Antique Russian Icon Старинная Икона \"Saint Seraphim of Sarov\" 19th Century
![Antique Russian Icon Старинная Икона \](img-large/g/25QAAOSwofxUeRCM/s-l1600/Antique-Russian-Icon-Saint-Seraphim-of-Sarov-19th-.jpg "Antique Russian Icon Старинная Икона \"){kind=icon}
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Antique Russian Icon Старинная Икона \"Saint Seraphim of Sarov\" 19th Century:
$499.00
Antique Russian Icon \"Saint Seraphim of Sarov\" (in Russian \"Святой Серафим Саровский\" ), 19th Century, wood board, gesso, gold leaf, egg tempera. On the left border of the icon is St Gerasim.Size: 12 1/4\" x 10 1/4\" inches For condition please look at the pictures. Here is a very nice and rare piece of religious art.Will be shipped 100% insured with a tracking number.Please look at our other Antique Russian Icons!We always combine shipping fees.St. Seraphim was born Prokhor Moshnin on July 19, 1754. His parents, Isidore and Agathia Moshnin, lived in Kursk, Russia; Isidore was a merchant. At the age of 10, Prokhor became seriously ill. During the course of his illness, he saw the Mother of God in his sleep, who promised to heal him. Several days later there was a religious procession in Kursk with the locally revered miracle-working icon of the Mother of God. Due to bad weather, the procession took an abbreviated route past the house of the Moshnin family. After his mother put Prokhor up to the miracle-working image, he recovered rapidly. While at a young age, he needed to help his parents with their shop, but business had little appeal for him. Young Prokhor loved to read the lives of the saints, to attend church, and to withdraw into seclusion for prayer.
At the age of 18, Prokhor firmly decided to become a monk. His mother blessed him with a large copper cross which he wore over his clothing all his life. After this, he entered the Sarov monastery as a novice.
Monastic Life
From day one in the monastery, exceptional abstinence from food and slumber were the distinguishing features of his life. He ate once a day, and little. On Wednesdays and Fridays he ate nothing. After asking the blessing of his starets (a spiritual elder) he began to withdraw often into the forest for prayer and religious contemplation. He became severely ill again soon after, and was forced to spend most of the course of the next three years lying down.
Prokhor was once again healed by the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who appeared to him accompanied by several saints. Pointing to the young novice, the Holy Virgin said to the Apostle John the Theologian: \"He is of our lineage.\" Then, by touching his side with her staff, she healed him.
His taking of the monastic vows occurred in 1786, when he was 27 years old. He was given the name Seraphim, which in Hebrew means \"fiery,\" or \"burning.\" He was soon made a hierodeacon. He justified his name by his extraordinarily burning prayer. He spent all of his time, save for the very shortest of rests, in church. Through such prayer and the labors of religious services, Seraphim became worthy to see angels, both serving and singing in church. During the Liturgy on Holy Thursday, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, in the form of the Son of man, proceeding into the Church with the Heavenly host and blessing those praying. The saint could not speak for a long time after being struck by this vision.Because of a special vision of the Mother of God he was given toward the end of his life, St. Seraphim took upon himself the feat of becoming an elder. He began to admit everyone who came to him for advice and direction. Many thousands of people from all walks of life and conditions began to visit the elder now, who enriched them from his spiritual treasures, which he had acquired by many years of efforts. Everyone saw St. Seraphim as meek, joyful, pensively sincere. He greeted all with the words: \"My joy! Christ is risen\" To many he advised: \"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved.\" No matter who came to him, the starets bowed to the ground before all, and, in blessing, kissed their hands. He did not need the visitors to tell about themselves, as he could see what each had on their soul. He also said, \"Cheerfulness is not a sin. It drives away weariness, for from weariness there is sometimes dejection, and there is nothing worse than that.\"Everyone knew and esteemed St Seraphim as a great ascetic and wonderworker. A year and ten months before his end, on the Feast of the Annunciation, St Seraphim was granted to behold the Queen of Heaven once more in the company of St John the Baptist, the Apostle John the Theologian and twelve Virgin Martyrs (Sts Barbara, Katherine, Thekla, Marina, Irene, Eupraxia, Pelagia, Dorothea, Makrina, Justina, Juliana, and Anysia). The Most Holy Virgin conversed at length with the monk, entrusting the Diveyevo sisters to him. Concluding the conversation, She said to him: “Soon, My dear one, you shall be with us.” The Diveyevo nun Eupraxia was present during this visit of the Mother of God, because the saint had invited her.
Antique Russian Icon Старинная Икона \"Saint Seraphim of Sarov\" 19th Century:
$499.00