Venerable Seraphim: Sarov and Diveevo

In introducing the domestic reader to the research of the Russian Catholic Archpriest Vsevolod Roshko, it is necessary to make several preliminary remarks. The work of Father Vsevolod can be likened to the painstaking work of an icon restorer, who makes careful washings, getting through later records to the original image. St. Seraphim of Sarov, one of the greatest Russian saints, died in 1833. And yet, by the time of his canonization in 1903, it turned out that his appearance was obscured by all sorts of legends. Fortunately, several years before his canonization, his admirer, later a bishop, who ended his life as a martyr in 1937, guards officer Leonid Chichagov, having done painstaking work on the archives of the Diveyevo community, published in 1897 a work with the Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery. The first edition was published at the end of the 19th century, and therefore L. Chichagov could not say much directly in his research. At this time, the all-powerful Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, the educator of Alexander III, K. P. Pobedonostsev, ruled. Spiritual censorship weighed heavily on church historians and theologians, and it was impossible to imagine that any intra-monastic conflicts could be mentioned in the life. Therefore, L. Chichagov’s work, both in the first and second editions (1903), is full of omissions. At the beginning of the 20th century, L. Chichagov, who had already become a monk 1, managed to convince Emperor Nicholas II of the holiness of St. Seraphim. By order of the emperor, canonization was scheduled for the summer of 1902. But the all-powerful K.P. Pobedonostsev refused to comply with the emperor’s demand and referred the issue to the Holy Synod. Throughout the year, work was underway to collect the evidence necessary to canonize the Sarov ascetic. It was in 1903 that an unhealthy excitement arose around the name of the reverend. The journalist S.A. Nilus showed a lot of effort, trying to push aside L. Chichagov, who by that time had become Bishop Seraphim of Oryol. S. A. Nilus met with the widow of N. A. Motovilov, already a very elderly lady, with nuns who still remembered St. Seraphim, collected all kinds of memories - all this was included in his book “The Great in the Small,” the first edition of which was published at the time of the canonization of the saint - in the summer of 1903. The question arises: why was S. A. Nilus in such a hurry? After all, Bishop Seraphim (Chichagov) had by that time published his own “Chronicle” in the second edition? The fact is that the unlucky journalist S. A. Nilus was expected to become the emperor’s confessor. It seemed that this should have been facilitated by his marriage to the maid of honor of the Empress E. Ozerova. This is precisely what explains the hasty and sloppy work of Nilus, a rather illegible person prone to fantasy, which led to significant distortions of the image of N. A. Motovilov. In his book “Great in Small,” Motovilov appears either as a tossing noble intellectual, or as an almost holy fool, or as a saint. In fact, this man carried out to the end all the obediences entrusted to him by the Monk Seraphim. His life is still waiting for its biographer. It is sad that over the following years the archives of the Diveyevo monastery were lost, and those 20 notebooks that L. Chichagov did not have time to publish or, realizing that censorship would not let them through, did not even try to publish, also disappeared. Instead, myths continued to accumulate around the name of the monk, after canonization. To this day we do not have a reliable and critically verified life of St. Seraphim. It is precisely this circumstance that dictated the work of the late father Vsevolod Roshko. It must be admitted that at times it outgrows its intended scope: the Sarov Monastery in the first half of the 19th century is perceived after reading the book as a symbol of legalism and pharisaism, so displeasing to God 2 . Bringing to the attention of readers a voluminous study by Archpriest Vsevolod Roshko (1917 - 1984) about the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, we are aware that there is a huge literature about him 3. It would seem, is it worth returning to his life again, especially since this study was created by a Russian Catholic? Despite the fact that many books have been written about St. Seraphim, a truly scientific hagiographic study has not yet been created. Father Vsevolod decided to fill this gap. He did not have time to complete his work, and only after his death, with the participation of his elder brother, Protopresbyter George Roshko, rector of the Russian Church in Paris, six scattered articles were combined into one volume and published in Paris in French 4 . As an attempt at the first scientific research following V.N. Ilyin’s monograph, Father Vsevolod’s book has undoubted value, although, unfortunately, it was created in Paris and Jerusalem, far from the originals and Russian archives. And yet it is of interest not only to theologians. The study sheds light on the true relationship that developed between St. Seraphim and the brethren of the Sarov Monastery, which even his biographer L. Chichagov only hints at. The study closely concerns the monk’s concerns about the Diveyevo nuns, and also tells a lot about his students and later biographers. Thanks to the research of Father