‘..this sin is the most essential and distinguishing characteristic not only of pagans and of heterodox Christians, but very often even of Orthodox Christians. Among the Orthodox there has recently been observed a certain darkening of the mind with regard to this carnal sin; for many regard it as entirely natural and permissible. Such Christians say, “Everyone lives so licentiously—let us live so as well.” As if it made no difference whether we perish alone or with all. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish,” said the Lord when He was told that Pilate had mingled the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1–3). Orthodox Christians should always remember that the Holy Church deals sternly with the sin of fornication even after repentance in it; for she bars those who have fallen into this sin from Holy Communion for seven years from the moment of repentance—that is, from the cessation of that sin....Since carnal sin has assumed gigantic proportions and has seized the whole world in bondage, the time draws near when the Lord will once again utter His dreaded sentence, the very same which He once pronounced upon all mankind before the Great Flood: “My Spirit shall not abide in Man forever, for they are flesh” (Gen. 6.3).  The former world the Lord destroyed with water; but the present world shall perish at the mere command of the Lord, in the day of His Second Coming, by fire—as the holy Apostle Peter prophesied, saying: ‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements, being inflamed, shall be dissolved, and the earth and the works therein shall be burned up’ (2 Pet. 3.10). 

Yes, it will not be the universal sin of fornication alone that will bring about this worldwide destruction, but above all another grievous and terrible sin—the universal apostasy of men from the Orthodox faith. “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Lk. 18.8). Yet this universal falling away from the Orthodox faith occurs not by reason of diabolical pride alone. One of the causes of this heavy sin is that very same sin of fornication, by which our mind is darkened and rendered capable of every delusion, and in particular of heretical delusion in matters of faith. Yet the sin of fornication is not merely a moral transgression. It is at the same time a sin against the Orthodox Faith. For our Orthodox Faith is contained not only in dogmas but also in the holy canons. Plainly, then, a departure from the holy canons that forbid fornication becomes the source of our greatest misfortune—a falling away from the Orthodox Faith, and therefore the source of our eternal perdition. This is why the Apostle Paul said: “Do not be deceived:… fornicators… shall not inherit the Kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6.9–10).

Therefore, beloved, let us not grieve the Most-Pure Mother of God through sins of fornication; let us repent not only of unclean deeds of fornication but also of impure feelings, desires, and thoughts. It is unknown how much time remains for us to live, and whether there will be time for our repentance, that we may avert from ourselves the terrible words of the Lord: “In whatever I find you, in that will I judge you” (cf. Ezek. 3.20; 18.20, 21–22).’

—sermon given on the feast day of Intercession of the Mother of God (14/1/1949)

𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐒𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐯 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