Sergius BULGAKOV, Spiritual Diary, trans. Mark Roosien and Roberto J. De La Noval, Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press, 2022. Pp. xi-213. $19.95. ISBN 9781621388500. Reviewed by Walter N. SISTO, D’Youville University, Buffalo, NY 14201.

 The Spiritual Diary provides for the first time an English translation of Rev. Sergius Bulgakov’s diary entries between August 8, 1924 and October 10, 1925. For any student of Russian Sophiology or Sergius Bulgakov, this text is an essential read because it presents Bulgakov’s theology, spirituality, doubts, and relationship with God before he embarks upon his “Paris Period” or Theological Period. His Paris Period refers to the year he lived in Paris from 1925 to his death in 1944. During this period Bulgakov writes two theological trilogies and multiple articles on books on Sophia. It is his most creative period and the period that is drawing a lot of attention from recent anglophone scholars. This very good translation of Bulgakov’s diary is an important addition to the Bulgakov English-translated corpus.

In Bulgakov’s diary, you will find concise entries on many of the themes that he will develop after 1925. These diary entries are replete with succinct theological insights. For example, in his diary entries from the Summer and Fall of 1924 the reader will find Bulgakov’s detail about his vision of the Theotokos’ tears and revelation that “She is love.” (71)   When God’s love that is personified in Mary is revealed “every soul will be conquered and saved...the heart will burst in response to this love.” (71-72) These ideas will be fleshed out in his first major theological treatise The Burning Bush: On Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God (1927). The theme of apokatastasis and the Theotokos that Bulgakov hints at in these entries will be an important part of his theology of the Dread Judgement in his magnum opus, The Bride of the Lamb (1939).

The title Spiritual Diary may be misleading to readers. The diary entries provide very little in the way of personal experiences that are normally associated with diary entries. Bulgakov rarely speaks about historical events or persons in his life beyond the plight of the Russian people and pastoral experiences with parishioners at the end of life. Rather these diary entries are spiritual discourses by an Orthodox sage on the spiritual life.  The Bulgakov the reader encounters in this book is not the academician or sophiologist but rather a spiritual father who gives relevant advice on how to progress in your relationship with God and avoid the pitfalls of modern life.

One important theme in his diary is not to waste time and encounter God now. Bulgakov writes: “People live for tomorrow; all they hold dear, all their hopes are transferred onto it, but only the present day exists. Today is already given to us by God, as an inexhaustible depth, as the source of all possibilities...We must seek not the future but the eternal present, eternal life. Such is the wisdom of the Church such is the wisdom of the ascetics. And then everything shifts away from outcomes we can’t control and instead towards the struggle of our faith, of our life, of our love for God.” (154)  In this quote we have a taste of Bulgakov’s pastoral advice on the challenges to the Christian spiritual life and the importance of finding God in the here and now.

It is of interest to note, that in his diary Bulgakov says very little about Sophia or Sophiology. This may come as a surprise to readers who associate him solely with the Russian Sophiological movement. However, Bulgakov was first and foremost a Russian Orthodox priest committed to Orthodoxy and sophiology was a tool he used to better express his love for God, the saints, and the Church. 

Beyond the diary entries, readers are treated to a brief foreword written by Rowan Williams and a biographical and theological introduction written respectively by the translators, Roosien and Noval. Both introductions are well-written and provide a solid background for this diary and an introduction to important theological topics Bulgakov reflects on (e.g., Election and the Cross). Finally, the text ends with a short entry from Sr. Joanna Reitlinger, Bulgakov’s disciple, friend, and iconographer, entitled “Remembering Fr. Sergius.” 

Overall, this book is a wonderful addition to the growing body of Bulgakov English translations. This text highlights the personality and spirituality of Bulgakov but also Bulgakov’s thoughts and insights during a formative time in his career that leads into his theological period.