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.
Category: Types of Saints
Indicates the various types of saints in the Orthodox Church.
Theodosius, Abbot of the Lavra of the Kiev Caves
The founder of the coenobitic life in Russia, each Great Lent Saint Theodosius withdrew to the cave in which he began the ascetic life at the feet of Saint Antony (July 10th). There he prepared for the Feast of Feasts through fasting and prayer, by which he also overcame the repeated assaults of the demons. The holy abbot primarily taught the Faith through prayer, placing a special emphasis on caring for the poor. For his perseverance in prayer and charity, the Lord granted him the ability to cast out unclean spirits, heal the sick, and to know the hearts of those who came to him for help.
Peter the Wonderworker, Bishop of Argos
From a pious family zealous for the Faith, Saint Peter was brought up in the monastic life by his brother, Paul, who instilled in him a love for hesychia. Abandoning himself completely to the ascetic life, he quickly surpassed his brother and was eventually granted the grace of working miracles. Although he tried to avoid it out of humility, he was eventually made Bishop of Argos after the people of city prevailed upon him with tears. The holy bishop immediately became a source of consolation, and no one who came to him left without receiving his help — both physically and spiritually. His charity was so immense before the God, that, by his prayers, the Lord delivered from bondage those who had been possessed by demons. Saint Peter remains the patron and protector of the city of Argos to this day.
Xenia the Wonderworker
A beautiful woman made all the more radiant by her acquisition of the Christian virtues, the regional prefect, Dometian, hired a magician to cast a love spell on Saint Xenia who he wanted for his wife. The saint easily defeated the dark arts by the power of the cross, and declared the Lord to be her heavenly spouse. Enraged by her faithfulness to Christ, the prefect subjected her to various forms of torture which proved just as powerless as the spell enwrapped as she was in prayer. When he, nonetheless, convinced himself that she was ready to renounce her faith for him, he took her to a pagan temple to offer sacrifice, but the saint immediately cast down the idols by her prayer. Incensed by her continued rejection, Dometian eventually had her beheaded and her heart delivered to him on a platter as if he were a new Herod.
Martyr Maura
After her husband had been put to the torture and imprisoned by Diocletian’s Prefect of Thebes, Arian, the tyrant hoped that he could get Saint Maura to convince her husband to renounce the faith order to save his life. Much to the contrary, after speaking with her husband, she too boldly confessed Christ and proclaimed that she was ready to die for Christ. After being subjected to multiple tortures to which she responded with disdain and ridicule at their impotence, Maura and her husband, Timothy, were crucified side-by-side having been tied to their crosses. Her patient and uncomplaining endurance proved to be a scourge to the demons, and, in order to end his humiliation, the Devil appeared to her as a man offering the saint milk and honey to pull down her vision from the creator to the created as he did with our first Mother. Maura, however, easily defeated this temptation through prayer. The Devil then redoubled his efforts at temptation by transporting her to an illusory land flowing with milk and honey. Filled with righteous anger at this further deception, the holy martyr rebuked the enemy of mankind saying the she preferred rather the draught of eternal life. Having been routed, the demon fled from the saint and, like when Christ was tempted in the wilderness, and angel came to minister to her. The next day, the 10th day of their crucifixion, Saints Maura and Timothy both carried off the martyrs crown.
Hymnography
August Martyr Maura blest of God, with thy brightly flashing visage and the light of thy grace, thou didst benight and dim the eyes of the evil tyrant; when thy foes tore out thy hair, though didst openly speak unto God; and with the water heated up in the seething cauldron, thou didst burn the unjust head of deceitful Belial.
(Second Troparion of the Saints, Lord, I have cried)
Clad with the breastplate of the Divine Spirit, O venerable Maura, thou joyfully wentest forth to wrestle with the adversary, and didst defeat him and didst receive the crowns of victory, O Martyr.
(Ode Five, Second Troparion, Orthros Canon)
In keeping the law of the Ruler of all, ye did not bow down to the rule of the transgressors; ye did not offer worship to the wicked demons, O noble Martyrs, heirs of the Lord.
