Novela que define a toda una generación, la mia. Critica la banalidad de las relaciones de aquellas i¡universitarias que elegían los novios con reglas de cálculo, la morbosidad sexual. Las chicas y lois chicos de 68 no nos entendíamos. Por eso duimois a buscar el amor al extranjero.saliamos en pandilla. Todos sabíamos que aquello se acababa la seguridad jurídica de Franco la igualdad de oportunidades el pleno empleo. Daría vuelta la tortiulla. Para bucar de acomodo en el nievo régimen había quew tornar la piel. El camaleón por las nubes. Entretanto, soñábamos en Brigite Bardot la madre que la parió. EL MENSAJE de Payno es que prevé la desconexión histórica que iba a ocurrir en España. esto hace trascendente su novel El Curso escrita con sólo 19 años, un caso de precocidad y madurez literaria muy infrecuente. dario el protagonista es un personaje en lucha contra el destino. aquellos jovenes se sentían inquietos ante le futuro pero no hablaban de política sino de algo más trascendente como las eras geológicas, la procedencia del hombre y su finalidad eb esta tierra. se estaba acabando el tiempo de los filosofos entre carajillos, gambas al ajillo y canciones de Nat Long Cole. aquellos días felices se estaban quemando. españa ardería en los veranos, se vaciaríoan los pueblos, las campanas de las torres de las iglesias enmiudecerían y serían cerradas al culto por falta de quorum. payno lo advierte. se acabaron los dias y las noches de vino y rosas. gaudeamus igitur
The Nativity fast begins on November 14/27, and lasts forty days. The Nativity fast is not as strict as Great Lent or the Dormition fast, and can be compared to the Apostle’s fast. It was instituted by the Church so that we would worthily greet the feast of the Nativity of Christ after having cleansed our hearts by prayer and repentance.
The establishment of the Nativity fast, like many other long fasts, dates back to the early days of Christianity. Already in the fourth century, St. Ambrose of Milan, Philastrius, and Blessed Augustine recall the Nativity fast in their works. St. Leo the Great wrote about the antiquity of the Nativity fast in the fifth century.
At first the Nativity fast lasted seven days for some Christians and a little longer for others. At the council of 1166 held during the time of Patriarch Luke of Constantinople and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel, all Christians were instructed to keep the fast for forty days before the great feast of the Nativity of Christ.
The Antiochian Patriarch Balsamon wrote that “His Holiness the Patriarch himself said that although these fasts (the Dormition and Nativity fasts —Ed.) are not determined by the canons, let us nevertheless force ourselves to follow the unwritten Church tradition and obligate ourselves to fast … beginning November 15.”
The Nativity fast is the final long fast of the year. It begins on November 15/28 and goes until December 25/January 7, forty days in duration, and therefore it is called the Forty Days in the Church typicon, just like Great Lent. Because the last day before the fast falls on the commemoration day of the Apostle Phillip (November 14/27), this fast is also called the St. Phillip fast.
The Nativity fast is a winter fast; it serves to illumine the end of the year for us with a mystical renovation of our spiritual oneness with God and our preparation for the feast of the Nativity of Christ.
St. Leo the Great writes, “The very observation of abstinence is marked by four periods, so that throughout the course of the year we would know that we continually have need of purification, and that with a distracted life we always need to strive through fasting and almsgiving to eradicate sin, which multiplies through the frailty of the flesh and unclean desires.”
According to the words of St. Leo the Great, the Nativity fast is a sacrifice to God for the fruits we have gathered. “As the Lord generously gave us the fruits of the earth,” writes the holy hierarch, “so should we also be generous to the poor during the fast.”
In the words of St. Simeon of Thessalonica, “The forty days of the Nativity fast is an image of the fast of Moses, who having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the words of God inscribed on stone tablets. But having fasted for forty days, we gaze upon and receive the living Word from the Virgin, inscribed not on stones, but incarnate and born, and we partake of His Divine flesh.”
