Holy Virgin Cathedral in SF to host Lenten Retreat on life and legacy of Hieromonk Seraphim Rose of Platina

ONE DAY ONLY - SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 2026

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY BISHOP JAMES OF SONOMA

The announcement plus full schedule, online registration, and extensive photo gallery was recently posted on the website of the ROCOR Western Diocese, and includes the following:

We are pleased to announce that our XV Annual Lenten Retreat at Holy Virgin Cathedral will take place on Sunday, March 22, 2026, – it will be a very special one. At the 2025 December session of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia it was resolved to establish a commission to study the life, legacy and veneration of the ever-memorable Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of Platina: ascetic, theologian, priest, missionary, translator, profound Orthodox thinker, apologist, spiritual writer, and one time chanter-reader at Holy Virgin Cathedral.

Our talks will be presented by Bishop James of Sonora, Chairman of the new Commission, and Archpriest Martin Person, Dean of the Western American Diocese San Francisco Deanery – two clergymen who personally knew Fr. Seraphim, and for whom he played a significant role in their conversion to Orthodoxy. Besides the talks there will be beautiful fellowship, a Q&A period, and wonderful lenten meals.

RETREAT SCHEDULE

7:30 – 9:45  Divine Liturgy (in English)

10:00–10:45  Breakfast 

10:45 – 12:15  THE BIOGRAPHY OF A MAN TRANSFORMED BY CHRIST - Archpriest Martin Person

Can one speak of holiness in our age? How does the transformation of an atheist to Orthodox Christian take place? Our first speaker, a convert to Orthodoxy himself, with many years of service to the Church, – Fr. Martin – will delve into the life of Hieromonk Seraphim and reveal the "mystery" of this holy man.

12:15 – 1:30  Lunch Break

1:30 – 3:00  KEYNOTE ADDRESS: REFLECTIONS ON FR. SERAPHIM’s THEOLOGICAL, PASTORAL & PROPHETIC LEGACY – Bishop James of Sonora

Vladika James is an excellent and engaging speaker, with exceptional spiritual insight and a special way of connecting with people and helping them discover the concept of Orthodox phronema – the Orthodox mindset, or outlook. His reflections will certainly open to us the meaning and place of Fr. Seraphim in the XX and XXI centuries.

3:00 – 4:00 CLERGY ROUND TABLE Q&A

4:00 — End of Retreat

Much more info, with links to register, on the website of the ROCOR Western Diocese.

See this special article on the retreat by the Union of Orthodox Journalists.

ROCOR establishes commission 'to study the life, legacy, and veneration of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose)'

This marks the first definitive action taken by the ROCOR Synod of Bishops towards considering the possible glorification of Fr Seraphim Rose.

This is most welcomed news. Not only that the ROCOR Synod has established such a formal commission to consider the life, legacy, and veneration of Fr Seraphim Rose, but that it affirmed Bishop James of Sonora to head the task. 

His Grace, Bishop James (Corazza) converted to Orthodoxy during the same period in the late 1970s and early 80s at UC Santa Cruz which also saw the conversions of several other key figures of Orthodoxy in North America, including Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen), Bishop Gerasim (Eliel), Abbot Damascene (Christensen) of Platina, and others who were all positively influenced by the life and work of Father Seraphim. Bishop Gerasim and Abbot Damascene of course began their monastic lives under Fr Seraphim.

During this period, James Paffhausen, the future Abbot and Metropolitan Jonah, formed an Orthodox fellowship, drawing many to the Orthodox Church:

“In the St. Seraphim of Sarov Fellowship, the conversions had a domino effect, with converts bringing other young seekers to their new-found faith.

"The students in the fellowship loved the books published by the St. Herman Brotherhood, including those by Fr. Seraphim. One student, James N. Corazza [now Bishop James of Sonora] recalls: 'I shall never forget the evening — after a year and a half of difficult searching — when I finished Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future and everything fell joyously into place, and I knew beyond all doubt and vacillation that my future was to be in Christ’s Church'.” [1]

In short, Bishop James is warm to the task, and is the ideal figure to lead this process. May it be blessed!

Much more to say about this soon, God willing, but for now, let us say ‘Amen!’, and rejoice today on the feast (New Calendar) of St Herman of Alaska, and pray for the imminent glorification of Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim of Platina. 

For more reports on this news, and the official statement from the ROCOR Synod, see these links:

• ROCOR Synod Establishes Commission to Investigate the Life of Fr. Seraphim Rose - UOJ
• ROCOR studying life and veneration of Fr. Seraphim (Rose) towards possible canonization - OrthoChristian.com
• Press Release: ROCOR - Report of Meeting of the Synod of Bishops, December 2025

[1] Excerpt From Chapter 95 - Santa Cruz,  Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works, Hieromonk Damascene, Ebook Edition, St. Herman Brotherhood, Platina CA, 2010.

'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