Alexander Schmemann

6. Russian Orthodoxy (41 pages)

From Schmemann's A History of the Orthodox Church

Page 37

There was also an obvious rebirth of monasticism in Russia and a new, unforgettable resurgence of holiness in the synodal period. The eighteenth century was illumined by St.
Tihon of Zadonsk (1724-82), and the early nineteenth century by the wonderful light of St. Serafim of Sarov, the elders of Optina Pustyn, and many other centers of spiritual life.[73] Here the ancient but eternally youthful traditions of Orthodoxy were very clearly restored, and the full force of the never-silent summons to “do honor to the heavenly calling” appeared once more. Behind the complex and tragic official history of Petersburg Russia we glimpse again and again another history which never ceased to develop, that of the slow summoning of the spirit, the “acquisition of grace,” the enlightenment of the blackened human image by the ineffable glory of the First Model. One cannot reduce the history of Russia to the history of her culture, political struggle, social movements, or economic development, and forget this dimension of holiness, which drew so many to it (and not only the common people by any means) — this gradual but inspiring inward liberation of Orthodoxy from its bureaucratic destiny. To ignore this process would mean to overlook something most essential in the spiritual progress of Russia and of all Orthodoxy, in that crucial nineteenth century when the curtain was already rising on the “accomplishments” of the twentieth.

 

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Reference address : https://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/schmemann-orthodoxy-6-russian-orthodoxy.asp?pg=37