The following come from the Adventures of an Orthodox Mom Blog
Communicable Diseases and the Common Cup
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
A Blessed Lenten Season!
It is with much sadness, pain of heart and love for our Holy Church that I write these lines only a few days after the first Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which is the culmination of her many and great victories against heresy.
There was something different however about this particular Sunday of Orthodoxy in the Americas. I honestly did not expect to witness this sort of thing in my lifetime. It seems that my holy elder (A. Mitilinaios) was justified in teaching that ecumenism leads to secularism and faithlessness.
On this Sunday of Orthodoxy 2010, most of the parishioners of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Rutland Vermont (Diocese of Boston), separated themselves from the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church. Alas! They were administered “hold communion” with an individual plastic spoon!!!
The liberal and anti-orthodox agenda of the New York based newspaper National Herald, well known for the anti-monastic and extreme views of its theological section is what propagated this most sacrilegious and impious action. During the Christmas season (as most liberal newspapers spill out their anti-Christian venom to please their patron, Satan), the “theologians” of this Greek-American newspaper (most of its subscribers are Greek Orthodox) published a commentary by a Dr. John Collis a “distinguished physician and a former member of the Archdiocesan council” (God help us.), on the perils of contracting the H1N1 virus via the Eucharistic, or Common Cup.
His purely scientific, rationalistic, and secular views on this most central and profound mystery of the Body of Christ, of the Orthodox Church, is characteristic of the higher echelon of the scientific community. Tragically, that commentary sowed a great many seeds of doubt in the already darkened minds of the readers of this very popular newspaper.
The tares that he sowed (Matt.13:25) this past Christmas season in the minds of “these little ones for whom Christ died”, did not take long to sprout and grow according to the audacious testimony of a Theodore Corsones who seems to be quite proud of the innovationist spirit of his parish priest. I hereby include the contents of his entire letter to the editor of the National Herald issued 2/20-26/2010.
RUTLAND, VERMONT CHURCH PROVIDES PLASTIC SPOON
To the Editor:
In response to the article written by John Collis, M.D., this is to inform you of the procedure in use this winter at our Greek Orthodox Church in Rutland, Vermont (St. Nicholas Orthodox Church).
The priest instructs the parishioners who prefer to use individual plastic spoons to be first in line. Then, as each one of them approaches, an altar server provides a plastic spoon and the priest administers hold communion (???) to each of then with a plastic spoon. Each spoon that is used is discarded!!! How!!! Where!!! [Emphasis is mine].
Then, those that wish to receive Holy Communion with the common spoon do so immediately afterwards. It works very well and all are pleased with this procedure.
During this winter season, most parishioners are using individual plastic spoons.
Theodore Corsones
Rutland, Vermont
I tried to refrain from any further comments on this travesty but I cannot resist enumerating some of my personal questions on this matter:
1. Did the parish priest receive a blessing from his Metropolitan Methodios?
2. Is he still using the Divine Liturgy of St. John the Chrysostom/Basil?
3. Does he still summon the communicants to draw near with: Fear, Faith and Love? What for?
The fear of God does not exist: It has been replaced by the fear of H1N1!
The faith in this awesome mystery has evaporated. Those scandalized by the Herald and Dr. Collins no longer believe that what they partake is the very Body and Blood of our Creator but a possible disease agent!
The Love for God, which is the first and foremost of the Christian commandments, has been superimposed by self-love, which according to the Fathers is the main source of many evil passions.
In closing I humbly suggest that the Metropolitan of the Holy Diocese of Boston should consider spending less time organizing dialogues and pilgrimages to the Vatican with his Papist friend Archbishop O’Malley, because it sends the wrong signal to his priests and confuses the weak members of the only Church of Christ – the Orthodox Church. More time needs to be spent to immunize the flock with the antibodies of traditional orthodox spirituality so they can once again worship our Lord with fear, faith and love.
For more information please refer to two of our past homilies: Communicable Diseases and the Common Cup. They can be found under the Question and Answer category #8 and #9 and can be downloaded (at no charge) from www.Philokalia.org.
Asking your ardent prayers to have this great temptation expunged from His Holy Church, and to grant forgiveness to His sinful servant Constantine.
**EDITOR’S NOTE: Please read this excellent post, entitled Poly-phenols and Not-So-Poly Faith, on the blog Orthodox Quiet Revolution.
Hi Father, I thought I should add my two-cents to your post as I thought was initially appropriate…
As an Orthodox theology student and current member of the Boston Metropolis I certainly do not disagree with the intent of the article here written by Mr. Zalalas. The issue at hand is one that is theologically erroneous and deserves to be addressed as such. It is, indeed, a travesty that this practice has emerged in one of our parishes. –A practice that effectually reduces the receipt of the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to little more than a purely symbolic act. (Which we, as Orthodox Christians, wholly reject.) However, I am disappointed with the venom that is subsequently directed toward His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios in the remainder of the commentary.
It is unclear to me the relevance of introducing to the discussion His Eminence’s dialogue and exchange with any outsider (be they “Papist” or not.) I absolutely reject the post hoc fallacy here presented linking ecumenical dialogue to “secularism and faithlessness.” This is absolutely ridiculous. Metropolitan Methodios’ relationship with Archbishop O’Malley does not equate to the poor discretion and decision-making of the priest servicing the Rutland parish. Consequently, one cannot blame this most unfortunate event on the ecumenical discussion Metropolitan Methodios engages in. This is a fundamentalist outlook and is not necessarily reflected or supported in the views of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America or by the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Might I suggest that we appropriately address the theological error here presented in Mr. Zalalas’s article and leave his jab at ecumenical discussion out of the picture. In as much as the situation needs to be addressed (and we all agree that it does), I am certain that His Eminence will adequately and appropriately address the treatment of the Holy Eucharist.