Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-05-06
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- n PETERSBURG, April 21---lt IA
announced that the ear has de.
] cdod TO make II pilgrimage Ia tho
tomb OF ~, Seronn, NJ sOrofsbayn,
with the object Of implorng the saints
homes 60 save the Russian army M
Manchurla from dcfout No date has
We, been sot for this deyoul Journey
hut Il In not likely to be long delayed,
and II II possible that before these
lines can appear IN prln, Nloholas II
win have made his appeal TO the SAINT
who Ia Ruesla's last hope In her dis'
astrous far eastern war
81 sorann. although unknown TO the
outside world " n great power III Rus-
sia, Notwithstanding the fact lhNt no
hns boen dead for two centuries, SER
ann was n priest who lived AZ SoloH
M the end Of the seventeenth century
ana acquired great reputation Tor
miraculous achievements The ignorant
and superstltious population OF RUSSIA
believed implicitly IN his power OF
healing diseases and working wonders,
ond IN tho course Of years his home nj
soroff became the destination OF thou
sends Of cradulois pilgrima Sorahh
wos undoubtedly n man OF great intcl'
, ,iaencc. and II IL probable that he pos
scsscd an lntuilIyc knowledge conSld'
crably In advance OF his age, Tor his
famo ms n worker OF miracles survived
all tho failures which he must have oX'
porlenccd IN his long career
Tho ear OF his ,lmo--AlcSandcr l.
visited the prlos, at saror and asked
his prayers for the empire After hls
death Serann was canonlaod ana came
10 be regarded AZ ono of the most mn
portnnt OF tho patron saints Of the
orthodox Greek church IN RusslN Ills
dead body Nv rcpu,od TO possess mirac-
ulous power and In tho course Of The
last tow centuries tens of thousands
certainly. and probably hundreds of
thousands Of pilgrims have visited his
tomb IN the uncIont monastery of Sar'
afsbnyn, ~, SorOln's tOllb Ia visited
moro particularly by parents 10 whom
children had been doniod and there "
A general belief IN Russia that tho
dead saint has caused childless women
to become mothers
ASKED SAINT FOR a SON,
Tho belief In tho miraculous power
Of the remains " tho dend saint w
shared by the emperor of RUSSIA nv
well M by many other high porsonagos
NJ the Russian court After the ear
Ind been disappointed by the birth Of
two or three daughters instead Of tho
son whom hc 10 ardcnlly desired, a.
was suggested TO him that H. Serann
might possess the power not only of
procuring children for childloss par
ents but also of presenting u son 10
fathers ana mothers who had only
daughters The ear welcomed the Idea
and began 10 pay homage az the shrine
VI 81 Sornln with the intention of
gaining the fnyor OF the dead saint,
AT first the ear paid homage by
proxy sending onvoya with rich pros-
onte To be deposited nl the tomb of ~
SoNiln, Large sums OF nancy were
granted from the imperial private
purse IN order that number OF
priests should pray night and day 10
lmploro the blessing OF ~ Scrnnn fol
the og0r and osnrlnn All thoso at
tcmpts 10 gnin the favor of ~, Somnn
| failed and zach successive child OF tho
| Russian imperial couple turned out 10
| ho Of the wrong sex The Oynr VIVA
| nugglod and distressed, but no ala not
| lose faith IN Scrniln, on the contrary
| no came 10 the conclusion That his sun
| pllcntlons had been ignored because he
had not gone In person TO pay homage
| ut the holy tomb.
When, early IN 1904, II became owl.
dent that the ognrnn would again be.
come n mother IN tho course ~ tho
year the csar decided 10 undo his or
ror and to mako pilgrimage 10 Sarnfs.
| bayn, Hrent preparations were made
for tho Imperial journey Sarafabnyn
| " q small town situated IN n remote
| district In tho province OF Novgorod
| and In % miles from tho main line of