epiphany
In one Moscow school, a boy stopped going to classes. A week does not go, two ...
Lyova did not have a telephone, and classmates, on the advice of the teacher, decided to go to his house.
The door was opened by Levin's mother. Her face was very sad.
The boys greeted each other and timidly asked;
Why doesn't Leva go to school? Mom sadly replied:
He will no longer study with you. He had an operation. Unsuccessfully. Lyova is blind and can't walk on his own...
The guys were silent, looked at each other, and then one of them suggested:
We take turns taking him to school.
And escort home.
And we will help to do the lessons, - interrupting each other, classmates chirped.
Mom had tears in her eyes. She led her friends into the room. A little later, feeling the way with his hand, Lyova came out to them with a bandage over his eyes.
The guys froze. Only now did they truly understand what misfortune had befallen their friend. Leva said with difficulty:
Hello.
And then it rained down from all sides:
I'll pick you up tomorrow and take you to school.
And I'll tell you that we went through algebra.
And I'm in history.
Lyova did not know whom to listen to, and only nodded his head in confusion. Tears rolled down my mother's face.
After leaving, the guys made a plan - who comes in when, who explains what subjects, who will walk with Lyova and take him to school.
At school, the boy who sat at the same desk with Lyova quietly told him during the lesson what the teacher was writing on the blackboard.
And how the class froze when Lyova answered! How everyone rejoiced at his fives, even more than their own!
Lyova studied well. The whole class began to study better. In order to explain a lesson to a friend in trouble, you need to know it yourself. And the guys tried. Moreover, in winter they began to take Leva to the skating rink. The boy was very fond of classical music, and classmates went with him to symphony concerts...
He graduated from Lev's school with a gold medal, then entered the institute. And there were friends who became his eyes.
After the institute, Lev continued to study and, in the end, became the world famous mathematician, academician Pontryagin.
Do not count people who have seen the light for good.
Is this a friend?
In one country, scientists have created a robot that can learn. They named him Saiko. Syk can remember any information and answer any question. Well, just an excellent student, only made of metal and plastic.
He is more obedient than you. The older you get, the more self-willed and stubborn you are. And Syk only works according to the programs laid down in it. Even a good deed will not do, if not ordered.
A blind man stands at a crossroads and cannot cross the street - he does not see a traffic light. You will quickly figure out what to do, right? Not so with Saika. If this is not provided for by the program, it will itself, like a traffic light, stand and blink with lights.
Saika was asked:
Who are your parents? He replied:
I do not have parents. I computer program and not a living being.
And what do you can?
I remember what they taught me. I can perceive various information and process it.
The computer boy was asked:
Sake, what are your tasks?
Constantly accumulate knowledge and share it with people.
Knowledge is, of course, good... Is it really only about them? What are they without cordiality and kindness?
Now Saika has already learned a lot. He can read, play chess and talk on the phone. Sometimes it even seems like a person. But...
Would you like such a friend? Hardly. It has no soul. Can't love. And without love - is it a friend ?!
And in general, if you do not love, then why live?
My mushroom! My!
Grandfather and grandson went to the forest for mushrooms. Grandfather is an experienced mushroom picker, he knows forest secrets. He walks well, but he bends down with difficulty - his back may not straighten if he bends over sharply.
The grandson is nimble. He will notice where grandfather rushed - and right there. While grandfather bows to the fungus, the grandson is already shouting from under the bush:
My mushroom! I found!
The grandfather will remain silent and again goes in search. As soon as he sees prey, the grandson again:
My mushroom!
And so they returned home. Granddaughter shows mother a full basket. She rejoices at what a wonderful mushroom picker she has. And grandfather with an empty basket sighs:
Yes ... Years ... He's become a little old, a little old ... But maybe it's not about years at all, and it's not
in mushrooms? And which is better - an empty basket or an empty soul?
Lost soul.
The baby is crying - he lost his mother. He does not know the address or the name of his father. Where to go? Strangers take him by the hand, lead him. Where? What for? Every now and then everything happens. Then there will be announcements in the newspapers, on television: a boy of such and such years is lost, dressed in such and such a way ...
We got lost too. Our soul cries, helpless in the invisible world of spirits. He does not know the name of his Heavenly Father, nor the eternal Fatherland. She doesn't know why she was given life...
Above the ravine.
There was a graduation party. The chicks flew out of the nest. They drank secretly. Head is spinning. And not only from wine - from an overabundance of strength, the desire to fly. And then someone else's car with a running engine. The owner is not visible. Well, now the whole world is theirs!
Get in! Go! Haha!
And the ball is in full swing. Someone whispers tender words for the first time, someone shares a dream... Turn. Another turn.
There's a bridge there! Stop! Hit the brakes!!! Wait a hundred...
They were mourned by the whole city. He covered the graves with flowers. After a day or two, the flowers withered ...
Who served, sons? They didn’t take off ... They didn’t make their nest, they didn’t raise chicks ...
When you walk across the bridge, the horror covers. As if someone's groan is heard. The ravine is deep. You think of other ravines, invisible.
The motor of absurd desires is gaining momentum ... Where are the brakes? Ahead - the abyss! Lord, understand!
Smile.
Their doors were opposite. They often met on the landing. One passed by, frowning his forehead, and did not even look at his neighbor. With all his appearance, he said: I have no time for you. The other smiled kindly. Wishes of health were already ready to break from his tongue, but, seeing the cold impregnability, he lowered his eyes, the words stuck in his throat, and his smile faded.
So the years passed. The days flashed by like one another. Neighbors are getting old. At the meeting, the benevolent one no longer expected a greeting and only politely made way. But one day his granddaughter came to visit him. She was radiant, as if the sun shone in her eyes and smile. When the baby met a gloomy neighbor, she joyfully exclaimed:
Hello!
The stranger stopped. He didn't expect this at all. Blue eyes, like cornflowers, looked at him. There was so much tenderness and affection in them that this stern man was even embarrassed. He did not know how to talk to neighbors and children. He was only used to giving orders. No one dared to speak to him without the permission of the secretary, and then some kind of button ... Mumbling something indistinct, he hurried to the car that was waiting for him at the entrance.
When the important person got into the Mercedes, the girl waved her hand. The sullen neighbor pretended not to notice. You never know what small fry flashes behind the windows of a foreign car.
They met quite often. Each time the girl's face lit up with a joyful smile, and from her unearthly light, the neighbor's soul became warmer. He began to like it, and once he even nodded in response to a resounding greeting.
Suddenly, meetings with the baby stopped. Severny noticed that a doctor was coming to the apartment opposite.
At the meeting, the benevolent one still politely let the neighbor go forward, but for some reason he was without his granddaughter. And then the gloomy one realized that it was her smile, her waving little hand that he now lacks. At work, he was greeted in a businesslike way, smiled politely, but these were completely different smiles.
So the monotonous, boring days went by. Once severe could not stand it. Seeing his neighbor, he slightly raised his hat, greeted him with restraint and asked:
Where is your granddaughter? Something hasn't been seen in a long time.
She's ill.
Is that so? .. - his chagrin was completely sincere.
When the next time they met on the site, gloomy, after saying hello, he opened the "diplomat". Rummaging through the papers, he took out a bar of chocolate and muttered in embarrassment:
Pass it on to your girl. Let it get better.
And hurried to the exit. The delicate eyes moistened and a lump rose to the throat. He couldn't even say thank you, he just moved his lips.
After that, when they met, they already said kind words to each other, and the stern one asked how the granddaughter was feeling.
And when the girl recovered and they met, the baby rushed to her neighbor and hugged him. And the eyes of this stern man moistened.
Birdies.
Birds flew in and chirped. Either they greeted them, or they hinted that they wanted to peck something. And I was too lazy to get out of bed and go out to the balcony.
The birds chirped and flew away. Someone else will feed them, take care of them, the one whose heart has awakened.
Where are they now? To whom did God send them? Whose heart are they knocking on?
Cross.
At the age of four, Deniska was left without a mother. And he didn't know anything about his father. The mother did a terrible thing - she killed a woman. Everyone abandoned her and Denis. What he saw in his wanderings through orphanages, hardly anyone can tell. And the boy himself did not want to remember this.
In the end, Deniska ended up in the second grade of a boarding school. Once the teacher, helping him to get dressed, noticed on his thin chest a cross on a string.
Who gave it to you?
Found.
Do you know who it is?
The God.
Do you know why he was crucified on the cross? Denis did not know anything, but for some reason he
I wanted to wear a cross near my heart.
The mother was recently released from the colony, lives no one knows where, and the cross is here. Only sometimes you have to give it away: Dima, and Vova, and others wanted to vilify him ... How can you refuse? The guys also got it ... Vova's mother made a brothel out of the apartment. Although Dima had his own house, he lived there as if abandoned, often starving. So they pass the cross to each other in turn. Warms...
Soul is a Christian
The family was unbelieving. Somehow they passed by the temple. The bells rang. A six-year-old son unexpectedly knelt down right on the street and began to be baptized. Nobody taught him this. Maybe you saw where? Suddenly - himself!
The people around started looking at them. The mother was outraged:
Get up now! Don't disgrace us! And the baby answered her:
What are you, mom?! This is the Church!
But neither mother nor father understood him. They took the boy by the hand and took him away.
Christ said: "Let the children go and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Alas, the parents did not know these words and took the baby away from Christ.
Really forever?
Children's confession
In the orphanage, the priest with a bright soul immediately baptized a whole group. The teacher, who became the godmother for the children, they began to call mother. The group was friendly. Of course, everything happened to them: they could quarrel and fight. And then they come to their senses and stretch out their hands to each other:
Forgive me.
And you forgive.
Once a new one appeared among them and brought with him some other, unkind spirit.
One boy lost his player. Who took? Without evidence, it is a sin to accuse someone. Gone and gone. And just then it was time for the children's confession, for which everyone had been preparing for a long time. And suddenly this newcomer confessed to the priest in confession:
I took!
And then guys:
It's me, I took it! Sorry...
Everyone froze. The boy whose player disappeared said:
Let it be yours.
The minute was amazing. And one girl gave her player to this boy.
We will not name them. What for? God knows them. And the one who asked for forgiveness, and those who gave the player to each other.
Save me, God!
One winter, the guys who were fishing were carried away on an ice floe into the sea. When it got dark, they realized at home that there were no children, and raised a fuss. Aviation joined the search. But try, find in the dark. The pilot can fly right over the guys and not notice them. If only they had a flashlight or a radio transmitter. They would signal: "SOS! Save our souls ..."
There was also such a case: a girl geologist got lost. Taiga all around. Where to go - does not know.
The girl was a believer and began to pray to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, knowing that he helps everyone. I prayed with all my heart. Suddenly he sees - the old man is coming. He approaches her and asks:
Where are you, honey?
She told what had happened to her and asked to be shown the way to some village.
The old man explained that there were no villages around.
And you, - he says, - climb this hill, you will see a house. There are people there.
The girl looked at the hill, turned around to thank the old man, but he is no longer there, as if he had not been.
Behind the hill, she actually found a hut in which she was warmly welcomed, fed and warmed. She was told that the elder was right - there is no housing around for three hundred kilometers. What would have happened to the girl if she had not prayed?
And how did the story with the boys end? Unfortunately, they did not know how to pray, their parents did not teach them. But one of them had a believing grandmother. All night she asked the Mother of God, our Helper and Intercessor, for them. She also prayed to our Lord Jesus Christ, begged Him to save the children...
The next morning, the boys were found and removed from the ice floe. However, such stories occur not only at sea.
Our whole life is like a raging sea of sin, capable of swallowing up every soul, if it does not cry out to God: "Save, Lord!"
The voice of one crying
Nobody believed her. She entered houses, knocked on windows, called out to everyone she met:
Save yourself! The reactor is in trouble! Around. - death! Run, close the windows, doors, take the children out of the street, leave, leave!
It was Sunday. The sun shone brightly. The kids were playing outside. What's the trouble? What do you?! We would have been told, announced on the radio... After all, there are bosses. Don't panic, girl! Are you overheated in the sun?
And she kept calling out to people... She knew that it was dangerous to be on the street, that one could grab lethal dose this death, but she kept walking ... The girl saw that no one listened to her, did not believe her, but she said to everyone she met:
Save yourself!
