Tr. from Bulgarian
Vladimir Djambov
... and in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church
We offer the readers of “Orthodox Discourse”
an excerpt from the book “I Believe in One God”,
an explanation of the Symbol of the Orthodox Faith
by St Nicholas of Ohrid and Zica (Velimirovic).
Travelers, here is the ship! When the flood came, Noah was saved in a safe ship. The flood of madness and sin rages unceasingly. Therefore, God, the Lover of Man, created a ship of salvation. Ask about His ship and quickly enter!
Do not be deceived by the many colorful boats, decorated and decorated on the outside. Ask about the strength of the seagoing vessel and the skill of the captain. The ship of Christ has the strongest walls and the most skillful helmsman. This is the Holy Spirit Himself, the Omniscient and the Almighty.
Do not be deceived by those who call you to their small and new boats and who offer you separate boats, just for you. The journey is long and the storms are dangerous.
Do not be deceived by those who say that there is no other land, a new world, on the other side of the sea, and therefore there is no need to undertake a long voyage. They invite you to go fishing near the shores. That much they see and know. Truly, they have fallen into an abyss and they are dragging you into the abyss.
Do not let them deceive you! But ask about His ship! Even if at first glance it is the most unsightly of all, it is strong and secure. Although it does not have many colorful flags on it, except for the sign of the cross, know that your life is assured on it. And in sea voyages, the first and main rule is to ensure the life of the traveler.
If you believe in Christ the Savior, Christ-bearers, you also believe in His work. And His work is the Church, the ship of salvation. On it are carried the armies of the saved and those who are being saved. The Lord founded this His work on faith, strong as a stone. As He said and prophesied: “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). And indeed, they have not prevailed against it until now, nor will they ever prevail against it.
The church is called the body of Christ. You are the body of Christ (Rom. 12:5, Cor. 12:27). Therefore, the church is one and only. After all, there cannot be two bodies under one head! And Christ is also called the head of the church (Col. 1:18). Hence: one Christ, one Head, one body — one church.
If there is apostasy and heresies, what bothers you? All this has been foreseen and foretold, just as a skilled helmsman foresees and tells the passengers about the coming storms and troubles. “There must be heresies among you,” says the apostle, “so that those who are approved may be made manifest among you” (1 Cor. 11:19, Slav. B. text). If a group of passengers on a ship make a trough and go out to sea to swim by themselves, be filled with pity for them. And that’s all. Their desperate example, their headlong rush into perdition, confirms your faith in the ship of salvation, which is one and only.
The Church is called holy. You know why it is called holy. First, because it was founded by the Holy One of all saints. Second, because the Lord has gathered, redeemed, cleansed, and confirmed it through His holy and pure Blood. Third, because from its foundation it has been guided, inspired, and animated by the Holy Spirit of God. Fourth, because all its members are called to be holy, separated from all that is unholy in this world where they grow and through which they travel. Fifth, because the holy heavens are destined for its eternal abode. Sixth, because in it are all those God-given means by which men are sanctified and become capable of being inhabitants of heaven. Therefore the Church is called holy.
The Church is also called catholic. Why? First, because it gathers for the living God children from all lands, from all tribes, from all nations. It is not limited to one race, nor to one tribe, nor to one country. The Church is like a man standing at the crossroads and calling travelers to the king's table (Matt. 22:9). The Holy Catholic Church calls and gathers the sons and daughters of men for salvation. And she rejects no one except him who rejects her, thereby rejecting himself. This distinguishes the New Testament, all-encompassing Church from the Old Testament, preparatory, limited to only one people.
The Church is called Catholic also because it is not limited by time. It includes not only all the faithful from Christ onwards, but also all those holy and righteous souls from Adam to John the Baptist, for whose sake the Lord descended into hell.
The Church is called Catholic also because it includes the living and the dead. Her members who have fallen asleep in the Lord are just as much hers as those who are now living on earth. The passengers whom the ship of salvation has carried to the new earth, to the immortal kingdom, as well as those whom it carries today and whom it will carry tomorrow - all are members of the one holy catholic Church.
And so, the Church is called catholic because it is not limited by any one race, nor by any one people, nor by space, nor by time, nor by death.
Because of all this, the Church is catholic both in its doctrine and in its organization.
The Holy Church is also called apostolic. It is called so, first, because its first members were the apostles of Christ - the first personal witnesses of the wonderful life and deeds of the Son of God on earth and His first followers. Second, because the apostles organized it and spread it throughout the world. Third, because the holy apostles were the first after the Lord to shed their blood in its foundations. Fourth, because its apostolicity does not cease to this day. The apostolicity of the Church today is seen from two sides - because of its apostolic mission in the world and because of its ministerial rights, the Orthodox Church constantly bears the seal of apostolicity.
The Church as an institution is not given to rule, but to serve. To serve the people of God to the point of martyrdom, like the Lord Christ. To sanctify human souls, to guide the spiritual and moral life of people, to shine. Not to enslave, but to liberate. For all men are called to the freedom of Christ, to the freedom of the sons of God. As it is written: “Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son” (Gal. 4:7) and again: “Stand firm in the freedom that Christ has given us” (Gal. 5:1). As a ship of salvation, the Church of God carries not slaves, but free children, royal children, to the immortal kingdom of heaven. There is no more precious cargo, there is no more joyful harbor!
This is the faith of the courageous and friendly. It is difficult for the cowardly and the self-centered to accept it. Manly are those who have the courage to rise up against the pagan disorder of their souls and to introduce the gospel order there. Friendly are those who wish to travel in company and look at their companions through the dawn of that eternal light in the distance. And they rejoice in their companions as their brothers, as themselves, as that eternal light which illuminates, caresses and attracts them all to itself. The manly and friendly desire to have order within themselves and around them. They value the help of others and do not refuse their own. They wish to shrink back in order to make room for others. Like God, they burn with a desire that all men may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Recognizing the greatness of the living God, they see nothing great in themselves. They look upon themselves as small members of one mysterious and great body—the Church, of which Christ is the head. They do not jostle each other, they do not fight for supremacy. They are not afraid of the afterlife, they are not afraid of death, they praise the good deeds of their companions, but do not show their own. And so, in agreement, in order and joyfully, they travel like a flock of birds to warm countries - to the kingdom of divine light and parental warmth.
This is your faith, Christ-bearers, the faith of your courageous and friendly ancestors. May it be the faith of your children from generation to generation, of all of them until the end of the journey, to the quiet harbor. This faith is unashamed, Orthodox, saving. Truly, this is the faith of educated people, of those who bear the image of God within themselves. On the Day of Judgment, the day of God's justice, when Christ will judge in righteousness, they will be called blessed.
© Translation from Serbian, “Orthodox Discourse”