Священник Ф.А. Саровские торжества

(impressions of a pilgrim from Nizhny Novgorod) With mental prayer to Rev. Fr. We left Seraphim on July 12 from Nizhny Novgorod to Arzamas by rail. Even at the station, and then on the way, the pilgrimage character of the train was noticeable: there were bags on their shoulders (for many), faces and suits were dusty, the mood was sedate, the general conversation was about Sarov 26; It seems that there was no need to ask everyone about the purpose of the trip; everyone had one thing written on them: to Sarov. Even at the station we saw people known to us from Astrakhan, from St. Petersburg, from Siberia, and then on the way we recognized pilgrims from Pskov, from the Don, from the Caucasus, from Arkhangelsk. Everyone and everything strove for Father Seraphim. We, Nizhny Novgorod residents, are together, one family. Many pilgrims moved on foot along the railway line; In places near a forest or spring one could see groups of pilgrims on vacation. Arrived in Arzamas. The station is unrecognizable: a mass of passengers; the pilgrimage train arrived - hundreds of pilgrims grew into thousands; everyone is in a hurry to grab cabs to get to the city and from there hire a cart to Sarov. Around the station there are open barracks, rooms, a water boiler, a hospital with a pharmacy, and reinforced guards. We arrived in the city; The first concern is to find horses to Sarov. They say they don't exist. At this time, coachmen were given 40–60–80 rubles. or more three horses to Sarov (65 versts); people have lost the value of money; We were helped by the fact that we were traveling, as those appointed to the Sarov celebrations, in the retinue of His Eminence Nazarius of Nizhny Novgorod. One of the Arzamas priests, who knew the state of affairs, directed us to assist the civil authorities. The latter kindly provided us with a travel certificate for legal travel, as if we were going to Sarov for a specific purpose. On the morning of the 13th we left Arzamas. The people moved in lines, and in some places in whole groups, towards Sarov; both men and women, both old and children, on sticks and crutches, in carts, the blind, the crippled, the poor and the rich, the laity, the clergy, eminent persons - everyone strove to see Fr. Seraphim; and they walk, and ride, and crawl, and lead, and carry... An unprecedented picture! This amazing movement leads to deep thoughts. Great is the force that moved these masses to Sarov! The righteous man of God shone like a shining star; news about him spread throughout the vast Mother Rus'; she went and reached a remote, remote village in the Vologda province or Akmola region, summoned a believing soul from there and led her thousands of miles away, to unprecedented Sarov; this Sarov, who is in the wilderness, in the forest, is looking for the servant of God, looking for the Righteous One of God; coming... these servants of God are coming... and there are not thousands, not tens, but hundreds of thousands of them... Here is patience, and faith, and hope, and love. Everything here is sacred. Truly you will bow down and be touched by the greatness of this power living in our native Rus'! Along the road they go to places in two or three lines. The path is flat and dry; only the dust prevailed. The length of the entire road stretched like a ribbon of the royal path - a leveled, compacted road, surrounded by signs. The villages, at the entrance to them, were decorated with brand new painted tablets with fingers indicating the way to Sarov, with the names of the villages (or hamlets), indicating the number of souls, courtyards, volosts, districts, etc.; rural public and many private buildings were embellished; churches everywhere have been re-whitewashed. We drove from Arzamas to Yamischi, Dolzhnikovo; in Orekhovets - change of horses and rest. This village, hitherto barely noticeable, turned into a town: telegraph, post office, telephone, judicial and medical center, trade, traffic... Here, as everywhere else on the way to Sarov, everything woke up, came to life and lived with expectations - to see the Tsar and Queens; faith in the Pleasant of God and love for the Tsar united among the people into one great holy feeling. We leave Orekhovets and see: a cripple is crawling sideways towards Sarov... crawling on all fours towards the Reverend!.. Tears welled up when looking at this crawling “ascetic”. It turned out that there were quite a few such “ascetics” on all fours; subsequently, on the way to Sarov and in Sarov, we saw them. The path to Sarov lay through the Diveyevo monastery; We arrived here around four o'clock in the evening. Here on this day (July 13, Sunday) there was a significant celebration: in the Diveyevo Cathedral the liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg, His Eminence Nazariy of Nizhny Novgorod and His Eminence Innokenty of Tambov. For the Diveyevo monastery - an unprecedented triumph; it will forever remain memorable in the history and chronicles of Diveyevo; A great crowd of pilgrims flocked. Everyone's thoughts and speech, however, were directed to Sarov. They talked about the multitude of pilgrims, that thousands of them arrive every day, that it was becoming crowded, that food was becoming difficult. By the evening of the 13th we were approaching Sarov. We crossed the border of Nizhny