I have previously written on St. Seraphim and the fruits of the Spirit (see here). Please refer to that post for a more complete account of Seraphim’s discussion on recognizing the presence of the Holy Spirit. In this post, I will present the main points that he makes, similar themes from the Patristic period, and then modern similarities from Mormon teaching and experience.  I have cut out several parts from the original paper for the sake of brevity, but have tried to preserve the parts of most interest to LDS readers.

Saint Seraphim of Sarov and the Recognition of the Holy Spirit

            The spirituality of St. Seraphim of Sarov has become well-recognized in modern Christian mystical literature for its stunning portrayal of the tangible effects of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In his highly circulated conversation with Nicholas Motovilov, “Concerning the Aim of the Christian Life,” Seraphim attempts to instruct his friend regarding the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. After attempting to express the process using a number of different explanations, Seraphim directs Motovilov’s attention to the intense spiritual manifestation they were experiencing as a recognizable outpouring of the Holy Spirit. St. Seraphim teaches his disciple that one can know when the Third Person of the Trinity is present by certain signs and feelings or emotions that accompany the Spirit. 

            In the above-mentioned conversation with Motovilov, likely recorded around 1830, Motovilov expresses to the saintly monk his inability to fully understand how an individual can know that he has the Spirit with him; how he can “dwell” in the Holy Spirit and “apprehend his appearance” in him. “My need,” he exclaimed, “is to understand this well.” Instead of offering further explanations or scriptural illustrations, as he had previously done, St. Seraphim turns to a more practical and tangible demonstration of his point by asking his friend to simply recognize what he is seeing and feeling at the moment -his final and greatest proof for how one is to know that the Holy Spirit is present. According to Motovilov’s account, the following were described as recognizable manifestations of the Holy Spirit:

• Transfigured appearance

Father Seraphim grabs Motovilov by the shoulders and says “We are both together, son, in the Spirit of God! Why lookest thou not on me?” To which Motovilov replies:

“I cannot look, father, because lightning flashes from your eyes. Your face is brighter than the sun and my eyes ache in pain!” Father Seraphim says: “Fear not, my son; you too have become as bright as I. You too are now in the fulness of God’s Spirit; otherwise you would not be able to look on me as I am.”

• Calmness and peace

St. Seraphim then asks, “How do you feel now?” “Unwontedly well!” Motovilov exclaims. The staretz then probes deeper, looking for his friend to sincerely evaluate and recognize exactly what he is feeling. “But well in what way? How in particular?” Motovilov  answers: “I feel a calmness and peace in my soul that I cannot express in words!”

• Sweetness

Seraphim encourages him to further express the specific feelings that he is experiencing. “An unwonted sweetness!” is the reply.

• Joy

“An unwonted joy in all my heart!”

• Warmth

“An unwonted warmth!” When Seraphim hears this from his disciple, he probes him further in order to see if he understands the significance of this manifestation. “But why warmth, my son? See, we sit in the forest, the winter is out and about, the snow

is underfoot, there is more than an inch of snow on us and still the snowflakes fall. What warmth can there be?” Motovilov answeres: “Such as there is in the bath-house, when they pour the water on the stone and the steam rises in a cloud.”

• Aid to Memory

As this powerful experience with the Spirit of God would clearly be an important lesson to remember, Father Seraphim asks his disciple: “Will you remember this manifestation of God’s ineffable mercy which has visited us?” “I know not, father,” he replies, “whether the Lord will grant me always to remember this mercy of God as vividly and clearly as now I feel it.” “I think,” Father Seraphim answers, “that the Lord will help you always to retain it in your memory…”

            This process of questioning by St. Seraphim can be seen as a tool-even the principal tool-used by the saint to help his friend recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit and know when he had acquired it in his life. For St. Seraphim, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit is the most important goal of mortal life.  It is essential for priest, monk, and layman alike. When one’s heart is open to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that heart becomes “the throne whereon [the Lord] loves to sit and whereon He appears in the fulness of His heavenly glory.” (p. 56) Without this acquisition of the Holy Spirit, “there is not and cannot be any salvation” (p. 51). Seraphim wants his disciple to know when he has the Spirit and his conversation serves as an outline for what one should be able to see and feel when he does.