(Ode Eight, First Troparion, Orthros Canon)
Donatus, Bishop of Euroea
Motivated by love for his flock, the holy bishop of Euroea killed a dragon by striking it with a riding whip, thereby delivering villagers from the beast. At the same time, he sweetened the waters of a spring that had been poisoned by the dragon by his God-pleasing prayers. Having received word of these miracles, the Emperor Theodosius the Great and his wife entreated the saint to pray for their daughter who was being tormented by a demon. Saint Donatus rebuked the demon, and it immediately fled leaving the girl in peace. When offered a reward out of gratitude, the saint refused it asking instead for the sovereign to build a new church in his diocese. For these and other such things, Saint Donatus was venerated as the protector of Epirus.
Joannicius of Devich
A lover of prayer and solitude, Saint Joannicius led the ascetic life in a cave on the Ibar River in eastern Serbia. Later, having established a monastery for the faithful who had gathered around him, he fled deeper into the wilderness of Devich in Kosovo where he lived in complete solitude for many years. There he held off the assaults of the demons who tried in vain to interrupt his ceaseless prayer of the heart. Word eventually came to the Despot of Serbia, George Brankovich (Saint Maksim), who brought his daughter who was mentally ill and possessed by a demon to the hermit, seeking his aide. Saint Joannicius delivered her by his prayer, and her grateful father had a church and monastery built there to thank God for his benefactions through his servant. After his death, the saint’s relics continued to work healings, especially for those tormented by the demons and mental illness.
Stephen, Bishop of Perm
Enlightener of the land of Perm, Saint Stephen brought the gospel to the pagan tribes of the region, devising an alphabet and translating the Holy Scriptures and the divine services into the native language. His zeal for the faith was such that, motivated by love and concern for the people, he entered their temple, overturned their idols, burned it down, and waited calmly by the charred rubble. When the angry masses arrived, they were prevented from attacking the missionary by an invisible force. Saint Stephen, whose preaching had met with limited success to that point, explained that, if their idols had really been gods, they would have prevented the destruction of the temple and punished him for the attempt. But showing them instead to be the work of the hands of men, he urged the pagans to renounce the demonic delusions that would lead them to suffer unending torment in an eternal fire. Having witnessed the power of God, the people embraced the faith and received Holy Baptism. Saint Stephen was eventually consecrated bishop of Perm, taking up his seat in the land which he had enlightened.
Sylvester of Obnora
Appearing in the forest of Obnora like a burst of sunlight, the hermit monk Sylvester was a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh who had been given a blessing to live the eremitic life in the Russian wilderness. After being revealed, the local population sought him out in large numbers to receive guidance in the spiritual life. Having presented himself to Saint Alexis, the Metropolitan of Moscow, Saint Sylvester founded a monastery in the place where he had lived the ascetic life. After falling asleep in peace, many miracles occurred at his tomb including the deliverance of those who had been possessed by demons.
Elizabeth the Wonderworker
Consumed by a divine eros for Christ, St. Elizabeth fixed her gaze on the Divine Beauty, turning neither to the right nor the left. For her single-minded dedication she was granted the gift of working miracles which she used to heal the sick, cast out demons, and predict future events. Like a female St. George, she too killed a dragon which held sway over the Hebdomon District of Constantinople armed only with the precious cross. On the day after the feast of the Trophy-bearer, St. Elizabeth fell asleep. Her body remained incorrupt and continued to work wonders for the faithful down through the centuries.
Hymnography
Since thou didst pereserve in ascetical diligence, thou hast received grace to drive out the maladies of souls and bodies, O Modest Mother blest of God, in the Holy Spirit, chasing spirits off and protecting all found in adversities; now in thine intercessions, ask that strength and great mercy be granted unto all.
(First Troparion of the Saint; Lord, I have cried)
Having borne the pains of self-denial, thou didst gain the grace of deep dispassion and of healing to cure every malady, and to drive off all the working of demons’ spite, O God-inspired, wonder worthy Elizabeth. Righteous Mother, interceded with Christ God in our behalf, that His great mercy may be granted unto us.
(Sessional Hymn of the Saint; Orthros Canon)
The terrible serpent, even the dragon, hast thou slain with thy prayer; for having first broken all the devices of the evil one by divine power, thou gavest him as food to the beasts and to every fowl of the air, O Elizabeth, while glorifying the Master of all.
(Ode Four, First Troparion; Orthros Canon)
Resplendent was thy way of life, made beautiful with virtues; and thy falling-asleep hath sacredly flashed with the lightning or miracles, chasing away demons and dissipating the winter of passions by divine grace.
(Ode Six, Second Troparion; Orthros Canon)