"Fast for help"
A housekeeper, a pious woman, lived in our family for a long time. Her work was formalized by a contract, and we paid insurance premiums for her. When the woman got old, she went to live with her relatives. When the new law on pensions came out, the old woman came to us to take from us the documents necessary to receive a pension. I carefully took care of these documents, but when I began to look for them, I could not find them in any way.
I searched for three days, rummaged through all the drawers, all the cupboards - and could not find it anywhere. When the old woman came again, I bitterly told her about my failure. The old woman was very upset, but said with humility: “Let's pray to Saint Nicholas to help us, and if you don’t find it then, then, apparently, I need to be reconciled and forget about my pension”. In the evening, I fervently prayed to St. Nicholas, and that same evening, under the table against the wall, I noticed some kind of paper roll. These were the very documents that I was looking for. It turns out that the documents fell into the drawer of the writing desk and fell out only after we fervently prayed to St. Nicholas. Everything turned out well, and the old woman began to receive a pension. Thus, St. Nicholas, who was quick to help, heard our prayer and helped in trouble.
"Are you not an angel of God?"
One woman recounted an incident that happened to her in 1991. Her name is Catherine and she lives in Solnechnogorsk. One winter she was walking along the shores of Lake Senezh and decided to rest. I sat down on a bench to admire the lake. Grandmother was sitting on the same bench, and they started a conversation. We talked about life. The grandmother said that her son does not love her, that the daughter-in-law offends her very much, and they do not give her a “pass”.
Catherine is a pious, Orthodox woman, and, naturally, the conversation turned to the help of God, about faith, about Orthodoxy, about living according to the Law of God. Catherine said that one should turn to God and seek help and support from Him. The grandmother answered that she had never gone to church and did not know prayers. And in the morning Catherine, not knowing why, put the Prayer Book in her bag. She remembered this, took the Prayer Book out of her bag and gave it to her grandmother.
The old woman looked at her in surprise: "Oh, and you, darling, won't you disappear now?" "What's wrong with you?" - asked Ekaterina. "Are you not an Angel of God?" - the old woman was frightened and told what happened to her a week ago. The atmosphere in the house was such that she felt completely redundant and decided to commit suicide. She came to the lake and sat down on a bench before throwing herself into the ice-hole. An old man of very fine-looking appearance, gray-haired, with curly hair, with a very kind face sat down to her, and asked: “Where are you going? Drown? You don't know how scary it is, where you are going! It’s a thousand times scarier there than your life is now. ” He was silent for a while and asked again: "Why don't you go to church, why don't you pray to God?" She replied that she had never gone to church and that no one had taught her to pray. The old man asks: "Do you have any sins?" She replies: “What are my sins? I have no special sins ”. And the old man began to remind her of her sins, unkind deeds, he even named those about which she had forgotten, about which no one could know except her. She could only be surprised and horrified. Finally she asked: "Well, how am I going to pray if I don't know any prayers?" The old man replied: “Come here in a week, and you will receive prayers. Go to church and pray. " The old woman asked: "What is your name?", And he replied: "Your name is Nikolai." At that moment she turned away for some reason, and when she turned around, there was no one around.
"A quick helper in need for those in need"
The pious family of the worker had seven children. They lived near Moscow. It was at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when bread was handed out on ration cards and in very limited quantities. At the same time, monthly cards were not renewed upon loss. The eldest of the children, Kolya, thirteen years old, went to the store to buy bread in this family.
In winter, on the day of St. Nicholas, he got up early and went for bread, which was enough only for the first buyers. He came first and waited at the door of the store. He sees four guys walking. Noticing Kolya, they went straight to him. Like lightning, the thought flashed through my head: "Now they will take away the bread cards." And this doomed the whole family to a hungry one. In horror, he mentally cried out: "Saint Nicholas, save me." Suddenly an old man appeared next to him, who approached him and said: "Come with me." He takes Kolya by the hand and in front of the stunned and numb with surprise guys leads him to the house. He disappeared near the house. Saint Nicholas remains the same “quick helper in need for those who exist”.
"What are you sleeping for?"
This is what a World War II veteran named Nikolai told a priest. “I managed to escape from German captivity. I made my way through occupied Ukraine at night and hid somewhere during the day. Once, having woken up the night, I fell asleep in the morning in the rye. Suddenly someone wakes me up. I see in front of me an old man in priestly attire. The old man says: - What are you sleeping? The Germans will come here now. I got scared and asked: - Where can I run? The priest says: - Here, you see, there is a bush, run quickly there. I turned to run, but immediately realized that I had not thanked my savior, turned around ... and he was gone.
I understood that St. Nicholas himself - my saint - was my savior. With all my strength I rushed to run towards the bushes. In front of the bushes, I see the river flows, but not wide. I threw myself into the water, got to the other side and hid in the bushes. I looked out of the bushes - Germans with a dog were walking along the rye. The dog leads them straight to the place where I slept. She circled there and led the Germans to the river. Then I slowly began to leave the bushes, farther and farther. The river hid my trail from the dog, and I safely escaped the pursuit. "
"Crosswise"
This story took place at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. It was told by a Moscow priest. It happened to one of his close relatives. She lived in Moscow. The husband was at the front, and she was left alone with small children. They lived very poorly. Then there was famine in Moscow. I had to live in difficult conditions for a very long time. The mother did not know what to do with the children, she could not calmly look at their suffering. At some point, she began to come to a state of complete despair and was about to commit suicide. She had an old icon of St. Nicholas, although she did not particularly venerate him, she never prayed. She did not go to church. The icon may have been inherited from her mother.
And so she went up to this icon and began to reproach Saint Nicholas, shouting: “How can you look at all this suffering, at how I suffer, I struggle alone? See my children starving to death? And you are doing absolutely nothing to help me! " In despair, the woman ran out onto the landing, perhaps already heading for the nearest river or something else about to do with herself. And suddenly she stumbled, fell and saw in front of her two ten-ruble bills folded crosswise. The woman was shocked, began to look: maybe someone dropped it, if there was anyone nearby, but she saw: no one was there. And she understood that the Lord had mercy on her, and Saint Nicholas sent her this money.