Vsevolod, many of the predictions of St. Seraphim become clear, which to this day are interpreted at random, in isolation from the true events and historical background. Undoubtedly, it is worth at least briefly talking about the author of the book. His father, Leonid Aleksandrovich Roshko, was a naval officer and served in the Black Sea Fleet. His father's elder brother, Vladimir, was an officer in the Crimean Tatar army and in August 1914 served at the headquarters of General Samsonov. Leonid Alexandrovich's wife, Maria Alekseevna Alexandrova, had huge income from textile factories. This was a wealthy, deeply cultured family that had apartments in St. Petersburg and Moscow, an estate in the Tula province in Chernsky district, a house in Odessa and a castle in France, in Cannes. The future priest, Vsevolod, was born on May 12, 1917 in Moscow. After the revolution, at the end of 1917, parents with three children (Vsevolod was the youngest) left for Japan, where they lived for several months. In the summer of 1918, the Roshko family moved to California, where they lived for about two years. In the early 20s they returned to Europe, lived briefly in Paris, and then moved to Germany. Subsequently, in 1923, they finally settled in Paris. The future priest graduated from high school in 1936 in Paris and entered the university. In 1934, his older brother George, independently, without any outside influences, converted to Catholicism and the following year entered the Theological Academy in Rome. Vsevolod, following his brother, also converted to Catholicism and decided to become a priest. He first entered a Dominican monastery, and at the end of the war he entered the Theological Academy in Paris. After the war I went to Rome. There he was ordained to the priesthood in 1946. The elder brother, despite the fact that during the war he was already a priest, served in the French army with the rank of major. When Vsevolod's consecration took place in Rome, Father George was in Berlin. After his ordination, Father Vsevolod (and he became a Catholic according to the Orthodox rite) served a Russian refugee camp in Italy. But soon he was sent to Argentina, to Buenos Aires, where he served until 1950. He was then transferred to Chile, where he served in Santiago de Chile for a year and a half. But since there were few Russian emigrants there and even fewer Catholics, he soon returned to Paris. Many times they discussed with their brother the state of affairs in Alaska, where many Orthodox Christians lived in the 19th century - both Russians and Eskimos and Aulets. Once Father Vsevolod said to his brother: “4 If you think that a priest is needed there, then I am ready to go there.” Soon he received permission from Rome and went to the USA. Having settled in Alaska, he lived there for ten years. His ministry took place in the town of Dillingham, where he himself built a small wooden church and a church house 5. He visited villages where Orthodox Christians lived, since there were not enough Orthodox priests and they visited no more than once or twice a year. Father Vsevolod baptized, preached, married, performed funeral services. He lived as a hermit, worked a lot, studied and wrote. The natives loved him. Living conditions were difficult, and when his older brother visited him on the way to Japan, he realized that Father Vsevolod could not stay in Dillingham longer - his health was undermined by backbreaking work and difficult living conditions. In 1964, at the request of Pope Paul VI, with the support of the Patriarch of Antioch, Maximus IV, a House for Poor Pilgrims, now known as the “House of Abraham,” was opened in Jerusalem. A highly cultured priest, Father Zhelil, was appointed director of the House. On the recommendation of Father George Roshko, Father Vsevolod, who knew Orthodoxy very well, was appointed his deputy. After leaving Alaska, he settled in Jerusalem, where he spent the last eighteen years of his life. He visited Russia twice - in the late 70s and early 80s. Lean, stooped, taciturn, it seemed that he was completely detached from ordinary worldly life, from its worries and vanity. However, this was a deceptive impression. He carefully observed what was happening around him and always, when needed, hurried to help. He repeatedly met with Father Alexander Men, whom he valued as a pastor and theologian, and with other Moscow priests 6 . During those short visits, he was remembered as a person with genuine interest in the life of Russian Orthodoxy. A creative and effective faith lived in him. With his direct assistance, the “Children’s Prayer Book” was published in the West, which was created here in Moscow together with children. He loved to joke and appreciated a good joke. He liked to say: “Here, in the Holy Land, the evil one is forbidden to stay, that’s why it’s called Holy. Therefore, he is forced to jump from one shoulder to the other.” His correspondence with his father Alexander Men has been preserved, unfortunately only partially published. The range of his scientific and theological interests was quite wide. He is the author of several articles, including those devoted to the history of Orthodoxy in Alaska, Archpriest Avvakum and his martyrdom, 7 and a number of Eastern saints, including the Palestinian holy fool Simeon Sallos. Father Vsevolod was painfully worried about the split between Orthodoxy and Catholicism. Being a Catholic priest, he wrote