Even if we were to presume that there was the
best disposition on the part of the West to draw near and to live Orthodoxy
-something which does not occur, except, perhaps, in the case of the Old
Catholics- this disposition would not render them able to understand and to
live Orthodoxy. So many centuries of apostasy have not passed without
leaving their seal on the souls of these people. And this seal is so
indelible that it cannot be erased except by the Grace of God, and then only
from humble hearts.
In recent years, many in Europe have taken the
name Orthodox and have been chrismated with the Chrism of the Orthodox
Church, but very few of them have really become Orthodox. Most of them have
embraced Orthodoxy intellectually, enchanted by the wealth of knowledge it
offered them and fascinated by a new acquaintance with Christianity which
bridged the gaps left in their minds by the mutilated Christianity of the
West. But before they even received Communion for the first time and before
they even shed a tear for their sins, before they sought the Grace of Christ
in silence and struggle, they considered it their imperative duty to preach
Orthodoxy to the Orthodox.
Scandalized by the ignorance of the Orthodox
in theoretical matters in which they themselves shone, they scorned the
Orthodox people who, although in ignorance, lived the Orthodoxy of their
fathers and were ready to die for it. But God does not dwell in proud minds.
Their theoretical preparation did not save them from error, and as blind
leading the blind, they fell into the ditch of heresies leading others
astray also, or they returned «as a dog to its own vomit» to their former
worldly ways.
