To Those Seeking Their Mother

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Home / Library / Orthodox= =20 Christianity & Theology / To Those Seeking Their = Mother

To Those Seeking Their = Mother=20

By Monk Zachary (Catacomb Church 1947)=20

When I was a child, I heard the following tale:=20

In very ancient times, in some country or other, there = was a gang=20 of bandits whose fierce and furious raids terrorized the = entire=20 surrounding population. The fierce leader of this gang had = lost all=20 sense of human feeling and wrought unspeakable evil, such as = hitherto had been unknown.=20

On one occasion, these bandits attacked the home of a = good and=20 peaceful man. First, they slaughtered the master of the = house; then,=20 mocking and outraging her, they bestially murdered his wife, = as=20 well, after which they stole all the family=92s belongings. = They would=20 have killed the master=92s son, too -- a small child, who = was weeping=20 helplessly in a corner but, the leader of the gang, having = taken=20 particular note of the little boy=92s unusual comeliness, = concluded=20 that he could probably demand a huge ransom for the child.=20 Consequently, he ordered that the boy be taken back to their = encampment with them.=20

They brought the little tyke to that cave where the gang = hid out.=20 The bandit leader entrusted the boy to the care of his = =93lady-friend=94=20 -- a woman truly =93worthy=94 of him -- and thereupon forgot = all about=20 the child=85=20

Some time later, upon returning from a raid, the bandit = chieftain=20 happened to meet this child and barely recognized him: so = much had=20 he changed. He had grown thin and now was possessed of a = sickly=20 appearance.=20

Asked about the reason for such a change, the bandit = leader=92s=20 paramour explained that the child was grieving sorely for = his=20 Mother; that he refused to come near anyone; avoided all and = sundry;=20 ate little; and, probably, would soon die.=20

That evening, poring over his old stash of loot, the = bandit=20 leader found a dress and some adornments and foot-gear that = had=20 belonged to the child=92s Mother, whom he had slain some = time=20 previously.=20

=93Listen,=94 he said to his doxy, =93you say that the = lad is grieving=20 for his Mother. So, put on all this stuff,=85 go to him,=85 = cuddle him,=85=20 -- perchance he=92ll take you for his Mother and recover. = Otherwise,=20 alas! he=92ll perish, when we could get a tidy sum for = him=85=94=20

The bandit leader=92s concubine put on the dead woman=92s = dress,=20 adorned herself with the latter=92s brooches and jewelry, = assumed a=20 tender and loving appearance insofar as she was capable of = doing so,=20 -- and went to the child. Terrified, -- he recoiled from her = and=20 screamed=85.=20

=93Come to me, my darling little one,=94 the female = bandit said,=20 =93for, behold: it is I, your Mama. Look: here is the dress, = here is=20 the jewelry=85 Don=92t you recognize me?=20

=93No, no!=94 the child began to weep, trembling in = terror: =93the=20 dress is Mama=92s, the jewelry is Mama=92s, but you=85 = you=92re not my=20 Mama=85=94=20

* * * * *=20

The present-day situation in Orthodoxy reminds me of this = poignant tale, which I had heard in childhood.=20

With its innate ability to manipulate ideas, the = leadership of=20 the Moscow patriarchate seeks to convince everyone that = there, in=20 Moscow, attired in Her garments and adorned with Her jewels, = we can=20 find our very own natural Mother.=20

Of course, all this is calculated without taking into = account the=20 members of the Catacomb Church, who know well the false gaze = of the=20 =93mistress of murderers.=94 They cannot be deceived!=20

This is a tale that is told to those children who lost = their=20 Mother in early childhood; who, hence, are unable to recall = Her true=20 face. These, who do not remember their Mother, behold Her = dress, Her=20 jewelry, and they begin to doubt, although it pains their = hearts to=20 do so: but what if this actually is She! After all, everyone = has=20 grown so sick with longing for Her.=20

For such as these, the flattery of the MP=92s hierarchs = can be=20 pernicious. It is to them that my voice of warning is direc = ted, the=20 voice of a Christian who spent nearly 30 years in the = Catacomb=20 Church.=20

=93What are you looking at! Why do you doubt? This is not = She; this=20 is not our Mother!=20

I implore Him Who gives conviction to my words; may He = empower my=20 lips to open the eyes, to awaken the awareness of those who = doubt.=20 Yea, Lord, bring make it so!=20

Hearken unto me, you who have grown sick with longing for = the=20 Mother-Church! This adulterous lady-friend of the fearsome = bandit=20 chieftain in Moscow is not only not the local Russian = Church, she is=20 also not Orthodox, -- and not even a Christian church, all = in all.=20

What are the distinguishing features of any autocephalous = Orthodox Church? They are four: 1. Territory. 2. Nation. 3. = A lawful=20 hierarchy. 4. The Spirit of Christ that is, the unsullied = keeping of=20 Christ=92s Teaching and the dogmas of the Church, which = started with=20 the Apostles. Besides that, each and every local Church has = Her own,=20 unique, tenor of life, not encountered in any other local = Church Her=20 own spiritual-mystical world-view, which is innately Hers, = alone.=20

Only the sum-total of all these features indicates that = any given=20 Church is, at present, the very same that She had been since = the=20 beginning of Her existence. Taken separately, neither = territory, nor=20 nation, nor hierarchy, nor preservation of dogmas, nor tenor = of life=20 and world-view, are any evidence of the continuing life of a = church=20 and of her selfsameness with the one that had existed in the = beginning. After all, the names of the seven Churches that = are=20 spoken of in the Apocalypse continue to survive to this day. = Yet,=20 who will say that these are still those selfsame Churches! = And the=20 Alexandrine or Roman churches are they the very same ones = that had=20 existed during the lifetimes of Athanasius the Great and = Leo, the=20 Pope of Rome? Even preserving apostolic succession, how = little these=20 daughter-churches resemble their Mother.=20

