She was a prostitute though. Repentance doesn't erase the consequences of that. Even if she was a very nice girl and I really liked her, I would not advise my son to marry a woman with that kind of baggage. Forgiveness is one thing; saddling yourself with her and her baggage for the rest of your life is something entirely different.
You know, I think you're the second man in this thread who has said that Seraphim should have forgiven her (which I think he did) and then married her. Why? I don't understand this. Is it that men tend to think that beautiful women are angels? Or that we women are helpless creatures who can't face the consequences of our own actions? I don't understand. Would you marry a former prostitute, as long as she had repented?
But he does forgive her. He just doesn't want to marry her. I don't see any particular reason why he should want to marry her, or why we should conflate his not wanting to marry her with having not really forgiven her.
I don't see why forgiving her should MAKE him want to marry her, or be willing to marry her because it's what she obviously wants, in spite of not wanting to for himself.
The sin-and-repentance arc is always bittersweet, because we can never undo what we have wrought in our lives.
Elena has her chance at happiness - with a man she did not personally betray.
It is not clear what becomes of Seraphim, just that he is not married at the end of the story. If the insinuation is that he goes on to pursue an unmarried life (as a monk, I suppose?) in accordance with the Orthodox faith, is that really sad? Is that really not giving himself a chance at happiness?
For a man who WANTS to marry and doesn't have an opportunity, I guess that would seem sad, like a consolation prize. But he didn't WANT to marry Elena. She was right there in front of him, and he didn't want her. And I can't blame him. If he goes on to devote himself entirely to God in lieu of marriage, because he realizes it is a more suitable path for him, it does not seem sad to me. I just don't see it.
If a man's only shot at marriage is with a woman who personally cheated on him and then became a prostitute... I would not blame that man for choosing to remain unmarried. To me, that has very little to do with whether he has forgiven.
I honestly think that out of all the men who would find it in themselves to genuinely forgive such a thing, very few would want to marry the woman. I think that would be pretty rare.
Not that it's rare for men to hitch themselves to women who have cheated on them. But I think most cases where that happens, it's not "because his forgiveness was the really really real kind and you can tell because he took her back and that's what you do when you really really truly forgive someone." It's because he doesn't think he can do better. (So actually usually NOT the really real forgiveness.)
To me, it appears simply as though Seraphim knows he can do better than Elena. For that specific man, a single life devoted to God is better than marrying that specific woman - else he'd have married her.
I think that's perfectly valid and does not need to be chalked up to pride or stubbornness just because it is more bittersweet than idealistic.
Well, why do I think that Seraphim should maybe, for this story to end in happiness, marry Elena?
The answers are in the story itself :
1- Apparently, and from many testimonials I've read online, notably here, it's very hard for Orthodox men in the USA to find suitable Orthodox women. There are few good marriable women and they are keenly sought after in the Parishes.
2- Seraphim apparently still has feelings for Elena, quite intense feelings judging from his nervousness.
3- very important, Elena is slim, in the Western world. Making her almost unicorn.
4- Elena has long hair and is feminine. She's cute, too. Only has one, non-Satanic, tattoo. Most other (Western) women have no less than 3 tattoos of which 2 are Satanic. Plus, most have blue and/or short hairs.
5- Very important : Elena seems to honestly repent. She seems really sorry for her past. She wants a new, pious life.
6- her Orthodox faith now seems sincere and quite strong.
7-She's of fertile age. Not currently drugged, apparently healthy at the moment.
8- she's slim, and articulate, making her top 10% in modern Western society.
So, is Seraphim going to find another such opportunity, if he remains in the USA?
Edit : I could add that Seraphim somehow and unknowingly made a mistake too, not everything is Elena's fault, in the past. Elena's weakness should have been foreseen, because modern women are weak and easily tempted.
This mistake, taken from the story, is, if memory serves me right, letting Elena live in a shared house with like 5 other young people. Serious mistake here, because, though young himself, Seraphim should have protected Elena from such a cesspool situation that was doomed, in the Western world, to bring sinful problems. No woman should live in shared houses with partying youngsters.
So, well, personnally I'm ashamed to say that (when I was living in the West) I would have taken a repenting Elena back, providing she seemed sincere in her new pious way of life. And I would have forgiven the stupid rose tattoo. And (shamefully I know) I would have buried the sad condom memory deep, not to be spoken of again. All this because of what the situation in the Western world is, regarding modern marriable women.
