Signs of the Times

By Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim Rose In the following talk,1 Fr. Seraphim speaks to us from almost twenty years ago, and yet his words are quite relevant to our times as we approach the end of the second millennium. Although some of the individual e amples he gives are now dated, there are now even more e treme e amples of the same phenomena of which he speaks. As always, he hum!les his understanding !efore the holy Scriptures and their interpretation !y the "rthodo #oly Fathers, and thus his teaching a!out the times remains timeless, free of the intellectual fashions and pre$udices of this world. As time goes on, the "rthodo world%view from which he received his wisdom will !ecome ever more necessary for the spiritual survival of true &hristians.

1. WHY STUDY THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?

HE SUBJECT of this talk is watching for the signs of the times. First of all we ha!e to

know what it is meant "y the phrase #signs of the times.# This e$pression comes straight from the %ospel from the words of o&r Sa!io&r in 'atthew ()*+. Christ tells the ,harisees and Sadd&cees who came to Him #-e can discern the face of the sky # that is tell what the weather will "e. #"&t can ye not discern the signs of the times/# 0n other words He1s telling them that this has nothing to do with science or with knowing o&r place in the world or anything of the sort. 0t1s a religio&s 2&estion. 3e st&dy the signs of the times in order to "e a"le to recogni4e Christ. 5&ring the time of Christ the ,harisees and Sadd&cees did not st&dy the signs of the times in order to see that Christ had come that the Son of %od was already on earth. There were already signs that they sho&ld ha!e recogni4ed. For e$ample in the "ook of 5aniel in the 6ld Testament there is a prophecy concerning the se!enty weeks of years which means that the 'essiah was to come a"o&t 789 years from the time of 5aniel. Those Jews who read their "ooks !ery caref&lly knew e$actly what this was all a"o&t and at a"o&t the time that Christ came they knew that it was time for the messiah. B&t this is an o&tward sign. 'ore importantly the ,harisees and Sadd&cees sho&ld ha!e "een watching for the inward signs. 0f their hearts had "een right with %od and if they had not "een merely trying to f&lfill the o&tward commandment of the law their hearts wo&ld ha!e responded and recogni4ed %od in the flesh when He came. :nd many of the Jews did;the apostles the disciples and many others. This same passage in the ()th chapter of St. 'atthew speaks f&rther a"o&t signs. 6&r <ord told the Jews #:n e!il and ad&ltero&s generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign "e gi!en &nto it "&t the sign of the prophet Jonah.# The e!ents of the 6ld Testament contain prefig&rations of e!ents in the =ew Testament. 3hen Jonah was three days in the "elly of the whale this was a prefig&ation of o&r <ord1s "eing three days in the tom". :nd this sign;the sign of Jonah>was gi!en to the people of Christ1s time. 6&r <ord was telling the ,harisees and Sadd&cees that an e!il and ad&ltero&s generation seeks for spectac&lar e!ents that is fire coming down from hea!en or the Romans "eing chased away angels manifesting themsel!es and "anishing the foreign go!ernment of the Romans and things of that sort. Christ told them this kind of sign wo&ld not "e gi!en. :n e!il and ad&ltero&s generation seeks after this "&t those who are p&re of heart seek rather something more spirit&al. :nd the one sign that is gi!en to them is the sign of Jonah. 6f co&rse it is a great thing that a man sho&ld "e three days in the gra!e and the rise &p "eing %od. Th&s from o&r Sa!ior1s words we know that we are not to watch for spectac&lar signs "&t we are rather to look inwardly for spirit&al signs. :lso we are to watch for those things which according to Script&re m&st come to pass.

2. THE SIGNS GIVEN US BY CHRIST

3e 6rthodo$ Christians ha!e already recogni4ed and accepted the signs of Christ1s First Coming. The !ery fact that we1re 6rthodo$ Christians means that we1!e done this. 3e know what these signs mean* for e$ample the sign of Jonah the 789 years of 5aniel and many other things which o&r <ord f&lfilled. 6&r 6rthodo$ 5i!ine ser!ices are filled with 6ld Testament prophecies which were f&lfilled in the coming of Christ. These we all see and recogni4e;it all seems clear. B&t now we ha!e to look for different kinds of signs that is the signs of the Second Coming of Christ. The whole teaching a"o&t the Second Coming of Christ and the signs which will precede it is set forth in se!eral places in the %ospels especially in the ?7th chapter of St. 'atthew. St. 'ark and St. <&ke also ha!e chapters a"o&t this. This chapter of St. 'atthew tells of how o&r <ord departed from the Temple and how his disciples came to him to show him the "&ildings of the Temple. 6f co&rse in those days the Temple was the center of worship. E!ery Jew had to come to the Temple at least at ,ascha the ,asso!er for this alone was where %od co&ld "e worshipped in the right way. 6&r <ord looked at the Temple and told His disciples #See ye not all these things/ @erily 0 say &nto yo&* There shall not "e left here one stone &pon another that shall not "e thrown down.# To tell a "elie!ing Jew at that time that the whole Temple is to "e thrown down that nothing is to "e left of it is like saying it1s the end of the world "eca&se the Temple is precisely the place where %od is s&pposed to "e worshipped. How are yo& going to worship %od if there1s no Temple/ So these words of o&r Sa!ior made the disciples start thinking a"o&t the end of the world. They immediately said #Tell &s when shall these things "e/ and what shall "e the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world/# 0n other words they already knew that He was going to come again and that this wo&ld "e "o&nd &p with the end of the world. Then o&r <ord gi!es a whole set of signs which are to come to pass "efore He comes again. First of all He says #Take heed that no man lead yo& astray. For many shall come in 'y name saying 10 am Christ1. and shall lead man astray.# That is many false Christs will come. This we1!e already seen thro&gho&t the history of the Ch&rch* those who ha!e risen &p against the Ch&rch those who ha!e pretended to "e %od pretended to "e Christ. Secondly in the ne$t !erse He says #-e shall hear of wars and r&mors of wars. Se that ye "e not tro&"led for these things m&st come to pass "&t the end is not yet.# 6f co&rse from the !ery "eginning of the Christian era there ha!e "een wars and r&mors of wars and e!en more so in o&r time. #nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. and there shall "e famines and pestilences and earth2&ake in di!erse places.# :gain wars then famines earth2&akes. :nd He says #:ll these things are the "eginning of tri"&lation.# Then comes the ne$t sign which is persec&tions. #Then shall they deli!er yo& &p &nto tri"&lation and shall kill yo& and ye shall "e hated of all nations for 'y name1s sake.# So first we ha!e false Christs then wars r&mors of wars famines earth2&akes persec&tions; and then a !ery important sign for o&r times concerning the growing cold of lo!e* #Beca&se ini2&ity shall "e m&ltiplied the lo!e of many shall wa$ cold.# This is the most deadly of all the signs "eca&se the sign of Christians as St. John the Theologian tells &s is that they ha!e

