12

Following the closure of the monasteries in Sarov and

Diveyevo, some monks and nuns escaped. Hiding in

surrounding villages they continued secretly in the

way of St Seraphim.

The faithful of the closed city of Sarov now

worshipped in God's Sanctuary, the forest, in which St

Seraphim had dwelt and had been beaten, had now

become ‘the Green Church’. The ‘monastery in the

world’ was now beginning.

In Russia the title Lavra was given to particularly

large and famous monasteries, of which there were

four: the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, the Trinity St

Sergius Monastery, the Alexander Nevsky Monastery,

and the Pochaev Monastery. St Seraphim predicted

that there would be a Lavra in Diveyevo: “There will

be both a Lavra and a coenobitic monastery in the

community of poor Seraphim!”

Here, we use the term with reverence, to embrace

those who, while not geographically within the

community, feel drawn to the spirit of the saint. We

use Lavra to include those who endeavour to follow

the way of St Seraphim, his teaching and practice, as

did those monks and nuns in hiding, so that we too

may be held in the saint's prayer as a part of that

‘monastery in the world’.

1

Lavra

EASTER 2013

the Publication for the friends of Saints Alive

2

Pray

er

Dear Friends,

As you read this you may still be in the

Easter season so I greet you all with that

joyous greeting 'Christ is Risen'. This is of

course the cry of millions and is how St

Seraphim greeted all who came to him,

'My Joy, Christ is Risen'.

St Seraphim, as indeed many saints,

while in this life, already experienced to the very depth of his being the joy of that

Paradise which Christ promised to the good robber. May we all be granted to witness

the same joy that God has prepared for us.

In recent months the Trust’s Director has made a trip to Russia forging closer

working relationships in both Sarov and Diveyevo with plans for future cooperation

including education and publication.

May I take this opportunity firstly to apologise for this late publication due to my

having been out of commission for the past few weeks, but may I also welcome all

who intend to join us on the day pilgrimage to Glastonbury on 25th May where we

may meet old friends and make new ones.

Archpriest Maxim Nikolsky

Cover

photo

gra

ph: V

iew

fro

m C

hora

on the Isle

of

Patm

os, G

reece

“When I am no longer with you, come to my

tomb. Come when you have time, and the more

often the better! Whatever you have on your

heart, whatever has happened to you, whatever

you are grieving over, come and bring it all to

me at my grave. Come, fall on the ground and

tell me everything, just as if I were alive, and I

will hear you and your sorrows will fly away and

disappear. Speak to me just as you did when I

was alive, speak to me there. And I will always

be alive for you unto the ages of ages!”

St Seraphim of Sarov

Christ is Risen!

3

Glastonbury A day pilgrimage to Glastonbury Abbey in

Somerset is planned for May 25th 2013.

Led by Fr Maxim Nikolsky, accompanied by

others involved in Saints Alive, this day is

aimed at gathering our Friends and other

supporters.

Glastonbury probably had its first

Christian church in the first century AD and an abbey in the seventh, "dissolutioned"

by Henry VIII in c.1539. The site with its ruined monastery is considered a holy place.

According to tradition this is where Joseph of Arimathea resided when he was sent to

preach in Britain. There are also other legends surrounding this place.

It will be of interest to many to know that Glastonbury has an icon of St Dunstan,

the first abbot of Glastonbury, which was painted by a monk of the Kievan Cave

Monastery.

At Glastonbury we shall have a brief service, and talks on Joseph and the stories

connected with his life. It will be a good place to reconnect with old friends and make

new ones. A picnic in the grounds of the abbey, weather permitting, and a guided

tour of the site promises to be a good day, starting in the morning and ending around

tea-time.

If you are interested in taking part, please register your interest by May 18th, either

online at: http://tinyurl.com/SaintsAliveGlastonburyMay2013, or by post (contact

details are on page 11).

Fello

wship

Joseph of Arimathea According to Christian tradition,

Joseph of Arimathea, who gave up his

tomb for the Body of Christ, later came

to Britain, and when in Avalon

(Glastonbury) stuck his staff in the

ground—more about this on 25th May

in Glastonbury.

Troparion

The noble Joseph, taking down thy

most pure Body from the Tree,

wrapped it in pure linen cloth and

sweet spices and laid it in a new tomb.

But on the third day thou didst rise, O

Lord, granting the world great mercy. Tomb of Jesus, Church of the

Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.

Joseph of

Arimathea.

4

Seeing life through death, seeing joy through suffering, seeing beauty through evil,

are modes of seeing which are pre-eminently active and fundamental to Christian

ontology. They are states of being into which all Christians are called.

