Post for the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul: what makes me uneasy about Fr. Seraphim (Rose)

I live very close to St Hermans' Monastery where Fr Seraphim lived. When I visit with my friend from Romania (who is a strong supporter of Fr Seraphim) I meet so many people who have come from Europe, especially Russia, to visit his monastery. My friend keeps telling me Fr Serpahim isn't known here anywhere as much as he is known and revered in Eastern Europe and has brought many people there back to the faith through his writings. This is why she loves him so much. To Eastern Europeans who have embraced the West since communisms fall he was a voice, from the west, that said we did not have all the answers and that the \"new\" is not always the best. I agree that if he is to be canonized everything has to be examined but I can also understand that those who love him are not going to want to hear people question his goodness.

It might be just a little legalistic to suggest Father Seraphim Rose was sinning based on a missed canon. Seraphim Rose had an immacculate integrity and a love for the Truth. He taught the Toll houses simply because he with purity believed the Fathers of the church. He did not pick and choose what he wanted to believe, but he believed all things handed down. That is what makes him the authority on these matters. Regardless if we believ in them, they exist. It is the clear teachings of the church fathers.

My Orthodox Friends: We who knew Fr. Seraphim Rose knew a man of True Orthodox Faith. He was a convert and when he became orthodox his teacher of his faith and the one he looked to for his guidence was St. John of SF and the Holy Fathers of the Church. He was a great man of prayer. Fr. Seraphim Rose lived his faith and all he wanted to do was to serve God's Holy Church. He is the one who taught me my Orthodox Faith. In fact he was my and my son's God Father. What ever he wrote is sound Orthodox teaching. When they lived in SF he was in church everyday twice a day reading and singing. I would never question in any way his writings or his teaching or him when it comes to the faith. He never question the teaching of the Orthodox Faith. He was a true Man of God. I know this for a fact and 1st handed. Because I knew him VERY, VERY WELL.