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Homily by Metropolitan Kirill during the divine Liturgy at the Cathedral Church of the Three Hierarchs in Paris on February 12, 2006, the Commemoration Day of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom

12.02.2006 · Архив 2005-2009, Документы  

When you celebrate in this holy church, you picture in your mind the history that has filled it with life. It has been a tragic history. One can say the event we mark today – the 75th anniversary of the Representation Church of the Three Hierarchs is also a tragic event, because it is associated with the division of the Russian diaspora. But, as St. Philaret of Moscow said, Divine Providence turns much of the tragic in history to good consequences.

The revolution and civil war divided Russia and split the people, setting ones against others. In the pre-Revolutionary years, many believed that even if enemies of their homeland were to succeed in splitting the people and society, then the Church, still united, would preserve hope for Russia’s renewal and salvation. Even the schisms inspired by the authorities were rejected on the whole by the healthy organism of the Church. The people refused to follow the pastors who pursued wolf’s cause covering themselves in ship’s clothing.

But the enemy of the human race did manage to divide our Church for a while, using the historical situation in which Russia and Russian people abroad found themselves. All that happened to our Church was certainly a test for all of us, but at the same time it became also a great task. Decades have passed, and we still face this task – the task to restore the unity of the Church and through it the unity of the people, to rally again around the values and ideals which created a great country, a great culture and which have made an invaluable contribution to the spiritual treasury of the whole Christendom.

And why did the Church fall under this terrible millstone of persecution? Why did all the forces of evil rise against the Church though she never identified herself with any political party, nor did she call the people to struggle against the regime? – Because the Church took a narrow path on which false values were rejected. On this narrow path she preserved the notions of sanctity and sin, truth and falsehood, as well as the moral system of values which stemmed from the gospel’s message. And this was a threat to the power which dreamt of transforming Russia so that a completely different social, cultural and political life could be built in it.

We describe this path as the path of the cross, because thousands of Orthodox Christians died on it. But even those who still lived had to possess tremendous strength to keep following it.

The same path was taken by our Russian йmigrйs who found themselves far from their homeland in the hardest possible situation. Life in a foreign land very often entailed material poverty, constraint, loneliness, lack of understanding in those around them. It was a narrow path. But the narrowest path was taken by those who used to gather for prayer here, in these walls. These people were determined to preserve unity with their Church because she was on the Golgotha. Moreover, they were often misunderstood even by their fellow-йmigrйs. They were accused of betrayal, service of alien interests; they were outcasts. And in this they were little different from confessors in Russia. It was really one suffering Church. While back in their homeland, the suffering was physical, here it was mostly moral and mental. And we bow before those who decided to stay with their crushed Church without fear of loosing peace and well-being in their own life.

Today we commemorate Holy Hierarchs Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom who were great theologians. What is the reason of their greatness? What made them strong? They made Christian message clear and actual for their culture, for their society and for their people through their theology. They spoke a language clear for educated public; they started to use categories of thinking adopted from philosophy, science and poetry. By the time of their ministry, too little time passed since the Church had gained some rights in the Roman Empire, too little was done for enlightening of the pagan society. And three holy hierarchs changed spiritual and cultural environment of the society. People listened to them, as their words were clear and convincing. The three hierarchs found the language their people understood, but they never tried to reconcile pagan understanding of world and man with their teaching. They had courage and strength to follow the narrow path and did not agree to compromises that could have damaged the purity of faith.

Our Church in Russia, the Church of martyrs and confessors, adhered to the teaching of the three hierarchs and followed the narrow path too. Her children in emigration also followed the narrow path. Their experience should give us a lesson of courage. We should not be scared that our words and our values differ from those preached by television, mass media and ads. To be a Christian means to be a strong person. It means to go against the current, to preserve inner freedom and be faithful to Christ, when public system of values directs us to a different way. Doing likewise, we shall be faithful to the teaching of our fathers, we shall continue their work. If we do it together irrespectively of our jurisdiction, our common Christian work will destroy the rest of misunderstanding that still exist or suddenly appear, and we shall be one nation of God building our Church and capable of going further guided by the power of Christian faith. Amen.