lo!e for each other. 3hen this lo!e grows cold this means that e!en the Christians are "eginning to lose Christianity. Then another sign in the ne$t !erse of the ?7th chapter* #This gospel of the kingdom shall "e preached in the whole world for a testimony &nto all the nation and then shall the end come.# This sign of the %ospel "eing preached &nto all the nations we see a"o&t &s now. The %ospel itself is prod&ced in h&ndreds of lang&ages now to almost all the tri"es of the earth and 6rthodo$ Christianity is "eing preached in almost e!ery co&ntry of the world. 0n :frica there are great missions* in Uganda Aenya Tan4ania the Congo and spreading o&t from there. The a more diffic&lt place* o&r <ord speaks concerning the a"omination of desolation which is spoke of "y 5aniel the prophet. #3hen yo& see the a"omination of desolation standing in the holy place Blet him that readeth &nderstandC.# That is yo&1re s&pposed to &nderstand this from something else. This is another sign. 0t is concerned of co&rse with the Temple in Jer&salem and some kind of desecration of it. Then in the ?(st !erse there is the sign of great tri"&lation* #Then shall "e great tri"&lation s&ch as has not "een from the "eginning of the world &ntil now nor e!er shall "e.# That is it will "e the worst and most diffic&lt time of s&ffering in the whole history of the world. -o& can read history "ooks and find that there ha!e "een many times in the history of the world when there was great s&ffering. 0f yo& read a"o&t what happened to the Jews when Jer&salem was taken after the death of Christ yo& will find that s&ch s&ffering as went on then was &nparalleled. 0n other places there has "een almost as m&ch s&ffering. :nd yet the great tri"&lation at the !ery end will "e m&ch worse. 6f co&rse it will "e worldwide and in!ol!e e!eryone not D&st one people and will "e something of a !ery impressi!e character. 0t will "e called #s&ch tri"&lation that the world has ne!er seen.# J&st after this time something e!en worse "egins to come. @erse ?8 reads* #0mmediately after the tri"&lation of those days the s&n shall "e darkened and the moon shall not gi!e her light and the stars shall fall from hea!en and the powers of the hea!ens shall "e shaken.# S&ch an e!ent of co&rse has ne!er "een "efore and this o"!io&sly refers to the time D&st at the end of the world when the whole of creation prepares to "e annihilated in order to "e refashioned. Finally the ne$t !erse* #:nd then shall appear the sign of the Son of 'an in hea!en # that is the sign of the Cross will appear in the sky. #:nd then shall all the tri"es of the earth mo&rn and they shall see the Son of 'an coming on the clo&ds of hea!en with power and great glory.# That is the !ery coming of Christ shall "e in the hea!ens with the sign of the Cross; and that is the !ery end of e!erything. :fter telling all this a"o&t the signs of the end o&r <ord gi!es a final command saying #3atch therefore for yo& know not on what day yo&r <ord cometh.... Therefore "e also ready for in an ho&r that yo& think not the Son of 'an cometh.# :ll this is in the ?7th chapter of the %ospel of St. 'atthew. B&t all this for anyone not thoro&ghly ac2&ainted with Script&res and the writings of Holy Fathers almost raises more 2&estion than it sol!es. 3e m&st &nderstand what is the meaning of all these prophecies. How can we know when they are really "eing f&lfilled/ :nd how can we a!oid false interpretations/;"eca&se there are many false Christs false prophets false prophecies false interpretations. How can we know what is the tr&e interpretation and what are the tr&e signs

of the times/ 0F yo& look a"o&t yo& and go to any religio&s "ookstore yo& will see shel!es containing many "ooks of commentaries on the Book of Re!elation BThe :pocalypseC "ooks with interpretations a"o&t the coming end of the world. 0n fact many Christians who are not 6rthodo$ ha!e a !ery definite feeling that these are the last times "&t they all gi!e interpretations "ased &pon their own opinions.

3. THE BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SIGNS

The first thing we m&st ha!e if we are going to ha!e the tr&e interpretation of the signs of the times is something we can call !asic "rthodo knowledge. That is knowledge of the Holy Script&re "oth the 6ld and =ew Testaments Band not D&st according to the way it seems "&t according to the way the Ch&rch has interpreted itC. knowledge of the writings of Holy Fathers. knowledge of Ch&rch history. and awareness of the different kind of heresies and errors which ha!e attacked the Ch&rch1s tr&e &nderstanding of dogma and especially of the last times. 0f we do not ha!e a gro&nding in so&rces s&ch as these we will find o&rsel!es conf&sed and &nprepared. That is precisely what o&r <ord tells &s* to "e ready to "e prepared. Unless we ha!e this "asic knowledge we will not "e prepared and we will misinterpret the signs of the times. : few years ago a "ook was printed in English which has "ecome a fantastic "estseller for a religio&s "ook. 0t has sold o!er ten million copies in :merica. 0t1s called The 'ate (reat )lanet *arth "y Hal <indsey a ,rotestant E!angelical in Te$as. 0n a rather s&perficial style he gi!es his interpretation of the signs of the times. He "elie!es it1s the last times we are li!ing in now. He "elie!es that e!erywhere aro&nd &s there are "eing f&lfilled these signs which o&r <ord talked a"o&t. 0f yo& read this "ook yo& find that sometimes he gets something more or less correct according to o&r 6rthodo$ &nderstanding sometimes he is totally off and sometimes he is partly wrong partly right. 0t1s as tho&gh he1s D&st g&essing "eca&se he reads the Script&re according to his own &nderstanding. He has no "asic 6rthodo$ Christian knowledge no "ackgro&nd in the tr&e knowledge of the Script&res and the Holy Fathers. Therefore if yo& read this "ook serio&sly yo& will find that yo& "ecome !ery conf&sed. -o& don1t know what to "elie!e any more. He talks for e$ample a"o&t a millenni&m which is s&pposed to come "efore the end of the world. He talks a"o&t the rapt&re when Christians are s&pposedly gathered &p into the hea!ens "efore the end of the world and then watch how the people s&ffer down "elow. He talks a"o&t the "&ilding of the Temple in Jer&salem as tho&gh this is a good thing as tho&ght this is preparing for Christ1s coming. 0f yo& read s&ch "ooks as this Bthere are many other "ooks like it. this one happens to "e a "estseller "eca&se the a&thor ca&ght the imagination of people D&st at one partic&lar timeC and if yo& take them all as tr&th yo& will find that instead of recogni4ing Christ;which is the whole reason for o&r &nderstanding a"o&t the signs of the times;yo& will "e accepting :ntichrist. Take for e$ample the !ery 2&estion of the Temple in Jer&salem. 0t is tr&e according to 6rthodo$ prophecies that the Temple will "e re"&ilt in Jer&salem. 0f yo& look at people like Hal <indsey or e!en the F&ndamentalist Carl 'c0ntire they are also talking a"o&t the "&ilding of the Temple "&t they1re talking a"o&t it as tho&gh we are "&ilding it in order for Christ to come "ack and reign o!er the world for a tho&sand years. 3hat they are talking a"o&t is the coming of :ntichrist. The millenni&m according to the ,rotestant interpretation

