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Seraphim Sarovsky: a short biography, life and teachings. Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov). The Life of the Monk Seraphim for Children The Life of the Seraphim

Father about. Seraphim entered the Sarov Monastery in 1778, on November 20, on the eve of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple, and was entrusted with obedience to the Elder Hieromonk Joseph.

His homeland was the provincial city of Kursk, where his father, Isidor Moshnin, had brick factories and was engaged as a contractor in the construction of stone buildings, churches and houses. Isidor Moshnin was known as an extremely honest man, zealous for the temples of God and a rich, eminent merchant. Ten years before his death, he undertook to build in Kursk new temple in the name of St. Sergius, according to the plan of the famous architect Rastrelli. Subsequently, in 1833, this temple was made a cathedral. In 1752, the foundation of the church took place, and when the lower church, with a throne in the name of St. Sergius, was completed in 1762, the pious builder, the father of the great elder Seraphim, the founder of the Diveyevo monastery, died. Having transferred all his fortune to the kind and intelligent wife of Agathia, he instructed her to bring the work of building the temple to the end. Mother about. Seraphima was even more pious and merciful than her father: she helped the poor a lot, especially orphans and poor brides.

Agafia Moshnina continued the construction of St. Sergius Church for many years and personally supervised the workers. In 1778, the temple was finally finished, and the execution of the work was so good and conscientious that the Moshnin family gained special respect among the inhabitants of Kursk.

Father Seraphim was born in 1759, on the 19th of July, and was named Prokhor. At the death of his father, Prokhor was no more than three years old from birth, therefore, he was completely raised by a God-loving, kind and intelligent mother, who taught him more by the example of her life, which passed in prayer, visiting temples and helping the poor. That Prokhor was the chosen one of God from his birth - this was seen by all spiritually developed people, and his pious mother could not help but feel. So, once, inspecting the structure of the Church of St. Sergius, Agafia Moshnina walked with her seven-year-old Prokhor and imperceptibly reached the very top of the bell tower that was being built then. Suddenly moving away from his mother, the fast boy leaned over the railing to look down, and, inadvertently, fell to the ground. The frightened mother in a terrible state fled from the bell tower, imagining to find her son beaten to death, but, to unspeakable joy and great surprise, she saw him safe and sound. The child stood on its feet. The mother tearfully thanked God for saving her son and realized that the son of Prokhor was guarded by a special Providence of God.

Three years later, a new event clearly revealed God's patronage over Prokhor. He was ten years old, and he was distinguished by a strong physique, a sharp mind, a quick memory and, at the same time, meekness and humility. They began to teach him to read the church, and Prokhor set to work eagerly, but suddenly fell very ill, and even his family did not hope for his recovery. At the most difficult time of his illness, in a dreamy vision, Prokhor saw the Most Holy Theotokos, who promised to visit him and heal him from the illness. When he woke up, he related this vision to his mother. Indeed, soon in one of the processions of the cross, the miraculous icon of the Sign of the Mother of God was carried through the city of Kursk along the street where Moshnina's house was. It started raining heavily. To cross to another street, the procession, probably to shorten the path and avoid mud, went through Moshnina's courtyard. Taking this opportunity, Agathia took her sick son out into the yard, put it to the miraculous icon and brought it under its shadow. They noticed that from that time on, Prokhor began to recover in health and soon recovered completely. So the promise of the Queen of Heaven to visit the boy and heal him was fulfilled. With the restoration of health, Prokhor continued his teaching successfully, studied the Book of Hours, the Psalter, learned to write and fell in love with reading the Bible and spiritual books.

Prokhor's elder brother, Alexei, was engaged in trade and had his own shop in Kursk, so the young Prokhor was forced to learn to trade in this shop; but his heart was not in trade and profits. Young Prokhor did not lose almost a single day without visiting the temple of God, and, being unable to attend the late liturgy and vespers on the occasion of classes in the shop, he got up earlier than others and hurried to Matins and early Mass. At that time in the city of Kursk there lived some kind of Christ for the sake of the holy fool, whose name is now forgotten, but then everyone honored. Prokhor made the acquaintance of him and with all his heart clung to the holy fool; the latter, in turn, loved Prokhor and with his influence made his soul even more inclined towards piety and a solitary life. His clever mother noticed everything and was mentally happy that her son was so close to the Lord. It was rare happiness for Prokhor to have such a mother and educator who did not interfere, but contributed to his desire to choose a spiritual life for himself.

A few years later, Prokhor began to talk about monasticism and carefully inquired whether his mother would be against going to the monastery. He, of course, noticed that his kind teacher did not contradict his desire and would rather like to let him go than keep him in the world; from this, in his heart, the desire for monastic life flared up even more. Then Prokhor began to talk about monasticism with familiar people, and in many he found sympathy and approval. Thus, merchants Ivan Druzhinin, Ivan Bezhodarny, Alexey Melenin and two others expressed the hope to go with him to the monastery.

In the seventeenth year of his life, the intention to leave the world and embark on the path of monastic life finally matured in Prokhor. And in the heart of the mother there was a determination to let him go to serve God. His farewell to his mother was touching! Having gathered at all, they sat for a while, according to Russian custom, then Prokhor got up, prayed to God, bowed to his mother at the feet and asked her parental blessing. Agathia allowed him to venerate the icons of the Savior and the Mother of God, then blessed him with a copper cross. Taking this cross with him, he always wore it openly on his chest until the end of his life.

A not unimportant question was to be resolved by Prokhor: where and to which monastery he should go. Glory to the ascetic life of the monks of the Sarov Hermitage, where many of the Kursk inhabitants were already and Fr. Pakhomiy, a native of Kursk, persuaded him to go to them, but he wanted to be in Kiev first, to look at the works of the Kiev-Pechersk monks, to ask for guidance and advice from the elders, to know through them the will of God, to establish himself in his thoughts, to receive a blessing from what - some ascetic and, finally, pray and bless with St. relics of St. Anthony and Theodosius, the original monks. Prokhor set off on foot, staff in hand, and five more people from Kursk merchants were walking with him. In Kiev, bypassing the local ascetics, he heard that not far from St. Lavra of the Caves, in the Kitaevsk monastery, a recluse named Dosifei, who has the gift of clairvoyance, is saved. Coming to him, Prokhor fell at his feet, kissed them, opened his whole soul to him and asked for guidance and blessing. The shrewd Dosifei, seeing in him the grace of God, understanding his intentions and seeing in him a good ascetic of Christ, blessed him to go to the Sarov desert and said in conclusion: “Come, child of God, and stay there. This place will be for your salvation, with the help of the Lord. Here you will also end your earthly journey. Just try to acquire an unceasing memory of God through the unceasing invocation of the name of God like this: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner! May all your attention and training be in this; walking and sitting, doing and standing in church, everywhere, in every place, entering and escaping, let this unceasing cry be in your mouth and in your heart: with it you will find peace, you will acquire spiritual and bodily purity, and the Spirit will dwell in you Holy One, the source of all good things, and will govern your life in holiness, in all piety and purity. In Sarov and the abbot Pakhomiy of a godly life; he is a follower of our Anthony and Theodosius! "

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov is one of the most revered saints in Russia. The life of Seraphim of Sarov tells how already in childhood miracles began to happen to him, and after becoming a monk, the Monk Seraphim began to show them himself - first of all, with incredible feats that he performed: for example, he prayed for three years on a stone and almost did not eat food. Or he fed wild animals that flocked to him from all over the forest and became meek next to them.

But the Monk Seraphim is also one of those saints who left behind not only the tradition of his own ascetic life, but also teachings (if not to say - a whole teaching): about grace. He taught: Christianity is not a set of ethical rules, where it is important just to be a good man, and a higher goal - having acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit, to change nature person. And then - and the person will be sanctified, and the world around him will be transformed in the most wonderful way!

Venerable Seraphim of Sarov feeding the bear

Teachings of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov

To some extent, the teachings are really the most important thing that Saint Seraphim of Sarov left behind.

“Acquire the spirit of peace and thousands around you will be saved” - this is one of the most famous sayings of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, which simply and succinctly conveys the whole essence of his teaching.

Finding peace in the soul and acquiring grace: this is the main goal for a Christian, and not the fulfillment of the commandments. Fulfilling the commandments is natural for a person, and this should be done in any case, but a person has a higher goal on earth than just doing good deeds and not offending loved ones. This goal is deification: that is, the change in the nature of the soul is already here - on earth.

In fact, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov tried to convey the ideas of hesychasm - the "Greek" teaching, one of the apologists of which was in the XIV century St. Gregory Palamas, and which to this day is being built on Holy Mount Athos. At the heart of the idea of hesychasm lies precisely the doing of the mind, and not just deeds.

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov reminded that the life of a Christian begins not with deeds, and not even with thoughts, but even earlier - with the nature of his soul. Therefore, an Orthodox Christian should not only watch his thoughts (because all actions come from them), but direct his hope and aspirations further - to the state of his soul. A soul that cries for the Holy Spirit and gains its true integrity and true healing only through the acquisition of Grace and thus - in Christ.

Well, the observance of the commandments and a pious life are just one of the best tools for achieving this highest goal - the acquisition of a “peaceful spirit”.

Seraphim Sarovsky: years of life - when he lived

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov lived in the 18th – 19th centuries. He was born in 1754 and died in 1833.

He lived 78 years, and during this time the country in which he lived - Russian empire- survived six emperors and changed a lot: becoming a real Empire from a large state, which was able in the end to defeat Napoleon himself.

The rulers who were "caught" by Saint Seraphim of Sarov: Empress Elizabeth; Peter II; Catherine II; Peter III; Alexander I; Nicholas I. Although, of course, the Monk Seraphim himself thought least of all about the kings of the earth and thought more about the Eternal Kingdom, which is what his life narrates.

Seraphim Sarovsky: a short biography

The biographies of the saints in the Church are usually called “lives”. The life of the Monk Seraphim is quite capacious, because the elder led a very simple way of life and sought monasticism from his youth.

Therefore, the short life of Saint Seraphim can be summed up in just a few phrases:

was born in 1833;
at 22 he left home and became a monk,
ten years later he was tonsured a monk,
spent his entire monastic life in the woods near the Sarov monastery or in a retreat in the monastery itself
and died at the age of 78.

However, the life of any ascetic does not consist of external facts, but of the routine of life and the arrangement of internal life - which is difficult to describe on the pages of books or a website. And the life of Seraphim of Sarov was just filled with internal exploits, which showed that with true unity with the Lord, human forces are truly inexhaustible, and grace can sanctify a person so that wild animals will go to him to worship, and no robbers - neither heavenly, nor even more so earthly, he will not be afraid!

Miracles of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov

Miraculous phenomena began to happen to the Monk Seraphim when he was still a seven-year-old boy, Prokhor. He fell from the bell tower to the ground, but survived.

His holy life made the most formidable animals meek. The monk told that wolves, hares, foxes, snakes and mice, and even a big bear came to him at night. And he fed everyone, and miraculously enough treats for everyone. “No matter how much bread I took,” said the ascetic, “it miraculously did not decrease in the basket!”

Like any saint, the Monk Seraphim of Sarov did not strive to work miracles, and in any miraculous phenomenon he saw first of all the generosity and Love of God and an example of how endless the world becomes during his life with Christ.

The devil's attacks intensified. At first they manifested themselves in a mystical way - during the prayer, Elder Seraphim could be thrown up and thrown back to the ground - these demons were "having fun". And once - during exploits in the forest - he was attacked by the most real robbers. It was the devil, seeing the spiritual firmness of the elder, now attacked, using earthly "handy" tools - people - in order to break the spirit of the monk in such a "down to earth" way.

The robbers beat the monk, broke his ribs, broke his skull and inflicted many other wounds. The wounded Seraphim of Sarov was found some time later, and the doctors were surprised: how he survived was incomprehensible. The monk himself related that on one of these days the Mother of God appeared to the monk, and this finally calmed him, helped to betray everything to the will of God and thereby save his life.

The appearance of the Mother of God to the Monk Seraphim of Sarov is also one of the miracles that happened to him more than once. According to legend, there were twelve of them. The first - in childhood, when Prokhor was 9 years old - the boy was seriously ill and the Mother of God promised to heal him. It was after this that he decided for himself to become a monk. And the last phenomenon happened a couple of years before his death - when Holy Mother of God appeared to him surrounded by John the Baptist, John the Theologian and 12 virgins.

The exploits of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov

The future elder Seraphim accomplished the first visible feat even before he was tonsured a monk - when from Kursk, where he was born and lived, he went on foot to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra: to venerate the relics of the Caves saints and receive a blessing for monasticism. He did not travel by train, he did not travel by car and did not fly by plane. In those days, pilgrimage was not a comfortable "tourism", as it is now, but really a feat.

But of course, most of all he became famous for the asceticism that he carried, already being a monk. From the very beginning, he stood out from the fraternity with a strict charter. And he spent 30 years of his life either as a hermit in the forest, a few kilometers from the Sarov monastery, or in the dwelling itself, but in seclusion.

His way of life in the forest seems incredible. Saint Seraphim could walk in the same clothes all year round, he was wearing chains, at times he ate the same grass.

His most famous feat is the feat of pillar-domination, when for a thousand days and a thousand nights he stood in prayer alternately on two stones.

He began to receive visitors only in last years his life - and it was then that the people learned about Seraphim of Sarov and glorified him as a saint during his lifetime.

The relics of Seraphim of Sarov: where are they?

The relics of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov are now kept in the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. There you can bow to them.
The Diveyevo monastery is found in the Nizhny Novgorod region. From Moscow, for example, you can get by train to Nizhny Novgorod and then by bus to Diveevo. The bus schedule can be viewed

By car: 450 kilometers from Moscow.

There are hotels and private houses at the monastery and you can always find where to stay, but it is better to book accommodation in advance - especially in the great Church holidays or in the days of the memory of the saint.

And in Moscow there is a courtyard of the Diveevsky Monastery - it is located a two-minute walk from the Prospekt Mira-Koltsevaya metro station - if you walk along the path to the Garden Ring. The courtyard with a house church inside is located right on Prospekt Mira:

Days of memory of Seraphim of Sarov

Days of Remembrance of Seraphim of Sarov in the Orthodox Church:

August 1(it's his birthday)
January 15(death date).

Icon of Seraphim of Sarov

And this is how one of the most common images of the Monk Seraphim looks like. (The picture shows the icon, which is kept in the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra):

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov is one of the most revered saints in Russia, so his icon can be found and worshiped in almost every church.

Reverend Father Seraphim, pray to God for us!

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In this article we publish the life of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov - a particularly revered saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Life of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov

The pious merchant Isidor Moshnin lived in Kursk with his wife Agafia. On the night of July 20, 1754, they had a son, who was named Prokhor in holy baptism. When the boy was only three years old, his father died and Agathia began to raise the baby alone. She herself continued her husband's work: the construction of God's temple in Kursk.

The boy was growing up, and soon Prokhor's mother realized that her son was an extraordinary child. Once the seven-year-old Prokhor climbed onto the unfinished bell tower. Suddenly he stumbled and fell to the ground. Terrified, the mother rushed to her son, not expecting to see him alive. What was the amazement and joy of Agafya and the runaway neighbors, when it turned out that the boy was unharmed! So from early childhood, it was revealed to the mother and relatives that God miraculously preserves His chosen one.

But soon Prokhor fell seriously ill. The doctors had no hope of recovery. And so, during the most difficult suffering of the boy, the Mother of God Herself appeared to him in inexpressible radiance. She kindly consoled the little sufferer and said that he had to endure quite a bit and he would be healthy.

The next day, a procession was going by the house where the sick Prokhor lived: they carried the great shrine of the city of Kursk and all of Russia - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God - Kursk-Root. Prokhor's mother saw it from the window. Taking her sick son in her arms, she hastened to carry him out into the street. Here the icon was carried over the boy, and from that day on he began to recover quickly.

Prokhor did not look like his peers. He loved solitude, church services, and the reading of holy books. It was not at all boring for him; through prayer, the unknown and wonderful spiritual world, in which Divine love and goodness reign, was more and more revealed to him.

He studied well, but when he grew up a little, he began to help his brother, who, following the example of his father, went into trade. But Prokhor's heart did not lie to the earthly. He could not spend a day without a temple and with all his soul strove for God, whom he loved with all his heart, more than anything in the world. He wanted to be with God constantly, and therefore he wanted more and more to go to a monastery. Finally he confessed his desire to his mother. No matter how hard it was for Agathius to part with his beloved son, she did not interfere with him. When Prokhor was seventeen years old, he left his home, having received his mother's blessing - a large copper crucifix, which he wore on his chest and which he treasured extraordinarily all his life.

Now Prokhor was faced with the question: which monastery to choose. With this he went to Kiev to the relics of the saints, the first leaders of Russian monasticism, the Monks Anthony and Theodosius. After praying to the holy saints, the will of God was revealed to Prokhor through the elder Dositheus, a recluse monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery. “Go to the Sarov monastery,” the elder said to Prokhor. “There the Holy Spirit will lead you to salvation, there you will end your days.” Prokhor bowed at the feet of the recluse and thanked him from the bottom of his heart.

On the eve of the great feast of the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, Prokhor, having made the difficult journey from Kiev to the Temnikovsky forests, entered the Sarov monastery. It was a glorious monastic brotherhood known for its strict devotees. Here the young God-lover was carefully received by the abbot, Father Pakhomiy. Both the abbot and the brethren sincerely fell in love with the kind and zealous novice.

Prayer to the Lord and work - the life of a monk consists of them, through them the Lord strengthens the spirit of the ascetic, his striving for the highest heavenly world. Prokhor, who in his heart firmly decided to give himself entirely to the Lord, happily went through all the most difficult monastic obediences. He cut down trees in the forest, baked bread for the brethren all night long, worked as a carpenter and builder. But most importantly, he learned to pray, taught his mind and soul to ascend to God, so that nothing in the world could distract from prayer.

Wise people they say that prayer, real prayer to God, is the hardest work in the world. No matter how hard it sometimes was, Prokhor was the first to come to church services, and he was the last to leave the church. His soul strove for complete solitude, where nothing distracts from communion with God. Once he told his confessor about this desire, and he blessed the novice Prokhor from time to time to retire to the remote monastery forest for solitary prayer.

From the very beginning of his monastic path, the Monk Seraphim firmly decided that in life he would hope only for the help of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother. This faith and hope of the novice Prokhor was subjected to a severe test: Prokhor fell seriously ill and fell ill for three whole years. The disease was so serious that the brothers were already desperate for his recovery. But Prokhor entrusted his life into the hands of God. When the suffering reached its limit, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared again and healed him.

Many years later, the Lord Jesus Christ also bestowed upon the Monk Seraphim himself the power of healing the sick, foreseeing the future, and prayerfully helping the unfortunate. But first, his courage and loyalty to God were tested and strengthened in difficulties and temptations.

His soul was cleansed of all impurity, thoughts of little faith, doubt, exaltation over others, pride - everything that is in the soul of every person. When later the Monk Seraphim was asked why at the present time there are no such great saints as before, he replied that this is happening because people do not have the resolve to completely trust God and place all their hope only on Him.

When Prokhor was 32 years old, what he had been striving for for many years, he was tonsured into monasticism. The new name he received, Seraphim, means “fiery”; indeed, like a flame, his spirit burned to God. With even greater zeal, Fr. Seraphim began his monastic exploits, and he was ordained a hierodeacon. He spent six years in this ministry.

Once during the liturgy, on Maundy Thursday, a wonderful event happened to him. “Light illuminated me,” he later said, “in which I saw our Lord Jesus Christ in glory, shining, brighter than the sun, ineffable light and surrounded by Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim. From the church gates He walked through the air, stopped opposite the pulpit and, raising His hands, blessed the servants and worshipers. Therefore, He entered into the local image, which is near the royal doors. I, the earth and the ashes, have been rewarded with a special blessing from Him. My heart rejoiced then in the sweetness of love for the Lord. " After this vision, the Monk Seraphim changed in face and could not utter a word; he was led by the arms into the altar, where he stood motionless for two hours. His exploits became even more severe: now he spent whole nights in prayer to God for the whole world.

Soon the Monk Seraphim was ordained a hieromonk. And when he was 39 years old, he left the monastery and settled in a wooden cell, which was located in a dense forest on the banks of the Sarovka River, five miles from the monastery.

