Fleeing his reputation as a wonderworker and physician of souls that brought him endless streams of visitors, Saint Seraphim moved constantly establishing new communities of monastics wherever he went. After having resolved to stay in a specific place, the Mother of God appeared to him explaining that his current location was ill-suited to his purposes and instructing him to return to one of his previous stops to establish a permanent settlement. He obeyed immediately, a virtue he had consciously cultivated since he entered the monastery, and set to work. When the crowds returned, he was granted the particular gift of helping those possessed by demons, freeing them through prayer and fasting.