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| (Mikhail Nesterov) |
St. Sergius of Radonezh lived in the 1300s, and is considered by Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians alike to be one of the greatest Russian saints. He made his home at one point in the wilderness, like the hermits of old. Under various forms and in various times did the devils attack Sergius, but so exhausted did they become of the saint’s rectitude that they attempted to frighten him out of the wilderness with wild animals. Wolves, bears, and other beasts frightened the ascetic, but did not cause him to forget prayer, and eventually the animals let him be. All except for one bear.
Sensing that this bear came not to frighten him but rather was searching for food, the Russian anchorite began sharing his only food with the bear—a slice of bread. The bear made a habit of eating with Sergius, since food was difficult to find elsewhere. More than once, when there was only one slice of bread to eat, Sergius would give it all to the bear rather than let it go hungry.
So do we tame our passions by bread and fasting, and by “making friends of the mammon of iniquity” (Lk. xvi) do we convert them to our own cause.
It is unknown how or when or even if St. Sergius’ Bear met its demise. For all we know, the Russian Bear has been living a lonely eremitical existence in the Russian wilderness for the last seven hundred years, quietly waiting for someone to bring him a piece of bread in exchange for a story about its old master.
St. Sergius, pray for us!
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| (Nicholas Roerich) |
Curiously similar to the much more recent Russian Orthodox saint, St. Seraphim of Sarov. Maybe there's only one Bear, wandering his lonely pilgrimage throughout the long centuries. Maybe there's a secret society of Bears raised up like the two she-bears that tore the 42 fighting-age males who threatened the prophet. But even having a Bear companion didn't save St. Seraphim, who was murdered by bandits. Or maybe the tamed Bear is a recurring pious legend that demonstrates the taming of animal passions, or, in St. Corbinian's case, Germans. (We could use St. Corbinian and his Bear today!) Who knows? (Well, the Bears.) Yours truly, The Bear.
ReplyDeleteIf I start encountering bears more frequently, I will take it as a sign that God is calling me to a special level of sanctity.
DeleteOr have your trash picked up more frequently.
DeleteSt Seraphim was not killed by bandits.
ReplyDeletehttp://oca.org/saints/lives/2015/01/02/100008-repose-of-the-venerable-seraphim-the-wonderworker-of-sarov
Okay, almost killed by bandits. But he had a Bear. I think I'm confusing him with St. Meinrad, who was killed by bandits, but did not have a Bear. He did, however, have ravens. They pursued the murderers with a vengeance and published the foul deed with loud caws.
DeleteQuoth the ravens, Nevermore!
DeleteI love St. Sergius and the close connection he and others had with animals, it's beautiful. There's a whole book about this sort of thing but can't remember off the top of my head what it's called. It was written by a veterinarian... Animals and Man:A State of Blessedness...that's the name. There's St. Gerasimius and his lion, St Guthlac and ravens ( I think), St. Cuthbert and otters, St. Paul of Obnora surrounded by birds and beasts, and these are just a few examples.
ReplyDeleteI like to think that the closer one gets to God the more harmony is restored between man and animal, kind of like Adam in Paradise. The Slavonic term for saint is " prepodobny" which is sometimes translated as " in the original likeness", which points to this interesting understanding of a saint being like Adam. How fitting right?
Oh, and the pictures you chose are beautiful. Did you notice St. Sergius has a Lestovka? That's pretty cool too.
St. Sergius and St. Seraphim, pray for us!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have a source for the second image in this post?
ReplyDelete