The Tradition

            That all these properties should be linked to the presence of the Holy Spirit was an idea that was perpetuated in the early Church and in the Christian tradition over the centuries.  Over time, these principles were preserved more strongly in the more ascetic or mystical strains of Christianity, and in the Eastern Orthodox churches.  Because space is limited, I will only highlight a few examples of the preservation of each of the spiritual manifestations.

Transfigured Appearance

            As mentioned above, the “lightning” from the eyes and face “shining like the sun” motifs, for the uninitiated, can be the most familiar and startling parts of Seraphim’s explanation. While such descriptions are uncommon among most Christians today, talk of such visions of light was surprisingly frequent and emphatic for centuries. Out of all the elements referred to in this essay, there was likely more ink spent on this topic by the ancients than any of the others.  The brilliant appearance of a person as the result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was often referred to as a transfiguration or transformation into an angelic or divine state.

            Tertullian was well aware of the importance of this motif in the Scriptures:

Even the Holy Scriptures give us instances of this form of change…For example, the face of Moses was changed, with a brightness that the eyes could not bear…So also Stephen had already put on the appearance of an angel-even though it was still his human knees that bent beneath the stoning. The Lord, again, in the retirement of the mountain, had changed His clothing for a robe of light…In that same scene, Moses also and Elijah gave proof that the same condition of bodily existence may continue even in glory.

For Origen, this transformation, including the shining face, was a step in the process of the glorification or deification of the human. Citing the example of Moses’ radiant countenance, Origen explained that it was a result of his vision of Deity, for which he had been purified; he then “transcended all material things” and was “deified by what [he] contemplate[d].” He continued by stating:

Such a state may be said to be the glorification of the face of him who has contemplated God and conversed with him and spent time in such a vision, since this is represented figuratively by the glorified face of Moses, when his intellect had been deified by God.

            A few centuries later, in the so-called Macarian writings, Macarius emphasized the central role of the Holy Spirit in monastic life. His exegesis of Ezekiel’s vision of the throne-chariot portrays a view of the indwelling of the Spirit very similar to that of St. Seraphim:

For the prophet was contemplating a mystery of the soul that was to receive its own Lord and become a throne of glory to him. For a soul that is counted worthy to participate in the Spirit of his light and is illuminated by the beauty of his ineffable glory, seeing that he has prepared it for himself as a throne and dwelling, becomes wholly light…That is to say, no part of it is in darkness, but has been turned entirely and completely into light and spirit…seeing that the ineffable beauty of the glory of the light of the face of Christ has mounted it and sat upon it…Thus the soul is illuminated perfectly by the ineffable beauty of the glory of the face of Christ and has participated perfectly in the Holy Spirit, and has been counted worthy to become a throne and dwelling of God.

            Gregory Palamas, a central figure of the hesychast movement of the fourteenth century, strongly emphasized the importance of the vision of divine light and how it transforms both body and soul. He states:      

So, when the saints contemplate this divine light within themselves, seeing it by the divinizing communion of the Spirit, through the mysterious visitation of perfecting illuminations-then they behold the garment of their deification, their mind being glorified and filled by the grace of the Word, beautiful beyond measure in his splendour; just as the divinity of the Word on the mountain glorified with divine light the body conjoined to it.

Other Manifestations

             The sublime peace afforded by the Holy Spirit was the goal of every monk. Diadochus, in the fifth century, indicated that when a person turns to the Lord, grace makes itself felt in the heart as a “sensible warmth.” Isaac of Ninevah proclaimed that “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb is the awareness of God whence love is born.” 

            Eastern theologian John Cassian explained:

It is not easy to know how and in what respects spiritual tenderness overwhelms the soul. Often it is by an ineffable joy and by vehement aspirations that its presence is revealed. So much so that the joy is rendered unbearable by its very intensity, and breaks out into cries that carry tidings of your inebriation as far as a neighbouring cell. Sometimes οn the contrary the whole soul descends and lies hidden in abysses of silence. The suddenness of the light stupefies it and robs it of speech. All its senses remain withdrawn in its inmost depths or completely suspended. And it is by inarticulate groans that it tells God of its desire. Sometimes, finally, it is so swollen with a sorrowful tenderness that οnly tears can give it consolation. 

