“Blessed is he who has mercy on cattle” (Prov. 12:10.)
To the question of my priest friend: “Will there be animals in paradise?” He replied: “What is heaven without animals??” Indeed, nothing gladdens the human heart more than animals. Looking at any creature of God, you just want to glorify God and be touched in your heart. In the history of the Old and New Testaments, as well as in the lives of Christian ascetics and saints, many cases of cooperation and friendship between animals and saints are described. On the winter night of Bethlehem, the newborn Divine Infant was warmed by the breath of donkeys and oxen. The lions refused to kill the first Christians and accepted martyrdom with them for their faith. The animals warmed the saints, fed them, and brought God's message.
Reading the lives of saints, you almost always come across the warm attitude of a saint towards his cat, dogs, and birds. Among the saints of God special relationship with the animal world:
Venerable Gerasim of Jordan
One day the Monk Gerasim was walking through the desert and met a lion who had splintered his paw. The elder took the thorn from his paw, cleaned the wound of pus and bandaged it. The beast did not run away, but remained with the hermit and from then on followed him everywhere, like a disciple, so that the monk was amazed at his prudence. The elder gave the lion bread and porridge, and he ate and gave the lion a name - Jordan.
Jordan lived in a monastery, often came to the monk and took food from his hands. Five years passed like this. The Monk Gerasim died, and the brethren buried him. It happened that the lion was not in the monastery at that time. Soon he came and began to look for his elder. When Jordan was taken to the grave, he roared sorrowfully, began to beat his head on the ground and, roaring terribly, gave up the ghost on the saint’s grave.
Venerable David of Gareji
Blessed David chose the city of Tiflis as the field of evangelical preaching. With his holy life and fiery preaching he converted many souls to Christ the Savior. But, slandered by one wicked wife, St. David and his faithful disciple Lucian withdrew from the noise of the world into the Gareji desert.
After some time, his disciple began to become discouraged due to lack of water and food. The Monk David said: “Father Lucian! Why are you grieving so much and why are you hoping for plants? Don’t you know that they are all subject to change and transitory, and that, having vegetated and grown, they perish over time? But the soul is immortal and is acquired through patience, according to Scripture: With your patience save your souls (Luke 21:19).”
At this time, at the words of David, three female deer suddenly came running with young fawns and stopped in front of the monks quietly and meekly. Then David ordered Lucian to take the vessel and milk the animals sent by God. Having overshadowed a vessel full of milk with the sign of the Cross of the Lord, David turned the milk into fresh cheese.
After some time, hunters came to this desert. Chasing the deer, they ended up in the cave of saints. When the hunters saw the deer meekly standing, as if they were domesticated, in front of Lucian, who, as usual, was milking them, they fell at the feet of the saint. David and said to him: “Servant of God! What a wondrous miracle!”
St. David answered them: “Why are you surprised, brothers? What you see is happening according to the will of God. The Creator of all, who also cares for birds, in His great goodness, also feeds us, the weak, through these animals. Everyone expects God to give food in due time. I ask you, my brothers, go hunt somewhere else: these deer were given to us by God to strengthen our weak strength.”
Reverend Kevin of Glendalough
Many miracles are attributed to the saint, but especially those in which his special closeness and love for animals and all nature were manifested stand out.
As a child, the boy was difficult and unsociable, but loved animals. At the age of 7, his parents sent him to a monastery in Cornwall. Kevin proved himself to be an ascetic and a man of prayer. The following legend relates to his time in the monastery. On the first day of Lent, when the boy was kneeling in prayer with outstretched hands, a blackbird sat on his palm and built a nest. All Lent the boy remained motionless so as not to disturb the nest, and the bird fed him berries and nuts. By the end of Lent, the chicks hatched, and Kevin celebrated Easter with his brothers.
There is also a story about a hunted boar that lay down at the feet of the praying Kevin. When the hounds overtook the boar, they also lay down at the feet of the saint. Only the human hunters wanted to kill the beast, but a flock of birds, which at that moment landed on the tree under which the saint stood, dissuaded them too.
