THREAD on the Orthodox response to the Wuhan coronavirus: As us Orthodox are painfully aware and in reaction to the virus, our bishops decided to deprive people of the very life of their Christian identity. Things such as divine services, Holy Confession, and even the Holy Gifts.

This is undoubtably wrong. In all my private correspondences with Athonites, they are a little surprised (it would not be strange for many of us to be scandalized) by the behavior of our bishops. Fro 2000 years, we have an Orthodox ethos that informs our response to plagues.

This includes MORE services, not less, manifesting our repentance, and begging for His mercy. Processions are very common in response to plagues. The sprinkling of holy water everywhere is also common. Even going to the sick themselves to visit and minister to them.

Faithfulness in God during a plague means we take precautions to stay healthy, while we cling to the conviction if God wants to keep us healthy, we will stay healthy; if He wants us to suffer the sickness, we will; if he wants us to die from it, He is calling us to our next life.

Faithlessness to God during plague is abhorrent beliefs as these: (worst of all) the Holy Gifts will spread the virus, coming together as the body of God (i.e. going to church) will spread the virus. Venerating things which transmit divine energy (i.e. grace) spreads the virus.

By venerable things we mean holy icons, the priest's hand or epitrachelion (stoll), kochliarion (spoon), anointing brushes for unction or chrismation, etc. These things do not make you sick! Rather, they take away sickness, when one has faith. It blasphemes God to believe this.

Since our bishops have shut down everything, I have seen people thinking such things who hadn't really thought them before. The bishops are explicitly or implicitly increasing the faithlessness of their flock. Fortunately, some bishops (very few) at the global level keep faith.

Surely we can interpret all this as apocalyptic. The end times will be harder than this, but will also look something like this. The forces of Antichrist are doing a test now and learning from it. We must pray our bishops are learning too.

Science will save us, we are told over and over and over and over again: from every single political persuasion... Well I can tell you right now, science will keep "saving" us, until our faith in it is complete...

... Then, a day will come (I assure you) something will happen and science cannot save us, prompting a "crisis in faith" which leads the whole world to despair. At that time, a miracle-working, smooth-talking man will appear solving all our problems: the Antichrist.

Having all this explained to me by the Athonites, they also forcefully make another point, probably the most important one. We cannot judge or condemn our bishops, that is hubris and arrogant. They are our bishops. We judge these actions, but it is a sin to condemn them for this.

Our responsibility is to more earnestly seek repentance; God has not taken the plague from us, so we need to repent more so than ever. For our bishops: we must be patient with them (very important), pray for their repentance, and wait for that time (as God does with us).

Many venerable hierarchs and clergymen have explained God has excommunicated us for not taking what we had seriously. This is a healthy and humble approach we should accept too. We live comfortably and all of us have not taken all the opportunities God has given us.

There is truth to this. We could have gone to more services. We could have taken a canona (prayer rule). We could have followed this rule better. We could have kept the fast days. We could have restrained our eyes, our words, our ears. We could of prayed with our prayer ropes.

This humiliating assessment is certainly the most healthy way for us to internalize the effects these decisions God has allowed for us. It should shape our prayer and bring us to tears.

One thing we should also have done, and most probably did not, was affirm our faithfulness to the Holy Fathers and our Orthodox ethos by stating our protest to the decisions to cut off the life of the Church to us. A word to our spiritual father, letter to our bishop, something.

We see two groups: those going along with these decisions and those in disagreement with them. Both can legitimately make the claim to our highly exalted virtue of obedience. For some, obedience means following the Holy Fathers; for others, obedience means following our bishops.

Both are right, and it is a pastoral matter which to obey. But obedience to the Holy Fathers (which is undoubtedly in disagreement with these decisions) trumps obedience to the bishops, generally speaking. More importantly, we must stay humble, and follow our spiritual father.

St. Dionysios the Areopagite and St. Symeon the New Theologian (following him in time and instruction) write of two types of apostolic succession: visible and administrative (hierarchs), also mystical and charismatic (saints). They traditionally are bound up in one person...

...which is why bishops traditionally come from the monasteries. When they are not in the same person, then their can be conflict between the two. But they also serve to keep each other in check...

However, the invisible succession overrides (in our belief and practice) the visible when bishops depart from faithfulness to God. This was constantly played out in St. Symeon's life. It holds true today. The saints are loved by God, know Him, lead us to Him. They are the way.

In Orthodoxy, we trust the saints, and these things are what the saints are telling us. Recently, Fr. Peter Heers shared the first public letter I have noticed from Athos, which confirms the united testimony or interpretation I have heard from the saints concerning these events.

Every Orthodox Christian should watch this short video. Nothing on this plague is better. Elder Evthymios is the brightest light we know on the Holy Mountain today.

One last point, in my weakness, I wondered if the Holy Fire would come under these circumstances. I did see a video of it coming to an empty church and I was immediately reminded of St. Paul's second epistle to St. Timothy:

"if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself" (II Timothy 2:13).

As this insanity has been raging, these weeks have only convinced me more of these things. The world has its solutions, we Christians have ours. They do not interfere, rather complement.