Prologue in Sermons: November 14

 

To the Orthodox Living Among Schismatics

November 14*

(From the Life of Saint John Chrysostom)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Why is it, O Orthodox, that those who live among you, who call themselves Old Believers, never experience miracles? And why is it that, while believing according to the same old printed books, they constantly quarrel among themselves and curse each other, and some are called Popovtsy, others Priestless, others Wanderers, others Begunys, others Undergrounders, and so on? This is why: because the Old Believers who live among you are heretics and schismatics. Heretics: for they mix their false teachings with the Orthodox Faith. Schismatics: for they have separated themselves from the Orthodox Church. And know this: such people never have had, nor ever will have, miracles, and the wrath of God, as it was before upon them, so it always will be.

During the life of Saint John Chrysostom, there was a man in Antioch, blinded by the Marcionite heresy, who was causing much harm to the Orthodox. One day, this man's wife fell seriously ill and was treated by many doctors, but none helped her. Then her husband summoned the Marcionite heretics to his home and begged them to help his wife with their prayers. The heretics heeded his plea and, as it is said, "prayed for her with much fervor and without ceasing, for three days or more, and were not successful." After such fruitless prayer, the wife said to her husband: "I have heard that a certain priest named John, who lives with Bishop Flavian, grants him whatever he asks of God, and that this John performs many miracles. I beg you, take me to him so that he may pray for me. The Marcionites did not help me at all, and from this I conclude that their faith is not right; for if their faith were right, God would have heard their prayer for me." The husband heeded his wife's words, brought her to an Orthodox church, and, as a heretic, not daring to bring his wife into the church itself, placed her at the doors of the church and sent word to the Bishop and Saint John Chrysostom, then a priest, that he was asking them to heal his wife. The Bishop and John came to the church, and the former said to the husband and wife: "If you renounce your heresy and join the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, you will receive healing from Christ the Lord." The husband and wife earnestly promised to do so. Then John ordered water to be brought, the Bishop blessed it, and John then poured it on the sick woman. She immediately arose and became completely healthy. The husband and wife, seeing the miracle performed upon them, accepted Orthodoxy, and all the Orthodox inhabitants of the city rejoiced greatly. The heretics, however, were disgraced and began to vent their anger on John, calling him a sorcerer and a magician. For this, however, they were soon punished. While a large crowd of Marcionites were once gathered in their temple, an earthquake struck Antioch. The temple where the heretics were staying collapsed, burying all those inside under its rubble. Meanwhile, it should be noted that no Orthodox were harmed by the earthquake and all remained unharmed. Seeing all this, the surviving heretics and pagans recognized the power of Christ, began to destroy their temples and pagan shrines, and joined the Holy Orthodox and Apostolic Church en masse.

From this narrative, as you can see, it is clear that heretics and schismatics have never had, nor ever will have, miracles, and that God's wrath has always been and remains upon them. And this latter point can be further proven by our own national history. When, during the minority of the Tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich, the schismatics, after a debate on faith in the Faceted Chamber, emerged from it and entered the Place of Execution shouting, "We have conquered, we have conquered!" "Then," says Saint Dimitri of Rostov, "the Lord God Himself, unable to tolerate their blasphemy against His Church, exposed their heretical thinking with sudden execution: for an evil spirit struck the leader of the heretics, Nikita Pustosvyat, and Nikita immediately fell to the ground, petrified and possessed. Then all the people, seeing God's vengeance upon him, knew that Nikita was an open heretic and a blasphemer of the Holy Church and an enemy of God" (The Investigation, Part 3, Chapter 22). What can we say after this in conclusion? We say to you, brethren, in the words of the Apostle Paul: "We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting" (Eph. 4:14). Amen.

Source:Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

Notes:

* In the original text, there is no entry for November 14th. There this is the third entry for November 13th.