The Nativity fast was established so that by the day of Christ’s Nativity we would have cleansed ourselves through repentance, prayer and fasting; so that with a pure heart, soul, and body we could reverently meet the Son of God Who has appeared to the world, and so that besides the usual gifts and sacrifices we would bring Him our pure heart and desire to follow His teaching.
The rule of the Church instructs what we must abstain from during the fasts—“All who piously fast should strictly observe the canons concerning the quality of food; that is, abstain during the fast from certain foods, not as from things defiled [may that not be], but as from things not appropriate to the fast and forbidden by the Church. Foods from which we should abstain during the fasts are: meat, cheese, butter, milk, eggs, and sometimes fish, depending upon which of the holy fasts.”
The rules of abstinence prescribed by the Church for the Nativity fast are as strict as for the Apostle’s fast. Furthermore, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the Nativity fast, fish, wine, and oil are not allowed by the typicon, and foods without oil (xerophagy) can be taken only after Vespers. On the other days—Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday—food may be taken with vegetable oil. Fish is allowed during the Nativity fast on Saturdays and Sundays and on major feasts, like the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple, on a church’s patronal feast, and on commemoration days of great saints if they fall on a Tuesday or Thursday. If they fall on a Wednesday or Friday, the fast may be relaxed to include wine and oil.
From December 20—25 (old style) the fast is intensified, and fish is not blessed even on Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, the civil New Year falls on these days [for those observing the Julian calendar], and we Orthodox Christians have to be especially focused, so that we might not break the strict fast by parties, eating, and drinking wine.
Fasting bodily, we must also fast spiritually. “Brothers, in fasting bodily let us also fast spiritually, and break all communion with falsehood,” commands the Holy Church. Fasting is first of all man’s spiritual struggle with his passions. St. John Chrysostom warns, “He is mistaken who thinks that the fast consists only in abstinence from food. True fasting is departing from evil.”
Bodily fasting without spiritual fasting does not bring salvation of the soul; to the contrary, it can even be spiritually harmful if in abstaining from food a person is filled with an awareness of his superiority, knowing that he fasts. True fasting is bound up with prayer, repentance, refraining from passions and vices, uprooting evil deeds, forgiving offenses, abstaining from marital relations, avoiding parties, entertainment, theatres, and watching television. Fasting is not a goal but a means—a means of humbling our flesh and cleansing it from sins. Without prayer and repentance, fasting becomes no more than a diet.
The essence of fasting can be expressed in the following Church hymn: My soul, if you fast from food but are not cleansed of the passions, in vain are we content with not eating: for if the fast does not bring you correction, it will be hateful to God as false, and you will be like the evil demons who eat nothing at all.”
St. Ignatius Brianchaninov:
“Learn to have restraint in food—by temperance you will bring health and strength to the body and vigor to the mind, so needed for the work of salvation…”
St. Isaac the Syrian:
“Fasting with discernment is the spacious dwelling-place of all goodness. Whoever is lazy in fasting brings all goodness to wavering, because fasting was the commandment given to our nature from the beginning as a precaution to eating food, and by breaking the fast our first created fell.”
St. Ambrose of Optina:
You must fast sensibly; try to conduct the coming fast judiciously, considering your physical strength.
Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari, (Pilar en la foto).
Fuentepiñel es un pequeño municipio, ubicado cerca de Fuentidueña (9,3 Km), Torrecilla del Pinar (3,8 Km), Cozuelos de Fuentidueña (5,7 Km) o Membibre de la Hoz (8,7 Km). Es uno de los 21 municipios que forman parte de la Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fuentidueña y su altitud media es de 900 metros sobre el nivel del mar.
Desde mediados del siglo XIII aparece en diferentes documentos como Fuent Piniel, lo que significa Fuente del Pinillo. En su término municipal, también se encuentra el despoblado de San Mamés.
