15. Взгляд на состояние обители при нынешнем Строителе Иеромонахе Серафиме

Not only those about whom the legends are offered here, that is, John, Demetrius, Ephraim, Paxomius, Isaiah, Joachim, Pitirim, Niphon, Nazarius and Hilarion, shone in the Sarov desert. Marco, Dorofey, Seraphim, Alexander, of whom only a mention was made, also devoted their entire lives to prayers for the salvation of their neighbors, and tried to acquire the unceasing memory of God by constantly invoking the name of God like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” The elder Father Seraphim, who reposed in God, especially advised keeping this prayer in mind. He said: “Let all your attention and training be in this. Walking and sitting, standing in church, entering and leaving, let this unceasing cry be in your mouth and in your heart. With him you will find peace, you will acquire spiritual and physical purity, and the Holy Spirit, the source of all good things, will dwell in you and guide your life in holiness, and in all piety and purity.” Another constant instruction of Elder Seraphim was this: “For the sake of future bliss, acquire chastity, preserve your virginity. The virgin, who preserves her virginity for the sake of the love of Christ, has the honor of the Angels and is Christ’s bride: Christ is her groom, leading her into his heavenly palace. Every human soul is a virgin; the soul that remains in sin is a careless widow who died alive in voluptuousness.” But is it possible to tell everything and about everyone, when in the Sarov desert a great number of humble elders who practiced the thought of God remained unknown? They labored in secret for the sake of the Lord and the acquisition of God’s love. With perfect love for God, in solitary prayer and abstinence, they ascended in their spirit to heaven, exhausted their body with fasting and vigil in order to ward off the tormenting thoughts of voluptuousness, and, turning away their eyes from seeing vanity, they avoided idleness and plunged into silence so that no efforts of visitors who wanted to take advantage of their conversation could sometimes interrupt it. For this reason, they withdrew from those who came, hid their virtues, pretended to be holy fools, and would rather die than abandon their silent prayer, even if only for the blink of an eye. The visitors, not understanding their spiritual and difficult life, and sometimes not receiving answers to their questions, attributed this to their imaginary pride, attributed it to ignorance and called them rude, not knowing that they already live in heaven, and that their whole life is hidden with Christ in God. However, these pious elders willingly talk about the Word of God, about the teaching of the Holy Apostles, and about the life of the Holy zealots of Christ’s Church. From the founding of the monastery in the Sarov desert for one hundred and sixty years there were only ten more successive leaders, and the current Builder Hieromonk Seraphim is the eleventh. He came from citizens of the Perm province, his worldly name was Spiridon, he entered the Sarov monastery in 1823 at the age of 19 with his father Andrey, (now Monk Arseny); tonsured into monasticism in 1835, June 20; ordained as hierodeacon of the same year on September 29 by His Eminence Arseny, Bishop of Tambov; on Hieromonk, May 29, 1844, by His Eminence Nicholas Bishop of Tambov; in 1848 he was appointed to the position of Treasurer and held this position until 1858; and this year, by the general choice of the entire brotherhood, in place of the late Hegumen Isaiah, the Diocesan authorities appointed him to be the Builder of this desert; has been in the monastery for 37 years, fully justifying his election by diligent observation of the exact fulfillment of the monastic rules devoted to the monastery by its founder, John. Father the Builder Seraphim, due to the cramped conditions and inconvenience for a comfortable accommodation during the arrival of the monks to correct the monastic needs in Moscow, a stone two-story outbuilding was again rebuilt at the Sarov courtyard and restored in the courtyard. Through the care of the Builder, land was acquired for the courtyard located in Moscow, 7 fathoms: for the courtyard and 2 fathoms for the street from the Collegiate Assessor Vasily Aleksandrovich G. Kokorev as a gift to the monastery, and thereby the crowded conditions in the courtyard in the area were eliminated. Thus, the Monastery was built time by time, acquiring famous fame and, by the grace of God, still enjoying respect, both for the location, splendor and beauty of the buildings, and especially for the piety of the God-loving hermits who labored and continue to labor there. The number of brethren is currently up to 300 people. But before, at different times there were unequal numbers. In 1723, according to a decree issued by the Holy Synod, the brethren in each monastery were ordered, by virtue of spiritual regulations, to be thirty people; and in which monastery there will be fewer, then from those monasteries, choosing the best brethren to bring into it, so that the indicated number will certainly be. At that time, there were 27 monastics in the local monastery, and 7 people in the Sanaksar monastery, so the brethren from Sanaksar were ordered to be transferred to the local monastery. 