2023, just before another election year, rumors are flying that mask mandates will be implemented in the near future. This means that parents will be forced again to submit religious exemptions to mask mandates for children. In these trying times, parents find themselves once more standing up for their cherished rights and liberties, particularly in the context of mask mandates for their children. It’s a rallying cry for freedom, a reminder that parents, not institutions, should have the final say in raising their kids. These new mask mandates are being rolled out again. We want to empower you as an individual and a parent to stand your ground confidently and respectfully.
One mom’s response to masking mandates and submitting a religious exemption was, “Child abuse is against my religion!”
Her words echo the sentiments of countless parents who firmly hold that subjecting their children to masks is akin to causing harm. It’s not just about physical well-being; it’s about the mental and emotional toll that masks can exact on our children. Depriving them of the simple joy of seeing smiles and freely breathing can stifle their growth and happiness.
Do we know that masks are harmful to the health and well-being of our children?
The research says yes.
Do they create fear?
Yes.
Looking for the research? There is a plethora found in this drive.
At the core of this issue is the belief that parents are answerable to a higher power—God—for the way they nurture their children. The facts are clear: the risks posed to children by the pandemic are relatively low. So, why should parents be coerced into accepting mask mandates they feel are unnecessary and even harmful to their little ones?
But it’s essential to remember that these concerns are rooted in sincere convictions. Parents who assert religious objections to mask mandates genuinely believe these mandates are detrimental to their children’s health and well-being. They see masks as instruments of fear and tools to enforce what they perceive as “unlawful and unjust rules.” In our eyes, it’s not just about protecting our kids; it’s about preserving the inalienable right to parent as we believe God intended.
This is a matter of personal conscience. A firmly held moral belief that your children are a gift from God and that he grants you wisdom and authority to raise them as he directs your heart.
Religious Exemption for Mask To wear a mask on my face goes against God and my religious beliefs.
As a Christian, I view the mask as an affront to what I know to be true in the Word of God.
We know that wearing a mask is part of a satanic ritual, a humiliation ritual, which the God of the Bible says we are to abstain from engaging in rituals. Eph 5:11 “..Take no part in unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
Gen 1:27, Gen 9:26, and Col 3:10 says that I am made in the image and likeness of God. As Job 33:4 states perfectly, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” I will not hide the image of God nor hinder the breath of life which is my very connection to my creator.
The command from God to “fear not” is written hundreds of times in the Bible. Our generous Abba, Father has given us a reminder for every day of the year to “fear not” because He wants us to look to Him, not the world, for our protection and provision.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” From this scripture, we see that a sound mind cannot exist with the spirit of fear. In fact, the spirit of fear makes us slaves according to Romans 8:15 “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”
The good news is in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” We know that God is love so there is no fear in God which leads to the understanding that the spirit of fear will separate me from God and His perfect love. Not trusting in God is an abomination to God.
Heb 11:6 “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” 1 Cor 2:5 “That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. I have faith that I am made perfectly by my creator with a perfectly designed immune system as God saw that His creation was good in Gen 1:3. Romans 1:17 says that the righteous live by faith and Mark 10:52 says that we can experience healing through faith. Therefore, my faith is in the one true creator God not the shifting direction of Dr Fauci and is 1 mask, 2 mask, goggles, distancing, and gloves. My religious liberty is my birthright and is supported by the Constitution.
Many people are being forced to choose between feeding their families and getting injected with a potentially deadly experimental substance. This is a fundamental violation not only of human rights but of the religious rights that we are guaranteed in the United States of America. We are human beings made in the image of God. We have God-given human rights and should not be forced to choose between feeding our families and putting something that is potentially deadly into our bodies.
Your personal convictions do not need the blessing of your church denomination or religious leader.
Very few religious groups in America have adopted a theological statement against vaccination. It’s a sad fact that the leaders of our religious denominations choose not to take a stance. However, all that an employee needs to implement a religious exemption is sincere belief — you don’t need a pastor or a religious leader to get involved.This is a “personal faith” decision, not an “essential faith” decision. It is a legitimate position, even if it is not the official church position.
Federal law also guarantees that individuals have a right to be free from religious discrimination. In order to reconcile these two rights, the law requires employers to make “reasonable accommodation” for individuals with a genuine religious objection to the vaccine.
Your Vaccine Exemption Letter
Your religious exemption letter must be PERSONAL. This is your firmly held moral conviction against vaccination. As with many matters of faith, we don’t often need to defend our beliefs and it can be challenging to find the words to verbalize our internal convictions. Please use these letters as a resource to help you formulate those points that you find most personally convicting and draft your religious exemption in your own words.
Scripture References
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His OWN IMAGE; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that YOUR BODY is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have FROM GOD, and YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN? For you were bought at a price; therefore GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY AND YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GODS?”
Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, but the mercies of God, that you present your BODIES a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And DO NOT BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Psalm 139:13-16 “13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Psalm 100:3 “Know that the Lord, He is God; IT IS HE WHO HAS MADE US, and not we ourselves; WE ARE HIS PEOPLE and the sheep of His pasture.”
Example of Religious Exemption Letter from a Nurse who obtained an exemption:
Once I was naïve and believed wholeheartedly in scientific achievements with unbounding faith. I believed others to be good-hearted, many God-fearing. I believed in “do no harm”. After my children were baptized Catholic, I found myself drawn to the faith and began catechism classes and immersed myself as a searcher. As my own personal faith has developed and grown, I have found that growth and change have become a natural part of my own faith. Thus, I remain both a person of faith – and continue to be a searcher. In the past, I have been voluntarily and involuntarily vaccinated for “the greater good.”
Now, my conscience reminds me that my Creator wonderfully and perfectly makes me in His image. I am worthy of being part of the greater good. By my baptism, I am born anew and become a member of God’s people. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, as in a temple. My body is a temple, and I am obliged to regard it as good. I am called to hold it in his honor because God himself created it and will raise it up on the last day. (782, 364) This epiphany has changed the way I live, how I raise my children, and how we practice a holistic approach to natural healing.
In paragraph 159 of the Catechism, “Consequently, methodical research in all branches of knowledge, provided it is carried out in a truly scientific manner and does not override moral laws, can never conflict with the faith, because the things of the world and the things of faith derive from the same God. The humble and persevering investigator of the secrets of nature is being led, as it were, by the hand of God despite himself, for it is God, the conserver of all things, who made them what they are.” (Gaudium et Spes 36 § 1) The forced vaccination conflicts with my faith and freedom because I believe in the Lord, the giver of Life, who provides for the natural healing of our human bodies. I do not believe our merciful God intended for us to poison our earthly bodies with synthetic substances. Man is made of body and soul in unity. I can no longer morally chance potential adverse reactions due to my actions when my human body and spiritual soul are intended to become a temple of the Spirit. (364) I understand that I am a gift from God, like all His children, with an obligation to respect and honor this temporary vessel until He calls me home. “Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary.” (Catholic Church, 1734).
Mandating a practice that I feel has the potential to cause harm to my earthly body is infringing on my freedom and condemning me by acting against my moral conscience (1778, 1790). “Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe to each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.” (1738; Cf. Dignitatis Humanae 2 § 7) Man has the right to act in conscience and freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. “He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.” (1782, Dignitatis Humanae 3 § 2)
With these references from a regarded religious source, I am requesting a religious exemption to the mandated influenza and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. My understanding of the policy is I may be granted accommodations as outlined by the Mandatory Influenza Vaccination Procedure. In years past, this accommodation has been wearing a mask. We are presently mandated to wear a mask while on campus; thus, my religious objection will not be an issue of discrimination nor reveal any medically sensitive information.
– The employer does not need a letter from a pastor or other clergy member. If they ask, tell them that is not required by law.
– This letter focuses mainly on Covid vaccines as all use aborted fetal cells. Not all other vaccines do not.
Consider language in your religious exemption letter pertaining to not medicating healthy bodies as that should cover other vaccines also.
– Some letters include language about the body being the temple of God. I did not include that as I feel that most people do things all the time that violate this – such as smoke, drink, get cosmetic surgery, etc. In my opinion, that opens the door to a challenge.
