As you know, in past centuries the difference between the Church's view of the world and the people's was huge, we see it today. Moreover, reading in the lives of the amazing abilities of the saints, it is difficult not to notice that the most revered saints in the people were much closer to the popular worldview, where their roots originate. On what, then, was based the selection of especially revered people from the people, who were subsequently recorded as saints? Where do saints come from? And here, as in everything connected with the people's worldview, Nature comes to the fore, because real harmony with this world is an absolute necessity in Spiritual development. The theme of various plants and Trees, we have already touched on in this video. And today we will talk about animals, and of course we will start with the most important image-a Bear. It turns out that this is not only an image of strength and ferocity, but also a certain indicator of Spirituality.
What did it matter in a religious sense - a bear? Of course, everyone knows what significance the Bear had for Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, all this is depicted in iconography, in their images. Here only it is necessary to clarify why the bear is there so persistently present. A very curious thing to say about it. Who in Russia was considered a Saint? This is very important. Holy is the one who from the forest a bear came out. If a person really deserves the status of this Saint and the attitude towards himself as a Saint, then he was offered to go to the forest, and from the forest at the edge he should come out with a bear. That is, the bear should not touch him, that's what we see in the iconography of Seraphim of Sarov, Sergius of Radonezh, all these famous Russian saints of ours. They all came out of the woods with bears…
In ancient Slavic culture long before Christian times there was such a thing as"senility". Elders were not called helpless old men, but wise and powerful ascetics who reached such a degree of enlightenment and harmony that they could retire to a Hermitage, a cave, a forest. Was such a thing as "pillar-dwelling". This is when such an old man in the forest stood on a high stump (pillar) and so stood there - unimaginably long by our standards. Stolpnichestvo-it was not only a way of spiritual self-improvement, but also an instrument of harmonization of the world around him. And the forest dwellers were the indicators that a person reached such a high degree of spiritual development. In legends and legends it is told that animals and birds brought to such light people fruits and nuts though the last could not need food. And, most importantly, such a hermit, elder, Stylite necessarily came bear. In the life of Sergius of Radonezh describes this story: once the Saint took pity on a huge bear, weakened by hunger, and brought him bread. The bear peacefully ate the treat and since then began to visit his Savior, and then became tame. It is very significant that in Russia believed that the evil spirit can not take the form of a bear at all, because "the Bear is from God." So said the peasants of Olonets and a number of provinces. The bear was perceived, first of all, as a symbol of health, strength, fertility, which is why its image was often used during the wedding. A bear's claw, it was believed, was the best talisman against evil spirits and damage.
No less famous is the case of Seraphim of Sarov, who lived in the late XVIII-early XIX centuries., that is, much closer to our time. . In his life it is narrated how the Holy elder from the hands of a huge bear fed. Even curious cases are described. "A nun came to St. Seraphim and saw that he was sitting near his cell on a stump of a tree, and beside him was a huge bear. She froze with fear and cried out at the top of her voice: "Father! My death!"and fell. The elder Seraphim ... answered: "No, mother, not death, and death is far from you. And it's a joy!"And then he led her to the very deck on which he had sat before. After praying, he placed the nun on the deck and sat down himself. They had scarcely seated themselves when the same bear came out of the thicket of the forest, approached St. Seraphim, and lay down at his feet…»
Here in relation to Seraphim of Sarov - he was always a Saint, although we know that he was canonized in 1903 or 1904 on the initiative of Nicholas II. From then on he became a Saint. For St. Nicholas and the Synod, perhaps, he became from that time, but for the people he was throughout the XIX century and after his death. Because Seraphim of Sarov came out of the forest with a bear, as they said at the time. That is, the Bear did not touch him. He was really considered a Saint. That's what an important function actually belongs to the bear. That is, the bear in the saints erects, not the Synod. That is, it is really such an integral element of folklore culture.
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