ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ

By Markos (Helleniscope’s Theological Commentator)

A group of “theologians” signed and released a common statement urging for continuing the efforts to push for a common Pascha with the West. (LINK HERE).
While in principle everyone agrees that it would be a good thing for everyone to celebrate Pascha together, it is equally curious why these same “theologians” don’t point out that even within the Orthodox World we don’t celebrate Christmas on the same day, due to prior “unilateral local decisions” that were made absent of a Synod?  Why is the entire spirit and angle of this common statement exhibiting a “fixation” ONLY towards a common celebration of feasts with the West?  The answer is going to become evident as we analyze/dissect some revealing excerpts of this “common statement”:
  1. The opening statement already contains an oxymoron, on the one hand calling it an “educational tool”, and at the same time revealing it as a “call to action” in the ever-ready “experimental laboratory” of North America (obviously the true underlying  intent…does anyone remember in what geography the “experiment” of the multiple Communion spoons thrived?):
“…The Statement, intended as an educational tool, attempts to provide a concise account of why the calendar issue has not been resolved, proposing concrete steps that can be taken, especially here in North America, to move toward a resolution. …”
  1. The following “propaganda point” beckon a serious question..a) what do the terms “today“ and “extended household” mean to these “theologian” signatories, knowing very well that there has been no Byzantine Empire since 1453, and that some of the same signatories are ok with the “primus sine paribus”-style actions of Patriarch Bartholomew, including the issuance of a Tomos to Epiphanios, and the back-stabbing of a “sister Church”…is that really the model of an “extended family/household”?  Furthermore, the known decision by Constantinople’s organizing committee to change the previously agreed upon agenda of the 2016 Council of Crete that had painstakingly been compiled by all the “sister Churches” at a Pan-Orthodox level for decades, resulting in several not even attending…was that also a model of “extended household/family” behavior?
“…Through the centuries, whether in the East or West, the relationship between civil and ecclesiastical authority was collaborative and symbiotic, although not uncomplicated or undisputed. Today, we live in a post-Constantinian era, even if some remain beguiled by nostalgia for imperial structures that once sheltered us, but which invariably also stifled our capacity for adaptation. Today, we are invited to imagine a post-imperial church, not as a grandiose monolith, but as intimate and interactive as an extended household. …”
  1. And the statement below is another classic propaganda point and gross “misrepresentation of facts”.  The Schism in Orthodoxy occurred when Moscow stopped commemorating Constantinople after the Tomos was issued (To Epiphanios).  Wasn’t that event “conspicuous enough” for the signatories?  And of course, this event predates the  invasion of Ukraine, and let’s not forget the Western-led 2014 coup in Kiev that was actually the root cause of a series of events that culminated in the stated invasion later on…(why everyone forgets to mention these details is unclear…)
“…First, inter-Orthodox discord has proved a major factor, and this division has become increasingly conspicuous in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine...”
  1. And below is a point that we finally agree upon in general, but then we immediately disagree on the specificity of “what education” to focus on…Why don’t we start with reminding everyone that Orthodox Unity was first disrupted by “unilateral decisions” on adopting the Calendar…Why don’t we also explain to the people how the separation of the Mystery of Marriage from Divine Liturgy in the years after the Byzantine Empire became the “convenient stepping stone” for the “innovation” that allowed the Economy of “mixed marriages” in the Orthodox Church to begin with?  That’s a big “taboo” subject, because that’s the root cause for bishops like Elpidophoros now openly advocating for even more economy in allowing the non-orthodox to receive Holy Communion, etc…Had the service of Marriage NOT been separated from Divine Liturgy, it would NOT have been possible to have created the “modern mess” that is a result of decades of non-uniform (across all Orthodox jurisdictions) “hierarchical economy” especially in the diaspora, and which has become the “new stepping stone” for these “theologians” to advocate even more “change the date of Pascha” for reasons of “humanity” and “accommodation” of these mixed marriage situations…didn’t the Church Fathers know what they were doing, in the end?  One must ask if the modern-day “theologians” believe this or not.
“…Second, the absence of education on the subject is lamentable…”
  1. And another disturbing statement that raises a question…How effective was this approach during the time of Arius or iconoclasm?  That “top down approach” took several decades and Ecumenical Synods to resolve…(much like the Schism resulting from the “top-down issuance” of the tomos to the Ukraine will likely take decades to resolve, unfortunately)
“…Third, as Orthodox Christians, we are accustomed to a top-down approach to authority in the Church, although this approach is far less effective than in the Constantinian age…”