in one of his letters to Father Alexander Menu: “The Latin ascetics are probably no worse than ours, but they followed a very free path. After forty years of communication, their prayer path remains foreign to me. I feel the same as X., who wrote to you that during the Week of Unity she found a common prayer language only... among the Ethiopians! You will find it among the Armenians, and in the Eastern Churches in general, but not at all in the Western Churches. This is a tragedy and no one recognizes it, only some people vaguely feel it...” 8 Remaining a Russian person at heart, he treated Catholicism with special demands, recognizing at the same time its merits: “Contrary to its reputation, the Catholic spirit is distinguished by respect for our loneliness before the Creator. He has a special wisdom, a special sensitivity to the breath of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual father and the believer himself judge not only in the light of Tradition, but also by direct recognition of the ways of God, which can be completely new. That everyday life is full of mistakes is another matter. Of course, you will find such wisdom among the Orthodox, but these are individual sages, not collective wisdom. Here the Catholic Church turns out to be more Catholic than the Orthodox Church” 9. Thanks to the surviving correspondence, it is possible to trace how the work of Fr. Vsevolod on the study of St. Seraphim. At first, he did not imagine that it would grow into a voluminous work. In his preface to the French edition, Fr. Rouleau explains in detail how this book was reconstructed from scattered articles. We once again follow Fr. Vsevolod we will go through the path of his search. The beginning of work on the study of sources should be dated back to October 1979, when Fr. Vsevolod returned after his first trip to Russia. He begins work on the life of the Sarov holy fool Pelageya and is looking for a magazine in the West that could publish his article. In a letter dated August 8, 1980, he reports that an article about the holy fool Pelageya will be published in the fall and immediately adds: “Now I am writing about Avvakum as an example of Russian religious darkness, but also steadfastness in his convictions” 10. Returning to Jerusalem after his second trip to Russia, he writes: “I found a lot of material in the libraries of France and have now completed a new work, The Life of St. Seraphim and historical criticism"….Life of St. Seraphim is inseparable from the fate of the Diveyevo Monastery, just as the Gospels are inseparable from the Acts of the Apostles...” 11 Getting more and more deeply involved in his work, Father Vsevolod simultaneously studies the biographies of S. A. Nilus, whom he very successfully defines as a “mythomaniac,” the Optina elder Barsanuphius, who was removed from Optina Hermitage by the same Bishop Seraphim Chichagov, who, shortly before this, achieved the removal from Optina of S. A. Nilus himself, who lived not far from the monastery along with his wife and former mistress. Father Vsevolod has many questions in connection with Nilus’s publication of the famous “Conversations of St. Seraphim with N. A. Motovilov.” He writes: “Without a doubt, the idea of ​​the Conversation is brilliant, although flawed in its presentation. This is the teaching of St. Macarius the Great. The church itself begins every ritual with the troparion “To the Heavenly King.” Where did this document come from? The answer is along with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It was published by the man who made public the “Great Diveyevo Secret.” This means the source is more than suspicious. His explanation about the discovery of the manuscript is an absurd fable... In essence, the “Conversation” is a theological treatise, which was written by a person who knows the teachings of the hesychasts very well, but has forgotten Orthodox dogmas. Everything is based on the fact that only the breath of the Holy Spirit distinguishes a person from an animal. Horror seizes you when you try to draw consequences from such a basis... Meanwhile, the Monk Seraphim especially revered the Teachers of Orthodoxy and “recited entire chapters about them in memory” (Chronicle, p. 198). And Nilus, of course, did not write this document, just as he did not compose the “Protocols”. But in the style of the beginning and end of “Conversation” one can feel the pen of Nilus, a professional journalist. Well written! And Motovilov has a colorless syllable. His outstanding feature is colorless objectivity... ...I will begin to write about “The Conversation” only when I have finished analyzing all the sources available to me. My first article will be about sources other than Chichagov and Nilus. The second is about Chichagov and the archives. But for this I need to do a complete analysis of Chichagov... I don’t know who will risk publishing my research? The result is a whole book that is sure to cause such a stir! If God wills, Father Seraphim will help! St. Seraphim is highly revered by Catholics” 12. Soon Father Vsevolod reports: “I have completed a critical analysis of the sources about St. Seraphim. The 4th article plus a synthesis article is not intended for Russian readers, where I can express myself clearly, criticize and where I am not obliged to prove anything, plus an analytical list of names (for now only sisters). I do not hope to publish this last work, since it is