Archbishop Hilarion
Vladimir Alekseevich Troitsky
(September 13, 1886, Lipitsy village, Tula province — December 28, 1929, Leningrad) - bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archbishop of Verey, theologian, preacher, and spiritual writer.
The basis of Church unity does not consist of legal principles, which guard personal egoism, but love, which is the opposite of personal egoism.
In His parting conversation, Christ said to His disciples: «A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another» (John 13:34–35).
It is this «new beginning» of Church unity which creates an organic unity rather than a mechanical unification of internally divided persons.
Christ Himself likened Church unity to the organic unity of a tree with its branches (cf. Rom. 11:17,24).
Original quote
Quotes from Russian saints
