Archimandrite Seraphim Tyapochkin: he revived not churches, but souls / Pravoslavie.Ru

Archimandrite Seraphim Tyapochkin: he revived not churches, but souls

On April 19, 1982, on Bright Easter Week, Archimandrite Seraphim Tyapochkin, one of the most famous elders of the “Soviet era,” died.

"Some Saint Died"

On Easter days, in the small village of Rakitnoye, Belgorod region, where Fr. lived and served. Seraphim, it was impossible to get there: bus routes were canceled, as the authorities announced, “due to a major accident,” and tickets for Moscow-bound trains to Belgorod were no longer sold. The reason in the ticket lines was explained as follows: “They say that some saint died in Belgorod.”

“You brought something dry, a skeleton”

The elder came to the village of Rakitnoye in 1961 after 15 years of camps and exile. The head of the St. Nicholas Church, Maria, dissatisfied with the unpresentable appearance of the new rector, reprimanded and even beat Ekaterina Luchina, who was fussing about the new priest: “You brought a dry one, a skeleton!” Soon the elder Maria died. She was coming home from work when she had an attack, she fell face first into the dirt and never got up.

There was no heat in the house where the priest was settled; he sat on the floor and dipped crackers into a tin can. And nearby, in the temple, snow was falling from the broken dome.

There was no electricity, and at first there were no candles either. Divine services were allowed only at night, so as not to distract people from work on the collective farm. Father Seraphim, who knew the service by heart, served in complete darkness, and always delivered a sermon. Later his grandson asked him: “For whom were you speaking?” The priest replied: “But there could be someone in the darkness. I spoke for them.”

Priest for Jesus' sake, not for biting bread

Family photo: Dmitry Tyapochkin sits in the center. Photo from mgarsky-monastery.org

Archimandrite Seraphim (Tyapochkin, 1894-1982) was born into a noble family in the Warsaw province: father court councilor, retired colonel Alexander Ivanovich Tyapochkin, mother Eleonora Leonardovna, nee Makovskaya from a noble Polish family, daughter of the Prime Minister of the Polish government, who converted to Orthodoxy .

My father often took him with him to services at the religious school. Mitya drew attention to the image of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and then told his father that he wanted to be just like him. After 50 years, having submitted a petition for tonsure, Fr. Dmitry added: “If it is not a violation of obedience on my part, I ask you to give me the holy name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, whom I have revered as my heavenly patron since childhood.” The request was fulfilled.

Dmitry Tyapochkin graduated from theological school, Kholm Theological Seminary, and in 1917 he was enrolled in the Moscow Theological Academy, but it was closed in 1919.

Dmitry leaves for the south of Russia in the Yekaterinoslav region and works as a teacher. There he met his future wife Antonina, who taught mathematics at school.

In 1920, the young people got married. The marriage was happy. U o. Dmitry and Antonina had two sons and three daughters.

In 1920, Dmitry was ordained a priest. Times were difficult, civil war, church unrest, and Fr. Dmitry refuses monetary donations for fulfilling church requirements: baptism, wedding, funeral service. His two sons die of hunger in infancy.

In 1933, at the age of 39, Fr. Dmitry was widowed: Mother Antonina died of tuberculosis. O. Dmitry was left alone with three teenage daughters. He worked as a watchman. More than once he was offered to go to secular work, as six pastors of his deanery did, finding work as accountants and office workers. They also renounced God through the newspaper. Father Dmitry said: “Always serving is my pastoral duty, but it’s difficult for everyone now.”

“I grieve for myself, I grieve for my children, for my flock”

In 1941, Dmitry’s father was arrested and sent to a camp for 10 years for “religious agitation.” But he continues to serve in the camp: he confesses, baptizes, performs funeral services, even performs weddings. He slowly performs the service by heart, answering a variety of questions. The prisoners not only kept the secret of his ministry, but also former criminals created “guards” for the priest from among them.

While in exile, the priest wrote to his relatives: “My soul grieves to death. Remembering the Gethsemane feat of Jesus Christ, I find consolation for my grieving soul... I grieve, I grieve heavily; I grieve for myself, I grieve for my children, my relatives, I grieve for my flock, I grieve for my spiritual children, I grieve for those who love me, remember me and are awaiting my return now. But what I fervently and fervently prayed to the Lord for has happened: “let this cup pass from me.”

