Early hagiographies about St. Seraphim of Sarov

Contents Biography of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius Biography of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Georgy Biography of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Abel Tales of the events of the life of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, collected by Hieromonk Joasaph Sources The veneration of saints in the Orthodox Church is an integral part of church life. Orthodox Christians are in living prayerful communion with a bright host of saints, whose lives serve as an example to follow and show the way to those who want to be saved. The lives of the holy saints of God have been and to this day remain the favorite reading of Orthodox Christians. The host of saints who have shone in the Russian land is great and varied. Among this multitude of lamps of God, the name of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, who embodied the Gospel image of true Christianity in spirit and truth, shines with special light (John 4:24). St. Seraphim of Sarov not only achieved personal salvation and holiness, not only taught salvation to the people around him, but also reminded the world of the very purpose of human life. The solemn glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov took place in 1903 on the initiative of Emperor Nicholas II and became an exceptional event not only in the life of the Church, but also of the entire country. St. Seraphim of Sarov had a huge influence on the spiritual life of Russia in the 19th century. According to the ever-remembered Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II, “teaching and instructing, warning and denouncing, the Reverend admonished Russia before the troubles that the Spirit of God was given to him to foresee. These troubles became a terrible reality in the 20th century, which began with the glorification of the Sarov ascetic and continued with sorrow - a sorrow so great that, in the prophetic words of the saint, “there has not been anything like it since the beginning of the world” 1 . As the veneration of St. Seraphim of Sarov grows, so does interest in the personality of the saint, his hagiographic narratives and spiritual heritage. The question arises about what sources the hagiographical tales and collections of instructions of the monk are based on. In this article we will look at the very first hagiographies about Seraphim of Sarov, their features, sources and degree of reliability. The first biographies of St. Seraphim of Sarov appeared long before his glorification. They were compiled by witnesses and eyewitnesses of his exploits. These were monastics who began their monastic journey in the Sarov desert and personally knew the monk in the last period of his life. To date, four such hagiographies are known. In 1841, the first biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov was published, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius, who labored in the Sarov monastery under the guidance of the saint for about 15 years. Three years later, in 1844, the St. Petersburg magazine Mayak published a biography of St. Seraphim, compiled by Father George, a former Sarov hotelier Gury, who knew the elder for 5 years. Then, in 1848, the book “A Brief Spiritual Ladder Elevating a Christian to the Love of God” was published, which told about the elders of the Sarov Hermitage, including St. Seraphim. The author of the book was Hieromonk Abel, who knew the monk for three years and subsequently published a separate life of the Sarov ascetic. In 1849, a biography of St. Seraphim was published, compiled from the stories of Hieromonk Joasaph, a former novice of John, who lived next to the Rev. for more than 12 years. All of the above-mentioned compilers of hagiographies about St. Seraphim left the Sarov monastery for one reason or another after the death of the elder and published their works when they were already asceticizing in other monasteries. Three compilers published the biographies of St. Seraphim of Sarov, being under the roof of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which had a special connection with St. Seraphim. In 1831, the Sarov elder predicted a transfer to the Lavra and gave the commandment to her vicar, the Monk Anthony (Medvedev), later a friend and confessor of St. Philaret of Moscow (Drozdov), to receive the Sarov monks and not to forget the Diveyevo orphans. The Monk Anthony, who himself began his monastic journey at the Sarov monastery, fulfilled this order of the great ascetic. We will consider the history of the creation and publication of the named biographies of the saint, as well as information about their compilers, below, but first we need to say about one more researcher of the life of St. Seraphim. This is a Simbirsk and Arzamas landowner, a conscientious judge 2 Nikolai Aleksandrovich Motovilov (1809–1879). The name of Motovilov is inseparably linked with the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov. In 1831, the Reverend healed N.A. Motovilov from an incurable illness, and he subsequently became an interlocutor and companion of the Sarov ascetic, who recorded a conversation “On the Purpose of Christian Life,” and after the death of the elder, he became a long-term trustee of the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery. Motovilov acquired and donated to the Diveyevo community the main lands on which it settled. Motovilov was buried in Diveevo, at the altar of the Kazan Church. In 2003, in the manuscript department of the Russian National Library, a “Memorandum” by N.A. Motovilov to Metropolitan Isidore of St. Petersburg and Novgorod for 1861 was discovered, from which it is clear that N.A. Motovilov also made attempts to compile a biography of Seraphim of Sarov. In the fall of 1834, he traveled “to Kursk, the homeland of Father Seraphim, both to collect information from his relatives and close acquaintances, still alive, about the first years of his life, and to purchase two thousand apple trees for planting in his Melnichnaya Devicheskoy Diveevo community garden” 3. It is likely that all information about the Kursk period of the life of St. Seraphim is known from the stories of N.A. Motovilov. In the same manuscript, which is autobiographical in nature, Motovilov says that already in 1835–1836 he compiled his notes “about the life of this Great Elder Seraphim” 4. Later, according to information from Priest Georgy Pavlovich, “probably in the mid-1840s, he also intended to publish detailed biographies of St. Seraphim and Archbishop Anthony (Smirnitsky) in the Mayak magazine (a draft of this work was preserved in the papers of the magazine publisher S.A. Burachka in the manuscript department of the Institute of Russian Literature) and is mentioned in a letter dated May 2 1845 of the abbot of the Sarov desert Isaiah (Putilov) to his brother, Rev. Anthony (Putilov)" 5. Then, in August 1861, N.A. Motovilov handed over to N.V. Elagin a manuscript with brief information “about the life and personal conversations with me of Father Father Seraphim for introduction to his new and wonderful biography” 6 . Thus, as Priest Georgy Pavlovich said, “N.A. Motovilov was and remains the most important witness, an eye-witness of Father Seraphim, one of his biographers” 7 . Currently, there is a biography entitled “The Life, Deeds and Death of the Sarov Desert of the Hieromonk and Desert Dweller Father Seraphim,” attributed to N.A. Motovilov. Motovilov was named as the author of this manuscript by A.N. Strizhev, who prepared its publication in 1993 in the collection “God's Pleasant Seraphim,” although when he first published the same manuscript in 1990 in the journal “Literary Studies,” he designated it as “the manuscript of a nameless Sarov monk” 8. Modern researchers have convincingly proven the fallacy of attributing this text to Motovilov 9 . Thus, today the question of the existence of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by N.A. Motovilov, remains open. Biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius The first biography of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov was written by Hieromonk Sergius, who in the preface explained the reason for its composition: “The Apostle Paul says: Remember your teachers who spoke the word of God to you: who, looking at the end of their lives, imitate their faith (Heb. 13:7). Therefore, in reverence for the Elder who died in Bose for his exemplary virtues, I set out to commemorate his life and exploits in a short writing.” 