 

Mormonism

            The spiritual revivals that helped spread the influence of Methodism also opened the way for new spiritual movements such as Alexander Campbell’s “restorationist” movement and Joseph Smith, Jr.’s The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith (1805-1844), roughly a contemporary of St. Seraphim, held to a view of the fruits of the Holy Spirit very similar to that of the Russian Orthodox monk.

            The early Mormon Church was recognized for its powerful and dramatic spiritual manifestations. A contemporary religious periodical, The Spiritual Magazine [May 1, 1871], attempted to account for the success of early Mormon missionaries to the British Isles:

In Great Britain the Mormons were Spiritualists. Their churches were established, converts made, and success wrought out by spiritual manifestations and the “influences.” This was recognized by the various denominations whose disciples the Elders (Mormon missionaries) drew away by their spiritual fascinations…The possession of this “power” gave the Elders such a decided advantage over the learned clergy that in many cases they have annihilated whole churches, and Mormonism has swept some of the districts of England and Wales like a whirlwind, literally to the consternation of other religious bodies.

            While perhaps not as recognized, this emphasis on manifestations of the Spirit continues in modern Mormon proselytizing efforts. In the Missionary Guide, a manual printed in 1988 by the Church and issued to all missionaries until only recently, missionaries are instructed that the “most important process in conversion is for people to feel the Spirit of the Lord… It is your privilege to act as a servant of the Lord and help people feel and recognize the influence of the Spirit.” In order to help others “feel and recognize” the Holy Spirit, a technique is employed that is remarkably similar to that of St. Seraphim in his conversation with Nicholas Motovilov-the missionary is to ask the person how he or she feels. The missionary teaches scriptural principles, and then encourages listeners to express how they feel; when the missionary is convinced that the listener has felt the Spirit of the Lord (by listening to their answers to such questions), the missionary is to identify that they are, indeed, feeling the Spirit.

            The precedent for spiritual manifestations in the Mormon Church was set by Joseph Smith himself, who was considered by his followers to be a prophet. Many of Smith’s contemporaries give descriptions of his appearance and demeanor when under the influence of the Holy Spirit that are very similar in nature to Motovilov’s account of St. Seraphim. Mormon scholar Hyrum Andrus comments that the “visions and revelations given to Joseph Smith were also accompanied by an overshadowing power and glory visible to those present-not merely a change of facial expression resulting from a given mood or attitude of mind, but a thrilling, intelligent power both felt and seen by others.”

            Orson Pratt testified that he saw the Smith’s “countenance light up as the inspiration of the Holy Ghost rested upon him…” And Brigham Young said:

Those who were acquainted with him knew when the Spirit of revelation was upon him for his countenance wore an expression peculiar to himself while under that influence. He preached by the Spirit of revelation, and taught in his council by it, and those who were acquainted with him could discover it at once, for at such times there was a peculiar clearness and transparency in his face.

Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, an early convert to the Church, witnessed a similar transfiguration in Joseph Smith at a small meeting at Smith’s home in Kirtland, Ohio. She related:

After prayer and singing, Joseph began talking. He began very solemnly and very earnestly. Suddenly, his countenance changed and he stood mute; he seemed almost transfixed. He was looking ahead and his face outshone the candle which was on a shelf just behind him. I thought I could almost see the cheek bones. He looked as though a searchlight was inside his face. I never saw anything like it on earth. I could not take my eyes away from him. I shall remember him as he looked then as long as I live.

