A Prayer on Acquiring the Holy Spirit

St. Seraphim,

You stood in the winter forest with Motovilov, and

The light of the Spirit shone from your face like the sun.

You spoke so simply:

The whole aim of life is to acquire the Holy Spirit.

Not knowledge about Him,

Not rituals performed correctly, but Him

The living God, dwelling within.

Sadly, I wonder

How often I have mistaken the means for the end?

I have prayed as though prayer itself were the goal.

I have fasted and felt virtuous.

I have done good works and counted them.

But you remind me that these are only paths,

and a path means nothing if it does not lead somewhere.

The Holy Spirit gives life ...

Guides faith ... and

Loves and loves and loves.

Warmth in the heart.

Peace that the world cannot give.

Joy without cause.

A stillness that is not empty but full,

Full of presence, full of light.

I have tasted this, perhaps, in fleeting moments.

A liturgy where time seemed to stop.

A prayer that prayed itself.

A sudden tenderness toward someone I had resented.

Were these glimpses of what you knew so fully?

Most Holy Spirit,

I do not seek experiences of you,

I seek You.

Come and make Your home in me.

Let my poor heart become,

By Your mercy, what

Seraphim's face became in that snowy clearing,

A place where heaven is visible.

Through the intercession of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Most Holy Spirit, save me from myself, and sanctify me.

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An icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov whose commemoration is celebrated on January 2.

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