A rescue from suicide: “Don’t Do It!”
An acquaintance of mine was ruining himself with drink. His drinking bouts were long. Once, when he was on the booze, terrible thoughts of suicide came to his mind. The day before implementing his plan he went out into the hallway and suddenly saw a bent old man with a stick, who firmly and sternly said to him, “Don’t do it!” Having said this, he disappeared before his very eyes.
Sobering up instantly, my acquaintance went outside and, as he told me later, instead of to a liquor store his feet took him to the nearest church. He bought a candle and began to walk around the icons, thinking about before which one to put it. And suddenly he saw the same “old man”. It was St. Seraphim of Sarov! My acquaintance fell on his knees in front of his image and wept for a long time. He prayed, thanking the saint for enlightenment and imploring him to help him give up drinking. After that his life got back on track!
Vera
My daughter began to take Communion calmly!
As a baby my daughter was very afraid to take Communion. I was very frustrated and one day, when I came to church, I earnestly prayed to St. Seraphim of Sarov: “Batiushka Seraphim, help my little daughter receive Communion!” And a small miracle occurred. Everything developed well, smoothly and without hysterics. The girl began to behave calmly at the chalice! The Saints of God hears us and helps us in our big and small needs. Thank God and Father Seraphim for everything!
Victoria
Pain disappeared
Many years ago, my wife suffered from back pain. In the summer we were in Diveyevo Convent and prayed at the relics of Batiushka Seraphim. Unexpectedly for my wife, the church attendant asked her to help her with cleaning. My spouse cleaned the part of the church near the holy relics. And when we went out of the church, my wife felt that her back did not hurt anymore. The pain was gone forever! It happened many years ago. This is how Serafimushka [an affectionate form of the name Seraphim.—Trans.] thanked my wife for working for him. Wondrous is God in His saints!
Alexei Grishin
A treasurer confessed her sins easily!
I recall a story which I myself witnessed. A new treasurer was appointed at our church, but she was far from the faith. She regularly took her little sick granddaughter for Holy Communion, but she herself was not ready to participate in the sacraments.
Once the parishioners of the church went on a pilgrimage to Diveyevo. On the way to the Iveron Spring, the treasurer suddenly said, “While I was waiting for my granddaughter, I had such a good conversation with the priest at confession...” Do you remember your first confessions? They are always so difficult. But here everything was so easy for a convert; she had a nice talk.
But at first, she refused to immerse herself in the spring. However, while approaching the bathing hut, the woman suddenly, resolutely went towards the water. And then she surprised even herself. “I didn’t want to, I was afraid! But how did I do it?!”
Wonderful are your prayers, Batiushka Seraphim!
I.S.
Those who had taken Communion were sent home
December 2017. The recovery room of a hospital. A new patient appeared who had with her a book about miracles of St. Seraphim of Sarov recorded by monks. This woman read quietly in the evening without imposing her faith on anyone. Only once did she ask her ward-mates: “I’ve invited a priest for confession and Communion. Does anyone want to join me?” At first only a very young lady responded. She said that she had a great desire to take Communion, but did not know how to confess properly. She said that she had been treated there for a month but there had been no improvement. Then two more ward-mates expressed their desire to participate in the sacraments. All began to prepare and read the prayers from a prayer-book. Another woman from the next ward joined us as well. And an old patient looked in: “Is there anything new to read?” So we gave her the book on St. Seraphim of Sarov.
In the morning the priest from the Church of St. Sophia of Slutsk came. He heard our confessions and gave Communion to those who had gathered.
And after dinner all those who had taken Communion were discharged from the hospital...
Neonila
I remained Orthodox
My story is about the return of a prodigal daughter. I married a foreigner, and even an adherent of another religion. It was only in hindsight that I began to realize how ill-conceived my decision had been. In addition, it was a violation of the canons that prohibit the marriage between Orthodox Christians and non-Christians. But then I was spiritually blind.
His benevolence, sociability, wealth, love for children and the desire to have them fascinated me. And after the wedding my husband began to ask, and then demand that I embrace his faith. It was extremely hard to resist, since I was financially dependent on him. There were threats, blackmail and intimidation to the point of assault and beating.
And I began to pray to the martyred soldier Yevgeny Rodionov, who in Chechen captivity did not succumb to persuasion to convert to Islam at the cost of his life. And I gained the strength and determination to fight for myself and the faith.