Isn't that how the messengers of Orthodoxy were met and are met with unbelief? They were thrown into cages with wild animals, burned, driven alive under the ice, rotted in prisons, and they knocked on every house and cried out:
Save yourself! The enemy of the human race does not sleep and catches every soul. Come to God! Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Voice in the wilderness...
A moment, just a moment...
The grandson whom I once taught to walk has imperceptibly grown up. He stretched out, became taller than me, but does not want to learn to walk before God. You tell him something, and he proudly replies:
Okay, let's figure it out.
He is with him on "you".
In the evenings, the grandson often walked with his comrades. My grandmother and I never let him go without a blessing, which he condescendingly accepted. In fact, he is taciturn, but one day he returned excited and told such a story.
The house was already close. The street is deserted: no people, no cars. It remains only to go tram rails- and here it is, the native yard. And suddenly - bang! A bottle dropped in front of his nose, thrown by some drunk from the fourth floor, and shattered! A little more and she would have hit him in the head.
A moment ... Just a moment separated him from death, only half a step ... The grandson looked around. Upstairs they continued to feast. Around - no one. Who would help him? And could you help? But someone gave the guy this saving moment.
Now, before leaving the house, he says casually:
Well, I'm off!
If we believe
The kids agreed to play blind man's buff. One was blindfolded with a towel. They made sure that they couldn’t peep, they circled it and fled in all directions. They began to call, clap their hands so that he would catch them by the sound. The blindfolded boy tried to grab them, rushing at every rustle. And the guys suddenly quieted down - and not a sound, as if no one was there. But the boy is sure that they are near. He does not see, but he believes that they are here.
Faith is confidence in the invisible as in the visible.
Mom put the baby to bed, sang a lullaby to him, crossed him, kissed him and went into the next room. The kid does not see her, but believes that her mother is nearby. Just call her and she will come.
So we do not see God and our Intercessor Mother of God, but They are near. As soon as we call, they will be with us, although we will not see them.
Expectation
They will come to those who believe in Them. And they will come, and help, and protect.
If we believe.
A cheerful company - three guys and three girls - were traveling in a bus to the golden beaches of Florida. The gentle sun, warm sand, blue water and a sea of \u200b\u200bpleasures awaited them. They loved and were loved. They gave joyful smiles to those around them. They wanted everyone around them to be happy.
A rather young man sat next to them. Every burst of joy, every outburst of laughter was reflected in pain on his grim face. He was shrinking and closing in on himself even more.
One of the girls could not stand it and sat down next to him. She learned that the gloomy man's name was Wingo. It turned out that he spent four years in a New York prison and is now on his way home. This surprised the fellow traveler even more. Why is he so dull?
Are you married? she asked.
This simple question was followed by a strange answer:
Do not know.
The girl asked in confusion:
Don't you know? Wingo said:
When I got to prison, I wrote to my wife that I would be away for a long time. If it becomes difficult for her to wait for me, if the children start asking about me, and this will hurt her ... In general, if she can’t stand it, let her forget me with a clear conscience. I can understand it. "Find yourself another husband," I wrote to her. "You don't even have to tell me about it."
Are you driving home not knowing what to expect?
Yes, - Wingo answered with difficulty hiding his excitement.
A week ago, when I was informed that due to good behavior I would be released early, I wrote to her again. At the entrance to my hometown, you will notice a large oak tree by the road. I wrote that if she needs me, then let her hang a yellow handkerchief on him. Then I'll get off the bus and go back home. But if she doesn't want to see me, then let her do nothing. I'll pass by.
It was very close to the city. Young people took the front seats and began to count kilometers. The tension on the bus grew. Wingo closed his eyes in exhaustion. There were ten, then five kilometers left ... And suddenly the passengers jumped up from their seats, began to shout and dance with joy.
Looking out the window, Wingo was petrified: all the branches of the oak were completely dotted with yellow handkerchiefs. Trembling from the wind, they greeted the man who returned to his home.
How will the Lord meet us if we return to Him in repentance?
With joy, for He Himself promised: "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous."
Though every day
he still remembers the cloud, although thirty years have passed. It was in the village of Danilovichi, near Gomel.
People have forgotten God. Rivers began to turn, seas to create. They called themselves gods. How to enlighten them?
And the drought came. Not a drop of rain fell for a month. The grasses drooped and turned yellow, all the living things burned down. How to be? The harvest will perish - not to avoid hunger. And the collective farmers dragged to the chairman with a request to allow them to serve a prayer service in the field with the priest, icons and church hymns. And those times were terrible. The authorities tried to close the remaining churches, and miraculously disperse the surviving priests so that there would be no Orthodox spirit left on earth.
The chairman was in complete despair. And the plan must be carried out, and he is afraid of hunger, and the godless authorities. And I feel sorry for the people - how will they survive? He waved his hand - serve your prayer service!
For three days the whole world fasted, even the cattle were not fed. And there is not a cloud in the sky. Finally, with icons and prayers, people went to the field. In front - the father of Theodosius in full dress. Everyone is crying out to God, all souls seem to have merged into one in repentance: "Forgive us, Lord, we have decided to live without You. Lord, have mercy..."
And suddenly they see - a cloud appeared on the horizon. At first small, and then the whole sky over the field was clouded. How they all cried out to God! And it started to rain. And not just rain, but a real downpour! The Lord watered the earth.
The chairman rejoiced: "Pray at least every day!" And what is surprising - not a single drop fell in neighboring areas.
The son of Father Theodosius was then five years old. Now he has become a father himself. His father's name is Fedor. If you ask him about the cloud, the worried face will brighten up. Is it possible to forget that downpour of Divine grace? Now Father Fyodor is building the Church of All Saints so that people do not die of spiritual thirst.
Shield
Went to Crimean War Colonel Andrey Karamzin, son of a famous historian who wrote the famous History of the Russian State. How to protect the life of a dear brother? The sisters sewed into his uniform the ninetieth psalm, in which the following words:
My refuge and my protection, my God, in whom I trust! He will deliver you from the snare of the catcher, from the deadly sore, with his feathers he will overshadow you, and under his wings you will be safe; a shield and a fence are His truth.
Such was the belief in Orthodox families: holy words will protect better than any shield.
Andrei Karamzin remained unharmed in all battles. But one day, before the battle, he was too lazy to change into that uniform, where there were saving lines, and at the very beginning of the battle he was killed on the spot.
Is it by chance?
With a shrine
The enemy was aiming straight for the heart. He hit for sure, without a miss. But the bullet did not touch the officer's chest; it got stuck in the copper icon of St. Nicholas. Officer Boris Savinov walked the terrible roads of the war with this shrine - from Moscow to Koenigsberg, fought near Stalingrad, on the Southern and Belorussian fronts. He was wounded several times, lay in hospitals, but his heart on all the fiery roads was guarded by the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Prayers also guarded him, for he had been a believer since childhood, even managed to become a deacon before the war. Boris was guarded by the prayers of his grandfather and father, who were shot after the revolution for being priests. But God has no dead. He is all alive. Did they not pray for their grandson and son when he went into battle, when the enemy aimed at him?
Believing in God, hoping in Him, the officer was amazingly brave. If he put on all his military decorations, then his chest would shine. He also had the rare Order of Alexander Nevsky, and the Order of the Red Banner, the Red Star, Patriotic War first and second degree, and many medals. After the war, the brave officer became a priest. Father Boris restored the church in the village of Turki near Bobruisk, then in the city of Msti-Slavl. Now he is a priest in Mogilev.
And the icon that saved him is kept in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Duel
They tried to escape. Such people are called refugees. But what kind of refugees are they? Many of them not only could not run, they could not walk. They were held in their arms, pressed to the chest. And yet they fled.
There were fights for every meter of Crimea. Children, helpless old people, the wounded - those who could not fight - were put on ships to be transported to the Taman Peninsula. There was salvation. But you still had to get there. And death raged over the Crimea. On the eve of the ship with the seriously wounded was sunk by fascist aircraft. If only to pass the Kerch Strait ...
Suddenly, German planes appeared in the sky. The weather was clear and visibility was excellent. Flying over the deck itself, the masters of death saw children's heads, stretchers with the sick, perhaps they saw the faces of children seized with horror. And, looking at the defenseless, they indifferently dropped bombs and pressed the triggers of machine guns.
The fascists roared over the heads of the children, dropping their deadly load, and then again gaining height, so that, turning around, they should aim properly and this time not miss.
The refugees could not see the helmeted eyes of their killers. What was in those views? Excitement of players honing their skills? Hatred? The desire to destroy the children, so that this people would not have a future? Or were they automatically following an inhuman order? It's as simple as pressing a button, like in a computer game. A bomb will explode, and someone will no longer be alive. Again and again they gained altitude and turned the planes ...
And then a little girl came out to duel with flying death. She stood at the bow of the ship and... began to pray. The Nazis covered her with lead. She answered them with prayer. The howl and roar of exploding bombs, the chirping of machine guns drowned out the words, but the girl continued to pray to the Lord for help.
The ships released a smoke screen. How unreliable is this protection, which can dissipate at any moment... But God, having heard the words of a child's prayer, commanded the breeze to blow over the ships so that the smoke covered them, and the Nazis scattered their deadly cargo in vain.
The fascist planes got away without damaging any of the ships, without hitting the praying girl. They flew away. But what will these pilots say to the Creator when they appear before Him?
The refugees went ashore unharmed. And everyone with tears thanked the baby, gave her something, because everyone understood that a miracle had happened: children's prayer saved thousands of people from certain death.
We do not know the name of this girl. She was so small... But what a huge, saving faith lived in her heart!
Back to life
Based on the story by A. Dobrovolsky "Seryozha"
Usually the brothers' beds were side by side. But when Seryozha fell ill with pneumonia, Sasha was moved to another room and was forbidden to disturb the baby. They only asked to pray for the little brother, who was getting worse and worse.
One evening Sasha looked into the sick room. Seryozha lay with open, seeing nothing, and hardly breathed. Frightened, the boy rushed to the office, from which the voices of his parents could be heard. The door was ajar, and Sasha heard his mother, crying, say that Seryozha was dying. Papa answered with pain in his voice:
Why cry now? He can't be saved...
In horror, Sasha rushed to his sister's room. There was no one there, and with sobs he fell to his knees in front of the icon of the Mother of God, which hung on the wall. The words broke through the sobs:
Lord, Lord, make sure that Seryozha does not die!
Sasha's face was filled with tears. Everything around was blurred, as if in a fog. The boy saw before him only the face of the Mother of God. The sense of time is gone.
Lord, You can do anything, save Seryozha!
It's already quite dark. Exhausted, Sasha stood up with the corpse and lit the table lamp. The gospel lay before her. The boy turned over several pages, and suddenly his eyes fell on the line: "Go, and as you believed, be it to you ..."
As if having heard an order, he went to Seryozha. Mom sat silently by the bed of her beloved brother. She gave a sign: "Don't make noise, Seryozha fell asleep."
No words were spoken, but this sign was like a ray of hope. He fell asleep - it means he is alive, so he will live!
Three days later, Seryozha could already sit up in bed, and the children were allowed to visit him. They brought their brother's favorite toys, a fortress and houses, which he cut and glued before his illness - everything that could please the baby. The sister with a big doll stood near Seryozha, and Sasha, rejoicing, photographed them.
Ascended
Shortly before this happened, Sasha told his mother:
I saw in a dream two holy angels. They took my hands and carried me to heaven.
Two days later he was killed. They killed the guys a little older, coveted his new jacket. Mom saved up money for it for a long time, gave it to her son and now ...
How could this happen?
Mom said that when he was very young, Sasha loved to go to church. I tried not to miss a single Sunday service. Then I started going to Sunday school...
Maybe the boy was already ready to meet the Savior.
Kingdom of Heaven to you, Sashenka!
To the mountain world
One boy wanted to go downhill on a sled. And there is a sled, and the mountain is not far, but the parents do not let go - they are afraid that they will catch something dangerous for the soul from their peers. He will see enough of bad examples or hear a bad word, and it, like a seed, will lie down, lie down, and grow. And a good boy will begin to speak rudely or act contrary to the commandments of love. A child's soul is like a plowed field. And a good seed, if it gets into it, sprouts, and any weed. Pulling out the sow thistle when it becomes prickly is not easy. So the parents protected their child so that from the heights of childish purity he would not slide into the abyss of sin.
