Maxime Egger

This article by Maxime Egger presents the conception of spiritual life held by Father Alexander Men (1935-1990), a Russian Orthodox priest assassinated in 1990. Through a synthetic study based on his homilies, lectures and letters, the author identifies the fundamental structure of his thought: life in Christ as an ascensional, multidimensional and permanent movement oriented toward divine-humanity. The article shows that this spirituality, resolutely Christocentric, articulates contemplation and engagement in the world, patristic tradition and creative openness, divine synergy and human freedom. Men emerges as an heir of Soloviev and Berdyaev, rejecting any identitarian withdrawal or rigid ritualism. The principal theological contribution lies in the illumination of an original Orthodox synthesis, combining Philokalic rootedness, a prophetic sense of history and a cosmic vision of the Incarnation.

This article by Maxime Egger, founder of the Association Saint-Silouane l'Athonite, is drawn from a lecture delivered at the Abbey of Sylvanès in 1995. It offers a study of the figure of Staretz Silouan of Athos (1866-1938) from three complementary angles: the experience of the gift and loss of grace, the interpretation of Christ's words "Keep your mind in hell and do not despair," and prayer for the entire world as an expression of universal compassion. The author shows that this saying of Christ, far from any dolorism, constitutes a therapeutic path against pride, grounded in repentance and hope in divine mercy. The article highlights the universality of the staretz, canonized in 1987 by Constantinople as "apostolic and prophetic doctor of the Church and of the Christian people," whose influence extends well beyond the boundaries of Orthodoxy.

This article traces the spiritual destiny of Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov (1896-1993), a Russian monk, disciple of Staretz Silouan of Athos and founder of the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist in England. Written in the form of a spiritual biography by Maxime Egger, who was close to Father Sophrony, the text follows the major stages of his journey: his conversion to personal Christianity after a period of Eastern mysticism, the experience of the Uncreated Light, the decisive encounter with Staretz Silouan, the eremitic life on Athos, and then apostolic activity in the West. The article highlights Father Sophrony's distinctive theological contributions: an ontological conception of holiness and sin, the primacy of existential experience over academic theology, universal intercessory prayer and love of enemies as a criterion of true faith, as well as a living reinterpretation of the Hesychast and Palamite tradition.