of interest only to researchers... The 2nd and 3rd articles have now been published. How the Orthodox will react remains to be seen. The critique is now over. If the reaction is unfavorable, I will begin, based on my analytical list, a long article retelling how each of the eight main witnesses saw St. Seraphim" 13. A year later, having visited France, on April 13, 1984, Father Vsevolod wrote: “I returned and began to sort out my notes and freshly began to write my 6th article: “Biography of St. Seraphim - myths and reality.” I just graduated now. My 5th article will be out soon. It seems my efforts are enjoying success. Orthodox Christians read with interest. Vatican Radio regularly broadcasts something in Russian. They ask you to write an article “Reverend Seraphim of Sarov” for the large Spiritual Encyclopedia” 14. Along the way, Father Vsevolod is studying “Tales of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father.” Along with The Conversation, this anonymous collection is one of the highest works of spiritual literature in Russia of the 19th century. Father Vsevolod notes: “Stories” are very popular in the West. They were published several times in French, English, Italian, German, probably Spanish, even Arabic and Japanese. It is known that they were first published by Paisius, a former Sarov monk. Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes that he corrected them, supplemented them (letter 1156) and sent them for reprinting. The original edition is nowhere to be found. So I accidentally found one sheet from the original edition - 4 pages and also from the most central episode: the end of the first story. Out of four pages, Bishop Theophan made eleven - he added detailed teachings and spoiled the beauty and nobility of the people's style. And the original text is completely orthodox, as Bishop Theophan himself claims 15. In a previous letter, I wrote to him about my impressions and meetings with representatives of the Synodal Church Abroad in the USA. Then I had the feeling that the “Karlovites” surprisingly “coincide” with the conservative wing of the Russian Orthodox Church, despite the fact that they completely accuse the episcopate and the priesthood of collaborating with godless authorities. Father Vsevolod wrote: “...My brother talks about the degeneration of Karlovka residents. But many, especially young people, are not fanatics. The canonization of the royal family turned out to be awkward: they no longer dare to serve a prayer service, and the laity are perplexed why memorial services are no longer being served for the murdered.” In his last letter he says: “I just finished the 6th and last article of the analysis. There are only 78 typewritten pages. Thank God I brought it to the end. Now, probably, the 5th article has been published” 16. In the same letter, intending to continue the research, he asks to send excerpts and quotes about St. Seraphim from the magazine “The Helmsman.” But he was not destined to complete this work. I received the last letter from Father Vsevolod three days before his death - December 11, 1984. He was planning to go to France, where he intended to undergo a medical examination, and was thinking about death: “On the 27th I will go to France, where they will conduct research on my coronary vessels. And perhaps they will decide to have surgery. If they decide to have surgery, it means it is not so dangerous. After all, even now my life is quite bearable. In general, I can say that this doesn’t bother me much. There are so many tragedies all over the world - what about me? If I am destined to soon meet with the Monk Seraphim, then is this really such a disaster? Or will he not approve of what I wrote about him?..” In the same letter, he reports that he has just completed the sixth and final article about the life of the monk. Reflecting on the feat of St. Seraphim, Father Vsevolod writes: “What next? I can write about a lot, but I’m unlikely to live long. Observing the lives of my friends, the thought came to me yesterday that the most important thing worth saying is that St. Seraphim was wise as a snake and simple as a dove, i.e. he perfectly fulfilled the commandment to love one’s neighbor” 17. This insight of Father Vsevolod is not accidental - with his life he also fulfilled the Gospel commandment to love one’s neighbor. Being a moneyless person, he constantly helped in word and deed to everyone who needed it. Therefore, it is no coincidence that his book is returning to Russia today. He worked a lot for Russia, which is why the untimely death of Father Alexander Men believed that it was important to translate his research about St. Seraphim into Russian and familiarize Russian readers with it. Today we have two examples of Orthodox hagiography: the life of Elder Silouan, created by Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov), and the life of Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) - M. A. Popovsky. They combine a sober view, the literary talent of the authors and reliability. 