Vl. Agafangel's Audio Sermons can be translated into machine English

I found a way to translate Vladyka's audio sermons:  Today's sermon: Sept 6, 2026 n.s.  Ven. Seraphim of Platina (transferred from Sept 2 n.s.).
Митрополит Агафангел: Только Бог знает избранных
http://internetsobor.org/index.php/stati/avtorskaya-kolonka/mitropolit-agafangel-tolko-bog-znaet-izbrannykh
Автор: Митрополит Агафангел. Дата публикации: 06 сентября 2026. Категория: Авторская колонка. 

 

— click on the video "Watch on You Tube" and a You Tube page opens up

— at the end of the video description,  click on "more..." 
     this description will be found below the video, but above the Comments.

— After the "more" opens up, look for and click on the button "Show transcript"
     this button also appears above the Comments

— Then top right corner of the screen opens a smaller window with the transcript in Russian

— Copy/paste the Russian transcript text into a translator (translate.google.com)

Мы знаем, что Господь часто говорил притчами. Он это делал для того, чтобы это было понятно вот всем людям. Он
0:08
8 seconds
старался говорить на понятном языке для всех людей. Ну вот сейчас уже даже вот
0:15
15 seconds
эти притчи, которые Господь говорил, нуждаются в изъяснении. Пир брачное, вот то, что мы сегодня слышали в Евангелии,
0:24
24 seconds
это небесное царство. А званное в это небесное царство, это вот священники, епископы, монахи, вот вот все, кто вот
0:33
33 seconds
как христиане, значит, вот они видят, все люди, что вот они христиане, что они вот в церкви и всё там стараются. Вот
0:41
41 seconds
вот они званные. И вот когда наступит время, оказывается, что вот эти званные,
0:49
49 seconds
они все не готовы. Оказывается, они все обременены какими-то своими земными житейскими делами, которые не дают им
0:57
57 seconds
войти в небесное царство. Казалось бы, по жизни он прямо такой вот христианин, а в действительности у него есть
1:05
1 minute, 5 seconds
какие-то житейские дела или какие-то там тайные грехи, которых он любит. И вот это вот не даёт им, вот этим званым,
1:14
1 minute, 14 seconds
войти в небесное царство. И Господь сказал, что соберите всех христиан, всех, у кого нет вот этой земной
1:21
1 minute, 21 seconds
привязанности и которые желают войти в царство небесное. Всех соберите, вот кто есть. И вот слуги, ангелы собирают всех
1:31
1 minute, 31 seconds
христиан. Конечно, они христиане, это не в брачй одежде. Если оних Христа не признавали при жизни, то, конечно, и они
1:39
1 minute, 39 seconds
не могут быть спасены и быть в небесном царстве. Вот. Соберите всех простых нищих духом. людей, пусть они заполнят
1:47
1 minute, 47 seconds
моё царство. Вот как Господь учит, что нельзя иметь никаких земных привязанностей, которые бы нас удержали
1:56
1 minute, 56 seconds
здесь на Земле и не дали нам возможности взойти в небесное царство. И вот мы тоже
2:04
2 minutes, 4 seconds
должны стараться это понимать. Конечно, житейские заботы, они есть, и никуда они не денутся. Мы должны их исполнять. Но
2:13
2 minutes, 13 seconds
самое главное для нас - это небесное царство. Брачный пир - это пир вечный, это упование со Христом. И вот это
2:20
2 minutes, 20 seconds
должно быть для нас самым главным в нашей жизни. И вот именно к этому должна стремиться наша душа.
2:27
2 minutes, 27 seconds
Ся

We know that the Lord often spoke in parables. He did this so that everyone could understand. 

He tried to speak in a language understandable to all people. 

Well, even now these parables that the Lord spoke need clarification. 


The wedding feast, that's what we heard in the Gospel today, is the heavenly kingdom. 

And those called to this heavenly kingdom are priests, bishops, monks, all those who as Christians, so they see, all the people, that they are Christians, that they are in church and doing their best there.

