Saint Sophrony of Essex Resource Page

St. Sophrony of Essex (Feast Day - July 11)

Verses

Sophronios greatly shined in his life,
Now he more than shines in the chorus of the Saints.
On the eleventh Sophronios was placed with the Spirit of God.

 

Synaxarion of our Venerable and God-Bearing Father Sophrony of Essex 

 

Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of Essex (+ 1993) 

 

The Last Days of Elder Sophrony (+ 11 July 1993)

 

A Short Film of the Life of Saint Sophrony of Essex By and For Children

 

Saint Sophrony and the Children That Visited Him

 

The Legacy of Saint Sophrony the Hagiorite (An Interview With Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

The First Meeting of Saint Sophrony of Essex and Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos
 

Athonite Neo-Hesychast Fathers (3 of 3)

 

Contemporary Testimonies of the Vision of God on the Holy Mountain  

Archimandrite Zacharias on the Theology of St. Silouan and Elder Sophrony

 

Two Introductory Books on Modern Orthodox Spirituality Recommended by Fr. John Romanides

 

Metr. Kallistos of Diokleia on Elder Sophrony   

 

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (1 of 4) 

 

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (2 of 4)  

 

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (3 of 4)

 

An Interview With Elder Sophrony About Saint Silouan the Athonite (4 of 4)

 

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (1 of 5)

 

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (2 of 5)

 

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (3 of 5)

 

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (4 of 5)

 

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (5 of 5)

 

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (1 of 5)

  

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (2 of 5)

 

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (3 of 5)

 

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (4 of 5) 

 

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (5 of 5 

A Morning Prayer by Elder Sophrony of Essex

 

A Christmas Card from Elder Sophrony Saharov

 

The Incarnation as the Foundation of our Spiritual Life (Elder Sophrony) 

 

Elder Sophrony: "Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany"

 
Elder Sophrony: The Basics of the Divine Liturgy

 

Before the New Testament, Was the Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the Greatest Mission of the Church

 

The Light of the Transfiguration Confirms the Knowledge of God

 

Elder Sophrony on the Lowest and Loftiest Spiritual States 

 

Elder Sophrony on the Calendar Issue

 

Elder Sophrony on the Toll Houses, Hell and Paradise 

 

Elder Sophrony: "The World Does Not Need a Political Church"

 

Academic Theology is Not Enough for Salvation

 

Elder Sophrony: The Salvation of the Heterodox

 

Elder Sophrony: On Eastern Religions  

Elder Sophrony and the Union of Churches

 

Why So Few Writings By Holy Women?  

Married Life and Praying Like Ascetics

 

Elder Sophrony: 'All Humanity in a State of Accidie'

 

Saint Sophrony of Essex on Saint Seraphim of Sarov

A Prayerful Encounter Between Saint Porphyrios and Elder Sophrony

 

The Gift of Tongues is Repeated in the Lives of the Saints Till This Day (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol)

 

When Saint Nicholas Appeared to Elder Andrew of Saint Paul's on Mount Athos in 1975

 

The Appearance of Saint Nicholas to Elder Andrew in 1975 

 

Ecumenical Patriarch Announces the Canonization of Elder Sophrony of Essex

 

Elder Sophrony of Essex and Elder Hieronymos of Simonopetra Officially Canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate 

 

Two Chapels Dedicated to the Newly-Canonized Saints Kallinikos of Edessa and Sophrony of Essex in Nafpaktos  

 

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (5 of 5)

 ...continued from part four.

8. On Prayer

It is an amazing book, which includes what is most selectively written about the theology of prayer and its practice. In Russian (original) it was published in 1991, in English it was published in 1985 and in Greek it was published in 1993 first in the puristic language and then in 2009 in the demotic.

It is divided into three parts. In the first part, a theological analysis of prayer is made, that is, "Prayer as an Endless Creation", "Prayer as the Way to Knowledge", "Prayer Overcomes the Impasse of Tragedy", regarding prayer made with effort in which man is regenerated, for eternity. In the second part there is a special discourse about the Prayer of Jesus, the well-known "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me" and specifically called "The Jesus Prayer", "The Jesus Prayer: Method", "The Jesus Prayer for All Times and Occasions". The third part talks about the "Spiritual Life" and "The Role of the Father-Confessor". At the end are published the morning prayer "When Awakening From Sleep", and the "liturgical prayers" compiled by Saint Sophrony to be read in the Divine Liturgy after the Gospel and before the beginning of the Liturgy of the Faithful, to prepare those who are in attendance for their participation in the Divine Liturgy and the Divine Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Also, the prayers "For the Reposed", "For the Reposed Priests" and "Prayer for Unity" are also published.

