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An Unpublished Life of Fr. Seraphim Rose, Written By His Godfather

April 25, 2018 / Dimitri Andrault de Langeron

Source: Orthodox Christianity . Reprinted with permission.

By Dimitri Andrault de Langeron

The story behind this text: My name is Gregory and around the years 2003-2006 I had the honor of spending time with, praying with and listening to the spiritual words of a truly humble man who loved Orthodoxy with all his heart. I speak of Dimitri Langeron, who lives with his wife Irene and their son Nicholas. Dimitri is Fr. Seraphim Rose’s godfather and a most pious and God-loving man. Their house is filled with icons, some very old from Russia and in some rooms nearly half of the walls of the rooms are covered in icons. There is something very other-worldly about Dimitri and his family; something I can best describe as Old Worldish; remnants of the types of people who so rarely exist these days. They pray, they fast, they constantly speak about God and His Holy Church and I really don’t know if I’ve ever heard them speak of anything else; besides of things concerning the necessities of life. They have a huge garden in their backyard (the size of a large house) and live in simplicity.

I visited their home often over the course of these three years or so, as their son is mentally challenged and in their old age, they needed help in caring for him. I was paid by Easter Seals for this and the Langerons were pleased as they preferred someone who was Orthodox to help them. During one of these visits, Dimitri printed for me a text he had written about his godson, Fr. Seraphim Rose. If I remember correctly he had been asked to write it as an introduction for a book; but it either was never submitted by him or the author of the book perhaps chose a different introduction instead. I took this and read it, placing it for safe keeping in a three-ring binder. Now after at least a decade, I just recently rediscovered this work of his. I am sharing it for all those who love Fr. Seraphim Rose. I ask the prayers of all those who read this for Dimitri, Irene and Nicholas, who are all now very old and preparing to pass into eternity.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness …” “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. John Keats (1795-1821)

E ugene Rose was born in 1934, into an American Protestant family.

Beauty is what attracted Eugene, the future father Seraphim, to Russian Orthodox Christianity. What he called later “the savor of Orthodoxy.”

Beauty and the passionate search for truth—because, basically, Eugene had a philosophical mind. Besides a strong and penetrating intellect, which could get to the essence of things in a few sober words, he had a compassionate and loving heart. His encounter with Christ was not intellectual, but a leap of faith, an act of love pure and simple. This is how also he came to love Russia, the Russian people, the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile, and finally Czar Nicholas II, the martyr. He found Russians psychologically deeper and more sincere and warm in their relations with other people than Western men, and with a religious and mystical bent, a little like the Irish.

Eugene studied in Pomona College, CA, and at the University of California in Berkeley. He was a man of wide culture, very gifted in languages, conversant in French and German. Besides, he learned Chinese and Japanese. Later on, he easily picked up Russian and Church Slavonic. He also studied the sciences, excelling in natural sciences. He was recognized by his professors as an exceptionally brilliant student.

He loved music (especially Bach), opera, literature, poetry. In English literature, he liked Dickens. He loved nature and animals. He was athletically built, and enjoyed sports in college. He was a practical man who could fix automobiles, make repairs and build a house.

But soon Eugene became disillusioned with the emptiness of modern life, its flat materialism, and with the only Christianity he knew: Protestant and Catholic, which he felt, had lost its spirituality. He also saw that science and technology, wrongly used, were slowly destroying the natural beautiful fabric of life. Looking for truth in the East, he studied Chinese culture and religion, Taoism, Buddhism, Zen and the hedonist teachings of Alan Watts (a former Episcopalian priest, who had rejected his faith in favor of Zen Buddhism).

After a while, he also became disillusioned with the Eastern religions, finding them shallow. He came close to atheism, sensuality, and actual rebellion against God. He also came close to total skepticism, this terrible state of the human mind doubting all, drawing nearer and nearer to total madness and self-destruction. This state is well described in the classical book of Pavel Florensky, The Pillar and Ground of Truth . 1,2

But a miracle occurred. Eugene came to the night service at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in San Francisco. It was Easter, Russian Easter, so notoriously exuberant and full of joy. Here he experienced something of the original spirit of Christianity from the time of the Apostles. He was overwhelmed by the beauty of the service, by all he saw and heard. He said: “Now I am at home.” He realized that he had found what he had been seeking all along. He experienced something neither intellectual nor aesthetic, but existential. And inside of him, there was burning, not a temporary exaltation, but a deep spiritual passion, a permanent determination to preserve no matter what, that was to last for his whole life. From then on, slowly, he became more and more engulfed in Orthodox Christianity. He changed gradually his mode of life, from worldly to ascetic.

This is when I met him in San Francisco. He became a very dear friend. I cannot forget his kind penetrating eyes, his smile, his sobriety, his calmness, his composure, his natural nobility. He was intense, but shy. He knew nobody among young Russian Orthodox intellectuals. I introduced him to my friends. We met very often. I read and translated to him classical texts of Russian spirituality. We had many discussions…

He asked me to be his godfather when he became Orthodox in 1962. He also asked my mother, who was living at that time with me, to be his godmother. He faithfully attended as many services of the Russian cathedral as he could. He quickly learned to sing and to read in Church Slavonic perfectly.

But the catalyst which precipitated and confirmed his conversion was a modern day saint, Archbishop John (Maximovitch), who came to San Francisco to help build a new cathedral. Saint John was an ascetic. He never slept in a bed, and when not attending Church services, spent his time ministering to the poor, the downtrodden, the sick, and those in prisons. Many miracles occurred at his prayers. People were healed. Sometimes, even when there was no telephone communication, he came to the sick when they were asking for his help in their heart, or he just knew of their distress, and came, and as a result they were healed, even in the most desperate medical conditions. He radiated love and spiritual joy. Many people who knew him, who had received his help, who had been the object of his love, loved him in return wholeheartedly. They were extremely attached to him. He was clairvoyant. He could stop a suicide by just calling on the phone, and saying: “Don’t do it!” Being a bishop in China during the Second World War, he saved thousands of people from death and deportation, arranging their transfer to the USA. The many orphans that he saved still love him. He was of small stature, dressed in an old tattered cassock, hunchback. He had a speech impediment. Once, during the war between Japan and China, during a firefight between Chinese and Japanese soldiers in Shanghai, he decided to visit an Orthodox Church in the war zone. He was warned that he was exposing himself to a great danger, even death. Disregarding this completely, he crossed the war zone. As long as he was crossing it, the firefight stopped. He came back in the same way. Japanese soldiers at their post stood at attention when he was passing, honoring him, being amazed at what had happened, and saying that God had helped him. His writings and sermons were concise and simple, clarifying the most difficult problems.

The blessing and love of this man drove Eugene to a new life.

