“We seek and we Pray for our return to that time when, being united, we spoke the same things and there was no schism between us.”

“We seek and we Pray for our return to that time when, being united, we spoke the same things and there was no schism between us.”

“I am convinced that the further I depart from him [the Patriarch] and from those like him [the Latin-minded], the closer do I draw near God and all the faithful and the Holy Fathers; and the more I am separated from them, by so much more am I united to the truth and the Holy Fathers.”

“The Souls of the departed can indeed benefit to their ‘advancement’ and even the damned to a relative ‘relief’ of their lot,’ thanks to the Prayers of the Church and through the infinite Mercy of God; but the notion of a punishment prior to the Last Judgement and of a purification through a material fire is altogether foreign to the Tradition of the Church.”

“It is impossible to recall peace without dissolving the cause of the schism – the primacy of the Pope exalting himself equal to God.”

“The Latins are not only schismatics but heretics… we did not separate from them for any other reason other than the fact that they are heretics. This is precisely why we must not unite with them unless they dismiss the addition from the Creed filioque and confess the Creed as we do.”

“For us, the Pope is as one of the Patriarchs – and only if he is Orthodox; whereas, they proclaim him Vicar of Christ, Father and Teacher of all Christians. Flee from them, O brethren, and from communion with them. ‘For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if even his ministers transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works'” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

“If the Latins have not departed from the correct Faith, then we have cut them off unjustly. However, if they have departed from the Faith, regarding the theology of the Holy Spirit, to Whom to blaspheme is the greatest of all perils, clearly, they are heretics, and we have cut them off as heretics.”

“Flee brethren! Flee communion with the incommunicable and the commemoration of the uncommemorative. Behold, I, Mark, the sinner, tell you that whoever commemorates the Pope as an Orthodox prelate is guilty. Moreover, one who minds the dogmas of the Latins will be judged with the Latins, and will be deemed a betrayer of the Faith.”

“These people admit with the Latins that the Holy Spirit proceeds and derives His existence from the Son. Yet, with us, they say the Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Latins imagine that this addition to the Creed is lawful and just, but we will not so much as pronounce it. They state that unleavened bread is the body of Christ, but we dare not communicate it. Is this not sufficient to exhibit that they came to the Latin council not to investigate the truth, which they once possessed and then betrayed, but simply to earn some gold and attain a false union? Behold, they read two Creeds as they did before. They perform two different liturgies – one on leavened and the other on unleavened bread. They perform two baptisms – one by triple immersion and the other by aspersion; one with Holy Chrism and the other without it. All our Orthodox customs are different from those of the Latins, including our fasts, Church rites, icons, and many other things. What sort of union is this then, when it has no external sign? How could they come together, each retaining his own?”

“Our Head, Christ our God… does not tolerate that the bond of love be taken from us entirely.”