The Russian people are bearers of Christ, but they have been bespattered with mud over these past seventy years. If we clean up this mud, the Orthodox Russian person will emerge again and open up.
When I come to Russia my personal sensation is that I am coming home, although I was not born in Russia, but then again, on the other hand, I feel completely at home in America. I was in Australia with Metropolitan Philaret, so that is also my home. Wherever I have been, my home is everywhere. Why is that so? My home is wherever the Lord is present. So, in this sense an Orthodox person is at home as soon as finds himself among the Orthodox. When I arrived in Russia, I sensed that this was my long-suffering native land in which so much blood had been shed and so many souls had been saved through concentration camps and various troubles and crosses. The confessors of Russia were loyal to the Lord God till the end. And the demons made fun of our native land. What could be expected of a people who were not given the opportunity to study the Orthodox Faith? If we come there demanding that they should already know about faith, but they do not, we become those same pharisees of the Old Testament, who said, “Well, this is a dark people, that is cursed, not knowing the law.” Let us not be condescending. There are many in the Moscow Patriarchate who regard the people in this manner. This is like a pharisaic caste. This, of course, is not in the ——spirit of Christ. Coming out to the people, that is the spirit of Christ. And when they see a priest walking around now in Russia, they come up to him and say, “O Father, how good it is that you have come out to us, to the people.” Of course, this is difficult. But can a priest indulge in self-pity? He does not, if he calls upon other people to perform feats. Of course, it would be nice to detach one’s beard or don a cap of invisibility, and no one would know that you’re a priest. You have no responsibility, which means that you can have a good time, drop by a restaurant and eat your fill, while a poor guy is sitting next to you on the threshold with nothing to eat, and you are spending dollars for a substantial meal. So, do you have a conscience? Suddenly, someone is in trouble, or you see a conflict taking place, and your duty is to give help, to bring reconciliation. And if you are a priest and walk around in a riassa with a cross, you already feel that you are bearing Christ’s banner and are responsible to prevent your Church from collapsing.
We cannot judge those priests who walk around over there without a riassa. In the Catacomb Church they had to walk around like that secretly for so many generations to prevent members of their flock from being tracked down
Russia should be regarded as if Orthodoxy is starting there anew, and the Russian person will arise again. He needs explanations, he should be told “My dear, you are wearing these fetters of satanocracy,” as Archimandrite Constantine would say at some point, “you are wearing this inside yourself, and you must free yourself from this.” I am not speaking about outer slavery but about the inner kind, which allows us to avoid being a slave to sin — it is to this that we should call the people. This means becoming freed from sin, from passion, from the root of sin and starting to be purified, so that the Russian person will emerge outside, cleansed and handsome. And it will be impossible then to look at a person and say, “No, this not a Russian person, but a Soviet one,” since you will see Christ the Savior in him. The millennium of the Orthodox Church left its trace among the Russian people. And now, if you ask anyone in Russia, “Are you Orthodox?” the response will be, “Of course I am Orthodox!” But what is Orthodoxy? That’s another matter. This requires assistance in figuring things out. A person might say, ”Here, this is my church, look at the shining cupolas. We are building, and, while we are starving ourselves, we are giving everything up to keep building.” This is very commendable, very good, but there has to be an Orthodox spirit, not just an exterior. And now, let us look at the soul, since its absence makes no sense, everything else will burn away. But our soul is eternal, and it needs care. This is the duty of the Church, of our pastors who need to teach not only by word, but also by example. They need to work on themselves continually. The duty of the Church and of our pastors is to teach people to be Orthodox, and they should teach not only by word but also by example. Everyone must work on themselves continually. I do not feel that we should lose hope for Russia and think that it has disappeared, since in that case we will give up and not want to do anything.
The goal of our Church’s existence is an open and conscious battle against demons.
And we must work, work as much as possible, but should also understand that the period of the earth’s existence keeps getting shorter, and if there will be no repentance, the end of the world will come. The Lord will come in the Second Coming for the Final Judgment. Everything is prepared for this, which means that only repentance remains. Repentance can defeat the demons, since they are extremely hostile toward us. These are our actual enemies, and we need to struggle against them. This is why our Church here on earth has always been a militant one. The Church Triumphant is in heaven. We are here as if at the front, under martial law. And that is a sign of real Church. It fights against enemies. Who are these enemies? The demons. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against . . . spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” If we will understand this, we will be victorious. And we will be victorious with humility, as Anthony the Great said, “You will avoid all of the wiles of the devil with humility.” Humility and repentance are the key.
