Sergius Bulgakov (1871–1944)

Sergius Bulgakov (1871-1944) was an important Orthodox philosopher and theologian of the twentieth century, yet his works are more often read by students of Russian religious thought than Orthodox theology. The reason for this is that the teaching for which he became most associated, sophiology, was condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church as “alien to the Holy Orthodox Church of Christ.” The Russian patristic theologian Vladimir Lossky saw in Bulgakov a teaching “like that of Origin” revealing “the snares into which the Russian thinker is prone to stumble.”

Churchly Joy, originally published in Russian in 1938, is a collection of 28 sermons given by Father Bulgakov when he served as Dean of St. Sergius Theological Institute in Paris. Most of the sermons are devoted to the meaning of the great feats or important events in the Lenten and Paschal cycles. In the author’s preface, Father Bulgakov, aware of the great tradition of Orthodox preaching to which he is an heir, writes that “the ideal sermon must be like a work of religious art, like an icon or sacred hymn. However, in the face of such a requirement one can only experience embarrassment and a sense of dissatisfaction, intensified by the fact that one cannot spare sufficient energy and attention even for improvements that would not be hard to make.”

Readers of these orations are unlikely to experience the same sense of dissatisfaction articulated by Father Bulgakov. This is a splendid collection of Orthodox teaching, free of controversy, on most of the principal dates of the Church calendar. An example of the beauty and profundity of Father Bulgakov’s preaching may be seen in the oration on the Gifts of the Magi. On the significance of the gift of myrrh, “burial myrrh,” Father Bulgakov explains, “the wise men recognized that His Birth was also the beginning of the way of death to Golgotha, and that the crib was the symbol of the grace…Does this not introduce a sorrowful note on this joyous day, in the light of glory and the singing of the angels? No, these gifts are expressions of the greatest joy of the bliss of love.”

It is sometimes erroneously said that preaching plays only a minor part in the life of the Orthodox Church. This is a curious misunderstanding, given that the name of the great Byzantine hierarch St. John Chrysostom means literally “golden mouthed.” One of the pleasures afforded by Father Bulgakov’s orations is the authentic taste of Orthodox homiletics. Churchly Joy would be a welcome addition to any Christian library.

(Published in Catholic Library World, September 2010)… (meer)