Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh. Anthony, Metropolitan of Sourozh: Biography Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

Contains already published texts by Metropolitan Anthony. Vladyka never writes or prepares his talks, speeches, or 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 the spokesman not only of the Russian spiritual tradition, but also of the universal, ecumenical Truth of Orthodoxy. His word is convincing by the combination of precise formulations with his own inner experience, the experience of Orthodoxy, deeply rooted in Tradition and at the same time open to modernity. The texts of Metropolitan Anthony call for a very deep, sober understanding of the faith and for a responsible life in faith. Vladyka refers to some topics, examples again and again; and we, the readers-listeners, may be tempted to think: "We have already read this." But, perhaps, if these topics and examples have sunk so deeply into the soul, the mind of the Lord - and we should linger on them with our attention? It is probably useful when reading his own texts 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 also 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 - immigrants from Scotland, settled in Russia in the time of Peter the Great; by mother, he is related to the composer A.N. Scriabin. He spent his early childhood in Persia, where his father was a consul. After the revolution in Russia, the family ended up in exile and after several years of wandering around Europe, in 1923 settled in France. Here youth passed, marked by the ordeals of emigre 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 talk with boys who valued courage and military order above all else. Here is how Vladyka himself recalls this experience:

He spoke about Christ, about the Gospel, about Christianity /.../, bringing to our consciousness all the sweet things that can be found in the Gospel, from which we would have shied away, and I shied away: meekness, humility, quietness - all slavish qualities, in whom we are reproached from Nietzsche onwards. He got me into such a state that I decided /…/ to go home, find out if we have the Gospel somewhere at home, check it out and put an end to it; it didn't even occur to me that I wouldn't be done with it, because it was quite obvious that he knew his stuff. /…/ Mom turned out to have the gospel, I locked myself in my corner, found that there were four gospels, and if so, then one of them, of course, must be shorter than the others. And since I did not expect anything good from any of the four, I decided to read the shortest. And then I got caught; I have found many times since then how cunning God is when He lays down His nets to catch fish; because if I read another gospel, I would have difficulties; behind every gospel there is some kind of cultural base. Mark wrote precisely for such young savages as I - for the Roman youth. I did not know this - but God knew, and Mark knew, perhaps, when he wrote shorter than others. And so I sat down to read; and then you, perhaps, take my word for it, because you can’t prove it. / ... / I sat, 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 felt that on the other side of the table, here, stands Christ. And this feeling was so overwhelming that I had to stop, stop reading and look. I looked for a long time; saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing. But even when I looked straight ahead at that place where there was no one, I had a vivid consciousness that Christ was undoubtedly standing there. I remember that I leaned back and thought: if the living Christ is standing here, then this is the risen Christ; This means that I know for certain personally, within the limits of my personal, own experience, that Christ is risen and, therefore, everything that is said about Him is true.

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

After high school he graduated from the biological and medical faculties of the Sorbonne. In 1931 he was consecrated into a surplice to serve in the Church of the Three Hierarchs Compound, then the only church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Paris, and from these early years invariably kept canonical fidelity Russian Patriarchal Church. September 10, 1939, before leaving for the front, a surgeon of the French army secretly took monastic vows; in a mantle with the name Anthony (in honor of St. Anthony of the Kiev Caves) was tonsured on April 16, 1943, under Lazarus Saturday; the tonsure was performed by the rector of the Metochion and the spiritual father of the tonsured, Archimandrite Athanasius (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 (on October 27 as a hierodeacon, on November 14 as a hieromonk) and sent him to pastoral service in England, as the spiritual director of the Orthodox Anglican Church. Commonwealth of St. mch. Albania and Rev. Sergius, in connection with which Hieromonk Anthony moved to London. From September 1, 1950, the rector of the churches of St. app. Philip and Rev. Sergius in London; church of st. app. Philip, granted to the parish by the Anglican Church, was eventually replaced by a temple in the name of the Assumption Mother of God and All Saints, whose rector Father Anthony became on December 16, 1956. In January 1953 he was awarded the rank of abbot, 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 Nikolay (Eremin) of Klish and Bishop Jacob of Apamea, Vicar of the Exarch Ecumenical Patriarch in Western Europe. In October 1962, he was appointed to the newly formed British Isles, within the framework of the Western European Exarchate, the Diocese of Sourozh, with the elevation to the rank of archbishop. Since January 1963, after the retirement of Metropolitan Nikolai (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 klobuk. On January 27, 1966, he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan and approved as Exarch in Western Europe; he held this ministry until the spring of 1974, when his petition was granted for release from the administrative duties of the Exarch in order to devote himself more fully to the dispensation diocesan life and pastoral care of the ever-growing flock.

