A certain monk came to St. Barsanuphios, and asked him, " Shall I anathematize Nestorios? " To which the Great Elder replied, "Your business is to repent of your sins!"

The same monk came back again, and asked, Should I not anathematize Nestorios, lest there be a great scandal? The Great Elder replied, "If it would really and truly be a cause of great scandal, you may say , "Anathema to Nestorios," but your business is to repent of your sins."

To those who ask of us, " Where is the True Church, and the True Faith?" we can answer simply, the One, Holy, Universal and Apostolic Church, and the Orthodox Faith.! But our business is to repent of our sins."

Whoever comes here repenting of their sins will find what they are seeking. Whoever comes here who is not truly God-fearing, and not truly repenting of their sins, is wasting our time and theirs. They will understand nothing we say in any case. The True Faith is a Grace, a Gift from God, and nobody will ever find it reading books or on the internet. No matter how much anyone searches they can never , ever find the True Faith or the True Church. This is the heresy of Scholasticism, which supposes that Faith may be found by reason. Many have been misled by this, even very recently. The Grace of the True Faith and membership in the True Church will only come to anyone insofar as they have perfected themselves in Humility , and abandoning trust in themselves, cast their hope upon God . True, it is essential to have the help of another to discover our true faults and passions, to which we are always blind, but our eyes are blind and our ears deaf until God opens them. Furthermore, St. John Chrysostom tells us that the True Faith is absolutely useless, and worse, brings us condemnation , if we do not live according to what light we (already ) have.

This is a Sacred Penitentiary. The apostle said , "Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am the Chief." Do not waste your time and ours asking questions which are entirely beyond our possibilities of discernment, or your powers of understanding. We are sure where the Orthodox Church is. That anyone can see, unless he has a jaundiced eye and is determined to find fault everywhere. Anyone determined to find fault everywhere cannot be prevented from self destruction. Do not ask us which of the innumerable schisms represents the True Church. Heresy alone separates us from the True Church. Schism is evil. Whether this theological theory or that theological theory is correct, is a demonic deception. God requires that you seek humility and to love your enemies. After that He himself will reveal to you all you need to know, perhaps more than you want to know. . .

Begin by loving your enemies, and seeking your own faults. (We are good at finding other people’s faults. Just ask us that. ) Only when your eye and your heart is pure can you possibly have the Great Vision of the True Faith, for which you will be most severely judged if you do not live up to it.