Fr. Seraphim Rose

RileyG · Jun 17, 2023

**RC here- just curious. ***

Would you ever own and icon of Fr. Seraphim Rose or read his writings? OR could a man be ordained because he was homosexual? I've read The Soul After Death and Religion of The Future and found them both interesting.

EO ONLY please.

rusmeister · Jun 17, 2023

I think the right and Orthodox understanding of people is that they are NOT their passions, that the passions are a thing to be struggled against, and not the ontological identity of the person. IOW, nobody is “homosexual”. They experience the passion of lust for the same sex, and either they struggle against it, or they don’t.

All of the language around sex now publicly used is full of lies, that cause us to see everything wrongly; not only through a glass darkly, but crooked as well. When we say “He is gay”, or “They are in a relationship”, we are speaking lies, and need to learn to stop doing it.

All that said, nearly everything I have either read of or heard about Fr Seraphim has been good. Everybody has at least a 1% where they stray at least a little, and he is no exception, but that is no argument against canonization.

So the short answers to your two questions are 1) “Yes, I would”, though I would not proclaim him definitively a saint until the Church does, and 2) A passion repented of and opposed is no barrier to ordination.

FenderTL5 · Jun 17, 2023

I agree on Fr Seraphim.
Tempored agreement on the 2nd paragraph. I'm not 100% convinced that using the common vernacular is necessarily lie. Incorrect by being incomplete, yes. In need of a better way of expressing it, yes - but a lie? Probably a diffent discussion but alas..

I do agree completely as it applies to Fr Seraphim.

rusmeister · Jun 17, 2023

FenderTL5 said:
I agree on Fr Seraphim.
Tempored agreement on the 2nd paragraph. I'm not 100% convinced that using the common vernacular is necessarily lie. Incorrect by being incomplete, yes. In need of a better way of expressing it, yes - but a lie? Probably a diffent discussion but alas..

I do agree completely as it applies to Fr Seraphim.

Given time and patience, I think I could convince you.

Yes, it is a different discussion.

ArmyMatt · Jun 17, 2023

yes, I have an icon of him and I read his writings.

and despite the sins he struggled with, he overcame those passions.

RileyG · Jun 17, 2023

Thanks for your responses

E.C. · Jun 17, 2023

He had his passions and he overcame them; why shouldn't he be a saint?

I personally await the day that either he or Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas are recognized as saints so that Eastern European chauvinists would realize that Orthodoxy in America also includes Americans and not just 2nd/3rd+ generation Slavs, Greeks, or Arabs.

ArmyMatt · Jun 17, 2023

E.C. said:
Orthodoxy in America also includes Americans

and Br Jose and Matushka Olga

ArmyMatt · Jun 17, 2023

RileyG said:
Thanks for your responses

no probs!

Dogheaded · Jun 18, 2023

His alleged sin from prior to his conversion and repentance is just an allegation. The main source for it comes from his niece and a rare book she published, but she is not necessarily a reliable source - her main books are the lowest common denominator of celebrity true crime. Others who were close to St. Seraphim have disputed the allegations. The niece on the other hand, maybe only met him once when she was younger. Others say that because he was a beatnik, therefore he had to be homosexual, but that does not necessarily follow. Manson was a beatnik and had many sins, but not that one.

And generally those who focus and affirm the allegations are usually those who want to make him a 'patron saint for homosexuals' as such at AFR are wont to do. This shows the shallowness and wrong-spiritedness in those who push the allegations.

Justin-H.S. · Jun 21, 2023

Religion of the Future was one of the first Orthodoxy books I've read when inquiring. My wife got me the one on Nihilism, and it's a good read as well.

Not sure what the verdict is on his alleged homosexuality is or not, but either way I consider him a Saint. I'd like to eventually get an icon of his.

Dorothea · Jun 25, 2023

ArmyMatt said:
and Br Jose and Matushka Olga

And Mother Gavrilia!

Dorothea · Jun 25, 2023

Fr. Seraphim Rose and his writings were important then and are especially now. His book on Religion and the Future was a vital spiritual resource for my son when he was in his last year of high school, and struggling with his faith and trying to understand the teachings of the Church and how other Christian sects believe. Fr. Seraphim's words brought clarity and peace to my son, and it helped him to have a more grounded understanding of his Orthodox faith. We're thankful for that and much more from Fr. Seraphim.

ArmyMatt · Jun 25, 2023

Dorothea said:
And Mother Gavrilia!

amen!

RileyG · Jun 26, 2023

Dorothea said:
Fr. Seraphim Rose and his writings were important then and are especially now. His book on Religion and the Future was a vital spiritual resource for my son when he was in his last year of high school, and struggling with his faith and trying to understand the teachings of the Church and how other Christian sects believe. Fr. Seraphim's words brought clarity and peace to my son, and it helped him to have a more grounded understanding of his Orthodox faith. We're thankful for that and much more from Fr. Seraphim.

Yes! I read it as well, it's a great book!

Even though I'm RC.

LizaMarie · Jun 27, 2023

I'm Lutheran but I bought and Read Fr. Seraphim Rose's Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future a couple of years ago. I highly recommend it, and wish I had read it back in the early '80's when it was written. (I was in my 20's then.)

Fr. Seraphim Rose

Veteran

A Russified American Orthodox Chestertonian

Κύριε, ἐλέησον.

A Russified American Orthodox Chestertonian

Regular Member

Veteran

Well-Known Member

Regular Member

Regular Member

Active Member

Member

One of God's handmaidens

One of God's handmaidens

Regular Member

Veteran

Newbie

Similar threads