�Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God,
and Him only shalt thou serve!�

(The Gospel according to Matthew, 4:10)

Millions of Orthodox and Catholics today bow to worship before human remains as objects of �holy power.� They kiss them, get on their knees before them, and believe that this is pleasing to God. But is it? What is the right way to worship God? Where is Truth? What does genuine Orthodoxy consist of? These and other questions are answered by Sergei Zhuravlov in the Orthodox Reformed newspapers The Banner of Christ and The Living Church. Sergei is the head of the Ukrainian Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior and the Russian Orthodox Reformed Church.
�Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.� (Eph. 5:25-27)

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About the author

Sergei Yuryevich Zhuravlov, the archbishop of the Ukrainian Reformed Orthodox Church of Christ the Savior (UROC CS) and the Russian Orthodox Reformed Church, was born May 14th, 1969 in the city of Cheboxar, the capital of Chuvashia [one of the republics in the Russian Federation]. He was brought to repentance in a miraculous way and turned to God in 1982. In 1988 he began his service in the traditional Russian Orthodox Church (ROC MP) as a cantor and sexton in the Orel-Bryansk diocese.

In 1991, after brief service as a deacon, he was appointed to the priesthood and served first as the regular cleric of Ryazan, and then as the head of the Bryansk diocese of the ROC. The appointments to deaconship and priesthood were both performed by the Honorable Simon, the archbishop of Ryazan and Kasimov who, beginning in 1991, serves as dean of the Orthodox churches of the Ryazan and Bryansk regions.

In 1991, as dean of the Church of St. Basil in the Bryansk region, Father Sergei was drawn back to the Word of God and experienced a personal awakening. In that same year, he left the ROC and was subsequently accused of heresy. Since then, he has worked as a teacher in Protestant (Charismatic, Pentacostal and Baptist) Bible schools and Institutes in Ukraine, making trips into Russia, Germany, Belarus and Moldova to teach lectures.

Sergei was ordained as a bishop on January 14th, 2002, with the blessing of Metropolitan Stephan Linistky, the patriarch of the Apostolic Orthodox Church of the Renewal (AOCR). The ordination was performed by Archbishop Kiriak Temertsidi and Bishops Alexander and Sergei Sarkisovy, with the blessing of Bishop Vitaly Kuzhevatov. The council of bishops of the AOCR appointed Sergei Yuryevich Zhuravlov as Autonomous Archbishop of Kiev, and until the end of 2004 he carried out his ministry in Ukraine.

At the present day, Archbishop Sergei is the first �white� (i.e. married) Orthodox bishop in Russia since 1946. The Lord has given him a wonderful wife and helper, Inna Sergeevna, and six children � Anastasia, Nikolai, Seraphim, Tatiana, Sergei and Inna.

Bishop Sergei is widely acknowledged in the Christian world as the leader of a modern Orthodox Reformation in the territories of the former USSR. The lectures and sermons of the Honorable Sergei, dedicated to the reform and renewal of Orthodoxy and broader Christianity, are listened to with interest in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Germany, Israel, the USA, Canada and other countries of the world.

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Dear and blessed readers!

In the past few years, the publishers of the reformed publications The Banner of Christ and The Living Church have received a great many letters, in which you have asked us to answer many and varied spiritual questions. In this edition of the newspaper, we will address questions concerning the worship of holy objects and relics, and will try to present in detail the point of view of the modern Renewal Movement in Orthodoxy, which bases its teachings on the Word of God. This firm foundation should be the basis for every expression of the Christian Church on earth, not only in the Orthodox jurisdiction. Jesus said, �Whosoever heareth these words of Mine and doeth them, is like unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.� (Matt. 7:24) �Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word; that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.� (Eph. 5:25-27)

The holy man and reformer Cyril Lucaris (1572 � 1638), patriarch of Constantinople, wrote: �We believe that the Holy Scriptures are theodidakto (i.e. that which God has taught us), and that their author is none other than the Holy Spirit. We must believe in the Scriptures unwaveringly. For it is written, �We have also a more sure word of prophecy; and ye do well that ye take heed to it, as unto a lamp that shineth in a dark place.� Therefore, the authority of the Scriptures is the highest authority of the Church. For there is a great difference in this: whether it is the Holy Spirit speaking, or the tongue of man. After all, at any point a man may become lost through ignorance; he may turn someone away from the path of truth, or may himself be turned away. But the Divine Scriptures cannot be turned away from the path of truth and cannot become lost. They are always infallible and sure!� (Cyril Lucaris, Orintalis Confessio Christianae fidei, 1631. Taken from the series of articles �Teachings of the Faith�, published by the Reformed Orthodox Church.)