1764, of blessed memory, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna deigned to sign the report presented by the established Commission: in noble monasteries and hermitages, namely: in Nilova, Sofronieva, Florishcheva and Sarovskaya, there should be a number of brethren against the first class of monasteries, thirty people each, and their maintenance would come from alms and from lands from the land. 1793, December 13th Her Imperial Majesty, the Most Pious Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna deigned to command by Her personal decree: there should be 10 sick monastics in the Sarov monastery and granted 200 rubles in half-imperials for sick leave. August 2, 1802, of blessed memory, His Imperial Majesty, the Most Pious Sovereign, Emperor Alexander Pavlovich was pleased by His personal decree to command in this desert to add 20 people to the first number of monastics. The management of Father Superior Isaiah received one of the best decorations of the Sarov sacristy - the Holy Gospel - an offering of the pious zeal of the Heir to the Tsarevich (now the safely reigning Sovereign Emperor) Alexander Nikolaevich and His Tsesarevna's Wife (now the Empress) Maria Alexandrovna. This Gospel was sent in 1853. It is printed on large Alexandrine paper and is wrapped in a beautiful cherry velvet. The external beauty of this Gospel is greatly enhanced by the silver and gilded images of the four Evangelists in the corners, and in the middle, also silver-gilded, the Image of the Savior sitting on the throne. In addition, the upper and lower decks are decorated with borders and silver-gilded patterns of elegant finishing. In general, this Gospel has a majestic appearance, and is very appropriate to the Word of God contained in it, and to the August name of the High Sacrificers. An almshouse was established in this desert for the care of the sick and elderly for 12 people. Inside and outside the monastery in the Sarov desert, now all the buildings are stone and have beautiful architecture. Before reaching Sarov, from behind the forest, you suddenly and unexpectedly see on a lofty mountain in all its beauty and grandeur shining domes and golden domes with crosses burning in the air. Like a majestic city, the mountains stretch along the top, amaze the eye and present a charming picture from all sides, having a very excellent view, the monastery buildings are four hundred meters high. The brethren's cells, consisting of several two-story huge buildings in a regular square, close together into one huge mass, fit on all four sides under one green iron roof and serve instead of a strong wall and instead of a stone fence. At the corners of these buildings there are four figured, elevated, round red towers with long shining spiers, and the fifth rises in the middle above the exit gate, from where the path runs through the entire monastery directly to the Holy Gate under the bell tower. 20 The surroundings of this monastery are very pleasant. In the depths of the forest, in the valleys, between mountains and trees, native springs flow. Nature generously endowed them here in its remote wilds. Transparent mountain springs gurgle secludedly and joyfully, descending the valley and sweetly conducive to the silence of the desert. In spring, the surroundings of Sarov are filled with the singing of all kinds of birds; the meadows and valleys are fragrant with the freshness of flowers; The picturesque banks of the Sarovka River, covered with birch, linden and oak, attract people under their shade. The ravines overgrown with pine trees, with their wild, gloomy appearance, plunge you into reverie; and those places where there were secluded desert cells of the hermits: Seraphim, Dorotheus and Mark, make a deep impression on the soul and arouse in it a love for desert living. The stone monastery buildings include a barnyard, which is located at a distance from the monastery in the forest with a beekeeper and resembles a dacha. In the forest, in places there are also various monastic settlements, in which several monks live and are engaged in monastic work.