St. Ambrose
This post is about the legitimacy of the Orthodox hierarchy, and the life of St. Ambrose.
He was born in Maistra, then Turkey, in 1791. He attended a theological school, later becoming ordained as a priest by the local Greek Metropolitan He married in 1811, his wife dying in 1814 after giving him his son, George. He was very skilled in theology and asceticism, and so was appointed Abbot of Trinity Monastery.
After being appointed Abbot of another monastery, he was appointed Protosyncellus for the Patriarchate of Constantinople, a post often given to people with spiritual gifts.
Later, St. Ambrose was appointed Metropolitan of Bosnia. He left for Sarajevo, where instead of kowtowing to the Turkish authorities, he stood up for his people. His people theorized that he must be a Bulgarian, for Greek bishops usually hung out with Turkish officials and collaborated with them, smoking together.
One Bosnian chronicle records:
This lord was a holy man, he cared a lot about the poor. He was a Bulgarian, he was avid in love, and he was only concerned that the people should feel at ease, that the people should not tolerate untruths.
At the time in Sarajevo, Mustafa Pasha ruled. He was cruel and oppressed Christians. There was an uprising, eventually. It ousted the Vizier of Bosnia, but Mustafa remained. He convinced corrupt merchants to complain about St. Ambrose to Constantinople. He was withdrawn, on the 12th of September, 1840.
When the Patriarch of Constantinople was asked why he withdrew St. Ambrose, he responded that he only did it "Only yielding to the insistent desire of the Turkish rulers of Bosnia, from whom much slander was coined for Ambrose." He was given a decent retirement as a Bishop in Constantinople. At the same time, Saint Paul and Saint Alimpy of Belokrinitsy in Austria-Hungary, two Old Believer monks authorized by the Church, had received permission from the Austrian government to establish an Old Believer hierarchy in Austria.
They realized that the new Bishop would need to be pious, and more importantly, baptized. He needed to have three immersion baptism, for other kinds are uncanonical. So they studied the Nikonian churches, and when they researched the Greek Church, they saw that Catholics, who baptized with pouring, were received with three immersion baptism, and that it was practiced. It was then confirmed that St. Ambrose was baptized.
They talked to St. Ambrose about the history of the Orthodox Church, and the necessity of renouncing the Nikonian schism and heresy if he were to be received. They also observed him to ensure he was pious within and without church. He was.
In 1846, he resolved to renounce his heresies and become the Bishop of the Old Orthodox Church of Christ. He stated that only in the Old Believer Church is ancient dogma retained. He informed the Austrian government, and on October 28, 1846, he was received into the Orthodox Church at the Belokrinitsy Monastery in what is now Romania. Before we continue with his life, we will discuss the canonicity of his entering the Church.
Canonicity
The Old Believer Church is not like the priestless. The Church recognizes the Nikonians as heretics of the second degree - schismatics - and not as full heretics. Essentially, we view their hierarchy as being truly ordained from the Church, but without true sacraments, essentially an empty form of ordination which passes on tradition but not total grace. The Quinsext Council contains a relevant Canon to the reception of St. Ambrose:
THOSE who from the heretics come over to orthodoxy, and to the number of those who should be saved, we receive according to the following order and custom. Arians, Macedonians, Novatians, who call themselves Cathari, Aristeri, and Testareskaidecatitae, or Tetraditae, and Apollinarians, we receive on their presentation of certificates and on their anathematizing every heresy which does not hold as does the holy Apostolic Church of God: then first of all we anoint them with the holy chrism on their foreheads, eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears; and as we seal them we say--"The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Essentially, the Ancient Orthodox acknowledge and are able to receive heretics properly baptized (three immersions). But does this apply to Bishops?
When the Metropolis was established in Belaya Krinitsa, not a single church rule was violated. It is necessary to see the special Providence of God in that the hierarch joined the Old Believer church not from the Russian Synod church, but from the Greek, Constantinople. Despite the fall of the Eastern Church, the loss of true piety from ancient times, it still retained in itself the ecclesiastical spirit, evangelical simplicity and humility, than the Nikonian-Peter Church and especially its hierarchy.
The Nikonian Russian church was so blatantly uncanonical at this point, that reception of a Bishop may have been possible, but it would also have been deplored by most of the Orthodox Christians. This is also due to the heavy practice of uncanonical, pouring baptism in the Synodal church, and three full immersions in the Greek church.
Another canon speaking of the canonicity of this practice is Canon VIII of the First Ecumenical Council, regarding the reception of heretical/bishops:
Concerning those who call themselves Cathari [Novatianists], if they come over to the Catholic and Apostolic Church, the great and holy Synod decrees that they who are ordained shall continue as they are in the clergy. But it is before all things necessary that they should profess in writing that they will observe and follow the dogmas of the Catholic and Apostolic Church; in particular that they will communicate with persons who have been twice married, and with those who having lapsed in persecution have had a period [of penance] laid upon them, and a time [of restoration] fixed so that in all things they will follow the dogmas of the Catholic Church.
Wheresoever, then, whether in villages or in cities, all of the ordained are found to be of these only, let them remain in the clergy, and in the same rank in which they are found. But if they come over where there is a bishop or presbyter of the Catholic Church, it is manifest that the Bishop of the Church must have the bishop's dignity; and he who was named bishop by those who are called Cathari shall have the rank of presbyter, unless it shall seem fit to the Bishop to admit him to partake in the honour of the title. Or, if this should not be satisfactory, then shall the bishop provide for him a place as Chorepiscopus, or presbyter, in order that he may be evidently seen to be of the clergy, and that there may not be two bishops in the city.
It is then abundantly clear that, since the Church was able to receive as Bishops Cathari heretics, it is surely possible for the Church to receive as Bishops Nikonians, who are schismatics, and usually not heretics.
Additionally, St. Ambrose was received by chrism blessed by Patriarch Joseph, the last non Nikonian Patriarch before the Nikonians split away from the Church. He was therefore received not by a group of priests, but by a valid Bishop, and by the Holy Trinity. By the Providence of God, St. Ambrose was able to bring back the Hierarchy, and was never executed or captured for his righteous actions.
So the Nikonian Church responded, because St. Ambrose was outside of Russia, with arguments. One of their first arguments was that when St. Ambrose entered the Old Orthodox Church, the anointing wiped out his ordination and his ancient heritage, reaching back to St. Peter. This is a disbelief in grace, stating that because of a bit of oil, God could not maintain an ordination.
They also said that the chrism blessed by Patriarch Joseph was invalid, as it was so diluted over 200 years the chrism was evil. So it seems the Nikonians have a strong belief in the power of what they call useless oil! It seems that this is a heresy, a belief in an object overcoming God's grace.
Their second heretical argument is the Luciferian heresy. The Nikonians generally acknowledge heretical/schismatic baptism, but deny their consecration. They therefore state that the Old Believers cannot be correct, as St. Ambrose, if the Nikonians were heretical, would not be an actual Bishop. This is the heresy of the Bishop Lucifer of Nalaritan in the 4th century. He recognized the baptism of the Arians, and received them with anointing, but did not recognize that once they became Orthodox they would be priests and bishops, and reconsecrated them, something the Nikonians say the Old Believers should have done if they were correct.
Blessed Jerome said in response to the Luciferians:
We do not contradict ourselves: either we accept together with the people and the bishop who makes them the Christian people, or, if we do not accept the bishop, we consider it necessary to reject the people as well.
So Jerome takes the canonical position: That if the baptism of a heretical/schismatic bishop is valid, then his ordination to holy orders is valid as well. Therefore, St. Ambrose is a valid Bishop received from the schismatic Nikonian church.
According to the belief and statement of the ancient Church, “Their actions are worse than the actions of the most wicked and are characteristic of one demons, who transform into an angel of light, not being him, and are falsified by the actions of God, being godless and opposed to God. In the new attitude of the new church to the Old Believers hierarchy — in rejecting ordination and in accepting baptism — it is a truly Doukhoboric, heretical belief.
Another canonical question is whether St. Ambrose's sole ordinations were valid, rather than using three bishops. But St. Eusebius of Samosata did the same thing in an emergency situation, secretly ordaining Bishops by himself to spread the Orthodox Church.
Let's get back to the life of St. Ambrose.
