Discussing Spiritual Education in the 21st Century at the XIVth Annual St Paisius (Velichkovsky) Lectures

With the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir of Chișinău and All Moldova, an international academic conference, the XIVth Annual St Paisius (Velichkovsky) Lectures, was held in Moldova on December 6–7. The conference theme was "Spiritual Enlightenment — the Path to Unity and the Call to Freedom: The Educational Activities of the Brotherhood of St Paisius (Velichkovsky) and Spiritual Education in the 21st Century."

In his welcoming address, Archbishop Savva of Tiraspol and Dubossary noted that "this conference’s theme of spiritual enlightenment is very relevant. We representatives of the Orthodox clergy often face the fact that for the most part our flock has at best superficial notions of their faith."

The conference featured three plenary sessions and a final roundtable. Participants were offered the following questions for discussion:

• What tasks face the Church on the way to achieving enlightened faith in the modern world?
• What experiences of spiritual enlightenment and guidance from the brotherhood of St. Paisius remain relevant today?
• What experience of the 20th century new martyrs and confessors should we view as their primary legacy in the affair of spiritual enlightenment?
• ● Can spiritual education help heal church schisms?

SFI Rector and Candidate of Pedagogy Alexander Kopirovsky spoke about the views of Fr Pavel Florensky on the role of art in education and their implementation using Alexander Ivanov's painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People" as an example. Head of the Centre for the Academic Study of Methods in Mission and Catechesis, Senior SFI Lecturer Kirill Mozgov, presented a report entitled "The Enlightenment of the People through Catechetical Conversations in the Russian Church in the Second Half of the 19th Century." Secretary of the SFI Theology Faculty Yulia Antipina, a graduate of both SFI and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, delivered a report entitled "Church Unity on the Paths of Service and Enlightenment: Theological Experience in the 20th Century." SFI graduate Konstantin Chobanu spoke on the main principles and types of spiritual education using as his baseline the experience of the newly canonized (4 Feb, 2025) saint Fr Dumitru Stăniloae. "The Translation Activity of Priest Georgy Kochetkov as a Response to the Problems of Enlightenment in the Russian Church from the Second Half of the 20th Century to the Present" was the topic of the report by SFI graduate Evgenia Balashova-Shumitskaya.

The final roundtable brought together Archimandrite Paisius (Chekan), Archimandrite Job (Cristea), Alexander Kopirovsky, Chair of the St Paisius Brotherhood Svetlana Kiryak, Fr Pavel Bibin, Anna Briskina-Müller, and Kirill Mozgov. The roundtable was moderated by Hieromonk Joseph (Pavlinchuk) and the chair of the organizing committee for the St Paisius Lectures, Inessa Saulova.

The prayerful gathering and focal point of the conference was a festive liturgy at the Holy Ascension Novo-Nyamets Monastery in the village of Kitskany.

The conference was organized by the Orthodox Brotherhood of St Paisius (Velichkovsky) (Moldova, Chișinău), with the support of the Metropolis of Moldova and the Holy Ascension Novo-Nyamets Monastery.