Archdeacon
Saint Seraphim was born on July 27, 1899, in Yaroslavl, in the family of merchant Alexander Vasilievich Vavilov. In 1910, he entered the gymnasium, but due to illness, he was unable to pass the exams. In 1917, he submitted a request to enter the conservatory, and in 1918, he applied to the university for the law faculty. In St. Petersburg, he became a parishioner of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where his spiritual father was Hieroschemamonk Seraphim. After his death in 1919, Vladimir submitted a request for monastic tonsure, which was granted on February 26, 1920, after which he was ordained as hierodeacon.
In the summer of 1922, the Renovationist schism began, and part of the brotherhood, including Hierodeacon Seraphim, left the Lavra. He served in the church of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr, and then at the Nikiforovskoye Podvorie. In 1924, he was awarded a certificate from Patriarch Tikhon. In 1929, he was elevated to the rank of archdeacon.
On November 27, 1935, the authorities closed the churches of the Lavra. In January 1936, after the closure of the last functioning church, Archdeacon Seraphim was summoned to the NKVD and refused to give false testimony. On January 26, 1938, he was arrested and sentenced to execution on February 8, 1938. Archdeacon Seraphim (Vavilov) was shot on February 17, 1938, and buried in an unmarked grave at the Butovo firing range near Moscow.
