Alexander Schmemann

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Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann (May 13, 1921 - December 13, 1983) was a prominent 20th century Orthodox Christian priest, theologian, and writer.

Life

Fr. Alexander Schmemann was born in Estonia to Russian émigrés. His family moved to France, where he received his university education. He married Juliana Osorguine in 1943, before completing his theological studies at the Orthodox Theological Institute of St. Sergius in Paris and was ordained a priest in 1946.

Matushka Juliana Schmemann, Fr. Alexander, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn

From 1946 to 1951, Fr. Alexander taught Church History at St. Sergius. He was invited to join the faculty of St. Vladimir's Seminary (then in New York City), where he taught from 1951 onwards. When the seminary moved to its present campus in Crestwood, New York in 1962, Fr. Alexander assumed the post of dean, which he would hold until his death. He also served as adjunct professor at Columbia University, New York University, Union Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary in New York. Much of his focus at St. Vladimir's was on liturgical theology, which emphasizes the liturgical tradition of the Church as a major sign and expression of the Christian faith.

Fr. Alexander was accorded the title of protopresbyter (also called archpriest in some Orthodox jurisdictions, though in the Russian tradition from which Fr. Alexander came, the two are distinct honorary titles), the highest honor that can be bestowed on a married Orthodox priest. He held honorary degrees from Butler University, General Theological Seminary, Lafayette College, Iona College, and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.

He was an Orthodox observer for the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church from 1962 to 1965.

In 1970, he was active in the establishment of the Orthodox Church in America, which at that time became officially independent from the Russian Orthodox Church, though its autocephaly has not been universally recognized.

His sermons were broadcast in Russian on Radio Liberty for 30 years. He gained a broad following of listeners across the Soviet Union, including Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who became his friend after emigrating to the West.

Fr. Alexander published many books and articles. For the Life of the World, a popular volume on Christian faith as reflected in liturgy, has been translated into eleven languages. Originally prepared as a study guide for the National Student Christian Federation in 1963, it even had an anonymous version published by the underground samizdat in the Soviet Union. The Eucharist was finished just before his death. This and several collections of his writings were published posthumously.

Books

The grave of Fr. Alexander at St. Tikhon's Monastery

• Great Lent: Journey to Pascha (1969)
• For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (1970)
• Liturgy and Life: Christian Development Through Liturgical Experience (1974)
• Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism (1974)
• Introduction to Liturgical Theology (1975)
• The Historical Road of Eastern Othodoxy (1977)
• Ultimate Questions: An Anthology of Modern Russian Religious Thought (1977)
• Church, World, Mission: Reflections on Orthodoxy in the West (1979)
• The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom (1988)
• Celebration of Faith: I Believe... (1991)
• Celebration of Faith: The Church Year (1994)
• Celebration of Faith: The Virgin Mary (1995)
• The Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann 1973-1983 (2000)

Articles etc.

• Fr. Schmemann Addresses Antiochian Archdiocesan Convention in Toronto The Orthodox Church , November 1983, p. 2
• Between Utopia and Escape Lecture delivered in Delaware, March 22 (1981)
• Apostleship and America 12th Orthodox Education Day (1979)
• On the Question of Liturgical Practices, A Letter to My Bishop by AS, published in St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, Vol. 17, 3, pp. 239-243 (1973), hosted on the Internet by Jacob's Well, the OCA web site of the Diocese of New York & New Jersey.
• The Problems of Orthodoxy in America (1964), hosted on the Internet by Jacob's Well, the OCA web site of the Diocese of New York & New Jersey:
  • I. The Canonical Problem, published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly, Vol. 8, #2, pp. 67-85. (1964)
  • II. The Liturgical Problem, published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly, Vol. 8, #4, pp. 164-185. (1964)
  • III. The Spiritual Problem, published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Quarterly, Vol. 9 , #4, pp. 171-193. (1965)
• A permanent home for St. Vladimir's - An Editorial by Schmemann, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 4, Winter, p. 2 (1961)

List of works by Schmemann yet to be sorted properly:

• A permanent home for St. Vladimir's
• Fr. Schmemann Addresses Antiochian Archdiocesan Convention in Toronto
• Apostleship and America
• Between Utopia and Escape
• Book Review - Eustratios Argenti
• Book Review - Liturgy
• Book Review - The Russian Religious Mind, Vol II
• Book Review - The Significance of Eschatology in the Thought of Nicholas Berdyaev
• Byzantium, Iconoclasm and the Monks
• Children and Church
• Christ is risen!
• Clergy and Laity in the Orthodox Church
• Confession and Communion
• Easter in the Liturgical Year
• Eastern Orthodox
• Ecclesiological notes
• Episcopatus Unus Est
• Fast and Liturgy
• Forgiveness Sunday
• Great and Holy Saturday
• In Memoriam - Archimandrite Cyprian Kern
• In Memoriam - Bishop Cassian (Bezobrazov)
• In Memoriam - Father Nicholas Afanasiev
• In Memoriam - Ivan M. Czap
• In Memoriam - Lev Aleksandrovich Zander
• In Memoriam - Vladimir Lossky
• Metropolitan Leonty
• Note from hospital bed
• Notes on Evanston
• On Forgiveness
• On The 'Sorrowful Epistle' of Metropolitan Philaret
• Orthodoxy and Mission
• Preface from "Guide to Orthodox America"
• Religious persecutions in Russia
• Report on the preliminary negotiations concerning the establishment in America of the Autocephalous Church
• Russian Theology: 1920-1972
• Response to Decree on Eastern Catholic Churches
• Saturday of Lazarus
• Some reflections on Confession
• Some reflections upon A Case Study
• Sunday of Orthodoxy
• The Church is Hierarchal
• The Christian concept of death
• The fourth liturgical week at St Sergius in Paris
• The Historical Background of the Council [Chalcedon]
• The Liturgical Structure of Lent
• The Orthodox Church
• The Orthodox Church, the World Council of Churches and Rome (II)
• The Parish and the Church
• The Services of Christmas in the Orthodox Church
• The seventh meeting of the Standing Conference of Bishops
• The Task of Orthodox Theology in America Today
• The Western Rite
• Theology and Eucharist
• This is the Blessed Sabbath
• Three Metropolitans
• Unless the Lord builds the house...
• V. Rev. John Meyendorff
• What is important and what is not
• Women and the Priesthood
• Final Words: "Thank You, O Lord"

External links

• Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann Website
• SVS Faculty: Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann
• Free PDFs of some of Alexander Schmemann's writings