But a boy is a boy. I so want to ride! And then it's time for Lent. The people in those days strictly observed fasting. Children were not even allowed on the ice mountain. They blocked it with a stick so that they would not ride. And Ganya decided that now it is possible, since there is no one there. Took a sled - and up the mountain.
But can anything good happen without the blessing of the parents and their permission? Yes, and the Lord does not allow to engage in fun during Great Lent. Before, when people did not forget God, even theaters were closed these days. The people prayed fervently, visited the sick, helped the poor, read the Holy Books and went to church.
“It is fitting to keep the secret of the tsar, but it is commendable to announce the works of God. Do good and evil will not befall you."
Tobit 12:7-8
Photographer Dmitry Panaetov
© Tatyana Nikolaevna Bratkova, 2017
© Dmitry Panayetov, photos, 2017
ISBN 978-5-4483-6495-2
Created with the intelligent publishing system Ridero
Introduction
Dear reader!
These stories are told by the parishioners of St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Bishops' Metochion of the Pyatigorsk and Circassian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in the city of Cherkessk. Experienced people who have seen a lot in their lifetime told these stories in order to share with their neighbors the joy of the obvious presence of God in our lives. In the traditional hierarchical worldview of the Russian people, the Supreme Truth is always in the center, the basis of which is the Gospel. From Holy Scripture, Tradition, the experience of the Church, historical events, we learn about spiritual laws and patterns that are not as obvious as scientific ones. An Orthodox person lives by the grace of God, by His innumerable blessings, knowing that spiritual laws work by the Providence of God. The author considered it her duty, with the consent of the narrators, to describe cases of God's miraculous help and convey to you, dear reader, in the hope that these examples will strengthen your faith, help in difficult times, remind the words of the Savior: Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.(Matthew 11:28-30)
St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Bishops' Metochion of the Pyatigorsk and Circassian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russia, KChR, the city of Cherkessk
Story 1. This story was told by a parishioner of the St. Nicholas Church of the Bishops' Metochion of the Pyatigorsk and Circassian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Day of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Transfiguration of the Lord was performed shortly before the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross on Mount Tabor in order to spiritually strengthen the closest disciples of the Apostles Peter, James, John in the faith. So that they would not hesitate, seeing Christ betrayed to suffering, He revealed His Glory: “Jesus took Peter, James and John ... and brought them up to a high mountain alone and was transfigured before them.” (Matthew 17:1-2)
God-given
Scarlet dawn splashed in blue sky reflected in the golden domes of St. Nicholas Cathedral. The bells rang. And floated between heaven and earth cleansing bell ringing.
The people, as if remembering a forgotten proverb: “The first ring - get out of bed, the second ring - get out of the house, the third ring - bow to the church,” flocked from everywhere to the cathedral, carrying baskets in their hands. In the "Apple Spas" the fruits of the new harvest are blessed. We brought gifts for consecration: apples, grapes and laid them out on the table. There were many parishioners that day, everyone wanted to consecrate the fruits. Among them were those who enter the temple only to consecrate Easter cakes, apples, and honey. One of the parishioners, laying out apples, remarked:
– One priest said that there are different types of Christians: Orthodox, who cannot imagine themselves without the church, “apple”, “honey”, who come only to consecrate apples and honey.
– I used to be “apple” too, – an elderly parishioner supported the conversation, – but the miracle of the birth of a grandson changed everything in our family. Now we do not leave the temple.
“Tell me more, please,” I asked.
- There were no children in my son's family for 12 years. The son and daughter-in-law love each other, everything is good in the family, as they say: "Where there is harmony, there is treasure." Everyone has it good job. But there were no children. What kind of doctors they did not visit, everything did not help. They were advised to apply to the monasteries. They went to the Kaluga region, to Optina Pustyn. We arrived, and there the people were apparently invisible. Pilgrims come from all over the world, from all over Russia. They stand in line to the elder for several days. Our children went around all the temples, filed notes everywhere. We stood in line to the old man. A monk comes out and asks:
Help, good people! Firewood needs to be chopped and stacked, but there are not enough hands of workers.
But people are kind, either they are shy, or they are in no hurry to be kind. The son asked:
– Can I do it?
“You can,” the monk answered, and led him to the household yard.
The son worked, chopped and stacked firewood, put himself in order and again in line. Stands and thinks:
“I have never experienced such blessed joy from physical labor. He worked so hard, but there is no fatigue, on the contrary, lightness, joy fills the soul.
The door of the cell opens, and the son and wife are invited.
There was a noise in the queue, they shouted:
- We won't let you out of line. Just arrived and already to the old man!
The monk calmed everyone and brought the children to the elder. The elder prayed for them, anointed them with oil, forbade them to eat at the TV and sit in front of the TV and the computer for a long time, ordered them not to leave the temple, to go to confession, to take communion more often, to be in nature. 9 months have passed - a boy was born in the son's family. Yes, so pretty, so nice. They gave him a name: Bogdan - given by God. Now we cannot leave the temple because of Bogdan. He loves church so much! Don't feed him honey, take him to church! And the whole course of the service knows when to bow, when to be baptized. And how he loves to take communion! He feels his father a mile away. He sees the priest, drops everything, runs for a blessing. He will receive a blessing, then he looks at us: “Why are you delaying?” So he gradually accustomed us to the church. And before, I also came to church only to have apples or Easter cakes with colored eggs consecrate.
What is given by God must be dedicated to God. So it has always been. There are many examples of this in Scripture. Yes, and such a child will not be able to live outside the fence of the temple. Does your son have other children?
- Yes. The girl was recently born.
- Thank God! For everything, thank God! May more boys like Bogdan be born in our country! The people of Russia and the land of our Fatherland need prayer books.
I listened to the story and thought:
– A small example of how faith changes everything in a person’s life, in the life of a family, how a person is born thanks to faith. But after all, in each of us a MAN is born into eternal life, thanks to faith, thanks to the Savior, the sacraments of the Church, the great power of the grace of God, which, through the prayers of the Primates of the Church, the clergy, monasticism, Orthodox Christians, TRANSFORMS each of us, and the world in which we live . The Church is the Tabor that transforms us, filling us with the light of life and love. The Lord Jesus Christ gave the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Here is how it is said in the Gospel of Matthew:
“1. Seeing the people, He went up the mountain; and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
7. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10. Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11. Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and speak unrighteously of all kinds for me.
12. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: so they persecuted [and] the prophets who were before you.
13. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its potency, how will you make it salty? She is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled by people.
14. You are the light of the world. A city on top of a mountain cannot hide.
15. And having lighted a candle, they do not put it under a vessel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all in the house.
16. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
At this time, the Divine Liturgy ended. The bells rang again. And under the triumphantly joyful ringing of bells, pouring over the native expanses of the Blessed Caucasus, giving rise to an exalted, reverent mood, I recalled the words of the ever-memorable mitered archpriest, dean of the Orthodox churches of the KCR, participant in the Great Patriotic War, writer and poet Archpriest Vasily Afonin, who stood at the origins of the revival of the Holy - Nikolsky Cathedral, from his book "Great Joy":
“...Mount Tabor, on which our Lord Jesus Christ performed the Transfiguration, which our Church celebrates every time in the midst of a warm summer, at the time of gathering all sorts of fruits, honey, at the time of harvesting daily bread. What a glorious, wonderful holiday this time of year is in all our Orthodox churches, what an extraordinary joy is spreading over all our villages and cities of our immense Mother Russia! Fresh fragrant honey, amber grapes, ruddy apples and other fruits - all this lies on the green grass around church fence and creates the unique aroma of the Savior.”
To the sound of bells, the priests leave the temple. The prayer service for water begins, the priest reads a prayer for the consecration of the fruits, they begin to sprinkle and bless the fruits. And grace-filled joy fills hearts. Happy smiles do not leave the faces of parishioners.
The priest sprinkles everyone with holy water, shining diamond splashes of holy water fly around. And in everything one feels an extraordinary spiritual uplift and spiritual joy. This light of the Holy Transfiguration, touching us with its radiant rays, again and again reminds us that life is given to each of us by God. And so I do not want to leave this holiday of life.
And the words of the holy Apostle Peter, a witness of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor, are recalled: "God! It's good for us to be here"(Matthew 17:4) suddenly the voice of God the Father was heard: “This is My Beloved Son… Listen to Him”(Matthew 17:5.) The apostles left Tabor to engage in the work of love and selflessness. Love for God must be warmed up by deeds of mercy. A kind word, a glass of water given in the name of Christ, renunciation of one's will, victory over oneself is worth all the inspiration of a contemplative life. Good fruits, by which one will know good tree grow out of faith.
"Without Me You Can Do Nothing", says the Savior.
A little time passed, and in St. Nicholas Cathedral, with the blessing of Archbishop Theophylact, every Sunday they began to hold an evening service with the Akathist of the Kazan Mother of God in front of the Miraculous Icon of the Kazan Mother of God about the health of pregnant women and the safe birth of children.
It is joyful today to see young mothers with children in the church, for the birth of which they prayed at prayer services.
Thank God for everything!
Story 2. About how the child was saved
Give him life!
Save those taken to death, and really
refuse those doomed to murder?
Proverbs 24:11
Once I saw a young woman and three girls praying fervently in front of the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God. When the woman turned around, I recognized her as the daughter of my classmate, with whom we sat at the same desk. In early childhood, Ninochka lost her father, and I took a great part in the fate of the girl. When she grew up and decided professionally, she got married and had three children. I was glad to see her in the temple, because no better protection on earth, than the Heavenly Father, there is no better cover than the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, there are no better friends than the Archangels, Angels, all saints, there is no fortress more reliable than the Church. “He who lives under the roof of the Most High rests under the shadow of the Almighty.” When she saw me, she was delighted:
- It's good that I saw you!
- Ninochka, why are your eyes sad?
- I am pregnant! - she said as if she had committed a great crime, in which she deeply regretted.
- So this is happiness! Children are God's blessing! Children are a living testament to the love of their parents. The children of believers are the glory of the family and the Fatherland! Children are a comfort in old age!
I happily hugged her.
- That's just you. All the rest say that it is impossible to breed poverty, it is necessary to have an abortion.
- Do not listen to them. Don't kill the Angel! Give him life!
But everyone says...
- Everything? Is it mom too?
- Yes, she says that I will fall behind professionally.
- My joy, you are a teacher. With the help of information remote technologies you yourself can improve and teach others without leaving your crib. I know a woman, a major general, a doctor of pedagogical sciences, a mother - a heroine who gave birth to five children, raised 20 adopted children, and never went on maternity leave. Therefore, I have no doubt that you will not fall behind professionally.
- They say that the crisis in the country, that the children will be poor.
– Crises for those who do not believe in God. God has prepared everything for everyone who is born long ago. The proverb says: "God gave a mouth, and a piece will give." I know one family where there were 10 children, they grew up from one shirt. When the children came home from school, my mother washed the shirts, put them on in the morning and went to school. Today it is a friendly, hardworking, rich family, where everyone supports each other. And all the children have achieved a lot in life. It was difficult for them in childhood, but these difficulties taught them to appreciate life and the blessings that God gives us, and to believe in God. Today their mother has 70 grandchildren. And the crisis did not touch them. They have so many successful businesses! Besides, you have three girls. All of them are beautifully dressed, shod, fed, educated, excellent students in general education, in music, in art schools, they listen to you, help you in everything. They are ready educators and nannies.
- But when I gave birth to the third, just before the birth, the doctors said that I should not give birth. And I didn’t know what to do, the contractions had already begun, and they were shouting at me: “You can’t give birth!”.
“You still haven’t got rid of that fear, my girl?”
Nina burst into tears. It was evident that she carried this unspoken pain in her heart.
- Calm down, my girl! "The Lord of heaven and earth will give you joy instead of your sorrow." Now you will pray not only for yourself and for the child, but also for the doctors. Everything will be fine. Do not leave the temple, talk with the priest more often, take blessings, confess and take communion. Everything will be fine. You will easily give birth to this child.
- Pray for a boy. My dad (his name was Sergey) died tragically when I was a baby.
- My girl, you have three girls. I ask you, if a boy is born, dedicate him to God, send him when he grows up to a theological seminary, so that he prays for Russia, for the people, for us many-sinners. And call me Sergei. You are a teacher. The Holy Reverend Sergius of Radonezh - Abbot of Russia - is the heavenly patron of teachers and your family.
