A STRANGE MIRACLE OF SAINT NICHOLAS

A true incident which shocked and brought repentance to hundreds of people in the Russian Soviet city of Kuibyshev (modern day Samara), in the year 1956.

In the city of Kuibyshev there lived a family: a pious mother and her daughter Zoë. On the evening of New Years Eve (December 31) of 1956 Zoë invited seven of her girlfriends – and just as many young men – over for dinner and dancing. At that time it was the fast for Christmas and Zoë’s mother begged her not to plan a dinner, but the daughter insisted on having things her way. That same evening her mother went to church to pray.

All those invited came over, except for Zoë’s fiancé who hadn’t arrived yet. His name was Nicholas. The young ladies and the boys got in pairs and Zoë was left alone. Not knowing what to do and without really thinking, she took down the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the wall and said, “I’ll take this Nicholas and I’ll go dance with them,” not paying any attention to her friends, who advised her not to commit such a blasphemous act. “If God exists, let Him punish me,” she said.

And so she started to dance, did two or three twirls, when all of sudden there was a fearful noise in the room, a whirlwind, and a blinding light flashed like lightening. The former joy turned into fright. Everyone fled from the room scared. Only Zoë stood there motionless, with the icon of St. Nicholas stuck to her chest, petrified and frozen like marble. The doctors, who arrived quickly, were not able to bring her to her senses in spite of their attempts. The injection needles, which they tried to stick in her, bent and broke as they hit her marbleized body! They wanted to take her to the hospital, but were unable to move her from her spot. It was as if her feet were nailed to the floor. But her heart was beating! Zoë was alive. However, she was no longer able to eat or drink…

When her mother came back and saw what had happened, she fell unconscious and they took her to the hospital, which she didn’t leave from for a few days. Her faith in the compassion of God and her warm motherly prayers for the forgiveness of her unfortunate daughter, by the Grace of God, restored her vitality. Zoë came to consciousness and with tears she sought forgiveness and help.

Zoë’s house was surrounded by a crowd of people for the first few days, faithful who came or, even yet, walked from afar: the curious, doctors, and spiritual personalities. But according to an order from the authorities, the house was quickly closed to visitors. There were always two policemen guarding the house, in alternating eight-hour shifts. Some of the guards’ hair turned white, even though they were still young (28-30), from the fright of hearing the terrifying cries that Zoë made every night.

Night after night her mother was next to her praying.

“Mama, pray! Pray, because I’m lost on account of my sins! Pray!” Zoë would cry out.

Because of all the things that were happening they even informed the Patriarch and asked him  to pray for Zoë’s recovery. The Patriarch replied, “The one who is punishing her will also have mercy on her!”

From then on, among those who were allowed to visit Zoë were:

1. A professor of medicine of high prestige who came from Moscow. He had confirmed that her heart did not stop beating.

2. Priests, who the mother had invited in order to take St. Nicholas out of Zoë’s hands. But neither were they able to pull the icon away from Zoë’s petrified hands.

3. The Hieromonk Seraphim from the Glinsk desert, who had come to Kuibyshev for the feast of the Nativity, performed the Holy Water service and had blessed the icon. Afterwards he said, “Now we must wait for some sign at Pascha! If nothing happens, it means that the end of the world is drawing near!” showing by these words his deep faith in miracles.

4. The Metropolitan Nicholas, who also read the Paraklesis and said, “We must wait till Pascha for a new miracle,” repeating the saying of the pious hieromonk.

On the eve of the feast of the Annunciation (which that year fell on the Saturday of the third week of Great Lent) some genial elder approached the guards and asked them to allow him to see Zoë. But the police guards refused to allow it. The elder came again the following day, but neither did those guards allow him. The third time, on the day of the Annunciation, the guards allowed him in. They heard with how much compassion he spoke to Zoë as he entered, “Now then, did you get tired from standing?”

A little time passed and when the guards wanted to kick the elder out, he wasn’t to be found in the room…

Everyone was sure that it was Saint Nicholas himself. Thus, Zoë had stayed there standing for exactly 4 months (128 days) until Pascha, which that year had fallen on April 23 (May 6 on the new calendar).

On the night of the Glorious Resurrection of Christ Zoë started to cry out especially loud: “Pray!”

The nightshift guards started to tremble and asked, “Why are you crying out so frightfully?” Pay attention to her answer. “How dreadful, the earth is burning! Pray! The whole world is lost because of its sins, pray!”

From that moment Zoë was revived, her muscles started to become soft; she came back to life. They eventually put her on a mattress but she continued to cry out and call all to pray for the world which is lost because of its sins, for the earth which is burning because of its lawlessness.

“How did you stay living up till now? Who feed you?” they asked her.

“Doves, doves fed me” was her answer. From this it was apparent that she had received mercy and forgiveness from the Right hand of the Lord Almighty. The Lord forgave Zoë’s sins, by the attendance of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and because of her great tribulations and her standing for the duration of 128 days. All of these events shocked the inhabitants of Kuibyshev and the surrounding areas. Many people again found their faith in God, having seen the miracles, hearing her screams and her entreaties for us to pray for the people who are lost on account of their sins. They returned to the Church with repentance. Those who didn’t wear a cross started to wear one, when at that time you might have paid with your life just for that.

The return was so en masse that the churches didn’t have enough little crosses for everyone who sought one.

With fear and tears the people sought forgiveness for their sins, repeating Zoë’s words, “How dreadful, the earth is burning, we are lost because of our sins! Pray! The people are lost because of their lawlessness!”

On the third day of Pascha Zoë left for the Lord, since she had traveled the difficult road of standing for 128 days before the face of the Lord for the forgiveness of all of her sins. The Holy Spirit had preserved her life all of these days for the resurrection of her soul from the death of sin, just as in that eternal day to come it will resurrect her bodily for life everlasting; for that matter, just as her name itself means: Zoë.

Note (from the Russian original): In the Soviet press of that time period Zoë’s incident was brought up. Answering the letters that came to the management of a well-known newspaper, one haughty scientist claimed that the occurrence with Zoë is really not that incredible, but he declared that it is one form of muscular rigidity still unknown to science. This falsehood of such a hypothesis is apparent, seeing that: First, with rigidity such a petrified hardness of the skin does not occur, so much so that the doctors are not able to inject the sick. Second, a person infected by such a sickness can be moved from one place to another, while they were not able to move Zoë; she was standing up straight definitely much longer than average people can. Third, a sickness by itself does not return a person to God and does not bring revelations from Heaven.

While in Zoë’s case, not only thousands found their faith again in God, but they showed their faith in deed, that is, they were baptized and lived morally. Not only did they believe that God exists, but they became Christians. From this it is clear that we are not talking about some simple illness, but about divine economy. He [God] truly makes fast the faith, to deliver people from their sins and from punishment because of them.

A Mother’s Love

Source: Fr. Luke’s Translations, Writings of Elder Paisios the Athonite

Geronta, you once told us that with love, a person grows and matures.

—It’s not enough for someone to simply love another; he must love him more than he loves himself. A mother loves her children more than herself. She fasts so as to feed her children, yet she experiences more gratitude than they. The little children are fed bodily and the mother spiritually. They experience the pleasure of taste, while she spiritual rejoicing.

A young girl before marrying is able to sleep till ten in the morning and even asks her mother to get her milk. She is lazy about doing even the slightest chore. She wants everything ready-made; everyone to take care of her. Her mother calls for her, her father calls for her, but she only wants to whittle the day away. Although love exists within her nature, it does not develop because she continually accepts help and favors from her mother, her father and her siblings. However, from the moment she becomes a mother, she resembles a little engine which works as much as it is forced to, because love constantly works within her. Before, she would have hated touching anything dirty and immediately would have found aromatic soap to wash with. But after, when the child becomes dirty and she needs to wash him, she takes him and says…my sweetheart! She is not repulsed by it anymore. In the beginning, if you wake her, she yells, because she doesn’t want to be disturbed. But after, when the child cries, she stays up all night without difficulty. She cares for the baby and rejoices. Why? Because she is no longer a child. She has become a mother and with it has come sacrifice and love.