Here he began to lead a special desert life. His fasting reached incredible severity. His food was the forest grass, which grew in abundance near his cell. The monk lived and prayed according to the order of the ancient desert-dwellers. Sometimes one of the brethren met him on the way, in a simple white robe, with a copper cross - the mother's blessing - on his chest, with a bag over his shoulders filled with stones and sand, and on top of them lay the Holy Gospel. When the Monk Seraphim was asked why he carried such a weight on his back, he answered meekly: "I am tormenting the tormenting me." And those who understood in the spiritual life guessed what kind of struggle between mortal human flesh and immortal spirit takes place in the life of this ascetic.

The enemy of the human race, the devil, wishing to turn the Monk Seraphim away from the feat, made evil people his instrument. Once the Monk Seraphim was chopping wood in the forest. Suddenly, three unknown persons appeared in front of him. They attacked the monk, demanding money from him.

“Many come to you and surely bring both gold and silver!” “I don’t take anything from anyone,” the Monk Seraphim answered them. But they rushed at him, wanting either to receive imaginary treasures, or to kill the ascetic. The Monk Seraphim was very strong and strong, moreover, he had an ax in his hands, however, being a monk, he could not answer anyone with a blow for a blow. Having surrendered himself into the hands of God, he said, "Do what you need." One robber hit him on the head with the butt of an ax, blood gushed from the monk's mouth and ears, and he fell down dead. The robbers beat him for a long time, finally, tired, threw him near the cell and rushed to the hermit's dwelling to look for money. But they found only an icon and a few books there. Then they realized that they had killed the righteous; fear fell upon them, and they rushed headlong away from the beggarly cell and from the lifeless monk lying on the ground.

But the Monk Seraphim remained alive. Having come to his senses, overcoming terrible pain, he thanked the Lord for the innocent suffering, similar to the suffering of Christ Himself, and prayed for the forgiveness of the evildoers. And when morning came, with great difficulty, covered in blood, tortured, he wandered into the monastery.

The brethren were horrified by his condition. The doctors called from the city found that his head had been broken, his ribs had been broken, and that his body had terrible bruises and mortal wounds; everyone was convinced it was inevitable. While the doctors conferred, the monk fell asleep. And so the Mother of God appeared before him with the apostles Peter and John.

- What are you working on? - said, turning to the doctors, the Most Holy Theotokos. - This one is from my kind!

Waking up, the Monk Seraphim felt the return of strength. On the same day he began to get up, but still he had to spend five months in the monastery. And having got stronger, he again returned to his forest retreat. The devil was put to shame: he failed to force the ascetic to abandon his monastic exploit. But after the beating, the saint's back remained bent forever.

I must say that the robbers were caught. According to the law, severe punishment awaited them, but the monk stood up for his offenders. He even said that if they were not forgiven, he would leave these places forever. The villains were released, but God's punishment overtook them. The fire destroyed their houses with all their belongings. Only then they repented and came to the Monk Seraphim, asking for forgiveness and prayers.

Again the monk led his solitary life.

His heart burned with love and pity not only for suffering humanity, but for all living things. He had already reached such spiritual purity that even beasts of prey were striving towards him. Many of those who visited him saw him feeding from the hands of a huge bear. But the monk forbade talking about this until his death.

Seeing such progress of the ascetic in holiness, the devil increasingly took up arms against him. One night, during prayer, the Monk Seraphim heard the howling of animals outside the walls of the cell. And then, like a crowd of people, they started pounding at the door; the jambs could not stand, the door fell, and at the elder's feet a huge stump of wood fell, which the next day eight people could hardly take out. The rage of the fallen spirits reached their limit, and they assumed a visible form in order to embarrass the saint. During prayer, the walls of the cell seemed to part, and terrible hellish monsters tried to pounce on the monk. Once an unknown force lifted him up and hit the floor with force several times.

And then the Monk Seraphim embarked on the most difficult feat in his life — the feat of silence and pillar-dom. For three years he did not speak a word to anyone, 1000 days and 1000 nights he spent in prayer, standing on a stone. He had two such stones: one was in his cell, the other lay in the forest thicket. On the stone in the cell, the saint stood from morning until evening, and at night he went into the forest. Raising his hands to heaven, he prayed with the words of the gospel publican: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" In severe frosts and in the pouring rain, on a sultry noon and on an anxious night, covered with clouds of mosquitoes, suffering from evil spirits, the monk bore his feat. During this time his body was exhausted, while his spirit reached extraordinary freedom and height. He could bear such a feat only when he was strengthened by the special grace-filled help of God.

After a 16-year stay in the desert, in 1810, the Monk Seraphim returned to the monastery. And again, not for repose, but for special prayer. Replacing his beloved forest wilderness where the clean air, the bubbling river, wild animals - all rejoiced the soul, the monk for many years went into the cloister of the monastic cell, where, except for the icon, in front of which the lamp was always burning, and the chopped off stump that served as a chair, there was nothing. In the entryway there was an oak coffin, constantly reminding the ascetic of death. The elder did not receive anyone, his only conversation was a conversation with God - prayer.

After another seventeen years, he came out of the seclusion, having received a blessing from the Queen of Heaven herself. She commanded him to receive visitors and guide them spiritually.

The news spread throughout Russia that in the Sarov Monastery the Lord raised up a great ascetic who heals the sick, comforts the mournful, instructs the lost on the right path.

Since then, every day, after the end of the early liturgy and until evening, the elder received people. The love with which the saint was filled attracted everyone to him. By this time, he already possessed perspicacity: he saw the spiritual order, thoughts and life circumstances of each person. Most importantly, the will of God regarding everyone was revealed to him, so that his advice was received as from God Himself. Thousands of people, thanks to the prayers and advice of the Monk Seraphim, happily arranged their lives, avoided danger, and even death, and received healings from serious illnesses. But most importantly, they found the way of soul salvation and learned to ascend to God through love and obedience to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the main thing that Saint Seraphim taught.

The elder greeted everyone with the greatest friendliness: "My joy, Christ is risen!" - he said, lovingly embracing the pilgrim who had come to him.

But those who came with treachery, only hiding behind piety (and there were some), he threateningly removed from himself. The monk foresaw not only the future of every person, but also the future destinies of Russia and the whole world. One day an officer came to his wilderness. The monk at this time stood at a miraculous source, which had once been brought out of the ground by the prayers of the elder himself and had great healing power.

The officer approached the hermit, and at this time the water in the spring darkened and became indignant, began to beat with a muddy spring. The monk glanced angrily at the officer and threateningly commanded: “Come out! Just as this holy source has become muddied, so will you and your like-minded people revolt the whole of Russia! ”

In horror and confusion, the officer departed from him: he really came with an insidious desire to cunningly receive from the elder the approval of the impending coup d'etat. He was a man from among the so-called Decembrists and Freemasons, who, some out of criminal folly and others out of hatred, wanted to ruin Russia and Orthodoxy. The monk foresaw the great misfortunes that the revolutionaries would bring to the people, and warned the Orthodox in advance about the events that were to take place, sometimes in many decades.

He also foresaw the bloody turmoil in our Orthodox fatherland, foresaw the destruction of the Church for multiplying sins, unprecedented persecutions against Christians, foresaw the revival of Holy Russia for her faithfulness to Orthodoxy. “The villains will raise their heads high,” he said. - It will be sure: the Lord, seeing the unrepentant malice of their hearts, will allow their undertakings for a short time, but their illness will turn to their head, and the untruth of their destructive plans will descend on top of them. The Russian land will be stained with rivers of blood, and many nobles will be beaten for the Great Sovereign and the integrity of his autocracy; but the Lord is not completely angry and will not allow the Russian land to collapse to the end, because in it alone Orthodoxy and the remnants of Christian piety are predominantly preserved.

Before the birth of the Antichrist, a great long war and a terrible revolution will take place in Russia, exceeding any human imagination, for the bloodshed will be the most terrible: the riots of Razinsky, Pugachevsky, French revolution- nothing in comparison with what will happen with Russia. There will be the death of many people loyal to the fatherland, the plundering of church property and monasteries, the desecration of the churches of the Lord, the destruction and plundering of the wealth of good people, rivers of Russian blood will be shed. But the Lord will have mercy on Russia and lead her through suffering to great glory ... "

Father Seraphim left to the Orthodox people a wonderful teaching on salvation. “The true goal of our Christian life,” he said, “is to acquire the Holy Spirit. Fasting, vigilance, prayer and good deeds are only means for acquiring the Spirit. " Acquisition means acquisition; the Spirit is acquired by the one who repents of all his sins and does virtues opposite to the sins committed. In such a person, the Spirit begins to act in the heart and secretly arranges the Kingdom of God within him. “How can I know,” one young man asked the monk, “that I am in the grace of the Holy Spirit? I want to understand and feel it well ”. This conversation took place in a winter forest, in a snowy meadow; the young man loved Saint Seraphim very much and came to him for advice.

Reverend Seraphim's answer was truly wonderful. He firmly took the young man by the shoulders and said to him: “We are both now with you in the Spirit of God. Why aren't you looking at me? " The young man answered: “I cannot, father, look, because lightning is pouring from your eyes. Your face has become brighter than the sun, and my eyes ache with pain. " The monk said to this: “Do not be afraid, your love of God! and now you yourself have become as bright as I am. You yourself are now in the fullness of the Spirit of God, otherwise you would not have been able to see me like that. Just look me in the eye and don't be afraid! "

“After these words I looked into his face,” the young man later recalled, “and an even greater reverential horror fell upon me. Imagine in the middle of the sun, in the brightest brightness of its midday rays, the face of a person talking to you. You see the movement of his lips, the changing expression of his eyes, you hear his voice, you feel that someone is holding you by the shoulders, but not only you don’t see these hands, you don’t see either yourself or his figure, but only one light, dazzling and extending far away, a few sazhens around, and illuminating with its bright shine both the snow veil covering the clearing, and the snow crumbs, showering me and the great old man from above. "

The young man was unusually good. He remembered for all his life the day when Father Seraphim taught him a lesson on what it means to "acquire the Holy Spirit."

By the end of his life, the monk elder was already revered by all of Russia. His blessed abilities were extraordinary. It was given to him to see even the heavenly abodes, prepared by God in eternity for virtuous people. When he told his closest people about these revelations, his face was transformed and poured out a wonderful light. With heavenly joy and tenderness, he said: “Oh, if people knew what joy, what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in heaven, they would decide to endure all sorrows in temporary life with thanksgiving. If this very cell were full of worms, and they would eat our flesh all their lives, then even then it would be necessary to agree to this with every desire, so as not to lose that heavenly joy ”.

Human glory weighed heavily on the elder, from the great labors he came to great exhaustion. When the monk was returning to his wilderness from the monastery, crowds of people stood on both sides of the road, wanting at least to touch his clothes, at least to see him.

In the last years of his life, the Monk Seraphim took great care of the Diveyevo women's monastery he founded. Orphan girls entered the monastery, as well as those who were looking for a high and godly life under the leadership of Father Seraphim. The saint directed the life of the monastery, following the blessings of the Mother of God.

Not long before the death of the saint, the Most Holy Theotokos visited him for the twelfth time. It was in the presence of one of the Diveyevo sisters. Suddenly there was a noise, like a wind shone a light, and a song was heard. The elder's cell miraculously transformed: it seemed to move apart, the ceiling disappeared and above there was one radiance. And then a miraculous procession appeared: the Mother of God was walking, accompanied by twelve holy virgins, John the Theologian and John the Baptist; in front were two Angels with blossoming branches in their hands. The Queen of Heaven was wearing a shining, unspeakable beauty mantle, her head was crowned with a wondrous crown. The elder on his knees met the Lady of heaven and earth. The Mother of God promised the saint not to leave the Diveyevo sisters with Her help.

She predicted a quick end to the monk, a transition to the Heavenly Kingdom and blessed him. The elder and the saints who came to the monk together with the Mother of God blessed him. "This one is from our kind!" - proclaimed the Most Holy Theotokos with love looking at Her novice, who courageously lived a long life according to the commandments of Her Son.

The day before his death, January 1, 1833, Sunday, Father Seraphim visited the church for the last time. I put candles on the icons. Immersed in himself, he prayed during the Liturgy and received the Holy and Life-giving Mysteries of Christ. Then he began to say goodbye to the brethren, bless and comfort everyone. Physically he was very weak, in spirit he was cheerful, calm, joyful.

- Save yourself, do not lose heart, stay awake: on this day, crowns are being prepared for us! - he said.

In the evening that day, he sang Easter hymns in his cell.

And on January 2, a monk smelled smoke emanating from the monk's cell. Entering it, he saw that the monk was kneeling before the icon "Tenderness"; there was no fire, but the books smoldered from the falling candle. Thus came another prophecy of the monk, who said: "My death will be revealed by fire." The crossed arms of the saint lay on the analogue, his head rested on his hands. Thinking that the elder was asleep, the monk touched his shoulder, but there was no answer. Then the brother realized that the elder had died; his grief and the rest of his brethren were boundless.

The body of the monk was placed in an oak coffin, which was made with his own hands. They buried the Monk Seraphim near the monastery cathedral at the altar. For seventy years after the death of Father Seraphim, many people came to his grave. Through the prayer of the saint of God, thousands and thousands of Christians were healed of diseases, bodily and mental.

On July 19, 1903, the discovery of the saints and the multifunctional relics of Father Seraphim took place and his glorification in the face of saints, which became a nationwide celebration.

In the 1920s, during the revolutionary turmoil and persecution of the Church, predicted by the Monk Seraphim, his holy relics disappeared. More recently, they have been miraculously found again. In July 1991, the relics were transferred to the Diveyevo Monastery, which was revived after the devastation. Here they rest to this day.

Since then, no matter how many Orthodox people in all nations were, everyone learned about the Monk Seraphim, marveled at his great love for God and people, asked his holy prayers, and many strove to imitate his life and deeds. No matter how many ascetics - monks, laity, saints, martyrs, holy fools - the Lord has erected since then on the Russian land, they all seemed to come to the wretched cell of Father Seraphim, asking for blessings for labors, exploits and patience. And to all of them, and to future generations of Christians who want to live by fulfilling the commandments of God, the voice of the Monk Seraphim was heard and heard:

MY JOY, THERE IS NO TIME FOR US TO CHEER!

CHRIST IS RISEN!!!

COLLECT THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD

AND AROUND YOU

SAVE

THOUSANDS!

Troparion, voice 4th

From the youth of Christ you loved, blessed, and to the One who worked ardently with lust, you fought by unceasing prayer and labor in the wilderness, having acquired the love of Christ with a tender heart, the chosen one, beloved of God, appeared to the Mother. For this, for the sake of thy cry: save us with your prayers, Seraphim, reverend our Father.

Kontakion, voice 2nd

The beauty of the world and even perishable in it, leaving, venerable, in the Sarov monastery you have moved; and having lived there like an angel, for many was the path to salvation. For this sake, and Christ to you, Father Seraphim, glorify, and enrich with the gift of healings and miracles. The same cry to thee: Rejoice, Seraphim, reverend our Father.

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov, a great ascetic of the Russian Church, was born on July 19, 1754. The saint's parents, Isidor and Agafia Moshnins, were residents of Kursk. Isidor Ivanovich took contracts for the construction of buildings, and at the end of his life began the construction of the cathedral, but died before the completion of the work. Younger son Prokhor remained in the care of his mother, who brought up deep faith in her son. After the death of her husband, Agafia Fotievna, who continued the construction of the cathedral, once took Prokhor with her, who, having stumbled, fell down from the bell tower. But the Lord saved the life of the future lamp of the Church: the frightened mother, going downstairs, found her son unharmed.

Young Prokhor, possessing an excellent memory, soon learned to read and write. Since childhood, he loved to attend church services and read the Holy Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints to his peers, but most of all he loved to pray or read Holy gospel in solitude. Once Prokhor fell seriously ill, his life was in danger. In a dream, the boy saw the Mother of God, who promised to visit and heal him. Soon a procession with the icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos passed through the courtyard of the Moshnins' estate; Mother carried Prokhor in her arms, and he venerated the holy icon, after which he began to quickly recover.

Even in his youth, Prokhor matured the decision to completely devote his life to God and go to a monastery. The pious mother did not interfere with this and blessed him on the monastic path with a copper cross, which the Monk wore on his chest all his life. Prokhor with the pilgrims went on foot from Kursk to Kiev to worship the Pechersk saints. Shimonakh the elder Dosifei, who was visited by Prokhor, blessed him to go to the Sarov desert and be saved there. Returning for a short time to his parental home, Prokhor forever said goodbye to his mother and family. On November 20, 1778, he came to Sarov, where the wise elder Pachomius was then the abbot. He kindly received the young man and appointed Elder Joseph as his confessor. Under his leadership, Prokhor underwent many obediences in the monastery: he was the elder's cell attendant, worked in bread, prosphora and carpentry, carried out the duties of a sexton, and performed everything with zeal and zeal, as if serving the Lord Himself. By constant work, he protected himself from boredom - this, as he later said, "the most dangerous temptation for new-born monks, which is healed by prayer, abstinence from idle talk, feasible handicrafts, reading the Word of God and patience, because it is born from cowardice, carelessness and idle talk." ...

After spending eight years as a novice in the Sarov monastery, Prokhor received monastic tonsure with the name Seraphim, which so well expressed his ardent love for the Lord and striving to serve Him zealously. A year later, Seraphim was ordained a hierodeacon. Burning in spirit, he served in the church every day, incessantly performing prayers after the service. The Lord vouchsafed the monk with grace-filled visions during church services: on more than one occasion he saw the holy angels co-serving the brethren. The Monk was honored with a special blessed vision during the Divine Liturgy on Maundy Thursday, which was celebrated by the rector, Father Pachomius and Elder Joseph. When, after the troparionists, the Monk said: "Lord, save the godly," and, standing in the royal gates, directed the orarion at the worshipers with an exclamation "and forever and ever," suddenly a ray of light overshadowed him. Raising his eyes, the Monk Seraphim saw the Lord Jesus Christ walking through the air from the western doors of the temple, surrounded by Heavenly Ethereal Forces. Having reached the pulpit, the Lord blessed all those praying and entered the local image to the right of the Royal Doors. The Monk Seraphim, beholding the wondrous apparition in spiritual delight, could not utter a word or leave his place. They took him by the arms into the altar, where he stood for another three hours, changing his face from the great grace that illuminated him. After the vision, the Monk intensified his exploits: during the day he toiled in the monastery, and spent the nights in prayer in a desert cell in the forest.

In 1793, the Monk Seraphim was ordained a hieromonk and continued to serve in the church. After the death of the abbot, Father Pachomius, having his dying blessing for a new feat of desertification, the Monk also took the blessing from the new abbot - Father Isaiah - and went to a deserted cell several kilometers from the monastery, in a deep forest. Here he began to indulge in solitary prayers, coming to the monastery only on Saturday, before the all-night vigil, and returning to his cell after the Liturgy, during which he received the Holy Mysteries.

The monk spent his life in severe exploits. He performed his cell prayer rule according to the charter of the ancient desert monasteries; he never parted with the Holy Gospel, reading the entire New Testament, also read patristic and liturgical books. The monk memorized many church chants and sang them during his work hours in the forest. Near the cell, he planted a vegetable garden and arranged a bee-keeper. Father Seraphim kept a very strict fast, ate once a day, and on Wednesday and Friday he completely abstained from food. For about three years, Fr. Seraphim ate only one grass, which grew around his cell. In the first week of Holy Forty-days, he did not take food until Saturday, when he received the Holy Mysteries. The holy elder, in solitude, so sometimes plunged into inner, heartfelt prayer that he remained motionless for a long time, not hearing or seeing anything around him. The hermit dwellers, who visited him from time to time, Schema Monk Mark the Silent and Hierodeacon Alexander, finding the saint in such a prayer, quietly departed with reverence so as not to disturb his contemplation.

Seeing the exploits of the Monk Seraphim, the enemy of the human race armed himself against him and, wishing to force the saint to leave his silence, he decided to intimidate him, but the holy elder protected himself with prayer and strength. Of the Life-giving Cross... To repel the onslaught of the enemy, the Monk Seraphim aggravated his labors, taking upon himself the feat of pillar-domination. Every night he stood on a huge stone in the forest and prayed with uplifted hands, crying out: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." During the day he prayed in a cell on a stone, which he brought from the forest, leaving it only for a short rest and to refresh the body with meager food. Thus, the Monk spent 1000 days and nights in fervent prayer.