10 Father Sergius (in the world Stepan Vasilyev; 1795–1861), a retired provincial secretary, entered the Sarov Hermitage in 1818, where he pursued monastic asceticism under the guidance of the ascetic elders Mark (1739–1817) and Seraphim. In 1827, the novice Stepan was tonsured a monk with the name Sergius, in 1830 he was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon, in 1834 to the rank of hieromonk, and in the same year he was accepted to the post of treasurer of the Spaso-Bethans Monastery, which was under the control of the Lavra. In October 1852, Father Sergius was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Serpukhov Vysotsky Monastery. In July 1861, Archimandrite Sergius was retired to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he died peacefully in November of the same year. Archimandrite Sergius had a literary gift. In addition to the biographies of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov and the Sarov ascetic Elder Mark, compiled by him, Father Sergius subsequently prepared and published the book “The Glory of Our Most Holy Lady, Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary,” which contains historical information about the miracles and signs revealed by the Most Holy Theotokos in the Orthodox Church and about all Her miraculous icons. From the moment he entered the Sarov Monastery, Father Sergius collected and recorded information about the life and spiritual exploits of two ascetics of this monastery, as well as their instructions, teachings and manifestations of their inherent gift of clairvoyance and miracles. Already living in the Lavra, Father Sergius put his notes in order and already in 1837 he compiled the biographies of both elders. However, the publishing history of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov turned out to be very difficult and long, despite the support of famous hierarchs - St. Anthony and St. Philaret. In September 1838, Hieromonk Sergius submitted three petitions to the Moscow Committee of Spiritual Censorship for permission to publish: “Tales of the life and exploits of Father Seraphim of blessed memory, the Sarov Hermitage hieromonk and hermit”, “A brief outline of the life of the elder of the Sarov Hermitage, schemamonk and hermit Mark” and “Spiritual instructions of the father Seraphim, hieromonk of the Sarov desert, hermit and recluse.” In his petition for the biography of St. Seraphim, Father Sergius wrote about the sources of his work: “Out of respect for the memory of the virtues of the Sarov Desert of the Elder Seraphim, I collected some features from his life, partly from the lips of the Elder himself, partly from the tales of the pious and trustworthy monks of the Sarov Desert who knew him personally, partly from my own observations, since, having lived in the Sarov Desert and After 15 years of his instructions, I myself saw and heard a lot related to his life” 11. The petition does not say anything about the use of data from the monastery archive, but at the same time, specific dates are given in the hagiographic narrative, most of which are confirmed, but there are also inaccuracies. For example, the year of birth of St. Seraphim, the years of his ordination as hierodeacon and his return to the monastery from the desert are incorrectly indicated. In the Spiritual Censorship Committee, manuscripts with biographies of Sarov ascetics were examined and approved for publication, but for the final resolution of the issue they were sent to the Synod, since “these manuscripts not only describe the lives and deeds of virtuous people, but present in pious ascetics special gifts of the Grace of God, such as: visions, insights into the future and predictions and gifts of healing” 12 . In the Synod, the matter of publishing the biographies was suspended: the leading member of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Seraphim (Glagolevsky), who was very distrustful of supernatural and miraculous phenomena, did not agree to the publication of the lives of the elders, since they were replete with these phenomena. Saint Philaret firmly defended what was stated in the Lives and ensured that, at least, consent was given to print the story of the life of Schemamonk Mark “with the exception of some places” 13. “A Brief Outline of the Life of the Elder of the Sarov Hermitage, Schemamonk and Hermit Mark” was published in 1839. In the same edition, “Spiritual instructions of Father Seraphim, Sarov Hermitage Hieromonk, Hermit and Recluse” were published, and the biography of Father Mark occupied the first ten pages of the book, and on the remaining 63 pages 33 spiritual instructions of the Venerable were placed. This publication became the first of the currently known works dedicated to St. Seraphim. The manuscript of the hagiography of St. Seraphim of Sarov had to pass through the hands of several hierarchs before it appeared in print. Initially, it was sent for consideration to Metropolitan of Kyiv and Galicia Filaret (Amphiteatrov). He approved it, but offered to obtain the testimony of the Tambov bishop. After this, the Synod considered it necessary to conduct research about Elder Seraphim at the site of his exploits and, by decree of May 21, 1840, demanded from the then Tambov Bishop Arseny (Moskvin) information regarding the miraculous events contained in his life. The Bishop, who personally knew Elder Seraphim, approved the manuscript and in October 1840 provided detailed feedback on the reliability of the legends. In particular, he wrote about his experience of communication with the Reverend: “I find the aforementioned manuscript in all its details to be completely consistent with the truth... As for the gift of clairvoyance, there can be a lot of witnesses to this from all classes, among which I can almost include myself. For in the first year of my stay in the Tambov diocese, I was in the Sarov desert and in the desert cell of Father Seraphim, and even in his special prayer cell, which could only place a person in a standing position, I saw him himself, talked with him for a long time and received from him some things as a keepsake, in which, and even more so in his words and actions, the consequences quite clearly indicated to me and, probably, will still indicate his insight into the future. This was the last year of his life, and I was no longer destined to see him again” 14. But even after this, the matter with the manuscript did not move forward, although both Saint Philaret and Saint Anthony were already hoping for its completion. In a letter dated December 6, 1840, Saint Philaret wrote: “In order to the life of Fr. Seraphim to print the previous study about his life, this cannot be thought about. I thought about suggesting that instead of a preface, print the report of the Right Reverend of Tambov, but this was not possible either: the Bishop of Novgorod again rebelled with his bewilderment about the miraculous events, and Metropolitan Jonah 15 complained that the Right Reverend of Tambov did not name the witnesses by name, and even said that there were more witnesses of an opposing opinion and that the Right Reverend hid this. Apparently, the abbot of Sarov sinned 16 and wrote his dark thoughts to Metropolitan Jonah. I managed to ease Jonah’s doubts, and came to terms with the Bishop on the fact that if His Eminence of Podolsk 17, who had not read the book, reads it and does not doubt it, then there will be enough votes in its favor. The matter stopped there." 