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (4 of 5)

...continued from part three.

6. Words of Life

This book was originally published in French in 1992, the year before Saint Sophrony died, and was published in Greek in 1995. It is not a book written by Saint Sophrony, but brief extracts from his oral talks.

As Maxime Egger writes in his introductory note to the Greek translation, in 1990 he remained for a long time in the Holy Monastery of the Honorable Forerunner in Essex, England, where he attended some oral homilies of Saint Sophrony to the brotherhood, and he also had heard about 40 previous homilies that were recorded and he collected some excerpts from them and published them, in the manner of the chapters of various saints recorded in the "Philokalia of the Sacred Neptics". These homilies were later published in their entirety in three volumes titled "Hearken, my Beloved Brethren".

These excerpts of these homilies were set by Maxime Egger as "a whole with continuity and consistency", which was given to Saint Sophrony who "recognized in them his own self" and gave it to him to be published. The same collector gave the title "On Spirit and Life" from the words of Christ "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" (John 6:63). Indeed, in these "spiritual chapters" one can see the "Spirit" and the "Life" spring forth, it is an expression of a great struggle, of about ninety years, and they offer a sense of eternal life in the Spirit.

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (3 of 5)

 ...continued from part two.

3. Asceticism and Theoria

This book was first published in Greek from Russian and French in 1996, that is, after the repose of Elder Sophrony. This comes third in the series, because the chapters of the book were written after the letters that constituted the book "Striving for Knowledge of God" and the book "Saint Silouan the Athonite", in France after the return of the Elder to Mount Athos.

The book consists of six texts written in different times, namely "The Basis of Orthodox Asceticism", "The Necessity of the Three Renunciations", "Christian Perfection and Monasticism", "The Unity of the Image of the Holy Trinity", "Discourse on the Transfiguration of the Lord", "Last Words".

Its title "Asceticism and Theoria" is consistent with the entire content of the book, because Saint Sophrony writes about Christian asceticism and theoria, with the meaning of the vision of God and the vision of the uncreated Light.

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (2 of 5)

 ...continued from part one.

1. Striving for Knowledge of God

This book consists of the letters that Saint Sophrony sent to Father David, later known as Demetrios Balfour, and published in the appendix of the book are excerpts from his letters, as well as letters of Balfour to Saint Sophrony.

Most of the letters of Elder Sophrony to Balfour were written at the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain, when he was a hierodeacon and very close to Saint Silouan, while some of them were written in the wilderness of the Holy Mountain, one in France and two in England.

These letters express the whole fire of repentance and the light of divine vision that occupied him at that time, as well as his close communication with Saint Silouan, since he was seen as a mediator between them.

The Unity of Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony (1 of 5)

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Saint Silouan the Athonite is celebrated today (September 24), that great empirical theologian of our Church, whose writings I can emphasize are similar to the texts of the Prophets, the Apostles and the Saints, all of whom had empirical knowledge of God, and were formulated with simplicity, which makes them admirable.

We met Saint Silouan from the book written by his fellow-ascetic and his son according to the Spirit, Saint Sophrony, otherwise he would have remained unknown, as many saints have remained unknown through the ages.

Two Chapels Dedicated to the Newly-Canonized Saints Kallinikos of Edessa and Sophrony of Essex in Nafpaktos

In honor of the one year anniversary of the canonization of his Elder, Saint Kallinikos of Edessa, which took place on 23 June 2020, Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos celebrated a Divine Liturgy, preached a sermon, did an artoklasia and blessed a festal kollyva on Tuesday 23 June 2021. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the first chapel dedicated to Saint Kallinikos, which is in the Church of Saint Paraskevi in Nafpaktos. The consecration of this chapel took place the day before, on the Monday of the Holy Spirit. Metropolitan Hierotheos expressed how he was deeply moved to consecrate this chapel as a Bishop to his late Elder, whom he greatly revered and wrote books about.