We Have A Constitutional Right To Following Our Religious Convictions Regarding Our Bodies
Conscience protections apply to health care providers who refuse to perform, accommodate, or assist with certain health care services on religious or moral grounds. Federal statutes protect health care provider conscience rights and prohibit recipients of certain federal funds from discriminating against health care providers who refuse to participate in these services based on moral objections or religious beliefs. Those statutes are listed below.
Example of Letter Citing Constitutional and Federal Statutes:
<Your firmly held moral conviction against vaccination listed here>
On this basis, as the above-referenced immunization requirements violate my right to freely exercise my religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution of The United States of America, I am asserting my rights to an exemption from (Governing Authority Name) __________________ immunization requirements. I qualify for this exemption based on the following: 1) First Amendment of the United States Constitution 2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (42 U.S. Code § 2000e) prohibits discrimination against a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. As enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Title VII requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employee’s sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. For religious accommodation request, according to the EEOC’s COVID-19 guidance, employers should ordinarily, assume that an employee’s request for religious accommodation is based on a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance. EEOC guidance also reminds employers that the ADA prohibits employers from both disclosing that an employee is receiving a reasonable accommodation and retaliating against an employee for requesting an accommodation. Failure to uphold 42 U.S. Code § 2000e and any attempt to coerce an individual to get the Covid-19 the vaccine is a violation of federal law and may be met with legal action.
FETAL CELL USE (Some lawyers have advised not using this as your primary objection for if they create vaccines that aren’t abortion tainted you could lose your exemption)
Below is a compilation of Synodal Statements, Medical Studies, Professional Dissertations, and Hierarchical and Monastic Statements which either forbid totally or recommend against receiving the COVID-19 Vaccine:
Bases of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church [1]
The Social Life Document of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is the largest Orthodox Jurisdiction on Earth, defines the absolute inadmissibility of medicines prepared using fetal therapy.
“The Church believes it to be definitely inadmissible to use the methods of so-called foetal therapy, in which the human foetus on various stages of its development is aborted and used in attempts to treat various diseases and to “rejuvenate” an organism. Denouncing abortion as a cardinal sin, the Church cannot find any justification for it either even if someone may possibly benefit from the destruction of a conceived human life. Contributing inevitably to ever wider spread and commercialization of abortion, this practice (even if its still hypothetical effectiveness could be proved scientifically) presents an example of glaring immorality and is criminal.”
This command is in point XII 7 of the Social Life Document. This document defines, as indicated by the name, appropriate Orthodox Christian living in as many aspects of society as is enumerated. Because of point XII 7, it would be a violation of my faith to receive the following coronavirus vaccines:
Moderna – The Moderna Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is cited by the vaccine researchers Kizzmekia S. Corbett, Darin K. Edwards, and Sarah R. Leist [4].
Sputnik V – The Sputnik V Vaccine cites their manufacturers as using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293 [6][7].
AstraZeneca – AstraZeneca was developed using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is also contained in documents permitting its emergency use in the United Kingdom [8].
Vaxart – Vaxart was produced with the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [9].
Altimmune – The Altimmune vaccine was produced and developed with the abortion-derived cell line PER.C6. This information is recorded by Altimmune’s own Clinical Trial Protocol [10]. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2].
COVAXX and United Biomedical – COVAXX was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [11].
Novavax – The Novavax Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by researches at ScienceMag [13].
University of Pittsburgh “PittCoVacc” – PittCoVacc was produced with the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by EBioMedicine at the Lancet [14].
Walter Reed Army Institute – The Walter Reed Vaccine was produced with the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [15].
Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio – The Sanofi Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the vaccine researchers at NPJ Vaccines [16].
Inovio Pharmeceuticals – The Inovio Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by researches at ScienceMag [17].
Arcturus Therapeutics – The Arcturus Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [18].
Imperial College London – The Imperial College Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [19].
Providence Therapeutics – The Providence Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [20].
CoronaVac – CoronoVac was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by researches at ScienceMag [21].
