C OUNSELS OF F R.

SERAPH IM ( ROSE) T O YOUNG

C ONVERT S

Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)

Young converts to Orthodox Christianity were especially drawn to Fr. Seraphim (Rose). His
down-to-earth approach, elevated by the spiritual discernment he earned through the
guidance of his spiritual mentors, his study of Patristic writings, and mainly, his own podivgs
and suffering in life, made him a true harbor from the storms of youth and a wise instructor to
those having zeal without reason.

On his repose day, we present a selection of his counsels to young converts.

***
blog.obitel-minsk.com

From: Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works by Hieromonk Damascene
(Platina: St. Herman Press, 2010)

Develop normal, human feelings

Not too many years ago a young monastic aspirant went to Mount Athos. In talking with the
venerable abbot of the monastery where he wished to stay, he told him, “Holy Father! My heart
burns for the spiritual life, for asceticism, for unceasing communion with God, for obedience to
an Elder. Instruct me, please, holy Father, that I may attain to spiritual advancement.” Going to
the bookshelf, the Abbot pulled down a copy of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. “Read
this, son,” he said. “But Father!” objected the disturbed aspirant. “This is heterodox Victorian
sentimentality, a product of the Western captivity! This isn't spiritual; it's not even Orthodox! I
need writings which will teach me spirituality!” The Abbot smiled, saying, “Unless you first
develop normal, human, Christian feelings and learn to view life as little Davey did-with
simplicity, kindness, warmth, and forgiveness-then all the Orthodox ‘spirituality’ and Patristic
writings will not only be of no help to you-they will turn you into a ‘spiritual’ monster and
destroy your soul…

The education of youth today, especially in America, is notoriously deficient in developing

responsiveness to the best expressions of human art, literature, and music. As a result, young
people are formed haphazardly under the influence of television, rock music, and other
manifestations of today's culture (or rather, anti-culture); and, both as a cause and as a result of
this-but most of all because of the absence on the part of the parents and teachers of any
conscious idea of what Christian life is and how a young person should be brought up in it-the
soul of a person who has survived the years of youth is often an emotional wasteland, and at
best reveals deficiencies in the basic attitudes towards life that were once considered normal
and indispensable.
Few are those today who can clearly express their emotions and ideas and face them in a mature
way; many do not even know what is going on inside themselves. Life is artificially divided into
work (and very few can put the best part of themselves, their heart, into it because it is “just for
money”), play (in which many see the “real meaning” of their life), religion (usually no more
than an hour or two a week), and the like, without an underlying unity that gives meaning to the
whole of one's life. Many, finding daily life unsatisfying, try to live in a fantasy world of their
own creation (into which they also try to fit religion). And underlying the whole of modern
culture is the common denominator of the worship of oneself and one's own comfort, which is
deadly to any idea of spiritual life.
Fr. Seraphim's grave at St. Herman's Monastery in Platina, California. Photo: Reddit

Such is something of the background, the “cultural baggage,” which a person brings with him
today when he becomes Orthodox. Many, of course, survive as Orthodox despite their
background; a few come to some spiritual disaster because of it; but a good number remain
crippled or at least spiritually underdeveloped because they are simply unprepared for and
unaware of the real demands of spiritual life.

As a beginning to the facing of this question (and hopefully, helping some of those troubled by
it), let us look here briefly at the Orthodox teaching on human nature as set forth by a profound
Orthodox writer of the 19th century, a true Holy Father of these latter times-Bishop Theophan
the Recluse (1894). In his book What is Spiritual Life and How to Attune Oneself to It, he
writes:

Human life is complex and many-sided. In it there is a side of the body, another of the
soul, and another of the spirit. Each of these has its own faculties and needs, its own
methods and their exercise and satisfaction. Only when all our faculties are in movement
and all our needs are satisfied does a man live. But when only one little part of our needs
is satisfied-such a life is not life .... A man does not live in a human way unless everything
in him is in motion .... One must live as God created us, and when one does not live thus
one can boldly say he is not living at all.

The distinction made here between “soul” and “spirit” does not mean that these are
separate entities within human nature; rather, the “spirit” is the higher part, the “soul” the
lower part, of the single invisible part of man (which as a whole is usually called the
‘soul’). To the “soul” in this sense belongs those ideas and feelings which are not Occupied
directly with spiritual life-most of human art, knowledge, and culture; while to the 'spirit'
belong man's strivings towards God through prayer, sacred art, and obedience to God's
law.

