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It has yet to be decided if Fr. Seraphim Rose is a saint of the Orthodox Church or not. Some venerated by some as a saint of iconography, liturgy and prayer. The Russian Orthodox church especially recognizes the impact Fr. Seraphim's contributions and writings have made in the church here in the United States. His writings have even influenced Russia, a place he never was able to visit. Fr. Seraphim Rose is considered a spiritual father for the lost modern age.
Born as Eugene Rose in 1934 to Frank and Esther Rose in San Diego, California. He was baptised in the Methodist church at the age of 14. He later became an athiest and went to Pomona College to study Chinese philosophy. Even though he had denied the christian faith, Eugene was able to see the superficiality and secularism in American life and culture even during the supposed morally oriented age of the 1950s. Even looking torwards Buddhism couldn't satisfy Eugene's need for spiritual restoration. After reading through the writings of Rene Guenon and those similar, he discovered the need to be grounded in a authentic spiritual tradition. Eugene later became chrismated in the ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) in San Francisco.
His bookselling ministry with his friend Gleb Podmosenskyj eventually led to decision to go into the California wilderness to live as monks. Eugene became Fr. Seraphim and Gleb, Fr. Herman. Even through the cultural upheavals of the 1960s, Fr. Seraphim foudn peace and solidarity in the Church and in the monastic life. His knowledge of eastern philosophy, religion and his careful observations of modern culture led were published in his magazine, The Orthodox Word and several of his books. He explained the problems with the desire of modernity, how errors in Western thought had led to today's social problems, his dissections of distortions and counterfeits of Christianity, and how the only way back was through Jesus Christ and his Church. He also discussed about secular Christian movements which excluded Christ from Christanity entirely and about the end times, including the coming of the Antichrist (Modern society, blending together all religions into one, one world government, etc).
In The Soul After Death, Father Seraphim Rose explained and taught the pious beliefs of the Russian Orthodox church about the particular judgements of God after death. In doing so, he explained phenomena such as the astral/Bardo plane, out of body/'near death' experiences and UFOs (Describing them as demons of the aireal plane in modern disguise).
"It's later than you think! Hasten therefore to do the work of God." This quote from the father himself best explains the life of Seraphim Rose. He died in 1982. His writings about modern society, modern religion and modern thought were great additions to the Russian Orthodox Church. From a small brotherhood in the woods, Father Seraphim Rose was able to influence the Russian Orthodox church outside and inside of Russia. He is observed as a saint in the Russian Orthodox church and has written some of the most thought provoking work of this century. Father Seraphim Rose is a great example of a pious Christian in secular times.
 SJL · Thu Apr 27, 2006 @ 11:34pm · 0 Comments |
