Seraphim Sarov Biography Life

Kursk in the family of pious Christians Isidore and Agafia Moshnins. Possessing a wonderful memory, St. Prokhor learned to literacy early. From childhood, he loved to visit church services, to read the Holy Scriptures and the Life of the Saints to his peers. Especially young Prokhor loved to pray or read the Holy Gospel in solitude. In the twentieth year of his life, he entered the Sarov desert as a novice.

Here, having traveled the usual path of monastic obedience, in the year of St. Prokhor he was tonsured by the abbot of the monastery by the Father Pachomi to monasticism with the name Seraphim “Fiery”. In the same year, in October, St. Seraphim was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Vladimir Onisimov. For seven years, he diligently passed the deacon ministry and on September 2, he was ordained a hieromonk by Bishop of Tambov Feophil Raev.

Having abandoned the election to the abbess, the Monk Seraphim, shortly after the dedication to the rank of hieromonk, retired to the forest and began to grate there in strict post, silence, bodily work and unceasing prayer. Seeing even more severe feats in order to cleanse his heart and see God, the Monk Seraphim went into the shutter. Over the long years of deserting and shutter, when the Heart of the ascetic was filled with love for God, a special love for people was revealed in the Monk Seraphim.

Saint Seraphim has repeatedly been awarded many visions and special phenomena of the mercy of God that reinforced him in exploits. The Lord honored the holy elder and fertile gifts: insight, comfort and healing of souls and bodies. From that time, roads and paths leading to the Sarov came to life. With his word, he warmed the most cross -haired and hardened hearts, causing them to “heart warmth” in them - the desire for good and God, which also turns to repentance and internal transformation.

The inner gaze of the Monk Seraphim penetrated the souls so deeply that in every state, in no matter what state the person came to him, he saw the features of the image of God, saw what this man could be, and rejoiced at his innermost beauty. Having spent all his life in special exploits, he advised to go “royal”, that is the true goal of our Christian life is the acquisition of the Spirit of the Holy of God.

” The Monk considered the prayer to be the main means to acquire the Holy Spirit. Rev. Seraphim considered it optional long prayer rules, but at the same time strictly reminded that prayer should not be formal: “Those monks who do not connect external prayer to the inner, not monks, but black firebracks! Expressing this thought, the Rev. proposed a beautiful comparison of the human life with a wax candle.

The prayer rule of the Monk Seraphim for laity who, due to complex life circumstances, cannot read all ordinary morning and evening prayers, has become famous. The rule is the following: in the morning, before lunch and evening, read the prayers “Our Father” and “The Virgin, Virgo, Rejoice”, once a symbol of faith. The Rev. advised, engaged in the necessary affairs, from morning to dinner to create a prayer to Jesus: “Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy on the sinful” or simply “Lord, have mercy,” and from lunch to evening, “the Most Holy Theotokos, save me of the sinful” or “Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on the sinful”.

First, the day, two and more and more prayer with this one mind, separately listening to each particular word. Then, when the Lord warms your heart with the warmth of His grace and combines it into you into the only spirit, then the prayer will flow in you constantly and will always be with you, enjoying and eating you. ” Rev. Seraphim gave that, fulfilling this rule with humility, one could achieve Christian perfection in worldly life.

In total, it should be more practiced in reading the New Testament and Psalter. From this there is an enlightenment in the mind, which changes the change of divine. ” Having joined the holy secrets of Christ's secrets every resurrection and every holiday is non -transmitted, the Monk Seraphim to the question of how often it should be embarked on, answered: "The more often, the better." He said to the priest of the Diveyevsky community to Vasily Sadovsky: “The grace, given to us by joining, is so great that no matter how unworthy and no matter how sinful a person was, but only in the humble consciousness of the very heredity of his sinfulness to the Lord, at least redeeming all of us, at least from the head to the legs of sins covered with ulcers, and will be cleansed by the grace of Christ, more and more and more and more more and more and more more and more Svetal, will completely enlighten and save ...

I believe that the grace of God will be marked by the great goodness of God ... ”Rev. Seraphim, however, did not give the same instructions on frequent communion. He advised many to go to all four posts and on all the twentieth holidays. Rev. Seraphim warned that we could join the condemnation. The saints of God always demanded that the saints always and everywhere, especially considered a reverence in the temple necessary.

And what is more beautiful, above and the elderly of the church!And who we will be alien to it in it and where we will rejoice in the spirit, our hearts and all our thoughts, as not in her, where the Lord Himself the Lord will always contact us. ” With these words, the Monk Seraphim conveyed his deep spiritual experience of feeling the grace of effective living God in the temple. He himself was never gloomy and dull.

The reverend himself always shone with the joy of spiritual, and with this quiet, peaceful joy, he filled out the hearts of the surroundings with excess, greeting them with the words: “My joy! Christ is risen! Every life burden became light near the ascetic, and many grieving and looking for God constantly crowded near his cell and desert, wanting to join the grace, pouring out of the saint of God.