18 Of course, they should become examples of Russian hagiography. One can only hope that the research of Archpriest Vsevolod Roshko will serve as an impetus for the creation of a reliable life of one of the greatest Russian saints - St. Seraphim of Sarov 19. The book is published thanks to the support of Protopresbyter Georgiy Roshko. We would like to express our gratitude to the library staff of the Moscow Theological Academy for their assistance in finding and verifying numerous quotations, as well as to the director of the Martis publishing house, V.P. Lege, for his constant assistance. “When God creates a saint, Satan creates his biographer.” This joke of Huysmans contains some truth, as the case of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Not all lives of St. Seraphim is doubtful, but many; it is known that one of his hagiographers was none other than Sergei Nilus, notorious for publishing an admitted forgery called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. So it was Nilus who published the “Conversation”. Therefore, no one is surprised that this true pearl of Russian spirituality has come to us in such a form where the sayings of St. Seraphim are mixed with theories completely alien to him, the source of which should be sought in “The History of the Soul” (1830) by Schubert, a follower of Schelling, whose teachings were preached in Kyiv around 1840 by Feofan Avsenev. One should study very carefully this text, which contains both a wonderful teaching about the Holy Spirit and a doctrine (of the creation of the world, etc.) that goes back more to natural philosophy than to the traditional teaching of the Church. 20 It becomes clear why Father Vsevolod Roshko considered it necessary to undertake a critical study of the sources at his disposal. It was a precondition for a worthy conversation about St. Seraphim. There is no doubt about the holiness of St. Seraphim, but, on the contrary, it was precisely the conviction of his outstanding holiness that prompted the author not to be afraid of historical criticism; he knew that such a comparison, even minute and detailed, would only exalt a true saint. In the course of his work, Father Roshko encountered additional difficulties: since the canonization of St. Seraphim never published the original evidence, but only a generalization of it. And although this synthesis is a voluminous volume, it is still not able to replace the primary sources. The originals are stored in the USSR, and there is too little chance that they will be published or become available. It remained to use from a critical angle those sources that have reached us. And here the author encountered an unexpected surprise, but this time a happy one. In the certificates about Rev. Seraphim had such a great share of the miraculous that the historian did not dare to cite the facts, doubting the veracity of the witnesses. However, a careful study of the various testimonies collected before the canonization of St. Seraphim, proved that the witnesses are excellent and the facts presented should be taken very seriously. This conviction became more and more clear to Father Vsevolod Roshko and inspired his research. As the historian continued his work, something else became obvious: the center of gravity of the life of St. Seraphim moved from Sarov to Diveevo. To be precise, we note that most existing biographies focus on the Sarov Monastery, of which Father Seraphim was a monk, while the study of Fr. Vsevolod shows that the main activity of the saint was his work on the construction of the Diveyevo monastery. This change is not so much of a geographical as of a spiritual order. In his own monastery, the monk faced considerable difficulties and was even persecuted. It is clear that this was not reflected in the lives published in Sarov. At the same time, checking with the Beatitudes - including the beatitude of being banished - is the best criterion of holiness, an additional illustration of this is the life of St. Seraphim. Father Vsevolod considered it his duty to be guided by this thought. This is the route of the search for Fr. Vsevolod Roshko. These are some of the fundamental truths that inspired his search and, as the work progressed, came to life before him in all its irrefutability. As for the studies combined here, the first six were published from 1983 to 1985 in the magazine “Flame”, at the Center for Russian Studies in Meudon. They are supplemented by a general essay, “St. Seraphim in the Face of Historical Criticism,” published by him in the journal “Christian Middle East” (ХХХШ, 1983). Having said a few words about the articles, it is necessary to recall the main thing: the spirit that inspired this work. It is best to let Fr. himself speak. Vsevolod. November 21, 1984 - after the first attack of illness, when he felt that he would not have time to complete his work on St. Seraphim, he wrote to a friend: “Finally I moved on to work on the last critical sketch. The hagiographical work itself will require some time for reflection to change the register... But it doesn’t matter: Seraphim is loved so much that someone else will not fail to do it. I will meet Rev. soon. Seraphim, and he will ask me: “Did you speak correctly about me?” That's the question. All my life I have been no less afraid of false thoughts than of bad deeds. Indeed, God is not only Love, but also Truth.” Father Vsevolod Roshko died in Jerusalem on December 13, 1984. The sixth sketch remained unfinished on his desk. Since this was his own desire, we also wish that this preliminary critical work would encourage someone from the younger generation to create a new life of St. Seraphim, more accurate and truthful, which will help us better know and love the one in whom there is so much humility and light. The first attempt to collect biographical