Sampson Sievers, born: Edward Sievers , names adopted after conversion: Sergius (at Orthodox baptism at the age 17), when monk known first as Elder Symeon and after taking Great Schema as Elder Sampson (July 10 (Old Style June 27), 1900, Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 - August 24, 1979, Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Russia) - Russian Orthodox Christian elder

Elder (Christianity)

An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a ministry of Word,...

, hieromonk, priest, confessor

Confessor

-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...

 of Russian patriarch and higher clergy, wonder-worker and mystic of English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 ancestry, who suffered heavily at the hands of Soviet authorities (4 imprisonements and years in Soviet concentration camps, including a term in Svirlag

Svirlag

Svirlag, SvirLAG was a Soviet forced labour camp run by NKVD's GULAG Directorate...

 concentration camp and 1 year in single cell in Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

 prison).

Early years and family

Edward Sievers was born July 10, (June 27 by Old Style), 1900 in Saint Petersburg. His mother was Mabel Annie Sievers (born Gare), an educated English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 woman and British citizen, who was hiding in Russia from a hired murderer. She met her future husband, the high ranking military official Jasper Johan Daniel Sievers, at a ball in Saint Petersburg. Jasper Sievers seems to be of Saxon

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

 origin and was the head of the military headquarters of general Ruzskiy who commanded the Northern District at Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

. He was also a personal friend and adviser of the last Russian tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 Nicholas II. Tsar Nicholas II visiting the family of Sievers used often to taken the little Edward on his lap.

Mother Mable Annie (Anna Vasilievna, who was 26 y.o. in 1898 was of noble origin and brought up the son the strict rules of Anglican Protestant faith. July 23, 1900 the little Edward was baptised at the Anglican church of Saint Petersburg by local Anglican priest William A. Macloid. The baptism protocol from the Anglican church says that the family resided at Malaya Italyanskaya  (Little Italian) street in Saint Petersburg.

From the archive protocol on his father it follows that little Edward Alexander had two sisters Mary-Julia (born same day and year as him, they seem to be twins thus), Olga

Olga

-Apparel:*Olga Intimates, a line of intimate apparel produced by Warnaco Group, Inc. aimed at full-figured women.-Places:Australia*Mount Olga , a mountain-like rock formation in central AustraliaRussia...

 (two years younger though born same the 10 th day of July, 1902) and youngest brother Alexander (born like all on the 10th, though February 1906). From the questioning protocol of 1932 follows that sister Olga Sievers had been residing in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where she moved in 1922 for curement, where also lived his aunt Hary Editha. It also follows that in 1932 his mother (then 55 y.o.) still lived in Lenigrad being lecturer at the Phonetic Institute.

Sievers finished Saint Petersburg Reform (Protestant) Gymnasium (Realschule

Realschule

The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...

) in 1916.

Conversion into Orthodoxy, first arrest, execution and work in Tikhvin

By the grace of God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

, 12 years old teenager who had interest in many confessions chose Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy

The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...

. He secretly attended Orthodox church, not to sadden his mother. In 1917 (at the age of 17) at the time of re-baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 at the Orthodox church Edward received the name Sergius (after Sergius of Radonezh

Sergius of Radonezh

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh , also transliterated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints.-Early life:The date of...

) through lots. Love of loneliness

Loneliness

Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...

 and prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

 brought him to the monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

. In 1918 the boy left for Savvo-Krypetskiy Monastery of John the Theologian.

In 1919 Bolsheviks arrested Sergius wrongly presuming that he is of Tsarist family. The group of armed soldiers-Latvians

Latvians

Latvians or Letts are the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia.-History:Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia...

 that came suddenly to the monastery and took him in custody. The monks daily visited the novice bringing bread and milk. Close to the Feast of Pokrov (Protection) of Mother of God he was executed. Nevertheless remained alive being wounded in the right arm. The elder recollected: "They were shooting with rifle at distance 10-15 steps. The bullet hit the arm. I felt hot and lost consciousness. Someone hit me with boot's tip and said "Finished!" In the night the wounded Sergius was pulled out of the pile of corpses by monks, dressed in the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 outfits and in disguise of a wounded Red Army soldier delivered to his mother and then taken for curement to the military hospital in Tikhvin

Tikhvin

Tikhvin is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin is also an industrial and cultural center of the district, as well as its transportation...