The 1960’s were a time of a great Russian emigre “Renaissance” in San Francisco, both religious and cultural. There were many outstanding personalities, clerics, writers, artists. The center of this radiance was Saint John, and several outstanding bishops, with links to the spiritual traditions of old Russia. It was a great privilege to be there at that time! Archbishop John was publishing his diocesan newsletter ( Tserkovnyi Blagovestnik or the Church Messenger ), of which I was blessed to be the first editor. The next editor was Eugene, and he wrote there his first articles which showed immediately his literary talents and a style which went directly to the heart of the reader. Archbishop John organized pastoral courses (bogoslovskie kursy) especially for Eugene. As soon as Eugene had completed them, these courses were discontinued! My friends, the brothers Zavarine, had organized in their home meetings of the so-called “Umoliubtsy” (lovers of wisdom), which had a philosophical, but also religious and literary orientation. Eugene came, and talked about his ideas. Professor Ivan Kontzevitch (brother of bishop Nektary) also came. He was a gifted and well known theologian. Professors of the University at Berkeley also attended. Discussions lasted long into the night (some topics were: Hegel, Kant, Dostoevsky, Professor Ivan Iliine, the boundaries between science and religion).

The services at the cathedral of San Francisco, especially at Easter, were unforgettable. Their impact on the soul was greater than even the best of classical music. The singing of the magnificent choir, the icons, surrounded by candles; the clergy in their shining vestments; the deacons with their incredibly low and powerful bass voices; the saintly Archbishop; the service itself: all this together produced the sensation of a beauty which was truly overwhelming, and conducive to prayer. The choir was under the direction of Michael Konstantinow (formerly of the Opera of Kiev), who was a deeply religious man, loved by all. His enthusiasm was contagious. I was singing in this choir, and so did Eugene, later.

I remember an Easter morning I spent with Eugene in his house after the Paschal service. According to Russian custom, we watched the sun rise. It is said that at that time the sun “dances” (solntse igraet). We contemplated it in awe. We spoke about the sensation “of light” which can be experienced in Church, which is not the usual physical light, but something deeper, filling the heart with joy. Everything remains the same and yet everything is transfigured . .. .

The just are always persecuted. Archbishop John was hounded, abused, and slandered. A lawsuit was brought against him: he was being charged with holding an illegal church election and embezzling church funds (!!!). His enemies wanted the construction of the cathedral stopped. A great struggle was carried out in his defense by all of us (including Eugene) who loved the Saint. We were helped by several bishops, among them especially Bishop Nektary (Kontzevitch), Bishop Sava (Sarachevitch) who was originally from Serbia, and a lawyer, Bishop Leonty (Filippovich) of Chile, and Archbishop Averky (Taushev) of Jordanville NY. At that time, I was the Secretary to the Archbishop and a member of the Parish Council. The struggle was won. The new cathedral was built, a magnificent building on Geary Boulevard, with golden domes, visible from far, now one of the landmarks of San Francisco…But shortly afterwards, his heart broken because of all the pain and stress of the long and bitter struggle, Archbishop John died, on July 2, 1966. He was glorified (canonized) by the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile in 1994.

After all this, the life of Eugene took an extraordinary turn. He gave his life to Christ, totally, absolutely. He withdrew to the wilderness near Platina, California, together with a friend, Gleb Podmoshenskii (Gleb, the future Abbot Herman, had introduced me to Eugene). They built with their own hands a small monastery: several small, shabby buildings, in which there was no heat, electricity, telephone, running water (only a brook down in the valley). In this peaceful setting, Eugene’s life was one of constant prayer…Despite the hardships, he was delighted to be in the middle of nature. Animals, which he loved, came to him to be fed…Only very reluctantly did he leave the monastery. He had no desire whatsoever to travel, to visit other places. He was happy where he was, because, as a poet once said, he was able “To see the world in a grain of sand, And Heaven in a wild flower; Hold infinity in the palm of his hand, And eternity in an hour” (William Blake 1757-1827).

Eugene became Fr. Seraphim, hieromonk. He continued to edit a journal ( The Orthodox Word —started in San Francisco) whose main subject matter was the description of lives of saints and desert dwellers. This journal became successful. Father Seraphim touched the lives of thousands of people. Many came to faith because of him. Despite his ascetic life, similar to the lives of the desert dwellers, he found the time to write, and his writings attracted immediate attention here, in Europe, worldwide, and especially in Russia. Two of his books stand out: Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future , and The Soul after Death . He became perhaps one of the best religious writers of the twentieth century. Everything he wrote is significant for those interested in religion: the young ones, the beginners, and the mature ones, already established in their faith.

Father Seraphim translated many basic Russian religious texts and books, for example those by Archbishop Averky of Jordanville (Holy Trinity Russian Monastery, NY). He wrote a penetrating patristic discussion of the theory of evolution. He admired Saint Augustine, read his “Confessions” during Lent, and mentioned him often in his writings. He had an open mind.

But Father Seraphim was very critical of American academia, where he thought, Truth does not matter, but only “intellectual games.” He had an eschatological bent, predicting the “end of time, of history.” He linked the future of Russia to the future of humanity. Father Seraphim always repeated: “Struggle! It is later than you think.” He accomplished much because of the deep spiritual passion which was constantly burning in his heart.

Father Seraphim always said: “Keep your mind in Heaven and your feet on earth.” This was the essence of his philosophy, the secret of his influence on people: his approach was practical, “down to earth,” but at the same time ascetic and spiritual. He valued humility and moderation, and had a great respect for the opinions of others. He was patient, gentile and full of love. He always repeated: “Don’t blame others. Blame yourself. Don’t justify yourself. Always look at your own sins, and don’t judge your brother.”

I always kept contact with him. We exchanged letters. Once—a rare occurrence—he visited the East Coast, and stayed in my house in New Jersey, where he gave a talk to all of us. He spoke about the life in his monastery, in the wilderness, about the animals living in the forest…Again he spoke at length and with great love about Russia, the problems facing Russia today, the coming resurrection of the faith, the suffering of the Russian believers, and the persecution of Father Dimitri Dudko “who was attracting too much attention, and making too many converts.” He stresses the point that we should be grateful to God for His mercies: to have the treasury of Orthodoxy available to us, to have the sacraments, to have a Church where we can pray…I drove him at that time to Jordanville, NY and to Lakewood, NJ. In the car, we were singing together …

He died in 1982, after a short illness, at the young age of 48, in the full efflorescence of his talents. To him, to our dear friend, never to be forgotten, can be applied the following words of the Bible:

But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall; he be in rest. For honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. He please God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated. Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul…? He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: For his soul pleased the Lord therefore hasted He to take him away from among the wicked

(Book of Wisdom 4:7-11, 13-14)

1. Translation from the Russian of pp. 35ff. in  The Pillar and Ground of Truth :

Here begins the absolute doubt, as the total impossibility to assert anything, even its non-asserting … The skepticism reaches the negation of itself, but cannot overcome the latter, so that it is transformed into languor, into vain attempts, into the agony of the spirit … I enter into the last circle of the skeptical hell—in the region where words lose their meaning. Words are no longer fixed, and are pulled out from their base. Everything is transformed into everything, every combination of words become equivalent to any other, and any word can be replaced by any other. Here the mind loses itself, and loses itself into the formless and unsettled abyss. Here is the domain of delirium and absurdity … But this skeptical doubt, drawn to its limit, is possible only as an unstable equilibrium, as the frontier of absolute madness … because what is madness if not the experience of non-substance, of loss of any ground for the mind … A delirious chaos is ejected in puffs from this last boundary of the mind, and the mind, subjected to an all penetrating cold, is being annihilated. Here, behind a thin barrier, is the beginning of spiritual death. Therefore, the state of skepticism drawn to its limit is only possible in a short moment, either to go back to the fiery Pyrrhonic torture of skepticism, to επoχη (stop, obstacle, in Greek), or to get lost in the dark night of despair, from which there is no more exit and where the very thirst for Truth is extinguished…

2. Father Pavel Florenskii was a modern day Leonardo da Vinci: priest, poet, mathematician, linguist, engineer, philosopher (applying formal logic). He knew Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and an incredible number of languages. His linguistic notes are fascinating. He was one of the key engineers during the electrification of Russia after the Revolution. In his book,  The Pillar and Ground of Truth  there are at the end considerations about Sophia, God’s Wisdom, which are erroneous, and which he later recanted. He died as a martyr of the Faith under the Soviets, in a concentration camp.