They are the called ones. 

And when the time comes, it turns out that these called ones, are not ready. 

It turns out they're all burdened by some earthly, everyday affairs that prevent them from entering the heavenly kingdom. 

It would seem that he's a perfect Christian in life, but in reality, he has some worldly affairs or some secret sins that he loves. 

And this prevents them, these invited ones, from entering the heavenly kingdom. 

And the Lord said, gather all Christians, all who have no earthly attachments and who desire to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Gather them all, that's who they are. 

And so the servants, the angels, gather all Christians. 

Of course, they are Christians, not in wedding clothes. 

If they did not recognize Christ during his lifetime, then, of course, they cannot be saved and be in the heavenly kingdom. 
 
So.  Gather all the simple, poor in spirit, people, let them fill my kingdom. 

This is how the Lord teaches that we must not have any earthly attachments that would hold us here on Earth and prevent us from ascending to the heavenly kingdom. 

And so we, too must try to understand this. 

Of course, worldly concerns exist, and they will not go away. We must fulfill them. 

But the most important thing for us is the heavenly kingdom. 

The wedding feast is an eternal feast; it is hope with Christ. 

And this should be the most important thing in our lives. 

And this is precisely what our soul should strive for.

Xia

.

Ven. Seraphim of Platina

Archbishop George: A Word on Fr. Seraphim (Rose)

  posted on Internet Sobor in 2025
  Author: Metropolitan Agafangel. Publication date: September 2, 2025. Category: Авторская колонка.

source:
  http://internetsobor.org/index.php/stati/avtorskaya-kolonka/arkhiepiskop-georgij-slovo-o-prep-serafime-rouz

Brothers and sisters!  Today, with prayerful reverence, we honor a saint close to our own time: the Venerable Seraphim of Platina, who shone forth within the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia during the terrible twentieth century.  We all know that the Orthodox Church recognizes certain holy servants of God known as *Venerable* — a title given to monastics.  These are monastics who, fully freely and consciously — while recognizing and mourning their own sinful brokenness — strove for holiness and sought to become like Jesus Christ.  They succeeded on this path by fulfilling, in humility and repentance, the vows of celibacy, obedience, and non-possessiveness.  In other words, they came to know through experience that Orthodoxy is a living communion between God and man, between the heavenly and the earthly, between the living and the departed.  They understood that becoming like God — the highest goal and essence of the spiritual life for any Orthodox Christian — means unfolding within oneself moral qualities and the image of God through the cooperation of Divine grace.  It is no coincidence that they taught that this possibility is granted only through living union with Christ in His Church.  "Without Me you can do nothing," as the Lord said (John 15:5).

St. Symeon the New Theologian wrote:  "He who has united his will with the Divine Spirit has become godlike; having received Christ into his heart, he has (truly) become a Christian from Christ, bearing within himself the image of the One Christ — Who is utterly beyond grasp and truly inaccessible to all created beings."

Among the ranks of the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, the Venerable Seraphim (Rose) shines forth. Born on August 13, 1934, in San Diego, California, into a non-Orthodox environment, he sought the truth in this earthly life and found the living Truth — Christ — within His Holy Church, the Orthodox Church.  As a young man, Eugene became the spiritual son of the now globally venerated Saint John of San Francisco, a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia.  In time, he embraced the monastic life and became a clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, serving as a hieromonk.  Through his monastic life — characterized by humility, repentance, and spiritual discernment — Venerable Seraphim strove for God-likeness through prayer, fasting, and labor.  He upheld the truth within the Russian Church, denouncing "Sergianism" — that pernicious and ungodly alliance between the Church organization and the God-fighting regime; he spoke of the Catacomb Church and the New Martyrs in the atheistic Soviet state; and he opposed the heresy of ecumenism, condemning the modern falling-away from Christ and the lukewarmness of Christians.  At the same time, he counseled against the dangerous extremes of spiritual life: indifference and zeal without understanding.  He led many to Christ and to union with the Orthodox Church. He eventually became widely known among the Orthodox faithful as a missionary and spiritual writer, the author of numerous works that have profoundly influenced Orthodox Christians in the United States and in our post-Soviet homeland.