The disgraced devil planned to put the Monk Seraphim to death and sent out robbers. Approaching the saint who worked in the garden, the robbers began to demand money from him. At that time the Monk had an ax in his hands, he was physically strong and could defend himself, but the saint, lowering the ax to the ground, said: "Do what you need." The robbers began to beat the Reverend, broke his head with a butt, broke several ribs, then, having tied him up, they wanted to throw him into the river, but first they searched his cell in search of money. Having crushed everything in the cell and finding nothing in it, except for the icon and a few potatoes, they were ashamed of their evil deed and left. The Monk Seraphim, regaining consciousness, crawled to the cell and, suffering severely, lay all night. In the morning, with great difficulty, he made his way to the monastery. The brothers were horrified when they saw the wounded ascetic. The Reverend lay for eight days, suffering from wounds; Doctors were summoned to him, surprised that Father Seraphim remained alive after such beatings. But the Monk did not receive healing from doctors: the Queen of Heaven appeared to him in a subtle dream with the apostles Peter and John. Having touched the head of Father Seraphim, the Blessed Virgin granted him healing.

After this incident, the Monk Seraphim had to spend about five months in the monastery, and then he again went to a deserted cell. Remaining forever bent down, the Monk walked, leaning on a staff or a hatchet, but he forgave his offenders and asked not to punish them. After the death of the abbot, Father Isaiah, Father Seraphim took upon himself the feat of silence, completely renouncing all everyday thoughts for the purest standing before God in unceasing prayer. If a saint met a man in the forest, he would prostrate himself and not get up until the passer-by left. In such silence, the Elder spent about three years, even ceasing to visit the monastery on Sundays.

The fruit of silence was for the Monk Seraphim the acquisition of peace of the soul and joy in the Holy Spirit. The great ascetic later said: "... my joy, I pray you, acquire the spirit of peace, and then thousands of souls will be saved around you."

The new abbot, Father Niphont, and the older brothers of the monastery suggested that Father Seraphim either continue to come to the monastery on Sundays to participate in divine services and communion at the monastery of the Holy Mysteries, or return to the monastery. In the spring of 1810 the Monk returned to the monastery after 15 years in the wilderness. Without breaking the silence, he added to this feat a closure and, without going anywhere and not receiving anyone from him, he was incessantly in prayer and God-meditation. In seclusion, the Monk Seraphim acquired a high spiritual purity and was honored from God with special grace-filled gifts of clairvoyance and miracles. Then the Lord put His chosen one to serve people in the highest monastic deed - the elders.

On November 25, 1825, the Mother of God, together with the two saints celebrated on that day, appeared in a dreamy vision to the elder and commanded him to leave the seclusion and receive weak human souls, requiring instruction, consolation, guidance and healing. Having blessed the abbot for a change in his lifestyle, the Monk opened the doors of his cell for everyone.

The elder saw the hearts of people and, as a spiritual doctor, healed mental and physical illnesses by prayer to God and the word of grace. Those who came to the Monk Seraphim felt his great love and listened with emotion to the gentle words with which he addressed people: "My joy, my treasure." The elder began to visit his deserted cell and the spring, called the Bogoslovsky, near which a small cell was built for him. Leaving the cell, the elder always carried a knapsack with stones over his shoulders. When asked why he was doing this, the saint humbly replied: "I am tormenting him who torments me."

In the last period of his earthly life, the Monk Seraphim took particular care of his beloved brainchild - the Diveyevo women's monastery. While still in the rank of hierodeacon, he accompanied the abbot, Father Pachomius, to the Diveyevo original nun Alexandra, and then Father Pakhomiy blessed the Monk to always take care of the Diveyevo orphans. He was a true father to the sisters who turned to him in all their spiritual and everyday difficulties. Father Seraphim's concerns about the Diveyevo monastery were shared by his spiritual children - Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, who was healed by the Monk from a serious illness and, on his advice, accepted the feat of voluntary poverty; Elena Vasilievna Manturova, one of the Diveevsky sisters, who voluntarily agreed to die out of obedience to the Elder for her brother, who still needed the monastery; Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov, who was also healed by the Monk and became "a servant of Seraphim and the Mother of God." N. A. Motovilov wrote down the teaching of the Monk Seraphim about the goal of the Christian life.

In the last years of the life of the Monk Seraphim, one healed by him saw him standing in the air during prayer. The saint strictly forbade telling about this before his death. Everyone knew and honored the Monk Seraphim as a great ascetic and miracle worker.

A year and ten months before his death, on the Feast of the Annunciation, the Monk Seraphim was honored with the twelfth apparition of the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by the Baptist of the Lord John, the Apostle John the Theologian and twelve virgins - holy martyrs and monks. The Blessed Virgin had a long talk with the Reverend and said: "Soon, my beloved, you will be with us."

In the last year of his life, the Monk Seraphim began to noticeably weaken and spoke to many of his imminent death. At this time, he was often seen at the coffin, which stood in the entryway of his cell. The monk himself indicated the place where he was to be buried - near the altar of the Assumption Cathedral. On January 1, 1833, the Monk Seraphim came for the last time to the Liturgy of the hospital of Zosimo-Savvatievskaya Church and received the Holy Mysteries, after which he blessed the brethren and said goodbye, saying: "Save yourself, do not lose heart, stay awake, today we are preparing crowns."

On the second of January, the Saint's cell-attendant, Father Pavel, at six o'clock in the morning, left his cell, heading for the church, and smelled the smell of burning emanating from Father Seraphim's cell; candles were always burning in the saint's cell, and he said: "As long as I live, there will be no fire, and when I die, my death will open in fire." When the doors were opened, it turned out that the Monk was kneeling before the icon of the Mother of God in a prayer position, but already lifeless. His pure soul during prayer was taken by the Angels and flew up to the Throne of God Almighty, whose faithful servant and servant the Monk Seraphim was all his life.

His homeland was the provincial city of Kursk, where his father, Isidor Moshnin, had brick factories and was engaged as a contractor in the construction of stone buildings, churches and houses. Isidor Moshnin was known as an extremely honest man, zealous for the temples of God and a rich, eminent merchant. Ten years before his death, he undertook to build a new church in Kursk in the name of St. Sergius, according to the plan of the famous architect Rastrelli. Subsequently, in 1833, this temple was made a cathedral. In 1752, the foundation of the church took place, and when the lower church, with a throne in the name of St. Sergius, was completed in 1762, the pious builder, the father of the great elder Seraphim, the founder of the Diveyevo monastery, died. Having transferred all his fortune to the kind and intelligent wife of Agathia, he instructed her to bring the work of building the temple to the end. Mother about. Seraphima was even more pious and merciful than her father: she helped the poor a lot, especially orphans and poor brides.

A not unimportant question was to be resolved by Prokhor: where and to which monastery he should go. Glory to the ascetic life of the monks of the Sarov Hermitage, where many of the Kursk inhabitants were already and Fr. Pakhomiy, a native of Kursk, persuaded him to go to them, but he wanted to be in Kiev first, to look at the works of the Kiev-Pechersk monks, to ask for guidance and advice from the elders, to know through them the will of God, to establish himself in his thoughts, to receive a blessing from what - some ascetic and, finally, pray and bless with St. relics of St. Anthony and Theodosius, the original monks. Prokhor set off on foot, staff in hand, and five more people from Kursk merchants were walking with him. In Kiev, bypassing the local ascetics, he heard that not far from St. Lavra of the Caves, in the Kitaevsk monastery, a recluse named Dosifei, who has the gift of clairvoyance, is saved. Coming to him, Prokhor fell at his feet, kissed them, opened his whole soul to him and asked for guidance and blessing. The shrewd Dositheus, seeing in him the grace of God, understanding his intentions and seeing in him a good ascetic of Christ, blessed him to go to the Sarov desert and said in conclusion: “Come, child of God, and stay there. This place will be for your salvation, with the help of Lord, here you will end your earthly wandering. Just try to acquire an unceasing memory of God through the unceasing invocation of the name of God like this: Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner! while standing in church, everywhere, in every place, entering and exiting, let this unceasing cry be in your mouth and in your heart: with it you will find peace, you will acquire spiritual and bodily purity, and the Holy Spirit, the source of all good, and will govern your life in sanctity, in all piety and purity. In Sarov and the abbot Pakhomiy of a godly life; he is a follower of our Anthony and Theodosius! "

The conversation of the blessed elder Dositheus finally confirmed the young man in good intentions. After dissuading, confessing and partaking of the Holy Mysteries, bowing again to St. to the saints of Kiev-Pechersk, he directed his steps on the path and, guarded by the protection of God, safely arrived again in Kursk, in the house of his mother. Here he lived for several more months, even went to the shop, but he was no longer engaged in trade, but read soul-saving books for the edification of himself and others who came to talk to him, ask about the holy places and listen to readings. This time was his farewell to his homeland and relatives.

As already mentioned, Prokhor entered the Sarov monastery on November 20, 1778, on the eve of the Feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. Standing in the church at the all-night vigil, seeing the dean of the service, noticing how everyone, from the rector to the last novice, fervently prayed, he admired the spirit and was glad that the Lord showed him here a place for the salvation of his soul. From an early age, Fr. Pakhomiy knew Prokhor's parents and therefore lovingly accepted the young man, in whom he saw a true desire for monasticism. He identified him among the novices to the treasurer, hieromonk Joseph, a wise and loving old man. At first Prokhor was in the cell's obedience to the elder and faithfully fulfilled all the monastic rules and statutes at his direction; in the cell, he served not only meekly, but always with zeal. This behavior drew everyone's attention to him and gained him the affection of the elders Joseph and Pachomius. Then they began to appoint him, in addition to his cell, still obedience in order: in the bread, in the prosphora, in the carpentry. In the latter, he was a wake-up call and fulfilled this obedience for a long time. Then he performed ponomar duties. In general, young Prokhor, vigorous in strength, went through all the monastic obediences with great zeal, but, of course, he did not avoid many temptations, such as sadness, boredom, despondency, which had a strong effect on him.

The life of young Prokhor before taking monastic vows was distributed every day as follows: at certain hours he was in church for divine services and rules. Imitating Elder Pachomius, he appeared as early as possible to church prayers, stood motionless throughout the service, no matter how long it was, and never left before the perfect end of the service. During the hours of prayer, he always stood in one specific place. To protect himself from amusement and daydreaming, having his eyes downcast, he listened to the chanting and reading with intense attentiveness and reverence, accompanying them with prayer. Prokhor loved to retire in his cell, where, in addition to prayer, he had two kinds of activities: reading and bodily labor. He also read the Psalms while sitting, saying that it is permissible for the troubled one, and St. The Gospel and the Epistles of the Apostles always stand before St. icons, in a prayer position, and this he called vigilance (vigilance). He constantly read the works of St. fathers, for example. Six days of St. Basil the Great, conversations of St. Macarius the Great, Ladder of St. John, Philosophy and so on. During the hours of rest, he indulged in bodily labor, carved crosses from cypress wood to bless the pilgrims. When Prokhor passed the carpentry obedience, he was distinguished by great diligence, skill and success, so in the schedule he is one of all named Prokhor - a carpenter. He also went to work common to all the brethren: rafting wood, preparing firewood, etc.

Seeing examples of desert dwelling, Fr. Hegumen Nazarius, Hieromonk Dorotheus, Schema Monk Mark, young Prokhor strove in spirit for greater solitude and asceticism, and therefore asked the blessing of his elder Fr. Joseph to leave the monastery during free hours and go into the forest. There he found a secluded place, built a hidden tabernacle, and in it he indulged in God meditation and prayer all alone. The contemplation of the wondrous nature lifted him to God, and, according to a man who was later close to Elder Seraphim, he performed here as a rule, the Angel of the Lord was given to the Great Pachomius, the founder of the monastic hostel. This rule is performed in the following order: Trisagion and according to our Father: Lord, have mercy, 12. Glory even now: come and worship - three times. Psalm 50: Have mercy on me, God. I believe in one God ... One hundred prayers: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner, and for this: It is worthy to eat and let go.

This was one prayer, but such prayers were to be performed according to the number of daily hours, twelve in the daytime and twelve at night. With prayer, he combined abstinence and fasting: on Wednesday and Friday he did not eat any food, and on other days of the week he took it only once.

In 1780, Prokhor fell seriously ill, and his whole body was swollen. Not a single doctor could determine the type of his illness, but it was assumed that it became water sickness. The illness lasted for three years, of which at least half of Prokhor spent in bed. Builder Fr. Pachomius and the elder Fr. Isaiah alternately followed him and were almost always with him. It was then that it was revealed, like everyone else, and before the others, the bosses respected, loved and pitied Prokhor, who was then still a simple novice. Finally, they began to fear for the patient's life, and Fr. Pachomius strongly suggested inviting a doctor, or at least opening blood. Then the humble Prokhor allowed himself to say to the abbot: "I have surrendered myself, Holy Father, to the True Physician of souls and bodies, to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother; . Secrets. " Elder Joseph, at the request of Prokhor and his own zeal, especially served about health the patient is an all-night vigil and a liturgy. Prokhor was confessed and received communion. He soon recovered, which surprised everyone. No one understood how he could recover so quickly, and only afterwards Fr. Seraphim revealed the secret to some: after the communion of the Holy Mysteries, the Most Holy Virgin Mary appeared to him, in an unspeakable light, with the Apostles John the Theologian and Peter, and turning her face to John and pointing her finger at Prokhor, the Lady said: "This is of Our kind!"

“My right hand, my joy,” said Father Seraphim to the churchwoman Xenia, “she put it on my head, and in her left hand she held a rod; and with this rod, my joy, she touched the poor Seraphim; in place, on the right thigh, and there was a depression, mother; the water all flowed into it, and the Queen of Heaven saved the poor Seraphim; and the wound was great, and the hole is still intact, mother, look, give me a pen! " - "And father, it used to be, he would take it himself, and put my hand in the hole," added mother Ksenia, "and he was great, and so the whole fist will rise!" This illness brought Prokhor much spiritual benefit: his spirit grew stronger in faith, love and hope in God.

During the period of Prokhor's novice, under the rector, Fr. Pachomia, many necessary buildings were undertaken in the Sarov desert. Among them, on the site of the cell in which Prokhor was ill, a hospital was built to treat the sick and calm the elderly, and at the hospital there was a church on two floors with thrones: in the lower one in the name of Sts. Zosima and Savvaty, miracle workers of the Solovetsky, in the upper - to the glory of the Transfiguration of the Savior. After an illness, Prokhor, a young novice, was sent to collect money in various places for the construction of a church. Grateful for his healing and the care of his superiors, he willingly bore the difficult feat of the collector. Wandering through the cities closest to Sarov, Prokhor was also in Kursk, in the place of his homeland, but he did not find his mother alive. Brother Alexei, for his part, gave Prokhor considerable help in building the church. Returning home, Prokhor, like a skilled carpenter, built with his own hands a throne of cypress wood for the lower hospital church in honor of the Monks Zosima and Savvaty.

For eight years, young Prokhor was a novice. By this time, its external appearance had changed: being tall, about 2 yards. and 8 vershoks, despite strict abstinence and exploits, he had a full face covered with pleasant whiteness, a straight and pointed nose, light blue eyes, very expressive and perceptive; bushy eyebrows and light blond hair on the head. His face was bordered by a thick, thick beard, with which a long and thick mustache was connected at the ends of his mouth. He had a courageous build, possessed great physical strength, a fascinating gift of speech and a happy memory. Now he had already passed all the degrees of the monastic art and was able and ready to take monastic vows.

August 13, 1786, with the permission of the Holy Synod, Fr. Pachomius tonsured novice Prokhor to the rank of monk. His receptive fathers during the tonsure were Fr. Joseph and Fr. Isaiah. At dedication, he was given the name Seraphim (fiery). On October 27, 1786, monk Seraphim, at the request of Fr. Pachomia, was consecrated by the Right Reverend Victor, Bishop of Vladimir and Murom, to the rank of hierodeacon. He completely devoted himself to his new, truly angelic, service. From the day he was ordained a hierodeacon, keeping the purity of his soul and body, for five years and nine months, he was in the ministry almost continuously. All nights on Sundays and holidays he spent in vigilance and prayer, standing motionless until the liturgy. At the end of each Divine service, remaining for a long time in the church, he, as a sacred deacon, put in order the utensils and took care of the purity of the Lord's Altar. The Lord, seeing zeal and zeal for deeds, granted Fr. Seraphim had strength and strength, so that he did not feel tired, did not need rest, often forgot about food and drink and, going to bed, regretted that a person, like the Angels, could not continuously serve God.

Builder Fr. Pachomius is now even more attached with his heart to Fr. I did not perform almost a single service to Seraphim even without him. When he went out on business to the monastery or to serve, alone or with other elders, he often took Fr. Seraphim. So, in 1789, in the first half of June, Fr. Pachomius with the treasurer of Fr. Isaiah and Hierodeacon Fr. Seraphim went at the invitation to the village of Lemet, located 6 versts from the present city of Ardatov, Nizhny Novgorod province, to the funeral of our rich benefactor, landowner Alexander Solovtsev, and stopped on the road to Diveevo to visit the abbess of the community Agafia Semyonovna Melgunova, the old lady and the highly esteemed also her benefactress. Alexander's mother was sick and, having received a message from the Lord about her imminent death, she asked the ascetic fathers, for the love of Christ, to specialize her. At first, Fr. Pachomius suggested postponing the blessing of the oil until their return from Lemeti, but the holy eldress repeated her request and said that they would not find her alive on the way back. The great elders performed the sacrament of blessing on her with love. Then, saying goodbye to them, Alexander's mother gave Fr. Pakhomia was the last that she had and accumulated during the years of her ascetic life in Diveyevo. According to the testimony of the girl Evdokia Martynova, who lived with her, to her confessor, Archpriest Fr. Vasily Sadovsky, mother Agafya Semyonovna handed over to the builder about. Pachomia: a bag of gold, a bag of silver and two bags of copper, totaling 40 thousand, asking her to give her sisters everything they need in life, since they themselves will not be able to dispose of. Mother Alexandra begged Fr. Pachomia to remember her in Sarov for her repose, not to leave or leave her inexperienced novices, and also hope in due time about the monastery promised to her by the Queen of Heaven. To this the elder Fr. Pakhomiy replied: "Mother, I do not renounce to serve according to my strength and according to your will to the Queen of Heaven and the care of your novices; also, not only will I pray for you until my death, but our whole monastery will never forget your good deeds, but in otherwise I do not give you my word, for I am old and weak, but how can I undertake that, not knowing whether I will live to this time. it's a great thing. "

Matushka Agafya Semyonovna began to ask Fr. Seraphim not leave her abode, as the Queen of Heaven herself would then instruct him to do so.

The elders said goodbye, left, and the wondrous eldress Agafya Semyonovna died on June 13, on the day of St. Martyr Akilina. On the way back, Fr. Pakhomiy and his brethren were in time for the burial of Mother Alexandra. After serving the liturgy and the funeral service in conciliarity, the great elders buried the original mother of the Diveyevo community opposite the altar of the Kazan church. The whole day of June 13th there was such a torrential rain that no one was left with a dry thread, but Fr. Seraphim, due to his chastity, did not even stay to dine at the convent and immediately after the burial went on foot to Sarov.

Once on the Great Four, the builder Fr. Pachomius, who never served without Fr. Seraphim, began the Divine Liturgy at 2 p.m. Vespers, and after a small exit and paremias, Hierodeacon Seraphim exclaimed: "Lord, save the godly and hear us!" centuries "- when suddenly his appearance changed so much that he could neither leave the place, nor utter a word. All of this noticed and understood that God's visit was with him. Two hierodeacons took him by the arms, led him into the altar and left him aside, where he stood for three hours, changing continuously in appearance, and then, having already come to his senses, privately told the builder and the treasurer his vision: “I just proclaimed, poor man: Lord , save the pious and hear us! and, aiming the orarion at the people, he finished: and forever and ever! - suddenly a ray illuminated me, as if sunlight; looking at this radiance, I saw our Lord and God Jesus Christ, in the image of the Son of Man, in glory and indescribable light shining, surrounded by heavenly powers, Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, like a swarm of bees, and from the western church gates coming to air; approaching in this form to the pulpit and raising up His most pure hands, the Lord blessed the servants and those present; by this, having entered into St. His local image, which is on the right side of the royal gates, was transformed, surrounded by angelic faces, shining with inexpressible light throughout the church. But I, the earth and ashes, while scattering the Lord Jesus in the air, was rewarded with a special blessing from Him; my heart rejoiced purely, enlightened, in the sweetness of love for the Lord! "

In 1793, Fr. Seraphim was 34 years old, and the authorities, seeing that he had become superior to other brothers in his exploits and deserved an advantage over many, petitioned for his elevation to the rank of hieromonk. Since in the same year the Sarov monastery, according to a new schedule, was transferred from the Vladimir diocese to the Tambov diocese, Fr. Seraphim was summoned to Tambov, and on September 2, Bishop Theophilus ordained him a hieromonk. With the receipt of the highest grace of the priesthood, Fr. Seraphim began to ascend in the spiritual life with intense zeal and redoubled love. For a long time, he continued his continuous ministry, daily communion with ardent love, faith and reverence.