CanSino Biologics – The CanSino Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by researches at BioSpace [22].
ImmunityBio and NantKwest – The ImmunityBio Vaccine was developed, produced, and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [23].
Institut Pasteur and Themis and Merck – The Institut Pasteur Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [24].
Rega Institute, KU Leuven – The Rega Vaccine protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Global Virus Network [25].
Anhui Zhifei – The Anhui Zhifei Vaccine was developed and protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cell Press Journal [26].
Clover Biopharmeceuticals – The Clover Vaccine was protein tested using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is recorded by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory [27].
The same Social Life Document also states “The transplantation of organs from a living donor can be based only on the voluntary self-sacrifice for the sake of another’s life. In this case, the consent to explantation (removal of an organ) becomes a manifestation of love and compassion. However, a potential donor should be fully informed about possible consequences of the explanation of his organ for his health. The explanation that presents an immediate threat to the life of a donor is morally inadmissible.”
This is from the same point, XII 7, and therein it condemns the harvesting of biological material from a subject without their total informed consent. This condemns the usage of any vaccines manufactured utilizing stolen organs, thereby also condemning the CureVac Vaccine because it was protein tested on HeLa cells, which were harvested from an African American mother of five in 1951 without her knowledge or consent. This information is enumerated by the Lozier Institute [2]. This information is accounted by John Hopkin’s Magazine [28].
Greek Orthodox Press Release on “The Cloning of Embryonic Cells” [29]
The Greek Orthodox Church, which is the second in order among the non-patriarchal Autocephalous Jurisdictions, declared “Our Church expresses its categorical opposition to conducting experiments on human embryonic cells.” This is found in the 17.8.2000 Press Release on Embryo Cell Cloning. It further declares in the same Press Release that “the effort to improve life can not pass through the destruction of millions of human beings of embryonic age.”
This absolutely condemns the bulk of the already above-mentioned Vaccines which are the product of testing on cells harvested from aborted fetuses. This would make it a contradiction to my Orthodox faith to receive those vaccines even if said vaccines genuinely benefited me.
Romanian Orthodox Church Statement on “The Transplant of Organs” [30]
The Romanian Orthodox Church, which is fourth in the order of junior Patriarchates, lists mandatory principles for the moral use of human organs and tissues, and states: “Because the extraction of organs implies the consent of the donor, extraction of tissues from an embryo is inconceivable given the fact that although alive, this one cannot give its consent.”
On this basis, the Romanian Orthodox Church condemns all medical work profiting from the harvesting of cells from a embryo, or, in fact, any medical work profiting from the harvesting of cells from a non-consenting individual. This statement alone condemns all the above-mentioned vaccines on the basis that they come from either an aborted fetus or a non-consenting individual; in the vast majority of cases, these vaccines are condemned by both qualifications.
Also mentioned in this Statement in the Church’s view of death. The Church declares that “From a Christian point of view, death has two acceptances:
Man’s moving away from God through sin (death that can be temporary or eternal, according to the seriousness of the sin, repentance or its absence);
The physical death – materialized through the separation of the soul from the body. All Christian effort is to get rid of the eternal death through the dynamic communion with God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. This fact does not exclude the care for the conditions, moment and way of separating the soul from the body.”
I am of the opinion that receiving the vaccines mentioned above would be participating in the sin of abortion, thereby resulting in my spiritual death. While neither death is desirable, the Church has since antiquity declared that spiritual death is magnitudes less desirable than physical death because spiritual death results in the eternal suffering of our souls, as is declared in Revelation 21:8 – “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” And again in Revelation 20:14 – “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”
Inter-Church declaration by Archbishop Makarios [31]
Archbishop Makarios is a hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the First Throned Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church. He worked with other religious officials of other churches to compose an InterChurch statement condemning the AstraZeneca Vaccine on the basis that it was developed using the abortion-derived cell line HEK-293. On this basis, most of the above-mentioned vaccines are condemned because of their usage of HEK-293 in the development or testing of their vaccines.
Moldovan Orthodox Church Declaration On The Threat Of COVID Vaccines [32]
The Moldovan Orthodox Church, which is a self-ruling jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church, declared that the COVID Vaccines are a microchipping threat for faithful Christians.
