Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh: life, memories, photographs, sermons. Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh Anthony of Sourozh biography

beauty

Contains already published texts by Metropolitan Anthony. The Bishop never writes or prepares his conversations, speeches, and sermons in advance. Everything published was originally born as a word addressed directly to the listener - not to a faceless crowd, but to each individual person, our contemporary, who experiences (often without realizing it) spiritual hunger. As a priest and theologian, Vladyka Anthony is an exponent not only of the Russian spiritual tradition, but also of the universal, ecumenical Truth of Orthodoxy. His word is convincing due to the combination of precision of formulation with his own internal experience - the experience of Orthodoxy, deeply rooted in Tradition and at the same time open to modernity. Metropolitan Anthony's texts call for a very deep, sober understanding of the faith and for a responsible life of faith. The Lord addresses some topics and examples again and again; and we, readers - listeners, may be tempted to think: “we have already read this.” But perhaps, if these themes and examples have sunk so deeply into the soul, the mind of the Master, we should linger on them with our attention? Perhaps, when reading his own texts, it is useful to remember the advice he received in his youth from his father: “Think more than you read.”

We hope that the living word of Metropolitan Anthony will reach where his books have not yet reached.

BIOGRAPHY

Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh(in the world Andrei Borisovich Bloom, Bloom) was born on June 19, 1914 in Lausanne, in the family of an employee of the Russian diplomatic service. Ancestors on the father's side came from Scotland and settled in Russia in the time of Peter the Great; on his mother's side he is related to the composer A.N. Scriabin. He spent his early childhood in Persia, where his father was consul. After the revolution in Russia, the family found itself in exile and, after several years of wandering around Europe, settled in France in 1923. Here he spent his youth, marked by the ordeals of emigrant life and a deeply conscious aspiration to live for Russia. The boy grew up outside the Church, but one day as a teenager he heard a conversation about Christianity by a prominent theologian, who, however, did not know how to speak with boys, who valued courage and military order above all else. Here is how the Lord himself recalls this experience:

He spoke about Christ, about the Gospel, about Christianity /.../, bringing to our consciousness everything sweet that can be found in the Gospel, from which we would shy away, and I did: meekness, humility, quietness - all slavish qualities, in whom we are reproached from Nietzsche onwards. He brought me into such a state that I decided /.../ to go home, find out if we had the Gospel somewhere at home, check and be done with it; It didn't even occur to me that I wouldn't end it because it was so obvious that he knew his stuff. /…/ Mom found the Gospel, I locked myself in my corner, discovered that there were four Gospels, and if so, then one of them, of course, should be shorter than the others. And since I didn’t expect anything good from any of the four, I decided to read the shortest one. And then I got caught; Many times after this I discovered how cunning God is when He sets His nets to catch fish; because if I had read another Gospel, I would have had difficulties; There is some kind of cultural basis behind every Gospel. Mark wrote precisely for young savages like me - for the Roman youth. I didn’t know this - but God knew, and Mark knew, perhaps when he wrote shorter than others. And so I sat down to read; and here you may take my word for it, because you can’t prove it./…/I sat and read, and between the beginning of the first and the beginning of the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark, which I read slowly because the language was unusual, I suddenly I felt that on the other side of the table, here, stood Christ. And this feeling was so striking that I had to stop, stop reading and look. I looked for a long time; I didn’t see anything, I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t feel anything with my senses. But even as I looked straight ahead at the place where there was no one, I had a vivid consciousness that Christ was undoubtedly standing there. I remember that I then sat back and thought: if Christ is standing here alive, it means that this is the risen Christ; This means that I personally know for sure, within the limits of my personal, my own experience, that Christ has risen and, therefore, everything that is said about Him is true.

This meeting determined the whole subsequent life, not its external events, but its content:

