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A Cabinet member wrote this to me:
I asked [X] about what they thought about Seraphim Rose and the talk about him becoming a saint. [X] said that far that too many people are “saint crazy”, meaning that they keep wanting to make new saints all the time… [X] also talked about [Death to the World] and how they changed bishops’ names like Bishop Antony of San Francisco. [X] said that the book made Vladyki Antony look bad… but [X] knew that he was a very good man.
I removed the name of the person involved, as it’d give hints about my interlocutor. You see, the reason Seraphim Rose’s cause isn’t moving forward quickly is that many of his “partisans” are a rather questionable lot, especially, the Platina gang. One source told me that Rose wouldn’t become a saint until Platina rejoined ROCOR. We have copious and well-documented sources for Rose’s life up until he left for Platina… after that, all that we have are interested questionable sources offered by Platina (those connected with Podmo are particularly suspect). I’m not being nasty; I’m taking a Bollandist approach, as one must. Sanctity is important, ergo, we don’t decide it on the grounds of hagiography. For instance, we had a plethora of attested (and objective non-Orthodox) sources for St John Maximovich… but we don’t in the case of Rose after Platina. A friend of mine cautioned (and they WERE wise, I’d say):
I’d be very careful in criticising Fr Seraphim. I know that the MP, Serbs, and ROCOR will open a case for glorification. Many miracles are attributed to his intercessions. Icons of him have wept. The Church verified the authenticity of the streaming (via examination, exorcism, prayers, etc). He’s reputedly appeared in visions to bishops.
Nonetheless, friends of mine at the Centre tell me that no formal case exists at present… although there’s a clamour for one to be open, it hasn’t happened yet. One of the reasons for it, as I mentioned above, is that some of his partisans are… well, insistent on a glorification without the usual and normal process. That simply will not be… it’s not in the cards. As a friend at the Centre said:
It’s only been about thirty years since his death. St Serafim Sarovsky died in the 1830s and the Church didn’t glorify him until the turn of the twentieth century (mostly at the urging of Tsar St Nikolai). If such a glorification takes place, it’d be at least twenty to thirty years ahead in future. The Church does take the long view of things.
I think that this is a fair and just view. The Church takes its time with such matters, as it should. I’ll be so bold as to say that if the Church glorifies Rose, it won’t be in my lifetime (I’m 60, after all). Let things develop naturally… that’s best, I’d say. Let the Church have the final word in this… isn’t that what Orthodox Christianity is all about, kids?
BMD
Voices from Russia 
2 August 2014. THIS is What One Must Expect from Anglo Americans… They ARE Petulant Children With Nuclear Weapons… God Do Preserve Us
Tags: Pogo, political commentary, politics, Rod Dreher, United States, USA
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Recently, I commented on an outside forum under my name… actually, it was a test to see if any Anglo Americans would bite and issue their usual ad hominem attacks without any substantive content. Here was the original comment by a rightwing Anglo (bad usage as in the original):
My reply to this was:
Here’s the reply of ”Porter Christiansen”… one doesn’t know if it’s a username or for real (I did post under my full name):
He thinks that Rod Dreher is a serious source. I kid you not. No one’s unaware that Dreher makes ad hominem attacks (remember his kicks at the Catholic Church?)… the above poster emulates that. I didn’t bring anything personal into it at all… but do note that Mr Christiansen posted no reply… only an attack. This is what rightwing Anglo Americans are like. It’s why I’ve come to hate their ideology and their ways. Rod Dreher only knows what people like Jonas Paffhausen (a disgraced and removed litigation-happy former bishop who allowed a suspended priest under his jurisdiction to sue a priest in good standing) and Victor Potapov (who was/is an employee of the CIA front “Radio Liberty”) told him (he has no facility in Russian and his lack of knowledge of the sources is clear in his writing). The same is true of Mr Christiansen. My warning to all of you is clear… these people don’t have any scruples…. NONE. “Winning is the only thing”… that’s their motto, that’s what they live by, and you forget it at your peril. They have a “narrative” and they’ll savage anyone who contradicts it. They’ll do so without limit or humanity. Do bear that in mind if you choose to comment in any public forum. We live in evil times… have a care.
By the way, I googled “Porter Christiansen” to check out their blog… they don’t have an internet presence… apparently, they’re just a vicious troll who enjoys lurking in the commboxes and offering snarky bites at all those who offend them. On the other hand, I’ve been on the net since November 2007. Most of the time, I’m rather too busy to run experiments like this. Sad to say, it confirmed my misgivings. This site has nearly eight million hits… Christiansen has none. There seems to be a slight difference… pass the jug, the world’s been crank again, hasn’t it?
BMD