The Orthodox mission. Montreal

THE ORTHODOX MISSION TODAY

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

St. Matthew 28:19-20

TODAY SCARCELY a nation remains that has not at least heard of the Christian message in its own tongue, and, even in the midst of the appalling apostasy of so many who preach Christianity today, every continent has the witness of genuine Orthodox Christianity. The "signs of the times" all herald the end of this world, the world-wide rejection of Christ in the reign of His counterfeit, Antichrist, and the glorious but dreadful Second Coming of our True Lord and Saviour which will cut short the time of tribulation for His elect. The missionary age that began with the Coming of Christ is seemingly near its end.

The great ages of missionary ventures, too, would seem to be over, whether this brings to mind the immense missionary labors and fruits of the Holy Apostles, or the most recent missionary impulse from Holy Russia that enlightened the Siberian peoples and reached even to China, Japan, Alaska, and California. We live in an age of diaspora that is also an age of almost universal apostasy, and it is already an immense accomplishment for a believer to remain faithful himself to Holy Orthodoxy, let alone undertake any missionary campaign.

The Church of Christ, however, is by her very nature a missionary Church, and she will continue until the very last day of this world's existence to call men to that blessed and eternal life which can be won only through her. The age of apostasy does not annihilate, it merely sets the conditions for, the Orthodox mission today. We live, in fact, in a final missionary age, wherein, to a world more tempted by pseudo-Christianity and false prophets than by paganism, Orthodox Christians are called to bear witness of the only genuine Christianity.

The final harvest is not yet. The wheat and tares exist side by side in this world, even within the Church, to be finally separated only at the Last Judgement. To a sound Orthodox consciousness, the most obvious "tares" are clearly distinguishable today, for they gather around the banner of "ecumenism," willfully abandoning the true Ark of salvation, Holy Orthodoxy with its sacred traditions, to follow the path to the millenarian "new age" with its defiling "union." Yet as the tares become more obvious, so too, to the eye of faith, does the good wheat of Christ become all the more visible and to be treasured. ... And I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the bandmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord cometh. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:28-32). This passage is used by the Church as one of the Parables for the feast of the newly-canonized Russian Saint, John of Kronstadt, and it makes explicit his role as a saint and a prophet for the last days of the world. And indeed, the thousands of miracles worked up to the present day through the intercession of St. John (d. 1908) and the even more recent Greek Saint, Nectarios of Aegina (d. 1920), testify to a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these evil times, which strenghthens the faithful remnant of Orthodox believers. The blood of the new martyrs of the Communist yoke, too, nourishes the Church of these last days just as the blood of the saints of the first age of martyrs nourished the early Church.

But apostasy, too, has and will yet have its signs. For in the last days there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (St. Matthew 24:24). The great apostates of our own day are invariably heralded by their followers as visionaries and prophets of a "new spirit" or a "new Pentecost." But we have been told, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world (I John 4:1). We have reached only the beginning of the marvels to be wrought by Christian faith and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these days, and the counterfeit "signs and wonders" of the false prophets, too, have hardly begun. We must not cease to "try the spirits," to distinguish the works of the true Spirit of God from their counterfeits.

The Orthodox mission today, the witness of genuine Christianity, is at work on every continent. With this issue The Orthodox Word will begin a series of reports from places where this mission is active, written by participants in it or by observers of it. Not every movement calling itself "Orthodox" will qualify for inclusion in this series, and perhaps some groups will be included that would not be considered "missionary" in the narrow sense; but in every case the criteria of selection will be the signs of genuine Orthodoxy: in particular, faithfulness to Holy Tradition, and the working of the Holy Spirit of God. Whether the mission be to still pagan peoples, to the pseudo-Christian West, or to Orthodox people who have fallen or are in danger of falling away from their own Faith, these signs remain constant. Occasional accounts of the Orthodox mission in past ages will supplement those of the same mission today, giving an historical perspective on the latter and, it may be, an example to today's missionaries.


THE ORTHODOX MISSION TODAY

A GREEK MISSION IN MONTREAL

THE OLD CALENDAR GREEK PARISH OF THE ANNUNCIATION AND ST. NECTARIOS

IN ONE OF THE poorer sections of Montreal, Canada, nestled at the base of Mont Royal on a narrow street is a humble Greek church on the lower floor of an old flat.; Little distinguishes it from the other buildings on the street – only a Cross over the door, a small paper icon of the Annunciation, and a sign in Greek and in English: "Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Mother and of St. Nectarios." But within this extremely modest edifice at 4520 Hutchison St. is concealed a secret paradise. The wayfarer enters and suddenly finds himself in another world. He is transported to a small, dark, almost cavern-like church in some mountain or island village in Greece; he enters the timeless world of true Greek Orthodox piety.

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1. A new church edifice is soon to be built, on the same street a block away.