As a child, Kevin tended sheep and, taking pity on the poor, gave them four. However, at the evening count, it turned out that the number of sheep had not decreased.
King Colman of Faelan lost all his sons except the youngest, whom he sent to Kevin's monastery to protect him from evil spirits. But the monastery did not have cows to feed the baby. Then Kevin, seeing a doe on the monastery grounds, ordered her to feed the prince along with her fawn. She obeyed, but the she-wolf killed her before the baby could refuse milk. For this, the saint imposed the obedience on the she-wolf to feed both the prince and the orphan deer, which she did.
Seraphim of Sarov
One nun came to Saint Seraphim and saw him sitting and a huge bear standing next to him. She froze with fear and screamed at the top of her voice: “Father! My death!” . Elder Seraphim, hearing her voice, hit the bear lightly and waved his hand at him. Then the bear, like a reasonable person, immediately went in the direction where Fr. pointed. Seraphim, into the depths of the forest. Elder Seraphim approached the nun and said: “Don’t be horrified, don’t be scared!” And then he led her to the very deck on which he had sat before. After praying, he sat the nun on the block and sat down himself. Before they had time to sit down, suddenly the same bear came out of the thicket of the forest and approached St. Seraphim and lay down at his feet. The nun, seeing such a terrible beast close to her, was at first in great fear and trembling. Father Seraphim treated him like a meek lamb, and even began to feed him bread from his own hands. Then the nun began to gradually perk up. The face of the great old man was especially wonderful at this time. It was bright, like an angel's, and joyful.
When the Monk Seraphim saw that the nun’s fear had completely passed, he said: “Do you remember, mother, a lion served the Monk Gerasim on the Jordan, and a bear served poor Seraphim (as he always, in his humility, called himself).
Father Nikolai Guryanov
One day the priest told one of his guests an entertaining, but at the same time cautionary tale. About how the cat Lipa repented. The cat was still very young then, greedy for pranks and, of course, for hunting. There were a lot of birds flying into the yard. Lipa somehow managed to catch one on the fly. I didn’t think twice: I ate it and that was the end of it. The priest took the incident seriously, explained in detail to the offending animal why he was wrong, and ordered in advance not to do this again. The cat closed his eyes, nodded his head guiltily, as if asking for forgiveness - he was repenting. By the way, it’s not hypocritical: since then Lipa has not offended a single bird of God - he made do with a fish. And moreover, when a certain trusting foam built a nest in the yard, so low that it tempted the neighbor’s cats, Lipa selflessly stood up to defend both herself and her offspring. I didn’t give offense to my new neighbors. Such praiseworthy obedience! Here you have a dumb creature!
After the death of Nikolai's father local residents They repeatedly noticed that pigeons suddenly left their home in the courtyard, flew to the elder’s grave and walked around it. There, at the resting place of his owner, the cat Lipa sat motionless for hours; he was carried home, but he returned. Many saw that the cat was crying...”
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh
One day the Monk Sergius saw a large bear in front of his hut. Frightened at the first moment, the Reverend realized that the beast was not so much fierce as hungry. Then he brought out a crust of bread and placed it on a stump in front of the bear. After eating the treat, the bear retreated into the forest. But since then the beast began to often come to the house St. Sergius, waiting for the prescribed treat. Sometimes he didn’t leave for a long time, “like an evil creditor who insistently wants to collect his debt.”
The monk fell in love with his forest friend and began to share the last piece with him, and sometimes he gave his entire lunch to the beast, as if he did not understand fasting. wild beast obeyed the Reverend and was meek with him, like a sheep.
According to legend, the descendants of that bear still come once a year to the place where the saint fed their ancestor and bow to him three times.
Hegumen Joseph (in schema Amphilochius) Pochaevsky
Persecuted by the authorities, Abbot Joseph (in schema Amphilochius) Pochaevsky, was fond of breeding pigeons. In the 60s of the 20th century, when the police forbade him to pray at home, he began to perform readings in a dovecote, where the sick climbed up a small ladder.