. In the hospital in Tikhvin the physicians managed to cope with the gangrene

Gangrene

Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...

 that started. The preservation of the right arm the elder called the miracle of surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

, since the gas gangrene started after he was wounded. In Tikhvin, Sievers got to know the bishop of Tikhvin Alexiy (Simanskiy), the future patriarch, at whom he behame hypo-deacon. Remaining in Tikhvin, Sievers became the club manager, read educational lectures in the hospitals, went on missions regarding the provision issues. During these mission he performed the assignments of Tikhvin bishop Alexiy, securing the connection of patriarch Tikhon with "disgraced" clerics namely with the inprisoned Novgorod metropolitan Arseniy and others. Sievers's position (January 1919) was letter-carrier (a sort of postman) on the Saint Petersburg section of Moscow - Vindavo - Rybinsk

Rybinsk

Rybinsk is the second largest city of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna Rivers. Population: It is served by Rybinsk Staroselye airport.-Early history:...

 railway. According to the documents of Central State Archives of Saint Petersburg the last secular position of Sievers was service as manager of Tikhvin garrison club in 1919-1922.

Thanks to the help of bishop Alexiy, Sievers entered into Alaxandre-Nevsky Lavra in May 1921. May 25, 1925 (1921?) he was tonsured into monks by vladyka Nicholas Yarushevich receiving new name Symeon. January 19, 1925 was consecrated into the rank of hieromonk (priest-monk). At the same time, when accepted into hieromonks, he became the treasurer of lavra. Being monk Sievers also studied at the Saint Petersburg's (Russian Orthodox) Theological Institute (finished in 1925).

Father S. Sievers confessed the academician Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a famous Russian physiologist. Although he made significant contributions to psychology, he was not in fact a psychologist himself but was a mathematician and actually had strong distaste for the field....

, president of Soviet Academy of Sciences A.N. Karpinskiy and others. In 1928 hieroschemonk Serafim Vyritskiy blessed father Symeon Sievers for elderdom.

Second arrest and deportation to Svirlag concentration camp

When closing down Alexandro-Nevsky Lavra in 1932 all monks had been arrested, father Symeon was taken to SvirLAG

Svirlag

Svirlag, SvirLAG was a Soviet forced labour camp run by NKVD's GULAG Directorate...

 and later to Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

.

In 1928 (1932?) the monk of Alexandre Nevsky Lavra had been arrested. Surprising enough is that a few hours prior to the arrest, Symeon had a vision in dream with appearance of blessed Serafim of Sarov who read the litany to the All-merciful Lady, Virgin Mary praying for help, guardship and forgiveness. Having woke up the elder immediately wrote down the prayer and in three hours he was arrested. The documents of Archives of Russian Federal Security Offices in Leningrad region definitely tell that from 1932 the monk was in Svirlag (Svirskiy Concentration Camp of Forced Labour) on the river Svir

Svir River

Svir is a river in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows from Lake Onega west to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two largest lakes of Europe. It is the largest river flowing into Lake Ladoga....

 (Leningrad oblast

Leningrad Oblast

Leningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It was established on August 1, 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position...

).

The mentioned prayer to Virgin Lady, as the elder said, guarded him till the last days. Elder Sampson was telling how at Svirlag, he together with other inmates was thrown into icy cellar, inhabited by rats accustomed to human meat. In order that people would not oppose the rats, they were bound in such a way that they could not move. The rats consumed the humans alive. From the recollections of elder Sampson: "The cold was the most cruel and rats everywhere. I prayed: " All merciful, my Lady..." I read and heard as people cried when they had been eaten up rats. To me, on the other hand, the rats ganwed only my heels."

In the morning when they lifted the cage and discovered that the elder remained unharmed, they became scared of his faith and he was freed from forced labours.

The elder was also telling how once in winter time, when the criminal convicts lost him in play-cards, he had to stand naked for a few hours in frost. Thanks to the prayers, he remained alive.

Afterwards, Sievers was transferred to imprisonment in the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan

Uzbek SSR

The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Uzbek SSR for short, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union since its creation in 1924...

