In September 1982, a prominent religious figure who founded the Orthodox monastic monastery on the American continent, Hieromonk Seraphim Rose, passed away. Despite the fact that a lot of time has passed since the death, interest in his life does not wane, and admirers living on many continents are looking forward to the day when the Orthodox Church announces the canonization of her faithful son.
Childhood and youth of the future ascetic
A prominent figure in the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad - hieromonk and religious writer Seraphim Rose - was born on August 12, 1934 in the American city of San Diego, located in the state of California. At birth, he received the name Eugene, but Seraphim became known only in adulthood after the adoption of monasticism.
After graduating with honors from school and then college, he entered the Academy of Oriental Studies, located in San Francisco, in 1956. From the biography of Seraphim Rose, it is known that his parents were Protestants, but he himself was keenly interested in a variety of religious movements.
In search of a spiritual path
Within the walls of the academy, he deeply studied Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism, Hinduism and a number of other religions. It is interesting to note that Serafim Rose studied each of them in her own language, which speaks of his extraordinary linguistic abilities. He also owned most of the European languages.
Thanks to his in-depth knowledge of Latin and French, Rose became closely acquainted with the works of the renowned philosopher and metaphysician of the first half of the 20th century, Rene Guenon, who pushed him in search of an authentic, that is, the most complete and genuine religious tradition. In his quest, he tried to maximize the range of religious and philosophical views he studied.
In the bosom of the Orthodox Church
An important moment in Rose's life was his visit in 1961 to a Russian Orthodox church located in San Francisco. The impression of what he saw was so great that in the following time he began to attend worship services, and also went deeper into the study of the Russian and Church Slavonic languages. In the same period, the first of Seraphim Rose’s books was being prepared for publication. It was devoted to the spiritual state of his contemporaries. To complete it, the young man was forced to interrupt classes at the academy.
Acquaintance with the works of the fathers of the Orthodox Church, which he had already studied in the scripts, allowed him to make the final choice of his spiritual path, and in mid-February 1962, Seraphim Rose, having passed the sacrament of anointing, became one of its members. Soon after baptism, he met a Russian emigrant, a graduate of the Orthodox seminary, Gleb Podmoshensky, with whom he was linked for many years by the unity of spiritual aspirations.
The beginning of active work
In the early 60s, young people began to publish brochures of religious content "Orthodox Herald", and then opened their own shop, which sold Orthodox books and icons. Over time, she turned into one of the spiritual centers of America. In parallel with this, Rose studied at a theological school and served as a reader in a city cathedral.
However, Rose and his friend Gleb did not stop there. Desiring to establish a spiritual fraternity, they acquired a plot of land in a forest in northern California and discovered a monastery there, in many ways resembling those created by Russian ascetics of Orthodoxy in the past centuries. After moving to it, friends adopted monasticism in October 1970, with Eugene taking the name of the very revered saint - Rev. Seraphim of Sarov, and Gleb - German Alaska. So the Orthodox world gained two new monks Seraphim and Herman. A photograph of their cell completes the article.
In the dignity of a priest
In the monastery founded by them, Seraphim Rose continued to write religious works and, in addition, joined his spiritual brother in active missionary work. They did not stop the previously begun publication of brochures "Orthodox Herald".
The next step on the path of spiritual growth was his ordination to the priesthood, completed in 1977. From now on, Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) received the right to personally perform the sacrament of baptism over those whom he and his brother German managed to convert to Orthodoxy (photo above).
Earth end
The earthly path of Father Seraphim was interrupted unexpectedly for everyone on September 2, 1982, and the reason for this was the disease that tormented him over the past years. A very remarkable passage from a book of memoirs about Father Seraphim, written by Archbishop Chrysostom, who took part in his burial.
In it, the archpastor tells that all those present were struck by the extraordinary appearance of the body of the deceased, on which, after a sufficiently long time after the death, even the slightest signs of decay were not noticeable. It seemed that the natural process of decay was disrupted by the sanctity of this person's life. There was so much life and light in his face at that moment that, contrary to the existing tradition, the brothers did not dare to cover it with a mourning veil.
Nowadays, the books of Seraphim Rose have been translated into many languages, and he is revered as an ascetic among Orthodox people in many countries. It is known that in recent years, serious work has been carried out to prepare for its canonization. Those of his admirers who want to bring their coveted day with all their might already offer prayers to him before the icons written beforehand.