I had a prayer book with me about the family, where, among other things, there was a prayer for the birth of a male child. I gave it to Nina. Every Saturday, Nina went to confession and communed with the children, after the service she talked with the priest.
In the meantime, I talked to her mother, whom I knew as a kind, loyal friend. What was my surprise when I heard from her words about the need for family planning, that many people have abortions, this is in the order of things, why should her daughter give birth? The conversation was difficult. I asked her to go to church more often, confess these sentiments to the priest, and talk to him about my views on the issues of having a child. In addition, the Internet showed her all the laws on social support for children and mothers. She made me write everything down in a notebook and see for myself by visiting social institutions. But I also showed her the film of the Orthodox medical and educational center "Life" (www.aborti.ru) "The Silent Scream". In this film, scientists show and talk about abortion.
Until recently, the question of whether an embryo is a human being, a one-of-a-kind individual, was a matter of faith. Attitudes towards the unborn child changed in the 70s. Science took up the study of this issue, the latest technologies were created: ultrasound, electronic control over the work of the heart of the embryo, radiation immunochemistry and others.
In the film, thanks to the ultrasound recording, for the first time the abortion is shown through the eyes of the victim, we see how the child is torn apart, destroyed, by the cold steel instruments of the doctor performing the abortion. Considering the different stages of intrauterine development, we are convinced that the intrauterine child is no different from us. The film shows all the stages of an abortion. Even describing it is scary!
“If we get rid of the unborn, we will never get rid of the slain.
My friend was shocked after watching the movie. She said that this should be shown to all women and all doctors. He realized that she was wrong. Two months have passed. A friend called me and shouted into the phone: “Nina was taken away by an ambulance, premature contractions began. Please pray." And I began to pray. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the heart was filled with unspeakable joy, and only words flowed from the heart: "Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!"
A classmate called and said that at one in the afternoon Nina had a son, a healthy, strong baby, they would call Seryozha! Then she added: “I give you my word, I will personally take him to the temple, I will do everything possible so that the boy, when he grows up, becomes a priest.”
- Pray to the Lord God, the Most Holy Theotokos, the Guardian Angel and heavenly patron Saint Reverend Sergius of Radonezh. I will go to the temple, I will thank God for the birth of a boy. Please treat Ninochka with respect. She is our mother of many children. None of us know what it is. mother of many children this is a daily feat, starting from the moment the decision to have a child is made, when the whole world rises up against the new person, forgetting the commandment "Thou shalt not kill."
After the conversation, I burst into tears. Now I could afford to be weak. Man is born! But how difficult it is to be born in Russia, where many have forgotten the commandments of God.
And an hour later, as if on wings, as if with this baby I myself was reborn to a new life, I flew to St. Nicholas Cathedral, to the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God.
Time has passed. Serezha grew up, began to prepare for admission to school. Everything is fine. Yes, only the grandmother began to notice Serezha's unusually serious and responsible approach to all matters. He can say to an adult: “You can’t do this. Sin". Listening to a conversation about some events, at the end of the conversation he will sum up: “For all the will of God!”.
“Let the children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the Kingdom of God.”(From Luke ch.18, 16-17).
Story 3. About how the sin of smoking was defeated.
"You don't need it"
Viktor Nikolaevich started smoking at an early age. He had a cigarette instead of breakfast, and instead of lunch, and instead of dinner. I couldn't live without tobacco. He began working at St. Nicholas Cathedral, he was reprimanded and asked to stop smoking. He tried, it doesn't work. He was again reprimanded, told that smoking is a slow suicide (according to the Ministry of Health and Social Development in Russia, about 400 thousand people die every year from smoking), harm to neighbors, a temptation to others. They quoted the words of the Apostle Paul: “If food offends my brother, I will never eat meat, lest I offend my brother.”(1 Cor 8:11). He admitted that he could not quit himself, he had been smoking for 40 years, that he just did not do anything, nothing helped, the body got used to it.
Viktor Nikolaevich understood that from a spiritual point of view, smoking is unacceptable. He realized even more deeply that this habit made spiritual life more difficult after reading the book of Elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer. Elder Paisius Svyatogorets suggested that the father of the paralyzed girl quit smoking, or at least smoke one instead of 4.5 packs.
“Father,” answered the father of the sick girl, may my child recover, I will quit smoking completely.
“No,” says the elder, “then it won’t have a price.” Drop now! Quit smoking, or you don't love your baby?
I don't love my child? Yes, for her sake, I will throw myself down from the sixth floor!
“I'm not telling you to throw yourself down from the sixth floor. I tell you: stop smoking. Drop it right now!"
But he did not want to quit smoking and left me in tears.
Another man came and said that his wife was ill, she was dying, the doctors' treatment did not help, the doctors gave up in impotence. The elder, seeing how he was out of breath, said to him:
- If you love your wife, stop smoking, the wife will recover.
He quit. The next time I came happy: “My wife is healthy! As soon as I quit smoking, I immediately recovered.”
Some time later he again came upset: his wife fell ill again, as soon as he started smoking.
The elder answered him: “Now you know the medicine yourself, stop smoking.”
Victor Nikolaevich thought: after all, without realizing it, he was fumigating the world created by God. He was advised to pray miraculous icon Kazan Mother of God. Viktor Nikolaevich bought a candle, went up to the icon, bowed and asked:
– Holy Mother of God Our Lady, help me, your sinful, wretched pilgrimage, to get rid of the disease of smoking. I am ashamed that I go to church and smoke, but I can’t quit myself, help me, Holy Mother of God! You are the Intercessor for all of us, you help everyone, help me.
I prayed for a long time with sincere faith. After the prayer, he left the temple. He looks: a team of builders is standing at the gates of the cathedral. Everyone smokes. He approached them, offered them a cigarette, lit it out of habit. He came home, and there the neighbor smokes, and he lit up for the company out of habit. It is no coincidence that they say: "Sow a habit, reap a destiny." And in the morning he gets up out of habit - for a cigarette.
– You don't need it!
We have collected testimonies of people who have found answers to eternal questions. These are generals and scientists, writers and philosophers, artists and astronauts. They talk about God, about their faith.
Nikolai Drozdov
Professor, Doctor biological sciences, traveler, popular TV presenter
Nikolai Drozdov is the great-great-grandson of Metropolitan Filaret. Few people know that this famous scientist, the permanent host of the TV show "In the World of Animals" is the great-grandson of St. Philaret (Drozdov). Anyone who read the Bible at least once in Russian, read it in the translation of St. Philaret.
"IN Everyday life I strive to do what I can and what I manage to do, something good and useful for others - relatives, friends, and, if possible, for all people. And I try not to regret what did not work out, which means that it was not the will of the Lord. And what turned out good - I thank our Lord Jesus Christ for allowing me to do a good deed. I don’t know how many things succeed in life, but I think – as much as He wants.
In difficult, unforeseen circumstances, I often say to everyone: “Let's pray, and the Lord will arrange everything.”
Ekaterina Vasilyeva
“You know, many people used to, when Russia was a believing country, answered the question: “Who are you?” - "I - Orthodox Christian". This is the essence of man and supervalue. If we take this account, then the question “Who am I?” I will answer: "The priest's mother." This is the peak in my biographical family, and not my merit, but the grace bestowed by the Lord. Now, approaching the end of my life, I understand that a free person is only a believing person. Freedom is the result of a person becoming independent of secular habits and conventions. Man is free in God, in Christ.”
Irina Muravieva
Theater and film actress, People's Artist of Russia
“At the very beginning, one incident happened to me, which I remember very well. Then I went to the temple only occasionally. An ancient temple with ancient icons, it has never been closed. His rector then was Father Vasily, an elder of high spiritual life, foresaw a lot. I remember when I came to Father Vasily for confession. I walk and still think: “He’s quite old, he doesn’t hear anything.” And now it’s my turn, I’m standing quite far away, and suddenly he says to the whole church: “At last you have come, my dear!” I think he probably recognized me as an artist, what a horror. Then these words of his embarrassed me, because he could recognize me as an artist. Now I understand that, of course, he said them for a different reason. The Lord so put it on his heart that he took and said these words to me.
Vladimir Khotinenko
Actor and film director, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation
“It was amazing that my appeal to God happened quite suddenly, as if from scratch, against the backdrop of an outwardly stable and prosperous life: no one pushed or agitated me for this. I didn’t have any crisis or a sense of impasse: I studied at the higher director’s courses, and there were no external signs of internal loss or hopelessness of existence. Like most people who grew up in the Soviet state, I did not have a particularly religious consciousness. It’s just that I was elementary educated, and one fine day I suddenly realized the absolute need to be baptized.”
Fedor Emelianenko
Judoist and sambo wrestler, multiple world and Russian champion, and, of course, an Orthodox Christian
A trip to the monastery helped him become a truly believing person. Now the most important thing for him is not sports and competitions, but faith and family. Fedor Emelianenko:
“Hurry to the temples of God, hurry to do good. Help each other, treat each other with love, understanding and patience. That's probably what I'm doing for."
Evgeny Mironov
“An important milestone for me was my first trip to Optina Pustyn. I was then thirty-three years old. They say that at this age in life something always changes. But I understood that I needed to change this “something” myself, and I went to Optina Hermitage to talk with Father Iliy. It was a moment of some general crisis: both creative and spiritual - I clearly realized that I needed a meeting with him. But they didn’t let me see him for a long time, I had to climb over the fence and secretly make my way to the house where the elder’s cell was. This meeting turned me around. He spoke as if he were a thousand times more sinful than me, as if he doubted a thousand times more than I. I was simply shocked by everything that was happening: for the first time I talked with a priest who worries about the whole world and prays for the whole world. During those half an hour I felt something extraordinary. In form, of course, it was not a confession, but in terms of importance and depth, this conversation became something very significant for me.
Natalya Varley
Natalya Varley, theater and film actress, Honored Actress of the RSFSR
“I have been going to faith in God for a very long time. After the film “Viy”, my whole life began to crumble - betrayals and betrayals began. Before that, though, everything was going great. What could be more sinful than playing evil spirits in a temple? After the film, I felt very bad, hard on my soul. After the baptism it became a little easier. And only then I realized that baptism is only the first step towards God. I have a wonderful spiritual father. When he was still in the world working as a pediatrician, he saved my younger son from death. I once said to him: “What a pity that you left the hospital!” And he answered me: "The salvation of the human soul is no less important."
Alexey Batalov
Alexey Batalov, film actor, National artist the USSR
“The path to faith began for me from the vivid impressions of childhood - the earliest. Grandmother was a believer in truth - a light, kind person. That's why church holidays we have, even at home, let it be closed, but there were. Easter is not in all houses, but in our country, no matter how poor it is, it is poor in different times she was always celebrated. Luckily, the church opposite us was open. Therefore, on a holiday, my mother will go there to stand, and I will be nearby. And so everything went on little by little. I try to believe in God. It is the only thing that does not “rebuild”, remains constant.”
Alexey Petrenko
People's Artist of Russia
“I think about God, that people should live together. I think about Orthodoxy. I study Church Slavonic. And then a person will come to another world, they will ask him to read a prayer there, but he does not know how to do it. As far as I have enough strength, I think about my loved ones. And that, when I go there, not to leave anything shameful behind me here.”
Valentina Tolkunova
Singer, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1946-2010)
“Spiritual revival will then take place when each person works on his soul. Learn spirituality. And he will understand that we should not be like Europe, America, that we must love our land, we must save it. Don't let it be torn to pieces. Do not think that everything is in the hands of only politicians and governments. If someone sweeps the streets - when he sweeps them especially clean, how good it will be for everyone! People will admire: how clean it is on the street today!.. Each person in his place must raise his Motherland from his knees. And then Russia will recover and become the happiest, most spiritual and strongest country in the world.”
Alexander Mikhailov
Theater and film actor, People's Artist of Russia
“My maternal grandfather was for the “whites”, and my paternal grandfather was “for the reds”. So, "white" gave me a lot in childhood. Dying, he said: “Granddaughter, remember: you have to give your life for Russia, the Fatherland. Give your heart to your mother. Soul - to the Lord God. And keep the honor in yourself and do not give anyone away. These words have stayed with me forever.