During the years of Vladyka Anthony's ministry in the UK, 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 remarkable against the background of the crisis of faith that has gripped the Western world, and the fact that all Christian denominations in the West are losing their members and decreasing in number. Here is the testimony (1981) of Dr. Robert Rancy, Archbishop of Canterbury: “The people of our country - Christians, skeptics and unbelievers - owe a great spiritual debt to Metropolitan Anthony. /…he/ talks about Christian faith with a directness that inspires the believer and calls the seeker /…/ He works tirelessly for the sake of greater mutual understanding between Christians of East and West and opens to the readers of England the legacy of 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 in theology from the University of Aberdeen with the wording "for the preaching of the word of God and the renewal of 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 of the living spiritual experience of the Church.

The peculiarity of 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, about 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, Vladyka’s works have been widely published in Russia both as separate books and on the pages of periodicals, both ecclesiastical and secular.

In Russia, the word of Vladyka was heard for many decades thanks to the religious broadcasts of the Russian service of the BBC; his visits to Russia became a significant event, tape recordings and samizdat collections of his sermons (and conversations in a narrow circle of close people in private apartments), like circles on water, diverged far beyond Moscow. His preaching, in the first place - the preaching of the Gospel Love and Freedom, was of great importance in the Soviet years. The spiritual experience that Metropolitan Anthony not only carries within himself, but is able to convey to those around him is a deeply personal (although not closed on personal piety) relationship with God, Love incarnate, a meeting with Him “face to face” of a person who, despite the incommensurability of scale , is worth a free participant in this meeting. And although Vladyka often emphasizes that he is “not a theologian,” he did not receive a systematic “school” theological education, his word makes us recall patristic definitions: a theologian is one who purely prays; 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 Surozh the degree of Doctor of Theology honoris causa.

Metropolitan Anthony is a participant in theological discussions between delegations of the Orthodox Churches and representatives 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 local councils Russian Orthodox Church (1971, 1988, 1990). Awards: Bronze medal of the Society for the Encouragement of Good (1945, France), Order of St. book. Vladimir I Art. (1961), Order of St. Andrew (Ecumenical Patriarchate, 1963), Browning award (USA, 1974 - “for spreading the Christian gospel”), Lambeth Cross (Anglican Church, 1975), Order of St. Sergius II Art. (1979), St. book. Vladimir I Art. (1989), St. book. Daniel of Moscow I Art. (1994), Rev. Sergius I Art. (1997), St. Innocent of Moscow II degree (1999).

Metropolitan Sourozhsky Anthony(in the world, before entering monasticism: Andrei Borisovich Bloom), was born on June 19, 1914 in Switzerland, in Lausanne. His maternal grandfather belonged to Russian diplomatic circles; served as consul in various places. With the future grandmother of Metropolitan Anthony, a native of Trieste (Italy), grandfather met when he was there on public service. He also taught her Russian. After they joined themselves in marriage, her grandfather brought her to Russia.

Their daughter, Ksenia Nikolaevna Scriabina (sister of the famous composer A. Scriabin), mother of Andrei (Antonia), met her future husband, Boris Eduardovich Bloom, during the holidays when she went to Erzerum, where her father served at that time. Boris Eduardovich worked there as a translator. After a serious feeling arose between them, they got married.

After the birth of Andrei, his family stayed in Lausanne for about two months, and then moved to Russia, to Moscow. Around 1915-16, in connection with the appointment of B. Bloom to the East, the family moved to Persia. There the future bishop spent his childhood. For a while he had a Russian nanny, but his grandmother and mother were mainly involved in his upbringing.

