What follows is a letter from Archbishop Theophan of Poltava, of blessed memory. He penned this letter on 4/31/36, in the short calm between two World Wars. The fact that the themes he touches upon are so close to those of our times shows that modern man has learned very little. Today, secular leaders speak of peace and security from one side of their mouth, while fanning the flames of war with the other. Today, “safety” has been digitized. The surveillance state always claims it is enslaving men for their own safety. On the spiritual level, the situation is even more acute. A number of Orthodox leaders are busy subverting the faith and attempting to bring it into submission to a foreign god. And so, here is a letter from 1936 that could have been written in 2025.

Begin letter –

Have you noticed what is happening in the world today? The leaders of the world’s governments are all doing the same thing: they all speak about world peace. The leaders of France and of states friendly to her are also very insistent in speaking about ways to guarantee safety, as if this were the essential precondition of this “peace.” One cannot help but recall the words of the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Thessalonians: “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them [that is to say, upon those who do not care about the truth, cf. II Thess. 2;10] as travail upon a women with child; they shall not escape” (I Thess. 5:3). Everybody who loves the Truth must not only take note of the signs of the times, but also follow these observations to their logical conclusions.

Regarding affairs of the Church, in the words of the Savior, one of the most awesome phenomena of the final days is at that time “the stars shall fall from heaven” (Matt. 24:29). According to the Savior’s own explanation these “stars” are the Angels of the Churches, in other words, the Bishops (cf. Rev. 1:20). The religious and moral fall of the Bishops is, thus, one of the most characteristic signs of the final days. The fall of the Bishops is particularly horrifying when they deviate from the doctrines of the faith or, as the Apostle put it, when they “would pervert the Gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:7). The Apostle orders that such people be pronounced “anathema.” He said, “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be anathema” (Gal. 1:9). And one must not be slow about this, for he continues, “A man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself” (Titus 3:10-11). Moreover, you may be subject to God’s judgment if you are indifferent to deviation to the truth: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:6).

Clouds are gathering on the world’s horizon. God’s judgment of its people and of hypocritical Christians, beginning with heretics and lukewarm hierarchs, is approaching. Archbishop Theophan.