The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

This publication offers a translation of an article by George P. Fedotov, a renowned historian, religious thinker and publicist. The article was first published in the Journal of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius of Radonezh under the title: “On the Sacraments (The Necessity of the Sacraments for Individual and Corporative Life). The Social-Mystical Way of Salvation. 1934. N. 26. P. 31–39”. In his work, Fedotov examines the Sacraments as a socio‑mystical path to salvation — communion with God through participation in the sacramental life of the Church, rather than through individual ascension. He presents this as an alternative to the ascetic path for people living in the world. According to Fedotov, the Sacraments ensure the unity of the Church as the Body of Christ: a person encounters God not in isolation but in communion with fellow believers. The Sacrament is an objective reality — a “work of God” rather than of man — whose spiritual‑material nature transforms both the spirit and the body. Fedotov places special emphasis on the Eucharist: by partaking from the same chalice, believers unite with Christ and with each other. The priest acts as a connecting link, through whom grace is transmitted to the community. In eschatological terms, the Sacraments point to the transfiguration and resurrection of the whole person — soul and body (following the teachings of St. John Chrysostom and St. Irenaeus of Lyons) — as well as to everything of ontological value in human life and society. He stresses the need to balance the personal and the conciliar: the Sacraments nourish spiritual life but do not replace it. Salvation is achieved through a combination of the socio‑liturgical (participation in the Sacraments) and the personal mystical (prayer, ethics). Grace does not violate freedom: a Sacrament does not save one who does not wish to be saved. Fedotov also identifies dangers of misinterpretation of the Sacraments: immoralism — arising from the belief that Sacraments act automatically; materialism — reducing the Sacraments to magic devoid of spiritual foundation; weakening of personal spiritual life due to excessive focus on liturgy. Thus, Fedotov proposes a holistic vision of the Sacraments as a means of salvation that unites personal sanctification and the social life of the Church. An introductory article outlines the historical and intellectual context in which the key ideas of the text were formed.