Elder Sophrony Hits the News

Was Elder Sophrony canonized a saint? Not yet, it seems.

As soon as I walked into class a couple days ago, I noticed a group of seminarians (or as we wondered the other day, maybe they could be called a "ponder" of seminarians) excitedly discussing something. The word on the street was that Elder Sophrony of Essex had been canonized. That was exciting, no doubt. The only problem is, it was not quite true.

Today, in class, Fr. Sergius, abbot of St. Tikhon Monastery here, came into class and confirmed that Elder Sophrony is not yet canonized. He heard the same news and went straight to the source, at least, straight to a source, and a very reliable one at that: the monastery in Essex. No, Elder Sophrony has not yet been canonized.

I am not going to wander the internet trying to figure out what happened and how this strangely positive rumor began. I do my best to avoid the online venues of Orthodox talk...an ironic statement here. I did happen to see one article, and I noticed a phrase which I would guess is the source of the confusion: it said the Ecumenical Patriarch "announced that he will proceed with the canonization" of Elder Sophrony. Well, that can easily sound like, "He's a saint!" if you are not reading closely enough. It is really only a statement of the process is moving forward.

Regardless of official canonization, Elder Sophrony remains a light in our modern times.

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