Andrei's childhood fell on a turbulent time. In view of the First World War, revolutionary chaos and political changes in Russia, the family had to face the difficulties of a wandering life. In 1920, Andrei's mother, he himself and his grandmother left the Persian dwelling, while his father was forced to stay. The difficulties associated with endless journeys, either on horseback or in wagons, were superimposed by the dangers of meeting with robbers.

In 1921, they all reached the West together. Having traveled many European roads and ended up in France, the family finally found the opportunity to settle down. It happened in 1923. There were many difficulties associated with the peculiarities of emigrant life. All this was exacerbated by unemployment. The mother's employment was facilitated by her knowledge of foreign languages ​​and her skills as a stenographer.

In France, Andrei had to live apart from his family. The school where he was assigned was located outside of Paris, in such a disadvantaged area that even the local police did not dare to enter there, starting from the evening twilight, because "they were slaughtered there."

At school, Andrei, like many others, had to endure bullying and beatings from students. It can be said that at that time the educational school served for him as a school of patience, survival, and courage. Many years later, when one day, while reading on the subway, he was distracted and glanced at the sign with the name of the station, and it turned out that this was the station not far from which his school had once been, he fainted from the surging memories.

It should be noted that both the current difficulties and the compulsion to live far from Russia did not deprive Andrei's relatives of love for her. Over time, this love was transferred to him.

First steps on the path of Christian, monastic and pastoral life

For a long time Andrey's attitude to the Church, as he later noted himself, was more than indifferent. One of the closest reasons for serious rejection was his experience with Catholics. When, due to a lack of livelihood, the mother decided to take advantage of their offer of scholarships for Russian children and brought Andrei to them for a “bride”, he passed the interview and received an affirmative answer, but here he was given a strict condition: he must accept Catholicism . Considering this condition as an attempt to buy and sell, Andrey was indignant and expressed a not childishly firm protest. Then he did not yet understand the essential difference between Western and Eastern Churches and as a result extended his indignation to "the Church in general".

Andrew's conversion to Christ took place only at the age of 14. Once he witnessed the sermon of Father Sergius Bulgakov. The sermon stirred him up, but he was in no hurry to trust the preacher and, upon returning home, asked his mother for the Gospel in order to confirm his mistrust and make sure that he was right. However, the opposite happened: a careful, thoughtful reading of Scripture changed his attitude towards faith.

Gradually, Andrei joined the Christian work, to fervent prayer. In 1931, having received a pastoral blessing, he began to serve in the church at the Three Hierarchs Compound (at that time the only church in Paris that belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate). It should be noted that since then Andrei has not violated his fidelity and has not broken canonical communion with the Russian Patriarchal Church.

After graduating from school, he entered the natural, and then the medical faculty of the Sorbonne. Student life did not prevent him from making plans to connect his life with the monastic feat. He graduated from the Sorbonne in 1939, just before the war, and soon went to the front as a surgeon. But first he gave monastic vows, which were accepted by his confessor, although he was not tonsured due to lack of time. The monastic vows took place only in 1943. Actually, then he received the name Anthony.

During the occupation, Anthony participated in the French Resistance, then again ended up in the army, healing the wounded and sick. After demobilization, he found his mother and grandmother and brought them to Paris.

It is noteworthy that while carrying out medical activities, Antony did not forget about the need for lively sympathy and compassion for his patients, which, unfortunately, he could not say about some doctors personally known to him, who were hardened by the horrors of war. It is noteworthy that empathy and sensitivity to a person, the ability to see in him not just a citizen, but a neighbor, the desire to contemplate in him the image and likeness of the Creator, contributed to Father Anthony throughout his pastoral activity.

In 1948, he was ordained a hierodeacon, and soon after, he was ordained a hieromonk, after which he assumed spiritual leadership over members of the Orthodox-Anglican Fellowship of St. Albania and St. Sergius. As Metropolitan Anthony himself later recalled, this turn in fate was facilitated by a meeting with Archimandrite Leo (Gillet), which happened at an Orthodox-Anglican congress. Then, after talking with Anthony, the archimandrite advised him to leave the profession of a doctor, become a priest and continue serving God in England.

From 1950, Father Anthony served as rector of the church of St. Philip the Apostle and St. Sergius in London. In 1953 he was consecrated to the rank of abbot, and in 1956 to the rank of archimandrite. A little later, he accepted the post of rector of the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God and All Saints in London.