He knows from the beginning that he is not in a church of the "Greek Archdiocese of North and South America." The officiating priest has a full beard and uncut hair; although there are a few chairs along the walls, there are no pews; many hanging oil lamps burn throughout the church before a multitude of icons which cover every inch of wall space; and members of the congregation are extremely devout, bowing and crossing themselves frequently, many even praying constantly during the services with woolen prayer ropes.

The first icon that one sees upon entering the church is a large photographic reproduction of the well-known Weeping Icon of the Mother of God of the Passion, for which there is especially deep veneration in this parish. On the walls are large icons of St. Nicholas, St. Spirydon, St. Paraskeva, St. Gerasimos of Cephalonia, St. Cosmos of Aitolia, the Three New Martyrs of Mytilene, and many others. Near the iconostas burn hundreds of beeswax candles on candlestands before two Wonderworking Icons one of the Mother of God "The Panagia Portatissa" or "The All Holy of the Gate", also termed "The Iviron Mother of God", and one of St. Nectarios, the Wonderworker of Aegina. Hanging on and around these Wonderworking Icons which are unquestionably the most prominent icons in the church, channels of Divine Grace to which one's attention is immediately drawn – are a number of offerings in commemoration of the many miracles that have taken place. These include silver hands, eyes, legs, arms, and whole persons (symbolizing the parts of the person healed) as well as rings, Crosses, jewels, and even wrist watches.

How many thousands of prayers have been poured out before these miraculous icons in this modest little church! There have been countless healings from diseases of every kind and countless miracles concerning every type of need and difficulty! A few offerings are to be seen on other icons as well, including the one of St. Pareskeva to which are attached some silver eyes commemorating several miracles of healing. Clearly, God grants many blessings to those who uncompromisingly uphold the teachings and traditions of Holy Orthodoxy "sealed with the blood of Martyrs and with the night labors of praying and fasting Fathers".

Why do we refer to this humble Greek parish as a "missionary parish"? Because it is a witness to the Truth in the contemporary babel of pseudo-Orthodoxy and ecumenism, providing an outstanding example of normal Greek piety such as has existed over the centuries under the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but which is virtually nonexistent within the Greek Archdiocese of North and South America. In this parish, True Orthodoxy is a living phenomenon. Nor is it without significance that this parish zealously adheres to the "old" or canonical Orthodox calendar, thus celebrating all the Feasts of the Church on the same days as other faithful Orthodox who retain the canonical calendar, including all the Greek and Arab churches of the Holy Land as well as the monasteries of the Holy Mountain.

Who comprises the old calendar Greek parish in Montreal? Devout Greek emigrants of all types and all ages, including a large number of young people, educated and uneducated, from remote villages and from large cities. What draws them together is their traditional piety and zeal for Holy Orthodoxy. Although some members of the parish were zealots of the old calendar in Greece, others – while sympathizing with the old calendarist position were members of new calendar parishes in Greece, for in many places there are no old calendar churches.

Coming to the new world, devout Greeks, including those who were members of the official new calendar Church, inevitably find themselves scandalized by the spiritual condition of the Greek Archdiocese – by the uncanonical innovations, the deliberate disregard for the fasts of the Church, the extremely anti-monastic attitude and spirit, the widespread involvement in ecumenism even to the point of deliberately defying the holy canons (Apostolic Canons 10, 11, 45, and 65) by joining in prayer with false-believing Protestant and Roman Catholic clergy as well as blasphemously allowing such persons behind the iconostas, the almost total absence of traditional Orthodox piety in the churches, the brazen beardlessness of the priests, and the open toleration of Masonry.; Nor are such matters isolated cases; rather, they have become the rule, encouraged and enforced from above.

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1. See appendix to this article.


Quite clearly, its use of the uncanonical Western calendar is only one of the Archdiocese's many deviations from the God-given norms and standards of universal Orthodoxy. This falling away from true Orthodoxy – this deliberate discarding of age-old Orthodox piety and the sacred patrimony of the Martyrs, Holy Fathers, and Ascetics is a deep-rooted disease which began under Meletios Metaxakis of unhappy memory and has been greatly accelerated under the present Archbishop, the lamentable and much-publicized Iakovos, and his superior, Patriarch Athenagoras.

Some devout Greeks in America endure with sorrow the falling away from Divine Truth, the sacrilegious dilution of true Orthodoxy with Protestant and Roman Catholic elements, both in spirit and in outward form, in parishes of the Greek Archdiocese. Others find that their Orthodox conscience does not permit them to acknowledge the spiritual authority of Patriarch Athenagoras and the Greek Archdiocese. Such Greeks naturally find that they have much in common with the Russian Church Outside of Russia, sharing the same uncompromising Orthodoxy, the same traditional piety and anti-ecumenist views. Thus, they often look to her for spiritual support in their struggle to preserve true Orthodoxy.