After high school he graduated from the biological and medical faculties of the Sorbonne. In 1931, he was ordained as a surplice to serve in the church of the Three Hierarchs' Metochion, then the only church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Paris, and from these early years he invariably maintained canonical fidelity to the Russian Patriarchal Church. On September 10, 1939, before leaving for the front as a surgeon in the French army, he secretly took monastic vows; he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Anthony (in honor of St. Anthony of Kiev-Pechersk) on April 16, 1943, on Lazarus Saturday; the tonsure was performed by the rector of the Metochion and the confessor of the person being tonsured, Archimandrite Afanasy (Nechaev). During the German occupation, a doctor in the anti-fascist underground. After the war, he continued his medical practice until 1948, when Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov, then Exarch of the Moscow Patriarch) called him to the priesthood, ordained him (October 27 as hierodeacon, November 14 as hieromonk) and sent him to pastoral service in England, the spiritual director of the Orthodox Anglican Commonwealth of St. martyr Albania and Rev. Sergius, in connection with which Hieromonk Anthony moved to London. Since September 1, 1950, the rector of the churches of St. ap. Philip and Rev. Sergius in London; Church of St. ap. Philip, provided to the parish by the Anglican Church, was eventually replaced by the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints, of which Father Anthony became rector on December 16, 1956. In January 1953 he was awarded the rank of abbot, and by Easter 1956 - archimandrite. On November 30, 1957, he was consecrated Bishop of Sergius, Vicar of the Exarch of the Patriarch of Moscow in Western Europe; The consecration was performed in the London Cathedral by the then Exarch, Archbishop of Clicia Nicholas (Eremin) and Bishop Jacob of Apamea, vicar of the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Western Europe. In October 1962, he was appointed to the newly formed Diocese of Sourozh in the British Isles, within the framework of the Western European Exarchate, with elevation to the rank of archbishop. Since January 1963, upon the retirement of Metropolitan Nicholas (Eremin), he was appointed acting Exarch of the Patriarch of Moscow in Western Europe. In May 1963 he was awarded the right to wear a cross on his hood. On January 27, 1966, he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan and confirmed as Exarch in Western Europe; He carried out this ministry until the spring of 1974, when his request for release from the administrative duties of the Exarch was granted in order to more fully devote himself to the organization of diocesan life and the pastoral care of the constantly multiplying flock.

Over the years of Vladyka Anthony's ministry in Great Britain, the only parish that united a small group of emigrants from Russia turned into a multinational diocese, canonically organized, with its own charter and diverse activities. The parishes of the diocese and its individual members responsibly bear witness to the Orthodox faith, rooted in the Gospel and in patristic tradition. The diocese is constantly growing, which is especially noteworthy given the crisis of faith that is engulfing the Western world and the fact that all Christian denominations in the West are losing members and declining in numbers. Here is the testimony (1981) of Dr. Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury: “The people of our country - Christians, skeptics and non-believers - owe a huge spiritual debt to Metropolitan Anthony. /…he/ speaks of the Christian faith with a candor that inspires the believer and calls the seeker /…/ He works tirelessly for greater understanding between Christians of East and West and reveals to the readers of England the heritage of the Orthodox mystics, especially the mystics of Holy Rus'. Metropolitan Anthony is a Christian leader who has earned respect far beyond the borders of his community.” It is no coincidence, therefore, that he received an honorary doctorate of divinity from the University of Aberdeen with the wording “for preaching the word of God and renewing spiritual life in the country.” Metropolitan Anthony is widely known not only in Great Britain, but throughout the world as a pastor-preacher; he is constantly invited to speak to a wide variety of audiences (including radio and television audiences) preaching the Gospel, the Orthodox gospel about the living spiritual experience of the Church.

The peculiarity of the Vladyka’s work is that he does not write anything: his word is born as an oral appeal to the listener, not to a faceless crowd, but to every person who needs a living word about the Living God. Therefore, everything published is printed from tape recordings and preserves the sound of this living word.

The first books about prayer and spiritual life were published in English back in the 1960s and translated into many languages of the world; one of them (“Prayer and Life”) was published in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1968. In recent years, the Bishop’s works have been widely published in Russia, both as separate books and on the pages of periodicals, both church and secular.

In Russia, the word of the Master has been heard for many decades thanks to religious broadcasts of the Russian BBC service; his visits to Russia became significant events; tape recordings and samizdat collections of his sermons (and conversations in a narrow circle of close people in private apartments), like ripples on water, spread far beyond the borders of Moscow. His preaching, first of all the preaching of Evangelical Love and Freedom, was of enormous importance during the Soviet years. The spiritual experience that Metropolitan Anthony not only carries within himself, but knows how to convey to others - a deeply personal (although not limited to personal piety) relationship with God, Love incarnate, a meeting with Him “face to face” of a person who, despite all the incommensurability of scale , stands as a free participant in this meeting. And although Vladyka often emphasizes that he is “not a theologian” and has not received a systematic “school” theological education, his word makes one recall the patristic definitions: a theologian is one who prays purely; a theologian is one who knows God Himself...

In addition to the already mentioned award from the University of Aberdeen (1973), Metropolitan Anthony is an honorary doctor of theology from the faculties of Cambridge (1996), as well as the Moscow Theological Academy (1983 - for a set of scientific and theological preaching works). On September 24, 1999, the Kiev Theological Academy awarded Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh the degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causa.

Metropolitan Anthony - participant in theological interviews between delegations of the Orthodox Churches and representatives of the Anglican Church (1958), member of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church at the celebrations of the millennium of Orthodox monasticism on Mount Athos (1963), member of the Commission of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on Christian unity, member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (1968-1975) and the Christian Medical Commission of the WCC; member of the Assemblies of the World Council of Churches in New Delhi (1961) and Uppsala (1968), member of the Local Councils of the Russian Orthodox Church (1971, 1988, 1990). Has awards: Bronze medal of the Society for the Promotion of Good (1945, France), Order of St. book Vladimir I class. (1961), Order of St. Andrew (Ecumenical Patriarchate, 1963), Browning award (USA, 1974 - “for the spread of the Christian gospel”), Lambeth Cross (Church of England, 1975), Order of St. Sergius II Art. (1979), St. book Vladimir I class. (1989), St. book Daniel of Moscow I Art. (1994), teacher. Sergius I Art. (1997), St. Innocent of Moscow, II degree (1999).

