Archbishop Averky (Taushev) 1906-1976
Unlike…spurious faith, true Orthodoxy was given and must be received without novelty and nothing must be accepted as a teaching or practice of the Church which is contrary to the Holy Scriptures and the dogma of the Universal Church. True Orthodoxy thinks only to serve God and to save souls and is not preoccupied with the secular and ephemeral welfare of men. True Orthodoxy is spiritual and not physical or psychological or earthly. In order to protect ourselves from “the spirit of the age” and preserve our fidelity to the true Orthodoxy, we ought firstly and with all our strength live blamelessly: A total and rigorous commitment to Christ, without deviation from the commandments of God or the laws of His holy Church. At the same time, we must have no common prayer or spiritual liaison with the modern apostasy or with anything which “soils” our holy Faith, even those dissidents who call themselves “Orthodox.” They will go their way and we will go ours. We must be honorable and tenacious, following the right way, never deviating in order to please men or from fear that we might lose some personal advantage. (The Orthodox Christian Witness, wherein it appeared translated from the French in La Foi Transmise (Nov. 1968), pp. 19-22)
Blessed Elder Philotheos Zervakos 1884-1980
The Lord commanded us to love our enemies and to pray for those who trouble, hate and treat us unjustly. The Old Calendarists are divided and one portion hates, criticizes and curses the other as heretical. They scorn the words of the Lord, who says that we should have love for one another, that we should love our enemies. And after so much hate, criticisms, anathemas, they self-title themselves as genuine [true] Orthodox! But since the one portion considers the other as heretical, which portion is the genuine Orthodox one? Since they don’t have love, none of them is Orthodox, and since they do not keep the commandment of love nor shall they be saved, because whoever does not have love no matter how many virtues he has, even if he has prophetical gifts, apostolic gifts, and even martyrdom, without love does not save us. (Paternal Counsels 1 & 2. source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/paternalcounsels.aspx)
Once in pre-revolutionary Russia, a certain well known holy elder was asked to characterize a true Orthodox Christian. “A true Orthodox Christian,” answered the elder, “is one who is repenting.” (Assistance in Holy Confession by Priest Gregory Naumenko. Orthodox Life Vol. 63 No. 2, March-April 2012)
