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| Fr. Seraphim Bityukov |
Archimandrite Seraphim (in the world Sergius Mikhailovich Bityukov) was born in 1880. In 1919 he was ordained to the priesthood, serving in the church of the Resurrection in Sokolniki in Moscow with Fr. John Kedrov, the brother of Hieromartyr (Saint) Pachomius, Archbishop of Chernigov. In
1920 Fr. Sergius was summoned by Patriarch (Saint) Tikhon to serve in the church of the Holy Martyrs and Unmercenaries Cyrus and John on Solyanka, where he remained until the end of 1927.
After Metropolitan Sergius issued his notorious declaration, Fr. Seraphim joined the Catacomb Church. For some time he lived in various places, but then settled in Sergiev Posad in the house of Nun Xenia (Grishanova) of Diveyevo. As was revealed in his interrogation, he was the spiritual father of other Diveyevo nuns who had been forced to leave the convent after its closure in 1927. Like Fathers Alexis and (Saint) Sergius Mechev, Fr. Seraphim was guided by the counsels of Elder (Saint) Nektary of Optina. Another of his guides was Elder Zosima (in schema Zachariah), who had come to Moscow after the closure of the Holy Trinity – St. Sergius Lavra.
It is written concerning Fr. Seraphim that "with his priestly rank he received something which is rare in our time - the gift of the exorcism of demons. The elder received this special gift for the healing of the possessed, the oppressed, 'those under the constraint of the devil'. Thus when he was serving, the church of the podvorye resembled a hospital for the mentally ill, in which there gathered every
possible maimed, hunchbacked and epileptic person, as well as those clearly oppressed by evil spirits."
Once, a special prayer service was being read over a possessed man. The man being healed was letting his eyes rove around in a terrified manner and muttering unclear words. It was as if something were boiling inside him...
possible maimed, hunchbacked and epileptic person, as well as those clearly oppressed by evil spirits."
Once, a special prayer service was being read over a possessed man. The man being healed was letting his eyes rove around in a terrified manner and muttering unclear words. It was as if something were boiling inside him...
"No, no, I will not go out!" 'he' cried in a strange, rough voice which was not his
own.
But the prayer commanded the spirit 'in the name of Jesus Christ', 'in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' to come out of him and never enter into him again...
The priest repeated his call to set free God's creation... But that which was inside
the man stubbornly remained within him: "No, no! I will not come out. I do not want to!..."
the man stubbornly remained within him: "No, no! I will not come out. I do not want to!..."
But suddenly the priest said: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I command you: tell me: was my father with you?"
"He was! But your prayers got him out!"
"And my mother: was she with you?"
Again, in a disconcerted tone, suffering and despairing: "We did not see her!... For she strewed her whole path with pieces of bread..."
Here it is necessary to make a clarification. The demon was talking about something that the man being healed did not know of... In the time of the terrible famine of 1921 and 1922 the mother of Father Seraphim took upon herself the task of feeding homeless children. She literally collected pieces of bread from among her acquaintances. She did this day and night and thereby fed unfortunate children who had been left to the mercy of God. The demon was recalling this exploit when he said that "she strewed her whole path with pieces of bread", that is, through her unparalleled mercifulness towards the unfortunate children she obtained an unhindered ascent to Heaven...
Here it is necessary to make a clarification. The demon was talking about something that the man being healed did not know of... In the time of the terrible famine of 1921 and 1922 the mother of Father Seraphim took upon herself the task of feeding homeless children. She literally collected pieces of bread from among her acquaintances. She did this day and night and thereby fed unfortunate children who had been left to the mercy of God. The demon was recalling this exploit when he said that "she strewed her whole path with pieces of bread", that is, through her unparalleled mercifulness towards the unfortunate children she obtained an unhindered ascent to Heaven...
After the possessed man had obeyed the priest as he adjured the demon to reply in the name of the Lord, the priest again said: "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you, unclean spirit, come out! In the name of the Holy Trinity I command you..."
And suddenly, instead of a reply, there was a soul-rending shriek. And the oppressed man fell down, trembling throughout his body. He became black like a corpse... But the priest read the appointed prayers from The Book of Needs by Metropolitan Peter Moghila...
That is how the demon was driven out, leaving with a terrible scream. But the sufferer himself knew nothing of this, he absolutely did not remember what had happened to him... They brought him to the Holy Cross and the Holy Icons. He willingly and fervently kissed them. But if they succeeded in doing that before his exorcism, it was only with great difficulty, with a struggle...”
Archimandrite Seraphim was perhaps the last Josephite priest to serve openly in Moscow.
Archimandrite Seraphim was perhaps the last Josephite priest to serve openly in Moscow.
He died on February 19, 1942. In the course of a later investigation into “the affair of the underground”, on December 8, 1943, NKGB agents found his burial place under the floor of a house in Sergiev Posad. According to the official report, “some parts of the body (his hands and face) preserved the colour of flesh”. Fr. Seraphim was buried in a ryasa, epitrachelion and with a
wooden cross.
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| Fr. Seraphim Bityukov (full picture) |