IV
Father Sergius lived as a recluse for another seven years.
At first he accepted much of what people brought him--tea, sugar,
white bread, milk, clothing, and fire-wood. But as time went on
he led a more and more austere life, refusing everything
superfluous, and finally he accepted nothing but rye-bread once a
week. Everything else that was brought to him he gave to the
poor who came to him. He spent his entire time in his cell, in
prayer or in conversation with callers, who became more and more
numerous as time went on. Only three times a year did he go out
to church, and when necessary he went out to fetch water and
wood.
The episode with Makovkina had occurred after five years of his
hermit life. That occurrence soon became generally known--her
nocturnal visit, the change she underwent, and her entry into a
convent. From that time Father Sergius's fame increased. More
and more visitors came to see him, other monks settled down near
his cell, and a church was erected there and also a hostelry.
His fame, as usual exaggerating his feats, spread ever more and
more widely. People began to come to him from a distance, and
began bringing invalids to him whom they declared he cured.
His first cure occurred in the eighth year of his life as a
hermit. It was the healing of a fourteen-year-old boy, whose
mother brought him to Father Sergius insisting that he should lay
his hand on the child's head. It had never occurred to Father
Sergius that he could cure the sick. He would have regarded such
a thought as a great sin of pride; but the mother who brought the
boy implored him insistently, falling at his feet and saying:
'Why do you, who heal others, refuse to help my son?' She
besought him in Christ's name. When Father Sergius assured her
that only God could heal the sick, she replied that she only
wanted him to lay his hands on the boy and pray for him. Father
Sergius refused and returned to his cell. But next day (it was
in autumn and the nights were already cold) on going out for
water he saw the same mother with her son, a pale boy of
fourteen, and was met by the same petition.
He remembered the parable of the unjust judge, and though he had
previously felt sure that he ought to refuse, he now began to
hesitate and, having hesitated, took to prayer and prayed until a
decision formed itself in his soul. This decision was, that he
ought to accede to the woman's request and that her faith might
save her son. As for himself, he would in this case be but an
insignificant instrument chosen by God.
And going out to the mother he did what she asked--laid his hand
on the boy's head and prayed.
The mother left with her son, and a month later the boy
recovered, and the fame of the holy healing power of the starets
Sergius (as they now called him) spread throughout the whole
district. After that, not a week passed without sick people
coming, riding or on foot, to Father Sergius; and having acceded
to one petition he could not refuse others, and he laid his hands
on many and prayed. Many recovered, and his fame spread more and
more.
So seven years passed in the Monastery and thirteen in his
hermit's cell. He now had the appearance of an old man: his
beard was long and grey, but his hair, though thin, was still
black and curly.