From these words of Bishop Theophan one can already spot a common fault of today' s seekers
after spiritual life: Not all sides of their nature are in movement; they are trying to satisfy
religious needs (the needs of the spirit) without having come to terms· with some of their other
(more specifically, psychological and emotional) needs, or worse: they use religion illegitimately
to satisfy these psychological needs. In such people religion is an artificial thing that has not yet
touched the deepest part of them, and often some upsetting event in their life, or just the natural
attraction of the world, is enough to destroy their plastic universe and turn them away from
religion. Sometimes such people, after bitter experience in life, return to religion; but too often
they are lost, or at best crippled and unfruitful…

A plastic approach
Georgian, Serbian, Romanian, and Greek icons of Fr. Seraphim

Fr. Seraphim saw this “plastic” approach to religion most graphically when a young pilgrim,
having spent time at another monastery in America, came to Platina talking all about elders,
hesychasm, Jesus Prayer, true monasticism, and the ascetic wisdom of the Holy Fathers. One
day Fr. Seraphim saw him walking around the monastery singing rock songs, snapping his
fingers and bouncing with the rhythm. Surprised, Fr. Seraphim asked him if he didn't think this
might go against all his interest in spirituality, but the young man just shrugged his shoulders
and replied: "No, there's no contradiction. Whenever I want spirituality, I just switch on the
Elder"-meaning that he could take out his rock tape and put in a tape of his Elder giving a
spiritual discourse.

The fact that this young man could compartmentalize his life like this, Fr. Seraphim understood,
showed that something was missing in the basic formation of his soul. To explain what is meant
by this formation, he again referred in his article to a passage from St. Theophan the Recluse:

A man has three layers of life: that of spirit, of the soul, and of the body. Each of these has
its sum of needs, natural and proper to a man. These needs are not all of equal value, but
some are higher and others are lower; and the balanced satisfaction of them gives a man
peace. Spiritual needs are the highest of all, and when they are satisfied, then there is
peace even if the others are not satisfied; but when spiritual needs are not satisfied, then
even if the others are satisfied abundantly, there is no peace. Therefore, the satisfaction of
them is called the one thing needful.

When spiritual needs are satisfied, they instruct a man to PULL into harmony with them
the satisfaction of one’s other needs also, so that neither what satisfies the soul nor what
satisfies the body contradicts spiritual life, but helps it; and then there is a full harmony in
a man of all the movements and revelations of his life, a harmony of thoughts, feelings,
desires, undertakings, relationships, pleasures. And this is paradise!

***

Letters

Fr. Seraphim with his spiritual children Fr. Alexey Young and Seraphim
Nichols

Knowing better than anyone else

If Fr. N. and his followers do not change some attitudes in the days ahead, they will inevitably go
the way of all “crazy converts”—more Orthodox in appearance than many that so far have gone
off the track, but still “crazy”—by which I mean: trusting no one but themselves, “knowing
better” than everyone else, losing contact with the whole Church and its universal tradition. It is
much better for Fr. N. to have some shocks and jolts now, even over seemingly insignificant or
exaggerated things, than to continue his way peacefully until a real big shock comes and finds
him unprepared and untested… Letter, (Dec. 1/14, 1975)[1]

“Rightness” is not the most important thing

Beware. No matter how “right” you may be on various points, you must be diplomatic also. The
first and important thing is not “rightness” at all, but Christian love and harmony. Most “crazy
converts” have been “right” in the criticisms that led to their downfall; but they were lacking in
Christian love and charity and so went off the deep end, needlessly alienating people around
them and finally finding themselves all alone in their rightness and self-righteousness. Don’t
you follow them! Letter, (June 5/18, 1979)[2]

Only with suffering

D. is right—don’t be too taken up by “fantasies.” But don’t entirely squash them, either—without
dreams, we can’t live!…

May God grant you to continue with such freshness towards Orthodoxy as you felt with reading
St. Symeon’s Homilies! Be aware, however, that this will be possible only with sufferings;
everything you need to deepen your faith will come with suffering—if you accept it with humility
and submission to God’s will. It is not too difficult to become “exalted” by the richness and
depth of our Orthodox Faith; but to temper this exaltation with humility and sobriety (which
come through the right acceptance of sufferings) is not an easy thing. In so many of our
Orthodox people today (especially converts) one can see a frightful thing: much talk about the
exalted truths and experiences of true Orthodoxy, but mixed with pride and a sense of one’s own
importance for being “in” on something which most people don’t see (from this comes also the
criticism against which you’ve already been warned). May God keep your heart soft and filled
with love for Christ and your fellow man… It will come “naturally,” as all things do in spiritual
life—with time, patience, suffering, and coming better to know yourself. —Letters of Father
Seraphim Rose (May 25, 1979).

Indeed, how we all must learn and relearn that our pretensions and ideas must be tested by
reality and forged in suffering.” —Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (Jan. 20, 1975)

You must learn to suffer and bear—but do not view this as something “endless and dreary,” here
you are wrong: God sends many consolations, and you will know them again. You must learn to
find joy in the midst of increasing doses of sorrow; thus you can save your soul and help others.
—Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (Oct. 21, 1975).