Venerable Seraphim departed to the Lord at the age of 48 on September 2, 1982.  He was glorified among the Venerable Saints by the Council of Bishops of ROCOR — specifically, the part of ROCOR that did not enter into union with the Soviet pseudo-church — under the omophorion of First Hierarch Metropolitan Agafangel, on November 8/21, 2024, at the ROCOR Synodal Representation in Odessa.

As we know, for us Orthodox Christians, the saints are not distant, inaccessible, or "mythical" figures.  The Savior Himself said: "Have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (Matthew 22:31–32).  The saints are our close spiritual brothers in the faith, friends, and mentors to whom we — still "sailing the stormy sea of ​​life" — turn with prayers for help, finding guidance in the example of their arduous lives of repentance.

"Like a merchant seeking fine pearls, you found Orthodoxy, 
preached the true faith, and called all to repentance. 
May the light of Christ shine within us through your prayers,
O Venerable Father Seraphim." 
(Troparion, Tone 8). 

Amen.
+ Архиепископ Георгий
20/02 сентября 2025 г.

.

new 2026 professional digital photo files 

available for download in Joanna's Shared Library

see Fr. Seraphim's Folder

3 files named: 2026 Tom Glynn icon Seraphim 

.

Sister Church Announcement of Fr. Seraphim Rose Glorification

November 2024 
Our SISTER CHURCH in Bulgaria makes this announcement on their official website:
https://bulgarian-orthodox-church.org/ch-life/official/message20241125.html

machine translation:

     By decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCC), during the divine service on the occasion of the patronal feast of the Odessa Church of St. Archangel Michael (November 21 /November 8, 2024), the church glorification of the well-known American missionary, ascetic and spiritual writer Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) in the image of the venerable fathers was performed.  The Divine Liturgy was led by His Eminence Metropolitan Agathangel of New York and Eastern America, First Hierarch of the ROCC, in the service of Their Eminences Archbishop George of Chisinau and Moldova and Bishop Alexy of Chador-Lunga, with the participation of the Odessa clergy.

    The annual memory of Rev. Seraphim Platinsky will be celebrated on September 2 (August 20, 2024), the day of his death.  The short biography (in Russian) and the service in honor of the newly glorified venerable father are available on the Internet.

From the Office of the Synod of Bishops
of the Bulgarian Orthodox
Old Style Church

 Note:  We see here in the above announcement, our Sister Church puts the Church calendar date in parentheses after the world calendar date.  Our ROCOR has always put the Church Calendar date ahead of the world calendar date.  So, make a quick mental adjustment, so not to give Antichrist added delight for causing confusion.  Fr. Seraphim died during the afterfeast of Dormition.

Fr. Seraphim is loved all over the world, like St. John S&SF.  His books & writings continue to be translated into other languages.  

Notes about Feast of Dromition

 Two things I learned along the way I want to pass on:

 1.  Dormition is not the same as Assumption.  The Dormition is the death and burial which took place on a Friday afternoon, when Christ came and took Theotokos' soul as it was released from her body; and He handed it over to the Archangel Michael's protection.  The Assumption is 3 days later when the Lord translated her body from earth to heaven, however so this was done.  Then the Holy Apostle Thomas discovered her tomb was empty, only her clothes left behind.   
     The Great Synaxaristes explains that this is where the Roman Catholics got their idea for "immaculate conception," because immaculate conception is the only way they can figure how a body could get into heaven.  They figure it had to be purified before hand.  And these mental gymnastics they have mistaken for revelations from the Holy Spirit.  
     Apparently world-Orthodox can be confused by the Roman Catholic error.  I have the choral sheet music of a very beautiful version of the Exapostilarion for the Dormition that I received from an OCA convent in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, 1998.  The nuns hand-printed the sheet music customized for their small female choir and kindly gave me a photocopy of four pages.  The title at the top of the first page is "Svetilen for the Assumption," and on subsequent pages:  "Assumption – Svetilen" also written by hand.   The words of the exapostilarion clearly are all about her burial, the gathering of the apostles, and Christ taking her soul, and nothing about her body being taken by Christ 3 days later.

