eminent theologian criticized the church modernism and ecumenism, essayist, priest of the Georgian Human Rights Center, Archimandrite Raphael Karelin considered very original and interesting ecclesiastical writer of our time.He was the author of several books: "In Search of Truth", "The Way of the Christian," "The Mystery of Salvation," and many others.
Archimandrite Raphael Karelin: biography
in the world Alexander Karelin was born in Tbilisi on December 29, 1931 in an intellectual family, where his father was an engineer, and his mother - a teacher.Immediately after graduation, he decided to leave the monastic life.It happened at his own request, as he was always interested in the truth, and every kind of deception or illusion of fraud could not stand.He himself remembers, as a child my mother took him to the circus, and for some reason he did not like scary tricks: inverted mirror represents a distortion of his life, and all sorts of antics did not cause any joy, but rather the opposite - brought back the sadness.Therefore, in the age of reason he came to the monastic life.
ordination
In 1954 he was ordained, and in the same year he was made a deacon and priest-monk ordained.After that, he began to serve in the church of St. George in the village near the town of Ochamchira Ilori Abkhaz ASSR.
During this period Hierodeacon Raphael at the request of parishioners began to make otchitki possessed.These meetings with the demoniac people, or rather, their state of passion and wild obsession, remarkable strength and hatred for the Christian faith caused him to turn his attention to the study of demonic reality and hostile force that threatens all humanity.
Sukhumi
time passed, Raphael Karelin moved to Sukhumi and began to serve there in the cemetery of the Church of the Transfiguration.During this period the future Archimandrite met his first spiritual father - Archimandrite Seraphim (Romantsova), which, having special spiritual experienced with care and sensitivity to all people, and the Gospel of love, unable to reach the most important heights in his monastic vows and became a holy elder.His name was canonized in 2010.Saint Seraphim of love and concern for people to masquerade as a moderate severity, so foolish admirers he was not.
teaching path
Archimandrite Raphael Karelin was acquainted with Metropolitan Zinovy (Mazhuga), canonized in 2010.He was known for his love for Jesus prayer, and had a remarkable ability to combine active administrative activities with unceasing prayer.
In 1975, Raphael's father became a teacher of the Slavic language in Mtskheta Theological Seminary and temporary executor of duties of the inspector.
In the early 80s he often visited the holy places and monasteries in Russia.And he especially loved the Pskov-Pechersk monastery.At this time, his spiritual father was abbot Sawa, a canonization that are ready Orthodox Church.This old man was known to cure several cases of terminally ill people.
Around the same years, the father of Raphael in absentia graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary and received a blessing from the abbot Sava to write texts in a spiritual theme.Then, Archimandrite Raphael Karelin became a lecturer in Slavic language, history, religion, asceticism and theology at the Tbilisi Theological Academy.
last years of priestly service, he spends in the church of St. Alexander Nevsky in Tbilisi.And since 1988, Archimandrite Raphael Karelin at the deteriorating health condition (low vision) did not lead such active, but do not stop watching and writing spiritual literature.
Archimandrite Raphael Karelin: Website
huge list of books, various articles and interviews, as well as audio and video can be viewed on a special website of Archimandrite Raphael.And we must pay tribute to him as the author, as all of what he says, read with great interest.He opens his eyes to many things.This may be the psychology of family life, the education of the younger generation, or something else.For each question, he can always give a concise answer, which may seem to someone too philosophical or unreal.However, it is only at first glance, as Archimandrite Karelin, above all, causes a person to think and live a spiritual life, and so he sows the very grain that is certainly the right approach vzrastet people to any of life's problems.
Disagreements with Osipov
Many are beginning to look for some differences in the views and teachings of different spiritual topics such theologians as Archimandrite Raphael and AI Osipov.Some forums turned the whole discussion about which of them is right.But do not delve deeply into it, because each of these spiritual writers will be right in their own way.And there is nothing wrong, if someone openly express his opinion.
Archimandrite Raphael Karelin Osipova spoke about, in particular, because of the article "The Eucharist and the priesthood."There he did not like some of his statements.But if you provide a field for the dispute of the two titans of theological literature, they had each other do not argue, because they do not have full knowledge of the spiritual world, so, too, can something wrong.