Having become a hieromonk, Fr. Seraphim had the intention of completely settling in the desert, since the wilderness life was his vocation and purpose from above. In addition, from the incessant vigil in his cell, from the constant standing in the church on his feet with a little rest during the night, Fr. Seraphim fell into an illness: his legs were swollen, and wounds opened on them, so that for some time he was deprived of the opportunity to perform sacred rites. This illness was not a small incentive to choose a wilderness life, although for rest he should have asked the abbot for Fr. Pachomia blessings to retire to hospital cells, and not to the desert, i.e. from less work - to more and more difficult. The great elder Pachomius blessed him. This was the last blessing that Fr. Seraphim from a wise, virtuous and respectable old man, in view of his illness and the approach of death. Fr. Seraphim, remembering well how during his illness Fr. Pachomius, now he himself served him with selflessness. Once about. Seraphim noticed that Fr. Pachomia was joined by some kind of emotional care and sorrow.

What, holy father, are you so sad? - asked him about. Seraphim.

I grieve for the sisters of the Diveyevo community, - Elder Pakhomiy answered, - who will call them after me?

Fr. Seraphim, wishing to calm the elder in his dying moments, promised to call them up himself and support everything in the same way after his death, as it was with him. This promise calmed and rejoiced Fr. Pachomy. He kissed Fr. Seraphim and then soon fell asleep in the peaceful sleep of the righteous. Fr. Seraphim bitterly mourned the loss of Elder Pachomius and, with the blessing of the new abbot, Fr. Isaiah, also dearly beloved, retired to a deserted cell (November 20, 1794, on the day of his arrival in the Sarov desert).

Despite the removal of Fr. Seraphim to the wilderness, the people began to bother him there. Women also came.

The great ascetic, starting a strict wilderness life, considered it inconvenient for himself to visit a female, since this could seduce both monastics and lay people inclined to condemnation. But, on the other hand, to deprive women of the edification for which they came to the hermit could be a matter displeasing to God. He began to ask the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos for the fulfillment of his desire, and that the Most High, if it is not contrary to His will, give him a sign for this by bowing the branches near the standing trees. In the legends recorded in due time, there is a legend that the Lord God really gave him a sign of His will. The feast of the Nativity of Christ has come; O. Seraphim came to the monastery for a late Mass in the Church of the Life-Giving Source and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After lunch in his monastery cell, he returned to the desert for the night. The next day, December 26, celebrated according to the regulation (Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos), Fr. Seraphim returned to the monastery at night. Passing his own hill, where he descends down the valley, which is why the mountain was named about. Seraphim of Athos, he saw that on both sides of the path huge boughs of age-old pines bent down and blocked the path; in the evening, none of this happened. Fr. Seraphim fell on his knees and thanked God for the sign given through his prayer. Now he knew that it was pleasing to the Lord God that the wives did not enter his mountain.

Throughout his asceticism, Fr. Seraphim constantly wore the same wretched clothes: a white linen robe, leather mittens, leather shoe covers - like stockings, over which they put on bast shoes, and a worn-out kamilavka. A cross hung on the robe, the same one that his own mother had blessed him with when she let him out of the house; and over his shoulders hung a bag in which he carried St. Gospel. The wearing of the cross and the gospel had, of course, a deep meaning. In imitation of the ancient saints, Fr. Seraphim wore chains on both shoulders, and crosses were hung to them: some in the front at 20 pounds, others at the back at 8 pounds. each, and an iron belt. And the elder wore this weight during all the time of his wilderness. In cold weather, he put a stocking or a rag on his chest, but he never went to the bathhouse. His visible exploits consisted of prayers, reading books, bodily labors, observing the rules of the great Pachomius, etc. In the cold season, he heated a cell, chopped and chopped wood, but sometimes he voluntarily endured cold and frost. In the summer, he cultivated the ridges in his garden and fertilized the ground, collected moss from the swamps. During such work, he sometimes went without clothes, girding only his loins, and insects severely bite his body, which made it swell, turn blue in places and baked with blood. The elder voluntarily endured these plagues for the Lord's sake, guided by the examples of the ascetics of ancient times. On ridges fertilized with moss, about. Seraphim planted onions and other vegetables with seeds, which he ate in the summer. Physical labor gave rise to a complacent state in him, and Fr. Seraphim worked with the singing of prayers, troparia and canons.

Spending a life of solitude, work, reading and prayer, Fr. Seraphim combined with this fasting and the strictest abstinence. At the beginning of his settlement in the desert, he ate bread, most of all stale and dry; he usually took bread with him on Sundays for a whole week. There is a legend that he gave part of this weekly portion of bread to desert animals and birds, which were caressed by the elder, loved him very much and visited the place of his prayer. He also ate vegetables obtained by the labor of his hands in a desert garden. With this, this garden was arranged so that it would not burden the monastery with "anything" and, following the example of the great ascetic Ap. Paul, to eat "doing with his own hands" (1 Cor. 4:12). Subsequently, he taught his body to such abstinence that he did not eat his daily bread, but, with the blessing of the abbot Isaiah, ate only the vegetables of his garden. These were potatoes, beets, onions, and a herb called snit. During the first week of Great Lent, he did not eat at all until the communion of the Holy Mysteries on Saturday. After a few more time, abstinence and fasting Fr. Seraphim reached an incredible degree. Having completely stopped taking bread from the monastery, he lived without any support from it for more than two years and a half. The brethren, astonished, wondered what the elder could eat during all this time, not only in summer, but also in winter. He carefully concealed his exploits from the views of people.

On weekdays, fleeing in the desert, Fr. Seraphim on the eve of holidays and Sundays appeared at the monastery, listened to Vespers, All-Night Vigil, and during the early Liturgy in the hospital church of Saints Zosima and Savvaty he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Then, before Vespers, he received in the monastery cell those who came to him, for spiritual needs, from the monastery brethren. During Vespers, when the brethren left him, he, taking bread with him for a week, withdrew to his wilderness. He spent the entire first week of Great Lent in the monastery. During these days he fasted, confessed and received the Holy Mysteries. For a long time his spiritual father was the builder - the elder Isaiah.

This is how the elder spent his days in the wilderness. The other wilderness-dwellers had with them one disciple, who served them. Fr. Seraphim lived in complete solitude. Some of the Sarov brothers tried to cohabit with Fr. Seraphim and were received by him; but not one of them could endure the difficulties of living in the wilderness: no one found so much moral strength as to appear as a disciple as an imitator of Fr. Seraphim. Their pious attempts, benefiting the soul, were not crowned with success; and those who settled from about. Seraphim, returned again to the monastery. Therefore, although after the death of Fr. There were some people who boldly declared themselves to be Seraphim's disciples, but during his lifetime they, in the strict sense, were not disciples, and the name "Seraphim's disciple" did not exist at that time. "During his stay in the desert," said the then Sarov elders, "all the brethren were his disciples."

Also, many of the Sarov brethren temporarily came to him in the desert. Some simply visited him, while others came out of need for advice and guidance. The elder could distinguish people well. He retired from some, wishing to remain silent, and to those who had needs before him, he did not refuse spiritual food, lovingly guiding them towards truth, virtue and the prosperity of life. Of the regular visitors, Fr. Seraphim are known: Schema monk Mark and Hierodeacon Alexander, who also fled in the wilderness. The first visited him twice a month, and the last once. Fr. Seraphim willingly talked with them about various soul-saving subjects.

Seeing such a sincere, zealous and, indeed, high ascetic deeds of the elder, Fr. Seraphim, the devil, the primordial enemy of all good, armed himself against him with various temptations. By his cunning, starting with the lightest, he first directed various "insurance" at the ascetic. So, according to the legend of one venerable hieromonk of the Sarov desert, once during a prayer he suddenly heard the howl of a beast outside the walls of his cell; Then, like a crowd of people, they began to break down the door of the cell, knocked out the jambs at the door and threw at the feet of the praying elder a thick ridge (cut) of a tree, which eight people had with difficulty brought out of the cell. At other times and during the day, especially at night, while standing in prayer, he apparently it suddenly seemed that his cell was falling apart into four sides and that terrible animals were rushing to him from all sides with a wild and furious roar and cry. Sometimes an open coffin would suddenly appear before him, from which a dead man would rise.

Since the elder did not succumb to insurance, the devil mounted the most severe attacks on him. So, by God's permission, he lifted his body into the air and from there with such force hit the floor that, if not for the Guardian Angel, the very bones from such blows could have crushed. But even with this he did not overcome the elder. Probably, during temptations, he saw the evil spirits themselves with his spiritual eye, penetrating into the heavenly world. Perhaps the spirits of malice themselves, apparently in bodily images, appeared to him, as well as to other ascetics.

The spiritual authorities knew about. Seraphim understood how useful it would be for many to make such an elder an abbot somewhere in the monastery. The seat of the archimandrite was opened in the city of Alatyr. Fr. Seraphim was assigned there as the abbot of the monastery with the elevation to the rank of archimandrite. In the past and in the current centuries, the Sarov Monastery has more than once provided good abbots from its brethren to other monasteries. But Elder Seraphim most convincingly asked the then Sarov abbot Isaiah to reject this appointment. The builder of Isaiah and the brothers of Sarov was sorry to let go of Elder Seraphim, a zealous prayer book and a wise mentor. The desires of both sides came together: everyone began to ask another hieromonk from Sarov, Elder Abraham, to take on the title of archimandrite in the Alatyr monastery, and the brother, solely out of obedience, accepted this title.

In all the temptations and attacks on Fr. Seraphim the devil had the goal of removing him from the desert. However, all the efforts of the enemy were unsuccessful: he was defeated, retreated with shame from his conqueror, but did not leave him alone. Seeking new measures to remove the old man from the desert, the evil spirit began to fight against him through evil people. On September 12, 1804, three unknown people, dressed like a peasant, approached the elder. At this time, Father Seraphim was chopping wood in the forest. The peasants, impudently approaching him, demanded money, saying that "worldly people come to you and carry money." The elder said: "I do not take anything from anyone." But they didn't believe it. Then one of those who came rushed at him from behind, wanted to knock him to the ground, but instead he fell himself. From this awkwardness, the villains were somewhat intimidated, but they did not want to retreat from their intentions. O. Seraphim had a great physical strength and, armed with an ax, he could defend not without hope. This thought flashed instantly in his mind. But he remembered at this the words of the savior: "All who accept the knife with the knife will perish" (Matthew 26, 52), did not want to resist, calmly lowered the ax to the ground and said, meekly folded his arms across his chest in a cruciform manner: "Do what you need." ... He decided to endure everything innocently, for the Lord's sake.

Then one of the peasants, picking up an ax from the ground, hit Fr. Seraphim's head that blood gushed from his mouth and ears. The elder fell to the ground and lost consciousness. The villains dragged him to the hallway of the cell, furiously continuing to beat him on the way, like hunting prey, some with a butt, some with a tree, some with their hands and feet, even talked about throwing the old man into the river? was as though dead, then they tied his arms and legs with ropes and, laying them in the entryway, they themselves rushed into the cell, imagining to find in it untold riches. In a wretched dwelling, they very soon went over everything, revised it, broke the stove, dismantled the floor, searched and searched and found nothing for themselves; only saw St. an icon, but there were a few potatoes. Then the conscience began to speak strongly among the villains, repentance aroused in their hearts that in vain, without any benefit even for themselves, they beat the pious man; some fear attacked them, and they fled in terror.

Meanwhile, oh. The seraphim could hardly come to his senses from the cruel death blows, somehow untied himself, thanked the Lord that he was honored for His sake to bear wounds innocently, prayed that God would forgive the murderers and, having spent the night in his cell in suffering, the next day with great difficulty, however, he himself came to the monastery during the liturgy itself. He looked terrible! The hair on the beard and head was soaked in blood, crumpled, matted, covered with dust and debris; face and hands beaten; several teeth are knocked out; the ears and lips are caked with blood; the clothes were crumpled, bloody, dried up and stuck to the wounds in places. The brethren, seeing him in this position, were horrified and asked: what happened to him? Not answering a word, oh. Seraphim asked to invite Fr. Isaiah and the monastery's confessor, to whom he told in detail everything that happened. Both the abbot and the brethren were deeply saddened by the sufferings of the elder. With such misfortune, Fr. Seraphim was forced to stay in the monastery to improve his health. The devil, who raised the villains, apparently was now triumphant over the old man, imagining that he had expelled him from the wilderness forever.

The first eight days were very difficult for the patient: without taking any food or water, he had no sleep from unbearable pain. The monastery did not hope that he would survive his suffering. The abbot, Elder Isaiah, on the seventh day of illness, not seeing a turning point for the better, sent to Arzamas for doctors. After examining the elder, the doctors found his illness in the following condition: his head was broken, his ribs were broken, his chest was trampled, his whole body was covered with mortal wounds in various places. They wondered how this old man could survive after such beatings. According to the old method of treatment, doctors considered it necessary to open the patient's blood. The abbot, knowing that the patient had already lost a lot of her from wounds, did not agree to this measure, but, according to the urgent conviction of the council of doctors, he decided to suggest that Fr. Seraphim. The council again met in the cell of Fr. Seraphim. It consisted of three doctors; there were three doctors with them. While waiting for the abbot, they examined the patient again, discussed among themselves for a long time in Latin and decided to bleed, wash the patient, apply a plaster to the wounds, and in some places consume alcohol. They also agreed that assistance should be submitted as soon as possible. Fr. Seraphim, with deep gratitude in his heart, noted their attentiveness and care for themselves.

When all this was happening, someone suddenly shouted: "Father abbot is coming, Father abbot is coming!" At this moment, Fr. Seraphim fell asleep; his dream was short, delicate and pleasant. In a dream, he saw a wondrous vision: the Most Holy Theotokos in royal porphyry, surrounded by glory, was approaching him from the right side of the bed. Sts followed her. Apostles Peter and John the Theologian. Stopping by the bed, the Blessed Virgin pointed to the patient with the finger of her right hand and, turning with Her Most Pure Face in the direction where the doctors were standing, she said: "Why are you working?" Then again, turning her face to the elder, she said: "This one is from Our kind"- and ended the vision, which those present did not suspect.

When the abbot entered, the patient regained consciousness again. Father Isaiah, with a feeling of deep love and sympathy, invited him to take the advice and help of doctors. But the patient, after so many worries about him, in a desperate state of his health, to the surprise of everyone, replied that he now did not want benefits from people, asking the father of the abbot to give his life to God and the Most Holy Theotokos, True and Faithful Physicians of souls and bodies. There was nothing to do, they left the elder alone, respecting his patience and marveling at the strength and strength of faith. From the wondrous visit, he was filled with inexpressible joy, and this heavenly joy lasted four hours. Then the old man calmed down, went into an ordinary state, feeling relief from the disease; strength and strength began to return to him; He got out of bed, began to walk a little around the cell, and in the evening, at nine o'clock, he refreshed himself with food, ate some bread and white sauerkraut. From that day on, he again began to indulge in spiritual exploits.

Even in the old days, Fr. Seraphim, once doing work in the forest, was crushed by him while cutting a tree, and from this circumstance he lost his natural straightforwardness and harmony, became bent over. After the attack of the robbers from beatings, wounds and illness, the bending increased even more. From that time on, he began to walk, reinforced with an ax, a moth or a stick. So, this stooping, this wound in the heel, served all his life as the crown of the victory of the great ascetic over the devil.

From the day of his illness, Elder Seraphim spent about five months in the monastery, not seeing his desert. When his health returned to him, when he felt himself again strong for the passage of the wilderness life, he asked the abbot Isaiah to release him again from the monastery into the wilderness. The abbot, at the suggestion of the brethren, himself, sincerely pitying the elder, begged him to stay forever in the monastery, imagining a repetition of such extreme accidents possible. Father Seraphim replied that he did not impute such attacks to anything and was ready, imitating Sts. to the martyrs who suffered for the name of the Lord, even to death endure all insults, no matter what happens. Yielding to the Christian fearlessness of spirit and love for the wilderness, Fr. Isaiah blessed the elder's desire, and Elder Seraphim returned to his deserted cell.

With the new settlement of the elder in the wilderness, the devil suffered a complete defeat. The peasants who had beaten the elder were found; they turned out to be serfs of the landowner Tatishchev, Ardatovsky district, from the village of Kremenok. But Fr. Seraphim not only forgave them themselves, but also begged the abbot of the monastery not to exact from them, and then wrote the same request to the landowner. Everyone was so indignant at the actions of these peasants that it seemed impossible to forgive them, but Fr. Seraphim insisted on his own: "Otherwise," said the elder, "I will leave the Sarov monastery and retire to another place." The builder, oh. Isaiah, his confessor, he said that it would be better to remove him from the monastery than to inflict any punishment on the peasants. Fr. Seraphim presented vengeance to the Lord God. The wrath of God really overtook these peasants: in a short time, a fire destroyed their homes. Then they themselves came to ask Fr. Seraphim, with tears of repentance, forgiveness and his holy prayers.

Elder Fr. Isaiah greatly revered and loved Fr. Seraphim, and also treasured his conversations; therefore, when he was fresh, vigorous and enjoying health, he often went to the deserts himself to Fr. Seraphim. In 1806 Isaiah, due to his old age and from the labors incurred to save himself and the brethren, became especially weak in health and, at his own request, resigned from his duties and the title of abbot. The lot to take his place in the monastery, according to the common desire of the brethren, fell on Fr. Seraphim. This is the second time the elder has been elected to commanding positions in monasteries, but this time, out of his humility and out of extreme love for the wilderness, he refused the offered honor. Then, by the voice of all the brethren, the elder Niphon was elected the rector, who until that time had fulfilled the obedience of the treasurer.

Elder Fr. After the death of the builder Isaiah, Seraphim did not change the previous kind of life and remained to live in the wilderness. He only took on even more work, namely, silence... He did not go out to the visitors again. If he himself happened to unexpectedly meet someone in the forest, the elder would prostrate himself on his face and until then did not raise his eyes, until the one he met passed by. Thus, he was silent for three years and for some time stopped visiting the monastery on Sundays and holidays. One of the novices also brought him food to the deserts, especially in winter, when Fr. Seraphim did not have his vegetables. Food was brought once a week, on Sunday. It was difficult for the appointed monk to perform this obedience in the winter time, since in the wilderness Fr. There was no road to Seraphim. Sometimes, during a blizzard, he wanders through the snow, drowning in it up to his knees, with a week's supply in his hands for the old man who is silent. Entering the vestibule, he said a prayer, and the elder, saying to himself: "Amen," opened the door from the cell to the vestibule. Folding his arms across his chest, he stood at the door, his face down, down to the ground; he himself will neither bless his brother, nor even look at him. And the brother who came, having prayed, according to custom, and bowed to the elder at his feet, put food on a tray that was lying on the table in the entryway. For his part, the elder put on the tray either a small particle of bread, or a little cabbage. The brother who came, noticed this attentively. With these signs, the elder silently let him know what to bring him in the future resurrection: bread or cabbage. And again the brother who came, having made a prayer, bowed to the elder at the feet and, asking for his prayers for himself, returned to the monastery, not hearing from Fr. Seraphim not a single word. All these were only visible, outward signs of silence. The essence of achievement consisted not in outward distance from sociability, but in the silence of the mind, renunciation of all mundane thoughts for the purest dedication to the Lord.