By the way, on the eve of my wedding and departure abroad my friend had given me some earth from the Holy Canal of the Mother of God from Diveyevo. I was warmed and comforted by the prophecies of Batiushka Seraphim:
“The enemy will pass everywhere, but stop at the Holy Canal.”
And I had a particle of the Holy Canal, which meant that “the enemy would not prevail.”
And so it happened through the prayers of the Queen of Heaven, St. Seraphim of Sarov, and the Soldier-martyr Yevgeny Rodionov. With their help I became a parishioner of a Moscow Patriarchate parish.
Tatiana
I survived a fire
Batiushka Seraphim helped me many times. But I would like to share the following story in particular.
It happened on the feast of St. Basil the Great—January 14th. Due to a short circuit in the lights my Christmas tree caught fire. There were icons with embroidered rushnik1 towels beside it, and I was wearing a fluffy shawl. I was scared and at a loss, and had no idea what to do. And the flames had already risen to the ceiling. I wanted to carry the Christmas tree to the bathroom and put out the flames, but I couldn’t. My hair caught fire, and my face and hands were burning. I dropped the tree on the bathroom doorstep. My outerwear hung very close, so I grabbed a coat and tried to save the tree by putting out the flames. Amazingly, my clothes did not catch fire, although I was enveloped in flames. And the icons of Sts. Seraphim of Sarov and Amphilochius of Pochaev next to the Christmas tree remained intact! They saved me!
Irina
The healing of a woman’s illness
For over a year I suffered from uterine bleeding. Although I had undergone a gynecological operation, I was not getting any better: bleeding continued because the endometrial thickness had reached twenty-seven millimeters. The doctor had put me on medication, but the medicine did not help.
Exhausted and hopeless, I began to pray to Batiushka Seraphim of Sarov, although at first I was ashamed to turn to the saint with a purely female problem. I anointed myself with holy oil and read a prayer. And the endometrium began to come off!
When I got to a more experienced gynecologist, I found out that even with the growth of the endometrial thickness up to seventeen to nineteen millimeters, medications help, and if more, only surgery can help. When I told the doctor about what had happened to me, she was shocked.
So Batiushka Seraphim cured me.
Olga
The car was repaired right away
St. Seraphim of Sarov helps not only in spiritual matters, but also in everyday problems.
Once I got into an accident (a collision with an oncoming vehicle). Thank God the airbags deployed and I was unscathed. But the car was seriously damaged. I gave it to a garage. They promised to fix it in ten days. However, the due date passed, then a month, the second month, but things were still where they had started! Then I read about St. Seraphim of Sarov’s miracles and prayed to him about my problem. And hour later I suddenly got a call from the car service and was told to go and pick up my car the next day!
Many thanks to St. Seraphim of Sarov!
Nikita
“Thank you, Father Seraphim, for saving me from melancholy!”
Batiushka Seraphim, thank you for your help! You saved me from despondency and returned the love of life to me. I’m happy with everything again. In the morning I go to work with enthusiasm. And before the pilgrimage to Diveyevo, there had been an unbearable heaviness inside me, loss of strength and apathy, and indifference to everything. Thoughts of suicide had tormented me. Thank you, O merciful intercessor and lover of people!
Vera
Rebuked for irreverence
For a long time, my mother-in-law had a roll with printed, but not blessed paper icons of St. Seraphim of Sarov that she had received as a gift. She was supposed to donate it to the church, but she not gotten around to it.
And one day my mother-in-law began some home remodeling—she began to hang new wallpaper. And she laid the roll with icons of St. Seraphim of Sarov on the floor beneath the wallpaper for gluing. I should have intervened and said that it was unacceptable to do that—to use paper with images of saints for household needs—but alas, I was faint-hearted at that moment.
And then I saw my little son running towards his grandmother right over the roll with the holy images. I didn’t have time to pick him up. From that time on my son started having problems with his legs and various aches. We saw many doctors who treated my son for a long time. I pushed him in a stroller until he was three. People couldn’t understand it and laughed. But the boy could not walk for a long time, because his legs hurt. That was an eye-opener for me. I prayed a lot, asking the saint to forgive us, and my son got better. Batiushka Seraphim forgave us!
For me it was a lesson for the rest of my life. And it was edifying for my children and grandchildren—we all must honor with reverence any images of the Lord and His saints, even if they are not blessed icons, but just images.
Ekaterina