18 Archbishop Kirill (Bogoslovsky-Platonov) of Podolsk, having read the manuscript, wrote in his review submitted to the Synod in February 1841: “After a careful reading of this manuscript, I did not find anything doubtful about its publication, due to the edifying nature of the legend for lovers of the monastic life. Which publication, in light of this, I recognize for my part as decent and because the spiritual instructions of Fr. Seraphim, the recluse of the Sarov monastery, filled with deep gospel wisdom, have already been published” 19. As a result, on September 30, 1841, at a meeting of the Moscow Committee of Spiritual Censorship, it was decided to allow the manuscript to be printed, and in December 1841, the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius, was printed in the printing house of Moscow University. It is still unknown what kind of editing this biography was subjected to during its long history, since the original manuscript has not been found, and in a letter to St. Anthony dated January 10, 1855, Saint Philaret recalls: “I think I told you what difficulties there were in the Synod when considering the life of Fr. Seraphim and how even after inquiry and confirmation of what was written, some passages were excluded” 20. At the end of the 20th century, St. Petersburg researcher T.R. Rudy discovered in the library of the Academy of Sciences, in the collection of the Tikhvin Great Assumption Monastery, a manuscript of the biography of St. Seraphim. As a result of her research, Rudy came to the conclusion that the Tikhvin manuscript “is a copy of the original, lengthy version of the biography of Seraphim of Sarov, written by Hieromonk Sergius and published by him in 1841 in a somewhat abbreviated form” 21 . However, today there is information that contradicts this statement. Information about the Tikhvin manuscript will be discussed in more detail below, since on the basis of this manuscript a new, more complete hagiographic account of St. Seraphim was prepared. In 1844, the second edition of the biographies of Sarov ascetics, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius, was published in its entirety: “Tales of the life and exploits of Father Seraphim of blessed memory, the Sarov desert hieromonk and recluse. With the addition of his spiritual instructions and the outline of the life of the elder of the Sarov hermitage, schema-monk and hermit Mark.” Then, in 1851, this book was republished with the addition to the life of Elder Seraphim of the “Words” of the holy fathers on humility and inner prayer. In 1858, a new edition appeared, differing from the previous one by a more precise name and the signature of the preface “Archimandrite Sergius” instead of “I.C.” (hieromonk Sergius) in editions of 1841, 1844 and 1851. The short biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius, became the basis for all subsequent biographies of the saint. And his difficult and long path to publication attracted the attention of a large number of church hierarchs to the hagiographic account of St. Seraphim, who certified its truth. Biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk George Three years after the publication of the biography of Father Seraphim, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius, the St. Petersburg magazine “Mayak” published “Tales of the life and exploits of Elder Seraphim, Hieromonk of the Sarov Hermitage and Recluse, extracted from the notes of his student.” This biography was accepted for publication in July 1844. The author of this hagiographic narrative was not indicated, and the last phrase in the title of the text seemed to indicate that the publisher was not its author, but only published the notes of a certain disciple of the great ascetic. The same reason for publication is stated in the preface of the life: “It is precisely in our time that we must, with all possible care, collect, preserve and transmit to the public the slightest features of the pious life of such ascetics of virtue, such as our contemporaries Mark, Serapion, Georgy Mashurin and Seraphim - men known for holiness, one might say, throughout all pious Russia. Their wonderful feats and deeds are passed on from mouth to mouth by numerous eyewitnesses, hearers, students and everyone whom during their lifetime they edified, enlightened, consoled, healed with their wonderful word, deed, example and prayer. Now that all these witnesses are still alive and scattered throughout Russia, now it is time to publish, verify and supplement all the legends, similar to those that are here offered to the attention of our relatives, about Elder Seraphim, by one of his close disciples” 22. The name of the author of this biography of the saint became known only after the letters of St. Philaret to St. Anthony were published (in 1877–1884). In a letter dated September 14, 1844, Saint Philaret wrote: “As for the biography of O. Seraphim, published in Mayak: George, I think, is not much to blame for this. He let someone copy his creation: but I don’t think he was trying to get it published. Ask him about this and tell me. The printing of a book in a different way from what was decided by the Synod is not surprising at the present time, they say.” 23 Thus, it follows from the letter that the author of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, published in the Mayak magazine, lived in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. He was another former inhabitant of the Sarov Hermitage, Hieromonk Georgy (in the world Guriy Ivanov; 1797–1866), one of the freed peasants of Count Sheremetev. He came to the Sarov monastery in 1827, first serving as a cellarer, then as a monastery hotel attendant. Gostinnik Gury, who knew the Monk Seraphim for five years, is repeatedly mentioned in the “Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery” compiled by the Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) and in the “Memorandum” of N.A. Motovilov, the latter even calls him his friend. Another confirmation of the authorship of Father George was the Tikhvin manuscript of the biography of St. Seraphim, found by T.R. Rudy. The manuscript is a notebook (42 sheets), on the first sheet of which there are two entries: from one it follows that the manuscript belonged to the hieromonk of the Novgorod Yuriev Monastery Vladimir, and the other entry states: “Received on Easter Day 1842 from the author of the Bethany Monastery 24 hieromonk George 25.” “Throughout the entire manuscript,” Rudy notes, “there is extensive editing on top of the main text and in the margins: in pencil (stylistic) and in black ink (additions to the text), and the handwriting of the edits is different from the handwriting of the manuscript” 26. Having studied the Tikhvin manuscript, T.R. Rudi discovered that the text of the manuscript, taking into account the edits, almost completely, with the exception of small fragments, corresponds to the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, published in the Mayak magazine; they even contain the same mistake: the surname of