Seraphim of Sarov in the context of Contemplation

St. Sergius of Radonezh (Russian: Сергий Радонежский, romanized: Sergiy Radonezhsky; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392) was a Russian spiritual leader and monastic reformer.

He was the founder of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius near Moscow, what is now the most venerated monastic house in Russia. He exerted the greatest influence of any personage on the Russian Orthodox Church. Together with St. Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the most highly venerated saints in Russia.

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (Russian: Нижегородская область, romanized: Nizhegorodskaya oblastʹ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,119,115 as of the 2021 Census. From 1932 to 1990 it was known as Gorky Oblast (Russian: Горьковская область).

The oblast is crossed by the Volga River. Apart from Nizhny Novgorod's metropolitan area (including Dzerzhinsk, Bor and Kstovo) the biggest city is Arzamas. Near the town of Sarov there is the Serafimo-Diveyevsky Monastery, one of the largest convents in Russia, established by Saint Seraphim of Sarov. The Makaryev Monastery opposite of the town of Lyskovo used to be the location of the largest fair in Eastern Europe. Other historic towns include Gorodets and Balakhna, located on the Volga to the north from Nizhny Novgorod.

Serafimo-Diveevsky Monastery, or Saint Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery, or Holy Trinity-Saint Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery (Russian: Свя́то-Тро́ицкий Серафи́мо-Диве́евский монасты́рь) is a monastery of nuns (convent) in Diveyevo settlement near Sarov (12 km), and near the city of Nizhny Novgorod (185 km), in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is situated in a region considered to have immense spiritual significance. Within its immediate vicinity are situated two other cloisters: Sarov Monastery and Sanaksar Monastery.

The convent is famous because Saint Seraphim of Sarov served as Staretz (Elder) for the nuns of this monastery, though he only travelled to the convent once during his lifetime. He was a monk at the nearby monastery of Sarov. After the fall of communism, his relics, which had been feared lost, were discovered in the storeroom of a "museum of atheism" in Saint Petersburg and solemnly transferred to the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery, which has come to be named after him.