  1. And at long last, after that long rambling “preamble” the “theologians” start getting to the main topic of the intended discussion…And this is also where the “tail starts to wag the dog”…Let’s side-step the obvious fact that these signatories openly disagree with the current way Pascha is calculated in the Orthodox Church…the statement below shows that these “theologians” have a far bigger concern about some date many centuries from now (if nothing changes by then) when it will be mathematically impossible for East and West to celebrate on a common date than the dogmatic concern that currently the West believes in a different definition of the Holy Trinity (based on the Filioque) than we do…Wouldn’t it make sense for “Orthodox theologians” to focus on that dogmatic part of the equation first?  Who cares if we ever celebrate together with the West when we currently aren’t even celebrating the same understanding of the Holy Trinity?  Besides, the Pope recites 2 official Creeds, depending on if he is in a “Uniate” jurisdiction , or in his “Filioque” jurisdiction…two different understandings of the Holy Trinity…that’s been true for centuries now, and somehow it became a “surprise headline” that he recited the proper version at Nicea a few months ago?  Talk about propaganda!
“…The Orthodox Church’s current method of calculating the date of Pascha is no longer consistently faithful to the Nicaean norms. Continuing to applythis method will over time result in Orthodox Easter falling much later in the solar year. Renewed efforts are vital for the Orthodox Churches to calculate more accurately the date of Easter so that the Orthodox paschalion adheres to the Nicaean formula that the Orthodox Church professes as normative. Failure to do so will over time result in Western and Eastern Christians never celebrating Easter together...”
  1.  And here comes the “sentimental angle”…Even though undoubtedly the current “ecclesiastical demographic” situation in the Diaspora is a result of many decades of “economia turned the norm”, and the resulting “mess” is now forcing the issue of “more economia”…to the point where one day there won’t be any logical option but to declare “full Union” with the West…incremental “convincing” of the flock that this Union should happen (absent of resolving dogmatic issues), especially as the majority fits the description of “mixed marriages” is a classic playbook of the Uniate propaganda machine…. And to those “theologians” who are sentimental about the “fragmentation of the family”, what did Christ mean when he said in Matthew 10:35 / 10:37 “For I have come to turn “’a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.?  Are we suddenly to abandon the clear notion and age-old Church Tradition that Confession of Orthodox Faith comes first, and Holy Communion Second (including a common celebration of Pascha) in the Tradition of the Church?
“…To give one example: the majority of Greek Orthodox in North America marry Catholic and Protestant partners outside the church. Neither the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese nor any other Orthodox body can ignore this issue or expect it not to impact the spiritual lives of our faithful. Any fragmentation of the family is unacceptable, and conversion to one or the other communion, even when it occurs, cannot account for the extended family of the non-Orthodox spouse. Embracing humility and raising awareness are the most fruitful ways of moving beyond ignorance, or indifference, ignorance, and condescensionon issues related to calendar questions and the calculation of Easter. This is especially pertinent in the case of “ecumenical families,” where children cannot commune or celebrate with both parents…”
  1.  And here comes some more propaganda and distortion of facts.  The Pan-Orthodox committees preparing for a “future Pan-Orthodox Synod” had worked for decades to set up an agenda.  By whose definition of “reasonable consensus” was this and other line items removed from that agenda?  This is the main reason why some Churches didn’t bother showing up…Or is it perhaps that the “innovators of Constantinople” deviated from decades of agreements and decided in a “top-down” manner to change the agenda because they had adopted a new [Uniate] vision of how things should be on this topic?  History will show, but the underlying rhetoric fits the Uniate playbook.
“…The latest attempt to address this issue was at the Holy and Great Council of Crete (2016), which unfortunately removed from its agenda the item regarding calendar, given the inability of the entire Orthodox world to address this issue with any reasonable consensus, let alone unanimity….”
  1.  And of course, the signatories couldn’t possibly hold back on citing “real-world experiments” already in progress, to “convince” others that an expansion of the “experiment” in North America is much needed:
“…Certain  jurisdictions in the United States, such as the Carpatho–Russian diocese in the United States and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA (both under the Ecumenical Patriarchate), have allowed their parishes to choose between the two calendars on fixed feasts. …”
Folks, this is a clear push (at the beginning of Great Lent) by these “theologians” to create an “academic publication” upon which the Eparchial Synod may one day soon (who knows if it is even this year) decide to allow parishes to celebrate with whatever Paschalion calculation they want (at a first phase), or even do a “top-down” declaration that GOARCH will follow the Vatican’s Paschalion “as being more correct”… The Uniate playbook is alive and active…and unfortunately, more Schism is appearing on the horizon in the Diaspora, with each and every publication like this.  We pray it doesn’t manifest, but we also remember the words of St. Kosmas the Aitolian when we read words from such “academic theologians”:
“Απο τους διαβασμενους θα έρθει το κακο” (the evil happenings will originate from the “educated ones”) – St. Kosmas the Aitolian

 

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24 COMMENTS

  1. This is really about destroying the autonomy of the Orthodox Christian church by the powers that be. Do not be fooled. Stand your ground.

