St. Seraphim of Sarov, in the world of Prokhor, was born on July 19, 1759 in the city of Kursk in a pious merchant family. His whole life is marked by signs of God's mercy. When, as a child, his mother took him with her to build a temple, and he fell from the bell tower, the Lord kept him unharmed. During the boy's illness, the Mother of God promised her mother in a dream vision to heal him. Soon, the Kursk Root Icon of the "Sign" of the Most Holy Theotokos was carried in a procession near their house, the mother carried the sick man out, he venerated the icon and after that quickly recovered.
At the age of seventeen, the young man had already firmly decided to leave the world, and his mother blessed him for the monastic feat with her copper cross, which the monk did not part with until the end of his life. The elder of the Kiev Caves Lavra, Dosifey (Venerable Dosifeya), blessed Prokhor to go to the Sarov Dormition desert on the border of Nizhny Novgorod and Tambov provinces, known for strict observance of monastic rules and the ascetic life of the inhabitants. After two years of monastic labors and feats of obedience, Prokhor became seriously ill and refused medical help for a long time. Three years later, the Mother of God appeared to him with the Apostles Peter and John and healed him.
On August 18, 1786, the novice took monastic vows with the name Seraphim ("Fiery") and was ordained a hierodeacon in December 1787. Already at that time, the young ascetic was honored during divine services to behold the holy Angels and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, coming through the air surrounded by Heavenly Powers.
In 1793, Saint Seraphim was ordained a hieromonk and initiated the feat of hermitage and solitary prayer in a forest cell on the banks of the Sarovka River. The devil intensified his warfare against the ascetic, and the monk assumed the feat of stylites. For a thousand days and nights he prayed on the stone with his hands upraised.: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Powerless to spiritually overthrow the ascetic, the Devil sent robbers upon the monk, who inflicted mortal wounds on him, but the Mother of God appeared and healed him for the third time.
After his recovery, St. Seraphim labored for three years in the feat of silence, and in 1810, after a 15-year stay in the desert, he was opened in the monastery cell. For his love of God, humility, and feats, St. Seraphim was granted the spiritual gifts of perspicacity and miracle-working. On November 25, 1825, the Mother of God, together with Saints Clement of Rome and Peter of Alexandria, appeared to the ascetic and allowed him to complete his retreat. The Venerable elder began to receive those who came to him for blessings, advice, and spiritual comfort, calling them all with love.: "My joy, my treasure."