the great feasts and on the feast of their own par\tro saint, and spending the day in attendance at the Divine Liturgy and in a manner befitting the feast.  While not making the observance of the traditional Calendar an issue of dogma, Archbishop John nonetheless emphasized its importance – apart from the obvious matters of the liturgical inadequacy of the "new" calendar and the uncanonical and anarchical manner in which it has been imposted – both as a matter of faithfulness to the Church's tradition, and as an expression of solidarity with those in Greece, in St. Herman's own monastery of Valaam, and elsewhere in our own century who have suffered and even died for this faithfulness.

The True Orthodox Christians of Greece who in the 1920's fought for the Orthodox Calendar affirmed that the violent imposition of the "new" calendar upon the faithful of Greece was only the first step in a whole program of ecclesiastical renovationism and capitulation to the spirit of this world that lies in evil.  History has already proved them correct.  It is therefore all the more important that we who are free to do so, without judging those who involuntarily find themselves under the yoke of the "new" calendar, should remain in the tradition handed down to us by the Holy Fathers.  In America, in particular, where there is no political pressure to change the Calendar, adherence to the traditional Church Calendar is rapidly becoming one of the distinguishing marks that separate the true from the false Orthodox.

And so, in the name of St. Herman of Alaska, patron of the true Orthodox Christians of this land, we present to the English-speaking Orthodox world for the first time the Church's complete Calendar, for the year 1972.  Each month is illustrated by a monastery or other historic place of America; for it is they which, even today, keep alive the ideal of the spiritual warfare that St. Herman brought to America and that underlies and gives meaning to the whole Orthodox Calendar.  May this Calendar serve for the instruction, enlightenment, and inspiration of the "little flock" of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Whom may there be glory always, now and ever and unto the ages of ages.  Amen

Please note that Fr. Seraphim says that the traditional Church calendar is "one of the distinguishing marks that separate the true from the false Orthodox."  I want to emphasize "one", because there are a good number of false Churches using the traditional Church calendar (such as the MP, super-correct schismatics, and the vigante Milan synod).

Something else to note is that Fr. Seraphim says, "Church calendar" and not "old calendar". 

-------------------------------------------------------

Later of Fr. Seraphim's calendars were published separately from the magazine and included this explanation:

In answer to numerous requests from readers, the rule of fasting is given for each day of the year. Where no indication of fast is given, and during "fast-free weeks," all foods may be eaten (except during Cheese-fare Week, when meat alone is forbidden every day). Where "fast day" is indicated alone, the fast is a strict one, with no meat, eggs, dairy products, fish, wine or oil to be eaten. Where, underneath "fast day," is indicated "wine and oil allowed," the fast is relaxed for the sake of a feast day or vigil, to allow eating of these foods. Where "fish, wine and oil allowed" is indicated, then all three of these foods may be eaten.

The rule of fasting, which is dependent on the Church's cycle of feasts and fasts, is contained in the Church's Typicon, chiefly in chapters 32 and 33, and is repeated in the appropriate places of the Divine service books, the Menaia and Triodion. In general, fast days for Orthodox Christians are all Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year (except for fast-free periods), the four canonical fast periods of Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles' Fast, and Dormition Fast, and a few special days: the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th) and the Beheading of the Forerunner (August 29th)—which, even though they are feast days, are also fast days (with wine and oil allowed) for the sake of the events commemorated thereon.

There are some local variations in the allowances of wine and oil, and sometimes of fish, and so the indications in the present Calendar cannot be uniformly applied everywhere. In particular, on the celebrations of the patronal feast of a parish or monastery, fish is generally allowed, and when a saint is honored with a service of Sung Doxology or Polyeleos rank, wine and oil are allowed. In the Russian Church, on the feast days of the more renowned Russian saints, such as St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Seraphim of Sarov, and of wonderworking Icons of the Mother of God such as the Kazan and Vladimir Icons, of course, wine and oil are allowed (except during Great Lent), although this is not mentioned in the present Calendar because the Typicon leaves this to local practice, indicating only the fasts and allowances that are of general application. The meaning of the Typicon in its allowances is simple: the more one labors for the glorification of a saint or feast day, the more consolation one is allowed in food. For one who has become accustomed to the Orthodox fast, the allowance of oil on food, or fried foods, together with a little wine, is indeed a consolation, as well as a source of physical strength. Where the Typicon itself indicates two variant practices (as for a few of the weekdays of Great Lent), the present Calendar follows the Typicon's preferred practice.

