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Ivan was born on [[June 28]], 1885, in a village of Voronok of the Krupetsk volost of the Kursk province into family of peasants. Little information is available about his early life, since the elder did not say anything due to his modesty. After his graduation from the [[parish]] school and the repose of his parents, Ivan entered the Glinsk monastery.
In 1914-1916, he took part in the World War I where he was wounded. Then he was taken to the hospital. Archbishop Micah (Kharkharov) of Yaroslavl (1921-2005), who later became a spiritual son of Fr. Seraphim, writes that at the same time there was a hypnotist in the hospital among the injured. He could hypnotize almost all other patients but could not do this with Ivan, because he always recited the Jesus prayer. And no matter how much the hypnotist tried to hypnotize, nothing worked. At that time, as Archbishop Micah writes, Ivan got to know from own personal experience the power of the Jesus prayer and that hypnosis is not just an experiment with the hidden powers in man but is the work of the demons.
Following his recovery Ivan returned to the monastery. In 1919, Ivan was [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]] with the name Juvenalis. His elder, hieromonk Aristoklis (Veter), taught him a wholehearted daily confession of thoughts and attention to all the movements of the heart. Later, Juvenalis believed that the inner doing is very important for the spiritual growth and salvation.
Fr. Seraphim knew from his own experience what the unceasing prayer of the heart is. A well-known elder John (Krestiankin), who was tonsured a monk by Fr. Seraphim in 1966 in Sukhumi, writes in one letter to some person about the way the Lord gives His gifts and takes them away: "My spiritual father was a young man when he received the gift of unceasing Jesus prayer and the fullness of joy in it, and then the Lord took this gift away, and all his life Fr. Seraphim looked for the lost piece of silver – he worked humbly and patiently – the gift was returned to him by the Lord a few days before his death - as a witness that the Lord had accepted his tears his whole life".
On [[December 18]], 1975, during the vigil, Fr. Seraphim felt ill. He went to his bed. All the time the elder said aloud the [[Jesus Prayer]], and when tired, asked the others to continue to recite it. For two weeks, he partook of Holy [[Communion]] daily. Being fully conscious, the Elder was honored to see many of his brethren in the spirit, who, according to him, were singing the sticheron "Eternal council". And then the elder in a weak voice sang: "O taste and see that the Lord is good. Allelujah." After the vision, he said, "What I have prayed all my life and what I was searching for, it is opened now in my heart, my soul is filled with grace, so that I could not even hold it." And then After this he said, "Now I'm going to die". On [[December 31]] he closed his eyes for the last time and the next day, on [[January 1]], 1976, the elder reposed.
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