Seraphim of Labodeia

Saint Seraphim of Labodeia, who struggled on Mount Dobou in Lebadeia in central Greece, was born in the village of Zeli in Boeotia in 1527, and his name in the world was Sotiris. He was the son of pious and virtuous parents, who nurtured him with the living water of the Gospel. From the time he was very little he was inclined toward the study of the Holy Scriptures and the ascetic life. At an early age, despite his parents' temporary refusal to give their blessing, he went to the monastery of the Prophet Elias on Mount Karkaras, where he built a church dedicated to the Savior Christ and lived a life of asceticism.

His reputation spread quickly, and he was often visited by his parents, friends and other pious believers who sought his counsel and help. Because of these distractions he had to abandon his beloved cave and went to the monastery of the Holy Unmercenaries. He soon left this one too and went to the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Mount Sagmation, between Boeotia and Euboia. There he quickly shone as a spiritual star of the first magnitude, and the abbot tonsured him a monk with the name Seraphim. Later he was ordained deacon and then priest.

Shortly afterward, to avoid vanity because of his reputation for virtue, he asked the abbot's blessing to live elsewhere. He left the monastery of his repentance and arrived west of Helicon, at Dobou, where he built a church of the Savior and a few cells, and called some monks to dwell near him. He struggled there ten years, teaching the other monks the saving precepts of monastic life. Saint Seraphim reposed in a godly manner at the age of seventy-⁠five, on 6 May 1602, on the feast of Mid-⁠Pentecost, at six o'clock in the evening, after foreseeing his own death and partaking of the spotless Mysteries. He performed many miracles during his lifetime.

The saint's head and part of his relics are in the monastery in Boeotia that bears his name; another portion is honored at the Agathonos Monastery in Phthiotis in central Greece. He is the patron of Livadeia. He is commemorated on 6 May (new style; 19 May on the old calendar).