Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

DIscussion and News concerning Orthodox Churches in communion with those who have fallen into the heresies of Ecumenism, Renovationism, Sergianism, and Modernism, or those Traditional Orthodox Churches who are now involved with Name-Worshiping, or vagante jurisdictions. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.


User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Barbara »

I was getting ready to post this story from the life of Elder Sebastian of Optina and Karaganda [Kazakhstan] when fiery pictures appeared on headlines a few days ago. These frightening photos of a train crash in the town of Panhandle, TX, seemed to illustrate the tragic consequences of not following the directions of a true Elder. [ As opposed to a cult leader like Elder Ephraim of Arizona ].

[Returning to finish this ! ]

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Barbara »

The event referred to here took place nearly 60 years ago, in September 1958. The author of the main biography of Elder Sebastian [ Fomin ], Tatiana Vladimirovna Torstensen, relates the following sequence. She had become a spiritual daughter of this Elder. A physician at a Karaganda hospital, heading an entire division related to therapy of some type which she does not specify, she needed to return to Moscow, a gigantic distance away by train. She was in a hurry to
set up housing for herself as papers had arrived showing her to be 'rehabilitated' - ridiculous Communist jargon. Thus her exile in Kazakhstan ended. One can well imagine how appealing it would have been to return to life in the busy capital after having been in a provincial Soviet backwater.

However, buying the actual ticket itself was a grueling process. One had to wait in line all night outdoors in the cold steppe climate. An actual roll call was made by officials every 2 hours to ensure that all passengers did not slip away and return in the morning. Sounds like a planned torture on the part of the railway and government administration, just another way to wear down the citizens of the USSR.

So Tatiana stayed awake all through the night. Nearly freezing, she was barely able to collect the prized ticket in the morning and head to her shift at the hospital without evem a moment's rest. When she went to tell Elder Sebastian how fortunate she found herself to be, he offered to serve a moleben for her safe trip. He hesitated, though : "What day is the ticket for ?"

When the physician said Wednesday, the former cell attendant of Elders Joseph and Nektary looked up to Heaven. He insisted in the strictest tone that it was the wrong day -- too early -- and that his spiritual daughter must return the hard-won ticket. Imagine how disappointing that would be to hear after all she had endured to obtain a second-class ticket. [ Probably the 3rd class tickets were much easier to get, being less desirable. If anyone has traveled on Russian trains 'plaskart' [ spelling ? ], they can imagine why anyone would covet a nicer class ticket. ] Tatiana objected strenuously but finally gave in when her Elder began to get angry and ordered her to go the station that minute, hand in her ticket, and return to Church for the end of the service.

However, to her immense surprise, he blessed her immediately to purchase another ticket. He assured her that she would not have to spend the night in the downtown station again. It all went as he said, and this time, she effortlessly obtained a good 2nd class ticket ; perhaps even a better one.

When her train approached the Volga River and stopped at a station called Chapayevsk, the doctor noticed that all her fellow passengers were jumping out of their seats. Pressing their noses against the train windows, they were staring in horror at the next track over. Curious, Tatiana got up to look. She saw a long line of passenger train carriages piled up in a jumble, with some cars on end, perched vertically in the air. The pictures from Panhandle, Texas show something like the scene the Orthodox physician beheld.

The carriage's conductor informed the passengers that this had been the express train leaving Karaganda on the previous Wednesday. It had run straight into the back of a freight train, the woman told them, causing the terrible scene of wreckage.

Needless to say, Tatiana Vladimirovna was exceedingly glad she had obeyed the Elder, who had a rare gift of true clairvoyance inherited from the great line of Optina Elders he had faithfully served in his youth.

User avatar
Maria
Archon
Posts: 8428
Joined: Fri 11 June 2004 8:39 pm
Faith: True Orthodox Christian
Jurisdiction: GOC
Location: USA

Re: Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Maria »

I do not know much about these elders and if they were True Orthodox or not.

Nevertheless, we must be very careful as even the devil and his agents can "foresee" the future. Otherwise, why would people pay a lot of money to get a palm or tarot card reading? We are not to seek signs and wonders as that can lead us into spiritual danger.

When I was in the Roman Catholic Church back in the early 1990s, before converting to Holy Orthodoxy, my former confessor warned me about "chasing after visions" as some of my friends, whom he knew, were doing. They were following the Medjugorje prophecies and trying to pressure me into joining them. Some were even going through horrific divorces as they did not heed this priest's advice to stay away from Medjugorje and all the so-called Marian visions, such as the ones in Bayside, New York, the deserts of California, in Venezuela, on bathroom windows, on the windows of skyscrapers, and even on pieces of toast. It became ridiculous. No wonder husbands were divorcing their spouses. These wives were spending thousands of dollars travelling the globe in search of signs and wonders.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

Agios_Irineos
Member
Posts: 404
Joined: Fri 20 September 2013 3:22 pm

Re: Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Agios_Irineos »

In trying to divine "God's hand" in occurrences in our day to day life, we leave ourselves open to attack and manipulation of the evil one. I like to remember this quote from St. Theophan the Recluse:

St Theophan the Recluse wrote:

"He who goes according to the will of the evil one does not experience attacks, but is simply turned more and more toward evil. As soon as one begins to come to himself and intends to begin a new life according to God’s will, immediately the entire satanic realm enters into action: they hasten to scatter good thoughts and the intentions of the repentant one in any way they can."

