This fund is meant to allow scholars to enrol on doctoral projects on the work, theology and vision of Saint Sophrony, on monasticism, patristics and other related theological themes. If you are interested in applying for the Saint Sophrony Scholarship, please write to grp29@iocs.cam.ac.uk
The practical and theological aspects of this project:
The practical impetus is connected to the fact that in recent years there have been several students at the Institute researching the legacy and theology of Father Sophrony – some of whom visited and spent some time at the Monastery in Essex. The Saint’s work and teachings, although well known by some, warrant more research and to be known in depth – so that they can be disseminated even further. The Institute intends to provide the academic, study context for this kind of research. However, this is not seen just as an academic exercise. Such a project will end up as an aid to people’s coming closer to God and making known the work of the Holy Spirit in our times, through people and saints like Saint Sophrony.
The theological impetus rests in the hope that the existence and work of the Institute in the UK as a place of Orthodox life, learning, and witness is aligned with that of the Monastery which – through Saint Sophrony – has opened up Orthodoxy to the West, and the West to Orthodoxy, in a way that is both faithful to the Patristic legacy and the faith of our Fathers and contextually adapted to the Western context where we live.
Many of the Institute’s students and followers have long benefited (and continue to do so) from lectures and visits from the community of the Essex Monastery, like Father Nikolai, Father Zacharias, Father Kyrill, or Sister Magdalen (to name but a few) or by visits to the Monastery during our summer schools, over the course of many years.