Vyacheslav Klykov
(1939-2006), sculptor, People's Artist of Russia
“Any simple person, if he was born in Russia, if he happened to be born Russian, first of all needs God. Without God, life is meaningless. A man without God is like a leaf on an autumn day: wherever the wind blows, it will fly there. A people without God is just a controlled crowd.”
Georgy Grechko
Why do I believe? Because during the war, not even at the front, but in the rear or in the occupation, as happened to me, a person has no other hope than in God. At that time almost everyone was a believer. And I, boy, believed. And he fasted before Easter, and at Christmas he went from house to house to praise Christ.
Innokenty Smoktunovsky
Theater and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR (1925-1994)
“I may be alive only because I believe in the Lord. I went through all the hardships of the war, when only death was not with me, it just happened to pass by. He probably took care of me for some of my little accomplishments - Myshkin, Hamlet, Tchaikovsky, Detochkin, Tsar Fedor.
Before the war, I lived with my aunt, I was six years old, on some holiday she gave me thirty rubles: “Go to church, give it to the temple.” Thirty rubles! I remember they were so long and red. I did not know then that there were thirty pieces of silver, and my aunt, although a believer, did not know this, the Bible could not be held then, they were punished for it. And the ice cream that I loved so much cost twenty kopecks. With this money, you can eat ice cream for a year and a half! No, I will not give thirty rubles to some aunts and uncles in the church. And with my fist clenched, I ended up near the church. I went inside, it was so beautiful there, I stood all mad, and then I easily approached the attendant and said: “Take it to the temple, take it, please.”
Without faith, a person would not come out of the forest, would grunt, howl ... A pig is good, but still it has no mind, and in addition to the mind, we also have a soul.
Arkady Mamontov
Special correspondent of the Rossiya TV channel, TV presenter
“I myself am an Orthodox person and, of course, proceed from the moral foundations of my religion. Faith allows a person to control himself, to lead his own line. And faith, as the basis of the worldview, certainly forms my author's attitude to this or that problem.
Dmitry Dyuzhev
Movie actor
“I remember my great-grandmother very well, she had an icon in her village house and a lamp was always on. It was very unusual against the backdrop of our entire Soviet life and seemed something mysterious then. Perhaps my faith began somewhere there. And then… It just became necessary to go to the temple. I went...and stayed. Faith came, I realized that here is the truth.
Andris Liepa
Andris (in baptism - Andrey) Liepa, dancer, Honored Artist of the RSFSR
“The icon is a miracle that affects a person regardless of his faith. For me it began to open after thirty three years. At the age of twenty-nine, I returned from America and soon received an interesting invitation from the Kirov Theater, went to work in St. Petersburg. At the very first performance, they gave me an icon of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg and said that she would keep me in this city. She not only kept me: from that moment in my soul everything began to develop in a completely different way. I converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy. Blessed Xenia brought me and Katyusha, my wife, we got married. Our daughter was named Xenia. Now we live in Moscow and every year we try to go to St. Petersburg on February 6, the day of memory of Blessed Xenia.”
Ilze Liepa
Ilze (baptised - Elizabeth) Liepa, ballerina, actress, People's Artist of Russia
“Andris, my brother, like his father, was baptized in the Lutheran church. And as an adult, he himself, quite consciously, converted to Orthodoxy. He also influenced me very much in this regard, although I was baptized on my own, also already an adult. Before that, I was looking for a lot, trying to find some meaning in everything. At one time I read books about Buddhism, and it seemed to me that I found there a lot of truth, consonant with my thoughts. I read and understood with my head that it was all wonderful, true, wonderful, but my soul never stopped there. But when my brother gave me a small, simple, seemingly primitive little book about Orthodoxy to read, I responded to it with all my heart.”
Peter Mamonov
Poet, actor, musician
“I began to think about why I should live at all, why do I need these seventy or how many years of life I have been allowed to live. And my great-great-grandfather was the archpriest of St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square. Give, I think, I will buy a prayer book - I will see what they are praying about there. At first I read it with horror and with some surprise. I began to go to the temple. It was the beginning, and the real meeting with God happened not so long ago. I couldn't get out of one sin. I couldn't. In the morning I got up for the Meeting and suddenly felt that the Lord filled my heart with love and disarmed me. Faith suddenly came - like a butt. The meaning appeared: eternal life and happiness always. "Box" thrown out the window. I read the works of the holy fathers, the Bible, I try to live according to God's laws.
Nikita Mikhalkov
Cinematographer, director, People's Artist of the RSFSR
“You can burn faith with a red-hot iron, you can put people in prison, kill priests, blow up churches. But the history of our Motherland shows that Orthodoxy, as the basis of the moral principles and way of life in Russia, like grass through concrete, will still sprout. When you have an inner feeling that you are under the shadow of faith, which has been the fundamental force of life and spirit for hundreds of generations who live and have lived on this earth, this should give you energy. And I firmly believe that any person, trying to understand who he is and where he comes from, will inevitably come to faith. After all, the question: “How to live?” you can get an answer only by asking yourself the question: “Why?” Not earlier. Therefore, the sprout of faith will still break through.
Oksana Fedorova
TV presenter
“The first time I came to the temple on my own was in my student years, when things were not going well in my first year of university and there was no help from anywhere. After my first appeals to God, things seemed to go uphill - academic year I graduated more than well. Since then, a lot has changed for me. I realized that the church is a place where you can get help. Talk frankly with yourself. And if you sincerely wish to help yourself and other people, then this miraculously comes true. You just need to believe in God, yourself and people. And we also need to believe in those good deeds that fill our lives with meaning. Now I know that work, career, and any other material goal that I can set for myself, is far from the main thing. The highest meaning of human life is to live honestly, according to conscience.
Sergey Bezrukov
Theater and film actor. Honored Artist of Russia
“I consider myself an Orthodox person since childhood. I was baptized six or seven months old in the small church of St. Nicholas in the village of Petrovsky, Moscow Region. In the village of Lyskovo, Nizhny Novgorod Region, where my relatives live, there is convent. I communicate with his abbess, we talk about different things. For example, not so long ago we were talking about my disc "Passion for Yemelyan". I sing songs based on verses by Hieromonk Roman (Matyushin). The abbess said that it is possible and necessary to record such songs, that this is a good, spiritual, worthy of respect deed. The main feature of Emelyan is the ability to forgive. This is the strength of his spirit, the strength of the Russian peasant. I myself am learning this skill. It's extremely difficult."
Yuri Shevchuk
Poet, performer, leader of the DDT group
“I am an Orthodox person, but I don’t want to talk about it in vain. Without the Church, without the Orthodox faith, my life does not exist. Man is a spiritual being. Now the idea is being exaggerated that a person is only a body, these are reflexes, these are hands created in order to grab everything. It is sad, but this point of view is now being implanted everywhere. I think that a very difficult period is going on, and I want to appeal to those people who hear me: now there is a “war between heaven and earth,” as Tsoi sang. There is a struggle on a spiritual level, there is a spiritual war for the souls of people. I feel it very much. And on which side I am - you yourself know.
Olga Gobzeva
Former film actress, currently nun Olga
“To say that I had some kind of tragedy or an unfortunate fate would be untrue. I really starred a lot, I have about eighty paintings. And although not all films were famous, my creative destiny was very successful. The reason for my departure lies very deep, perhaps in my family. My grandmother's sister was an abbess. And her second sister is a nun. On the father's side was a church warden. My father was a believer, and in no years - neither when we were dispossessed in the twenties, nor in the forties - did the lamp in our house go out. And therefore, to say that I left the world, abandoned something, came to something new, this is not so. I came to my house."
Olga Kormukhina
“Despite all my wanderings in the dark - drinking, partying, two awkward marriages, fascination with Buddhism, divination on a silver platter - it seems to me that I have always lived with God in my soul. I grew up listening to my grandmother's prayers. And once, already in adulthood, I read the diary of Hieroschemamonk Sampson, and everything seemed to turn upside down in me. His words penetrated into the very heart and settled there like a splinter. If a broken leg is held in a stretch, then pain is felt with every movement to the left or right. So I tried more and more often to get away from worldly passions-faces, trying to find safe haven. And when I found it, harmony reigned inside me ... "
Alexey Belov
Musician, composer, leader of the rock group "Gorky Park"
“At one time, I received in abundance everything that a person can dream of: fame, big money, all the pleasures of the world. Survived a bunch of novels, smoked weed, drank. And what is the result? Devastation! When at one fine moment I realized all this horror, I asked my friends to take me to confession to the priest. In breaks between performances, while traveling between cities, he began to read a prayer book. Once I was told about Elder Nicholas, who lived on the island of Zalit. I dreamed of going to him, but for a long time everything did not work out. As a result, it turned out that it was Olya (Kormukhina, who became the wife of Alexei with the blessing of Father Nikolai) who took me to the island.
Vyacheslav Butusov
Musician, founder of the group "Nautilus Pompilius"
“Spiritual meaning must be seen in everything. For a long time I had a purely consumer attitude to my own song “I want to be with you”, and after I became a believer, I stopped getting satisfaction from its performance. But suddenly this composition acquired a religious, biblical meaning in my mind. The same thing happened with some of my other songs. I have traveled to many countries, I have been amazed by many things, but I feel that Orthodoxy is a religion with the help of which I personally can be saved. In addition, Orthodoxy has that strictness, asceticism, which I personally often lack. It seems to me that all the basic truths in Orthodoxy are clearly formulated and understandable.”
Pyotr Tolstoy
Editor-in-Chief of the TV company "Moskovia - Channel 3", TV presenter
“Often one hears: “You Orthodox have agreed on everything: you have sinned - you have confessed - and there is order!” I think that only those who perceive faith as something external, ritualistic, can say this. It is impossible to agree with God - we can only make an effort on ourselves in order to get even a little closer to Him. Unfortunately, not many are ready to do such inner work. Naturally, the meaning of confession is not to repent of sins and do the same next week, but to find the strength in yourself to overcome sin forever. This is a struggle that a person has to fight all his life.”
Vladislav Tretiak
Hockey player, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs
“The image of the founder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, hegumen of the Russian Land, Reverend Sergius of Radonezh, to whom I often turn in prayers, is especially close to me. Going out on the ice, I always tried to cross myself, or rather, secretly, with a symbolic movement of the hand in a goalkeeper's glove, depicted the sign of the cross, as far as it was possible in front of television cameras.
Alexey Leonov
Pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union
“Faith helps, without it it is difficult. And I also regret that I don’t know much. The first time I saw the Bible was in America in 1973, where I was trained under the Soyuz-Apollo program. Now, thank God, we are returning to our roots. I admire the fact that we managed to revive the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was incredibly difficult. I travel a lot around the country and everywhere I see how churches are being revived. It makes me very happy".
Yuri Gagarin
Colonel Valentin Petrov, friend of Yuri Gagarin, about the first cosmonaut
“Yuri Alekseevich, like all Russian people, was a baptized person and, as far as I know, a believer. For me, our joint trip to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1964, just when Gagarin was thirty years old, remains unforgettable.
Father Viceroy offered us to inspect the church-archaeological office at the Moscow Theological Academy. There was an incident that shocked me. When we approached the layout of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Yura looked inside and said to me: “Valentin, look what beauty they destroyed!” He looked at him for a very long time.
And some time after our trip, Yuri Gagarin, speaking at a meeting of the plenum of the Central Committee on the education of youth, openly proposed to restore the Cathedral of Christ the Savior as a monument of military glory, as an outstanding work of Orthodoxy. Gagarin's motive was simple: you can't raise patriotism without knowing your roots. Since the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is a monument of military glory, the people who go to defend their homeland should know this.”
Pavel Popovich
Pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union
During the first flight, Yura Gagarin, when the fairings covering the windows fell off, saw the Earth and screamed:
"Oh, how beautiful she is!" The earth is truly incredibly beautiful. It is as if covered with a blue veil - the atmosphere. And here you are looking out the window, stars and planets are floating by on a black background. And involuntarily you think: after all, Someone created all this, that it all moves, Someone controls it all. We say that all this moves according to the laws of celestial mechanics. But someone invented these laws! And the thought of God appears. I believe in God, I was baptized as a child, so for me there is no question Who created all this. And He keeps everything and governs everything.”