Novgorod and Tambov provinces; a dense, large forest came up, the “Sarov Forest” with centuries-old pines, others you couldn’t grasp together. Along the road and to the side - a lot of people are walking, driving, and relaxing. The gaze shrewdly rushes forward; I want to see the holy monastery as soon as possible. The path through the sand delays the ride. Dust hangs like a cloud from the mass of movement. But here is a forest clearing; The gilded heads of the Sarov cathedrals flashed powerfully... The heads were naked; the hand is raised to the sign of the cross. “Thank God,” the lips whisper, “we are again at the holy monastery!” And here in front of us is the monastery; everything immediately opened up as soon as the horses ran out into the forest monastery square. There is a lot that is new: the entire monastery shines with the dazzling whiteness of fresh paint; the bridge over the Satis River and the dam have been refinished; behind Satis there is an elegant new pavilion, a new bridge leads to it; to the right are the pitched tents of thrifty pilgrims; At the junction of the roads from Diveevo and Kremenki, a brand new elegant chapel was built. Around her and everywhere there are people and people; The singing of a funeral service can be heard from the chapel. In prayer and reverence we approached the shadow of the holy monastery. Here in front of us is the majestic Sarov bell tower, like a colossus reaching to heaven... The Holy Gates warmly greeted us and led us into the monastery, where we were given a room. All clergy appointed to the Sarov celebrations were provided with cells of monks for temporary stay, who were somewhat crowded these days, gathering 3-4 in a cell, in which 2-3 monks usually live. We also go to the cell assigned to us. Here before us is the holy church of Saints Zosima and Savvaty; The saint of God, Father Seraphim, now rests there. How many times have we seen since how another praying mantis, having reached the monastery and resting place of Father Seraphim, will throw herself straight to the ground, facing the church where his holy relics lie, and lie prostrate on the ground for a long, long time, casting over to him, the saint, her joy that she had reached the shrine, and all her sorrows, thoughts and desires... A touching, edifying picture!.. Leaving my things in the cell, I hurried to the grave of Father Seraphim and to his cell. It was gratifying for the soul to once again fall in prayer to the saint near these sacred monuments, to pray to him and for him. The evening twilight called to the cell. From the monastery bell tower I again heard the measured strikes of the minutes; the bell rang, a minute passed; a minute later - the same sound... Every minute a sound from above, as if from the sky, instructively tells you: a minute of your life has sunk into eternity; she won't come back, she'll never come back; How did you spend this irrevocable minute?! These thoughts were also evoked at night through the open window of the cell... Marvelous Sarov! Holy places! Heaven on earth! Separated from the world by a mighty forest, the monastery flaunts its golden-domed churches, and even more so with the greatness of the prayerful feat of hermits, lovers of solitude and contemplation of God. Everything here edifies and elevates the stranger. Entering the monastery, you know: here is the Zhivonovnovsky Cathedral: the Reverend prayed in it; here he had a vision (on Holy Thursday) of the Lord, surrounded by the Heavenly Forces, entering into this image of the Savior, located at the royal gates. Here is the hospital church in the name of Saints Zosima and Savvaty; here the Queen of Heaven herself, in the company of the apostles, appeared to the sick Father Seraphim (then still young Prokhor) and healed him; this church and especially its altar are on the site of a wondrous vision; and in the altar the throne was built by the hands of the Reverend himself and, consecrated on August 17, 1786, still serves to perform the holy Bloodless Sacrifice of Christ; here, in this church, the relics of the Reverend rested (temporarily until the discovery). Here is his cell, a witness to his invisible prayerful feat, previously unnoticed, but now known to the entire Orthodox world - in it the great righteous man departed to the Lord. Here is the majestic Assumption Cathedral. “The Father created this house, the Son established this house, the Holy Spirit renewed and glorified this house,” the pediment of the cathedral is decorated with such significant sayings. In this church the pure prayer of Father Seraphim was offered; and behind his altar is the grave of Father Seraphim, which hid his honest relics for 70 years. Here are other graves of the great ascetics of the monastery - now silent, but edifyingly speaking about the greatness of the godly life of hermits (Isaiah, Pachomius, Joseph, Mark and others); some of those who rest here show signs of God’s mercy through prayers to them; and, looking at this land and graves, you think: perhaps there are still many great blessings hidden in it - many holy pledges are preserved for the salvation of believers and for the glory of God. That is why, walking around the monastery and looking at its monuments, full of deep meaning and significance, you will truly say: this is not, but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!.. Apparently, these