This itinerary allows participants to experience the Feast of the Transfiguration in Diveyevo.

Land of St Seraphim

Feast of the Transfiguration
August 15 - 21 2010

Travelling to Diveyevo, Russia, to the region from which the focus of the radius of effect of the saint's transfiguring life began, a land, both geographic and spiritual, this pilgrimage offers a way of deepening the connection between St Seraphim's inner landscape and our own.

The entire region is touched deeply by St Seraphim's presence through his living witness, living presence. Lives are touched powerfully every single day from oldest adult to youngest child, from poorest peasant to wealthiest intelligentsia and not just in this region of Russia, but wherever people call on the name of this saint, who said, 'Speak to me as if I were alive and I will be alive for you.'

This land, its monasteries, sketes, villages, and people are living witness:

• to one of the greatest outpourings of God's love through his servant, humble Seraphim
• to the greatest persecution of Christians of all time
• to the remarkable recovery & renewal of Christian witness taking place in Russia since the 1990's.

We meet for supper in Moscow before traveling by overnight train from Moscow to Arzamas where we are met by our driver and taken on the 70 km journey to Diveyevo, where we will experience the glorious Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, where St Seraphim’s relics lie. 

We will spend time in the Monastery of Seraphim-Diveyevo, where the saint's influence has been great, and dwell in a region in which his image lives in nearly every home.  Here, one may bathe in the holy springs and walk the sacred path.  We wll explore surrounding villages in which surviving monks and nuns dwelt in hiding during the soviet years, and through whose inhabitants, many of the practices and treasures of the monasteries were saved.

Your Leader:
Father John Jillions is an Orthodox priest.  He lives in Ottawa, Canada, where he serves as Dean of the Annunciation Cathedral and Professor of St Paul University’s Sheptytsky Institute.  He formerly served as Founding Principal of the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge.

Your price includes:

• Experienced English speaking leader throughout
• Supper in Moscow
• Train and Road travel from and to Moscow
• All excursions and entrance fees
• Group transport within the Diveyevo region
• Accommodation in a private house in Diveyevo, sharing a twin room
• All meals

Your price does not include:

• Flight
• Visa
• Travel insurance
• Drinks and personal items
• Airport Transfers