Indeed, a mother comes to attain a greater love and sacrifice than the father, because the father is not given many chances to sacrifice himself. She distress and gives more of herself for the children, but at the same time receives more from the children. Perpetually she gives, and thus she always takes. The father however, does not suffer much with the children, and therefore neither does he receive; his love is not as great as the mother’s.

How many mothers come crying to me begging, “Pray for my child Father”. What agony! Very few men say, “Pray for my child who has gone astray”. Why, even today a mother, with what eagerness the poor thing forced her children – all eight of them –, and put them all in line to take a blessing. For a father to do that would have been difficult. Russia survived because of mothers. A father’s embrace, when without the Grace of God, is dry. While the mother’s embrace, even when it is without God, has milk. The child loves it’s father and respects him, but due to the tender-hearted love and affection of a mother, the love for his father grows even stronger.

The Value of Time

By the Rev. Metropolitan Avgoustinos of Florina, from the weekly bulletin “Kyriaki” («Κυριακή», “Sunday”), January 1, 2005 [translated from Greek by the staff of the Greek Orthodox Brotherhood of St. Poimen].

On midnight of December 31st, when the clocks reach exactly 12:00, one full year—with all of its joys and sorrows—is fully erased, and a new year rises. The previous year becomes part of history; all of its 365 days are left behind, a simple memory.

My dear brethren, did you ever think, I mean truly contemplate about the time period of these 365 days that on each December 31st becomes part of our own history? What have we truly accomplished during its duration? Let me assure you that all of us are immensely indebted for all of these days. In an effort to provide a notion of our responsibility as well as accountability for each year of our earthly lives, I will draw you a picture and provide you a comparative example; I will present a small parable.

There was a king with many subjects who carried great fondness and devotion for all of his kingdom’s citizenry. He loved them all very much, every single one of them, without any exception. One day, he decided to give them all a gift. He prepared and distributed purses filled with gold coins, one to each citizen. The grateful subjects opened the purses up and begun counting the coins within. They each counted them, over and over, again and again… All of them had the exact same quantity of gold within their respective purse: 8,760 coins! This was a significant amount of gold. The good and loving king gave it to them out of his goodwill and love, so that they could each use it for their own benefit and the benefit of their fellow men. And do you know what each of them did with their respective small fortune? You could have never guessed it! Instead of using this blessed inheritance for their home, neighbor or society, they each went by the river bank, opened up their purses and began throwing the gold coins away into the deep river water, one by one, until all of their small fortune was completely gone and their purses stood empty. If any one of us had been there observing them, what might we have said? Surely all of us would have assumed that they had all gone mad.

My brethren, this is where my simple parable ends. Now who is this loving king? He is our God. Who are these senseless citizens? We are the King’s citizenry. And what is this 8,760 number? Grab a pencil and paper and figure it out. Every day that passes by has 24 hours and all of the year has 365 days. If we multiply the 365 days with the 24 hours of each day, we then determine that an entire year contains 8,760 hours; these are then the hours that each year of our life has to offer. From January 1st of each year to the next December 31st that follows 8,760 hours will have passed. I thus repeat my question: What have we truly accomplished during the duration of the year we are about to leave behind? Have we made it a worthwhile year? Did we add any value? Or, perhaps we are all like those foolish citizens that threw away all of their 8,760 gold coins. Let us then make an examination, each one of us on our own, and let us evaluate and estimate the usefulness of last year’s 8,760 hours that are about to draw to a close.

Among all of these hours, was there any time set aside for listening to the divine word of God and for the study of Holy Scriptures? Were there any days that we ran to a Church to listen to sermons or attend Church services? How about opening and studying the Bible? Did we do that? If the answer is yes, then we may consider ourselves blessed. This is how the Psalter begins. We read that “blessed” is that person, happy and with good fortune. Who does the Psalmist refer to? Is it the person that has lots of money, apartment buildings, businesses, limousines, and enjoys the finest of worldly entertainment? Not quite; the Psalmist says: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (Ps 1:1-2). Blessed is he who takes time to place the Holy Bible in his hands and read it. I thus ask all of us: During the year that is coming to an end, did our angel see us hold the Holy Gospel in our hands and read it on a regular basis? Christ Himself tells us: Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. (Lk 11:28).