feelings permeated every pilgrim who arrived; All the sedate, tender faces were visible, especially among the common people. The usual monastic appearance of the desert this time changed noticeably; a lot of people, movement, talk... Opposite the Assumption Cathedral, to the left of the western entrance, is the abbot's building and to the right of the cathedral are the so-called bishop's chambers, in which archpastors arriving at the monastery are usually placed, adapted for the Highest Persons. Having arrived in Sarov, we went the next morning (July 14) to the late liturgy at the Assumption Cathedral; it was performed by the famous Fr. Archimandrite Nikon, editor of the Trinity Leaflets, concelebrating with six archpriests and priests. The monks sang; It was mentally comforting to hear Sarov singing again - monastic, harmonious, majestic, approaching ancient melodies. The cathedral was full of worshipers and on that day could not accommodate all the pilgrims, which previously happened only on great holidays. While addressing the people, I had to hear about new signs of heavenly help from Father Seraphim; Touching stories about miraculous healings passed from mouth to mouth; each story was accompanied by glorification and thanksgiving to the Lord, who reveals heavenly mercies through the prayers of the saint of God, Father Seraphim, and when after lunch we went to the source of Father Seraphim, we already saw face to face those healed through his prayers. When leaving the monastery, at the gate, a group of pilgrims surrounded a woman of 40–42 years old, who to this day had been motionless for several years, and was now returning on her own feet from the source to the grave of Father Seraphim; joy and reverence were written on the face of the healed woman; the same feelings were communicated to everyone around her; everyone made the sign of the cross in reverence. At the very source, in the cell, we saw a boy of 12-13 years old, hitherto deaf and mute from birth, which was certified by the written testimony of the local priest, and now received hearing and the gift of speech after bathing in the source of the Venerable. The boy's hair was still damp; he joyfully pronounced his name: “Vasya”... The boy came here with his grandmother from the Minusinsk district of the Yenisei region... My heart was filled with awe when I saw these miracles with my own eyes; I began to tremble, in the consciousness of my unworthiness, to be present at these holy places, at these acts of heavenly power. But the same trembling turned into joy, into religious tenderness and animation; the hand and thought of their own accord rose to praise the Lord, “wonderful in His saints.” We drank water from the spring of Father Seraphim, washed ourselves, and stocked up with water to take to Nizhny. Water is usually stored in a special glass vessel with an inscription on the glass: “water from the source of the Venerable Father Seraphim of Sarov.” Water – spring, cold (4°), crystal clear; preserves well (based on experience); it is accepted with true reverence by all believers, and there have been many examples that far from Sarov, water from the source of Father Seraphim, taken with faith and prayer, performed miracles; That’s why Father Seraphim’s water is now carried by pilgrims to all corners of Orthodox Mother Russia. By evening we returned to the monastery. Even more temporary inhabitants arrived; People arrived from different parts of Russia and even from abroad. July 15, the day of remembrance of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, opened a series of Sarov celebrations. He celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Zhivonovnosnovsky Cathedral of the monastery. His Eminence Dimitri, Archbishop of Kazan, in concelebration with four archimandrites and four archpriests and priests (Father Adrian, the Arzamas archimandrite, served from Nizhny Novgorod); sang the Tambov Bishop's Choir. After the liturgy, for a prayer service to the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, His Eminence Anthony, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, His Eminence Dimitri, Archbishop of Kazan, His Eminence Nazarius, Bishop of Nizhny Novgorod, and His Eminence Innocent, Bishop of Tambov, in a host of many clergy 27 . Most of the pilgrims saw such a cathedral of archpastors and a host of clergy for the first time; the faces of those present showed deep attention to the unprecedented presence of the clergy and the splendor of their service. The cathedral was crowded with worshipers. More and more people gathered in and around the monastery. That day we had the opportunity to walk around the desert. What a motley and at the same time picturesque picture these masses of people presented, who came here from the distant corners of vast Rus'! Of course, mainly here were residents of our Great Russian provinces, especially Tambov, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Ryazan, Vladimir; but we also heard the melodious speech of the Poltava Little Russians, saw the emaciated faces of the Belarusians, with their quiet speech, and saw the typical faces and costumes of the Mordovians, Chuvash and Cheremis. General attention was drawn to a Buryat priest (from the Irkutsk diocese, it seems) and a Czech monk. But the pilgrims