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With whom is it better and more pleasant to converse, with men or with Angels? Of course, with Angels.
St. Herman of Alaska
Simeon Yanovsky was governor of the Russian colonies in America and a disciple of St. Herman of Alaska. St. Herman’s influence on him was so profound that late in life, he became a schemamonk in the St. Tikhon of Kaluga Monastery, with the name Sergius. While Yanovsky was in Alaska, St. Herman shared with him some of the mysteries of his spiritual life, which he experienced in his Spruce Island hermitage. One of these secrets among others confirms that St. Herman of Alaska was truly a “converser with angels”, as we sing in the megalynarion to monastic saints during Matins. Schemamonk Sergius left this account, related to him by St. Herman himself.
In the night of the 17th to the 18th of the month of February (1860) I did not sleep for a long time, reflecting, and most of all I was occupied with the thought of God, about how merciful the Lord is to the human race: He became incarnate, He endured such terrible sufferings and death itself; and how grateful we are, and how distracted we are by the vanity of this world! Finally, towards morning, I fell asleep, and what did I see: It was as was as if there were nothing at all—neither the screen which stood near my bed, nor the window, nor the walls—but only the clear, blue, cloudless sky, and the air was clear and warm. And as I was looking and admiring this, suddenly I saw an Angel descending from heaven in the form of a child of indescribable beauty, his glance so bright. With reverent attention I looked at him, and saw that in his left hand there was a beautiful apple branch. The edges of its leaves appeared to me as if gilded, and above there was an apple. With what ecstasy I admired the dweller of heaven, how everything about him was orderly, airy, transparent. What a smile he had; I had never seen such beauty upon earth. But his glance was directed not at me, and I thought that he would pass by. To whom, I thought, was he carrying such a precious gift of paradise? As soon as I thought this, the Angel stopped right opposite me, turned his splendid face to me, and directed his radiant eyes directly at me. His glance was so splendid that I forgot my illness, forgot everything on the earth. He addressed me and began to speak. His voice was extraordinarily clear and melodic, but not like the voice of a child but rather that of a youth, and he said: “This branch is for him who will weep over his sins, who will endure everything on the earth. Ask of God patience, and when you will have endured everything with patience, then you will likewise be given an apple!” Having said this, he flew away and was concealed from my eyes. I stretched towards him my sinful hands and cried out: “O holy Angel, pray that God will grant me patience!” But everything had ended. There was no Angel. I awoke and began to weep and bitterly lament that by my sins I so frequently anger God and banish from myself my guardian Angel, who is just as splendid as this one was. It was already nine o’clock. I had forgotten the time, had forgotten everything, that children were sitting around me; I wept and could not stop my tears... The children immediately rushed upon me and began to ask: “What is it? What has happened to you?” They called their mother, and she began to ask: “What are you weeping about?” I could only say: “I am weeping over my sins.” “What sins? You just received Communion yesterday.” “Yes,” I said, “I received Communion, but I did not weep over my sins.” I asked them to leave me and call my spiritual father; I did not wish to tell them about it, fearing that they would tell it to others. Wondrous are Thy works, O Lord! Wondrous is Thy mercy to sinful man!
From: Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. III: St. Herman, (Platina: St. Herman Press, 1989, p. 73–74.)
