The Orthodox Word No. 30

THE ORTHODOX WORD

A BIMONTHLY PERIODICAL

1970 Vol. 6, No. 1 (30)
January – February

Established with the blessing of His Eminence the late John (Maximovitch), Archbishop of Western America and San Francisco, Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

Editors: Eugene Rose, M.A., & Gleb Podmoshensky, B.Th.

Printed by the Father Herman of Alaska Brotherhood.

Text set in 10-point Garamont type, titles in 18-point Goudy Bold.

CONTENTS

3 Metropolitan Philaret on Blessed Father Herman

4 The Fathers of Orthodox Monasticism: The Life of Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valaam

12 The Life of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos

26 The Orthodox Spiritual Life: A Treasury of Father Herman's Spirituality

37 Great Orthodox Hierarchs of the 19th & 20th Centuries: Archbishop Apollinary

51 Orthodoxy in the Contemporary World

COVER: Valaam Monastery in 1938; p. 13, color icon by Pimen M. Sofronov.

ERRATA: Page 4, Sts. Sergius and Herman are commemorated on June 28, not July 28; p. 8, 1. 7 from bottom, after St. Sergius add of Radonezh.

Copyright 1970 by Orthodox Christian Books & Icons.

Published bimonthly by Orthodox Christian Books & Icons. Second-class postage paid at Redding, California.

Yearly subscription $5, two years $9, three years $12; individual copies 90 cents.

All inquiries should be directed to:

THE ORTHODOX WORD, PLATINA, CALIFORNIA 96076



METROPOLITAN PHILARET
on Blessed Father Herman

TO THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS IN AUSTRALIA

"SUCH was our own native Ascetic of piety," writes our Metr. Philaret, "with many both general Orthodox and specifically Russian characteristics of this piety, who came to the wild inhabitants of north-western America in 1794 and reposed in the Lord on December 13th, 1837. He died having known beforehand the hour of his repose, while candles were burning at his command and the Acts of the Apostles were being read, as if also preparing for Pascha but an eternal Pascha. The writer of his Life says that his face shone and the cell was filled with fragrance."

The canonization of the saints of God is nurtured in the Church's bosom gradually. The question is tested by the attitudes of our fathers and ancestors in faith, and in this fashion there matures the Church's glorification of a saint.

Before the universal church conscience of the Church Outside of Russia there stands a special circumstance: there is no exceptionally abundant literature or multitude of documentary testimony as there was concerning the righteous St. John of Kronstadt. "But," writes Metropolitan Philaret, "we have what we do have: the faith of our evermemorable fathers and predecessors from Archbishop [later Metropolitan] Innocent to Metropolitan Anastassy and other of our hierarchs who have reposed, in the God-pleasing labors and ascetic deeds of the Elder Herman."

Holy Father Herman, pray to God for us!

Word of the Church, 1969, no. 8-9 Croydon, Australia


THE FATHERS OF ORTHODOX MONASTICISM

The Life of
STS. SERGIUS AND HERMAN OF VALAAM

Their Lives have been lost, and little is now known of the earthly deeds of the two founders of monasticism in the far North, but the great monastic tradition of Valaam, the Athos of the North, which they planted, has come down to our own day and nourished the first saint of America, Father Herman of Alaska.


STS. SERGIUS AND HERMAN OF VALAAM

Commemorated July 28 and September 11

TROPARION, TONE 1

FLEEING worldly fame, O lovers of silence and piety,+ you did come from the East to the quiet refuge of Valaam,+ and there, following the Gospel of Christ in virtues,+ you ascended to the summit of perfection;+ and now, enjoying the vision of God beyond this world,+ O all-blessed Fathers Sergius and Herman,+ pray to God the Lover of men+ that He may save all us who devoutly revere you.


ACCORDING to ancient tradition, the islands of Valaam in Lake Ladoga in the Novgorod region of northern Russia were evangelized by the Apostle Andrew, who blessed the islands and placed a cross on a cliff of the main island. The Orthodox faith was kept alive there down through the centuries until the arrival of Sts. Sergius and Herman. The two Saints came to Valaam even before the Baptism of Russia, for it is known that already in 960 there was a flourishing monastery there with an abbot. They came from Eastern lands and were of Greek descent. Both were priest-monks and missionaries.

St. Sergius, who apparently came first, evangelized the local peoples and settled at the spot where St. Andrew had left the cross. There he led the strictest monastic life, wearing out his flesh by fasting, vigils, and all-night standings, and founded the monastic community of Valaam. During the day he preached the Gospel of Christ, baptized the local inhabitants, and transcribed sacred books. He spent his last days laboring in asceticism in a cave, and was buried with great honor and ceremony by one of the prominent natives whom he had baptized.

His successor, St. Herman who may have been his direct disciple or even have come together with him was like St. Sergius in strictness of life and apostolic labors, and he strengthened the monastic foundation which his predecessor had laid down. According to a 14th century document all three basic types of monasticism existed very early in Valaam: the solitary life of anchoretism, the small groups of brethren living together in skete-life (there were twelve sketes quite early in the area around Valaam), and coenobitism. Both Saints were granted by God the gift of prophesy, seeing future events as present. Both were buried on the site of St. Andrew's cross.

Soon after the death of the founders, the monastery at Valaam was subjected to the raids of local pagan nomads, and the monks took away the relics of the Saints to preserve them. Several times in the following centuries the relics were opened and brought back and forth to and from Valaam, owing to the uncertain conditions of the time. In the 12th century St. John, Bishop of Novgorod, ordered an icon to be done of both Saints from their uncorrupted relics, and icons of the Saints down to the present day are descended from this original icon. When, at the same time, the holy relics were once more brought back to Valaam, the day to commemorate the translation was established, September 11.

The two Saints worked many miracles soon after their death, and they became known especially as protectors for those at sea and for those possessed by demons.

By the prayers of Sts. Sergius and Herman the life, and more than that, the soul, of a Swedish crusader king, a Catholic and persecuter of the Orthodox Church, was saved. In 1371 the monks of Valaam, after a great storm on Lake Ladoga, saved from drowning a man clinging to a piece of wreckage from his ship. It was the Swedish King Magnus II1 who, returning from an unsuccessful attack on Great Novgorod, had been shipwrecked near the shores of Valaam. His companions had been lost, but he himself, by God's Almighty Providence, had been saved. By the prayers of Sts. Sergius and Herman the waves carried him to Valaam monastery. The elders, seeing in the King's misfortune the special Providence of God, Who called him to His enclosure as once He had the persecuter Saul, joyfully received their crown-bearing guest. Acknowledging the vanity of earthly life, in deep gratitude to God and to His Saints for his rescue, he joyfully listened to the monks relate the truths of the Orthodox faith and Church and, bowing to God's Providence, exchanged the royal purple for the plain garment of a monk, being joined to the Orthodox Church and receiving the holy Schema with the name of Gregory. Three days after his tonsure the royal Schema-monk was called by God to eternal rest.

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1. Magnus II Eriksson, born 1316, King of Sweden and Norway from the age of three, noted for suppressing serfdom and being a patron of the Catholic saint Bridget.


As a testimony of this miracle, the Swedish king's grave has been preserved at Valaam down to the present century, and another striking miracle of the last century testifies to the favor which he found with God.


Valaam Monastery during Father Herman's time. An 18th-century engraving.


On the eve of the feast of Sts. Sergius and Herman in 1839, there came to Valaam two Orthodox Finnish peasants who begged Abbot Damaskin to bless the serving of a panikhida over the grave of the Swedish King Magnus. The Abbot and all present were curious to know the cause of such piety toward this royal monk, and one of the peasants then related how he had been gravely ill since the beginning of spring and had lain in bed until June, hardly able to move. The constant needs of his large family tore at his heart, and he foresaw that if he did not soon get well and begin work, his family would die of hunger when winter came. He therefore prayed with his whole heart that the Lord would heal his infirmity and prevent such a misfortune. And then one night in sleep he saw two monks standing before him, whom he recognized from their icons as Sts. Sergius and Herman. They told him: "Your prayer has been heard, and by the intercession of the God-pleasing Swedish King Magnus, your health is returned. Arise and go to Valaam Monastery; there over the grave of this God-pleasing man give praise to God!" "I awoke," continued the Finn, "healed, and I immediately set out on the road to Valaam; on the way I met this man, my neighbor, and he told me that he had had the same vision and been given the same instruction and that he also had been healed. We agreed to come to Valaam together." The Abbot blessed the panikhida to be served for the repose of the Schemamonk Gregory and all lying in the monastery cemetary, and everyone praised God Who is wondrous in his saints.

A whole book was compiled in the 19th century at Valaam of the more recent miracles and appearances of Sts. Sergius and Herman. One of the most striking miracles occurred to Afanassy Demidov, who was taking his young son Basil to venerate the relics of the Saints. Within sight of Valaam a storm overtook them and their boat was broken to pieces against the ice. They managed to get into a small boat, which in turn was dashed against the shore by a frightful wave. When Afanassy came to himself on the shore he saw that his son was missing! Overcome by despair, he dared to castigate Sts. Sergius and Herman, who, having saved so many others, had given no help to his son. But in a moment he repented of his words with tears, begging pardon for his senselessness, and at this moment a great wave washed his son ashore at his feet! But alas! the son was dead, and all the father's efforts could not bring him back to life, and he could only call with tears upon the Saints to return to him his only son and Basil opened his eyes. After a few minutes' – rest, the boy related how he had already sunk to the bottom of the lake when he saw two monks who took him by the hands and brought him ashore. Soon Afanassy came to Valaam and, giving praise to the Lord and His Saints, related to the Abbot and brethren his son's miraculous rescue.

BUT the greatest significance of Sts. Sergius and Herman lies in the monastery which they founded at Valaam, which was to become known as the Athos of the North. By the 14th century there was a written Rule that governed monastic life at Valaam down to the 20th century. Valaam became a vital part of the "Northern Thebaid," whither young ascetics came and from whence they went out to spread the Valaam ideal throughout Northern Russia. A few of the many basic Russian Fathers (canonized Saints) who came from Valaam were: St. Abraham of Rostov, who came to Valaam in 960 and later planted monasticism in Rostov (from whence St. Sergius was later to come); St. Arseny of Konevits, who from Valaam went to Mt. Athos and later founded the Konevits Monastery on the Finnish side of Lake Ladoga; Sts. Savaty and Herman, who in the 14th century founded Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea, the northernmost Lavra of Russia—in our times the greatest Soviet concentration camp, especially for confessors of genuine Orthodoxy, where in the 1920's and '30's over 90 bishops were imprisoned (some two-thirds of Russia's hierarchy!); St. Alexander of Svir, a cave-dweller at Valaam, who in the 15th century founded the Svir Monastery to the northeast of Valaam, which itself produced saints and was crowned by the martyrdom by Communists of its last six monks (led by Abbot Eugene) who, after digging their own graves on the third day of Pascha asked permission to sing "Christ is Risen" before being shot, and upon being forbidden to do so began to sing anyway, dying with the Paschal hymn on their lips.


Aerial view of the Valaam Holy Transfiguration Monastery in 1938. The central square was built by Abbot Nazary at the end of the 18th century.


In 1579 (Feb. 20) the Monastery of Valaam was totally destroyed by militant Scandinavian Lutherans, and all 34 monks and novices were martyred for their faith, their memory being kept by a special day of commemoration at Valaam down to the 20th century.

It was at this time that the written Life of Sts. Sergius and Herman, which was known to have existed before then, disappeared, and it has never been recovered. At the end of the last century a Finnish scholar, Professor O. Forsstroem, stated that it would be possible to recover valuable material on Valaam, including the Life of the founders, through research in the Novgorod Manuscripts located in the Royal Archives of Stockholm, where much material from Russia was deposited; but to this day such research has not been undertaken. Perhaps at last in our day some enterprising and devout Orthodox Scandinavian may see to this!


At the entrance of the strictest Valaam Skete: St. John the Baptist (1938)


Just before the devastation of Valaam in the 16th century, the monks took care to bury the sacred relics of Sts. Sergius and Herman so deep underground that they would never be dug up, and they remain there to this day. When at the end of the 18th century, the foundations were being dug for the main monastery church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the tomb of the Saints was by accident partially uncovered; but Abbot Nazary, despite the general desire for this, forbade it to be dug out and opened. His wisdom was proved early in the next century, for when Abbot Jonathan attempted to uncover the relics, the brethren who were digging had no sooner reached the stone slab that covered the actual sarcophagus when a flame enveloped the grave and showed the Divine disfavor of the project, which was immediately abandoned.

