The insightful elder of the 20th century, Archimandrite Seraphim (Tyapochkin). I met another confessor when I was a schoolboy. My parents and I lived in the Dnepropetrovsk region at the time and traveled to the village of Rakitnoye in the Belgorod region, where Archimandrite Seraphim (Tyapochkin) served in the St. Nicholas Church [1]. He is a famous ascetic, many know about him, books have been written about him. He suffered a lot for his faith. There is no doubt that he was a holy man, he had such a special attitude - he prayed, he lived by prayer. If there was a service in the church, he served unhurriedly (at first, the priest served alone, there was no second priest or deacon), all the canons and stichera were read - everything according to the charter, and in the evening the service dragged on until late. In the morning, the priest confessed everyone, commemorated everyone, and at that time we stood in the choir and read canon after canon - for communion, all the saints of the day, - and the service was also long. And if there was no service in the church, then at home we read the entire cycle of church services. Father Seraphim had an assistant, nun Ioasafa, and usually there were always some people who came to the priest. In the morning we read morning prayers, midnight office, matins, hours, the rite of pictorial services, and in the rite of pictorial services we included everything that was possible, except the Eucharistic canon, we read the Apostle, the Gospel, sang the "Creed", after that we sang many different troparia. We began to pray at seven in the morning, and sat down to breakfast at about twelve. In the evening, we also always read vespers, compline with all the canons ... Later I thought: why do my parents always sing so many troparia? It's good when they sing correctly... And they took this from Father Seraphim. Father Seraphim had a distinctive feature - he was very loving. He would always listen and console, say: "Let's pray, everything will be fine." I confessed to him: you say one word, and he will give you both instruction and consolation... I saw in him an ascetic who had suffered a lot, a man of prayer, a holy man. Many people came to him, many sick, infirm - there were always people in the house. He loved to pray, loved people, tried to console everyone, tried to help everyone. Question: Vladyka, is it true that Father Seraphim told you that you would be a priest? ? I graduated from school and wanted to study further. I studied well, was good at mathematics, easily solved problems, could help others. And I decided to go to Moscow to study. I had to study for five years and then work, so at that time I had neither the decision nor the desire to become a priest. Although I knew priests and could read Slavonic. And when Father Seraphim saw me off to enter the university, he said: "But I still see you as a priest." These words sank into my soul, and nine years later I really did become a priest. Of course, these were his prophetic words. Father Seraphim did not always answer right away when asked. If you ask a question, he might not answer right away, but say: "We will pray." The evening would pass, the morning, the priest would pray at the liturgy and only then would he say: "Let's do this, let's act this way." And it should be noted that such ascetics often turned to the Holy Scripture and the experience of the Holy Fathers in their answers: look, the Holy Scripture says this, this saint says this. They did not speak on their own, but sought the will of God either in prayer or in the experience of the holy fathers.