By Metropolitan †SERAPHIM (Motovilov)
“Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10)
The ashes of the ancient land knock on my heart. The unbearable pain of the suffering of a proud people fills my soul with sadness. My mind is unable to accept the unprecedented persecution of one of the most ancient churches in our world. And I must not, I cannot remain silent, for I have always remained and remain on the side of those who suffer persecution for the name of Christ.
A terrible thing is happening before our eyes. In Armenia, the first Christian country in the world, where every stone is baptized with the blood of martyrs, where every hill preserves the memory of saints and warriors, new blood is being shed today – spiritual, bloodless for now, but no less terrible for that. A nation that has survived a thousand years of persecution and massacre from external enemies today sees its own heart strike, its own hand raised against a sacred place. And it seems that all this has already happened: betrayal, slander, crucifixion. But that doesn’t make it any easier. Nikol Pashinyan and his government have unleashed a war not only with political opponents — this could still be understood as a struggle for power. But they went further: they went to war with the Church. With what keeps Armenia afloat even when everything is collapsing. With what this nation has remained in history for. They intended to bend it to themselves, to force it to remain silent, to rewrite prayers into slogans. But is it possible to rewrite Christ? Is it possible to silence the Gospel? Is it possible to build a throne on the blood of martyrs? Can’t they hear the stones already crying out? The Armenian Apostolic Church has become the only force today that, from an ancient shrine, defending its people, speaks the truth out loud. It speaks of the betrayal of Karabakh, of the collapse of the army, of the fact that power cannot be built on lies and fear. The names of those who were not afraid to say this have already been inscribed in the chronicle of suffering: Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan, who openly denounced the betrayal of the shrines and the people, is today humiliated, slandered, subjected to pressure and harassment; Bishop Pargev Martirosyan, the same one who stood with the soldiers on the front line during the terrible days of the war and prayed for them, is now accused of “anti-state activities”; Bishop Nshan Movsesyan was arrested for daring to go out with the people in a religious procession; Bishop Mkrtich Khachatryan was seized for preaching that the renunciation of shrines is the death of the soul. In the same line of martyrs, they also put Samvel Karapetyan, a benefactor and builder of churches, a man whose money and labor raised ruined churches to their feet – and who now finds himself in prison under trumped-up charges.
Their names are stones that are already being thrown at the current government. These stones cry out: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of truth!” For they have already won, although they are handcuffed. For Christ is behind them.
Looking at all this, one cannot help but ask: why? Why is the government, which already holds everything in its hands – the army, the police, the courts, the newspapers – so afraid of a few bishops and their prayer? The answer is simple: because prayer is stronger than a baton. Because the Church is stronger than the throne. Because the Church is the conscience of the people, and it cannot be bought or silenced. And if it is silent, the people perish, and if it speaks, the lie collapses. And therefore today the champions of lies are doomed to fight it. But the most terrible thing is something else: what will happen if Catholicos Garegin II decides to use all his primatial power and goes all the way? What will happen if he closes churches for baptisms, weddings, funerals? If priests stop praying for rulers and stop blessing them? If the Church leaves schools, hospitals, the army and leaves everyone alone with themselves? Then the people will understand what it means to live without grace, then they will feel that without prayer and without altars there is only darkness. Then the sky over Armenia will become copper, and the stones will cry out about sacrilege. Then pain will come, but after it – repentance will come. The power that dreams of destroying the Church forgets what the outcome of all persecutors was. They thought that the throne was more reliable than the cross – but the cross remained, and their thrones crumbled to dust. Power built on lies always collapses, like a house on sand. And if one of the scenarios of the Apocalypse is being realized in Armenia today, then this is only the fulfillment of the promise: “Where lawlessness abounds, grace does much more abound.” We already see the first shoots of this grace: people come out to churches, religious processions go along the streets of Vagharshapat and Yerevan, mothers kneel before riot police, young people hold icons in their hands and sing psalms, shouting: “Do not touch the Church!” They are few, but strength does not come from numbers. Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “The Church is strong not because there are many of her, but because Christ is with her. And where Christ is, there is victory.” And people go, go to the walls of the Holy Mother See of Etchmiadzin, and among the noise of the crowd, a menacing rumble is heard more and more often, merging not into a plea, but a demand. And the desperate voice of the people is heard, addressed to the Supreme Patriarch of all Armenians: “Curse them! Curse them, Catholicos! Do not let them destroy the Holy Church!” Terrible words. And terrible is the anger of the people! Do not let the cup of Your wrath fill up.
These days are the days of confession and judgment. Days when it is decided what is more important: fear or faith, bread or the cross, the throne or the altar. For it is said: “And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household.” For it is said: “Do not fear them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” For it is said: “This do in remembrance of Me.”
But it is also said: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church.” And this means that the blood of martyrs is not in vain, and it is impossible to build a throne on it. He who tries will become ashes himself.
For when the temples fall silent, heaven cries. When the people are silent, the stones cry. When the priest is silent, the very blood of Christ cries. For the Church is not an organization, but the Body of Christ. And the Body of Christ is not broken or bought.
And therefore I say now: it is better to be among those who are cast out for the truth, than among those who are crowned for a lie. It is better to be with the persecuted, than with the persecutors. It is better to be in prison for Christ, than on the throne against Him.
You cannot build a throne on the blood of martyrs.
Ad Notem: The True Orthodox Church is the successor of the Russian Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church of the Eastern Rite, split by the 1917 revolution into several canonically equal parts, each of which expressed its attitude to the godless power of the Bolsheviks (the True Orthodox Church – not recognition, open resistance). According to the historical experience of 1937-1941, the True Orthodox Church is a martyr church, washed in the blood of uncompromising fighters for the purity of Orthodoxy. The memory of this imposes a special moral and ethical responsibility on its clergy and flock.
