It is not only words that can bear witness to Christ. So much light of the heart can be accumulated in a person that through his goodness and kindness people will recognize the Heavenly Father (cf. Matt. 5:16): "It was the presence of this tangible, obvious gift from above, that is, the super-ordinary human gift, that raised an indescribable agitation around John of Kronstadt: people reached out to him not for help for themselves, not because of their weakness, not in the midst of their suffering, – they reached out to it as a living testimony of the heavenly powers, as a living sign that Heaven is alive, divine and grace-filled" (V. Rozanov).104

As A. Bergson remarked, "the saints only exist, but their existence is a call."105 Here is an example of such a call from the life of Francis of Assisi.

One day Francis said to a novice: "Let's go to the city to preach." They walked and talked quietly among themselves all the way about spiritual matters. We walked through the whole city, turned back and so reached the monastery itself. The young brother asked in surprise, "Father, when are we going to preach?" But Francis said, "Haven't you noticed that we have been preaching all the time? We walked decently, talked about the most worthy subjects, those who met looked at us and received peace and tranquility. After all, preaching consists not only in words, but also in behavior itself."

Monasteries, separated by walls from the world – are they not preaching to the world?

How many people took the step from excursion to pilgrimage when visiting Russian monasteries? We went to the "state museum-reserve", and came to the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra and were surprised to find that it is possible to be a Christian even today.

Isn't the preaching of Christ the ringing of bells? Doesn't an Orthodox church preach Christ – even with a sawed-off cross? Does not the priest who walks through the city in a cassock remind us of Christ? Do not the old Orthodox cemeteries preach the resurrection of Christ?

After all, even children's baptisms and funeral services for old parents, condemned by Protestant dogmatics, are not for many the first contact with the Christian world and the first prayer to Christ? Vladimir Zelinsky has a testimony about the preaching of the Divine Service: "Most often, the educational function in our country is performed only by the divine service, the chant itself, the prayer structure or the warmth radiated by it... No one invites them to the Orthodox Church, they come there themselves."106

The Orthodox tradition of preaching is in fact no poorer than the Protestant one, it provides even richer opportunities for missionary work than the Protestant one.

And the fact that we misuse these opportunities is our sin, but not of Orthodoxy. "A careless, sluggish will, a heart alien to living pastoral zeal, a superficial and lazy mind try to see in all more or less persistent calls for the most active and intense evangelism something 'inspired from outside' and 'alien to our ancient foundations', 'you know,' they say, 'there is a little smell of the West here...' Does it smell like the west here?! West?! So does the "West" say that evangelism is our necessary duty, that in the absence of a real organization of church preaching, the religious life of the people will die out? That without the serious catechesis of the flock, our divinely beautiful divine services will remain in vain, misunderstood, unexperienced, and the holy mysteries will be marked like beads under the feet of pigs? So, I ask, is this "the West"? – What, then, is meant by the "East," what is the organization of pastoral work? Tell. No, no, gentlemen uninvited defenders of the "East," do not slander Orthodoxy, do not impose on it a pagan attitude towards the people in matters of knowledge of God, do not elevate your carelessness and your soft head pillow to the dogma of Orthodox pastoral practice. I do not argue that this may correspond to your temperament and your routine of life, but it is terribly contrary to the essence of Orthodox Church pedagogy... Never forget that since the Tsar Bell fell and stopped ringing, it has turned into a simple historical antiquity-curiosity... As is known, the Ustav indicates up to 7 occasions at one all-night vigil when it is necessary to address the people with this or that instruction," wrote the missionary priest even before the revolution.107

Protestants also see the defect of Orthodoxy in the fact that the Orthodox have somewhat devalued the Gospel by seeing in the works of the Holy Fathers and in the conciliar deeds a kind of continuing revelation of God.

The Gospel is sufficient for salvation, and if someone adds or subtracts even a word from it, he sins mortally. The study of the Gospel is the only way to resolve theological questions.

Yes, Orthodoxy does believe that God did not cease to reveal His will to people after the last Apostle put the last point in his book. Yes, although it is impossible to speak of the Divine inspiration of the books of the Fathers, we still feel the Divine enlightenment of the pages of the Holy Fathers. Through consonance with the Gospel, we establish whether the Holy Father wrote something from himself or whether he was moved by the same Spirit that acted in the apostles.

But does not Protestantism build its own "tradition"? Are not Ellen White's books, with her thousands of fully spiritualistic visions (very similar to the voices of Helena Blavatsky and Helena Roerich), accepted by Adventists as the foundation of their faith, as obligatory and authoritative doctrinal literature‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡

And was Protestantism itself born simply from the study of Scripture, and not from some mystical experience? A word to Luther: "How often has my heart trembled, how often have I been tormented, and have made to myself the only very strong objection of my adversaries: Are you the only wise one, and all the others have erred for so long? And what if you err and deceive so many people, who will all be condemned to eternal punishment? And this continued until Jesus Christ strengthened me with a certain Word of His and strengthened me to such an extent that my heart no longer trembles, but despises these objections of the papists."109