After the creation of the world, God entrusted man with a special mission - to command nature and take care of all its inhabitants, as the Book of Genesis narrates: “And God blessed them, and God said to them: be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves on the earth.”
However, in the Fall, people lost, along with other properties of their intact nature, the gift of commanding animals. They began to hunt animals, eating them, and the animals, on occasion, paid them back in kind.
However, with the coming of Christ, people received the opportunity to become deified, to restore unity with God, and through this, their human nature. Saints who acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit even received a variety of special gifts: healing, prophecy, miracles, and, often, communication with our “lesser brothers.”
The communication of saints with certain animals is described in many lives. Ten most interesting stories We propose for consideration the four-legged and winged friends of ascetics:
1. Mountain nurses of the martyr Mamant
In the 3rd century, not far from Caesarea in Cappadocia, the Orthodox hermit Mamant asceticised on a mountain. The saint spent days and nights in prayer to God and revered the Creator through expressions of love for his creation.
Lions and wolves, roe deer, fallow deer and wild goats came to spend the night in his cave. And near the ascetic’s cave, predators never touched herbivores.
Wild goats, among other things, were the saint’s nurses, allowing him to milk them. Mamant used their milk and the cheese made from it for food, and sold the surplus in the nearest village to give alms to the local beggars.
It was a time of persecution. The ruler of Caesarea in Cappadocia sent soldiers to capture the saint and they were so amazed by his wonderful friendship with animals that they offered him to escape, but the saint refused.
Mamant voluntarily went with them to the trial in the city, where he suffered for Christ and suffered martyrdom.
2. The toothy boat of St. Elias
The Monk Ellius lived in Egypt in the 4th century. Sent to a monastery from childhood, he was raised in piety, abstinence and chastity.
When the saint grew up, he chose the path of an anchorite and went into the desert, where he fasted and prayed to God for many years. During his holy life, Abba Elius was awarded by the Lord the gift of foresight and such love for all living things that he could even command wild animals.
One day the monk needed to visit a nearby monastery, which required crossing a river. However, this was difficult to do for two reasons: firstly, there was no boat on the saint’s side, and secondly, there lived a huge crocodile, whom everyone was afraid of.
When the saint, in thought, approached the shore, a predator just appeared from the water. Abba Eliy called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the crocodile instantly calmed down, offering his back to him. The saint with his knapsack sat on the animal and crossed the river on it.
“How did you get there? After all, there’s a terrible crocodile in the river!” the monks asked him.
“The Lord God sent me a boat to cross,” the elder answered with a smile.
3. The bear that fed from the hand of Flame
Another monk, Seraphim of Sarov, revered in Russia, also lived for a long time in solitude, the place of which he chose the Volga forests.
He called the clearing and his cell on it “desert”, in memory of the hermits who lived in the desert. The miracle worker Seraphim gave his love to every living creature, be it human or animal. “My joy,” - this is how he addressed everyone who came to him.
I often visited the saint’s forest “desert” bear. Father Seraphim treated him like a gentle lamb, and fed him bread from his hands, and the proud owner of the forest accepted the treat, presenting his huge head for affection and, contented, lay down at the feet of the old man, like a faithful dog.
“The Lord sent me a beast as a consolation!” said Saint Seraphim, stroking the bear’s shaggy skin.
One day one of the nuns, who came to the elder for advice, saw this and was amazed by the miracle. And he said to her: “Do you remember, mother, a lion served St. Gerasim on the Jordan, and a bear served poor Seraphim (as he humbly called himself).”
4. The mentioned Jordan, novice of Abba Gerasim
The Monk Gerasim lived in the 5th century in the Palestinian desert, near the Jordan River. There he not only performed a feat of prayer himself, but also organized a monastery with strict rules. In it, the saint, by his example and instructions, helped the brethren to embark on the path of salvation.
