Author: orthodoxaustralia

  • Was MH17 plane actually MH370 ?

    This would certainly explain why they needed the HM370 plane …
    Navigate to the following section on the website bellow … it is quite visible that MH370 had the window below the left end of the flag sealed off, which is not the case for the MH17. Airlines often seal off windows as part of their own customizations. One of the MH370 photos taken from afar do indeed show a shadow hinting that the window was indeed sealed.

    BUSTED: PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF SHOOT DOWN PLANE WAS MH370
    http://jimstonefreelance.com/

    Their dirty tricks are fooling nobody anymore …
    http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/07/daniel-mcadams/anti-russian-propaganda-unraveling/

    While the West is being discredited to the very last drop of credibility, the media is very busy at work, creating the next world hero … the Orthodox version …

    http://time.com/3020513/why-russians-love-putin/

    Except nobody is telling you Orthodoxy has no heros, only martyrs … but a World Orthodoxy fallen to the charismatic revival influences is no longer capable of understanding …

    Can’t we see? They are creating chaos everywhere to disenchant people so they look for the next hero that can “save” them, not for a Christian role model. Would Tsar Nicholas II (or any real Orthodox emperor) have done media photo-ops like this?

  • Preparing Your Little Home Church …

    The time is short before the final persecution of Christianity becomes widespread, and therefore it is important for Orthodox Christians to make preparations.

    Yes, it was good while the Church had the protection of a Christian Emperor, the last one being Tsar Nicholas II, but the absence of this protection does not mean the Church does not exist. The Church is a spiritual communion, not an earthly Organization as World Orthodoxy (and even more Catholicism) would like us to believe. The protection was indeed established starting with St. Constantine the Great by God’s grace for a specific reason – to protect the Church so it can grow and bring the message of salvation to as many as possible, thus maximizing its fruit bearing potential, but before then there were three centuries of persecution during which time the Church did not exist in any organized form. Our Holy Fathers have prophesied that the Church will end the same way it started – in the catacombs.

    The fact that there are virtually no true bishops or priests left to lead the flock to salvation should not lead to desperation. Those that are blessed to be close to the few that are still continuing unabated on the lines set forth by our Holy Fathers are indeed fortunate and should strive to preserve what they have in any way they can. But what should the majority of Orthodox Christians that feel disenchanted do?

    The answer is found in the early days of Christianity. Many of the Holy Fathers of the Church fore-warned us that these times would come. Since we are more familiar with the Romanian Saints, one such recent example was Fr Adrian Fageteanu who clearly pointed out that there would be no more Church of the masses, but it would be possible for an Orthodox Christian to preserve his faith in his own family.

    Family is indeed the most basic and important form of Catacomb Church – “The Little Church”, and the Bible has quite a few references to home Churches, please allow us to mention a few.

    Since St Aquila is going to be celebrated in only a few days (July 27/14), we are going to start with the Home Church of husband and wife Aquila and Priscilla. In Romans 16:3-4 we can read “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, who put forth their heads for my soul, whom I do not alone thank, but also all the Church of the Gentiles and the church of their household”. Saints Aquila and Priscilla were directly instructed in the mysteries of the Faith by Saint Apostle Paul. In the Orthodox Synaxarion we can read “it was in their large house in Ephesus that the Christians met for the holy Eucharist. It was there too that Priscilla and Aquila brought Apollos to the full knowledge of the faith”. This passage clearly shows that it was in this family’s home Church where another one of the Great Apostles of the first century was formed – St Apollos. Moreover, the Orthodox tradition teaches us that St Paul ordained Aquila as a Bishop in Asia (while still married since the Holy Tradition teaches that Aquila and Priscilla died together by beheading at the hands of pagans). Indeed the teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church say that a married man can be ordained as Bishop under certain circumstances – particularly if the wife accepts to live a life in a monastery as a nun.

