By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
«...in
every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted
by Him.» (Acts
10:34);
it was by His condescension that He invited into
the Ark of Salvation - the Orthodox Church - Mr. Paweł
Wróblewski,
the Polish
(Adjunct) Professor of the Seat of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
of the School of Philosophy of Wroclaw (formerly "Breslau"), who was
baptized in our Holy Monastery.
Professor
Paweł P.
Wróblewski,
Dr.(Ph.D.) of the History
of Philosophy, specialized in the delivery
of the texts of Aristotelian works (Corpus Aristotelicum),
is descended from a Polish family traditionally
dedicated to Roman Catholicism. He came in contact with the Holy
Fathers of the Church three years ago through their sacred and
divinely-inspired texts and became aware of the unique Truth of
Orthodoxy, as well as the need to become incorporated therein,
through holy Baptism. His acquaintance with the
Holy Monastery
of the Pantocrator at Melissochori in northern Greece reinforced
his convictions, and he subsequently communicated with the
Monastery, so that his already lengthy search might find an
optimistic fulfilment, in accordance with the divinely-inspired
Canons of the Ecumenical Councils.
In a
recent letter that he had sent to the local High Priest and our
Prelate, the Metropolitan of Langadas, Lete and Rendini, Fr.John,
the Professor deposited the experiences that had led him to his
incorporation into the Orthodox Church; among other things, he wrote
the following:
«When I
first attended the Greek-spoken Divine Liturgy of Saint John the
Chrysostom, the heavens opened up before me during the prayers, and
the Lord touched my soul from Above... From the moment that
God revealed the truth of Orthodoxy to my inner world - whose
influence is so strong that whoever finds it becomes certain that it
is what he was always seeking - I knew I had found my spiritual
Home.».
Professor
Wróblewski then spoke of his
desire to be
incorporated in the Church in the manner defined by the sacred
Canons - that is, the Apostolic ones, especially the 46th, also
those of the Ecumenical Councils, as well as the canonical epistles
of Saint Basil the Great. In Poland, on account of the
prevalence of the ecclesiology of Ecumenism and the (altered, as he
wrote) "baptismal theology", it was not possible for him to be
accepted through baptism, inasmuch as the incorporation through
Chrismation is becoming more and more scarce there, and
incorporation into Orthodoxy is being replaced from the year 2000
onwards, by Confession and Holy Communion alone.
Professor Wróblewski's
baptism took
place in the morning of Thursday, the 13th of September, in the
Catholicon (Main Church) of the Holy Monastery of the Pantocrator at
Melissochori, by His Eminence the Metropolitan John, who, after the
Baptismal rite, addressed the neophyte with words of praise for
God's bounteous Providence and the Professor's reciprocation to it,
and words of edification for Paul (Paweł),
to whom His Eminence stressed the uniqueness of Orthodoxy and the
deifying energy that acts within Her boundaries, as well as the need
for our constant spiritual struggle, "lest we become
disqualified" (1 Cor.9:27)
During
the baptismal rite, where the "positive alteration" of the Professor
was evident, all the Brothers of the Holy Monastery were present and
prayerfully participating, along with Stephen, the godfather.
His Eminence honoured with his presence the entire event of this
blessing, and later continued his conversation with Professor
Wróblewski
during the ensuing customary offerings and the meal in the Dining
Hall, urging him to also visit other places of spiritual blessing,
as well as the natural beauty of our region.
The University of Wroclaw (Uniwersytet Wrocławski) is one of
the oldest Universities of Eastern Europe and the largest in the
area, founded by the Jesuits around three centuries ago, currently
hosting 40.000 students and 1.900 candidate doctors. The last
participation of the young and hope-bearing Professor was at the
International Russo-Polish Scientific Conference, regarding
«Problems of Culture in
Russian and Polish Scientific Thought» (Saint
Petersburg, 21-25 May 2012), where Professor
Wróblewski
expounded the topic of
“The
Cultural Creativity of the Christendom according to Georges
Florovsky”).
The photograph we have inserted here is from the Conference «Paradigms
of Freedom in Philosophy and Theology» (Êonferencja “Paradygmaty
Wolności w Filo”). The Professor has participated -parallel to
his academic activity- in official missions of the Polish State
abroad.
His ecclesiologically documented and conscious turn to Orthodoxy,
from within the traditional and austere roman-catholic environment
of Poland is proof that not only does the Lord work salvation for
those who were "afar off and to those who were near"
(Ephes.2:17), but also that once again, those who baptismally become
joined to the Body of Christ - the Orthodox Church - act with a
benevolent conscience and are internally "informed", by having as
their uncontested and unerring criterion and starting point the
truthful documentation of ecclesiastic history, dogmatic
self-awareness and the worshipping and canonical praxis of the
Catholic Orthodox Church throughout the centuries.
Translation: K.N.