On August 4, 2017, we celebrate 14 years since the death of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh - biography

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (in the world Andrei Borisovich Bloom), was born on June 19, 1914 in Lausanne, in the family of an employee of the Russian diplomatic service. After the revolution in Russia, the family found itself in exile and, after several years of wandering around Europe, settled in France in 1923. The boy grew up outside the Church, but one day as a teenager he heard a conversation about Christianity by a prominent theologian, who, however, did not know how to speak with boys, who valued courage and military order above all else.

On September 10, 1939, before leaving for the front as a surgeon in the French army, he secretly took monastic vows; he was tonsured into a mantle with the name Anthony (in honor of St. Anthony of Kiev-Pechersk) on April 16, 1943, on Lazarus Saturday; the tonsure was performed by the rector of the Metochion and the confessor of the person being tonsured, Archimandrite Afanasy (Nechaev).

During the German occupation he was a doctor in the anti-fascist underground. After the war, he continued his medical practice until 1948, when Metropolitan Seraphim (Lukyanov, then Exarch of the Moscow Patriarch) called him to the priesthood, ordained him and sent him to pastoral service in England, the spiritual director of the Orthodox Anglican Commonwealth of St. martyr Albania and Rev. Sergius. Since September 1950, he was rector of the churches of St. ap. Philip and Rev. Sergius in London. In 1957, he was consecrated Bishop of Sergius, Vicar of the Exarch of the Patriarch of Moscow in Western Europe, and in 1962 he was appointed to the newly formed Diocese of Sourozh in the British Isles, within the framework of the Western European Exarchate. In 1966, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and confirmed as Exarch in Western Europe.

Over the years of Vladyka Anthony's ministry in Great Britain, the only parish that united a small group of emigrants from Russia turned into a multinational diocese, canonically organized, with its own charter and diverse activities. Metropolitan Anthony became widely known not only in Great Britain, but throughout the world as a pastor-preacher; he is constantly invited to speak to a wide variety of audiences (including radio and television audiences) preaching the Gospel, the Orthodox gospel about the living spiritual experience of the Church.

The peculiarity of the Vladyka’s work was that he did not write anything, his word was born as an oral appeal to the listener - not to a faceless crowd, but to every person in need of a living word about the Living God. Therefore, everything published is printed from tape recordings and preserves the sound of this living word.

The first books about prayer and spiritual life were published in English back in the 1960s and translated into many languages of the world; One of them (“Prayer and Life”) was published in the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1968.

In addition to the award from the University of Aberdeen (1973), Metropolitan Anthony is an honorary doctor of divinity from the faculties of Cambridge (1996), as well as the Moscow Theological Academy (1983 - for a set of scientific and theological preaching works). On September 24, 1999, the Kiev Theological Academy awarded Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh the degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causa.

Photos by Anthony of Sourozh

“Apostle of Love” – a film about Metropolitan Anthony

4 films from the “Apostle of Love” series about Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.

They contain memories of people who knew the outstanding preacher closely.

Video recordings of the sermons of Anthony of Sourozh

How to learn to pray

Spirituality and clergy: report by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (in the world Andrei Borisovich Bloom) is one of the most famous Orthodox missionaries of the 20th century, who brought many residents of Western Europe to the Church by example of his life and radio sermons.

We present to our readers ten selected stories from the life of this Orthodox hierarch-missionary, who for a long time headed the Sourozh diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, which can serve as a good Christian example for all of us:

1. While still an abbot, the future ruler attended dinner in one house. After dinner, he offered his help to the owners and washed the dishes.

Years passed, Abbot Anthony became metropolitan. One day he had dinner with the same family. And again after lunch he offered to wash the dishes. The hostess was embarrassed - after all, the metropolitan would wash the dishes for her - and violently protested.

“What, I didn’t wash well last time?” asked the bishop.

2. Once in his youth, the future Bishop Anthony returned home from his summer vacation. His father met him at home and said: “I was worried about you this summer.”

Andrei Bloom decided to joke and answered his father: “Were you afraid that I might break my leg or crash?”

But he objected: “No. It would be all the same. I was afraid that you might lose your honor. Remember: whether you are alive or dead - it should be completely indifferent to you, just as it should be indifferent to others; the only thing that matters is what you live for and what you are willing to die for.”