Silence about. Seraphim connected with standing on a stone... In a deep forest, halfway from the cell to the monastery, there was a granite stone of extraordinary size. Remembering the difficult feat of Sts. stolpnikov, about. Seraphim decided to take part in this kind of asceticism. For this, he ascended so as not to be visible from anyone, in night time on this stone to enhance prayer deeds. He usually prayed either on his feet, or on his knees, raised up, like St. Pachomia, with his hands, calling out in a publican's voice: "God, be merciful to the sinner." To equalize night feats with day feats, Fr. Seraphim also had a stone in his cell. On it he prayed during the day, from morning to evening, leaving the stone only for rest from exhaustion and for strengthening oneself with food. He carried this kind of prayer feat, at times, for a thousand days.

From standing on the stones, from the difficulty of this prayerful deed, his body changed very noticeably, a disease resumed in his legs, which from that time until the end of his days did not cease to torment him. Father Seraphim realized that the continuation of such feats would lead to exhaustion of the forces of spirit and body, and left the prayer on the stones. These exploits he passed in such secrecy that not a single human soul knew about them and did not guess. Hegumen Niphont, who was after Isaiah, had a secret request about Fr. Seraphim from the Bishop of Tambov. Preserved in the papers of the monastery rough the review of Niphont, in which the abbot replied: "We know about the exploits and life of Father Seraphim; about the secret actions of which, also about the standing for 1000 days and nights on a stone, no one knew." At the end of his days, so as not to remain a mystery to people, in the likeness of other ascetics, among other phenomena of his life, for the edification of his listeners, he told about this feat to some of the brethren.

FATHER Seraphim, from the time of the death of Elder Isaiah, having imposed on himself the labor of silence, lived in his wilderness without a way out, just like in a seclusion. Previously, he used to go to the monastery on Sundays and holidays to receive Holy Communion. Now, from the time he stood on the stones, his legs ached; he could not walk. It was not known who was giving him Holy Mysteries, although they did not doubt for a moment that he did not remain without partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. The builder summoned a monastery council of senior hieromonks and the question of communion with Fr. Seraphim proposed for reasoning. They decided the matter like this: to propose Fr. Seraphim, so that he would either walk, be healthy and strong with his feet, would still go to the monastery on Sundays and holidays to commune the Holy Mysteries, or, if his legs did not serve, he would go on to live forever in the monastery cell. The general council was to ask through a brother who carried food on Sundays what Fr. Seraphim? The brother, on his first visit to the elder, fulfilled the decision of the Sarov Cathedral, but Fr. Seraphim, having listened silently to the council's proposal, dismissed his brother without saying a word. The brother, as it was, handed it over to the builder, and the builder ordered him to repeat the conciliar proposal the next Sunday. Having brought food for the next week, the brother repeated the offer. Then Elder Seraphim, having blessed his brother, went with him on foot to the monastery.

Accepting the second proposal of the council, the elder showed that he was unable, due to illness, to walk, as before, on Sundays and holidays to the monastery. It was in the spring of May 8, 1810. Having entered the monastery gates, after a 15-year stay in the desert, Fr. Seraphim, without going into his cell, went straight to the hospital. This was in the afternoon, before the onset of the all-night service. When the bell was struck, Fr. Seraphim appeared at the all-night vigil at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos. The brethren were surprised when a rumor instantly spread that the elder had decided to live in the monastery. But their surprise increased even more when the following circumstances occurred: on the next day, May 9, on the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Fr. Seraphim came, according to custom, to the hospital church for the early liturgy and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. On leaving the church, he directed his steps to the cell of the builder Niphon and, having received his blessing, settled in his former monastery cell; He did not accept anyone, he himself did not go out and did not say a word to anyone, that is, he took upon himself a new, most difficult feat of seclusion.

About the exploits of Fr. Seraphim in seclusion is even less known than about his wilderness. In his cell, he did not want to have, to cut off self-will, nothing, even the most necessary things. The icon, in front of which the lamp was burning, and the cut of the stump, which served instead of the chair, made up everything. For himself, he did not even use fire.

During all the years of the seclusion, the elder received communion of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ on all Sundays and holidays. To preserve the seclusion and silence in all its purity, the Celestial Secrets, with the blessing of the builder Niphont, were brought to him from the hospital church to his cell after the early liturgy.

In order to never forget about the hour of death, in order to more clearly imagine and see it closer to you, Fr. Seraphim made a coffin for himself from solid oak and placed it in the entrance of the reclusive cell. Here the elder often prayed, preparing for the exodus from real life. Fr. Seraphim, in his conversations with the Sarov brothers, often said about this tomb: "When I die, I beg you, brothers, put me in my tomb."

The elder spent about five years in seclusion, then somewhat weakened his appearance. His cell door was open, everyone could come to him, see him; the elder was not shy about the presence of others in his spiritual pursuits. Some, entering the cell, offered different questions having a need for advice and guidance from an elder; but, having taken upon himself a vow of silence before God, the elder did not give answers to questions, continuing his usual activities.

In 1815, the Lord, according to a new appearance, Fr. Seraphim of His Blessed Mother, commanded him not to hide his lamp under a berth and, opening the shutter doors, to be accessible and visible to everyone. Setting himself the Great Hilarion as an example, he began to accept everyone without exception, talking and teaching salvation. His little cell was always illuminated by only one lamp and candles lit by the icons. It was never heated by a stove, had two small windows and was always heaped up with sandbags and stones that served him as a bed; a stump of wood was used instead of a chair, and in the entryway there was an oak coffin made by his own hands. The cell was dissolved for all the brethren of the monastery at any time, for outsiders - after early Mass until 8 pm.

The elder welcomed everyone willingly, gave a blessing, and, depending on his spiritual needs, made various kinds of short instructions. The elder received the newcomers as follows: he was dressed in an ordinary white robe and half-gown; he had an epitrachelion around his neck and a strap on his hands. He did not always wear the epitrachelion and the instructions when receiving visitors, but only on the days when he received the Holy Mysteries, therefore, on Sundays and holidays. In whom he saw sincere repentance for sins, who showed in himself an ardent zeal for the Christian life, he received those with special zeal and joy. After talking with them, he, forcing them to bow their heads, laid on it the end of the epitrachili and his right hand, inviting them to say the following prayer of repentance after him: senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, willingly or unwillingly, knowledge or ignorance. " Then he himself recited the prayer for permission from sins. At the end of such an action, he anointed the cross-shaped forehead of the one who had come with oil from St. icons and, if it was before noon, therefore, before taking food, he gave to eat from the cup of "great hagiasma", that is, Holy Epiphany water, blessed with a particle of antidora, or St. bread consecrated at the all-night service. Then, kissing the person who came to the mouth, he said at all times: "Christ is Risen!" and let him kiss the image of the Mother of God or the cross that hung on his chest. Sometimes, especially to noble persons, he advised to go into the church to pray to the Mother of God before St. the icon of Her Assumption or the Life-Giving Source.

If the newcomer did not need special instruction, then the elder did general Christian edification. In particular, he advised always to have the memory of God and for this to constantly invoke the name of God in the heart, repeating the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner... “In this let it be,” he said, “all your attention and training! Walking and sitting, doing and in the church before the start of the service, standing, entering and exiting, keep this incessantly on your lips and in your heart. In this way calling the name of God you will find peace, you will achieve spiritual and physical purity, and the Holy Spirit, the Source of all good things, will take over in you, and He will rule you in holiness, in all piety and purity. "

Many, coming to Fr. Seraphim, they complained that they pray little to God, even leave the necessary daily prayers. Some said that they did it out of ignorance, others out of lack of time. Fr. Seraphim bequeathed to such people the following prayer rule: "Having got up from sleep, every Christian, standing before the holy icons, let him read the Lord's prayer: Our Father- three times; in honor of the Most Holy. Trinity, then a song to the Mother of God: Virgin Mary, rejoice- also three times and, finally, the Symbol of Faith: I believe in one God- once.

Having fulfilled this rule, let every Christian go about his business, to which he has been assigned or called. While working at home or on the way somewhere, let him read quietly: redeem Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner or sinful; and if others surround him, then, while doing business, let his mind say only this: Lord have mercy and continue until lunchtime.

Before lunch, let him perform the above morning rule.

After dinner, while doing his work, let every Christian read also quietly: Holy Mother of God, save me a sinner, and let this continue until sleep.

When he happens to spend time in solitude, then let him read: Lord Jesus Christ, Mother of God have mercy on me a sinner or sinful.

Going to sleep, let every Christian again read the above morning rule, that is, three times Our Father, three times The virgin and one day Symbol of faith... After that, let him fall asleep, protecting himself with the sign of the cross. "

Once a simple peasant with a hat in his hand, with disheveled hair came running to the monastery, asking in despair from the first monk he met: "Father! Are you, perhaps, Father Seraphim?" Fr. Seraphim. Rushing there, he fell at his feet and convincingly said: "Father! My horse was stolen from me, and now I am completely a beggar without it; I do not know what I will feed my family with. But, they say, you’re guessing!" Fr. Seraphim, affectionately taking him by the head and applying it to his own, said: "Protect yourself with silence and hurry to such and such(he named it) a village. When you come up to it, turn off the road to the right and pass four houses in the back: there you will see a gate; enter it, untie your horse from the log and bring it out in silence. ”The peasant immediately ran back with faith and joy, without stopping anywhere.

Nizhny Novgorod province, Ardatovsky district, in their ancestral estate, the village of Nucha, lived orphans, a brother and sister, noble landowners Mikhail Vasilyevich and Elena Vasilievna Manturov. Mikhail Vasilyevich served for many years in Livonia in the military service and married there a native of Livonia, Anna Mikhailovna Ernts, but then fell so badly ill that he was forced to leave the service and move to his estate, the village of Nucha. Elena Vasilievna, much younger than her brother in years, had a cheerful character and dreamed only of high life and early marriage.

The illness of Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov had a decisive influence on his entire life, and the best doctors found it difficult to determine its cause and properties. So all hope for medical assistance was lost, and it remained to turn for healing to the Lord and His holy Church. The rumor about the holy life of Father Fr. Seraphima, who had already run around all of Russia, of course, reached the village of Nuchi, which was only 40 versts from Sarov. When the disease became rampant, so that pieces of bone fell out of Mikhail Vasilyevich's legs, he decided to go, on the advice of relatives and friends, to Sarov to Fr. Seraphim. With great difficulty, he was led by his serfs into the vestibule of the old man's cell. When Mikhail Vasilyevich, according to custom, made a prayer, Father Fr. Seraphim went out and graciously asked him: "What have you come to see wretched Seraphim?" Manturov fell at his feet and began to tearfully ask the elder to heal him from a terrible illness. Then, with the most lively sympathy and fatherly love, he asked Fr. Seraphim: "Do you believe in God?" And, having also received three times in response the most sincere, strong, ardent assurance of unconditional faith in God, the great elder said to him: “My joy! believe that the Lord will heal you too, and I, poor Seraphim, will pray. " Then Fr. Seraphim seated Mikhail Vasilyevich near the coffin, which stood in the entryway, and he retired to his cell, from where, after a short time, he left, carrying the holy oil with him. He ordered Manturov to undress, bare his legs, and, preparing to rub them with the holy oil brought, said: "According to the grace given to me from the Lord, I heal you first!" Fr. Seraphim anointed Mikhail Vasilyevich's feet and put on stockings made of thin canvas. After that, the elder brought out a large amount of biscuits from the cell, poured them into the coat tails of his coat and ordered him to go with the load to the monastery hotel. Mikhail Vasilyevich at first fulfilled the father's order, not without fear, but then, having made sure of the miracle that had been accomplished with him, he came to inexpressible joy and some kind of reverential horror. A few minutes ago he had not been able to climb into the canopy to about. To Seraphim without outside help, and then suddenly, according to the words of the holy elder, he was already carrying a whole heap of crackers, feeling completely healthy, strong and as if he had never been ill. In joy, he threw himself at the feet of Fr. Seraphim, kissing them and thanking them for their healing, but the great elder lifted Mikhail Vasilyevich and sternly said: "Is it Seraphim's business to die and live, bring him down to hell and raise him up? What are you, father, this is the work of the One Lord, Who does the will of those who fear Him and prayer listens to them! to the Almighty Lord, let His Most Pure Mother give thanks! “Then Father Seraphim released Manturov.

Some time has passed. Suddenly Mikhail Vasilyevich remembered with horror his past illness, which he had already begun to completely forget, and decided to go to Fr. Seraphim, accept his blessing. On the way, Manturov reflected: after all, I must, as the priest said, thank the Lord ... And only he arrived in Sarov and went to Fr. Seraphim, as a great elder, greeted him with the words: "My joy! But we promised to thank the Lord that He gave us life back!" Surprised by the elder's perspicacity, Mikhail Vasilyevich replied: "I don't know, father, what and how; what will you order ?!" Then Fr. Seraphim, looking at him in a special way, said cheerfully: "Behold, my joy, give everything you have to the Lord and take upon yourself spontaneous poverty!" Manturov was embarrassed; a thousand thoughts ran through his head in an instant, for he had never expected such an offer from the great old man. He remembered the Gospel youth, to whom Christ also offered voluntary poverty for the perfect path to the Kingdom of Heaven ... He remembered that he was not alone, had a young wife and that, having given everything, he would have nothing to live with ... But the perspicacious old man, understanding his thoughts , continued: "Leave everything and do not bother about what you think about; the Lord will not leave you either in this life or in the future; you will not be rich, but you will have all your daily bread." Ardent, impressionable, loving and ready, according to the purity of his soul, to fulfill every thought, every demand of such a great and holy old man, whom he saw only the second time, but loved already, no doubt, more than anything else, Mikhail Vasilyevich immediately replied: " I agree, father! What will you bless me to do? " But the great wise old man, wishing to test the ardent Mikhail Vasilyevich, answered: "But, my joy, let us pray, and I will show you how God will enlighten me!" After that, they parted as future friends and the most faithful servants of the Diveyevo monastery, chosen by the Queen of Heaven for Herself in the earthly lot.

With the blessing of the priest, Fr. Seraphim, Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov sold his estate, set free his serfs and, saving the money for the time being, bought only 15 acres of land in Diveyevo on Fr. A seraphim place, with the strictest commandment: to keep this land, never sell it, not give it to anyone and bequeath it after the death of your Seraphim monastery. On this land, Mikhail Vasilyevich settled with his wife and began to endure shortcomings. He endured many ridicule from acquaintances and friends, as well as reproaches from his wife Anna Mikhailovna, a Lutheran woman who was not at all prepared for the spiritual exploits of a young woman who does not tolerate poverty, a very impatient and ardent character, although, in general, a good and honest person. All his life, the wonderful Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, a true disciple of Christ, endured humiliation for his gospel act. But he endured everything meekly, silently, patiently, humbly, meekly, with complacency, out of love and his extraordinary faith in the holy elder, obeying him implicitly in everything, not taking a step without his blessing, as if betraying himself and his whole life in hands about. Seraphim. It is not surprising that Mikhail Vasilievich became the most faithful student of Fr. Seraphim and his closest, beloved friend. Father about. Seraphim, talking about him with anyone else, called him no differently as "Mishenka", and everything related to the device of Diveevo, entrusted only him alone, as a result of which everyone knew this and sacredly honored Manturov, obeying him in everything unquestioningly, as if to the steward of the father himself.

After the healing of M.V. Manturov, Fr. Seraphim began to receive other visitors and, faithful to the promise made by Fr. Pakhomia, did not forget the Diveyevo community. He sent some novices to the headmistress Ksenia Mikhailovna and, praying for them daily, received revelations about the future of this community.

Taking visitors to his monastery cell for 15 years, Fr. Seraphim still did not leave the shutter and did not go anywhere. But in 1825 he began to ask the Lord for his blessing to complete the shutter.

On November 25, 1825, on the feast day of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome, and Peter of Alexandria, in a dream vision, the Mother of God, accompanied by these saints, appeared on. Seraphim and allowed him to leave the seclusion and visit the desert.

As you know, from 1825 to Fr. Seraphim began to go for a blessing, first the sisters, and then the virtuous head of the Diveyevo community, Ksenia Mikhailovna, whom the priest called: "a pillar of fire from earth to heaven" and "spiritual rasp". Of course, Elder Ksenia Mikhailovna deeply respected and highly esteemed Fr. Seraphim, but, however, she did not agree to change the charter of her community, which seemed difficult, as Fr. Seraphim and all the sisters who were saved in the community. The number of sisters increased so much in the community that it was necessary to expand their possessions; but it was impossible either way. Father about. Seraphim, summoning Ksenia Mikhailovna to himself, began to persuade her to replace the heavy Sarov charter with a lighter one, but she did not want to hear. "Obey me, my joy!" - was talking about. Seraphim - but the unshakable eldress finally answered him: "No, father, let it be as before, father the builder Pakhomiy has already arranged for us!" Then Fr. Seraphim dismissed the head of the Diveyevo community, reassured that what had been commanded to him by the great old mother Alexandra no longer lay on his conscience, or that the hour of God's will had not come yet. Temporarily Fr. Seraphim did not enter into the affairs of the community, and only by the gift of foreknowledge sent the sisters chosen by the Mother of God to live in Diveyevo, saying: "Come, child, to the community, here, nearby, Mother Colonel Agafia Semyonovna Melgunova, to the great servant of God and the pillar , to mother Ksenia Mikhailovna - she will teach you everything! "

In the notes of N.A.Motovilov about the founding of the mill monastery, Fr. Seraphim says:

"When in 1825, on November 25, on the day of the holy saints of God Clement, Pope of Rome, and Peter of Alexandria, Father Seraphim himself, personally to me, as well as to many, constantly used to say, making his way, according to custom, through the thickets of the forest along the bank of the Sarovka River to his distant wilderness, he saw below the place where the Theological well was once, and almost near the bank of the Sarovka River, the Mother of God, who appeared to him here (where is his well now, and where then there was only a quagmire), and then and behind Her, on the hillock, two Apostles: Peter the Supreme and the Apostle Evangelist John the Theologian. And the Mother of God, striking the ground with a rod so that the source boiled from the ground with a fountain of light water, said to him: “Why do you want to leave the commandment of My servant Agathia - nun Alexandra? Leave Xenia and her sisters, and not only do not leave this commandment of my servant, but also strive to fulfill it completely, for by my will she gave it to you. And I will show you another place, also in the village of Diveyevo, and on it build this My promised abode. And in memory of the promise given to her by Me, take eight sisters from the place of her death from the community of Xenia. "And she told him by name, whom to take, and indicated the place in the east, at the back of the village of Diveyevo, opposite the altar of the church of His Kazan apparition, arranged And she indicated how to surround this place with a ditch and a rampart; and with these eight sisters she commanded him to begin this monastery, Her fourth universal lot on earth, for which she ordered him first from the Sarov forest to cut down a two-part windmill and the first cells, and then, in time, to build in honor of the Nativity of Her and Her Only Begotten Church for this monastery, attaching it to the porch of the church of His Kazan apparition to Diveyevo nun Alexandra. And She herself gave him a new charter for this monastery, which had not existed anywhere in any monastery until that time. And she set a commandment as an indispensable rule that not a single widow would dare to be accepted into this monastery, but he would also, and then only one maidens would always be accepted, at whose reception She herself would express her favor; And she herself promised to be the everlasting Abbess of this monastery, pouring out not all her mercies and all the grace of God, blessings from all her three previous lots: Iberia, Athos and Kiev. The place where the Most Pure Feet of Her Feet stood and where the spring boiled down from the stress of Her rod and took healing in memory of future childbirth by digging a well here, promised to give its waters a greater blessing than the waters of Bethesda of Jerusalem once had. "

Now, on the site of the appearance of the Mother of God to Father Seraphim on November 25, 1825, a well was built, distinguished by miraculous power, and below, near it, there is the former Theological well. In the summer of 1826, at the request of the elder, the Theological Spring was renewed. The roll-off that covered the pool was filmed; a new blockhouse was made with a pipe for the source of water. Near the pool, the elder now began to engage in bodily labor. Collecting pebbles in the Sarovka River, he threw them ashore and lowered the pool of the spring with them. I made ridges here for myself, fertilized them with moss, planted onions and potatoes. The elder chose this place for himself, because, due to illness, he could not go to his former cell six miles from the monastery. It even became difficult for him, after the morning labors on his feet, to visit Fr. Dorothea, who was only a quarter of a mile from the spring. For Fr. Seraphim was built on the bank of the mountain, near the spring, a new small log house, three arshins high, three long and two wide. From above it was covered with a slope on one side. There were no windows or doors in it. The entrance to this log structure was opened by an earthen one from the side of the mountain, under the wall. Crawling under the wall, the elder rested in this shelter after work, hiding from the midday heat. Then, in 1827, here, on a hill near the spring, a new cell was placed for him with doors, but no windows; inside it was a stove, from the outside the senses were made of planks. During 1825-1826, the elder used to visit this place every day. And when they arranged a cell for him, he began to constantly spend all his days here in the desert; in the evening he returned to the monastery. Going to the monastery and from the monastery in an ordinary white, shabby canvas robe, in a wretched kamilavka, with an ax or a handwheel in his hands, he carried a bag over his shoulders, heavily filled with stones and sand, in which lay St. Gospel. Some asked, "Why is he doing this?" He answered with the words of St. Ephraim the Syrian: "I am tormenting the tormenting me." This place has been known since then under the name near desert about. Seraphim, and the spring began to be called well about. Seraphim.