This made such a strong impression on her that it was the beginning of her conversion to God, to the Church. Of course, she left all bad thoughts, returned home to her icon, began to pray, cry, thank. With the money sent to her, she bought groceries. But most importantly, she gained faith that the Lord is near, that He does not leave a person and that in such difficult moments, when a person needs help, the Lord will definitely give it.
Then she began to go to church. All her children became Orthodox Church people, and one son even became a priest.
"Saving Mother and Baby"
The Veletma River flows along the entire village where my grandmother lived. Now the river has become shallow and narrow, the deepest places for children are knee-deep, and before Veletma was deep, full-flowing. And the banks of the river were swampy and swampy. And this should have happened - her three-year-old son Vanechka slipped off a log into this swamp in front of his mother and immediately went to the bottom. Elizabeth rushed to him, jumped into the swamp, grabbed her son. But she herself cannot swim. I came to my senses, but it's too late. And they both began to drown. She prayed to Nicholas the Wonderworker, asking for the salvation of the souls of sinners. And a miracle happened. Like a wave, a large strong stream lifted the mother and baby over the swamp and lowered them onto a dry fallen tree, blocking the swamp like a bridge. My uncle Vanya is still alive, he is now over seventy.
"Now I need help!"
When the Nikolsky Church in Zelenograd was being restored, an old woman of about seventy came to the restoration work and said that she had come to help. There they were surprised: "Where can I help you?" She says: "No, put me on some physical work." They laughed, and then they looked: she really began to carry something, trying to get into the most difficult places. They asked what prompted her to do this. She said that the other day an old man suddenly came into her room and said: “Listen, you asked me so much for help, and now I need help, I need help” ... She was surprised. Then she remembered that the door in her room was closed. By the image she recognized Saint Nicholas and realized that it was he who came to her and called her to help. She knew that St. Nicholas Church was being restored, and now she came ...
Return of the Lost
It happened when my husband worked for the owner in a bread stall. Then I was left without work, and we were very poor. The daughter and her family lived in Vorkuta at that time. Literally with the last money, she called me and said that now a lot is being decided in their fate, and that she wrote about everything in two letters. You can imagine how I worried about her and waited for these letters! And so they came.
I was just bringing my husband lunch and put them unopened in my coat pocket. But when I returned, there were no letters in my pocket. Apparently, on the way, I somehow dropped them. What happened to me! .. I ran back, examining every centimeter of the road, but I could not find any letters. I came home, fell on my knees in front of the icons, cried and began to pray and ask Father Nicholas the Wonderworker to help me. I begged him to return the letters to me. I said, sobbing, that they were from my unfortunate child and that they were dearer to me than any money, that it would be better if I lost money than these letters.
And at some point, peace entered the soul, as if I had heard the answer to my prayer. And the next day, both letters were in the mailbox. Someone's kind hand raised them and lowered them there. I thanked the Lord and Father Nicholas the Wonderworker with all my heart for their great mercy to me. But the miracles did not end there.
In the evening, my husband came home from work - he had no face. It turned out that he accepted a counterfeit fifty-thousandth bill, gave bread and change from it, and at that time this money was almost entirely his salary. He walked home and did not know how to tell me about this: after all, this meant that we would have to starve for more than one day, and I was already exhausted, saving every penny. But in my soul there was such joy from the letters presented to me that I not only was not upset, but once again, together with my husband, thanked my fast helper and great Wonderworker for his mercy to us. After all, everything happened at my word: I said that these letters are dearer to me than money. So how could I be annoyed with my husband for this very money?
And then a second miracle happened: the owner forgave us this shortage and paid us out in full. I say “miracle” because this man never forgave even the smallest damage to himself, and at that time fifty thousand was a very large sum. And I am deeply convinced that this miracle would not have happened, had I forgotten my words, uttered in a moment of fervent prayer, had pity on this money and myself, scolded my husband for inattention.
It was a test of our faith, and thank God that He gave us the strength to endure this test. Father Nicholas the Wonderworker will be blessed! Low bow to him and great gratitude for helping us, sinners and weak.
Tatiana Ilyina, St. Petersburg
Patron saint of our family
Once I bought a tiny icon of St. Nicholas and hung it on the wall. I am a blockade, my stomach often hurts. At four o'clock in the morning, exhausted from pain, I knelt down and prayed: "If you can hear me, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, help me - I have no strength." The pains that had tormented me for several weeks stopped. Healthy, full of energy, six months later I celebrated my anniversary.
And two years later, for my sins - during Great Lent, I visited guests, had fun - I got sick again. And again she prayed before the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker: “Help, Saint Father Nicholas! I cannot walk, and I myself cannot overcome my pain. And then in St. Nicholas Cathedral in front of each icon, near which there is a candlestick, I will put a candle. "
The pain began to let go of me. On the third day I was able to get up and, together with my daughter, travel from Sestroretsk, where I live, to St. Petersburg, to St. Nicholas Cathedral. Saint Nicholas helped me there too. I come and see that there are only expensive candles left, and there is no way to count the candlesticks. I was scared that I would not have enough money. I bought more candles, began to walk around the cathedral and put them in front of the icons. But I feel that my candles will soon run out, and I will not be able to buy as many of them as needed, I will not be able to fulfill my promise. Suddenly the daughter calls: "Mom, they brought small inexpensive candles there!" That was my joy! I thanked Saint Nicholas for helping the ambulance. I went to the candlestick to buy these candles home, but they were already over.
For the third time he helped me with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, when on Easter week I turned to him with a fervent prayer: "Heal me for the sake of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!"
Saint Nicholas saved me when an evil man came to me on the street. I was returning from the store, and he firmly grabbed my hand and began to say nasty things. In such cases, I always managed to wriggle out, but here I couldn’t, I even cried out of despair. I think he will drag me into the gateway, in broad daylight, and no one will intercede. What a shame in old age! I raised my head to the sky and said: "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, help me get away from him!" The man let go of his hand, and I ran across the road. I turned around - I feel: something is happening to him, and left as soon as possible.
