Liturgy in the desert: a twofold immersion into the pain of this world and the life of the world-to-come
Liturgy in the desert: a twofold immersion into the pain of this world and the life of the world-to-come

Summary/Abstract: In this paper, I intend to speak of the Divine Liturgy in its cosmic and eschatological dimensions as understood by Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov, a disciple of St. Silouan the Athonite and the founder of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, in the United Kingdom, to which the present speaker also belongs. I hope to speak of Archimandrite Sophrony’s experience of the Eucharist in the desert and to bring this into a wider theological framework by briefly reflecting on St. Maximus the Confessor’s interpretation of the Liturgy, as well as by introducing two key notions of Fr. Sophrony’s own theology, namely, the ‘hypostatic principle’ and ‘hypostatic prayer’. These are brought together within the master theme of this lecture: the Divine Liturgy as a twofold immersion into the pain of the present world and the imperishable life of the age-to-come. My hope is to show its importance to the spiritual life of the Orthodox Church and its mission.

• Details
• Contents