From the Speech of Professor A I Osipov at the Yekaterinskaya Zale in the Moscow Kremlin at His Investiture with the Order of Friendship on 15 November 2017

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We live at a time when we face many problems. True, this isn’t new for Rus; it always seems to be in such a state. You can point up many reasons why it arises in different spheres of life. However, I’d like to speak about the most important things, about roots. One can see the basis for such turmoil in the spiritual and moral state of our society. As F I Tyutchyov put it 150 years ago:

In our day, our flesh isn’t corrupted, but our spirit is, so people are in great distress.

For this reason, a terrible and hellish revolution took place; we just marked its 100th anniversary. Is there any solution to this problem? You hear much talk about it. For my part, I’d like to say that I V Kireyevsky, that remarkable thinker of the 19th-century, pointed up the main line of reasoning very well:

Every moral victory in the soul of one person is a great triumph for all of mankind.

The ancient Romans said:

Vive ut vivas… “Live to live [well]”.

However, is life possible without a soul and without God? Vladimir Vladimirovich, your attention to the spiritual and moral side of our society’s life inspires both optimism and hope. Thank you very much!

A I Osipov

Honoured Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy

17 November 2017

Official Site of A I Osipov

http://alexey-osipov.ru/video/intervju/vystuplenie-v-ekaterininskom-zale-kremlya-15-noyabrya-2017-goda/

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11 March 2017. What Is At the Centre of Christianity? S I Fudel Tells You…

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No educated Russian needs an introduction to S I Fudel. He spent a good deal of his life in the camps… but had no bitterness or hate. He wrote:

My life wasn’t an endless series of misfortunes and mishaps; it granted me the chance to bear the Cross for Christ’s sake. In a sense, I died in infertility. Nevertheless, in a strange way, it gave me gratitude for life and, more surprisingly, gave me the hope of forgiveness.

The priest in the photo is the famous Mitred Archpriest N V Balashov, the real tsar of the MP OVTsS (Department of External Church Relations… he’s Alfeyev‘s minder and everyone knows it).

BMD

2 June 2016. Saints Aren’t Infallible… They CAN be Wrong

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I wrote this on FB:

However, although he was a saint, St Ioann Maksimovich wasn’t a good bishop or theologian. He was, indeed, holy. He was, indeed, a Fool-in-Christ (thus, his title of “Blessed”, instead of the more-common “Righteous”). However, he wasn’t an administrator (his successor Antony Medvedev had to clear away his mess) or was he an academic theologian. He was, perhaps, a great pastor and a great mystic, but he wasn’t a Defender of the Faith as was Antony Bartoshevich or a hardheaded diocesan leader like Bishop Kip in NEPA. In short, St John isn’t a good source for defined Church dogma… I’d look to people like A I Osipov for that. Again, apples aren’t oranges… sainthood isn’t scholarship or leadership… we should remember that.

I wish that the konvertsy like Holland would stop with the proof-texting nonsense. We aren’t “Evangelicals”… we shouldn’t be aping their Antichristian ways. The Church defines its dogma by its shared consensus… not on this-or-that isolated quote from this-or-that saint or theologian. If a saint said something, it either agrees with the agreed consensus or it doesn’t… if it’s the latter, it’s simply wrongheaded, and that’s that. We don’t believe that saints are infallible. NO ONE IS INFALLIBLE. Therefore, it’s entirely possible for a saint to be wrong on a particular point without impairing their sainthood one bit. For instance, St Mark of Ephesus had tinges of Latin Purgatory in his writing… but since he was a saint in other ways, we overlook this error. In like manner, we overlook St John’s errors in re the tollhouse fantasy. He was simply mistaken on that. Note well that the konvertsy brats can’t seem to get that. It tells you much about them and their stance doesn’t it? Keep alert… the times aren’t good…

BMD

16 November 2015. A Thought from Fr Sergei Sveshnikov

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