En su entorno encontramos un yacimiento neolítico, ubicado en una zona de arenero conocida como Las Charcas, lo que ha hecho que se encuentre muy destruido por la extracción de arena realizada durante años, a causa de la construcción de caminos rurales en la zona.
Estos datos, así como otros muchos que vamos a repasar, aparecen en el libro que sobre este pueblo segoviano escribió Juan Cuellar Lázaro, Cronista oficial de Fuentepiñel y de la Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fuentidueña. Juan Cuellar, también es miembro de la Academia de Historia y Arte de San Quirce.
Hace unos años, aparecieron en la zona de San Mamés cuatro monedas romanas y dos fragmentos de bronce que podrían pertenecer a hebillas de cinturón. ¿Cómo llegaron allí? ¿Hay más restos?… No se han realizado más catas y no se han hecho más estudios aunque este lugar se incluye dentro de la zona catalogada como “yacimiento altomedieval”, por algo será.
Pasó el tiempo y entre los siglos XII y XIII aparecerían los asentamientos que formarían la Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fuentidueña y, además, se conserva un documento de 1290 que hace referencia a Fuentepiñel y a la gran depresión, que se prolongó durante el siglo XIV, provocando que la población de la zona se redujera de manera importante hasta el punto de suponerse que en aquellos años quedó despoblado San Mamés.
En el siglo XV, continua en su libro explicando Juan Cuellar Lázaro, la vida económica de esta zona estaba unida a la agricultura, sobre todo al trigo y al centeno para el consumo humano y animal y, a la cebada y a la avena para el consumo de los animales. Llama la atención que en la investigación del Cronista, se destaca el cultivo de “la rubia” en esta zona.
La rubia es una planta cuya raíz se dejaba secar y se obtenía un producto rojizo que se utilizaba para teñir los paños que en Segovia, en aquel tiempo, tenían fama en toda Europa. El cultivo de La Rubia era habitual en la provincia de Segovia y, por ello muchos manteos de Segoviana son de color rojo. Teñir las prendas de este color era barato pero, hacerlo en color azul, cuyo tinte salía de “la cochinilla”, una planta que venía de Sudamérica, era solo asequible a economías muy “pudientes” (Conchi Bayón, Especialista en Indumentaria Segoviana. Conversaciones en El Adelantado de Segovia).
La vida en Fuentepiñel continúo y los años, los siglos fueron pasando. Llegó el siglo XX y Fuentepiñel aumentó su población de manera muy importante. Según la grafica de evolución demográfica de Fuentepiñel entre los años 1842 y 2017, la localidad alcanzó los 522 habitantes en el año 1950. Este éxito no duró mucho. A partir de los años sesenta, Fuentepiñel comenzó a perder población. Los estudios, que comenzaron a generalizarse, y la búsqueda de una vida distinta en las ciudades, hicieron que los jóvenes y quienes querían una vida diferente fueran dejando vacías las calles del pueblo.
Patrimonio
El patrimonio de Fuentepiñel se compone de monumentos como la Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari. Este templo se asienta sobre la antigua iglesia románica que, con el paso de los años, llegó a ser una ruina.
La actual iglesia, que es de mayor tamaño, se construyó o reconstruyó sobre los restos de la anterior, en el siglo XVII. De esta época son todos sus elementos pero, algunos canecillos de la pared que se alza sobre la capilla de la Purísima Concepción, así como la bóveda y las hornacinas del altar, recuerdan a la época románica del templo original. En definitiva, del templo original son algunas paredes, la fachada, una puerta que hoy está tapiada junto a la entrada y el interior a excepción de los techos.
La portada de la iglesia está adintelada y, en la hornacina ubicada en la parte central, se encuentra una imagen de San Nicolás de Bari con un libro en la mano izquierda.
La ermita de Santa Brígida es otro de los puntos más importantes del patrimonio de Fuentepiñel. Se trata de un templo con una sola planta que muestra la devoción a la Santa Irlandesa. Se desconoce la fecha de la construcción de la ermita pero en el siglo XVII, al igual que la ermita de San Roque, recibió donaciones testamentarias.