We Orthodox Christians, like all Christians, are not in need of cosmetic reforms, but of an actual renewal through the Word of God. Only by returning to Gospel Truth can the Church of Christ and every individual Christian experience genuine reformation and renewal. It says in the Bible that �all Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, prepared for every good work.� (II Tim. 3:16-17)


Question: Your Holiness, how can the churches of the UROC conduct the liturgy if, as you claim, you have no holy relics? You are going against the ancient practice of the Church. After all, this is an apostolic tradition of Orthodoxy, and without it the UROC cannot even called itself Orthodox.
Archpriest S.
(Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchy)

Question: It is impossible to conduct the Divine Liturgy without holy relics�.
Mother Superior K.
(Orthodox Church)

Answer: Many of our readers, both clergy and laypeople, parishioners of churches and monasteries, frequently ask similar questions. Not long ago I was talking with a regular parishioner of a certain Orthodox church in Kiev. In amazement, she asked me, �How can you, an Orthodox bishop, perform the liturgy without holy relics? That is an impermissible simplification and violation of the apostolic faith.� It was the first time she had seen an Orthodox minister perform the liturgy without using the remains of the dead, and praying only to God, not to the saints or angels.

The heart of the matter is that, for Christian ministers, the Word of God must be the foundation: �Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.� (Luke 11:28)

What is the Liturgy? A seminar textbook declares: �The Liturgy is the public worship service, after which the Sacrament of the Eucharist is performed (a.k.a. �the Thanksgiving�).� In the Orthodox tradition, the Eucharist is the name for the breaking of bread � communion � instituted by Jesus Christ.

So how did Jesus Christ Himself conduct the breaking of bread when He served communion to His disciples? Did He use the remains of dead saints? Were there holy relics under the Passover table around which the apostles gathered? Let us take this question to the Bible: �And when the hour was come, He reclined, and the twelve Apostles with Him. And He said unto them, I have greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God. And, taking the cup and giving thanks, He said, Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the Kingdom of God shall come. And, taking bread and giving thanks, he broke it and gave unto them, saying: This is My body which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying: This cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you.� (Luke 22:14-20)

Although the Apostle Paul was not at the table for that last Passover Seder of the Old and New Covenants, he did receive a revelation through the Holy Spirit about communion: �For from the Lord Himself I have received that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and having given thanks, He broke it and said: Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also the cup, when he had supped, saying: This cup is the New Testament in My blood; this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread (matza, or unleavened bread) and drink this cup, ye do declare the Lord�s death until He comes. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread or drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty against the Body and Blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord�s body.� (I Cor. 11:23-29)

Whenever the Bible mentions communion, nowhere does it say that on the table (represented by the altar) at which the Liturgy is observed, or in the cloth covering this table (or altar), there should be human remains or �relics�. Jesus Christ did not teach such religious occultism to His disciples; He taught them genuine worship and respect for God.

Archimandrite Spiridon, of the Gregory-Bizyukovsky monastery in the Khersonsky diocese, writes the following explanation of John 6:32-35, 51-58 (where the sacrament of the holy Eucharist is revealed): �We must tell the truth: in His teaching, Jesus Christ did not recognize either church hierarchy or sacraments; neither icons nor cults of saints, relics, temples, monasteries, church bylaws and so forth. He knew only that which He preached. And He preached only the pure will of His Heavenly Father, which is the one source of spiritual life for the sons of God; the living, active presence of God in oneself; the perfectly just principles of gospel morality.

�Let us look at these words of Christ: ��I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst�. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; he that eateth of this bread shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. When the Jews began to argue among themselves, saying: How can He give us His Flesh to eat? � then Jesus said unto them: Verily, verily I say unto you, if ye will not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, ye will not have life in you. Whoso eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My Flesh is true food, and My Blood is true drink. He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth of Me shall live by Me. This is that bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and died: he that eateth this bread shall live forever.� (John 6:32-35, 51-58)

�These words of Christ refer exclusively to evangelical ethical principles of life, and not to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. If they had been referring to the Eucharist, as church representatives understand and explain them, then Christ would not have explained this expressive imagery with the following words: �Doth this offend you? � It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.� (John 6:61, 63) Jesus completely denies the Jew�s literal understanding of eating His Body and drinking His Blood, and instead attaches it to His spiritual and moral gospel teachings. Christ used the words �Body� and �Blood� to refer to the very highest level of organic family ties between Himself and his disciples and followers, achieved through the inner life of free-will discipleship, and the voluntary love-motivated fulfillment of His holy moral principles of life.� (1922, Archmandrite Spiridon, from Confession)

The one who takes communion without discerning the Body of the Lord, without having made a decision to change his life, and without true repentance, will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord. The remains of the saints have absolutely no relevance to this issue. The Bread and the Wine are only sacramental symbols of our unity with Christ and God. Grace does not reside in the pieces of bread, cut or broken by the minister, but in our living Lord Jesus Christ Himself.


Question: Your Holiness, when you state that �in the first centuries of Christianity no holy relics were used by the Christians�, how do you explain that the apostles frequently held services in the catacombs?
Father T.
(Ukrainian Catholic Church)

Answer: The Christians gathered in the underground graveyards called �catacombs� because there was practically nowhere else for them to gather. They were threatened on all sides by arrest, and the only place they could hide from their Roman pursuers was in the catacombs. Christians were not the only ones to gather there: criminals, homeless people, members of sects and satanic groups and magic cults outlawed in the Roman Empire � all these also took refuge in the catacombs. That is why, to this day, all sorts of magical figures and occultic symbols can be found on the walls of the catacombs.