3. Once, in response to a question from one of his interlocutors about how one should combine spiritual life with love for people and the given example of the excessive zeal of new Christians, the bishop shared a personal memory:

“It usually happens that everyone in the house becomes a saint as soon as someone wants to climb to heaven, because everyone must endure, humble themselves, endure everything from the “ascetic.” I remember once I was praying in my room in the most elevated spiritual mood, and my grandmother opened the door and said: “Peel the carrots!” I jumped to my feet and said, “Grandma, can’t you see that I’ve been praying?” She replied: “I thought that praying meant being in communion with God and learning to love. Here are the carrots and the knife."

4. One day, Metropolitan Anthony had to stand waiting for a taxi near the Ukraine Hotel. Here a young man approached him and asked: “Judging by your dress, are you a believer, a priest?”

The Bishop answered: “Yes.” - “But I don’t believe in God...” The Metropolitan looked at him and said: “It’s a pity!” - “How will you prove God to me?” - “What kind of proof do you need?” - “But here: show me your God in the palm of your hand, and I will believe in Him...”

He extended his hand, and at that moment the bishop saw that he had a wedding ring and asked: “Are you married?” - “Married” - “Are there any children?” - “And there are children” - “Do you love your wife?” - “Well, I love you” - “Do you like children?” - “Yes” - “But I don’t believe in it!” - “What do you mean: I don’t believe it? I’m telling you...” - “Yes, but I still don’t believe it. Now put your love in my palm, I’ll look at it and believe it...”

He thought: “Yes, I didn’t look at love from this point of view!...”

5. Many people find it strange why Vladyka Anthony is called Sourozhsky. After all, Surozhye (now Sudak) is ancient Sugdeya, a Byzantine colony, in the Middle Ages - one of the first Christian cities in Crimea. Why Surozhsky?

When Bishop Anthony was appointed ruling archbishop of Great Britain, the title chosen was Bishop of Great Britain and Ireland. But the Anglicans already had their own London archbishop, and such a pompous title for a Russian newcomer would have aroused the hostility of the island Church.

Bishop Anthony turned to Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsay, his friend, for advice. He seemed to confirm the thoughts of Bishop Anthony: it is better for the title to be Russian. This is how Surozhye first appeared. After all, taking the name of a disappeared diocese is a way of restoring it.

But there was another reason why Bishop Anthony chose the Russian title. He considered himself a man of Russian culture, and Russia as his Motherland. Vladyka spoke mainly Russian, although during his ministry he learned several languages. He really wanted to have a Russian title.

The Bishop made a request to the Patriarchate, the request was granted. So the Archbishop of Great Britain and Ireland became Sourozh.

Here is what Bishop Anthony himself said about this: “In the Russian Church it is customary, when a new foreign diocese is created, to give the title to a diocese that existed in ancient times and became extinct. In view of this, they gave me the title of Surozhsky. It was gratifying to me to have the title of a purely Russian, ancient, but, in addition, missionary diocese, because I considered our role in the West as missionary.”

6. One day, Bishop Anthony was visited for the first time in his life by his future spiritual son Igor Petrovsky. Metropolitan Anthony held a conversation with parishioners in the cathedral. When the new man approached for the blessing, the bishop said: “I have a feeling that we need to talk,” and called him into his cell for a conversation.

When Igor was already leaving, the shepherd said to him goodbye: “I will pray for you as best I can. And let’s agree to meet in two months at four o’clock in the afternoon.”

“And that’s it! Two months later at four o'clock in the afternoon! Like in the movies: “At six o’clock in the evening after the war.” I didn’t quite believe the seriousness of these words. He is the head of a huge diocese; hundreds of things to do, dozens of meetings, services, trips. How can one remember and remember such a small meeting in the whirlwind of these big questions?

My surprise knew no bounds when two months later, approaching the Assumption Cathedral in London, I saw him sitting on a bench. He immediately stood up to meet me, hugged me and said: “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time”…”, the spiritual son shared his memories.

7. By the early sixties, Bishop Anthony’s ministry in England was fraught with enormous everyday difficulties. There was no church that would be considered “Russian” - but they managed to obtain a specially designed room for performing the Liturgy. This was the old Anglican church of St. Philip, the rent of which had to be paid a considerable sum.

We had to deal with fundraising, repairs, and clarification of administrative relations. Sometimes I had to preach in the streets.

Vladyka Anthony loved to preach sermons on the streets - it reminded him of apostolic times. Often among the listeners there were outsiders - hippies. In the memoirs there is a story about a young man with a huge dog who came to see Metropolitan Anthony preach. People were amazed when his dog, a black Newfoundland, literally rushed to the Bishop as soon as he saw him, lay down at his feet and began to listen carefully to what the Bishop was saying, as if he understood what he was talking about.

8. In 1956, the Church of England sold a small area to the city government. On the territory there was an old, almost destroyed Church of St. Philip, which the authorities offered to Metropolitan Anthony.

The condition for the community to receive the temple was that it be completely renovated. The renovation was to be carried out with community money and under the supervision of the Anglican diocesan architect. But it was still cheaper than renting.

