My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST1 HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE ABSENCE OF SACRED CANONS FROM WITHIN THE
CHURCH WOULD BE DESTRUCTIVE AND DEVASTATING.
REMOVING, IGNORING AND DISMISSING THE SACRED CANONS OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH WOULD BE FUNDAMENTALLY DESTABILIZING AND WOULD HAVE DEVASTATING IMPACT UPON IT. The Sacred Canons serve as its ESSENTIAL, STRUCTURAL "RUDDER." Their complete either removal would immediately result in the loss of hierarchical organization, liturgical uniformity, and Doctrinal boundaries, ultimately LEAVING THE CHURCH FRACTURED AND VULNERABLE TO HERESY.
The Sacred Canons outline the MORAL, EDUCATIONAL, AND SACRAMENTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PRIESTHOOD, AS WELL AS THE TRIBUNALS FOR DEFROCKING OR DISCIPLINING CLERGY. REMOVING OR ELIMINATING THEM WOULD ELIMINATE THE MECHANISMS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND WOULD LEAD TO UNQUALIFIED OR SCHISMATIC INDIVIDUALS ACTING AS PRIESTS.
Again the word CANONs literally means A MEASURING ROfroD. The early Synods (such as Nicaea and Chalcedon) drafted Canons precisely TO PROTECT DOGMA, COMBAT HERESIES (like Arianism), and DEFEND AND PRESERVE THE BOUNDARIES OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN BELIEF. WITHOUT THESE EXPLICIT GUIDELINES, THE CHURCH COULD EASILY DRIFT FROM ITS PATRISTIC FOUNDATIONS, BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN ORTHODOX TEACHING AND SECULAR PHILOSOPHIES.
THE HOLY CANONS ARE A FUNDAMENTAL PILLAR OF HOLY TRADITION. LOSING THEM OR UNDERMINING THEM DELIBERATELY WOULD SEVER THE CHURCH FROM THE WISDOM OF THE ECUMENICAL SYNODS AND THE HOLY CHURCH FATHERS. Evil works insidiously and under the cover of darkness. The Church has been consistently persecuted from without by its enemies throughout the centuries and millions of Christians were martyred, tortured and killed. However, the Church has also faced a different persecution and more dangerous, persecution from within. Heretics and heresies have plagued and threatened the vary fabric of the Church
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 