Ηegumen / Abbot
Saint Seraphim (in the world Nikolai Semyonovich Buldashov) was born in 1872 in Moscow into a family of Old Believers (popovtsy). He served in the army from 1893 to 1897. On November 19, 1899, he was accepted into the Orthodox Church and entered the Nikolsky Old Believer Monastery. He served as a candle maker, then became the clerk of the abbot. On June 28, 1903, he was appointed as one of the monastery's novices, and on February 26, 1904, he was tonsured into monasticism with the name Seraphim. Since 1903, he performed the duties of the abbot's secretary.
On November 23, 1906, he was ordained as a hierodeacon and later became the acting archpriest of the Nikolsky Monastery. On April 13, 1912, he was ordained as an hieromonk. In 1915, he moved to the Guslitsy Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery for educational work among the Old Believers.
In February 1930, the priest of the church in honor of the Akhtyr Icon of the Mother of God was arrested, and the parishioners asked Father Seraphim to serve for them. He agreed and on June 4, 1930, he was appointed to serve in the church. On June 10, 1931, he was elevated to the rank of igumen and served for almost eight years.
On January 25, 1938, Igumen Seraphim was arrested and imprisoned in the Taganka prison in Moscow. During the interrogation, he did not confess to any wrongdoing. On February 2, 1938, the NKVD troika sentenced him to death by shooting. Saint Seraphim was shot on February 5, 1938, and buried in an unknown mass grave at the Butovo range near Moscow.