Maria Zhukova, member of the Writers' Union of Russia, about Marshal Georgy Zhukov
“In the pre-revolutionary years, my father graduated with honors from a parochial school, went to services in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin and in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, loved church singing. Having absorbed the gospel truths from childhood, he carried them in his heart until the end of his days. Once upon a time, his mother, an 11-year-old boy, accompanied him from the village to Moscow to study with the words: “With God!” And with these same words, he began any important business, especially during the war. Shortly before his death, he told me, a girl who was already left without a mother: “From the other world, I will watch you and come in difficult times.” What does it say? That he believed in the immortality of the soul. He passed on this belief to me.
Ludmila Zykina
“I have been singing for over fifty years. There is no such exit on the stage that I would not cross myself and ask the Lord God for help and bestowal of strength, because I remember from childhood that my grandmother did this. Mom taught Nikolay Ugodnichka to pray. No matter how I look, she prays to him.
I was baptized when I was about fifty years old. God always helps me when I ask. He puts me on the right path. He brought me to people with whom I had to communicate, and took me away from those with whom I did not have to meet. As long as the Lord lets go, I will praise Him and Russia in song.”
Sofia Rotaru
Singer, People's Artist of the USSR
“There are six children in our family, and we are all baptized, we were baptized in infancy. During my childhood, believers had a hard time. Then it was even scary to wear wearable crosses, let alone visit temples. But my parents found an opportunity to pass on their knowledge to us children. Every Sunday we went to a service in a small rural church in our native village of Marshintsy. And when I was in elementary school, I even sang in the church choir.
When I was already popular, my family celebrated Christmas. And for this, my father was immediately expelled from the party. The first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine called me and said: "Sonya, you will have problems." And I went to Yalta. But the whole story had absolutely no effect on my faith. I feel the protection and grace of God in my life. I know that everything that has happened in my life and will happen again is in the hands of the Almighty. Every day I read “Our Father”, I always turn to God and thank Him for every day I live. My grandchildren wear crosses, go to church, know the story of God, know how to pray. When they ask me questions on religious topics, I always give them detailed answers. I want them and their children to grow up as believers. A person should always have hope. And when the last strength leaves, raise your eyes to the sky and ask: “God, help!” I myself have to do this sometimes. And it's really a relief."
Lyubov Sokolova
(1921-2001), film actress, People's Artist of the USSR
“I remember how in July 1941 (I was living in Leningrad then), on my birthday, my mother-in-law and I went out of town on business. We got out of the car, we were walking along the street, suddenly a stately bearded old man came up to me. He stopped me very gently. He looked into his eyes and said: “My name is Nikolai. You will eat little by little. But you will survive." (And we could not even imagine a starvation blockade at that time). And he also said: “Learn the prayers “Our Father” and “Mother of God, help me.” Having said this, the old man walked away from us and hid behind the fence, and my mother-in-law, coming to her senses, said: “This is Nicholas the Wonderworker! Chase him!" I rushed over the fence, and there was a huge wasteland, and no one was there. The man couldn't have gone anywhere so quickly. We immediately went to the church, and there, looking at the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, I immediately recognized that old man. During the years of the Leningrad blockade, hunger mowed down all my loved ones, including my mother-in-law. But I survived - and it was a miracle! I read the prayers commanded by the saint every morning.
Ludmila Zaitseva
Film actress, People's Artist of Russia
“There are no sinless people, but I have always tried to live according to the laws of God, my parents laid this in me, for which I am grateful to them without borders. In our farm, where I grew up, there was no church at all. And people were illiterate, they probably didn't even read the Bible. But they knew the prayers by heart and lived like Orthodox Christians. I knew from childhood that it is impossible to lie - it is a sin. You can't take someone else's - it's a sin. Taking someone else's husband away, destroying a family is a terrible sin. It is impossible not to work, “for the worker is worthy of food” (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, verse 10). It must be admitted that the old people preserved our faith for us. And if they did not teach their grandchildren according to the Law of God, then they taught them the faith with their righteous life and prayed for them! After all, you can quote the Gospel every day, but not live by it. And a Russian person lives according to the Gospel.”
Lyudmila Zaitseva about Vasily Shukshin:
“Someone once said: “If Shukshin was a communist, then he did not believe in God, because the Communist Party is atheistic, theomachy.” But it just doesn't fit in my mind. Shukshin, with his subtle nature, with his ability to penetrate deeply into the souls of people, his ability to sympathize, with a categorical rejection of falsehood in any of its forms, does not believe in God ?! Yes, this can not be!
And soon I received confirmation of my thoughts. One of his acquaintances remembered that once on Easter Shukshin stopped in front of the temple, fell to his knees and ... wept. From his lips flew words that no one had heard from him before: “I am a sinner ... I am a sinner ... Lord! Forgive me…” They also say that in one of his letters to his sister he asked to be buried in Russian – with a funeral service.”
Konstantin Kinchev
Alisa group leader
“Before making my choice, I dug enough in esotericism and tinkered with magic, shoveled the Koran, visited a Buddhist monastery several times. It wasn't all that. In 1992, when I was already thirty-two years old, Stas Namin called and said that days of friendship of the cities - his sister cities - were held in Jerusalem and there was a cultural program. I went. And right there in Jerusalem, I realized that I needed to be baptized. I just met a nun in a monastery. She told me, "You will come home and be baptized." Then this nun came to the city to talk with me, and at night I accompanied her to the monastery, which was located above the Garden of Gethsemane. It was well after midnight, I was walking alone, I jumped over the fence. I looked at the sky, imagined what was happening here. And one thought: now I would die here, and that's it, nothing more is needed - that would be happiness. With this feeling, I returned to Moscow. I felt in my heart that Orthodox Church- this is a place where my soul feels good, and the words of St. Theophan the Recluse: “I don’t know how anyone, but I can’t be saved without Orthodoxy,” only strengthened me in the feeling of the right choice. The belief that Christianity is passive is erroneous. Humility brings up the will and gives strength to resist evil.
In 1991, my girlfriend and I were hit by a car. Behind the wheel was a guy able alcohol intoxication… I was then only 19 years old, but I managed to sin a lot over the years. I was blown away, my friend's leg was hurt. The car was not a passenger car - GAZ-53, so they assembled me with difficulty. And now I had a lot of time to change my mind all my turbulent youth in a hospital bed. As soon as I came to my senses after the operation, the investigator began to visit me in the ward for testimony. Meanwhile, my mother was undergoing treatment in one of the resorts of Kabardino-Balkaria. Upon learning of what had happened, she hurried back without completing the course of treatment. When she was on the train, young people looked in and offered her a small book in an oilcloth dark blue cover as a gift ... New Testament, the Gideon Brothers publishing house (many probably remember such a publication). Without stopping home, my mother, upon the arrival of the train, immediately came to me and put this book on the bedside table.
I believed in God. But he didn't live the way He taught. For me, this faith was even a kind of fashionable “outfit”. Yes, and about the commandments of the gospel, I heard out of the corner of my ear (you know what we were taught at school) ... It was June 6, 1991, when I began reading the Holy Scriptures. And, of course, I also read the place where Christ says: “If you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins” ... Before reading these words, I really wanted justice. I even dreamed and fantasized about how this guy would thunder with me for about five years, and enjoyed these fantasies. Now it's like something has switched inside of me. My sins... And I suddenly wanted to forgive. Not even because of the fear of not being forgiven, but because there was a desire to do good in contrast to this useless “justice”. Just forgive, no conditions.
The investigator was surprised. Many of my family and friends were also surprised. And I felt good and free. The next year, my friend and I got married, and three years later I became a priest. Yes, at 23. We have two children, a large parish. Thank God!
Annette Sedova
I never thought that a book would lead me to faith on a lifelong journey. God works in mysterious ways. I was 13-14 years old when a tiny gospel made of tissue paper in a bright emerald leatherette cover appeared in my life - a gift from my older brother, a student from St. Petersburg. Dashing 90s. When Russia converted to the Orthodox faith for the second time… But before that, the first heralds of the Gospel from Norway and Finland appeared in our small gray town. “Methods of poke”, weak faith, temporary apostasy and neophyteism, I went to my true Heavenly Father. Then it didn't matter what part of religion was in my soul: Baptism, Adventism, Protestantism, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism or Orthodoxy. The main thing is that I was sincerely looking for. Will there ever be that adolescent feeling of admiration before a miracle, when you mark gospel upheavals and parables with a simple pencil ... Then some bibliographic efficiency will come in reading the Bible (with the experience of a bibliographer at the Scientific Library of St. Petersburg State University), and then it was like in childhood, when before you opened not just this world in all its marvelousness and beauty, but a Miracle. Miracle of love, miracle of faith, miracle of truth in real history humanity. And I remember reading such urgent and simple words: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, and say to this mountain: move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20), I frantically asked the Lord to heal me of my deafness. Now I smile at this memory. Yes, I have had this since childhood. Of course, I was not given healing. I didn't know the answers to these questions yet. It came later.
It so happened that books became my destiny. My job. They are with me all my life. All my life the rustle of their pages. The best, the most expensive in price, the most colorful and the kindest with their search for the eternal and reasonable. And my parents did their best, and the heads of the libraries themselves trusted me with the latest news. Me, a schoolgirl. Thank them for that trust! You must have seen this insatiable thirst. Strings. Entire libraries in every city I've been to in my life. And I always instinctively took more those in which the gospel thread, the search for truth, was outlined. This is all our great Russian and foreign classics. Do not count these names and titles. Of course, the disease left its mark on the desire to find. In sorrow, let there be consolation. Who would have thought why the Lord is preparing these sorrows for you. If they knew why, they would not even ask for healing. There must always be a pity.
And then there were the rapid years of youth, adulthood, hundreds of small troubles and joys of life, years of apostasy. After a special misfortune, when the Lord no longer wanted, as Clive Staples Lewis said, to appeal to me only with the voice of conscience, after the pilgrimage to Seraphim Vyritsky, my personal spiritual triumph of Orthodoxy entered my life in all its radiance. Suddenly, with a single wave, I temporarily brushed aside the entire layer of secular book literature, because I realized how bottomless and life-giving our treasures of spiritual Orthodox literature are. It should be noted that it was my illness that prompted me to read it in order to find answers to all my pressing questions with a steady arrival in our faith, including how the services are going on, their meanings, the meanings of the sacraments, the lives of the saints, the sermons of our great saints and leaders Churches. No one could have given me such a full-fledged turn anyway, would not have heard, would not have penetrated. Isn't God omniscient? Sometimes, behind this joy of discovery, I now forget about the Main Book itself. I confess. But from time to time, and she continues to be in my hands.
Great Lent is a kind of “stop tap” when a special prayerful opportunity is given to touch such books as “The Christian Meaning of Life” by John of Kronstadt, “The Joy of Repentance” by Anthony of Surozh, “The Word about a Man” by Ignaty Brianchaninov, “My Joy” by Seraphim of Sarov, "Confession" of Augustine Blessed Aurelius. And the already familiar classics will reveal their depths in a different way.
Shmelev brings unspeakable joy with “The Summer of the Lord”, Leskov with “Cathedrals”, how much love for the family in letters from camp exiles from Pavel Florensky, how much spiritual work requires me to listen to Dostoevsky’s legacy (again and again I turn to him), we would have such courage and fidelity from the "Swan Song" by I. Golovkina. Ah, if with mother's milk, from the first lullabies, from our first letters, the gospel motives and truths for everyone without exception were absorbed into our hearts, the world would always shine with Easter.
But, thank God, that we have been given the most merciful hope for the Resurrection, for the Kingdom of Heaven. One has only to accept this greatest gift of love, the miracle that shines through in the book and its holy heritage.
Anna Mar
2011 was a very difficult year for me and my family. In the spring she underwent surgery, and at the beginning of summer my own uncle died, he was my godfather. In my family, everyone is baptized in Orthodoxy, but everyone always went to church only when they needed to. Church-going people call such “goers,” and I was one of those people. But after the operation and the death of my godfather, something changed inside me, and I wanted to be closer to God, I wanted to learn more about faith.
There has never been a Bible in our house, but nowadays this is not a problem, because everything can be found on the Internet. I lived in a Muslim country for a long time and was exposed to their culture and religion. I found one Orthodox online store with books and church utensils and ordered several books. Among them was Father Daniil Sysoev's book "Marriage with a Muslim", which opened my eyes to many questions that I could not find answers to before. Before that, I always thought that no matter what religion you were brought up in, if you lead a righteous life, you will still go to Paradise. This book was extremely interesting for me, to this day I recommend it to all my friends, especially those who are married to Muslims.