as "eing a special tho&sand>year reign at the end of the world is act&ally the reign of :ntichrist. 0n fact there ha!e already "een people who ha!e arisen and proclaimed their tho&sand>year kingdom which is going to last &ntil the end of the world. The last one was :dolf Hitler. This is "ased &pon the same kind of chiliastic idea* that is interpreting the millenni&m in a worldly sense. The act&al tho&sand years of the :pocalypse is the life in the Ch&rch which is now, that is the life of %race. and anyone who li!es it sees that compared to the people o&tside it is indeed hea!en on earth. B&t this is not the end. This is o&r preparation for the tr&e kingdom of %od which has no end. There are many "ooks of "asic 6rthodo$ knowledge now a!aila"le. Those who are serio&sly concerned a"o&t st&dying the signs of the times sho&ld first "e !ery well !ersed in some of these "ooks and they sho&ld "e reading them serio&sly st&dying them and ha!ing them as daily food. The "est "ooks to read are not someone1s interpretation of Re!elation Bthe Book of :pocalypseC "eca&se right now there1s not really any 6rthodo$ interpretation of this in English.? The "est "ooks are the "asic spirit&al te$t"ooks. First of all there are "asic te$ts of 6rthodo$ dogmas the !ario&s catechisms. 6ne of the "est is the eighth>cent&ry work of St. John 5amascene "n the "rthodo Faith, which goes thro&gh the whole of the catechism. :n e!en earlier one is St. Cyril of Jer&salem1s &atechetical 'ectures, that is lect&res prepared for people a"o&t to "e "apti4ed which goes thro&gh the whole Creed and tells what the Ch&rch "elie!es. There are many similar "ooks of catechism "oth in ancient times and in more modern times. 'ore recently we ha!e the catechisms in R&ssian of 'etropolitan ,laton and 'etropolitan ,hilaret which are a little shorter and simpler. Then there is a different kind of "ook* commentaries on Holy Script&res. There are not too many of these in English + "&t we do ha!e some of the commentaries of St. John Chrysostom. This area is a little "it weak in English "eca&se there are many good "ooks in R&ssian which are not in English yet incl&ding more recent "ooks of commentaries on the Script&res e!en on the :pocalypse. :rch"ishop :!erky1s "ooks are !ery good "&t they1re D&st "eing p&t into English now. %od willing "efore too long they will "e o&t.7 Then "esides these two kinds of "ooks;"asic catechism and commentaries on Script&re; there are all the "ooks on 6rthodo$ spirit&al life. These incl&de the 'ausiac #istory Bwhich tells a"o&t how the monks li!ed in Egypt and how they fo&ght spirit&allyC the +ialogues of St. %regory of Rome the <i!es of Saints The 'adder of St. John the #omilies of St. 'acari&s the %reat the "ooks of St. John Cassian the )hilokalia, ,nseen -arfare and St. John of Aronstadt1s .y 'ife in &hrist. These "ooks deal with "asic 6rthodo$ spirit&al life spirit&al str&ggle how to discern the wiles of the demons how not to fall into deception. :ll of them gi!e a "asic fo&ndation "y which to &nderstand the signs of the times. Then there are the works of more recent writers who are in the same patristic spirit as the ancient Holy Fathers. The main e$amples are the two great writers of (8th>cent&ry R&ssia Bishop Theophan the Recl&se and Bishop 0gnati&s Brianchanino! E whose works are now coming o&t grad&ally in English. Bishop 0gnati&s1 "ook The Arena and !ario&s articles "y Bishop Theophan are in English.) These two writers are !ery important "eca&se they transmit the patristic teaching down to o&r times. They ha!e already e$plained many 2&estions which arise concerning how to &nderstand the Holy Fathers. For e$ample the new "rthodo -ord has a whole te$t of Bishop 0gnati&s on the toll>ho&ses which the so&l meets after death.

Sometimes in reading the Holy Fathers one has 2&estions on s&ch s&"Dects and doesn1t 2&ite know how to &nderstand what the ancient Fathers say and these more recent Father e$plain these te$ts. There are the histories of the Ch&rch which tell of %od1s re!elation to men and how %od acts with regard to men. 0t is !ery instr&cti!e to read the stories of the 6ld Testament "eca&se e$actly the same things repeat themsel!es in the =ew Testament. Then one sho&ld read along with he =ew Testament the histories of the =ew Testament Ch&rch. For e$ample there1s a pocket"ook of E&se"i&s1 #istory of the &hurch, which traces the history of the Ch&rch down thro&gh the first three cent&ries written from an 6rthodo$ Christian point of !iew.F 0t1s !ery important to see what early Ch&rch writers saw was important in the history of the Ch&rch* the martyrs the apostles and so forth. So all these different kinds of writings help to prepare &s with "asic Christian knowledge that is catechisms commentaries on Script&re "ooks on spirit&al life more recent patristic "ooks in this same spirit and histories of the Ch&rch. Before we do too m&ch reading a"o&t what specifically the signs of the times mean we sho&ld ha!e a "asic "ackgro&nd in all of these categories of "ooks. :ll of them prepare one to &nderstand something a"o&t the signs of the times. 6nce one has "eg&n to prepare oneself like this it is not merely a matter of adding knowledge &p in one1s head and "eing a"le to repeat "y heart certain phrases to ha!e e$actly the right interpretation of a Bi"le !erse or anything of the sort.

4. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT
The most important thing that one ac2&ires thro&gh reading s&ch "asic 6rthodo$ literat&re as this is a !irt&e which is called discernment. 3hen we come to two phenomena which seem to "e e$actly alike or !ery similar to each other the !irt&e of discernment allows &s to see which of them is tr&e and which is false* that is which has the spirit of Christ and which might ha!e the spirit of :ntichrist. The !ery nat&re of :ntichrist who is to "e the last great world r&ler and the last great opponent of Christ is to "e anti>Christ;and #anti# means not merely #against # "&t also #in imitation of in place of.# The :ntichrist as all the Holy Fathers say in their writings a"o&t him is to "e someone who imitates Christ that is tires to fool people "y looking as tho&gh he is Christ come "ack to earth. Therefore if one has a !ery !ag&e notion of Christianity or reads the Script&res p&rely from one1s own opinions Band one1s opinions come from the air and the air is not Christian now "&t anti>ChristianC then one will come to !ery anti>Christian concl&sions. Seeing the fig&re of :ntichrist one will "e fooled into thinking that it is Christ. 3e can gi!e a few e$amples of how the !irt&e of discernment can help &s to &nderstand some fairly complicated phenomena. 6ne s&ch phenomenon is the charismatic mo!ement. There is a %reek priest Fr. E&se"i&s Stephano& in 0ndiana who is spreading this mo!ement in the 6rthodo$ Ch&rch. He has a rather large n&m"er of followers and sympathi4ers. He1s e!en "een to %reece and is going again soon and there too people are sometimes 2&ite o!erwhelmed "y him. 6ne can see that part of the reason for his s&ccess is that he comes from an 6rthodo$ ch&rch atmosphere in which people "eing "orn 6rthodo$ go to 6rthodo$ ch&rch recei!e

sacraments and take the whole thing for granted. Since it "ecomes with them a matter of ha"it they do not &nderstand that the whole meaning of the Ch&rch is to ha!e Christ in the heart "&t that one can go thro&gh the whole of 6rthodo$ Ch&rch life witho&t ha!ing one1s heart awakened. 0n that case one is D&st like the pagans. 0n fact one is more responsi"le than the pagans. The pagans ha!e ne!er heard of Christ while the person who is 6rthodo$ and does not know what spirit&al life is simply has not yet awakened to Christ. This is the kind of atmosphere from which Fr. E&se"i&s comes. Seeing that this is a spirit&al deadness;and it1s 2&ite tr&e that m&ch of what is in the 6rthodo$ Ch&rch is spirit&ally dead ;he wants to make it come to life. B&t the tro&"le is that he himself "elongs to the same spirit. 0n fact yo& !ery seldom see that he reads the "asic 6rthodo$ "ooks. He picks one or two that seem to agree with his point of !iew "&t he does not ha!e a thoro&gh gro&nding in the 6rthodo$ so&rces. He doe snot think that they are the most important things to "e reading. 0f yo& look deeply at what he and other people in the charismatic mo!ement are saying;and o&r "ook The /eligion of the Future goes into detail on this s&"Dect;yo& see that what they call a spirit&al re!i!al and a spirit&al life is act&ally what more recent Fathers like Bishop 0gnati&s Brianchanino! caref&lly descri"ed as deception, that is a kind of fe!er of the "lood which makes it look as tho&gh one is "eing spirit&al when act&ally one is not e!en grasping spirit&al reality at all. 0n fact it1s as different from tr&e Christian life which is reflected in these !ery "asic 6rthodo$ "ooks as hea!en is from earth. G&ite apart from the details of how they pray and what kind of phenomena manifest themsel!es at their ser!ices yo& can see that the !ery "asic idea which Fr. E&se"i&s and these charismatics ha!e is a false idea. -esterday we recei!ed an iss&e of Fr. E&se"i&s1 maga4ine 'ogos. There he talks a"o&t the great o&tpo&ring of the Holy Spirit in the last times preparing for the coming of Christ. :ll Christians are s&pposed to "e renewed to recei!e the Holy Spirit to "e speaking in tong&es. This prepares for the coming of Christ and there will "e a great spirit&al o&tpo&ring "efore Christ comes. 0f yo& read the Script&res caref&lly witho&t p&tting yo&r preD&dices into them e!en witho&t the patristic commentaries yo& will see that nowhere is anything said a"o&t a great spirit&al o&tpo&ring at the end of the world. Christ Himself says the contrary. First he gi!es His teaching concerning how we sho&ld pray and ha!e faith and not "e faint. He presents the e$ample of the woman who goes to the D&dge and keeps "egging him to intercede in her case and He tells &s that this is how we sho&ld contin&e to pray and pray and pray &ntil %od hears &s and gi!es to &s. This is a !ery solid e$ample a"o&t praying. Then He says #=e!ertheless# Bthat is despite the fact that 01!e gi!en yo& this teaching and this is the way to prayC #ne!ertheless when the Son of 'an comes will He find faith on the earth/# 0n other words despite the fact yo&1!e "een gi!en all this there will "e practically no one left who is a Christian at the end of the world. #3ill He find faith on the earth/# means He will find almost no one left. There will not "e flocks of people who are praying and inspired with the Holy Spirit at the end of time. :ll Holy Fathers who speak a"o&t this s&"Dect speak a"o&t the great terri"le times at the end and say that those who are tr&e Christians will "e hidden away and will not e!en "e !isi"le to the world. Those who are !isi"le to the world will not "e the tr&e Christians. Today there are tremendo&s charismatic re!i!als at =otre 5ame Uni!ersity and in Jer&salem there is e!ery year now a charismatic conference on the Holy Spirit. Si$ty se!enty tho&sand people come together and pray and raise &p their hands and they all speak in tong&es. 0t

looks as tho&gh the time of the :postles has come "ack "&t if yo& look at what goes on there yo& see it1s not the right spirit. it1s a different spirit. Therefore when Fr. E&se"i&s speaks a"o&t St. Symeon the =ew Theologian and a"o&t how yo& m&st know 3ho the Holy Spirit is and recei!e Him conscio&sly this is fine this is good teaching;"&t if yo& ha!e the wrong spirit that teaching does not apply. :nd this is not the right spirit. There are many signs e!ident that it is a different spirit and not the Spirit of %od. Here is one case where if yo& ha!e discernment from "asic Christian knowledge yo& can look at a phenomenon which claims to "e apostolic and D&st like the times of the early Ch&rch preparing for Christ1s Second Coming and if yo& look closely yo& can see it is not the same thing. 0n fact if anything it1s D&st like those who want to "&ild the Temple for Christ. They1re "&ilding for :ntichrist. it1s totally the opposite. :gain yo& can see how discernment ena"les &s to e!al&ate other phenomena which may not "e identical with 6rthodo$ phenomenon "&t are new things. 3hen yo& first look at them yo& wonder what they are all a"o&t. This is characteristic of intellect&al fashions* something gets into the air e!ery"ody gra"s it "eca&se the times are ripe for it and then e!ery"ody "egins to talk a"o&t it and it "ecomes the fashion of the times. =o"ody 2&ite knows how. it1s D&st that e!ery"ody was ready for it and all of a s&dden some"ody mentioned it and it "egan to circ&late e!erywhere.

