St. Seraphim of Sarov
Commemorated on January 2, and the opening of his relics on July 19.
”The true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.”
“Acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved.”
The Elder saw into the hearts of people, and as a spiritual physician, he healed their infirmities of soul and body through prayer and by his grace-filled words. Those coming to St Seraphim felt his great love and tenderness. No matter what time of the year it was, he would greet everyone with the words, “Christ is Risen, my joy!” He especially loved children. Once, a young girl said to her friends, “Father Seraphim only looks like an old man.He is really a child like us.”
“There is nothing better than peace in Christ, for it brings victory over all the evil spirits on earth and in the air. When peace dwells in a man’s heart it enables him to contemplate the grace of the Holy Spirit from within. He who dwells in peace collects spiritual gifts as it were with a scoop, and he sheds the light of knowledge on others. All our thoughts, all our desires, all our efforts, and all our actions should make us say constantly with the Church: “O Lord, give us peace!” When a man lives in peace, God reveals mysteries to him..”
“The Lord sometimes allows people who are devoted to Him to fall into such dreadful vices; and this is in order to prevent them from falling into a still greater sin–pride.Your temptation will pass and you will spend the remaining days of your life in humility. Only do not forget your sin.”
“Oh, if you only knew what joy, what sweetness awaits a righteous soul in Heaven! You would decide in this mortal life to bear any sorrows, persecutions and slander with gratitude. If this very cell of ours was filled with worms, and these worms were to eat our flesh for our entire life on earth, we should agree to it with total desire, in order not to lose, by any chance, that heavenly joy which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
“God is a fire that warms and kindles the heart and inward parts. Hence, if we feel in our hearts the cold which comes from the devil—for the devil is cold—let us call on the Lord. He will come to warm our hearts with perfect love, not only for Him but also for our neighbor, and the cold of him who hates the good will flee before the heat of His countenance.”
“He who has chosen the hermit life must feel himself constantly crucified…These temptations can only be overcome by prayer.”
“True hope seeks the one Kingdom of God and is sure that everything necessary for this mortal life will surely be given.
The heart cannot have peace until it acquires this hope. This hope
pacifies it fully and brings joy to it. The most holy lips of the
Saviour spoke about this very hope: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).”
To one monk he said, “Sow, Father Simon, sow! Sow everywhere the wheat that has been given to you. Somewhere or other it will sprout and grow and bear fruit.” By this he meant that the monk should tell everyone about Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Kingdom.
“When I am dead, come to me at my grave, and the more often the better. Whatever is in your soul, whatever may have happened to you, come to me as when I was alive and kneeling on the ground, cast all your bitterness upon my grave. Tell me everything and I shall listen to you, and all the bitterness will fly away from you. And as you spoke to me when I was alive, do so now. For I am living and I shall be forever.”
Let us too, my joy, pray to St. Seraphim that he will inspire us to become more like him, burning in our hearts with love for God.
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Troparion of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Tone 4
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