After reception into the Old Orthodox Church
In 1847, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia demanded the Austrian government forcibly close the Belokrinitsy Monastery. He was trying to stop further ordinations, but by this time St. Ambrose had already consecrated two more bishops. The holy Saint was brought to Vienna. He was told he could return to the schismatic Greeks, or he would be sent into exile for life. He said "I have accepted this religion (that is, the oldest of Orthodoxy.) and I don’t want to return." During his time at the Monastery, he lived in two spare cells with icons, observing the fasts strictly, and living a pious life there.
After being appointed Abbot of another monastery, he was appointed Protosyncellus for the Patriarchate of Constantinople, a post often given to people with spiritual gifts.
Later, St. Ambrose was appointed Metropolitan of Bosnia. He left for Sarajevo, where instead of kowtowing to the Turkish authorities, he stood up for his people. His people theorized that he must be a Bulgarian, for Greek bishops usually hung out with Turkish officials and collaborated with them, smoking together.
This lord was a holy man, he cared a lot about the poor. He was a Bulgarian, he was avid in love, and he was only concerned that the people should feel at ease, that the people should not tolerate untruths.
At the time in Sarajevo, Mustafa Pasha ruled. He was cruel and oppressed Christians. There was an uprising, eventually. It ousted the Vizier of Bosnia, but Mustafa remained. He convinced corrupt merchants to complain about St. Ambrose to Constantinople. He was withdrawn, on the 12th of September, 1840.
When the Patriarch of Constantinople was asked why he withdrew St. Ambrose, he responded that he only did it "Only yielding to the insistent desire of the Turkish rulers of Bosnia, from whom much slander was coined for Ambrose." He was given a decent retirement as a Bishop in Constantinople. At the same time, Saint Paul and Saint Alimpy of Belokrinitsy in Austria-Hungary, two Old Believer monks authorized by the Church, had received permission from the Austrian government to establish an Old Believer hierarchy in Austria.
They talked to St. Ambrose about the history of the Orthodox Church, and the necessity of renouncing the Nikonian schism and heresy if he were to be received. They also observed him to ensure he was pious within and without church. He was.
In 1846, he resolved to renounce his heresies and become the Bishop of the Old Orthodox Church of Christ. He stated that only in the Old Believer Church is ancient dogma retained. He informed the Austrian government, and on October 28, 1846, he was received into the Orthodox Church at the Belokrinitsy Monastery in what is now Romania. Before we continue with his life, we will discuss the canonicity of his entering the Church.
Canonicity
The Old Believer Church is not like the priestless. The Church recognizes the Nikonians as heretics of the second degree - schismatics - and not as full heretics. Essentially, we view their hierarchy as being truly ordained from the Church, but without true sacraments, essentially an empty form of ordination which passes on tradition but not total grace. The Quinsext Council contains a relevant Canon to the reception of St. Ambrose:
THOSE who from the heretics come over to orthodoxy, and to the number of those who should be saved, we receive according to the following order and custom. Arians, Macedonians, Novatians, who call themselves Cathari, Aristeri, and Testareskaidecatitae, or Tetraditae, and Apollinarians, we receive on their presentation of certificates and on their anathematizing every heresy which does not hold as does the holy Apostolic Church of God: then first of all we anoint them with the holy chrism on their foreheads, eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears; and as we seal them we say--"The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Essentially, the Ancient Orthodox acknowledge and are able to receive heretics properly baptized (three immersions). But does this apply to Bishops?
When the Metropolis was established in Belaya Krinitsa, not a single church rule was violated. It is necessary to see the special Providence of God in that the hierarch joined the Old Believer church not from the Russian Synod church, but from the Greek, Constantinople. Despite the fall of the Eastern Church, the loss of true piety from ancient times, it still retained in itself the ecclesiastical spirit, evangelical simplicity and humility, than the Nikonian-Peter Church and especially its hierarchy.
The Nikonian Russian church was so blatantly uncanonical at this point, that reception of a Bishop may have been possible, but it would also have been deplored by most of the Orthodox Christians. This is also due to the heavy practice of uncanonical, pouring baptism in the Synodal church, and three full immersions in the Greek church.
Another canon speaking of the canonicity of this practice is Canon VIII of the First Ecumenical Council, regarding the reception of heretical/bishops:
Concerning those who call themselves Cathari [Novatianists], if they come over to the Catholic and Apostolic Church, the great and holy Synod decrees that they who are ordained shall continue as they are in the clergy. But it is before all things necessary that they should profess in writing that they will observe and follow the dogmas of the Catholic and Apostolic Church; in particular that they will communicate with persons who have been twice married, and with those who having lapsed in persecution have had a period [of penance] laid upon them, and a time [of restoration] fixed so that in all things they will follow the dogmas of the Catholic Church.
Wheresoever, then, whether in villages or in cities, all of the ordained are found to be of these only, let them remain in the clergy, and in the same rank in which they are found. But if they come over where there is a bishop or presbyter of the Catholic Church, it is manifest that the Bishop of the Church must have the bishop's dignity; and he who was named bishop by those who are called Cathari shall have the rank of presbyter, unless it shall seem fit to the Bishop to admit him to partake in the honour of the title. Or, if this should not be satisfactory, then shall the bishop provide for him a place as Chorepiscopus, or presbyter, in order that he may be evidently seen to be of the clergy, and that there may not be two bishops in the city.
It is then abundantly clear that, since the Church was able to receive as Bishops Cathari heretics, it is surely possible for the Church to receive as Bishops Nikonians, who are schismatics, and usually not heretics.
So the Nikonian Church responded, because St. Ambrose was outside of Russia, with arguments. One of their first arguments was that when St. Ambrose entered the Old Orthodox Church, the anointing wiped out his ordination and his ancient heritage, reaching back to St. Peter. This is a disbelief in grace, stating that because of a bit of oil, God could not maintain an ordination.
They also said that the chrism blessed by Patriarch Joseph was invalid, as it was so diluted over 200 years the chrism was evil. So it seems the Nikonians have a strong belief in the power of what they call useless oil! It seems that this is a heresy, a belief in an object overcoming God's grace.
Their second heretical argument is the Luciferian heresy. The Nikonians generally acknowledge heretical/schismatic baptism, but deny their consecration. They therefore state that the Old Believers cannot be correct, as St. Ambrose, if the Nikonians were heretical, would not be an actual Bishop. This is the heresy of the Bishop Lucifer of Nalaritan in the 4th century. He recognized the baptism of the Arians, and received them with anointing, but did not recognize that once they became Orthodox they would be priests and bishops, and reconsecrated them, something the Nikonians say the Old Believers should have done if they were correct.
Blessed Jerome said in response to the Luciferians:
We do not contradict ourselves: either we accept together with the people and the bishop who makes them the Christian people, or, if we do not accept the bishop, we consider it necessary to reject the people as well.
So Jerome takes the canonical position: That if the baptism of a heretical/schismatic bishop is valid, then his ordination to holy orders is valid as well. Therefore, St. Ambrose is a valid Bishop received from the schismatic Nikonian church.
According to the belief and statement of the ancient Church, “Their actions are worse than the actions of the most wicked and are characteristic of one demons, who transform into an angel of light, not being him, and are falsified by the actions of God, being godless and opposed to God. In the new attitude of the new church to the Old Believers hierarchy — in rejecting ordination and in accepting baptism — it is a truly Doukhoboric, heretical belief.
Another canonical question is whether St. Ambrose's sole ordinations were valid, rather than using three bishops. But St. Eusebius of Samosata did the same thing in an emergency situation, secretly ordaining Bishops by himself to spread the Orthodox Church.
Let's get back to the life of St. Ambrose.
After reception into the Old Orthodox Church
In 1847, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia demanded the Austrian government forcibly close the Belokrinitsy Monastery. He was trying to stop further ordinations, but by this time St. Ambrose had already consecrated two more bishops. The holy Saint was brought to Vienna. He was told he could return to the schismatic Greeks, or he would be sent into exile for life. He said "I have accepted this religion (that is, the oldest of Orthodoxy.) and I don’t want to return." During his time at the Monastery, he lived in two spare cells with icons, observing the fasts strictly, and living a pious life there.
St. Ambrose was exiled to Slovenia with his son, George. There, he lived an ascetic life for 15 years, sending letters to Belaya Krinitsa very often.
He died of dropsy in 1863, and was buried in the Greek graveyard in Slovenia. He is sometimes called a confessor. There is currently an attempt to bring his holy relics to the Belokrinitsy Monastery, in Romania.
St. Ambrose, pray to God for us!
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