And the one in Moscow that has occupied the home of our=20 Mother-Church, -- imprisoned and tortured beyond endurance, = as She=20 was?=85 The one that put on the latter=92s garments, that = adorned=20 herself with the latter=92s ornaments, which were presented = to her by=20 bandits,=85 the one that even sings what are seemingly the = latter=92s=20 songs,=85 what else is there about her wherewith she reminds = us of the=20 latter of the one that truly was our very own?=85=20

Nothing!=20

Of all the features, she has, in fact, but one: the house = -- the=20 territory. The Nation she betrayed, having blessed her = master the=20 ataman of the gang of cutthroats -- to annihilate all those = who=20 refused to recognize him as their =93father and = benefactor.=94=20

Hierarchy?=85 We know where that is. We know well, where = and how=20 the faithful bishops and priests of our true Mother-Church = perished=20 or were subjected to torments. We heard with our own ears = what the=20 adulterous inamorata of the bandit leader said of them.=20

The Spirit of Christ?=85 Read any of the magazines of the = Moscow=20 Patriarchate, without picking and choosing, and you will = find there=20 that the priests and even the bishops of this organization = call=20 their children to take vengeance upon, to shed the blood of, = to=20 carry out pogroms against, and to hate all those who are=20 unconstrained and unregimented in their thinking. Then will = you=20 yourselves see instead of the meek visage and nloving eyes = of our=20 Mother-Church that bestial, tooth-baring grin of the bandit = woman=20 who had sold herself out.=20

But, perhaps, she is nevertheless Orthodox, even if she = is a=20 fallen sinner?,,,=20

No! For Orthodoxy is defined unconditionally by its = recognition=20 of the dogma of ancestral sin and of said sin=92s = consequences. We=20 believe that human nature, impaired by ancestral sin, is = itself=20 inclined towards evil. No economic or political form, in and = of=20 themselves, can, without the grace of God that is imparted = through=20 the Mystery of holy Baptis m, deliver man from the = inclination to do=20 evil and set him upon the path of doing good. Left to his = own=20 devices, man, who has rejected God and everything that is = holy,=20 inevitably rolls down into the abyss of evil. There can be = no=20 =93paradise=94 built upon earth; on the contrary, evil will = progress=20 ever the more -- growing, toward the end of time, to = horrifying=20 dimensions, so that barely will one be able to find = believing people=20 upon the earth (Lk 18.8). Every doctrine that man is good in = and of=20 himself; that we need only bring about the necessary = economic and=20 political conditions of life, and that man, thereupon, will = become=20 an angel of light is unorthodox. Every organization which = imparts=20 its blessing to the building of an earthly paradise and by a = theomachic state, at that! ; which rejoices at the joys and = grieves=20 at the sorrows of manifestly atheistic satanists,=85 thereby = rejects=20 the dogma of ancestral sin, the dogma of the Church as the = keeper of=20 Divine Righteousness upon the earth, -- and equally, also, = many=20 other dogmas. Wherefore, let it be anathema!=20

Yet, in the end, some of the lukewarm will say: =93but it = is,=20 nonetheless, -- a church.=94=20

How few words there are in the human vocabulary! Many = simply=20 contradictory concepts sometimes find expression in it = through one=20 and the same label. The prophet David, in his own day, could = not=20 find a word to convey the concept of that which is opposed = to the=20 Church. =93I hate the church of the wicked,=94 he said, as = though the=20 wicked have a church.=20

=93I will build My Church,=94 our Saviour told us. And = from that time=20 on, we have associated the concept of salvation with the = name of=20 Church. Everything that does not save is -- not the Church;=20 everything that deceives is -- not the Church; everything = that=20 assists the godless in destroying the soul of our nation, = exhausted=20 with torments, is not the Church; or, it is the church of = the=20 wicked. If it is forbidden to use God=92s name in vain, then = is not=20 the name of the Church of Christ inapplicable to the = handmaiden of=20 satan=92s servant to the Moscow patriarchate?=20

* * * * *=20

The true children of the Church of Christ will not be = deceived by=20 the attire and adornments which have been removed from our = violated=20 and insulted Mother.=20

We firmly believe that soon, very soon, we will meet Her = the true=20 one; Her, who gave birth to us through water and through the = spirit;=20 the genuine, natural article, which has come forth from out = of=20 dungeons, concentration camps, hidden oubliettes, and pits = in the=20 earth. Divine Righteousness will yet triumph.=20

And then will She, our greatly suffering Mother Russian = Church,=20 be set before the Face of the Lord all Her children, who = have=20 remained faithful to the end, and She will say:=20

=93Here am I and those children whom Thou hast given = me.=94=20

And they who have endured unto the end will exclaim, with = great=20 joy:=20

=93Glory to Thee, our Saviour, Who art coming again! = Soon!=85=94=20

Yea, verily, come Lord Jesus!=20

* * * * *=20

Adapted and translated into English by G. Spruksts from = the=20 Russian text of the essay by Monk Zakharii, entitled = _"Ischuschim=20 Mat=92"_ [=93To Those Seeking Their Mother=94], in = _=94Pravoslavnaya Rus=92=94_=20 [=93Orthodox Rus=92=94], No. 10, 1947. English-language text = copyright (c)=20 2000 by The St. Stefan Of Perm' Guild, The Russian C ultural = Heritage Society, and the Translator. All rights reserved.=20

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