from Irgiz, husband and wife; They came not only to worship the saint, but even beforehand, here, at his holy relics, she had to unite with all the pilgrims in the same faith, in the same hope. He is a typical representative of ancient piety, with the imprint on his face of long internal work, until he established himself on the solid ground of Orthodoxy, convinced, at peace in his conscience; he is also looking for this spiritual peace for his schismatic wife, who was once Orthodox, but has deviated into the Old Believers. With what worthy care, with what strong feeling, to the point of tears, he listens to the pastoral edification and cares about his wife’s joining the Orthodox Church! And at the tomb of the Righteous One of God, these souls found the delight of one hope, so that with one mouth and one heart they might glorify and glorify the Lord. During the Sarov celebrations, several annexations from the schism to Orthodoxy took place there. Great are the mercies of the Pleasant of God! On this day, a miraculous healing took place of a blind girl, 18 years old, from the village of Tazneeva, Ardatovsky district, Simbirsk province, Agrafena Elizaryeva Tabaeva, the news of which quickly spread among the pilgrims. The healing took place at the spring of Father Seraphim 28. Living 40 versts from the city of Verny, widow Anna Ivleva, 43 years old, suffered from blindness for 19 years. Despite the difficulty for her to leave home, since she had four young orphans in her care, she still went to Sarov and walked 900 miles. After bathing in the spring of Father Seraphim, she began to see clearly. Even more amazing is the healing from natural blindness of a two-year-old boy, Stepan Andreev Erofeev, from a peasant family in the Chembar district of the Penza province. His mother bathed him in the spring, and after the first bath the blind child began to see: he grabbed prominent or shiny objects with his little hands and kept covering his eyes with his hands from the bright shine of the sun... “God is wonderful in His saints!” For three days, July 16, 17 and 18, funeral services and prayers were held in Sarov. At 12 noon on the 16th, a rare gospel message poured out from the monastery bell tower, calling everyone to a memorial service. In the Assumption Cathedral, the solemn requiem service was performed by Vladyka Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg with his eminence archpastors: Kazan - Dimitri, Nizhny Novgorod - Nazariy and Tambov - Innocent, co-served by many archimandrites, archpriests, priests and hieromonks. The St. Petersburg Metropolitan Choir sang under the direction of I. Ya. Ternov; the Tambov Bishop's Choir sang on the left choir. At the memorial service, the names of the Sovereigns and Empresses who died from the beginning of Father Seraphim’s life until the days of his glorification were commemorated, starting with Empress Elizabeth Petrovna up to Emperor Alexander III inclusive, the Tambov archpastors and Victor of Vladimir (who ordained Father Seraphim as a hierodeacon), the Sarov builders and abbots, as well as his parents Isidore and Agathia and “the ever-remembered hieromonk Seraphim.” The wonderful singing of the metropolitan choir of singers, the very melodies - funeral, touching - made a deeply touching impression on the worshippers, strengthened and elevated the overall undoubtedly sincere, touching mood. On the faces of those present in the cathedral one could see the intense lifting of mind and heart to the Lord with prayer for the deceased. The cathedral was crowded with worshipers. To satisfy the general prayer need, memorial services with the same commemoration as in the Assumption Cathedral were performed in all the monastery churches and in the newly built chapels. As soon as we left the cathedral, we heard about new healings of the lame, deaf, and blind. The stories about them - the simplest, most sincere and at the same time filled with religious animation - each hastened to convey to the other with heartfelt consolation and jealousy. “But, father, look: the old woman walked, she had not walked for many years,” or: “Today two blind men received their sight,” etc. The religious delight of both the healed and the people was expressed in this fact, full of naturalness and pure joy: near the source of Father Seraphim, the people collected the crutches of the healed and immediately on the bank of the Sarovka River “with joy” they burned them, thereby expressing faith in the miraculous power of the Rev. The source of Father Seraphim has appeared in our days as the Pool of Siloam, Bethesda in Jerusalem; on the way to him and around him there are always many sick, blind, deaf, lame, dry, waiting for the movement of water; they were on stretchers, and on hands, and in carts, and on crutches, and on all fours... they all came to Fr. Seraphim... poor one!.. A sincere word was heard to Fr. Seraphim, as if he were with us: “O Saint Seraphim! You have become rich and famous! Inexhaustibly rich in great mercies!” It is usually customary to talk about physical, visible healings, and there were many of them - and how many people came to St. Seraphim with spiritual infirmities!.. There are, of course, incomparably more of these than the crippled and blind. The healings in this area were not visible to the naked eye, but they undoubtedly