  2. Don’t allow heretics to guide your Faith. If the church were ever “orthodox”, it doesn’t need “tweaking” by “academics”, “influencers”, or “authorities”. Judge them by what they’ve already done. Forgiveness is only due to those who show contrition.

    Now is the time, more than ever, to shun the shysters.

  3. The Nicaea Fathers intended for Pascha to be on the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, as determined at Jerusalem. But instead of basing this on actual observations, in practice the vernal equinox was just defined as March 21 (which is generally correct on average, but not precisely correct every year). The Julian calendar then drifted relative to the seasons, which caused the date of Pascha to drift relative to the start of spring.

    Personally, I don’t care if we celebrate Pascha on the same day as the Catholics or not. But I do care that Pascha falls on the first Sunday of Astronomical Spring. It should not fall over one-third of the way through Spring, as it currently can (as late as May 5).

    There is nothing wrong with having accuracy in the Church on matters that should be accurate.

    (It’s just unfortunate that a desire for accuracy has to come with a “package” of other heterodox errors that I don’t ascribe to. This is the problem with trends of modern partisanship infecting the inner life of the Church: I can’t just say the calendar is factually wrong without also being lumped in with the Fordhamites on every other issue.)

    • My solution: Don’t change anything about the definition, except use astronomical observations rather than a fixed date to determine the first day of spring. If that causes Pascha and Easter to always coincide, so be it, but that’s not the goal.

      • Perhaps people are missing some of the underlying points…the article started with a stated agreement that it would be a good thing for this matter to be resolved one day…HOWEVER,

        1) Traditionally and historically, Orthodoxy as a whole is not prone to being in a hurry to change anything, nor is there particular urgency to solve this specific “problem” (that is the product of decades-worth of a “laxed attitude” and perhaps even some short-sightedness on the repercussions of “generous ecclesiastical economy” in the diaspora), when compared to more pressing issues that “Orthodox theologians” should be focusing on.

        2) Schisms occur when changes are made to Tradition at a local level, absent of a Pan-Orthodox Synod (conciliar agreement). That’s what these “theologians” are actually asking for…another “local” change of Tradition. The calendar Schism is one that precisely falls under this category…Meletios Metaxakis, and his buddies were original perpetrators of a lot of the modern “calendar Schism” problems we are “paying for” today.

        3) A Pan-Orthodox Synod will never convene properly (or for the right reasons) as long as there are “Local Churches” who arrogantly want to impose their views on others, control the narrative, are subservient “geo-political tools”, and perpetrate Schisms…(simply put, with the current attitudes of today’s hierarchy, there is no way this matter will be resolved anytime soon…and in a way, this current stalemate in achieving consensus actually protects Orthodoxy as a whole in a strange way). It really doesn’t matter what the Synod of Kolymbari decided, because it was not only a divisive event (evidenced by the Churches which refused to show up), but also it can’t ever be classified as a Pan-Orthodox Synod at the end of the day.

  4. Markos. While your arguments against the common day for Pascha are well researched, I think you’re crying wolf before the wolf has made its appearance. We have not heard how the future common date will be calculated. Its possible that it will be based upon Orthodox calendar. Y

    I also have an issue with your closing paragraph that the “educated are the evil ones”. That thought was common in the 18th century, in Greece, and was product of the Middle ages. The European enlightenment to which Greeks were late commers, put that kind of nonsense out of business. A monk, such as Kosmas the Aitolos, was a proponent of ignorance. They wrongly deduced, that Christ wanted ignorant followers. They were wrong.

    • St Kosmas Aitalos was not a proponent of ignorance and was not denigrating education. Education is fine but many of the evils being pushed on the Church is from those who think their education entitles them to overthrow tradition and the faith.

      Is it not those today hiding behind “education” that are pushing for the ordination of women and gay marriage in the Church. Education is fine but it is not everything.

