The confession of faith is by no means a purely theoretical aspect of Orthodox theology; rather, on the one hand, it represents the standard for living in Christ, and on the other, it is what ensures the ecclesial unity of Christians. The confession of faith – the true confession – is the essential condition for salvation, in the words of our Saviour Christ: ‘Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny him before My Father, who is in heaven’ (Matthew 10:32–33). The power to bear witness comes from Christ Who dwells within us; We bear witness to Christ as the Truth, and we remain in the truth as long as we remain in Christ. The Christian is duty-bound to open himself up to the world, to make himself transparent to the world, so that the world may see Christ through him: ‘Let us confidently believe that, if we love our neighbours, as God commands, as we love ourselves, and do them good, we too shall be gods and children of the Most High, as David says’1 This confession can only be made within a specific context. Perfect obedience to Christ the Saviour and to those who have received from Him the command to enlighten and to teach His Gospel—an obedience which must be embraced by all who bear the name of His disciples: ‘And you, too, have a duty: those things which you know I teach you, without pretence and without deceit, I urge you to receive and to put into practice. For the spiritual benefit of your souls, and that you may submit to obedience; for that obedience which you show to me, you show to Christ’2 These principles of theology are explored in depth by Saint Antim the Martyr of Ivire in his writings.
Saint Antim of Ivirean was one of the most complex figures our ancestral Church has had throughout its history. He served as Metropolitan of Wallachia, as well as Bishop of Râmnic, for two years and eight months, between 1705 and 1708. His entire ministry as a hierarch of the Orthodox Church can be summed up as the work of inscribing the Word of God anew in the hearts of the faithful, striving, ceaselessly, to lift man up to God. To this end, he made use not only of the spoken word in his God-inspired sermons, and the written word in his books—which he had printed through his own efforts—but also of the word depicted in colour, as he was a skilled icon painter. His martyr’s death, suffered because he rose up against Turkish rule and the first Phanariot prince, brought his work of witness to its fulfilment, proving that what he taught through his words was not mere rhetoric, but words springing from the grace of God dwelling in his heart.
The reign of the Holy Martyr Constantin Brâncoveanu (1688–1714) represented one of the most flourishing periods in terms of the cultural development of Wallachia. In this atmosphere conducive to the development of Romanian culture, in which the Princely Academy of Saint Sava had been founded in 1694, with teaching in Greek, Saint Antim the Hieromartyr rose from being a simple hieromonk to become Bishop of Râmnic and subsequently Metropolitan of Wallachia.
A Christian has a duty to open himself up to the world, to make himself transparent to the world, so that the world may see Christ through him.
Saint Antim of Ivire, as Bishop of Râmnic, was the one who raised Râmnic’s culture to a level of flourishing it had never before known, by bringing the printing press to Râmnic, which would make the town of Râmnicu-Vâlcea the capital of the printed book.
During his time as Bishop of Râmnic, Saint Antim printed nine books, the most important being Tomul bucuriei (The Book of Joy), a volume of hundreds of pages comprising five polemical works directed against the Westerners. Gabriel Ștrempel regards the printing of books in Romanian, or of liturgical instructions in Slavonic, as a veritable manifesto directed against the notion of ‘sacred languages’, which had kept our people in spiritual ignorance for hundreds of years, and as Antim’s first attack against the foreigners who sought to Hellenise our liturgical forms.
Furthermore, the holy hierarch oversaw the restoration of many churches and monasteries in the Diocese of Râmnic, such as: Surpatele, Fedeleșoiu, Cozia and Govora.
It was he who laid the foundations for the cultural movement of the Râmnic School by bringing the printing press to Râmnic, a movement which would work towards cultural and spiritual affirmation, as well as the affirmation of Romanian national identity.
One of Metropolitan Antim Ivireanul’s foremost concerns was the spiritual edification of the faithful through the word. His famous ‘Didahii’ are of great value for their content. These comprise 28 sermons delivered during his episcopacy, on various church feasts, feasts of the Mother of God and of various saints, to which are added seven occasional addresses.