We recently lost from our parish a tonsured reader who apostasized to evangelical protestantism. He had been going through some hard times in his life, and was convinced that God was letting bad things happen to him for a reason. When I last saw him he told me how much "peace" he felt in his new set of beliefs. But St. Theophan reminds us that this "peace" may not be from God, but from the demons withdrawing now that they have knocked him off the righteou path! The tribulations and hardships he endured may not have been "a sign from God" but rather the increased work of the devil to try to tear him from the Church. Reading events in our lives as God's work or God's warnings are not matters to be taken lightly. Think of the icon of the Ladder of Divine Ascent. Even as the monks near perfection, the demons remain. (Many holy monks of Mt. Athos recorded unceasing night time attacks from the demons.) How easily the faithful fall from the lower rungs. The demons practice to deceive. They do not care that you think their attacks are warnings from God. They do not care that you believe your new found peace is a reward from God. All they care about is that they have moved you from where you were to another place.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Barbara »

That is a very impressive post, Hieromonk Irineos. I have a nice hardbound copy of The Ladder of Divine Ascent. I have to confess I have not started reading it seriously : it's been prominently placed on my shelf for over a decade waiting. Now I feel motivated to get going with it since insights like the ones you explained here are PRICELESS !

Please always chime in all the time with such sage remarks, as they benefit us all.

I am sorry you lost a tonsured reader. After all that time teaching him and training him, and hoping for the best for his spiritual progress in the Church -- to have THAT happen. What sad news. Yes, of course it is the enemy who is responsible.

May God send you 30 more to make up for the grievous loss.

To lose him to simplistic Protestant evangelicalist is tragic, too. After he was in True Orthodoxy, how could he find a moment of 'peace' let alone contentment in that crowd ?? How could he attend even one of their phony 'services' without shrinking away ?

Last edited by Barbara on Sun 3 July 2016 12:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Barbara »

About the Athonite holy monks reporting unceasing nocturnal attacks from devils : yes, I have read similar things about the Russian Elders. Some of the stories are hair-raising in fact. I would like to start a thread on this topic, if there is enough interest here. Because if those monks endured this experience even at their advanced spiritual stage, what about the rest of us ? I think there is a lot to learn in studying the strategies of the evil one.

User avatar
Barbara
Protoposter
Posts: 3983
Joined: Sat 29 September 2012 6:03 pm

Re: Dire Catastrophe averted by MP's Elder Sebastian

Post by Barbara »

Maria, you are absolutely RIGHT about the dubious nature of World Orthodox "elders". Elder Sebastian is almost the only one who I would consider as authentic due to his Optina lineage. However, politically, we cannot at all support his decision to be in the Moscow Patriarchate. Full disclosure : the future Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk [ now such a famous title due to the current occupant ] was his spiritual son. So those parts of the Elder's biography are not pleasant to read, to put it politely. I had a difficult time even looking at the pictures of then-Bishop Pitirim.
But never do we see any political talk from Elder Sebastian as recorded. This Tatiana V. Tortensen and the others who wrote about their contact with Elder Sebastian told every detail they could remember concerning him and never was there any political remark in favor of the MP. Perhaps he never heard that there was any alternative : Catacomb Church or emigrating and joining Rocor. Remember, he was living in a remote area which was only created with the Karlag camps, Karaganda, in a distant region of Central Asia. So word perhaps never made it there.

But I can't pass any judgment since I am not qualified. I wish our Bishops would rule on this particular Elder.

Most of the rest -- especially the 'famous ones' like my nemesis Abp Luke of Simferopol -- seem to be products of a propaganda machine grinding away to make them revered worldwide.

Another is that Archimandrite John Krestyankin, who name i see plastered everywhere in Russian World Orthodox quarters. He also repelled me. I had not read a word about him, and didn't want to. But someone sent me a batch of Orthodox material. Sifting through it, I found an article on the so-called elder of the Pskov Caves Monastery just after I had written the post above. I thought I would make a comparison, so I read the article through. It's mostly the reminiscences of his spiritual son, the well-known figure Bishop Tikhon [Shevkunov], head of Moscow's Sretensky Monastery.

To my surprise, Bp Tikhon tells a story almost similar to the one I related here, though involving health rather than travel safety. However, reading his account of an elderly woman who disobeyed this Archimandrite John [Krestyankin] and as he had predicted, reposed during a surgery he had forbidden her to undergo, I did not at all have the same feeling of spirituality as I did reading the above account by the doctor. There was A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.

If anyone has any observations about this likewise 'manufactured celebrity', the Pskov Caves elder who reposed about 10 years ago, please contribute so I can gain deeper understanding of why I always felt that he is not at all a true elder.
I didn't like his face from the first I saw it -- and I immediately took this article to the recycling !

Post Reply