Early in the 18th century the monastery was revived at the order of Emperor Peter I, and toward the end of the 18th century it entered a new period of flourishing when Metr Gabriel of Petersburg, the publisher of the Slavonic Philokalia, sent Abbot Nazary from Sarov to become the refounder of its spiritual tradition (1785). Abbot Nazary was in the spiritual tradition of Starets Paissy Velichkovsky, and after him Valaam became one of the leading spiritual centers of Russia, in the same tradition as the famous Optina Monastery with its God-filled Startsi, producing a host of great ascetics, uncanonized saints, down to our own day. Father Herman of Alaska was a true disciple of Abbot Nazary, and it was under obedience to him that he went to Alaska to become like to one of the original founders of Valaam, whose name he bore, by planting the seed of Orthodox monasticism and spirituality in the New World. The chapel today on Spruce Island over the grave of Father Herman is dedicated to Sts. Sergius and Herman.

Right up to the Revolution of 1917 Valaam was flourishing, both spiritually and materially, with over 1500 monks and many sketes and hermitages on the islands of Lake Ladoga. After the Revolution it found itself on the Finnish side of the border and thus it was untouched by the Communist yoke,1 although the monks could see their Orthodox brethren being martyred on the Soviet side of the lake.

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1. However, some Valaam monks who were outside the monastery did win a martyr's crown: Hegoumen Anthony, Hegoumen Ilya, Archdeacon John (Krivonosov), Hieromonk Afanassy, and others.


Valaam, however, was to endure another sort of persecution. The Orthodox Church of Finland, rushing to keep in step with the lawless times, adopted the new (Papal) calendar in the 1920's and forced it upon Valaam. Only a minority of the monks accepted it, and the majority was divided: a great number simply left Valaam (some of them being forcibly evicted by the police) and went elsewhere, while others, led by their holy Elders, stayed to become confessors for Orthodoxy within the walls of the monastery, refusing to have any communion in prayer with the renovationists or to receive the sacraments from them.

Valaam, already wounded spiritually, was not destined long to survive this. During the Second World War it was on the front lines of the war between Finland and the USSR; many buildings were destroyed and the monks fled before the advancing Soviet Army. Many Church treasures were saved, and a New Valaam was founded on a farm in Finland. But no new monks came, and now the last monk of Valaam is dying, and in a matter probably of months historical Valaam will be no more, its last treasures to be distributed by the Finnish Church.

As for the old Valaam, now in the USSR, the fate of almost all the hundreds of monasteries of pre-Revolutionary times has been repeated: at first subjected to the satanic mockery and sacrilege of the godless, when chapels were turned into toilets and everything holy blasphemed, the grounds were later used as a prison for juvenile delinquents, then as a sanatorium for war cripples, and now is a rest home. As in the rest of Soviet Russia today there reigns the abomination of desolation – for as long as God shall permit.


"THE RIGHTEOUS LIVE FOREVER"

THE LIFE OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS
DIONYSIOS OF ZAKYNTHOS
ARCHBISHOP OF ;GINA, who is commemorated on the 17th of December

Translated from the Greek by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Boston


ST. DIONYSIOS OF ZAKYNTHOS

TROPARION, TONE 1

LET ALL US the faithful honor with one accord Dionysios+ the offspring of Zakynthos,+ the president of ;gina,+ and the protector of the Monastery of Strophada.+ And let us cry unto him sincerely:+ By thy prayers save those who celebrate thy memory, and cry unto thee.+ Glory to Christ Who hath glorified thee;+ glory to Him Who hath made thee wondrous;+ glory to Him Who hath granted thee unto us as an unsleeping intercessor.


Abandoning the things of earth below, Dionysios the New, The boast of Zakynthos, doth dwell now in the heavens.

DIONYSIOS, OUR DIVINE FATHER, was born in 1547 on the renowned island of Zakynthos (Zante), from pious, illustrous parents. His father, who was of the family of Sigouros,1 was named Mokios, and his mother's name was Paulina.

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1. According to island records, the Saint's family came to Zakynthos from Normandy in the 12th century. With the passage of years, most of the Sigouros family adopted the Orthodox Faith, and it was from this branch of the family that St Dionysios descended.


When he reached school age, he was taken to God-fearing and wise teachers, and, intelligent as he was, in a short time he learned all the subjects that were necessary to enlighten his mind. Thus, he came to understand the deception of the world, the immortality of the soul, and the futility of this fleeting life. Since he progressed daily in virtue and in reverence for God, he determined to become a soldier of Christ, the Heavenly King, so that he might be able to conquer the three deadly enemies, that is, the world, the flesh, and the devil, and thus enjoy the incorruptible crown of glory as a trophy-bearing victor.

But since worldly cares and the turmoil of earthly affairs hindered him from his God-fearing purpose, he decided to flee far from the confusion of the world, so that he might be able to set his mind on heavenly things, and with his whole heart worship God, his Creator and Redeemer.

Having denied, then, native land, parents, nobility, riches, glory and all the enjoyments of the world, he hastened like a winged eagle to the royal monastery of Strophada,1 which lies opposite Zakynthos, on the southern side, being some forty miles distant. He arrived there full of spiritual gladness, and upon completing the prescribed time of the novitiate in accordance with the canons of the monastic rule, he was given the Angelic Habit of the monks by the abbot.

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1. A monastery is referred to as "royal" when it has been founded by an imperial grant or decree. Thus, all the monasteries of the Holy Mount, Athos, are "royal" in that they have been founded by pious emperors and princes, whether of Byzantium, Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia or Russia.


Though young in years, yet in virtues he surpassed even the most elderly and virtuous fathers of that venerable monastery. He kept vigil the greater part of the night, spending his time in the reading of spiritual books, and in hymns and praises to God. He bridled and tamed the passionate desires of the flesh with long fasts. Bringing to mind the nothingness of human nature, he conquered the demon of pride by his extreme humility. Though he was of an illustrious family, he considered himself the lowest and unworthiest of all. Hence, all the fathers of the monastery had him as their rule of virtue and icon of righteousness, and cach of them sought to imitate him, each according to his strength. Having, then, been shown forth to the elders as one tested, he was raised by degrees to the honor of the priesthood, so that he might offer unto God acceptable prayers and the bloodless sacrifice, for the salvation of the world.

After this, he wished to visit the Holy Land and Jerusalem. Upon receiving permission from the abbot and the brotherhood, he left and went to the Cyclades Islands and to the Dodecanese in order to be able, in this manner, to find a ship more easily for his journey to the Holy Land.

While going about those islands in search of a ship to complete his journey, he passed by Athens, and, in accordance with ecclesiastical rules, went to pay his respects to the local bishop. The bishop, having heard the good report of Dionysios, constrained him to accept the then vacant position of the diocese of ;gina. But humbleminded and meek as he was, the Saint excused himself, saying that he was not worthy of such an undertaking, that is, to take upon himself such care for the souls of the faithful. But that wise and prudent bishop who had heard previously of Dionysios' virtues, was now convinced of the truthfulness of the report by the Saint's modesty, and he constrained him to such a degree so as to make him accept, so that he might not appear to be disobedient to the orders of the bishop.

Having gained the consent of the Saint, the bishop wrote immediately to the clergy and people of ;gina, and made manifest the worthiness of the candidate. He told them that only after being compelled and after many requests and spiritual exhortations was the Saint swayed, and had agreed to lead them. With one accord, all received him as their shepherd and teacher, and they glorified and thanked God Who had provided and sent them such a God-fearing and saintly man as a leader and guide.

Thus, in accordance with the sacred canons of the Great Church, he was ordained Metropolitan of ;gina. Every believer can well imagine how great was the joy of all the people of ;gina that day. Having therefore, been entrusted in this manner with the care of this rational flock, he never ceased from teaching daily with sacred sermons, with admonitions and with edifying examples.


The island of Zakynthos as it must have looked in the lifetime of St. Dionysios-from a 17th-century sketch


BUT SINCE HIS FAME spread abroad and, even as a magnet attracts iron, all were drawn to him that they might hear his divinelywise words, after having administered the affairs of the Church for a considerable time, he feared lest the praise of men, which exalted him so highly, might cast him down into the pit of vainglory. Thus he decided to resign from his see. After he had found a worthy successor, he prepared to leave for his native Zakynthos. He then blessed his flock and asked the Lord to keep them unharmed from all enemies both visible and invisible, and to grant unto them every salutary desire. Bidding them farewell, he departed, leaving them all in exceeding sorrow.

Now a person of note on account of his hierarchial rank, he returned thus to Zakynthos and was received with inexpressible joy by his countrymen, who revered him as a spiritual sun of holiness, for at that time, in 1579, the Archdiocese of Zakynthos was widowed.1 The divine Dionysios was placed as overseer of the Archdiocese by a Patriarchal letter until new elections were held, even as it came to pass while Jerome was Patriarch.

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1. At his ordination to the episcopacy, the bishop is "wedded" to his diocese until his death (or until the diocese ceases to exist, this having also occurred many times in the history of the Church), at which time the diocese is referred to as a "widow." Hence the same hymns are chanted for the ordination and wedding services. This is also the reason why the bishop who moves from one see to another is referred to as an "adulterer" by the holy canons.


Since, however, he had accepted the care of the above-mentioned diocese not by his own will, but in order to satisfy his fellow countrymen who had requested this of him, no sooner had another been elected than he left for an appropriate and quiet place, no longer desiring to remain in worldly life where he had no peace; for he wished to be found together with God in spirit and to raise his mind with spiritual study and divine understanding. Already, from some ten years before, he had prepared an appropriate place so that he might live in holy silence, according to his longing. At this place there is found the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos Anaphonitria,1 which is some twenty miles distant from the main village, and lies on the highest mountains of this island, toward the southern part.

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1. "She that uplifteth Her voice" – a title given to several icons of the Mother of God, which on occasion have spoken. The Monastery was founded in 1381.


When the divine Dionysios arrived at the monastery, as he had ascended the mountain in body, so also did he lift up his mind altogether, even to the heavens. No other thing did he bring to mind except the incomparable beauty of the Three-Sunned Divinity. So subtle and discerning did his mind become from divine vision, that I am able to say that he came well nigh to becoming entirely spirit. I will not mention the passion-mortifying fasts, the day-long prayers, the harshness of his couch (for he had his bed made up of sharp rocks, which he covered with elegant coverings. He did not permit any of his servants to enter his cell so that this virtue of his might not be revealed, but he himself would make his bed). I will not speak of his liberal almsgiving which was like an ever-flowing fountain which bountifully watered the paupers that were athirst. It was his custom, once a year, on Pascha, to send the monastery's large boat to the main village loaded with wheat, pulse, lambs, kids, and other edibles, and the monks of the monastery would distribute them to the poor, in accordance with his command. I shall be silent concerning his other virtues of which the blessed one was full, like a fruitful tree.


ON THE ISLAND OF ZAKYNTHOS

The tower of the Monastery of Anaphonitria. Much of the Monastery is in ruins now from the repeated earthquakes that have struck the island over the centuries.


ON THE ISLAND OF ZAKYNTHOS

The Cathedral of St. Dionysios on Zakynthos the only building on the island left standing intact after the disastrous earthquake and fire of 1953, this being understood by the faithful of Zakynthos as yet another miracle of the Saint's intercession.


The Saint's boly relics placed for veneration


In truth, he was known to be an angel in the flesh and a man of like mind with the angels. He admonished the fathers of the monastery daily, teaching them not only by word, but more by his good example; for verily, this is the true and effective instruction. He incited them to keep the rules and customs of the monastic life unaltered, and never dare to transgress any of the promises which they had made when they put on the Angelic Habit.

AMONG THE NUMEROUS virtues which adorned him, there shone forth in him especially that divinely-named virtue which is the root and foundation of all the virtues – I mean the love for one's neighbor which is according to God. So much was this love rooted in his heart that it exceeded even the very bounds of nature. Listen, I beseech you, with attention and reverence, that you may marvel.

