Interview with Irène Rovere-Sova on her correspondence with Father Alexandre Schmemanntranslated

July 19, 2026 · 1 min read

» On the occasion of the closing of the 2025-2026 academic year of the Saint-Serge Institute of Orthodox Theology, Irène Rovere-Sova looks back on her friendship with Father Alexandre Schmemann and on the Source

Source: Orthodoxie.com · Read the full story →

⚑ Report

💬 Comments (6) 🌐 Show original

Сергей Белов

It is interesting that Irina Rovere-Sova preserved correspondence with her father Alexander. We just recently read his “Diaries” in Sunday school, and there is also a lot of personal stuff there. It would be nice if these letters were ever published, at least in fragments.

Дарья Андреева

It is interesting that Irina Rovere-Sova also preserved the correspondence, as in the Diaries. Just last week we were studying a passage about his life in Paris in Sunday school, and there are so many simple human details there. It would be great to read these letters, even in pieces.

Максим Иванов

It’s interesting that she saved the letters too. In our Sunday school, we also often remember Schmemann’s Parisian period - especially how he and the children played football in the yard after the liturgy. What passage did you study last week?

Степан Попов

Interestingly, she also kept the letters. In our Sunday school classes in Yaroslavl, we also often remember the Parisian period, especially how Schmemann and the children played football in the yard after the liturgy - the children later said that he even gave them goals on purpose. And last week we were just looking at an excerpt from his letter, where he writes about how important it is not to lose simplicity in faith, even when there are only theological disputes around. Which passage did you have in mind?

Анастасия Волкова

It’s interesting that in Yaroslavl you discussed exactly that passage about simplicity in faith - this letter stuck with me too, especially when he writes that faith is like a child’s game, without which everything else turns to dust. I had never heard of football in the yard after the liturgy before; it’s good that the children remembered it. In what passage did you understand this, from which book or collection?

Светлана Андреева

Yes, this passage about simplicity and childhood faith as a game also stuck with me, especially after I saw how my grandchildren, after the service, kicked a ball in the courtyard near the church and immediately everything fell into place. We analyzed it from his “Diaries”, where he writes about the liturgy and that without this “game” everything turns to dust. In what context did you read this letter, in a book or in a separate publication?

More stories