The saint sometimes loved to leave the monastery into the desert for solitary prayer. One day he met a huge lion, whose paw was wounded. The saint pulled the splinter out of it and cured the beast.
In gratitude for the help, the lion remained forever near Gerasim, always accompanying him. He remembered his voice, knew and served him faithfully, guarding the elder. Leo and Abba Gerasim were so inseparable that the saint even gave him a name, calling Jordan.
When the holy hermit passed away into another world, the lion was so sad that he came to his grave and after a short time also died. Saint Gerasimos of Jordan is depicted in icons like this - always together with his faithful friend.
5. “Child” of St. Paisius the Holy Mountain
The holy elder Paisios of Athonite also loved animals very much. One day he met a bear, with whom they competed in humility, giving each other the path, until the bear gently pushed the old man, showing that he should still go first.
The elder showed no fear of snakes, he loved birds and frogs, but he also had a special friend, who also received given name. They became small bird robin, which often flew to the saint’s cell when he was praying.
One day he was so happy about his guest that he began to call her to him, but the bird still did not fly up. Then the elder realized that animals also love to be called by name, and he named the robin Olet.
“Well, Olet, come here!” the elder called. For Father Paisius, these words were not unusual. He knew him from Sinai. In the Bedouin language, "olet" means "child". It always reminded the saint of the words of the Savior: “Leave the children to come to Me...” and “If you do not become like children...”.
As soon as he called her by name, the bird flew up and sat next to him, so that he could stroke her head. Then the Monk Paisius said: “It seems that you your name I liked it. Me too. That’s what I’ll call you!”
Andrey Szegeda
Isidore was a merchant and took out contracts for the construction of buildings, and at the end of his life he began the construction of a cathedral in Kursk, but died before the completion of the work. The youngest son Prokhor remained in the care of his mother, who raised a deep faith in her son.
After the death of her husband, Agafia Moshnina, who continued the construction of the cathedral, once took Prokhor with her there, who, having stumbled, fell from the bell tower. The Lord saved the life of the future lamp of the Church: the frightened mother, going downstairs, found her son unharmed.
Young Prokhor, having an excellent memory, soon learned to read and write. Since childhood, he loved to attend church services and read the Holy Scriptures and Lives of Saints to his peers, but most of all he loved to pray or read Holy Gospel in solitude.
One day Prokhor became seriously ill and his life was in danger. In a dream the boy saw Mother of God, who promised to visit and heal him. Soon a religious procession with the icon of the Sign of the Blessed Virgin Mary passed through the courtyard of the Moshnin estate; his mother carried Prokhor out in her arms, and he venerated the holy icon, after which he began to quickly recover.
Even in his youth, Prokhor made the decision to completely devote his life to God and enter a monastery. The pious mother did not interfere with this and blessed him on the monastic path with a crucifix, which the monk wore on his chest all his life. Prokhor and the pilgrims set off on foot from Kursk to Kyiv to worship the Pechersk saints.
Eldership
The elder saw the hearts of people, and he, as a spiritual doctor, healed mental and physical illnesses with prayer to God and a word of grace. Those who came to St. Seraphim felt him great love and they listened with tenderness to the tender words with which he addressed people: “my joy, my treasure.” The elder began to visit his desert cell and the spring called Bogoslovsky, near which they built a small cell for him.
When leaving his cell, the elder always carried a knapsack with stones over his shoulders. When asked why he was doing this, the saint humbly answered: “I torment him who torments me.”
