On the feast of the finding of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill prayed at the Divine Liturgy in the church of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in the monastery of the same name near Peredelkin. At the end of the service, His Holiness delivered a sermon.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!
Today we prayerfully glorify our holy Reverend and God-bearing father Seraphim of Sarov. Strange words are found in the Holy Scriptures — the Lord said: My strength is perfected in weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). The paradox: how can strength be accomplished in weakness? After all, infirmity is a disease, incapacity; it is, as modern people would say, uncompetitiveness. A person cannot compete with anyone if he is full of weakness, but the Lord utters these paradoxical words: My strength is perfected in weakness.
The whole life of St. Seraphim of Sarov is an illustration of these incomprehensible words spoken by the Lord Himself to many people. St. Seraphim was, in our opinion, an invalid. He had an accident — he fell from a great height and was really incapacitated. What kind of exploits? What is standing on a rock? It is impossible to imagine that this young man, who fell from a bell tower and miraculously survived, could actually do something that would surprise people. But his whole life was a miracle. He actually took on a completely inexplicable feat of seclusion, but what kind of seclusion! Not just in a cell, not just in a hermitage, but in a forest, where wild animals are, where it is impossible to survive, it's like in a desert without water. To come to a dense forest like that, and what happens there? A bear began to come to St. Seraphim. And what does that mean? And this means that by the power of God's grace, even this terrible beast, capable of tearing apart the elder, simply began to go to him, and he fed him bread. And it's not a fairy tale at all! St. Seraphim lived quite recently by the standards of the entire long history of mankind. No fairy tales would have spread, people would have easily refuted them, but that was reality. Everyone knew about it, everyone was amazed at it, and this event also entered the life of the monk.
My strength is perfected in weakness, and how it is perfected! But this is the power of God. Very often, almost always, we rely on our own strength. We turn to the power of God only when it's already very bad, whether it's an incurable diagnosis, or a family tragedy, or some other circumstances that no human power can change. But the feat of St. Seraphim, which is recorded in his life, helps us to understand that the power of God is accomplished in weakness. On one condition only: if a person believes in God, fulfills His commandments and lives according to His law.
We live in a special time today. The 21st century, everything has changed: science, technology, technology, the power of the human mind. But a man remains a man, with his illnesses and sufferings, joy and disappointment. Therefore, even now it is impossible to heal many things based on scientific knowledge, on everything that human civilization possesses today. Is it possible to save a crumbling family with the help of technology? Or to forgive the other in such a way as to completely exhaust any conflict? It's all about our inner life, the life of our soul — there are laws here. And so, living according to these laws, St. Seraphim became so strong that his strength began to be transmitted to many, many people, despite his physical disability.
The example of St. Seraphim helps us, people of the 21st century, who rely so much on knowledge, science, and everything else that makes a person strong, to remember that the power of God is higher and more powerful than any other human power. And how can we make this force help us? There is only one way: we must believe in the Lord, we must rely on His mercy and always close the connection between ourselves and God. Because if there is no such connection, then Divine grace will not touch us.
By turning on the electricity, we hope that the light bulb will light up immediately, but if the connection is interrupted somewhere, this will not happen. In the same way, no power of God will work in us, no Divine light will light up in our soul, if there is no such connection. And the bond is strengthened by faith, because, as the word of God says, without faith it is impossible to please God (see Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, our prayer is dead. You can say prayers as much as you want, but if there is no faith, nothing will happen, no chain will be closed.
But faith can be formal. To be honest, this often happens among us, as Orthodox believers. You came to the temple, crossed yourself, prayed, and when you left the temple, you lived like an ordinary person, like a pagan. This kind of faith is not pleasing to God, it is impossible to please the Lord with such faith.
Therefore, glorifying the memory of St. Seraphim of Sarov, let us ask him to strengthen our faith through his intercession before the Lord, which is supported by good deeds. So that St. Seraphim would not abandon our monks, who have embarked on a very difficult path of soul salvation through maximum self-restraint. Nowadays, this is really a huge feat, much greater than what even those monks and nuns who went into the desert did in the distant past. The devil used to appear to them in the desert, but in our world, an encounter with this force occurs almost every day. And if we don't drive this force away with prayer, then it takes over our consciousness and our will.
Venerable Father Seraphim, standing before the Lord, pray for our people, for our Church, especially for those who, having embarked on the path of monastic ministry, invoke your holy name in prayer! Amen.
The Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia