Seraphim of Sarov — "Seraphim, wonderworker of Sarov and of all Russia" (Prokhor Isidorovich Mashnin; in some sources Moshnin) — a Russian saint, a venerable father; canonized by the Russian Church in 1903 on the initiative of Emperor Nicholas II.
January 2/January 15 — the saint's repose (1833), second finding of the relics (1991); July 19/August 1 — finding of the relics (1903).
Biography
He was born in 1754 in the city of Kursk to a local merchant, Isidor Moshnin, and his wife Agafia. He lost his father early. In his adolescence he fell from the bell tower of the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, then under construction, but remained unharmed. In 1776 he made a pilgrimage to Kiev, to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where the elder Dosifei blessed him and pointed out the place where he was to take on his novitiate and tonsure — the Sarov Hermitage. In 1778 he became a novice under the elder Iosif at the Sarov Monastery in Tambov Governorate. In 1786 he took monastic vows and was ordained a hierodeacon; in 1793 he was ordained a hieromonk.
In 1794, being inclined toward solitude, he began living in the forest in a cell five kilometers from the monastery. His ascetic labors during this time included bodily feats (he wore the same clothing in winter and summer, procured his own food in the forest, slept very little, and observed strict abstinence and fasting in many respects), the reading of books (rereading the Gospels and the writings of the Church Fathers), long daily prayer, and stylitism. Near his cell Seraphim planted a vegetable garden and set up an apiary. The Life of the saint tells of an occasion when the venerable one fed bread to a bear from his own hands. Once robbers attacked him in the forest. Having learned that visitors, including quite well-off ones, often came to the elder, the bandits decided to rob his cell. Attacking Seraphim, they smashed his head with the butt of an axe and beat him severely, as a result of which the elder remained badly hunched for the rest of his life.
In the cell they found nothing for themselves. These men were later identified, but Father Seraphim forgave them and begged that they not be punished. In 1807 he took upon himself the monastic labor of silence, trying not to meet or speak with anyone. In 1810 he returned to the monastery, but went into seclusion until 1825. After his seclusion ended he received many visitors, both monastics and laypeople, possessing, as the Life says, the gift of discernment and of healing from illness. He was visited by distinguished persons, including Emperor Alexander I. He addressed everyone who came to him with the words "My joy!" and greeted them at any time of year with the words "Christ is risen!" He was a patron of the Diveevo women's convent.
The Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod Region was founded and established with the blessing of the venerable Seraphim of Sarov.[1] In 1831 he was granted a vision of the Mother of God surrounded by John the Baptist, John the Theologian, and twelve virgins. He died in 1833 in the Sarov Monastery, in his cell, during prayer. Seraphim of Sarov was a resident of the Sarov Monastery, which was subsequently closed in the Soviet years; later, on the territory of a closed administrative-territorial entity that bore the names "Kremlyov" and "Arzamas-75," enterprises for developing Soviet nuclear weapons were located.[2]
The icon image of Seraphim of Sarov was painted from his lifetime portrait, made by the artist Serebryakov (later a monk of the Sarov community) five years before the elder's death. In the United States there are several Orthodox communities named in honor of the saint: in Monterey (California), Russian émigré scholars built a church to the all-Russian wonderworker after the Second World War; a similar church was built in Sea Cliff (New York State). In New York State the Holy Dormition women's monastery "New Diveevo" was founded, and in its winter Dormition church is kept the portrait-icon of Seraphim of Sarov painted during the saint's lifetime.[6][6]
On the feast day of the venerable Seraphim of Sarov (August 1), festive services are held every year at the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery; the liturgy is celebrated in the open air on the square in front of the Transfiguration Cathedral, by the shrine containing the saint's relics.[1] Every August 1, the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo women's monastery in Nizhny Novgorod Region becomes the center of Orthodox celebrations on the day of the finding of the relics of the venerable Seraphim of Sarov: the service is held in the open air on the square in front of the Transfiguration Cathedral and gathers thousands of pilgrims from across the country. Veneration of Seraphim of Sarov is worldwide in character: in the early twenty-first century, in Greece and on Mount Athos, he was counted among the saints who appear once every 200–300 years, with particular note made of his combination of asceticism with extraordinary love for one's neighbor.
In the Monastery of the Choziba (Hozeva) in the Judean Desert (Palestine), in the cave where, according to tradition, the prophet Elijah prayed, the image of Seraphim of Sarov is placed beside the icon of the prophet himself — the two saints are venerated on adjacent days, August 1 and 2.[6][6] On August 1, 2004, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Seraphim of Sarov, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia congratulated the faithful on this jubilee; several metropolitans of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived for the celebrations in Diveevo, and Patriarch Alexy II, unable to be present in person, sent an address to the faithful in which he noted the revival in the convent of monastic traditions of social service, charity, and spiritual and moral upbringing.
As part of the preparations for the jubilee celebrations, a new general education school building was erected in Diveevo, built by the Ministry of Education and the local administration under the spiritual patronage of the monastery; the school was consecrated on August 1, 2004.[3][4] The Day of the Finding of the Relics of Seraphim of Sarov (August 1 in the New Style) is celebrated annually by the Russian Orthodox Church; on this day Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', served the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery in Nizhny Novgorod Region.[2] In 2026, two important dates are being marked for the Seraphim-Diveevo convent: the 123rd anniversary of the finding of the relics and the glorification of Saint Seraphim of Sarov among the saints, as well as the 200th anniversary of the monastery.[1][5] According to the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia, the 200-year count of the convent begins with the laying of a mill on December 22, 1826, at the site that, according to tradition, the Queen of Heaven indicated to Saint Seraphim; the festive liturgy on August 1 is preceded by an all-night vigil with an akathist to the saint in the Trinity Cathedral, from which the holy relics are carried out before the service.[5] In 2026, the Diveevo convent marked several commemorative dates at once connected with the legacy of Seraphim of Sarov: the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Mill Community, the 35th anniversary of the second finding of the saint's relics, and the 35th anniversary of the resumption of monastic life in the monastery.[4] A Spiritual and Educational Center named after Seraphim of Sarov has been built in Diveevo, and as part of the "Arzamas — Diveevo — Sarov" pilgrimage and tourism cluster, improvements to the monastery grounds and restoration of the buildings of the Holy Dormition Monastery for men in Sarov are under way.[1]
Some Famous Sayings
- Passions are destroyed by suffering and sorrow, whether voluntary or sent by Providence.
- My joy, I beg you, acquire a peaceful spirit, and then thousands of souls will be saved around you.
- One should not open one's heart to another without need. When you happen to be among people in the world, one should not speak of spiritual things, especially when no desire to listen is noticed in them.
- The true goal of our Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.
- Everything will pass and come to an end, and the monasteries, Father, will be destroyed, but for poor Seraphim in Diveevo, until the very day of Christ's coming, the Bloodless Sacrifice will be offered.
See also
Websites
Links
- Official website (archive) (diveevo-monastyr.ru)
Sources
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Celebrations were held in Diveevo in honor of St. Seraphim of Sarov (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Patriarch Kirill called the creation of the nuclear bomb in Sarov an act of God's mercy (archive)
- nne.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Metropolis (archive)
- NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Thousands of pilgrims in Diveevo: how the celebration of the discovery of the relics of Seraphim of Sarov went (archive)
- nne.ru — Celebrations will be held at the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery dedicated to the 123rd anniversary of the discovery of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov and the 200th anniversary of the convent (website of the Nizhny Novgorod… (archive)