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• April 25, 2018 Articles An Unpublished Life of Fr. Seraphim Rose, Written By His Godfather

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Father Seraphim Rose: A Saint?

He is a highly unlikely candidate to become an Orthodox saint but despite his recent death in 1982 he is venerated as one around the world.  Raised a Protestant…once an atheist… once in a homosexual relationship… restless religious seeker…  disciple of an Orthodox saint… Orthodox priest and monk…

In the summer of 1955 while studying at the Academy of Languages, Eugene met a classmate, Jon Gregerson, a Finish-born Russian Orthodox Christian.  In 1956 at the age of 22,  Eugene and John “came out of the closet” and lived in an open homosexual relationship.  Eugene and Jon immersed themselves in all the best things the world had to offer:  classical music, concerts, restaurants, art museums.  Eugene became known as a bit of a wine connoisseur.  Despite these diversions Eugene continued to struggle with a higher meaning to life.  As he wrote to a friend:

Disease, suffering, death – these are reminders, convenient reminders,  that man most profoundly is not of this world…. Whatever the “eat, drink, and be merry” school says, self-conscious man must face this problem.

  An Encounter

As Eugene continued his search through various ancient philosophies and religions, his partner Jon suggested that he visit a Russian Orthodox church: 

“When I visited an Orthodox Church, it was only in order to view another ‘tradition’.  However, when I entered an Orthodox Church for the first time (in San Francisco) something happened to me that I had not experienced in any Buddhist or other Eastern temple; something in my heart said this was ‘home’, that all my search was over.  I didn’t really know what this meant, because the service was quite strange to me and in a foreign language.  I began to attend Orthodox services more frequently, gradually learning its language and customs…With my exposure to Orthodoxy and Orthodox people, a new idea began to enter my awareness:  that truth is not just an abstract idea, sought and known by the mind, but something personal – even a Person – sought and loved by the heart.  And that is how I met Christ.”

  Eugene’s conversion was not instantaneous but a seed had been planted that would slowly grow and change his entire life.  Nearly three years would go by from the time he first entered an Orthodox Church until he came to give his life to this Person:  Jesus Christ.  He was received into the Orthodox Church through the Sacrament of Chrismation  in February, 1962, the Sunday of the Prodigal Son.  Like the son in that Parable, Eugene returned to the embrace of the Father and never went back.  His old life was over, a new life had begun.  He and his homosexual partner Jon drifted apart.  Eugene gave his heart to Jesus Christ and lived in sexual chastity for the remainder of his life.  He wrote:

When I became a Christian, I voluntarily crucified my mind, and all the crosses that I bear have been only a source of joy for me, I have lost nothing, and gained everything. 

Participating in the life of Russian Orthodox Cathedral in San Francisco, Eugene attracted the attention of the cathedral’s bishop:  Archbishop John Maximovitch, now venerated around the world as “St. John of San Francisco”.   Archbishop John encouraged and directed the young convert as he grew in the Orthodox Faith.  Eugene wrote his impressions of his mentor:

If you ask anyone who knew Archbishop John what it was that drew people to him….the answer is always the same:  he was overflowing with life; he sacrificed himself for his fellow men out of absolutely unselfish love for God and for them.

  St. Herman of Alaska Monastery

Eugene formed a friendship with a fellow parishioner of the Cathedral – Gleb Podmoshensky and together in 1964 they opened an Orthodox bookstore near the Cathedral on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco.  They acquired a small printing press and in 1965 began publishing an Orthodox periodical “The Orthodox Word” to share the riches of Orthodox spirituality as expressed especially through its holy saints throughout history. 

As Eugene and Gleb continued their publishing of the lives of holy men and women, they began to consider that it is not enough to read and study their lives but that they should try to emulate the way they lived.  In 1967 they purchased property in a remote region of northern California in order to form a brotherhood to practice the Orthodox Faith in its fullness as did the Saints throughout history.  The brotherhood was placed under the patronage of the first Orthodox saint in America and became known as the St. Herman of Alaska Monastery in the village of Platina, California.  Eugene as tonsured as a monk with the name “Seraphim” and Gleb with the name “Herman” and both were eventually ordained as priests.  Despite the severity of their lifestyle in the remote location, other men eventually joined them in seeking to live the fullness of the Orthodox Faith.  Imitating the monastic saints, the brothers had no interest in modern comforts.  Their only goal was to purify themselves of their sinful passions and to seek God.  The property had no running water nor electricity and the brothers lived in a series of simple wooden buildings they constructed themselves.  Father Seraphim slept on old wooden planks in a 10 x 10 wooden cabin with a small wood stove for heat.

Here Father Seraphim thrived in the spiritual life:   his days were devoted to manual labor to support himself and the brotherhood, the daily cycle of services and the continued publishing of their periodical “The Orthodox Word”.   From his tiny cabin by candlelight, Father Seraphim began publishing books such as “ Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future”; “The Soul After Death”; “Genesis, Creation and Early Man”.  His books have become enormously popular in Russia and Eastern Europe and during Communist times typrewritten copies were distributed underground.

Because of his own story, his down-to-earth style and gentle spirit, he attracted many young American converts to the Orthodox Faith.  His life and his writings inspired thousands towards one end:  to seek Christ without compromise.  From his own spiritual search he discovered the heart of ancient Christianity and his example drew others.  With the American religious landscape confused and constantly changing, Father Seraphim has been described as a “pathfinder” to lead others to the heart of ancient Christianity.  The whole focus of his life, and of the brotherhood of his monastery was expressed in what he wrote: 

“Everything in this life passes away—only God remains, only He is worth struggling towards. We have a choice: to follow the way of this world, of the society that surrounds us,  and thereby find ourselves outside of God; or to choose the way of life,  to choose God Who calls us and for Whom our heart is searching.”

Eternal memory!

After a brief but agonizingly painful illness, Father Seraphim fell asleep in the Lord in a hospital in Redding, California on September 2, 1982 at the age of only 48.  Lying in state in the monastery church, people observed that his unembalmed body did not stiffen nor show any signs of decay.  He was buried in the monastery cemetery where a shrine has been erected over his grave.   In his sermon at the funeral Liturgy, Bishop Nektary proclaimed “Father Seraphim was a righteous man, possibly a saint!”   Pilgrims from around the world visit his grave to ask his prayers before the throne of God and instances of miraculous healings have been reported. 

