  AIMS: To study the properties of X-ray emissions from young stellar objects
(YSOs), through their evolution from Class I to Class III and determine whether
Class 0 protostars emit in X-rays. METHODS: A deep Chandra X-ray observation of
the Serpens star-forming region was obtained. The Serpens Cloud Core is ideally
suited for this type of investigation, being populated by a dense and extremely
young cluster whose members are found in all different evolutionary stages,
including six well studied Class 0 sources. RESULTS: None of the six Class 0
protostars is detected in our observations, excluding the presence of sources
with X-ray luminosities > 0.4 10^30 erg/s (for column densities of the order of
4 10^{23} cm^-2, or A_V ~ 200). A total of 85 X-ray sources are detected and
the light curves and spectra of 35 YSOs are derived. There is a clear trend of
decreasing absorbing column densities as one moves from Class I to Class III
sources, and, possibly, evidence of decreasing plasma temperatures, too. We
observe a strong, long-duration, flare from a Class II low-mass star, for which
we derive a flaring loop length of the order of 20 stellar radii. We interpret
the flaring event as originating from a magnetic flux tube connecting the star
to its circumstellar disk. The presence of such a disk is supported by the
detection, in the spectrum of this star, of 6.4 keV Fe fluorescent emission.
