Житие преподобного Серафима, Саровского чудотворца
The Near Hermitage and the Miraculous Well
The Mother of God appeared to Father Seraphim, leading to the restoration of a spring and the building of a hermitage cell where he labored.
Today, at the site where the Mother of God appeared to Father Seraphim on November 25, 1825, a well has been built that is known for its miraculous power; lower down, nearby, the original Theologian's well still remains.1 In the summer of 1826, at the elder's wish, the Theologian's spring was restored. The log cover that had closed over the basin was removed, and a new log frame was built with a pipe for the water to flow out.2 Around the basin the elder now began to take up bodily labors. He gathered small stones from the Sarovka River, threw them onto the bank, and used them to line the spring's basin.3 He made garden beds for himself here, fertilized them with moss, and planted onions and potatoes. The elder chose this place for himself because, on account of illness, he could not walk to his former cell six versts from the monastery.4 It was even becoming hard for him, after his morning labors on his feet, to go at midday for rest to the cell of Father Dorotheus, which stood only a quarter of a verst from the spring.5 For Father Seraphim a new small log cabin was built on the hillside by the spring, three arshins high, three long, and two wide.6 It was covered by a single-sloped roof. It had neither windows nor a door. The entrance into this little cabin, though, was an open earthen way from the hillside, under the wall. Crawling in under the wall, the elder rested in this shelter after his labors, hiding from the midday heat. Later, in 1827, they built a new cell for him right there on the little hill by the spring; it had a door but no windows, a stove inside, and a small wooden porch nailed to the outside.7 Throughout 1825 and 1826, the elder visited this spot every day. Once the cell was built, he began spending all his days out in the wilderness, returning to the monastery only in the evening. He would walk to and from the monastery wearing a simple, worn-out white linen smock and a humble kamilavka, carrying an ax or a hoe in his hands and a heavy sack of stones and sand on his shoulders, which also contained the Holy8 Gospel. Some people asked, "Why does he do that?" He answered using the words of St. Ephraim the Syrian: "I weary him who wearies me."9 This place has been known since then under the name of the near hermitage of Father Seraphim, and the spring came to be called the well of Father Seraphim.
The Elder's Daily Round of Labor and Prayer
Father Seraphim divided his time between the monastery and his hermitage, receiving many visitors and returning with reverence from Holy Communion.
From the time the new cell was built, in 1827, the activity and labors of Father Seraphim were divided between the monastery and the nearer hermitage. At the monastery he stayed on Sundays and feast days, receiving Communion at the early Liturgy; on weekdays, though, he went into the forest to the nearer hermitage almost every day. He spent the nights at the monastery. The number of his visitors increased greatly. Some waited for him at the monastery, longing to see him, receive a blessing, and hear a word of edification. Others came to him at his hermitage cell. The elder almost never had rest—neither in the hermitage, nor on the road, nor in the monastery. It was deeply moving to see how the elder, after Communion of the Holy Mysteries, returned from the church to his cell. He walked in his mantle, epitrachelion, and cuffs, just as he ordinarily approached the Sacrament.10 His progress was slow because of the throng of people crowding around, from among whom everyone strained, if only slightly, to catch a glance at the elder. But at that time he spoke with no one, blessed no one, and seemed not to see a single soul around him; his gaze was cast down, and his mind was turned inward. In those moments he entered with his soul into meditation on the great benefits of God, shown to people through the mystery of Holy Communion. And, reverencing the wondrous elder, no one dared even to touch him.
The Gift of Spiritual Conversation and Insight
After returning to his cell, Father Seraphim blessed visitors and offered soul-saving words, with speech grounded in Scripture and the Fathers, marked by humility and the gift of insight.
Once he had returned to his cell, he would then receive all who earnestly sought him, bless them, and offer those who wished it a word for the salvation of the soul. But most delightful of all was his conversation. Father Seraphim's mind11 was clear, his memory firm, his outlook truly Christian, his heart open to all, his will unbending, and his gift of speech lively and abundant.12 His speech was so effective that the listener received benefit for the soul from it. His conversations were filled with the spirit of humility; they warmed the heart, as it were lifted a kind of veil from the eyes, lit up his hearers' minds with the light of spiritual understanding, brought them to a sense of repentance, and stirred a decisive change for the better; involuntarily they won over other people's will and heart and poured peace and quiet into them. Elder Seraphim grounded both his own actions and his words in the word of God, confirming them especially with passages from the New Testament and with the writings of the holy13 Fathers and with the examples of the saints who had been pleasing to God.14 All this had a special power all the more because it was applied directly to the needs of his listeners. Through the purity of his spirit, he had the gift of spiritual insight. To some, before they even revealed their circumstances, he gave counsel that directly addressed their inner feelings and the thoughts of their hearts.15
Read the original Russian
Ныне на месте явления Божией Матери отцу Серафиму 25 ноября 1825 г. устроен колодезь, отличающийся чудотворною силою, и ниже, вблизи его, существует прежний Богословский колодезь. Летом 1826 года, по желанию старца, Богословский родник был возобновлён. Накат, закрывавший бассейн, снят; сделан новый сруб с трубою для истока воды. Около бассейна старец стал теперь заниматься телесными трудами. Собирая в реке Саровке камешки, он выкидывал их на берег и ими унизывал бассейн родника. Устроил здесь для себя гряды, удабривал их мхом, садил лук и картофель. Старец избрал себе это место, потому что, по болезни, не мог ходить в прежнюю свою келию за шесть вёрст от монастыря.