Since the construction of the new cell, in 1827, the activities and works of Fr. Seraphim were divided between the abode and the neighboring wilderness. He remained at the monastery on Sundays and holidays, taking communion at the early liturgy; on weekdays, he almost daily went to the forest in the nearby desert. He spent his nights at the monastery. The number of its visitors has greatly increased. Some were waiting for him in the monastery, longing to see him, to receive the blessing and to hear the word of edification. Others came to him in a deserted cell. The elder had almost no rest either in the desert, or on the road, or in the monastery. It was touching to see how the elder, after the communion of the Holy Mysteries, returned from church to his cell. He walked in robes, epitrachili and errands, as he usually proceeded to the sacrament. His procession was slow because of the multitude of thronging people, from among whom everyone tried, albeit slightly, to look at the elder. But at that time he did not speak to anyone, did not bless anyone, and no matter how he saw a soul around him; his gaze was downcast, and his mind was immersed in itself. At these moments, he entered with his soul into meditation on the great blessings of God, revealed to people by the sacrament of Holy Communion. And, in awe of the wonderful old man, no one dared even touch him. Having come to his cell, he already accepted all those who were zealous, blessed them, and to those who wished, he offered a soul-saving word.

But the most enjoyable of all was his conversation. Mind at Fr. Seraphim was bright, his memory was solid, his gaze was truly Christian, his heart was accessible to everyone, his will was unyielding, the gift of the word was alive and abundant. His speech was so effective that the listener received mental benefit from it. His conversations were filled with a spirit of humility, warmed the heart, removed a kind of veil from the eyes, illuminated the minds of the interlocutors with the light of spiritual understanding, brought them to a feeling of repentance and aroused a decisive change for the better; they unwittingly conquered the will and heart of others, poured peace and silence into them. Elder Seraphim based both his own actions and his words on the word of God, confirming them in the most places of the New Testament, on the writings of St. fathers and examples of saints who pleased God. All this still had a special power because it was directly applied to the needs of the listeners. According to the purity of his spirit, he had the gift of clairvoyance; to others, before revealing the circumstances, he gave instructions related directly to their inner feelings and thoughts of the heart.

Love and humility were a special feature of his circumambulation and conversation. Whoever came to him, whether a poor man in rags, or a rich man in light clothes, no matter what needs, no matter what sinful state his conscience was in, he kissed everyone with love, bowed to everyone to the ground and, blessing , he kissed the hands of not even initiated people. He struck no one with cruel reproaches or severe reprimands; He did not place a heavy burden on anyone, carrying the cross of Christ himself with all his sorrows. He spoke to others and denunciations, but meekly, dissolving his word with humility and love. He tried to rouse the voice of conscience with advice, indicated the ways of salvation, and often in such a way that his listener for the first time did not understand that it was about his soul. After that, the power of the word, overshadowed by grace, certainly produced its effect. Neither the rich nor the poor, nor the simple, nor the scholars, nor the nobles, nor the common people, left him without real instruction; for all there was enough living water flowing from the lips of the former silent, humble and wretched old man. The people, especially in the last ten years of his life, flocked to him every day as many as thousands. Every day, with a large gathering of newcomers in Sarov, he had about 2,000 or more people in his cell. He was not burdened and with everyone he found time to talk for the benefit of the soul. In short words, he explained to everyone what exactly he needed, revealing often the most intimate thoughts of those who turned to him. Everyone felt his benevolent, truly kindred love and its strength, streams of tears sometimes burst from people who had a hard and petrified heart.

One day, Honored Lieutenant General L. came to Sarov. The purpose of his visit was curiosity. And so, having examined the monastery buildings, he already wanted to say goodbye to the monastery, having not received any spiritual gift for his soul, but here he met the landowner Alexei Neofitovich Prokudin and got into conversation with him. The interlocutor suggested that the general go to the hermit Elder Seraphim, but the general only with difficulty yielded to Prokudin's convictions. As soon as they entered the cell, Elder Seraphim, walking towards them, bowed at the feet of the general. Such humility struck the pride of L. ... Prokudin, noting that he should not stay in his cell, went out into the hallway, and the general, adorned with orders, talked with the recluse for about half an hour. A few minutes later a cry was heard from the elder's cell: the general was crying like a little child. Half an hour later the door opened, and Fr. Seraphim led the general under the arms; he continued to cry, covering his face with his hands. Orders and a cap were forgotten by him from grief at Fr. Seraphim. Tradition says that the orders fell from him during the conversation by themselves. Fr. Seraphim endured all this and put the orders on his cap. Subsequently, this general said that he had traveled all over Europe, knew many people of all kinds, but for the first time in his life he saw such humility with which the Sarov recluse had met him, and he never knew about the perspicacity by which the elder revealed to him the whole his life to secret details. By the way, when the crosses fell from him, Fr. Seraphim said: "This is because you received them undeservedly."

Elder Seraphim took care of those in whom he saw a disposition for good with special zeal; on the path of good, he tried to establish them with all spiritual-Christian means and forces. However, despite the love for everyone, Fr. Seraphim was strict with some. But even with those who did not love him, he was peaceful, treated meekly and lovingly. It was not noticed that he took any business to himself or praised himself, but always, blessing the Lord God, he said: "Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name, give glory" (Psalm 113, 9). When he saw that those who came to him listened to his advice, followed his instructions, he did not admire this, as it were, the fruit of his work. “We,” he said, “must remove all earthly joy from ourselves, following the teachings of Jesus Christ, who said:“ Do not rejoice in this, for the dusi obey you: rejoice, for your names are written in essence in heaven ”(Luke 10 , twenty)".

In addition to the gift of clairvoyance, the Lord God continued to show in Elder Seraphim the grace of healing bodily ailments and diseases. So, on June 11, 1827, Alexandra was healed, the wife (of the Nizhny Novgorod province, Ardatovsky district, the village of Elizariev) of the courtyard Bartholomew Timofeev Lebedev. The woman was 22 years old at the time and had two children. On April 6, 1826, on the day of a village holiday, she returned from the church after the liturgy, had lunch and then went out the gate to take a walk with her husband. Suddenly, God knows why, she became dizzy, dizzy; her husband could hardly bring her to the entrance. Here she fell to the floor. Vomiting and terrible convulsions began with her; the patient died and fell into complete unconsciousness. Half an hour later, as if coming to her senses, she began to gnash her teeth, gnaw everything that came across, and finally fell asleep. A month later, these painful seizures began to recur with her every day, although not every time to the same degree.

At first, the patient was treated by a rural home doctor Afanasy Yakovlev, but the means he was undertaking had no success. Then they took Alexandra to the Ilevsky and Voznesensky iron plants - there was a foreign doctor; he undertook to treat her, gave various medicines, but not seeing success, refused further treatment and advised me to go to Vyksa, to the cast iron factories. "In Vyksa," - according to the description of her husband, the patient, - the doctor was a foreigner with great privilege". By good agreement with the manager who took part in the patient, the Vyksinsky doctor exhausted all his attention, knowledge and art and, finally, gave this advice:" Now you rely on the will of the Almighty and ask him for help and protection; no one of people can cure you. ”This end of treatment saddened everyone very much, and plunged the patient into despair.

On the night of June 11, 1827, the patient had a dream: an unfamiliar woman appeared to her, very old, with sunken eyes, and said: "Why are you suffering and not looking for a doctor?" The patient was frightened and, placing the sign of the cross on herself, began to read the prayer of St. To the cross: "May God rise and scatter at him ..." The one who appeared answered her: "Do not be afraid of me, I am the same person, only now, not of this world, but from the kingdom of the dead. Get up from your bed and hurry to the Sarov monastery to Father Seraphim: he is expecting you tomorrow and will heal you. " The patient dared to ask her: "Who are you and where are you from?" The one who appeared answered: "I am from the Diveyevo community, the first abbess there, Agathia." The next morning, the family harnessed a couple of the master's horses and drove to Sarov. Only it was impossible to carry the patient very quickly: fainting and convulsions were incessantly made with her. The patient reached Sarov after the late liturgy, during the meal of the brethren. Father Seraphim shut up and did not receive anyone, but the patient, approaching his cell, barely had time to say a prayer, as Fr. Seraphim went out to her, took her by the hands and led her into his cell. There he covered her with an epitrachelion and quietly said prayers to the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos; then he gave the sick St. Epiphany water, gave her a particle of St. antidora and three crackers and said: "Every day take a piece of bread with holy water, and moreover: go to the grave of God's servant Agathia in Diveyevo, take land for yourself and do as many bows as you can in this place: she (Agathia) is about you regrets and wishes you healing. " Then he added: "When you are bored, pray to God and say: Father Seraphim! Remember me in prayer and pray for me as a sinner, so as not to fall back into this illness from the adversary and enemy of God." Then the ailment left the painful one with a great noise; she was healthy at all subsequent times and unharmed. After this illness, she gave birth to four more sons and five daughters. The healed husband's handwritten record of this ends with the following afterword: "We raise the name of Father Seraphim in our hearts and we remember him with our relatives at every funeral service."

December 9, 1826 in the Diveyevo community, by order of Fr. Seraphim, the laying of the mill took place, and in the summer, on July 7, she ground it down.

In the same 1827, Father Seraphim said to Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, who constantly came to him for orders and orders: “My joy! it is necessary: after all, they are girls. The Queen of Heaven wants them to have their own church attached to the church porch of the Kazan church, because this porch is worthy of an altar, father! After all, mother Agafia Semyonovna, standing in prayer, washed her with currents of tears of her humility; , my joy, and you build this temple for the Nativity of Her Only Begotten Son - for my orphans! " Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov kept intact the money from the sale of the estate, which the father ordered to be hidden until time. Now the time has come for Mikhail Vasilyevich to give all his property to the Lord, and such money was undoubtedly pleasing to the Savior of the world. Consequently, the Church of the Nativity of Christ was created at the expense of a person who voluntarily assumed the feat of begging.

How often the Diveevsky sisters had to go to Fr. Seraphim's work and for food, which he sent them from himself from Sarov, can be seen, for example, from the story of Sister Praskovya Ivanovna, later nun Seraphima. He also forced the newcomers to come more often to teach them spiritual edification. On the feast of the Meeting of 1828-29. he ordered his sister Praskovya Ivanovna, who had just entered the monastery, to come to him twice and return. Consequently, she had to walk 50 miles and still spend time in Sarov. She was embarrassed and said: "I won't have time like this, father!" "What are you, what are you, mother," Father Seraphim replied, "after all, the day now lasts 10 hours." “Okay, father,” said Praskovya lovingly. The first time she came to the priest's cell at the monastery was during early Mass. Father opened the door and greeted her cheerfully, calling her: my joy! He planted them to rest, fed them with particles of prosphora with holy water, and then gave them a large bag of oatmeal and breadcrumbs to be carried to the monastery. In Diveyevo she rested a little and went back to Sarov. Vespers were served when she came to the priest, who greeted her with delight, saying: "Come, come, my joy! Here I will feed you with my food." He planted Praskovya and placed in front of her a large dish of steamed cabbage with juice. "It's all yours," said the priest. She began to eat and felt such a taste that surprised her indescribably. Then, from inquiries, she learned that this food does not happen at a meal, and it was good, because the priest himself, through his prayer, prepared such extraordinary food. Once the priest ordered her to work in the forest, collect firewood, and provided her with food. At about the third hour of the day, he himself wanted to eat and said: "Come on, mother, to the wilderness, there I have a piece of bread hanging on a string, bring it." Sister Praskovya brought it in. Father salted the stale bread, soaked it in cold water and began to eat. He separated a particle from Praskovya, but she could not even chew - the bread dried out so much - and thought: this is what the father is suffering from. Answering her thought, Fr. Seraphim said: "This, mother, is still my daily bread! And when I was in seclusion, I ate potion, doused the grass hot water and ate it; this is desert food, and you eat it. "Another time sister Praskovya Ivanovna fell into temptation: she began to feel faint-hearted, bored, yearned and thought to leave the monastery, but did not know whether to open up to the priest? Suddenly he sends for her. She enters embarrassed and Father began to talk about himself and his life in the monastery, and then he added: “I, mother, have passed my entire monastic life and never left the monastery with lower thoughts.” Repeating this several times and citing examples from my past , he completely healed her, so that Praskovya Ivanovna testifies in her narration that in the course of the story “all my thoughts gradually calmed down, and when the priest finished, I felt such consolation, as if a sick member had been cut off with a knife.” in the presence of the priest in the nearby wilderness, the Kursk merchants who had stopped in Sarov from the Nizhny Novgorod fair approached him. Before parting they asked the priest: "What would you like to tell your brother?" show him that I pray for him to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother day and night. " They walked away, and the priest, raising his hands, repeated several times with delight: "There is no better monastic life, no better!" Once, when Praskovya Ivanovna was working at the spring, the priest came out to her with a bright, radiant face and in a new white robe. He exclaimed from afar: "What have I brought you, mother!" - and went up to her, holding a green twig with fruit in his hands. Plucking one off, he put it in her mouth, and its taste was inexpressibly pleasant and sweet. Then, putting the same fruit into his mouth, he said: "Taste, mother, this is heavenly food!" At that time of the year, no fruits could ripen yet.

The elder sister in the mill monastery of Fr. Seraphima, Praskovya Semyonovna, testified a lot about Father's favors to the sisters and, by the way, told how terrible it was to disobey him. Once the priest ordered her to come with the young lady Maria Semyonovna on two horses for the logs. They drove straight to the priest in the forest, where he was already waiting for them and prepared two thin logs for each horse. Thinking that one horse could carry all four logs, the sisters shifted these logs on the way to one, and a large, thick log was loaded onto the other horse. But as soon as they started to move, this horse fell, wheezed and began to die. Realizing they were guilty that they had acted against the blessing of the priest, they, falling to their knees, immediately, in tears, began to ask for forgiveness in absentia, and then threw off the thick log and laid out the logs as before. The horse jumped up on its own and ran so quickly that they could barely catch up with it.

Father about. Seraphim constantly healed his orphans from various diseases. Once sister Ksenia Kuzminichna suffered from toothache, from which she did not sleep at night, did not eat anything and was exhausted, since she had to work during the day. They told their elder sister Praskovya Semyonovna about her; she sent Xenia to the priest. “As soon as he saw me,” Xenia said, “then he says: that it’s you, my joy, you haven’t come to me for a long time! Go to Father Pavel, he will heal you.” “But I thought: what is this? can heal me? But I didn’t dare to object. I found Father Paul and told him that Father Paul had sent me to him. He squeezed my face tightly with both hands and brushed my cheeks several times.

Sister Evdokia Nazarova also said that, as a young girl, she suffered from paralysis of the arms and legs for two years, and she was brought to Fr. Seraphim, who, seeing her, began to beckon to him. With great difficulty they brought her to the priest, but he gave her a rake and ordered her to warm the hay. Then she felt that something was asleep from her, and she began to warm as if she were healthy. At the same time, Praskovya Ivanovna and Irina Vasilievna worked for the priest. The latter began to reprimand her why she, so sick, had come to work with them, but the father, understanding their thoughts in spirit, told them: "Take her to you in Diveevo, she will spin and weave for you." So she labored until Vespers. Father fed her dinner, and then she reached the house completely healthy.

Old woman Varvara Ilyinichna also testified about her cure by Father Seraphim: "He, my breadwinner, healed me twice," she said. I came to him, he put me at a distance from him, and told me to open my mouth; he blew hard on me, tied my whole face with a handkerchief, but immediately ordered me to go home, and the sun was already at sunset. for his holy prayer, at night I came home, and the pain vanished as if by hand. I often visited the priest. He used to say to me: "My joy! You will be forgotten by everyone. ”And for sure, it used to be, I would come to Mother Ksenia Mikhailovna to ask for something, either from shoes or clothes, and she would say:“ You would come and ask on time; go to bows. ”He gives everyone, but I don’t. Since Tatyana Grigorievna was offended at me and said:“ Oh, you forgotten! ”, and I remembered this word of the priest, but when I scream, I will cry! So the word of the priest came true : All my life I was "forgotten" by everyone. Once Akulina Vasilyevna and I came to the priest, he said something to her in private for a long time, convinced her of something, but apparently she obeyed. He went out and said: " Take the biscuits out of my ark (as he called his coffin). ”I tied a whole knot of them, gave Akulina, and the other knot to me; then he poured a whole bag of crackers, and began to beat it with a stick, and we laugh, and we ride with laughter! will look at us, he beats him even more, but we know, we don't understand anything. Then he tied the priest, and hung Agrafena around his neck and ordered us to go to the monastery. After that we already understood how this sister Akulina Vasilievna left the monastery and the world endured terrible beatings. Then she again came to us and died in Diveevo. senia Mikhailovna, yes she said that we spent three nights in Sarov. She sternly reprimanded me: "Oh, you, autocrat! How I lived so much without blessing!" I beg your pardon, I say: Father detained us, and I give her the biscuits that I brought. She replies: "If the father left, so God will forgive. Only he gave them to you for patience." So it soon happened: they told my mother a lot, and she sent me away. I kept crying, and I went to Father Seraphim, told him everything; I was crying myself, I was on my knees before him, and he was laughing, and so knocking about with his arms. He began to pray and ordered to go to his girls at the mill, to the boss Praskovya Stepanovna. She, with his blessing, left me with her. "-" Once I come to Father Seraphim in the wilderness, and he has flies on his face, and blood runs down his cheeks in streams. I felt sorry for him, I wanted to brush them off, and he says: "Don't touch them, my joy, let every breath praise the Lord!" He's so patient. "

A GREAT Eldress, a lofty life, Evdokia Efremovna (nun Eupraxia) spoke of the persecution that Fr. Seraphim: “Everyone already knows how the Sarovtsy did not love Father Seraphim for us; they even persecuted and persecuted him for us constantly, making him much, much more patient and sorrowful! And often, knowing this, he joked at us. I come to my father, but he himself fed and supplied us with everything during his lifetime, always with paternal concern, asking: is there everything? , it happened, but with Ksenia Vasilyevna and sent, more honey, canvas, oil, candles, incense and red wine for the service. So it was here, I came, he put me, as usual, a large bag, so that he forcibly lifted it from the coffin, Indo grunted, and said: "Bring it, mother, and go straight to the saints gate, fear no one! " What is it, - I think, - Father, always, it happened, he himself sends me past the horse yard with the back gate, and then suddenly he sends me straight to patience, but to sorrow by the holy gates! And at that time there were soldiers in Sarov and were always on the clock at the gate. The Sarov hegumen and the treasurer with the brethren grieved painfully for the priest, who gives us everything, sends us; And they ordered the soldiers to always watch and catch us, and they especially pointed me out to them. I did not dare to disobey the priest and went, not myself, and trembled all over, because I did not know what the priest had imposed on me so much. As soon as I approached, this, to the gate, I read a prayer; the soldiers, two, now they have arrested me by the scruff of the neck. "Go, - they say, - to the abbot!" I pray to them, and I tremble all over; it was not so. "Go," they say, "and that's all!" They dragged me to the abbot in the Senki. His name was Nifont; he was strict, he didn’t like Father Seraphim, but he didn’t like us even more. He ordered me, so sternly, to untie the bag. I untie, but my hands are shaking, and they walk like a shaker, and he looks. I untied, I take out everything ... and there: old bast shoes, broken crusts, cuts and different stones, and everything is so tightly packed. "Ah, Seraphim, Seraphim!" Exclaimed Nifont. - and let me go. So another time I came to the priest, and he gives me a purse. "Go," he says, "straight to the holy gates!" She went, stopped me and again took me and led me to the abbot. They untied the bag, and in it there was sand and stones! Hegumen akhal-akhal, let me go. I come, I told the priest, and he says to me: "Well, mother, now for the last time, go and do not be afraid! They will not touch you any more!" And verily, it used to be, you go, and at the holy gates they only ask: what are you carrying? - “I don’t know, breadwinner, - you will answer them, - Father sent.” They will let you in right there. "

In order to apparently convince everyone that it is pleasing to the Lord and the Queen of Heaven, so that Fr. Seraphim was engaged in the Diveyevo monastery, the great elder chose an age-old tree and prayed that it bow down, as a sign of God's determination. Indeed, in the morning this tree turned out to be upturned with a huge root in completely calm weather. There are many recorded stories of orphans about this tree. Seraphim.