The current abbot of the St. Herman Monastery, Fr. Damascene, explained the significance of Fr. Seraphim for all:

Let us rejoice, too, the one from our own midst, an offspring of modern America, has reached that eternal Kingdom before us.  Father Seraphim was a lost but searching sinner, and through the grace of Jesus Christ he was transformed into a righteous man who not only found the Way but has led a host of others on it.  He endured to the end, with pain of heart, on the Orthodox path to salvation, and now he beckons us – his contemporaries – to follow him. 

  Father Edward Pehanich

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“Not of This World”: The uncensored life of Fr Seraphim Rose

When reading the latest edition of Fr. Seraphim Rose’s biography “Life and Works”, I had mixed feelings – it was a fiery and inspiring read, full of life and filling me with a yearning for struggling with Orthodoxy, but at times, it felt like it dampened me with a wet blanket. It was very strange, and I did not know why. Last year, on the Eve of Pascha, I was overcome with the sense that I had no direction in my life, and so on I prayed to Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Fr. Seraphim Rose, and Fr. Herman Podmoshensky for guidance on what I should do with my life. As we celebrated the resurrection of Christ, a fellow parishioner gave me a gift and told me not to open it until I got home. When I opened his gift, I saw an original copy of “Not of this World” – a rare book that you could only find for over 1000 dollars on E-bay or Amazon. I knew immediately what I needed to do – I needed to work to transcribe it, and I thanked God for the clear task he has given me. This transcription could only have been possible by the intercessions of these Saints of God. Upon reading the original, it became clear that there were many omissions and revisions made with a very different spiritual direction motivating them from the original. Here is just one example, that demonstrates this clearly, from Chapter 102, ‘Repose’.

From this alone, it is clear: “Not of this World” had the spiritual vision of the purpose of Fr. Seraphim’s suffering – to prepare him for his salvation, to squeeze out the last parts of his fallen nature from him. It makes it clear that the struggle against sin is truly a struggle up until the moment of death, even for, and perhaps especially for, God’s Saints. Whatever one may think about the revision, one thing is clear: The spiritual vision of “Life and Works” is directly opposed to this understanding of the purpose of suffering in our life. Otherwise, this passage would have remained unchanged. True spiritual vision, after all, is Not of this World.

Link to Fr Seraphim’s compressed PDF version of the original “Not of this world”:

http://orthodoxaustralia.org//wp-content/uploads/NotofThisWorld_Transcription_compressed.pdf

May the prayers of Elder Joseph, Fr. Seraphim Rose, and Fr. Herman Podmoshensky be with you, dear reader! Christ is risen!

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Fr. Seraphim (Rose) was a hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church (Outside Russia) during the 1970s. He had no Russian background (born Eugene Dennis Rose, into a Protestant family in San Diego) and no connection to Russian culture. However, by the end of his life, and in the years following his death in 1982, he became one of the most striking writers, ascetics and preachers in 20th-century Church history. The trajectory of his life was so unusual that (so an Orthodox Christian would say) it could only have happened by a direct act of God.

First and foremost, he is known as an ascetic. Upon having encountered the vast corpus of Orthodox monastic philosophy, he interpreted the ascetic writings of the 6th- and 7th-century Desert Fathers as a call to arms. In 1968, he retreated to a remote wilderness in northern California (Platina, CA, population 200) and founded what is now called the St. Herman of Alaska Monastery, which he built literally from the ground up in the middle of the woods.

“Guide for day visitors,” St. Herman Monastery, 2017

Eugene Rose was tonsured in 1970 and received the monastic name “Seraphim,” after St. Seraphim of Sarov, a renowned 19th-century Russian saint. For the remainder of his life on earth, Fr. Seraphim stayed in Platina. However, from this remote location, he took on an increasingly active role in the missionary and intellectual life of the Church. The only electrical equipment allowed in the monastery was a printing press, which Fr. Seraphim used to publish English translations of Orthodox spiritual texts, as well as a missionary periodical called The Orthodox Word . Later, he wrote a number of books of his own, two of which were widely read throughout the Orthodox world and have been translated into multiple languages.

Though not without a certain amount of controversy, Fr. Seraphim’s name now commands considerable reverence and admiration in the Orthodox Church. In many ways, mainstream Orthodox thinking is now closer to Fr. Seraphim, and to his mentors and role models, than it was during his lifetime. But since Fr. Seraphim’s role models were the ancient Holy Fathers, and since he saw himself as only passing down their teaching, his own influence has had a restorative effect on the Church.

St. Symeon, the New Theologian Constantinople, late 10th century

At the same time, Fr. Seraphim is known for his uncompromising zealotry, which was inseparable from his asceticism. Fr. Seraphim was a notorious anti-ecumenist; his best-known book Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future  is an incendiary attack against religious syncretism (which, for the past 100 years, usually chooses to present itself as experimentation with Eastern religions).

( Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future , xxix-xxx)

That was one of the less inflammatory passages, and we are still in the preface. But the polemical tone is actually the least remarkable aspect of Fr. Seraphim’s writing. His theological and apologetic texts faithfully recreate the 6th-century Egyptian desert — demons roam in the air, saints walk on water and read minds, and while God answers every prayer, the only way to hear His answer is by suffering. Unsurprisingly, Fr. Seraphim is famous as an eschatological writer. As will be shown later, even in Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future the polemical dimension is not an end in itself (especially now, when most of its targets will be completely unknown to its readers), but a means to Fr. Seraphim’s reflections on the Apocalypse.

The main biographical source on Fr. Seraphim is the book Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works , written by Hieromonk Damascene (Christensen), one of Fr. Seraphim’s disciples and the current (as of 2017) abbot of the monastery that Fr. Seraphim founded. In and of itself, Fr. Damascene’s book is an unusual object, mainly because it is over 1000 pages long. It seems like a tall order to write 104 chapters about someone who died at age 48, and lived in the woods for the last 14 years of his life.

But Fr. Damascene’s text is not a report on biographical events, but rather provides a kind of philosophical biography. Ideas are living characters in this book, on par with the man who is the book’s ostensible subject. He was preoccupied with ideas throughout his entire life; the book follows him from one to the next, leading to long excursions into the lives of various writers, thinkers, and clergymen with whom Fr. Seraphim engaged at some point. Whole chapters are used to outline certain theological or philosophical currents (or controversies), or to provide background information on religious figures, living and dead, that had a significant impact on Fr. Seraphim. A large body of information on Orthodox Christian philosophy and tradition is dispersed throughout the book and integrated into the narrative, usually as a part of more individual stories about specific monks or hierarchs.

In this way, Fr. Damascene’s book attempts to reconstruct Fr. Seraphim’s entire world. Fr. Damascene’s own intellectual outlook is more limited than that of Fr. Seraphim — in many places, his extensive efforts to process and explain his mentor’s beliefs reflect a fairly conventional conservative Christian worldview, distinguished only by his deep knowledge of Orthodox history and tradition. At the same time, when describing Fr. Seraphim’s life before his conversion, Fr. Damascene is able to rise above petty moralizing and portray this world from the inside, that is, as Eugene Rose may have seen it at the time. He treats Eugene’s youthful rebellion and his like-minded friends with great respect, maybe more than I would have — even if his chapter on Eugene’s forays into bohemian pseudo-intellectualism is titled “The Taste Of Hell,” he still dutifully documents his protagonist’s tempestuous emotions and beliefs, seeing in them a meaningful precursor to Christian struggle.