. On Victory Day

Victory Day

Victory Day is a common name of many different public holidays in various countries to commemorate victories in important battles or wars in the countries' history.- April 30 in Vietnam :...

 May 9, father S. Sievers drowned in the Great Fergana

Fergana

Fergana is a city , the capital of Fergana Province in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southern edge of the Fergana Valley in southern Central Asia, cutting across the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...

 Canal named after Stalin. Kolkhoz

Kolkhoz

A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...

 workers pulled him out, called the policeman to make the death protocol and afterwards he was taken to the cemetery. When on the way to the cemetery, water spilled because of shaking, the dead man came back to life and sat at the cart. The Moslem Uzbeks

Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...

 who were driving him started shouting in fear: "Russian God resurrected!".

Short liberation, third arrest and deportation to the Far East

The martyr for faith was set free in 1934 and in 1936 Sievers was taken into custody again, kept in prison in Borisoglebsk

Borisoglebsk

Borisoglebsk is a town in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Vorona River near its confluence with the Khopyor.Population: 65,000 . It is host to Borisoglebsk air base.Borisoglebsk was founded in mid-17th century...

, after being convicted according to the article 5810 of the Criminal Code 1 Part. In his application about the violations during the investigation to the head of the court on December 22, 1936 Symeon Sievers writes that with much effort he "managed to turn down the accusation in belonging to certain anti-Soviet group (5811 of the Criminal Code) that was brought up by Mr Feldman

Feldman

Feldman is a common German and Ashkenazi Jewish surname.- People :*Aharon Feldman, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Ner Yisroel*Andrea Feldman*Basil Feldman*Charles K...

 who used for that my psychoneurostenia and psychic depression." He yet had to face several years in prison on the Far East. In imprisonment, the convicted monk impressed all by his perspicasiousness (spiritual sight).
In the times of war, when the Japanese

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 led the offensive battles, the prison administration got prepared to execute all the inmates. All were prapring for death, many cried, repented, prayed. In the night it was disclosed to the elder that he will live through the old age. The monk saw himself being old and surrounded by spiritual disciples. In the morning he declared to all, that they will survive.

Liberation of 1945: as priest to Kolguta in Stavropol region

In 1945, the order was issued commanding the liberation of all church clerics. The amnesty order for the church clerics of 1945 did not change the life of father Symeon. Knowing that similar practice means execution, in August 1945, he decided to flee. He walked in the night and at daytime hided from men and dogs. This way he reached Kirgizia and from there flew on "kukuruznik

Kukuruznik

Kukuruznik is a Russian word derived from the word "kukuruza", maize. It was used as a nickname for the following.*Polikarpov Po-2, a utility aircraft used extensively in agriculture.*Antonov An-2, a purpose-built agricultural aircraft....

" to Tashkent

Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...

. In 1946 he got over to Stavropol to the metropolitan Anthony who gave him parish first in Vinodelnoye (lit. Wine-making) and after in 1947 the elder was appointed as parish priest in the big Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

 village (stanica) Kolguta, Stavropol Region. The appearance of elder in the village led the local authorities to worries due to the influx of thousands of people to the wonder working monk. He was not only the spiritual teacher of the Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...

 believers but a helper, councellor, wisely answering on everyday issues, connected with management of economy, agricultural works. Slowly the dancing stages and clubs got empty - the youth went to church.

The new arrest came. In the prison of Baku, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

, the elder had to spend the enter year in single cell.

Priestly service in Ruzayevka, Makarovka and Spasskoye (Republic of Mordovia)

In 1948 heavily sick elder moved to Borisoglebsk in Voronezh

Voronezh

Voronezh is a city in southwestern Russia, the administrative center of Voronezh Oblast. It is located on both sides of the Voronezh River, away from where it flows into the Don. It is an operating center of the Southeastern Railway , as well as the center of the Don Highway...

 region (south Russia). Penza

Penza

-Honors:A minor planet, 3189 Penza, discovered by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh in 1978, is named after the city.-Notable residents:...

 archbishop Cyril appointed him the parish priest in the temporary temple in the town of Ruzayevka

Ruzayevka

Ruzayevka is a town in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, located on the Insar River, southwest of Saransk. Population: It was founded in 1631 as the village of Urazayevka , later known as Ruzayevka. It was granted town status in 1937....

 in Mordovia

Mordovia

The Republic of Mordovia , also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: -Geography:The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia...

