Homily. Sunday 3.11.2019 Newly canonized Sophrony In the Name… Every year new appear upon the earth. Some are men. Some are women. Heroic women like Mother Maria Skobtsova, the nun who worked secretly to save the lives of Jews in under Nazi occupation. She was arrested for this and died in a concentration camp.

The latest newly recognised Saint is Sophrony of Essex in . He was declared a Saint in a ceremony on on 20th October, just past. It is a wonderful thing for those of us who live in England to have recognised as a true Orthodox Saint one who lived and died in this very country in our life- time. Not hundreds of years ago like so many of the Saints that we know - but in our own time. Sophrony is a modern Saint. A Saint whose life is accurately recorded in detail and not shrouded in myths and legends of long ago. We even have many photographs of him, taken in his lifetime. Sophrony adopted England as his home. But it was not in England that he was born. 1 He was born in Russia. His original name was SERGEI SYMEONOVICH SAKHAROV. As a small child Sergei was very devout. He loved the Divine Liturgy and spent hours quietly praying on his own. But that didn’t last.

As a teenager he rebelled against religion. He rejected and took himself off to to the the Acadamy of Arts. At that time of his life his only desire was to become a succesful artist. It was the time of turmoil in Russia when Communism was taking over and many Russians turned against the Church and declared themselves atheists. The godless artist Sergei emigrated to Paris. It seemed to him to be the place where an artist might flourish. And indeed as an artist he did flourish. He had succesful Exhbitions of his work. He sold many paintings. He had acheived his ambition - but it did not bring satisfaction.

2 Disillousioned with Art and godlessness he turned back to the Orthodox church of his childhood. He did not only return to the church. He enrolled as a student of Theology at the Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris which had been set up and was run by Russians who had fled from Communist persecution. At that time there were thousands of Russian refugees living in Paris. Sergei had regained his faith in Christ and the Church but he was still not satisfied. He wanted something more. Something deeper than the intellectual study of Christian Doctrine. So in 1926 he took himself of to Mount Athos and entered the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon as a Novice. For many years he soaked himself in prayer under the supervision of his spiritual father Silouan. In the monastery Sergei was eventually ordained priest with the new name SOPHRONY. After many years of training with the Community of monks in the monastery Father Sophrony was given permission to live alone as a solitary hermit in a cave on Mount Athos. Here he plunged himself ever deeper and deeper into the life of Prayer.

3 He was in love with God ! However he was not destined to live out his days on the Holy Mountain. He was led to go out into the world again and at first served as chaplain to a residential home for the elderly back in Paris.

It was during this second period of his life in Paris that, without him seeking it, people began to come to him for spiritual advice and direction. Christians who were looking for a deeper faith and a closer walk with God. A small Community formed around Father Sophrony and they began to look for a House where they could all live together a Community dedicated to the Christian Life.

This is where England comes into the picture. I don’t know how it came about, but Father Sophrony bought from the Church of England an old Vicarage in Essex. He got it cheap. The Vicarage was located in a thinly populated rural area. It was a quiet location in the countryside. Fr Sophrony not only got the Vicarage at a cheap price. He eventually took over the nearby Anglican church to which the Vicarage had belonged.

4 In 1958 Father Sophrony crossed the channel with six companions - men and women - and moved into the old Vicarage. And so the Monastery of St John the Baptist was born at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex, England. The Community grew and as the years went by more buildings were added.

From the beginning it was a mixed monastery housing both monks and nuns. Father Sophrony has had an enormous influence on Orthodoxy in England. The monastery flourished and grew and today is home to about 40 monastics. They lead a life of deep prayer, study and manual labour. Each year they receive thousands of visitors. Some visit out of curiosity. More visit to make their Confession to the Spiritual Fathers. Many visit simply to gain encouragement in their desire to live a Christian life in the midst of this godless English Land. This country,( in which I was born and which I love has turned its back on its long Christian past and is trying to live without God.

5 During his lifetime Father Sophrony’s deep sincerity and vast experince was recognised by all who met him. He was a man who radiated holiness. His life demonstrates what is possible to those who have faith. Saint Sophrony died peacefully in the monastery in 1993 at the age of 97 years. His body lies in a crypt in the monastery grounds.

I have visited the monastery and crypt myself and it is truly soaked in the atmosphere of prayer.

In his earthly life Saint Sophrony helped many people on the Christian Way not only by personal private counselling but also by the teaching and encouragement he gave to thousands more in the books that he wrote. Books that continue to be published to this day.

In his heavenly life Saint Sophrony continues to help pilgrims here on earth by the example he left behind - and by the prayers he pours our for us before the Throne of God. Holy Father Sophrony. Sophrony of Essex. Pray for us ! 6 Troparion:

O pure rose from your Mother Russia, O Father Sophrony, the protector of your British Garden of love and grace, who wisely moves those pure in heart like babes against the darkness, illumining them with fiery stylus of the Spirit, the great theologian and standing first with good deeds, teaching and writing divine and universal translations. As he is a friend of the Lord, let us honour him, as His holy disciple and Saint, that he might protect those who love him as an offering.

Kontakion:

As a queen bee, O Father, you gave birth to the rational bees gathered around you into the honeycomb of Light, O Father, and gathered the honey of incorruption and the pure beeswax fashioned by your God, exalting the isle of Britain, O Venerable Sophrony.

These hymns, and more on the life of this new Saint, can be found here: http://full-of-grace-and- truth.blogsp...

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