While most Orthodox Christians are perhaps aware of the general rule of fasting for Great Lent and the Dormition Fast (wine and oil allowed only on Saturdays and Sundays, except for a few feast days and vigils), many are probably not familiar with the precise rule governing the less severe fast of the Nativity and Apostles' Fast. Therefore, we shall quote this rule, from Chapter 33 of the Typicon:

"It should be noted that in the Fast of the Holy Apostles and of the Nativity of Christ, on Tuesday and Thursday we do not eat fish, but only oil and wine. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we eat neither oil nor wine... On Saturday and Sunday we eat fish. If there occurs on Tuesday or Thursday a saint who has a Doxology, we eat fish; if on Monday, the same; but if on Wednesday or Friday, we allow only oil and wine. If it be a saint who has a Vigil on Wednesday or Friday, or the saint whose temple it is, we allow oil and wine and fish... But from the 20th of December until the 25th, even if it be Saturday or Sunday, we do not allow fish."

In these two fasts, the fast for laymen is the same as that of many Orthodox monasteries, where Monday throughout the year is kept as a fast day in honor of the fleshless ones, the Angels.

This rule of fasting, to be sure, is not intended to be a "straight-jacket" for Orthodox believers, nor a source of pharisaical pride for anyone who keeps the letter of the Church's law. It is rather the rule, the standard, against which each is to measure his own practice, and towards which one must always strive, according to one's strength and circumstances. Whenever, for sickness or any other reason, one falls short of the rule, he applies to himself the spiritual medicine of self-reproach and strives to enter more fully into the spirit and discipline of fasting, which is indeed of great spiritual benefit to those who sincerely strive to follow it.

Hieromonk Seraphim Rose

The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church

Book Review

1983 edition Table of Contents

 V. Preface

 1. Introduction

 4. A Brief Life of Blessed Augustine of Hippo

 7. The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthdoox cChurch

 9. The Controversy of Grace and free Will

15. The Doctrine of Predestination

20. Opinions in Fifth-century Gaul

25. Sixth-century Opinion, East and West

27. The Ninth Century, St. Photius the Great

29. Later Centuries: St. Mark of Ephesus

32. Opinion of Blessed Augustine in Modern Times

37. A Note on the Contemporary Detractors of Blessed Augustine

42. Appendix

The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church

by Fr. Seraphim Rose  

In the first edition of this book, Fr. Seraphim included a preface he wrote himself, referring to himself in the third person as "the author".   Fr. Seraphim's words are very much worth pondering.   St. Augustine is a "stumbling block" for many.   Fr. Seraphim's understanding is what we want to attain for ourselves, because it is the Royal Path understanding.

A big problem with honoring St. Augustine is that it attracts the wrong kind of attention from the ecumenists, (also from the Roman Catholics, and the Orthodox western-riters).   They interpret it to mean that western theological thought has a valid place in Orthodoxy, and is completely acceptable in Orthodoxy, and it supports the ecumenist idea that Orthodox and Roman Catholics should be in communion with each other.   On the opposite side there are the super-correct who condemn St. Augustine as an instant heretic for his errors.  So what is the meaning of all this?  Are errors accepted in the Church or not?

We don't get to heaven by perfecting the outward parts of our Faith.  Having the perfect icons, the perfect chants, and apparently, even perfect theology.  What we need to perfect is our hearts.  St. Augustine's love for God, his transparency when standing in God's presence (his humility before God), is what we want for ourselves.  If we love God, we will also love those who love Him. 