information about L. M. Chichagov, Metropolitan Seraphim, was made in the two-volume collection “Thy will be done” (St. Petersburg, 1993). Unfortunately, most of the collection is devoted to documents related to the canonization of St. Seraphim, as well as the publication of the preaching heritage of Metropolitan Seraphim. His personal archive was confiscated during his arrest in November 1937. The fate of the archive is unknown. It is no coincidence that during the rule of the Bolsheviks, the Sarov monastery was almost completely destroyed after the Second World War (only the bell tower and a few cells remained) and turned into a nuclear center - the closed city “Arzamas-16”. On the contrary, the small Diveyevo community survived all the persecution in the 19th century, survived and survived. Its churches survived into the 20th century. So when in 1991 the relics of St. Seraphim were again revealed to Russia, they went to rest not in Sarov, but in Diveevo. See the recent two-volume work “The Pleasant of God Seraphim” (1993, compiled by Abbot Andronik (Trubachev) and A. N. Strizhev), dedicated to St. Seraphim. The second volume contains a detailed bibliography. The book was published in 1987 and is called “Reverend Seraphim: Sarov and Diveevo.” In one of his letters, he wrote to me: “I also built not only housing, but also an entire church in Alaska. This is great joy. I remember her with tenderness. I didn't want to know what happened to her. But recently I was informed that it was destroyed. This is our destiny. However, there is a legend that the Orthodox natives (to whom I could not give it) moved it up the river to the old villages...” Letter dated December 10, 1982. Author’s archive. Nun Victorina, who belonged to the “Catacomb Church” during the years of persecution and in the 60s. former nun and treasurer of the Gormen monastery in Jerusalem, Father Alexander wrote: “As for Father Vsevolod, I am sorry that you underestimated him. He is a spiritually sensitive and deep priest, very fond of Orthodoxy and Russia (Communication by A. N. Tsukerman, Jerusalem). Having completed work on the article about Archpriest Avvakum, Father Vsevolod wrote: “So far, the article about Avvakum is of little interest - it is only a protest that he is not a confessor. I tried to show that he has a pronounced Eastern traditionalism. It was this quality that made him a fanatic, although the same quality brings very valuable results.” Letter dated May 25, 1982. Author's archive. "ABOUT. Vsevolod Roshko and Fr. Alexander Men: Correspondence. About Western and Eastern Christianity". Publication by priest Ilya Shmain. Unfortunately, the correspondence was censored and the translation from French of letters from Fr. Vsevolod Roshko. See: Bulletin of the RHD. Paris., No. 165, p. 45. Letter dated August 8, 1980. Author's archive. Letter dated March 14, 1982. Author's archive. Letter dated July 27, 1982. Author's archive. Father Vsevolod never had time to begin analyzing the “Conversation”. Several pages have been published in the French edition - the first approach to the topic. In this edition we omit them, since we hope to publish the original “Conversations” in the near future. Only after the publication of the document will many controversial issues become clear. Letter dated November 14, 1983. Author's archive. Letter dated April 13, 1984. Author's archive. Letter dated August 13, 1984. Author's archive. In the Russian edition we omit the appendix about “The Wanderer's Tales” included in the French edition. This sketch was published in Russian in issue No. 15 of the Symbol magazine. It gave rise to a wave of scientific publications dedicated to the "Stories". See Symbol, No. 27. Letter dated December 11, 1984. Author's archive. Letter dated December 11, 1984. Father Vsevolod died on December 13. Author's archive. Unfortunately, these features do not distinguish the recent study of Hieromonk Damascene (Orlovsky) “Martyrs, confessors and ascetics of piety of the Russian Orthodox Church of the 20th century” (Tver, 1992). Hieromonk Damascene, a former graduate of the Literary Institute, is the only one who received the opportunity, as a member of the Synodal Commission for the Rehabilitation of New Martyrs, to work for several years in the archives of the former KGB. Apparently, first of all, the protocols of interrogations of the new martyrs should have been published in order to present the greatness of their feat. The two-volume collection “The Saint of God Seraphim,” prepared by Abbot Andronik (Trubachev) and A. N. Strizhev, is the first and not entirely successful attempt to collect evidence about the saint. Along with reliable descriptions, all the opuses of S. A. Nilus, apocrypha attributed to St. Seraphim and Archpriest John of Kronstadt, which clearly arose in the post-revolutionary period, are included. At the same time, “Tales of the life and exploits of Elder Seraphim...” of Abbot Georgiy (St. Petersburg, 1844), one of the first biographies of the saint, as well as the unpublished Diveyevo archives are not included. Nothing is said about their fate. Let us refer to Irina Goryaynova’s book “Seraphim of Sarov”, series “Theophany” (Desclee de Brouwer, 1979). It contains a complete translation of the Conversations. According to Fr. Vsevolod Roshko, the dubious part of the text begins on p. 166 (story of creation). Studying the text should be the subject of further research.