What is most important is not to condemn anyone
— the Lord forbids us to judge. We must preach and speak, but we cannot judge anyone.
I cannot have hatred against the Moscow Patriarchate, for this will be wrong. These are unfortunate people and should be pitied. We cannot say about such a person that he fell, and so let him lie in the mud, serves that so and so right. I cannot allow myself to say this, since then I will not have love for the Lord God and for my neighbor. And the Lord says repeatedly, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”
So, we cannot judge. And what is judging? We can condemn wrong actions, which does not mean that we are judging a person. We are discussing that he not doing what he should, which is not condemnation. Condemnation is when you hate him and say, “He is on the wrong path and will go to hell.” You can say, “You will go to hell if you don’t repent, if you don’t change.” But you have no right to say in your heart that this one is going to hell and will never repent. The thief repented at the last moment on the cross. This is what we must understand, for this is the spirit of Christ, and it is with such preaching that we must go to the Russian people.
We cannot allow hatred toward a person in our heart.
Do not cultivate or inflate hatred or stir a person against another. We should hate the ideologies of Sergianism and Communism, but not the people following them. Sin should be denounced, but efforts should be made to tear a sinner away from it to bring him to repentance, and it is impossible to do this without love.
Perhaps the reason why we have difficulties is that we do not have enough love and compassion.
The actual principle that determines whether there is love or not requires us to check how we treat those closest to us. It is easy to have a loving attitude at a distance for someone, but ask yourself what kind of family life you have, whether you have love in your family, for those closest to you, those you interact with all the time. Or if you’re in a monastery, how are your relationships there?
At one point the late Metropolitan Philaret asked me, “Fr. Konstantin, what is the best means to be saved?” “To always forgive one’s neighbor,” I said. Vladyka gave it some thought and said, “Yes, that is a means of entering the Kingdom of Heaven. But there is a higher means, which is never to condemn anyone.”
The thought occurred to me that yes, if you need to forgive, it means you have already condemned. The heart needs to learn to forgive, which is daily work on oneself. So, if we follow this path, Christ’s love will finally appear. And, of course, a person should be loved, for he is created according to the image and likeness of God, and if passions have distorted him so much that he has become worse than an animal, he should still be loved. He should be pitied. In what sense? Not by patting him on the head and saying, “Fine, keep on lying in this mud.” That is sentimental permissiveness which must be fought against. To really love and pity a person you need to say this: “My brother (or sister)! If you keep following this path, it will be eternal perdition for you. Come to your senses! Have pity on your soul! Have pity on those close to you.” Whoever wishes to sense the truth will follow this preaching, and this will not be a sentimental love but truly Christ’s love. We need to reexamine our own life as well, repenting and battling our passions. If a person has fallen into the mud and you pass by, saying “Oh, what filth, he stinks. These corpses should be removed from our sight since they work for their passions, and we cannot live in peace in their presence.” This irritates us because it reminds us of our own sins, which we conceal.
Today we must call for repentance, rebirth, and the correction of lives.
What does repentance consist of? The murder of millions of unborn infants is now even worse than five years ago. Their blood cries out to God, and this must stop. A person must observe fasting. St. Seraphim of Sarov said, “Those who do not fast and do not attend services are not Orthodox.” A person must observe these simplest matters, and Russia will be transformed through this. St. Seraphim of Sarov said, “Save yourself, and thousands will be saved around you.”
Any kind of forcing is impossible here. If we start forcing everyone to fast or make abortions illegal, will this make sense? I feel now is not the time for forcing. But we should call for repentance, for the renewal of life in the simplest matters.
Today our parishes in Russia are awaiting support from the Synod.
They are awaiting instructions on how to live, how they should act. They wish to see bishops very much. For simple people find it very difficult to experience these divisions and discords. And there are those who become disappointed and walk away. Of course, those living a spiritual life understand that the devil is trying to separate and conquer everyone. And the others must be prompted that this is how it always was in history, as far back as apostolic times. Demons incite heresies, arguments, and disagreements, and wherever there are disagreements there is no more peace and no love. But the actual Church is still alive. And the devil cannot defeat it. This is especially noticeable in Russia. The Orthodox are there and they understand that that where two or three of them gather in God’s name, God is there among them. They search for the actual Church, and the Church grows.
There is also another path — seizing, suing, and demonstrating, which, I feel, is a wrong path.
