St Seraphim of Sarov (above), one of the great saints of Russia, was born today in 1759 in Kursk, southern Russia. He entered a monastery at 19, and at 33 became a hermit living in the Sarov forest. He prayed for 1,000 days and nights, kneeling or standing on a large rock, which is how he is often depicted in icons. In old age, he returned to the monastery and became a focus of pilgrimage, with thousands of people travelling to see him for prayer, healing and counsel. He was declared a saint by the Orthodox Church in 1903.
‘Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved.’ St Seraphim of Sarov
The Great Fire of Rome broke out tonight in the year 64, starting in the neighbourhood of the Circus Maximus. Two-thirds of the city burned over the course of six days, and there was confusion over whether soldiers sent to extinguish the flames were actually plundering houses and starting new fires. The Emperor Nero was suspected of starting the fire so that he could rebuild the city in his own image. According to the Roman writer Tacitus, Nero scapegoated the early Christians of Rome, blaming them for the disaster. He had them crucified and set alight, to provide illumination for his garden parties. It is believed that saints Peter and Paul were killed in this early episode of Roman persecution.
‘While the whole population was in this state of mind and many crazed by the disaster were leaping into the blaze itself, Nero mounted to the roof of the palace, where nearly the whole conflagration could be taken in by a sweeping glance, and having assumed the lyre-player’s garb he sang the Taking (as he said) of Ilium, which, to the ordinary vision, however, appeared to be the Taking of Rome.’ Cassius Dio, Historia Romana
Today in 1830, Catherine Labouré, a French nun, experienced the first of two apparitions in which the Blessed Virgin Mary revealed the design for what became the Miraculous Medal of Our Lady of Graces. The medal, available for $1.50 on Etsy, shows Mary on one side and a monogram on the other, and has been worn ever since by millions of Catholics. It is mercifully the only example of the Mother of God engaging in graphic design.
Five women were convicted and hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, today in 1692. They included Rebecca Nurse, a highly respected member of her church and community, who had children and grandchildren. On being accused, she said, ‘I am innocent as the child unborn’. The jury at her trial agreed with her, but later, under pressure from the judge, reversed their verdict. By September the same year, 20 people had been executed on the charges, brought by 15 young girls. But Nurse’s execution made many people question what was happening.
It is the feast of St Macrina the Younger, the elder sister of the Church Fathers Gregory of Nyssa and Basil of Caesarea. Her parents, grandmother (also called St Macrina) and three brothers are all celebrated as saints. She lived in Cappadocia in the 4th century, and used the wealth of her family to found two monasteries in what is now Turkey.
Image: Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius