Following the closure of the monasteries in Sarovand Diveyevo, some monks and nuns escaped.Hiding in surrounding villages they continuedsecretly in the way of St Seraphim.

The faithful of the closed city of Sarov nowworshipped in God's Sanctuary, the forest in whichSt Seraphim had dwelt and had been beaten hadnow become ‘the Green Church’. The ‘monastery inthe world’ was now beginning.

In Russia the title Lavra was given to particularlylarge and famous monasteries, of which there werefour: the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, the Trinity StSergius Monastery, the Alexander NevskyMonastery, and the Pochaev Monastery. St Seraphimpredicted that there would be a Lavra in Diveyevo:“There will be both a Lavra and a coenobiticmonastery in the community of poor Seraphim!”

Here, we use the term with reverence, toembrace those who, while not geographically withinthe community, feel drawn to the spirit of the saint.We use Lavra to include those who endeavour tofollow the way of St Seraphim, his teaching andpractice, as did those monks and nuns in hiding, sothat we too may be held in the saint's prayer as apart of that ‘monastery in the world’. La

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Here is an extractconcerning study in StSeraphim’s own life; fromthe forthcoming Englishedition of The Chronicles ofthe Monastery of Seraphim-Diveyevo, St Petersburg,1903, Russian edition, page64 (translated by AnnShukman).

Father Seraphim readmany books. His constantrule in the hermitage wasevery day to read the setpassages from the Gospelsand the epistles which he would interpret for himself; he believed this to be a matterof great importance for the spiritual advancement of a Christian, for his ascensionto heaven and union with God. He called this provision for the soul, and he wrotedown his thoughts on the subject (What should one provide for the soul?) “If youwant to put the house of your soul in order”, Father Seraphim wrote, following theteaching of the great and venerable Varsonophius:

“You should first of all prepare the material and everything necessary for theartist to come and arrange it. What is necessary for such a house is a firm faith forbuilding the walls; little wooden windows which let in the sunlight to give light to thehouse so that there is not the least bit of darkness. The little wooden windows arethe five senses which bore witness to the honourable Cross of Christ, letting in thelight of the sun of truth in your mind and not allowing the least bit of darkness ofyour enemy and the hater of goodness to remain in your house.

Then you will need a roof so that the sun will not strike you by day nor the moonby night (Ps. 120 [121], 6). The roof is fixed firm with love for God, the love whichcovers the house and never falls and never lets the sun go down on your wrath(Eph. 4. 26) so that you will not see your anger accusing you on the day ofjudgement and burning you in the fire of Gehenna, or the moon bearing witness toour nightly despondency and indolence.

Finally, a door is needed leading into the house and safeguarding the one wholives in it. Learn about this door for it is the Son of God who says, I am the door. Ifyou so order the house of your soul and if there is nothing indecent or displeasingto God, then He will come with the blessed Father and the Holy Spirit and make Hisdwelling with you and teach you what the peace of the soul is, and will enlightenyour heart with inexpressible joy.

Study

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Welcome to 2010

CONTENTS

Study Provision for the soul 3 Opening up The Conversation 4Fellowship Education initiative 5 Pilgrimage 5Lifestyle ‘Poor Seraphim’ 6Giving Of time and talents 7 Who we are and where we are 7

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Prayer

Greetings and welcome to this edition of Lavra,the newsletter for Saints Alive.

Firstly we wish you all a fulfilling and blessedNew Year! Having celebrated the Nativity of Christwe thank Our Lord for all the good things He hassent us and ask for the new year to beprosperous in our spiritual life and in our earthlywell-being.

We do have a variety of reasons for givingthanks this January. The year ahead of uspromises to be a busy and active one for thecharity. You will read elsewhere about our plansfor publishing a small but important book, TheConversation, which gives one of the mostvaluable insights into St Seraphim’s teachings.We also have plans for an education initiative basedaround the launch of The Conversation. Recently wemoved to a new home at the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge, and givethanks for this. The Institute is part of the Cambridge Theological Federation wherenow Saints Alive has a modest study centre and office as well as access to a range ofseminar and meeting rooms which we hope will play an important part in oureducation plans over coming years.

Our plans to expand and consolidate our study centre in the UK sit alongsideplans for our Russian study centre and we are actively raising funds to take theseprojects forward. Should you wish to become more closely involved in our work, wewould very much like to hear from you. Our contact details are on page seven.