Даже затруднительно становилось ему, после утренних трудов на ногах, посещать для отдохновения в полуденное время келию о. Дорофея, которая стояла от родника всего на четверть версты. Для о. Серафима устроен был на берегу горы, подле родника, новый небольшой сруб, вышиною в три аршина, длиною в три и шириною в два. Сверху его накрывал скат на одну сторону. Не было в нём ни окон, ни двери. Вход же в этот срубец был открыт земляной со стороны горы, под стенкой. Подлезши под стенку, старец отдыхал в этом убежище после трудов, скрываясь от полуденного зноя.
Потом, в 1827 году, здесь же, на горке около родника, ему поставили новую келию с дверями, но без окон; внутри её была печь, совне сколочены сенцы из досок. В течение 1825 – 1826 годов старец ежедневно хаживал к этому месту. А когда устроили ему келию, он начал уже постоянно проводить все дни здесь, в пустыне; вечером возвращался в обитель. Идя в обитель и из обители в обыкновенном белом, ветхом холщовом балахоне, в убогой камилавке, с топором или мотыкою в руках, он носил за плечами суму, грузно наполненную камнями и песком, в которой лежало и св. Евангелие. Некоторые спрашивали: «Для чего он это делает?» Он отвечал словами св. Ефрема Сирина: «Я томлю томящаго мя».
Место это известно с тех пор под именем ближней пустыни о. Серафима, а родник стали называть колодцем о. Серафима.
Со времени построения новой келии, в 1827 году, деятельность и труды о. Серафима разделились между обителью и ближнею пустынкою. В монастыре он оставался по воскресным и праздничным дням, причащаясь за раннею литургиею; в будни же он почти ежедневно ходил в лес в ближнюю пустынь. В монастыре он проводил ночи. Число посетителей его весьма увеличилось. Одни дожидались его в монастыре, жаждая увидеть его, принять благословение и услышать слово назидания. Другие приходили к нему в пустынную келию. Старец почти не имел покоя ни в пустыне, ни на дороге, ни в монастыре.
Умилительно было видеть, как старец после причастия Св. Таин возвращался из церкви в свою келию. Он шёл в мантии, епитрахили и поручах, как обыкновенно приступал к таинству. Шествие его было медленно от множества толпившегося народа, из среды которого всякий силился, хотя слегка, взглянуть на старца. Но он в это время ни с кем не говорил, никого не благословлял и как бы ни души не видал вокруг себя; взор его был потуплен долу, а ум погружен внутрь себя. В эти минуты он входил своею душою в размышление о великих благодеяниях Божиих, явленных людям таинством Св. Причащения. И, благоговея к чудному старцу, никто не смел даже прикоснуться к нему.
Пришедши в свою келию, он уже всех усердствующих принимал к себе, благословлял, а желающим предлагал и душеспасительное слово.
Но всего более усладительна была его беседа. Ум у о. Серафима был светлый, память твёрдая, взгляд истинно-христианский, сердце для всех доступное, воля непреклонная, дар слова живой и обильный. Речь его была столь действенна, что слушатель получал от неё душевную пользу. Беседы его были исполнены духом смирения, согревали сердце, снимали с очей как бы некоторую завесу, озаряли умы собеседников светом духовного разумения, приводили их в чувство раскаяния и возбуждали решительную перемену к лучшему; невольно покоряли себе волю и сердце других, разливали в них мир и тишину. Как собственные действия свои, так и свои слова старец Серафим основывал на слове Божием, подтверждая их наиболее местами Нового Завета, на писаниях св. отцов и на примерах святых, Богу благоугодивших. Всё сие потому ещё имело особенную силу, что прямо прилагалось к потребностям слушателей.
По чистоте духа своего он имел дар прозорливости; иным, прежде раскрытия обстоятельств, давал наставления, относившиеся прямо ко внутренним их чувствам и мыслям сердечным.
Notes
- 1 ↩Богословский: rendered as Theologian's (i.e., of St. John the Theologian), the conventional sense of this local spring/well name.
- 2 ↩Накат: horizontal log decking/covering over the basin; сруб: log crib or casing frame for the spring.
- 3 ↩унизывал: literally 'adorned/decorated'; here rendered as lined, the concrete sense of finishing the basin with the stones.
- 4 ↩верста (verst): traditional Russian measure, about 1.07 km / 0.66 mile; six versts ≈ four miles.
- 5 ↩верста (verst): traditional Russian distance measure, about 1.07 km; a quarter verst is roughly 250–270 m.
- 6 ↩аршин (arshin): traditional Russian length measure, about 28 inches / 71 cm. The shelter was roughly 7 ft high and long, and about 4½ ft wide.
- 7 ↩сенцы: a small wooden entry porch or vestibule attached to the cell.
- 8 ↩камилавка: Orthodox monastic skullcap; retained as the usual English term.
- 9 ↩Church Slavonic quote (Я томлю томящаго мя): Seraphim means he burdens his body as it burdens him—ascetic mortification of the flesh.
- 10 ↩епитрахиль rendered as epitrachelion (Orthodox priestly stole); поручи as cuffs (epimanikia).
- 11 ↩Source 'Ум у о.' is incomplete; 'о.' is the standard abbreviation for отца ('Father'), and the clause continues into the next sentence with Серафима.
- 12 ↩Genitive Серафима belongs grammatically with the preceding 'Ум у о.'; rendered as the continuation of that corrected clause.
- 13 ↩Sentence ends on abbreviated св.; the next sentence completes св. отцов ('holy Fathers').
- 14 ↩Completes 'писаниях св. отцов' from the previous sentence.
- 15 ↩прозорливость: rendered as 'spiritual insight' (Orthodox clairvoyance/foresight into hearts and hidden circumstances), not secular clairvoyance.
Life of Saint Seraphim of Sarov companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere