jdigrande wrote:There is another aspect of ignoring and/or not applying the Councils of 879, 1285, 1341-51 and 1672 that confuses me.
In 1922 and 1923 the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Church of Cyprus accepted Anglican sacraments as valid and grace filled.
There was no real reaction from the entire Orthodox Church to this ignoring of the above mentioned councils. The anathemas of the above mentioned councils were not applied to them. Why not? Did anyone in the Greek OC movement ever speak against them in the 1920's or 30's? Where these decisions by the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Church of Cyprus ever rescinded? When Met. Chrysostomos of Florina went to the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the mid 1930's to look for support for the OC position in Greece, was this acceptance of Anglican sacraments by the JP still in effect? And if it was, why was there no protest against it in public by him or others in the Greek OC Church of 1935?
Unfortunately, news did not travel fast. In the early 1920s, although World War I had recently ended in 1919, there was still no peace and the world was suffering from poverty, destroyed cities, disrupted economies, travel restrictions, etc. News was very slowly disseminated using newsprint. The Greek government was not stable and subject to socialistic revolutions with frequent changes which one time sided with the more traditional bishops and in the next year siding with the ecumenists. Thus, the Old Calendarist Greeks did not know the entire truth concerning the Jerusalem Patriarch back in 1924 through 1950. Neither did the GOC know what was happening with Anthony of Geneva and the ROCOR. The ROCOR was not forthcoming at all even though the GOC asked repeatedly to see their statement of faith. Finally in 1976, the GOC separated from the ROCOR when they discovered the ecumenism of Anthony of Geneva.
At the time it was estimated that at least 60% of Anglican clergy were Masons. I can only imagine that that number is much higher today, 100 years later.
What was the thinking behind this lack of a decision on the part of the Greek Church, from whence the clergy of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and Church of Cyprus (who elected Meletius Metaxis as Metropolitan of Kition in 1910) came from?
St. Nectarios was originally from the Church of Alexandria, which removed him from his office with false charges. The Churches in Greece, Alexandria, and in Jerusalem were hotbeds of misfits and freemasons. This is why the freemason Meletius Metaxis was elected as Metroolitan and then later as Patriarch of Constantinople and then Patriarch of Alexandria.
These two decisions by the Jerusalem Patriarchate and the Church of Cyprus were linked to the Encyclical of 1920 and the Masonic Council of 1924 that adopted the New Menalogion. In 1925 Met. Antony Khrapovitsky exhorted Anglican seminarians to convert pagans (I think he was speaking to future missionaries) to the Anglican faith at Nicea for the 1600th anniversary of the Council of 325 AD. At this council were representatives of the Church of Cyprus and the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
In 1927 Met Sergius betrayed the Orthodox Church and turned to Stalin but it must be remembered that he rejected the Councils of 1341-51 and St. Gregory Palamas in public in 1913 and was never censured or defrocked for doing this by the Russian Church. Met. Athony Khrapovitsky was never censured or defrocked for his public statement on the Anglicans at Nicea by ROCOR and ROCOR never spoke a word against either the Jerusalem Patriarchate or the Church of Cyprus concerning their acceptance of Anglican sacraments as valid and grace filled in 1922-23.
This is why it is so important to understand and apply these councils to our problems in the 21st century.
The doctrine of the Holy Spirit includes:
1.The eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father alone (879-St. Photius),
2.The temporal procession of the Holy Spirit through the Son (879-St. Photius the Great),
3.The eternal manifestation of the Holy Spirit through the Son (1285-St. Gregory of Cyprus and St. John of Damascus),
4 The acquisition of the Holy Spirit within ones heart through theosis (1341-51-St. Gregory Palamas).
5.The difference between the energies and the essence of the Trinity through uncreated grace (1341-51-St. Gregory Palamas) which corresponds to the
difference between the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father alone and the eternal manifestation of the Holy Spirit through the Son (1285-St.
Gregory of Cyprus).There are anathemas attached to all these councils and they were ignored in 1922 and 1923 by the entire Orthodox Church. Why?
In my opinion it was the result of the hypnotic affect of the heresy of ecumenism which had existed from the middle of the 19th century through the branch theory as practiced by monarchies who headed their churches rather than having their churches headed by Patriarchs who adhered to these councils.
The second reason has to do with the massive infiltration of the clergy by Masons that occurred from the middle of the 19th century which accelerated in the 20th century at breakneck speed. Masonic ordinations of priests, bishops, metropolitans and Patriarchs occurred throughout this period and beyond.
The third reason was the concentrated affect of 500 years of propaganda against these councils by the Papacy and control of the Papal editing of virtually all publication of Orthodox books. This massive Papal effort was paired with the control of most Orthodox theological academies in the 17-19th centuries by either Jesuits and/or Masons.
The result was the almost hypnotic acceptance of ecumenism by the entire "Christian" world from the middle of the 19th century into the 20th century.
St. Tikhon of Moscow who was later patriarch and martyred by the Soviets was praying in vestments with Anglicans in the early 20th century in the United States and St. Nicholai Velimirovich was praying with Anglicans in London during the same period.
They later repented of this but their actions are indicative of the hypnotic effect of ecumenism which produced the ignoring of these councils and their anathemas as a whole during this whole period. The Russian Church took 300 years to canonize St. Gregory Palamas due to the educational conditions of Papism and Masonry that were imposed on their educational system. But many Latin-educated clergy (like Met. Sergius in 1913) did not accept him or his sanctity. And no one rebuked or defrocked him for it.
These councils on the Holy Spirit have to be understood and defended as a whole and not in separate parts. At Florence in 1439 St. Mark wanted to teach and defend them as a whole but was turned down by the Emperor and Patriarch. He never said another word.
So that is why I feel the need to discuss and defend these councils now in 2018, 1000 years after the Orthodox Church should have defended the 8th Council when the Papacy sought to destroy it and insert the Filioque into the Creed in Rome and Venice.
Is there any historical book in Greek describing the history of the Jerusalem Patriarchate in the 20th century? I have found nothing in English. Do they still accept the sacraments and orders of Anglicans as grace filled?
The Anglicans still spit on all our councils (879, 1285, 1341/51, 1583-93, 1672), or consider them ecumenically relative. What are we to do in response? It has to be a grass roots response. We can start by celebrating and explaining these councils to the common people in our parishes and discussing them within and between the different OC TOC's represented on this site and beyond.
Many of the writings of St .Nectarios have never been translated from the Greek into English. He dealt with many of the topics you mentioned and his personal library was extensive. He was a prolific writer and defender of the Church. If you ever have a chance, see if you can read some of his writings in Greek.
By the way, St. Matthew the New Confessor was the spiritual son of St. Nectarios, who helped to form him in the faith.
