Life and Teaching of Saint Seraphim of Sarov

The story about the life of Saint Seraphim of Sarov1, the miracle-worker, was first printed by the Monastery of Sarov in 1893. It was then re-written by N. Puretzki and published by the printer I. D. Sytin in Moscow in 1903.
Saint Seraphim's Teaching was taken from the original edition of this book, which was reprinted in Moscow in 1991 by the Moscow Section of the National Trust for Preservation of Monuments. The cover image is a photo of one of Saint Seraphim's miracle-working icons. This icon was presented to the Russian Orthodox Church in the name of Saint Mary of Magdala in The Hague by the last Russian Tzar, Nicolas II, a martyr and a saint; the reason being that this church was originally the domestic chapel of Queen Anna Paulowna, who was a member of the Royal Romanov House, and the wife of King, Willem II of the Netherlands. This icon has another particular characteristic: it is not a strictly formal representation of a saint, but one of the two portraits of Saint Seraphim. The church also has in her possession part of the relics of Saint Seraphim, and pilgrims from all over Europe and Russia come to venerate them and to pray.
Saint Seraphim is one of the most venerated saints of Russia, and has greatly influenced the spiritual life, not only of the entire Russian clergy, but also of the thousands of laymen who were drawn to Christian mysticism.
Staretz2 Seraphim has formulated in his teaching in simple words the purpose and the ways of Christian ascetic life, in order to make them understandable to all those seeking God. In future we will translate and publish more books about Christian Orthodox ascetics and mystics of Russia. Guram Kochi and Marijcke Tooneman The Hague, January 2008

Foreword by the Translators The Life of Saint Seraphim Prayer to Saint Seraphim Endnotes The Teaching of Saint Seraphim 1. On God
2. On Faith
3. On Hope
4. On love of God
5. On the fear of God
6. On renouncing the world
7. On silence
8. On heedfulness of oneself
9. On the care for the soul
10. With what should one nourish one's soul
11. On peace of soul
12. On preserving peace of soul
13. On feats
14. On the light of Christ
15. On tears
16. On repentance
17. On fasting
18. On guarding the mind
19. On verbosity
20. On discernment of what is in the heart
21. On illnesses
22. On almsgiving
23. On thoughts and impulses of the flesh
24. On patience and humility
25. On duties and love for one's neighbours 26. On not condemning one's neighbour and on forgiveness of insults
27. Against excessive care
28. On sadness
29. On despair
30. On the reasons why Jesus Christ came into the world
31. On the active and the contemplative life