5. THE DISTORTION OF CHRISTIAN EQUALITY

3e ha!e one partic&lar idea right now that1s taking possession of people* the so>called idea of women1s li"eration. This takes the form of women priestesses in the :nglican Ch&rch and also in the Catholic Ch&rch which is preparing for it now. 6f co&rse if yo& look at this serio&sly sit down and think a"o&t it and yo& read what St. ,a&l says a"o&t women and so forth yo& ha!e no pro"lems. 0t1s all !ery clear that this is some kind of cra4y new idea. B&t it is also !ery interesting to look at this more deeply and see where it comes from;why is there s&ch an idea what is it what1s "ehind it/;"eca&se if yo& &nderstand the strategy of the de!il yo&1re a little "etter e2&ipped to fight against it. This partic&lar idea of women1s li"eration can "e traced "ack at least two h&ndred years. 6f co&rse yo& can go "ack e!en "efore that "&t its present from goes "ack at least two h&ndred years to the forer&nners of Aarl 'ar$ the early Socialists. These Socialists were talking a"o&t a great new &topian age which is going to come when all the distinctions of class and race and religion and so forth are a"olished. There will "e a great new society they said when e!ery"ody is e2&al. This idea of co&rse was "ased originally &pon Christianity "&t it distorted Christianity and amo&nted to its opposite. There was a partic&lar philosopher in China in the late nineteenth cent&ry who "ro&ght this philosophy to its logical concl&sion as far as it co&ld go. His name is A1ang -&>3ei B(HEH> (8?FC. He1s not partic&larly interesting e$cept as he incarnates this philosophy of the age this spirit of the times. He was act&ally one of the forer&nners of 'ao Tse>T&ng and the takeo!er of China "y the comm&nists. He "ased his ideas not only on distorted Christianity which he took from the li"erals and ,rotestants in the 3est "&t also on B&ddhist ideas. He came &p

with the idea of a &topia which was to come into "eing 0 think in the ?(st cent&ry according to his prophecies. 0n this &topia all ranks of society all religio&s differences and all other kinds of differences which affect social interco&rse will "e a"olished. E!eryone will sleep in dormitories and eat in common halls. :nd then with his B&ddhist ideas he "egan to go "eyond this. He said that all distinctions "etween the se$es wo&ld "e a"olished. 6nce mankind is &nited there1s not reason to halt there;this mo!ement m&st go on f&rther. There m&st "e an a"olition "etween man and animals. :nimals also will come into this kingdom and once yo& ha!e animalsI The B&ddhists are also !ery respectf&l to !egeta"les and plants. therefore the whole !egeta"le kingdom has to come into this paradise and in the end the inanimate world also. So at the !ery end of t he world where will "e an a"sol&te &topia of all kinds of "eings who ha!e somehow "ecome intermingled with each other and e!ery"ody1s a"sol&tely e2&al. 6f co&rse yo& read a"o&t this and yo& say the man m&st "e cra4y. B&t if yo& look deeply yo& see that this is coming from a deep desire to ha!e some kind of happiness on earth. =o pagan philosophy howe!er gi!es happiness. no man>made philosophy gi!es happiness. 6nly Christianity gi!es hope for a kingdom which is not of this world. The idea to ha!e a perfect kingdom comes from Christianity "&t since the early Socialists did not "elie!e in the other world or in %od they dreamed of making this kingdom in this world. That is what comm&nism is all a"o&t. 3e see what happens of co&rse when this idea is p&t into practice. -o& ha!e the e$periment of the French Re!ol&tion which had apparently good ideas;li"erty e2&ality fraternity;or the Bolshe!ik Re!ol&tion or in more recent times the !ario&s other comm&nist re!ol&tions. <ast of all yo& ha!e Cam"odia a poor little co&ntry which for three years s&ffered a"sol&te comm&nism and fo&nd that at least one>fo&rth of its pop&lation was e$terminated "eca&se it didn1t fit. E!eryone who had more than a high>school ed&cation had to "e eliminated e!eryone who tho&ght for himself and so forth. =ow the regime has "een o!erthrown "y people who are a little less r&thless "&t there1s nothing m&ch to cheer a"o&t. This shows that once yo& try to p&t these ideas into operation yo& get not paradise on earth "&t more like hell on earth. 0n fact the whole e$periment in R&ssia for the last si$ty years has "een a proof of this that there is no paradise on earth e$cept in the Ch&rch of Christ with sufferings.H 6&r <ord prophesied that already in this life we wo&ld recei!e "ack a h&ndredfold what we gi!e "&t it m&st "e with persec&tions and s&fferings. Those who wish to ha!e this happiness on earth witho&t s&ffering and persec&tions and witho&t e!en "elie!ing in %od make hell on earth.

6. CHRISTIAN INTEREST IN UFOS

: second e$ample of a new phenomenon which at first sight one doesn1t know what to make of is the now !ery common phenomenon of UF6s flying sa&cers. There is a partic&lar ,rotestant e!angelist the a"o!e>mentioned Carl 'c0ntire who is e$tremely strict and righteo&s and !ery Bi"le>"elie!ing. He has a radio program the Twentieth>Cent&ry Reformation and a newspaper. He is a"sol&tely &pright;yo& ha!e to separate from all people who are in apostasy;and his ideas are !ery nice. He1s anti>comm&nist. He calls Billy %raham an apostate together with e!eryone who de!iates from the strict line of what he thinks is right. From this point of !iew he1s !ery strict and yet yo& see the strangest things i