So, Anna Alekseevna, one of the 12 first sisters of the monastery, says the following: “I was also a witness of a great miracle with the late sister of the monastery, Ksenia Ilyinichna Potekhina, who later briefly became the head of our mill community, later the dean of our monastery, nun Claudia. to Father Seraphim, the painter of Tambov, Sarov novice Ivan Tikhonovich. For a long time the father talked with him that they were in vain to tempt him, that he was taking care of us; that he was doing this not from himself, but by order of the Queen of Heaven Herself. "Let's pray, - says Father Seraphim. - I think that this tree is more than a hundred years old ... "- while he pointed to a tree of enormous size." It will stand for many more years ... If I obey the Queen of Heaven, this tree will bow in their direction ! .. "- and pointed at us." Just know, - continued Fr. Seraphim - that there is no way for me to leave them, although they are girls! And if I abandon them, then it will probably reach the Tsar! "We come the next day, and the father is showing us this most healthy and enormous tree, as if by a storm it has been upturned with all its roots. And the father ordered, joyful , all shining, chop up the tree and take them to us in Diva. " (Its root is kept to this day in the cemetery church with other belongings of Father Seraphim.)

The abbot of the Nikolo-Barkovskaya hermitage, Abbot Georgy, the former hotel of the Sarov hermitage Guriy, testifies that, having once come to the elder, Fr. Seraphim in the wilderness, found him that he chopped a pine tree for firewood, which had fallen by the roots. According to the usual greeting, the elder opened the following about this pine tree, which he was chopping: "Look, I am engaged in the Diveyevo community; you and many of me were wondering why I was doing them; behold, I was here yesterday, asked the Lord for assurance yours, is it pleasing to him that I am doing them? the fact that if you or someone takes care of them, will it please God? The Lord fulfilled for your assurance: here is the tree bowed down. Why am I doing them? I have care for them for the obedience of the elders the builder Pachomius and the treasurer Isaiah, my patrons They promised to cared about them until their death, and after their death they commanded that the Sarov monastery would not leave them forever. she came and here, and with her, three like-minded slaves. This Agathia, wishing to be saved near the elders, chose the village of Diveyevo as the place of salvation, settled here and made a donation of money for the construction of the cathedral; I don’t know how many thousands, but I only know that three bags of money were brought from her: one was with gold, one with silver, and the third with copper, and they were full of this money. The cathedral was built by her diligence; that's why they promised to cave for them forever and I was commanded. Here, I ask you: take care of them, because they lived here twelve people, and the thirteenth is Agathia herself. They worked for the Sarov monastery, sewed and washed clothes, and they were given all the food from the monastery for maintenance; as we had a meal, and they had the same. This went on for a long time, but Father Abbot Niphont stopped it and separated them from the monastery; on what occasion, I know! Father Pachomius and Isaiah cared about them, but they never came into their possession, neither Pachomius, nor Joseph; I didn’t dispose of them, and there is no way for anyone to dispose of them. "

At such a difficult time for the wondrous elder, Fr. Seraphim approved and strengthened the Queen of Heaven. Here is what Archpriest Fr. Vasily Sadovsky: “Once (1830), three days after the feast of the icon of the Dormition of the Mother of God, I came to Father Seraphim in the Sarov Monastery and found him in a cell without visitors. about the godly life of the saints, how they were granted gifts, miraculous manifestations, even visits to the Heavenly Queen herself from the Lord. Give it to me! "- said the priest. I gave it. He laid it out, began to put from some vessel in handfuls of crackers in a handkerchief, which were so unusually white that I had never seen one like this. , there was the Tsarina, and so, after the guests, it was left! "- the father deigned to say. His face became so divine and cheerful at the same time that it is impossible to express! He put on a full handkerchief and, having tied it tightly, said : "Well, come along, father, and when you come home, then the very quietly eat crackers, give it to your friend (that's how he always called my wife), then go to the monastery for his spiritual children, put three crackers in each mouth, even to those who live near the monastery in cells: they are all ours will! "Indeed, afterwards everyone entered the monastery. In my youth, I did not understand that the Queen of Heaven visited him, but simply wondered if some earthly queen was incognito with the priest, but I did not dare to ask him, but then the saint of God himself already explained this to me, saying: "Heavenly Queen Father, the Heavenly Queen herself has visited the wretched Seraphim, and in! What joy to us, father! The Mother of God covered the wretched Seraphim with inexplicable goodness. "My beloved! - advertisement Blessed Lady, Most Pure Virgin. - Ask me what you want! "Do you hear, father? What mercy the Queen of Heaven has shown us!" - and the saint of God all himself brightened up, and shone with delight. “And the poor Seraphim, - continued the father, - the poor Seraphim and begged the Mother of God for his orphans, father! And he asked that everyone, everyone in the Seraphim desert would save the orphans, father! to poor Seraphim this ineffable joy, father! Only three are not given, three will perish, advertising the Mother of God! - while the bright face of the old man clouded over. - One will burn, one mill will sweep away, and the third ... (no matter how hard I tried to remember, it never I can; apparently, it really should be) ".

The gracious sister Evdokia Efremovna, who was honored to be on the next visit to the Queen of Heaven, Fr. Seraphima, in 1831, reported her conversation with the priest about the same visit that Fr. Basil:

“Behold, mother,” Father Seraphim said to me, “up to a thousand people will gather in my monastery, and everyone, mother, everyone will be saved; I begged, poor, Mother of God, and the Queen of Heaven deigned to the humble request of the poor Seraphim; and, Except three, the Merciful Lady promised to save everyone, my joy! Only there, mother, - continued, after a pause, father, - there, in the future, everyone will be divided into three categories: combined who, by their purity, by their unceasing prayers and their deeds, through this with their whole being, are combined with the Lord; all their life and their breath are in God, and forever they will be with Him! Elected who will do my deeds, mother, and will be with me in my monastery. AND called, which will only temporarily eat our bread, which is a dark place. They will only be given a bed, they will be in some shirts, but they will always yearn for it! They are careless and lazy, mother, who do not take care of the common cause and obedience and are busy only with their own affairs; how gloomy and hard it will be for them! They will sit, all swaying from side to side, in one place! "And, taking my hand, the father wept bitterly." Obedience, mother, obedience is above fasting and prayer! " , mother, and you tell everyone! "Then, having blessed, he let me go."

A year and 9 months before his death, Fr. Seraphim was also honored to visit the Mother of God. The visit took place in the early morning of the Annunciation, March 25, 1831. The wondrous eldress Evdokia Efremovna (later the mother of Eupraxius) wrote it down and reported in detail.

"In the last year of Father Seraphim's life, I come to him in the evening, by his order, on the eve of the feast of the Annunciation of the Mother of God. Father met him and said:" Oh, my joy, I have been expecting you for a long time! What mercy and grace from the Mother of God is being prepared for you and me for a real holiday! This day will be great for us! "" Am I worthy, father, to receive grace for my sins? "- I answer. But the father ordered:" Repeat, mother, several times in a row: "Rejoice, Unmarried Bride! Hallelujah!" Then he began to say: "And it never happened to hear what a holiday awaits us with you!" I started to cry ... I say that I am unworthy; but the priest did not order, began to console me, saying: "Although you are unworthy, but I asked the Lord and the Mother of God for you, so that I can see this joy to you! Let's pray!" And, taking off his mantle, put it on me and began to read akathists: to the Lord Jesus, the Mother of God, St. Nicholas, John the Baptist; canons: Guardian Angel, all saints. After reading all this, he says to me: "Do not be afraid, do not be afraid, the grace of God appears to us! Hold on to me tightly!" And suddenly there was a noise, like the wind, a shining light appeared, and singing was heard. I could not see and hear all this without trembling. The priest fell to his knees and, raising his hands to the sky, cried out: "Oh, Most Blessed, Most Pure Virgin, Lady Theotokos!" And I see two Angels walking ahead with branches in their hands, and behind them our Lady herself. Twelve virgins followed the Mother of God, then St. John the Baptist and John the Theologian. I fell from fear, dead to the ground, and I do not know how long I was in this state, and what the Queen of Heaven deigned to say with Father Seraphim. I also did not hear anything about what the priest asked the Lady. Before the end of the vision, I heard, lying on the floor, that the Mother of God had deigned to ask Father Seraphim: "Who is this lying on the ground with you?" Father replied: "This is the same old woman about whom I asked You, Lady, to be her at Your appearance!" Then the Most Pure One deigned to take me, unworthy, by the right hand, and the priest for the left, and through the priest ordered me to approach the virgins who came with Her and ask: what are their names and what life was like for them on earth. I went down the aisle to ask. First, I go up to the angels and ask: who are you? They answer: we are the Angels of God. Then she went to John the Baptist, he also told me his name and life in short; likewise St. John the Evangelist. went up to the virgins and asked them, each about a name; they told me their life. The holy virgins by name were: the great martyrs Barbara and Catherine, St. First Martyr Thekla, St. great martyr Marina, St. Great Martyr and Queen Irina, the Monk Eupraxia, St. great martyrs Pelageya and Dorothea, Venerable Macrina, Martyr Justina, St. Great Martyr Juliana and Martyr Anisia. When I asked them all, I thought: I’ll go, I’ll fall to the Feet of the Heavenly Queen and I’ll ask forgiveness for my sins, but suddenly everything became invisible. Then the priest says that this vision lasted four hours.

When we were left alone with Father, I tell him: "Oh, father, I thought that I would die of fear, and did not have time to ask the Queen of Heaven for the absolution of my sins." But the priest answered me: "I, poor man, begged the Mother of God for you and not only for you, but for all who love me, and for those who served me and fulfilled my word; who worked for me, who loves my abode, but since I will not leave you and will not forget. I am your father, I will take care of you in this age and in the future; and whoever lives in my wilderness, I will not leave everyone, and your generations will not be forsaken. This is the joy of the Lord. vouchsafed us, why should we be discouraged! " Then I began to ask the priest to teach me how to live and pray. He replied: "This is how you pray: Lord, grant me to die a Christian death, do not leave me, Lord, at Thy terrible judgment, do not deprive the Kingdom of Heaven! Queen of Heaven, do not leave me!" After all, I bowed to my father's legs, and he, blessing me, said: "Come, child, in peace to the Seraphim's desert!"

In another story of the elder Evdokia Efremovna, there are even more details. So, she says: "Two Angels walked in front, holding - one in the right, and the other in the left hand - along a branch, planted with freshly blossomed flowers. Their hair, similar to golden-yellow flax, lay loose on their shoulders. The clothes of John the Baptist and the Apostle John the Theologian was white, glistening with purity. ), decorated with crosses, variously decorated, but I don’t know what, but I only remember that she shone with an extraordinary light. The dress, over which there was a mantle, was green, belted with a high belt. which, like the epitrachelion, were removed with crosses. look with your eyes, as well as at the buckle (fastener), and at the very Face of the Queen of Heaven. Her hair was loose, lay on her shoulders and was longer and more beautiful than the Angelic ones. The virgins followed her in pairs, in crowns, in robes different color and with her hair down; they became the circle of all of us. The Queen of Heaven was in the middle. The cell of the priest became spacious, and the entire top was filled with lights, as if burning candles. The light was special, unlike daylight and brighter than the sun.

Taking my right hand, the Queen of Heaven deigned to say: "Arise, maiden, and do not fear Us. Maidens like you have come here with Me." I didn’t feel myself getting up. The Heavenly Queen deigned to repeat: "Do not be afraid, We have come to visit you." Father Seraphim was no longer on his knees, but on his feet before the Most Holy Theotokos, and She spoke so graciously, as if with a loved one. Embraced by great joy, I asked Father Seraphim: where are we? I thought I was no longer alive; then, when I asked him: Who is this? - then the Most Pure Mother of God ordered me to approach everyone herself and ask them, etc.

The virgins all said: "Not so God gave us this glory, but for suffering and for reproach; and you will suffer!" The Most Holy Theotokos spoke a lot to Father Seraphim, but I could not hear everything, but what I heard well: "Do not leave My virgins Diveyevo!" Father Seraphim replied: "Oh, Lady! I collect them, but I cannot govern them by myself!" To this, the Queen of Heaven replied: "I will help you, my beloved, in everything! Place obedience on them; if they correct them, they will be with you and near Me, and if they lose wisdom, they will lose the lot of these neighbor My virgins; neither place nor there will be no such crown. Whoever offends them will be smitten by Me; whoever serves them for the sake of the Lord will have mercy before God! " Then, turning to me, she said: “Behold, look at these My virgins and their crowns: some of them have left the earthly kingdom and riches, longing for the Eternal and Heavenly Kingdom, having loved self-willed poverty, having loved the One Lord. what glory and honors have been vouchsafed! As it was before, so now. Only the former martyrs suffered openly, and the present ones - secretly, heartfelt sorrows, and their reward will be the same. " The vision ended with the Most Holy Theotokos speaking to Fr. To Seraphim: "Soon, my beloved, you will be with Us!" - and blessed him. All the saints also said goodbye to him; the maidens kissed him hand in hand. I was told: "This vision was given to you for the sake of the prayers of Fr. Seraphim, Mark, Nazarius and Pachomius." Father, turning after that to me, said: "Behold, mother, what grace the Lord has given to us, the poor! In this way, for the twelfth time already there was a manifestation from God, and the Lord has granted you. This is what joy we have achieved! We have why faith and have hope in the Lord! Defeat the enemy-devil and be wise in everything against him; the Lord will help you in everything! "

Father Seraphim, as it is said, received many visitors. He lectured the laity, denounced in them the false directions of the mind and life. So, one priest brought with him to Fr. To Seraphim of the professor, who did not so much want to hear the elder's conversation as to accept his blessing to enter monasticism. The elder blessed him according to the custom of the priesthood, but regarding his desire to enter monasticism, he did not give any answer, engaging in conversation with the priest. The professor, standing aside, listened to their conversation. The priest, meanwhile, during the conversation often made a speech at the goal with which the scientist came to him. But the elder, deliberately avoiding this subject, continued his conversation and only once, as if in passing, remarked about the professor: "Doesn't he still need to finish his studies?" To this, the priest decisively explained to him that he knew the Orthodox faith, he himself was a seminary professor, and began most convincingly to ask him to resolve only his bewilderment about monasticism. The elder replied to this: “And I know that he is skilled at composing sermons. But teaching others is as easy as throwing stones on the ground from our cathedral, and going through what you teach is all the same as carrying the stones on top Cathedral. So, what is the difference between teaching others and going through the work itself. " Finally, he advised the professor to read the story of St. John of Damascus, saying that from it he will discern what else he needs to learn.

Once four Old Believers came to him to ask about a two-fingered addition. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the cell, before they had time to say their thoughts, the elder approached them, took the first of them by the right hand, folded his fingers into a three-fingered addition according to the order of the Orthodox Church and, thus baptizing him, made the following speech: " Here is the Christian addition of the cross! So pray and tell the others. This addition was given by the Holy Apostles, and the addition of two fingers is contrary to the holy statutes. I ask and pray you, go to the Greek-Russian Church: she is in all the glory and power of God! Like a ship that has many tackles, sails and a great helm, it is controlled by the Holy Spirit. Her good pilots - the teachers of the Church, the archpastors - are the successors of the Apostles. And your chapel is like a small boat that does not have a feed or oars; it is moored by a rope to the ship of our Church, sails after it flooded with waves, and would certainly have drowned if it had not been tied to the ship. "

At another time, an Old Believer came to him and asked: "Tell me, elder of God, which faith is better: the current church or the old one?"

Leave your nonsense, - answered Fr. Seraphim - Our life is the sea, St. Orthodox Church ours is the ship, and the Pilot is the Savior Himself. If with Such a Pilot, because of their sinful weakness, people can hardly swim across the sea of life and not everyone is saved from drowning, then where are you striving with your boat and on what do you assert your hope - to be saved without the Pilot?

Once in the winter they brought a sick woman on a sleigh to the monastery cell of Fr. Seraphim and this was reported to him. Despite the multitude of people crowding in the entryway, Fr. Seraphim asked to bring her to him. The patient was all twisted, her knees were drawn to her chest. She was brought into the old man's dwelling and laid on the floor. Fr. Seraphim locked the door and asked her:

Where are you from, mother?

From the Vladimir province.

How long have you been sick?

Three years and a half.

What is the reason for your illness?

I was before, father, Orthodox faith, but I was given in marriage to an Old Believer. For a long time I did not lean towards their faith, and everything was healthy. Finally, they persuaded me: I changed the cross to a two-fingered cross and did not go to church. After that, in the evening, I once went to the courtyard to do my household chores; there one animal seemed to me fiery, even scorched me; I, in fright, fell, I began to break and writhe. A lot of time has passed. The family missed it, looked for me, went out into the yard and found - I was lying. They carried me into the room. Since then I have been ill.

I understand ... the elder answered. Do you believe in St. Orthodox Church?

I believe now again, father, - answered the patient. Then Fr. Seraphim folded his fingers in the Orthodox way, put the cross on himself and said:

Cross yourself like this, in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Father, I would be glad, - answered the patient, - but I don't own my hands.

Fr. Seraphim took oil from the lamp of the Mother of God of Tenderness and anointed the patient's chest and hands. Suddenly she began to straighten her, even her joints cracked, and immediately received perfect health.

The people standing in the entryway, seeing the miracle, announced throughout the monastery, and especially in the hotel, that Fr. Seraphim healed the sick woman.

When this event ended, she came to Fr. Seraphim is one of the Diveyevo sisters. O. Seraphim told her:

It was not the poor Seraphim who healed her, mother, but the Queen of Heaven.

Then he asked her:

Do you, mother, have those in your family who do not go to church?

There are no such people, father, - answered the sister, - and my parents and relatives all pray with a two-fingered cross.

Ask them on my behalf, - said Fr. Seraphim, so that they lay down their fingers in the name of the Holy Trinity.

I told them, father, about this many times, but they do not listen.

Listen, ask on my behalf. Start with your brother who loves me; he will be the first to agree. And did you have any relatives who died who prayed with a two-fingered cross?

Unfortunately, everyone in our family prayed like that.

Although they were virtuous people, Fr. Seraphim, thinking, - and will be connected: St. The Orthodox Church does not accept this cross ... Do you know their graves?

The sister named the graves of those whom she knew where they were buried.

Go down, mother, to their graves, put three bows each and pray to the Lord that He will resolve them in eternity.

The sister did just that. She also told the living ones to accept the Orthodox folding of their fingers in the name of the Holy Trinity, and they definitely listened to the voice of Fr. Seraphim: for they knew that he was a saint of God and understood the secrets of St. Christ's faith.

Once Fr. Seraphim, in indescribable joy, said to the trusted monk: “Behold, I’ll tell you about the poor Seraphim! His holy name.) At these words of Christ the Savior, I, the poor, stopped and desired to see these heavenly abodes and prayed to my Lord Jesus Christ to show me these abodes; and the Lord did not deprive me, the poor, of His mercy; He fulfilled my desire and a petition; behold, I was caught up in these heavenly abodes; only I don’t know whether God knows with a body or apart from a body; this is incomprehensible. But it’s impossible to tell you about the joy and sweetness of heaven that I tasted there. ” And with these words, Fr. The Seraphim fell silent ... He bowed his head, stroking his hand softly against his heart, his face began to gradually change and, finally, so enlightened that it was impossible to look at him. During his mysterious silence, he seemed to be contemplating something with emotion. Then Fr. Seraphim spoke again:

Ah, if you knew, - said the elder to the monk, - what joy, what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in heaven, then you would dare to endure all sorts of sorrows, persecutions and slander with thanksgiving in your temporary life. If this very cell of ours, - while he pointed to his cell, - was full of worms, and if these worms ate our flesh for all our temporary life, then with every desire we would have to agree to this, so as not to lose that heavenly the joy that God has prepared for those who love Him. There is no sickness, no sorrow, no sighing; there is sweetness and joy unspeakable; there the righteous will be enlightened like the sun. But if that heavenly glory and joy could not be explained by St. Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 12, 2-4), then what other human language can explain the beauty of the mountain village, in which the souls of the righteous will dwell?

