ΠΟΙΜΑΝΤΟΡΙΚΗ ΕΓΚΥΚΛΙΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΟΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟΝ ΛΑΟΝ
Καταδικασθέντες ἀδίκως ὑπό Σχισματικῆς Συνόδου εἰς καθαίρεσιν καί πενταετῆ ἐγκάθειρξιν εἰς Μονάς καί ἀπαχθέντες βία ὑπό τῆς Κυβερνήσεως, καταστάσης ἐκτελεστικόν τμῆμα τῆς ἀρχιεπισκοπῆς, τεθείσης ὑπεράνω των θείων Κανόνων, τοῦ Καταστατικοῦ Χάρτου καί τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ Συντάγματος διά μόνον τόν λόγον, διότι εἴχομεν τό θάρρος καί τήν ψυχικήν εὐσθενίαν νά ἀναπετάσωμεν τό ἔνδοξον καί τετιμημένον λάβαρον τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας, θεωροῦμεν ποιμαντορικόν καθῆκον ἡμῶν πρίν ἤ ἀποχωρισθῶμεν νά ἀπευθύνωμεν Ὑμῖν τοῖς ἀκολουθοῦσι τό πάτριον καί Ὀρθόδοξον ἑορτολόγιον, τάς ἑξῆς ποιμαντορικᾶς παραινέσεις:
Ἀκολουθοῦντες πιστῶς τό Ἀποστολικόν «Στῆτε καί κρατῆτε τάς παραδόσεις, ἅς ἐδιδάχθητε εἴτε διά λόγου, εἴτε δι’ ἐπιστολῆς ἠμῶν», μή παύσετε ἀγωνιζόμενοι δι’ ὅλων τῶν νομίμων καί χριστιανικῶν μέσων ὑπέρ τῆς κατισχύσεως καί ἐπιβραβεύσεως τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἡμῶν ἀγῶνος, ὅστις ἀποβλέπει εἰς τήν ἐπαναφοράν ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησία τοῦ Πατρίου καί Ὀρθοδόξου ἑορτολογίου, μόνου ἱκανοῦ νά ἀποκαταστήση τό ὑπό τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς Ἐκκλησίας μειωθέν κύρος τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας καί νά ἐπαναφέρη τήν εἰρήνην καί τήν ἕνωσιν τοῦ Ὀρθοδόξου Ἑλληνικοῦ Λαοῦ.
Ἐπέπρωτο, κρίμασιν οἷς οἶδε Κύριος, ἡ πλειοψηφία τῆς ἱεραρχίας τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς Ἐκκλησίας, ὑπό τήν ἔμπνευσιν καί πρωτοβουλίαν τοῦ προκαθημένου Αὐτῆς νά προσάψῃ εἰς τό τέως ἁγνόν καί ἀκραιφνῶς Ὀρθόδοξον μέτωπον Αὐτῆς τόν μῶμον τοῦ σχίσματος διά τῆς ἀθετήσεως τοῦ Ὀρθοδόξου Ἑορτολογίου, τοῦ καθιερωθέντος ὑπό τῶν 7 Οἰκουμ. Συνόδων καί κυρωθέντος ὑπό τῆς αἰωνοβίου πράξεως τῆς Ὀρθοδόξου Ἀνατολικῆς Ἐκκλησίας καί τῆς ἀντικαταστάσεως τούτου διά τοῦ Παπικοῦ τοιούτου.
Τό σχῖσμα βεβαίως τοῦτο τοῦ Ὀρθοδόξου Ἑλληνικοῦ Λαοῦ ἐδημιούργησεν ἡ πλειοψηφία τῆς Ἱεραρχίας, ἥτις, ἐπιλαθομένη τῆς ἱερᾶς καί ἐθνικῆς Αὐτῆς ἀποστολῆς καί τοῦ ἀρχαίου ἑλληνικοῦ γνωμικοῦ «μάχου ὑπέρ τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας καί τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς ἐλευθερίας», εἰσήγαγεν ἄνευ τῆς συναινέσεως ἁπασῶν τῶν Ὀρθοδόξων Ἐκκλησιῶν ἐν τῇ Θεία λατρεία τό Παπικόν ἑορτολόγιον, διαιρέσασα οὕτως οὐ μόνον τάς Ὀρθοδόξους Ἐκκλησίας, ἀλλά καί τούς Ὀρθοδόξους Χριστιανούς εἰς δύο ἀντιθέτους μερίδας.
Ἡμεῖς ἀναλαβόντες τήν ποιμαντορίαν τοῦ Ὀρθοδόξου Ἑλληνικοῦ πληθυσμοῦ τοῦ ἀκολουθοῦντος τό πάτριον καί ὀρθόδοξον ἑορτολόγιον καί ἔχοντες συναίσθησιν τοῦ ὅρκου πίστεως, ὅν ἐδώκαμεν, ὅτι θά φυλάξωμεν πάντα ὅσα παρελάβομεν παρά τῶν 7 Οἰκουμενικῶν Συνόδων, ἀποφεύγοντες πάντα νεωτερισμόν, δέν ἠδυνάμεθα παρά νά κηρύξωμεν ὡς Σχισματικήν τήν ἐπίσημον Ἐκκλησίαν, ἥτις ἐδέχθη τό παπικόν ἑορτολόγιον, ὅπερ ἐχαρακτηρῖσθη ὑπό Πανορθοδόξων Συνόδων ὡς νεωτερισμός τῶν αἱρετικῶν, ὡς αὐθαίρετος καταπάτησις τῶν θείων καί ἱερῶν κανόνων καί τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν παραδόσεων.
Τούτου ἕνεκα συνιστῶμεν εἰς ἅπαντάς τους ἀκολουθοῦντας τό ὀρθόδοξον ἑορτολόγιον, ὅπως μηδεμίαν πνευματικήν ἐπικοινωνίαν ἔχωσι μετά τῆς σχισματικῆς Ἐκκλησίας τῶν σχισματικῶν λειτουργῶν Αὐτῆς, ἀπό τῶν ὅποιων ἔφυγεν ἤ χάρις τοῦ Παναγίου Πνεύματος διότι οὗτοι ἠθέτησαν ἀποφάσεις τῶν Πατέρων τῆς Ζ’ Οἰκουμενικῆς Συνόδου καί πασῶν των Πανορθοδόξων Συνόδων τῶν καταδικασασῶν τό Γρηγοριανόν ἑορτολόγιον. Ὅτι ἡ Σχισματική Ἐκκλησία δέν ἔχει χάριν καί Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, τοῦτο διαβεβαιοῖ καί ὁ Μ. Βασίλειος λέγων τά ἑξῆς: «Εἰ καί περί μή Δόγματα οἱ Σχισματικοί σφάλοιντο, ἀλλ’ ἐπειδή τοί γέ κεφαλή τοῦ Σώματος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ὁ Χριστός ἐστίν κατά τόν θεῖον Ἀπόστολον, ἐξ οὗ τά μέλη πάντα ζωοῦται καί τήν πνευματικήν αὔξησιν δέχεται, οὗτοι δέ τῆς ἁρμονίας τῶν μελῶν τοῦ Σώματος ἀπερράγησαν, καί οὐκέτι παραμένουσαν αὐτοῖς, ἔχουσι τήν χάριν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ὅ τοίνυν οὐκ ἔχουσιν πῶς ἄν τοῖς ἄλλοις μεταδοῖεν».
Ὅταν ἡ Σχισματική Ἐκκλησία ἐπιβάλλει μέτρα πιεστικά καί καταθλιπτικά, ὅπως βιάσῃ τήν ὀρθόδοξον ἡμῶν συνείδησιν, συνιστῶμεν ὑμῖν, ὅπως τά πᾶντα ὑπομείνητε καί κρατήσητε τήν ὀρθόδοξον Παρακαταθήκην ἀλώβητον καί ἀμόλυντον, ὅπως παρελάβομεν ταύτην παρά τῶν εὐσεβῶν Πατέρων ἡμῶν, ἔχοντες ὡς παράδειγμα φωτεινόν καί ἐνισχυτικόν ἡμᾶς μή δειλιάσαντας καί ἐν δύσει τοῦ βίου ἡμῶν χάριν τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας νά ἀντικρύσωμεν μετά παρρησίας καί μεγαλοφροσύνης τά ἀνελεύθερα καί μεσαιωνικά μέτρα τῆς ἐξορίας καί ἐγκαθείρξεως ἡμῶν εἰς Μονάς ὡς εἰς φυλακάς.
Ταῦτα θεωροῦντες τιμήν καί δόξαν καί χαράν, κατά τόν Ἀπόστολον, κελεύοντα νά χαίρωμεν καί νά καυχώμεθα ἐν τοῖς ὑπέρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παθήμασιν, συνιστῶμεν καί ὑμίν ἐμμονήν καί ἐγκαρτέρησιν ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς καί ταῖς θλίψεσι καί ταῖς κακώσεσι καί αἰκισμοῖς, εἰς ἅ θά ὑποβληθῆτε ὑπό Ἐκκλησίας Σχισματικῆς, ἐλπίζοντες πάντοτε εἰς τόν Θεόν, ὅς οὐκ ἐάσει ἠμᾶς πειρασθῆναι ὑπέρ ὅ δυνάμεθα καί ὅστις θά εὐδοκήσῃ ἐν τῇ ἀπείρω Αὐτοῦ καί ἀνεξιχνιάστω μακροθυμία νά φωτίση καί τούς καλεῖ τή πίστει πεπλανημένους καί ἀκολουθοῦντας τό Παπικόν ἑορτολόγιον καί χαρίσηται ἐν τέλει Ὑμῖν τόν θρίαμβον τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας καί ἕνωσιν τοῦ χριστεπωνύμου Ὀρθοδόξου Ἑλληνικοῦ Πληρώματος, ὑπέρ ὧν ἀγωνιζόμεθα πρός δόξαν Χριστοῦ, Οὗ ἡ χάρις καί τό ἄπειρον ἔλεος εἴη μετά πάντων Ὑμῶν.