In 1957, Father Anthony was appointed Bishop of Sergievsky. In 1962 he was consecrated to the rank of archbishop, to the newly established Diocese of Sourozh in the British Isles. From 1966, upon his elevation to the rank of metropolitan, and until 1974, Anthony Surozhsky served as Patriarchal Exarch in Western Europe, after which he was relieved of this post of his own free will. Meanwhile, he continued to feed his flock. It should be noted that during the period of his leadership in the diocese, a well-organized structure of parishes was formed, with well-established educational work.

By that time, Metropolitan Anthony had earned well-deserved respect among Christians. different countries the world and his ardent preaching spread everywhere: through numerous lectures and publications, translated into various languages; through radio broadcasting and television.

In 1983, Metropolitan Anthony was awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology by the Council of the Moscow Theological Academy for a combination of pastoral and theological works. In addition, at various times he was awarded the title of honorary doctor of Aberdeen (1973) and Cambridge (1996) universities, the Kyiv Theological Academy (2000).

In the last months of his life, Vladyka, due to deteriorating health, rarely served and appeared less often in public. He died on August 4, 2003. And on August 13, 2003, in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God and All Saints in London, his funeral took place. The funeral service was performed by Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk.

General Directions of the Sermon and Scientific and Theological Works of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

Despite the existence of a large number of works published under the authorship of Metropolitan Anthony, many of these works are not in fact the fruit of his writing activity. Most of the published works are reproductions of recordings of oral sermons and conversations delivered under different circumstances in various audiences (see: Proceedings. Volume I; Proceedings. Volume II).

The metropolitan did not always devote his speeches to predetermined topics. Quite often, the subjects of his sermon were questions that interested specific listeners in a specific situation, at a specific moment. And these were the most diverse questions. In part, this explains the breadth of the spectrum of topics covered by his teachings.

The general characterization of the Metropolitan's instructions is marked by several distinct features. Firstly, a significant part of his works is written in a clear and accessible language, and can be directly perceived by the widest range of people. Secondly, the theological context of the "compositions" is presented in close unity with spiritual and moral exhortations. Thirdly, many of his works are aimed not only at strengthening a person’s faith in God, but also a person’s faith in himself, as in the image and likeness of God (see:). Fourthly, much attention is paid to explaining the meaning and necessity of liturgical life (see:). Finally, he reveals the idea of ​​the meaning and mission of the Church in such a way that each of his listeners, each reader sees in the Church not just an Assembly of believers, but also sees himself, realizes his personal role.

Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh (in the world Andrei Borisovich Bloom, Bloom) was born on June 19, 1914 in Lausanne (Switzerland) into the family of an employee of the Russian diplomatic service. After the revolution of 1917, the family ended up in exile and after several years of wandering around Europe, in 1923, settled in France. Here the youth of the future metropolitan passed. After high school, Andrei Bloom graduated from the biological and medical faculties of the Sorbonne University in Paris.

In 1931 he was ordained a surplice to serve in the Church of the Three Hierarchs Compound, then the only church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Paris. On September 10, 1939, before leaving for the front, the surgeon of the French army secretly took monastic vows. Andrei Bloom was tonsured into a mantle with the name Anthony (in honor of St. Anthony of the Kiev Caves) on April 16, 1943. After the war he continued his medical practice until 1948. On October 27, 1948, monk Anthony was ordained a hierodeacon, and on November 14 a hieromonk.

Since September 1, 1950, Hieromonk Anthony has been rector of the churches of St. app. Philip and Rev. Sergius in London. In January 1953, Fr. Anthony was awarded the rank of abbot, by Easter 1956 - the rank of archimandrite.

On November 30, 1957, Archimandrite Anthony was consecrated Bishop of Sergius, Vicar of the Exarch of the Patriarch of Moscow in Western Europe. In October 1962, Bishop Anthony was appointed to the newly formed in the British Isles, within the framework of the Western European Exarchate, the Diocese of Sourozh with the elevation to the rank of archbishop.

In November 2002, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of his episcopal consecration and "in consideration of outstanding merits in the spiritual and educational field," Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, by decree of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', was awarded the Order of St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, II degree.

