A Suffering Servant by Abbot Tryphon

Christ is glorified in His saints

Many years ago I drove to Vancouver, British Columbia, intending to spend a few days with my beloved spiritual father, confessor, and friend, Vladyka Seraphim. I was told by Father Evan, the parish priest of Holy Resurrection Church at the time, that Vladyka was in the parish hall. As I walked in I saw a sight that I will always remember, and always treasure. Vladyka was on his knees, with his hands gently pressing the heads of these two, sweet ladies, both in their eighties, caressing their heads against both sides of his own. These holy hands that ordained priests and deacons, and blessed the faithful of his archdiocese, were bestowing a special blessing on two women, who were overwhelmed with this act of love. When I spoke to him later, recounting the moment, he humbly responded by saying that there was so very little he had to give them.

Archbishop Seraphim is one of the most guileless, humble Christians I have ever known. And, like John Chrysostom, Nektarios of Aegina, and John the Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, Vladyka Seraphim has suffered much at the hands of those who hate him, and those who would profit from his downfall. The bias of an anti-Christian Canadian judicial system is appalling, and has scandalized hundreds of Orthodox Christians across Canada and the United States, including myself. We are shocked by the injustice of a Canadian judicial system that would give credence to the obvious lies perpetrated by accusations that are grounded in an alleged event that supposedly happened almost thirty years ago.

That this holy bishop will now likely be layasized by the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, all because of liability in an age of law suites, while the perpetrator of this terrible travesty of justice will likely profit financially, has brought grief and sorrow into the lives of all of us who love and honor this holy man of God. Yet we know that the lives of the saints are full of similar stories, and we trust that our Co-Suffering Saviour is allowing this because He loves this humble man. Archbishop Seraphim is worthy of our love and our prayers, but is also now a powerful intercessor on behalf of all of us who struggle to live our lives in obedience to the commandments, and in service to our dear Lord Jesus Christ. I count myself blessed to have had an association with this saint of our times.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Tuesday February 10, 2015 / January 28, 2015
Week of the Prodigal Son. Tone two.
The original article was at http://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2015/02/suffering-servant/

First Comments
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Mother Sophia says February 10, 2015 at 4:02 am
Thank you for your true and powerful testimony, Abbot Tryphon.
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Judy Seal says February 10, 2015 at 6:42 am
Thank you, Abbot Tryphon, for putting into words what we are all too shocked to say. Our dear Vladyka Seraphim has stated throughout this whole ordeal, “The important thing is to glorify God.” What an example of true and enduring faith Vladyka gives us! So, for Vladyka Seraphim, glory be to God and have mercy on us all.
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David Di Giacomo says February 10, 2015 at 7:33 am
Thank you, Fr. Tryphon. It is so encouraging to find a clergyman who is not afraid to speak the truth about Archbishop Seraphim and the monstrous injustice committed against him.
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Subdeacon James Nicholas says February 10, 2015 at 9:26 am
I am so pleased by your comments Father ! I am always blessed by your articles posted on Face Book and your blog.
It is nice to know your relationship with Arch Bishop Seraphim as personal and blessed. My wife and I have known him for many years and he has always been a source of love and blessing in our lives!
We miss him and our hearts ache at what has happened to him. We are also confident that he is in God’s hands and He will sustain Vladyka through these trials and tribulations. I encourage all the faithful to continue to pray for him as I know he has and is praying for us!
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Abbot Tryphon says February 10, 2015 at 9:36 am
I received this posting this morning, and wanted to share it with my readers.

I am not quite sure how old my little girl was at the time. My little boy was most definitely a baby sleeping on my back so she would have probably been 2 1/2 years old. I had taken some things over to the Church on, and I’m guessing, a Friday and it coincided with Moleben. I remember the light coming into the Temple. I was not able to stay for it due to the baby’s schedule but my little girl asked if she could go in and kiss her icon. I said yes and we proceeded in quietly. I took her to all our icons and she kept telling me I was not at the right one. Confused we stepped out of the Temple when she pointed back in at Vladyka Seraphim who often stood at the front. We went back in and he blessed her and she kissed the icon that he wears around his neck. He patted her on the head smiled and said “I love you.” And that was it. I asked her after “what was your icon?” She replied, “Him.”
Honestly I tear up every time I think of this
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