Larisa, St. Petersburg
At the cross
I was born in an atheistic environment. Family, school, books, television and newspapers completely blocked our generation's path to the knowledge of the Truth. Restructuring and the collapse of old stereotypes led me to a painful search for the meaning of life. When I was demobilized, I discovered that the ideals that seemed clear and unchanging in the army turned out to be illusory and false in “civilian life”.
My spiritual throwing of those times is akin to the search of many young people: rock music, informal associations, student skits, finally, Freemasonry - thank God, only its pitiful likeness - and sectarianism. In the end, I decided to commit suicide. But the Lord saved me. After the hospital, he began to read Dostoevsky a lot, then Soloviev, Ilyin and, finally, Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. But the main role in my churching was played by St. Nicholas.
This was in 1991. After graduating from the institute, I went on assignment to a distant taiga town. I had to go through the city of Mineralnye Vody, and for several days I stopped in Kislovodsk. On the last day of my stay there, I walked aimlessly around the city.
There was some trifle in my pocket, and I decided to go to the pastry shop. There was a break. Unexpectedly for myself, I found myself near a small wooden cross, on which there was a sign with an explanation that St. Nicholas Cathedral would be built on this place. There was a candlestick at the cross. A candle-maker was on duty next to the donation box.
I was about to leave when two women approached the cross, a mother and a daughter, who differed from those around them in their inexplicable natural aristocracy. Having involuntarily admired them, I lingered at the cross. They slowly bought candles, put their donations in the box and began to pray. It was something incomprehensible to me, and at the same time, uniquely beautiful. Tears ran down the girl's face. Their prayers were fervent and sincere. I don't know why, but I wanted to cry too. The soul was filled with a hitherto unknown emotion. I suddenly felt with all my heart something important, which my restless soul so longed for.
Those women had long gone, their candles had burned out long ago, the break in the pastry shop was long over, and I still stood and stood at the cross - a small, unprepossessing one, which suddenly became dear to me. Having pulled out all the small change from my pocket, I handed it to the candlestick: “Do not disdain, mother. That's all I have. " She smiled and told the parable of the poor widow and her mite. Since then, this place in Kislovodsk has been especially sacred for me. Now the walls of a magnificent temple have ascended there. Each time I approach him with spiritual trepidation, as if I were going on a date with the saint himself.
Later St. Nicholas the Wonderworker saved my son. It was to him that I fervently prayed for the preservation of the life of an unborn baby. Today it is difficult to imagine what would have happened to me if that summer day the saint of God Nicholas had not led me to a small cross, momentarily revealing for me the cover of the greatest mystery of the universe, whose name is Truth.
Oleg Seledtsov, Maykop
Thanks to my mother's faith
Our family comes from the village. Edrovo, Valdai district, Novgorod region. There used to be two churches in the center of the village: in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and Nikolskaya. It will be about the second temple.
As a five-year-old girl, my mother, along with other children, frolicked near the church. A thunderstorm was approaching, but everyone laughed: copying the adults, they crossed themselves and fell to their knees. Suddenly there was a strong thunderclap. Everyone froze, and my mother saw a huge fiery cross over the church. She ran home in dismay. Since then, throughout her long, very difficult life, mother has honored St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
She studied at school for only two years: she was given to a nanny, then she served as a maid in St. Petersburg. I saw the revolution, felt sorry for the young cadets, who were seized right on the streets and taken to execution. She returned to her homeland, got married, and got married with her husband in St. Nicholas Church. The eldest son, Boris, served in Kronstadt on the destroyer Strogiy. Then he said: “Mom, your prayer has always saved me. Once we were on duty with a friend on deck. A shell fell, a comrade died, and I am alive. Bitter for my comrade, happy for myself. "
During the war, we were evacuated to the Sverdlovsk region. We arrived in a remote village. On an early winter morning, my mother went to the regional center to look for work. The mother of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for help. Suddenly a dark spot appeared in the distance. Isn't it a wolf? Coming closer, my mother saw a stranger who told her in detail how to get to the regional center. Thanks to God and St. Nicholas, my mother arrived safely, got a job in a vegetable store and began to bring us delicious vegetables every evening.
After breaking the blockade of Leningrad, we were allowed to return home to Yedrovo. For two years our garden has been overgrown with weeds. For several days, my mother dug it up by hand and did not go to work on the collective farm. For this, an application was filed against her in the people's court. Valdai judge Shtokman pounded on the table with her fist: "You are not Soviet, we will evict you!" Mom didn't cry. After the verdict - six months of "coercion" - she bowed to the assembly and calmly said: "Thank you, good people."
At home I prayed for a long time, wrote a letter to my son in Kronstadt. At night, my mother had a dream: she sits on a collective farm field after harvesting flax and sees how the sky opened up and the Mother of God moves from the depths with the Baby in her arms, smiles at her. Mom shouted: "Look, Mother of God, look!" But everyone was just surprised, and the vision disappeared. A few days later my brother Boris arrived, went to Valdai and restored justice. The court verdict was canceled.
So, thanks to my mother's faith, the Lord protected our family with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, amid many troubles and trials.
My mother passed away to the Lord on Nikolas Zimny and was buried on the site of the former Nikolskaya church in the village of Lokotsko, in front of the altar. There is now a chapel next to her grave, where we pray and thank the Lord for everything, as my dear mother thanked Him.
And in the Nikolskaya church of our native village of Edrovo, a teahouse was set up, from which cleaning women ran away at midnight, hearing bells ringing and church singing. Now in its place is the Moscow-Petersburg highway.
Zinaida Gadalina, Novgorod region
"How is it worthy to praise your miracles?"
