Description
Book SynopsisA biography of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, combining rigorous research with keen insight into the life of the former leader of the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain.
Trade Review"Dr Pyman re-creates the life and times of Metropolitan Anthony as only an old friend could. We encounter one of the great Christian apologists of post-war Britain, someone for whom 'to live is Christ' - and a man Russian to the core, impossible to understand apart from the larger-than-life world of the Russian emigration and its complex relationship with the Soviet and post-Soviet 'motherland'." Elizabeth Theokritoff, co-editor, Cambridge Companion to Orthodox Christian Theology (2008) "Avril Pyman's life of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh provides readers with an amazing portrait of a complex and fascinating figure. Young Andrei Bloom, student, then physician, then monk, then priest, came to radiate a vision of Orthodoxy as universal Church that drew Western converts while also touching Russian émigré believers and some in Russia itself. Metropolitan Anthony could not have hoped for a finer biographer than Avril Pyman, whose superb scholarship is enriched by her lively narrative and personal insights." Joan Delaney Grossman, Professor Emerita of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California at Berkeley, and co-editor of William James in Russian Culture (2003) "As vicar of Cambridge University Church I am vividly aware of the enormous influence of Metropolitan Anthony on generations of students - including myself - through his preaching which attracted huge congregations (more than any other preacher in his era). This biography shows how his influence as a preacher was rooted in his personal experience of Christ and his life of prayer. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh helps us to enter into the same quality of experience that he shared with so many in his lifetime." John Binns, author of An Introduction to the Orthodox Christian Churches (2002) 'Avril Pyram . fills a considerable gap. Relying on the MASF archive, on published and unpublished sources as well as on accounts of persons who knew metropolitan anthony and her own recollections, the biographer explores the complex personality of this spiritual father of our days, his theoretical insights, his pastoral work, an his activity as an outstanding broadcaster and preacher' Adalberto Mainardi, Monastero di Bose, Theologishe Revue vol. 115 nr.1
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgements 1. From Prince to Pauper: Origins and Childhood, 1914-1922 2. Alienation and Revelation: Growing up in Exile, 1922-1929 3. Conflicting Vocations: The Formation of a Monk "in the World", 1928-1937 4. Surgeon in the French Army and Monk in the Surgery, 1937-1949 5. Priesthood, Move to London, Ministry in the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain, 1949-1957 6. Fame in a Divided World, 1957-1963 7. The International Arena, 1963-1974 8. The Consolidation of the Second Diocese of Sourozh, 1974-1989 9. Mission to Russia and New Problems in England, 1983-2003 10. Agony Endnotes Glossary of Proper Names Index of Proper Names