Metropolitan Hierotheos further explained how the two Holy Altars in the two niches on the north side and the south side of the Church of Saint Pareskevi will both be chapels. The one is the already consecrated Chapel of Saint Kallinikos of Edessa and the other will be consecrated next month and will be dedicated to Saint Sophrony of Essex, another holy Elder whom Metropolitan Hierotheos had many conversations with and authored books about.

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (5 of 5)

...continued from part four.

8. "Grace and Consequent Dogmatic Consciousness"

The ascetic after a great struggle against the passions, but also from the coming and the hiding of divine Grace, acquires the so-called "dogmatic consciousness". As is understood from the above, "dogmatic consciousness" is not a mental knowledge of the doctrines of faith, but an inner spiritual experience that God offers in the heart of man.

The Orthodox monk feels that Divine Grace, from a theological point of view, "is God's good gift, or a gift of God's goodness - the uncreated supra-human and meta-cosmic energy of Divinity." "When it is God’s good pleasure to unite with the human being, man perceives within himself the action of a Divine force which transfigures him and makes him no longer just potentially godlike—in the image of God—but actually godlike in likeness of being.​ The grace that is Divinity hallows man, divinizes him, makes him into a god."

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (4 of 5)

 

...continued from part three.

6. "Uncreated Divine Light and Ways of Contemplation"

The Uncreated Light is the "is eternal life, the Kingdom of God, the uncreated energy of Divinity."

"Uncreated Divine Light by its nature is absolutely different from ordinary physical light. Contemplating it begets, first and foremost, an all-absorbing feeling of the living God - an immaterial feeling of the Immaterial One, a noetic, yet not a rational perception which with irresistible force transports man into another world but so warily that he neither realises when it happens nor knows whether he is in or out of the body. At the time he is more effectively, more deeply conscious of himself than he ever is in everyday life, yet he forgets both himself and the world, carried away by the sweetness of the love of God. In spirit he beholds the invisible, breathes Him, is wholly in Him."

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (2 of 5)

 

...continued from part one.

2. "On the Development of Intrusive Thoughts"

Intrusive thoughts [logismoi] are the initial suggestions that develop into a sin and passion, which is why an ascetic gives great importance in not developing intrusive thoughts.

"The first stage [of intrusive thoughts] is when some spiritual influence approaches from without, which may, to begin with, be quite vague and shapeless. The initial stage in formation is the appearance in the field of man's inner vision of an image - and as this does not depend on one's will, it is not regarded as a sin. Images in some cases appear to take on visible form, while others are mostly products of the mind, but more often it is a combination of the two. As visible images also generate some thought or other, ascetics label all images 'intrusive thoughts' [logismoi].

The Mystical Journey of the Christian, Through the Desert, Towards the Resurrection and Pentecost (1 of 5)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The period of Great Lent, which we have entered, is a period of intense spiritual life, with fasting, prayer, repentance, temperance and all the means that Orthodoxy has.

This intense spiritual and interior life is preserved by our Church in the Sacred Services that take place at this time and in the troparia which are chanted. When one carefully reads the book of the Triodion and participates experientially in the worship of the Church, one will find that in this way the Church wants to give us a sense of what the purpose of Christianity is and what the content of the Christian life is.

It is characteristic that all the Saints of our Church loved especially this period, which leads to Easter, and the period of Pentecost, because in this period they distinguish the inner breath of our Church.

Synaxarion of our Venerable and God-Bearing Father Sophrony of Essex

By Athanasios, Hieromonk of Simonopetra

Synaxarion

On the 11th of this month (July), we commemorate our Venerable and God-bearing Father Sophronios, the Hagiorite, Founder and Builder of the Sacred and Stavropegic Monastery of the Honorable and Glorious Forerunner and Baptist John in Essex of England, where he venerably reposed in the Lord in the year 1993.

Verses

Sophronios greatly shined in his life,
Now he more than shines in the chorus of the Saints.
On the eleventh Sophronios was placed with the Spirit of God.

Metr. Kallistos of Diokleia on Elder Sophrony