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| The catacomb journal of the True Orthodox Christians of Serbia |
The
Zealot
Of
Orthodox Piety
Fifteen Years Since the Publication of the
First Edition
In January of 2012, it will be exactly
fifteen years since the publication of the first Zealot – the journal of the True Orthodox Christians of Serbia. The
editor of the first number of this legendary catacomb journal was the St. John
of Shanghai Cell on Frushka Gora, which quickly changed its name to that of the
Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Methodius and Cyril.
The Zealot
was “samizdat” (self-published) in the form of a fanzine – a handmade
publication which is different from regular magazines or journals because it is
not edited by professional journalists – the editors do everything themselves,
because they have no sponsors or advertisements. The reproduction is mostly
done by copying (in the Soviet Union, where the KGB controlled all copy machines,
samizdat journals were reproduced on
typewriters). Fanzines were made in this way: texts were typed on typewriters,
then they were cut and pasted together, then copied. Basically, this was the
method for making the Zealot also,
with the one difference that computers (old, unwieldy, with a 486 processor,
and later Pentium) took the place of typewriters. This newsletter followed the
general samizdat/fanzine philosophy,
in which the readers are invited to help spread the ideas of the publication by
themselves making copies and distributing it. The Zealot was characterized by its specific design, which was illustrated
with drawings done by its editor, Hieromonk Akakije, which included some front
pages.
Aside from the Zealot, one of the most famous and most influential Orthodox
fanzines is Dead to the World, which
was started in 1994 by Monks John and Andrew (former punkers, by the way) at
the Monastery of St. Herman of Alaska in Platina (California). Between 1994 and
1998 in America, twelve editions of this journal were published. It is believed
that after advertisements for Dead to the
World were published in the rock magazine Maxime, even 50,000 copies of this fanzine were in circulation.
In the Soviet Union, however, Orthodox
Christians sometimes paid for samizdat publication
with their heads. For example, the Holy New Martyr Lydia, a confessor of the
Russian Catacomb Church frum Ufa, was discovered by the GPU exactly for those
very catacomb self-publications written on a typewriter. New Martyr Lydia was
discovered because the “k” on her typewriter was a bit damaged. The GPU with
her arrest in 1928 realized that they had found the key to uncover the entire
Catacomb Church. New Martyr Lydia was horribly tortured in the effort to make
her betray the clergy and believers of
the Catacomb Church, but she refused to say anything. After long and harsh
tortures this loyal handmaid of God was killed. In 1981, the Russian Church
Abroad numbered Holy New Martyr Lydia among the choir of the Russian New
Martyrs of the Russian Catacombs. Hieromonk Akakije was also persecuted for
publishing the catacomb journal the
Zealot. The Batchka Eparchy church court in 1999 in Novi Sad, with the
president, Bachka Bishop Irinej, gave as its explanation for the final judgment
of his exclusion from the church community the following: “The proof of the
guilt of the accused is based on the journal the Zealot, in which he slanders and undermines the church hierarchy.”
The Zealot
had about 40 pages of A5 format. There were 100 copies of the first
circulation, and after that it was printed out as needed. The readers
themselves reproduced and distributed it further, so it cannot be said with
certainty how great a circulation it finally reached. It can be estimated,
however, that the average circulation of the Zealot was much greater than 500, and some for editions, there were
than 1,000 copies. Because the various editions are being reproduced to this
day, it is impossible to say with certainty the total number in existence. The
journal was published every three months, and from the beginning of 1997 to the
end of 2002, 23 editions came out in fanzine form. Also, in September 1997, one
extra edition was put out, caused by a division which took place in Serbia,
when a part of the True Orthodox went to the Greek Old Calendar Matthewites. The
title of this extra edition was “A Short View of the History of the TOC of
Greece.” The last edition of the Zealot
published did not come out in the form of a fanzine, but like a regular journal
with standard printing and color illustrations, with 146 pages and a
circulation of 1,500 copies. Its editor was not, furthermore, the cell of Sts
Methodios and Cyril on Frushka Gora, but rather the Holy Trinity Monastery on
Avala. The contents of the Zealot
were documents of Church history, the lives of the confessors of the faith from
the 20th century, the reports about important events of that period,
deeds of the holy fathers of the church, and the deeds of contemporary
theologians and spiritual fathers (most of all, Russian and Serbian, but also
Greek and Bulgarian). Most interesting were the short announcements and news
from the life of the Serbian TOC – these articles and news made up a chronicle
of the life of the STOC. There was also news from Mt. Athos, and from other
Local True Orthodox Churches, along with information about uncanonical acts of
the members of World Orthodoxy. (That which the Bachka Church Court Eparchy
described as “slander of the church hierarchy,” although all of reports were
from public and reliable sources, supported by official documents and
photographs). The Zealot also regularly followed the happenings inside various Greek
Old Calendar factions such as the “Matthewites” and the “Cyprianites.”