In 1988, I was admitted to the hospital with bouts of severe pain. I had a difficult operation ahead of me. My husband was in St. Nicholas Cathedral, praying to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. to the healer Panteleimon about my recovery. I must say that at that time I was not baptized and rarely went to church, did not understand the services and turned to God only with requests for help. Before the operation, having mentally called to the Lord Jesus Christ, I promised to be baptized if I stay alive. I asked for help from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. the healer Panteleimon. And - lo and behold! The most complicated operation, which lasted about three hours, was completed successfully. I got better without complications. After leaving the hospital, she was baptized in the St. Nicholas Cathedral. Glory and thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ, St. Nicholas and St. Panteleimon.
My daughter was very sad about her childlessness. With faith and hope, I again turned to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. I prayed at his miraculous icon in St. Nicholas Cathedral. And a year later, the desired, begged son and grandson was born. Glory to the Lord in His saints!
The third case of explicit help from St. Nicholas the Pleasant happened to me recently. I love the sea very much, but I was always afraid to swim far away. At that time the sea was calm, and I, scolding myself for indecision, called for the help of the Guardian Angel, swam a long distance. Here it was as if someone ordered me: "Come back!" There was no one around. I slowly swam to the shore.
The tide has begun. The waves drove me harder and harder to the shore. I was glad for their “help”. And suddenly, almost at the very shore, they began to cover me with their heads. I did not have time to take in air, catch my breath, did not reach the bottom. I understood: a little more, and I will drown. From the fear of dying without confession, without Holy Communion, I mentally began to cry out to the Lord and the Mother of God for help. The waves seemed to cover me less often. Trying frantically to remember the name of the saint helping at sea, she exclaimed: “Saint Nicholas! Help me, give me strength to cry for help, calm the waves! " And ... she was able to shout, call her daughter. They heard me and helped. Saved! It all happened in a matter of minutes. Glory and thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Holy Guardian Angel!
When it is hard for me, sorrowful, I pray, read akathists, canons. Thoughts, heart and soul calm down. Joy and strength come to live on.
Tamara, St. Petersburg
The day I was born
I was born on May 22nd and never thought about what a wonderful day it is. She came to the Lord recently, already having a family and two children. I know: I will follow the path of Orthodoxy, and my children are by my side. I want to tell you about how St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, having heard my prayers.
In the kindergarten, in the group where I work as a teacher, state money was kept. Somehow I felt very bad. I asked to go home, but before leaving, I decided to hide the money that was in plain sight on the lower shelf, where no one looks. Having removed other things, in a serious condition, I hardly made it home. She told the caller where she put the money.
A heart attack put me out of action for a long time. And when I returned to work, I found out that my partner had not found money, and she had not looked very hard. After crying, breaking all the closets and turning everything upside down, suspecting one person in my soul, I still pulled myself together and decided to gradually pay off the debt. State money, there was nowhere to go.
A month has passed. With my grief, I went to church, and in confession I told that I doubted a person. Suddenly it dawned on me! Remembering that on my birthday the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, I came to the Holy Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral, to the image of the saint. I asked Saint Nicholas to help me remove the pain of suspicion from my soul. She begged him: “If the money is in the group, tell me where it is. I don’t want to think badly of people! ”
The next day, having prayed again at home to St. Nicholas, I came to work and immediately, as if by chance, went to the right place. I have looked there for money before, but maybe not as carefully as necessary. I opened the closet, took the folder and immediately saw the lost money in it. I would never have thought that I could have put them there! How I rejoiced, apologized to my colleagues, thanked the Lord and Saint Nicholas!
Maybe it will seem to someone that there is nothing surprising in my story, but for me it was a real miracle and a deliverance from evil thoughts. And on Trinity in the church we were presented with icons of St. Nicholas. And now I have his icon at home. Yes, and in the church I always hasten to his image, I thank, I ask for his warm intercession before the Lord. My heart opened and turned to Saint Nicholas.
Anna Bolachkova, St. Petersburg
At the site of a miraculous phenomenon
On June 11, 1897, a thundercloud swept over the village of Kuyuki, Kazan province, bursting out with a terrible hail and an unprecedented downpour in these places. The hail was so strong that it destroyed the crops of many farms and injured the peasants. The downpour blew down the gates and fences. When the Kuyukov peasants left their homes the next day, they were surprised to find that their dry river Kuyukovka had turned into a stormy stream that changed its course. On the banks of the stream, layers of hard rubble stone appeared. The people of Kuyukov really needed it both for construction and for sale. While mining the stone, the peasants acquired a small chased image of St. Nicholas.
An unusual find - a copper image floated over the water - made the people of Kuyukov think: what to do with the image, where to put it? Before the arrival of the priest, they made something like a lectern out of stones, covered it with a white tablecloth and placed the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. They lit up the icon lamp. The people went to the holy face, prayed in front of him, leaving their labor pennies on a platter for donations. With these donations, local peasants built a stone church in two years, where they transferred the honest icon.
The image became famous for many miracles. There were days when up to five thousand pilgrims gathered to bow to St. Nicholas.
Today the church is desolate. But every year on June 25, at the place where the icon was found, where the cross was erected, a prayer service with consecration of water to St. Nicholas is served. On this day, the priest consecrates the lake. People bathe in it, and there are cases of healing from diseases.
Galina, Kazan
The face of the saint
My mother had an old icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The mother is gone - the icon is gone. Wrapped in a rag, put in a chest, carried to a closet. There was no one to pray in front of the icon: there is no faith in the soul, either in Christ or in the saints.
Time has passed. Once I was sorting through the little things in the chest, and this icon of St. Nicholas caught my eye. She took it in her hands, looked closely - she was looking at me with a stern, almost stern face. The longer I look, the more I feel great wisdom in this face, as if the saint wants to tell me something very important for my life. Suddenly my heart ached, it began to speak: some feeling inside was ashamed. It became uncomfortable. How many years the icon has been lying, but I have never remembered about it! I brought it into the room, put it in a corner. No, no, yes, and I'll take a look at St. Wonderworker. Sometimes I cross myself. The soul is callous, unresponsive, empty. No faith, no.
