01/03/2024
My husband wrote the most perfect caption, so Iâm simply sharing itđ€
âHenryâs Names Day - St. Seraphim of Sarov
Henry was born right at the time we were converting to Eastern Orthodoxy. It is a regular practice to choose a patron saint when you join the church as a convert, or when youâre baptized. Jill, Jemma, and myself were received as converts, Henry was baptized.
For Henry, since he was only 40 days old when he was baptized, we had to choose someone we wanted him to emulate without knowing anything about him as a person yet. He could barely pick his head up let alone have a personality. So we read about saints, prayed, and chose St. Seraphim of Sarov.
Now, St. Seraphim is a popular convert name in the West for a few reasons:
1) It sounds badass
2) Heâs a very holy Russian saint
3) Heâs a badass dude who talks to bears
Not necessarily in that order.
We chose St. Seraphim as Henryâs patron saint because the boy we wanted to raise would do well to be guided spiritually by St. Seraphim. He was an ascetic who frequently withdrew to nature. He loved the Mother Mary so much as was healed by her twice. He prayed for three years on a rock. Another monk once saw him glowing with the uncreated light of God because he was so holy that the monk could not look upon St. Seraphimâs face.
And yeah, there are stories that he could communicate with bears, but itâs because his holiness was so great that he could bring peace to nature (as humans were intended to do before the fall) and they would not harm him.
But itâs still pretty metal.
So, our little Seraphim, whose name we commemorate this day, honor thy name, stay wild, and continue to love the Lord with all your heart.â
-R.J.