En esta ermita se pueden ver con claridad las diferentes etapas en su construcción y, en una de sus esquinas se observa una mayor calidad. Esta ermita tiene a sus pies una espadaña con un campanillo.
La ermita de San Roque tiene, como la de Santa Brígida, una sola nave y, a causa del lugar donde se ubica, muy inestable, ha sufrido muchas modificaciones. La ermita de San Roque se encuentra junto al cementerio de la localidad.
Otro de los capítulos del patrimonio, tal y como comenta Juan Cuellar en su obra sobre Fuentepiñel, es el Vía Crucis de piedra. Sus estaciones van desde la puerta de la iglesia hasta en cementerio y, en la peana de cada una de las cruces, se pueden ver los datos de quien la donó y la fecha.
Además, en el año 1977, se inauguró en la plaza de Santa Brígida, un monumento dedicado al pueblo castellano y, al estar en la Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fuentidueña, no podemos olvidar la importancia de sus bodegas excavadas en la tierra. Estas bodegas, que un día conservaron las cosechas de vino, hoy están vacías y se utilizan, salvo en algunos casos concretos, para realizar reuniones con familiares y amigos.
Juan Cuellar y las historias de Fuentepiñel que no debemos olvidar.
El Cronista de la Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fuentidueña y de Fuentepiñel y, Académico de San Quirce, comenta que durante las últimas horas ha estado acompañando a un equipo de televisión de La 2 de RTVE en la grabación, en la Comunidad de Villa y Tierra de Fuentidueña, de un programa para Agrosfera (programa informativo de servicio público sobre el sector primario, el medio rural y la industria alimentaría).
Al preguntar al cronista sobre las costumbres más sobresalientes en la localidad de Fuentepiñel, comienza relatando la tradición de la hoguera de Santa Brígida, “una costumbre ancestral”. Esta actividad tiene lugar la víspera de la festividad de la santa, que se celebra el 31 de enero.
Los vecinos encienden esta hoguera junto a la ermita a última hora de la tarde y permanece así durante varias horas. A lo largo de este tiempo, reparten bollos y vino a todos los que se acercan a este lugar y, en los últimos tiempos, se ha convertido en costumbre cenar en torno a la hoguera.
Otra de las tradiciones de la localidad es el concurso de disfraces que se realiza con motivo de las fiestas patronales de San Nicolás, en el mes de septiembre. En este concurso participa todo el pueblo, lo que hace que sea muy especial.
Juan Cuellar nos habla, además, de la asociación cultural San Mamés. Esta asociación, que se creó hace 31 años, realiza una actividad importante pero, con mayor intensidad durante el verano, aprovechando la mayor afluencia de público. Más que una “semana cultural”, realizan un “verano cultural” y su labor se realiza “mano a mano” con el ayuntamiento de Fuentepiñel, “todos a una”, “donde no llega el ayuntamiento, llega la asociación”, nos dice el Cronista.
Fuentepiñel y Camilo José Cela
Aprovechando nuestra conversación, Juan Cuellar nos contó que en el año 2016, en Fuentepiñel se descubrió una placa recordando al Nobel de Literatura, Camilo José Cela. El homenaje se debió a que esta localidad puede presumir de haber acogido al conocido escritor español, quien llegó a dormir en el pueblo, en la posada, con motivo de la preparación de su libro “Judíos, Moros y Cristianos”, similar al que realizó a raíz de su “Viaje a la Alcarria”. El propio Cela, se lo confirmó a Juan Cuellar en las diversas cartas que se cruzaron en aquella época.
La placa dice: “En esta casa durmió Camilo José Cela 1916-2002” y fue descubierta, con motivo del centenario del nacimiento del Premio Nobel, por un buen amigo del escritor, el folclorista Ismael Peña. El reconocimiento y la placa se realizaron gracias a la colaboración entre el ayuntamiento y la asociación cultural San Mamés.