St. Seraphim’s father is spelled incorrectly - “Moshkin” instead of “Moshnin”. In addition, according to Rudy, “when comparing the text with the texts of printed biographies of Seraphim of Sarov, it turned out that the text of the main handwriting of the manuscript coincides with the published life of Sergius... However, the main text of the manuscript is much more voluminous than the “Tales” published by Sergius and represents, as it were, a lengthy and, apparently, its original version” 27 . The title of the manuscript is “A brief outline of the life and exploits of the venerable and bright elder Seraphim, hieromonk of the Sarov desert and recluse” T.R. Rudy also considered it an indirect confirmation of the assumption that the biography of the Venerable, compiled by Father George, is a list of the text of the life belonging to Hieromonk Sergius. Because such a beginning - “A Brief Outline of Life” - is not found in any of the known biographies of St. Seraphim of Sarov, but this is how the life of Father Mark, written by Father Sergius, begins. The mistake in the surname, according to Rudy, suggests that the Tikhvin manuscript cannot be the original written by Father Sergius. As a result of the study, T.R. Rudy came to the conclusion: “The Life of Seraphim of Sarov, published in 1844 in the Mayak magazine by Abbot Georgiy, is not an independent text, but a special, “St. George’s” edition of the original, complete version of the Life compiled by Hieromonk Sergius, as indicated by its subtitle. The full text of the Life, compiled by Abbot Sergius, was preserved in one of the lists in the BAN manuscript from the collection of the Tikhvin Great Assumption Monastery, No. 15” 28. T.R.'s point of view Rudy on the history of the creation of the biography of St. Seraphim by Hieromonk Georgy is currently present in the literature about the life of the St. Seraphim, for example, in the work of the leading researcher at the Moscow Kremlin Museum, candidate of art history L.A. Shchennikova, “The Lives of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled in the 19th–20th centuries.” However, doubts arise regarding the validity of T.R.'s assertion. Rudy that the “Brief Outline of the Life” of St. Seraphim of Sarov was compiled by Hieromonk Sergius. The main problem is that Rudy's conclusion contradicts the testimony of St. Philaret that the biography published in the Mayak magazine belongs to Father George. I think that Saint Philaret’s awareness of this issue is undeniable, given his direct participation in the editing and process of publishing the biography compiled by Father Sergius. In addition, the “Tale” compiled by Father Sergius was subsequently republished three times, and thus Father Sergius had the opportunity to supplement and correct his work, but the text of the life remained “almost unchanged” 29 . In addition, the biographies of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Father George and Father Sergius, although they have a common basis (it cannot be otherwise, because they describe the life of one saint, and besides, the compilers lived nearby for some time), they still have their own characteristics. But the assumption of St. Philaret, expressed in the same letter dated September 14, 1844, that Father George himself did not “seek publication,” but gave someone “his creation,” in my opinion, is confirmed in the Tikhvin manuscript. T.R. Rudy claims regarding the biography, published in 1844 in the Mayak magazine, that “the publication was carried out precisely from this manuscript” 30, at the same time, according to the entry on the manuscript, the Tikhvin manuscript did not belong to Father George since 1842, as it was donated to him. In addition, the last phrase in the title - “extracted from the notes of his student” - and some comments to the text of the life also indicate that the author of the life did not prepare the text for publication. Here it must be said that there is another copy of the manuscript of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Father George, which also confirms this version. The manuscript is stored in the manuscript department of the Russian State Library (available in electronic form 31, added 02/13/2013). The manuscript dates back to the 19th century. On the binding there is a bookplate of the main library of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. At the same time, what makes it especially valuable for us is the owner’s note on the first page of the manuscript: “From the books of the governor T.S. Laurels Archimandrite Anthony" 32. The title of the manuscript in the OR RSL “A brief outline of the life and exploits of the venerable elder Seraphim, hieromonk of the Sarov desert and recluse” almost completely corresponds to the title of the Tikhvin manuscript: “A brief outline of the life and exploits of the venerable and bright elder Seraphim, hieromonk of the Sarov desert and recluse.” True, the volume of the manuscript stored in the OR RSL is slightly larger, it contains 47 sheets, and the volume of the Tikhvin manuscript is 42 sheets. When comparing the contents of the manuscript that belonged to St. Anthony with the contents of the Tikhvin manuscript, which is inaccessible, but which, as T.R. claims. Rudy, corresponds to the biography of St. Seraphim, published in the Mayak magazine, it turns out that the texts of the life in the manuscripts as a whole are almost absolutely identical, including, as already noted, an error in the surname of the father of St. Seraphim of Sarov. But still, there are some differences in the contents of the manuscripts. Firstly, the manuscript that belonged to the Monk Anthony, unlike the biography published in the Mayak magazine, was written in the first person. As an example, we can cite the story of St. Seraphim of Sarov about his condition after the Divine visions that he received during his service as a hierodeacon. The manuscript says: “Because of such indescribable joy of God, the elder continued, I cannot tell you that I was in the body or apart from the body, God knows; but I can only remember that I am leaving the church and, moreover, I will remember that I entered the nude” 33. In the life from the Mayak magazine, we read: “From such visions, his face changing, Seraphim was embraced by Divine love. “My heart felt like it was melting with unspeakable joy,” he once said to his disciple. “I can’t tell you what I was, in the body, or apart from the body, I don’t know; God knows; but I could only remember that I was leaving the Church, and I also remembered that I was entering it.” 34 Thus, the hypothesis that the text was published not by the compiler of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov himself is confirmed. Secondly, the manuscript that belonged to the Monk Anthony contains more information about the life of the Monk Seraphim. Here, in particular, it is said about the test that the monk underwent during his “exodus” into the desert: “The abbot ordered one retired soldier to overtake him on the way and hit him on the cheek, which is what happened: he overtook him and hit him on the cheek so hard that he fell to the ground, then he stood up and, according to the commandment of God, turned the other one to be strangled; that one had not yet dared to strike, but the elder remained in silence and walked in quick steps and retired to his deserted cell in [1794], in the autumn time” 35. This is not reported anywhere else in the biographies of St. Seraphim of Sarov. In addition, the manuscript contains prophecies about Russia, the words of St. Seraphim about the Diveyevo orphans and a teaching about marriage. The biography published in the Mayak magazine does not contain