            Smith’s revelations on the topic of the influence of the Spirit also parallel the elements expressed in Seraphim’s conversation. He taught that the Holy Spirit brings feelings of peace, joy, warmth, intelligence, and love. Dr. Victor Ludlow of Brigham Young University, outlines some of the ways in which Mormons are taught to recognize the presence of the Spirit:

Some people feel a burning sensation in the body when the Spirit is present. (See D&C 9:8.) Some feel a sense of peace or joy, making them feel like praising or even singing God’s glory and blessings. Others experience a tingling sensation or a quickening of the mind…One common manifestation of the spirit…is when a sudden idea or insight comes into our minds after we have been pondering over a question or problem…The ideas and insights we receive from the Spirit are also confirmed by feelings of peace…God reminded him [Oliver Cowdery, Joseph's scribe] again how to recognize the manifestation of his Spirit: “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart” (D&C 8:2).

George Q. Cannon, an early leader of the Church, offered a description of how one can recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost:

I will tell you a rule by which you may know the Spirit of God from the spirit of evil. The Spirit of God always produces joy and satisfaction of mind. When you have that Spirit you are happy; when you have another spirit you are not happy. The spirit of doubt is the spirit of the evil one; it produces uneasiness and other feelings that interfere with happiness and peace.”

The preceding explanations of the effects of the Holy Spirit are but a few examples from the vast Mormon discourse on the subject. These principles are still very much a part of the Mormon belief system, and while seemingly not as prevalent today, or perhaps not as acknowledged publicly as in the past, tangible manifestations of the Spirit are still a common phenomenon among Mormons, especially in the mission field.

Conclusion

            While Nicholas Motovilov’s account of his conversation with St. Seraphim of Sarov and its attending spiritual manifestations may sound fantastical and foreign to many, such elements have been central to the beliefs of some Christians since New Testament times.  In this essay, I have endeavored to show how these fruits of the Spirit discussed by Seraphim are securely rooted in Scripture, were known and understood by the early Church Fathers and subsequently carried on in the thought of many important theologians over time. While this type of spirituality is readily recognized as part of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it is found in remarkably similar form in many modern Christian denominations, including Wesleyan thought, as well as Mormon doctrine and experience.  The words of Diadοchus of Photike express the significance of this experience with the Spirit: “One who knows God by the feeling of the heart has been known by him.”

Origen, Commentary on John, 32. 27. 338-9, GCS iv. 472. 24-34, as cited in Norman Russell, The Doctrine of Deification in the Greek Patristic Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) 143-144.

Coll. II, Homilies, 1.2, as cited in Russell, 245.

Gregory Palamas, Triad 1.3.5, as cited in Russell, 306.

As cited in Russell, 247.

Isaac of Ninevah, Ascetic Treatises, 38.

Jοhn Cassian, Conferences, ΙX, 27 (SC 54, p. 63)

T. Shorter, “On Mormonism,” in The Spiritual Magazine, vol. VI, May 1871 (London: Thomas Scott), 194.

From the Missionary Guide, p. 9, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Hyrum L. Andrus, Joseph Smith, the Man and the Seer (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960), 136.

As cited in Ibid.

As cited in Ibid.

Ludlow is referring to the book of Doctrine and Covenants, published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is a collection of revelations given through Joseph Smith and some of his successors.

Victor L. Ludlow, Principles and Practices of the Restored Gospel (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1992), 97.

George Q. Cannon, Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. (London: Latter-day Saints’ Book Depot, 1855-86), 15:375.

Diadοchus of Photike, Gnostic Chapters, 14 (SC 5 bis, p. 91)

I want to share a few sections from the text that we read: A CONVERSATION OF ST. SERAPHIM OF SAROV WITH NICHOLAS MOTOVILOV CONCERNING THE AIM OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ((Treasury of Russian Spirituality, ed. George P. Fedotov (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1948), 266-79, 496-97)). There are some very insightful teachings in this that I think LDS readers, especially, will appreciate.  This post is decidedly more “spiritual” than many of my posts, as this text is not only of academic value, but also “inspirational.”  Besides being of inspirational and also apologetic interest, I hope that these passages serve to emphasize the number of common perspectives that can be seen between LDS and Orthodox traditions.  I do believe that St. Seraphim and Joseph Smith (they were contemporaries) could have had some very nice conversations if they had had the chance.