were; didn’t every soul sighing here lift up its prayerful gaze to the saint of God, to the warm and quick helper and prayer book for our souls?! And we believe that the righteous man of God stands before the Lord for us sinners and intercedes with faith for those who come to him, not only temporary benefits, but eternal deliverance, healing from mental ailments... That is why very many pilgrims, having arrived in Sarov, hurried with faith and are in a hurry to cleanse their souls with confession, asking the Lord for forgiveness of sins through the prayers of the Venerable Father Seraphim, and to be sanctified in the sacrament of Communion. We saw examples of Father Seraphim’s spiritual healing from the infirmities of the spirit in the healings of those possessed by demons. There were many of the latter. Nowadays we are accustomed to calling them neurotic patients, epileptics, etc. We do not argue that the nervous system of the possessed is shaken: it is also obvious that their entire psychophysical life is abnormal; but it is also certain that the spirits of evil live and act in the possessed, like living, evil creatures that have taken possession of a person and do not allow him to see everything holy. You need to see these demoniacs, and then you will renounce all supposedly natural scientific judgments about them. That the possessed are precisely those possessed by an evil creature - the devil, this is very clearly seen from the description of the healing attested by the famous modern writer E.N. Poselyanin; the healing took place before his eyes, in front of a multitude of people, after the opening of the relics, on the 20th, before the liturgy. “Standing not far from the shrine,” he writes, “I heard terrible screams coming from the western doors of the church. I went there. Eight men with difficulty carried the man, who was overgrown with hair, struggling in their hands; Inside him, some suffering voice shouted: “I’ll come out, I’ll come out.” They brought it to the cancer; he fell silent, as if he had lost consciousness. His face was distorted so that it was scary to look at. It was attached; he woke up and walked away completely freed from the terrible power and healthy. It turns out that he suffered for 30 years and had a certificate from the police chief that he was sick with a severe form of “criticism.” His last name is Pantsev. It was scary to think that for 30 years, from the age of 18, this soul was deprived of confession and Holy Communion. They asked Father Archimandrite, who was performing the liturgy, to confess the healed man: he confessed, and at the end of the mass they allowed him to receive Communion: he calmly partook of the Holy Mysteries.” Amazing fact! There is no place here for explanations of the disease on a purely nervous basis: on the contrary, the essence and actions of the spirit of malice are clearly visible, and the power of heavenly help is even more obvious at the relics of the holy saint of God, who himself said about himself that he fought with evil spirits, like “lions and leopards,” that throughout his life he “tormented those who tormented him.” As the winner in this struggle, he became fearful to the demons: they flee from the one possessed by them when he approaches the holy saint. An extraordinary impression was made on all pilgrims by the service on the evening of July 16 - parastas - an all-night vigil in conjunction with a great memorial service in memory of Father Seraphim. In two cathedrals the vigil was celebrated by archpastors. In all the churches and chapels and widely around them, tens of thousands of worshipers stood, everyone had candles glowing, flickering in the darkness of the night, and in the sky of the quiet July night God’s lights were shining - myriads of stars. At 2 o'clock in the morning, on this wondrous night, 14 versts from Sarov, from the height of the bell tower of the Diveyevo Monastery, a powerful ringing of a bell poured out, calling our Nizhny Novgorod residents to make a solemn procession to the newly glorified Pleasant. Our Nizhny Novgorod diocese was close to Father Seraphim both in place and in moral connection: during his lifetime, Father Seraphim visited some places in our diocese, and was in special spiritual communion with some monasteries; in the destinies of almost all Nizhny Novgorod women's monasteries, the creative participation and assistance of Father Seraphim was repeatedly revealed; therefore, nuns from these monasteries arrived at the Diveyevo Monastery - the closest to Sarov - and brought with them locally revered icons to participate in the Sarov celebrations. In the procession of the cross from the Diveyevo monastery they now walked: the icon of the “Tenderness of the Mother of God”, before which Father Seraphim prayed and died, which has remained in the Diveyevo monastery since his death, the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God - from the Ponetaevsky monastery (joined on the way), the Image of the Savior not made by hands - from the Spaso-Zelenogorsk monastery, the image of St. Alexis the Man of God - from Arzamas Alekseevsky Monastery, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker - from the Arzamas Nikolaevsky Monastery, the image of the Intercession of the Mother of God - from the Ardatovsky Intercession Monastery. The solemn religious