Books (14)

Conversations on the Gospel of Mark

“You can ask why I chose this gospel. I chose it for a very personal reason. I became a believer by encountering this very gospel; and this is no coincidence.

If I had taken to reading the Gospel of Matthew, which was addressed to the Jews, the believing Jews of that time, or the Gospel of John, which is very deeply immersed in both philosophical and theological thought, I probably would not have understood them when I was fourteen years.

The Gospel of Mark was written by a disciple of the Apostle Peter precisely for such young people, young savages as I was at that time, written in order to give an idea of ​​the teachings of Christ and of His person to those young people who most of all needed it. And that's why I chose this gospel now. It is written briefly, powerfully and, I hope, will reach the souls of other people, just as it turned my soul upside down and transformed my life. Metropolitan Anthony.

I will enter your house. Conversations on Faith and the Church

Metropolitan Anthony was known even at the time Soviet Union, before publication recent years; each of his infrequent visits became an event, a meeting with him turned into a turning point in life for many.

His word is modern without "modernism", deeply rooted in the patristic tradition - without stylization of piety; it is convincing in its merciless simplicity and integrity. This is the speech of a person whose word and thought do not diverge from feeling and life.

Life, Disease, Death

For many years, Metropolitan Anthony led seminars organized by the London Medical Group, dedicated to issues of Christian values ​​and ethics in medicine, the Christian attitude towards the sick, towards the dying person.

In the words of Vladyka himself, in his approach to these questions, he "cannot separate in himself a man, a Christian, a bishop, a doctor." His scientific and medical education and experience, combined with fifty years of pastoral ministry, allow him to assert that "the soul of man, the spirit of man and the flesh form one mysterious whole."

This holistic approach to the issues of life and death - questions that every person inevitably thinks about - makes the proposed conversations valuable not only for the pastor-priest, but also for the widest range of readers, and first of all for doctors.

Prayer and life

From the experience of human relationships, we all know that love and friendship are deep when we can be silent with each other.

If we need to talk to maintain contact, we must admit with confidence and sadness that the relationship is still superficial; therefore, if we want to prayerfully worship God, we must first of all learn to experience the joy of silent being with Him. This is easier than it might seem at first; it takes a little time, a little trust and determination to get started.

About a meeting

including: About faith, education, creativity About some categories of our created being About the vocation of man About freedom and achievement How to live with yourself About the meeting About worship and style Christian life Spirituality and spirituality Thoughts on the religious education of children

On hearing and doing

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The gospel is read in the church at almost every service; at every service we stand before the word of God and think that by this we become the people of God. But much more is required of us if we are to be the people of God, the people who can say that the divine word is theirs.

steps

What does it mean to be a Christian? How to remain a Christian in today's world?

Being a Christian is, in a way, very simple. A Christian is a disciple and friend of Christ. These concepts are related, but there is a difference between them. On the one hand, we are Christ's disciples, His followers, and we must learn from Him through the Gospel what He believes, what He teaches.

Mystery of love

Marriage is a miracle on earth. In a world where everything and everyone goes astray, marriage is a place where two people, thanks to the fact that they fell in love with each other, become one, a place where strife ends, where the realization of one life begins. And this is the greatest miracle of human relations: two people suddenly become one person, two faces suddenly, because they fell in love with each other and accepted to the end, completely, turn out to be something more than a two, than just two people - they turn out to be unity.

Proceedings

This book is the most complete collection of conversations, sermons and dialogues ever published by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh.

Metropolitan Anthony, a doctor by profession, is one of the most respected Orthodox theologians in the world, head of the diocese of the Russian Church in Great Britain. A significant part of the texts is published for the first time.

Man before God

The book "A Man Before God" is compiled from the oral speeches of Metropolitan Anthony and covers the period from 1969 to 1991.

The conversations of Anthony of Surozh are united by a common mood of standing before God. This book requires inner silence and slow reading: like those pauses that Vladyka himself did during conversations in his community.

