The Mystery of the Presence: God in the World and in Man

“Prayer is born of the discovery that the world has depths; that we are not only surrounded by visible things but that we are also immersed in and penetrated by invisible things. And this invisible world is both the presence of God, the supreme, sublime reality, and our own deepest truth. Visible and invisible are not in opposition; neither can they be juxtaposed like in an addition sum.  They are present simultaneously, as fire is present in red hot iron”.

          Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

The notion of the presence is one of the most important and appears most frequently in Metropolitan Anthony’s thought. When we talk about the encounter between man and God, we inevitably face the question of how exactly the Divine Presence is revealed in the world and in man. It may be the Divine Presence in the Church and its sacraments, its revelation through the beauty in nature and art, the Presence of God in human being and in human relationships. It may be the sorrowful experience of the absence of God in our lives or our search for the inner Presence, for personal integrity while standing before  God – all these topics viewed through Metropolitan Anthony’s legacy will form the main focus of our conference. We hope to have an in-depth discussion of these topics in the context of modern theological, philosophical, psychological and aesthetic discourses.

The conference will be held in the year of the 20^th anniversary of Metropolitan Anthony’s passing and as part of Metropolitan Anthony’s Year of events, which the Foundation will hold in 2023-2024 between two of Metropolitan Anthony’s anniversaries (in June 2024 it will be 110 years since his birth). For this reason, the last day of the conference (24 September) will be devoted to the question: How metropolitan Anthony’s legacy is present in the modern Church, thought and practice?

The conference will include talks and round tables, which will focus on practical life and pastoral questions as well as videos of talks and church services. The participants will share their memories about encounters with Vladyka and about life in his parish. The conference will also hold a photo exhibition.

All interested speakers are welcome to take part in the conference. Please, send your abstracts to the Foundation email fondmas1@yandex.ru. The deadline for abstract submission is 15 July 2023. The organising committee reserves the right to select abstracts for talks. The abstracts will be published.

Venue: Alexander Solzhenitsyn Centre for Studies of Russia Abroad. Moscow, Nizhnyaya Radishchevskaya, 2

Languages: Russian and English. Interpretation will be provided.