This immensely popular text holds a priceless gift for every reader: the disclosure of the very purpose of life! Deep in the snowy Sarov forest, Russia’s most beloved saint counsels his friend Nicholas Motovilov, who from childhood had a burning desire to know the aim of our Christian life. Using simple and easily understandable examples from Holy Scripture and from daily life experiences, Saint Seraphim unfolds the meaning of his reply to Nicholas that our life’s purpose is to acquire the Holy Spirit.
“But what do you mean by acquiring the Holy Spirit?” asks Nicholas. “Somehow I don’t understand that. I want to understand it well! How am I to know whether He is with me or not? How can I discern for myself His true manifestation in me?” Then, by the grace of God dwelling richly within him, Saint Seraphim transmits to Nicholas the actual experience of acquiring the Holy Spirit. Such an extraordinary manifestation can hardly be described in words, and yet this simple conversation affords an astonishing view into what exactly occurs when someone is in the Holy Spirit. The dazzling description of this event is at once a universal gift to the whole Church and an intimate disclosure to each person’s soul.
