St. Emilian
Died in exile along with other true Orthodox bishops for his refusal to obey the emperor (and his false hierarchs) and remove the holy icons from the churches.
My dear Fr. Jean: greetings in Christ Jesus!
It saddens me deeply to have to write a letter such as this, but it is my regrettable duty to do so.
First, let me assure you of my love and continuing prayers for you and your family. I pray that the Lord will grant healing and enlightenment to your wife, and consolation and peace to you both. May Martin continue to grow in faith and wisdom! You will always remain dear to me, no matter what the future may hold. I treasure our years of working together in the Lord’s vineyard, and pray that by His grace we may soon be re-united in the Body and Blood of Christ.
The course which you have taken, dear father — and it is of course your right in conscience to do so, even if you err — is, as I can only see it, a course of disaster. You have turned your back (albeit with much company) on the Church which you were ordained to serve. The Moscow Patriarchate, which you now serve, is not that Church. It was and remains the creation of the atheist Soviet state, created not for the salvation of mankind, but rather for the confusion of those who would be faithful, and the destruction of the true Church. It is, indeed, the instrument of the father of lies. It continues aggressively on its course of ecumenism, maintaining communion in prayer with the “Orthodox” Church of Antioch which itself proclaims its communion with the Monophysite heretics, and with the “Orthodox” Church of Finland, which casts itself under the ban of heresy of the great Ecumenical Council of Nicæa by celebrating holy Pascha with the Roman Catholics, sometimes with the Jews, and sometimes even in advance of the Jews. It confuses and confounds the faithful and places itself under the ban of innumerable councils, both Russian and elsewhere, by communing with the modernist new-calendar “Orthodox” churches which keep not the true Church Calendar but rather the distorted “new” calendar introduced by the papists. The litany could go on at much greater length, but these are the most glaring violations of Church order and the sacred canons.
The true Church, that in which you were ordained and which you long served well, continues, albeit much diminished, under the omophorion of Vladyka Agafangel, and in communion with the true Orthodox Churches of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.
Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to inform you of your demission from the roles of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and of the Haitian Orthodox Mission. You may, of course (as it seems you wish to do) pretend that you remain a clergyman of that Church and of that Mission, even claiming, it would appear from Fr. Grégoire’s letter to Bishop Gabriel, to be “in charge of the Haitian Orthodox Mission” (without other authority than your own, it would seem). Such a pretense does not change the reality. As you are well aware, there are many, not only in Haiti, but abroad as well, who understand the truth of the matter fully.
You know well from documents already delivered to you that I remain the administrator of the Mission, and that your only appointment was and remains as pastor in charge of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, and as serving priest for the community of St. Nicholas at Cap-Haïtien. To your credit, you were forthright and honest about your decision to leave the Mission and submit to the Moscow Patriarchate.
Acting in accordance with the authority granted me by the presiding hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, I must make the following directions (effective immediately, though subject to his ratification):
(1) You are forbidden to represent yourself as a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, or of the Haitian Orthodox Mission.
(2) You are forbidden to serve the Divine Liturgy or other services of the Church in any temple of the Haitian Orthodox Mission other than the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Port-au-Prince, which can no longer be considered a part of the Mission.
(3) You are relieved of your informal appointment to serve the community of St. Nicholas at Cap-Haïtien.
(4) You no longer have access to the Mission House at Croix-des-Missions, unless invited there.
(5) You are not to interfere in any way in the internal affairs of any of the parishes or communities of the Mission, specifically but not limited to the Parish and School of St. Augustine at Jacmel and the community at the Foyer of St. Mary of Egypt/ Chapel of St. Dorothy at LaPlaine.
The status of the communities of St. John of San Francisco at Les Cayes, SS Peter and Paul at Léogane and St. Nicholas at Cap-Haïtien remains undetermined, as the voices of their faithful have not been heard.
Once again, Father, I grieve over this lamentable situation, and pray that you may think better of your actions, offer your repentance, and that I may once again be able to embrace you as a brother priest. There are few things which would bring me greater joy.
With much love and hope for happier days to come,
Tuesday 8/21 August 2007
St. Emilian
Died in exile along with other true Orthodox bishops for his refusal to obey the emperor (and his false hierarchs) and remove the holy icons from the churches.
“For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.”
— II Cor 1:4
First, let me assure you of my love and continuing prayers for you and your family — Matushka, Anastasia, and all the household. You will always remain dear to me, no matter what the future may hold. I treasure our years of working together in the Lord’s vineyard, and pray that by His grace we may soon be re-united in the Body and Blood of Christ.