A certain man, a stranger, most bold and audacious, dared by his most abominable hand to murder Constantine, the Saint's beloved brother, a man most worthy and an illustrious nobleman of his native land. When he had committed this bloody murder, he feared the power of the murdered man's relatives, and he fled to deserted and untrodden places to save his life. Finally (I know not how, either by chance, or rather by Divine dispensation, so that the great and unheard-of virtue of the Saint might be revealed) he came to the aforementioned Monastery of the Theotokos Anaphonitria, not knowing that the abbot was the brother of the murdered man. Altogether terror stricken and half dead from fear, he fell at the feet of the Saint weeping, and besought him to show him mercy and hide him in some secret place.

When the Saint saw him so frightened, he asked him the cause of his great fear and he heard from him that he was fleeing from the wrath of the noblemen of the family of Sigouros, who were coming to find him and kill him because he had killed one of their family, one Constantine by name.

At this point, let everyone consider what heartfelt pain the Saint must have suffered, as was natural, upon hearing such a grievous and bitter message, especially since he had no other brother. Immediately the appearance of his countenance changed; tears of love for his brother ran like two fountains from his eyes and with a deep moan he said to him: "O man, in what way did that good nobleman harm you, that you killed him unjustly?" Here, as a man, he was constrained by the natural bond of love for his brother to revenge himself upon the man. Yet he preferred the commandment of God, Who commanded us to do good to those that treat us evilly. Not only did he not do evil to that man who was worthy of all punishment, but in imitation of our Master, Christ, Who endured evil and prayed to His Father for His crucifiers, he took that murderer and comforted him with words of consolation and hid him in a secret place, showing him all manner of love and compassion as though he were his benefactor, and not an enemy.

Within a short space of time, many of the Saint's relatives arrived running, flushed from the labor of the long trek, and well nigh half dead from their immeasurable grief. They were accompanied also by a multitude of armed men. When the Saint saw them, he pretended that he knew nothing and asked them to tell him the cause of their coming and their great sorrow. With many tears, they told him of the pitiable murder of his brother. Furthermore, they asked him if the murderer had passed by there, whom they were seeking in order to deprive him of his life, even as he also had done to his beloved brother.

The Saint wept and lamented together with his relatives over the death of his brother. Yet, in order that they might depart from there the sooner, and he could thus find time to save the murderer whom he had hidden, he brought them out, and with words of advice sent them off in the supposed direction of the murderer's flight. Immediately after his relatives had gone off some distance from there, he brought the murderer out in the open and told him that he was the murdered man's brother. He admonished him as a father and gave him spiritual counsel. Having brought him to repentance, he corrected him and forgave him his sin. Then he accompanied him down to the shore near the monastery, and when he had given him those things that were necessary for his sustenance and for his trip, he sent him to another place, that he might save his life.

O virtue! O deed that surpasses nature! O super-human achievement at which not only men would marvel at the hearing, but even the very angels of Heaven! Wherefore also, because of the Saint's Christ-like virtue, the richly-bestowing God enriched him with the grace to work supernatural miracles, of which we shall narrate a few.

One day, when the Saint wanted to go from the monastery to the main village for a certain matter of his, he said to his deacon, Daniel (who was from Trikala of Morea, and who had been reared by the Saint and later ordained by him. As a trustworthy man, he was always in the company of the Saint), "Daniel, shall we go to the village?" He answered, "My holy master, the weather looks as though it is going to rain." But the Saint answered him, "To the glory of God, let us go, and do not bring obstacles." And when they had set out, they had not gone far from the monastery when the rain began. The deacon said, "My master, did I not say that it was going to rain? It is better for us to turn back, for the rain is increasing more and more." But the true man of God said to him, "Let us go forward and nothing will happen to us." As the time passed, so also did the rain increase, but – O Thy wonders, Lord! –  even though there was so much rain, it did not touch their garments at all, neither those of the hierarch, nor those of the deacon.

When they reached a river over which they had to cross, they saw that it was flooded because of the excessive rain, and the deacon, in doubt, said, "How are we going to cross now, my master?" Then the Saint said to him with confidence, "Follow me in the name of Jesus Christ, and do not hesitate at all." And as they drew near – Oh, strange miracle! – the river's flow stood unmoving, rising up on one side and the other until both had passed without even wetting their feet at all. When the Saint saw the deacon's astonishment, he forbade him to reveal anything of what he saw while the Saint was still living. After the death of the Saint, the deacon revealed these things truthfully so that God might be glorified; for he considered it a sin to keep such supernatural miracles hidden.

Once, when the Saint was in the main village, they happened to open a certain grave at the temple of St. Nicholas of the Strangers (being so called because strangers were buried there; the parish is also the diocesan see of the island) so that they might bury another body there.

There they found the body of a woman who had died long before, but whose body, together with her garments, had not decomposed, because the hapless one had died under the ban of a priest. Wherefore, her relatives came and fell at the feet of the Saint, begging him with tears to go to the aforementioned temple and read a prayer of forgiveness over that body that was under ban, and perhaps the Lord would hearken unto his supplication. Being moved with compassion by their tears, the Saint went to this temple late at night, accompanied by his deacon and the parish priest. When he saw the body, he commanded that they take it out of the tomb and stand it upright in one of the church stalls. Then he put on his epitrachilion and omophorion, and bowing his knees, prayed for a considerable time. With fervent tears he made supplication unto God to loosen that undecomposed body from the ban of the priest and he read a prayer of forgiveness over it. And – Oh, the wonder! – as though it were alive, that dead body bowed its head in a motion of reverence to the Saint out of thanksgiving for the great gift which it had received, and then it fell to the ground and disintegrated into earth and bones. Out of humility, the Saint forbade those present to reveal this miracle also, while he was yet alive. In the village of Katastation he performed a similar miracle over the remains of a man who had been put under the ban of a priest.

A certain wealthy nobleman from the Saint's family once invited the Saint, together with other notable people, both clergy and lay, to go by sea with fishing-boats to a sea-side place which was commonly called Voidi (the Cow), where there was a small monastery in honor of the Holy Trinity. As the invited guests entered a small boat together with the host, those rude and indiscreet fishermen, because of their superstitious error, immediately began to grumble secretly against the clergy. For the senseless and faithless ones believe that if they see a man of the Church their work will not prosper that day and they will even suffer loss--which God indeed permits many times on account of their superstition and impertinency.

When, therefore, they had arrived by boat at the place called Voidi, they came out and went to the little monastery in order to rest and prepare everything. In the meantime the fishermen were casting their nets, and after a considerable time they returned empty-handed and totally without fish, grumbling even more, irrational brutes that they were, against the clergy that were in that company. Wherefore, that nobleman became grieved over this ill-fortune. When the Saint saw him like this, he asked to learn the cause of his grief. The nobleman told him the cause in a few words, adding that when the barbarous race of fishermen is going to work, it has so much superstition against the men of the cloth, that should they meet or see anyone in clerical garb, they immediately begin saying foolish things, that is, that they will fail in their labor. For this reason, even now it seems to them that they have had this bad luck in their fishing because of the presence of clergymen in the company.

Becoming greatly grieved over the despondency of the nobleman, or rather, scandalized by the erroneous belief of the fishermen, the Saint commanded that they bring the nets out on the shore. Whereupon, he put on his epitrachilion and read a prayer over them, blessed them and the fishermen as well, and told them, pointing with his finger, "Go to that part of the sea and cast your nets there, and you will catch many fish, according to your need and desire." And they answered, "Master, we will go with your blessing, but that place which you show us has no fish, because we have never caught a fish there. We know the places where the fish go, and we will cast our nets wherever it seems best to us." Then, when the Saint saw their audacious gainsaying, he told them in a severe tone, "I want you most surely to cast your nets there where I told you." The nobleman also said, "Let the will of the bishop be done, and do not resist his command." Thus they went forcibly, even though in their opinion it was hopeless, and they cast their nets at the appointed place. So great was the multitude and the variety of the fish which they caught, they were scarcely able to drag them into the boat. In astonishment, they stood marveling and immediately changed their unbelief to belief, and they carried in the catch like a trophy of the miracle. In fear and in joy they ran and fell at the feet of the Saint, confessing their sin with a great voice and asking forgiveness. As for that meek and divine man, he forgave them and counseled them to have reverence for the priestly habit, and to cast out of their minds soul-harming superstitions.

The Saint had received from God not only the gift of working miracles, but even the gift of clairvoyance as well, for the purpose of knowing secrets of the heart. This was revealed to a certain priest-monk who went to him for confession. Having heard of the virtues of the Saint, and of his angelic manner of life, this priest monk, Pancratios by name, went one day for confession, and when he had finished, the Saint asked him if he remembered anything else which he had to say to him. He answered that he did not remember anything. The Saint said to him, "Examine yourself well, my child, lest out of carelessness something has escaped your memory, and you depart uncorrected. Stay a while, and think to yourself in case you happen to remember any other fault that you have committed. For it seems certain to me that you have not made a complete confession." The priest-monk stood considering for a long time and then answered, "My most sacred master, I cannot remember anything else at all; only give me leave, that I may not trouble your holiness." Then, when the Saint saw that he who had come for confession was about to depart without revealing the greatest sin he had ever committed, he said to him with austerity, "Do you not remember, O unfortunate one, that while you were serving on such and such a day in such and such a church, how, because of your carelessness and lack of attention, the Precious Pearl [the Body of the Lord] fell to the earth?" When the priest-monk heard this word from the Saint's lips, he remembered it immediately and was overcome with fear, being astonished at the Saint's gift of clairvoyance; for he saw that, through the spiritual eyes of his soul, the Saint knew of his hidden sin, and he fell at his feet, wetting them with the tears of repentance, and he confessed his offence and sought forgiveness. As one who was an imitator of our all-compassionate Jesus, the Saint accepted his repentance, and admonished him to take care in the future, that whenever he served at the bloodless sacrifice to approach the Heavenly King with much fear and trembling and much reverence; for even the very angels cannot look upon Him steadfastly. After having instructed him with such admonitions, he gave him leave and sent him off in peace.

There are also many other things which the Saint did while still alive, which are worthy of being told, which, however, we pass over in silence in order not to burden the reader with a prolonged narration. We shall proceed to tell the most significant of those miracles which the Saint performed after his death.

HAVING PASSED HIS days living a life equal to that of the angels, the Saint reached a deep old age, and the time came for his departure to the Lord. He knew the hour of his repose from before, and revealed it to his spiritual children. When they heard this grievous announcement, they wept inconsolably over the loss of their good father and teacher. The Saint comforted them and counseled them in those things that were needful, and after he had blessed them and gave them the last kiss, he gave up his blessed soul into the hands of his God and Fashioner, on the seventeenth day of December in the year 1624. In accordance with his last command, his venerable relics were taken with honor and reverence to the sacred Monastery of Straphada, where he had put on the monastic habit. The righteous fathers of that illustrious monastery received his body as a most precious treasure, and with great reverence they buried it in a new sepulchre at the chapel of the Great-Martyr George, which is within the walls of the monastery.

Very little time had passed since his repose, when he began appearing in dreams to the abbot and to the brethren of the monastery many times, and he would tell them, "Why do you keep me closed here in the grave? Take me out." When the abbot and the brethren had discussed this vision together, they concluded that it was a divine revelation, and thus they opened the grave. There they found the most precious and sacred body of the Saint, together with the hierarchial vestments in which he had been buried, to be whole, unharmed and intact, and giving forth a wondrous fragrance as well. With hymns, with chants, and with all manner of reverence they brought it out of the grave and placed it in a prepared reliquary in the narthex of the main church, which was named in honor of the Divine Transfiguration of Christ.

This most precious body of the Saint is the guardian of that venerable monastery, and it never ceased from working miracles daily. It heals every illness of the fathers; it turns back the fruit-destroying locusts that come there often and damage the crops. Many times, during a period of drought, the fathers form a procession around the monastery with the holy relics of the Saint, and no matter how sunny or clear the weather may be, the heavens become cloudy immediately, and with great downpourings of rain they water the thirsty earth and gladden the monks.

The Saint had a certain large two-storied house in Zakynthos, where he stayed whenever he came down to the main village from the monastery. After his death, a certain nobleman rented the house from the son's heirs. Because of the great age of the structure, it was practically tottering and frightening even to behold. In spite of all this, that nobleman remained there out of the love and respect which he had for the Saint, and he greatly extolled his many virtues and godly gifts.

In 1661, when, for the iniquities of the people of that island, God chastened them many days with fearsome earthquakes and with the danger of utter destruction, the nobleman became exceedingly frightened. He decided to move to the lower floor, so that he would be able to get out quickly at every movement and tremor of the earth.