The text is presented as a conversation between Seraphim and Nicholas Motovilov, a friend who often went to the monk for religious instruction and advice.  The main focus is on how a Christian can gain access to the Holy Spirit and how they can recognize it when they do.  Latter-day Saints will recognize the importance of such a conversation, not only for those engaged in teaching and preaching, but also for our daily lives.

The first section I will present involves a discussion of how staying close to the Lord and his Word can allow us to see God and the workings of the Holy Spirit.  Leading up to this passage, Motovilov has been struggling to understand why, if having the Spirit is so important to the Christian, how can one know if He is present or not? We can see good deeds, but can we see the Holy Spirit?  Seraphim responds that seeing God and feeling the presence of the Spirit is very possible and real, and the only reason why we don’t have the same experiences as those recorded in the Bible is because we are so far removed from communion with God.

“At the present time,” the elder replied, “thanks to our almost universal indifference to the holy faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and thanks to our inattentiveness to the working of His Divine purpose in us and of the communion between man and God, we have come to this, that one might say we have almost entirely departed from the true Christian life. Those words seem strange to us now that the Spirit of God spake by the lips of Moses: And Adam saw the Lord walking in paradise; or those words which we read in the Apostle Paul: We went to Achaia and the Spirit of God came not with us, we returned to Macedonia and the Spirit of God came with us. More than once in other passages of Holy Scripture is told the story of God’s appearance to men. Some people say these passages are incomprehensible; could men really see God? But there is nothing incomprehensible here. This failure to understand comes about because we have wandered from the spacious vision of early Christians. Under the pretext of education we have reached such a darkness of ignorance that now to us seems inconceivable what the ancients saw so clearly that even in ordinary conversation the notion of God’s appearance did not seem strange to them. Men saw God and the grace of His Holy Spirit, not in sleep or in a dream, or in the excitement of a disordered imagination, but truly, in the light of day. We have become very inattentive to the work of our salvation, whence it comes about that many other words also in the Holy Scriptures we do not take in the proper sense; and all because we do not seek the grace of God, because in the pride of our minds we do not allow it to enter our souls, and therefore we have no true enlightenment from the Lord, which is sent into the hearts of men, to all who hunger and thirst in heart for God’s truth.

For St. Seraphim, seeing God and having the noticeable presence of the Holy Spirit with you were realities that the early Christians realized that have now been obscured through unbelief, misunderstanding, inattentiveness, and pride.  The Scriptures testify of these things, but we do not believe them.

Next, I would like to share a passage that comes towards the end of the text, where, after trying several different ways of teaching Motovilov how to acquire and recognize the Spirit, Seraphim points out to his student that they are, at that moment, experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit.  This section is very instructive, and although full of “mystical” motifs, should ring familiar to LDS readers.  We should pay close attention to the “fruits” of the Spirit that Seraphim and his friend experience.

I (Motovilov) replied: “Nevertheless I do not understand how I can be firmly assured that I am in the Spirit of God. How can I myself recognise His true manifestation?”

Father Seraphim replied: “I have already told you, my son, that it is very simple and have in detail narrated to you how men dwell in the Spirit of God and how one must apprehend His appearance in us. What then do you need?”

“My need,” said I, “is to understand this well!”

Then Father Seraphim took me very firmly by the shoulders and said: “We are both together, son, in the Spirit of God! Why lookest thou not on me?”

I replied: “I cannot look, father, because lightning flashes from your eyes. Your face is brighter than the sun and my eyes ache in pain!”

Father Seraphim said: “Fear not, my son; you too have become as bright as I. You too are now in the fulness of God’s Spirit; otherwise you would not be able to look on me as I am.”
Then, bending his head towards me, he whispered softly in my ear: “Give thanks to the Lord God for His ineffable mercy! You have seen that I did not even cross myself; and only in my heart I prayed mentally to the Lord God and said within myself; Lord, vouchsafe to him to see clearly with bodily eyes that descent of Thy Spirit which Thou vouchsafest to Thy servants, when Thou art pleased to appear in the light of Thy marvellous glory. And see, my son, the Lord has fulfilled in a trice the humble prayer of poor Seraphim. Surely we must give thanks to Him for this ineffable gift to us both! Not always, my son, even to the great hermits, does the Lord God show His mercy. See, the grace of God has come to comfort your contrite heart, as a loving mother, at the intercession of the Mother of God herself. Come, son, why do you not look me in the eyes? Just look and fear not! The Lord is with us!”