This opening of our eyes is often awakened within us through a particular

encounter, enabling us to see more deeply into the reality of life, drawing forth inner

resources, which, when strengthened, enable us to more fully participate in this new

reality. The experience is not single, for as we increasingly participate in this new

reality we 'see more’; enabling us to participate more completely in the mystery which

is life. And we discover that life itself has as its fulcrum, pivot, focal point, full

participation in God.1

A witness within this tradition who has spoken powerfully of her own experience,

gives us insight into how she acquired a certain extraordinary perception. It was in

1932, in the labour camps in the Sarov forest where Julia De Beausobre first heard

the legends of St Seraphim, of which she writes, ‘St Seraphim entered my heart’.

She had been sent to the labour camp following her solitary confinement in Lubianka

Prison, Moscow, where she was tortured. She later spoke of this experience to a

group of students at Lincoln Theological College, England,

‘I wonder how I can convey to you the extraordinary atmosphere of the prisons and

concentration camps, where a vast number of mystically minded men and women

accept in the temper of the yurodivy,2 the torture that they undergo at the hands of

ascetically minded rulers, bent on destroying every vestige of personality in their

victims so as to reduce them to undifferentiated smooth-running parts in the great

machine of their idol worship - the State.

…………. When you are in direct contact with this type of mind, you very soon learn

that there is only one way to make your torturers stop torturing you and that is to

become invulnerable. To a sadist you are of interest only for a particular series of

Resurrection

Lubianka Prison, Moscow Julia de Beausobre

5

reactions, which he makes it his business and pleasure to provoke from you. These

reactions will be variously tinged in different individuals, but even so it is reasonably

easy to foresee, to foretaste and to plan them. For the victim there is only one way

open to save himself, and that is to fail to react at all: then having ceased to be

interesting, he will eventually be left alone.

Now there are two ways to achieve this end. The first, the way of passivity, follows

the line of least resistance…...this easier way involves rendering yourself completely

unfeeling. ....Inability to suffer sometimes proves to be the greatest evil of all…...if you

once lapse into such a condition, it is unlikely you will ever get out of it without the

help of a psychiatrist.

The other way of coping with sadism is very hard. It is pre-eminently active. ..... It

demands penetration, as far as possible, into the mind of the men who have staged

the `cross-examination' and insight into the breadth of God's composition for this

particular event on earth. It is imperative that the heightening of all the mental and

moral faculties that this requires be brought about in a mood of complete

selflessness. ....Once it is achieved you realise that you have been privileged to take

part in nothing less than an act of redemption.’3

Participation in nothing less than an act of redemption ….. such participation in God

brings into focus the 'perfect joy' of the life of the resurrection. This joy does not

suggest a life free from suffering, but one in which suffering can carry us only more

fully into our participation in the cross of Christ, a cross of victory, a cross on which

Christ is raised and from which Christ is raised. This ‘resurrection life’ is the joy of

which St Seraphim speaks when he greets us with the words, "My Joy, Christ is

risen," a joy lived, moment-by-moment, in the face of death. This ‘perfect joy’ has at

its root the chiasmus of joy and suffering, ‘creative suffering’, ‘cross-sharing. For this

joy, borne of our sharing in the cross of Christ, whereby we also share in Christ's

risen life, is divine joy, stronger than the forces of darkness and death. It is a joy in the

Spirit.

And it is Resurrection Life to which St Seraphim witnesses in another extraordinary

way too.

In 1903, St Seraphim was the last Russian Saint to be canonised before the

revolution.4 By this time Sarov had become a focal point of pilgrimage for much of

Russia. In 1926, 11 thousand pilgrims from all over Russia came to Sarov to

celebrate the 23rd anniversary of his canonisation. The Sarov Monastery was the last

working in the whole country.5 With the coming of the revolution, attempts were made

to destroy this spiritual power….

Here is a testimony from this period. In this account, a party of Communists have

been sent to the famous Sarov Pustyn, at a time when the monastery is still in

operation. They carried with them instructions to open the relics of the much loved

saint, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, an act designed to demonstrate the power of the

Bolsheviks over the superstition of the 'faithful'.

6

The story, of how St Seraphim saved a peasant from desecrating his relics, is written

in a letter from E. Poselanin to Prince Vladimir Zhevakhov dated December 19th

1922,

'In the Spring of 1921, an official commission had come to open and inspect the

relics in Sarov. The chairman was a peasant, probably from Vertianovo (not far from

Diveyevo). That night in a dream, he was standing by the shrine as the bones of St

Seraphim came together.6 And then St Seraphim rose from the coffin, robed, just as

seen in icons, saying, "You see, I am alive!"7 And at that the saint touched the man's

cheek with two fingers.

The peasant awoke standing upright,8 in a sweat, with two black impressions on

his face where he had been touched. Finally, in the morning, he related what had

happened, and this was documented. The peasant refused to carry out his original

task and left'.9

The vision of the Communist chief is effective in transforming the outcome of

events. Here we find echoes from the Old Testament, of the vision of Daniel, of

Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones coming to life, and, taken together with the

resurrection appearances of Jesus in the Gospels, this account, provides us with a

rich witness, in relatively recent history, of Christ's effect in re-construing reality. Just

as in the Book of Daniel, the vision in which the man is touched and stands up,

carries forward in time from the visionary/dream state into existential reality, for the

following morning, the man who has received the vision, stands up and witnesses to

those who have come with him to carry out the mission.

*

How does Julia de Beausobre's witness carry forward in time? How is her

extraordinary perception of the penetration of lives to which she has attested and

‘insight into the breadth of God's composition for this particular event on earth’,

consciously shared with others?

She later wrote, ‘the texture of one's own life opens one's eyes to the texture of the

lives of others’.10

With eyes now opened, vision purified through the knowledge of evil, and with St

Seraphim in her heart, de Beausobre wrote the text of the life of St Seraphim, the

book through which so many people in the West, including myself, have come to

know and love St Seraphim of Sarov, and through which the saint has entered their

hearts, Flame in the Snow.11

*

Seeing beauty through evil, ‘godliness and spirit shining out from all that is lowliest

and worst’, ultimately seeing life through death: how may we appropriate Christ’s re-

construal of reality through our own lives??

Theologically this raises a question concerning the nature of reconciliation, a

movement from di-vision to vision when that vision is directed unitively. A thought

from Maximus the Confessor may be helpful here,

7

‘He who should eat of the “eyes of

Christ” is the one who is able to

understand the visible creation in a spiritual

way, and thus is capable of bringing

together the logoi of the things which he

has grasped through his senses and his

mind into one single glorification of God.’12

The resurrection (abolition of death)

transforms reality, such that our seeing

Christ in creation and creation in Christ

constitutes a dynamic.

‘The incarnational likeness of the

sacrament receives the responsive

likeness of the communicant into itself,

transforming it into the likeness of human

deification’.13

For when we see with the eyes of Christ

we see no death. Then the gift of the Word when received transforms death to life,

but not only our death, but the death of all flesh, that we may thereby become the

sacrament, in life and death, given for the Life of the World, such that the Word may

say, `This is my Body'.

Jeanne Knights

7

1 In Orthodox spirituality full participation in God is through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. 2 See de Beausobre, Julia, Creative Suffering, (Oxford: Fairacres Publication 88, 1984), p.18. de Beausobre discusses the clear characterization of this through the ‘yurodivy’ in the Russian

tradition, who sees godliness and spirit shining out from all that is lowliest and worst; from the dust of the highway, the sharp stones that cut his feet, the thorns that tear his flesh, the biting winter frost, the intolerable heat of summer, the stench of the doss-house; from the most degraded types of men and women. He participates in all the badness and degradation, and believes fervently in so doing he helps in the great drama of redemption. 3 See de Beausobre, pp.20-22. 4 But of course in the post-revolutionary Soviet Union, the communist persecution created tens

of thousands of New Martyrs. 5 Agapov A., Sarov - ee proshlom i nastojashhem (Sarov - its Past and Present), Sarov -

Saransk, 1999), p74. 6 Cf. Book of Ezekiel 37:1-9. 7 Cf. Gospel of Mark 16:11. 8 Cf. Book of Daniel, Chapter 10. 9 Fomin, Sergy, B gocti k batiushke Serafimy, (Moscow, Palomniki, 1997), p.454, n.12. 10 de Beausobre, p3. 11 de Beausobre, Julia, Flame in the Snow: A Russian Legend, (London, Constable, 1945). 12 Maximus the Confessor, PG91,1364C, quoted in Lars Thunberg, Microcosm and Mediator,

Lund, 1980, p398. 13 Thunberg, Lars, Man and the Cosmos: The Vision of St Maximus The Confessor, (St

Vladimir’s Seminary Press, New York, 1985), p172, in an excursus on Maximus text Mystagogia 23 (Patr. Gr. 91,701B.).

8

I have a bothy1 in the wood—

none knows it save the Lord, my God;

one wall an ash, the other hazel,

and a great fern makes the door.

The doorposts are made of heather,

the lintel of honeysuckle;

and wild forest all around

yields mast for well-fed swine.

This size my hut: the smallest thing,

homestead amid well-trod paths;

a woman (but blackbird clothed and seeming)

warbles sweetly from its gable.

This little secret humble place

holds tenure of the teeming woods;

maybe you will come to see?—

but alone I live quite happy.

Tree of apples, huge and magic,

great its graces;

crop in fistfulls from clustered hazel,

green and branching.

Sparkling wells and water-torrents,

best for drinking;

green privet there and bird-cherry

and yew-berries. Lifest

yle

9

Resting there are herded swine,

goats and piglings;

wild swine too, deer and doe,

speckled badgers.

Great woodland bands troop like fairies

to my bothy;

and great delight when timid foxes

show their faces.

I hear the soughing of the pine-trees

and pay no money;

I am richer far through Christ, my lord,

than ever you were.

Though you enjoy all you consume

and wealth exceeding,

I am grateful for the riches

my dear Christ brings me.

No hour of trouble like you endure,

no din of combat:

I thank the Prince who so endows me

in my bothy.

A Celtic poem by Connaught (c.670), translated by Professor James

Carney, in L. Bieler’s Ireland, Harbinger of the Middle Ages, London

1963, p.59.

1 bothy—a small hut

10

An important relatively recent publication in Russia is

Rasskazy ob otse osnovatele nashem startse

svyashenno-ieromonakhe Seraphime (Stories about our

founding father, the elder hieromonk Seraphim)1, a

beautifully illustrated facsimile edition of what is known as

‘Notebook 1’.

This is the first of the notebooks of testimonies,

gathered around the time of the death of St Seraphim,

which record the memories of monks, nuns, close friends

and laypeople who knew St Seraphim personally, and

whose lives had been directly touched by his.

In compiling the Chronicles of the Monastery of Seraphim-Diveyevo, the key text in

St Seraphim studies, Metropolitan Seraphim Chichagov’s main source were these

unpublished recollections. This material he found in sixty

manuscript notebooks preserved at Diveyevo. At the

closure of the monastery in 1926 at least some of these

notebooks, perhaps all of them, were taken to Murom,

where the then Mother Alexandra, the first Abbess of

Diveyevo, relocated together with a number of her sisters.

Since the handing back of the churches in the late

1980’s, just a few of the notebooks have been recovered.

This first of these notebooks, a most important one, has

now been published in facsimile, with a transcription.

These stories, written in the first person, bring to life the

immediacy of the experiences, thoughts and feelings of

the people involved. 1Rasskazy ob otse osnovatele nashem startse svyashenno-

ieromonakhe Seraphime, 3rd ed. (Diveyevo: Seraphim-Diveyevo

Monastery, 2009).

Title Page of Original

Notebook 1

Russian Stories

Book Cover

Sketch of St Seraphim,

dated 1830

Side by side layout of facsimile edition with transcription

Study

11

Giving We seek your participation in building

an International Community in St

Seraphim Studies.

Your support in developing and

maintaining dedicated Centres in

Cambridge and Diveyevo will make a

significant and lasting contribution to

theology and spirituality, by offering

resources to a wide range of individuals

and communities.

If you are able to help us to achieve

this, then regular monthly contributions,

however small, promote core

sustainability, allowing us to plan ahead,

and are ultimately what keep us going—

these are precious and welcome gifts.

Single gifts allow us to accomplish

specific objectives: developing learning

programmes, publication of books and of

course development of our study centres.

To become a Friend and participate in

our life in any way and as much as you

wish—do get in touch, either by email or

by writing to us. You will find contact

details in the next column.

Writing for LAVRA

We would like to invite readers to

participate in the production of LAVRA

by writing the occasional article. If you

would be willing to contribute in this

way, please get in touch with us and let

us know about your interests and fields

of expertise. The Editor will consider

any topic related to the aims of Saints

Alive.

Saints Alive

Who we are

Saints Alive is an educational charity operating

in the UK and in Russia. We aim to help

people grow spiritually, to see the world and

our place in creation. One of the main ways in

which we do this is by telling the stories of

extraordinary lives in which we can see the full

potential of our humanity. The lives of holy

people and the saints have an impact and a

transforming relevance for us today, as we

become increasingly aware of our integrated

role within the whole created order.

What we do

Our educational work includes conferences,

seminars and study days, publications and a

major research programme in Russia

recording testimonies of ordinary people who

have led extraordinary lives through the period

of soviet persecution of religion. Our plans for

the future are focused on developing our UK

study centre and establishing a Russian Study

facility both with vibrant programmes of

education, research and publication.

Become a Friend

To register as a Friend online go to

www.saintsalive.org.uk and choose the Get

Involved link or call to request our postal form.

As a Friend you’ll receive regular Updates to

keep you informed, as well as invitations to

special events and new initiatives.

Contact Saints Alive

+44 (0)1223 575 988

contact@saintsalive.org.uk

www.saintsalive.org.uk

Saints Alive, 12 Grange Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DU, UK

Registered Charity No. 1070055