The fifth event of the fourth series of online lectures “Time for Action” organized by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies will take place on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at 7:00 pm (EEST). The speaker will be Prof. Dr. Paul Ladouceur, Professor at the Orthodox School of Theology at the University of Toronto and Laval University, Canada, on April 25. The topic will be“Saint Mary (Skobtsova) of Paris as a case of ‘liturgy after the liturgy’ avant la lettre”The lecture will be in French with interpretation into Greek, and the discussion will be moderated by Dr. Andreas Alexopoulos, Primary Education Teacher and Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Theology, University of Athens. The link for attending via the Zoom platform is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84913433453. This lecture is part of the “Litugry after the liturgy” series of lectures, organized by the Holy Metropolis of France and the Vicariate of French-speaking parishes (Vicariat Sainte Marie de Paris et Saint Alexis d’Ugine, Ecumenical Patriarchate) in collaboration with the Volos Academy for Theological Studies.
An extraordinary and fiery spirit, Saint Maria of Paris (1891-1945) was a passionate woman whose life testified to her love for Christ, humanity, life. Star of the literary salons in Saint Petersburg in the early twentieth century, twice married, mother of three children, a socialist-revolutionary involved in the Russian revolution, mayor of a city on the Black Sea, refugee in France, deported to Germany during World War II, she died at Ravensbrück on Holy Saturday 1945. Endowed with many talents, she left behind poems, articles, narratives, plays, icons, and embroideries. “I want to be a mother to all,” she said when seeking monastic tonsure in 1932. Her bishop advised her: “Your monastery will be the desert of human hearts.” To the scandal of some, she opened shelters and canteens, and her “convent in the world” became the refuge for all the wounded in life: beggars, alcoholics, homeless, and, in occupied Paris, persecuted Jews. Honored with the title Righteous among the Nations in 1985 by the Yad Vashem Institute in Jerusalem, she was canonized by the Orthodox Church in 2004. The lecture, richly illustrated with period photos, explores the life and works of this astonishing Orthodox saint.
Dr Paul Ladouceur teaches at the Orthodox School of Theology at Trinity College, University of Toronto, and at the Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses, Université Laval (Quebec). He has published several books and numerous articles in English and French on modern Orthodox theology, ecclesiology, ecumenism, and spirituality. He edited a book of French translations of writings of Saint Maria of Paris (Le Jour du Saint-Esprit, Le Cerf, 2011). His most recent books are Modern Orthodox Theology (T&T Clark, 2019), and, with Brandon Gallaher as co-editor, The Patristic Witness of Georges Florovsky: Essential Theological Writings (T&T Clark, 2019). His current major research and writing projects focus on Fr. Sergius Bulgakov, comparative theology, and modern Orthodox spirituality. Dr Ladouceur participates in the Canadian Council of Churches and is Orthodox Co-Chair of the Orthodox-Pentecostal Academic Dialogue.
