ROC cleric: “Easter at Home” – end of Christianity

The famous preacher Archpriest Andrei Tkachev. Photo: screenshot of the YouTube channel Tsargrad TV

Archpriest Andrei Tkachev, missionary and well-known preacher, clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, explained why the idea of Ukraine’s Easter at Home project for the prevention of coronavirus could lead to the end of Christianity.

“Easter is a celebration of victory over death. Right? Right! Christians are those who worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the conqueror of death, the One Who defeated death with His death and the Giver of life. Right? Right! So we go to temples on Passover holiday in order to collectively celebrate Christ's victory over death. Right? Right,” Archpriest Andrei reminded of the basics of the confession of the Orthodox faith on the air of the Tsargrad TV channel.

According to the clergyman, the “Easter at Home” project is an absurd situation in which “Christians, who have a horror of getting ill and dying, literally out of fear of death, refuse to celebrate Christ's victory over death.”

“Frankly speaking, I can’t picture a bigger absurdity. I remember the words of Gregory Palamas, who says that if we are not chaste, no one will believe us that Christ was born of the Virgin. I agree with him. <...> And the same Gregory Palamas says that no one will believe us that Christ is Risen from the dead if we have a fear of death,” the missionary recalled.

Archpriest Andrei added that all people are afraid of death, but perfect love casts out fear.

“So it turns out that if suddenly Easter is celebrated at home (I do not exclude such a possibility), this will mean that we have destroyed everything. It is destroyed at least at the level that, out of fear of death, we refused to truly believe in the Victor of death,” the clergyman warned.

He also reminded the public that even in besieged Leningrad, under constant shelling, people who were staggering from weakness and hunger would go to churches and hold worship during the days of the Resurrection of Christ and His Nativity.

“If you read the history of the besieged Leningrad, the corpses were laying on the streets. The water supply was clogged, everything was icy, and shadow walkers, who hardly resembled people, walked along the streets; the city was strewn with shells and bombs. One can still see in the city commemorative plaques saying: ‘Go to the other side when bombed’. Nevertheless, the temples were open. Both Easter and Christmas were celebrated there,” Archpriest Andrei said.

He drew the attention of believers that in Moscow in the 30s and 45-47s of the 19th century, when "cholera disturbances cascaded", the churches did not close, and it never occurred to anyone to celebrate Easter at home.

“If Christians refuse to worship the Risen Christ out of fear of death, this will be the end of Christianity. Perhaps, we are even witnessing it before our eyes now. I suggest you think properly about it. If you feel ashamed, then you are still alive,” Archpriest Andrei emphasized.

On March 25, 2020, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the state will present the Easter at Home project to prevent the coronavirus.

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