We are coming to the close of this year’s 8,760 hours. I ask another question: During this entire year, were there hours regularly devoted to prayer? During the earlier years of Christianity, the faithful would dedicate hours upon hours for the purpose of prayer. Does our angel ever “catch us” on our knees, in prayer to our Heavenly Father? Oh if we only knew the great power of prayer and how much we truly lose by not making prayer a companion to our daily life. There would have been so many unsolved problems (personal, family, professional, etc) that would simply find rapid solutions if, and only if, we used this invaluable key to unlock such solutions; the key of prayer is just another valuable gift granted to us by our God and Creator. What great comfort and consolation can be found when we whisper Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, through the intercessions of the Holy Theotokos and all of Your saints, have mercy upon me!

This year’s 8,760 hours are rapidly coming to an end. During this time, were there any hours or days of fasting? There are certain days such as Wednesdays and Fridays, and others that are even more significant, such as Holy Friday, that must be days of fasting for all of us. A politician dedicated 15 straight days for his campaign, and vested several towns. When he returned to his office, he pridefully announced: “I traveled for 15 days straight and toured 15 different towns, In every single one I was treated and fed as royalty; freshly slaughtered meat every single day…” And one of the villagers that heard him, a shepherd, asked him in a soft tone: “Your Excellency, how can there be no Wednesday and no Friday for 15 days straight? Was every day a Pascha?…” You see, my brethren, fasting is nowadays not even a “custom” among many of our faithful—there is no desire or will to fast even on Great Friday! Satan has gotten hold of the special eraser and wiped out fasting from the daily lives of Christians.

This year’s 8,760 hours are ending. Among these hours was time set aside for repentance and confession? These hours would have been the year’s most blessed ones for that is the time that we placed the devil on the ground and stampeded him while angels in Heaven are singing divine victory hymns. It was during those hours that we the sinful ones, full of contrition and in utmost humility, knelt in front of our spiritual father and opened up our lips to whisper not words of criticism and condemnation but the ones that our Lord thrives to listen to: I sinned my Lord, please, grant your mercy upon me the wretched one… And all of us have so many sins to repent for and confess… So, I ask all of us, during this last year, did we manage to spend time with our confessor, to open our heart, to tearfully confess our sins and then say God be merciful to me a sinner and Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.? (Lk 18:13 & 23:42). Did we do this? If not, we better ask ourselves why not.

This year’s 8,760 hours are rapidly coming to an end. Is it possible that we might have also forgotten the other golden hours of the year that are coming to a close? Which hours are these, you ask? These are the hours of almsgiving and mercy towards our fellow man. Did you reach into your pocket and silently, secretly and with as little attention as possible place a few crumbs from your many blessings into the hands of a less fortunate man? Did you dedicate a few moments in prayer for a neighbor or a colleague who was in a moment of crisis? Did you spend a few dimes from your earthly blessings towards a Christian mission or cause? Never forget that the hands that spread goodness and alms are the hands of God, the hands of Christ!

This year’s 8,760 hours are rapidly coming to an end. During these hours were there any of the most significant and spiritually highest moments, the moments of receiving Holy Communion, our Lord’s holy Body and most precious Blood? These are indeed blessed moments; once we repent and confess our sins, once we are cleansed with tears of true repentance, once we embrace and make peace with our enemies, we approach the Royal Gate with the look of the thief on the cross and receive the Holy Mysteries: Take, eat; this is my body… Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Mt 26:28). These are the moments that carry a unique and incomparable weight and significance; there is no price for them and can neither be purchased nor sold. They are truly above all other hours of our life.

So now we all need to ask: Were there such hours for any of you my brethren, and most pointedly for me the wretched one? I am greatly afraid that in reality we have no such hours. Our hours are almost exclusively hours of sin, the devil’s hours; they are everything and anything except one thing: hours of God. Let us not kid ourselves; we waste each year’s hours like all those who threw their gold coins into the river.