But it was precisely during these difficult years that Fr. Dmitry felt that he, like a cup, was gradually, drop by drop, filled with grace-filled love for God and people given from above.

And at the same time he becomes simple and completely unaware of the evil that was inflicted on him.

The time of imprisonment was drawing to a close. The investigator asked Dmitry's father about his plans after his release. The priest replied: “I am a priest - I intend to serve.” “Well, if you serve, then stay with us a little longer,” the investigator reasoned and added five years. O. Dmitry was offered to leave Christ quietly. He could say: I’ll get settled somehow. But oh. Dmitry answered as a confessor.

“I was burning with the desire to return to my native place, with the desire to see my relatives, dear ones and friends, but, alas, I was assigned to the Krasnoyarsk Territory,” wrote Fr. Dmitry in a letter to his spiritual daughter. -... My old age is not adapted to such a life. Winter is approaching, harsh and long. Thy will be done. I believe that the Lord is always with me, His servant. I believe that He will not leave me.”

Easter in the camp

In the cell of Archimandrite Seraphim in Rakitnoye. Photo from pravlife.org

At the place of reference Fr. Dmitry there was a functioning temple nearby. One day on Easter, an event occurred that the priest always talked about with tears. Father Dmitry entered the church, suddenly the rector approached him, invited him to the altar, gave him vestments, and they served the Easter service together.

As it turned out, the rector of this temple, Father Mitrofan, had a revelation in a dream that the shaved prisoner in a padded jacket standing at the door of the temple was a priest, and the order was to invite him to serve. After this service, Father Mitrofan repeatedly invited the exiled priest to concelebrate with him, risking his own position and freedom.

Where the polar bears are

It became known in the camp that “prisoner Tyapochkin” served in the temple. O. Dmitry was summoned to the authorities and asked to “renounce God.” After the refusal of Fr. Dmitry was exiled further along the Yenisei, to a lumber yard, “to where the polar bears are,” as he later said. The prisoners said goodbye to Fr. Dmitry, because they knew that those who were disliked by the camp authorities were sent there to die, and no one had yet managed to return.

“They carried us by water, then threw us ashore, where there was only sky, snow and forest,” the priest recalled. - Thank God that since childhood I learned to eat little, I’ll eat a crumb with prayer and refresh myself, while others died from malnutrition. I was so weak that I couldn't even lift anything. Then they told me: you, priest, guard the forest so that it does not get stolen. Who should steal it? I realized that I was doomed to death, to be torn to pieces by beasts...

And then one day I saw bears coming towards me. I raised two crosses.

I was standing with these crosses, the bears came very close to me and stopped. They looked at me, started looking around and left. So I was saved by crosses.”

Shepherd looking for a place of service

After the link. Photo from mgarsky-monastery.org

Only in 1956 Fr. Dmitry was released. He returned completely ill: his lungs were broken, all his internal organs were affected, he had a chronic cold, and a suffocating cough.

When his eldest daughter Nina Dmitrievna, a doctor herself who had been in the war, saw her father after exile, she fainted.

- What are you going to do next? - his family asked. “Of course, to serve God,” answered Fr. Dmitriy. - Daddy, rest, get treatment. We are so tired of the last war, we just found you, and you are leaving again! “I have always been and will be with you, my dear orphans, always,” answered Fr. Dmitriy.

After the link about. Dmitry served in several churches and was removed from everywhere for “popularity with the people,” and in the end he was banned from serving. In such a situation, only the patriarch could give permission. Father Dmitry went to Moscow.

He lived at the station for a whole month, waiting for an audience with the patriarch, until, in the patriarch’s reception room, Bishop Leonid (Polyakov) of Kursk and Belgorod invited him to serve in his diocese.

And after some time Fr. Dmitry was transferred to the parish of St. Nicholas Church in the village of Rakitnoye, where he served until his death. In 1960, Fr. Dmitry accepts monasticism, remaining to serve in the parish.

He didn't have the first and second

Iconostasis of St. Nicholas Church in Rakitnoye. Photo from pravlife.org

Restoration of the temple of Fr. Seraphim begins not with the walls and dome, not with household chores, but with prayer. “It seemed that we should, without hesitation, take on repairs, look for people, funds, materials. But the priest did not make any visible efforts to begin restoration work. Just daily prayer,” recalled the cell attendant, Arch. Seraphim is the mother of Joasaph.