this information. Thirdly, in the manuscripts, which are copies of the same biography compiled by Father George, there are inconsistencies in dates. For example, let’s take the time of the Reverend’s departure from home. The biography published in the Mayak magazine says this: “At the age of 18 from birth, he received dismissal from the Kursk City Society to enter monasticism” 36, and the manuscript says about this: “at the fifteenth year from birth” 37, while the date of entry into the monastery is also indicated incorrectly - 1777. The date of birth of St. Seraphim in the manuscript, apparently, is simply indicated erroneously, as June 19, 1789. It is obvious that the text of the life was edited before publication. In general, it must be said that inaccuracies in dates and their inconsistency with the time periods indicated in the text are a distinctive feature of the biography compiled by Father George, as well as the artistic imperfection of the text as a whole. This can be explained by the fact that Father George, being a novice at the Sarov monastery, apparently did not have access to the archives of the monastery, and he left the Sarov monastery already in July 1833, six months after the death of the saint. In addition, apparently, Father George’s lack of literary experience and lack of time to compile his life had an impact. Father George found himself in the Spaso-Bethans Monastery in April 1841, just at the time when the epic with the publication of the biography of Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Father Sergius, was ending, and by Easter 1842 there was already a version of the biography of the Venerable, compiled by him. Although, of course, the possibility cannot be ruled out that Father George began composing his work before he came to the Lavra. It is quite possible that this was a “working” version of the life, which, as Saint Philaret assumed, was published without the knowledge of Father George. The history of the passage of the manuscript of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Father George, through censorship was also difficult. For the first time, the manuscript “A Brief Outline of the Life and Deeds of Elder Seraphim, Hieromonk of the Sarov Hermitage and Recluse” was considered by the spiritual censorship committee in October 1843 38 . The censor, Father Andrei Okunev, then considered it unworthy of publication due to carelessness in execution. L.I. Alyokhina, an employee of the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after Andrei Rublev, reports this in her work: “Father Andrei was well aware of the first Moscow edition of “The Tale of the Life and Deeds of Father Seraphim of Blessed Memory.” The main complaint against the compiler of the new edition was “important inconsistencies, contradictions and disagreements” with this particular edition, “which the author of this outline either rewrites word for word, then deviates from it, no longer adhering to sound criticism or unity in the incidents narrated, from which, undermining the truth, two completely different things emerge about the same person, even in essential facts, biographies." The censor did not list these inconsistencies, since “the work has no page numbers at all” and, accordingly, it is impossible to make references. The censor was outraged by “the blots and corrections... and even more so by the lack of purity and correctness of the language.”39 Less than a year later, in July 1844, the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, as edited by Father George, was approved for publication in the Mayak magazine. However, it saw the light already under the title “The Tale of the Life and Deeds of Elder Seraphim, Hieromonk of the Sarov Hermitage and Recluse, Extracted from the Notes of a Student” and in an edited form. This is clear from a note dated June 1, 1845 from the censor Father Andrei Okunev, who again received the manuscript with “The Legend”: “The book: The Legend of the life and exploits of Elder Seraphim with the appendix of a) a picture depicting him in his desert residence and b) a handwritten addition consisting of several spiritual sayings of Elder Seraphim, may be printed; all its inconsistencies with the previous edition, through corrections according to the instructions of the censorship, have been sufficiently eliminated” 40. True, then the censor wrote a new note stating that “the book: Tales of the life and exploits of Elder Seraphim can be released from the printing house only by printing a sheet of errors on it” 41 and attached a list of those errors that are found in the text. As a result, in 1845, “Tales” in an edited and corrected form (including the error in the surname of the father of St. Seraphim of Sarov) with some additions was published as a separate book. Despite all of the above, it is necessary to note the great significance of the new life of the Rev. that appeared in print. The biography of St. Seraphim, compiled by Father George, significantly exceeded in volume the published biography compiled by Father Sergius. It contained more information about some already known events from the life of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, for example, information about the blessing of Elder Dosifei was added to the story about the saint’s visit to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. In addition, a lot of new information was reported that was not mentioned in the biography compiled by Father Sergius. For example: about the Venerable Seraphim calling secluded places in the forest “the sacred names of the holy city of Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Golgotha, etc. in memory of the birth, suffering and resurrection of the Lord" 42 ; about the Sarov hermits, schemamonk Mark and hierodeacon Alexander, who visited the Reverend; about the feeding of forest animals by the Sarov ascetic, about the conversation of Father Seraphim with four Old Believers who came to him, etc. In all cases when Father Sergius spoke about divine visitations or spiritual visions of the Reverend, Father George described them more specifically. For example, talking about the serious illness of the Monk Seraphim in 1780, when he refused the help of doctors, placing himself in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother, Father Sergius wrote: “The next night he was honored with a certain divine visitation, and having received relief from the illness, he soon completely recovered” 43 . And Father George reported it this way: “Soon after this, the Mother of God visited him in a vision and laid her hands on his head; he received perfect healing" 44. In another case, when we are talking about Divine visions during church services, which the Monk Seraphim of Sarov received when he served in the rank of hierodeacon, Father Sergius limited himself to one phrase: “Having a mind cleansed of passions, he was repeatedly rewarded with spiritual visions” 45. Father George depicted these visions in detail: he spoke about the holy angels concelebrating with the brethren, described their appearance and the state of the Reverend at that time. As a result, he gave a story on behalf of the Venerable Seraphim himself about the glorious vision of the Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by heavenly powers at the Liturgy on Maundy Thursday. All the main dates in the hagiography of St. Seraphim, compiled by Father George, coincide with the dates from the life published by Father Sergius. There are only minor discrepancies and inaccuracies when time periods are indicated. In general, the biography compiled by Father George supplemented the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov with stories