Anthony of Sourozh

Anthony of Sourozh (Russian: Митрополит Антоний Сурожский, secular name Andrei Borisovich Bloom, Russian: Андрей Борисович Блум and commonly known as Anthony Bloom; 19 June 1914 – 4 August 2003) was best known as a writer and broadcaster on prayer and the Christian life.

"As it often happens when you are young and when you act with passion, bent to possess either everything or nothing, I decided that I would give myself a year to see whether life had a meaning, and if I discovered it had none I would not live beyond the year..."--[1] In 1939, before leaving for the front as a surgeon in the French Army, he secretly professed monastic vows in the Russian Orthodox Church.

[2] After the war he continued practising as a physician until 1948, when he was ordained to the presbyterate and sent to Britain to serve as Orthodox Christian chaplain of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius, a society established to foster understanding and friendship between the Russian Orthodox and Anglican churches.

In 1974 by mutual agreement he was released from the function of exarch, in order to devote himself more fully to the pastoral needs of the growing flock of his diocese.

The Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Foundation is a body of independent trustees who collect together and publish his writings.

As of July 2011, the foundation undertakes this by managing the copyrights in his works and by commissioning new selections and approved translations.

The foundation is also establishing the official archive of Bloom's papers and writings, together with related materials such as recordings of talks, broadcasts and sermons.