One late evening I was lying in bed with my eyes closed: there was no sleep, different thoughts were wandering in my head. Suddenly I heard right above my ear: "My daughter!" The words sounded clear and clear. I did not attach much importance to this. I forgot. Three days passed. Everything repeated, only the words I heard were different: "I have been waiting for you for a long time." I unwittingly put these two phrases together. I thought about it. What does it mean? Whose voice is this? Undoubtedly: he was from the icon! I realized that Saint Nicholas was waiting for me to turn to him.
What is love for a person, what is patience! For many years, the saint of God waited for me to finally receive my sight and turn to the Lord, to him. I did not know prayers, but, as best I could, I asked forgiveness from the saint. From then on, I began to approach him with faith and reverence. I understood what God, our Savior, means to us. He settled in my heart for the rest of my life. How much I had lost before, how long my sinful soul longed for communion with God!
I began to join the Church, taught my children to pray and believe in God. It is impossible to convey the feelings that settled in me when, through the Sacraments of the Church, I became connected with the Lord. Now you have the strength to live, believe, love and win. I began to look at everything and everyone with different eyes.
Tamara Ivanova, Saratov
"My Faith Got Stronger"
When my premature birth began, I took with me to the hospital a prayer book and icons of the Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. I reassured myself only that my child would not die on the holiday. For almost a week the baby was on the verge of life and death, and all these days I closed myself in my soul, put icons in front of me and prayed, prayed, prayed ...
A son was born on October 20. He breathed himself - the doctors said it was a miracle. And he breathed on his own for a day: there was no free artificial respiration apparatus in the hospital. They told me to be ready for anything. And I prayed. Then there were ten days of intensive care, a children's clinic, a cerebral hemorrhage, weak lungs, low weight ... I understood that this was a test given to me by God. My faith has grown stronger. My husband believed and was baptized. In the hospital, they managed to baptize their son with the name Nikolai. Soon the child began to recover, we were discharged.
A month later, an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, written with the one that is at the relics of the saint, for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Of course, I carried my son to her. The child was predicted to have disability and many chronic diseases. But for a year now, he has been alive and well. He accepts the Holy Gifts with trepidation unusual for a baby. Becomes serious in front of the icons.
"Saint Father Nicholas, pray to God for us!"
Julia, Yekaterinburg
Healing myrrh
When my son was not even two years old, he suffered from severe food poisoning. My wife called me at work and said that he was in serious condition. The temperature is high and rising steadily. The doctor will come in the afternoon, and if the child gets worse before his arrival, an ambulance should be called. I immediately went home. The son lay in the crib, staring blankly at the ceiling, not recognizing anyone. When I touched his head, my heart went cold with fear: the fontanelle * was open, like a newborn's. The wife was in a state of pre-stress, read "Theotokos Virgin" and trusted only in God.
I threw myself on my knees in the holy corner in front of the icons and began to pray fervently. Then he returned to his son and, putting his hand on his stomach, read "Our Father". We decided not to call an ambulance. When the doctor came, the child felt better, the temperature dropped. The doctor said that he could not send his son to the intensive care unit, but give him medications that he would prescribe. After the doctor left, I prayerfully anointed the boy's forehead and tummy with the oil from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with the addition of peace from his relics. It was Thursday - the day of remembrance of this saint. The son fell asleep. The wife ran to the pharmacy for medicines.
An hour later, the child woke up. The temperature is normal, there is a smile on the face, the fontanelle is closed. We realized that a miracle had happened. The son recovered without having time to take medicine. "Did anyone come to you in a dream?" I asked. “Yes,” he replied. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker healed our child.
Sergey, Samara
"Precious from perdition"
When the war began, our family lived in Gatchina. We had to evacuate with a part of the Putilov plant, where my father worked, to the Urals. Early in the morning we rode out of the house on horseback. In the evening we reached Aleksandrovka, where we were stopped by a military patrol. We were forced to occupy a vacant house on the edge of the village. There was no light. Mom threw some things on the floor and made a bed for all of us in the right corner of the hut.
At night, an intensive raid began: the Germans were rushing to Pulkovo. Our anti-aircraft guns answered. There was a strong roar, everything was blazing, and it was very scary. We huddled in a heap, began to pray: "Lord, help!" When another explosion lit up the room, my mother screamed and looked into the corner opposite. There, in the strip of light, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was clearly visible. We prayed to him.
Leaving Alexandrovka, my mother took the image with her. He went through the whole war with us, and we had to go through three fascist concentration camps. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker guarded us, and we returned alive.
Nina Sokolova, St. Petersburg
"Warming beings in the scum"
In 1922 I had to preach in one of the temples behind Taganka, not far from the Rogozhsky cemetery. He spoke about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and how many miracles he performed and what a quick henchman he is.
I agreed. P-cue and his wife lived near the temple. They were childless; it was evident from the furnishings and things that they had previously had good means.
This is what the hospitable host told me: “My father lived in a small district town in the Voronezh province. He was engaged in petty trade, buying up hemp, flax, leather, etc. in the villages. We lived in poverty; my father had a big family.
One day in December, when I was ten years old, my father decided to take me with him, heading to the villages located twenty-five versts from the city, to buy goods. We had an old horse and a very light sled. It was a beautiful winter day. The sun was already warming up, the road was good, and we did not notice how we drove more than ten miles from the city. The terrain there is steppe, and we did not come across a single village on the way.
Suddenly the wind changed, clouds came and it began to rain. The road turned black. Soon all our clothes got wet, and water began to flow under our collars. Also, suddenly the wind moved to the north, frost hit and a blizzard roared around. A blizzard in that area is a very dangerous thing, and my father, having calmed down, began to drive the horse, which could hardly move along the road covered with snow. The blizzard was getting stronger. The wet clothes froze, and we began to suffer from the cold wind that penetrated through the clothes to the very body. The horse slowed down and finally stood up. Suddenly we felt somehow warm and pleasant, and we began to doze. Finally I fell asleep.
Suddenly I saw in the distance some kind of luminous point, which was rapidly approaching, increasing in volume and gradually taking the form of a light oval, on which the face of an elderly man with a short beard and dark hair, but gray at the ends, soon emerged.