And over time, everything began to improve: people came and offered help.

The temple was repaired, electricity was installed, and one of the best icon painters of our time, Arch. Zinon (Theodore) painted the walls and dome of the temple. Soon a parish was formed.

“All people, without exception, had the right to his love,” wrote the spiritual son of Father Seraphim. – He didn’t have the first and the second, everyone was the first, everyone was desired; every person is the image and likeness of God, which means he is worthy of respect and love.”

For everyone who surrounded Father Seraphim, his inexhaustible prayer was support and support. Believers and non-believers felt this: local sugar factories and enterprises worked without interruption, there was an excellent harvest in the fields, rains fell at the right time, the weather was always good during the harvest season, while in neighboring areas there was hail and frost.

"I don't heal, I pray"

Over time, the “monk in the world,” whose prayer helps out of the most difficult circumstances, became known far beyond the borders of the Belgorod region. Desperate people came from everywhere, bringing sick children and relatives. One day, a girl jumped out of the crowd of people to the priest, who was going to church for a service, with the words: “Heal me, Father Seraphim!” Father stroked her cheek and said: “Baby, I don’t heal, I pray.”

“My all-healing power is Christ”! - the Great Martyr Panteleimon exclaimed in the days of his earthly life, and I, unworthy, too,” said Fr. Seraphim. — How many times have you had to correct your requests to “be healed?” I'm just praying. And if through prayer the sick receive healing, the grieving receive consolation, then this is from the Lord. ...First of all, the patient’s faith and repentance are needed.”

But oh. Seraphim knew from experience that without help from above, a person cannot truly see his sins, nor sincerely, from the heart, repent.

Therefore, he himself, with tears, prayed to God that the Lord would send grace to those who had sinned. In communication with Fr. The man gradually began to open up as Seraphim, he himself took off his mask, because one could only be with him, and not seem to be.

With all his being, he called you to live, to be alive, and gave you the spark of this life. People left him warmed, transformed by his peace and love.

Confessing, Fr. Seraphim did not give penance, did not give severe reprimands, did not prescribe special prayer rules or fasts, but he knew how to make a person feel his value in the eyes of God, to somehow convey to him God’s love, the news of God’s love for him personally. And in this a person found strength for life, for change.

Fighting judgment

Savior Almighty. Fresco under the dome of the temple in Rakitny, made by architect. Zinon (Theodore). Photo from pravlife.org

With all his soul, Father Seraphim avoided the sin of condemnation and tried to protect his spiritual children from it. When they began to tell him about the damage caused, insult or insult from another person, the elder asked to pray for the offender.

One day, representatives of the Soviet government, who were irritated by the fact that many people were coming to the village of Rakitnoye to visit Father Seraphim, ordered the ruling bishop to change the current situation.

The bishop arrived at the parish with an inspection and addressed the elder’s spiritual children: “Why are you coming here? What shrine did you find here? There are shrines everywhere!”

Many were upset by these words. During the meal, one of Father Seraphim’s spiritual children wanted to condemn the bishop and point out that he was wrong. But as soon as he was about to say what he had planned, the priest preceded him with the words: “What a good bishop we have.” During lunch, the priest’s defender tried several more times to “condemn” the bishop, but each time the priest kindly warned him. And after some time, the strict ruler got to know Father Seraphim better, confessed to him, and from then on became his patron.

When communication with someone lost its spiritual meaning, the priest often left the conversation.

A priest who served “at the top” came to him and began to talk about “the little things of bishop’s life.” Father got up from the table and went to his cell. Then the priest came to the priest’s cell and, leaning over his ear, continued his stories, and Fr. Seraphim fell asleep.

The priest’s meekness was simply stunning. There was a case when builders renovating a church in Rakitnoye drank during their lunch break, got drunk and spoke disrespectfully to Father Seraphim who was passing by. Witnesses to this scene froze. But the elder, unexpectedly for everyone, approached each worker in turn, cupping his face with his hands and kissing him on both cheeks. The workers were so amazed that they sobered up and immediately went to work.