We truly are inexcusable. Our Holy Gospel says that, during the time of our Lord’s time on earth, the citizens of Jerusalem showed great interest in spiritual matters. When they heard that a preacher and confessor came to the area, St. John the Forerunner, they closed their shops, took their wives and children, walked for several miles past the Jordan river, and came to the desolate desert to listen to his sermons and confess their sins. And all of them were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins (Mk 1:5). In comparison with the faithful of those days, most of the so-called Orthodox Christians today remain completely indifferent on such matters. The bells ring yet they stay away from Churches. In the not-too-distant past, when the faithful could find no confessor in their area, they would travel for days to go to the Holy Mountain to find a spiritual father and partake of the Holy Sacrament of confession. In our days, this is an extremely rare occurrence for most of our neighbors and friends.

One year is comprised of 8,760 hours and each week has 168 hours. My fellow brethren, let us dedicate to God a couple of hours each week and make our way to our local Church so we can at least attend Liturgy. We anxiously throw away so many hours each week on worldly matters; is it not proper to devote at least a couple of hours for our God? We have completely forgotten Him and have literally pushed Him out of our lives. Putting it simply, we have forgotten Him. We are an adulteress generation, like trees that bear no fruit and are fit to be only fuel for fire. Our Lord represented this type of condition very accurately during His homily at the mountain: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Mt 7:19).

What is it then that we should do, you ask. Why are you asking me or any of your clergy? The answers lie elsewhere, in black and white, as written by St. John the Evangelist. What does he have to tell us? One simple word that is the one and only key: Repent! (Repent ye: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand, Mt 3:2). In other words, change your mind, your behavior, your life, your daily spiritual path; the road that our ultra-progressive society has carved for the citizens of our days leads the faithful to the deep, dreaded canyon of eternal damnation, Hell. That is the destination towards where most of us are marching; unless we choose here and now to change, re-program our lives, use wisely every minute granted to us by our Lord. Let us stop wasting time now, let us stop throwing our gold coins senselessly into the river.

My dear brethren, if we could hear the repeated petitions of those judged to eternal damnation, those countless souls in Hades, do you know what we would hear them ask? To return to life for a little time, a few moments, a few seconds, so that they can emphatically pronounce: Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son and Lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom (Lk 15:21 & 23:42). Let us therefore waste no more time. Let us all comprehend how much we have lost, the countless hours we have wasted. Let us repent, let us shed tears of contrition and kneel in the sight of a spiritual father, let us confess our sins. Starting with this January 1st, let us commit to make full use of our God-granted time, let us not waste a single one of next year’s precious hours. Let us promise God that this year, we will not grant or allow the devil to take possession of even a single hour. All of next year’s hours, all of next year’s days, all of next year’s weeks, and all the days of our lives will be spent near God, near His angels, near His Most Holy Mother so that we can be worthy of the blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Faith In Christ Our Lord Brings Victory

“Christ our Lord conquers the world, and the victory, is ours also. The Holy Apostles conquered the world, and that victory is ours also. Both the saints and the holy martyrs of our church have conquered the world, and the victory is again ours. There is nothing greater power in the world, then the Christian faith, the Holy Orthodox Faith we all love. The swords that cut off this faith are blunted and broken, but the Faith has remained. We know well from the history of our Church that many have tempted themselves to suffocate our Faith in Christ and His Church, however this Faith has again remained the victory is ours!

When the world rushes upon us, with illusions; especially with the temptations of its exterior beauty, the illusion of riches, of pleasure, and of transitory glory, with what shall we resist and by what shall we be victors but by this Faith? Truly, by nothing but this invincible Faith, which knows nothing better than any of the good things of this world?

We should be never spiritually interested in the face that the world offers us, but only to spiritually behold the face of our Lord God, and to behold Him, and in all His Glory, honor, and worship. Truly, nothing is so important for all Christians then to apply our Faith, which only teaches us endurance, and unchanging values in the Kingdom of God. What a great spiritual victory, as again this victory is ours!

