From the deserts of Egypt and Syria
to the cells of Mount Athos and
beyond to the vast forests of northern Russia ...
These are the Chronicles of the Desert.
One day, an elderly monk named Seraphim left the monastery of Sarov and
walked into the nearby forest to pray only to encounter the Mother of God.
She called Seraphim to herself and when he approached she struck the ground with her staff and
caused a fountain of water to pour forth from an ancient spring which had long been dry.
This water, she said, will heal people. It is now under your care Seraphim.
Soon after,
Seraphim built a well from which to draw water for the thousands of people visiting Sarov
Seeking to see the aging staretz.
He too had become a fountain of wisdom and healing after nearly 20 years of solitude and ascetic labour.
Seraphim's time in solitude was inspired by the same counsel God had given to the desert father Arsenios the Great:
"Flee,
be silent, pray always."
So, after living his first two decades of a monastic life in Sarov,
Seraphim withdrew into the forests beyond the monastery to the far Hermitage.
A one-room log cabin which he built along the Sarovka River
amidst the shade of the birch trees and moss laden pines.
Seraphim named his cell Mount Athos and
gave Biblical names to the surrounding areas such as Gethsemane, the Jordan River, and Mount Tabor.
In this way, as he tended his garden,
chopped wood, and strengthened the banks of the river,
he also sought to live out the times of the gospel.
From afar this must have looked like paradise.
But for Seraphim it was a true desert.
He struggled daily to purify himself from the passions and acquire the Holy Spirit.
He kept the rule of Saint Pachomius and the daily cycle of prayer.
He read the scriptures and prayed the Jesus Prayer.
But demons and his own fallen nature fought against him.
Despondency was a constant enemy.
About his life as a hermit
Seraphim later said,
"Those who live in monasteries
struggle with the enemies of mankind as if they are doves.
The hermit struggles with them as if they are lions and leopards.
He who has chosen the hermit's life must feel himself constantly crucified.
The Hermit
tempted by the spirit of darkness is like dead leaves chased by the wind,
like clouds driven by the storm.
The demon of the desert bears down on the hermit about midday and sows restless worries in him
and distressing desires as well.
These temptations can only be overcome by prayer."
When asked later in life about these demons Seraphim would only say, "They're despicable."
Seraphim constantly called on God in prayer until he finally bested the demons.
Not dismayed by his efforts they instead came back at him in the physical realm.
One day, as Seraphim was chopping wood, three bandits approached.
Seraphim dropped his axe and did not resist as the three bandits fell upon him with many blows.
Despite near fatal injuries to his head, chest, and ribs,
Seraphim dragged himself for three miles back to the monastery where he collapsed unconscious for days.
During that time in a dream the Theotokos came to him along with the saints Peter and John.
"What use is there of doctors?" she asked the two apostles and pointing to Seraphim.
"He is one of us."
Immediately, Seraphim awoke and began his slow recovery.
Five months later,
he returned to the far Hermitage and
although his injuries left him bent over and walking with a cane,
renewed zeal pushed him to attempt an ascetic feat
reminiscent of the Stylites of earlier centuries.
Outside Seraphim's hermitage there sat a large granite boulder.
At night Seraphim would kneel upon this rock,
saying the Jesus Prayer and giving thanks to God.
During the day he would pray on a rock that he had moved inside his cell for fear of being seen.
Each day, he would stop only briefly for a little rest and some food.
Seraphim, whose name means fiery,
endured in this manner for a thousand days and
so thoroughly burned through his passions as to acquire complete stillness.
All worldly thoughts faded and
in the remaining silence, he was able to listen to the Spirit of God.
He was being filled with the Holy Spirit.
He now felt great peace and joy.
"Acquire inner peace," he would later say "and thousands about you will find salvation."
This was to come true in his own life.
Soon after, he returned to the Sarov Monastery and
lived in the seclusion and silence of his cell for another ten years.
But when he finally opened his door,
thousands came to him and found the grace of God pouring forth from him
much like water from the stream struck by the Theotokos earlier in his life.
He discerned the thoughts of many and gave wise counsel. He healed the sick,
consoled the sorrowful, and
foresaw things to come.
After living much like a desert father,
Seraphim became a beacon for wayward souls and
helped many find salvation.
Proof that even in these latter days the grace of God comes to those who seek him with
their whole heart that they may water the thirsty souls of those who turn to them.