In the statement, the Church states that “it must be said that vaccination carries the risk of microchipping or introducing foreign devices into the human body. The public in many European countries is protesting against mandatory vaccination, especially against the COVID-19 vaccine, because it considers it to be the way in which the world anti-Christ system wants to introduce microchips into people’s bodies to control them…”
The Synod says affirmatively that the Vaccine is a microchipping threat and acknowledges that the public are concerned that there are greater forces governing the world which are using vaccines and microchips in order to control them in a scheme in service of the anti-Christ.
I do not know if the vaccine is a microchipping threat, nor do I know if greater forces are serving the anti-Christ using the vaccines, however I DO know that these are my spiritual shepherds and that they have been appointed as pastors of the Orthodox Christian flock due to their wisdom and diligence. They are wiser than I am, and I will trust this overwhelming opposition to the vaccine by the hierarchs of my Church. Therefore, I oppose the vaccine as a threat to me, and would like to request that they are not mandated so that I am not of any potential risk.
Georgian Orthodox Synod On The Necessity Of Vaccination Being A Free Choice And Not Compulsory [33]
The Georgian Orthodox Church, which is the second in the order of Junior Patriarchates, made a Synodal Statement concerning the vaccine. In the Synodal Statement, they declare “We welcome the fact that the Covid-Pandemic vaccination process has been declared voluntary and not mandatory; This is especially important today, when the vaccine is newly developed and health professionals in different countries have different opinions about it.”
The Georgian Church acknowledges that the different opinions are valid enough to be such a concern that the vaccines should not be compulsory and notes that this is “especially important.” I also believe that this is especially important, and I believe this would be a contradiction of my Orthodox faith and thereby should not be mandatory.
Metropolitan Saba of Khoni Against The COVID Vaccine [34]
As a Bishop of the Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Saba is one of the highest authorities concerning Orthodox Christian living. He has voiced extreme opposition to the vaccine.
He states “today’s virus, it is a means in the hands of the devil, to bring people under its influence,” and “there will come a time when a vaccine will be offered to humanity, to humans, which will serve not so much the virus, but the enslavement of humans, the management of humans, the subjugation of humans, and it will become one of the most important tools in the hands of the devil.”
He speaks of the danger of the vaccine, saying that it is a method of controlling the population, much less so than it will be for the management of any virus. As one who is charged with taking care of the Orthodox Christian flock, I take note of his warnings against the vaccine and acknowledge it alongside the warnings of many other Bishops, Elders, and Synods. I cannot, in good conscience, receive the vaccine as I see it as a threat to me, both spiritually and physically. My faith already forbids the COVID Vaccine.
Bishop Spiridon of Skhalta Against The COVID Vaccine [35]
Bishop Spiridon warns against the COVID Vaccine, saying that it is being created by evildoers. This is not difficult to believe, at least in an American context, given that Big Pharma is notorious for its corruption, and the primary supporters of the distribution of the vaccines are the unelected elites of society and the mainstream media.
“If a murderer, a maniac brings you medicine, will you drink it?” I do not trust. I will not bring home the medicine brought by them.”
“I am personally convinced that this is the devil’s trap! – These people will not give you any medicine,”
Bishop Spiridon warns that the elites are functioning as agents of the devil to present the vaccine as a trap. This implicates, not just vaccines produced with aborted fetal cells, but ALL vaccines against coronavirus. This greatly concerns me, and I feel my readiness and functionality will be hindered if under any obligation to receive a vaccine against coronavirus.
In the Orthodox Church, exceptionally holy people are canonized as Saints. A canonization indicates the Church’s recognition that a person has already been received into the Kingdom of Heaven. These people have encountered God in a way not many people can comprehend, reaching heights of humility and divinization that the average man may never experience. Saint Paisios, in particular, lived such a holy life on earth that God bestowed upon him the gift of foresight, that is to say, he could spiritually warn with accuracy about the future. In one of his books, entitled “Spiritual Counsels II: Spiritual Awakening,” Saint Paisios displays his gift of foresight by predicting that a new vaccine (“new” relative to the time when he was alive) would be created to combat a new disease which will bear the Mark of the Beast on those who take it voluntarily.