Love for all creatures (about a cat)

Somehow about. Seraphim asked those working in the kitchen at the temple: “Where is our cat?” They told him that the cat was already old, toothless, couldn’t catch mice, and besides, he was bald, he was of no use, and so they carried him into a ravine. Father paused, then answered: “Find the cat, wash it, lay a clean bedding for it, and let it live in the kitchen, feed it until it dies.”

The whole temple was crying

With parishioners, Archimandrite. Kirill (Pavlov, left) and other concelebrants at the walls of the temple in Rakitnoye. Photo from pravlife.org

During the sermon, Fr. Seraphim always cried. And everyone cried. One of the mothers who came to him “for healing” recalled:

- I come to the church, there are a lot of people, they said - wait until the end of the service, then Fr. Seraphim will come out. And I suffered from headaches, my head hurt so much that I could no longer work or live. Well, I’m waiting, the service is long... And then the elder came out to speak. I look - he’s talking and crying. And everyone around is crying. I think, Lord, what kind of temple is this! And then I look – I’m crying myself, I’m actually sobbing, and I can’t understand why. It's just good for me! And then the priest talked to me, ordered me to come to confession, take communion and promised that my headache would go away. And indeed, the pain went away!

Father spoke very simple words during the sermon. But it was not the words themselves that acted, but the Holy Spirit touched the hearts and the hearts softened.

Fr. Seraphim himself led a life so pure that nothing stood between him and God, and therefore God was always with him, and the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, poured out through Fr. Seraphim for all people, believers and non-believers.

Spiritual children recalled that when Fr. Seraphim preached a sermon, time seemed to stop, and it seemed to them that they were personally present at the execution of Christ, they saw Golgotha, the apostles, and the Mother of God. John Chrysostom said about such priests: “The priest only opens his mouth, but the Holy Spirit speaks.” Being in the Holy Spirit, with God made a simple speech about. Seraphim was effective, she touched souls, and the soul bore fruit.

Healing the Paralytic

One day, after the end of the service, a seriously ill man was brought to the temple on a stretcher, who could not move at all. The priest slowly approached the sick man, stayed near him and brought the altar cross and oil from the altar. Having prayed over the sufferer, the elder anointed him with blessed oil and overshadowed him with the cross. At the same moment, the relaxed man felt strength in his muscles and sat down. He left the church on his own feet, and his family only helped him a little. For some time, the healed man and his companions lived near the temple, each came to pray, and soon returned completely to life. An eyewitness to this incident was priest Nikolai Khokhlov.

"You need to wash your hands"

One man tried several times to take a blessing from the elder, but each time he sent him to wash his hands. He walked, carefully washed his hands, but received the same answer. Finally, the man could not stand it: “Father, I washed my hands, they are clean!..” But Father Seraphim gently answered: “I’m not telling you about physical cleanliness, you need to repent and confess.” This man committed a serious crime and did not repent of it.

Reply to three young people

Photo from pravlife.org

O. Seraphim hid his spiritual gifts: insight, the ability to heal, which he certainly possessed, according to the word of the Lord: “in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will take snakes; and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Gospel of Mark, 16:14-18). The gift of insight helped him to extremely reduce the time of conversation with visitors. The elder walked among people on the street or in a temple, and, approaching someone, gave an answer to a question that had not yet been asked.

Once, to a young man, a candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, who asked the elder: why no one now becomes a priest (approximately 1975), the priest answered with a smile: “Here you go.” The questioner was none other than the current rector of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University, Archpriest Vladimir Vorobyov.

The same advice was given to two more guests who were then sitting at the priest’s table - employee of the Rublev Museum of Art History Alexander Saltykov and graduate of the Moscow State University Physics and Mathematics Nikolai Likhomanov. Archpriest Alexander Saltykov today is the rector of the Moscow Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Kadashi, dean of the Faculty of Church Arts of PSTGU, senior researcher at the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after. Andrey Rublev. And Nikolai Likhomanov is Bishop Veniamin of Rybinsk and Danilovsky.