His writings emphasise, in the most concrete terms, our duty – that of the ministers of the Church, but also of all believers – to proclaim the Word of God and to bear witness to the world of God’s love. ‘If you have not known this until now, and if no one has taught you, behold, from now on you shall know that I have a duty towards all people, as many as there are in Wallachia, from the least to the greatest and even to a suckling child, except for the pagans and those who do not share our faith. For Christ the Lord has entrusted you to my care to shepherd your souls, as if they were speaking sheep, and your souls hang upon my neck, and He will call you all to account through me, and not through others, until I am a shepherd […]. Just as sheep cannot do without a shepherd, so neither can the people do without a bishop; and whoever has any concern for spiritual matters should come to me as to a father, for I shall heal him, with Christ’s help. Yet each one of you may say in your heart: ‘But we have heavy burdens upon us and cannot do the things you tell us to do’; yet I still say that this is so, and I believe it. For I too share in that burden, and I too pull the yoke that you are pulling’3 Sharing the word of God with one who is in distress or temptation is an act of spiritual mercy: ‘For if you urge someone to do some good, that is mercy; if you counsel someone on matters of the soul, that is mercy; if you comfort the heart of someone who is distressed with words, that is mercy’4 The work of proclaiming the Word of God is closely linked to keeping the commandments; only a person transformed by the Holy Spirit, who obeys His Word, can make Christ known to the world: ‘Those people attain God who believe rightly in Him and cherish His holy commandments. But His holy commandments are summed up in these two alone: love for God and love for one’s neighbour. Love for God is realised and made known when we, as I have said, cherish His holy commandments, just as the Lord says in the Gospels: for He says, ‘If you love Me, you will keep My commandments […]’. For we realise such love when we encourage and help one another in what is good and beneficial, both in matters of the flesh and, above all, in matters of the soul and salvation, each according to his ability and capacity’5
This correct understanding of the word of God, which Saint Antim Ivireanul, Hierarch and Martyr, possessed,made him a living and fearless witness to Christ the Lord, devoting his entire life to the service of the Church and the Romanian people.
Keeping God’s commandments is what keeps a person in communion with Him: ‘Do not think that God will have mercy on us and forgive us simply because we are in need, if we do not do His commandments to the best of our ability’6 Thus, we observe that in the teaching of Saint Antim of Ivire, knowing and keeping the commandments constitute a fundamental priority in the true confession of the Word.
This correct understanding of the Word of God, which Saint Antim the Martyr of Ivire had,made him a living and fearless witness to Christ the Lord, devoting his entire life to the service of the Church and the Romanian people, as he himself stated in his sermon on his enthronement as Metropolitan of Wallachia: ‘together we shall suffer whatever the hour and the times may bring’3.
It is no coincidence that the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church declared 2016 to be the Commemorative Year of Saint Antim Ivireanul, Hierarch and Martyr, and of the church printers, as this year marks the 300th anniversary of the passing into the eternal Kingdom of God, through a martyr’s death, of His beloved hierarch, the tireless printer of our Church and a witness, through the written word and speech, to the saving Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was he who laid the foundations for the cultural movement of the Râmnic School by bringing the printing press to Râmnic, a movement which would work towards cultural and spiritual affirmation, as well as the affirmation of Romanian national identity.
- 1
A Sermon for Cheesefare Sunday, I, in St Antim of Ivire, Didachies, edited by Archimandrite Mihail Stanciu and Prof. Dr Gabriel Ștrempel, Basilica Publishers, Bucharest, 2016, p. 195.
- 2
I said this when I was consecrated as a metropolitan, in Saint Antim of Ivire, Didahii, p. 97.
- 3a3b
On the Sunday of the Publican. A sermon, in Saint Antim of Ivire, Didahii, pp. 178–179.
- 4
A sermon for Cheesefare Sunday, II, in Saint Antim of Ivire, Didachies, p. 204.
- 5
Dedication to the book by Sevastos Chimenitul, Eortologhion, in Saint Antim Ivireanul, Writings, edited by Archimandrite Mihail Stanciu and Prof. Dr Gabriel Ștrempel, Basilica Publishers, Bucharest, 2016, p. 238.
- 6
On the Sunday of the Publican. A sermon, in Saint Antim of Ivire, Didahii, p. 183.