After these words I looked in his face and there came over me an even greater reverential awe. Imagine in the center of the sun, in the dazzling brilliance of his midday rays, the face of the man who talks with you. You see the movement of his lips and the changing expression of his eyes, you hear his voice, you feel someone grasp your shoulders; yet you do not see the hands,
you do not even see yourself or his figure, but only a blinding light spreading several yards around and throwing a sparkling radiance across the snow blanket on the glade and into the
snowflakes which besprinkled the great elder and me. Can one imagine the state in which I then found myself?

“How do you feel now?” Father Seraphim asked.

“Unwontedly well!” I said.

“But well in what way? How in particular?”

I answered: “I feel a calmness and peace in my soul that I cannot express in words!”

“This, my son,” said Father Seraphim, “is that peace of which the Lord said to His disciples: My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you [Jn 14:27]. If ye
were of the world, the world would love its own; but because I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you [Jn 15:19]. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world [Jn
16:33]. So to them that are hated of the world but chosen of the Lord, the Lord gives that peace which you now feel, the peace which, in the words of the Apostle, passeth all understanding [Phil
4:7].

“What else do you feel?” asked Father Seraphim.

“An unwonted sweetness!” I replied.

He continued: “This is that sweetness of which it is said in Holy Scripture: They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of Thy house, and Thou shalt give them drink of Thy sweetness as out of the
river [Ps 36:8]. See, this sweetness now overflows and pours through our veins with unspeakable delight. From this sweetness our hearts melt and we are filled with such blessedness as tongue
cannot tell. What else do you feel?”

“An unwonted joy in all my heart!”

Father Seraphim continued: “When the Spirit of God descends to man and overshadows him with the fulness of His outpouring, then the human soul overflows with unspeakable joy, because the Spirit of God turns to joy all that He may touch. This is that joy of which the Lord speaks in His Gospel: A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. In the world ye shall be sorrowful; but when I see you, your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you [Jn 16:21–22]. Yet however comforting may be this joy which you now feel in your heart, it is nothing in comparison with that of which the Lord Himself said by the
mouth of His Apostle that this joy neither eye hath seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the good things which God hath prepared for them that love Him [1 Cor 2:9].
The earnest of that joy is given to us now, and, if from this there is sweetness, well-being and merriment in our souls, what shall we say of that joy which has been prepared in heaven for them that weep here on earth? You too, my son, have had tears enough in your life; see now with what joy the Lord consoles you while yet here! What else do you feel, my son?”

I answered: “An unwonted warmth!”

“But why warmth, my son? See, we sit in the forest, the winter is out and about, the snow is underfoot, there is more than an inch of snow on us and still the snowflakes fall. What warmth
can there be?”

I answered: “Such as there is in the bath-house, when they pour the water on the stone and the steam rises in a cloud.”

“And the smell?” he asked me. “Is it the bath-house smell?”

“No!” I replied. “There is nothing on earth like this fragrance. When in my dear mother’s lifetime I was fond of dancing and used to go to balls and parties, my mother would sprinkle me
with scent which she had bought at the best fashion-shops in Kazan. But those scents did not give out such fragrance!”