After that, I began to read more, although I didn’t particularly like reading before, and in Great Lent for the first time I communed the Mysteries of Christ. It was very scary, and I was going for a long time, preparing for this, but it was the happiest moment in my life.
During Lent, I try to read more of the lives of the saints and other Orthodox literature. Last year I could not tear myself away from the books "Unholy Saints" and "God does not pass by." And this year, since I am studying at diocesan theological courses, I am preparing for exams and reading the Catechism of Priest O. Davydenkov and other educational literature, as well as the works of the priest, I really like to reread it. I am very glad that I came to faith and God and I pray for everyone that everyone believes and comes to Christ. Thank God for everything!
Sasha Dunaeva
Three books influenced my coming to faith. The first is the New Testament (“Gideon Brothers” publishing house, found it in my grandmother’s table, and what did he do there? She never read it), and I believed in God and was baptized. The second is "Unholy Saints", which I read about a year ago, having already gone far from God into paganism. The book touched and awakened what remained deep, as if with a fresh look I saw Christianity, that it is still alive. The third book is The Power of Prayer by Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh. His books and records suddenly responded to me, I read and listened excitedly! My faith seemed to be revived, I returned not only to Christianity, but also to Orthodoxy. Now I live again. This is in short. After all, I still read a lot of books, and I will continue to read - for example, I took Shmeleva. I read and heard so much about him, including on your website, that I decided to read it.
Ludmila Triandofilidi
For several years now I have been reading the lives and teachings of the holy fathers, both ancient and new, in the evening. Everything is told in a simple and understandable language - a storehouse of bottomless advice and moralizing. As St. Ignatius Brianchaninov noted, “the writings of the holy fathers were all composed by inspiration or under the influence of the Holy Spirit. He who is guided by them, without any doubt, has the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
And the beginning was the Law of God and the Bible. Now - "Spiritual Conversations" of St. Macarius of Egypt.
Vera Kulnevich
Strange as it may sound, the books of Sergey Lazarev led me to faith, it was they who convinced me that there is a God. Well, and then, apparently, the Lord Himself led me exactly to Orthodox church. After re-reading her “guidebook” later, she threw it into the fire without regret. Now I am reading a book by Archpriest Andrei Tkachev “We are eternal! Even if we don't want to."
Irina Denisova
I read Gospel of Johnand realized that Jesus Christ is God. The man could not speak like that. Do so. And that's it. This forced him to make an effort to study Christianity. It became clear that Christianity is Orthodoxy.
I read the lives of the saints, “The Christian Meaning of Life” by John of Kronstadt, “I Loved Suffering” by St. Luke of Crimea, the legacy of St. Nicholas of Serbia (Velimirovich), the life of the venerable martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova.
Elena Gartung
It all started not only with books, of course. But at some point, my favorite folk stories by Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, published under the general title “What People Live for”, with wonderful illustrations by the artist Boris Diodorov, gave the right direction to my thoughts so far. Now for the first time I am carefully reading "War and Peace" and am amazed at the immutability of this world.
Read last week penitential canon Andrew of Crete. Wonderfully immersed in the atmosphere of the post.
Olga Arinicheva
The book "Meeting" Anthony of Surozh helped me meet God. Therefore, I revere Vladyka very much, I watch programs about him and always pray for his repose. I usually read Abba Dorotheus with fasting.
Natalia Kabanova
I am very old, so Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita, read in 1971 in one day, since there was no other way to get the book. Gave an impulse to think about the reality of the existence of gospel characters. And only then, already in 1977, there was the Gospel, and even then because at the lectures on scientific atheism we were told in great detail about Christianity. This is how the Lord, even through His denial, brings people to faith.
Tatyana Glazkova
At the university I read the Ostromir Gospel. It was a text where it was necessary to find and determine the types of declensions, etc. The question arose: why is the Bible banned? The thesis "religion is the opium of the people" did not suit me.
Years passed. In 1979, the gospel fell into the hands. Read for a day e breaking away. It is difficult to convey in words the whole gamut of feelings that gripped me then. And joy, and confusion, and serenity at the same time. The world around me has changed. Then another day I read the Gospel, enjoying every word, every letter in it.
Many years have passed since then. Do I believe? It seems to me that faith has become an inseparable part of me. When that happened, I don't know.
Alena Zhilkina
I love to read. I learned to read at the age of three, at the age of five I already read A. Volkov’s book “The Wizard of the Emerald City” with might and main, and at the age of 8 I got into my hands a children’s Bible with very beautiful illustrations. And I started reading. I did not understand much, but I read everything conscientiously and in order. And I was very interested and good. When there were some control tests, I always asked the Lord for help, and He always heard me.
When I was 11, my dad was killed. Mom came to the temple and brought me and my sister. This is how the Gospel and the prayer book, presented by my grandmother, appeared in my life. Then we started buying Orthodox literature, and I forgot about science fiction and adventure. Most of all, I loved to read about real life stories, such as "Under the Roof of the Most High."
Elena Pleshcheeva
Oddly enough, I consciously came to faith after reading the book of the esoteric Sviyash "What to do if everything is not the way you want." I stood at the trolleybus stop and thought what to do next. I have no money, I can’t work, because my son is very sick, and my husband also has problems. The trolleybus was delayed, and I turned around with nothing to do. In front of me was a bookshelf. This book caught my eye right away. I bought it with my last money. And when I read it, I realized that my whole life was going in the wrong direction. And somehow, gradually, my thoughts began to change, I began to go to church, read prayer rule. I saw so much Orthodox literature in the church, I began to read it, and signed up for the Orthodox library. And now, twenty years later, I do not understand how I could live without faith. And I think that everyone has their own way to God, sometimes even as strange as mine. Now I am reading the lives and writings of the holy fathers, the Gospel, the Psalter, the Apostles, and it seems to me that these are the most interesting books I never get bored with them. I also read Orthodox authors - prose, poetry, and I think that so much time has been wasted. And if it weren’t for God’s faith and help, I don’t know how I would have endured such a difficult test - the loss of my son. And I also read the books of Viktor Likhachev, wonderful books.
During Great Lent, I read the book by the publishing house of the Sretensky Monastery "Reading for every day of Great Lent" and the book "Repentance has been left to us" by Abbot Nikon (Vorobiev).
Elizaveta Tsymbarevich
The book "The Summer of the Lord" led to faith. This story became the topic of my thesis at the art department of VGIK. I recently made an album with fragments of Shmelev's text and my sketches. In the introduction to this album, I tell you how this book has influenced my life.
One warm July evening, sitting comfortably in my favorite sun-faded green armchair on the wooden balcony of an old country house, I lazily opened an inconspicuous volume of I. S. Shmelev. And the further I read, the more my heart sank, and something dear, intimate filled my soul. It was summer 2009. I just finished my 4th year of college. It was time to choose a topic for the thesis. I read "The Summer of the Lord" in one breath. Shmelev's simple and wise word touched upon the most important thing that has always been in me. Something I always knew, but somehow forgot. Is it possible to draw it? How to recreate a gone, but living world, to convey the breath of Moscow antiquity, saturated with primordial traditions? How to show the life of the family and at home, full of heartfelt simplicity, "holidays, joys, sorrows"?
Olga Burnaeva
The book "The Holy Gospel with the Interpretation of the Holy Fathers" influenced the coming to faith. After reading it, life values changed, and my path of churching began ...
I read the books “The Secret World of Orthodoxy” by V. Dukhanin, “From Time to Eternity: The Posthumous Life of the Soul”, “Unholy Saints” by Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), and selected creations. Now I am reading the book of Theophan the Recluse “On repentance, confession, communion”, this book includes words and teachings during the days of Great Lent, a very good spiritual guide.
Natalia Leontieva
The book “About the Meeting” transformed the soul. I read all night, and streams of tears flowed from my eyes. Our churching with my husband began from the “meeting”. Then there were more and more books by wonderful Orthodox thinkers. You can't list everyone. Our home library of Orthodox literature is constantly replenished. But only the book "Unholy Saints" acted with the same grace-filled power as the books of vl. Anthony.
Elizaveta Erofeeva
My return to faith, rather than a parish, as an adult, was greatly influenced by the book My Life in Christ. Probably, it was like an insight: what you seemed to always know with a Christian soul, but could not express in words ... I know that this work was written from above, in moments of special “spiritual inspiration”, therefore it is impossible not to feel and accept in heart every thought, every word, as well as not be ashamed not to follow what he says, and sometimes even asks dear father John. In these diary notes, collected over the years, there were answers to all my questions and doubts. A truly valuable book for every day of Great Lent, after the Gospel.
Nikita Korobov
"Unholy Saints" by Archimandrite Tikhon. This book changed the course of my thinking. My mother is a churchgoer, and since childhood I went to church, but I didn’t understand, and, as it seems to me now, I didn’t go very often. More articles, of course, played a very positive role. My churching was influenced by a gift from my mother in the form of a book by Archimandrite Tikhon, references from her to articles by Father Andrei and, of course, the Almighty Providence of God, which arranged all this. Thank God for everything!
Ekaterina Remizova
Of course, it would be wrong to say that one particular book influenced my coming to God. After all, the path to God is a lifelong path. Now, looking back at my life, I see how carefully the Lord has led and is leading me along this path.
Recently, I have often thought about what my path to God consists of until today, until this moment, and I understand that books play a significant role in the very awareness of this path and movement. And, oddly enough, books, or, more broadly, works of art, since there are also films, and songs, and performances, and paintings, completely different in mood and content. After all, the Word is at the same time common to all and to each his own.
I was born into an ordinary family and, although I was baptized on the 40th day of my birth, I first entered the temple both physically and spiritually at the age of 18. There were talks about God in our family, we celebrated Easter, but something important slipped away. And I clearly remember that genuine childish bitterness from the realization that another Easter has passed, and we never went to the temple, although my mother promised and honestly gathered there for many years.
And there were, of course, books like “History of the Old Testament” that appeared during perestroika, and the cartoon “Super-Book”, but that main Word had not yet been spoken, it was all part of history, true story but it's not all about me. At some point, a Bible appeared in the house, but, alas, then my understanding of what I was trying to read and understand is best conveyed by the words “white noise”. It's true, "They have eyes, and do not see, they have ears, and do not hear ......" (Ps. 113).
Then one day my dad, who loves good rock music, brought a cassette of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. This music was familiar to me from childhood, and the film struck me and captured me with its content. I did not like the title of this rock opera, in many respects its presentation, but I felt that there was something about the meaning that I was looking for. I watched and rewatched the film, tears rolled down my face, I didn’t understand why I was crying, but I felt better. For the first time, I felt that they were talking to me about the Main, in the language that I was able to understand.
Then there was the love for the novel "The Master and Margarita" that absolutely captured me. I eagerly absorbed the story that I knew schematically, and which I saw so clearly and figuratively in this book. Yes, I saw that the forces of evil were depicted too attractively, they got much more colors than Bulgakov's Yeshua Ha-Notsri. And yet, through the interweaving of beautiful phrases and a heap of images, let His face come to me “as if through a dull glass”.
I could no longer deny that It wasn't there, though I didn't know what to do with this realization. And life itself helped me with this. It turned out to be some unusually difficult Great Lent. Moreover, I did not hold posts then. I found out about their existence only because my mother, for the second year in a row, with some kind of frightening strangeness for more than a month, every spring before Easter, began to refuse family meals with dumplings, preferring terrible boiled vegetables without oil. By the end of the second Great Lent, my pity for my mother about her fast exceeded all possible limits. In addition, various rather serious sorrows and trials began to visit our family at that time, the final chord of which was the injury of my younger brother. So two more books entered my life.
First book - Orthodox prayer book. He appeared with his mother at the end of the second post. And at the moment when the cup of my patience was overflowing, and the pain threshold was passed, a small green book attracted my attention. I remember this day well. I sat in the kitchen, scared to death of my brother's injury, and read all the prayers that I met there in a row. Every word of every prayer echoed in me with pain and a thirst for a new word. My many years of silent pain finally found its Word. I don’t remember how many prayers I read, how long I sat like this, praying and crying bitterly - now it seems to me like an eternity. But I realized that God is here, next to me, in my house. And I wanted to go to His House, although it was a painful and frightening thought.