Once more we wish you a blessed Epiphany and 2010.

With the prayers of St. Seraphim,Yours in Christ, Archpriest Maxim

Archpriest Maxim Nikolsky, Chairman

Set our hearts on fire with love toThee, O Christ our God, that in itsflame we may love Thee with allour heart, with all our mind, withall our soul and with all ourstrength, and our neighbours asourselves, so that, keeping Thycommandments, we may glorifyThee the Giver of all good gifts.Kontakion of prayers for the increase of

love Amen

The publication of The Conversation willcoincide with a new education initiativefrom Saints Alive, and we are looking forsupport to bring our programme to life.The Conversation of St Seraphim ofSarov with Nikolai A. Motovilovaddresses the key question, ‘What is theaim of the Christian life?’ It does so in away that introduces Christians of theWest to the core of Eastern OrthodoxChristian understanding – both spiritualand theological – the transfiguration.

At the centre of the book is therecounting of the experience of a fellowChristian, the experience of being filledwith the Holy Spirit in a very tangible waythrough all of the senses.

In The Conversation St Seraphimsays, “I am questioning you to judgewhether that feeling is living, distinct,intelligible and detectable for our fivesenses, so that you can clearly andintelligibly convey it to others afterwards;because this great mercy of God isrevealed not for me, poor Seraphim, butfor you.”

As an integral aspect of the launch ofthe publication we are planning a seriesof talks and seminars around the countrythat will promote not only understandingof the significance of The Conversationas part of the Christian tradition and therole it plays in the transfiguration of eachof us and of all creation, but also contactbetween Eastern Orthodox and WesternChristians.

We invite you to reflect on how anevent, small or large, in your owncommunity could be a stimulus todialogue and spiritual growth. We inviteyou to write to us with your thoughts onwhat you would like to see happen in thiscontext and how, through it, you may beable to facilitate the conveying of StSeraphim’s message to others.

Further stages of this programme willbe planned in late January (so make surewe hear from you before then) and theprogramme of events will be published inthe next edition of Lavra. Our contactdetails appear on page seven.

We are in the first stages ofplanning a pilgrimage to theMonastery of Seraphim-Diveyevoto join other pilgrims celebratingthe Feast of the Transfiguration(17 and 18 August 2010). Pleasecontact us if you are interested inparticipating – places will belimited. In February 2010 we willbe sending out details to thosewho have expressed an interest.Email contact@saintsalive.org.ukor telephone 01223 575988.

New education initiative from Saints Alive

Pilgrimage 2010

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Fellowship

The Monastery of Seraphim-Diveyevo

At Saints Alive, we are already well ahead with ournext publishing project: The Conversation is aunique record of an encounter between St Seraphimand Nikolai Motovilov, one of his spiritual children.This book has inspired thousands on their spiritualjourney, and bringing it to a wider audience is acentrally important part of the Trust’s mission.

We are publishing a new translation of TheConversation (or to give its full title Concerning theaim of Christian life: the Conversation of St.Seraphim of Sarov with Nikolai A. Motovilov), a shortwork but one of the most important inunderstanding the life and teaching of St Seraphimand so relevant for us all today. The Conversation isof fundamental importance because it recounts thebodily experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit in a very tangible way through all ofthe senses.

We are also dedicated to using the book to increase understanding and contactbetween Orthodox and Western Christians, since the contemporary significance of StSeraphim and his universality are important messages for the whole of the Christianworld.

The foreword and introduction to the book will be written by leading figures in theOrthodox and Anglican churches: Archbishop Rowan Williams has agreed to write theintroduction. He has earlier spoken of his own first encounter with St Seraphim:

“I first came across St Seraphim when I was a teenager; … reading a book aboutthe Church in Russia, I read some of the narratives about Seraphim. I was immediatelystruck by two things, one was the alternation of the dark and the light, the changes ofjoy in the spirit and the endurance in great suffering and all that had come together atthis point. And the other thing that’s been of great value in the story of St Seraphim isthe account of the transfiguration, the face that shines, and the sense that in aChristian Life as we look upon it – it is the light of God that we see, in the Church.”