20 years passed and suddenly everything changed. A Chinese restaurant that had become rich offered money to the authorities for this building, where it planned to place a dance floor, offices, kitchen, etc. Bishop Anthony was summoned by the Anglican authorities and set a condition: either the community would buy the temple, or it would be given to the Chinese. The Bishop firmly answered that he was “buying” the temple. The Vladyka had no money, and he did not hide it. But he repeated that he was buying, and the money would come. The authorities agreed to the deal.

Bishop Anthony gathered the parishioners and said: “We have been praying in this church for 23 or 24 years. In this church we buried our parents, we married you, we baptized you, we baptized your children, many of you became Orthodox here. Are we really going to give this temple over to a restaurant and dance?”

Of course, the temple must be redeemed. But the Vladyka, understanding all the subtleties of the matter, said: “We will buy the temple with our own money, obtained by our own labor. No sponsors, no benefactors. Because a benefactor can lay claim to this place, and then all the work will be lost.”

The collection of money has begun. And surprisingly, the small community was soon able to raise a significant amount - in a year and a half, 50,000 pounds were collected. This was almost half the amount.

The British decided to conduct a new check to assess the cost of the temple: what if it costs not a hundred thousand, but more? They invited an architect to carry out an examination, but the new price turned out to be 20 thousand less - in total, 80 thousand needed to be collected, so more than half of the required amount had already been collected. But the strength of the community was exhausted, every hundred pounds was given by enormous efforts. Doubts began...

Rumors about the heroic community spread throughout London in circles. One journalist from The Times, the most authoritative central newspaper, learned about the events at St. Philip's and wrote an article in which she compared the apathetic Anglican parishes with the living and developing Russian community. It seems that no one should have paid attention to this note. But a miracle happened.

Money began to come to the temple. Mostly these were small, two or three pounds, donations from the British and Russians: One old Englishman, a Catholic, to whom the books of Vladika Anthony helped the old man not to lose heart in a nursing home, sent Vladika Anthony three pounds, and said that that was all, that he has. He even sent his wedding ring along with the letter and three pounds. This ring became an engagement ring for a young couple who were still too poor to buy a ring; Bishop Anthony recorded his sermons on cassette tapes. Some of these tapes ended up in the hands of an old woman living in Switzerland and she donated her gold teeth to the temple...

By 1979, 80 thousand pounds had been collected and paid, and the temple remained with the community.

9. Irina von Schlippe’s story: “In some cases and when he had the opportunity, he invited the person to come to a long confession. Home or to temple. And there, not formally, but having thoroughly understood what you were repenting of and whether you were repenting, he accepted confession.

I myself never had such an opportunity, but I know people who spent the whole day with him, confessing with his help. To the question of what kind of confessor he was, I would answer this way: every face-to-face meeting with him was actually a confession. He said: “You and I will now enter eternity and see what happens.”

10. Told by Metropolitan Anthony himself:

“When I lived with my grandmother and mother, mice appeared in our apartment. They were running around in regiments, and we didn’t know how to get rid of them. We didn’t want to set mousetraps because we felt sorry for the mice.

I remembered that in the breviary there is an admonition from one of the saints to wild animals. It starts with lions, tigers and ends with bedbugs. And I decided to try. He sat down on his bed in front of the fireplace, put on his stole, took the book and said to this saint: “I don’t believe at all that anything will come of this, but since you wrote it, you believed it. I’ll say your words, maybe the mouse will believe it, and you pray that it will work out.”

I sat down. The mouse came out. I crossed her: “Sit and listen!” - and read a prayer. When I finished, I crossed her again: “Now go and tell others.” And after that we didn’t have a single mouse!”