We all can be victorious by faith in our Lord God! Do not ever be shameful about having faith, and being God loving Christians! We must spiritually resist that which is unholy, and see that which is truly holy, as we all know that our Gracious Lord Jesus Christ is the “Conqueror” of the world, who helps us also to conquer the world by faith in Him. Our purpose on this earth as Christians is to seek the Kingdom of our Lord God, therefore let us humbly, as well as piously seek it in faith and with faith. Our Lord God shall reward us, as we truly become victorious, as we have found the true Faith! The victory is ours!

Never for one moment believe that God does not hear you when you pray to Him. Pray with all your mind, heart, and soul, in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening, as well as when our loving Church calls us to pray. Go to Church to pray and in faith be victorious! Think about attending Church with your family and be victorious!

Our Church is waiting for you and loves you when you gather in prayer! Our faith in Christ our Lord brings victory; let our faith in Him begin

Peace to your soul!

Humbly in Christ our Lord,

+Very Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
Who prays for you and with you!”

Reflection

Submit yourself to the will of God and do not pry too closely into God’s judgments, for you can lose your mind. The judgments of God are innumerable and unfathomable.

A monk in the wilderness, imagining that he had attained perfection, prayed to God that He would reveal to him His various judgments in the lives of men. God put the thought in his mind to go to a distant place to inquire of a spiritual elder concerning this. However, while the monk was on his way, an angel of God in the form of an ordinary man joined him, saying that he too wanted to go to that elder.

Thus traveling together, they came upon the house of a God-fearing man, who treated them well, giving them to eat from a silver platter. When they had eaten, the angel took the platter and threw it into the sea. The monk found this both amazing and unjust, but he remained silent. The second day they came upon the house of another hospitable man who cordially received and treated them as kinsmen. Before leaving, that man brought out his only son for the travelers to bless. The angel of God then took the child by the throat and strangled him.

The monk was greatly angered and asked the angel who he was, and why he had committed such misdeeds. The angel meekly replied to him: “The first man was pleasing to God in all things and had nothing in his house that was attained by injustice except that silver platter. By God’s judgment, I threw that stolen platter away, so that the man would be righteous before God in all things. The other man was pleasing to God and had nothing in his house that would bring down the wrath of God except his son, who-had he matured-would have become a great criminal and a demonic vessel. Therefore, by God’s judgment, I strangled that child in time to save his soul, for the sake of his father’s goodness, and to save the father from many miseries.

Behold, such are the mysteries and the unfathomable judgments of God. And you, elder, should return to your cell and not strive vainly by inquiring into that which is in the authority of the One God.”

CALL UPON THE HELP OF THE MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS

….As many times as the enemy attacks you either through passion or through sadness or despondency or despair, immediately grab the weapon of prayer, and you shall see how much it disappears and not even a trace of it remains. When you are fought against by the enemy call upon the help of the most holy Theotokos, the guardian Angel of your soul and all the Angels and Saints, and along with this, firstly, announce it to your spiritual father, or ask the prayers and counsels of the other brothers, because a brother helped by a brother is like a strong and fortified city. In these things forcefulness, striving and bravery is necessary…

May the All Good God and Father of us all bless us and grant us the portion of the saved. May all our striving and all our concern be this, how to be saved. We are merchants. Each day let us consider the gain which we obtained. Let us consider the heavenly treasure, which even if we obtain once we will never fear losing but will rejoice unto the ages together with God, the Angels and the Saints. May Your mercy ο Lord come upon us as we have hoped in you…Strive in every way to lead others also unto the light of truth.

The humble and unworthy servant of God,
your spiritual brother
Philotheos Zervakos Priestmonk
June 16,1912

-Wars occur on account of the sins of men…Let us not have our hopes upon weapons and bravery, but in God, because God says “Without Me you shall not be able to do anything”.

God is just and He commits no injustice

A certain Abba who practiced asceticism with candour to God, begged Him with tears to reveal to him the way He judges and decides in certain cases where people do not understand Him, but believe they concern strange things. God however, for a long time did not wish to reveal anything to him because man can never know and understand the mysteries of God. The ascetic never ceased asking, night and day, for that particular revelation.