“And now a vaccine has been developed to combat a new disease, which will be obligatory and those taking it will be marked.”
“Later on, anyone who is not marked with the number 666 will not be able to either buy or sell, to get a loan, to get a job, and so forth.”
Saint Paisios is eerily predicting many things which I have noticed, including the inexplicable push to mandate the vaccine in all areas of life. One such area is this line of work, which is the entire reason I have to request a religious exemption in the first place. This is the mindset behind the “Vaccine Passports” which some people are suggesting should be used as a prerequisite for flight by commercial plane, and some countries are using as prerequisite for any form of immigration. Saint Paisios saw a coming vaccine as the Mark of the Beast, bearing the number of his name: 666. I am aware of the Bible’s condemnation of those who bear his number, as all who take the Mark will be beyond salvation due to them having blasphemed the Holy Spirit by doing so. Whether or not the COVID Vaccine is the vaccine Saint Paisios warned about, I do not know, but I do know that there are many similarities between his foreseen vaccine and the COVID Vaccine. In order that I am not of any threat of taking the Mark of the Beast, I am requesting an exemption to the mandate of the COVID Vaccine.
In the Orthodox Church, the highest accessible spiritual states are found in monasticism. Most canonized Saints are monks, and monks are considered the foremost spiritual fathers for Orthodox Christians. This is further demonstrated by the fact that the Spiritual Center of the Orthodox Church is Mount Athos, which as a monastic republic, composed exclusively of monks. The Holy Mountain is held in high regard as some of our greatest guides come from there. Therefore, it is if considerable note that the abbot of Karakallou Monastery on Mount Athos felt it necessary to make a video to inform Orthodox Christians around the world about the dangers of the COVID Vaccine.
Archimandrite Philotheos says “We sense that the coming of this pandemic was no accident, and in fact, that it was manufactured. And then came the vaccine, supposedly ‘to suppress the pandemic,’ but we sense that this is all being directed, is artificial, in order to achieve what they want—their ultimate purpose,”
“And we can see in the way they are now imposing the vaccine that the dark forces have their ultimate goal. We have also been prepared for this by the Revelation of St. John the Evangelist, and we have been warned by the Apostolic Fathers who speak of the days of the Antichrist,”
“They abolish democracy, abolish human rights, abolish so many things these days. How do they reconcile all this? Under the pretext, of course, of the pandemic that they have produced,”
Archimandrite Philotheos is in a position unlike Saint Paisios described before, in that he inhabits the world while this Vaccine is conquering the world. He sees it as an effort by higher authorities and elites to abolish human rights for the purpose of subjugating mankind to prepare for the antiChrist. He says this vaccine is prepare humanity to be sealed in the future, meaning the Mark of the Beast. This is unacceptable for an Orthodox Christian, as the Mark of the Beast cannot be repented of. I absolutely cannot be at threat of the Mark.
Another Abbot of the Holy Mountain, from a different monastery, speaks against the COVID Vaccine. This is all weighing heavily on the vaccine. Elder Parthenius is the abbot of Saint Paul’s Monastery, and here he speaks against the vaccine saying that we ought the Lord’s Will far sooner than a man-made solution. We ought to pray against the virus as “Our hope is that whoever trusts in God will not be ashamed. We must rely not on our own strength, but on the mercy and love of God.”
Elder Parthenius refuses to bless anyone to receive the vaccine as it lines up too closely with what is written in Revelation 13. By its fruits we shall know it, and although the vaccine doesn’t perfectly align with Revelation 13, the similarities should strike us as notable.
