The meeting was also attended by the Bishop of Korsun Nestor MP

The meeting was also attended by the Bishop of Korsun Nestor , the priest Maxim Politov, the clerk of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, hieromonk Alexander (Sinyakov), the rector of the Theological Educational Center and teachers. Welcoming the students of the Spiritual and Educational Center, Metropolitan Hilarion said: “I am very pleased that, thanks to the Spiritual and Educational Center of St. Genevieve, there is an opportunity for students from Russia, from Ukraine, from other countries within the canonical responsibility of the Russian Orthodox Church, to come to Paris and receive a high-level education here. I see that you have different scientific interests, ranging from biblical studies and patristics to various topics related to the life of people in modern society. And I really hope that studying in France will help you to expand your horizon, to master French and other foreign languages. But most importantly, I would like to wish you all that you learn here, then "brought to the feet of Christ," as St. Gregory the Theologian said, who received a very good education by the standards of that time. So that everything that you will learn here, then will benefit the Church. I think that each of you took the path of service to the Church because you chose this path for yourself. But before you choose this path, the Lord Jesus Christ chose you. It could not have been otherwise. You would not have been in the seminary, if at one point, at some stage of your life’s journey, the Lord did not call you to the ministry. And I would like you to always remember this. You are not just students, you are called to apostolic ministry, and the Lord favored you to be born at this particular time, in order to serve Him during the time He will give for each of you here on earth. When we think about the life of previous generations - our parents and grandparents - we understand that they lived in certain conditions and did not have the same opportunities that we have today. In particular, there were extremely limited opportunities for the preaching of the Gospel, for a full-fledged church life. Now each of us has these opportunities, but the missionary field that lies before our eyes remains vast. The Lord spoke to His disciples: Look at the fields, how they turned white and ripened to the harvest (John 4:35), or: There are many harvesters , but few laborers (Luke 10: 2) - these words are still relevant today. All of you are called by the Lord to be doers in His field. And this means that the Lord expects maximum return from each of you. This return now, during the years of your study, should manifest itself in not wasting time, not spending it empty, but enriching your scientific and spiritual potential every day. Education in the theological seminary, at the university, at the academy always involves two components - intellectual and spiritual. A conference dedicated to Vladimir Nikolayevich Lossky is currently taking place within the walls of this spiritual and cultural center. V.N. Lossky is an example of a theologian who could combine a high level of scientific knowledge with deep and sincere Christian spirituality. He was not a priest, he was a layman, but the Church was not for him just a matter of intellectual interest. He combined his scientific activities with serving God, not as a priest, but as an altar boy and, of course, as a theologian. And for him, theology, as he always emphasized in his books, was not just an intellectual pursuit. Lossky said that theology is inseparable from the spiritual, "mystical" life, as he himself called it, that is, from contact with God through prayer, through church sacraments, contemplation, which are the main content of our Christian life. I would like to wish you that the classes that will enrich you intellectually be combined with constant spiritual growth, so that you succeed from strength in strength and richness of the church tradition through scientific knowledge to open up to you more and more fully. Vladimir Nikolaevich Lossky is another amazing example of a man who, being deeply Orthodox in his spirit and worldview, was obliged due to the circumstances of that time and place in which he lived the main part of his life, to defend the Orthodox tradition in the face of the non-Orthodox world. He did this very delicately, elegantly, competently. Each of you is now in a similar situation: you live in a heterodox environment, communicate with other students who do not belong to the Orthodox faith, and for many of you the scientific work itself is an opportunity to look at your tradition not only from the inside, but also from the outside. For the first time I found myself in a situation when I got to study at Oxford. The theme of my dissertation was that I chose the life and teachings of St. Simeon the New Theologian, who, like Lossky, combined theology with a very deep mystical spiritual experience. The topic of my thesis was: "Rev. Simeon the New Theologian and Orthodox tradition." I set myself the task of examining the teaching of St. Simeon the New Theologian from within the church tradition, of which we are all part. This tradition goes back to the Lord Jesus Christ, His apostles, it is rooted in the Holy Scripture, in the divine service of the Orthodox Church. But when I began to describe all this for potential readers who do not belong to the Orthodox tradition, I realized that a lot of what is obvious and obvious to us is not clear to people who are outside the Orthodox tradition, and we should explain it to them so that they appreciate and get carried away with it. Each of you has such a precious opportunity. That is, on the one hand, you can learn deeper and deeper your own tradition, but, on the other hand, being in a heterodox environment gives you the opportunity not only to look at it from the inside, but also to look at it from the outside and understand how you can treasure pass to other people. The missionary field, which is now open to each of us, consists of people who mostly identify themselves in one degree or another with the Orthodox tradition, but are not church-minded and know very little about what the essence of the Orthodox faith is. And our task is to study our own tradition from the inside, to be able to pass it on to those people who are external to it, even if at the same time they consider themselves Orthodox. I have to communicate a lot with people who sincerely sympathize with the Orthodox Church, identifying themselves with it. But their knowledge of dogma, of theology, of Holy Scripture, of Jesus Christ, of His life and teaching, is almost at zero. And when such people ask whether they read the Gospel, it turns out that they do not read it. Each of them has a Gospel at home, but it does not occur to them that the Gospel is a book to read. At best, this book is on a shelf or, perhaps, lying on a bedside table. But they do not read it. I do not even speak about the works of the Holy Fathers, about worship, which for many remains completely incomprehensible. People go to church for years, “stand up” the Liturgy, know how it begins and how it ends, what parts it consists of, but they absolutely do not understand its meaning. We should tell people about all this and, most importantly, not just explain what the Orthodox Church, Holy Scripture, worship is, but tell them about it so that they light up, get carried away, understand that they need it and realize that living in God can radically change their lives. When we are reading the Gospel, we pay attention to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ constantly talks about the Kingdom of Heaven, but never explains what it is. He constantly mentions him, gives examples, but does not say what the kingdom of heaven is. Why? I think because it is absolutely impossible to reduce the Kingdom of Heaven to some kind of wording. The kingdom of heaven is a being that exists in parallel with our material life and to which we can partake in this life through prayer, church sacraments and life in God. The kingdom of heaven is not just something that comes for virtuous people after death. This is what people join here and now. But in order for the Kingdom of Heaven to be revealed to them, they must want to graft onto the vine, which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in order to feed on this vine from life-giving currents. And here is our apostolic mission. To each of you, I would like to wish that you, who have embarked on the path of this apostolic ministry, never come down from it, that everyone, to the best of their abilities and capabilities, bring the fruit that the Lord expects of you. So that you do not bury the talents that the Lord has given you, but with your life and your knowledge you served the holy Church of Christ. ” Then, Metropolitan Hilarion answered the students' questions regarding current issues in the organization of the modern life of the Russian Orthodox Church and possible directions for the development of inter-Christian dialogue.