Eugene’s actual conversion is a small part of the story — in the book, he is received into the Orthodox Church on p. 199, which means that Fr. Damascene still has over 800 pages to go. So, from the biographer’s own point of view, the point of this story is not that there was a “sinner” who “found Jesus” and was therefore “saved.” Sin, by itself, is not interesting to Fr. Damascene even as grounds for moralizing. Far from being neatly divided into “before” and “after” conversion, Fr. Seraphim’s life consisted of continuous intellectual and spiritual movement, which did not end until he died.

Thus, the book is not about Fr. Seraphim’s search  for God, nor is it about how he found God. It follows his monastic journey toward  God, which began with his baptism but continued for another 20 years. At various times, Fr. Damascene insists on Fr. Seraphim’s cultural impact and relevance to the present day — for example, the back cover of Father Seraphim Rose states, a bit hyperbolically, that “ his name is known and loved by millions throughout the world, especially in Russia and Eastern Europe, where during the Communist era his writings were secretly distributed in thousands of typewritten manuscripts ” — but ultimately, even to Fr. Damascene himself, the final religious meaning of his mentor’s life lies in something else:

Father Seraphim Rose , author’s introduction (Damascene, xv)

It is here that  Father Seraphim Rose is elevated from biography to hagiography — I say “elevated” because hagiography is a higher genre, in which all descriptive and literary aspects are subordinate to the protagonist’s struggle to reach God. The last two chapters, which take place after Fr. Seraphim’s death, aim to establish him as a heavenly intercessor. The last chapter in particular is a catalogue of visions of Fr. Seraphim that various people claim to have seen after his death, and although Fr. Damascene stops short of openly calling him a saint, he doesn’t hide his belief in this either.

As a biography, the book thus leaves itself open to criticism, but any possible criticism is so excruciatingly obvious and dull that it becomes completely pointless. What am I going to do, write a long tiresome lecture about the importance of “objectivity”?

In any case, there is one respect in which Fr. Damascene’s book is completely “objective” and accurate. For him, Fr. Seraphim’s life evokes the Orthodox Christian monastic ideal. Fr. Seraphim himself would have resisted this interpretation, but there is no question that this ideal was just as central to his life as the book says it was. Did he dedicate his life to serving God? Yes. Did he suffer and struggle in doing so? Undoubtedly, yes. What more is there to say?

(Continuation: part 2 .)

2 thoughts on “ Fr. Damascene (Christensen), “Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works” (2010) ”

Thank you for your insightful reviews and comments. May I quote you in my little paper, please? Could you give me your name, please? Anna

By all means, please quote whatever material you see fit. For the time being, I would prefer not to make myself public, but the current conventions allow citation of a website by its title (“Fallen Leaves”).

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From the Bookshelf – Not of This World: the Life and Teachings of Fr. Seraphim Rose; Fr. Seraphim

Without doubt, the late Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) was a most remarkable American convert.  He was a contributing editor for Orthodox America and editor of The Orthodox Word; he was also the author of many books, and the translator and/or editor of many other works, in both English and Russian. In addition, he wrote scores of articles on a wide variety of church subjects, and composed services to four saints.  His death in 1982, at the early age of forty-eight, brought this prolific career to an abrupt close. Those who were privileged to know Fr. Seraphim personally, as this writer did for more than twelve years, also saw something of Fr. Seraphim “the man”: the spiritual director, the monk, and-in his last few years-the priest and confessor.  His brilliant and even splendid intellect was combined with a rare soul and a peaceful outward personality that was self-effacing, quiet, still-a personality that, frankly, loathed controversy and conflict.  Especially would he have disliked the controversy generated by his biography.

Many of us-his spiritual children and his readers-had long wished for a biography of Fr. Seraphim.  Some, assuming that such a work would be only a straightforward account of his remarkable life and thought, were asked to share our personal memories for such a study.  Last summer, Not of This World: The Life and Teachings of Fr. Seraphim Rose, was published. And, indeed, the biographer, Fr. Damascene (Christensen) has managed to integrate a massive amount of material.  He narrates Fr. Seraphim’s life skillfully, and we learn many things about Fr. Seraphim-especially his pre-Orthodox life-that we did not know before. This, in spite of the fact that Fr. Damascene himself hardly knew Fr. Seraphim, and was only baptized at the time of Fr. Seraphim’s death.  The book is also filled with photographs that help to make the man and his times come to life. Not of This World is, however, both a treasure and a disappointment, a joy and a sadness, an inspiration and a scandal.  The purpose of this review is to examine these contradictions.

Some may ask: how can this reviewer-Fr. Alexey Young-possibly give an objective evaluation of Not of This World?  After all, as a spiritual son of Fr. Seraphim (and co-worker with him on a number of projects), Fr. Alexey is perhaps too close to his subject.  Also, Fr. Alexey was for many years closely associated with the St. Herman of Alaska Skete (where Fr. Seraphim lived) in Platina, California.  The third, and, perhaps the most serious criticism of all: five years ago Fr. Alexey left the Russian Church Abroad, and he is no longer in a position to speak with any credibility.

May I say forthrightly that it is precisely because of these objections that I am in a position to write an honest review of this biography. First, while I knew the man, trusted him, and believed he achieved righteousness, I was not blind to his weaknesses-nor would he have wanted me to be.  Fr. Seraphim had a horror of “guru-ism.” He never demanded blind or unquestioning obedience, and he would have been appalled by statements such as one printed on the back of the book jacket: “Without Fr. Seraphim we’d all be dead.”  In a letter to me he once described himself, in an obviously understated way, as only an “elder brother,” one who had taken a few more steps along the path than I had. 1   He often made suggestions but always added, “do what you think is best.” He himself always preserved a kind of polite but definite “distance” between himself and others, so that it was possible for us to view him objectively.  He was not a cold or arrogant men, yet he did not permit any kind of what we would now call “co-dependance” between himself and others.

Secondly, I was an outside witness to a number of the events described in this book; most of those I did not personally see, were described to me by Fr. Seraphim himself, either in person or by letter. Although the St. Herman Skete was a very important influence in my life, I found it impossible to support the transient whims and peculiar ecclesiology of the Skete’s then-Abbot, Fr. Herman (Podmoshensky), when, after Fr. Seraphim’s death, he entered into an almost paranoid combat with his ruling hierarch, Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco and Western America.  Fr. Herman was ultimately suspended and then defrocked by the Russian Church Abroad-after a series of provocations by Fr. Herman that would have horrified Fr. Seraphim, and which would never have been tolerated, had he lived. Thirdly, my own departure from the Russian Church Abroad to another jurisdiction had nothing to do with Fr. Herman and the Skete’s troubles, nor did I follow him into his present ecclesiastical affiliation. Nor was I rejecting the priceless spiritual formation I so generously received in the bosom of the Church Abroad.  In fact, in my present-day contacts with clergy and laity of other jurisdictions, I gladly and proudly defend the Church Abroad when she is criticized.