about divine visions and miracles, details of events, as well as teachings. Subsequently, the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Father George, was republished in 1874, 1898 and 1900, after his death. Biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Abel The third (by the time of publication) author of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov can be called Hieromonk Abel. He, like the two previous compilers, began his monastic journey in the Sarov monastery, lived there for about three years under the Venerable Seraphim, and then moved to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where he created his works: several books dedicated to the Sarov desert and its ascetics, as well as a book about the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. While living in the Lavra, Father Abel made trips to the Sarov monastery to work with the archives of the monastery and collect material for his books. V.A. Stepashkin, having studied the archive of the Sarov Hermitage, reported that when Father Abel arrived at the monastery in 1854, he “donated 100 rubles for the arrangement of the archive and library of the monastery... silver and immediately began studying archival materials, in which he was very successful. In the archive of the Sarov Desert, stored in Saransk, you can get acquainted with the work of Fr. Abel, consisting of three volumes" 46. In 1848, Father Abel’s first book, “A Brief Spiritual Ladder Elevating a Christian to the Love of God,” was published, which told about the elders of the Sarov Hermitage, including St. Seraphim. By 1853, Father Abel prepared for publication a manuscript entitled “The Community Sarov Hermitage and the Memorable Monks Who Labored in It.” The censor’s report about this manuscript stated: “This manuscript includes the book “Spiritual Ladder” previously published by Hieromonk Abel, containing a brief memoir about some ascetics who died in the Sarov Desert, and their spiritual instructions. Now the writer offers more detailed information about each of them, excluding Seraphim and Mark” 47. Thus, Father Abel did not include the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov in his new book. There are several assumptions about this, but the most convincing version is that Father Abel had an idea to publish the life of the Venerable as a separate book. He managed to accomplish this, but it is not yet known exactly when exactly. Today there is a “Legend about the life and exploits of the elder of the Sarov desert, Hieromonk Seraphim, with the appendix of his instructions. The second edition, corrected and expanded, is of Hieromonk Abel,” published in 1862 in the Moscow printing house “Semena.” In the files of the Moscow Committee of Spiritual Censorship, a petition dated December 1862 for permission to print this book, drawn up by the abbot of the Sarov Monastery Seraphim (Pestov), was preserved: “Presenting to this Censorship Committee a book entitled: The Life of Elder Seraphim, written on the book by the author of its Sergius Lavra, Hieromonk Abel, with an inscription, rightly placed again print that book for the benefit of the Sarov Hermitage entrusted to my management, I humbly ask the Censorship Committee to allow the biography of Elder Seraphim to be printed again” 48. A separate first edition of this biography of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov has not yet been discovered, but it must be said that in the second edition of the book “The Sociable Sarov Hermitage,” published in 1860, Father Abel placed an additional chapter, “A brief account of the life and exploits of the elder of the Sarov Hermitage, Hieromonk Seraphim, with the appendix of his instructions.” It is possible that the biography of St. Seraphim was printed from this “Brief Legend” in 1862. Of course, the basis of the biography of St. Seraphim, compiled by Hieromonk Abel, as well as the basis of the creation of Father George, is the “Tale” compiled by Hieromonk Sergius. But Father Abel, knowing St. Seraphim personally and relying on data from the monastery archive, made his own additions and clarifications to the biography of the Sarov elder. For example, he clarified the dates: the saint’s ordination to the rank of hierodeacon (December 1786, previously called 1785) and the return of the ascetic from the desert to the Sarov monastery (1810, previously 1809). According to V.A. Stepashkin 49, in the archives of the Sarov Monastery, in the file “Notes of Hieromonk Abel and materials collected by him on the history of the monastery,” there is specific confirmation that on March 19, 1875, St. Seraphim was tonsured into the ryassophore. An important contribution of Father Abel to the glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov is that in October 1843, at his own expense, he published for the first time a lithographic image of the Sarov elder. Tales about the events of the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov, collected by Hieromonk Joasaph In 1849, the book “Tales of the exploits and events of the life of Elder Seraphim Hieromonk, hermit and recluse of the Sarov Hermitage” was published in St. Petersburg, with the addition of an essay on the life of the founder of the Diveyevo convent, Agathia Simeonovna Melgunova. Handed over by Hieromonk Joasaph.” Unlike the names of previous compilers of the biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, this name is well known to admirers of the saint. In literature, Father Joasaph is often mentioned as novice John or Ivan Tikhonov (Ivan Tikhonovich Tolstosheev, in schema - Seraphim; 1802–1884). The novice John, who lived in the Sarov Hermitage at the same time as the Monk Seraphim for more than 12 years, after his death declared himself a disciple of the reverend and the only authorized trustee of the Diveyevo community by him. However, according to the testimony of other eyewitnesses, this did not correspond to the truth; on the contrary, the Monk Seraphim, foreseeing all the subsequent disasters in the community, repeatedly warned the Diveyevo sisters about this and denounced the novice himself, who, even during the life of the elder, tried to influence the Diveyevo community. Having been refused tonsure in Sarov, John Tolstosheev in November 1847 moved to the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersky Monastery, where a year later he was tonsured a monk with the name Joasaph. In 1849, when Father Joasaph labored in the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersk Monastery, a book about St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled from his stories, was published. In compiling the biography of the Venerable Father Joasaph, the teacher of the St. Petersburg gymnasium N.E. Andreevsky helped. He also wrote a preface to the book, which also indicated the sources of the published information: “In the proposed book... Father Joasaph (formerly the former monk of the Sarov Hermitage, John Tikhonov), who, according to the special Providence of God, from his very entry into monasticism, benefited from the instructions and love in God of the deceased elder of Sarov Father Seraphim, tells pious readers from his life only what he himself was an eyewitness and a witness and what concerned, in fact, only the obedience that Father Seraphim entrusted to him, namely what concerned the organization of the Diveyevo women's monastery, the most important of the feats of the life of Father Seraphim; partly also what was reported to him by eyewitnesses” 50. There is evidence from N.A. Motovilov himself, and the same is reported in the “Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery” that: “Motovilov obtained all the information