One day therefore, God, wishing to inform him, set in his heart the thought to go and meet an elder ascetic, who was at another location that required a few days walk to reach him. When the ascetic started his walk, God sent him an angel in the form of a young monk, who greeted him by saying “Father bless”. The elder ascetic responded “God forgive you, my son”. The angel then asked the elder, “where are you going abba?” and the elder replied, “I am going to so and so ascetic to meet him”. And the angel then said, “I too am going there, so let us walk together”.

Having walked together the first day, they arrived in the evening at a village and were put up at the house of a pious and hospitable man, who looked after them. In fact he brought a silver platter in the dining room. When it was time for them to leave, the angel took the platter secretly, and tossed it up in the air and the platter disappeared. The elder when he saw this was saddened but said nothing.

The second day they reached another village, where they were looked after by a hospitable pious Christian. He had a single son and he brought him to be blessed and receive their blessing. The angel though, when he was about to leave with the ascetic, grabbed the child by the neck and choked him to death. Witnessing such a view, the elder suffered a great surprise and fear but again said nothing.

Having walked the third day, they reached another place, but because they could not find anybody to receive them, they sat in a courtyard that had an unstable wall that was close to collapsing. The angel stood up, rolled up his sleeves, brought down the wall and immediately rebuilt it from the foundations up.

Witnessing this last event, the elder could no more keep quiet, and said, “I invoke the name of God, the Most High, for you to tell me the truth. What were these things you did? Are you an angel or a demon? What you did are not human deeds”. When the angel asked “what did I do?” the elder replied, “yesterday and before yesterday when we were received by those Christian men and looked after us, you took from the former the silver platter and you tossed it in the air and it disappeared, while you choked to death the son of the latter. And here where we came, they did not offer us hospitality, yet you toiled in building and you were beneficial to them”. The angel then responded, “Listen abba, I’ll reveal to you the truth of the situations. The first one who received us was a God loving and just man, and deals with his subordinates according to God’s commandments. That silver platter though came from an unjust inheritance, so that he may not lose his reward for his good deeds, due to the platter, God ordered me to make it disappear, so that his hospitality be pure and free from injustice. The latter who gave us hospitality is a pious and virtuous man and if his son continued living he would have become the devil’s tool, and would have done many evils, rendering the good deeds of the father to be forgiven”. The elder then said, “OK you have done well, but what do you have to tell me about the last case?”. The angel then answered him, “learn father this too, that the owner of the courtyard is an evil and unjust man and wishes to hurt many but unable because of his poverty. His grand father when he was building the wall, hid in it a great sum of money and if I let it collapse, the evil owner needing to rebuild it, would have discovered the money in the ruins and would have used it to do the evil deeds he wished. That is why God ordered me to stabilize it, so that the evil man may not find the money he intended to use for his evil wishes to hurt people. And God knows when to reveal it to a worthy person who will use it for good deeds.

Have you seen therefore how God judges in certain cases you asked to learn? Go to your cell therefore and don’t let the things of this world bother you, asking why and how they are done. For the judgments of God are an immeasurable abyss as the prophet said and His energies are unfathomable and incomprehensible and man cannot know everything accurately. Believe therefore, father, God is just and He commits no injustice. Whatever is needed to be done, it is done justly. When the ascetic heard these things from the angel, he glorified God, retiring to his cell and never again questioned anything.

The mysteries of music

ABOUT ROCK MUSIC you can read more here.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).

Fear, confusion, weakness, infirmity and darkening of the mind are born of sin. By sin, a man provokes others against himself, confuses his own conscience, attracts demons to himself, and gives them weapons against himself. By sin, a man separates himself from God, estranges himself from his guardian angel, and walls himself off from the source of all good. The committing of sin signifies a declaration of war against God and all godly powers. This is more preposterous than if a withered autumn leaf were to declare war on the wind. And, indeed, the most preposterous thing of all occurs: a man declares war on God! This declaration alone guarantees ruin and destruction for a man if he does not quickly come to himself, repent and flee to God for mercy.
The great King David was well aware of the terrible predicament of the sinner, and he himself experienced it. He felt inexpressible fear, confusion, weakness and loneliness; he felt the arrows of men and the arrows of demons. But, realizing his horrible situation, David acknowledged his sin, prostrated himself in ashes before God, soaked the ground with tears of repentance and words of anguish that burned like fire, and prayed to the merciful God to forgive him. And, when all was forgiven him, he felt inexpressible blessedness. This blessedness of the forgiven soul he could not express in words. He could only declare, confirm and assure us of the condition of sinfulness and the condition of forgiveness from God, based on his direct experience of both conditions: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).