† Ὁ Δημητριάδος Γερμανός
† Ὁ πρ. Φλωρίνης Χρυσόστομος
† Ὁ Ζακύνθου Χρυσόστομος
(Ἐδημοσιεύθη εἰς τήν ἀπογευματινήν καί ἐν Ἀθήναις ἐκδιδομένην ἐφημερίδα «ΤΥΠΟΣ» τῆς 21ης Ἰουνίου 1935).
http://www.ecclesiagoc.gr/index.php/ekklisiologika/111-engyklios-1935
PASTORAL ENCYCLICAL
TO THE ORTHODOX GREEK PEOPLE[1]
Unjustly condemned by the schismatic Synod to deposition and a five-year imprisonment in monasteries, and seized by force by the government (which has become the executory arm of the [new calendar] Archdiocese, which by a mere word has placed itself above the divine canons, the [Church’s] Charter, and the Constitution of Greece) because we had the courage and the spiritual strength to raise the glorious and venerable banner of Orthodoxy, we consider it our pastoral duty before we depart [for prison] to direct the following admonitions to you that adhere to the Orthodox festal calendar of our fathers:
While faithfully following the Apostle [Paul’s] admonition, “Stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or by our letter,” do not cease from struggling by every lawful and Christian means for the strengthening and triumph of our sacred struggle, which looks to the restoration of the patristic and Orthodox festal calendar within the Church; only this can re-establish the diminished Orthodox authority of the Greek Church and bring back the peace and unity of the Orthodox Greek people.
By the judgments which the Lord knows, the majority of the hierarchy of the Greek Church, under the influence and initiative of its president, has placed the blot of schism upon what up until now had been its pure and truly Orthodox countenance, when it rejected the Orthodox festal calendar — which has been consecrated by the Seven Ecumenical Councils and ratified by the age-long practice of the Orthodox Eastern Church — and replaced it with the Papal calendar.
Of course, this schism of the Orthodox Greek people was created by the majority of the hierarchy, which forgot its sacred and national mission and the old Greek [revolutionary] slogan: “Fight for Orthodoxy and for Greek liberty,” and which, without the agreement of all the Orthodox Churches, introduced the Papal festal calendar into our divine worship, thereby dividing not only the Orthodox Churches, but also the Orthodox Christians into two opposing camps.
In assuming the pastorship of the Orthodox Greek populace that follows the Orthodox festal calendar of our fathers, and being conscious of the oath of faith that we took that we would keep all that we have received from the Seven Ecumenical Councils, we abjure every innovation and cannot but proclaim as schismatic the State Church, which has accepted the Papal festal calendar, which has been described by Pan-Orthodox Councils as an innovation of the heretics, and as an arbitrary trampling underfoot of the divine and sacred canons of the ecclesiastical traditions.
On account of this, we counsel all who follow the Orthodox festal calendar to have no spiritual communion with the schismatic Church and its schismatic ministers, from whom the grace of the All-Holy Spirit has departed, since they have set at nought the resolutions of the Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and all the Pan-Orthodox Councils that condemned the Gregorian festal calendar. The fact that the Schismatic Church does not have grace and the Holy Spirit is confirmed by Saint Basil the Great, who says: “Even though the schismatics have not erred in doctrines, yet because Christ is the Head of the Body of the Church according to the divine Apostle [Paul], and from Him are all the members quickened and receive spiritual increase, the [schismatics] have been torn from the consonance of the members of the Body and no longer have the grace of the Holy Spirit abiding with them. And how, indeed, can they impart to others that which they have not?”
While the Schismatic Church imposes oppressive and intolerable measures in order to violate our Orthodox conscience, we exhort you to endure all things and to preserve the Orthodox heritage intact and unstained, even as we received it from our pious Fathers, having us as luminous and fortifying examples, seeing we were not afraid — even in the waning years of our lives — to withstand with boldness and dignity the bigoted and medieval measures of our exile and imprisonment in monasteries, as it were in prisons.
Esteeming this as honor and glory and joy, according to the Apostle [Paul], who enjoins us to rejoice and boast in our sufferings in behalf of Christ, we counsel you also to have endurance and persistence in these griefs, and afflictions, and evils, and outrages to which you will be subjected by a Church that is schismatic; and ever hope in God, Who will not permit that you be tried above what you are able to endure, and Who, in His infinite and unfathomable long-suffering, will be well-pleased to enlighten those who in their innocence have been led astray and follow the Papal festal calendar; and in the end may He grant you the triumph of Orthodoxy and the unity of those who bear the name of Christ, the Orthodox Greek people, for whom we struggle to the glory of Christ, Whose grace and infinite mercy be with you all.
+ Germanos of Demetrias
+ Chrysostom of Florina
June 21, 1935 + Germanos of the Cyclades Islands
[1] Ta Patria Vol. 1, No. 1, 1976, pp. 20–23.