In the last period of his earthly life, the Monk Seraphim took special care of his beloved brainchild - the Diveyevo women's monastery. While still in the rank of hierodeacon, he accompanied the late rector Father Pachomius to the Diveyevo community to see the abbess nun Alexandra (Melgunova), a great ascetic, and then Father Pachomius blessed the reverend to always take care of the “Diveyevo orphans.” He was a true father for the sisters, who turned to him in all their spiritual and everyday difficulties. Disciples and spiritual friends helped the saint to care for the Diveyevo community - Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, who was healed by the monk from a serious illness and, on the advice of the elder, took upon himself the feat of voluntary poverty; Elena (Manturova), one of the Diveyevo sisters, who voluntarily agreed to die out of obedience to the elder for her brother, who was still needed in this life; Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov, also healed by the monk. N.A. Motovilov wrote down a wonderful teaching St. Seraphim about the goal Christian life. In the last years of the life of the Monk Seraphim, one healed by him saw him standing in the air during prayer. The saint strictly forbade talking about this before his death.
Everyone knew and revered St. Seraphim as a great ascetic and wonderworker. A year and ten months before his death, on the Feast of the Annunciation, the Monk Seraphim was once again honored with the appearance of the Queen of Heaven, accompanied by the Baptist of the Lord John, the Apostle John the Theologian and twelve virgins, holy martyrs and saints. Holy Virgin I talked for a long time with the monk, entrusting the Diveyevo sisters to him. Having finished the conversation, She told him: “Soon, My beloved, you will be with us.” At this appearance, during the wondrous visit of the Mother of God, one Diveyevo old woman was present, through the prayer of the monk for her.
IN last year During his life, the Monk Seraphim began to noticeably weaken and spoke to many about his imminent death. At this time, he was often seen at the coffin, which stood in the entryway of his cell and which he had prepared for himself. The monk himself indicated the place where he should be buried - near the altar of the Assumption Cathedral.
Shortly before the blessed death of St. Seraphim, one pious monk asked him: “Why don’t we have such a strict life as the ancient ascetics led?” “Because,” answered the elder, “we do not have the determination to do so. If we had the determination, we would live like our fathers, because the grace and help of the faithful and those who seek the Lord with all their hearts is now the same as it was before, for “According to the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).
Prayers
Troparion for repose, tone 4
From your youth you loved Christ, O blessed one, / and you ardently desired to work for Him alone, / you labored with unceasing prayer and labor in the desert, / with a tender heart you loved Christ Having acquired the property,/ the chosen one, beloved of God, appeared to the Mother./ For this reason we cry out to you:/ / Save us with your prayers, Seraphim, like our Father.
Troparion for glorification, same voice
From your youth you loved Christ, O Lord, / and you ardently desired to work for Him alone, / in your desert life you strived with unceasing prayer and labor, / touched by this Having acquired the love of Christ with your heart,/ Companion with the heavenly Seraphim in hymn,/ Christ flowing to you in love imitator,/ also the chosen one of God’s beloved appeared to Mother,/ for this reason we cry out to you:/ save us with your prayers, our joy,/ warm intercessor before God,// Seraphim b ok.
Kontakion, tone 2
Having left the beauty of the world and even the corruptible in it, O monk, / you moved into the Sarov monastery / and, having lived there like an angel, / you were the path to salvation for many, / for this sake, Christ glorify you, Father Seraphim, and enrich you with the gift of healings and miracles ./ Moreover we cry to you: Rejoice, Seraphim, like our Father.
Video
Documentary film "The Wonderworker Seraphim of Sarov". Television company "Neophyt TV" of the Moscow St. Danilov Monastery, 2003
Literature
- Web portal dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the canonization of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
Materials used
- Site page Russian Orthodoxy:
- “The communal Sarov Hermitage and the memorable monks who labored in it” M.: Sretensky Monastery, 1996, 241 p. pp. 64, 85, 91.
- Monthly page Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate
- Venerable Seraphim of Sarov // Page of the site "ABC of Faith" http://serafim-library.narod.ru/Publikacii/OcherkiImage/Oche...htm and
Despite the fact that Saint Seraphim himself was very reluctant to agree to pose for artists, many images are dedicated to him, from popular prints to embroidered icon, which the Grand Duchesses made with their own hands.
