AN EXCELLENT EDITORIAL

 

AS IS quite natural, in the months preceding and following the ROCA-MP rapprochement, consummated on 17th May this year, there has been a great deal of comment about it in the church press.  Much of this has been by advocates of the union, defending it, sometimes to the detriment of remaining faithful to the truth, both historical and ecclesiastical.  And much of the comment has been by those who oppose the present union and the manner in which it was brought about, and sometimes their remarks have lacked any sobriety and have oftentimes descended to the level of making derogatory remarks, personal attacks, and wild distortions of the facts and their implications.  We were therefore refreshed to find the following little Editorial in “The Sentinel.”  It is concise, balanced, compassionate, and yet firm in its appraisal.  “The Sentinel” is published by “The Sarov Press,” P.O. Box 665, Medford MA 02155, USA.  Its editor, who has given us permission to reprint this piece, is Nicholas Trahan, who has long been a correspondent with our Brotherhood.  We commend his words.

 

 

PSYCHOLOGY & PIATILETKI

 

ONE cannot deny that many who support the unification of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia hold a sentiment of longing for unity among believers.  This sentiment is latent in almost all the faithful, whether they support the union or not.  After all, during the Divine Liturgy every Orthodox believer prays for the union of the churches.*

 

Yet sentiment alone cannot be the reason why ecclesiological bodies join in communion.  Considerations of ecclesiology, theology, and the faith should be the foundation of such decisions.

 

Unfortunately, what we find in this union are other ingredients.  Rather than address the questions of ecclesiology and theology that opponents have raised, Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad dismisses the opponents themselves, personally questioning their supposed psychological shortcomings - an easy and time-honored way to avoid debating issues of substance. 

 

Rather than build a union by addressing ecumenism and Sergianism’s legacy, the method is one of politics - of state involvement and behind-the-scenes commissions and maneuverings.

 

And rather than mark progress toward union by patiently building oneness of mind (edinomyslie) among clergy and laity, union is to be wrapped up in a five-year “period of transformation.”  This is an eerie reminder of the Piatiletka (Five-Year Plan) that was the core of the Soviet Union’s bureaucratic central command system.

 

It seems that, with the union document signed on May 17, all that now remains is to “fulfill the Plan,” according to the dictates of the authorities - much as Gosplan (the Soviet state planning commission) directed the economy.

 

The goals, however, are all too much directed toward the Church as a Russian phenomenon, than a universal Orthodox one.

 

Union takes repentance. And repentance (on either side) cannot be measured in units of chronological time. It should be measured by metanoia, by the internal change to which we should all strive.  And that metanoia we see too little of.

 

* Strictly this point is incorrect; what, as the Greek makes clear, we pray for in the Liturgy is the union of all the faithful, but the point is a true one.

 

 

POINTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE

 

“Just a small point why did the Bishop hold 3 candles in his left hand and only two on his right?”  - R.J.D., Fleet, Hants.

 

… To answer your question:  Orthodox Bishops bless with the candle-sticks with two ad three candles, respectively called dikiri and trikiri, to indicate that the blessing is from God.  The three candles signify the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, and the two signify the two natures of Christ, both Divine and human.  We all use the same symbolism when we make the sign of the Cross, because we do so holding the thumb, index and middle fingers held together at their tips, with the ring and little finger folded into our palms.  The first three are to express our belief in the Trinity, and the other two our belief in the Incarnation: that Christ is God Who became man for our sakes.

 

[Actually, the Bishop usually holds the trikiri in his right hand, and the dikiri in his left.]