Father Seraphim, smiling kindly, said: “My son, I know it just as you do, and I purposely ask you whether you feel it so. It is the very truth, my son! No pleasure of earthly fragrance can be compared with that which we now feel, for the fragrance of God’s Holy Spirit surrounds us. What earthly thing can be like it? Mark, my son! You have told me that around us it is warm as in the bath-house; but look, neither on you nor on me does the snow melt, and above us it is the same. Of course this warmth is not in the air but in us. It is that very warmth about which the Holy Spirit in the words of the prayer makes us cry out to the Lord: Warm me with the warmth of Thy Holy Spirit! Warmed therewith the hermits have not feared the winter frost, being clad, as in warm coats, in the cloak of grace woven of the Holy Spirit. So in very deed it must be, for the grace of God must dwell within us, in our heart, because the Lord said: The kingdom of God is within you. By the kingdom of God the Lord meant the grace of the Holy Spirit. See, this kingdom of God is now found within us.  The grace of the Holy Spirit shines forth and warms us, and, overflowing with many and varied odours into the air around us, regales our senses with heavenly delight, as it fills our hearts with joy inexpressible. Our present state is that of which the Apostle says: The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace in the Holy Spirit [Rom 14:17]. Our faith consists not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. In this condition we now find ourselves together. Of this condition the Lord said: There are some of them that stand here, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Kingdom of God coming in power [Mt 9:1]. Of such unspeakable joy, my son, the Lord God has now thought us worthy! This is what it means to be in the fulness of the Holy Spirit, about which St. Macarius of Egypt writes: I too was in the fulness of the Holy Spirit. With this fulness of the Holy Spirit the Lord now has filled us to overflowing, poor as we are. Come now, there is no more need to ask, my son, how men may be in the grace of the Holy Spirit! Will you remember this manifestation of God’s ineffable mercy which has visited us?”

“I know not, father,” I said, “whether the Lord will grant me always to remember this mercy of God as vividly and clearly as now I feel it.”

“I think,” Father Seraphim answered me, “that the Lord will help you always to retain it in your memory, since other wise His goodness would not have bowed so instantly to my humble
prayer and would not so readily have anticipated hearkening to poor Seraphim; the more so that not for you alone is it given to understand this, but through you to the whole world in order that
you yourself might be confirmed in God’s work and might be useful to others. The fact, my son, that I am a monk and you are a layman need not keep us. God requires a right faith in Himself
and His Only-Begotten Son. For this the grace of the Holy Spirit is given abundantly from above. The Lord seeks a heart filled with love of God and neighbour: this is the throne whereon He
loves to sit and whereon He appears in the fulness of His heavenly glory. My son, give me thine heart, He says; and all the rest I Myself will add unto you. For the Kingdom of God is in the
human heart. The Lord is nigh unto them that call upon Him in truth, and there is in Him no respect of persons; for the Father loveth the Son and will give all things into His hands, if only
we too love our Heavenly Father truly as sons. The Lord hears equally the monk and the simple Christian layman, so be they are both right believers, and both love God from the depth of their
soul, and both have faith in Him, if only as a grain of mustard-seed [cf. Lk 17:6; Mt 17:20]; and they both shall move mountains…”

This is a wonderful passage. When I read this, I felt like Seraphim was one of my MTC instructors teaching me how to recognize the Spirit!  Although some aspects are unfamiliar, like the “fragrance” attached to the presence of the Spirit; or quite astounding, like Seraphim being described as having lightning flashing from his eyes, I believe this dialogue to be very comparable to how Mormons would describe their beliefs and experiences on the subject.  As far as the smell of the Spirit goes, this is not an aspect that we generally notice or speak of today, but the sweet fragrance of the Spirit is an important component in the ancient temple and mystical tradition.  The sense of smell as a part of religious experience has long been deemphasized in our culture.  As for the lightning and brightness of individuals who are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, this aspect, while perhaps not so common, is well attested in LDS tradition, and is a common description of the Prophet Joseph Smith when he was receiving revelation or otherwise speaking under the influence of the Spirit.  The other qualities of joy, warmth, sweetness, wellness (and even memory retention), are very commonly associated with the fruits of the Spirit.  Even the way that Seraphim helped his friend recognize those feelings is incredibly familiar: “How do you feel now?” and “What else do you feel?” Who gave Seraphim a copy of Preach my Gospel?

I hope this post has been both educational and inspirational.  It is interesting to see how the Holy Ghost has been sent by God in all times and in all places to those who earnestly seek Him and are willing to open their hearts to let him in. 

[I apologize for the formatting quirks in this post -- the system decided to give me a hard time. I hope that it is still easy enough to follow and not too aesthetically unpleasing!]