about the parents of Fr. Seraphim in the city of Kursk and about the great elder himself, upon his return from the trip, he conveyed it to Ivan Tikhonov, who took advantage of this when publishing the legends” 51 . Of the previously published biographies of St. Seraphim of Sarov, the preface of the book mentions editions of the biography compiled by Father George, who is called “one of the close disciples” of the Rev., and briefly lists 15 events from it, “which were not included in our publication, so as not to repeat what was already known” 52 . The reasons for compiling the book are also mentioned in the preface: “In addition to satisfying the saving desire of many, Father Joasaph was now prompted to communicate the most important information about Father Seraphim by another reason. It also refers to the obedience entrusted to him by the elder regarding the structure of the Diveyevo monastery, both from the spiritual and from the external side. Firstly, many of the old women of Diveyevo, or orphans, in the words of Father Seraphim, a witness of his life, have already completed their earthly wanderings, his remaining contemporaries are very few, everyone else knows about him only from stories and from what they see of the wondrous one in the monastery. To feed their thirsty soul with a detailed and true story about the life of this exemplary father was also one of the motivating reasons for this publication. Secondly, in this publication Father Joasaph sees the same constant care of Father Seraphim for his orphans that he had for them during his lifetime... Just as before his life was an example and consolation for them, so now Tales of his life will serve as one of the most important sources of existence and improvement of their monastery" 53 . Here Father Joasaph reports incorrect information regarding the nuns of the Diveyevo monastery, declaring those of them who knew the Rev. to be mostly dead by 1849. It is known that by 1892 “9 old women who remembered St. Seraphim remained alive” 54. In addition, Saint Philaret, in a report to the Holy Synod dated December 27, 1861, reported that “Joasaph declared the books and the money for them his property” 55 . A letter from the abbot of the Sarov Hermitage, Isaiah, to Father Abel (Vanyukov) dated December 7, 1849, has also been preserved, in which he writes: “One must marvel at how the public blindly believes the new Mohammed. The miracles described by Ivan’s arbitrariness deserve little credibility or, more precisely, completely disagree with the truth that we know” 56 . And further, Father Isaiah explains in a different way some of the events given in the biography of St. Seraphim. In the handwritten department of the RSL, in the fund of Metropolitan Philaret, a case was discovered entitled “Extract from a book about the life and exploits of Seraphim of Sarov in 1849 (the story of a nun about how she invented the miracle of Seraphim of Sarov),” which states: “This story was invented by Hieromonk Joasaph, as Pleshcheeva herself announced before her death. Suffering for a long time from water sickness, she brought to her mind the sin she had forgotten and, in the consciousness that the Lord did not send her death, expecting her to repent of her lies, calls to her the boss Ekaterina Vasilievna Ladyzhenskaya and the monastery confessor, priest Vasily Sadovsky, and in front of them announces that she was taught by Joasaph and agreed to take over and, in the event of a visit to the monastery by members of the royal family, to tell how she allegedly saw how Father O. Seraphim fed the bear and how she herself fed it, which she had not seen at all... Having made this confession, Matrona soon died” 57 . Saint Philaret, in a letter to St. Anthony dated February 2, 1851, writes: “I was sorry to hear about Joasaph... that in the book about Fr. Seraphim was allowed circumstances that were completely unfair, such as the fact that the icon in which Fr. Seraphim saw a vision, no one knows where, but she exists; that at the place of death of Fr. Seraphim built the church, and she was built before” 58. Despite all the factual flaws of the composition, “Tales of the exploits and events of the life of Elder Seraphim,” compiled by Hieromonk Joasaph, had great success with the St. Petersburg public. After their publication, Father Joasaph became known in the highest circles of society, right up to the royal family. In the preface to the 1st edition of the book, an appeal was written to all who visited St. Seraphim of Sarov with a request to tell “Father Joasaph what everyone knows about Father Seraphim that is true and attested to by something completely reliable, then the sooner all God-loving readers could be comforted and take advantage of the full life of the wondrous old man” 59 . Throughout his life, Hieromonk Joasaph collected memories and testimonies of people who remembered Elder Seraphim, and published them with the help of literary educated people. Each subsequent edition differed from the previous one in its composition and number of stories, the reliability of which was determined by itself. At the same time, Father Joasaph himself succeeded in the area of ​​fiction. Thus, Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) writes that the Sarov monks, compiling the biography of the Venerable, “if they placed excerpts from the books published by this novice in 1849 and 1856 under the title “The Story of the Deeds and Events of the Life of Elder Seraphim,” it was because these stories were reported to Ivan Tikhonov by various people well known to Sarov monastery, especially by N.A. Motovilov, and they are reliable, but as for him personally, they were omitted by the Sarov authors, since in these narratives he attributed to himself what was said to others in his presence" 60 . The second edition of “Tales,” also compiled by Andreevsky, was published in 1856. The book added a section “New stories about the grace-filled gifts of Elder Seraphim of Sarov,” which contained 38 points. The passage of censorship this time was not unhindered, as in the case of the 1st edition, although the petition submitted to the committee in 1854 was on behalf of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. The submitted materials, the printed book “Tales of the exploits and events of the life of Elder Seraphim the hieromonk, hermit and recluse of the Sarov Hermitage” and the manuscript “Continuation of the tales of the grace-filled gifts of the same Elder Seraphim” were given a detailed critical review by the censor Archimandrite John (Sokolov). First, the censor analyzed a previously published book: “... all the information contained in the book is based on the identification of one person, who conveys information that was communicated to him only from himself and from others. But since this person is a private person, not generally known... then, in fairness, his stories cannot be accepted unconditionally and completely, especially where he talks about extraordinary and even supernatural events” 61. As a result, having listed all the comments, Archimandrite John concluded that the book could be printed in a second edition only with the permission of the Holy Synod. Further, having examined the handwritten appendix to the book, which tells about the gracious gifts of the elder, manifested after his death, the censor proposed making corrections or even excluding certain episodes from 22 stories. As a result, by decree of the Synod of September 19, 1854, the book and an addition to it were authorized for publication, taking into account the comments made by Archimandrite John. The book was published only in 1856. The third edition of “Tales,” which differs significantly