Seraphim (Rose) of Platina

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Saint Seraphim (Rose) of Platina, commonly known as Father Seraphim Rose among both those who venerate him as a saint and those who reject him, was one of the founders of the St. Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina. He was True Orthodox and a member ROCOR during the period when they were on good terms with Greek Old Calendarism and the Russian Catacomb Church, prior to the union of ROCOR-MP with the Moscow Patriarchate. He was a spiritual son of St. John of Shanghai who wrote extensively against the contemporary heresies of ecumenism, Darwinism, Sergianism, and modernism.

St. Seraphim has been glorified by some True Orthodox and is widely considered a saint even in conservative World Orthodoxy. Some True Orthodox groups reject him—especially his later writings—because of his writings on what he called the Royal Path. This ecclesiological opion involved neither accepting communion with World Orthodoxy nor taking a hard position against the presence of grace in at least some of them (OCA excepted). It might be compared to several other positions such as the questionable openness of Met. Cyprian of Fili to grace in the state church, or the initial caution of St. Chrysostom of Florina which contributed to the the schism with the Matthewites.

His letters make it abundantly clear[1] that he rejected communion with unorthodox groups as the OCA (then known as the Metropolia). However, it should also be kept in mind that these letters were written decades ago and some of the World Orthodox patriarchates had not yet gone as far as today.

He was called Eugene Rose in the world.

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References

  1. Excerpts from the letters.