This man looked at me menacingly and said: "Vasya, wake up your father." I made an attempt to get up to do it, but all my members refused to obey me, and I could not move. Then the elder shouted loudly: “Vasily, they tell you! Wake up your father, you are freezing! " I again tried to get up and wake my father - but again to no avail. And suddenly I noticed that my hand was on my father's. Then I pressed it with all my fingernails through the mitten.
My father woke up, and at that moment a dog barked not far from us. Then he got up, crossed himself and said: "Glory to God, we are saved!" Then he got out of the sleigh and went to bark, not paying attention to the storm.
Soon we stumbled upon the fence. The dog barked louder. Walking along the wattle fence, my father came to the hut of a one-family man who lived here on his land plot. When he came out to knock, his father explained to him that we had lost our way and had already begun to freeze.
Within five minutes I found myself in a hotly heated hut, where they pounded me with warm vodka and put me, wrapped in a sheepskin coat, on the stove. The samovar arrived. They gave me tea, and I fell asleep as if killed. The next day we got up late, but perfectly healthy, and decided to return home.
I somehow completely forgot about the vision, thinking that it was a dream, and did not tell anyone anything.
On the first of January my mother said to me: “You, Vasya, are the birthday boy today. Let's go to Mass: you will confess and take the Holy Mysteries. " When the service was over, my mother stayed in the church, not finding her memorial anywhere. While she was looking for her, I began to wander around the temple and suddenly, to my amazement, I saw on the right pillar supporting the dome, the image of the old man who appeared to me when my father and I were freezing during our unsuccessful trip. It struck me so much that I could not take my eyes off this image, written directly on the plastered wall.
By the way, the artist depicted what could not be: the old man has dark hair on his head, and the ends are gray. This is how the old man dreamed of me when I was freezing. The elder was depicted in full growth against a light background of an oval-shaped medallion, in a cross-shaped phelonion, as I saw him.
Mother began to call me home. Excited, I began to make signs to her to come up to me. Then I told her about what happened to me when we were caught in the field by a blizzard.
The story made a strong impression on my mother. She told me: “This is an image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. He saved the life of you and your father. " She immediately asked to call a priest from the altar, to whom she conveyed my story and asked him to serve a thanksgiving service with an akathist to St. Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas saved my life many, many years later, when I already lived in Moscow and had a fairly well-known enterprise in the city, sometimes successfully competing with Mendel. This was in 1920.
It was a hungry time. One could get anything edible in the village only in exchange for some things, valuable items, clothes or shoes. At the same time, the peasants valued all this very cheaply, and the supplies sold, on the contrary, were very expensive.
In January or February, I, taking with me pieces of chintz, some clothes and similar items for exchange, went by rail to the Tula province, to an area well known to me, where I knew several well-to-do peasants. Leaving the carriage at one of the stations beyond Tula, I came to a neighboring village where a peasant I knew lived. I told him about the purpose for which I had come and asked him to borrow a horse to go to one of the nearest villages, where, in response to my request, they promised me to give up three sacks of potatoes in exchange for manufacture and clothing.
They gave me a horse, and the next day I went to this village. There I quite successfully exchanged chintz and a three-piece suit for potatoes and, having rested a little, set off on my way back. In the middle of the path I was following, I had to climb a mountain. The road was lined with birches on both sides, and I could not see what was happening behind the trees.
Suddenly, a huge wagon train appeared from around the bend, carrying some goods from the railway station. Heavy snow fell recently and the road was very narrow. Wanting to make way for the baggage train, I turned my horse to the left and began to make my way closer to the birches, when suddenly, not noticing the slope, I felt that the sleigh first bent down, and then fell down, dragging the horse along.
I found myself in a ravine filled with loose snow, under an overturned sleigh. The horse lay on its side, leaning against the shaft. All attempts of the horse to get up failed, since the loose snow was very deep, and it did not have the opportunity to firmly rest on the ground with its feet. For the same reason, even though I barely freed my head from under the sled, I could not get off the sled and stand on my feet. My feet, unable to find support, slid helplessly and bogged down in the snow, free-flowing like sand.
While I was floundering like this, the wind changed to the north, and the frost began to noticeably intensify. I became very cold, although at first, when I was still trying to get to my feet, I even sweated from the efforts I made. The horse lay obediently.
Suddenly I felt the same as twenty-five years ago, when my late father and I nearly froze to death. The trembling passed, a pleasant warmth spread through my body, and to the sound of the tall firs swaying by the wind, I began to feel sleepy. I began to make desperate movements again, trying to get to my feet, but only got stuck deeper in the snow. Then I raised a loud cry. I screamed so loudly that my voice was probably heard at a great distance. Soon, over my head, on a high slope where the road passed, I heard the creak of runners and the voices of people passing by. I screamed even louder.
The creak of the runners stopped, and soon I began to hear two people with the greatest difficulty making their way to me, talking with each other. Finally they noticed me. They approached, looked sympathetically, made an attempt to raise the horse, trampling the snow around the sled. But they didn’t manage to do anything, and they left, shouting to me: “There are four people going in the sledge. All the same, we can't take you with us, dear man, and we don't know where to take the horse. We are strangers, from afar. Shout, maybe the local people will hear and help you. Goodbye! ” Then they left.
The wind got stronger and it started snowing. Soon it spun around and made a noise: the wind carried whole clouds of dry snow. I realized that I was dying.
Then I remembered how in my childhood, when I was in the same trouble, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And, lying in a ravine, covered with snow, I turned to the great saint with an earnest prayer for salvation.
I remember, - P-kiy continued his story, - that I prayed with tears, childishly, folding my appeal to St. Nicholas: “Grace of God! You saved my life when I died as a child with my father, freezing in the steppe twenty-five years ago. Have mercy and now with your holy prayers save my life, do not let me die without repentance in a foreign land. You are quick to help those who call you with faith. Save me, I am perishing! "
As soon as I finished my prayer, I heard the creak of runners and people talking above me. It was clear that a large train was moving. I screamed with all my might. The squeak of the runners stopped. The wagon train stopped, and I saw several peasants who, rolling down the slope, walked towards me, falling almost waist-deep into the loose snow. There were four or five of them. With difficulty they lifted me and the horse, and, taking it by the bridle, led me down to the side road, along which I again climbed the high road.