But this still does not make errors in theology acceptable for the Church.  It is worth noting that God led St. Augustine (in His time) to correct his theological errors, and later in his life St. Augustine wrote refutations of some of his earlier writings.  If we read through his service in the June Menaion, we see it is saturated with praise for most of his writings:

from Matins Ode II

Having penetrated with faith that which is inaccessible to the corruptible mind, O father Augustine, thou didst clearly preach it; and thou didst thunder upon all the ends of the world, setting forth the greatness of dogmas...

from Ode III

...For the whole world proclaimeth thy corrections and struggles and hymneth the labors whereby thou didst toil in teaching, instructing and setting forth the divine doctrines which thou hadst imbibed.

St. Augustine's case reminds us of ROCOR Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) and his controversial (scandalous) "Dogma of Redemption".   The Righteous Metropolitan Anthony also retracted his ideas before his death, and after death his remains were found incorrupt.  These incidents are worth pondering, but without permitting ourselves any super-correct judgment or ecumenist judgment.   It invites us to rise above the spiritual disease which manifests as either super-correctness or ecumenism, depending on one's inclination.  We want to be where St. Augustine is.

The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church

first edition, 1983

Preface

This little study of Blessed Augustine is presented here in book form at the request of a number of Orthodox Christians who read it in its original form in The Orthodox Word (nos. 79 and 80, 1978) and found it to have a message for the Orthodox Christians of today.  It can make no claim to completeness as a study of the theology of Blessed Augustine; only one theological issue (grace and free will) is treated here in detail, while the rest of "the study is chiefly historical.  If it has any value, it is in revealing the attitude of the Orthodox Church to Blessed Augustine over the centuries; and in trying to define his place in the Orthodox Church, we have perhaps thrown some light on the problem of being Orthodox in our contemporary world, where the feeling and savor of true Orthodox Christianity are so rarely encountered among Orthodox theologians.  While setting forth the Orthodox attitude towards Blessed Augustine, the author has also had in mind to remove him as a "scapegoat" for today's academic theologians and thus to help free us all to see his and our own weaknesses in a little clearer light – for his weaknesses, to a surprising degree, are indeed close to our own.

These weaknesses of ours were vividly brought out for the author not long after the publication of the original study, when he met a Russian, a recent emigrant from the Soviet Union, who had become converted to Orthodoxy in Russia but still understood much of it in terms of the Eastern religious views which he had long held.  For him Blessed Augustine also was a kind of scapegoat; he was accused of mistranslating and misunderstanding Hebrew terms, of teaching wrongly about "original sin," etc. Well, yes, one cannot deny that Blessed Augustine applied his over-logicalness to this doctrine also and taught a distorted view of the Orthodox doctrine of ancestral sin – a view, once more, not so much "un-Orthodox" as narrow and incomplete.  Augustine virtually denied that man has any goodness or freedom in himself and he thought that each man is responsible for the guilt of Adam's sin in addition to sharing its consequences; Orthodox theology sees these views as one-sided exaggerations of the true Christian teaching.

However, the deficiencies of Augustine's doctrine were made by this Russian emigrant into an excuse for setting forth a most un-Orthodox teaching of man's total freedom from ancestral sin.  Some one-sided criticisms of Augustine's teaching on original sin even among more Orthodox thinkers have led to similar exaggerations, resulting in unnecessary confusions among Orthodox believers: some writers are so much "against" Augustine that they leave the impression that Pelagius was perhaps, after all, an Orthodox teacher (despite the Church's condemnation of him); others delight in shocking readers by declaring that the doctrine of original sin is a "heresy."

Such over-reactions to the exaggerations of Augustine are worse than the errors they think to correct.  In such cases Blessed Augustine becomes, not merely a "scapegoat" on which one loads all possible theological errors, justly or unjustly, but something even more dangerous: an excuse for an elitist philosophy of the superiority of "Eastern wisdom" over everything “Western."  According to this philosophy, not only Augustine himself, but also everyone under any kind of "Western influence," including many of the eminent Orthodox theologians of recent centuries, does not "really understand" Orthodox doctrine and must be taught by the present-day exponents of the “patristic revival."  Bishop Theophan the Recluse, the great 19th-century Russian Father, is often especially singled out for abuse in this regard: because he used some expressions borrowed from the West, and even translated some Western books (even while changing them to remove all un-Orthodox ideas) since he saw that the spiritually impoverished Orthodox people could benefit from such books (in this he was only following the earlier example of St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain) – our present-day "elitists" try to discredit him by smearing him with the name of "scholastic."  The further implication of these criticisms is clear: if such great Orthodox teachers as Blessed Augustine and Bishop Theophan cannot be trusted, then how much less can the rest of us ordinary Orthodox Christians understand the complexities of Orthodox doctrine?  The "true doctrine" of the Church must be so subtle that it can "really" be understood only by the few who have theological degrees from the modernist Orthodox academies where the “patristic revival" is in full bloom, or are otherwise certified as "genuinely patristic" thinkers.

Yet, a strange self-contradiction besets this “patristic elite": their language, their tone, their whole approach to such questions – are so very Western (sometimes even “jesuitical"!) that one is astonished at their blindness in trying to criticize what is obviously so much a part of themselves.

The "Western" approach to theology, the over-logicalness from which, yes, Blessed Augustine (but not Bishop Theophan) did suffer, the over-reliance on the deductions of our fallible mind – is so much a part of every man living today that it is simply foolishness to pretend that it is a problem of someone else and not of ourselves first and foremost.  If only we all had even a part of that deep and true Orthodoxy of the heart (to borrow an expression of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk) which Blessed Augustine and Bishop Theophan both possessed to a superlative degree, we would be much less inclined to exaggerate their errors and faults, real or imagined.

Let the correctors of Augustine's teaching continue their work if they will; but let them do it with more charity, more compassion, more Orthodoxy, more understanding of the fact that Blessed Augustine is in the same heaven towards which we all are striving, unless we wish to deny the Orthodoxy of all those Fathers who regarded him as an Orthodox Saint, from the early Fathers of Gaul through Sts. Photius of Constantinople, Mark of Ephesus, Demetrius of Rostov, to our recent and present teachers of Orthodoxy, headed by Archbishop John Maximovitch.  At the least, it is impolite and presumptuous to speak disrespectfully of a Father whom the Church and her Fathers have loved and glorified.  Our "correctness" – even if it is really as "correct" as we may think it is – can be no excuse for such disrespect.  Those Orthodox Christians who even now continue to express their understanding of grace and ancestral sin in a language influenced by Blessed Augustine are not deprived of the Church's grace; let those who are more "correct" than they in their understanding fear to lose this grace through pride.

Since the original publication of this study there has been a Roman Catholic response to it: we have been accused of trying to “steal” Blessed Augustine from the Latins!  No: Blessed Augustine has always belonged to the Orthodox Church, which alone has properly evaluated both his errors and his greatness.  Let Roman Catholics think what they will of him, but we have only tried to point out the place he has always held in the Orthodox Church and in the hearts of Orthodox believers.  By the prayers of the holy Hierarch Augustine and of all Thy Saints, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us!  Amen.

Hieromonk Seraphim

Pascha, 1980

✳ St. Augustine's feast day is June 15/28.  His service in the menaion was commissioned by St. John S&SF under Metropolitan Anastassy.

Ikos Ode IV

Enlighten the darkened eyes of my heart, O holy hierarch and teach me worthily to hymn they memory and to praise the wondrous life which thou didst live angelically.  Teach me to take thy doctrines into my soul, and guide me in walking the path of virtue, that I may never depart from the path which leadeth to life everlasting.  Show me what I ought to think, to say and to do.  Bind thou my hands and feet with the fear of God: impel me toward the love of Christ, that I may ever perceive and not be deceived by the corruptible beauties of this world.  Strengthen us, that we may assiduously seek the things which are to come; and pray thou ever for us all.

This is the back cover of issue #103 of The Orthodox Word, March 1982, advertizing a new book.  Fr. Seraphim, just before he died, had started to publish St. Augustine's theological texts.
   

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3296/3296-h/3296-h.htm

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