Colonel, Doctor, Bishop and Martyr: a Life Story of Holy Martyr Seraphim (Chichagov)
On 11 December Russian Orthodox Church commemorates
Holy Hieromartyr Seraphim (Chichagov) of Petrograd. To honor his memory, we
offer you an excerpt from Fr. Yves Dubois’ sermon on this not very known, but
yet great saint, originally published on Ancient Faith Radio.
Leonid Chichagov
born in 1856 and martyred in 1937 was born 25 years after the death of St.
Seraphim of Sarov who was the most important influence on his life.
The orphan son of a
builder, St. Seraphim of Sarov was raised by an energetic and warmhearted
mother who took on and looked after many orphan girls. This motherly care of
orphan girls was to be the model for St. Seraphim’s dealings with the convent
he guided from a distance for much of his life. From his childhood till his
death St. Seraphim was the beloved of the Mother of God who appear to him 12
times and healed him several times. For many years he lived by himself in a
tiny hermitage in the deep forest. For 1000 days and nights he prayed kneeling
on a stone. He saw almost no one. If people came he would hide in the tall
grass. Almost beaten to death by thieves, he made sure they were pardoned. This
most humble and sober saint was unusually aware of the closeness of Paradise.
In his old age he was seen transfigured like Christ on Mount Thabor shining
with a light brighter than the sun. He has left important teachings saying that
the goal of human life is to acquire the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is received
in exchange for good deeds done for the love of Christ. Prayer and kind actions
are the means by which we make it possible for the Holy Spirit to come and
abide in us. St. Seraphim is a sure guide in Orthodoxy, and many of his
disciples, all of them women, have been glorified as saints by the Orthodox
Church. I shall come back later to the role of St Seraphim in the life of
Leonid Chichagov.
The second
influence on him was St. John of Kronstadt, his confessor for 30 years.
Together with St. Seraphim, St. John of Kronstadt is known as one of the two
greatest pillars of Orthodox holiness in the last two centuries.
The third saint who
was close to Leonid Chichagov was Patriarch Tikhon who had been Orthodox
Archbishop of New York before he guided the Russian Church during the first
eight years of Communist persecution. While in America he asked Isabel Hapgood
to translate the main services of our church into English and her book is still
in use. At is Cathedral in New York, he served in English every other week. He
is the pioneer of English language Orthodoxy. Wise, gentle and firm, he
defeated the Soviet government’s attempt to set up a pseudo-church: the people
remained faithful to the Patriarch whom they trusted.
The fourth saint
who was close to both Patriarch Tikhon and Leonid Chichagov, Ilarion Troitsky,
Abbot then Archbishop, was a brilliant young theologian and a powerful orator
who convinced the Council of 1917 to elect Patriarch Tikhon. His teaching was
that Orthodoxy is a community held together by the Holy Spirit, not just a set
of notions about God. What matters for the Christian life is the fullness of
the Church’s life, a real community of love. The Christian life cannot be fully
contained in books but only in a living community. St. Ilarion Troitsky was
martyred in 1929 at the age of 42 in Leningrad. Leonid Chichagov organised a
magnificent funeral for him.
Nine months later
the church was built and had a congregation, but his wife was ill and soon
died. At the age of 40 he became a monk. From that time he was no longer known
as Leonid but as Seraphim Chichagov after the saint of Sarov. He became a
historian, sifted fax from legends about St. Seraphim and wrote two volumes
about him which reveal the nature of Orthodox holiness. He rebuilt monasteries,
renovated their communities and many monks were jealous of him. He was made a
Bishop not long before the Russian Revolution and had difficulties with
anti-Church people in the civil service. Then the revolution came. He was
jailed for two years. Released, the Patriarch appointed him as Metropolitan of Leningrad.
His health declined. He witnessed the barbaric bloodbath which engulfed Russia
under Stalin. He saw churches desecrated and destroyed, often by people who had
previously worked for the Orthodox Church.
The enemy, the
persecutors, were former Orthodox Christians turned atheists. He did not know
during his earthly life that the persecution would ever end, and yet the
certainty of his faith and the vigour of his prayer were never damaged. Ill and
worn out at 75 he retired and went to live in the small house assigned to the
Metropolitan Sergius who was head of the Russian Church at that time. Every
humiliation was inflicted on the old bishops. At 81, bedridden and gravely ill
he was dragged to prison, given a summary trial then shot at Butovo in the
south of Moscow, where the Soviet authorities had 500 people shot daily for 30
years. At the time of his martyrdom, since Seraphim Chichagov did not know that
less than 60 years later the churches would be rebuilt and that the place of
his execution will be marked by a huge church in honour of all the New Martyrs.
Saint Seraphim
Chichagov and all the New Martyrs of the Orthodox Church, pray to God for us.
Amen.
By Fr. Yves Dubois
Source: http://www.pravmir.com/holy-martyr-seraphim-chichagov-colonel-doctor-bishop-martyr/