his philosophy. For e$ample he1s "&ilding himself the Temple of Jer&salem in Florida. He has a model of the Temple and he wants to "&ild it so as to make it compete with 5isneyworld. ,eople will come and pay to see the great Temple which is soon going to "e "&ilt for Christ to come to earth. This is s&pposed to pro!ide a good opport&nity to witness Christianity. He goes in for the flying sa&cers also. 0n e!ery iss&e of his newspaper there1s a little col&mn called #UF6 Col&mn # and there they talk to one1s great astonishment a"o&t all the wonderf&l positi!e things which these flying sa&cers are doing. The gi!e conferences and make mo!ies a"o&t them. J&st recently there ha!e "een se!eral ,rotestant "ooks a"o&t UF6s showing 2&ite clearly that they1re demons. The person who writes the col&mn in this newspaper got &pset a"o&t this and said that some people say that these "eings are demons "&t we can pro!e they aren1t. He says that may"e a co&ple of them are demons "&t most of them aren1t. He cites a recent case in which some family in the 'idwest saw a flying sa&cer. The flying sa&cer came down landed and the family saw inside little men;they1re &s&ally fo&r and half feet tall or so;and they sang #Hallel&Dah.# They stopped and looked and then they flew away. 0 g&ess they didn1t talk to them any more. :nd that set the family to thinking. they "egan to think #Hallel&Dah#. they "egan to think a"o&t Christianity. they looked in their Bi"les and they finally ended &p going to a F&ndamentalist ch&rch and "eing con!erted to Christianity. Therefore he says these "eings m&st "e some kind of people who are helping %od1s plan to make the world Christian "eca&se they said #Hallel&Dah.# 6f co&rse if yo& read Bishop 0gnati&s Brianchanino! yo& will know a"o&t all the deceptions which the demons perpetrate* the demons #pray# for yo& the demons make miracles they prod&ce the most wonderf&l phenomena they "ring people to ch&rch they do anything yo& want as long as they keep yo& in this deception. :nd when the time comes they will s&ddenly p&ll their tricks on yo&. So these people who ha!e "een con!erted to some kind of Christianity "y these so>called o&ter>space "eings are waiting for the ne$t time they will come. and the ne$t time their message may ha!e to do with Christ coming to earth again soon or something of the sort. 0t1s o"!io&s that this is all the work of demons. That is where it1s real. Sometimes it1s D&st imagination "&t when it1s real this kind of thing o"!io&sly comes form demons. This is !ery elementary. 0f yo& read any te$t of the early Fathers any of the early <i!es of Saints or the 'ausiac #istory, yo& find many cases where "eings s&ddenly appear. =owadays they appear in spaceships "eca&se that1s how the demons ha!e adapted themsel!es to the people of the times. "&t if yo& &nderstand how spirit&al deception works and what kind of wiles the de!il has then yo& ha!e no pro"lems in &nderstanding what1s going on with these flying sa&cers. :nd yet this person who writes the UF6 col&mn is an a"sol&tely strict F&ndamentalist Christian. He is looking act&ally for new re!elations to come from "eings from o&ter space.

!. WHY WE MUST HAVE AN ORTHODO" WORLD#VIEW

So to repeat the first point* we watch the signs of the times in order to recogni4e Christ when He comes "eca&se there ha!e "een many false Christs many more false Christs will come

and at the !ery end of the world there will finally come one who is called :ntichrist. The :ntichrist will &nite all those who are decei!ed into thinking he is Christ and this will incl&de all those whose interpretation of Christianity has gone off. 6ften yo& can look at some people who confess Christianity and it seems that many of their ideas are correct;they go according to the Bi"le. Then yo& look here and there and yo& see that here1s a mistake there1s a mistake. J&st recently Fr. 5imitry 5&dko in the little newspaper he p&ts o&t said there came t him someone who claimed to "e Christian. :s he "egan to talk to him he "egan to feel that this person wasn1t 6rthodo$ and he said #3hat confession are yo&/# #6h that1s not important. 3e1re all Christians. The only important thing is that we "e Christians.# He said #3ell no no we ha!e to "e more precise than than that. For e$ample if yo&1re a Baptist and 01m an 6rthodo$ 0 "elie!e that we ha!e the <ord1s Body and Blood and yo& don1t.# 3e m&st "e precise "eca&se there are many differences. 0t1s good to ha!e the attit&de* 0 ha!e respect for yo& and 0 won1t interfere with yo&r faith "&t nonetheless there1s a tr&e way of "elie!ing and there are ways which go away from the tr&th. 0 m&st "e according to the tr&th. 0n the same way we can see that many people who ae not 6rthodo$ ha!e many good things a"o&t them and then they go off in some respect. 0n the end it1s &p to %od to D&dge not to &s. B&t we can see what will happen if all these little ways people go off now are proDected into the last times if people still "elie!e that way when the last times come. These mistakes ca&se people when they see :ntichrist to think that he is Christ. There are !ery many sects now which "elie!e that Christ is coming to r&le for a tho&sand years form the Temple in Jer&salem. Therefore when the Jews start "&ilding the Temple these sects will only reDoice "eca&se to them this is the sign of Christ1s coming. 6n the contrary we know that this isn1t he sign of the :ntichrist coming "eca&se Christ will no more come ot the Temple. The Temple has "een destroyed. Christ comes only at the end of the world to "egin the eternal kingdom of hea!en. The only one who will come to the Temple is :ntichrist. So this is why the correct 6rthodo$ Christian &nderstanding and preparation "ased &pon this &nderstanding are a"sol&tely necessary. The closer we get to the !ery last times the more indispensa"le this &nderstanding and preparation are.

$. A LOO% AT SPECIFIC SIGNS

=ow let &s look for D&st a moment at some of the signs in o&r times that the Second Coming of Christ preceded "y the coming of :ntichrist is close. Concerning the prophecies set forth in the ?7th chapter of St. 'atthew;first of all the false christs who will come then the wars famines earth2&akes persec&tions;it is diffic&lt to D&dge "eca&se all these things ha!e "een happening for almost two tho&sand years now. 0t1s tr&e that they are now an a "igger scale than e!er "efore "&t it is also tr&e that they can "e m&ch worse yet. These signs are the "eginning of signs and are not yet so se!ere that we can say we are right in the !ery last days. 6ne sign howe!er is !ery interesting and !ery indicati!e of o&r times that that is that Christ is now depicted on the stage. 0n pre!io&s times it was ne!er allowed that Christ sho&ld "e depicted on the stage "eca&se an actor gi!es his own h&man interpretation and Christ is %od. 0n 6rthodo$y there is perhaps no partic&lar canon a"o&t this "&t the whole 6rthodo$ Christian o&tlook is against it. and nay ,rotestant or Catholic &ntil t he last few years wo&ld

ha!e "een horrified at the idea of some actor playing the part of Christ. =ow this has "ecome common and not only in religio&s conte$ts "&t in conte$ts which are far from religio&s. (odspell, 0esus &hrist Superstar, and so forth* all these are act&ally "lasphemo&s parodies which present Christ in sec&lar form for people to see.8 This is !ery symptomatic of o&r times "eca&se it presents e!en to &n"elie!ing people an image of Christ so that when :ntichrist comes they will say #:ha 0 saw on the stage something like that. -es that m&st "e it.#

