Why Seraphim of Sarov was canonized by force, and how this decision affected the fate of the Romanov dynasty

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Among the host of Russian saints, Seraphim of Sarov occupies a special place. He is revered on all continents by all Orthodox churches in the world. He was the chosen one of the Lord, the beloved of the mother of God, an example of holiness, which they say - "from cradle to grave." At the same time, the church authorities did not see the holiness of the Monk Seraphim - one of the problems of the canonization of the saint was the wrong reasoning about the relics. But the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov, carried out by Emperor Nicholas II, practically by force and against the will of the Holy Synod, contributed to the death of the dynasty.

Deep saint for deep people, or who is Seraphim of Sarov

The homeland of the future great saint was the provincial city of Kursk. When a son was born to the pious and pious couple Isidor and Agafya Moshnin, he was named Prokhor. The head of the family died early, and the mother was engaged in raising three children. The woman understood that her youngest son was God's chosen one when he was still a child. The first sign was the miraculous salvation of Prokhor, when he fell from the top of the unfinished bell tower and remained safe and sound. Only angelic hands could gently lower the boy to the ground from a height.

Three years later, the Mother of God Herself healed him, seriously ill, through Her image. In a dream, the boy was visited by the Mother of God and promised to heal him. And so it happened. Soon, the procession with the icon of the Sign of the Mother of God had to change the route and walk past the windows of the Moshnins' house. Taking advantage of this, Agafya took her sick son into the courtyard and attached it to the miraculous icon, after which he quickly recovered. The Blessed One healed Prokhor, the novice of the Sarov monastery, when he suffered from dropsy for almost three years. The Mother of God visited her pet dozens of times - alone and with many holy companions.

Prokhor Moshnin saw his life only in monasticism. In the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, he received a blessing for asceticism in the Sarov desert, where he subsequently took monastic vows and received the name Seraphim. He began as a simple laborer and went through all the stages of monastic obedience. He was a hermit, a schema-monk, a stalker, a silent man. And when he was honored to be the interlocutor of the Most Holy Theotokos, he became an old man and opened the doors of his cell for all those in need. A life saturated with the Church made him famous not only throughout the Orthodox world, but also among Catholics, Lutherans and representatives of many other faiths.

Why the Holy Synod refused to canonize the saint

Even during his lifetime, Father Seraphim acquired nationwide love and faith in the power of his prayers. And after the death of the elder in 1833, a mass pilgrimage to his grave began. Thousands of people came to Seraphim of Sarov to find solace in grief, ask for advice, and thank him for his help. His painted and photographic portraits were used as icons. However, the question of the canonization of the ascetic was being decided for almost 70 years.

Emperor Nicholas II, who stubbornly insisted on the glorification of the Sarov elder, had to face many difficulties. The main opponent of the sovereign was the Holy Synod established by Peter I. This body was controlled by a secular official - the chief prosecutor (in the time of Nicholas II it was Konstantin Pobedonostsev), which put the Church in formal dependence on the emperor and created the basis for delays and friction in resolving controversial issues. This happened in the situation with Seraphim of Sarov. The results of the work of the commission of inquiry, which studied the cases of healings through the prayers of Father Seraphim, were stuck for a long time in the offices of the Synod. In addition, there was so much evidence of the ascetic's deeds (“too many miracles”) that the members of the commission feared that some of them were lies.

A serious problem in the canonization of the Monk Seraphim was also the question of the relics of the saint. In the synodal period, the prevailing opinion was that the incorruptible relics are incorruptible flesh, and the remains of the elder were only bones. And, finally, Pobedonostsev personally hindered the glorification of Seraphim of Sarov.

Why did the emperor insist on the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov, actually exceeding his power

In the Romanov family, the monk elder was especially revered. First, the crowned spouses sincerely believed that it was through the prayers of Father Seraphim that their daughter Alexandra received healing. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was convinced that the intercession of the ascetic to whom she fervently prayed would help them and her husband find an heir to the throne. Secondly, Nicholas II pinned the hope that, thanks to the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov, he would solve one of the important internal political problems - to get closer to his people, who deeply respected the elder. Another personal motive - Nicholas II knew the prophecies of the monk that the second half of the reign of the monarch, who glorified Seraphim of Sarov, unlike the first, would be happy.

Archimandrite Seraphim Chichagov, who was subsequently shot (in 1937) and canonized as a martyr, helped to get things off the ground. He managed to collect and systematize a huge amount of information about the deeds of Seraphim of Sarov. The archimandrite handed over his work to the Emperor personally, bypassing the Synod. After reviewing the materials, in the spring of 1902, Nicholas II invited the chief prosecutor, who was invited to the family breakfast, to draw up the text of a decree on the glorification of Seraphim of Sarov within a few days. Pobedonostsev's objections were resolutely rejected by both the emperor and his wife. “The sovereign can do anything,” Alexandra Fyodorovna declared categorically, and the chief prosecutor had to obey.

What the canonization of Seraphim of Sarov led to, carried out by Nicholas II practically by force and against the will of the Holy Synod

The decisiveness and perseverance of the last Russian emperor overcame the resistance of the Synod, and in the summer of 1903 the church glorification of the Monk Seraphim took place. Thousands of people from all over Russia (150 thousand pilgrims) came to the celebrations. All members of the royal family arrived to bow to the relics of the saint. From them the Sarov monastery was presented with a beautiful marble shrine and a veil embroidered by the empress on it.

However, the conclusions from the canonization of the saint, which was carried out practically by force and against the will of the Holy Synod, were not drawn by Nicholas II. He was sure that the people sincerely loved him, and all the rebellions in the country were the result of the propaganda of the intelligentsia, which was striving for power. Such confidence later cost the emperor and his family too dearly.

Already in the 20th century, they were canonized for asceticism and martyrdom these 5 bold priests.