      Educated people can be heretics. Those pushing for union with the Latins are clearly heretical regardless of their education. Orthodoxy either is the true faith and Church or it is not. Calling for union with any group outside the Church that does not fully embrace Orthodoxy in full and does not renounce their errors is a betrayal of

    • Bob
      Saint Kosmas Aitolos to my knowledge may be the only saint that is responsible for creating more schools than Churches. He was very educated and promoted education at a time when the Greeks were becoming illiterate because of Ottomon occupation. For you to say SAINT (he was not merely a monk) Kosmas was a proponent of ignorance goes COMPLETELY against everything I have read about him.

    • Bob,
      It is precisely this ignorance that some think they know better than the saints that brings on heresies and destruction in the Church. Out of pride they think they are smarter than simple monks. God does not show Himself to the proud but to the meek, so that simple monk is much smarter than the PHDs of today who come out with garbage that they must read, because they can’t even put this garbage together on the top of their empty heads! That simple monk knows God. The empty PHDs heads imagine how God is, but they do not know Him.

    • Bob,

      You can have any issue you want with the statement St. Kosmas Aitolos made. However, the problem you may encounter is that his prophesies (even this one that you take issue with) have proven to be far more accurate than a lot of your assertions in this forum…so try and take a wild guess who most Orthodox faithful will listen to in the end? It might be wise to re-examine your understanding of things as they pertain to St. Kosmas.

      And when it comes to “beware of wolves in sheepskins”, if you need a new prescription for your “spiritual glasses”, that’s a personal problem that we can’t really help you with (as Mark 8:18 states “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?”), but many of us are quite sure of what we are seeing unfold right now…

  5. Excellent analysis. I do not get why any Orthodox would care that we do not celebrate pascha on the same calendar.
    The Latins are outside the Church and have been for 1,000 years. We should not care what those outside the Church do.

    We need a real ecumenical council perhaps convened by Jerusalem. A follow up to the Amman gathering.

    • Alex, slowly, step by step, the government chips away church tradition. The government of Baal wants secular one world religion. Just like the Constitution is slowly being dismantled.

  7. Let’s see if anyone dares to celebrate Easter on a day that the Holy Light does not come! Where will they get it from if they would celebrate earlier than us? Are they just going to light up the candles with a match?
    Are they that stupid to think that Christ Himself, is confused about the calendar and sends the Holy Light on the wrong day? How ignorant! But, something good will come out of this: we will find out who the judas are! sooner on later, we should stop mixing up with the innovators of division, schismatics, and heretics.

  8. At the first ecumenical council, which took place in the 4th century, all the holy fathers, both in the east and in the west, decided on a movable Easter date because Passover was also movable, and still is. (The Jews haven’t changed their Passover so why should we change ours Pascha?)

    This was centuries before the Great Schism and the innovations of the Roman Catholic church. As a result, in the Orthodox world, Pascha is celebrated at the same movable time by everyone no matter what calendar one follows.

    This shows that while the calendar is not Dogma, the Paschal date IS Dogma, a fact which is also endorsed by the annual miracle of the Holy Light in Jerusalem that occurs ONLY during the Orthodox Pascha.

    The solution, therefore, is simple. The schismatic and heretical Roman Catholic church can revert back to the decisions of the first ecumenical council which they later changed. While they’re at it, they can also correct all the other things they changed.

    In addition, heretical “theologians” and “educated” hierarchs who think they know better than the holy Church Fathers, and better than God, who regularly showed His approval of MANY synodical decisions by way of many miracles (like the one of the Holy Light at Pascha) can turn in their diplomas and their bejeweled crowns and go home and leave us alone.

    We want to stay ORTHODOX. Whoever doesn’t like it can become Roman Catholic or something else. We refuse to be used like Guinea pigs or lab rats by the so called “educated”. Enough is enough already!

  9. Orthodox get better deals on Easter flowers.
    Too many human comments on issues that will not be resolved.
    With blessings always,
    Chrysi and Fr. Steven Vlahos

    • Πατερ,

      It’s not about “issues that will not be resolved”. It’s about speaking out against “wolves in sheepskins” masking as “Orthodox theologians” who have embraced “Unia” in their hearts and who have “slithered” their way into positions of “church governance and policy influence” (and who naively and arrogantly think they are capable of “pulling the wool over the eyes” of the faithful and introduce unwarranted innovations that introduce Schism and even violate existing Canons). I believe the Church Fathers refer to this “speaking out” as a “Confession of Faith”, and historically the Church encourages all faithful to embrace this mindset.

