His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, said the Church is undergoing difficulties and trials in the 21st century that are clearly of an apocalyptic nature.
“We understand and see — when I say “we” I mean the entire Church, —that the Church of the 21st century is going through trials that are undoubtedly of an apocalyptic nature,” said the Patriarch on February 1 after the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the occasion of the 12th anniversary of his enthronement.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill noted that these tests are connected primarily “with our faith, with our faithfulness to the Lord, and with our ability to live according to God’s law.”
“[That doesn’t mean] confessing the faith in words and going to church out of habit, but following the basics of our faith, the Divine commandments in our own life, through which [people can] achieve salvation by the grace of God and achieve the true well-being of human life, both here on earth, and, of course, in the Kingdom of Heaven,” said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Describing the current era as a whole, Patriarch Kirill noted that the times “are not getting easier and more peaceful”, and the coronavirus pandemic, in particular, “is a sign of this trouble and these difficulties.”
“This is only one material sign, but how many spiritual, hidden signs of this trouble exist which really touches the life of a huge number of people! And if we get to the source of this trouble, [we will see that] this source is not some material factor, by any means, [because] they do not get worse over the years. Although during the pandemic this test fell to the lot of our people as well. But first of all, these are not so much material temptations and difficulties as they are purely spiritual temptations,” concluded His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.
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