Baptismal reception into the Orthodox Church of Polish Academic Professor Paweł P. Wróblewski.
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 fulfillment, 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 honored 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 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 worshiping and canonical praxis
of the Catholic Orthodox Church throughout the centuries.
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