Serge Model

This article by Serge Model examines the intermediate period of the life of Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), canonized in 2019, spanning the years between his departure from Mount Athos (1947) and the founding of his monastery in Essex (1959). Drawing on unpublished archives and a variety of documentation, the study traces the Parisian stages of this decade: the ecclesiological tensions related to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, the publication of the foundational work on Starets Silouan, the theological and editorial activity of Father Sophrony, and the gradual formation of a monastic community at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. The article highlights the theological fruitfulness of this often overlooked period, during which Father Sophrony developed an original synthesis between personal ascetic experience, Byzantine patristic tradition, and the intellectual milieu of the Russian emigration, thereby laying the foundations of his spiritual teaching and his subsequent monastic work.

This article by Serge Model focuses on the canonization of saints in the Orthodox Church, considered from its historical, theological, and procedural dimensions. The study examines the process by which the Orthodox Church officially recognizes the holiness of a believer, while also clarifying the theological meaning of the term "saint" within this tradition. The author draws on substantial documentation to set out the criteria, stages, and ecclesial foundations of this practice. The main contribution of the article lies in the light it sheds on a procedure that is often little known in a Western context, while opening up a reflection on Orthodox Christian anthropology. By situating holiness at the heart of human vocation, the study contributes to a better understanding of the theology of the person as it unfolds within the Eastern Orthodox tradition.