The high truth expressed by the holy Seraphim was confirmed in the eyes of all: "Get the world, and thousands will be saved around you." This commandment on the acquisition of the world leads to the doctrine of acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit and is an important step on the path of spiritual increase. The Monk Seraphim, having experienced all the ancient science of the Orthodox ascetic feat, expressed his experience in “life according to God” in his teachings.

They express the general church path of ascetic feat and are close in content to "kindness." They have many references to the holy fathers, primarily to the Monk Isaac Sirin and Barsonofia the Great. Together with other gifts of God, the Monk Seraphim also had a gift of insight. He was opened by the future of Russia until the death of the century. According to the Monk, Russia "will always be glorious to both enemies are terrible and irreversible." Speaking what the spiritual work of future generations will be, the Monk taught to seek the mental world and not to condemn anyone: “Whoever goes in a peaceful arrangement, he draws spiritual gifts as if lies ...

To preserve the peace of mind ... in every possible way to avoid condemning others ... in order to get rid of condemnation, should not be absorbed to himself and not to be dead to all.” Rev. Seraphim can rightfully be called a student of the Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin Mary three times healed him from deadly diseases ... At a young age, the Monk Seraphim is deadly curtain, so that all the healing media were powerless.

His body was in a fever, but a pure soul flapped a prayer to the intercessor of all the grieving and burdened. During a short sleep, the Mother of God appeared to him and promised to heal him. Waking up from sleep, the lad told everything seen by his mother. Soon, a procession took place past their house with a miraculous image of the Mother of God. Suddenly, a strong rain of rainfall went, which forced the solemn procession to hide in the house of the parents of St.

Seraphim. A sensitive mother immediately understood the meaning of a marvelous visit and, with deep faith, put a painful son to the miraculous face of the Mother of God. Immediately painful weakness left the body of a young lad. The second miraculous healing of St. Seraphim took place in the year when he performed monastic obedience in the Sarov monastery. The Lord again visited the novice with a strong disease, experiencing his patience and meekness.

The reverend prostrate his hands to the sky and prayed to the Mother of God to strengthen him in the transfer of a difficult test. And the Queen of Heaven was giving a faithful novice to her faithful novice. For his humility, Rev. Seraphim was awarded a visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Autumn by the radiant light of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, he felt completely healthy. In the year, the Monk Seraphim during his secluded feat in the forest was beaten to half to death with robbers, thinking of finding a lot of money in his cell.

None of the monastery fraternity was hoping to see him alive, and his death was expected with sadness. But a miraculous visit to the Mother of God, the dying old man, was again erected from the bed of the disease and gained spiritual and bodily forces for further monastic feats. The Mother of God was many times the Monk Seraphim, instructed and strengthened him. At the beginning of his journey, he heard the Mother of God, pointing to him, lying on the bed of illness, told the apostle John the Theologian: "This is from our family." The Rev.

gave a lot of effort to the arrangement of a girl's monastic community in Diveev, created by the instructions of the Mother of God, and he himself said that he did not give a single instructions from himself, but did everything by the will of the Queen of Heaven. Saint Seraphim bequeathed to the inhabitants to always read the Blessed Virgin Mary for her innumerable mercy to Orthodox Christians.

During the appearance, the Mother of God asked the Monk Seraphim to spiritually nourish the sisters of the Diveevsky monastery and promised him his heavenly help in this. After the death of the Monk in the Diveyevsky monastery, his cell, especially revered icon of the Mother of God “Touch”, which he turned to in zealous domestic prayer, was stored. Correct from the lamp, burning before the Kelia shrine, the Monk Seraphim anointed the patients who received healing.

The uncontrolled divine light shone from the icon of the Mother of God “tenderness”, transforming the soul of the ascetic into the purest vessel of the grace of God.After a zealous night prayer to the Virgin, before her miraculous icon, the inexpressible light of divine grace, illuminating the came to him, poured from the transformed face of the Monk Seraphim. The celebration of the icon of the Mother of God “Tighting Serafimo-Diveevskaya” was established on July 28, probably due to the fact that on this day the memory of the Holy Apostle Prokhor is performed, whose name was the reverend Serafim in baptism.

The next day, he peacefully went to the Lord, whose faithful minister was all his life. After 70 years, in the year, the glorification of the Monk in the face of the saints took place. The long -awaited event was accompanied, by the grace of God, many miraculous healings of the sick. Released by the Orthodox people during his lifetime, the Monk Seraphim became one of the most beloved holy Russian people, as well as the Monk Sergius of Radonezh.

Shortly before his blessed death, one pious monk asked: “Why do we not have such a strict life that ancient ascetics led? If they had determination, they would live like our fathers; Because the grace and help of faithful and with all the heart seeking the Lord, now the same as it was before, for, according to God, the Lord Jesus Christ yesterday and today is the same forever.

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