Reader Comments

Ludmila/ 01/14/2017 Roman, you said it, you are responsible for these words. Vladyka Anthony, a faithful servant of God, converted many people to the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to this day he converts through his books and sermons. Personal service and now inspires Christians to exploits. Eternal memory to Vladyka Anthony! +++

Tatiana/ 10/22/2015 Father Anthony, kind person, he endured so much in his life, not a single sane person would believe that the priest was for homicide. Do not philosophize, dear Roman: where there is simplicity of angels from a hundred, where there is more than one wisdom. Love our Lord, love in every person, live your conscience and your mind.

Love/ 09/5/2015 Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh is the greatest, outstanding Christian preacher of recent times. His sermons in the simplicity of the word convey the Truth of God in freedom of thought, purity and depth with love. Being a doctor with a great practice of saving lives in the Second World War, he knew the Price of Life firsthand, so his dedication of his life to the cause of Christ, the cause of the Salvation of man was a conscious, deep spiritual dedication. And no one's conjectures are able to cast a shadow of ignorance on this Light, which this servant of God radiated. All his conscious life is God's spotlight, and where there is light, there is no darkness. "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness," says the Scripture. The confirmation of the faithful pious service of Metropolitan Anthony is his word, which is imprinted by grateful listeners and which has become a Russian spiritual heritage for all generations.

Svetlana/ 5.09.2014 1. “... there are mothers who want a child so much that they are ready to give birth to a child who will obviously suffer physically or mentally all his life just because they want to have a child ...”
I understand these words not as an impetus for an abortion, but as a careful reflection about the child, about the responsibility for his life - before you conceive. Perhaps it is better to protect yourself than to conceive knowing that you are a freak. Perhaps it is better not to enter into a marriage relationship at all in this case. He meant it.
Where did you get the idea that the AU was talking about abortion? From what is it visible?
2. “Prot. Sergiy Gakkel: Nevertheless, a freak is still a person. A complete person. However, the rule was stated that a person should not be killed. How then to approach this issue?
Sergiy Gakkel asked several topics at once in one question. What does the metropolitan answer and what exactly does he answer? He says, "Honestly, I don't know how to approach him." Here is his main answer. And then he says: “I think ...” That is, he thinks, just thinks, does not impose on anyone. Does not give out for teaching and truth. He thinks, trying on himself both the state of the mother of a freak and the state of a freak. He does not look from the side, but stands in their place.
Here is his summary: "... not change the canons, but you have to think..." He thinks, and he invites you to think, and take the place of the one to whom you impute something.

Svetlana/ 09/05/2014 I read the articles of the "defamers" of the Metropolitan AS, they were very hooked on the word about abortion. They twisted the words of Anthony Surozhsky after his death in such a way as to denigrate him. The text contains more commentator's words than A.S.'s own words. First, "for medical reasons" can refer to the condition of the mother - where did they get that child? A mother can risk her life, and she will need to be saved in this way ... Or maybe the words refer to the child if he soon begins to decompose in the womb - after all, removing a corpse from the womb is also an abortion? And then, what hypocrisy - to say that you can not protect yourself. After all, these are just words, for which no one takes responsibility, and they themselves do not do it. The Metropolitan did not want to scatter empty words, he tried on every situation for himself. In addition, he did not hang unbearable burdens on people. And he was strict and responsible towards himself even in words, not only in deeds. It is irresponsible to blurt out at every step - do not do this, that, or do this, that, that. And don't touch it yourself. It is precisely because of this severity and responsibility that he still has so many enemies. We leafed through his books, oh, this is too much for us, oh, we cannot do this, oh, it means that the priest was useless, we cannot rise to him, let's humiliate him.

Guest/ 8.10.2013 Larisa
Completely agree with Irina.

Sergei/ 09/16/2013 Roman, Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh was a categorical opponent of abortion. He spoke about the possibility of interrupting the life of the fetus in the womb only in absolutely exceptional cases!!! - when the state of the fetus is so deficient that it absolutely does not allow him to

Roman, Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh was an absolute and categorical opponent of abortion. He spoke very carefully about the possible termination of pregnancy only in exceptional cases, when the condition of the fetus is such that it dooms the future person to unconditional and considerable torment at the birth. These are completely different things, and there is no question of any encouragement of abortion. Give at least one example of such encouragement as an excuse for promiscuity. And also - in what, specifically, do you see, as you put it, adogmatism in the sermons of Bishop Anthony? Specify at least one violated dogma of the Orthodox dogma and in what way it was violated.

