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St. Sophrony is one of the greatest saints of the 20th century, a teacher of prayer of the heart and one graced with the experience of the Uncreated Light. He was glorified as a Saint in 2019 and is beloved by the entire Church worldwide.This excerpt comes from Letter 11, Dec 3/16, 1932 found in "Striving for Knowledge of God: Correspondence with David Balfour" available for sale here: https://essexmonastery.com/bookshop/striving-for-knowledge-of-god/St. Sophrony writes:"...I would like to say a little about the fact that at the present time a significant part of the Christian world tends to accept one of the most dangerous heresies. What is consists of is people saying that in our days there is not one Church which has kept fully the true teaching of Christ; or which possesses complete knowledge of the mystery of the holy, grace-filled Christian life on the ethical and ascetic level. Supposedly, many of the Churches which are nominally Christian have equal grace, and because of that we should proceed towards the union of the Churches on the basis of some common program.""Some people think that no single one of the existing Churches can receive the fulness of knowledge and grace, because each one of them in one or another degree has deviated from the truth. They think that only now ‘at the end of the ages’ they (these sages) have fully grasped the spirit of the teaching of Christ, and that the entire Christian world has been led astray for many centuries until now. That now the time has come when we must unite all the separated parts into one universal and apostle Church, which will have the fulness of truth in all its aspects, even though this union will only embrace what is common to all the Churches. What is even worse, some of them are pondering in their hearts a certain high, supra-ecclesial, mystical, understanding of Christian religion, which… I won’t say more about this.""I digressed into discussing this for one reason only: to tell you that I very much want you (and I pray to God for this) not to be deceived by all that, but to be convinced firmly in your heart and mind that on this earth there is one unique and true Church which Christ founded; that this Church maintains unspoiled the teaching of Christ, that she in her totality (and not in her individual members) possesses the fulness of knowledge and grace and infallibility.""The definitive form of expression of the Church’s teaching at the Ecumenical Councils cannot be subjected to any change. All future academic work must obligatorily concur with what was given in divine revelation and in the teaching of the Ecumenical Councils of the Church. The same is true in connection with grace: only the one and unique Church can have the fulness of grace. All the other Churches, however, do have grace because of their faith in Christ, but not in its fulness. We can, furthermore, believe that in our days there are still people who, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, are equal to the great Saints of the Church of ancient times. (I am saying this in connection with what I heard about several people in Russia.) [This is] because Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb. 13:8). All this is the truth. Whoever departs from this faith will not stand."Read the text here: https://classicalchristianity.com/2016/10/17/elder-sophrony-on-orthodoxy-and-ecumenism/ALSO from St. Sophrony's letters to David Balfour:"Whoever makes a mistake in dogma will inevitably make a mistake in his inner, moral life too. So without fail we must adopt the view that the true Church must be true in both the one and the other, because if it is in error somewhere in the one, it will inevitably be in error also in the other. Of course here I am referring to the Church as a whole. Individual members of the Church may, while they live in the Church, be ignorant of many things, and even be mistaken in something, without however losing their salvation because of their incomplete knowledge. And in fact, knowledge is not accessible to any one man in it's fullness; it belongs to the whole Church. What I mean by this is that for salvation it is necessary to be a member of the true Church. Outside of her it is not possible for men to receive either true grace or true knowledge.” -Striving for the Knowledge of God, p. 304"I do not want the 'union of the Churches' to come about, at least at the present time, because the Roman Catholics will not change, but the Orthodox will be corrupted." -St. Sophrony, "I Know a Man in Christ", 1979, p. 295Orthodox Wisdom is now on your favorite podcast platform! Go to the “About” tab at the top of the this channel to find links to:-Apple Podcasts-Spotify-Stitcher-and more…This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!
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