The Church has one goal, which is bringing souls to Jesus Christ: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Mt.6:33)
Our parishes in Russia should not strive to take over churches,
initiate court proceedings, and the like. This church may, in all fairness, belong to us, since it was taken from the true Church, and happen to be part of this Church. This is especially true of the much suffering participants in the Catacomb Church of Russia who spent time in the camps. These churches belong to them, and they are not allowed in them. If that is so, it means that the time has not come for that. There is no need to get involved in court proceedings, for it is not churches that are most important for us but leading souls to God. I have a simpler plan. Start praying in your apartment, create a church at home, or try to obtain a small house or a dacha, something that is possible, and if people see that there is actual concern for saving one’s soul, they will start coming. Even those in the Moscow Patriarchate or in any schisms or even heresies will start coming, seeing the example. How did Christianity spread in the world? It was through the example of the first Christians who led others to the Lord God. For instance, in families with husband and wife both being pagans the wife would convert to Orthodoxy, be baptized, and would suddenly become humble, submissive to her husband, and would finally win her husband over with her gentleness and love. I feel that this is how the Orthodox Church grew at the beginning and will be growing now, and, of course, miracles were performed all the time. The apostles performed miracles as proof that they were in the real Church. And performing miracles first of all requires cleansing from passions, prayer, fasting, labor, and podvig.— everyone should work on that. We had St. John of Kronstadt, who performed great miracles, and now there was St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, from whom there were so many miracles, which was because his life was pleasing to God.
I think that the energy that we spend on trials could be redirected to prayer, and there would be more to do. This would also set at ease those in power in the Moscow Patriarchate, who know that if their church is taken away, where would they be then? They also have families, their dukedoms, and they do not wish to lose them. And perhaps, the time will come, and I want to believe this, that they will repent themselves if they see an example of spiritual life. The Church calls us to a holy life, but the old person inside us says, “It is no use for you to engage in podvig. You are not a monk, and even if you are, this is not the time for podvigs. And we cannot tell the people in Russia to repent and work on this in earnest, while we keep on living as always. We must only repent and correct our life.”
Spiritual food is now necessary, since it satisfies both hunger and thirst.
Even if whatever food is brought into Russia, it gets eaten and that’s it, while a book will remain with you and will present to you a correct understanding of eternal life. But they say here, “You don’t need to print anything, who needs it? Give a piece of bacon or a chicken, that’s what is important.” The Russian people shouldn’t be thought of in that way, since, of course, some think, “I don’t need to read a spiritual book, what will it give me if it won’t sate me?” But a person who has tasted spiritual food at some point knows perfectly well that spiritual food satisfies both hunger and thirst, it actually satisfies. It is enough for an Orthodox person to eat, says St. John of Kronstadt, one-tenth to satisfy his bodily desire, and each Orthodox person knows this perfectly well. But the non-Orthodox do not know this. This is why life is much easier for an Orthodox person in Russia today, for he can still get bread for 600 rubles, but he won’t take sausage, which will cost four or five thousand for a kilogram. And he cannot afford this. But he doesn’t need it anyway, especially during fasting periods. Bread accompanies spiritual food, reading Holy Scripture, or prayer, and thoughts of God in general. This is sufficient, this satisfies both the desire and need of the flesh. This is a mystery that is inaccessible to this world. They cannot understand this. But an Orthodox person understands this.
More practical and brief essays should be submitted to Pravoslavnaia Rus’ regarding inner struggle and the simplest matter so that a Russian person will not become discomfited if he goes around his apartment with holy water from the left side, not from the right, causing it, oh horror, to be bewitched for sure and bringing about awful trouble upon oneself. People would be drawn away from superstitions, so they would not listen to false preachers. You should guard them against this most of all and try to write about the most mundane matters, about the daily work on oneself, to instill this understanding. This is how it was always done at Pravoslavnaia Rus’, which has always nurtured us and continues to do so. Many Orthodox who get hold of this publication are grateful for the articles and the labor borne by the monastery here, and for us that is most important. And laziness toward reading and spirituality is everywhere, as the temporary pulls us toward them, attracted by television. But what comes to Russia from the West is horrible. There was less television watching in the past because that had only Soviet propaganda. “Why watch,” people would say, but now what is in the West is interesting, so they watch all kinds of filth.
So spiritual reading is necessary, it is a holy activity.
The spiritual children of our Church in Russia know about the glorification of Vladyka John and are rejoicing.
Unfortunately, writings are being circulated in Russia perverting the truth about Vladyka, saying that he did not pay attention to many things. But his love for people was genuine. He could bless a meal on a lenten day this way: “Christ God, bless the food and drink . . . except for meat, milk , , , and so on. Upon hearing such a blessing one would be unlikely to violate the fast, if that person has a conscience.
Conducted by Andrei Psarev
