July 19th. 2026: Bishop Vasily on the Feast of St Seraphim

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In the first Gospel

reading today, when we began to listen to the

Word of God, we read about the healing of the

two blind men, and whom Jesus has healed in the

house, in a hidden manner. And he commanded them

not to tell anyone about what had happened, which,

of course, as often happens in the Gospel, which

they immediately go out and tell everyone. And

so here we behold Jesus, our Lord, the Messiah.

the Christ of God, the Son of God, who performs

the deeds that are appropriate only for God himself,

to heal, to restore, to heal the blind, to forgive

sins, to give to the people, as he says, in accordance

with their faith. But he is still hidden. He

is still... not understood, for his hour has

not yet come, and his glory has not yet been

revealed, even though his glory is already present

in his body, for his glory is fully revealed

when he is crucified, when he is, when we celebrate,

when we behold, the Pascha of the Lord, Pascha

of his crucifixion and his resurrection. Today

we also celebrate another uncovering, uncovering

of what was hidden. We celebrate the memory of

our venerable and God -bearing Father Seraphim

of Sarov and specifically the feast of uncovering

of his relics. in 1903, when he was glorified,

when the witness of many Orthodox Christians

have resulted in the Church's recognition of

his sanctity, Church's clear witness that he

is the saint of God. And to him, to St. Seraphim,

we can turn with petitions. for his intercessions

for us before Christ our God and before the Holy

Mother of God. And we recall, of course, from

history that this action itself, the glorification

of St. Seraphim, the uncovering of his relics,

did not come easy, did not happen without struggle,

without attempts by the... people who were opposed

to it for whatever reason, to resist it or to

hide his sanctity. There was a resistance from

church authorities. There was a resistance from

society who was undergoing rapid secularization.

And there was, of course, also unfortunate resistance

from his own place of repentance, with attempts

to hide the memory. of Saint Seraphim in his

own monastery. But the glorification of this

of monk Seraphim on the eve of the two Russian

revolutions the uncovering of his relics in a

humble state in which those relics were for they

were not incorrupt but but the incorruption is

not an absolute requirement for glorification

of a saint. So they were revealed as Saint Seraphim

himself was, humble, unassuming, but through

this humility, the glory of God has been revealed.

The healing power of God has been revealed, and

it gave hope to the people. through the witness

of the Church, through the witness of this remarkable,

amazing saint revealed in their midst. For, as

we know, one of the fathers of the Church, St.

John of Damascus, speaks to us about and reminds

us that the saints, the holy ones of God, the

children and heirs of God, the friends of Christ.

Those for they have, he even calls them kings

and rulers, for they were not because they ruled

over anything earthly, but because they prevailed

over the hardships and passions and kept the

likeness of God, the image and likeness of God

intact in their heart. They received God in their

heart and were sanctified, made holy by the union

with him who is the only holy one. And therefore,

God makes them witness. God makes the saints

witness that how to live the life according to

the gospel, how to live this life humbly in an

unassuming manner, in a hidden manner. But through

this hiddenness, the glory of God is revealed.

For this is everything that the fathers of the

church say about the saints of God. This is perfectly

applicable. perfectly made apparent in our father,

Seraphim. For he received the revelation from

the mother of God, but this revelation led him

to go into solitude, into hiddenness, experiencing

hardships, deprivation. And again, misunderstanding

of his own brothers and superiors. For they were

confused. Why this monk was doing something strange?

Why is he not like everybody else? He accepted

asceticism so that he may bear the burden, endeavor

of incessant prayer for others. And we know that

he prayed for almost a thousand days on a rock,

accepting this, this podvik of incessant, unceasing

prayer, showing, demonstrating how an unceasing,

really unceasing, the prayer can be. As St. Paul

says today, we who are strong must bear the infirmities

of the weak. And this is what St. Seraphim did.

While still remaining in his seclusion, in his

solitude, he continued to receive others. Any

hardship that came, he endured it with patience

and loving kindness. When he was famously, famous

episode, when he was beaten by the robbers who

thought to find in his cell an enormous treasure,

he accepted it. He did not resist. He did not,

and he insisted that people who assaulted him

would not be harmed or punished in any way. He

accepted their sin. He accepted the crime that

they have committed. Accepted it as the will

of God. So he is therefore when he finally was

glorified and his relics were uncovered, his

relics were revealed to be the source of healing,

of consolation, and the hope for the people of

God. But after a while, these relics were again

hidden, for the communist regime has seized those

relics. And they were hidden for decades and

decades until for almost 70 years until after

the fall of the communist regime. These relics

were revealed again as a witness to the consolation

and hope that God gives to his people. They again

were revealed. so that they would be venerated,

so that the witness to the sanctity of St. Seraphim

may be proclaimed. They were revealed again in

modern times, when people are in need of consolation,

when we see again rapid secularization of society.

on a global scale. And so we have St. Seraphim

again in the midst of us through his relics,

through his intercessions, through his icons,

through the churches dedicated to him, assembling

the people of God and receiving their prayers,

their petitions, for his intercession for us.

For he has perfectly fulfilled what St. Paul

again tells us today in the first epistle that

we read. Receive one another as Christ received

us into the glory of God. The glory of God and

the light of God were revealed in the humble

body of monk Seraphim. revealed through his relics

after his death, but also, of course, revealed

through his humble and quiet life during his

life, when he was alive. Through his hiddenness,

through his humility, through his quietude, the

glory of God and the power of God has been revealed.

And so, if we venerate St. Seraphim, if we truly

try to be his disciples, as we should be the

disciples of the saints, so let us also receive

one another. Receive one another, for Christ

received us into his glory, into the glory of

God. to give us eternal joy and eternal, everlasting,

incorruptible life. Let us live humbly, and through

this humility, let us with one mouth and one

heart praise and glorify God every day. Glorify

the name of God. Proclaim the gospel of the love

of Christ, of the new life that has been given

to us, humbly and quietly shining with the light

of Christ, which illumines everyone who comes

into the world. Amen.