procession was accompanied by a council of clergy led by the father rector of the Nizhny Novgorod Annunciation Monastery, Archimandrite Sergius; Deputations of many banner-bearing societies took part in the solemn procession, sending new rich banners as a gift to the Sarov Monastery for the opening of the relics. Many people took part in the religious procession. In the pre-dawn darkness, long rows of participants in the solemn procession lined up. To the ringing of bells, with the singing of nuns, banner bearers and all the people, a majestic procession unparalleled in beauty opened at the dawn of a beautiful summer morning. We left the monastery fence; the troops located along the way made a “prayer”; the regimental music began to play “How glorious...” This procession presented a wonderful picture: this slender moving mass stretched out like a long sparkling ribbon; touching singing; in the distance - the ringing of bells and the sounds of music receding into the depths; garlands of fresh flowers on banners; green fields and groves along the way; between them, like a living stream, moving masses of touched faces, general prayerful animation, reverence, joy... “Holy Lady! She herself is coming to her beloved Father Seraphim!” voices are heard. “And our Saint Sergius is coming to him,” say the Muscovites and people... My God, how much life, faith, love, holy joy and holy feelings were expressed in these sincere words, and the Russian people did not fail to add copious tears to the words - tears of joy! One could feel the living communion of the Church on earth and in heaven. At seven o'clock in the morning, from the holy gates of the Sarov Hermitage, a religious procession headed by the Most Reverend Innocent, Bishop of Tambov, in a host of many clergy, with the participation of many thousands of pilgrims, set out to meet the Diveyevo religious procession. Beyond the Satis River, the religious processions met and the united ones entered the Sarov monastery. Despite the 14-mile procession, the participants in the procession, covered in dust, shone with delight and animation; it was clear that they performed the work as a spiritually pleasant sacrifice in honor and glory of the Reverend. At eight o'clock in the morning the funeral liturgy began in all churches; in the Assumption Cathedral the liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony and His Eminence Nazarius; At the end of the liturgy, our Bishop spoke a word dedicated to the memory of the Venerable Father Seraphim. At the end of the liturgy, a solemn memorial service for Father Seraphim was performed by a host of archpastors and shepherds. Time passed and approached the most important moment of the celebrations. “Tomorrow is the opening of the holy relics,” was the thought on everyone’s lips. This spiritually joyful mood before the upcoming celebration was increased by the general expectation of the meeting on this day of the Sovereign Emperor, the Sovereign Empresses and the Highest Persons of the Royal House. Everyone was eager to see the Royal Bogomolets; therefore, at the end of the service, the people did not leave the monastery in anticipation of the Highest arrival. With what spiritual delight we heard the bell announcing the approach of the Highest Pilgrims. Everyone hurried to the cathedral; everyone tried to take a more comfortable place in order to better see the Great Visitors to the holy monastery. A solemn procession of the cross to the holy gates, with Metropolitan Anthony at its head, left the Assumption Cathedral; two choirs of singers performed: in the fence of the monastery, the entire space was occupied, each in its own place, with trellises in the direction of the Royal Road, monks of the Sarov Hermitage and other monasteries, on the other side - nuns of various monasteries, in the middle - the white clergy and people, in the depths - banner bearers and pilgrims... And behind the monastery stood a sea of heads, with their gazes fixed on the forest clearing from the side Nizhny Novgorod road. The Blagovest was replaced by a “red” ringing “all the way”... Expectations increased... We hear, behind the monastery wall, people’s cries of “Hurray” poured out in a wide wave. The royal train appeared from the forest. From the chests of the many thousands of devoted sons of Russia, full of joy at the sight of the Tsar and Queens marching to the saint of God for prayer, a powerful, devoted, animated “hurray” burst out... The people’s joy knew no bounds: the people rejoiced, cried, prayed for the Tsar, called on God’s blessing... 