    Just as a side observation, when St Paul made Aquila a bishop in Asia, would anyone think St Paul went to register the new Archdiocese in the “official business registry” of that time as an earthly organization, or just the simple act of appointing him was enough in the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ?

    Another example of a Home Church in times of great persecutions can be found in Acts 12:12: “When he [Peter] realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, where there were many people gathered in prayer”. This verse refers to the time right after the ruler of Judea, King Herod Agrippa, suddenly became intolerant of Christians. Seeking to win support from Pharisaic Jews, he had James “the brother of the Lord” beheaded and Peter thrown into prison (12:1-3).

    Lydia’s House Church is also another example: “When they [Paul and Silas] had come out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house where they saw and encouraged the brothers, and then they left” (Acts 16:40).

    And also, Nympha’s Home Church: “Give greetings to the brothers in Laodicea and to Nympha and to the church in her house.” (Colossians 4:15).

    Finally, please let us mention Philemon and Apphia’s House Church: “Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved and our co-worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church at your house.” (Philemon verses 1-2).

    In a family Church, if the man is not a priest and can not do the Eucharist, all the other daily services are permitted, encouraged and recommended. It is therefore perfectly Orthodox that in times of great persecutions to resort to Home Churches without the fear of being “schismatic” as the World Orthodoxy likes to call us. Rather, as Orthodox Christians, let us seek cover until the storm passes and the splinters of the Church once again come together as a whole, before the end.

    Reference: http://oca.org/saints/lives/2014/07/14/101950-apostle-aquila-of-the-seventy

  • MH17 – another false flag …

    And are they calling us the conspiracy theorists? What is the characteristic to recognize these sort of events by? The ever changing story …

    Not long after being revealed that the Sandy Hook shooting in the US was a completely staged hoax (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/01/07/top-ten-reasons-sandy-hook-was-an-elaborate-hoax/), we have another one … already stories of already dead bodies drained of any blood pre-loaded on the flight, film posted on youtube done on the day before the accident, mint-condition stash of passports found near the crash site, the plane being diverted from its normal route, the drop in altitude to save fuel story … all point it’s all a game with people’s minds. Do not be surprised if Putin will be “forced” to pull the plug on the Western financial system … because it does look like it is that they want Putin to react… Just take a look at what the crazed up western media is uttering!

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-20/biggest-dutch-daily-calls-nato-intervention-protect-mh17-feinstein-tells-putin-man-a

    This one is eerily similar to the story of the 911 Pennsylvanian airplane crash …

    http://911blogger.com/news/2013-02-19/shanksville-pennsylvania-911-mysterious-plane-crash-site-without-plane

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjmcEEzgIk

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USjmcEEzgIk

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFlGLqiDogA

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFlGLqiDogA

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c__Fm5liCo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c__Fm5liCo

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28MrASx-RiM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28MrASx-RiM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY4W-8qNnD0

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY4W-8qNnD0

  • Doing God’s work …

    An ominous sign? The “Holy Spirit” of the West is going bankrupt – literally. The Portuguese Bank Espirito Santo (The Bank of the Holy Spirit) is in turmoil. What exactly the relation between a bank and the Holy Spirit is, Orthodoxy will never understand; just like Orthodoxy will never understand why the Vatican needs a bank. What does God have to do with these earthly institutions of enslavement (businesses) is a mystery only the West can understand …

    http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/espirito-santo-turmoil-rocks-confidence-in-europes-banking-recovery-20140711-zt3tq.html

    Oh, wait a second, we now remember, Goldman Sachs explained it all to us, very clearly: God and the Holy Spirit work through banks ! Get it? …

    http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2009/11/09/goldman-sachs-blankfein-on-banking-doing-gods-work/

    The US Senate poised to give even more power to the NSA (if you can believe it). The beast is indeed unstoppable, nobody can fight it …

    http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/12/senate-nsa-secret-cybersecurity-information-sharing-act

    The time to choose either this world or Christ is here …

    http://cnsnews.com/news/article/eric-scheiner/schumer-religious-americans-pick-one-your-faith-or-your-business

    More evidence in support of what we revealed in a previous article about smart meters which are effectively data hubs used to spy on all households in the West …

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2014/06/21/what-you-need-to-know-about-smartmeters/

    http://www.infowars.com/smart-lightbulbs-reveal-wi-fi-passwords/

  • The war on Christianity

    Is the world going to be able to keep together for much longer?

    The assault on your spirituality is relentless, and the war on Christians from inside the Church is reaching unthinkable proportions – while the World Orthodoxy is preparing for their “Holy Synod” where they will copyright Orthodoxy and assert their authority over anyone who dares to oppose them, the same is happening in the Catholic Church. They want total obedience, just like in Communism, because this is Spiritual Communism. They want you to believe that there is no salvation but through them. Do not be intimidated by these totalitarian efforts, the True Church of Christ is not like this, and do not succumb to their fear promoted faith, that is not what Orthodoxy is about, not at all.

    Pope Francis described as “dangerous” the temptation to believe that one can have “a personal, direct, immediate relationship with Jesus Christ without communion with and the mediation of the church.”

    http://ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/church-essential-faith-there-are-no-free-agents-pope-says

    The faith of all Christians has been sealed. Marxism masquerading as Christianity, Liberation Theology and Collective Salvation are now the foundation of the New World Religion, embraced by both World Orthodoxy and Catholicism – yes this is the Christian Communism we have been warning about – and it is here. The jesuits have succeeded, Orthodoxy has been conquered and there is no doubt the True Faith now has to fully go into hiding, there is very little time left.

    Even that there seems to be no hope left, we urge people to not despair. The Church has a solution to this situation as well, it has been shown in the Gospel on a number of occasions, and we are going to show it to you in our next article.

    For now we would just like to remind people about the Holy Martyrs confessors against Communism and how the Official Orthodoxy (at least in Romania) is fighting so fervently against their sanctification. They did not earn their sanctity by being obedient to any Orthodox authority, but only by having a personal and intimate relation with Jesus, in the Orthodox spirit, Whom they confessed in solitude, suffering and persecution. This is exactly the reason why they do not want them recognized as saints, because they would be a “bad example”. Yes, there is salvation outside the totalitarian authority calling itself “Christian” !

    Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, on Sunday held private talks in Jerusalem and signed a Common Declaration in which they pledged to continue on the path towards unity between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Yet even as we make this journey towards full communion we already have the duty to offer common witness to the love of God for all people by working together in the service of humanity, especially in defending the dignity of the human person at every stage of life and the sanctity of family based on marriage, in promoting peace and the common good, and in responding to the suffering that continues to afflict our world. We acknowledge that hunger, poverty, illiteracy, the inequitable distribution of resources must constantly be addressed. It is our duty to seek to build together a just and humane society in which no-one feels excluded or emarginated.

    http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/05/25/declaration_signed_by_the_pope_and_patriarch_bartholomew/1100965

    You may remember our articles about how they were going to form a “common front” in the fight against world iniquities (often hiding behind slogans such as “social justice” etc). You may also remember how we said they were going to throw out all doctrinal differences and unite behind the one goal of saving humanity faced with impeding calamity. That is what they mean when they say “working together in the service of humanity“.

    While they spared no effort in uttering their message of “peace and unity”, the world does seem to be heading rapidly in the other direction …

    Ukraine !

    America !

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDIc_vTr22I

    Israel !

    http://www.truthrevolt.org/israel-revolt/4-million-israelis-half-countrys-population-bomb-shelters

    Middle East !

