Benutzer:Christian/Seraphim der Wundertäter von Sofia
http://bnr.bg/de/post/100663360/russischer-erzbischof-seraphim-sobolew-offiziell-heilig-gesprochen
Russischer Erzbischof Seraphim Sobolew offiziell heilig gesprochen veröffentlicht am 26.02.16 um 12:59
Der russische Erzbischof Seraphim Sobolew, der in der Krypta der Russischen Nikolaus-Kirche in Sofia begraben ist, wurde heute gemeinsam von der bulgarischen und der russischen orthodoxen Kirchen offiziell als Heiliger Seraphim der Wundertäter von Sofia heilig gesprochen.
Die Heiligsprechung fand in der Patriarchenkathedrale "Hl. Alexander Newski" in Sofia im Beisein des bulgarischen Patriarchen Neofit, Bischöfe der Heiligen Synode der bulgarischen orthodoxen Kirche und einer Delegation der russischen orthodoxen Kirche unter der Leitung von Hilarion Alfejew, Metropolit von Wolokolamsk und Leiter des Außenamtes des Moskauer Patriarchats statt.
Erzbischof Seraphim Sobolew wurde Vorsteher der Russischen Nikolaus-Kirche in Sofia im Jahr 1914. Er wurde wegen seiner aufrichtigen Liebe und Güte schnell auch unter den Bulgaren populär, die seinen Predigten gespannt lauschten. Manche Gläubige waren überzeugt, dass seine heißen Gebete zur Lösung ihrer schwersten Probleme und zur Gesundung der schwersten Erkrankungen führen.
http://orthochristian.com/91065.html
CELEBRATIONS IN SOFIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE GLORIFICATION OF ST. SERAPHIM (SOBOLEV)
February 27, 2016
February 26, 2016 the main celebrations of the canonization of St. Seraphim (Sobolev) of Boguchar took place in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Tthe rite of canonization was celebrated by His Holiness Patriarch Neofit in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky. Concelebrating were Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Neloc Oprea of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Sofia, Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemyatovsky) of the Moscow metochion of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and several other priests and deacons from Moscow monasteries and Orthodox educational institutions.
The service was attended by public officials and personalities from Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Cyprus and Romania.
At the Great Doxology the clergy prayerfully processed from the altar carrying the icon of St. Seraphim of Boguchar, at which point the Act of Canonization of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church was read, as well as the message of the Patriarch and Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
After a brief Moleben and Magnification to St. Seraphim the choir sang as the people venerated the image of the newly-glorified saint, which led into the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.
After the Divine Liturgy His Holiness Patriarch Neofit addressed the faithful with words of welcome, congratulating them with the great celebration and thanking God for granting the Orthodox Church a new heavenly intercessor.
In his speech Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk noted that the flow of worshipers to the Archbishop's place of burial never stopped even during the years of persecution. He also drew attention to the many facets of the personality of St. Seraphim, noting his role in Church life as a pastor, intercessor and wonderworker. Metropolitan Hilarion then presented Patriarch Neofit an icon of St. Seraphim, Archbishop of Boguchar and Sofia, the Wonderworker on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill.
After a reception at the "Balkan" hotel, Metropolitan Hilarion served a Moleben in the crypt of the St. Nicholas podvoriye church to St. Seraphim, assisted by Metropolitans Anthony of Mid- and Western Europe and John of Varna and Veliki Preslav.
The same evening, Metropolitan Hilarion and the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church met with His Holiness Neofit and other hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to discuss the development of relations between the two Churches and the themes on the Pan-Orthodox agenda.
The festivities continued in the "Moscow House" with the presentation of the book "Life, Ascetic Teachings, and Sermons of St. Seraphim, Archbishop of Boguchar," published by the Podvoriye of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia.
Finally, several choirs gave a concert dedicated to the glorification of St. Seraphim which took place in the ancient church of the Holy Wisdom, and was attended by His Holiness Neofit and other hierarchs of the Bulgarian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
http://orthochristian.com/90475.html
DEFENDER OF ORTHODOXY ARCHBISHOP SERAPHIM (SOBOLEV) The newly-canonized saint, Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) of Boguchar (Bulgaria), has been known by the faithful since his lifetime as a defender of the Orthodox faith in the face of various new trends decisions that faced the Orthodox Church worldwide during the very complicated twentieth century. For those who are not familiar with his life, we reproduce here a biography from Orthodox America posted on ROCA.org.
From my mother’s womb Thou art my Protector. (Ps. 70:6).
Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev) The age-old enemy of our salvation, as if sensing in advance what a powerful and implacable adversary he would have in the person of Vladyka Seraphim, tried to destroy him while still in his mother’s womb. She had an extremely difficult and painful labor, and the doctors determined it would be necessary to operate-to extract the infant piece by piece in order to save the mother’s life. At this moment she regained consciousness and, on learning of the doctor’s decision, with an oath forbade her husband to permit the murder of her child. The next morning, at the first stroke of the church bell on December 1, 1881, she successfully gave birth without any outside help. When she saw the baby, she exclaimed, “Oh, what a serious mukhtar!” The infant was named Nicholas in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, but his family sometimes called him “mukhtar,” an apparently senseless word which he disliked terribly. Years later, Bishop Nestor of Manchuria visited Vladyka Seraphim in Sofia. He presented him with a book of his memoirs, in which, in the chapter about his visit to Jerusalem, it said that the word mukhtar means “bishop” in Arabic. And so, not realizing it herself, his mother had foretold the destiny of her newborn child. Nicholas was an excellent student and, after attending the local parish school, he entered the seminary. There, in the second to the last year, he decided to devote his life to God. With tears he began to pray fervently and made this vow to the Saviour, “My Saviour! Help me to write my compositions well, and I promise to be a monk and belong to Thee with every fibre of my being.” From that time on, his compositions were always the best in the class.
When he finished seminary, his mother, considering his health too weak to study at the Academy, tried to arrange for him to become a priest. To this end it was necessary to find a fiancée. Loving his mother and never opposing her in anything, Nicholas submitted entirely to her will and even was silent about his vow to become a monk. Suspecting nothing, his mother began arranging a marriage for her son, and in one summer they visited several towns and villages in search of a suitable bride. But such was not God’s will, and every time the matchmaking fell through, often in a completely incomprehensible way. Finally, in the middle of August, 1904, she said, “All our efforts concerning your marriage and setting you up as a priest have come to nothing. Now you arrange your own future.”
“In that case,” said Nicholas, “let’s go to the cathedral, to our Mother, the Queen of Heaven, to her wonderworking Bogoliubsk Icon and ask the Mother of God to show me herself my life’s path.”
His mother readily agreed. It turned out that the wonderworking Icon had been taken back to the village Zimarova, where it was usually kept. However, on the way to the cathedral, they met a friend of Nicholas’, Misha Smirnov, and Nicholas confided to him his predicament. “You were such a good student; surely it was not to become just a church reader. You should enroll in the Academy,” said Misha. When Nicholas protested that it was already too late and that he was completely unprepared for the competitive examinations, Misha pointed out that because of renovations the entrance exams at the Petersburg Theological Academy had been postponed until the end of August. “You are a person of deep faith,” said Misha emphatically. “Put your hope in God! The Saviour Himself will help you. Go without any preparation.”
These unexpected words from the first person they met Nicholas took as the answer from the Most Pure Mother of God to his prayer, clearly and definitely pointing out to him his path in life. Meanwhile, he felt in his heart an unusual joy and, when he confided this to his mother, she said she also felt great joy and added, “It’s obvious that this is God’s will. It’s obvious that this is your path.” Nicholas then went to the seminary library and gathered a whole stack of books. In the ten days he had to prepare, he had time only to look at the chapter headings and flip through thousands of pages of hefty theological textbooks. From this, all that formed in his head was chaos.
His mother gave him her last money for the trip together with her blessing, and Nicholas set out for the Academy.
The written examinations began. The most difficult was the first written examination in logic, on the topic, “From a logical point of view, how does one explain that in philosophical arguments, to the very same question the argumentations of both sides can be diametrically opposed to one another.” This difficult topic was given first with the purpose of immediately selecting the very best seminarians coming from all over Russia. Sighs were heard among the students. First one, then another, began rising from his seat, and gathering together his documents in order to return home. Nicholas began to pray fervently, “O Lord, give me understanding of what to write on such a difficult subject.” In answer he heard an inner voice, “Do not write from a logical, but rather from a psychological point of view.” He immediately began writing that from a logical point of view this was impossible to explain because the laws of logic are identical. And he developed his theme from a psychological approach, based on the words of the Saviour, “Out of the heart proceed your thoughts.” That is why from the proud heart of Leo Tolstoy came false teaching, but the grace-filled heart of Fr. John of Kronstadt poured out truth. Nicholas was worried that he had taken liberties in changing the topic, but, to his great amazement and joy, he received for this composition a 4.5, which was the highest grade and stood out from among the multitude of twos and threes and even ones received by other students.
After this began the oral examinations. The first was on dogmatic theology. Only two days were given for preparation. Nicholas spent them in the attic of the Academy, leafing through the pages of thick textbooks. At midnight on the eve of the exam, he sat on the stairs leading to the attic and wept. During these two days, all he had managed to do was to convince himself that of the 150 question cards he knew only one: “The history of the dogma of the Holy Trinity,” because he had answered it on an examination in seminary. With tears Nicholas prayed, “O Lord, my Saviour, Thou Who art merciful and all-powerful, make it so that tomorrow the question card, ‘The history of the dogma of the Holy Trinity’ will fall to me. Otherwise I will fail and go home with great sorrow and grieve my mother.”