Based on publications of various Orthodox resources. Compiled by Andrey Szegeda

In contact with

LEGACY OF A HERETICAL METROPOLITAN
The “Spiritual Heritage of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh” Foundation is holding a seminar from the series “Human Integrity: The Path of Discipleship,” dedicated to the “works” of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (Blum) is one of the popular ecumenical writers. His books are published in thousands of copies, including “The School of Prayer,” “Man Before God,” “Spiritual Journey,” and numerous sermons.
The intelligentsia loves him, the words from his sermons are heard from church pulpits, there are often references to his “works” in literature and the media, but after reading them you discover that the Metropolitan of Sourozh relies more on the experience of a heterodox faith than on the patristic Orthodox tradition.
An important detail is that Anthony of Sourozh, to please the Protestants, spoke out in defense of the female priesthood. His works are filled with reflections about himself, where complacency and praise of his person are indirectly traced. The Holy Fathers, on the contrary, never allowed people to talk about themselves, considering this a sign of a proud disposition.
But here is his attitude towards the Roman Catholic and Protestant heresies: “Each of our Christian communities remains faithful to Christ, in each there is truth and full depth.”
But we know that only the Orthodox Church possesses the fullness of the truth revealed by God to humanity, and Roman Catholicism after the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) turned from the heretical Christian denomination that it had been until now into a neo-pagan anti-Christian religion.
Metropolitan Anthony diligently quotes Catholics - the French Jesuit Bernanos, J. Danielou, General Maurice de Elbo, as well as Protestant false teachers, not only without warning, but, unfortunately, presenting “poison” as a pure source of truth.
Thus, he cites excerpts from the works of the writer C. S. Lewis, an adherent of the Anglican faith. The story of his conversion is described by him in the book “Overtaken by Joy,” after reading which it becomes clear who “overtook” poor Lewis. Unfortunately, the root of this demonic joy is also present in the works of Bishop Anthony, who does not even disdain the heretical Protestant translation of the Bible.
Speaking about “humility,” he cites Teresa, revered by Catholics, as an example to follow: “When Saint Teresa was overcome by a vivid experience of God’s all-consuming love for us, she fell to her knees with tears of joy and amazement; she rose up as a new person; the vision of God’s love left her in the “consciousness of an unpayable debt,” this is true humility - and not humiliation, concludes Metropolitan. Anthony.
The Monk Ephraim the Syrian says about himself: “Until now and to this very day, with a shameful and downcast face, I dare to proclaim to You, Lord of Angels and Creator of all things: I am earth and ashes, a reproach of people and humiliation of people, I am a condemned man, all covered with wounds and full of despondency. How can I lift my gaze to Your grace, Master? How dare I move an unclean and defiled tongue? How will I begin my confession?
And Metropolitan Anthony assures that “humility does not at all consist in a constant effort to humiliate oneself and reject the human dignity with which God has endowed us, which he requires of us, because we are His children, not slaves.” But to anyone familiar with the teaching of the Holy Fathers, it is obvious that this is not humility, but the proud magnification of a person who autocratically arrogates to himself the honor of sonship, while he cannot even be called a servant of God.
“Unworthy of the Lord, unworthy of imitation is the one who is all in filth and impurity, and with a stupid, proud, dreamy opinion thinks to be in the arms of the Most Pure, Most Holy Lord, thinks to have Him within himself and talk with Him as with a friend,” writes Saint Ignatius. - Human! Cover yourself reverently with humility.”
It is not clear what prompted the Bishop to resort to such an innovation, which has never had a place in the teachings of the Church. How does he choose from heretical and godless teachings something that cannot in any way serve as a good example, without heeding the words of the Hieromartyr Irenaeus, who says: “We should not seek from others the truth, which is easy to borrow from the Church, for in it, as if in rich treasury, the Apostles laid down in full everything that belongs to the truth...”
Saint Ignatius directly warns, saying: “Don’t gamble with your salvation, don’t gamble! Otherwise you will cry forever. Start reading the New Testament and the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church (not Teresa, not Francis and other Western crazy people whom their heretical church passes off as saints!); Study in the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church how to correctly understand Scripture, what kind of life, what thoughts are appropriate for a Christian. From Scripture and living faith, study Christ and Christianity...” There have been many such ascetics in the Western Church since the time it fell into papism, in which Divine properties are blasphemously attributed to man and worship is given to man that is due and befitting the one God; These ascetics wrote many books from their heated state, in which frenzied self-delusion seemed to them like divine love, in which their frustrated imagination drew for them many visions that flattered their vanity and pride.
Very often ow. Anthony also uses his own experience as an example. So, he recalls how he visited Met. John Wendland Hindu temple: “When we knelt in the depths of this temple and both prayed the Jesus Prayer, the people who were there, despite the error of their faith, turned to God, it was absolutely clear that they were praying to the One, the only God " Thus, he claims that in the temple there is communication between the pagans and the true God, the Holy Trinity. What else can such a statement be called blasphemy?!
In his “School of Prayer” Met. Anthony teaches us to pray like this: “We can repeat over and over again: joy, oh, joy...! We can say any words, because words have no meaning, they only support our mood, express absurdly, madly, our love or our despair.”
But if the words in prayer have no meaning, then it is no longer a prayer, but a spell. It is the spells (mantras) that have no semantic meaning and are a kind of set of words. This practice belongs to Eastern occultism and has nothing in common with Orthodox teaching. Frequent repetition of meaningless spells turns off a person’s inner attention, which is necessary for demons to gain power over him. Through spells, many have let the devil into their souls and reached the point of mental frenzy.
But even more perplexing are the examples from the life of the Hasidim that are given in the named “School”. Thus, the Vladyka, in admiration, writes about the young Rabbi Tsussii: “He [Tsussii] knew how to influence all people in an amazing way, arousing repentance in them, arousing new life in them.”
Apparently, this rabbi had a tremendous influence on the Lord, praising the “repentance” of those who never had true repentance, who crucified Christ, and themselves imposed a curse on the generations of their descendants, testifying: His blood be on us and on our children (Matt. 27, 25); and who say about themselves that they are Jews, but they are not, but the synagogue of Satan (Rev. 2:5).
“None of the Jews worship God,” says St. John Chrysostom. “And that is why [I] especially hate the synagogue and abhor it, because, having prophets, [the Jews] do not believe the prophets; reading the Scriptures, they do not accept its evidence, and this is characteristic of extremely evil people... In a word, if you respect everything Jewish, then what do you have in common with us? If what is Jewish is important and worthy of respect, then ours is false, and if ours is true, and it is indeed true, then what is Jewish is full of deception.”
And the reasoning of Vl. Anthony about the Judgment of God? This is the judgment of a Protestant, a person “saved” before the Judgment: “God asks neither sinners nor righteous people about their beliefs or observance of rituals,” Metropolitan rants. Anthony, “The Lord weighs only the degree of their humanity... Humanity requires imagination, sensitivity to the real situation, a sense of humor and loving care regarding the true needs and desires of the object...”
But, excuse me: which of the Holy Fathers placed the above-mentioned qualities among the Virtues?... And did the Bishop ask the question - why did Christ come to earth? Why did you die on the cross? After all, if it doesn’t matter how you believe, then the suffering of Jesus is in vain. But Vladyka Anthony does not explain that Christ came in order to bring the true teaching in its entirety, in order to lead sinners to repentance, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we should be saved .
The works of Bishop Anthony are filled with the poison of ecumenism. Adherents of this false teaching accuse the Church of apostasy from the truth, saying that it allegedly violated Christ's commandment about unity. Such a belief is wrong, for the True Church is holy and immaculate, and if anyone has violated the commandment of unity, it is those who have departed from the one truth of Orthodoxy. But the doors of the Church are open for them too. We accept them only after renouncing our errors. The ecumenical heresy seeks to round off all the sharp corners, to equalize all religions to a certain universal state, so that everyone recognizes “unity.” To do this, ecumenists, under the guise of “love,” try to find new points of contact, bypassing disagreements.
But that is why it is necessary for every Orthodox Christian to be vigilant about the books that we read, so as not to accept the spirit of the ecumenical virus. Everyone will give an answer at the Last Judgment not only for reading, but also for distributing, and for that silence, which is inappropriate at the sight of a neighbor reading such books. Here is how Saint Ignatius writes about this: “Do not be seduced by the loud title of the book, which promises to teach Christian perfection to those who still need the food of infants; do not be seduced by the magnificent publication, nor by the painting, the power, the beauty of the style, nor by the fact that the writer is like a saint, as if he had proven his holiness by numerous miracles... The soul can be killed by one thought containing some kind of blasphemy, subtle, completely imperceptible to those who do not know...”
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! - says the Lord. A shepherd must not only be able to heal sheep, but also protect them from wolves. But if, under the pretext of love, he gathers both sheep and wolves into one herd, then he is not a shepherd, but a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Saint Ignatius, as the true shepherd of the flock of Christ, warns us, saying: “You are allowed to read only those books about religion that were written by the Holy Fathers of the universal Eastern Church. This is what the Eastern Church demands from its children. If you reason differently, and find the command of the Church less solid than the reasoning of yours and others who agree with you, then you are no longer a son of the Church, but Her judge...”
The article uses materials from the book. I.N. Andreeva. “Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) and the “School of Prayer” of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh (Blum)”,
as well as “Man before God” and “About a meeting” by Anthony of Sourozh
ruskalendar.ru