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2683087/ISIS-wages-war-Shia-Muslims-Extremists-demolish-ancient-mosques-temples-spread-carnage-Iraq.html

    In the meantime, the same story (diversion) of the elite “loosing” their New World Order to the global awakening revolution keeps making headlines
    http://andrewgavinmarshall.com/2014/07/05/world-of-resistance-report-davos-class-jittery-amid-growing-warnings-of-global-unrest/

  • The hypocrisy of the West

    While appearing as fighting for “freedom”, they, the West, financed them, the Communists, all along!

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/04/ikea-funds-romania-secret-police-communist-era

    Does anyone think anything has changed? We don’t. They are still financing the destruction of Orthodoxy, that has been their main goal all along, and the creation of “Capitalism” will be proven in the end to be for the same purpose. The only “freedom” the West stands for today is the freedom to sin and commit every possible abomination before God.

    Communism was after all a Fabian Society experiment …

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2013/03/27/communism-was-a-fabian-society-experiment/

  • Dear Fr Herman (Podmoshensky),

    we did not personally know you, but we talked to you over the phone, some time ago, and we wrote you a few letters to which you replied so kindly and timely. Those days seem like yesterday, and those words still sound as clear today as they did back then. The only difference is that today we are still here, not knowing what awaits us, while you are celebrating together with Christ’s saints. Here we are writing you our last letter. When you were still in this world, you suffered a lot for our stubbornness and on top of that you had to put up with all the impious ones. Father Seraphim Rose, your Blessed companion for so many years, once wrote something like this: when all around you start to praise and honour you, there must be something wrong with yourself because it means you are part of this world …

    In this apostate world, being able to remain an ordinary man is indeed extraordinary ! What can we say about a virtuous faithful in the Lord ? The ones under the dominion of satan would go completely crazy, struggling to formulate as many tricks as possible, to pull down any Orthodox role model ! Our dear Father Herman, you were one of those few who brought thousands and thousands to the Faith, showing them the Real Path to Salvation! This material and demented world could change, of course, if WE had the will to change, but nothing like this is happening: we are still hypnotized by virtual images, we are still following untruthful leaders, and we are still choosing to go on the worldly path to perdition !

    Father Herman, you had the courage to be different, an extraordinary disciple of Christ, showing to everyone the narrow Path of Salvation, which is given by the Orthodox Church. “Russian Pilgrim”, the magazine that you edited for so many years, is yet more evidence of your struggle of teaching us about the true Spirituality that we have lost. Obviously, this world will perish sooner or later, but while we still live on this earth we must hope that through great intercessors like you, God our Lord will show His great mercy, and show us how to lead a fruitful life ourselves, so we could rejoice into the Heavenly Realm, where you Father Herman, lastly, will be finding the eternal peace, together with ALL your co-workers into Christ !!!

  • Fr Herman (Podmoshensky) has reposed in the Lord

    http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/71886.htm

    frherman

    Memory eternal Fr Herman, may God rest your soul in peace amongst His saints! Thank you for everything you have done for us the sinners.

    Matthew 7:16-18:

    “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit”.

    These are the words of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let them who have ears hear!

    We certainly don’t expect the “canonical” World Orthodoxy to ever say anything good about Fr Herman, but the above article has already shown us Fr Herman’s fruits:

    “He was defrocked by ROCOR for his disobedience in 1988. Fr. Herman’s missionary work continued, in fact bringing many people into the Orthodox faith.