In view of the above, it is not surprising that the old calendar Greek church in Montreal enjoys close ties with the Russian Church Outside of Russia. Its inspirer and spiritual leader, Hieromonk Akakios (Ntouscos), whose dedicated life is an inspiring example to his flock and to all who know him, was professed monk and consecrated to the priesthood by His Eminence, Archbishop Leonty of Santiago, Chile, one of the highest-ranking hierarchs of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, and one who has long been associated with the cause of the Greek old calenderists. Archbishop Leonty, whose name is always commemorated by Fr. Akakios at Holy Services and at the Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy, often serves Pontifical Divine Liturgy in Fr. Akakios's church during visits to North America. Other hierarchs commemorated by Fr. Akakios at the Great Entrance include, among the living, Archbishop Aksentios, the leading old calendarist hierarch in Greece, and among the dead, the highly esteemed Archbishop Akakios as well as the blessed and ever-memorable Russian Archbishop John (Maximovitch), for whom Fr. Akakios has a deep veneration.

Upon his elevation to the priesthood, Fr. Akakios set up a small house church in his home and commenced regular celebration of Divine Services, which were at first attended only by a small circle of relatives and friends. Gradually, however, as the existence of his little church belcame known, more and more believers, who longed for that genuine Holy Orthodoxy they had known in Greece, began coming to the Liturgy and other services.

One day, when the parish was still numerically quite small, St. Nectarios himself was seen at the church, heralding, as it were, the arrival of the icon which was to be the Grace-bestowing vehicle of his miracle-working intercession. It was the Feast of the Nativity of the All-Holy Theotokos in September, and during the Divine Liturgy, from a window in the altar area, Fr. Akakios caught a glimpse of an elderly white-bearded monk in a Greek-type kamilavka, standing on the porch of the church as though waiting to come in. Fr. Akakios was puzzled as to who this monk might be since there was no such monk in Montreal, and thinking that the door might have become locked, a few moments later asked a lady standing in the church to open the door for the monk. She did as he requested, but no one was there. Nor did any monk such as was seen on the porch of the church ever appear there again, thus making highly unlikely any possibility that he was a visitor from abroad. But a few minutes later, the postman delivered a package from Greece containing the icon of St. Nectarios. Quite obviously, the mysterious monk was St. Nectarios himself, for his face corresponded exactly with that of the saint in the newly-arrived and soon-to-be-revealed Wonderworking Icon. And from that very time, the saint wrought an astonishing number of miracles among the faithful Greeks of Montreal.

Several years ago, extensive lands on a river in a beautiful forest some 40 miles from Montreal were donated to the church, and soon Fr. Akakios and his flock built with their own hands a small chapel there, consecrating it to St. Nectarios, the Wonderworker of Aegina, and designating it as a site for a monastery if such proves pleasing to God and St. Nectarios. Although this holy endeavor has not yet been realized, the phenomenal growth of the parish, dating precisely from this time, as well as the many devout young people who take an active part in the church's life, give reason for hope also concerning the future foundation of a monastery.

From a small group of only about 12 persons to begin with, in a few years the parish has grown to include over 800! Every Sunday and Feast Day the small church is filled to overflowing with a multitude of believers for the long Holy Services which begin with Matins and Hours at 8:30 am. and continue on into the Divine Liturgy itself, which concludes around 1 p.m. after a fervent sermon by Fr. Akakios. Each year several thousand persons, many instinctively drawn to the traditional observance from the other Greek community, participate in the Great Friday Procession in which the Holy Shroud with the Image of the dead Saviour, under a canopy of red and white roses, is borne through the streets as the laments are chanted, just as in Greece.

As he is himself a monk-priest, Fr. Akakios even now observes certain monastic customs in his parish church. Thus, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, commemorating the triumph of the Orthodox over the Iconoclasts, the Service of Anathemas in which anathemas are proclaimed against all the heresies – is held, just as in monastery and cathedral churches. Twice each day Fr. Akakios celebrates Holy Services in the church, and on certain great Feasts, including the Repose of the All Holy Theotokos (Assumption) and the Feast of St. Nectarios on November 9 (22), All-night Services are held which begin with Vespers at 9:30 p.m. and conclude with the Divine Liturgy, which ends around 5 a.m.

Fr. Akakios constantly devotes himself to the service of his flock. Frequently there are baptisms, marriages, and services for the dead. And often sick persons come to be anointed with oil from the lamps burning before the two Wonderworking Icons. Without a car and generally with no one to take him, Fr. Akakios constantly travels about on foot and by bus to carry out his numerous pastoral duties among his widely scattered flock, throughout Montreal. Much of the time he spends visiting the sick in hospitals and in homes. How often, after serving lengthy Holy Services, the weary Fr. Akakios receives an urgent call to bring Communion to a dying man or to anoint a sick person. And without even eating, he hurries off into the snow and sleet, half way across the city.


