12 July 2023
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today, our Church brightly celebrates the commemoration day of the Holy Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul.
These two great men were very different from each other. They walked on different paths to their meeting with Christ, which turned their lives upside down and made them new men, who dedicated their whole lives and all their efforts to preaching the Gospel.
What kind of life was it? The Apostles knew well what they were walking into. The Lord Himself told His disciples: ‘They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake’ (Luke 21:12).
The outcome of the titanic work of Peter and Paul for the construction of the majestic edifice of our Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Orthodox Church was their alleged defeat from the point of view of the earthly sinful logic and their clear victory in the historical perspective and in eternity.
Both Apostles were executed in Rome by order of the supreme authorities of the empire. Both of them have been glorified by God as saints and are recognised as the Leaders of the Apostles by the entire Church.
A whole epoch has passed since then, but little has changed in the lives of followers of Christ.
After 70 years of spiritual devastation under the yoke of the godless rule of the Bolsheviks, we rejoiced in the triumph of the Truth for only a short time. Together we revived thousands of desecrated shrines, printed thousands of books, painted thousands of icons, trained thousands of clergymen at seminaries and academies. Millions of us — Orthodox Christians— were born spiritually in the Sacrament of Baptism, we repented, correcting ourselves, we strived to change life around us according to Christ’s Commandments, we brought Light to our neighbours. We believed and hoped that the world inside and around us could and should become kinder and better.
But it turned out that some prefer darkness, malice, and hatred. A time has come when, using an external aggression, our common tragedy, as a cloak, enemies of the Church have once again started overt persecutions. They have opened an internal front so as to cover up their crimes and mistakes.
My heart sinks when I watch the terrible footage of lawlessness, outright arbitrariness and violence during the seizures of our holy churches, the beatings of defenceless elderly men, elderly women, and clergymen. But I firmly believe that the Lord has allowed for us to go through these trials for our good and our purification and we will pass them with God’s help.
Today’s feast shows us, dear brothers and sisters, that the true Church of Christ is always persecuted by those who put their personal ambitions, their temporary interests above the good of people, but the triumph of evil is always illusory and temporary.
The lives of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul also teach us that one should not fall in despair and wallow in evil when one stumbles. Peter betrayed Christ and repented. Paul persecuted Christ in his blindness and received his sight. They were able to get through temptation and change themselves. God grant that we may not betray Christ, and God grant that our persecutors may repent of their errors!
Let us not lose heart and not fall in despair. The true Church has more than once revived from the ashes and will triumph again!
I cordially greet you, dear brothers and sisters, on the commemoration day of the Holy Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul!
All related news Today, our Church brightly celebrates the commemoration day of the Holy Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul.
These two great men were very different from each other. They walked on different paths to their meeting with Christ, which turned their lives upside down and made them new men, who dedicated their whole lives and all their efforts to preaching the Gospel.
What kind of life was it? The Apostles knew well what they were walking into. The Lord Himself told His disciples: ‘They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake’ (Luke 21:12).
The outcome of the titanic work of Peter and Paul for the construction of the majestic edifice of our Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Orthodox Church was their alleged defeat from the point of view of the earthly sinful logic and their clear victory in the historical perspective and in eternity.
Both Apostles were executed in Rome by order of the supreme authorities of the empire. Both of them have been glorified by God as saints and are recognised as the Leaders of the Apostles by the entire Church.
A whole epoch has passed since then, but little has changed in the lives of followers of Christ.
After 70 years of spiritual devastation under the yoke of the godless rule of the Bolsheviks, we rejoiced in the triumph of the Truth for only a short time. Together we revived thousands of desecrated shrines, printed thousands of books, painted thousands of icons, trained thousands of clergymen at seminaries and academies. Millions of us — Orthodox Christians— were born spiritually in the Sacrament of Baptism, we repented, correcting ourselves, we strived to change life around us according to Christ’s Commandments, we brought Light to our neighbours. We believed and hoped that the world inside and around us could and should become kinder and better.
But it turned out that some prefer darkness, malice, and hatred. A time has come when, using an external aggression, our common tragedy, as a cloak, enemies of the Church have once again started overt persecutions. They have opened an internal front so as to cover up their crimes and mistakes.
My heart sinks when I watch the terrible footage of lawlessness, outright arbitrariness and violence during the seizures of our holy churches, the beatings of defenceless elderly men, elderly women, and clergymen. But I firmly believe that the Lord has allowed for us to go through these trials for our good and our purification and we will pass them with God’s help.
Today’s feast shows us, dear brothers and sisters, that the true Church of Christ is always persecuted by those who put their personal ambitions, their temporary interests above the good of people, but the triumph of evil is always illusory and temporary.
The lives of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul also teach us that one should not fall in despair and wallow in evil when one stumbles. Peter betrayed Christ and repented. Paul persecuted Christ in his blindness and received his sight. They were able to get through temptation and change themselves. God grant that we may not betray Christ, and God grant that our persecutors may repent of their errors!
Let us not lose heart and not fall in despair. The true Church has more than once revived from the ashes and will triumph again!
I cordially greet you, dear brothers and sisters, on the commemoration day of the Holy Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul!
