Fr. Seraphim Rose - A Tribute

Fr. Seraphim and Food

Alexey Young likewise recalls: “I remember once asking Fr. Seraphim what his favorite food was, and he didn’t answer me. He didn’t even say, ‘I don’t have any’; he just changed the subject! Once, when he was coming to visit our home, someone had found out from Fr. Herman that there was, after all, something Fr. Seraphim liked. I don’t now recall what it was, but my wife fixed it for him — and I thought, ‘This will really please him.’ So a plate was put in front of him with what we believed was his favorite food, and he never paid any attention to it. He didn’t even seem to notice that the plate was in front of him. That was it.”

In later years Fr. Seraphim’s lack of concern for the taste and quality of food became the subject of jokes at the skete. Fr. Herman good-heartedly teased him about it. One day some of the younger pilgrims thought they would play a practical joke on Fr. Seraphim. For dessert they gave a scoop of vanilla ice cream to all the brothers, but to Fr. Seraphim they gave a scoop of mashed potatoes. Fr. Seraphim winked at Fr. Herman to show that he was aware of the joke, but without the slightest objection he ate the mashed potatoes. Afterwards the pilgrims felt remorse for what they had done.

-Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works, ch. 73 “It’s Later Than You Think!”

Orthodox Christians! Hold fast to the grace which you have; never let it become a matter of habit; never measure it by merely human standards or expect it to be logical or comprehensible to those who understand nothing higher than what is human or who think to obtain the grace of the Holy Spirit in some other way than that which the one Church of Christ has handed down to us. True Orthodoxy by its very nature must seem totally out of place in these demonic times, a dwindling minority of the despised and "foolish," in the midst of a religious "revival" inspired by another kind of spirit. But let us take comfort from the certain words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

Let all true Orthodox Christians strengthen themselves for the battle ahead, never forgetting that in Christ the victory is already ours. He has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church (Matt. 16:18), and that for the sake of the elect He will cut short the days of the last great tribulation (Matt. 24:22). And in truth, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). Even in the midst of the cruelest temptations, we are commanded to be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Let us live, even as true Christians of all times have lived, in expectation of the end of all things and the coming of our dear Saviour; for "He that giveth testimony of these things saith: Surely I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Apoc. 22:20).

-Fr. Seraphim Rose from Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future