The course which you have taken, dear father — and it is of course your right in conscience to do so, even if you err — is, as I can only see it, a course of disaster. You have turned your back (albeit with much company) on the Church which you were ordained to serve. The Moscow Patriarchate, which you now serve, is not that Church. It was and remains the creation of the atheist Soviet state, created not for the salvation of mankind, but rather for the confusion of those who would be faithful, and the destruction of the true Church. It is, indeed, the instrument of the father of lies. It continues aggressively on its course of ecumenism, maintaining communion in prayer with the “Orthodox” Church of Antioch which itself proclaims its communion with the Monophysite heretics, and with the “Orthodox” Church of Finland, which casts itself under the ban of heresy of the great Ecumenical Council of Nicæa by celebrating holy Pascha with the Roman Catholics, sometimes with the Jews, and sometimes even in advance of the Jews. It confuses and confounds the faithful and places itself under the ban of innumerable councils, both Russian and elsewhere, by communing with the modernist new-calendar “Orthodox” churches which keep not the true Church Calendar but rather the distorted “new” calendar introduced by the papists. The litany could go on at much greater length, but these are the most glaring violations of Church order and the sacred canons.
The true Church, that in which you were ordained and which you long served well, continues, albeit much diminished, under the omophorion of Vladyka Agafangel, and in communion with the true Orthodox Churches of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.
Under these circumstances, I have no choice but to inform you of your demission from the rolls of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and of the Haitian Orthodox Mission. You may, of course (as it seems you wish to do) pretend that you remain a clergyman of that Church and of that Mission, even giving yourself the title “in charge of Mission ROCA, vicar Administrator in Haiti” (without other authority than yourself, it would seem), as you did in your letter to Bishop Gabriel. Such a pretense does not change the reality. As you are well aware, there are many, not only in Haiti, but abroad as well, who understand the truth of the matter fully.
You know well from documents already delivered to you that I remain the administrator of the Mission, and that you were never appointed “vicar”. You have no “rights” as such, either to make appointments or annul them, nor to make use of the facilities and funds of the Mission. It would appear (though I don’t say it is certain) that the check for $11,750 which I put into your hands at the beginning of July for Mission expenses (as well as your salary check at the same time) may have been obtained under false pretenses — though it was more than a month after that before you finally, after repeatedly ignored requests, informed me (albeit indirectly) of your decision to leave the Mission and submit to the Moscow Patriarchate. Needless to say, you are morally obligated to make a full accounting of the application of those funds, and to return to the Mission any money remaining in your hands (or which may have been used in a manner which does not benefit the Mission).
The matter of the unpaid balances (which I won’t now take time to calculate exactly, but about $1200 in each case, I think) on the loans to Foyer d’Amour and to COPFT remains. These funds are, of course, immediately due and payable to the (legitimate) Haitian Orthodox Mission. Further, of course, there is the matter of the incomplete purchase of land for the Mission at Les Cayes, toward which an enormous amount of money (sufficient to complete the transaction) has been placed in your hands. That property, of course, does not belong to you, or to the Moscow Patriarchate, but to the legitimate Haitian Orthodox Mission. It is a matter which cannot be left unresolved.
I’ve dealt with the easier matters first — those involving mere money. Far more serious are the spiritual and ecclesiastical issues.
Acting in accordance with the authority granted me by the Synod of Bishops and ratified by the presiding hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, I must make the following directions (effective immediately, though subject to his ratification):
(1) You are forbidden to represent yourself as a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, or of the Haitian Orthodox Mission.
(2) You are forbidden to serve the Divine Liturgy or other services of the Church in any temple of the Haitian Orthodox Mission (of which your house chapel dedicated to St. Moses the Black and the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Port-au-Prince no longer form a part).
(3) You are relieved of your former appointment as pastor at the Parish of St. Augustine in Jacmel and for the community of St. John of San Francisco in Les Cayes.
(4) You no longer have access to the Mission House at Croix-des-Missions, unless invited there.
(5) You are not to interfere in any way in the internal affairs of the Parish and School of St. Augustine at Jacmel or the community at the Foyer of St. Mary of Egypt/ Chapel of St. Dorothy at LaPlaine.
The status of the communities of St. John of San Francisco at Les Cayes, SS Peter and Paul at Léogane and St. Nicholas at Cap-Haïtien remains undetermined, as the voices of their faithful have not been heard.
Once again, Father, I grieve over this lamentable situation, beg your forgivenes for any way in which I have failed you, and pray that you may soon think better of your actions, offer your repentance, and that I may once again be able to embrace you as a brother priest. There are few things which would bring me greater joy.
With much love and hope for happier days to come,
administrator of the Mission