Saint Seraphim of Sarov – Serigraphy on Naturally Aged Wood – Mount Athos

Description

Icon of Saint Seraphim of Sarov on Naturally Aged Wood

Saint Seraphim of Sarov (born Prochorus) lived, worked, and shone with God’s grace in the 18th and 19th centuries. His feast day is celebrated on January 2nd.

He was born on July 19, 1759, in the city of Kursk, where he remained until the age of 18. At 18, he decided to dedicate his life to God and became a monk at the Sarov Monastery. Upon his tonsure, he took the name Seraphim, meaning “fiery,” as his characteristic was his fervent love and zeal for Jesus. Within two months, he was ordained a deacon. As a deacon, he spent the entire day in the monastery, assisting with the services and adhering strictly to the monastic rules. However, in the evenings, he would retreat to the forest to his solitary cell, where he spent the night in prayer. He would return to the monastery early in the morning.

At the age of 34, he was ordained a priest. His thirst for greater spiritual struggles led him to leave the monastery, with the blessing of the abbot, to live in perfect isolation, fasting and constant prayer, for 15 years. For a thousand days and nights, he stood on a stone with raised hands, praying: “O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” He constantly studied the Holy Scriptures and held the Theotokos in great veneration, often saying: “The Virgin Mary is joy, the greatest of all joys.”

In 1810, he returned to the Sarov Monastery and spent another 15 years secluded in his cell, practicing silence. In 1815, at the age of 56, he began to accept visitors. Upon seeing their faces, he would exclaim: “My joy!” He would embrace and kiss some of them, saying: “Christ is Risen!” However, he did not leave his cell for another ten years.

At the age of 66, after a vision and the command of the Theotokos, he fully dedicated himself to serving others and began his work as a spiritual elder (starret). Saint Seraphim was graced by God and the Theotokos with the gift of prophecy, discernment, and healing. He would hear the confessions of many and heal countless sick people.

On January 1, 1833, a Sunday, he came to the hospital chapel for the last time, received Holy Communion, and, after the Divine Liturgy, asked forgiveness from all the brothers. He blessed them, kissed them, and comfortingly said: “You are saved, do not despair, be vigilant and pray. Crowns are being prepared for us.” Saint Seraphim peacefully reposed in the Lord on January 2, 1833. The monks who saw him in prayer before the icon of the Theotokos, wearing his white monastic belt and kneeling with his hands crossed on his chest, assumed he had fallen asleep in the Lord.

This exceptional serigraphy, like all the icons in the same category available from “Athonite Heritage,” has been created on naturally aged wood from a renovated cell on Mount Athos.

As the icon is handmade and the wood processing is done by hand, there may be slight variations in the wood, but not in the depiction.

The icon is available upon request.

Origin: Mount Athos

Dimensions: 29 x 25 x 2.5 cm