In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. They
will sing Pascha in the summer. That's what St.
Seraphim mysteriously once said to someone. And
I think St. Seraphim would be overjoyed hearing...
Not the Devea Volan singing, but the St. Cassini
singers, women's quartet singing. St. Seraphim
was a saint mostly for women, especially monastics.
He didn't have many disciples among the men,
but many, many of women. So today is just perfect.
This is glorious. Thank you. Thank you, Nicholas.
It is like Pascha a little bit. First time we've
heard this kind of singing in a long time. Pascha
in the summer sounds lovely, but of course that's
exhausting. But Pascha in summer actually did
occur, fulfilling one of St. Seraphim's many
prophecies, 117 years ago, July 19, 1903. The
venerable and priest monk Seraphim was glorified
by the Russian church. This clairvoyant man,
man with the gift of prayer, the man with the
gift of healing. As you heard about Christ, many
came to him that were sick and they were healed.
They were comforted by St. Seraphim. They were
corrected. He was a me -corrector of those that
have gone astray, it says in the Akathist. He
consoled them and he was joyful and he imparted
that joy to others. And he was long -suffering.
And he helped hundreds who came to him every
day for counsel and help. From the imperial family
members and the intelligentsia and famous people
to peasants alike, discerning what was best for
each person, hearing confessions so that... The
person who confesses sins like the young man
in the gospel today. Jesus said, son, your sins
are forgiven. Pharisees are thinking, well, that's
easy to say. And besides, he can't say that.
He's not God. But that's what's most important.
Because it saves us from spiritual death. And
it gets us ready for the resurrection. And that's
why that young man could get up. and those who
came to St. Seraphim for confession and heard
the prayer of absolution leapt up with joy. When
we leave confession, we should be joyful. He
helped everyone, even a peasant man who came
inconsolable because his horse had been stolen,
and St. Seraphim told him exactly where the horse
was, such and such a road, take a left, it's
in this guy's yard, and you get it, take it back.
On that July day in 1903, over a hundred thousand,
think of it, we can't even imagine this, a hundred
thousand pilgrims came to Sarov for the many,
many church services. A final panekhita was served,
followed by the festival vigil with newly composed
hymns in honor of the saints of Russia, the priest
monk Seraphim. And when the hymns for the saint
began, healings began too. in the many people
that were gathered. As I say, for us, maybe it's
well nigh impossible to imagine and conceive
of all that. The 79 years of life of St. Seraphim,
the monastic life there in Sahara, the outpouring
of love and veneration of the... 100 ,000 plus
that gathered on that glorification day in 1903.
And it would be less, it would be 20 years later,
1923, that the Bolsheviks would close that monastery.
They would continue their reign of destruction
and terror and atheism, making martyrs for the
glory of the church, it must be said. Hundreds
and thousands of them. And the relics of St.
Seraphim, what happened to them? They were put,
ironically, in deep storage in the Museum of
Religion and Atheism in Leningrad. And they would
be uncovered in 1991 and returned to the Church.
What great and joyful encouragement the Church
received on that day in 1991. And now, more than
ever, our time as we... go through this COVID
-19 period, emotionally, spiritually, economically,
we need encouragement. We need the encouragement
that God loves us. We need the encouragement
that comes from being united in the Orthodox
faith. We need the encouragement for remembering
our sins too have been forgiven, and now we have
life. dwelling within us. So I thought this morning
when I woke up this paper is pretty useless.
I thought this morning what marks distinguish
us in this parish as members of St. Seraphim
Cathedral? What do we manifest in our life from
being given this saint by Bishop Teek on way
back in 1996 as our patron. How do we identify
as members of the parish named after St. Seraphim?
Let me suggest something. First, St. Seraphim
told someone this, true hope seeks the one kingdom
of God. Let that sink in. And he's sure that
everything necessary for this mortal life will
surely be given. St. Paul wrote the Romans, you've
all been given grace according to the gift of
Christ. And he wrote to the Galatians and told
us what it means. Joy, peace, love, long -suffering,
mercy, kindness. The heart cannot have peace
until it acquires this hope, said St. Seraphim.
This hope in the one kingdom of God. This hope
pacifies the heart, brings peace to it, and brings
joy to it. The most holy lips of the Savior spoke
about this very hope. Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. This was St. Seraphim's life. He interacted
with the faithful like that. hope and with comfort.
This is our first calling, the first necessity
that we as members of this congregation under
the umbrella of the protection of the Virgin
and St. Seraphim are to manifest to those around
us. But first we have to do what St. Seraphim
did. We fast. We pray. We're obedient to the
life of the Church. The second thing, since you
heard St. Paul say that we all have to live according
to the grace that's been given us, the gift,
whatever it might be, teaching, preaching, ministering,
comforting. This is what St. Seraphim says about
that. He says, the good deed done for Christ's
sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
You heard all about that in Galatians. The fruit
of the Spirit. That's grace. Grace is put to
use in our lives, he says, brings dividends of
more grace. His parents were merchants. He spoke
in this concrete language. St. Seraphim did not
become what he was through a momentary gift,
a one -time thing, but a lifetime of ascesis.
He reinvested that grace given to him. Grace
is nothing other than the life of Christ. His
light, which he manifested. So bring forth the
fruit of the Spirit. Start with the little things.
If we're going to do the first thing, bring comfort,
hope, peace, joy, then start with the little
things every day. Make the sign of the cross
when you arise. Say, thank you, God. Pray. Bless
your food before you eat it. Manifest Christian
joy when you receive absolution and you hear
the words that your sins are forgiven, when you
receive Holy Communion, when you come before
the icons. Be joyful. God has given us his heavenly
kingdom, but we have to start with the small
things to manifest that in our life. Third, especially,
Third, what's lacking in our world? There's plenty
of cynicism. There's plenty of anger. There's
plenty of anxiety. There's plenty of trouble
and suffering. On one occasion, St. Seraphim
heard, he overheard, they didn't know he was
there, two monastic brothers bitterly, bitterly
complaining about the monastery, about other
brothers, about those that were in charge of
them. Our parish is this. Our parish is that.
This priest is this. The priest is that. Why
can't we do this? They were complaining about
the things they were asked to do, which they
felt were stupid. And Father Seraphim came up
to them. They didn't know he was there. And he
said, but brothers, forgive me. I understand
you have some complaints. I can hear that. But
did you not hear that Christ has risen? And so
all those things are not so bad after all. So
let's ask ourselves, brothers and sisters, if
we have some bitterness in our heart, and this
day make a correction to find grace. God gave
us finally number four, a great spiritual guide.
If we are to manifest anything about St. Seraphim,
whether it be comfort or joy, paschal joy, and
consolation. Let us pray to him. Let us ask daily
for his intercessions. He was a great wonder
worker when he was alive and even greater after
he passed into the realm of the kingdom of God.
St. Seraphim greeted his guests on most days
with the Paschal greeting. So I boldly and hopefully
without pretension greet you as he did, my beloved
friends. Christ is risen.