One night during that time of unrest, Helen, the nobleman's wife, saw in her dream a venerable bishop who was in middle age and looked just like the Saint. In the dream he went up to the upper floor of that dwelling together with his deacon. There he put on his epitrachilion and omophoron, recited the opening prayer in front of the icon of the Master, Christ, and read the service of the Small Blessing of the Waters. Afterwards, he sprinkled the whole house with the holy water and then drew near to the noblewoman and said to her with a cheerful countenance, "Woman, fear no longer." Immediately she awoke and also awoke her husband, and with mixed fear and joy told him the vision. Upon hearing it, that godly man decided that this dream meant nothing else but that, even during such times of great fear, the protection of the Saint cared for the house in a most competent manner, as though it were the Saint's own, and he preserved whole and unharmed those that were dwelling therein. Wherefore, having been thus strengthened by divine grace, that nobleman, together with his whole household, dwelt in that house with fervent faith and without fear, through the Saint's intercessions. Neither did he ever suffer any harm from the other earthquakes that occurred there thereafter; on the contrary, that blessed and most pious couple ended their days in that house in a godly manner.

A CERTAIN MONK from the monastery, Matthew by name (who had been a disciple of the Saint), saw the Saint in a dream one night, in which he told him: "Matthew, tell the abbot, Nectarios, that you should take care of yourselves with all diligence, because in eight days there will be a great earthquake and the monastery will suffer great harm and loss." When the monk awoke, he thought it to be a simple dream and told it to no one. Then, even as the Saint had predicted, there was an earthquake so great that most of the monastery's buildings fell and others were split asunder. Especially that wonderful tower on which one monk was keeping watch for thieves; when part of the tower collapsed, the monk fell with it and he cried out, calling upon the Saint's aid with faith. Even though the tower was so high, the monk was kept whole and unharmed, to the glory of God and praise of the Saint.

In 1645, when the Turkish fleet was about to pass by the parts of Strophada on its way to Kydonia (Hania), a city of Crete, the fathers, fearing lest the Hagarenes do them injury, took the relics of the Saint together with the other things of the monastery and went to Zakynthos to protect themselves. They took even all their sheep and other animals as well. Within a few days after the fathers reached their metochion,1 all of the animals lost their sight, which occurred either out of malice of the devil, or out of divine economy, so that the Saint might be glorified. Wherefore, being exceedingly afflicted, the fathers were unable to find another cure more beneficial than that of the Saint's help. First they performed the service of the Blessing of the Waters and touched the hands of the Saint's holy relics to the sanctified water. Then, with this they sprinkled the blinded animals and all received their sight at the same time.

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1. A holding or possession of a monastery. A monastery's 'metochia' may be anything from fields, to buildings, to chapels or even to other monasteries.


A certain relative of the Saint, a noblewoman named Angela, became grievously ill from an apoplexy. Not only was she left half paralyzed, but dumb and speechless as well. Seeking to cure her, the most experienced doctors used all the power of medicine. Yet in vain did they labor, because her condition only grew worse and she despaired entirely of regaining her health. Finally, her relatives remembered that the small toe from the Saint's venerable relics was kept there nearby. They sent in order to have it brought to the sick woman's house. When a priest touched her with it with faith and reverence in the form of a cross upon her lips and her dead limbs, immediately (Oh, the wonder!) her speech returned and her motionless members began to move, and she was restored to her former health.

The above-mentioned toe from the sacred relics was sent by the abbot of the Monastery of Strophada to Zakynthos for the sanctification and consolation and spiritual joy of the Saint's fellow countrymen. This took place in the following manner. A certain Christian who had gone to venerate and kiss the Saint's holy relics took and hid the toe in order to take it with him out of reverence. When he desired to go out of the narthex where the Saint's holy relics were, he was hindered by an invisible force. Thus, even though unwillingly, he confessed his deed to the fathers and gave back the toe. Then the abbot sent the toe to Zakynthos, and the aforementioned worshipper left the narthex unhindered.

One worshipper gave a large candle to Methodios, the sacristan of the church, so that he might light it before the Saint's holy relics. Out of negligence, however, he did not light it. That night, while he was asleep, he saw that as he was entering the narthex of the church where the Saint's relics were, the Saint turned towards him, and looking at him with an austere gaze, told him, "Depart from here." Terrified, he woke up and saw the candle hanging in one corner of his room. Immediately, he arose from bed, took the large candle with fear and lit it before the holy relics, at the same time humbly asking forgiveness from the Saint for his negligence. The next night, while asleep, he again saw the Saint who, with a cheerful countenance, raised his right hand and blessed him.

AT ONE TIME, the abbot of the monastery was a certain Daniel, a modest and a venerable man from Mani, who later became bishop of his native land. He was very hesitant concerning the sanctity of the hierarch Dionysios, and he would say to himself many times, "Can it be that Dionysios is found among the choir of the Saints, as we here consider him to be?" In that the Lord desired to take away this hesitation from his mind, one night while the abbot was sleeping in bed, it appeared to him (as he thought) that the ecclesiarch1 knocked on the door of his cell, and according to the rule, asked his blessing to sound the semantron for the night office. After a little while, he awoke, and thinking that he had truly given the ecclesiarch the blessing to sound for the service, he reviled himself as being a lover of sleep and said, "Oh, how did sleep overcome me, and the enemy make me drowsy? So much time has passed since I told the ecclesiarch to sound, and the fathers must have gathered already in church and are waiting for me in order to begin the service."

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1. One who cleans and cares for the church. He also sounds the semantron or wooden block that summons the monks to services.


Dressing with haste, he set out immediately to go to the church; but (Oh, the wonder!) when he reached that door of the narthex which was opposite the Saint's reliquary, with his own eyes he saw the Saint standing upright outside of the reliquary between two priests. He was dressed in white bishop's vestments and was resting his hands on the shoulders of the priests. There were also two deacons, likewise dressed in their vestments. Of these, one was vesting the bishop and the other stood at the middle door of the narthex censing the Saint and reciting the verses "My soul shall rejoice..." and so on. The priest who stood at the bishop's right hand looked steadfastly at the abbot, and shaking his head a little, said to him, "Are you convinced now or do you still doubt?" Terrified at this most wondrous sight and beside himself from astonishment, the abbot, with much fear, drew back quietly and went out of the temple.

After he had come out of the temple, the abbot then changed his mind and returned to look again, to see if, perchance, that awesome vision continued. When he reached the door of the narthex, he saw the Saint going back by himself and entering into his reliquary. Immediately the lamps and that great effusion of light were extinguished, and at the same time the two priests and the deacons who appeared formerly disappeared. Then the abbot returned to his cell with inexpressible fear. He stood considering all those things which God had accounted him worthy to see that he might be informed concerning the bishop's sanctity.

After a little while, the ecclesiarch came in truth to ask his blessing to sound the semantron. Knowing him to be a God-fearing and virtuous man, the abbot told him of the vision and after this, when the other fathers learned of it also, they all went together with the abbot to the Saint's reliquary and, with hymns, praised the Saint with great compunction. All in common were convinced even more that St. Dionysios rejoices together with the other Saints in the delights of Paradise – especially the abbot who, with all manner of humble-mindedness and reverence, asked forgiveness from the Saint for his former disbelief. Henceforth, he became a great preacher who never ceased from proclaiming to all concerning the holiness of St. Dionysios and of the great boldness which he had before God.

A COUPLE from the Peloponnesus who had been married for some ten years had no children. Wherefore, they besought the Saint to grant them a child, promising to baptize it in the Saint's temple on Zakynthos. Then the woman saw the Saint in her sleep, and he said to her, "What do you seek from me, woman? Behold, God has hearkened to your supplication, and you will quickly receive what you desire."


Procession with the sacred relics of St. Dionysios around the city of Zakynthos on the Saint's feast day


Truly, the woman conceived and gave birth to a most delightful son, through the intercessions of the Saint. Wherefore the parents and all their relatives were exceedingly joyous and glorified God and His servant, Saint Dionysios.

After some five months had passed since the birth of the child, the parents prepared to depart for Zakynthos in order to fulfill their promise. Because of a contrary wind, however, the ship was unable to depart, and in the meantime, the child became grievously ill. This, however, did not cause them to fear, but as soon as the bad weather passed they set sail. But alas! while they were only a short distance – scarcely four miles from Zakynthos, their beloved infant died. Every one can well imagine the lamentations and wailings of those hapless parents. The very air echoed with their outcries.

Finally the ship dropped anchor in the harbor at evening. The next morning, those good, yet unfortunate parents desired to offer their child, though dead, to the Saint. Accompanied by many other Christians, they came, therefore, to the Saint's temple carrying the dead child and placed the body near the sacred reliquary. With tears and laments they said that, even though they had lost their beloved child because of their sins, yet they had not tarried in fulfilling their promise.

But then, suddenly – Oh, the wonder! – the infant opened its eyes and began with tears to cry for its mother! At this awesome sight, with bended knee, all that were present cried out, "Lord have mercy." As for that unhappy mother, when she saw her child returned to this present life even though it had died eighteen hours previously, she fell to the earth in a dead faint. Afterwards, when she came to herself, she took it into her arms, and at its baptism named it Dionysios.

Thus, that pious couple departed rejoicing and glorifying God and proclaimed the miracle everywhere. Out of gratefulness, the young Dionysios never failed to bring incense and many candles as an offering during the feast day of the Saint.

ONE SHOEMAKER from Zakynthos, Panayiotes Kalountzopoulos by name, who supported his family by the sweat of his brow, lost his sight. At the prompting of his wife, the unfortunate man called upon the Saint that he might receive again the precious gift of sight. Taking the icon of the Saint into his hands, the blind man embraced it and kissed it and sighed from the depths of his heart while calling upon the Saint's help. On the fourteenth of the month of December, while asleep, he saw the Saint in bishop's vestments and wearing his episcopal mantle. The Saint approached him, and taking him by his right hand, said to him, "Take courage, my child; have faith in God and do not grieve, for after three days you shall receive your sight and will be healed completely. Do not reveal this until you have been healed completely." Having said these things, he disappeared.

Then the blind Panayiotes arose from sleep and told this vision to his wife only, and forbade her to reveal it to anyone. Afterwards, he asked for the icon of the Hierarch, and embraced and kissed it fervently.

On the evening before the Saint's feast, at the sound of the first cannon shot, Panayiotes remembered how the Saint had appeared to him. He bowed his knees on his bed, and supported by his pious wife, he prayed and besought the Saint with tears, and – Oh, the wonder! – immediately he began to see a dim light.

The next day, the 17th of December, when the Saint's commemoration is celebrated by a procession around the city of Zakynthos with the Saint's all-venerable relics, the suffering man arose from his bed with the help of his wife as the procession passed by below their house. On bended knees both made fervent supplication and called upon the Saint. After the procession had gone some thirty steps-Oh, Thy wonders, Lord! – the blind man received his sight completely, and he glorifies and blesses God and His wonderworking servant, Dionysios, even to this very day.

A certain ship, storm-tossed to Zakynthos, was unable to resist the force of the threatening waves and began sinking into the sea. Three pious sailors surrendered themselves to the wrath of the wild waves and called upon the aid of Saint Dionysios. And truly, the Saint appeared to them and calmed the wrath of the waves and, as they swam, guided them toward Zakynthos. Soaked and out of breath, they went directly to the Saint's temple that they might offer thanksgiving to their rescuer. They asked that the sacred reliquary be opened so that they might venerate his holy relics and cover his holy feet with their tears. But since the parish priest who had the keys was absent, those three pious men could not do otherwise except to kiss only the sacred reliquary and depart. Just as they were about to do this, suddenly a sound was heard, and the reliquary opened of its own accord, to the amazement of the three, and of all the other Orthodox who were there present! When therefore, they had kissed the Saint's holy feet with compunction, the sacred reliquary closed again of its own accord as before. As for the sailors, they came and proclaimed to all these strange miracles of Saint Dionysios the wonderworker.

Those are a few of the many and wondrous miracles which Saint Dionysios the wonderworker performed and continues to perform daily, in that he grants healing unto all who seek his aid and entreat his boundless mercy with faith.