&. THE GROWING COLD OF LOVE

:nother !ery symptomatic sign of o&r times is the ne$t one mentioned in this chapter of 'atthew* that the lo!e of many grows cold. This seems to "e a definite characteristic of o&r times to a 2&ite greater degree than at any time in past history. 6ne can see this in what can "e called nihilism. ,eople commit crimes for no partic&lar reason not for gain "&t D&st for a thrill "eca&se they do not ha!e %od inside them. 0n all kinds of places now one can see the lack of normal h&man relationships in families which prod&ces cold people. 0t is this kind of people who in a totalitarian society are &sed as sla!e dri!es working in the concentration camps and so forth. Recently we had the tragedy in Jonestown which was composed of :merican citi4ens. The people there were idealists who de!oted themsel!es &tterly to a ca&se. :ltho&gh it1s come o&t now that it was act&ally a comm&nist comm&ne still the people were s&pposed to "e Christians. The leader was a minister of the so>called Ch&rch of Christ one of the mainline denominations. :nd yet these people s&pposedly ha!ing some awareness of %od and Christianity coldly killed each other. Those who drank and administered the poison to their children did so with calm faces. There1s no pro"lem* that1s D&st yo&r d&ty that1s what yo&1re told to do. This kind of coldness is what Christ is talking a"o&t. :ny kind of normal h&man warmth has "een a"olished "eca&se Christ has gone o&t of the heart. %od is gone. This is a frightf&l sign of o&r times. 0n fact they !ery thing that happened in Jonestown is a warning "eca&se it looks as tho&gh m&ch worse things are going to come. This is satan1s work 2&ite o"!io&sly. J&st a year or two "efore that occ&rred we heard of what happened in Cam"odia. : small party of men;some ten or twenty altogether;took a whole co&ntry in their hands and killed off at least two million people 2&ite r&thlessly "ased on some a"stract ideas. 3e1re going to get "ack to the co&ntry they said. therefore e!ery"ody is to lea!e the cities. 0f yo& can1t lea!e the city yo& die. ,eople in the hospitals had to go from their operating ta"les and if they co&ldn1t go they died;they were shot and left in a ditch. Corpses were piled &p in the cities;it was frightf&l. This was the same kind of thing as what occ&rred in Jonestown* coldness "ased &pon the idea ;which looks idealistic;of "rining comm&nism to earth. 0t t&rns o&t that 5ostoye!sky was right. 0n his "ook The )ossessed, written in the (HF9s there was a R&ssian character named Shigalo! a theoretician who had an a"sol&te theory of how comm&nism co&ld come to earth. He "elie!ed that the ideal state &pon earth will "e tr&e comm&nism. Unfort&nately he said in order to make si$ty million people happy yo& ha!e to kill a h&ndred million people. B&t those si$ty million people will "e happier than anyone else has e!er "een happy and the h&ndred million people will "e like fertili4er for the f&t&re world paradise. 0t so happens that

in R&ssia there ha!e "een e$actly a h&ndred million people missing since (8(F of which at least si$ty million were killed "y the So!iets themsel!es. So this sign is !ery !ery present in o&r times* that lo!e grows cold. This occ&rs among Christians also not D&st in the world at large. Then another sign which in o&r times has reached greater dimensions than e!ery "efore is that the %ospel is "eing preached in the whole world. This of co&rse is tr&e in that the !ery te$t of the %ospel is "eing spread in almost all the lang&ages which are spoken on the earth now;at least a tho&sand lang&ages 0 think. 'oreo!er the 6rthodo$ %ospel is "eing preached all o!er :frica now. 3e send o&r maga4ines to Uganda and Aenya and recei!e letters "ack;!ery to&ching letters from yo&ng :frican "oys who are con!erts to 6rthodo$y. They ha!e the &tmost respect for their "ishop. they go to seminary. 0t1s o"!io&s that a !ery 6rthodo$ feeling is "eing gi!en to these people in :frica. They are !ery simple people. 6rthodo$y does not ha!e to "e complicated if there are !ery simple people to preach the %ospel to. 0t1s only when others come in to challenge it and to say that the Script&re means something else trying to gi!e o!er>literal interpretation which mean doing away with priests and "ishops etc. that the people "egin to get mi$ed &p. 0f they1re preached the 6rthodo$ %ospel simple people respond now in the same way that they1!e always responded in the past. The pro"lem is rather with complicated people.

1'. THE TEMPLE IN (ERUSALEM

Then there is the sign of the a"omination of desolation and all that relates to the Temple in Jer&salem. For the first time in history this has now "ecome a possi"ility. The re"&ilding of the Temple was tried only once "efore in the fo&rth cent&ry. Anowing a"o&t this is a !ery good e$ample of how reading Ch&rch history enlightens one. 3e can find se!eral so&rces a"o&t it from the fo&rth cent&ry* St. Cyril mentions it as do se!eral of the Ch&rch historians at that time. J&lian the :postate "eca&se he had s&ch a passion to o!erthrow Christianity decided that since Christ had prophesied that not one stone of the Temple wo&ld "e left on the other if he re"&ilt the Temple he wo&ld pro!e that Christ was an impostor and therefore paganism co&ld "e restored. So he deli"erately in!ited the Jews "ack to Jer&salem and they "egan "&ilding the Temple with the "lessing of J&lian the :postate. They wo&ld "&ild a little in the daytime and the ne$t morning they wo&ld come and all the stones wo&ld "e on the gro&nd. They tried again and "alls of fire "egan to come o&t of the earth. :ll the historians agree on this. 0n fact modern rationalist historians "eca&se they see that they cannot deny the te$ts and that something did act&ally happen "egin to say things like #They m&st ha!e str&ck oil # or #There were &ndergro&nd gas fl&es.# 0t was o"!io&sly a miracle of %od to keep the Temple from "eing "&ilt "eca&se it was not the time;the Temple is to "e "&ilt only at the !ery end of the world. :nyway they finally failed in their attempt and ga!e &p the operation. 6f the few stones that remained not one was left on the other. So the prophecy was f&lfilled in the time of J&lian the :postate. B&t now since (8)F the site where the Temple was "efore is now in the hands of the Jews. Therefore for the first time it "ecomes 2&ite possi"le that the Temple co&ld "e "&ilt. The only thing interfering is the great mos2&e which the 'oslems ha!e there. 0f that1s destroyed there will pro"a"ly "e a war.

6nly since (87H has there "een a separate state of Jews in the Holy <and. 0t is to the &n"elie!ing Jews that the :ntichrist will come. He will come first to the Jews and then to the whole world thro&gh the Jews. and only as this is happening will the faithf&l remnant of Jews finally "e con!erted to Christianity in the !ery last times. So this sign of the Temple is a !ery "ig one. 3hen we see the Temple "eing "&ilt then we know that the time is at hand "eca&se that is definitely one of the signs of the !ery end. So far of co&rse it1s not "eing "&ilt "&t there are all kinds of r&mors that plans ha!e "een laid that stones are "eing gathered etc. 0t1s o"!io&s that the Jews are thinking a"o&t it.

