The Church, for us Christians, is the most precious thing.

The Church, for us Christians, is the most precious thing.

Therefore, without the Church, Christianity simply does not exist.

It would have been impossible for Christianity to exist without the Church.

It would've existed as some beautiful historical event.

We’d say: “Oh, what a great thing happened” but it would be of no use to you and me.

That is why in the Creed, we say: 

I Believe in God the Father,

I Believe in God the Son,

I Believe in God the Holy Spirit,

It lists what we believe, and at the end, what do we say?

“I believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church”,

Therefore, we must  know exactly: what the Church is.

I must know what the Church is, it is my responsibility to know this. I need to know where I am and what  I am a part of.

And one of the most important characteristics of the Church, which I must definitely know and comprehend is the oneness of the Church and this integrity is of the greatest importance.

The Holy Fathers say that if a person violates the integrity of the Church, even if he gets martyred ideologically for Christ, he will not be able to wash it off, even with his blood.

This is what St. Cyprian of Carthage says, because ideological Christianity is not Christianity.

Christianity is reality, when you are a part of a living organism, an organic part of the Church, the Body of Christ.

When we come here and receive Communion, we most definitely must have a sense of unity. That we are building one Mystical Body of Christ.

Archpriest Theodore Gignadze ©️

Excerpt from a sermon, July 8, 2019