St. Seraphim: Like the Fathers of Old

As mentioned in the first of these posts about St. Seraphim, this may feel like a rabbit trail, but after establishing the authenticity of St. Seraphim's message and its connection to the fathers of old (in this post), then moving on to his primary teaching about the spiritual life (in the next post), we will finally be able to accept the understanding of his most famous quote for what it is: a condensed version of everything he lived and taught.

The Little Russian Philokalia, in covering the life and teachings of St. Seraphim of Sarov, reminds us that “there is nothing whatever that is new in the spiritual face of St. Seraphim; all is from the Holy Fathers, of whom he is a most faithful disciple, appearing in the latter times like some great desert father of antiquity, like a new St. Macarius the Great.” The author goes on to say:

"His spiritual instructions like his celebrated conversation with Motovilov on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit contain no new teaching, but simply repeat in modern times the age-old Christian teaching of the great fathers whom he constantly cites: saints Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Macarius the Great, Dionysius the Areopagite, Ambrose of Milan, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, and the fathers of the Philokalia."

On Talkativeness…

St. Seraphim quotes St. Isaac the Syrian: "Nothing so cools the fire that a monk draws from the Holy Spirit into his heart for the sanctification of his soul, as much as communication and loquacity and any conversation, except for conversation with children concerning God's mysteries, which aids their growth in knowledge of God and contact with him"

On Despondency…

He shares spiritual advice which could be helpful in our approach to depression and various other mental illnesses: "Boredom is one thing, and the anguish of spirit that is called despondency is quite another. It sometimes happens that a man is in such a spiritual state that it seems to him that it would be easier to be annihilated or to be totally without consciousness or feeling than to remain any longer in this immeasureably painful state. One must come out of it quickly. Guard yourself against the spirit of despondency, for from it comes every kind of evil."

And when we question whether some mental illnesses come from a demonic attack (or some other spiritual source) or whether they may be, in some way, “natural”, St. Seraphim continues by saying, “There is a natural despodency, St. Barsanuphius teaches, caused by weakness; and there is a despondency caused by a demon.”

When attempting to figure out how to approach the issue of despondency, we would do well to remember that the first matter to which we should attend might well be the overall depressing situation. It is not all in our head. “When a man has a great insufficiency of those things needed for the body, it is difficult to vanquish despondency. But this, of course, is applicable to weak souls.”

On Discerning the Spirits…

He says, "though the devil might transform himself into an angel of light, or might produce thoughts seemingly good: still the heart would feel a certain obscureness and agitation in its thoughts. Explaining this, Saint Macarius of Egypt says: though satan might produce also visions of light, he is entirely unable to produce a blessed effect: which is the well-known sign of his works. ...And thus, from these diverse workings of the heart a man may know what is divine and what is diabolic, as Saint Gregory the Sinaite writes: from the effect one may know whether the light shining in one's soul is of God or of Satan.

On Guarding Our Thoughts…

St. Seraphim provides some practical advice about the easiest and most effective way to keep our thoughts on things above: "But one should pray to the Lord God that the spark of impure passions may be extinguished at the very beginning. Then the flame of passions will not increase in a man."

And he adds: "The mind of a heedful man is as it were a watchman on duty, or an unsleeping guard of the inner Jerusalem. Standing at the height of spiritual contemplation, he looks with an eye of purity upon the enemy powers who go around and attack his soul, in accordance with the Psalmist: and mine eye hath looked down upon my enemies."

In Christ the Eternal Tao, Abbot Damascene shares a very similar illustration of how we spiritually guard our thoughts and our hearts, likely drawing from the same source St. Seraphim had in mind: St. John Climacus in The Ladder of Divine Ascent as found in the Philokalia:

"Close the door of your cell to the body, the door of your tongue to speech, and your inner gate to evil spirits. Ascend into a watchtower—if you know how to—and observe how and when and whence, and in what numbers and what form, the robbers try to break in and steal your grapes. When the watchmen grows weary he stands up and prays; then he sits down again and manfully resumes the same task. Guarding against evil thoughts is one thing, keeping watch over the spirit [nous] is another. The latter differs from the former as much as east from west, and is far more difficult to attain. Where thieves see royal weapons at the ready they do not attack the place lightly. Similarly, spiritual robbers do not lightly try to plunder to the person who has enshrined prayer within his heart."

But what about the quote?

It is important to see how St. Seraphim's teachings flow out of the fathers. In the next post, keep that famous quote in your head as we explore the primary focus of the life and teaching of St. Seraphim.