WARNING

NOT EVERYTHING THAT

CALLS ITSELF ORTHODOX IS

TRULY ORTHODOX


The above warning was given to me when I first met Orthodoxy in 1986. Today [2009] it is even more perilous, even more difficult to find the Royal Path. For one thing there is a far greater abundance of misinformation. And many materials are missing, and other materials are being rapidly rewritten. For another thing there are fewer than ever guides remaining on the Royal Path, especially who speak English. Hopefully this website will be a place where Newcomers to the Faith can keep at least one foot on solid ground, while they are "exploring."


blog owner: Joanna Higginbotham

joannahigginbotham@runbox.com

jurisdiction: ROCA under Vladyka Agafangel

who did not submit to the RocorMP union in 2007

DISCLAIMER



January 29, 2021

In Memory by SIR

In 2009 SIR published Fr. Seraphim's article on the Royal Path with their footnotes.  I post this here partly so you can see how narrow is view of the SIR perspective of Fr. Seraphim.   ~jh




Here is their introduction to the article:
_______________________________________________

In Memory of Hiermonk Seraphim (Rose) on the 
Twenty-Seventh Anniversary of His Holy Repose
August 20, 1982 o.s.

The Royal Path
True Orthodoxy in an Age of Apostasy

Source: Ὀρθόδοξος Ἔνστασις καὶ Μαρτυρία, Series 1, Nos. 26-29 (January-December 1992), pp. 3-16.

HIEROMONK SERAPHIM (Eugene Rose in the world) was born in 1934 of Protestant parents, in California. He studied at Pomona College in Los Angeles and received an M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Philosophical by nature and thirsting for the Truth, after a long and wandering search, he discovered it in Holy Orthodoxy, which he eagerly embraced (in 1961), literally dedicating himself to it. His profound study of the works of the great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky contributed to this, as did the friendship and bond that he formed with Gleb Podmoshensky, then a student at the Holy Trinity Orthodox Theological Seminary in Jordanville, New York, and subsequently his fellow ascetic, Father Herman.

In 1963, they founded the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood for the purpose of missionary work. In 1965, with the blessing of their spiritual Father, the most holy Archbishop John (Maximovich) of San Francisco (†1966),

For a biography of St. John of San Francisco, see The Life and Conduct of Our Father Among the Saints, Saint John the Wonderworker, Archbishop Of Shanghai and San Francisco (Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 1996); http://hsir.info/p/h4 See also “A Miracle Which Confirms the Traditional Church Calendar” (http://hsir.info/p/yp).

they began publication of the well-known periodical, The Orthodox Word.  Publishing this periodical was a veritable feat, when we bear in mind that, up until 1981, it was typeset manually and printed on a hand-operated press.  In 1969, they founded the Monastery of St. Herman of Alaska in Platina, a wilderness region in Northern California, and in 1970 they received the monastic schema.

Father Seraphim was given a blessing to live in a small hut, where he followed a very strict ascetical regimen, praying, studying, and writing, until 1977, when he was ordained a Priest by the virtuous Bishop Nektary of Seattle, of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (†1983), a disciple of the renowned last Elder of Optina, St. Nektary (†1928).  Thereafter he worked more in a missionary capacity until his holy repose on August 20, 1982 (Old Style), at the age of only forty-eight.

Father Seraphim harmoniously combined in his person an asceticism astonishing in our days with freedom from anger, meekness, humility, silence, unceasing prayer, profound love, and spiritual discretion.

Recently a monastic from Serbia has written: “The Athonite hesychast and instructor of the prayer of the heart Bishop Amphilocius [Amfilohije] once said that Fr. Seraphim was granted the greatest gift that a man can be granted on earth—the gift of spiritual discernment.”

 “Fr. Seraphim Rose: Ten Years Later,” The Orthodox Word, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4 (165) (July-August 1992), pp. 161-162.

He was particularly distinguished for his gift of eloquence and wisdom, as attested both by those who knew him and by his numerous writings, a large part of which remains still unpublished.  In these writings “we find not only his profound education and his wealth of knowledge, but also the ever-living and flourishing spirit and Grace of our God-bearing Fathers, the ‘mind of Christ,’ and a strong nisus towards a life that is lofty and fully consecrated to our Life-giving Savior”—the apocalyptic and prophetic dimension of our Holy Faith.

Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Phyle, “†Ἱερομόναχος Σεραφεὶμ (Rose)” [†Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)], Ἅγιος Κυπριανός, No. 166 (October 1982), p. 128. 

His knowledge of many languages, and especially his deep knowledge of Russian, impelled him to produce a multitude of very noteworthy translations, in order to make the treasures of the Fathers known in the New World.  “In his short life, Father Seraphim offered himself for the glory of God and the salvation of his fellow men. His preaching ministry helped many people to find the way to Orthodoxy and their salvation, while his literary activity included hundreds of articles and dozens of books that bear witness to his anxiety to preserve and transmit genuine, traditional Orthodoxy.”

Petros Botses, “Ἱερομόναχος Σεραφεὶμ (1934-1982)” [Hieromonk Seraphim (1934-1982)], Ὀρθόδοξος Τύπος, No. 534 (February 4, 1983), pp. 1, 3.

It was precisely this anxiety, coupled with his healthy and pure zeal, that prompted him to write the following article, among others. His love for the true Faith, which he expresses in this article, and, at the same time, his anguish and distress over the discernible trend among traditionalist Orthodox (in America, Greece, and elsewhere) towards an inordinate zeal marked by extremist tendencies, with very grievous consequences at an ecclesiological and at a practical level, is set forth with clarity, candor, and profundity. The timeliness of this article remains undiminished, even though almost thirty years have elapsed since it was written (in 1976).

If the sacred struggle for the Faith is to succeed, it must be conducted “properly” and “lawfully.” The most important thing is to protect and preserve the Faith from the insidious pollution of heresy and to witness to it in a Patristic, traditional, and Orthodox spirit. The message of Orthodox resistance on the part of those who abide by the Traditions of the Fathers must not be sullied by injudicious activities and unsound ideas.

The path of moderation, the Royal Path, which the late Father Seraphim chose and which he consistently followed in matters of Faith, did not please everyone. 

Many who belonged to “official” Orthodox Churches enmeshed in the ecumenical movement considered him a “dangerous fanatic,” although they admired his spiritual greatness and praised his otherwise indisputable contribution to Orthodoxy. Others, distinguished by their “zeal not according to knowledge,” denounced him as a betrayer of Orthodoxy!

Father Alexey Young, “For His Soul Pleased the Lord,” Orthodox America, No. 2 (22) (August-September 1982), p. 9

Such has always been the “lot” of those who follow the royal path of moderation and discretion....

Let the present article http://startingontheroyalpath.blogspot.com/2009/08/royal-path.html be considered a very small tribute to the memory of the late Father Seraphim, this year being the twenty-fifth anniversary of his holy repose, let his holy and discerning zeal be a shining example for us, and let his holy prayers guide us on the “Royal Path.”

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