Fr. Akakios with Archbishop Leontios of Santiago, Chile and some members of the Montreal flock.

All-night Services with Akathist on the Feast of the Repose of the All-Holy Theotokos August 15–28, 1967. Fr. Akakios with servers before the Shroud of the All-Holy.



WONDER WORKING ICON OF THE "PANAGIA PORTATISSA"
or Iveron Mother of God, Montreal, 1965.
Today three times as many offerings adorn the Holy Icon.


To Fr. Akakios come an endless number of his large flock with an endless number of problems, and for all he has a kind and encouraging word as well as material help whenever it is needed. There are spiritual problems and family problems. Many are poor and some are unemployed. Others need references for jobs as well as translations of official documents. Besides all this, there are constant administrative problems and difficulties concerning the church and its struggles for existence in the face of fanatical hostility, opposition, and endless slanders on the part of the other Greek community. Nor is this the extent of Fr. Akakios' labors. He also works making beeswax candles in the basement of the church, helps with a school for children of the parish, and is often to be seen himself washing the floor of the church! Frequently, he gets only a few hours of sleep.

Thus, Fr. Akakios, who would much prefer to be in a quiet monastery far from the city and the problems of parish life and church disputes, feels called upon, at least for the present, to sacrifice himself as a missionary priest in the midst of the world. Never ceasing to perform good works, Fr. Akakios is a true servant of God and his faithful flock. Thus, no one need be surprised that a pious lady saw one day in that dark little church in Montreal, a Saint, the Monk Deacon Nikolaos of the Three New Martyrs of Mytilene, serving with Fr. Akakios at the altar.

Proud of his flock, of their deep piety and fierce loyalty to Holy Orthodoxy, Fr. Akakios relates that one devout man was gravely ill in the hospital, and although the doctors told him that it was absolutely necessary for him to drink some milk, he refused to do so because it was during the Christmas Fast. He relented and took the milk only when Fr. Akakios himself went to the hospital and fed it to him, assuring him that it was no sin since he was ill. "So you see what kind of people we have," concludes Fr. Akakios with obvious satisfaction.

Now let us leave the old calendar Greek parish of the Annunciation and St. Nectarios. Let us take leave of Fr. Akakios as he stands there, as one most often sees him, in an old, faded cassock, a black sweater over his shoulders and well-worn prayer beads in his hand. One of his sisters enters with her husband and their year-old child, and for a moment Fr. Akakios smiles and plays with his infant nephew. Then, suddenly the child becomes quite solemn. Fr. Akakios, too, grows pensive, questioning. Looking at the child with intensity, his voice filled with concern and with awe at the mysterious ways and Providence of God as well as the indeterminable uniqueness of every human destiny, he asks: "O Constantine, what will you be? What will your life be? Much light? Much darkness? Maybe a saint, maybe not a saint. Who knows, Constantine, who knows? We do not know. Only God knows!"

So too, only God knows the future of Orthodoxy, the unique Body of Christ, in the contemporary world, especially on the American continent where apostasy among the Orthodox has assumed such terrible proportions. Yet, if there is darkness, there is also Light, and we have just seen how brightly the Light can shine in the darkness! May our Holy Mother and Heavenly Queen, the All Holy and Ever-Virgin Theotokos, resurrected from the dead and taken body and soul into Heaven by Her Divine Son, extend the Mantle of Her Holy Protection over all who remain faithful in these terrible times of apostasy!

J.G.


Orthodox Position on Masonry

Note on Masonry: The toleration of Masonry by the Greek Archdiocese as well as by the Syrian and Serbian Churches in America, which allow their members to join Masonic lodges, is a primary example of the open apostasy prevailing among many Orthodox in America. In actual fact, the Orthodox Church, speaking with Divine Authority and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, quite unequivocally condemns the "false religion of Masonry." In the words of the Blessed Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky of Eternal Memory, the esteemed First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside of Russia: It is forbidden to all Orthodox Christians to become Freemasons... Membership in the Masonic organization is incompatible with Orthodox Christianity. Continuing, he states that all persons who become Masons will be deemed unworthy to receive Holy Communion and that after one warning their further impenitency will bring them Excommunication from the Holy Orthodox Church. Even the Synod of Bishops of the official new calendar Church of Greece in 1933 condemned Masonry as a mystery religion quite different, separate, and alien to the Christian Faith, adding that this is shown without any doubt by the fact that it possesses its own temples and altars... its own religious ceremonies. Similarly, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens stated that all faithful children of the Church must stand apart from Freemasonry and that all who have become involved with it must sever all connections with it, for through Masonic initiation they pass into another religion. (Full texts of the above in Darkness Visible by W. Hannah, London, 1952.)