Guest/ 08/05/2013 I didn’t notice the novel that he approves of abortion, but for beginners he very gently explains the path to faith and to God, because God is love, a very wise person and a great preacher

Vyacheslav/ 03/23/2013 Perhaps one of the few truly close to the teachings. The Orthodox and their hypocrisy have long been outdated and therefore they do not like, to put it mildly, real preachers, as A. Men was, for example. So someone Roman has already inherited ...

Faith/ 03/22/2013 Yesterday I just read some of his book, which is not here, but it is very interesting. "Learn to Pray"
Today I watched videos with his sermons and a film about him. My opinion, although I do not consider myself Orthodox, he was an extraordinary, holy man. A student of love himself and taught it to his flock.
I can assume that in the world where he is now, he continues the work of Christ, the work of bringing love into human souls.

Anna/ 07/22/2012 Roman, is this your personal opinion about Metropolitan Anthony or the opinion of A. Osipov?..

Irina/ 01/06/2012 The best theologian, in my opinion. From his books one must begin the path to God!

Elena/ 11.12.2011 Amazing books!

Novel/ 04/5/2011 Metropolitan Anthony confessed not to Christ Orthodox Faith, and their own doctrine, based on adogmatism and, as a result, on immorality (encouragement of abortion).

Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh (in the world Andrei Borisovich Bloom) was born on June 19, 1914 in Lausanne in the family of a Russian diplomat. Mother is the sister of the composer A. N. Scriabin. Metropolitan Anthony's early childhood was spent in Persia, where his father was a consul. After the revolution in Russia, the family ended up in exile and after several years of wandering around Europe in 1923 settled in France. The childhood and youth of Metropolitan Anthony were marked by the hardships and suffering inherent in emigration, and by the firm determination shared by Metropolitan Anthony's relatives to live for Russia. At the age of fourteen, he converted to Christ and entered the Church. Since 1931, he served in the Church of the Three Hierarchs Compound, the only church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Paris at that time, and since then he has always kept canonical loyalty to the Russian Patriarchal Church. In 1939 he graduated from the biological and medical faculties of the Sorbonne. Before going to the front as a French army surgeon, on September 10, 1939, he secretly took monastic vows, in 1943 he was tonsured a monk by Archimandrite Athanasius (Nechaev) with the name Anthony. During the German occupation - a doctor in the anti-fascist underground. In 1948, he was ordained a hieromonk and sent to England by the spiritual director of the Orthodox-Anglican Commonwealth, St. Albania and etc. Sergius. In 1956 he became rector of the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God and All Saints in London and remains so to this day. In 1957 he was consecrated Bishop of Sergievsky. Since 1962 - Archbishop, ruling bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh, established in the British Isles. Since 1966 - Metropolitan, in 1966-1974. - Exarch of the Patriarch of Moscow in Western Europe. In 1974, at his own request, he was relieved of his duties as exarch. Since then, he has continued to minister to the ever-growing flock of his diocese, and through books, radio and television talks, he has preached the gospel all over the world. He has many awards of the Russian Orthodox Church, fraternal Orthodox Churches, Anglican Church. Honorary Doctor of Theology from the University of Aberdeen (1973, UK) "for the preaching of the Word of God and the renewal of the spiritual life in the country" and the Moscow Theological Academy (1983) "for the totality of scientific, theological and pastoral works", as well as the University of Cambridge (1996 d.) and the Kiev Theological Academy (2000).