“There is no feeling at all”

In the cell of Archimandrite Seraphim. His miter, stole, armlets, books. Photo from pravlife.org

Father Seraphim did not give his body rest in the usual sense. During severe overwork, he could only allow himself to take a nap on the bed for no more than twenty minutes, and then again stood up for prayer. The elder once admitted: “Now I don’t have any strength, but I just reached the throne - “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...” - and then there is no longer any feeling of self, everything is easy and simple, only up to this point it was hard "

In recent years, Fr. Seraphim began to weaken, and sometimes he was taken to the temple on a cart. Several times he was close to death, but his many spiritual children prayed for him so much and cried so much that Fr. Seraphim was left on the ground.

During a serious illness, Fr. Seraphim was honored with a visit to St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Nicholas and the Holy Martyr Barbara.

During Great Lent 1982, Fr. Seraphim again became seriously ill and knew that his days on earth were ending. Father fell ill. His prayer did not stop, although he could almost no longer speak. His spiritual son Mitrofan Grebenkin recalled: “He lay in bed throughout Father’s last Great Lent, and I sat with him. It so happened that all these days I had to sleep in fits and starts and I was very afraid that I wouldn’t be able to stand it. To my surprise, I almost didn’t want to sleep, and I felt very good. Father kept repeating: “You are my indefatigable one.”

He lay there and prayed all the time. This was visible in his eyes, facial expression, and sometimes he quietly said: “You are my strength, You are my joy, You are my God...”.

Easter farewell

Archimandrite's grave Seraphim Tyapochkina at the walls of the temple in Rakitnoye. Photo from mapio.net

On the second day of Easter, Bright Monday, April 19, 1982, the earthly life of Father Seraphim ended.

More than 100 telegrams were sent to spiritual children, but few were able to arrive on time - the date of the funeral was changed on the telegrams. But the prayers at the grave of Fr. Seraphim was not interrupted. On April 21, Wednesday of Bright Week, Archbishop Chrysostom (the same one whom the priest did not allow to condemn) served the Liturgy and funeral service according to the Easter rite.

And the main exclamation of the Easter requiem was not “I cry and weep,” but “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs!”

Before the burial, the bishop was given an order from the authorities so that the coffin with the body of the deceased should not be carried around the temple, as required by the order of a priestly burial. To which the brave ruler replied: “Tell them that I myself know how to perform a burial!”

The coffin with the body of the priest was carried around the temple three times and placed for farewell at the grave next to the altar.

It was unusually cold for the end of April - it was either wet snow or an icy wind that knocked us off our feet.

But those who came to say goodbye to their beloved elder remembered his words: “If I find mercy and grace from the Lord, then even then, after my departure, standing at the throne of the Lord, I will pray for you, my dear children,” and their hearts warmed.

Unholy saint

Why is a person like Elder Seraphim not yet glorified? There is no unanimous opinion in the canonization commission.

Some of its members are embarrassed by the fact that the investigative file of Father Seraphim has not been preserved.

But the Dnepropetrovsk regional archives were taken away by the Germans and partially destroyed. However, if there is no case, then doubts may remain: “Did he renounce God during the torture? What if he slandered someone?”

And yet we have the life of Elder Seraphim recorded in detail, there are people who knew him closely, there are testimonies of many believers healed by him. Books about him continue to be republished.

Let us remember: materials for the canonization of the priest’s heavenly patron, St. Seraphim of Sarov, began to be collected only 50 years after his death - in 1883, and were glorified - after the protest of almost the entire Synod - only in 1903. And how many disputes there were during the preparation of his canonization. But the student is no more than his teacher.

Materials from the book “Belgorod Elder Archimandrite Seraphim (Tyapochkin)” were used. Author-compiler: Hierodeacon Sophrony (Makritsky), Moscow, 2004.

Writing activity

Although the elder did not leave behind any books or teachings. But his life, the incredible facts present in it, formed the basis of many works of Orthodox literature. The elder was a participant and one of the main characters in an amazing, incomprehensible to human event, which shocked all Soviet people at that time.

Zoino's standing

This happened in the winter of 1955-56, in December. At that time, the Russian Orthodox Church began to be declared enemy number one. Khrushchev promised to show the last priest on TV, and by the year 2000 - immortality for everyone, obtained thanks to the achievements of science. Believers were declared crazy, imprisoned, and exiled. This is probably why it was in those years that the Lord showed a miracle called “Zoino’s Standing”.