      Your observation of “too many human comments” is actually a great point, because this actually means that there are still “too many Orthodox faithful” who actually care about their Traditions, Dogmas and Faith… It would be preferrable if the Church hierarchy takes note of this reality and in turn visibly starts caring as much, too.

      We perfectly understand that many of the clergy’s “rank & file” CANNOT speak out freely because they happen to be “owned” by a vindictive (vs. loving/caring) “bishop/handler” in a feudal-“slavish” manner, constantly under unjust threat of spiritual (oftentimes kangaroo) court penalties, loss of salary/pension, etc, while the same measure of “ecclesiastical justice” DOES NOT always seem to apply equally to bishops who perpetrated FAR WORSE spiritual infractions (as long as they continue to express blind obedience to the “owner-in-chief” at the Phanar)…Emmanuel of Chalcedon is a quick example of a bishop who keeps getting promoted after pushing for the infractions of Unia & Schism (“the architect of the Tomos for Epiphanios, etc), let alone that scandal in Paris…another “secular-minded” bishop scandalously decided to run the Marathon on a Sunday with no penalty from the Synod (imagine the penalty on a parish priest if he decided to not show up on Sunday in order to run a marathon)…

      That’s the unfortunate reality we are witnessing, so in the meantime, it looks like we the laity will continue to do the “speaking out” against the 1439-style Λατινοφρονες “theologians” that have re-surfaced in our era. Remember how the treasonous delegation of clergy and “theologians” was “received” by the LAITY of Constantinople when they returned from Ferrara?

  10. The Orthodox Church has a serious crisis-the schism in the Church caused by the unfortunate creation of an uncanonical entity in Ukraine. Why worry about celebrating Easter with Roman Catholics and Protestants?
    Patriarch Bartholomew has shown incredible forgiveness and love toward those outside the Orthodox Church. How about showing some of that forgiveness and love to your Orthodox brother clergy with whom you currently show little desire for reconciliation which is needed to heal the schism in the Church? .In sermons and confession, the laity is repeatedly reminded of how central love and forgiveness is in Christianity. These Christian virtues and qualities need to be displayed by the Patriarch. .Patriarch Bartholomew can begin the healing of the schism in the Church. Patriarch Bartholomew needs to reorder his priorities. He needs to display love and forgiveness, which will be a first step toward ending the schism .We’re praying for you to do the right thing-unite the Church. Your Holiness. for give me for criticizing you, but I love the Church and again forgive me, but you are causing great damage to the Church
    P.S .Common date for Easter is not about having an accurate calendar. It’s a ruse devised by the Ecumenists. It’s yet another attempt at a false union-one not based on the true faith preserved by the Orthodox Church, but more like a compromise as in a business deal.
    As I see it, establishing a common date for Easter, would actually be step 1 toward a false union.

    • It’s more like “step 99 out of 100” than “step 1”, for those who have been taking copious notes about what has been going on…

  11. Unfortunately, instead of healing the schism within the OC, those “theologians” decided to create another one, by creating 2 Easter days in our OC. Ukrainians are deprived of their own churches and the schismatics take over, but they stay empty, the prayers are gone from them. What will happen if your priest decides to celebrate on the Catholic date? For me the answer is simple: I would move on and find another church. The persecution may come to us here in the US. In many way it is present, in a softer form. Our children can’t learn anything about Christ in public schools, but they are teaching them garbage and propaganda about LGBTQ, escort service (why does a 8th grader need to learn this?) etc, until some of the students are sick to their stomach and have to leave the class.
    Here is a fantastic article by Metropolitan Luke (Kovalenko) from Ukraine, describing the situation of the world better than I can, full of pain and hope:
    Flock Without a Roof, Yet Not Without God
    On Spiritual Unity in Times of Persecution
    https://orthochristian.com/176030.html

    It should not be a surprise that “the evil happenings will originate from the “educated ones”. If we think about it, the heresies came from the educated ones. Anyone bringing on a heresy would have to be educated, otherwise he would not have “credentials” and no one would take him seriously. We have to go where God is. If some of our churches change the Easter day, God would not be in them, so it is better to leave and go somewhere else than to celebrate Easter on the wrong day, with the Catholics. This decision has to be made by a pan orthodox council, not by 10 “theologians” because they do not express the spirit of the Church and of God.
    It is better to be a “Flock Without a Roof, Yet Not Without God”, than a flock with a roof and gold chapels and without God.

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