My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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TIMELY PROPHESIES
How will the clergy and monks be in the latter days? What do our Saints say?
Saint Hippolytus of Rome: "The shepherds will be like wolves; the priests will embrace falsehood; the monks will lust after the things of the world."
Saint Kosmas Aitolos: "A time will come when the harmony that exists now between clergy and laymen will not be. Clergymen will become worse and more impious than anyone."
Abba (Father) Pambo: "And I'll tell you this, my child, that the days will come when the Christians will add to and will take away from, and will alter the books of the Holy Evangelists, and of the Holy Apostles, and of the Divine Prophets, and of the Holy Fathers. They will tone down the Holy Scriptures and will compose troparia, hymns, and writings technologically. Their nous (souls) will be spilled out among them and will become alienated from its Heavenly Prototype. For this reason, the Holy Fathers had previously encouraged the monks of the desert to write down the lives of the Fathers not onto parchment, but onto paper, because the coming generation will change them to suit their own personal tastes. So you see, the evil that comes will be horrible."
Saint Nilus the Myrrhstreamer of Mount Athos: "When the advent of Antichrist draws near, people's reasoning will be obscured because of carnal passions while profanity and indecency will prevail. People will become unrecognizable; people's faces will be disfigured; men will not be distinguishable from women because of their shameless garments and the hair on their heads. Then they will become wild and will resemble the beasts because they will be seduced by the antichrist...The Churches of God will be deprived of God-fearing and pious pastors (priests), and woe to the Christian remaining in the world at that time; they will completely lose their faith because they will lack the opportunity of seeing the light of knowledge from anyone at all...the Christians' shepherds, archpriests, and priests will be conceited and will no longer recognize the right path from the left...
Abba (Father) Moses: "In those days...in the Church will prevail abbots and shepherds without any practice in a life of virtues, lacking faith...unable to distinguish a righteous path from the wrong one, complacent and preoccupied with the daily cares...having attained their position via bribes...not knowing how to catechize and lead the flock. The ignorance, negligence, scorn, and disdain of shepherds shall result in the abandonment and loss of many brethren."
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem: "We seek out our own sign of His coming; we Churchmen seek a sign proper to the Church. And the Savior says, "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another" (Matthew 24:10). If you hear that bishops advance against bishops, and clergy against clergy and laity against laity even unto blood, be not troubled for it has been written before."
Saint Ambrose of Optina (also known as Starets Ambrose): "Hard times will come; and as the Apostle says, behold due to poverty in piety heretics and schisms will appear in the Churches; and as the Holy Fathers foretold, then on the thrones of hierarchs and in monasteries there will be no men to be found that are tested and experienced in the spiritual life. Wherefore, heresies will spread everywhere and deceive many. The enemy of mankind will act skillfully, and whenever possible he will lead the chosen ones to heresy. He will not begin by discarding the dogmas on the Holy Trinity the Divinity of Jesus Christ, or the Theotokos, but will unnoticeably start to distort the teachings of the holy fathers, in other words, the teachings of the Church herself. The cunning of the enemy and his ways will be noticed by very few -- only those that are most experienced in spiritual life. Heretics will take over the Church, everywhere, and they will appoint their servants, and spirituality will be neglected. But the Lord will not leave His servants without protection. Truly, their real duty in the persecution of true pastors (priests) and their imprisonment; for without that, the spiritual flock may not become captured the heretics. Therefore, my son, when you see in the churches mocking of the divine act, of the teachings of the Holy Fathers, and of God's established order, know that the heretics are already present. Be also aware that, for some time, they might hide their evil intentions, or they might covertly deform the Divine Faith, so that they better succeed by deceiving and tricking the inexperienced. (Source: Orthodox Heritage)
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Please note: There is no question or doubt that humanity has entered in Apocalyptic times but we must not be afraid but spiritually prepared. There will be many unfounded speculations, as in every century, about the end of the world but we must not allow those false rumors to create fear and panic in us. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is in complete control of the world and of humanity. There is no greater power than that of the Almighty God.
In times of distress and danger Christians turn always to our Creator and seek His protection and guidance. Our greatest weapon against any kind of evil is prayer. Christians are people of faith! True Christians who practice their Christian faith daily and live a virtuous life, life in the Holy Spirit, never fear. However, Christian imposters, or who pretend to be Christians, live in constant fear and hysteria.
Don't trouble yourselves with what will happen in the future. Be concerned about your own spiritual condition, of your personal commitment to our Savior, to the spiritual health of your soul, to your salvation. Ask our Lord to show you the path to salvation and to His Heavenly Kingdom. Pray for the salvation of the world and of mankind. Repent of your sins!
Do not listen to the self-declared 'theologians' who deceive you to believe that they can interpret the Holy Scripture and they know what is coming. Instead, stay close to your Church, to Christ.
Predictions of the future by unscrupulous men have always failed. You are wasting precious time that can be used to help your fellow man who needs your compassion and love.
Attend and participate in the worship of our Church, participate in the Sacrament of Repentance and Confession, receive Holy Communion as often as possible, have a prayer life and discipline, stay away from useless and unprofitable discussions, gossip, slander, hateful feelings, evil thoughts, evil acts, and criticism of others...
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George