. The next parish was Makarovka

Makarovka, Republic of Mordovia

Makarovka is a village in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, located near the Republic's capital Saransk. Famous Russian Orthodox elder and wonder worker Sampson Sievers was a parish priest in this village during Soviet time....

  lying next to Mordovian capital Saransk

Saransk

Saransk is a city in central European Russia and the capital of the Republic of Mordovia, as well as its financial and economic center. It is located in the Volga basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about east of Moscow...

. There in Makarovka hieromonk Symeon through a miracle got passport. All these 5 years after the camps he was under the threat of new arrest since because of the flight from prison camp he did not have documents.

His spiritual daughter recounts about her first meeting with elder Sampson: "I delivered an altar-note for health and stepped back to the back doors of the church. Suddenly, batiushka (Russian for "father") came out of the altar, looked over the people and stopped at me. He called me and asked if note is mine. Having got the confirmation he told not to write this name but to give offerings to the destitute for him since he (this individual) swears much and abuses alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 a lot. The spiritual sight of the father made me tremble. From this moment on all our family stayed insparably next to him."

The last place of service of the elder in the Republic of Mordovia was the village of Spasskoye (meaning literally "Saviour's"). The news about the wonder working elder spread at lightning speed around the neighbouring villages. The sick from all over Mordovia were coming to him. Even the physicians of psychiatric hospitals sent their patients to Spasskoye. There were also false accusations, persecutions.

He was sent to serve in parishes in Poltava Women's Monastery in Poltava

Poltava

Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....

, Ukraine and during 1956-1958 as second priest at the Kazan Cathedral of Volgograd

Volgograd

Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...

 (ex Stalingrad). His sermons and special care of the parishers caused envy of the cathedral clerics and on the request of the chief of the cathedral vladyka Sergius sent hieromonk Symeon to Pskov Pechersk Monastery on the Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

n border, where he was in 1958-1963, as usual attracting the youth and causing unsatisfaction of party and Soviet organs. In order to preserve the monastery, the monastery chiefs decide "to sacrifice" father Symeon and sent him out of the monastery. Then hieromonk appealed to the patriarch Alexy I (Simanskiy) who offered him to leave the staff of the monastery. In 1963 - 1979 father Symeon lived in Moscow.

September 16, 1966 elder Symeon received holy Great Schema with the name Sampson after the most blessed Saint Sampson the Hospitable. After his tonsure

Tonsure

Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...

 it was reported that such a grace was issuing from the elder that many people who did not have a clean conscience could not look at him.

August 24, 1979 elder's health rapidly worsened due to a heavy disease. Luckily, on that day there was a priest among the visitors, he started reading akafist to God's Mother and after the akafist gave communion to the dying. After that, the priest began reading the canon for departure of the soul and at the 8th song of the canon the elder sighed out three times and empeaced...So ended much suffering earthly life of elder Sampson. He was not a severe monk hermit

Hermit

A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...

, neither a tough exposer of human vice

Vice

Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption...

s, he was a loving healer of grieving souls.

The memorial service was served at the Church of Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...

 in Kuznetsy and he was buried at Nikolo-Archangelski cemetery in Moscow.

Empeace Lord, the soul of elder Sampson, in peace with the saints and save our souls with his prayers!

Sampson's teaching

A quote:

"One should not stop repenting. And one should repent not only in thought but also begging for forgiveness and help in order not to repeat the sin. One should be afraid to sadden (grieve) someone. - It means therefore, to watch after one's own tongue and not just behaviour..." (elder Sampson)

Material translated from Russian sources (see links below) by Roman Zakharii

External links

In Russian:

• Svetlana Devyatova: Orthodox Elders of 20th century with short biographical entry on Sievers (in Russian)
• Hieromonk Sampson (Sievers) 1898 - 1979: Detailed biography in Russian with 3 photos of Sievers by Temple of Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus
• Archives of Russia (in Russian). Editions and Publications: The most detailed biography with state protocols relating to the arrests of Sievers, 2 photos of Elder Sampson (Sievers)
• Orthodox World. Saints of the 20th century: Short biography of Sampson (Sievers) with drawing of the elder (material in Russian)