We don't always trust that God believes in us; and therefore we are not always able to believe in ourselves. ("Man Before God")
Only he can teach and lead another who is himself a student and novice. ("Man Before God")
The neighbor, in the understanding of the Gospel, is the one who needs us. ("The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God")
... demandingness in love is reflected, first of all, in inspiring a loved one, in assuring him that he is infinitely significant and valuable, that he has everything necessary to grow into a greater measure of humanity. ("Man Before God")
The job of a shepherd is to look at his flock, to look prayerfully, to look humbly, and to help them become what they are called by God. ("Shepherding")
When you are praised, do two things. First: remember why you are praised, and try to become one. And secondly, never try to dissuade people, because the more you dissuade, the more people will see in you humility, which you don’t have at all... (“Pastoring”)
Question how the Gospel judges you. The Gospel does not condemn me, it calls me to eternal life. How do I answer this call to the eternal life of the gospel, and what prevents me from answering it? ("Shepherding")
We are all at the mercy of time, but through our own fault, time has nothing to do with it. The fact that time flows and the fact that we are in a hurry to get somewhere are two completely different things. Hurrying is an internal state; to act accurately, accurately, quickly - this is a completely different matter. ("Shepherding")
Haste lies in the fact that a person wants to be half an inch in front of himself: not where he is, but always a little ahead. And while a person lives like this, he will not pray, because the person who is not here cannot pray, and the one who is here does not pray. (“Pastoration”)
We forget that there is sin in our lives, we become insensitive to it, we forget it easily, we grieve little about it. And at the same time, this is the only misfortune of human life. (“Sermons”)
Sin kills. He kills our soul, making it insensitive and callous, he kills our relationship with God and with people; he kills our conscience and life in others, he kills Christ on the Cross. ("Sermons")
Eternity does not mean that sometime after death we will live endlessly. Eternity is our communion with God. ("The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God")
The miracle lies in the fact that God, through human faith, restores the harmony that previously existed and was disrupted by human malice, madness, and sin. ("The beginning of the Gospel...")
Repentance is about coming to your senses, making a decision, and acting accordingly. Crying is not enough, moreover, it is fruitless. ("The beginning of the Gospel...")
Loving always costs a lot; because to truly love means to treat another in such a way that your life is no longer dear to you - his life is dear, his soul is dear, his destiny is dear. ("Sermons")
Not only is dying difficult, living is difficult. Sometimes living is more difficult than dying, because it means dying day after day. Sometimes it's easier to die at once. ("Sermons")
Sin kills everything in life - and we least of all feel it as death. We cry about everything, we lament about everything, we grieve about everything, except that we are dying alive, that gradually an impenetrable ring of alienation is forming around us, both from the sinner, and from the righteous, and from God, that this ring cannot be opened even by love others, because we are the more ashamed and afraid the more we are loved... (“Sermons”)
Sometimes a small drop of warmth, one warm word, one attentive gesture can transform the life of a person who would otherwise have to cope with his life alone (Conversation on the Parable of the Good Samaritan)
Who is our neighbor? Who is the one for whose sake I must distract myself from the deepest experiences of the heart, from the highest interests of the mind, from all the best things that I experience? – then Christ’s answer is direct and simple: Everyone! Anyone who is in need, on any level; at the simplest level of food and shelter, tenderness and warmth, attention and friendship. (“Discourse on the Parable of the Good Samaritan”)
Everything in life is mercy, and everything in life can be joy if you equally perceive with a joyful heart what is given and what is taken away. (“Sermons”).
We must remember that every person we meet during our lives, even by chance, even while on the subway, on a bus, on the street, at whom we looked with sympathy, with seriousness, with purity, without even saying a word, can in an instant receive hope and strength to live.

