“God calls us to work not only with our minds but also with our hearts”
"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good conduct his works in meekness and wisdom," — a prayer service for the start of the academic year with the traditional reading of a passage from the Epistle of James (James 3:13–18) opened the 38th academic year at the St. Philaret Institute.
"The words of the Apostle James sound like a tuning fork before the start of a new stage of learning, directing our attention, our spirit, and our mind to a better understanding of why a person studies and acquires knowledge," said Dmitry Gasak, the First Vice-Rector of the St. Philaret Institute, addressing the faculty and students. "Modern higher education has a strong professional focus. People value professionals and strive to make their profession more in-demand, authoritative, and prestigious. The apostolic word somewhat tempers the modern zeal for professionalism, which often fails to distinguish between good and evil. Yet experienced people know that this discernment is the most crucial quality in any profession, as it enables a person not only to work well but also to understand the true meaning of their labour and align its results with the purpose of life."
"It turns out that the more a person learns in their life, the harder it becomes for them to discern between good and evil, the authentic and the false, the beautiful and the ugly. As we begin the new academic year, refreshed and with renewed strength, we must remember that the Lord calls us to work not only with our minds but also with our hearts. It is this combination that yields the highest fruit, which in God’s eyes is true wisdom. May this coming year be a time for us to gain greater wisdom and bear greater fruit pleasing to the Lord," added Dmitry Sergeevich.
An open lecture on "The Heart and Conscience of a Person in Light of the 'New Christian Anthropology'" by the first Rector and Founder of SFI, Fr Georgy Kochetkov (Candidate of Theology), continued and developed his presentation from four years ago, entitled "A New Christian Anthropology: The 'Horizontal' and 'Vertical' Dimensions of the Human Person."
"We have already had the opportunity to speak about the 'New Christian Anthropology,' about the triadic horizontal and vertical dimensions of a person. This idea has been taken up and significantly developed over the past years. It has intrigued many people who are preoccupied with the question of humanity," noted Fr Georgy. "In my framework, I have identified ten fundamental qualities of a person and human communities, including the heart and conscience, and have proposed considering these qualities also in these triadic dimensions, relating them to the 'vertical-horizontal' approach, and applying them not only to the individual but also to human communities."
"It was a great discovery and joy for me that a person's individual qualities, and not just the person themselves, can be understood in 'vertical' and 'horizontal' dimensions, in both singular and plural aspects. This provides us with grounds to believe that we can examine not only a person and human communities but also most of their qualities across all 'levels.' This is important because it has implications for our fullness and depth of understanding," he added.
In the 2025/26 academic year, St. Philaret Institute will offer two master's programmes: a Theology programme specializing in "Contemporary Orthodox Theology and Catechetics" and a History programme called "History of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th Century". SFI will also offer a bachelor's programme called "The Theory and History of Orthodox Theology."
The spectrum of continuing education at the Institute has expanded with a programme called "The History of the Russian Diaspora", as well as a number of general education programmes in Theology. Our "Fundamentals of the Language of Fine Arts" programme remains consistently popular among applicants, with 34 people enrolling this year.
According to data that SFI Rector and Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences Alexander Kopirovsky shared at the outset of this academic year, a total of 526 people are currently studying at St. Philaret's Institute.
