DTTW Issue #32 dedicated to Fr Seraphim Rose

• SPECIAL COLOR EDITION - AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER NOW
• 100+ page Commemorative Issue crowns Year of Progress towards Glorification of Fr Seraphim Rose

The 44th Anniversary this year of the Repose in the Lord of Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose) of Platina is a very special one, to be sure. The last year has seen several official announcements and events by the ROCOR Synod of Bishops advancing the cause of the glorification of Father Seraphim and his eventual addition into the Calendar of Saints. 

In addition, several Orthodox writers, filmmakers, and creatives have published or announced works with the express purpose of advocating for his glorification.  

Taken in sequence, we have seen the following (follow links for more info):

December 2025: 

• ROCOR establishes commission 'to study the life, legacy, and veneration of Hieromonk Seraphim (Rose), led by Bp James of Sonora.

March 2026:

• Holy Virgin Cathedral (in San Francisco) Lenten Retreat dedicated to the Life, Teachings, and Legacy of Fr Seraphim Rose, featuring Bp James of Sonora 
• Interview with Abp. Gabriel of Montreal & Canada
• Director Yelena Popovic Teases Film Project on Fr. Seraphim Rose
• New Book Calls for Glorification of Fr. Seraphim Rose 

May 2026:

• The ROCOR Synod after their Spring meeting in Berlin, issued a statement blessing "the process of preparing [Father Seraphim Rose's] ecclesiastical glorification among the ranks of our venerable Fathers."
• Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe, who was present at the Synod’s gathering, set forth the process going forward in an interview following the statement from the Synod, noting "that the Council of Bishops recognises even now, at this point in the process, the righteous way of life of Fr Seraphim," and that "We look forward to ecclesially proclaiming it more fully... so that what we already taste might become the source of spiritual nourishment for so many…"

Which brings us to this Special Color Edition of Death To The World.

A special edition and the latest DTTW issue. This issue is printed in full color and dedicated to Father Seraphim Rose, featuring new and past DTTW articles about his life, works, and miracles. 

The issue is over 100 pages in length and printed as a perfect bound booklet. For the first printing, everyone will receive a printed card of a new icon of Fr Seraphim. 

Tier 3+ Patreon members will receive a free copy by a special link and code provided through Patreon.

Follow the links above to pre-order Special Issue #32, or to become a Patreon supporter of DTTW.

These are the articles included in the issue:

Introductory Article: 

• "Encountering Fr. Seraphim" by Fr John Valadez

Past DTTW articles colorized:

• Original 1994 article entitled "The Last True Rebellion: The Radical Catacomb Teaching of Fr Seraphim Rose" by Fr Damascene Christensen
• "A Suffering Heart: A Saint Amidst A Dying Materialistic Age" (2007)
• "A Holy Beacon" by Fr Turbo Qualls (2008)

Other Articles:

• "The American Acquisition of the Patristic Mind" by Fr Maximos (Vincent) Rossi
• "California Son: Patron Saint of Lost Western People" by Paul Kingsnorth

Fr Seraphim's Work:

• "Raising the Mind and Warming the Heart"
• "In Step with Saints Patrick and Gregory of Tours"

PLUS these personal testimonies:

QR Codes to recorded interviews by Bishop Gerasim Eliel and Abbot Damascene Christensen on their experiences with Fr Seraphim

Submissions from readers on miracles and encounters with Fr. Seraphim's life and works.

And much more!

Looking at Fr Seraphim Rose through 'fresh eyes'

 Revisiting Paul Kingsnorth's 2025 essay, 'California Son'

Hieromonk Seraphim Rose aat Platina, Bright Week 1981

Over at my still relatively new Substack, I have been posting more frequently about the Glorification process for Blessed Hieromonk Seraphim Rose. 

Today I felt it would be helpful to share an April 2025 essay by author Paul Kingsnorth, who, as a recent convert to Orthodoxy, brings a fresh and even bold perspective on Father Seraphim.

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.

'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.