Вестник Свято-Филаретовского института (Nov 2023)
Letters of Hegumen Stefan (Svetozarov) from Paris to Valaam in 1938–1939. Preparation for publication, foreword T.I.Shevchenko
Abstract
The publication presents letters from Paris of the period 1938–1939 by emigrant priest hegumen Stefan (Svetozarov). He was subordinated to Metropolitan Eulogius (Georgievsky), but after his transition to the Constantinople Patriarch subordination, he departed from him. Hegumen Stefan remained loyal to the Moscow Patriarchate. He wrote to the Valaam Monastery, which remained on the territory of independent Finland after the revolution and, together with the Finnish Orthodox Church, had been subordinated to the Patriarch of Constantinople since 1923. The Valaam monastery never broke the connection with the motherland, prayed for the suffering Russian Church, the Abbot corresponded with Metropolitan Sergiy (Stragorodsky) while there was an opportunity. But the monastery also tried to maintain relations with compatriots in exile. The letters confirm this. The author shared his thoughts on the positions taken by representatives of different jurisdictions into which the Russian Orthodox community abroad split, explained choice of jurisdiction, and talked about the difficulties of emigrant life. The letters are published for the first time and help to recreate the images of our compatriots who lost their homeland after the revolution, and to trace their further fate. In addition, the publication recreates the atmosphere of jurisdictional disputes in the Russian abroad and clarifies the motives of their participants.
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