Sheet Music
   https://www.podoben.org/files/pdf/male/Folk%20Songs/1-11-2017--Dormition---Svetilen.pdf
The sheet music I have given to me by the nuns, the nuns raised the tenor an octave (2nd soprano) to accommodate female voices.  They raised the bass an octave also.  It was particularly beautiful even with just a small handful of nuns in the choir.

other recordings:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6d1EHbfR5k  (mixed choir)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02-rQ2Z2Dxk  (monks)


2.  The Gospel Reading at Liturgy — "...Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken from her..."  What will not be taken away might sound like Mary's leisure, her listening/hearing His words.  But actually what will not be taken away from Mary are the things gained by her soul.  Mary has chosen eternal things over temporal things.   And while all temporal things get taken away in the end, eternal things never get taken away from us.  Mary has chosen those things that do not get taken away in the end.

.

Abbess Rufina reposed on the Feast of Dormition

Repose of Abbess Rufina of Harbin and Shanghai †1937
   also reposed on this feast day: 
   Elder Anthony of Murom, friend of St. Seraphim of Sarov, †1851 
   Archimandrite Hieron, founder of New Athos Monastery, †1912

[St. Seraphim of Platina was granted repose during the afterfeast, Aug19/Sept2]

OUT OF PRINT BOOK
download from Joanna's Shared Library
"Saints & Elders' folder
https://app.box.com/s/fidluwvb48ffrhzly22uq2zvvzb56byl/file/1636937881530
The Gospel Pearl
Abbess Rufina

.

II Timothy 3:5 "...from such, turn away."

Psychopaths in the Church

St. Paul instructions to Timothy (a bishop) on how to care for his flock:

2 Timothy 3:1–9
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was.

 

Having the form of godliness, but denying the power

 

The first thing I think of is a Pharisee.  Having the form of a Christian while denying the power of Christ.  Somebody who pretends to be a Christian.   This description fits both a Pharisee and a KGB infiltrator.  It also fits a psychopath (malignant narcissist) — psychopaths fool everyone and possibly they even fool themselves.   These people are really unbelievers, believing only in themselves.   Our Church tells us that Antichrist, after taking control of the whole world, will come to believe himself to be Christ, the 2nd Coming.  This is when he will insist on being worshipped.   This will be the second phase of Antichrist's reign.  See book Ray of Light, Jordanville.

In the meantime, today, in our rapidly advancing pre-apocalyptic times, the demons are getting all excited.  They are practicing for their grand finale.  Mini-antichrists (malignant narcissists) are popping up everywhere these days, including in the churches, including the Orthodox Church.  Some are not so hard to spot.  But most, being well practiced, go undetected.  It is easier for psychopaths to hide among Christians — Christians are usually easier to control.

One example of a  II Timothy 3:5  person living in the Church today that I know:  She was baptized as a young adult in 1980.  Prior to her baptism, she had developed a serious habit of lying.  Instead of allowing the grace of the Sacraments to heal her from lying, for 55 years, instead of seeking salvation, she used her learning and her position in the Church-setting to perfect her Art of Lying.   

Whether the pretender is a Pharisee, a KGB agent, or a psychopath — either way, our priests (and we) are instructed, "...from such, turn away."  We are not told to try to help them, or to go along with their pretense, or even to pray for them.  Although, I'm sure careful private prayer with adding, "They will be done" would be acceptable.  We are told to have nothing to do with them.