11. OTHER SIGNS

:nother sign is the fact that when :ntichrist comes he is to "e the r&ler of the world and only in o&r times has it "een a practical reality that one man can r&le the entire world. all world empires &p &ntil now ha!e "een only o!er part of the earth and "efore modern comm&nications it was impossi"le for one man to r&le the entire world. F&rthermore with increased comm&nications with atomic "om"s and more ad!anced weapons the possi"ility of a worldwide tri"&lation now "ecomes m&ch greater than e!er "efore. 0t1s o"!io&s that the ne$t war will "e the most destr&cti!e in the history of mankind and pro"a"ly will ca&se in its first few days more damage than all the wars in history. Besides atomic weapons there are !ario&s "acteriological weapons for spreading plag&es among people poisono&s gases and all kinds of fantastic things which in an all>o&t war co&ld come into play. :lso the fact that all the peoples of the world are "o&nd &p more with each other means that when some great catastrophe comes to one co&ntry;a depression or something of the sort; then all the rest of the world will "e affected. This we already saw in the (8+9s when there was a %reat 5epression in :merica and it spread to the rest of E&rope. 0n the f&t&re it1s o"!io&s that something m&ch worse can occ&r. 0f one co&ntry "egins to star!e or if the crops fail one year in Canada :&stralia :merica and R&ssia;all those fo&r great co&ntries which s&pply what;D&st imagine how the whole world is going to s&ffer.

12. A WARNING TO THOSE ATTRACTED TO GLOOM AND DOOM

:ll these signs of the times are !ery negati!e. They are signs that they world is collapsing that the end of the world is at hand and that the :ntichrist is a"o&t to come. 0t1s !ery easy to look at all these negati!e signs of the times and get into s&ch a mood that we look only for negati!e things. 0n fact one can de!elop a whole personality;a negati!e kind of personality ;"ased on this. 3hene!er some new news item comes in one says #:ha yes of co&rse that1s the way it is and it1s going to get worse.# The ne$t one comes in and one says #-es yes it1s o"!io&s that1s what1s going to happen and now it1s going to "e worse than that.# E!erything one looks at is seen merely as a negati!e f&lfillment of the horri"le times.

0t1s tr&e that we ha!e to "e aware of these things and not "e &nd&ly optimistic a"o&t contemporary e!ents "eca&se the news in o&r times is seldom good. :t the same time howe!er we ha!e to keep in mind the whole p&rpose of o&r watching the signs of the times. 3e watch the signs of the times not D&st so we can see a"o&t when :ntichrist is going to come. That1s rather a secondary thing. 3e watch the signs of the times so we can know when Christ is going to come. That is a !ery f&ndamental thing we ha!e to keep in mind so we do not get o!erwhelmed "y gloom depression or stay to o&rsel!es storing &p food for the great calamity. That1s not a !ery wise thing. 3e ha!e to "e rather all the more Christian that is thinking a"o&t other people trying to help others. 0f we o&rsel!es are cold and gloomy and pessimistic we are participating in this coldness which is a sign of the end. 3e ha!e to o&rsel!es "e warm and helping each other o&t. That1s the sign of Christianity. 0f yo& look at history Bin fact this is another good reason for reading Ch&rch historyC yo& see that thro&gho&t the whole history of mankind thro&gho&t the 6ld Testament the =ew Testament and all the Christian kingdoms afterwards;and if yo& look at the pagan world the same story;there1s a contin&al time of s&fferings. 3here Christians are in!ol!ed there are trials and persec&tions and thro&gh all of these Christians ha!e attained the kingdom of hea!en. Therefore when the time of the persec&tions come we are s&pposed to reDoice. There was a good little incident related in Fr. 5imitry 5&dko1s little newspaper. : woman in R&ssia was p&t in a psychiatric clinic for making the sign of the Cross in the wrong place or for wearing a cross or something like that. Fr. 5imitry and his spirit&al children tra!eled to 'oscow went tot he clinic made an appointment and talked to the doctor and they finally pers&aded him that she sho&ldn1t "e there. Fr. 5imitry says #They1re act&ally afraid of &s "eca&se when yo& press them a"o&t it they say they ha!en1t really got any law "y which they can keep her there.# So finally they agreed to let her go after she had "een there for a week. 3hen she was there they ga!e her !ario&s dr&gs and #inoc&lations # trying to "reak her down and get rid of her religion. 3hen she came o&t she was a little shaken &p. She sat down on a "ench someplace o&tside the clinic and "egan to talk. #-o& know # she said #when 0 was there and they were treating me so awf&l 0 felt calm "eca&se 0 felt there was Someone there protecting me. "&t as soon as 0 got o&t here all of a s&dden 01m afraid. =ow 01m all &pset and scared that they are going to come after me again that the secret police are looking right aro&nd the corner.# 0t1s o"!io&s why this is so. 3hen yo&1re in conditions of persec&tion Christ is with yo& "eca&se yo&1re s&ffering for Him. :nd when yo&1re o&tside then there1s the &ncertainty of whether yo& might not get "ack into that condition. -o& "egin to go "ack to yo&r own h&man &nderstanding. 3hen yo&1re there yo& ha!e nothing else to rely on so yo& ha!e to ha!e Christ. 0f yo& ha!en1t got Christ yo& ha!e nothing. 3hen yo&1re o&tside yo& "egin to calc&late and to tr&st yo&rself and then yo& lose Christ.
(

: talk gi!en at St. Herman1s 3omen1s1 conference in Redding California in the s&mmer of (8H9. This talk which has ne!er "efore appeared in print was transcri"ed from the tape archi!es of the St. Herman Brotherhood. Fr. Seraphim ga!e another talk on the same s&"Dect in 'ay of (8H( at the Uni!ersity of California Santa Cr&4. That talk entitled #Signs of the Coming of the End of the 3orld # is a!aila"le on cassette tape.
?

Fr. Seraphim ga!e this talk "efore the p&"lication of his translation of :rch"ishop :!erky1s Commentary on the :pocalypse first in The "rthodo -ord, and later as a separate "ook.
+

Since Fr. Seraphim1s repose 6rthodo$ commentaries on the Script&res "y St. Cyril of :le$andria and St. Theophylact the B&lgarian ha!e "een p&"lished.

0n addition to translating the whole of :rch"ishop :!erky1s Commentary on the :pocalypse Fr. Seraphim translated some portions of his Commentary on the %ospels and epistles.
E

<ater canoni4ed "y the Ch&rch in R&ssia.

St. 0gnati&s1 "ook "n the )rayer of 0esus is also in English. Since Fr. Seraphim1s repose his Brotherhood has p&"lished three "ooks "y St. Theophan in English* The Spiritual 'ife, The )ath to Salvation, and 1indling the +ivine Spark.
F

E&se"i&s li!ed in the 7th cent&ry. Cf. 'ark (9*+9.

The mo!ie The 'ast Temptation of &hrist, which came o&t se!eral years after Fr. Seraphim1s repose is more "lasphemo&s than e!en these e$amples.

Reprinted from The @ol. +7 =os. +>7 B?99>?9(C 'ay>:&g&st (88H

6rthodo$

3ord