Archpriest Maxim Nikolsky, the Trust’s Chairman says: “I feel that bringing TheConversation to a wider audience is so important because although St Seraphim is sobeloved of the Russian people he is also a saint for the whole world. His messageconcerning the acquisition of the Holy Spirit is to all mankind and the miracle, asnarrated by Nicholas Motovilov, vividly reveals that vision of what is potentially possiblefor all of humanity if one strives for it.” Our new edition is based on the longest andmost comprehensive Russian version, highly regarded by scholars, theologians andhistorians. It is illustrated with specially-commissioned images created by therenowned Belorussian artist Irina Kotova (one of her illustrations appears above).

Opening up The Conversation

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In this section we want to reflect onhow we are to dwell together, in anage when we are becomingincreasingly aware of theinterdependence of all life. How doour lives reflect this: in our homes,our villages, our churchcommunities, our monasticcommunities, our bio-regions, ourplanet? We want to encourage youto share with us your own thoughtsand images. We are interested insharing different approaches toresponding to this question, onethat we each answer with our dailylives.

‘Poor Seraphim’ St. Seraphim teaches us a way of beingthat is at once simple and profound. Heknows how to “live from the centre”, toface each encounter with events orpersons in the context of grace.

So from his “return to the world”from his self-imposed (or Spirit-directed) isolation, he greets eachnewcomer with the words “My Joy.” But he links this joy in being, in createdexistence, with the power of Resurrection: “Christ is risen.”

Seraphim's poverty does not consist in the absence of wealth, but inreliance upon God and non-reliance upon the common sources to which weturn to sustain and replenish our being, which lead us only to further appetiteand hunger.

He knows the inner spring of living water, which when one tastes, one willnever thirst again. He invites all who will to drink. He will be a friend alongsidethose who trust him as a guide in the spiritual life, enabling us to see what weare not seeing, and to understand what we are not understanding.

“Poor Seraphim” has this essential poverty which is spiritual freedom, and hecan show us how to lead unencumbered lives, how to rediscover our capacityfor simple joyfulness and celebration, how to experience “recreation” throughthe power of the Spirit.

Lifestyle

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Will you help us strengthen ourUK St Seraphim Studies Centre?

Our Patron, Archbishop RowanWilliams, has said, “The love thatpeople feel for Seraphim hassomething to do with a sense thatthis relates to something completelyrooted in the earth… completelyrooted in the day-by-day life of achurch, completely at one with thehuman environment, the people in it,and also of course with the naturalworld.”

A dedicated St SeraphimStudies Centre will make asignificant and lasting contribution totheology and spirituality, offeringresources that can revitalisechurches, communities, groups andindividuals. How can you play your part?

There are a number of ways inwhich you can help us achieve thisgoal: regular monthly contributions,however small, contribute to coresustainability, allowing us to planahead, and are ultimately whatkeeps us going – these are preciousand welcome gifts.

Single gifts can allow us toaccomplish a specific objective, likethe publication of a book, or thepresentation of a learningprogramme, or the development ofa Study Centre.

And of course we invite you tobecome a Friend.

We want our Friends communityto increasingly participate in our lifeand work – do get in touch if youcould support us in a practical way.We would love to hear from you.

Saints AliveWho we areSaints Alive is an educational charity operating in theUK and in Russia. We aim is to help people growspiritually, to see the world and our place in creationin a new light. One of the main ways in which we dothis is by telling the stories of extraordinary lives inwhich we can see the full potential of our humanity.The lives of holy people and the saints have animpact and a transforming relevance for us today,as we become increasingly aware of our integratedrole within the whole created order.

What we doOur educational work includes conferences,seminars and study days, publications and a majorresearch programme in Russia recordingtestimonies of ordinary people who have ledextraordinary lives through the period of sovietpersecution of religion. Our plans for the future arefocused on developing our UK study centre andestablishing a Russian Study facility both withvibrant programmes of education, research andpublication.

Become a FriendThe charity is a small organisation at the moment,but our strength is in the integrity, enthusiasm,good-will and success it has achieved already. If youare interested in finding out more, then do considerbecoming a Friend.

To register as a Friend online go towww.saintsalive.org.uk and choose the Get Involvedlink or call to request our postal form. As a Friendyou’ll receive regular Newsletters to keep youinformed, as well as invitations to special events andnew initiatives.

Contact Saints Alive

( +44 (0)1223 575988* contact@saintsalive.org.uk: www.saintsalive.org.uk

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

Registered Charity No: 1070055

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Giving