Since the death of Rev. Seraphim of Sarov, which followed on January 2, 1833, 70 years passed before his canonization in July 1903. However, as often happens with the most revered ascetics, popular veneration of the Sarov elder far outstripped his official canonization.
Because of this, many images of the elder dispersed throughout Russia, like fragments of the stone on which he prayed - long before the appearance of canonical icons.
The monk himself reluctantly agreed to pose, saying: “Who am I, wretched one, to paint my appearance from me?”
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. XIX century. Kept in the Church-Archaeological Cabinet of the Moscow Theological Academy.
A picturesque portrait by an unknown artist. Traditional, easily recognizable image. Probably a copy of a lifetime portrait. In iconography it is close to the portrait of 1831, which was kept in Kazan, in the Krupennikov family. 
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. Unknown artist, 1860s - 1870s. Kept in the Church-Archaeological Cabinet of the Moscow Theological Academy.
In this portrait, St. Seraphim is depicted as relatively young.
Similar iconography (folded hands) is found in other images, but the appearance of the saint is unique. 
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. 1830s. V. E. Raev. Paper, pencil. Tretyakov Gallery
A lively and characteristic sketch of a portrait of an old man. Signed “Seraphim of Sarov. Desert Dweller"
From the memoirs of the artist of the Arzamas school Raev, it is known that during his studies he twice visited the Sarov desert, where he was summoned to paint a portrait of the diocesan bishop. He also saw “himself”: “It was a small, arched old man with a meek and kind gaze. He lived more in the forest and rarely came to the monastery. We walked deep into the Sarov forest and saw there the secluded cells of Father Seraphim, built by him himself,” Raev wrote. 
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. 1840 Lithography. ISO RSL.
Reverend Seraphim is dressed in a hood with a half-mantle, and a fur coat with fur trim, leans on a stick, and holds a rosary in his left hand.
One of the first lithographic images of the saint. Probably the lithograph reproduces a lifetime portrait of an old man, where he is represented walking into the “small hermitage.” 
In the 19th century, several scenes from the life of the monk arose, which were repeated in a variety of lithographs and popular prints. One of them is “Standing on a Stone.”
The style of drawing and the image of Saint Seraphim was achieved differently by different artists. 
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov feeding a bear. 1879
Workshop of the Seraphim-Diveevo Monastery. E. Petrova. Lithography. RSL
The saint with the bear is another, probably the most favorite plot. 
Here is another incarnation of it - this time in the technique of enamel on copper base. Beginning of the 20th century. Stored in the Central Archive of the MDA.
The monochrome and lubricated elements used in the image point to the lithographed original of the enamel icon.
The family of the Royal Passion-Bearers is closely connected with St. Seraphim of Sarov.
Emperor Nicholas II took a direct part in the canonization of the holy elder.
You can read more about this.
In connection with the participation of the tsar in the transfer of the relics of St. Seraphim in 1903, the corresponding plot of popular informational prints-lithographs was distributed. 
Transfer of the holy relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov to the Assumption Cathedral of the Sarov Hermitage on July 18, 1903. Workshop of E. I. Fesenko. Odessa. Chromolithograph. ISO RSL.
In the first row of those carrying the shrine with relics is Emperor Nicholas II. 
Procession of the Cross in the Sarov Monastery with the holy relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov. July 19, 1903 Workshop of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. Museum at the Church of St. Mitrophan of Voronezh. Moscow. Inv 94.
Similar story - different perspective. 
Finally, there is an icon embroidered by the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II.
Venerable Seraphim of Sarov praying on a stone. Beginning of the 20th century. Sewing. Ioannovsky Monastery on Karpovka. Saint Petersburg.
Signature: “This holy image is embroidered by the hands of the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.”
Sources:
“Reverend Seraphim of Sarov. Hagiography. Reverence. Iconography". Publishing house "Indrik". Moscow. 2004
“Spiritual Lights of Russia” Portraits, icons, autographs of outstanding figures of the Russian Church late XVII- beginning of the 20th century. Moscow, MSD, 1999
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