There are people who go through years without being recognized by anyone, go through years as if they do not exist for anyone. And suddenly they found themselves in the face of a person unknown to them, who looked at them with depth, for whom this person, rejected, forgotten, non-existent, exists. And this is the beginning of a new life. We must remember this.
With sai
I suggest you now: sit in church silently for half an hour, without talking to each other, face to face with yourself, and ask yourself the question: is what was just said fair? Am I standing in my way? Am I not casting my shadow on everything that is bathed in the sun around me? Haven’t I lived my whole life, reducing all its scope and depth only to myself, thinking about what makes me happy, what’s scary for me, what’s useful to me, what I need? And if so, can’t I find in my circle, in the circle of my interests and people, several people or several objects on which I could, as an exercise, with effort, against all my habits, concentrate my gaze and attention so that put them at the center of my life? And ask yourself: who can I do good to? Who can I serve to benefit from the experience of my life - both the good and the bad experiences of life? (“Proceedings”)
How can you begin to pray in the face of the tomb with the words Blessed is our God? How much faith, trust, reverence for God, acceptance of His ways, humility - or at least the will to all this - is needed to bless God at the moment when everything dear to us is taken away from us... This is the moment of the ultimate, perhaps, sobriety of Orthodox worship. Bless the Lord - because the center is in Him, not in you, not even in that loved one who now lies dead in front of you. This man gathered us not by his death, but by his life, and brought us before the face of God to contemplate the ways of God, the mysteries of God, to worship in horror and reverence before God, who remains even in these terrible moments the God of love.
When we try to understand what importance God Himself attaches to man, we see that we are bought at a high price, that the price of man in the eyes of God is all life and all death, the tragic death of His Only Begotten Son on the cross. This is how God thinks of man - as His friend, created by Him so that he would share eternity with Him.
Each person is an icon that needs to be restored in order to see the Face of God.
I once had to stand waiting for a taxi near the Ukraine Hotel. A young man came up to me and said: “Judging by your dress, are you a believer, a priest?” I answered: “Yes.” - “But I don’t believe in God...” I looked at him and said: “It’s a shame!” - “How will you prove God to me?” - “What kind of proof do you need?” - “And here: show me your God in the palm of your hand, and I will believe in Him...” He extended his hand, and at that moment I saw that he had a wedding ring. I tell him: “Are you married?” - “Married” - “Are there any children?” - “And there are children” - “Do you love your wife?” - “Well, I love you” - “Do you like children?” - “Yes” - “But I don’t believe in it!” - “What do you mean: I don’t believe it? I’m telling you...” - “Yes, but I still don’t believe it. Now put your love in the palm of my hand, I’ll look at it and believe it...” He thought: “Yes, I didn’t look at love from this point of view!...”

Prepared by Maria Khorkova