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The 20th Anniversary of
the Death of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)
2 September marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of the
Hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
The 20th Anniversary of the Death of Hieromonk Seraphim
(Rose)
September second marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of
the hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
of blessed memory, a missionary, church author and laborer for
God, Fr. Seraphim (Rose).
Fr. Seraphim was born in 1934 to a Protestant family. He received
a Master’s Degree in Berkeley University in Chinese literature
of the Mandarin dialect. During the course of a search for Truth,
Eugene Rose studied Eastern philosophy and religion, which brought
him to Buddhism. He was also knowledgable in English and American
literature and theater. His brilliant academic career was interrupted
by an unexpected spiritual crisis. Eugene Rose sensed the emptiness
of Buddhism and of Eastern philosophy in general, and the Lord
drew Eugene to the old Cathedral of the Most Holy Mother of
God in San Francisco. There he saw the laborer for God Archbishop
Tikhon “the Silent,” as he was known among the clergy,
saw the beauty of the Orthodox service and clearly felt the
Grace of God.
In 1962, with the blessing of Archbishop Tikhon, Eugene Rose
was accepted into the bosom of the Orthodox Church by Protopriest
Nikolai Dombrovsky. In 1963, Eugene became acquainted with the
newly-appointed ruling bishop of the Western American Diocese,
Archbishop John (Maksimovich), who had a great influence upon
him.
Eugene began to participate in daily services with great enthusiasm
as a reader-psalmist, by now in the new Cathedral on Geary Street.
At the same time, he opened a bookstore next to the Cathedral
along with Gleb Podmoshensky, where spiritual literature was
sold and the English-language periodical “Orthodox Word”
was published.
On days with no services or work, Eugene applied himself to
a thorough reading of the works of the Holy Fathers and the
“spiritual giants” of the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia, and immersed himself in the patristic understanding
of Orthodoxy. As a result, already after the death of St. John,
Eugene and Gleb founded a monastic community in the California
mountains near Platina, in honor of St. German of Alaska. There
they were tonsured into the monkhood with the names Seraphim
and Gleb. The skete had neither electricity nor water.
At the skete, they published books and did missionary work.
Fr. Seraphim would “save himself” from pilgrims in
a shanty he built for himself in the woods. There he prayed
in solitude, studied the Holy Fathers, did translations and
kept up with correspondence. The better-known of his works include
“The Soul After Death” and “Orthodoxy and the
Religion of the Future.” His greatest opus in the English
language, still not translated into Russian and little-known,
is “Russian Catacomb Saints.” Fr. Seraphim frequently
read lectures during conferences in Platina, and at All-Diaspora
Conferences of Russian Orthodox Youth, and at the first St.
German Youth Conference in Jordanville.
Among the Russian holy fathers dearest to Fr. Seraphim were
St. Tikhon of Zadonsk and St. Ignatius Brianchaninoff. Of his
contemporaries, Fr. Seraphim revered and considered as teachers
St. John (Maximovich), Archbishop Averkii of Syracuse and Protopriest
Mikhail Pomazansky.
In 1982, Fr. Seraphim grew ill and soon, at the age of 48, departed
to the Lord. Archbishop Anthony of San Francisco led the funeral
along with Bishop Nektarii of Seattle and a host of clergymen.
Fr. Seraphim was buried in St. Herman’s skete.
From 1985 in Platina, with the passing of Fr. Seraphim to a
better world, friction and troubles began , and in 1988, Hegumen
Herman (Podmoshensky) was defrocked, and the monks of Platina
attached themselves to an uncanonical group. By God’s mercy,
at the beginning of 2001, the brethren of St. Herman’s
Skete sensed their uncanonical situation and understood that
they had followed an improper path for many years and they began
an effort to correct their canonical status. At one time, two
hieromonks of St. Herman’s Skete received their priestly
rank from Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg and Ladoga (Moscow
Patriarchate), in St. Petersburg. In early spring of 2001, the
brethren was accepted into the bosom of the Serbian Orthodox
Church. The ruling bishop, John, recognized the defrockment
of the former Hegumen Herman.
Now the monastic life of St. Herman’s Skete is settling
down. The monks are preparing a new edition of a book on Fr.
Seraphim: “Not of This World,” now without the artificial,
angry and slanderous passages that mostly besmirched the Russian
Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and Archbishop Anthony of
blessed memory. Thanks to all this, it has been possible for
the spiritual children of Fr. Seraphim, clergymen who knew him
personally, and those who remember the “Platina of old”
to visit St. Herman’s Monastery.
On Monday, 2 September, a liturgy was served over the grave
of Fr. Seraphim under the open sky. A large number of worshipers
came who had spent the previous night in tents in the woods.
After liturgy there was a trapeza feast during which a draft
of the last lecture of Fr. Seraphim as read. This draft was
only recently discovered by the monks. Thereafter, the spiritual
son of Fr. Seraphim, the well-known Church writer, Hieromonk
Ambrosius (formerly Priest Alexey Young), shared his personal
remembrances of Fr. Seraphim with the pilgrims. Laypersons also
spoke who were the spiritual children of Fr. Seraphim, fondly
recalling their spiritual father. Protopriest Petr Perekrestov
recounted his meetings with Fr. Seraphim, and also said that
it is impossible to understand Fr. Seraphim without knowing
his spiritual heroes, those members of the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside of Russia who formed him spiritually: St. John
(Maksimovich), Metropolitan Philaret, Archbishop Averkii, Archbishop
Ioasaph of Western Canada, Protopresbyter Mikhail Pomazansky,
I.M. Andreevsky and I.M. Konzevich…
After the gathering, Protopriest Petr Perekrestov, Hegumen Zenon
and Hieromonk Theodosius served a pannikhida over the grave
of Fr. Seraphim. Hegumen Gerasim the head of St. Herman’s
Monastery, Hieromonk Ambrosius and the pilgrims attended. |
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