As for thee, O wondrous hierarch Dionysios, before whose boundless mercy and great compassion we stand in awe, make thou supplication unto the all-compassionate God that He may preserve all those who, through thy intercessions, seek the help of the Lord our God, Who, as thy life doth demonstrate, is wondrous in His saints. For therein is manifest the grace of God which was given thee, that thou mightest work miracles unfailingly and have mercy on those who run to thy great mercy, and especially on thy fellow-countrymen, the inhabitants of the isle of Zakynthos, who boast in that they are fortunate to have thee as their protecting saint. Through whose intercessions, O Christ God, have mercy on us. Amen.


THE ORTHODOX SPIRITUAL LIFE

A Treasury of Father Herman's Spirituality


Father Herman, protector of orphans


A drawing made in 1798 of the first Orthodox Mission in America: St. Paul's Harbor, Kodiak


V
APOSTOLIC FERVOR

OH! HERE ENRAPTURED in spirit, in spite of all the shortness of time I will snatch a short minute to relate some narratives [of the missionaries' travels and apostolic fervor].

Finding myself between fair weather and foul, between joy and tedium, between sufficiency and insufficiency, satiety and hunger, warmth and coldness, in all my sorrows I find something that cheers me, when I hear conversations between the brethren about their preaching, and about their dividing up for this various regions among themselves especially the discussion between Hieromonks Makary and Juvenaly, for they set out around Kodiak, too, in the smallest little boats of hide, despite all the sea's dangers, and Father Archimandrite Ioasaph Bolotov remained with us, as if with little children, in the harbor.

And so these hieromonks extended their thoughts yet farther: Once when taking a stroll in our harbor, where I, sinful one, happened to be among them, we climbed a little hill toward the southern side, sat down facing the ocean, and among other things began to speak as to which of us should go where to preach, for the time was then at hand for the departure of the ships on which they had to travel. And then an argument broke out between them which for me, humble one, was comforting and joyful. On Kukovsky's maps of the north, it is indicated that along a certain river Russians live; among us there are different rumors of them, about which we then recalled in our discussion, wishing somehow to see them. Father Makary began to speak: "According to my intention, if it please God, when I shall be in the Aleutian Islands, in all propriety I should go also to Alaska [the mainland],1 to which place the Alaskans have already called me, too; and as that side is nearer those Russians, I shall find means somehow to learn something more certain about them," But Father Juvenaly, having heard about Alaska, and in his zeal not allowing the other to speak further, hastened to say to him: "Alaska in the whole belongs to my part, and so I beg you to yield to me and not offend me in this; since the ship now is setting out for Yakutan, I shall have to begin preaching from the south, and proceeding along the ocean toward the north and going round the Kenai inlet, I shall absolutely have to go by way of Alaska to go out to this harbor." Hearing this, Father Makary became shrouded in despondency and, having assumed a sorrowful air, said with feeling: "No, Father, don't hem me in with this; you yourself know that the Aleutian chain of islands adjoins Alaska, and so it absolutely belongs to my part, and from there the whole northern shore; but as for you, if you please, the southern part of America is sufficient for your whole lifetime." And I, lowly one, hearing such a debate went from joy to rapture.

(From a Letter to Abbot Nazary of May 19, 1795)

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1. So identified in Kukovsky's (i..., Captain Cook's) maps.

VI
PROTECTOR OF ORPHANS

AFTER FATHER HERMAN settled on Spruce Island, in the first years there was an inundation or tidal wave (it must have been from an earthquake), and the people, residents of the island, in fear let the Elder know of it. He had come from his cell to the home of his pupils, where every Sunday he served the hours, there being no chapel or church. Having taken up an Icon of the Mother of God from its place, he brought it out to the siltbank, and placing the Icon at the spot to which the water had risen the last time, he began to pray to God. And when he had finished praying, he informed those present that they should not be afraid, saying that above and beyond this spot where the holy object had been placed the sea would not go; which indeed came to pass! This has been confirmed by those who heard of this happening.

And when it was necessary to carry the Icon back, after instructing the people, Father Herman is said to have told to Sofia Vlasova (who was already in charge of the girl pupils [of his orphanage]) that in case there should ever be again such a rising of the sea, then this Icon should be placed on the siltbank, and he promised that the sea would not go beyond this spot. This Icon is to be found to this day on Spruce Island, called New Valaam.

(Notes of Constantine Larionov, May, 1867, Sitka)

VII
SPIRITUAL POWER

I WAS THIRTY years old when I met Father Herman. Here it should be said that I was brought up in the naval corps, knew many sciences and read much, but unfortunately, of the science of sciences, that is God's Law, I scarcely understood the surface, and that theoretically, without applying it to life, and I was only in name a Christian, while in soul and in deed I was a freethinker, a deist, as are nearly all who are brought up in the military corps and in public institutions. How unfortunate that no attention is given this: that God's Law is everywhere taught superficially, even in the seminaries; yes, and even from the theological academies there come out students, even Masters, who are very learned, but do not have an active faith in their heart, and thus do not live in a Christian way.

All the more did I fail to recognize the Divineness and sanctity of our religion, in that I had read many atheist writings of Voltaire and other philosophers of the 18th century. Father Herman immediately noticed this and wished to convert me. But this was not easy! I had to be convinced, to be shown the sanctity of our religion; and therefore there was required much time, knowledge, nnd the ability to speak well and convincingly.

To my great amazement, the simple, uneducated monk, Father Herman, being inspired by grace, spoke and argued so wisely, powerfully, and convincingly that, it seems to me, no kind of learnedness and earthly wisdom could withstand his words. In actual fact Father Herman had a great innate intelligence and sound thinking, had read many spiritual patristic books; and most important, he had the grace of God! But since in a short winter's day I had no time at all to devote myself to him, he therefore came to me every day for evening tea, and sometimes also for dinner, and we conversed with him until midnight, and sometimes after; he never stayed for the night. Neither rain nor snow nor storm kept the zealous elder from visiting me and returning alone at midnight a half mile! He came to me regularly every day in an old ryassa without a coat; I warmed him with tea and I conversed with him without ceasing: on God's Law, on eternity, on the salvation of the soul, on Christian life, and other things. A sweet discourse flowed from his mouth in an unceasing, enthralling torrent!...

Then at midnight, or after, the elder went home alone with his – in every kind of storm and cold weather; no one accompanied staff him on the slippery rocky path; but angels accompanied him and supported him: For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways (Ps. 90:11). And Christian love warmed him, with which he was penetrated for the salvation of his neighbor.

By such constant conversations and by the prayers of the holy elder the Lord completely converted me to the true path, and I became a real Christian. For all this I am obliged to Father Herman: he is my true benefactor.

(Letter of Yanovsky, November 22, 1865)

VIII
PRIDE

DURING THE SPRING of 1820 you sent me two books so that I could tell you my opinion of the author;1 but at that time I did not manage to look at them. But having read them later I saw that he, having flown high above the clouds in the pride of Western thinking, includes himself in the number of the prophets and thinks that through his high learning and calculations he can likewise write as the prophets wrote on the condition of governments; wondrous and most wondrous indeed how pride blinds one! He says that his writings may not please everyone, that some may ridicule, and he does not see that he has ridiculed himself first of all; he thinks that he affirms the truth, but he quarrels with himself and with Holy Scripture. It is boring to speak more of him, but you can see from these few words my opinion of him; a person who may not know the truth solidly should by all means avoid such books.

(From a Letter to Yanovsky, August 10, 1821)

___
1. This unnamed author, from the description given here, was perhaps Saint-Simon or one of the other 'prophetic socialist philosophers, predecessors of Marx, whose writings were as popular among the Russian and European intelligentsia in the early 19th century as Voltaire's and others' had been a little earlier.

IX
HUMILITY

IN ALL MY LIFE HERE from my own Russians I have seen more of scorn and reproach and mockery, to which I have already become accustomed, and from such custom I think that in actual fact my lowliness is such.

(From a Letter of December 28, 1818)


GREAT ORTHODOX HIERARCHS OF THE 19TH & 20TH CENTURIES

ARCHBISHOP APOLLINARY
CONFESSOR OF ORTHODOXY IN AMERICA

1874—1933

The divisions within Russian Orthodoxy today, viewed by many as a superficial question of "jurisdictions," have been regarded by our 20th-century pillars of Orthodoxy as a matter of principle involving faithfulness to Orthodoxy itself. At the very beginning of the "jurisdictional" question in America there rose up a confessor of Orthodoxy in the Church's full tradition to show the straight path of truth for his own as well as future generations--a clear answer to those perplexed by the confusions attending the newest "autocephaly" scandal.

By their fruits ye shall know them.. St. Matthew 7:20

(The basic information and all quotations in this article, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Russian Orthodox Church in North America, Jordanville, N.Y., 1954, pp. 1-72.)




ARCHBISHOP APOLLINARY, in the world Andrew Vasilievich Koshevoy, was born in the province of Poltava on October 16, 1874. After completing instruction in the Poltava seminary, he spent some time serving as a village teacher. Then, after having begun the missionary courses at the Kazan Theological Academy, he was tonsured a monk in 1900 by the Rector of the Academy, Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky. Having completed these courses he became an instructor at the Litovt seminary. In 1905 he completed the Kiev Theological Academy while Bishop (later Metropolitan) Platon (Rozhdestven sky) was Rector of it. Despite his high standing at the Academy, he began his service to the Church very humbly as an instructor of Greek at the Zhitomir seminary school, then as instructor at the Kiev seminary, and then for seven years as Inspector of the latter.

On October 22, 1917, he was consecrated Bishop of Rylsk (a vicariate of the Kursk diocese) by Metropolitan Platon and Bishop Nikodim of Belgorod, who was later to be bestially martyred by the Communists. On June 11, 1919, Patriarch Tikhon appointed him to the newly independent diocese of Belgorod. Shortly thereafter he was called to Novorossisk at the order of the Higher Church Authority in southern Russia on church matters. He was destined never to return to Belgorod, which then became occupied by the Soviets, and instead was evacuated together with other hierarchs to Serbia, where he spent two years and three months.

On April 12, 1922, he was assigned by the Higher Church Authority Abroad to Jerusalem, where he was to bring into order the affairs of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, which had fallen into disorder due to the war. Having fulfilled this assignment, Bishop Apollinary was assigned by the Synod of Bishops as a vicar of the North American diocese, this being at the request of Metropolitan Platon, who wished his former student to be with him in the governance of his new diocese. He arrived in America on April 2, 1924, in time to attend (as an honored guest) the final session of the unfortunate Detroit Sobor.

Here it will be necessary to describe something of the background of Church life abroad, and in particular of the activities of Metr. Platon, which Bishop Apollinary was now to face, and which was to determine his future course as a hierarch. Bishop Apollinary in himself was a radiant phenomenon, but he was destined to shine all the brighter against the dark background of the times.

THE PERIOD of the 1920's was a sad one for world Orthodoxy, not only because of the fearful «Russian» Revolution and the crucifixion of the Orthodox Russian Church and faithful, but even more because of the betrayal of Orthodoxy by some of its own hierarchs which this outburst of primordial satanism inspired outside as well as inside of Russia.

Within Russia, Orthodoxy was betrayed first by the partisans of the Soviet-sponsored "Living Church," which attempted to turn Orthodoxy overnight into a combination of Communism and Protestantism; then, when this crude attempt failed to deceive most of the faithful, the Soviets pushed forward Metropolitan Sergius who preached Communism while returning to the external side of Orthodoxy, an attempt that was so successful that under his successor the "Moscow Patriarchate" has gained the recognition of almost all Orthodox Churches. With the center of world Orthodoxy thus in chaos, the protector of the Orthodox faithful and "that which restrains" the forces of Antichrist (the Russian Tsar) deposed and martyred, and the Russian Church unable to speak out for true Orthodoxy, the forces of betrayal and apostasy began an open attempt to subvert the rest of Orthodoxy. The Patriarchate of Constantinople took the lead in this movement, especially under Patriarch Meletios Metaxakis of sorry memory; the "Living Church" was recognized, every kind of senseless modernism was proposed, and the Papal calendar (except for the date of Easter) was imposed by force and bloodshed upon the unfortunate faithful of Greece, Rumania, and elsewhere. Within a short time some parts of the Russian Church abroad also fell under the spell of this lawlessness, and in 1927 the unity of the Russian Church Outside of Russia was broken by the schism of Metropolitans Evlogy of Western Europe and Platon of North America.