Indeed, now it is strange to remember, but I, crying so much in childhood for God's Temple, at the age of 18, I perceived a trip to an unknown and frightening temple as a sortie into enemy territory. So the second book appeared in my life - “My Posthumous Adventures” by Yulia Voznesenskaya. Yes, now I have already read a lot of critical reviews about this book, I agree with many, but still I recommend this book to all my newcomers and doubting friends. Why?
“Indeed, why did I want to go to the temple so much? To this meeting of sectarians,” I thought as I stood at my first vigil. Scary. And, probably, not only to me, because my demons lived quite calmly for such a long time! Not fully realizing who is whose enemy in this situation, I realized one thing: you need to know the enemy in person. Voznesenskaya's book was most welcome. I eagerly absorbed new knowledge. Church tradition and the experience of the Church about life after death, demons, ordeals, a description of the Sacraments unknown to me ... All that life and concepts that I was so attracted to and that I definitely did not understand before, suddenly so simply and clearly, in the form of a fairy tale for adults entered my life. And although the life of the Church seemed frighteningly strange to me, I realized that I wanted to be a part of it.
Following the first Easter came other books. These are “Kamo Gryadeshi” by Henryk Sienkiewicz, and excellent books by K.S. Lewis - "Letters of the Balamut", "Chronicles of Narnia", "Love", "Dissolution of Marriage". Also, “Every Day is a Gift of God” - the diary of an unknown priest - is a reference book for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, who was with her even in the Ipatiev House. Also, the "Meeting" of Metropolitan Anthony of Sudorozhsky, which opened for me the Book of all books - the Gospel.
Evgenia Novoseltseva
Since childhood, I have loved to read. Already in primary school I could sit all Sunday afternoon alone at home with a fascinating book. From the eighth grade we had a division into profiles, from that time I began to study literature professionally, in the tenth grade I entered the lyceum at the university. Then there was a meeting with a teacher of literature, Lyudmila Nikolaevna Zhitkova, and, no matter how loud it may sound, she turned my worldview upside down.
I was 15 years old, and I had a very strong spirit of contradiction and a desire to appear better than I am, or even be not what I really am. A sort of lost teenager in life, who himself does not know what he wants. From the very first lesson, Lyudmila Nikolaevna struck me, but at first this impression was unpleasant. She seemed like a messenger from another, brighter world, which I then cynically, in a Bazarov way, rejected. She broke the stereotypes accepted in school textbooks, rejected Soviet interpretations of works, said that Russian literature cannot be understood without Christianity. And I didn't really like it. After some time, I felt that there was some higher truth in her words, still inaccessible to me, and I decided to understand what kind of truth it was. And then, I remember, I began to read our entire school curriculum through the prism of Christianity.
A different world began to open up to me with different feelings and experiences. I remember that in the classics I was looking for Christ, His truth. You can say in Pushkin's way: it was a real "spiritual thirst." Works that were far from the Christian spirit were boring for me, they even brought me into a state of spiritual heaviness ... F.M. Dostoevsky. We can say that it was only thanks to him that I made the final decision for myself that I wanted to live like a Christian. But before joining the Church, it was still a long way off, two more years... After reading "Crime and Punishment", I came to the conclusion: we are all criminals, we all transgress the commandments in some way, step over our conscience. But, on the other hand, the path of purification and change is open to everyone. In my opinion, the novel shows well how terrible life in sin is.
Then I read War and Peace. Tolstoy also has many deep thoughts about faith. For example, in episodes related to Prince Andrei - in the famous sky near Austerlitz, about the meeting with Natasha when he was wounded, and, of course, in his death. All these are scenes that speak of forgiveness, reconciliation, of eternity that entered time ... Pierre's spiritual quest, the amazing character of Princess Marya, the integrity of Platon Karataev - all this made an indelible impression, it was a kind of seeds, the fruits of which appeared later. From that time and until now, one of my favorite books is The Brothers Karamazov, in which I especially love the Teachings of the Elder Zosima, they saved me more than once from despondency and depression.
At the same time, at school, I began to slowly discover the Gospel, it transformed, surprised. There was a feeling that everything described was the only and real truth of life. Then I entered the Faculty of Philology and began to deepen my knowledge in the field of Russian literature (this was my specialization). I remember how happy I was to study ancient Russian literature, although for our course of philologists and journalists it was one of my least favorite subjects. Firstly, the texts were read in the original, in Old Slavonic, the teacher asked strictly, and those who read in Russian did not know the details. Secondly, these were mostly church works, incomprehensible to the modern reader. But this made me happy: it became possible to read such texts, from which all our literature later came out.
And the last impetus for coming to the temple was two books by Maya Kucherskaya - "Modern Patericon" and "God of Rain". This probably sounds surprising: not everyone loves Kucherskaya, some openly condemn her. But for me, her work played a big role. After reading these two books, I understood: in the Church, there are the same ordinary people (not saints, as I thought earlier), with their own shortcomings, mistakes, but at the same time different, some other reality is open to them. And then most of the fears that fettered me and prevented me from finally crossing the threshold of the church disappeared from me.
Pavel Pushkarev
The book has played a pivotal role in my life. However, one of the first books I read was Father Arseniy. She gave me a living example of faith in a rather difficult time for Orthodoxy in Russia, helped me to understand more fully what Christianity is. It was thanks to her that I saw that Christianity is a way of life, that faith is a huge gift of God to man, and this gift can always be preserved, in any circumstances. Later I read that Fr. Arseny is a fictional figure, a collective image that includes life path many people. And then, to be honest, I was very upset. But now I understand that it doesn’t matter whether Father Arseny was in reality, as a person, or not, the important thing is that this book contains a huge spiritual experience of many people, which is so useful to Christians in the modern world.
Zinaida Pachina
In 1994, the journal "Literary Studies" published a collection of spiritual essays by Anna Ilinskaya "Mother of the Russian Land". In the yard - the "dashing nineties", at home - a constantly ill child, and she herself is on the verge of depression. But I began to read ... and calmed down. I read about Orthodox ascetics of the 20th century and remembered my grandmother - bright, modest to the point of shyness, hardworking. I remembered her difficult life, her patience and faith. In communication, she was laconic, soft, reasonable ... And through the “prism of life” and the image of the grandmother, the life of the mothers from the essays suddenly became so close, understandable, clear. And their faith became clear. Everything came together in my head at once, fell on the shelves, and “like a veil fell from my eyes”: so, how I didn’t understand before, because everything is so simple, so amazing. Faith has come. New books appeared in life - from the church shop.
Based on materials from Pravmir's reader communities in social networks
M ir to you, dear visitors of the Orthodox island "Family and Faith"
P We offer for an interesting and inspiring reading the stories about the purity and strength of children's faith, and the story of devotion to filial love, set forth by Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko.
Children's faith
IN There lived a widow in one town. In her old age, she became blind and did not know how to feed herself and whom to ask for help. Fortunately, she had a son, a boy of about fifteen, who took the blind mother around her little house. He was a believing and pious boy.
And so, he turned with a prayer to God, Who, living on earth in the flesh, gave light to the eyes of many blind people. The boy began to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to help his poor mother. He prayed earnestly day after day and did not get tired in prayer, although years passed and it seemed that the Lord did not hear him. But the boy believed that God would appear with His help.
One evening the son was sitting with his mother. It was quiet. Suddenly the blind woman cried out:
Why did you light so many candles?!
The son was frightened by the question, rushed to his mother and began to look intently into her eyes. And what? It was like a film had come off them. They opened, and the mother began to see.
Children's Hope in God
IN Petersburg, a poor man died, leaving his wife with three small children. After the death of their father, the children had to temporarily stay with their mother with the mistress, who did not evict them from the apartment out of mercy. The unfortunate family did not have enough bread to eat.
Once, when her mother left, a little girl asked her brother for bread, but he did not know how to feed her. The girl was crying, but he could not help her: there was no bread. The boy somehow already knew how to write. Here he sits down at the table in great anxiety and begins to write a letter to God Himself: “Holy, merciful God! My sister wants to eat. You send me three kopecks to buy her bread.” Having written this, he folded up his letter and ran out of the house at a run to put it in the mailbox as soon as possible. But the boy was still small, and the box hung high, and he could not reach it in any way.
At this time, a priest passed by. Taking a piece of paper from the kid's hands, he read what was written there. After that, he went with the boy to their apartment and, having ascertained the poverty of the unfortunate family, left money. The next Sunday, the priest delivered a sermon on mercy in the church. Pointing to a child standing nearby, he told the audience about the letter and then went through the church with a dish. In favor of a poor family, 1,500 rubles were collected (a very impressive amount by the standards of pre-revolutionary Russia, when a good cash cow cost 60 rubles. - Ed.)!
generosity of a son
IN reign of Peter the Great, the boyar Zhelyabuzhsky committed a serious crime, for which the law condemned him to death. The court sentenced him to the prescribed punishment, and the death warrant was already signed by the king. The unfortunate man was preparing for inevitable death. There was no way to save him. But he had a son who, from a very young age, was distinguished by tender love for his parents.
The young man, struck by the misfortune of his father and the dishonor that fell on their entire family, decided to sacrifice his life to save his parent. Having met the sovereign at his exit from the palace, he threw himself at his feet and said with a sob:
- Sovereign! My father violated his duty against God and Fatherland and was sentenced to death. I do not dare to grumble at your sentence, but I dare to resort to your mercy. Order, great sovereign, instead of my father to put me to death. I gladly sacrifice my life for the author of my life. Sovereign! Do not deny me my heartfelt desire to pay my father for his upbringing, save my mother from the loss of her husband, brothers and sisters from orphanage, and all offspring from shame!
The sovereign, touched by the tender love of his son, replied:
“I forgive my father for raising such a son. Moreover, I favor you with his place and I think that you will do his job better than your father.
Advice
TO A stranger came to an old man and said: good person! My own brother and I quarreled, and when I tried with all my might to make amends with him, he resolutely refused; do me a favor, persuade him!” The elder gladly agreed and, calling his angry brother to him, began to speak to him about love and harmony ...
At first it seemed that the bitter brother softened under the influence of the elder's affectionate speech. But suddenly his face twitched with anger, and he resolutely said: “I cannot put up with my brother, for I swore to remember his offense to the grave.”
Then the elder smiled and said: “Your oath is sinful, and when you pronounced it, it turned out that you, as it were, were saying the following: “Jesus Christ! I conjure myself by Your Cross that from now on I will not fulfill Your commandments, but I want to do the evil will of the devil. My friend! We must forget everything that we decide to do in anger, and repent of it. If Herod had repented and violated his unreasonable oath, he would not have committed the greatest atrocity, he would not have killed the Forerunner of Christ.
Hearing these words, the stranger immediately reconciled with his brother.
Discussion: 5 comments
Hello Victoria!
Let us pray together for your husband, that the Lord will help you, give you strength in your sorrow. Prayer, including the reading of the Psalter, is undoubtedly good for the soul. I just want to remind you that neither the prayer itself, nor the akathist, nor the kathisma help, if prayers are treated as spells - this is a sin. The Lord gives healing only by faith, and not because of how many prayers we have read.
With God!To answer
Hello Marina!
We will definitely pray.
May the Lord grant you bodily and spiritual health, with the prayers of the martyr. Healer Panteleimon and St. blzh. Matrona of Moscow!To answer
Hello. My husband has been suffering from prostate cancer for the fourth year, the doctors refused, we only anesthetize him. He is weakening. I constantly pray to God, the All-Tsaritsa, Kirpian and Justina, St. Nicholas, Zosima, I really want to help him recover, so that a miracle happens, the doctors said so only a miracle will help. Please pray for Anatoly, I beg you. A friend advised me to read 4 kathisma, does she help too?
To answer
Thank you very much for your prayers, it was already going to be removed, but the Lord healed me in an instant, simply contrary to all the laws of medicine! This is a real miracle!
To answer
I read and cried, but my son will also pray for me and I am recovering. He is 12 years old. Pray for R. B. Marina too, exactly a month has passed after the birth, as I can’t really recover, the uterus does not decrease and fluid has accumulated in it. I am still running to the hospital for half a day, the treatment has already been canceled, it is no longer possible to inject, the course has been completed, and there are few changes. The blood clots have been cleaned, but the fluid does not want to leave. The pain intensifies periodically.
To answer