Juan Cuellar comenta también sobre este asunto que, la placa está por si a la administración, a la Junta de Castilla y León o, a la Diputación Provincial, les da por hacer alguna ruta sobre el libro “Judíos, Moros y Cristianos”, al igual que se realiza sobre el “Viaje a la Alcarria”.
Fiestas
En el calendario de fiestas de Fuentepiñel encontramos un dato curioso. La Fiesta de San Nicolás de Bari, patrón de la localidad es, el día 6 de diciembre pero, en el año 1879, se decidió, seguramente a causa del mal tiempo reinante en la fiesta del patrón, que trasladaban la fiesta al día de San Nicolás pero, eso sí, de Tolentino, que se celebra el día 10 de septiembre y, desde entonces, “para que se van a conformar con una fiesta pudiendo celebrar las dos”, con lo que hay fiesta en diciembre y, también en septiembre.
Entre las actividades más llamativas encontramos “El encierro del coche de línea”. A falta de toro… Se aprovecha el paso del autobús y… por su originalidad, esta fiesta ya ha sido recogida por diversos medios de comunicación de nuestra Comunidad Autónoma.
Por último, hay otra fiesta importante en Fuentepiñel, el 31 de enero se celebra Santa Brígida, con su hoguera o iluminaria que es toda una tradición de la localidad.
Fuentepiñel hoy
El alcalde de la localidad desde el año 2007 es Jorge Barrio Martín (PP), quien nos comenta que los habitantes de la localidad “censados somos unos 100 pero, durante el invierno vivimos aquí unos 50 y, durante el verano, 200”, para inmediatamente recordar que “la principal forma de vida de los vecinos es la agricultura, la ganadería y, los demás están jubilados, en activo somos 7 u 8, más o menos”.
Fuentepiñel, junto a San Miguel de Bernuy, Torrecilla del Pinar, Fuentesauco de Fuentidueña… crearon , y siguen participando, en una macro cabalgata de los Reyes Magos en la que, portando a sus majestades en un tráiler de un camión, recorren todos los municipios participantes mientras reparten regalos. Esta gran cabalgata, con el paso del tiempo, va contando con más pueblos participantes.
Las obras que se han realizado durante este año 2018 han consistido en la finalización de la modificación de la red de agua y saneamiento del pueblo para actualizar los materiales de las tuberías y, en estos momentos, están mejorando el pavimento de las calles del pueblo y sus aceras.
Jorge Barrio, al comentar el día a día de esta localidad, nos recuerda que dentro del municipio no hay casas rurales ni restaurantes, solo existe un bar municipal, que el ayuntamiento tiene adjudicado a un particular, y funciona como centro de reunión de los vecinos.
This is an interview with one of the most beloved and famous clerics of our times, the Mitered Archpriest Andrei Tkachev, considered among the greatest orators and homilists in the Russian Church. Born in Lviv, Western Ukraine, a place strong in Ukrainian nationalism, Father Andrei later served in one of the most popular churches in Kiev, and is therefore very knowledgeable about the situation in Ukraine.
While the traditional Orthodox view is like St. Lavrenty of Chernigov said, that Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are one people, in Ukraine today, any idea of spiritual unity between Russians and Ukrainians can sadly bring death threats from extremists. Simply serving as a canonical priest can cause this. Bearing this in mind, Fr. Andrei now continues his priestly ministry in Moscow. Due to his deep understanding of the Ukrainian reality, we provide this translation, even if the interview took place before the complete cessation of Eucharistic communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as many great points were made below.
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Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Since the end of last week, the commemoration of Patriarch Bartholomew was suspended at all Divine services within the Moscow Patriarchate. Furthermore, concelebration with hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, as well as the participation of representatives of the Russian Church in any entities headed by representatives of the Phanar (a tiny district of Istanbul where the residence of the Patriarchs of Constantinople is located) has also been suspended.