Metr. Platon before the Revolution was one of the leading hierarchs of the Russian Church, and after the Revolution he was, together with Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, Archbishop Theophan of Poltava and others, one of the founders of what soon came to be called the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. This Church authority took as its legal foundation the decree of Patriarch Tikhon of Nov. 7 (20), 1920, calling on all hierarchs cut off from the higher Church au thority in Moscow to enter into contact with other such hierarchs and form a higher Church authority, the responsibility for this belonging to the eldest hierarch. When the Bolshevik occupation of Russia became complete, this new Church authority comprised all Russian hierarchs outside of Russia, who agreed to remain united under a Synod of Bishops until such time as normal and free contact could be resumed with the Moscow Church authority. Because of Communist domination of the Moscow Patriarchate, not even the schismatic Russian hierarchs abroad have been able, up to the present time, to enter into communion with the Patriarch, who indeed is not in communion with many of the faithful even inside of Russia (the Catacomb Church).

Metr. Platon participated from the beginning in the sessions of the Higher Church Administration outside of Russia, beginning in 1920 in Constantinople. On November 16 (29) of that year this Administration appointed him to head the Russian Mission church in Athens, and on December 29 (January 11, 1921) it granted his request for a four-month leave of absence in North America. Metr. Platon left for America in April, 1921, with the assignment also of correcting the disorders that had entered church life in America since the Revolution even though doubt had been expressed, among others by Patriarch Tikhon, that Metr. Platon could be impartial, apparently because he himself had earlier governed this diocese (1907-14). Nonetheless, in 1922 Patriarch Tikhon gave his recommendation to the Synod of Bishops Abroad that Metr. Platon be assigned to the North American diocese, and on August 22 (Sept. 5), 1922, the Synod did so (the assigment being only temporary, however). On September 30, 1923, Metr. Platon claimed to have received a decree from Patriarch Tikhon naming him permanent head of the North American diocese, and the Synod of Bishops accepted this on his word without seeing the letter; this letter, however, was declared a forgery by the Superior Court of New York in 1925, in a case over church property which Metr. Platon lost to the "Metropolitan" of the Living Church, Ivan Kedrovsky. By a genuine decree of Patriarch Tikhon of Jan. 16, 1924, Metr. Platon was relieved of his assignment and recalled to Moscow.

By this time there had arisen serious doubt that Patriarch Tikhon was any longer free in his statements, especially those concerning the Church abroad. The natural course for Metr. Platon, therefore, would have been to appeal to the free Synod of Bishops abroad, of which he was a leading member Instead, he chose a different path: he called a meeting of clergy and laymen in Detroit with the purpose of declaring the total independence of the Russian Church in America – alike from the Moscow Patriarchate and from the Synod of Bishops Abroad. This accomplished (April 4, 1924), Metr. Platon nonetheless continued to attend the sessions of the Synod of Bishops in Serbia and in general acted as if there had never been a Detroit Sobor, just as the Detroit Sobor had acted as if there did not exist such a thing as the Synod of Bishops Abroad.

The reason for such self-contradictory actions soon became obvious: Metr. Platon needed the canonical authority of the Synod of Bishops, especially to support his lawsuits with other church factions; but such deceit could not remain long undiscovered. At the full Sobor of Bishops which met in Serbia in 1926, an accounting was demanded of Metr. Platon. Anticipating this, he traveled to the Sobor by way of Paris, where he asked of Metr. Evlogy (as the latter relates in his memoirs) his support "in case he should have to defend his rights against Synodal pretentions"; the path of the two Metropolitans fell together, inasmuch as Metr. Evlogy had his own reason for wishing no supervision of his diocese from any higher Church authority: his newly-established St. Sergius Theological Institute (supported by the YMCA) was becoming a center of "renovationist" Orthodoxy.

At the Sobor in Serbia, Metr. Platon justified himself in the following way, as recorded in the official minutes of the session of June 14 (27), 1926: "Concerning the Meeting of clergy and laymen in Detroit, Metr. Platon stated that it had been permitted by him as a safety-valve to let out the autocephalous gasses that threatened the tranquillity and integrity of the Russian Church in America. If he had also confirmed the decisions of this Meeting, this was only in view of the indicated circumstances, but at the same time he had taken measures to annul them in practice... For his own part he insistently testified that he was a resolute enemy of the autocephaly of the American Church and he reaffirmed his full canonical submission to the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal See Metropolitan Peter, to the Sobor of Bishops of that part of the Russian Orthodox Church that was abroad, and to the Synod of Bishops chosen by it. In view of all the above-mentioned, he begged the Sobor of Bishops to give him the signatures of all members of the Sobor on a certificate drawn up by his lawyer addressed to all Patriarchs and to the Russian Church in America, in which his rights and authority to the administration of the Orthodox Church in America were confirmed, such a certificate being essential to him for a suit with the representative of the Living Church in America, the former priest Kedrovsky."

Thus did Metr. Platon reaffirm his membership in the Russian Church Outside of Russia, recognizing in it until Church life should return to normal in Russia – the canonical foundation of the Church in America. When, however, he was asked to confirm with his signature what he had affirmed orally, he refused; Metr. Evlogy likewise, while confirming the correctness of the official minutes, also refused to sign, and both Metropolitans demonstratively left the Sobor. An inescapable conclusion now presented itself to the assembled hierarchs: their trusted fellow hierarch, a co-founder of the Russian Church Abroad, had been deceiving them and was only using the Sobor of Bishops to further his own interests in America. Nonetheless, the Sobor voted to give him and his five Vicar-bishops four months in which to renounce the uncanonical project of "autocephaly decreed at the Detroit Sobor and to affirm their continued submission to the higher authority of the Sobor and Synod of Russian Bishops Abroad. In answer to this request four of the five Vicars signed a long letter, crude in tone, in which they denied the authority of any Sobor or Synod of Bishops over them and refused to acknowledge any canonical significance to the "so-called" Sobor and Synod of the "emigre-bishops" in Serbia who had deserted their flocks while "we did not leave our places, we stood our ground, notwithstanding all difficulties..." in comfortable America!

The events of these critical months, culminating in the first schism of the American Metropolia, are best described in the words of Bishop Apollinary himself, written in a letter to a friend on February 12 (25), 1927: "Metr. Platon convinced the Sobor orally that he considers it canonical and lawful, that he submits to it as to a judicial-administrative authority, and that, finally, he was not at all striving to introduce autocephaly into the American diocese, as was accepted at the Detroit Sobor of 1924. But when these words were offered for him to sign, he refused. Here the members of the Sobor saw and were convinced with their own eyes that all his oral effusions as recorded in the official minutes were a lie and a duping of the Sobor." It was then that the Sobor gave Metr. Platon and his Vicars four months to declare their stand. "We Vicars gave replies to the [Sobor's] questions. Archbishop Euthemius of Brooklyn (Syrian), Bishop Theophilus of Chicago, Bishop Arsenius of Winnipeg and Bishop Amphilochius of Alaska sent a collective reply – crude in form and insolent in content, with an admixture of lies; so that the Synod of Bishops, having listened to this 'reply,' expressed doubt whether in general an Orthodox bishop could have signed such a document. My own reply was in entirely a different spirit...

"For giving our replies to the Synod a four month period was given both the Metropolitan and us Vicars. At the end of December or the beginning of January this period ran out. Metr. Platon for this reason called us all to New York for his Sobor of Bishops of the American diocese. Everyone came: five Vicars, and the sixth the Metropolitan himself.

"On January 18 (31) there was heard an 'epistle' or 'appeal to the American flock composed by Metr. Platon himself, in which it was stated that the Synod of Bishops in Karlovits was uncanonical; that one did not, therefore, have to submit to it; and that the American diocese henceforth would consider itself a 'self-determining Church'... Moreover, that letter, crude in form and insolent in content, which had been written and sent by the four Vicars in September, 1926, to the Synod of Bishops, was confirmed.

"All the hierarchs approved this 'appeal' to the American flock; I alone did not agree with them. I declared that I did acknowledge and do acknowledge the Synod of Bishops as canonical, both in its origin and in its present form; that I did submit and do submit to it as a judicial-administrative authority, that I deny the right of the American diocese to 'ecclesiastical self-determination. The crude and insolent letter of reply by the hierarchs of the American diocese to the Synod I cannot sign.

"As in my views I was firm and unbending, there on the spot, in some five minutes, I was condemned to be deprived of the Vicariate, re moved as Rector of Holy Trinity Cathedral in San Francisco, relieved of all duties, and defamed in a special telegram sent to Archpriest Vladimir Sakovich [of the San Francisco Cathedral]."

SUCH WAS THE origin of the independent "American Metropolia." Can there be any doubt on which side truth and principle were to be found, and which course had to be chosen by a man of principle such as was Archbishop Apollinary? For Metr. Platonas likewise for Metr. Evlogy, who also broke off from the Synod of Bishops at this time—there were obviously involved motives quite unrelated to the upholding of principle or obedience to canons. Bishop Apollinary touches on this in the conclusion of the above letter: "From these Metropolitans there was not even required any particular kind of submission to the Synod of Bishops. They were, after all, both members of the Synod, governed their dioceses on autonomous foundations, i.e., almost independently. From them was required only to remain in unity with the whole mass of believing Russian refugees. But they do not even desire this unity. Here there is a certain something, apart from canons, that makes unity intolerable for these Metropolitans, and together with unity also the possibility on the part of the Synod to take a look into the impenetrable maze of the ecclesiastical administration by these Metropolitans of their dioceses. It is in this direction that anyone should look who desires to know the true reason why Metr. Platon and Metr. Evlogy do not wish to submit to the higher supervision of the Synod of Bishops..."

Metropolitan Theophilus, the successor of Metr. Platon, is himself a witness of the conscience of the best part of the American Metropolia. He has always been something of an embarrassment to the "canonists of the Metropolia, for not only did he always have great love and fellowfeeling for the bishops of the Russian Church Abroad (even though he might almost be called, as Metr. Platon could not be, a product of the Church in America, having come to America as a Church Reader in 1895, but he also saw in the Synod of Bishops the canonical foundation of the Russian Church in America. Several times, out of weakness, he was persuaded to follow the majority on a wrong path, but he invariably repented and did all in his power to return to the right path. In 1926, for example, after signing, together with his fellow Vicars, the crude reply to the Synod of Bishops, he thought better of it and had the courage to write to Metr. Anthony Khrapovitsky on December 14 (27), 1926: "I have the obligation to inform you that the reply of the North American Bishops was composed and signed originally in English, (One of the other bishops later admitted that he had signed it without reading it, and was unaware of its contents!) and then translated into Russian, which in part affected the preciseness of ideas in it. Besides this, having now reread the reply, I find that much that was said in it should not have been included or should have been expressed otherwise, and therefore I regard it necessary to look over it again and change it together with our bishops... In addition, I am deeply sorry that this reply caused Your Eminence and the members of the Synod to find offense in it."

After the death of Metr. Platon and his own election in 1934, Metr. Theophilus took measures to heal the schism, and in 1935 he traveled to Serbia where he brought the American Metropolia back into the Russian Church Abroad. On his return he told the newspaper Novaya Zarya: "Our Church life has been put right; under it there has now been placed a firm canonical foundation." In 1946, however, the schism was renewed at the anarchic Cleveland Sobor, which voted to abandon the Synod and join the Moscow Patriarchate – a decision which, contrary to all Orthodox tradition, no bishop (even the Metropolia's) ever approved, and which Mett. Theophilus followed, once more, against his conscience.

It is instructive to note how the apologists of the Metropolia defend even this lawless Sobor. The Metropolia's chief "canonist," Prof. Alexander Bogolepov, in the major work in defense of the Metropolia's "autocephaly," (Toward an American Orthodox Church, New York, 1963.) says this of the Cleveland Sobor (p. 69). "The question arises as to why the decision of the Seventh All American Sobor to end its relationship with the Church Abroad was not submitted for approval to the bishops who attended the Sobor, although a rule to that effect was promulgated by Metropolitan Theophilus in his 'Instruction' prior to the holding of the Sobor. During the course of the sessions this provision was changed by the Sobor, which resolved that its decisions not be submitted for the approval of the Bishops' Conference"! Thus did the heritage of Metr. Platon live on in the kind of trickery that allows one to change canons as one pleases to suit the mood of the moment. The same heritage has shown itself again now in the latest eruption of the "autocephalous gasses" (to quote Metr. Platon's own phrase), which this time have involved most other Orthodox jurisdictions in America in the Metropolia's confusions.