This concept, of having nothing to do with somebody who assumes the form of a Christian...  I've seen where this idea has been applied in a broader sense to not just a person having the form only, but also to a whole group having the form only.  Examples would be the cult-churches like Jehovah's Witnesses and those speakin'-in-tongues churches, (those are called "Charismatics").  Fr. Seraphim Rose wrote about them in his book Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future.  

Be alert that Orthodox parishes, especially when isolated, are the perfect sub-structures in which a cult can develop.  

I've seen 3 such parishes in the ROCOR before the 2007 ROCOR-MP union.  One that went with the ROCOR-MP union was St. Silouan's in Walla-Walla, Washington.  I only spent one weekend there, but cult was written all over it.  None of the parishioners drink coffee because the priest does not drink coffee.  Nobody thought to provide Sunday morning coffee to their many guests from all over who came to help them celebrate their feast day and to welcome them into the ROCOR.  There were other indications of cultishness, but nothing seemed seriously harmful — just quirky.   

Another cultish-parish, St. Innocent's in Rogue River, Oregon, 2002.   After corresponding with the priest, my son-in-law, with his new bride and new baby, moved to Oregon intending to join that parish.  Soon after they started visiting the parish, I had a lengthy phone conversation with the priest.  After that phone call ended, I remember thinking, "boy, am I glad he's not my priest!"    But the kids seemed happy, so I said nothing.  But after about a month, one-by-one, the incidents started happening.  My son-in-law started telling me things.  Seemed like every Sunday he had another bad thing to report.   Finally, and I'm being very careful how I say this... my son-in-law told me about the priest revealing confessions during the mandatory hour-long sermons.  He would give 3 sermons each Sunday.  One during the liturgy, another one after the liturgy, and again one at trapeza.  None of the sermons were limited in time, and if you had to use the bathroom, you were out of luck.   A particular sermon revealed a particular confession that was way too disturbing:

   "... ... ... ... and I'm getting tired of you younger single men complaining about being lonely.  Are you sure it's loneliness? — or is it maybe something else?  something sexual? ... ... ... ..."

 

According to my son-in-law's telling of this incident, when the priest said that, then everyone looked around the room at each other with a face-expression of:

 WHO confessed THAT! • 

Up until then, I was only uncomfortable with my kids being in that parish.  But now, hearing this, I was beyond uncomfortable.  I was horrified.  I told my son-in-law not to go back there.   They ended up in the nearby OCA parish. 

 

 I found that this is exactly what happened in the 3rd cult-parish, (again before the ROCOR-MP union), where members who did not conform were chased away, and they ended up in world orthodoxy or sometimes left Orthodoxy altogether.  One case where a member left Orthodoxy altogether is that of Michelle Stewart.  She writes about it in her book:  Judas Girl © 2025  

•  

I want my readers to notice what happens at this point in the story.  The first thought the parishioners had was that they were the cause of this thing happening..  Which one of us brought this most embarrassing lecture upon our group?  Nobody threw a tomato at the priest.  They all just blamed themselves.  And this attitude, my friends, is exactly the attitude of cult victims.   Psychopaths themselves blame their victims — it is one of their favorite games.  On their stage, THEY are the only ones who are allowed to play the part of the victim...  

     Diagnosed psychopath Tom Sells, executed some years back for serial rape/murder, once in an interview, speaking about a certain victim, he said, "I had to kill her.  She would not stop screaming."

.

I invite Orthodox victims to email me: joannahigginbotham@runbox.com 

.

July 20/Aug 2 Holy Prophet Elijah

2 articles about the Holy Prophet Elijah:

   Orthodox Life magazine 1963 (4)

   Orthodox Life magazine 1978 (6) 

 

Both articles important to End Times teachings 

 

https://orthodoxlifemagazines.blogspot.com 

A  complete set of Orthodox Life magazines is in Joanna's Shared Library.

A website I am enjoying: 

https://russianicons.wordpress.com 

It is not a religious site — just real information.  It's so refreshingly NOT world orthodox. 

 

Forerunners of Christ's 2nd Coming: Holy Prophets Elijah & Enoch

.