29 On the morning of July 18, the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor and the Most Pious Empresses deigned to listen to the early liturgy celebrated in the chapel of the Assumption Cathedral, and in due course received communion of the Holy Mysteries. An irresistible impression was made on everyone by the unexpected appearance of the Most High Bogomolets among the common people, in the early hours of the morning, and Their prayerful communication with the people in the Sarov monastery: everyone who attended this liturgy will forever retain the memory of it, since they prayed here with the Tsar and Queens, especially those who were honored with communion with Them at the same liturgy. At the end of the late liturgy, in the Most High presence of Their Imperial Majesties and Their Imperial Highnesses, the last solemn memorial service for Father Seraphim was celebrated in the Assumption Cathedral; Before it began, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony delivered a speech dedicated to clarifying the great significance of the celebration. At the end of the funeral service, all the clergy moved from the cathedral to the grave of Father Seraphim; the Highest Persons deigned to arrive here along with the pilgrims; the archdeacon proclaimed the funeral litany, the Metropolitan - an exclamation and dismissal; - for the last time they sang the eternal memory of Father Seraphim, as if he were deceased. We entered back into the cathedral; The Metropolitan consecrated the shrine for the holy relics. The author of this description was instructed to make a description of the lamps. The number of lamps exceeded a hundred. At about two o'clock in the afternoon we had to witness an incident of amazing depth in its content and significance. While at Hotel No. 4, we hear the people’s shouts of “hurray.” Of course, it was impossible to stay in place; We went out in a group to the slope of the mountain leading to the source of Father Seraphim - and then a picture opened that brought delight and tears of tenderness: masses of people were moving along the path to the source, and the Sovereign Emperor was walking among the people. His loyal subjects are baptized, baptize Him, rejoice, cry with joy, greet... Our King saw before Him His real “people”, a people filled with pure love and boundless devotion. This is where life was felt, strength was felt; at these moments a great moral interaction between the Tsar and the people took place. We hear new clicks: after 5-6 minutes, both Empresses proceeded to the source in wheelchairs; the delight of the people knew no bounds... And the Russian people rejoiced here... and cried with joy! The Highest Guests deigned to visit the spring of Father Seraphim, prayed here, drank water from the spring, asked about various objects, and examined it. From here they deigned to proceed to the place of Father Seraphim’s 1000-day prayer on a stone and to the “distant desert.” The Sovereign Emperor and the Grand Dukes deigned to walk the entire way there and back to the monastery. Evening came: the time for the sacred event was approaching. At 6 o'clock the bell began for the solemn all-night vigil for the opening of the holy relics. The Sovereign Emperor, Sovereign Empresses, Highest Persons, High-ranking officials, and retinue arrived at the Assumption Cathedral; the cathedral was full of worshipers; at the same time, all-night vigils began in all other churches (except for the Hospital Church) and chapels. The all-night vigil began as usual; in the Assumption Cathedral the choirs sang - the Metropolitan and the Tambov Bishop's choirs. When the time has come for the litia, the Metropolitan, the Archbishop and two bishops with other clergy leave the altar and solemnly walk with a procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the Hospital Church. All the Highest Persons follow with the religious procession. The clergy are in new vestments, decorated with images of seraphim. The archpastors and archimandrites, the Sovereign Emperor and the Grand Dukes entered the church where the holy relics rested. We all have tense expectations, everyone's eyes are turned to the church exit. And then a tomb covered with green velvet began to emerge from the door; they carried him out, put him on a stretcher... lifted him onto the ramen; the whole tomb is in view of all the people; everyone, as one person, fell to the ground; from all the hearts, from the very depths of them, one prayerful appeal to the Pleasant of God burst forth. The Sovereign Emperor deigned to carry the tomb with the Grand Dukes and Archimandrites; everyone’s hearts were filled with tenderness... In the quiet evening air, marvelous singing can be heard; everyone has burning candles in their hands; in the silence of the evening not a single candle goes out; nature itself, in silence and reverence, participates in the sacred celebration... On the bell tower, blind ringers perform their glory to Father Seraphim. The procession stopped in front of the Assumption Cathedral; the archdeacon powerfully proclaims: “Save, O God, Thy people”... and in the host of saints he names – “like our holy father, the Venerable Seraphim, the Wonderworker of Sarov”; everyone made the sign of the cross; The procession flowed around the Assumption Cathedral and stopped at the entrance to the cathedral. The Metropolitan read: “Master is Most Merciful...” and also remembered Father Seraphim among the saints. And then the Reverend Father Seraphim came with us to the church; 70 years ago he was carried from here with his relics into the shadow of death, and now again he is in the land of the living: with us living sinners, he dwells as a saint, for our good. And we felt the descent of great heavenly mercy upon us. The relics of the Pleasant of God were placed in the middle of the church in a closed coffin, just as they were taken out of the Hospital Church. The all-night vigil continued as usual. At the kathismas, His Grace Innocent, Bishop of Tambov, pronounced a word that prepared the worshipers for the upcoming sacred moment. Before the polyeleos, all