What is this blessing? Freedom, courage, indescribable joy, power, strength, clarity of thought, peace of conscience, hope in God, hymnody to God, love for one’s neighbors, and meaning to one’s life! In other words: light, joy and strength are the blessing. This is the blessing that one who is forgiven of sin feels here on earth. If this is so, then what is the blessing that awaits him in heaven, that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man (I Corinthians 2:9)?

O Lord our God, forgive us our transgressions by Thine infinite mercy, and cover our sins!
To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

***

Source: The Prologue from Ohrid

The Placing of the Cincture (Sash) of the Most Holy Mother of God

Relic box of the Precious Belt -Sash- Cincture, of the Theotokos

Tropar -Dismissal Hymn- of the Mother of God (Plagal of the Fourth Tone)

O EVER-VIRGIN Theotokos, shelter of mankind, thou hast bestowed upon thy people a mighty investure, even thine immaculate body’s raiment and sash, which by thy seedless childbirth have remained incorrupt; for in thee nature and time are made new. Wherefore, we implore thee to grant peace to the world, and great mercy to our souls.

Kontakion of the Mother of God( Second Tone)

THY precious sash, O Theotokos, which encompassed thy God-receiving womb, is an invincible force for thy flock, and an unfailing treasury of every good, O only Ever-virgin Mother. **

THE MOST VENERABLE and full of grace Belt of our Blessed Virgin Mary, which is found at the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi in Agios Oros (Holy Mt. Athos), is the only precious souvenir that survives from her earthly life.

According to the Sacred Tradition and the history of our Church, the Most Holy Theotokos three days after she fell asleep she rose from the dead and ascended in body to the heavens. During her ascension, she gave her Holy Belt to the Apostle Thomas. Thomas, a long with the rest of the holy Apostles, opened up her grave and didn’t find the body of the Theotokos. In this way the Holy Belt is proof for our Church of her Resurrection and bodily ascension to the heavens, and, in a word, at her metastasis.

The Holy Belt, according to the tradition, was made by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself with camel hair. The Empress Zoi, wife of Leo 6th the Wise, out of gratitude for her miraculous cure, embroidered the Belt with gold thread, as it is found today, but divided in three pieces. Originally it was being kept in Jerusalem and later in Constantinople. There during the 12th century under Manuel A’ Komninos (1143-1180) an official holiday for the Belt was established on August 31st. In the end, Emperor John the 6th Katakouzinos (1347-1355), who had a special love toward the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi, as is evidence by many related accounts, donated the Belt to the Monastery. Since then the Holy Belt is kept at the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, in a silver case of newer manufacture which depicts the Monastery. On the bottom right border of the depiction the artist made the drawing of the donor Emperor Katakouzinos along in the a sign which refers to his donation to the Monastery.

Numerous are the miracles, that have taken place up to today with the Holy Belt. Its value is priceless because it’s associated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. She has the grace and to her the miraculous power is attributed, which with many ways she transmits to the faithful.

The Holy Belt maintains unaltered the grace of the Most Holy Theotokos, because it became connected with her person and her life and because saints are spirit carriers during not their life, but also after their death. The same phenomenon is mentioned in the Holy Scriptures when objects that the Prophet Elias and the holy Apostles wore actually performed miracles, because they had the grace of the saints. For this reason the Church attributes it honorary worship, as it does to the Holy Wood of the Cross of the Lord.

The Holy Belt has the unique grace to cure women’s sterility as well as cancer patients, with a ribbon that has firstly been blessed on the Belt and is subsequently worn by the sterile women and patients.

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