The possible perspectives of this situation, both in Ukraine and at the pan-Orthodox level, have already been analyzed at the website of the TV Channel “Tsargrad”. Today, we bring to your attention a perspective on this issue from a famous Orthodox pastor and homilist, the host of the daily program “Svyataya Pravda” published on our channel; and cleric of the Church of St. Basil the Great near the Moscow village of Zaitsevo, Archpriest Andrei Tkachev
—Fr. Andrei, for many years you served in Ukraine, and therefore the problem of Ukrainian autocephaly devised to destroy the unity of the Russian Church is well known to you, and you have spoken about this many times on your program “Svyataya Pravda.” But now I’d like to touch more broadly on this issue: What can prompt the synodal decision to suspend relations with Patriarch Bartholomew? And why, despite his anti-canonical actions, is it just a suspension, and not a severing?
Photo: www.globallookpress.com
—Yes, I think that what is happening concerns the entire Orthodox world, so we need to wait for a reaction not only from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. And at the time, I see a very right and proper gradualism1 in this matter.
This is because if you act in the spirit of the Middle Ages, then the response would have been mutual curses, anathemas and all. At that time, everyone irrefutably2 believed in one’s own status as a keeper of truth. But as we have learned from history, such hardline steps don’t bring benefit in the long-term perspective. This therefore is why today we need gradualism.
But at the same time, we need to narrow down the situation in the Orthodox world to the real, actual position of the Cathedra of Constantinople amidst the Local Churches. They to this moment live in a historical illusion, a beautiful memory of the times of great antiquity – before the fall of Constantinople. Of course, there is no longer any kind of “procedural oversight,” or function of a “highest arbitration” throughout the entire Orthodox world, and there does not need to be.
Yes, in the bygone years, the rights of Constantinople as the capital city of the Roman Empire (Byzantium) gave the Patriarchate of Constantinople certain privileges in relation to other Eastern Churches. And yes, in the tenth century, we received the faith from Constantinople; however, it’s long since been made up for by our own historical responsibility for the entire Orthodox world; we fought for the Bulgarians and Serbs, we for centuries quite literally fed the Eastern Churches, including Constantinople. That is to say, we fully repaid them for that great mission.
—And what can we, the Russian Church, expect from that same Patriarch Bartholomew, as well as from the primates of other Local Churches, at the reception of this decision?
—We certainly can’t help but expect a change from them. But change without purpose comes only from demons. Of course, people vested in the hierarchical dignity can be externally influenced, they are under the influence of various, and at the same time, often multidirectional forces.
Nevertheless, each of them has the fear of God, and accountability for their flocks, and God’s grace is active on their living souls. Moreover, many Local Churches have the same complaints about their schismatics as the Russian Church does.[3]
And now, if the Patriarchate of Constantinople appropriates case law,[4] creating a precedent of “supreme arbitration”, thereby giving what they want to whom they want, this means that Orthodox ecclesiology (the theological-canonical doctrine concerning the Church and her borders—Ed.) would be thrown out, and an repeat of the papacy would appear.
—Yes, such a trend is visible. Moreover, in the history of recent centuries, being under the Turks, Constantinople rushed either to papal extremes, or to the extremes of Protestantism, who fought with Papism. There were quite a few patriarchs who left so many questions open with regards to their dogmatic purity of thoughts. And in newer Church history, the calendar schism was provoked by the Phanar, and they supported the Soviet Renovationists.[5]
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At the same time in Constantinople, in Istanbul itself in the 1920s and 30s, there was a real “leapfrog” of patriarchs, and in this “leapfrog”, in this dubious gallery of various personalities, we suddenly hear a polyphony of sorts, a sort of hymn in honor of contrived privileges, in honor of this made-up “primacy”, as “a primacy of power”. Moreover, if you call to remembrance the holy Patriarchs of Constantinople who are revered in the Russian Orthodox Church (and there are many of them), then none of them spoke from such authoritarian positions.