A youth party began in one of the houses in the city of Kuibyshev. Everyone was with couples, except for one girl named Zoya. Then she began to dance with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and became petrified. It was not just paralysis, the girl had grown into the floor. That is, a living human being, as it were, united with inanimate matter and became dead.

They called an ambulance, the doctors tried to change Zoya’s condition, but everything was useless. They wanted to give an injection, but the needle was bent and did not enter the body. The girl herself was alive, her heartbeat was clearly audible. Crowds of people gathered around the house, wanting to see the miracle that had happened. The police tried to disperse the curious by spraying them with water from a hose.

The priest serves a prayer service for water and removes an icon from Zoya

Then a group of priests were invited. But they also could not take the icon from the hands of the petrified girl. On Christmas Day, Father Dimitri himself came to Zoya. He prayed and was able to take the icon from the girl’s hands. But fearing persecution from the authorities, the fact of Father Dimitri’s presence in that house and his participation was hidden for a long time. The icon itself was transferred by the priest to the temple, where it was kept in the altar.

The girl remained standing. According to legend, Nicholas the Wonderworker himself came to her to save her from her petrified state. Through the prayers of the saint, the Lord accepted the girl’s repentance and delivered her from the fossil.

The most famous books about Elder Seraphim Tyapochkin

Archpriest N. Agafonov wrote well about the miracle that happened to the petrified girl and the role of Elder Seraphim in this sensational story in his book “Standing”.

Another book was published under the authorship of N. Germansky. Father Nikolai serves as rector of the Rakitsky church and for a long time collected testimonies of eyewitnesses, contemporaries of the elder, as well as cases of healing and miraculous help through prayers to the priest. He put all this together in his book.

Interesting! The biographical story about the elder “The Unquenchable Light of Love” was written by Hierodeacon Sophrony (Makritsky). It describes in detail the life path of the elder, and contains memories of him from the clergy and laity who knew the priest personally.

Where the polar bears are

And then one day I saw bears coming towards me. I raised two crosses.

I was standing with these crosses, the bears came very close to me and stopped. They looked at me, started looking around and left. So I was saved by crosses.”

Teenage years and early life

Already in the early years of his life, Dimitry Tyapochkin firmly knew his purpose - to serve God and people. And all subsequent years, he did not retreat one step from his path, entrusted to him from above.

Spiritual education

In 1911, Dimitri entered the theological seminary located in the city of Kholm in southeastern Poland. Here he finally made his life choice in favor of pastoral ministry. Demetrius did not participate in the games and entertainment of the seminarians, he loved to read the Gospel for a long time, he was silent and serious. In 1917, after graduating from the seminary, the young man continued his spiritual and theological education at the Moscow Academy, which at that time had a significant influence on the development of philosophical and religious thought in the country.

The following year, 1918, had dire consequences for all people, and, first of all, clergy and believers. The Council of People's Commissars issued a decree on the separation of the church from state institutions. They began to close religious educational institutions, house churches, and cancel lessons of the Law of God in schools. At the MDA, classes lasted until the spring of 1919, after which the students were sent home indefinitely.

Personal life

After everything that happened, Dimitri returned to Yekaterinoslav. In the village Mikhailovka offered him a position as a geography teacher. There the young man met his love, his future wife Antonina, a mathematics teacher. A young couple was preparing for their wedding, but an unexpected misfortune interrupted their plans. Dmitry came down with typhus and fought for life for almost a year. They were able to get married only in 1920.

In the same year, in the Tikhvin women's monastery (Ekaterinoslav), Dimitri was ordained a deacon, and soon - a presbyter. The beginning of the pastoral ministry of Fr. Demetrius took place in the same diocese. This was a real test for the young family. Two of his sons died from the famine that reigned in Ukraine at that time.

The couple are survived by three daughters:

Nina (eldest) - grew up, worked as a head physician, died in 1994.
Lyudmila - was a nurse, passed away in 1995.
Antonina - lives in the Zhytomyr region.

The beginning of priestly service came during the difficult years of fighting against God, persecution of the church, organized by the godless government. Subsequently, his wife Antonina died of tuberculosis (1933).

Church service

Father Dimitri was appointed to the position of dean of the Solonyansky district in the Dnepropetrovsk region. (1921 – 1936).