    Having met Eugene Rose—the future Fr. Seraphim—in San Francisco, the two began publishing an English language periodical called The Orthodox Word, and opened a small Orthodox bookstore near the Holy Virgin Cathedral in that city. Living under the guidance of St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco, they resolved after his repose to settle in the wilderness and live the monastic life. After searching for a suitable place, they decided to purchase a parcel of land in northern California, Shasta County. Eventually they would be tonsured monks and ordained priests of ROCOR. Fr. Seraphim reposed in 1982, and Fr. Herman took a turn for the worse not long afterward, leading the monastery brotherhood away from its canonical bishop and finally stepping down from the abbacy in 2000. The St. Herman of Alaska Monastery now continues its monastic life under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The brotherhood currently numbers about twelve. A women’s monastic skete not far from the monastery was also largely his creation, as were two more communities on Spruce Island in Alaska, one for men and the other for women. All three of these communities are now also in the Serbian Orthodox Church. Besides founding the St. Herman of Alaska Monastery and starting The Orthodox Word, which is still published by the monastery, Fr. Herman renewed the pre-revolutionary Russian language journal entitled Russky Palomnik, or “Russian Pilgrim”. The journal’s launch coincided with the perestroika era in Russia, and it was sent to that country of its origin were Orthodox literature had become scarce, enjoying there immense popularity. Possessing extensive archives of émigré literature and manuscripts, Fr. Herman continued compiling issues of the Russky Palomnik to his final days. The St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood has also published a substantial number of books using material collected by Fr. Herman, notably a series on the Optina Elders.”

  • The prophets of the New Age

    Again we have to start by referring back to Blessed Seraphim Rose’s Orthodox Survival Course because this subject ties closely into this invaluable Orthodox resource. Fr Seraphim covered this sort of topic extensively in his work and we pray to him to not allow us to go astray from the direction he has shown us so clearly.

    Link to Orthodox Survival Course

    As opposed to revelation from Christ which inspired all the Orthodox prophecies throughout the centuries, the non-orthodox world has always had its own “prophets” who had their own sort of revelation, only not from God. The devil does not know the future, but certainly knows its own plans, which can be revealed from time to time to so called “prophets”. There were many such prophets throughout history, but on many occasions these prophecies fell short from materializing only because God spoils Satan’s plans. The other way (Satan spoiling God’s plans) never works !

    It is important to understand that in order to deceive, the devil has to try out hard to stick to its original plans, otherwise all its efforts are in vain and its prophecies rendered worthless, and this has got to be the case especially in these end times when deception has to be complete, given that the seal holding it bound in Hell has been removed and the powers it has been given to deceive are now greater then ever.

    One such “prophet” was Nostradamus who may appear to have gotten a few things right and who’s prophecy about the “Third Antichrist” we covered in many earlier articles in which we tried to show how that is the greatest deception being prepared for humanity. Here is one of them:

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2013/06/08/the-third-antichrist/

    Here is how the deception looks like :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLoS8mTe-BQ

    But today we would like to focus primarily on another “prophet” of the New Age, non other than Edgar Cayce, who some consider to be the Father of the New Age, even though the new age movement has its root deep in the early days of the heresy of Catholicism, as Fr Seraphim has clearly shown.

    So who was Edgar Cayce?

    http://www.netplaces.com/psychic/what-is-psychic-ability/edgar-cayce-father-of-the-new-age.htm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce

    But what about his teachings, do they follow the lines of Orthodox teachings? Not in any way, shape or form. In fact Cayce’s teachings are so anti-christian, it is hard to find another author to be a better reference for our subject than Edgar Cayce. We invite you to take a look at some of these “teachings” – it is worth mentioning that Edgar Cayce was one of those who believed in reincarnation and also believed that Jesus spent His “lost years” in Tibet and India where He allegedly gained His wisdom from some “gurus”. For this subject we recommend the writings of Elder Paisios’ Of Mount Athos in the book “The gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios” (http://www.amazon.com/The-Gurus-Young-Elder-Paisios-ebook/dp/B00AFFFCDK).

