I received this recently from the monasterian email list.

I have had similar experiences but none recently. I know such things are difficult to express and there is a danger of pride but is such a conversation of value to you? Have you had such experiences and what do they mean?

"Then Father Seraphim took me very firmly by the shoulders and said: .My son, we are both at this moment in the Spirit of God. Why don.t you look at me?

.I cannot look, Father,. I replied, .because your eyes are flashing like

lightning. Your face has become brighter than the sun, and it hurts my eyes to

look at you..

.Don.t be afraid,. he said. .At this very moment you yourself have become

as bright as I am. You yourself are now in the fullness of the Spirit of God;

otherwise you would not be able to see me as you do..



Then bending his head towards me, he whispered softly in my ear: .Thank

the Lord God for His infinite goodness towards us.. But why, my son, do you

not look me in the eyes? Just look, and don.t be afraid; the Lord is with us..

After these words I glanced at his face, and there came over me an even

greater reverent awe. Imagine in the center of the sun, in the dazzling light of its

midday rays, the face of a man talking to you. You see the movement of his lips

and the changing _expression of his eyes, you hear his voice, you feel someone

holding your shoulders; yet you do not see his hands, you do not even see yourself

or his body, but only a blinding light spreading far around for several yards and

lighting up with its brilliance the snow-blanket which covers the forest glade and

the snow-flakes which continue to fall unceasingly....What do you feel?. Father Seraphim asked me.



An immeasurable well-being,. I said.

But what sort of well-being? How exactly do you feel well?.



I feel such a calm,. I answered, such peace in my soul that no words can express it..

This,. said Father Seraphim, is that peace of which the Lord said to His

disciples: .My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. [John

14:27], the peace which passes all understanding [Phil. 4:7]... What else do you

feel?.

.Infinite joy in all my heart.

And Father Seraphim continued: When the Spirit of God comes down to

man and overshadows him with the fullness of His presence, then the man.s soul

overflows with unspeakable joy, for the Holy Spirit fills with joy whatever He

touches.. (Conversation of Saint Seraphim on the Aim of the Christian Life, printed in A Wonderful

Revelation to the World, Jordanville, N.Y., 1953, pp. 23-25).



The conversation continues. The whole passage is of extraordinary importance for understanding

the Orthodox doctrine of deification and union with God.