When the general persecution of Christians ceased, heresies began to agitate the life of the Church especially. In order to combat heresies and to instruct all Christians how to believe correctly, Orthodox, Councils (assemblies) of bishops – pastors and teachers of the Church gathered, following the example of the Holy Apostles, as far as possible from all over the world, that is, from all countries where there were Christians. As St.

the Apostles gathered at the Council in Jerusalem (the Apostolic Council in the year 51 – Acts 15:1-35), when it was necessary to decide whether Gentile Christians should fulfill the ceremonial law of Moses; so the Fathers of the Church, i.e. the bishops, to whom the Apostles transferred their authority (through successive ordination), gathered at Councils when any teaching contrary to the faith of Christ appeared. Such general councils (from all over Christendom)

, which affirmed the truth of Christ under the influence of the Holy Spirit and were accepted by the entire Church of Christ, are called Ecumenical Councils. There were seven Ecumenical Councils. At the First and Second Ecumenical Councils, the Symbol of Faith was composed. The Symbol of Faith is a brief exposition of the entire Christian, Orthodox faith. Every Orthodox Christian should know it.

It is sung by us at the Divine Liturgy. The Seventh Ecumenical Council defended and confirmed the veneration of holy icons. The Fall of the Roman Church. Enlightenment of the Slavs After the period of the Ecumenical Councils, the western part of the Church (the Roman) separated from the Universal Orthodox Church and formed a separate Roman Catholic Church. It happened like this.

After the apostles, their successors, bishops, began to govern the Church, who, having the same degree of priesthood, had different powers. The bishops of smaller cities were subordinate to the bishops of large cities, who were called metropolitans. Metropolitans, in turn, were subordinate to the bishops of the capital cities, who were called patriarchs. The highest authority in the Church belonged to the Councils, to which the patriarchs were also subordinate.

There were five patriarchs at that time: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. (The Patriarch of Alexandria was called the Pope, and then the Patriarch of Rome was also called the Pope. For a long time, other bishops were also called popes (the word "pope" means father). All five patriarchs had the same rights and were independent of each other.

There was neither the highest nor the lowest among them, but only in the order of enumeration did the Pope of Rome occupy the first place. But in the course of time, the Popes of Rome, expanding their dominions, began to strengthen themselves in power and began to strive to subordinate all the patriarchs to themselves, that is , for the Pope to become the head of the Church of Christ. Such a claim of the Popes of Rome was recognized by the Church as illegal.

This was the main reason for separation. Subsequently, Protestant confessions separated from the Roman Catholic Church. About the time when the Roman Church fell away, the Universal Orthodox Church was enlarged by the entry into it of the Slavic peoples who had adopted Christianity. The first enlighteners of the Slavs were the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, who selflessly labored to spread the Christian faith among the Slavs.

They compiled the Slavonic alphabet and translated the books of the Holy Scriptures and church books into the Slavonic language. After their deaths, Christianity was established among the Bulgarians and Serbs, and then the Russian people were baptized into the Christian faith. The Baptism of Rus Our fatherland, Russia, became a Christian country almost a thousand years after the coming of the Savior into the world.

Until that time, people in the Russian land worshipped idols and were pagans. The main idols were the sun (dazh-god) and thunder and lightning (perun). In addition to them, many lower idols were worshipped, patrons of the household, house, yard, water, forest, etc. In the life of our pagan ancestors there were many superstitions, false concepts, cruel customs, there were even human sacrifices to idols. According to tradition, St.

The Apostle Andrew the First-Called was preaching the Gospel in Scythia, i.e. in the country from which Russia was later formed. Having ascended the Kiev mountains, he placed a wooden cross there and predicted that the true faith of Christ would shine in this country. St. Up. Andrew went through the future Russian land from south to north: from the Kiev mountains to Novgorod and even visited the island of Valaam.

This is evidenced by the latest research. Thus, a local (in the north of Russia) tradition indicates that St. Ap. Andrew the First-Called, the enlightener of the Scythians and Slavs, arrived from Kiev to Novgorod. From here he sailed along the Volkhov River to Lake Ladoga, and then to Valaam. There he blessed the mountains with a stone cross. He destroyed the temples of Veles and Perun, converted the priests of idols and the pagans living on the island to the faith of Christ, laying the foundation on Valaam for the confession of faith in Christ.

He left as shepherds of the newly-gathered flock of Christ some of the disciples who accompanied him. In the most ancient manuscript: "Opoved", kept in the library of the Valaam monastery, it is said as follows: "St. Andrew passed from Jerusalem Golyad, Kosog, Roden, Skef, Scythian and Sloven adjacent meadows (steppes), reached Smolensk, and the militias of Skof and Slavyansk the Great, and leaving Ladoga, sat in a boat, went to Valaam, baptizing everywhere and placing stone crosses in all places.

His disciples Sila, Firs, Elisey, Lukoslav, Joseph, Cosmas made fences everywhere and all the posadniks (i.e. deputies of the rulers-princes) traveled from Slovensk and Smolensk, and many priests were baptized and the temples of Perun and Veles were destroyed and destroyed." About the sojourn of St. Ap. St. Andrew's Church on Valaam is also confirmed by another monument of antiquity: the "All-Ennial" of the Kiev Metropolitan Hilarion, 1051.