    Please see here the kind of abominations Edgar Cayce preached.

    http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen049.html

    What caught our attention about Edgar Cayce was how his prophecies about Russia are now being embraced openly in the charismatic circles in America and everywhere. We tried to warn about the trend of the entire charismatic movement ending up in Putin’s hand, but never did we think things are indeed so serious. We would like to just point out two of our recent articles in support:

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2014/06/27/the-pitchforks-are-coming

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2014/05/24/the-new-new-world-order/

    We have long been trying to raise the alarm about this plan. Please read the following article and watch the following video and you will understand what we are trying to say.

    http://www.rense.com/general82/hope.htm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PvybjMkxlc

    What is the future of Orthodox Russia going to be? Is it going to be such a glorious triumph of Orthodoxy in the times of the Antichrist as these false prophecies seem to suggest? Or is it going to be, by God’s providence, a much smaller Russia which will not go the way Putin and the Moscow Patriarchate are going today, but restore the former Russia? There are many prophecies of the Holy Orthodox fathers who say Russia will only survive as a very small country, but under the rule of Orthodox lawfulness – a restored Orthodox Tsar (monarch). Here are some prophecies about Russia (http://kiev1.org/en/prorochestva-o-rossii.html)

    Ieroshimonah Seraphim Of Vyritsa: “When East gaining force, everything will become unstable. The number is on their side, but not only that: they are sober and hardworking people, and we have such a heavy drinking … There will come a time when Russia will rend apart. First, it will be divided, and then begin to loot the wealth … The eastern part of China will … When does China wish to go further West to the deployment and will not allow. Russia will survive, having lost most of their lands. ”

    Schema Monk John Of Uglichpodviza, the Church of St. Nicholas in the village of Nikolskoye, Yaroslavl Diocese: “China will go to war with us 200 million strong army and takes all of Siberia to the Urals. The Japanese will be hosting in the far East. Russia will start to tear to pieces. Will be a terrible war. Russia will remain within the boundaries of the times of Tsar Ivan the terrible. Come Venerable Seraphim Of Sarov. It will unite the Slavic peoples and bring with him the King …

    Please find below an important article we had on the subject:

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2013/09/03/a-few-notes-on-blessed-seraphims-lecture-on-the-future-of-russia-and-the-end-of-the-world/

  • The Pitchforks Are Coming …

    Luke 8:17: For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

    For once, a major political publication in US is telling you the truth. Yes, the rich have been set up and now the devil is coming for his due.

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014.html

    “Many of us think we’re special because “this is America.” We think we’re immune to the same forces that started the Arab Spring — or the French and Russian revolutions, for that matter. Here’s what I say to you: You’re living in a dream world. If we don’t do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us.”

    Even “they” are warning us that the coming “revolution for a more just world” is of the same nature as the French and Russian (bolshevik, communist) revolutions. Are we listening?

    This is why, our dear brethren in Christ, it is so important to read and understand what the nature of these revolutions is and why Blessed Seraphim Rose’s Orthodox Survival Course is so important. The devil and his minions always works iniquity and then come with “a solution”.

    Link to Orthodox Survival Course

    True Orthodoxy has all the answers because it is the Living Truth revealed by God to the world!

    After having read it (the course), headlines like the following may help form a context for the true Christians to understand the world they live in, and see how the final battle against the Church of God is forming. Let us stand firm in the truth of Orthodoxy !

    The charismatics are preparing their “spiritual” revolution (to which World Orthodoxy is joining):

    http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=22896

    http://www.ijreview.com/2014/06/150286-duck-dynastys-phil-robertson-common-sense-idea-root-corruption-congress/

    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2013/12/23/the-new-orthodox-christianity/

    Muslims are preparing for their revolution too :

    http://shoebat.com/2014/06/22/peaceful-muslim-sect-turned-fanatic/

    http://wideawakeamerica.com/irans-general-salami-american-empire-collapse-near-2/

    Jews are preparing too :

    http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/red-heifer-discovered-major-obstacle-to-the-rebuilding-of-the-jewish-temple-removed

    A New “New World Order” is coming,
    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2014/05/24/the-new-new-world-order/

    and a “New Saviour” (the ecumenist “Christ”) is born:
    http://orthodoxaustralia.org/2014/05/20/finding-the-ecumenist-christ/

    Where do we stand as Orthodox Christians?