Editorial

In the introductory article to this book, Bishop Hilarion points out the relevance of the theological teaching of Metropolitan Anthony as feature its roots in patristic tradition. Deep conviction in the theological relevance of the sermon of Metropolitan Anthony makes us talk about the need to publish his book in our current situation. One of the sections of the book is entitled "Inquiry". Doubt is inseparable from faith, as Metropolitan Anthony constantly says. In addition to those inevitable and beneficial questions and doubts about the meaning of life, about the beauty and meaningfulness of the created world, about injustice and cruelty human society There are doubts of a different kind, which, through sometimes painful trials, lead a person to a deeper knowledge of God. For a person who is outside the church fence, this is the question of whether it is worth entering the church, voluntarily putting on the yoke of Christ; for a church person, the same doubt looks like a question about the correctness of the chosen path, about whether he is not enclosed in a church fence, as in a cage, behind the walls of which there is an easy and simple world, whether it is necessary to throw off the yoke of Christ. These questions and doubts, as Metropolitan Anthony also constantly and fearlessly says about this, are caused primarily by the unworthiness of Christians. Metropolitan Anthony often repeats an ancient monastic proverb: “No one can come to God unless he sees a radiance on the face of at least one person. eternal life". In other words, the truth of Christianity is revealed to man, first of all, not as reasoning, but as a personal example. Therefore, it seems to us that, especially in our era, in which all words seem to have been spoken and devalued, the word of Metropolitan Anthony is necessary, a word in which the depth of theological contemplation is completely inseparable from the example of Christian deed.

Turning to a discussion of the theological teachings of Metropolitan Anthony, we note that, firstly, his thinking was brought up in reading the holy fathers and fruitful conversations with outstanding Orthodox theologians of the past century - Archpriest Georgy Florovsky and V. N. Lossky. In addition, his formation, in our opinion, was influenced by the philosophy of religious existentialism, mainly by the personalism of N. O. Lossky, N. A. Berdyaev’s reflections on freedom and creativity, and M. Buber’s central idea of ​​being as an I-Thou relationship.

In the mature theology of Metropolitan Anthony, first of all, I would like to note three features.

Evangelism. This feature is expressed primarily in the fact that the sermons and conversations of Metropolitan Anthony are completely transparent: all theological concepts of Christian and other religious cultures, with whom Metropolitan Anthony often argues or talks, he leads all literary allusions into subtext as much as possible, that is, stylistically, compositionally builds his speech so that it serves as a bridge between the listener and the Gospel, in other words, so that it seems that between the listener and There is nothing in the gospel. Metropolitan Anthony says: “Gospel events often seem to us distant, almost illusory, and at the same time they are addressed to each of us at every moment,” and in his sermon he minimizes the distance separating modern man from the living Christ, and makes us participants in the gospel story.

Liturgy. In this context, this means that the theology of Metropolitan Anthony puts into words the predominantly silent Sacrament of the Church: not any part of the Church rite and not one of the sacraments, but the totality of Church communion. His word brings a person into the Church like a sacrament. Metropolitan Anthony speaks of this quality of the word as applied to the experience of prayer: “Then each word of prayer gradually acquires vitality, some kind of explosive power, and when we pronounce these words, they explode our soul, illuminate it, give it an impulse, impetus and us. they connect with what is behind this experience: with God.

Anthropological. This feature of the teachings of Metropolitan Anthony is most of all revealed in this book, which is devoted primarily to anthropological problems. Metropolitan Anthony's sermon is aimed at restoring self-confidence to a frightened and deafened contemporary. Metropolitan Anthony constantly says that “the Gospel is all permeated with faith in man”, he also says that man is “the only point of contact between the believer and the unbeliever”, because “man is the reality that is the theme of the life of every person ". It emphasizes the immeasurable depth of every human personality, the infinite value of man to God, and the ever-present possibility of communion between God and man. This communication is in some sense equal in rights, that is, like a relationship of love or friendship, and not domination and slavery. Just like a personal and unique relationship with God, Metropolitan Anthony opens prayer for us. Thanks to the concentration of Metropolitan Anthony on a person in the fullness of being, his sermon gives the impression of being addressed to everyone personally, despite the fact that crowds listen to him. It calls each person to a personal dialogue with God.

In a modern secular society, the word of Metropolitan Anthony sounds unusual - this is the word of a preacher, a pastor, it is called upon to change people's lives, and not their views and beliefs, but not in the same way as the hypnotic, aggressive word of a conductor of any ideology changes, but rather in such a way, how poetry deepens it. Rilke says this: “Here [in art] there is not a single point where you cannot be seen. You have to live differently." We allow ourselves to add that in its special density and concentration, the word of Metropolitan Anthony transforms our life just as Holy Bible: For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword: it penetrates to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.(Heb 4:12).