Question: Honorable Sergei, in your rejection of relics, you are repeating the error of Leo Tolstoy and other heretics and reformers�
A.G.
(parishioner of the Russian Orthodox Church)

Answer: Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy correctly identified many of the errors of our church. His excommunication is a shame of which the church has yet to repent. In his novel Resurrection [or Sunday], in chapters 39 and 40, he laid out an entire program for the reformation of Orthodoxy, presented in literary form. This was the essence of Tolstoy�s genius � as a prophet and lover of righteousness. He wrote about how the church services of Orth

Question: You were anointed to the priesthood by members of a cult�. Our bishops have the right of succession from the apostles, and there are holy relics in the altars of our churches�. When you were anointed, there were no holy relics present� therefore, there was no grace present�.
Archpriest D.
(Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy)

Answer: There is much written in the Word of God about the laying on of hands, but nowhere does it say that human remains should be used during these anointings. The grace of God comes through the laying on of hands by His true servants: �Through the laying on of the Apostles� hands the Holy Ghost is given.� (Acts 8:18) And this is done �according to the prophecy� (I Timothy 4:14), and should be carried out according to the teaching of the Bible, not the teaching of men.

The grace and hierarchic right of succession of the modern Reformed Orthodox Church comes from strong men of God who are recognized in the Christian word: the Metropolitan of Moscow, Stephan Linitski; the head of the Apostolic Orthodox Church of the Renewal (AOCR), Kiriak, archbishop of Pyatigorsk and the Northern Caucasus; Sergei, bishop of Ttsarskoe Selo [near St. Petersburg]; and Alexander, bishop of Dedovo.

On January 14th, 2002, in Moscow, in the church of the holy martyr and archpriest Alexander Mien, I was anointed as an archbishop of the Apostolic Orthodox Church of the Renewal (AOCR), under the authority of the Kiev (now Kiev-Belotserkov) diocese of the Ukrainian Reformed Orthodox Church.

The spiritual foundations and roots of the Apostolic Orthodox Church of the Renewal have their beginnings in the Russian True Orthodox Church, which refused to accept the declaration of Metropolitan Sergei of Stargorod, who stated that �your joys are our joys� and betrayed the cause of all the Russian Orthodox Churches. [The author refers to Sergei�s declaration of the Church�s loyalty to the communist government, which eventually led to the relaxation of Soviet persecution against Orthodoxy.]

The True Orthodox Church (TOC) was cruelly persecuted for many years. During the Second World War, many of the leaders of the TOC found themselves in the occupied territory of Ukraine; and, as the legalization of the Church appeared possible, they came out from underground and poured into the Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church (which was founded through the efforts of Ukrainian bishops as well as bishops from the Moscow patriarchy.)

But, facing the threat of physical destruction after the coming of the Soviet army, most of the bishops of the Independent Ukrainian Church (including Bishop Mstislav Skripik) had to flee Ukraine. They continued their church activities in the churches of the USA and Canada. The fall of the Soviet Empire, and Leonid Kravchuk�s rise to power as the first president of an independent Ukraine, made it possible for Metropolitan Mstislav Skripik to return to his homeland of Kiev and restore the Independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In this church, on November 19th, 1990, he was elevated to the office of Patriarch.

After the death of Patriarch Mstislav in 1993, the Ukrainian Church split into two parts: the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchy, with Patriarch Filaret Denisenko at its head; and the Ukrainian Independent Orthodox Church, with Bishop Dmitri of Pereyaslav and Sicheslav as its Patriarch.

Dimitri, Most Holy Patriarch of Kiev and All the Ukrainian Slavs, was born Vladimir Yarema on December 9th, 1915, in the village of Glind (Poland). As a child, he was active in school, helped at the church, and independently memorized an entire complex of church songs. From 1931 to 1938, Vladimir Yarema studied art in the city of Lvov. He mastered music theory, sol phage, and directing, and entered seminary.

On August 3rd, 1947, he was anointed to serve as a deacon; and, on the 10th of August in 1947, was anointed priest. He served in the parishes of Lvov, where he was frequently moved from parish to parish because of his active preaching and refusal to cooperate with the departments of safety [i.e. the government services that spied on churches]. On August 19th, 1989, Archpriest Vladimir Yarema announced that the Petro-Pavlov parish of Lvov was switching to the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Independent Orthodox Church, which at that time was led by the Blessed Metropolitan Mstislav Skripnik. After the death of Patriach Mstislav, at the request of the episcopate, V. Yarema received holy orders and was anointed to the position of bishop.

On September 7th, 1993, the Second Local Council chose Dmitri [Vladimir Yarema] as the Patriach of Kiev and All the Ukrainian Slavs. On the 14th of October in 1993, he was installed as Patriarch in a ceremony that took place in the Church of Salvation at Berestov. On February 25th, 2000, the Most Holy Patriarch departed for his home in heaven.

On December 17th, 1996, with the blessing of Patriarch Dmitri, Bishops John Modzalevski and Methodius Kudryakov installed Stephan Linitski (now the head of the Orthodox Church of the Renewal) as Archimandrite of the True Orthodox Church. This was the beginning of official recognition for the UROC and the modern Russian Renewal Movement.