Elder Efthymios is another Athonite monk who speaks about the suspicious nature of the vaccine. He firstly says “Those who do not want to be vaccinated, no one should and does not have the right to force them to be vaccinated in any way.” He goes on to say that the vaccine was mad obligatory in some areas before it was ever even manufactured. “There is a cure,” he says, “but some do not want it.” The cure he speaks about is the Body and Blood of Christ. This is a greater vaccine than anything created by mankind. “The vaccine is not a cure,” he notes as being confirmed by Nobel Prize-winning French Scientist Luc Antoine Montagnier. Elder Efthymios speculates that if the vaccine were genuinely and helpful, it would not need all this propaganda. Therefore there is reasonable suspicion of the vaccine, and it is within all appropriate logic to avoid it.
Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira Against the Vaccine [42][43]
Metropolitan Seraphim is the bishop of the Church of Cyprus, the first in the order of non-patriarchal Autocephalous Jurisdictions in the Orthodox Church. He has condemned the vaccines harshly for being the products of aborted fetal cells. Citing information from Italy, he notes that “the vaccine is made from aborted fetuses,” saying that it is impossible for the Orthodox to accept such a thing even if it is in the best economic interests of the people because what matters more than the economy is proper enforcement of morality.
I cannot accept a vaccine that results from the murder of babies, and therefore am requesting an exemption to the vaccine so that I do not participate in this grave sin.
Father Alexander Demonstrates the Moral Peril of the COVID Vaccine [44]
Father Alexander is a highly respected academic, author, and speaker. He served as an Orthodox Chaplain in the United States Army for over 24 years, achieving the rank of Colonel. He also served as a Dean and Professor of Moral Theology Emeritus at Holy Trinity Seminary. In light of his impressive resume, he would unquestionably support an exemption for Orthodox Christian receiving the COVID Vaccine. He says “We must reject, on moral grounds, all COVID-19 vaccines that have any connection to aborted preborn baby cells.” This condemns practically every available COVID Vaccine, and surely you cannot suppose that one violates their own moral codes for the sake of a negligibly beneficial vaccine? “According to traditional Orthodox moral theology (as opposed to revisionist variations so common today), certain actions (“means” to “ends”) are objectively, intrinsically evil under any “circumstances”—most notably, abortion, rape, incest, child abuse, physical torture, and deliberate targeting of non-combatants in war.” Fr Alexander knows the price that must be paid for anyone who participates in this grave evils, even if that evil is FDA Approved.
Saint Nikephoros the Leper Reveals the True Cure [45]
Saint Nikephoros was a monk granted the rank of the Angelic Schema, the highest order of monks in the Orthodox Church. For the majority of his life, he suffered from leprosy. In his time, he was unable to obtain medicine for the disease. He lived among lepers so as to not spread the disease among the healthy. As he progressed in his life and grew in his holiness, he came to a point where the disease would not spread to the healthy anymore. He became a vessel for blessings and good things, rather than a vector of death. He was granted the gift from God to return to the earth after his death to warn the faithful about the coronavirus pandemic. Multiple times he appeared to faithful Orthodox Christians in the Balkans. Saint Nikephoros revealed the truth: “There is a cure and this is the Holy Communion. There’s also a herb to drink, it’s thyme, it kills viruses. And in any case, be sure to visit the house of God at this difficult time, because there is no contagion there and no one can be infected.” He has given us the knowledge of better and more natural treatment, not one from the labs of men. The Holy Eucharist is the cure to COVID-19, and the disease can be treated with thyme. As one who suffered from life-altering diseases, he knows it like no other. As one among the highest order of monks, he knows that the House of God CANNOT contain an infection that harms the faithful. A person who is received validly into the Orthodox Church is the only one allowed to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ for his sanctification. As an Orthodox Christian, I can trust that I will receive the appropriate care from God by going into the temple of the Lord and participating in the regular Liturgical Cycle. Therefore there is no need to fear if I will catch the disease without a vaccine.
All of the above is a confirmation that it is not only my right to not be subject to the COVID Vaccine, but my duty as an Orthodox Christian. It is contradictory to the Orthodox faith no matter how you look at it. It cannot be justified and may even lead to our eternal spiritual disaster. It is for these reasons that I am requesting, through the appropriate channels, an exemption to the mandate to receive the COVID Vaccine.
The following are my sources for why it is a violation of my Orthodox Faith to receive at this time a COVID Vaccine:
