'California Son' - by Paul Kingsnorth

On the Patron Saint of Lost Western People

Back in May of this year, Paul Kingsnorth published this article to his Substack, noting that, "It’s about the life of a pioneering American Orthodox figure whose journey has both intrigued and inspired me."

It's a fresh approach and appraisal of Father Seraphim Rose, by one of the most important thinkers and writers, Orthodox or otherwise, of our time, which makes it doubly unique and important, as Fr Seraphim is, in my estimation, one of it not the most important Orthodox thinker and writer of the last sixty years.

California Son

On the Patron Saint of Lost Western People

by Paul Kingsnorth, The Abbey of Misrule, April 27, 2025

Last year I was invited to give a talk about Christianity and nature at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York. After the talk, I took some questions from the audience. One of the questions, asked in sweet innocence, was a deadly honeytrap for a visiting Englishman:

“What do you think of America?”

I had just been talking about the dangers to the soul of the technological culture of Silicon Valley, and the impact of its machine-like ways of thinking on the world, so I said the first thing that came into my head. This is rarely a good idea, especially in public.

“America is Babylon,” I said. Then, remembering I was speaking to an audience of Americans, I quickly added a qualification.

“It’s Babylon,” I said, “but it might also be the place that counters Babylon. It’s as if one force somehow begets the other. After all, California is home to Silicon Valley, but it’s also home to the monastery of Seraphim Rose.”

Somebody else in the audience put their hand up.

“Who’s Seraphim Rose?” they asked.

It was a fair question. The strange name I had conjured is hardly widely known. It is the name of a man who in many ways embodied the twentieth-century West’s aching search for meaning. A man who pushed himself out of the desert of modern materialism, through a banquet of “alternative spiritualities,” and into an ascetic, monastic life in the oldest and most traditional stream of Christianity: the Eastern Orthodox Church. Seraphim Rose is the unofficial patron saint of lost Western people, and only America could have made him.

Today, with the Orthodox Church in the U.S. growing faster than it ever has, and with young people flooding many of its parishes, interest in his life and work has reached new heights. Sales of his books continue to grow, his grave has become a place of pilgrimage, and there are more and more persistent calls for him to be recognized as a saint of the Church. Slowly and quietly, he may be helping to remake America...

Read the full post here, and consider subscribing to Paul Kingsnorth's Abbey of Misrule.

New Video Interview with Fr John Valadez

The YouTube Channel 'Roots of Orthodoxy' presents a one-hour interview with Fr John Valadez, priest at St Timothy Orthodox Church (Antiochian Archdiocese) in Lompoc, California, speaking about Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim Rose. 

Of the many recent videos about Father Seraphim done by a variety of channels, this is one of the most significant and helpful interviews yet presented, as Fr John is the "second generation" editor and publisher of the Death To The World  'zine, and has been deeply impacted by Fr Seraphim's life and "leaven." He relates aspects of Fr Seraphim's life, teachings, and pastoral approach clearly and with appreciation, sharing the impact of Fr Seraphim on his own life and his conversion to Orthodoxy.

Perhaps because of his punk background and the remarkable intervention of Father Seraphim during his conversion, Fr John Valadez "keeps it real," and always draws the listener back to Fr Seraphim's pastoral heart, to the "one thing needful," to the "Royal Path," and "God's Revelation to the Human Heart."

Saints... But Not Yet? (VIDEO)

Fr Peter Heers: On the Veneration of Saintly People Not Officially Glorified

Orthodox Ethos, Nov 4, 2024 — Excerpted from Lesson 25: The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle & Evangelist John the Theologian, Rev. 20:11 (Series 4), by Fr. Peter Heers

Fr Peter answers a viewer's question about "praying to" righteous departed Orthodox who have not been formally glorified by the Church. Of course, he discusses Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim:

Link to full episode: https://youtube.com/live/hc5dqG7mzk4

'Saints often come in pairs...'

Remembering Hieromonk Seraphim Rose on the feast (July 2) of his mentor and spiritual father, St John (Maximovitch), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco

Fresco of St John Maximovitch, Brother José Munoz & Fr Seraphim Rose, Holy Dormition Church in northern Moscow, Russia.

In a new article advocating for the glorification of Blessed Father Seraphim (which I intend to cover more in a future post), I came across this important affirmation:

Another theme we see with saints, often times they come in pairs. St. Gregory of Nyssa was a disciple under his brother St. Basil the Great. St. Augustine was the disciple of St. Ambrose of Milan. St. Justin Popovich was the disciple of St. Nikolai Velimirovich. St. Sophrony was the disciple of St. Silouan the Athonite. St. Ephraim was the disciple of St. Joseph the Hesychast. There’s countless more examples. 

Who was Fr. Seraphim Rose a disciple of?  St. John Maximovitch.

The connections between St John and Fr Seraphim began early in then Eugene's life in the Orthodox Church:

“Gleb, as we have seen, had been much more privileged than Eugene in having known a whole host of great “living links” with Orthodox tradition. In December of 1962, however, Eugene met the greatest of them all: the future Saint, Archbishop John Maximovitch. Interestingly, Archbishop John arrived in San Francisco one year to the day after Eugene had first met Gleb: the Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple.” [1]

After Archbishop John's arrival in San Francisco, “Eugene was immediately aware of the change." As Hieromonk Damascene describes it in his epic biography of Father Seraphim:

When he attended services in the Cathedral, he saw the new bishop wholeheartedly taking part, sometimes pulling out services to relatively unknown saints, especially those of Western European lands. There was something unearthly in this tiny, bent-over old man, who by worldly standards seemed hardly “respectable.” Archbishop John’s hair was unkempt, his lower lip protruded, and he had a speech impediment that made him barely intelligible. He sometimes went about barefoot, for which he was severely criticized. Instead of the glittering, jeweled mitre worn by other bishops, he wore a collapsible hat pasted with icons embroidered by his orphans. His manner was at times stern, but a playful gleam could often be seen in his eyes, especially when he was with children. Despite his speech problem, he had a tremendous rapport with children, who were absolutely devoted to him...  [2]

The Glorification of St Olga of Alaska - A model for the eventual glorification of Blessed Father Seraphim Rose (and others)

The ranks of the Saints of North America could grow even more over the coming years, if their popular veneration and the sharing of their lives and intercessions continues to take root and spread.

From an Anchorage Daily News article, the following observations about St Olga provide a classic example of local veneration by the faithful leading to glorification by the universal Church, and apply equally well to the cause for the glorification of Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina, and other righteous ones of North America:

“People were painting icons of her, as if she were already a saint,” said The Most Reverend Daniel, Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest, who was the chair of the canonization committee.

In 2023, the Orthodox Church in America’s national leadership voted to make Matushka Olga a saint. To Alaskans, especially, the decision to formally recognize Olga as a saint was a foregone conclusion, Archbishop Daniel said.

“The question I got was, well, what took you so long? ...  It was a grassroots veneration that began in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region and spread," he said.