St. Seraphim was born in 1759 in a small town in Russia. When he was nine years old he became deathly ill, but had a dream in which he saw the Virgin Mary who promised to heal him. The dream came just before a famous icon of her was carried through the town. Because of bad weather, the procession had to change course and the icon came just past Seraphim's childhood home. His mother laid him on the ground and they carried the icon over him. He recovered completely from his illness.

St. Seraphim entered a monastery as a novitiate when he was twenty years old. Before he left, his mother blessed him with a large copper cross, which he wore all his life. At one point while he was in the monastery, he again became seriously ill, and had a second vision of the Virgin Mary in which she appeared with St. John the Theologian. In this vision, she turned and said (about Seraphim) “He is of our kind.” She then touched his side with her staff, and he was healed instantly.

Figure 8-1: St. Seraphim of Sarov

He made his monastic vows when he was twenty-seven years old, taking the name “Seraphim.” The word means “fiery” or “burning” in Hebrew — words that aptly expressed the character of St. Seraphim's luminous prayers.

In 1794 he moved out into the wilderness to live in a small log cabin, where he was able to devote himself to unceasing prayer, and the study of the scriptures and the lives of the saints. There he kept company with bears, wolves, foxes, and rabbits.

One time, an abbess and a nun from a nearby monastery visited him. To their horror, a bear walked out of the woods on his hind legs. St. Seraphim looked at the bear and said, “Misha, you have frightened my poor orphans. Please bring them something for consolation, as I have nothing to offer them.” The bear left immediately.

A few hours later, while St. Seraphim, the abbess, and the nun were deeply engaged in conversation, the bear came stumbling into St. Seraphim's cell, carrying a small parcel wrapped in leaves. “Misha, what have you brought us?” St. Seraphim said.

The bear stood on his hind legs and handed him the leaves. Inside was a fresh honeycomb. Seraphim handed the bear a chunk of bread, and the bear lowered his great head as if to bow. He then gracelessly exited the cabin.

St. Seraphim loved both people and animals. Whenever a person came to see him, he would address him as “my joy.” He also found great solace in his solitary life of prayer. One of his most famous sayings is, “Acquire inward peace and thousands around you will be saved.”

St. Seraphim lived for many more years in the cabin, eating and sleeping very little. During the last years of his life, visitors began to flock to his cabin to glean wisdom from him. As he aged, however, he became unusually exhausted. On January 1, 1833, he made three visits to the spot he had chosen for burial. That evening, monks overheard him singing Pascha (Easter) hymns in his cell. He was found dead the following day, kneeling in prayer before his beloved icon of the Virgin Mary. He is commemorated on August 1 and January 15. His feast day is January 2.