The Apparitions of the Virgin Mary to Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833) enjoyed an astonishing intimate relationship with the Mother of God all his life.

At the age of ten, suffering from a serious illness, he revealed to his mother a vision of the Virgin promising him healing. A few days later, as the icon of Our Lady of Kursk, believed to be miraculous, was carried in procession through the city, the child was brought before it and was healed.

In 1778, Seraphim became a monk at the monastery of Sarov, where he suffered from dropsy. Again, the Mother of God appeared to him, this time accompanied by the apostles Peter and John. She said to those apostles, pointing to the sick man: "This one belongs to our family." She touched the young monk's head, then his sick side. The swelling burst and a flow of water escaped.

In 1793 he became a priest, but soon after left the monastery to live as a hermit deep in a forest.

One day, he was severely attacked by thieves who caused him multiple fractures. When he was brought back to his monastery, he saw the Mother of God approaching him and touching him. The patient recovered after several months, but remained bent, walking with a stick.

Later, the Most Holy Virgin ordered him to found a female monastery of which she herself would be the Superior.

The last apparition occurred some time before his death, in the early morning of March 25, 1831. In that vision Seraphim was with the nun Eupraxia. They prayed together, then the cell filled with the smell of perfume. They saw the Queen of Heaven, preceded by two angels and at her side, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and twelve virgin martyrs. Seraphim conversed familiarly with Mary, and she said to him: "Soon, my beloved, you will be with us”. When the dazzling vision left, Seraphim confided to the sister that he had begged the Mother of God to intercede with her Son, not only for the nuns, but also for all those who follow Mary’s advice.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Bibliography:

Irina Gorainoff, Séraphim de Sarov, Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1976, collection spiritualité orientale n° 11.

Valentine Zander, Saint Séraphim, l'ange de Sarov, Saint Benoit du Sault, Ed. bénédictines, 2000.

Ivan Kologrivof, Essai sur la sainteté en Russie, Ed. Beyaert, Bruges 1953.

Françoise Jeanlin,

Excerpt from Françoise Jeanlin, « Les apparitions de la Mère de Dieu dans l'Eglise orthodoxe », in Apparitiones beatae Mariae Virginis in Historia, Fide, theologia. Actes du congrès de la PAMI, Lourdes, 2008 (PAMI, Città del Vaticano, 2010), p. 471-472