At the end of his conversation, the elder spoke about how it is now necessary to take care of your salvation in the most careful way, before the favorable time has passed yet.

Elder Seraphim's sagacity extended very far. He gave instructions for the future, which an ordinary person cannot foresee in any way. So, one young lady came to his cell, who never thought to leave the world in order to ask for guidance on how to be saved. As soon as this thought flashed through her head, the elder began to say: "Don't be embarrassed a lot, live the way you live; God Himself will teach you more." Then, bowing to her to the ground, he said: "Only one thing I ask you: please, enter all orders yourself and judge justly; by this you will be saved." Being then still in the world and completely not thinking of ever being in a monastery, this person could not understand in any way what such words of Fr. Seraphim. He, continuing his speech, told her: "When this time comes, then remember me." Saying goodbye to Fr. Seraphim, the interlocutor said that maybe the Lord would lead them to see each other again. "No," Father Seraphim answered, "we are already saying goodbye forever, and therefore I ask you not to forget me in your holy prayers." When she asked to pray for her too, he answered: "I will pray, and now you come in peace: there is already a strong murmur against you." The companions, indeed, met her at the hotel with a strong murmur for her slowness. Meanwhile, the words of Fr. Seraphim were not pronounced into the air. The interlocutor, according to the inscrutable fate of Providence, entered monasticism under the name of Callista and, being abbess in the Sviyazhsky monastery of the Kazan province, remembered the elder's instructions and arranged her life according to them.

On another occasion, Fr. Seraphim are two maidens, spiritual daughters of Stephen, the schema-monk of the Sarov Monastery. One of them was of the merchant class, young years old, the other from the nobility, already elderly in age. From her youth, the latter burned with love for God and longed to become a nun, only her parents did not give her blessings for that. Both girls came to Fr. Seraphim accept the blessing and ask him for advice. The noble one, moreover, asked to bless her to enter the monastery. The elder, on the contrary, began to advise her to get married, saying: “Marriage life is blessed by God Himself. In it, you need only to observe marital fidelity, love and peace on both sides. In marriage you will be happy, but you have no dear to monasticism. difficult; not bearable for everyone. " A young girl from a merchant rank, young in age, did not even think of a word about monasticism. I didn't tell Seraphim. Meanwhile, he, on his own behalf, blessed her, out of his perspicacity, to enter the monastic dignity, even named the monastery in which she would be saved. Both remained equally dissatisfied with the elder's conversation; and an elderly girl was even offended by his advice and grew cold in her zeal for him. Their spiritual father himself, Hieromonk Stephen, was surprised and did not understand why, in fact, the elder distracts an elderly person, zealous for the monastic path, from monasticism, and blesses the young virgin, who does not want monasticism, on this path? The consequences, however, justified the elder. The noble girl, already in her advanced years, got married and was happy. And the young woman, indeed, went to the monastery named by the perspicacious elder.

With the gift of his perspicacity, Fr. Seraphim brought many benefits to his neighbors. So, there was a pious widow of a deacon named Evdokia in Sarov from Penza. Wanting to accept the elder's blessing, she, among a multitude of people, came for him from the hospital church and stopped on the porch of his cell, waiting behind everyone when it was her turn to come to Fr. Seraphim. But Fr. Seraphim, leaving everyone behind, suddenly says to her: "Evdokia, come here as soon as possible." Evdokia was unusually surprised that he called her by her name, having never seen her, and approached him with a feeling of awe and awe. Fr. Seraphim blessed her, gave her to St. antidora and said: "You must hurry home to find your son at home." Evdokia was in a hurry and, in fact, barely found her son at home: in her absence, the administration of the Penza Seminary appointed him a student at the Kiev Academy and, due to the distance Kiev from Penza, was in a hurry to send him to the place as soon as possible. This son, at the end of the course at the Kiev Academy, went into monasticism under the name of Irinarkh, was a mentor in seminaries; currently holds the rank of archimandrite and deeply honors the memory of Fr. Seraphim.

Alexei Guryevich Vorotylov spoke more than once about. Seraphim, that one day three powers will rise up against Russia and will exhaust her a lot. But for Orthodoxy, the Lord will have mercy and preserve it. Then this speech, as a legend about the future, was incomprehensible; but events explained that the elder was saying this about the Crimean campaign.

The prayers of Elder Seraphim were so strong before God that there are examples of the recovery of the sick from the deathbed. So, in May 1829, the wife of Alexei Guryevich Vorotylov, a resident of the Gorbatovsky district, the village of Pavlovo, fell seriously ill. Vorotilov, however, had great faith in the power of Fr. Seraphim, and the elder, according to the testimony of knowledgeable people, loved him, as it were, his disciple and confidante. Immediately Vorotilov went to Sarov and, despite the fact that he arrived there at midnight, hurried to Fr. Seraphim. The elder, as if waiting for him, was sitting on the porch of the cell and, seeing, he greeted him with these words: "What, my joy, hastened at such a time to the wretched Seraphim?" Vorotilov with tears told him about the reason for his hasty arrival in Sarov and asked him to help his ailing wife. But Fr. Seraphim, to Vorotilov's great sorrow, announced that his wife should die of illness. Then Alexei Guryevich, drenched in a stream of tears, fell at the feet of the ascetic, with faith and humility begging him to pray for the return of her life and health. Fr. Seraphim immediately plunged into smart prayer for ten minutes, then he opened his eyes and, lifting Vorotilov to his feet, said with joy: "Well, my joy, the Lord will give your wife a belly. Come in peace to your house." With joy Vorotilov hurried home. Here he learned that his wife felt relief at precisely the moment when Fr. Seraphim was in prayer. She soon recovered completely.

After the shutter about. Seraphim changed his lifestyle and began to dress differently. He ate food once a day, in the evening, and dressed in a cassock made of thick black cloth. In the summer he would put on a white canvas robe on top, and in the winter he wore a fur coat and mittens. In autumn and early spring weather, he wore a caftan made of thick Russian black cloth. From the rain and heat, he put on a half-robe made of solid leather, with cutouts for putting on. He girded over his clothes with a white and always clean towel and wore his copper cross. In the summer he went to the monastery labors in bast shoes, in the winter in shoe covers, and when he went to church for divine services, he put on leather cats, according to decency. He wore a kamilavka on his head in winter and summer. Moreover, when it was followed according to the monastery charter, he put on a mantle and, starting to receive the Holy Mysteries, put on the epitrachelion and bindings, and then, without taking them off, received pilgrims in the cell.

One rich man visiting Fr. Seraphim and seeing his squalor, began to say to him: "Why are you wearing such rags on yourself?" Fr. Seraphim replied: "Prince Joasaph considered the mantle given to him by the hermit Barlaam to be higher and more expensive than the royal purple robe" (Chet-Menaion, November 19 days).

Against sleep Fr. Seraphim fought very strictly. It became known in recent years that he indulged in nocturnal rest, sometimes in the entryway, sometimes in the cell. He slept, sitting on the floor, with his back leaning against the wall and stretching out his legs. On another occasion, he bowed his head on a stone or a piece of wood. Sometimes he was thrown down on sacks, bricks and logs that were in his cell. Approaching the minute of his departure, he began to sleep in this way: he knelt down and slept on his elbows to the floor, supporting his head with his hands.

His monastic selflessness, love and devotion to the Lord and the Mother of God were so great that when one gentleman, Ivan Yakovlevich Karataev, who was with him in 1831 at his blessing, asked if he would order to say something to his brother and others to relatives in Kursk, where Karataev was traveling, the elder, pointing to the faces of the Savior and the Mother of God, said with a smile: "Here are my relatives, but for living relatives I am already a living dead."

The time that is about. Seraphim was left from sleeping and studying with those who came, he spent in prayer. Performing the prayer rule with all precision and zeal for the salvation of his soul, he was at the same time a great prayer book and intercessor before God for all living and departed Orthodox Christians. For this, while reading the Psalter, at each chapter, he inadmissibly pronounced the following prayers from the bottom of his heart:

1: For the living: "Save, O Lord, and have mercy on all Orthodox Christians and Orthodox Christians living in every place of Thy dominion: grant them, O Lord, peace of mind and bodily health and forgive them every sin, voluntary and involuntary: and by their holy prayers and me, the accursed, have mercy. "

2: For the departed: "Rest, O Lord, the souls of the departed, Thy servant: forefather, father and our brothers, here lying and everywhere Orthodox Christians who have passed away: grant them, O Lord, the kingdom and communion of Thy infinite and blessed life, and forgive them, O Lord, every sin, free the same and involuntary. "

In prayer for the dead and the living, wax candles that burned in his cell in front of the shrine were of particular importance. This was explained in November 1831 by the elder himself, Fr. Seraphim in conversation with N. A. Motovilov. “I,” said Nikolai Alexandrovich, “having seen Father Seraphim’s house a lot of lamps, especially many heaps of wax candles, both large and small, on different round trays, on which wax, which had melted for many years and dripped from the candles, formed, as it were, mounds of wax, I thought to myself: why is Father Seraphim lighting such a multitude of candles and lamps, producing in his cell an intolerable heat from the warmth of fire?

Do you want to know, your love for God, why I light so many lamps and candles in front of the holy icons of God? This is why: I have, as you know, many persons who are zealous towards me and who do good to my mill orphans. They bring me oil and candles and ask me to pray for them. So, when I read my rule, I remember them once at first. And since, for a multitude of names, I cannot repeat them at every place of the rule, where it should be, - then I would not have enough time to complete my rule - then I put all these candles for them as a sacrifice to God, for each for one candle, for others - for several people one large candle, for others the lamps are constantly warm; and, where one should remember them on the rule, I say: Lord, remember all those people, Thy servants, for their souls I, poor man, kindled for you these candles and candilas (i.e. lamps). And that this is not my, poor Seraphim, a human invention, or so, my simple zeal, not based on anything divine, then I will give you the support of the words of the Divine Scripture. The Bible says that Moses heard the voice of the Lord, saying to him: "Moses, Moses! Rzy to your brother Aaron, let him kindle a kandila before Me in days and nights: this is good for Me and the sacrifice is favorable to Me." So, your love for God, why is St. The Church of God has adopted the custom of burning in St. temples and in the homes of faithful Christians, a kandil or lamps in front of the holy icons of the Lord, the Mother of God, St. Angels and St. people who have pleased God. "

Praying for the living, especially for those who demanded prayer help from him, Fr. Seraphim always remembered the dead and created their memory in his cell prayers according to the charter of the Orthodox Church.

Once, himself about. Seraphim related the following circumstance: “Two nuns who were both abbesses died. The Lord revealed to me how their souls were led through airy ordeals, that they were tortured during ordeals and then condemned. For three days I prayed, poor man, asking the Mother of God for them. The Lord, according to His goodness, through the prayers of the Theotokos, had mercy on them: they went through all the airy ordeals and received forgiveness from the mercy of God. "

Once it was noticed that during the prayer Elder Seraphim stood in the air. This incident was told to Princess E.S. Sh.

Her sick nephew, Mr. Ya. Came to her from St. Petersburg. She, without hesitation, took him to Sarov to Fr. Seraphim. The young man was seized with such ailment and weakness that he did not walk on his own, and he was carried on his bed into the monastery fence. Fr. Seraphim at this time stood at the door of his monastery cell, as if expecting to meet the relaxed one. Immediately he asked to bring the patient into his cell and, turning to him, said: "You, my joy, pray, and I will pray for you; just look, lie as you lie, and do not turn around to the other side." The patient lay for a long time, obeying the words of the elder. But his patience weakened, curiosity tempted him to look at what the elder was doing. Looking back, he saw Fr. Seraphim standing in the air in a prayer position and from the unexpectedness and singularity of the vision, he cried out. Fr. Seraphim, after completing the prayer, approached him and said: "Now, you will now explain to everyone that Seraphim is a saint, praying in the air ... The Lord will have mercy on you ... But look, shield yourself with silence and do not tell that no one until the day of my repose, otherwise your illness will return again. " G. Ya., In fact, got out of bed and, although leaning on others, he himself, on his own feet, left the cell. In the monastery hotel he was besieged with questions: "How and what did he do and what did Father Seraphim say?" But, to the surprise of everyone, he did not say a single word. The young man, completely healed, was again in St. Petersburg and again after a while returned to the estate of Princess Sh. Then he knew that Elder Seraphim had slept from his labors, and then told about his prayer in the air. One instance of such a prayer was accidentally seen, but, of course, the elder was raised up into the air more than once by the grace of God during his prolonged prayer exploits.

A year before his death, O Seraphim felt an extreme exhaustion of mental and physical strength. He was now about 72 years old. The ordinary order of his life, established from the end of the shutter, now inevitably underwent a change. The elder began to go to the deserted cell less often. The monastery also felt a burden to receive visitors all the time. The people, accustomed to the idea of freely seeing Fr. Seraphim at all times grieved that now he began to evade his gaze. However, zeal for him forced many to stay for a long time at the monastery hotel, in order to find an opportunity not burdensome for a deep elder to see him and hear from his lips the desired word of edification or consolation.

In addition to predictions to others, the elder now began to predict about his own death.

So, once the sister of the Diveyevo community, Paraskeva Ivanovna, came to him with other colleagues from the sisters. The elder began to say to them: "I am weak in strength; now live alone, I leave you." The mournful conversation about parting moved the listeners; they wept and with that parted with the elder. However, they thought about this conversation, not about his death, but about the fact that Fr. Seraphim, due to his age, wants to postpone the care of them in order to retire to the seclusion.

Another time the elder was visited by one Paraskeva Ivanovna. He was in the forest, in a nearby desert. Having blessed her, Fr. Seraphim sat down on a cut of a tree, and his sister knelt beside him. About Seraphim led a spiritual conversation and came to an extraordinary delight: he got to his feet, his hands raised his grief, his gaze to the sky. A blessed light illuminated his soul from the presentation of the bliss of the future life. For the elder was talking this time about what eternal joy awaits a person in heaven for the short-lived sorrows of temporary life. "What joy, what delight," he said, "the soul of the righteous envelops, when, after being separated from the body, the Angels gather it and present it before the Face of God!" Revealing this idea, the elder asked his sister several times: does she understand him? The sister listened to everything without saying a word. She understood the old man's conversation, but did not see the speech tending towards his death. Then Fr. Seraphim again began to say the same: "I am weak in strength; now live alone, I leave you." The sister thought that he wanted to hide in the shutter again, but Fr. Seraphim replied to her thoughts: "I was looking for your mother (abbess), I was looking ... and could not find. After me, no one will replace me. I leave you to the Lord and His Most Pure Mother."

Six months before the death of Fr. Seraphim, saying goodbye to many, said with determination: "We will not see you again." Some asked for a blessing to come to great Lent, talk in Sarov and once again enjoy his contemplation and conversation. "Then my doors will be closed," the elder answered, "you will not see me." It became very noticeable that the life of Fr. Seraphim fades away; only his spirit, as before, and still more than before, was awake. “My life is shortening,” he said to some of the brethren, “in spirit I was, as it were, born now, but in my body I’m dead all over.”

January 1, 1833, Sunday, Fr. Seraphim came for the last time to the hospital church in the name of Sts. Zosima and Savvaty, he put candles to all the icons and kissed, which had not been noticed before; then, according to custom, he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. At the end of the Liturgy, he said goodbye to all the brethren who were praying here, blessed everyone, kissed them and, comforting them, said: "Save yourself, do not be discouraged, stay awake: the crowns are being prepared for us this day." Having said goodbye to everyone, he venerated the cross and the image of the Mother of God; then, walking around St. of the throne, made the usual worship and left the temple with the northern doors, as if signifying that a person with some gates, by way of birth, enters this world, and with the other, that is, the gates of death, comes out of it. At this time, everyone noticed in him an extreme exhaustion of bodily strength; but in spirit the elder was cheerful, calm and cheerful.

After the liturgy, he had a sister of the Diveyevo community, Irina Vasilievna. The elder sent 200 rubles with her to Paraskeva Ivanovna. assignment money, instructing the latter to buy bread in a nearby village with this money, for at that time the entire supply was out, and the sisters were in great need.

Elder Seraphim used to leave the candles lit in the morning in front of the images in his cell when leaving the monastery for the desert. Brother Paul, taking advantage of his favor, sometimes used to say to the elder that a fire could break out from lighted candles; but oh. Seraphim always answered this: "As long as I live, there will be no fire; and when I die, my death will open in fire." And so it happened.

On the first day of 1833, Brother Paul noticed that Fr. Seraphim during this day three times went out to the place that was indicated to him for his burial, and, remaining there for a long time, he looked at the ground. In the evening, Fr. Paul heard the elder sing Easter songs in his cell.

On the second of January, at about six o'clock in the morning, brother Paul, leaving his cell for the early liturgy, felt in the hallway near the cell of Fr. Seraphim smell of smoke. Having made the usual prayer, he knocked on Fr. Seraphim, but the door was locked from the inside with a hook, and there was no answer to the prayer. He went out onto the porch and, noticing the monks walking into the church in the dark, he said to them: "Fathers and brethren! A strong smoky smell is heard. Isn't anything burning near us? The elder must have gone into the wilderness." Then one of those passing by, novice Anikita, rushed to Fr. Seraphim and, feeling that she was locked, with an intensified push tore her off the inner hook. Many Christians, diligently, brought to Fr. Seraphim has different canvas things. These things, together with books, lay this time on a bench in disarray near the door. They smoldered, probably from candle soot or from a fallen candle, the candlestick of which stood right there. There was no fire, and only things and some books smoldered. It was dark in the yard, a little dawning; in the cell of Fr. There was no Seraphim of the light, the elder himself was neither seen nor heard. They thought that he was taking a break from his nocturnal exploits, and in these thoughts those who came crowded around the cell. There was a slight confusion in the entryway. Some of the brethren rushed after the snow and extinguished the smoldering things.

The early liturgy, meanwhile, was non-stop celebrated in its own order in the hospital church. Sang It is worthy to eat... At this time, a boy, one of the novices, unexpectedly ran into the church and quietly told some about what had happened. The brethren hastened to the cell of Fr. Seraphim. Quite a few monks gathered. Brother Paul and the novice Anikita, wishing to make sure that the elder was not resting, began to feel the small space of his cell in the darkness and found him, kneeling in prayer, with his hands folded crosswise. He was dead.

After mass, Fr. Seraphim was placed in a coffin, according to his will, with an enamel image of the reverend. Sergius, obtained from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The grave of the blessed elder was prepared in the very place that had long been outlined by him, and his body stood open for eight days in the Assumption Cathedral. Until the day of burial, the Sarov desert was filled with thousands of people who had gathered from the surrounding countries and provinces. Each of them vied with each other to kiss the great old man. All unanimously mourned his loss and prayed for the repose of his soul, as he prayed during his life for the health and salvation of all. On the day of the burial at the liturgy, there were so many people in the cathedral that the local candles near the coffin were extinguished from the heat.

At that time, hieromonk Filaret asceticised in the Glinsk monastery, Kursk province. His disciple reported that on January 2, leaving the church after Matins, Fr. Filaret showed an extraordinary light in the sky and said: "This is how the souls of the righteous ascend to heaven! This is the soul of Fr. Seraphim ascending!"

Archimandrite Mitrofan, who held the post of sacristan in the Nevsky Lavra, was a novice in the Sarov desert and was at the tomb of Fr. Seraphim. He conveyed to the Diveyevo orphans that he personally witnessed a miracle: when the confessor wanted to put the prayer of permission in the hand of Fr. Seraphim, then the hand unclenched itself. The hegumen, the treasurer and others saw this and remained for a long time at a loss, amazed at what had happened.

Burial of Fr. Seraphim was committed by Fr. Abbot Nifont. His body was buried on the right side of the cathedral altar, near the grave of Mark the recluse. (Subsequently, by the diligence of the Nizhny Novgorod merchant Y. Syrev, a cast-iron monument in the form of a tomb was erected over his grave, on which it is written: he lived for the glory of God 73 years, 5 months and 12 days).

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