In the whole lamentable heritage of Metr. Platon there is no canonical right, no principle, no truth, not even any kind of logic – save that dictated by the frantic grasping after the world's recognition and applause; there is only arbitrary will that shows a complete lack of any Orthodox spirit or of the Grace of God. Two days after Bishop Apollinary had been "deposed," Metr. Platon entrusted his Syrian Vicar, Archbishop Euthemius (Aftimios) with the task of establishing a "Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America" – a new autonomous Orthodox Church without the approval of any higher Church authority, and thus clearly uncanonical. On August 26 (Sept. 8), 1927, the Sobor of Bishops in Serbia, seeing Metr. Platon's total lack of repentance for his uncanonical acts, forbade him to serve and declared that thus any sacraments or services performed by him or the clergy who followed him were devoid of Grace and uncanonical. (This interdiction was lifted in 1934 on the eve of the Metropolia's reunion with the Synodal Church.) On December 1, 1928, the Patriarchate of Constantinople likewise declared this new "Church" anticanonical and forbade the Greek Church in America to have any contact with it. No other national jurisdiction in America joined it, and in 1933 Archbishop Euthemius took a wife and departed from the Church scene. (These facts are from Archbishop Nikon's biography of Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, vol. 7, pp. 395-8-a veritable encyclopedia of the Russian Church life of the time.)

Metr. Platon was therefore forced to go yet farther afield to find a "canonical" basis for his arbitrary acts, and he thus entered into negotiations with the Moscow Patriarcbate, which had already in 1927 declared itself the willing agent of the Soviet Government. When in 1933 Metr. Platon for the third time proclaimed the "autonomy" of the Metropolia, the negotiations came to an end, and on August 25 of that year the Patriarchate declared Metr. Platon deposed and everyone in the Metropolia excommunicated. In the following year Metr. Platon died, leaving his followers such a sorry legacy that when and if the Metropolia now signs the new "autocephaly," thereby recognizing the Moscow Patriarchate and all its ecclesiastical acts as canonical, it must at the same time acknowledge that it has not bad any valid sacraments for over 36 years. That the faithful of the Metropolia will doubtless never be informed of this only emphasizes the fact that the "autocephaly" is indeed not an ecclesiastical, but a political, act – that the Metropolia has turned to Moscow not out of principle, but for gain.

QUITE DIFFERENT is the heritage of Archbishop Apollinary, as we shall now see.

When Vladika Apollinary returned to San Francisco from the meeting at which he was summarily "deposed" for his refusal to renounce his oath of obedience to the Russian Church Abroad, he was ill received by his own clergy and flock, as he himself indicates in another part of the letter already quoted: "Immediately after the announcement of the resolution depriving me both of my duties and even of the right to serve in the churches of America, I was virtually thrown out of the Metropolitan's quarters; they didn't even want to bid farewell to me, which I desired, since my soul felt that I was seeing my judges for the last time in this earthly life. To my: 'Forgive me, that I so misled you,' voices were heard saying: 'That isn't necessary; we don't accept it; get out!' Not to mention how I was driven away from the dinner table, which was already prepared and the foods set out—I was driven out with the words: 'We cannot share with you even a piece of bread...'! The Metropolitan later wrote to someone in San Francisco... that they 'out of respect for his rank treated him courteously, but no more...' This, in their opinion, was courtesy – to throw someone practically by the scuff of the neck out the door."

Bishop Apollinary, therefore, found himself at the outbreak of the schism completely alone: publicly disgraced and deposed, without money to live on or so much as a roof over his head, not knowing whether anyone were with him, his future entirely uncertain. On his side there was only one thing: truth, righteousness, which in this case took the form of faithfulness to the constituted Church authority. He preferred this above every earthly consideration, even above his natural feeling of kinship and sympathy to his own teacher and consecrator. Indeed, no testimony against Metr. Platon is more convincing than that his own man, who was to the highest extent well-disposed to him and followed him as far as he possibly could without betraying his own conscience, finally had to become completely disillusioned with him and come to believe that the only answer to his misdeeds was the deprivation of his episcopacy.

But if the righteous suffer from the malice and the blindness of men, God sees every act of witness to His truth, and brings out of it fruit for the salvation of souls – in Bishop Apollinary's case, a hundredfold and more.

In answer to Bishop Apollinary's appeal to the Synod of Bishops in Serbia, the latter replied in the session of March 17 (30), 1927, by declaring the actions of Metr. Platon uncanonical, removing Metr. Platon from the administration of the North American diocese, and appointing Bp. Apollinary in his place. As foreign to his natural humility and meekness as such an appointment was (indeed, the North American diocese was considered so important that Metropolitan Anastassy himself was to have been sent to administer it, but could not then leave Jerusalem), Bishop Apollinary nonetheless undertook it willingly for the sake of the truth that been so trampled on by Metropolitan Platon.

At first it seemed that the schism was virtually unanimous, and there were few in the beginning who dared to risk the wrath of the powerful Platon and the intimidated majority by indicating their support of the new ruling bishop; most of these, indeed, came to Bishop Apollinary like Nicodemus to the Saviour, secretly. Little by little, however, the faithful began to flock together and the diocese began to grow. The first parish to be formed under Bishop Apollinary was in San Francisco. There the homeless Vladika was taken in by one of his parishioners, and in this house he celebrated his first service as ruling bishop on the feast of the Ascension, May 2, 1927. Soon a house was obtained and converted into a church, dedicated appropriately to the Icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow," which became the first Cathedral of the new ruling bishop. In December of the same year Vladika Apollinary went to New York City to continue the organization of the diocese. There, in his own humble living quarters – where the noise from the wild entertainments given by other tenants upstairs was so loud that Vladika had at times to go out and ride the New York subway all night in order to get some little rest he established the Church of the Holy Fathers, and in 1928 a society of zealots for the Synodal Church was formed. In Alaska Fr. Gerasim Schmaltz received a sign from God during the Divine Liturgy that led him to leave Metr. Platon and follow Bishop Apollinary, and later in the year he received confirmation of his stand from Mt. Athos. (See The Orthodox Word, v. 5, no. 6, p. 217.)

Within the next year other parishes in Scranton, Boston, Baltimore, and Stratford, Connecticut, joined the diocese. At about this time, also, Hieromonk (later Archimandrite) Panteleimon, who had left St. Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania because of the schism, together with his friend the later Archimandrite Joseph, asked Vladika's blessing to start a monastery at Jordanville, New York; Vladika, himself an expert in and lover of the Church's monastic Typicon, blessed it on the condition that they unfailingly celebrate in full the daily cycle of services Thirty years after his death Archbishop Apollinary was to find his own last resting place at the Monastery, his remains being removed to there from the New York City cemetery in which they were first interred.

Thus, amidst much suffering and many difficulties, the Church in America came back to life. The lawsuits brought by Metr. Platon in an attempt to take away the church property of those parishes that had returned to the Synod were all defeated when the American courts failed to find any canonical foundation for the Metropolia's independent existence. In 1929 Bishop Apollinary was raised by the Synod of Bishops to the rank of Archbishop "for special labors and moral suffering undergone in the deed of standing for canonical truth." Soon the diocese had grown so much that several vicars were assigned, two of them holy men themselves: Bishop Tikhon of San Francisco and Bishop Ioasaph of Canada. (On Bp. Ioasaph see Ibid., v. 4, no.2, p 86ff.)

Vladika, unbending in questions of principle, was mild and loving in his pastoral duties, ever seeking to make peace with those who had broken away from the canonical Synod. The case of Bishop Adam is an example of the effect this gentle kindness had on people.

Bishop Adam, of Carpatho-Russian background, assumed in 1925 the title of ruling bishop of the North American diocese. His refusal to leave the premises of the New York Cathedral cost him a month in jail, and for his uncanonical pretensions he was deposed and forbidden to serve. Nonetheless, many Galicians and Carpatho-Russians accepted him as a bishop. Out of pity for this "unhappy, eternally deceived people," Vladika approached Bishop Adam in an attempt to reunite him to the Russian Church and remove his interdiction. This effort succeeded, and in 1930 Bishop Adam was named by the Synod of Bishops Abroad Bishop of Pittsburg for the Carpatho-Russians, a Vicar of Archbp. Apollinary.

Soon, however, his willfulness reasserted itself and he defied the authority of his own Archbishop, causing him much sorrow. Upon hearing of the righteous hierarch's death, however, Bp. Adam hastened to serve a panikhida before his coffin and publicly begged his forgiveness with tears for all in which he had wronged him, ardently calling on all the warring jurisdictions to be reconciled, following in the steps of this stalwart defender of canonical truth.

Some of Vladika's personal qualities were described in an article written after his death by a Russian woman who was witness of his labors in the service of the Church, E. G. Alexandrova: "Archbishop Apollinary was extremely accessible and simple in manner, meek and humble of heart, kind-hearted by nature, unmercenary and a true monk. For America the late Vladika was that rare diamond of the clearest water, whom an inattentive man might pass by distractedly, not noticing his great value; but the man with believing soul would devoutly stop before this extraordinary pastor...

"Vladika's simplicity, the sincerity of his speech, the attention with which he listened to everyone who came to him, attracted people to him... His simplicity and warmth of heart caused some at times to forget his high rank and see in him a father, their own kind... Old and young, rich and poor, the renowned and the humble, found in our good Vladika an identical reception, comfort, and Christian truth...

"He belonged to that group of people which builds humbly and without fanfare, by their own labors, sometimes out of nothing, and do great deeds, for they live their lives in God's Law... He chose for himself a thorny and sorrowful path, remaining faithful to Christ's testament amidst his misfortunes.

"How many met 'Bishop Apollinary' when he first arrived in New York as temporary ruling bishop of the North American diocese? Five or six people, who received him in a private home, and there he celebrated his first services. But how many accompanied the ruling Archbishop Apollinary to his final resting place [barely five years later]? Not less than 2000, not counting that stream of people that passed without end into the church to bow down before his precious remains...

"Whoever was near Vladika knew that he lived in poverty and died in poverty. But he did many good deeds in secret, wiped many tears by his goodness, and God alone knows how many lonely and poor he gave to eat and drink and sheltered, humbly concealing his deeds."

BUT OF ALL Vladika Apollinary's qualities and deeds, that which most shaped his life was his unwavering confession of truth. He himself expressed this in an Epistle to a parish in Astoria, New York, that was uncertain which "jurisdiction" to follow: "Can there be any doubt in this regard? Can any kind of discussion arise in this case? Is there not one righteousness in God? Has Divine Truth then been divided into parts, so that it may be with Metr. Platon, with Bishop Adam, with Kedrovsky, and finally with Archbishop Apollinary?

"No, my beloved brethren! There is only one Divine Truth and righteousness; and if it were with Metr. Platon or Bishop Adam, it would not be with the other three; and if it is with Archbishop Apollinary, then it is not with the other three."

On January 16, 1933, Archbishop Apollinary, at the prime of his service to the Church, had a stroke that partially paralyzed him. On June 18 he received Holy Communion and the Anointing of the Sick, and early the next morning peacefully reposed in the Lord.

Out of Vladika Apollinary's fearless stand for truth and rightcousness the Lord has brought forth upon the American land marvelous fruits: Sixty-two parishes were established or came back to the canonical Church of America before his death. The San Francisco parish has grown to become the largest Russian parish abroad, and the Cathedral of two holy hierarchs, Archbishops Tikhon and John (Maximovitch); the magnificent new Cathedral contains the relics of Archbishop John – a true holy place of America, where miracles are worked – and is to be the site of the Synod's canonization of Father Herman of Alaska, America's first Saint. Holy Trinity Monastery, founded with Vladika's blessing by two monks who also chose the path of truth, has become the largest Russian monastery abroad, attracted to itself another righteous hierarch and Abba, Vitaly, and is the first Lavra of Orthodox America. And the outpost of genuine and canonical Orthodoxy which Vladika Apollinary established in America enabled the Synod of Bishops to move its center to America, where it today holds aloft the standard of Orthodox truth and righteousness not only for other Russians but for the whole of American and world Orthodoxy to see. Such is some of the visible fruit and spiritual power which American Orthodoxy has inherited from one meek and defenseless man, because he confessed the truth.

Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is bewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
St. Matthew 7:17-20


Orthodoxy in the Contemporary World

STRONG PROTESTS GREET THE METROPOLIA'S "AUTOCEPHALY"

THE RUSSIAN Metropolia in America, which in December let it be known that it hoped to receive early this year the blessing of the Moscow Patriarchate to become the Local Orthodox Church of America, has run into opposition of a totally unexpected degree, both from within its own flock and from other Orthodox Churches. The strongest non-Russian response was that of Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople, who has been followed by his American Exarch, Archbishop Iakovos, several other hierarchs on the American "Standing Conference," and the Churches of Greece and Bulgaria.

In a letter of January 8 to Patriarch Alexy of Moscow (English text in the Rumanian newspapers Credinta, January, and Solia, Feb. 15), Patriarch Athenagoras made known what had already been widely suspected: that the Metropolia had not at all informed its "brother bishops" of other jurisdictions in America that it was negotiating for "autocephaly" (it informed Constantinople only that it was negotiating for the "reestablishment of regular relations" with Moscow), and he states the obvious fact that this unilateral move is the cause of "upsetting inter-Orthodox relations" and unity. As a result Constantinople "will neither recognize this action nor enroll this Church in the Diptychs or in the Sacred Catalogue of the Holy Orthodox Autocephalous Churches. We would label as uncanonical this Church which you would choose to proclaim autocephalous. In this connection also, this Throne will take any other action needed to secure canonical order," apparently even including the possibility of excommunication.

Patriarch Alexy has as yet given no response, but the Metropolia has made it known that it plans to go through with its coup, with or without the approval of other Churches; the other jurisdictions in America will simply have to join it if they wish to belong to the "Orthodox Church in America." The ideological basis for this stand has already been set forth in the official publication of the Rumanian Diocese under the Metropolia, Solia – which before this article did not even inform its readers that any plan of "autocephaly" was being considered. Solia declares (Feb. 15) that "Constantinople does it again"! This letter "just follows a well worn pattern... The Ecumenical Patriarchate has always opposed the creation and the functioning of any church independent of herself... Time has always proved that Constantinople was wrong."

One need not be any partisan of Patriarch Athenagoras, whose anti-Orthodox ecumenism is well known, to agree that an autocephalous American Church cannot logically or realistically be formed by a selfwilled minority – even if that minority were not as ecclesiastically immature as the Metropolia obviously is. But this argument by no means touches the whole case against the Metropolia's "autocephaly." Another crucial criticism was directed, chiefly by the Synod and members of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, against the uncanonical and indeed anti-Christian character of the authority that is granting the "autocephaly" –  the Patriarchate of Moscow.

Strangely enough, from the arguments of the Metropolia over the "autocephaly" one would not even suspect – apart from a few derogatory references in the Russian language press – that such a thing as the Russian Church Outside of Russia even exists – the Church of which, until 1946, the Metropolia itself was a part! This surely is even more of a blow against Orthodox unity than the slap against the Greeks, for it concerns brothers not only by faith, but even by blood. The response of the Synodal bishops, alike in the decrees of the Synod and the Christmas Epistles of separate hierarchs in America, was immediate and decisive: full of sorrow and righteous protest, it nonetheless expressed concerned love and a sincere desire for the restoration of unity with bishops still regarded as brothers.

Still more telling, however, in its testimony against the Metropolia's actions has been the response of its own flock. The Russian press since the Metropolia's announcement has been full of open letters and protests by concerned laymen in the Metropolia – including the American-born of the second and third generations expressing sorrow and pain and decisive protest, and vowing to leave the Metropolia if this act of "sacrilege and shame" is fulfilled. Some have already left, seeing the Metropolia already betrayed by unprincipled behaviour. Alexandra Tolstoy of the Tolstoy Foundation (daughter of the novelist), after publishing a full page protest in Novoye Russkoye Slovo (Dec. 20), left the Metropolia for the Russian Church Abroad, bringing with her the "Tolstoy Farm" with its St. Sergius parish. The Tolstoy Foundation is described in the 1970 Metropolia Year Book as "the sole and exclusive secular representative of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America [Metropolia] for migration and legal assistance as well as welfare for the communicants of this Church in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America"—the Metropolia thus, being now suddenly "American," cutting itself off from its own refugee organization! And a leading Metropolia priest, Fr. Alexy Ionov, until recently editor of the Metropolia's official Russian-language publication, The Russian American Orthodox Messenger, and head of the Metropolia's Committee for the canonization of Father Herman of Alaska and for writing his Life, has also come to the Synod together with his parish in Sea Cliff, Long Island, which on February 22 voted unanimously to follow him. At least two of the few remaining monks in the Metropolia have also come to the Synod.

Others in the Metropolia are awaiting the next turn of events before taking any decisive action. It has become common knowledge that not only the laymen of the Metropolia, but many priests and bishops as well, have been kept largely uninformed of what was going on; at least one bishop with his clergy has found out more about the "autocephaly" from the publications of Fr. Neketas Palassis of the Synod than from the Chancellor's office of the Metropolia!

All that has been made known thus far about the "autocephaly" tends to confirm the suspicion of a layman of the Metropolia, Dr. Michael A. Grishkov of Detroit, expressed in an Open Letter to Metr. Ireney (Novoye Russkoye Slovo, Feb. 5), that "it is not You, but a certain group in the Metropolia that has led this whole secret work, not having the courage to answer the laymen honestly." The Metropolia defends itself by saying that each Diocesan Assembly has met and approved the "autocephaly." But these assemblies were approached more in the manner of a military campaign than anything else: The two brilliant stars of the Metropolia, Frs. Schmemann and Meyendorff—who are apparently the chief promoters of the whole scheme –conducted a blitzkrieg campaign, going to these assemblies one after the other and using their prestige and "theology" to convince them of the necessity and benefits of the "autocephaly." In the meantime, any mention that such a thing as negotiations with the Soviet Patriarchate was being conducted was scrupulously kept out of the newspapers and the Metropolia's publications, so that there was no general awareness of what was going on and no opposition could thus be organized. Finally, the public announcement was made, in the belief that the coup was already successful. The ensuing protests from inside and outside the Metropolia indicate that not all the faithful are so easily fooled, after all.

It is therefore surely an understatement when even The Russian Orthodox Journal (Feb.), which favors the "autocephaly," admits that "the Metropolia has done a poor job of informing its faithful that negotiations were proceeding." The faithful can only suspect that such a veil of secrecy must hide something that will not bear scrutiny in broad daylight, and the arguments of the spokesmen for "autocephaly" only tend to reinforce this impression. The replies in the religious and secular press so far have not even tried to answer the heartfelt – and quite logical – protests that have been made, but rather attempt to counter them with outright name-calling joined to the vaguest kind of emotional effusions over the newly-attained "freedom" and "canonical status" (what? was the Metropolia before this not free? not canonical?).

To the question: Why didn't you consult the other Orthodox jurisdictions in America, including the much larger Greek Archdiocese? – the answer is: "Constantinople does it again, it is again on the wrong side" (Solia, Feb. 15) – a reply that can only inspire the counter-exclamation: The Metropolia does it again, its fourth proclamation of "autocephaly" in 45 years, the first three of which it had to back down on!

To the question: How can you derive canonicity from the agents of atheistic Communism? – the answer is: "An outright slander, not deserving of refutation" (The Russian American Orthodox Messenger, Jan., p. 16) – but the published proof that Metr. Nikodim is indeed working to promote Communism and destroy the Church and faithful will not simply vanish because you do not wish to look at it! The propaganda of the Metropolia strangely assumes that "the end justifies the means," that no matter how or with whom the agreement was reached, the end – "autocephaly" –  justifies it and puts an end to any influence of Moscow in America. But does it? Fr. Meyendorff is so naive as to declare (in the Washington Post) that "We do not know why this new freedom would come to us at a time when the existence of the church there is much more dangerous than it was even before... For some reason the Church in Moscow was enabled to act now. It is certain that it had to have the approval of the Communist government in order to do this." But if one even admits that the Communist government is somewhere behind the "autocephaly," is it really so difficult to see the benefits which it thus obtains? It obtains recognition for its puppet church from a large group of free Russians abroad. It gains a foothold in every Orthodox church in America that accepts the "autocephaly," for its ecclesiastical representatives will be able to serve and preach there, while it keeps the long-disputed St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City and any parish of the Exarchate that chooses to remain directly under Moscow. It gains control of the Church of Japan. It tightens the noose around the neck of the Russian Church Abroad, the last free voice of conscience in the Russian Church. It crushes those few brave souls inside the USSR who have dared to protest openly against the persecution of Orthodoxy by the hierarchs of the Soviet Church. The layman Boris Talantov, for example, writes that "a full unmasking of what Metr. Nikodim and the Patriarchate are doing would mean the end of his undercover enterprise. The time has come to reveal how delegates from the Moscow Patriarchate have betrayed the Church abroad..." (quoted in The Russian Review, Oct., 1969, p. 420). Will the hierarchs of the Metropolia dare to agree with this courageous fighter for Orthodox principle inside Russia, or will they not rather back up their benefactor, Metr. Nikodim, who says that Talantov is now justly imprisoned for "political" statements? (Most likely of all, to be sure, they will simply maintain a prudent silence and let the Soviets do what they want, which is perhaps the chief purpose of the "autocephaly.") By means of the "autocephaly" the prestige of the Soviet Church is increased, and its "favors” bind a whole Church to it by the tightest invisible bonds. Moscow, indeed, knew exactly what it was doing when it threw out its bait to the Metropolia: it loses only a single uninfluential Exarch, while world Communism and its puppet church gain propaganda and espionage benefits which they could not have purchased for millions!

To the question: Why do you turn your backs on your own brothers, the clergy and faithful of the Russian Church Abroad, and even on those within your own ranks who beg you to stop before you completely betray Orthodoxy and the faithful? – the answer is: our explanations "will be heard by all except incorrigible fanatics, who... wish to bring political warfare into the Church's enclosure" (Messenger, Jan., p. 12). Archbishop John Shahovskoy, indeed, in a letter to a layman which was published as a paid advertisement in Novoye Russkoye Slovo (Jan. 18), асcuses Alexandra Tolstoy and others who oppose the "autocephaly" of writing "demagogic-emotional" protests and dismisses the entire "socalled Russian Church Outside of Russia" as being in a state of "delirium, hatred, and pharisaical pride"! Therefore, it follows, one does not have to stop to listen to what they say, even if it may be true!

What is one to think of such incredibly irrelevant and callous answers to genuine questions that demand straightforward answers? They only serve to reinforce the widespread impression that the whole "autocephaly" scandal is a political trick which a small group is trying to force upon a flock whom they must consider abysmally ignorant.

And what of this suffering flock of the Metropolia, so often already misled by its leaders? Already deprived of communion with their Russian brethren abroad, are these faithful now supposed meekly to accept the blessing of the agents of Communism who, on February 20 (New York Times, Feb. 21), removed the last barrier to the Unia with Rome by announcing that the Moscow Patriarchate will now give communion to Roman Catholics? Will the large Carpatho-Russian population in the Metropolia, which returned to Orthodoxy in America from the enforced Unia with Rome, accept this in silence? One of their number, Joseph Zelenyak, a delegate to the Detroit Sobor in 1924, had the courage to refuse to sign the "autocephaly" decree of that Sobor and to inscribe this note in the minutes: "Minneapolis has always waged war for Orthodoxy against the papacy, and now it will wage war against the autocephaly."

But now the battle against "autocephaly" is joined to the battle against papalism, and the remaining elements of sound Orthodoxy in the Metropolia have come to a critical choice: to turn back to the Russian Church Abroad, in leaving which the Metropolia set out on the path which ends now in its total disgrace and shame; or to follow its "leaders" to the next stage in the continuing 20th-century martyrdom of Russian Orthodoxy. There is no need to accuse these "leaders" of consciously betraying Orthodoxy; they seek only the recognition and applause of the world, and this has blinded them to the Apostolic truth that the friendship of the world is enmity with God (St. James 4:4), and they thus cannot even see the enormity of the evil which they are trying to force upon American Orthodoxy. May the sound conscience of the faithful lead them on the right path – the narrow path, despised by the world, of genuine and principled Orthodoxy.

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Further important information and comment on the "autocephaly" question, including an Appeal by Holy Transfiguration Monastery to the clergy and faithful of the Metropolia, and a 100-page study by John Dunlop of the recent activities of the Moscow Patriarchate, may be obtained free of charge by writing to:

St. Nectarios American Orthodox Church
9223 20th Avenue Northeast
Seattle, Wash. 98115