from the first two in both volume and content, was compiled with the help of retired official N.I. Sinkovsky. The history of this publication's passage through the Spiritual Censorship Committee is interesting. In June 1877, Prince Obolensky submitted a petition to the St. Petersburg Committee of Spiritual Censorship for the publication of the manuscript, but the work was not approved for publication. In January 1878, Prince Obolensky filed a complaint with the Holy Synod against the committee. The Synod, having conducted an investigation into this issue, issued a decree on February 28, 1878: “Prince Obolensky’s request for permission to print this manuscript shall not be satisfied” 62. Thus, judging by the documents, the third edition of “Tales” did not take place. However, copies of this edition of “Tales”, published in 1877 by Schema-Abbot Seraphim (Tikhonov), for unknown reasons exist. After the death of Schema-Abbot Seraphim in 1885, the Seraphim-Ponetaevsky Monastery prepared the fourth edition of the “Tales” with a different title - “Tales about the life of the Elder of God, Hieromonk Seraphim the Hermit and Recluse of the Sarov Monastery” - and a completely different distribution of material into parts and chapters, in addition, a new section “Afterlife and Intercession” was added the ever-memorable elder Hieromonk Seraphim." It should be noted that the hagiographical narratives about St. Seraphim, compiled from the stories of Hieromonk Joasaph, were very popular among different classes of the Russian people. The early biographies of St. Seraphim became a brief basis for all subsequent hagiographical narratives about him and made a significant contribution to the glorification of the Sarov ascetic. The Sarov period of the ascetic’s earthly life initially, shortly after his blessed death, became reliably known thanks to the monastics of the Sarov Monastery. Immediately four hieromonks of the monastery, who personally knew St. Seraphim and labored next to him for a long time (from 3 to 15 years), compiled their hagiographical narratives about him. The events of the Kursk period in the life of the Sarov ascetic were known to the compilers of his early biographies from the words of the elder himself and from the stories of eyewitnesses whom N.A. Motovilov interviewed during his trip to Kursk in the fall of 1834. The contents of the early biographies of the Rev. have their own individual characteristics, differ in the details of information about the events of his life, some events, sometimes time periods, sometimes have inaccuracies in dates, but in general and most importantly they confirm each other and thus confirm the truth of the hagiographic narrative about the Sarov ascetic. All early biographies of the holy elder went through spiritual censorship committees in Moscow or St. Petersburg before publication in print. The first biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov, compiled by Hieromonk Sergius in 1837, was subject to especially strict censorship. Due to the abundance of miraculous phenomena, the hagiographic account of the holy elder underwent a thorough check at the Synod for about three years, during which an on-site study of the saint’s exploits was carried out. During the verification, the biography of the ascetic passed through the hands of several hierarchs of the Church, some of whom themselves certified the truth of the legends about the life and exploits of St. Seraphim, since they knew him personally. However, it should be noted that there is a problem with the early biographies of the Saint: they did not rely sufficiently on documentary sources, since the authors prepared their works for publication while outside the walls of the Sarov Monastery. Subsequently, information about the Sarov period of the life of St. Seraphim was clarified and supplemented on the basis of archival documents. In the 2nd half of the 19th – 1st half of the 20th centuries, the Sarov Monastery and the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery published their hagiographies about St. Seraphim. These were already fundamental and meaningful works, based on various sources, including archival materials from monasteries, eyewitness accounts and entries in collections of gifts of grace, miracles and healings through the prayers of St. Seraphim. The biographies of the Saint, created at the end of the 19th century, were aimed mainly at preparing for the canonization of God's saint. The Lives, compiled at the beginning of the 20th century, were supplemented by materials about the glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov and contained information about numerous cases of grace-filled help through the prayers of the saint. During this period, biographies appeared with an attempt to theologically comprehend spiritual phenomena in the life of the Sarov ascetic and his instructions. With the beginning of the revival of Orthodoxy in our country, after the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus' in 1988, with the advent of access to all kinds of archives, a new stage began in the study of hagiographies about St. Seraphim of Sarov. Enormous interest in his biography arose after the second miraculous discovery of the holy relics of the great ascetic of the Russian land in 1991 and their solemn transfer to the recreated Diveyevo Monastery. By now, a number of hagiographers have already appeared who are collecting evidence of the holiness of St. Seraphim of Sarov. Modern researchers continue to clarify certain information from the biography of St. Seraphim, discover new facts, and almost everyone agrees that we still do not have a critically verified, detailed biography of the Sarov ascetic. This is mainly due to the difficulties of archival research and the loss of many materials during the revolution and subsequent events of the early 20th century. It is necessary to carry out significant source research work in order to finally create a complete biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov. This fundamental work is still awaiting its author. 1. Abel, Hierom. The communal Sarov hermitage and the memorable monks who labored in it. (Published by Sarov Desert). 4th ed. M., Type. I. Efremova, 1884. 211 p. 2. Veniamin (Fedchenkov), Metropolitan. World lamp St. Seraphim of Sarov. (PSTBI). M.: “Pilgrim”, 1996. 342 p. 3. “The Life of our Venerable and God-Bearing Father Seraphim, the Wonderworker of Sarov” / Comp. L.I. Denisov. 3rd reprint. ed. M.: Ed. Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2003. 704 p. 4. “The Life of our Venerable Father Seraphim of Sarov, Hieromonk, Desert Dweller and Recluse” / Comp. N.V. Elagin. Reprint. playback ed. 1904. 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A brief outline of the life of the elder of the Sarov Hermitage, schemamonk and hermit Mark. M.: Universitetskaya typ., 1839. 79 p. [Electronic resource] / EK RSL [web site], http://www.rsl.ru. 20. Sergius, hierome. A story about the life and exploits of Father Seraphim of blessed memory, Sarov Hermitage hieromonk and recluse. M.: Universitetskaya typ., 1841. 31 p. [Electronic resource] / EK RSL [web site], http://www.rsl.ru. 21. “The story of the life and exploits of Elder Seraphim, hieromonk of the Sarov Hermitage and recluse, extracted from the notes of his disciple.” St. Petersburg: Society in Memory of Abbess Taisia, 2010. 224 p. 22. “Tales of the exploits and events of the life of Elder Seraphim, hieromonk, hermit and recluse of the Sarov Hermitage.” M.: Intekt, 2006.291 p. 23. Stepashkin V.A. Venerable Seraphim of Sarov: legends and facts. Sarov: TPK, 2002. 148 p. 24. Stepashkin V.A. 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