By: St. John of Kronstadt
The following divinely-inspired words of wisdom from St. John of Kronstadt bear witness to the devout stance of pious and God-loving Christians who have remained steadfast in defending the Holy Things that have been slandered by the ecclesiastical rationalists of our day for the past two years. As we see from these teachings, it would be utterly inconceivable in the mind of St. John to imagine the possibility that Holy Things can be conduits of dangerous contagions (i.e., Covid-19).
In addition to his teaching that the uncreated energies of God's grace suspend the laws of nature (thereby conquering the energy of contagions and rendering them inactive) to instead convey to us the healing touch of Jesus Christ the Physician of our souls and bodies, you will find additional writings of St. John where we see the kind of proper stance Orthodox Christians are called by God to have - one of trust and faithfulness, especially during the reception of the Holy Mysteries. Those who struggle with the pathology of worldly faithlessness and fear (which go hand in hand) are given an antidote by St. John so that they may not anger God, and as St. Paisios the Athonite warns us from a real-life experience he witnessed, be chastised for their blasphemous treatment of Holy Things.
Concerning How God Makes Contagious Objects Harmless:
"As God is Life, and diseases and maladies are a deviation from life, therefore the touch alone of the first Source of Life cures us of them. This is why the Saviour, Who is the Life of all, cured and still cures men by His touch alone. The same may be said of the change in any contagious objects—at a single sign or single word of the Creator and Founder of everything, they become harmless (air, water, plants and animals)."
Concerning the Carnal Man versus the Spiritual Man:
"If the carnal man is at ease and happy, the spiritual one feels oppressed; if the outward man flourishes, the inward one perishes. So opposite in us are the old, sinful, carnal man and the man renewed by Christ's grace; this is why the Apostle said, "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." And we often experience this ourselves. Therefore the true Christian ought to long for outward, carnal, worldly sufferings, for they strengthen his spirit. He must not even think of murmuring. How can he murmur at that which is profitable to his immortal soul, although the means by which this is attained are very repugnant to his carnal man? Illnesses, fires, robbery, poverty, misfortunes, wars, famine, often act beneficially upon the soul."
Concerning Blasphemy:
"Do not anger Almighty God even by a shade of doubt--especially you, who have already experienced many and many times the omnipotence of God. Doubt is a blasphemy against God, an insolent lie of the heart or of the lying spirit that nestles in the heart, against the spirit of truth. Fear it as you would fear a venomous serpent, or no--what I would rather say, is, despise it, do not take the slightest heed of it... What constitutes blasphemy of the heart against God? Doubt, unbelief, despondency, impatience under God's chastisements, murmuring, and all the passions. By unbelief in God's truth and mercy, the enemy utters blasphemy against the truth, mercy, and omnipotence of God; by despondency, he blasphemes God's goodness; in general, by the outburst of human passions, he blasphemes God's all-merciful providence and truth... Blasphemy against holiness, or thoughts of carnal impurity, proceed from the Devil. When this stink from the abyss of hell disturbs and suffocates you, only be convinced, only believe sincerely, that it is the work of the Devil, and this abomination will leave you."
Concerning Fear from Faithlessness during the Reception of Holy Communion:
"By the most lively and heartfelt gratitude for the holy life-giving Sacrament you will obtain life from the Lord and your faith will increase more and more. Fear and uneasiness proceed from unbelief. Consider their arising during Communion as a true sign, that by unbelief you are removing yourself from the Life contained in the Cup and do not pay attention to them. O faith! Faith! Thou thyself art a miracle to us! It is thou that savest us! "Thy faith hath made thee whole." And after lively faith in God's truth we always go from God in peace; whilst, on the contrary, after unbelief, always without peace. Ah! Satan often enters into us after we have unworthily communicated of the Divine Mysteries, and in every way tries to instill his lie into our hearts--that is, unbelief, for unbelief is the same thing as a lie. The destroyer of men now, as of old, tries in every way to destroy men by his lying, and by various thoughts and desires, and having stolen into the heart in the form of unbelief or any passion, he manifests himself in a manner worthy of him, mostly by impatience and malice, and you see that he is in you; but you will not often at once rid yourself of him, because he usually takes care to close every outlet in your heart by unbelief, obduracy, and others of his brood. "Thy labour is in vain, thou fallen angel, I am the servant of my Lord Jesus Christ. Thou that exaltest thyself in thine arrogance, lowerest thyself by thus violently struggling with me, weak as I am," say thus mentally to the evil spirit, as he lays his heavy load on your heart and compels you to evil of various kinds. These words will be like fiery scourges to the proud spirit, and he, shamed by your firmness and spiritual wisdom, will flee from you. You at once will perceive, feel, and wonder at the marvelous change in you; the heavy, soul-destroying load in your heart will no longer be there; you will feel so relieved, and will be convinced by your feelings that there are spirits of evil hovering around us and constantly seeking our destruction, poisoning our hearts with the poison of dark and evil thoughts, and endeavoring to destroy our love to mankind and fellowship with them."
https://orthodoxethos.com/post/how-god-changes-contagious-objects-to-be-harmless