There were letters from readers and answers
on their practical concerns about church life. The Zealot printed official announcements, such as the historical one
which was composed by the sisterhood of Stjenik, or the Encyclical from the
Synod of the Greek TOC (whose temporary jurisdictional government the True
Orthodox Christians of Serbia were under at the time). This journal published
several texts which came out in installments from number to number. The most
comprehensive was one with the title “Letters of a Catacomb Bishop” which has
thirteen installments. In the Zealot
#10 an interview with Archbishop Chrysostom II was published. The readers of
this catacomb journal could follow first-hand a chronology of the stormy
happenings within the ROCOR during the 90s and receive information about them
very quickly. For example, in #7 (1998) was published the article “The Gradual
Process of Apostasy in the Russian Church Abroad (A Short Review of the Events
in the Last 10 Years).” In the next number (#8, 1998) the article with the
title “Union in Truth or…” was published. This article was about the dialogue
for union between the Synods of the Greek TOC and the Russian Church Abroad. There
were four points in this article outlining why this union was unacceptable for
the TOC of Serbia. It was related how Hieromonk Akakije was assured by
Archbishop Chrysostom II that the union would not take place before changes in
the stance of the ROCOR. In numbers 15-17 (2001), two articles were dedicated
to this theme: “The Final Convergence of ROCOR with World Orthodoxy ” (about
the 2000 ROCOR Sobor) and “The Letter of the ROCOR Hierarchical Sobor.” True Orthodox Serbs were disappointed with
the various developments inside of ROCOR, but soon came some joyous news. Already in #20-21 (2002) was published the article
“The Long-expected Reversal in the Russian Church Abroad” about those hierarchs
who remained loyal to the elder Metropolitan Vitaly and the original ideas of
the ROCOR. Finally in #22-23 in 2003 there was a report about the establishment
of contact between the Serbian TOC and those factions of the Russian Church
Abroad which did not accept union with Ecumenist and Sergianist Orthodox. This report was entitled “The Creation of
Contact with the Russian Church Abroad (Vitaly).”
The Zealot
was first to publish the lives and texts of some great Orthodox saints and
theologians of the 20th century who until then had been unknown in
Serbia, such as St. John of Romania or Elder Theodosius of Karolya. Readers
impatiently waited for the new Zealot,
and only they can express what joy and comfort each new edition of their
journal brought.
In recent times, printed medias, and
especially fanzines, have been pushed into the background by the internet. Many
articles from the Zealot can be found
on the site “Serbian True Orthodox” by those who are interested. These days these
kind of journals are published as “e-zines” – fanzines in electronic form. Usually
they are put up in PDF form so readers can freely download, print, read, and
distribute them further, albeit with the same condition as that for the
fanzine, that the distribution be nonprofit. It is also possible to use parts
of the texts, as long as they are cited. Although the Zealot experienced a transformation from a fanzine to a journal in
standard form, which was then changed to internet, that is, the site “Serbian
True Orthodox” (http://www.serbiantrueorthodox.org/),
it would in any case be nice if the old editions of this organ of the Serbian
True Orthodox Christians could be found on this site in PDF format, so that
everyone who wishes could print, read, and reproduce them further. This little
jubilee, 15 years from the publication of the first edition, would be the right
occasion for this.
Let us recall the contents of the Zealot volumes.
#1 – January-March 1997
-
Letters from a Catacomb Bishop
(1)
-
The Life of St. John of Romania
-
The Second Encyclical (from 1756)
-
Elder Theodosius of Karoulya,
“The Old and New Calendar”
-
Schemamonk Anthony Chernov,
“The Russian Catacomb Church”
#2 April-June
1997
-
Alexander Kalomiros, “The Ark”
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(2)
-
Nun Confessors
-
False Union
-
Orthodox Beware!
-
A Homily of Elder Anatoly of
Optina
-
Schema-Hieromonk Akakije, “Is
the Ecclesiology of ‘Metropolitan’ Cyprian Kutsumbas and His Synod in
Resistance Orthodox?”
#3
July-September 1997
-
Letters from a Catacomb Bishop
(3)
-
The Third Divine Appearance of
the Holy Cross, September 14, 1925
-
1995 Encyclical of the Clerical
Synod of the Greek TOC
-
Patristic Instructions
-
1756 Tome on Baptism
-
Archbishop Averky, “’In Step
with the Times’ We will Not Go”(1)
-
An Orthodox View on Some
Current Questions
-
Communing “Orthodox” Ethiopians
-
Chronicle
4#
October-December 1997
-
The Apostolic Succession of the
Church of the TOC
-
Hieromonk Akakije, “Exit from
Membership with the WCC”
-
P. Budzilovich, “The New World
Order in 2000”
-
A Short Announcement
-
Archbishop Averkey, “’In Step
with the Times,’ We Will Not Go” (2)
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(4)
#5 January-March
1998
-
Encyclical
-
Rosen Siromahov, “The Final
Step on the Way to Apostasy”
-
Current Events – An Invented
Blessing
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(5)
-
Short Announcements
-
Chronicle
#6 April-June
1998
-
Introductory Words
-
A Short Biography of Archbishop
Chrisostomos I
-
Current Events
-
Metropolitan Kalliopis, “Union
with the Monophysites” (1)
-
Mt. Athos News
-
Short Announcements
#7
July-September 1998
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(6)
-
The Gradual Process of Apostasy
in the Russian Church Abroad (A Short Review of the Events of the Last Ten
Years)
-
Metropolitan Anthony
(Krapovitsky), “Concerning Baptism by Pouring”
-
Short Announcements
-
Metropolitan Kalliopis, “Union
with the Monophysites” (2)
-
Chronicle
#8
October-December 1998
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(7)
-
Sermon of Catacomb Priest Fr.
V.
-
Letter of the First Hierarch of
the ROCOR Metropolitan Philaret
-
Short Announcement
-
Current Events – Union in
Truth, or…
-
Farewell Sermon of Our Holy
Father Mark, Archbishop of Ephesus
-
Life of Fr. Nikita. Memories of
His Spiritual Children.
#9 January-March 1999
-
Introductory Words
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(8)
-
Hieromonk Akakije, “I Confess
One Baptism”
-
Excerpt from 1848 Encyclical
-
Martyr’s Blood – The Life and
Suffering of the Holy New Martyr Katherine
#10-11
April-September 1999
-
Epistle of Metropolitan
Kallinikos
-
Interview with Archbishop
Chrysostomos II
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(9)
-
Short Announcements
-
An Unknown Letter of
Metropolitan Anthony
-
1994 Hierarchical Sobor of
ROCOR
-
Current Events
#12-14 October 1999-June 2000
-
The Zealot Has Reached 3 Years
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(10)
-
Current Events
-
From the Life of the TOC of
Serbia
-
Letters from Readers
-
The Life of Saint Glikiri
-
The Miracles of St Spyridon
# 15-17 July
2000-March 2001
-
Letters from a Catacomb Bishop
(11)
-
Current Events - The Final Convergence of the ROCOR with the
World Orthodox
-
Current Events - Letters of the ROCOR Hierarchical Sobor
-
Bp. Gregory (Grabbe), “Akrivia
and Economia”
-
Chronicle
-
Impressions After a Meeting
with “Metropolitan” Cyprian (1)
#18-19
April-September 2001
-
Letters of a Catacomb Bishop
(12)
-
Hierodeacon Theophan, “The
Bishop and His Church”
-
Impressions After a Meeting
with “Metropolitan” Cyprian (2)
-
Short Announcements
-
Letters from St. Philaret
#20-21 October 2001-March 2002
-
Letters from a Catacomb Bishop
(13)
-
Current Events – The Reversal
of ROCOR
-
Elder Sava the Athonite,
“Letter – Apologetics”
-
From the Life of the TOC of
Serbia – A New Priest
-
Hieroschemamonk Akakije, “Give
Blood, Receive the Spirit”
-
Mont Athos News
#22-23 April-September 2002
-
The Last Line of Defense – Esphigmenou
Monastery
-
Documents – The New ID Cards
-
Documents – Synodal Encyclical
-
Current Events
-
“The Creation of Contact with
the Russian Church Abroad (Vitaly)”
-
Archbishop Anthony of Los
Angeles, “Why is the Moscow Patriarchate Without Grace?”
-
St. Philaret (Voznesensky) – A
Letter to the First Hierarch of the American Metropolis
-
Short Announcements
-
Chronicle
(This was the last edition
of the Zealot in the form of a
fanzine published by the Sts. Methodius and Cyril cell on Frushka Gora.)
# 1 (24) Pascha 2006
-
Introduction
-
Fr. Seraphim Rose, “Archbishop
Leonty of Chile”
-
Archbishop Averky, “Modernity
and Spiritual Life”
-
Hieromonk Akakije, “Humility Beneath
General Economy”
-
Hieromonk Akakije, “Blessed are
Those Who are Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake”
-
The Official Announcement of
the Sisterhood of Stjenik
-
Hieromonk Akakije, “The New
Schism Among the ‘Matthewites’ and the Question of Recognition of Herotesia”
-
Monk Joseph, “We Accept Man,
but Reject His Mistakes”
-
Letter of Metropolitan Philaret
(Voznesensky) to Abbess Magdalena (Countess Grabbe) Superior of Lesna Monastery
in France
-
Short Announcements
-
Questions of the Readers
-
From Old Church Publications
-
Chronicle
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