Be sensitive to others around you

About you personally, of course, I can’t give any definitive answer. However, I do know that in
spiritual life it is often precisely in seemingly “impossible” conditions that one really begins to
grow; then one has to become more sensitive, think less of getting one’s own will and ask what is
God’s will, learn to see a little deeper into the reality around one—and all this through suffering,
both one’s own and that of others. —Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (April 4, 1978).

Be patient and endure

We understand very well your situation as you describe it in your letter. Of course, what you say
is “correct” as far as it goes. But you are allowing yourself to make one basic mistake: you are
making yourself the judge of your own spiritual state. In your present state of knowledge and
experience, you are not able to see whether you need an aspirin or an operation—so try to
humble yourself a little to the extent of seeing that you don’t know what is best for you!..

Your answer—if I may be so bold as to tell you—is to be patient, enduring with good hope all the
temptations that come your way, and withholding your judgment as to whether you need an
aspirin or an operation—until you have acquired more knowledge and experience… You are too
young in Orthodoxy to be evaluating your spiritual growth—that is actually a sign of your pride.
Be patient, endure, observe, learn—and when the time comes there will come ways of testing
your real spiritual growth…

The feeling of emptiness, worldly vanity, helplessness against temptations—will pass; but you
should accept all this now as your cross, struggling according to your strength, and not being so
proud as to think that you should be above them.—Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (June 22,
1976).

Finish your education

College life will doubtless give you many temptations. But remember that learning in itself is
useful and can be used later in a Christian way. Try to avoid the idle activities and temptations
you will meet that serve no useful purpose, so that even in a godless atmosphere you can
“redeem the time,” as the Apostle Paul says, and make maximum use of the opportunities you
are given for learning. —Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (Sept. 5, 1972).

Perhaps you do not know “what next”?… Get the degree first, and then trust to God to open up
the way. The political-economic situation in the U.S., as evidently everywhere in the West, is
rapidly deteriorating. Worse, the church situation becomes very bad (your situation is not
unique!)…

We can’t see the future—but know this, that if you love God and His Orthodox Church and your
fellow man—God can and will use you. —Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (July 7, 1974).

Preparing for Baptism

As you prepare for Baptism, I would give you several words of advice:
1. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck on the outward aspect of Orthodoxy—whether the splendid
Church services (the “high church” to which you were drawn as a child), the outward discipline
(fasts, prostrations, etc.), being “correct” according to the canons, etc. All these things are good
and helpful, but if one overemphasizes them one will enter into troubles and trials. You are
coming to Orthodoxy to receive Christ, and this you should never forget.

2. Don’t have a hypercritical attitude. By this I don’t mean to give up your intellect and
discernment, but rather to place them in obedience to a believing heart (“heart” meaning not
mere “feeling,” but something much deeper—the organ that knows God). Some converts, alas,
think they are very “smart,” and they use Orthodoxy as a means for feeling superior to the non-
Orthodox and sometimes even to Orthodox of other jurisdictions. Orthodox theology, of course,
is much deeper and makes much better sense than the erroneous theologies of the modern West
—but our basic attitude towards it must be one of humility and not pride. Converts who pride
themselves on “knowing better” than Catholics and Protestants often end by “knowing better”
than their own parish priest, bishop, and finally the Fathers and the whole Church!

3. Remember that your survival as an Orthodox Christian will depend very much on your
contact with the living tradition of Orthodoxy. This is something you won’t get in books and it
can’t be defined for you. If your attitude is humble and without hypercriticism, if you place
Christ first in your heart, and try to lead a normal life according to Orthodox discipline and
practice—you will obtain this contact. Alas, most Orthodox jurisdictions today … are losing this
contact out of simple worldliness. But there is also a temptation on the “right side” which
proceeds from the same hypercriticism I just mentioned. The traditionalist (Old Calendar)
Church in Greece today is in chaos because of this, one jurisdiction fighting and anathematizing
another over “canonical correctness” and losing sight of the whole tradition over hyper-fine
points… —Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (May 3, 1979).

To our times is given a more humble kind of spiritual life

To our times is given a more humble kind of spiritual life, which Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov
in his excellent book The Arena calls ‘life by counsel’—that is, life according to the
commandments of God as learned in the Holy Scripture and Holy Fathers and helped by those
who are elder and more experienced. A "starets" can give commands; but a "counselor" gives
advice, which you must test in experience.—Letters of Father Seraphim Rose (Aug. 23, 1976).

The devil begins his work with new converts

The devil has begun his work against us. A Russian lady came in this morning to look us over
and tell us of the rumors about us in the Russian colony: that we are Communists with a store
full of Soviet books; that we are Soviet diplomats using the store as some kind of front; that we
are American converts (!); etc. By the time she discovered I wasn’t Russian, she was so charmed
that she didn’t mind too much and even bought ten dollars worth of eggs, icons, and cards.
Letters (March 26/April 8, 1965)[3]
Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)
9/2/2021
[1] https://proza.ru/2016/10/04/1512

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.