This was the most difficult time for the church:

destruction and desecration of temples and shrines;
persecution of church pastors;
persecution of believers;
the emergence of renovationists, self-saints, etc.

More than once attempts were made on the life of Father Dimitri. One day, at Epiphany, he was called to a neighboring village to conduct a water blessing service in place of the sick abbot. Along the road the horses suddenly began to gallop. Father lay down on the bottom of the cart, afraid of falling. And at that moment bandit bullets whistled overhead.

The horses stopped only at the porch of the church, but it was already safe here. Thus, God miraculously saved the future elder and ascetic of the Russian land. The rector of this temple, as it turned out, had been arrested the day before. They wanted to deal with Father Dimitri on the way to church.

Easter in the camp

After the link.
Photo from the website mgarsky-monastery.org At the site of the link Fr. Dmitry there was a functioning temple nearby. One day on Easter, an event occurred that the priest always talked about with tears. Father Dmitry entered the church, suddenly the rector approached him, invited him to the altar, gave him vestments, and they served the Easter service together.

"I don't heal, I pray"

One day, a girl jumped out of the crowd of people to the priest, who was going to church for a service, with the words: “Heal me, Father Seraphim!” Father stroked her cheek and said: “Baby, I don’t heal, I pray.”

But oh. Seraphim knew from experience that without help from above, a person cannot truly see his sins, nor sincerely, from the heart, repent.

With all his being, he called you to live, to be alive, and gave you the spark of this life. People left him warmed, transformed by his peace and love.

“You brought something dry, a skeleton”

To the village of Rakitnoye o. Seraphim came to serve in 1961, after 15 years of camps and exile. The head of the St. Nicholas Church, Maria, dissatisfied with the unrepresentative appearance of the new rector, reprimanded and even beat Ekaterina Luchina, who was fussing about the new priest: “You brought a dry one, a skeleton!”

Soon the elder Maria died. She was coming home from work when she had an attack, she fell face first into the dirt and never got up.

There was no heat in the house where the priest was settled; he sat on the floor and dipped crackers into a tin can. And nearby, in the temple, snow was falling from the broken dome.

There was no electricity, no candles. Divine services were allowed only at night, so as not to distract people from work on the collective farm. Father Seraphim, who knew the service by heart, served in complete darkness, and always delivered a sermon.

Later his grandson asked him: “For whom were you speaking?” The priest replied: “But there could be someone in the darkness. I spoke for them.”

“I grieve for myself, I grieve for my children, for my flock”

Father Seraphim.
Photo from the website https://butyr-sloboda.moseparh.ru/ In 1941, Dmitry’s father was arrested and sent to a camp for 10 years for “religious agitation.” But he continues to serve in the camp: he confesses, baptizes, performs funeral services, even performs weddings. He slowly performs the service by heart, answering a variety of questions. The prisoners not only kept the secret of his ministry, but also former criminals created “guards” for the priest from among them.

But it was precisely during these difficult years that Fr. Dmitry felt that he, like a cup, was gradually, drop by drop, filled with grace-filled love for God and people given from above.

And at the same time he becomes simple and completely unaware of the evil that was inflicted on him.

Shepherd looking for a place of service

In the cell of Archimandrite
Seraphim in Rakitnoye. Photo from pravlife.org Only in 1956, Fr. Dmitry was released. He returned completely ill: his lungs were broken, all his internal organs were affected, he had a chronic cold, and a suffocating cough.

When his eldest daughter Nina Dmitrievna, a doctor herself who had been in the war, saw her father after exile, she fainted.

A whole month o. Seraphim lived at the station, waiting for an audience with the patriarch, until in the patriarch’s reception room, Bishop of Kursk and Belgorod Leonid (Polyakov) invited him to serve in his diocese.

Fighting judgment

Savior Almighty.
Fresco under the dome of the temple in Rakitny, made by architect. Zinon (Theodore). Photo from the site pravlife.org With all his soul, Father Seraphim avoided the sin of condemnation and tried to protect his spiritual children from it. When they began to tell him about the damage caused, insult or insult from another person, the elder asked to pray for the offender.

The bishop arrived at the parish with an inspection and addressed the elder’s spiritual children: “Why are you coming here? What shrine did you find here? There are shrines everywhere!”

When communication with someone lost its spiritual meaning, the priest often left the conversation.