Lastly, since the book’s appearance last summer, I have been contacted by a score of people around the country who, not having known Fr. Seraphim, but seeing that I am quoted in the biography many times, have asked my opinion of the book and its accuracy. I have felt an urgent responsibility to speak truthfully and set the record straight.

In a certain sense, this biography is actually three books in one. The first concerns Fr. Seraphim’s early life and his intellectual and spiritual development up to the time of his conversion to Orthodoxy (approximately 250 pages). The second deals at length with his life as an Orthodox Christian -as a layman, monk, priest, writer, and teacher (more than six hundred pages). The last and, blessedly, shortest section (about 150 pages) concerns events that occurred after his repose-primarily Fr. Herman’s activities and troublesome new directions. The word is not hagiography, but biography, and so it naturally contains much material of a  personal and even seemingly trivial nature-in order to “fill out” the man as completely as possible, especially in his youthful, formative years.

Before discussing these three sections, it is important to note that this biography is at its best when Fr. Seraphim is allowed to speak for himself. Since he left behind a considerable body of published work, was a prolific letter-writer, and also kept a private journal, we can know something of what he was experiencing, thinking, and feeling about many things, both in his own life and in the larger life of the Church. 2   In these parts of the book-and they are many-we recognize the Fr. Seraphim we knew and so warmly remember.

But, unfortunately, there are also a number of critical places where we do not hear Fr. Seraphim’s “voice”; nor do we really hear the voice of Fr. Damascene, the author, either.  Instead, we are subject to the views and interpretations of Fr. Herman, the co-founder of the St. Herman Skete and Fr. Seraphim’s monastic brother-and not all these ideas were shared by Fr. Seraphim.  Anyone who knows Fr. Herman can quickly identify these passages-and, unfortunately, there are many.  Fr. Herman’s speaking and writing style is quite distinctive, a style not at all shared by the author or Fr. Seraphim, who wrote and spoke in a very unsentimental and lean manner.  Perhaps these sections were simply dictated to Fr. Damascene, who then edited and corrected them, incorporating them into the text.  In any case, what we get in some passages is not the unadorned Fr. Seraphim, but Fr. Herman’s own version of him.

Fr. Damascene’s use of pseudonyms for certain people-usually bishops and other leading figures in the Church Abroad whom Fr. Herman does not happen to like-is unscholarly, childish, and offensive.  One can understand that it would be appropriate to change the names of less important individuals, to protect their privacy, but to do this with well-known, public figures makes no sense, since most readers know, or can easily discover, who these people really are.  Frankly, it is cowardly to change the names of only those who are being criticized, slandered, and held up to ridicule. In some ways, the first part of this book is the most important and the most positive.  It is refreshing-especially for those who knew the mature Fr. Seraphim only in his last years-to see that as a boy and young man he had a girlfriend, favorite pets and music; he participated in sports, he both smoked and sometimes drank too much-like so many young people.  On a broader level, his is the story of a young man, typically American, middle-class, generically Protestant, who very much reflected the anxious post-World War II soul-searching of many of his generation, and even many today in the post-Vietnam generation.  In fact, most who read this section will find in it a disturbing mirror of their own overly-intellectual, skeptical, and self-destructive lives. It is precisely this that is so inspiring and encouraging for the modern reader: he can see how  a man (the future Fr. Seraphim) can go from the darkness of intellectual pride and agnosticism (at times even atheism) to simple hope and belief.

In his early twenties, he was influenced by the philosopher and writer, Guenon, from whom he learned the meaning and disastrous effect of “modernism” on Western civilization and became convinced “that the upholding of ancient tradition was valid and not just a sign of being unenlightened, as the modernists would claim.  Whereas the modern mentality viewed all things in terms of historical progress, Guenon viewed them in terms of historical disintegration.” 3  This discovery actually prepared him for his later encounter with Orthodox Christianity, a traditional religion with a very old but very functional world-view.

When, finally, he discovered True Christianity in his late twenties, he saw quite quickly and lucidly that because Orthodoxy is the Living Truth, it is also “all-or-nothing”-“a scandal and insult to the ‘wisdom’ and instincts of ‘this world’.” 4   He particularly saw this in the person of Blessed Archbishop John Maximovitch, with whom he came into frequent contact, but who was regarded by a few as a “scandal” precisely because he took Orthodox Christianity so literally and lived it so uncompromisingly. 5

Whereas this first section of the biography is instructive and encouraging, the second is sometimes inspiring but is, at times, deeply troubling and bewildering.  Inspiring because it deals with Fr. Seraphim’s actual entrance into the Church and his ever-deepening discovery of Orthodox piety and practice, patristics and spirituality and-above all-his encounter with and deep love for the rich monastic tradition of Russian Orthodoxy, in particular the Optina and Valaam traditions, which became a constant source of spiritual consolation and encouragement. The events surrounding the founding of The Orthodox Word and the establishment of the St. Herman of Alaska Skete in the mountain wilds of northern California are informative and fascinating.

It was during this period, also, that Fr. Seraphim “hit his stride” in terms of using his intellectual and pastoral talents for the greater good of the Church.  He was able to identify and understand the “convert phenomenon” but, more than this, began to realize that the most important thing about controversies and problems in the Church (a constant temptation for converts, especially) is how to understand and view them from the calm perspective of eternity, without being drawn into passionate  arguments for this or that figure, “party,” or ideology. These are extremely valuable insights and principles by which we can and should life today-and they are all contained in this book.  The tragedy, however, is that in the last several months or so of Fr. Seraphim’s life, his monastic partner and “inspirer,” Fr. Herman, began to go in a quite different direction, a direction that ultimately took him, after Fr. Seraphim’s death right out of the Church.

Much is made in this biography of the “oneness of mind” that existed between Frs. Herman and Seraphim.  Undoubtedly this did exist, especially in their early years together. They certainly shared a common vision of what their life and work should be, and out of this came a constant and fruitful stream of edifying books, articles, translations, etc. many of which have become widely known, and some of which have been translated into other languages (particularly Russian).  Because of their shared commitment, many-possibly hundreds-converted to the Faith.

This biography does not tell us, however, that in the last years this fabled “oneness of mind” began to break down significantly.  substantive disputes about the future of the Skete and its work occurred with more and more frequency as Fr. Herman developed a more idiosyncratic and flamboyant attitude that grieved and worried Fr. Seraphim.  He told me and others about this himself.

On one occasion, about six months before he died, he said that he was never happier than when Fr. Herman was off on one of his many “trips”-for then, he said, “we have peace, quiet, and order at the Skete.”  Clearly, something had gone wrong.  One of their disagreements concerned the question of establishing a monastery in Alaska, on St. Herman’s own island. Although the book says that Fr. Seraphim gave his permission for this on his deathbed, the facts are actually quite different. Regrettably, we must now speak of this episode in detail.

About three months before Fr. Seraphim died, Fr. Herman came to see me at my home.  He was in an extremely agitated state. He took me aside and said that he and Fr. Seraphim had just had a “terrible fight.”  “Fr. Seraphim,” he said, “doesn’t understand me!  I don’t know what will happen, now, in the future.”  He explained that the argument concerned a possible future monastic establishment in Alaska, a venture that Fr. Herman was eager to pursue, but one for which Fr. Seraphim refused to give his blessing, although he did bless Fr. Herman to spend Pascha on Spruce Island, which he did.

