SIBERIAN SERAPHIM Review of: The Revival of Church Life in Siberia. From the Pages of the Diaries of Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexander Yegorovich Bryksin), Irenaeus in the Great Schema. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. [Author-c ompiler — Archpriest Vladimir Kritsak, Grigory Shalakin; Ed. — Grigory Shalakin]. — Kemerovo: Publishing Department of the Kemerovo Diocese, 2022. — 240 p., with ill.

Pavel V. Bochkov

Kuzbass theological seminary, Norilsk, Russia,

Email: frpavel@inbox.ru

ORCID: 0000-0002-3218-6706

Issue: № 4 (32), 2025

Pages: 209

Annotation

The review is dedicated to the regional publication of the Kuzbass Metropolitanate of the Russian Orthodox Church of 2022, containing diary entries and memoirs of the outstanding Orthodox priest Schema-A rchimandrite Irenaeus (Bryksin) (1931–2019), who performed his priestly and spiritual ministry in Siberia for more than 60 years, from the middle of the 20th century until the first half of the 21st century. During his long life, this pastor had a spiritual connection and prayerful communication with a whole galaxy of outstanding clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th century, whose figures vividly illustrate the entire book with bright pictures. Along with descriptions of life and everyday situations, relationships between clergy, pressure from representatives of Soviet supervisory bodies, Schema- Archimandrite Irenaeus describes his inner feelings associated with certain experienced moments. These notes contain both human doubts, questions addressed to God Himself, and fervent prayer, religious and philosophical reflections, and sincere joy from communicating with Christ. The publication is supplied with extensive reference material, a mass of valuable photographs from various archives, and photocopies of archival documents. The book itself, filled with deep reverence for the deceased pastor, not only introduces into research circulation a mass of archival materials and testimonies dedicated to the era of the life of the Orthodox Church in Siberia during the years of Soviet power, but is also an offering of grateful memory to the personality of Schema-A rchimandrite Irenaeus.

Keywords

Orthodoxy in Siberia in the 20th century, Schema- Archimandrite Irenaeus (Bryksin), Novosibirsk diocese during the years of Soviet power, priest in the Soviet era

For citation

Bochkov P. V., priest. Siberian Seraphim. Review of: The Revival of Church Life in Siberia. From the Pages of the Diaries of Archimandrite Seraphim (Alexander Yegorovich Bryksin), Irenaeus in the Great Schema. 2nd edition, revised and enlarged. [Author-c ompiler — Archpriest Vladimir Kritsak, Grigory Shalakin; Ed. — Grigory Shalakin].—Kemerovo: Publishing Department of the Kemerovo Diocese, 2022.—240 p., with ill. // Ipatievsky vestnik. 2025. № 4. Р. 209–216 (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.24412/2309– 5164–2025–4–209–216