Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexiev)
TRANSLATION FROM BULGARIAN
Archimandrite Seraphim (Stoyan Georgiev Alexiev in the world) was born on February 25 (9 March old style) 1912 [+ 13/26 January 1993] in Gorno Brodi in Serres (Macedonia) as the youngest son in a large family of devout poor parents. His father Georgi Alexiev was in bell-casting – a craft that he bequeathed to his two senior sons Dimitar and Atanas. The junior son – Stoyan, stood out for his keen church spirit and deep Orthodox faith.
After the family resettled in Sofia (due to the two Balkan wars of 1912-1913) he joined the Sofia Seminary and graduated with honors. In 1934 he was sent to study at the old-Catholic Theology faculty in Bern (Switzerland), where he gained the scientific degree of doctor of theology, defending a thesis on: "The Meaning of the Requirements of Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount" (173 pages), printed in the German language in Sofia in 1938.
After his return to Bulgaria he was appointed a lecturer at the Plovdiv, and later at the Sofia Theological Seminaries. In the latter, on February 3, 1940 he accepted monasticism with the name Seraphim, in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov, whom he deeply revered during all his life and to whom he later dedicated one of the best favorite books for Bulgarian Orthodox readers – namely, 'St. Seraphim of Sarov' (1957), reprinted many times in Bulgaria.
A turning point in the life of the young monk was his convergence with the residing in Bulgaria Russian Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) (1950). From him he took up the live sense of Orthodox faith and a fine sense of spiritual life, which he subsequently taught himself to his numerous spiritual children.
On Annunciation in 1943 he was ordained a priest and began his soul-benefitting pastoral activity of a dedicated confessor, which lasted nearly half a century.
After two years of service as protosingel with the Sliven Metropolia, Fr. Seraphim was promoted to the rank of Archimandrite in January 1947 and was moved to the office head of cultural and educational department with the Holy Synod in Sofia. In that difficult time for the Church Archimandrite Seraphim repeatedly valiantly defended the Orthodox faith. At the new office, he developed tireless activity as organizer of pastoral guidance courses for priests, as an inspired preacher – in his lectures that he regularly read and as the author of numerous articles and more extensive works. The most important of these are:
"Our Faith"
(Catechism) After the family resettled in Sofia (due to the two Balkan wars of 1912-1913) he joined the Sofia Seminary and graduated with honors. In 1934 he was sent to study at the old-Catholic Theology faculty in Bern (Switzerland), where he gained the scientific degree of doctor of theology, defending a thesis on: "The Meaning of the Requirements of Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount" (173 pages), printed in the German language in Sofia in 1938.
After his return to Bulgaria he was appointed a lecturer at the Plovdiv, and later at the Sofia Theological Seminaries. In the latter, on February 3, 1940 he accepted monasticism with the name Seraphim, in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov, whom he deeply revered during all his life and to whom he later dedicated one of the best favorite books for Bulgarian Orthodox readers – namely, 'St. Seraphim of Sarov' (1957), reprinted many times in Bulgaria.
A turning point in the life of the young monk was his convergence with the residing in Bulgaria Russian Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) (1950). From him he took up the live sense of Orthodox faith and a fine sense of spiritual life, which he subsequently taught himself to his numerous spiritual children.
On Annunciation in 1943 he was ordained a priest and began his soul-benefitting pastoral activity of a dedicated confessor, which lasted nearly half a century.
After two years of service as protosingel with the Sliven Metropolia, Fr. Seraphim was promoted to the rank of Archimandrite in January 1947 and was moved to the office head of cultural and educational department with the Holy Synod in Sofia. In that difficult time for the Church Archimandrite Seraphim repeatedly valiantly defended the Orthodox faith. At the new office, he developed tireless activity as organizer of pastoral guidance courses for priests, as an inspired preacher – in his lectures that he regularly read and as the author of numerous articles and more extensive works. The most important of these are:
"Our Faith"
"Our Hope" (talks on Beatitudes) and
"Our Love" (talks on the Ten Commandments),
as well as brochures on spiritual and moral topics:
"Pride and Humility",
"Enmity and Reconciliation",
"The Meaning of Sufferings",
"The Self-Proclaimed Judges",
"Sick and Sound Mysticism",
"The Forgotten Medicine" and others.
Archimandrite Seraphim had also a rare poetic gift that found expression in numerous poems and verses featured in church publications as well as in two books of poetry collections: "Insights" and "Songs About Life and Death".
All this published and unpublished spiritual works expected yet to be assessed and evaluated.
In 1960, Archimandrite Seraphim was appointed professor at the department of dogmatic theology of the Theology Academy of the St. Kliment of Ohrida, Sofia, and was soon confirmed as an Associate Professor with his habilitation work criticizing the Roman Catholic dogma of the Most Holy Theotokos’ Immaculate Conception. As an associate professor he published in that period (1963-1969) in the Yearbook of the Theology Academy a series of theological studies, including:
"Two Extreme Views of Western Religions regarding the Most Holy Theotokos",
"The State of Man Prior To and After the Original Sin, from the Orthodox, Roman-Catholic and Protestant Points of View",
"Redemption as the Work of God's Love and God’s Righteousness",
"Franz von Bader – a Roman Catholic Philosopher and Theologian in the Search for Orthodoxy and Its Catholicity",
"The Bogomil Heresy from the Point of View of the Orthodox Dogmatic Foundations of Presbyter Kozma and of Orthodox Dogmaticism in General",
"The Church-Missionary Work of Constantine the Philosopher – St. Cyrill" (unpublished).
After ten years of teaching at the Theology Academy Archimandrite Seraphim was forced to retire in 1969 as [one] ideologically disagreeing with the introduction of the new calendar style in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and in general [disagreeing] with the ecumenical tilt of church policy in Bulgaria – a result of the BOC’s membership of the World Council of "churches".
Outside the Academy Fr. Seraphim furthered his much-beneficial creative [writing] activities. In the years that followed he wrote a series of books of ideological and of spiritual-and-moral content. The most important of these are:
"The Orthodox View on the Old and the New Style of the Calendar" (1972),
"Our Prayer",
"Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian in the Light of the Patristic Teaching",
"Life After Life",
"The Optina Elders" and others.
Most of these books are still awaiting to reach [their] readers.
In the last years of his life Archimandrite Seraphim devoted especially great attention and efforts to a thorough critique of ecumenism as a God-repulsive and soul-slaying heresy that eats away Christian Orthodox Church of today and prepares the way for the coming antichrist. The last bequeathal work of Archim. Seraphim [co-authored with his brother in Christ Fr. Serghiy (Yazadjiev) (Feb 15/28, 1924 - May 21/Jun 3, 2008)]
"Orthodoxy and Ecumenism" (Sofia, 1992) was published only three weeks before his death, that came on 13/26 January 1993. This grand work – the fruit of a quarter century of intensive research – gives an exhaustive answer to the question: "Why we are not and cannot be ecumenists?" in a number of justifications, documented and substantiated with numerous quotations from the Holy Scripture, the Holy Fathers and the theological literature.
With this work of his Archimandrite Seraphim crowned his rich spiritual-and-writing activities which elevated his name to enviable heights among Orthodox activists and sowers on the God's field, to have fulfilled the cherished words of the Lord Jesus Christ: "but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:19)."
Orthodox Word
Spiritual and scientific heritage of Archimandrite Seraphim Alexiev
Why often God does not fulfill our prayers?
Archimandrite Seraphim Alexiev:
Many Christians complain:" I pray after the rules, but I feel God does not hear me "... This complaint deserves to be examined more closely. One prays in order to receive something. Therefore one must see what it is that obstructs one's prayer to be granted. St. John Chrysostom says: "We must always remember that we are obliged not only to just pray but to pray in a manner as to be heard.">>>
The Orthodox teaching on the Resurrection of Christ, the Winner over death, and on our resurrection
Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexiev):
Death of Christ the Savior and His rising from the dead represent the essence of that great "mystery of godliness" (1Tim. 3:16), which we call the secret of salvation. Christ's death was the ransom for sinners, and His rising is the stake for our eternal salvation and future resurrection. The last thought is expressed beautifully in a verse of a resurrection canon, where we read: "You who do not believe in the resurrection of bodies, go to Christ's tomb and learn that the flesh of the One-Giving-Life was killed and rose again in order to assure us of the last (universal) resurrection, that we pin our hopes on.">>>
Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition on the Private Ordeal, the Toll-house Trials and the Universal Ordeal at the end of time
With the breaking of the earthly life thread the soul enters the next world. There it is sued at the so-called Private God Court [Ordeal]. According to its spiritual-and-moral state at the Private Court adjudged temporarily for the soul is its after-life fate until the Second Coming of Christ.:: Private Ordeal, Archim. Seraphim ( Alexiev)
:: Universal God's Court [Ordeal] at the End of Times, Archim. Seraphim (Alexiev)
:: Orthodox Teaching on Toll-house Trials, Archim. Seraphim (Alexiev) from "Talks about life after life">>>
"Now is the power of darkness"
Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexiev)
Speech on the Sunday of Forgiveness before the Great Lent, 1984
Beloved, we, the spiritual children of Archbishop Seraphim, who with all our souls desire to remain faithful to Christ, we sometimes tend to despond. For in our age of indiscriminate apostasy from the truth of Christ it becomes more and more impossible to preach the pure Orthodox Christian Faith. All means for publication and communication – print, radio and TV – are in foreign hands. We do know the truth, but we are unable to divulge it widely, and only share it within our narrow circles. On the other hand, the lie, delusion and squint-faith are unimpedingly holding sway all around the world. Why is it so? Why – it would seem, God does not help us? – The only explanation of this inquiry comes from the words of Christ: "this is… the power of darkness." (Luke 22:53) - words He spake at His apprehension in the Gethsemane garden.>>>
The Spiritual Life of an Orthodox Christian
Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexiev):
:: WHAT IS SPIRITUAL LIFE?
:: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL LIFE: Humility. Self-condemnation. Determination not to repeat the grave sins. Jealousy. Prayer.
:: CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING A SPIRITUAL LIFE: The constant remembrance of God. The deeds committed in the name of God. Patience.
:: HAZARDS FOR THE SPIRITUAL LIFE : Vainglory. Our indolence and laziness. Appeasing passions.
:: FIGHTING THE PASSIONS "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." (Gal. 5:16). The greatest saint of the 19th century St. Seraphim of Sarov (+1833) told a disciple from the Sarov monastery: "My joy, gain a peaceful spirit, and then thousands will be saved around thee." What exactly did the renowned saint of Sarov want to emphasize with these words?
