What Church is heaven sent?
Once the novitiates came to the Reverend and said:
– Father, we are often asked about the following: “There are so many churches in our wicked world, which of them brings salvation?”
The Reverend replied:
– Go and fetch wood pieces to my cell, as much as you can.
After a while each of the novitiates delivered so many logs they would be unable to take them back. It was getting dark. The novitiates knocked on the elder’s cell door; he came out and saw a big wood stack.
– Lay the fire, – uttered the elder man.
The night fell, yet the darkness did not hide anybody, since the flame was burning powerfully. The novitiates sat down waiting for what was to happen next.
The Reverend said to one of them then:
– Take a log out of the fire and throw it to the side.
The young man did as he was told to. The log had been smoldering for a while before it blew out.
The fire was still burning, lighting the people… Some time later the Reverend asked again to take a piece of wood out of the fire and put it aside.
They fulfilled his promise again like they did before. The log fell on the ground and blew out in the end. The fire was no longer that big but kept burning and producing light.
The elder made similar requests several times.
Finally, resting on his staff, the old man stood up and, pointing to the blown out logs around them, said:
– In front of you there are churches which got separated from the true Church of Jesus Christ. You asked about them. Like the fire abandoned those logs, the grace of God abandoned those churches.
Afterwards he turned to the fire and added:
– And this is a Holy Conciliar Apostolic Church. Though the fire is small, it continues to burn. At that moment the sun rose, lit everything and the Reverend added:
– Similarly the Holy Conciliar Apostolic Church will stand till the end of time, preserving fully and invariably teachings and sacraments, till the Advent of Jesus Christ Who will appear in His Glory to judge the alive and the dead.
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