Is it possible that Fr. Seraphim on his deathbed finally did give his blessing to proceed with this plan, as the biography maintains? It is very unlikely-for two reasons: first, shortly after Fr. Seraphim was admitted to the hospital he was put on life-support systems, including a respirator-which meant that he was unable to talk.  He was also in and out of consciousness-as all of us who were there can testify. Secondly, and more serious: several months later Fr. Herman himself told me that the very last words spoken to him by Fr. Seraphim were: “I’m finished with you. Damn you!” Fr. Seraphim’s uncharacteristically angry words bespeak a mind deeply troubled over Fr. Herman’s general behavior and suggest that there was more going on than any of us suspected at the time. Needless to say, none of this is in the biography.

This work contains an enormous, almost obsessive, amount of “anti-bishop” talk. Much of this is petty and gossipy and seems to bespeak some kind of unresolved psychological conflict with authority figures on Fr. Herman’s part.  None of these nasty remarks come from Fr. Seraphim himself, however. It appears to be an interpolation by the author and/or Fr. Herman.  Nor did I ever hear during Fr. Seraphim’s lifetime any such talk at the Skete-except, once, around 1973, from Fr. Herman. I had written a series of articles called “What is a Bishop?”  Fr. Herman urged that I not write any more such articles. When I asked why, he only replied: “We shouldn’t make so much of bishops. They can get ‘big heads’.”

I thought very little about this at the time because, in all of my own publication and missionary work, both Fathers had always spoken well of Archbishop Anthony (who also spoke very appreciatively of them to me!). Furthermore, they always insisted that I do nothing without his blessing. But in 1987, on the only occasion I saw Fr. Herman after 1984, when I asked him if he had gone under a bishop of another jurisdiction, he replied tartly: “Who needs bishops?  All they do is cause trouble. They are the enemy of the Holy Spirit!”  When I said that he sounded like an Old Believer he responded, “I don’t need a bishop!”  (As it happened, however, he had already secretly left the Russian Church Abroad and placed himself under the uncanonical and completely unrecognized “Bishop” Pangratios. Interestingly, a few years later when he visited Russia, he did not disdain to accept an award from the Patriarch of Moscow.)

Many of the alleged “encounters” between Vladika Anthony and the Fathers-often described as angry attempts on the Archbishop’s part to control and “squash” them-are simply exaggerations or outright misrepresentations.  Fr. Seraphim himself told me about many specific occasions when Vladika visited the Skete, was “pleased” with them and their work, and was happy to be with them, even if only briefly, in their seclusion and peace.

At other times he mentioned minor and normal disagreements or misunderstandings with their ruling hierarch-but these were always worked out and there was never any sense of enmity in those days, such as this book portrays.  Naturally,the Archbishop had an appropriate responsibility for pastoral oversight, and he wished to be consulted and kept informed about various projects and plans. There may even have been times when he did not completely understand certain goals and aspirations of the Fathers. But this is all quite normal, as anyone who has worked for an employer in the world knows.

In any case, the portrayal of Vladika Anthony as some kind of “ecclesiastical monster” or tyrant does not ring true to anyone who knows him. His own repeated, sincere, and long-suffering attempts to make peace with Fr. Herman for more than four years after Fr. Seraphim’s death-all of which were angrily rejected by Fr. Herman-bear witness to Vladika’s true character and need no further defense or explanation.

Similarly, although Fr. Damascene’s book is filled with sly remarks and attacks against the Church Abroad, I never heard any criticism of the Synod from Fr. Seraphim.  Quite the contrary. Although he did caution against putting too much trust in the outward, external “institution” of the Church, Fr. Seraphim wrote the following to me on October 18/31, 1972: “Our [Synod of] bishops on the whole are better than any others we know about, and probably no different from the bishops of the last 2000 years, through whom the Holy Spirit has led His Church.” He went on to write that we must “become the bishops’ best helpers-for we are working together with them in the true service of the Church’s ‘organism,’ the Body of Christ. If we thereby sometimes suffer misunderstandings and offenses from each other (and we are guilty of this, not just bishops!), the Church gives us the spiritual means to forgive and overcome these.” This is a radically different view from that given in this biography.

The final chapters, which deal with the sad and, frankly, terrible events that occurred after Fr. Seraphim’s repose, and which have no business being in this biography, are a disservice to his memory, and are nothing more than a one-sided apologia for Fr. Herman’s decision to leave the Church. By “one-sided” is meant that he (through the author) simply does not tell the whole truth.  For example, no mention is made of the fact that charges of a moral nature were brought against him about eighteen months after Fr. Seraphim’s death.  The Archbishop treated these accusations against Fr. Herman with utmost discretion, with all his heart he did not want not believe them and did not press these particular charges against Fr. Herman. (It is a fact, however, that Fr. Herman’s alleged problems in this area actually surfaced shortly before Fr. Seraphim’s death, and were known to him, undoubtedly contributing to the overwhelming sense of sadness that precipitated his final illness and repose, and which may explain his last words to Fr. Herman.)

The narrative leads the reader to conclude that Fr. Herman left the Church Abroad because his hierarch “persecuted” him and wanted to “seize” the Skete and its property-something he had supposedly long coveted. Not only is this not true, but the actual charges against Fr. Herman concerned legitimate matters of “insubordination and disobedience,” and it was for these that he was ultimately defrocked. 6

In general, this self-serving one-sidedness demonstrates the way in which many incidents have been exaggerated, distorted, and made to serve the private ideology of Fr. Herman.  It is a poison that came into full “flower” only after Fr. Seraphim’s death, when he was no longer present to provide the needed “balance” to Fr. Herman’s exuberant personality-a personality that gave so much to the Church in his healthier, obedient days, and which was greatly valued by so many, but which later came to possess the ugly qualities that he is now so quickly to ascribe to others in the Church Abroad or, indeed, to anyone who does not completely agree with him. 7

Finally, what can be said about this biography of Fr. Seraphim? As was pointed out earlier, where Fr. Seraphim is allowed to speak for himself, in lengthy quotations from his writings, the book is magnificent because Fr. Seraphim-his mind, his soul-was so rare, so wonderful and “good” a human being.  In this sense, it is an important work. But the biography is extremely flawed because it has been made to serve the interests of Fr. Herman’s own bitterness, and to justify or excuse his grave and unresolved personal problems. The average reader, who does not know all of the principal people involved, will have difficulty sorting this out, if he even can do so at all.

Archpriest Alexey Young

NOTES: 1 . Fr. Alexey saved twelve years of Fr. Seraphim’s letters of spiritual direction, written to him both as a layman and, later, as a priest. Orthodox America is now preparing these letters for publication.

2. N.B: While we can trust the accuracy of all those things published before Fr. Seraphim’s death, we cannot be sure, for obvious reasons, that the excerpts in this book from his private journal are his original and unedited thoughts and jottings.  Nor, because of Fr. Herman’s present anti-Synod bias (which manifests itself only after Fr. Seraphim’s death), can we now ever be sure of this.

