Miracles at every turn!
A woman and her twelve-year-old daughter were going to Diveyevo, although the daughter didn’t really want to. You could even say she did everything she could to fight it—she had some plans of her own for that weekend. But her mother managed to convince her that they were going to an extraordinary place and that there’s no way she wouldn’t like it there.
They arrived at Diveyevo. They went to a feast day service, walked the Holy Tract, took a dip in the spring, and admired the beauty of the monastery and its surroundings. They enjoyed all sorts of goodies in the trapeza and bought souvenirs for themselves and their friends. Thus, they spent almost all of their money, and at some point, the mother decided not to break her last big bill. Everyone knows, once you break a bill, the change surely vanishes on odds and ends.
But then the daughter saw an icon of the Theotokos and she liked it so much that she started begging her mother to buy it. Her mother couldn’t refuse—she took out the bill and handed it to the cashier.
“Do you have anything smaller?” the cashier asked.
She said she didn’t have anything else, and the cashier said: “Well, then take it for free—for the glory of God!”
“Mama, there’s a miracle at every turn here!!” the girl exclaimed, which touched not only her mother, but everyone around.
At St. Seraphim
A young woman named Tatiana went to Diveyevo a month before giving birth, on the feast of the uncovering of the relics of St. Seraphim. She was standing in line for the relics when suddenly a gray-haired old man in a Cossack uniform approached her. Cossacks are usually on duty there during major feasts when there are too many people and someone has to maintain order.
“Come on, I’ll take you to the front—it’s hard for you to stand,” he told Tatiana.
She refused at first—it felt awkward to cut in front of the others, but then she agreed: It was hot outside and it really was hard to stand in her condition. The old man took her to the relics, and there some woman dressed all in black (it was unclear whether she was a nun or just trying to look like one) suddenly declared at the top of her lungs:
“Pregnant women aren’t allowed to venerate!”
Tatiana was taken aback, but the old Cossack smiled and said:
“Pay her no mind. You can venerate, no problem.”
He escorted her to the exit and looked at her so tenderly and smiled as if St. Seraphim was walking next to her. Tatiana thanked him and said goodbye, but she couldn’t get what that woman said out of her mind. She noticed a priest nearby—she couldn’t help herself, so she asked him:
“Is it true, Father, that pregnant women can’t venerate the relics?”
“Who told you that?!” the priest asked, indignant. “Apparently the devil is in them!”
In the evening, Tatiana went to the holy spring. There’s one near the woods—a place of extraordinary beauty. There was no one around, but a woman in monastic clothing suddenly appeared out of who knows where and handed Tatiana a booklet with the prayer rule of St. Seraphim of Sarov, with three small prayers in it.
“Read this all the time,” the nun said meaningfully. “Read it…”
And she left. Tatiana went home and read the prayer ruler every day. And while she was giving birth, the doctor suddenly shouted with fright:
“Oh, what is this?! God help us!”
After that, she firmly pressed on her stomach, and a son was born!
Apparently the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck, but thanks to the Lord and St. Seraphim, everything turned out well.
He arranged everything himself
Valentina was close and friendly with her neighbor, whose sister was a nun at Diveyevo Monastery. The nun sent books from time to time, which Valentina and her neighbor would read enthusiastically.
In one of the books, Valentina read that St. Seraphim said something like: “Should anyone desire to come to me, I will arrange the way myself.” She forgot the exact wording, but the meaning was that the main thing is to want it, and Fr. Seraphim will help.
It was the 2000s, life was difficult, and one day a neighbor friend came to her and said:
“We have an opportunity to go to Diveyevo. I’ve already arranged for a spot on the pilgrimage bus. We’ll stay in the monastery guest house—we only have to pay for gas.”
Valentina wanted to go with her daughter, but that would mean paying double for gas. She was in very tight financial straits at the time and didn’t even have small amounts like that. Then she’d also want to submit lists for commemoration at the monastery, buy candles, and she wouldn’t mind having something to eat…
She got upset and decided it must be God’s will—it wasn’t her time to go to Diveyevo yet. Suddenly, a day later, a stranger came to her and said:
“You advertised that you’re selling some equipment—I’d like to buy it.”
Valentina was completely shocked. Indeed, after her business hopes had crashed and burned a year ago, she had repeatedly advertised in the newspaper, trying to sell off the remaining equipment from her butcher shop, but nothing would sell, so she had given up on the idea. Then lo and behold, here comes a man—who knows where he got a paper with the ad from a year ago!
They made a deal, and Valentina and her daughter went to Diveyevo. Fr. Seraphim himself arranged the trip—just like he promised.