Certainly this is an apostasy phenomenon (apostasy meaning departure from Christian truths.—Ed.). And the fact that [the Phanar] recently decided to allow priests to marry twice is approaching this as well. And at the same time, they are constantly doing something unilaterally – they abolish something, they accept something else, and they are trying to slam this down on the entire church, at the same time, suddenly declaring their pretentions.
These citizens of Turkey, sitting on a small patch of land under the dominion of a sultanate, or the secular Turkish state, having practically their entire flock across the ocean, adopted a very strange opinion of themselves. And personally, the incoherence of this is striking to me.
The question is: Where is there room for Christ in all this self-importance?
—Nevertheless, the “legates” of these “Eastern Popes”, the “Exarchs” of Constantinople from the semi-schismatic “UOC of the USA”, and the “UOC in Canada”, have already arrived in Kiev and stated that the process of Ukrainian autocephaly is “on a straight line heading for the finish line”[6]What can this lead to? Does part of our canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church falter?
—A part will falter. There has long been a part stumbling there in a low place. And of course, this [decision of Constantinople] will bring no peace. But the fact is that all schisms are like cisterns, like sewer drain basins—they tend to collect all the ecclesiastical dirt – all the Judases, the deposed, the twice-married, fornicators, and perverts.[7] And these “exarchs” will gather around them this same cistern. And they will be the owners of garbage dumps.
—And will the canonical Ukrainian Church remain standing?
—She will remain strong, she will be established and cleansed, and she will sign forth as a confessional Church. The best qualities of the Ukrainian Church will be manifested in its confessors, patiently keeping the faith. And it will be simple, because two “vacuum trucks”[8] have arrived. They, while themselves not knowing it, will not gather anyone except those who are already a “floating fraction”.
1 This idea is quite characteristic of the general Moscow Patriarchate response. When asked how the Moscow Patriarchate may “retaliate”, Metropolitan Hilarion, Chairmen of the Department for External Church Relations said “At each stage we will give to those who are still our partners an opportunity to change their mind and reconsider their decisions.” [Source] Compare this with the gradualism Father Andrei is speaking about. It must be said with the utmost objectivity that the Russian church (including the Ukrainian Church) has only acted with the spirit of brotherhood and gradualism, not desiring to trigger a conflict. The severing of eucharistic communion with Constantinople should not be incorrectly seen as simple retaliation but was rather the unavoidable condition and reaction created by Constantinople’s anti-canonical actions. When Constantinople recognized schismatics who not only serve with heterodox Uniates, but condone bloodshed, and paint murals in churches glorifying war and Nazism, and seize canonical Churches with violence, it became impossible to remain in communion with Constantinople. By Constantinople taking into themselves these dangerous violent schismatics, communion with them became impossible, because it would entail communion with the schismatics by proxy. —Trans.
2 Father Andrei used the word безапелляционно, which literally means unappealable i.e. something, typically a ruling or decision which cannot be appealed, especially by a court or arbiter. This is interesting, because one of the many highly debated and contested aspects of the alleged “Eastern Papism” of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, is their apparent conviction that they are the final “court of appeals”, within Orthodoxy, which can review and change the status and rulings of other Local Churches.—Trans.
3 One of the most significant examples is the non-canonical “Macedonian Orthodox Church”, which was arbitrarily separated from the Serbian. Another example is the schismatic Montenegrin faction described here.—Trans.
4 The Russian phrased means literally “precedential law” i.e. [canon] laws based on established legal precedent, the practice and common norms of legal dispensation, as opposed to strictly based.
5 See also here: http://orthochristian.com/117222.html
8 Fr. Andrei is referring to the two exarchs of the Constantinople Patriarchate who came to Ukraine in September 2018 to start gathering all these schismatics into a proposed unified “Chur
