It is also necessary to know what those who read the Life know: at what age the monk was tonsured. He could have been given more than twenty years in appearance, but more than a hundred years in sharpness of mind: for although he was young in body, yet old in mind and perfect by the grace of God. After the departure of the hegumen, the Monk Sergius asceticized in the wilderness, living alone, without a single person. Who can tell of his labors, or who is able to tell of his exploits, which he accomplished while remaining alone in the wilderness? It is impossible to tell us with what spiritual labor and with many cares he began his life in solitude, how long and how many years he bravely remained in this deserted forest. His steadfast and holy soul courageously endured everything far from every human face, diligently and blamelessly kept the rule of monastic life, blamelessly, without stumbling and remaining pure.

What mind or language can conceive or convey the desires of the saint, and his original first zeal, and his love for God, the secret virtues of his podvig, — and how clearly to write about the solitude of the saint, and daring, and groaning, and about the constant prayers that he always addressed to God: who can describe his warm tears, the weeping of the soul, the sighs of the heart, all-night vigils, fervent singing, unceasing prayers, standing without rest, diligent reading, frequent kneeling, hunger, thirst, lying on the ground, spiritual poverty, poverty in everything, lack in everything: whatever you name it, it did not happen. To all this was added the struggle with demons, visible and invisible battles with them, struggles, clashes, intimidation of demons, diabolical delusions, horrors of the desert, expectation of unknown misfortunes, attacks of beasts and their ferocious attempts. But in spite of all this, and in spite of all this, Sergius was fearless in soul and brave in heart, and his mind was not terrified before such enemy intrigues, and fierce attacks, and aspirations: many beasts often came to him at that time, not only at night, but also during the day; And there were these animals - packs of wolves that howled and roared, and sometimes bears. The Monk Sergius, although he was a little afraid, like any other man, nevertheless diligently turned his prayer to God and was strengthened by it; and thus, by the mercy of God, he remained untouched by them: the beasts departed from him, but did him no harm. After all, when the place was just beginning to be arranged, then the Monk Sergius endured much grief and evil from demons, and from beasts, and reptiles. But none of them touched him or offended him: for the grace of God guarded him. And let no one be surprised at this, knowing truly that if God lives in man and if the Holy Spirit overshadows him, then all submit to him, as in ancient times to the first-created Adam before he broke the commandment of the Lord; likewise, everyone submitted to Sergius when he lived alone in the wilderness.

ON THE CASTING OUT OF DEMONS BY THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINT

One time the Monk Sergius entered the church at night, preparing to sing matins. And when he began to sing, suddenly the wall of the church parted, and behold, the devil himself appeared with his own eyes with a multitude of demonic warriors — he entered not through the doors, but as a thief and robber. And the demons appeared before the saint in this way: they were in the clothes and hats of Lithuanian peaked men; And they rushed at the blessed one, wishing to destroy the church and raze that place to the ground. And they gnashed their teeth at the blessed one, wishing to kill him, and thus said to him: "Flee, disappear from here, and live no more here, in this place: we did not attack you, but rather you attacked us. But if you do not flee from here, we will tear you to pieces; and thou shalt die in our hands, and thou shalt not live." The devil has a habit in his pride: when he begins to boast or threaten someone, then he wants to destroy the earth and dry up the sea, but he himself has no power even over swine.

The Monk Sergius, arming himself with prayer to God, thus began to say: "God! Who will be like you? Do not be silent, do not remain indifferent, O God! For behold, your enemies are raging." And again he said: "Let God arise, and his enemies perish, and let all those who hate him flee from his presence. As the smoke is dispersed, so let them also disappear; as wax melts by fire, so let sinners perish from the presence of God, and let the righteous rejoice." Thus Sergius, in the name of the Holy Trinity, having the Holy Mother of God as his helper and intercessor, and the precious cross of Christ instead of weapons, struck down the devil like David struck Goliath. And immediately the devil and his demons became invisible, and all disappeared, and disappeared without a trace. The monk gave great gratitude to God, Who had delivered him from such a demonic misfortune.

A few days later, when the blessed one in his hut was constantly praying his all-night prayer in solitude, suddenly there was heard a noise, and a crash, and a great agitation, and confusion, and fear – not in a dream, but in reality. And so many demons again attacked the blessed, rampaging flock, crying out and threatening: "Go away, leave this place! In search of what have you come to this wilderness? What do you want to find in this place? What are you trying to achieve by sitting in this forest? Or are you going to live here? Why are you settling here? Do not hope that you will be able to live here: there is no way you can stay here for an hour. For here, as you can see, the place is desolate, inconvenient and difficult to access, and it is far from here in all directions to the people, and none of the people come here. Are you not afraid that you may die of hunger here, or that murderous robbers will find and kill you; after all, many bloodthirsty animals live in this desert, and fierce wolves howl, come here in packs. Likewise, many demons do evil things, and many terrible monsters appear here, which are innumerable; therefore, this place has long been empty, and moreover, it is inconvenient. What good is it if the beasts attack and tear you to pieces here, or if you die some other untimely, horrible, needless death? But without any delay, get up and run away from here quickly, without hesitation, without doubt, without turning around, without looking around, otherwise we will quickly drive you away from here or kill you."

The monk, having strong faith, love, hope in God, diligently prayed with tears against his enemies, in order to deliver him from such demonic intrigues. But the good lover of mankind God, quick in help, ready for mercy, did not allow his servant to endure prolonged battles and many misfortunes; but I think that in less than an hour, God sent His mercy, so that the enemies, the demons, would be put to shame and so that they would know both God's help to the saint and their own weakness. In order for the monk, firm in soul, visibly and invisibly struggling with demons, to become a conqueror of demons, for this purpose soon a certain divine power suddenly overshadowed him, and it quickly dispersed the evil spirits, and finally made them unknown, and comforted the monk, and filled him with some divine joy, and delighted his heart with spiritual sweetness. Sergius, immediately realizing God's quick help, and God's mercy and grace, sent up gratitude and praise to God, saying: "I thank you, Lord, since you have not forsaken me, but hast quickly heard and had mercy on me. He hath wrought upon me a good sign, that those who hate me may see how thou, O Lord, help me, and now thou hast comforted me, and they shall be ashamed. Thy right hand, O Lord, shall be glorified for its firmness, thy right hand, O Lord, hath crushed our enemies, the demons, and thy imperious firmness hath utterly destroyed them."