3. Christensen, Monk Damascene, Not of This World: the Life and Teachings of Fr. Seraphim Rose.

5. The relics of Blessed Archbishop John (who will be canonized by the Church Abroad in the summer of 1994-the same jurisdiction and hierarchy that, according to this biography, “persecuted” him!) were recently found to be whole and incorrupt.  Unfortunately, Vladika John’s struggles are wrenched out of their proper context and given a meaning they actually did not have at the time-a literary “technique” that occurs frequently in this book.  For further information about the alleged “treatment” of Vladika John, see a review of this biography by Novice Sergey in Orthodox Life, Vol. 43, No. 5.

6 .  For the full text of the Ecclesiastical Court’s decision, see Orthodox Life, op. cit.

7. In a letter Fr. Herman wrote to a layman in Britain during this time, he said that even Fr. Alexey Young had “betrayed” him.  In fact, on the last occasion I visited him at the Skete, in 1984, I begged him on my knees and in tears to make his peace with the Archbishop and not jeopardize all of the work he and Fr. Seraphim had done.

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• #33 in Nonfiction , Religion & Spirituality , Christianity , Church , Orthodox Churches
• #827 in Nonfiction , Religion & Spirituality , Theology
• #3016 in Nonfiction , Religion & Spirituality , Christianity , Christian Life

by Author Hieromonk Damascene

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This epic biography of Hieromonk Seraphim Rose tells the unique story of a man who, having grown up in a typical American home in southern California, became one of the greatest teachers of Orthodox Christianity in our times, loved and revered throughout Russia and Eastern Europe.

Quoting at length from his letters, journals, manuscripts, recorded lectures and published writings, this book traces Fr. Seraphim’s intense search for truth and his philosophical development, setting forth his message and offering a glimpse into the soul of a man who lived, even while on this earth, in the otherworldly Kingdom of God.

A greatly revised version of Not of This World, this new Life of Fr. Seraphim incorporates years of new research and includes much additional material. Because it deals closely with events in the recent history of Orthodoxy in America, the book has been reviewed prior to publication by clergy, monastics and laypeople from most of the Orthodox jurisdictions represented in this country.

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• St. Herman of Alaska Press
• Release Date: May 9, 2014
• ISBN: 1230000238038
• Language: English
• Download options: EPUB 2 (Adobe DRM)

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Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works

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This epic biography of Hieromonk Seraphim Rose tells the unique story of a man who, having grown up in a typical American home in southern California, became one of the greatest teachers of Orthodox Christianity in our times, loved and revered throughout Russia and Eastern Europe. Quoting at length from his letters, journals, manuscripts, recorded lectures and published writings, this book traces Fr. Seraphim’s intense search for truth and his philosophical development, setting forth his message and offering a glimpse into the soul of a man who lived, even while on this earth, in the otherworldly Kingdom of God. A greatly revised version of Not of This World, this new Life of Fr. Seraphim incorporates years of new research and includes much additional material. Because it deals closely with events in the recent history of Orthodoxy in America, the book has been reviewed prior to publication by clergy, monastics and laypeople from most of the Orthodox jurisdictions represented in this country. New edition includes: 1.) New, previously unpublished material by Fr. Seraphim. 2.) New reminiscences by those who knew Fr. Seraphim. 3.) 63 new photographs. 4.) Expanded and updated bibliography and source notes. This ePub edition utilizes full-color photographs wherever possible.

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Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works Kindle Edition

• Print length 1442 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publication date May 12, 2014
• File size 26339 KB
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00KBALPPI
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Herman Press (May 12, 2014)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 12, 2014
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 26339 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 1442 pages
• #44 in Christian Orthodoxy (Kindle Store)
• #137 in Biographies of Christianity
• #231 in Christian Orthodoxy (Books)

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Hieromonk damascene.

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Customers find the book very worthwhile to read, clear, and interesting. They describe it as inspirational, edifying, and thought-provoking. Readers praise the content as concise, detailed, and well-written. They also describe the biography as amazing and great.

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Customers find the book very worthwhile to read. They say it's clear, interesting, and engaging. Readers also mention the first 200 pages are gripping.

"...(now abbot) Damascene is an outstanding writer - the book is clear and interesting , and Fr. Damascene has surveyed beautifully all of Fr...." Read more

"...This book may not change your life, but it is certainly worth a read !" Read more

"This is a rather long book . It has taken me several months to finish it. It was very engrossing. Fr...." Read more

"... Excellent reading for the Lenten season . So much disinformation has been spread about Fr Seraphim and this book...." Read more

Customers find the book inspirational, edifying, and thought-provoking. They say it's a true gift for spiritual growth and a source of wonder and joy. Readers also mention it'll be an excellent source for understanding ascetic monasticism in Orthodox tradition.

"This book is wonderfully encouraging to American converts like him, at least it is to me...." Read more

"I am amazed at the intellectual depth of this book...." Read more

"...It has taken me several months to finish it. It was very engrossing . Fr...." Read more

"...A huge inspiration for the Christian ." Read more

Customers find the content concise, precise, and well-organized. They also appreciate the invaluable and detailed discussions of the printed and unprinted books. Readers mention the biography of a Saint is very well done. They appreciate the exhaustive bibliography at the back of the book.

"...struggles that so many others have, but he faced them with honesty, clarity , and resolution - like Augustine..." Read more

"...in which Seraphim's life journey took him, and also provides invaluable and detailed discussions of his printed and unprinted works...." Read more

"This excellent biography of a Saint is very well done ...." Read more

"...He is concise , precise and carefully quotes the appropriate sources when he makes his statements. I have been..." Read more

Customers find the biography amazing and brilliant. They appreciate the extensive history of the people, geography, and historical events that surrounded Blessed. Readers also appreciate large selections of his writings, situated in his life events.

"...Herman of Alaska which Seraphim co-founded, is an excellent introduction to his life and thought ...." Read more

"... Goes into extensive history of the people , geography, and historical events that surrounded Blessed Father...." Read more

"...There are large selections of his writings , situated in his life events, from which the biographer, Father Damascene, examines Father Seraphim's..." Read more

"...This book is by farfar the most interesting of biographies I have yet read." Read more

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Fr. Seraphim (Rose) is a saint, says Metropolitan of Morphou

Morphou, Cyprus, September 6, 2022

Fr. Seraphim (Rose) is a saint and a personal inspiration in the ministry of His Eminence Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou of the Cypriot Church, the hierarch himself said in a recent homily.

On September 2, His Eminence served at St. Mamas Monastery in occupied Morphou in northern Cyprus. The day coincided with the 40th anniversary of the repose of Blessed Fr. Seraphim, and the Metropolitan took the opportunity to tell the people about him.

Though he was once a great sinner, he became a saint, Met. Neophytos preached. Moreover, his sainthood has been confirmed by other saints, he said, though without specifying which other saints. The Metropolitan is known to have been acquainted with a number of saints, elders, and eldresses.

He is also well known for speaking of prophecies, signs of the times, and things to come, and as he told the gathered faithful, it was reading Fr. Seraphim’s books that opened his eyes and helped set him on this path.

Met. Neophytos begins to speak about Fr. Seraphim at about the 19:50 mark:

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