St. Seraphim of Sarov, (1759-1833), in one of the latest and greatest of Russian saints. A St. Francis of Assisi-type figure, he was a great friend to animals. Tradition has it that he spent one thousand days and nights standing and kneeling on a bare stone repeating the Jesus Prayer. A seer and healer, he was a staretz of the type depicted by Dostoevsky in the character of Zosima.

It was he, who foreseeing dark and troubled times ahead for the church and the faithful, prayed for Russia.