Sermon at the Burial of His Eminence The Most Reverend Philaret First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad by Archbishop Vitaly of Montreal and Canada
A great page has been turned in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. An entire chapter of it has come to an end. The candle Of Our First Hierarch's life has been extinguished. The mouth which proclaimed the pure, inviolate confession of the Orthodox Faith has been closed. When word of his repose spread throughout the whole world, the Orthodox world was startled, for the voice of the conscience of the Orthodox Church had fallen silent. In accordance with the unfathomable ways of the Providence of God, our First Hierarch was destined to lead our Church to the very threshold of the Apocalypse, when in the thick darkness of our life, against the somber purple background of time's horizon, ominous flashes of the beginning of the end are visible. He stood still, like a lighthouse, and with the light of his righteous words he clove the darkness of the night which increasingly enshrouds us all around: yet his tender soul already began to grow faint because of the appearance of approaching trials. The torments of his soul were soon transmitted to his already weakened body, and he became utterly exhausted. Then the all-merciful Lord, seeing the inner sufferings of His servant, sent His angel, who, while he was asleep, made his repose peaceful, serene, and painless. And now, O our, First Hierarch, when you stand before the throne of God and bow down before the One God Who is worshipped in the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - pray with your glorious predecessors, Metropolitans Anthony and Anastassy, for the suffering Church of Russia, for her militant forces on earth, the ship of which is entering a sea of stormy weather and the contrary winds of men's passions. Pray to the Lord, that we who remain in the vale of trials may walk the same path which was traced for us by the great Apostle of the Gentiles for the life of Christ's Church and Her faithful children, when he wrote in his Epistle to the Corinthians so tersely and so powerfully: By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known;as dying, and, behold, we live: its chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet ever rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (11 Cor. 6:8--10) Such a path did our First Hierarch tread; in such conditions does our entire good and faithful clergy live, the whole faithful flock of Our Church. Help us, O Lord, to travel this glorious path of witness until the end, that we also may hear the sweet voice of our Saviour say: "Good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things ... ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matt. 25:21)
source: http://www.stjohnthebaptist.org.au/articles/way-philaret.html
