St. Seraphim and His Bear Friend, Misha

Part of a new ongoing series, Orthodoxy and Animals

(For the past few years, I’ve run the fairly big Facebook page, Orthodoxy and Animals (12,000 followers as of this morning). I started it on a whim after starting to collect sayings from the Church Fathers and Orthodox writers related to creation, the natural world, and animals, and after coming across several pictures online of monks with bears or other animals. It’s a labor of love and a ministry of sorts, which usually just involves posting a short quotation from my collection with a picture I’ve found somewhere on the internet (I also try to be aware of relevant feast days). But since I know not everyone uses Facebook, and since God’s relationship to creation and our relationship with animals are relevant to my research interests, I thought it might be worthwhile re-post or expand on some of the longer or more interesting posts from that page here as well. So consider this the first of an ongoing and occasional series.)

Today the Orthodox Church celebrates the 18th century Saint Seraphim of Sarov. Living many years as a hermit in the forest, his friendship with the local animals was often a source of wonder to visitors and fellow monks. One eyewitness speaks of how rabbits, foxes, lynx, bears, and even wolves would gather around the entrance to his hut at midnight to wait for him to finish his prayers, after which he would come out and distribute bread to all of them.

He was also known for his friendship with a huge bear named Misha. In her Life of St. Seraphim, Helen Kontsevich tells the following story: ‘On one occasion the Abbess Alexandra and a nun named Anna went to visit the Elder. “Without stopping at the Monastery we went straight to the hermitage, and on approaching it, we saw Father sitting on a log. Suddenly an enormous bear walked out of the wood on its hind legs. “Our hands became clammy, our eyes grew dim. Then Father said, ‘Misha, why do you frighten my orphans? Better go back and bring us some kind of consolation, as I have nothing to offer them.’ The bear turned around and went off into the forest. About two hours had passed with the nuns having a wonderful conversation with Father Seraphim in his cabin, when the same bear suddenly appeared again, and scrambled clumsily into the cell and growled. Father Seraphim went up to him and said, ‘Well, well, Misha, show me what you have brought us?’ The bear rose on its hind legs and gave Father something wrapped in leaves. The contents of the parcel turned out to be a fresh honeycomb. The Elder took the honey and silently pointed to the door. The beast seemed to make a bow and the Elder, taking a bit of bread out of his bag, gave it to him, and the bear wandered off into the forest.”’

As Olivier Clement says of him, he showed that “he who is sanctified lives in peace with all creation.”

An icon of St. Seraphim and Misha by Anna Baibakova.