Conversation of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov with Motovilov N.A. about the purpose of the Christian life

The conversation of the Monk Seraphim with Nikolai Alexandrovich Motovilov (1809-1879) about the purpose of Christian life occurred in November 1831 in the forest near the Sarov monastery, and was recorded by Motovilov. The manuscript was discovered after 70 years in the papers of the wife of Nikolai Alexandrovich, Elena Ivanovna Motovilova. The apparent simplicity of the conversation is deceiving: one of the greatest saints of the Russian Church pronounces teachings, and the listener is the future ascetic of faith, healed by the prayer of Seraphim from an incurable disease. It is N.A. Motovilov Rev. Seraphim bequeathed before his death the material concerns for his "Diveevo orphans", about the foundation of the Serafimo-Diveevsky monastery