Life of Elder Seraphim of the Sarov Hermitage
19th c. · Hagiography · English translation, 2026
Source edition: Житие старца Серафима, Саровской обители иеромонаха, пустынножителя и затворника
Cover art: Birch Grove (1879) — Arkhip Kuindzhi (Russian, 1841/2–1910) (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
The first major biography of St. Seraphim of Sarov (†1833), compiled by Nikolai Elagin from the archives and eyewitness testimony of the Sarov Monastery and published in St. Petersburg in 1863. Thirteen chapters trace the Elder's life from his birth in Kursk through fifteen years of forest hermitage, strict reclusion, his role as spiritual father of the Diveyevo community, and the posthumous miracles that made him one of the most beloved saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, glorified in 1903.
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Contents
- Introduction
- 1. From His Birth to His Entry Into the Sarov Hermitage
- 2. From His Entry Into the Hermitage to His Tonsure as a Monk
- 3. From His Tonsure to His Withdrawal Into the Distant Wilderness
- 4. Solitude and Ascetic Labors in the Distant Wilderness
- 5. The Practice of Silence.—Return to the Hermitage and the Reclusion
- 6. The Near Hermitage and Father Seraphim's Dwelling There
- 7. Elder Seraphim's Relationship to the Diveyevo Community
- 8. The Elder Seraphim's Influence on the Ardatov Convent and the Zelenaya Gora…
- 9. The Final Years of Father Seraphim's Life
- 10. Preparation for Death, the Passing, and the Burial
- 11. The Manifestation of the Gracious Help of Father Seraphim After His Death
- 12. Continuation of the Account of the Manifestation of the Gracious Help of…
- 13. Father Seraphim's Cell Prayer Rule