of us, the priests who participated in the celebration, put on sacred vestments, left the altar and took our places. The rector of the Sarov Hermitage, Father Hierotheus, gave the Vladyka the Metropolitan the key: The Vladyka unlocks and opens the tomb 30... The Holy Relics are open... everyone was thrown to the ground, and the prayer of everyone ascended to heaven and to the Pleasant... “We please Thee, Reverend Father Seraphim,” we sang glorification to the newly-minted Pleasant of God. It was not the mouth and throat that sang, but the soul itself rushed to the Pleasant in praise to Him and in prayer. The magnification was sung many times while Vladyka Metropolitan performed incense. The reading and singing of the canon began; began to venerate the holy relics - first the bishops, then the Sovereign, Empresses, Grand Dukes and Duchesses, then the clergy and after them other pilgrims. The all-night vigil ended at 12 o'clock. The service of prayers to the newly-minted saint of God immediately began. The writer of these events had spiritual consolation on that very first night to perform prayer services to Father Seraphim at his venerable relics between 2 and 4 o’clock in the morning. Rarely in life do you have to pray so hard. At 5 o'clock in the morning on July 19, liturgy began in almost all Sarov churches. The late liturgy in the Assumption Cathedral was celebrated by the Metropolitan and other archpastors, co-served by 12 archimandrites, 12 archpriests and priests. Again we saw all the Most High Participants in the great celebrations of Sarov and the entire Church. Until the small entrance, the holy relics remained as they had been placed the day before in the middle of the church - in two coffins: an outer oak and an inner cypress. At the small entrance, the archimandrites removed the inner coffin with holy relics and reverently brought it into the altar; from the depths of our hearts we all sang “Save us, O Son of God, in the holy Diven who sings to You: Alleluia.” Father Seraphim came to us in a host of clergy, as a living prayer book and minister with us sinners... We all fell prostrate at the altar and stood on our knees while the holy relics were carried. They were brought from the altar and placed in the same cypress coffin in the prepared shrine behind the right choir between the columns. At the same time, a new miracle of Father Seraphim’s mercy occurred: among those praying in the cathedral stood the Moscow merchant’s wife Maslennikova with her sick daughter, 12 years old, who was subject to catalepsy and had lost her tongue for two years; no medical treatment helped her; when the archimandrites passed by with the holy relics, Maslennikova touched the coffin with a handkerchief and wiped the face of her sick daughter with it, and her lips immediately opened; she called her mother and began to speak. Before the dismissal of the liturgy, His Eminence Demetrius said a word dedicated to this truly great celebration. At the end of the liturgy, a prayer service to Reverend Father Seraphim began. When the troparion was sung, the archimandrites removed the holy relics from the reliquary in a cypress coffin, placed them on a stretcher and carried them in a procession around the cathedrals. The coffin was carried by the Sovereign Emperor, Grand Dukes and Archimandrites; one could see many sick and crippled people to whom the people in Sarov gave access to the shrine; They were in front of the people, standing in a solid mass around the churches. The procession entered the Assumption Cathedral; holy relics were placed in a shrine; The Metropolitan and everyone behind him bowed their knees, Vladyka read a specially composed prayer to the Reverend. After our leave, we all returned to our cells. Here we found invitations from His Grace Innocent and the Abbot of the monastery, Father Hierotheus, to a fraternal meal on the occasion of the great celebration of the Sarov Hermitage. The meal was graced with the participation of the Sovereign Emperor, the Sovereign Empress, the Grand Dukes and Duchesses. Everyone was filled with joy. For us in Sarov, blessed consolations were combined with pure earthly joys. We left Sarov as a place of settlement of heavenly glory and the best earthly joys. Nizhny Novgorod Diocesan Gazette, 1903, No. 15, 16, 18, 19. We cannot help but note the following phenomenon here: our companions - from St. Petersburg, from the Don, from Moscow - called: “Sarov”, “Sarovskaya hermitage”; I even remembered the name in some newspapers: “S a rovo”. Upon arrival in Sarov, we also heard this pronunciation from some. We, residents of Nizhny Novgorod and Tambov, living near Sarov, visiting there and hearing the local dialect, from childhood got used to the pronunciation: “Sar o v”, “Sar o v pestyn”, etc. Archimandrites Sergius and Adrian, hegumen Arkady and priest F. Arkhangelsky, appointed to the celebrations from the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, participated in the service. We omit the description of healing taken by the author from the press and given in this book on p. 26 The narrator provides further information about the stay of the Royal Persons in Sarov on the basis of publications in the official press, therefore we refer the reader to the description of I. V. Preobrazhensky (p. 33) It was 9 pm Nizhny Novgorod time