Three quarters of an hour later I was already at my friend's, who had lent me a horse, who, seeing that a strong blizzard had risen and it became dark, began to worry about me.
I warmly thanked the Lord God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the secondary salvation of my life, - he finished the story, adding that from that time on he began to especially venerate this great saint of God.
“Here,” added P-ky, “they say that miracles do not happen, but I believe that the Lord saved me through the prayers of St. Nicholas ”.
His story could not but make a deep impression on me.
Archpriest Konstantin Rovinsky From the book “Conversations of an old priest” M., 1995
New miracles of St. Nicholas. M., 2000
"Fast for help"
A housekeeper, a pious woman, lived in our family for a long time. Her work was formalized by a contract, and we paid insurance premiums for her. When the woman got old, she went to live with her relatives. When the new law on pensions came out, the old woman came to us to take from us the documents necessary to receive a pension. I carefully took care of these documents, but when I began to look for them, I could not find them in any way.
I searched for three days, rummaged through all the drawers, all the cupboards - and could not find it anywhere. When the old woman came again, I bitterly told her about my failure. The old woman was very upset, but said with humility: "Let us pray to St. Nicholas to help us, and if you don’t find it then, then, apparently, I need to be reconciled and forget about my pension." In the evening, I fervently prayed to St. Nicholas, and that same evening, under the table against the wall, I noticed some kind of paper roll. These were the very documents that I was looking for. It turns out that the documents fell into the drawer of the writing desk and fell out only after we fervently prayed to St. Nicholas. Everything turned out well, and the old woman began to receive a pension. Thus, St. Nicholas, who was quick to help, heard our prayer and helped in trouble.
"Are you not an angel of God?"
One woman recounted an incident that happened to her in 1991. Her name is Catherine and she lives in Solnechnogorsk. One winter she was walking along the shores of Lake Senezh and decided to rest. I sat down on a bench to admire the lake. Grandmother was sitting on the same bench, and they started a conversation. We talked about life. The grandmother said that her son does not love her, the daughter-in-law is very offended, she is not given a "pass".
Catherine is a pious, Orthodox woman, and, naturally, the conversation turned to the help of God, about faith, about Orthodoxy, about living according to the Law of God. Catherine said that one should turn to God and seek help and support from Him. The grandmother answered that she had never gone to church and did not know prayers. And in the morning Catherine, not knowing why, put the Prayer Book in her bag. She remembered this, took the Prayer Book out of her bag and gave it to her grandmother.
The old woman looked at her in surprise: "Oh, and you, darling, won't you disappear now?" "What's wrong with you?" - asked Ekaterina. "Are you not an Angel of God?" - the old woman was frightened and told what happened to her a week ago. The atmosphere in the house was such that she felt completely redundant and decided to commit suicide. She came to the lake and sat down on a bench before throwing herself into the ice-hole. An old man of very fine-looking appearance, gray-haired, with curly hair, with a very kind face sat down to her, and asks: “Where are you going? Drown? You don't know how scary it is, where you are going! It’s a thousand times scarier there than your life is now. ” He was silent for a while and asked again: "Why don't you go to church, why don't you pray to God?" She replied that she had never gone to church and that no one had taught her to pray. The old man asks: "Do you have any sins?" She replies: “What are my sins? I have no special sins ”. And the old man began to remind her of her sins, unkind deeds, he even named those about which she had forgotten, about which no one could know except her. She could only be surprised and horrified. Finally she asked: "Well, how am I going to pray if I don't know any prayers?" The old man replied: “Come here in a week, and you will receive prayers. Go to church and pray. " The old woman asked: "What is your name?", And he replied: "Your name is Nikolai." At that moment she turned away for some reason, and when she turned around, there was no one around.
"A quick helper in need for those who exist"
The pious family of the worker had seven children. They lived near Moscow. It was at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when bread was handed out on ration cards and in very limited quantities. At the same time, monthly cards were not renewed upon loss. The eldest of the children, Kolya, thirteen years old, went to the store to buy bread in this family.
In winter, on the day of St. Nicholas, he got up early and went for bread, which was enough only for the first buyers. He came first and waited at the door of the store. He sees four guys walking. Noticing Kolya, they went straight to him. Like lightning, the thought flashed through my head: "Now they will take away the bread cards." And this doomed the whole family to starvation. In horror, he mentally cried out: "Saint Nicholas, save me." Suddenly an old man appeared next to him, who approached him and said: "Come with me." He takes Kolya by the hand and in front of the stunned and numb with surprise guys leads him to the house. He disappeared near the house. Saint Nicholas remains the same "quick helper in need for those who exist."
"What are you sleeping for?"
This is what a World War II veteran named Nikolai told a priest. “I managed to escape from German captivity. I made my way through occupied Ukraine at night and hid somewhere during the day. Once, having woken up the night, I fell asleep in the morning in the rye. Suddenly someone wakes me up. I see in front of me an old man in priestly attire. The old man says: - What are you sleeping? The Germans will come here now. I got scared and asked: - Where can I run? The priest says: - Here, you see, there is a bush, run quickly there. I turned to run, but immediately realized that I had not thanked my savior, turned around ... and he was gone.
I understood that St. Nicholas himself - my saint - was my savior. With all my strength I rushed to run towards the bushes. In front of the bushes, I see the river flows, but not wide. I threw myself into the water, got to the other side and hid in the bushes. I looked out of the bushes - Germans with a dog were walking along the rye. The dog leads them straight to the place where I slept. She circled there and led the Germans to the river. Then I slowly began to leave the bushes, farther and farther. The river hid my trail from the dog, and I safely escaped the pursuit. "
"Crosswise"
This story took place at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. It was told by a Moscow priest. It happened to one of his close relatives. She lived in Moscow. The husband was at the front, and she was left alone with small children. They lived very poorly. Then there was famine in Moscow. I had to live in difficult conditions for a very long time. The mother did not know what to do with the children, she could not calmly look at their suffering. At some point, she began to come to a state of complete despair and was about to commit suicide. She had an old icon of St. Nicholas, although she did not particularly venerate him, she never prayed. She did not go to church. The icon may have been inherited from her mother.
And so she came up to this icon and began to reproach Saint Nicholas, shouting: “How can you look at all this suffering, at how I suffer, I struggle alone? See my children starving to death? And you do absolutely nothing to help me! " In despair, the woman ran out onto the landing, perhaps already heading for the nearest river or something else about to do with herself. And suddenly she stumbled, fell and saw in front of her two ten-ruble bills folded crosswise. The woman was shocked, began to look: maybe someone dropped it, if there was anyone nearby, but she saw: no one was there. And she understood that the Lord had mercy on her, and Saint Nicholas sent her this money.
This made such a strong impression on her that it was the beginning of her conversion to God, to the Church. Of course, she left all bad thoughts, returned home to her icon, began to pray, cry, thank. With the money sent to her, she bought groceries. But most importantly, she gained faith that the Lord is near, that He does not leave a person and that in such difficult moments, when a person needs help, the Lord will definitely give it.
Then she began to go to church. All her children became Orthodox Church people, and one son even became a priest.
"Saving Mother and Baby"
The Veletma River flows along the entire village where my grandmother lived. Now the river has become shallow and narrow, the deepest places for children are knee-deep, and before Veletma was deep, full-flowing. And the banks of the river were swampy and swampy. And this should have happened - her three-year-old son Vanechka slipped off a log into this swamp in front of his mother and immediately went to the bottom. Elizabeth rushed to him, jumped into the swamp, grabbed her son. But she herself cannot swim. I came to my senses, but it's too late. And they both began to drown. She prayed to Nicholas the Wonderworker, asking for the salvation of the souls of sinners. And a miracle happened. Like a wave, a large strong stream lifted the mother and baby over the swamp and lowered them onto a dry fallen tree, blocking the swamp like a bridge. My uncle Vanya is still alive, he is now over seventy.
"Now I need help!"
When the Nikolsky Church in Zelenograd was being restored, an old woman of about seventy came to the restoration work and said that she had come to help. They were surprised: "Where can I help you?" She says: "No, put me on some physical work." They laughed, and then they looked: she really began to carry something, trying to get into the most difficult places. They asked what prompted her to do this. She said that the other day an old man suddenly came into her room and said: “Listen, how much you've asked me for help, and now I need help, I need help” ... She was surprised. Then she remembered that the door in her room was closed. By the image she recognized Saint Nicholas and realized that it was he who came to her and called her to help. She knew that St. Nicholas Church was being restored, and now she came ...
Return of the Lost
It happened when my husband worked for the owner in a bread stall. Then I was left without work, and we were very poor. The daughter and her family lived in Vorkuta at that time. Literally with the last money, she called me and said that now a lot is being decided in their fate, and that she wrote about everything in two letters. You can imagine how I worried about her and waited for these letters! And so they came.
I was just bringing my husband lunch and put them unopened in my coat pocket. But when I returned, there were no letters in my pocket. Apparently, on the way, I somehow dropped them. What happened to me! .. I ran back, examining every centimeter of the road, but I could not find any letters. I came home, fell on my knees in front of the icons, cried and began to pray and ask Father Nicholas the Wonderworker to help me. I begged him to return the letters to me. I said, sobbing, that they were from my unfortunate child and that they were dearer to me than any money, that it would be better if I lost money than these letters.
And at some point, peace entered the soul, as if I had heard the answer to my prayer. And the next day, both letters were in the mailbox. Someone's kind hand raised them and lowered them there. I thanked the Lord and Father Nicholas the Wonderworker with all my heart for their great mercy to me. But the miracles did not end there.
In the evening, my husband came home from work - he had no face. It turned out that he accepted a counterfeit fifty-thousandth bill, gave bread and change from it, and at that time this money was almost entirely his salary. He walked home and did not know how to tell me about this: after all, this meant that we would have to starve for more than one day, and I was already exhausted, saving every penny. But in my soul there was such joy from the letters presented to me that I not only was not upset, but once again, together with my husband, thanked my fast helper and great Wonderworker for his mercy to us. After all, everything happened at my word: I said that these letters are dearer to me than money. So how could I be annoyed with my husband for this very money?
And then a second miracle happened: the owner forgave us this shortage and paid us out in full. I say “miracle” because this man never forgave even the smallest damage to himself, and at that time fifty thousand was a very large sum. And I am deeply convinced that this miracle would not have happened, had I forgotten my words, uttered in a moment of fervent prayer, had pity on this money and myself, scolded my husband for inattention.
It was a test of our faith, and thank God that He gave us the strength to endure this test. Father Nicholas the Wonderworker will be blessed! Low bow to him and great gratitude for helping us, sinners and weak.
Tatiana Ilyina, St. Petersburg
Patron saint of our family
Once I bought a tiny icon of St. Nicholas and hung it on the wall. I am a blockade, my stomach often hurts. At four o'clock in the morning, exhausted from pain, I knelt down and prayed: "If you can hear me, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, help me - I have no strength." The pains that had tormented me for several weeks stopped. Healthy, full of energy, six months later I celebrated my anniversary.
And two years later, for my sins - during Great Lent, I visited guests, had fun - I got sick again. And again she prayed before the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker: “Help, Saint Father Nicholas! I cannot walk, and I myself cannot overcome my pain. And then in St. Nicholas Cathedral in front of each icon, near which there is a candlestick, I will put a candle. "
The pain began to let go of me. On the third day I was able to get up and, together with my daughter, travel from Sestroretsk, where I live, to St. Petersburg, to St. Nicholas Cathedral. Saint Nicholas helped me there too. I come and see that there are only expensive candles left, and there is no way to count the candlesticks. I was scared that I would not have enough money. I bought more candles, began to walk around the cathedral and put them in front of the icons. But I feel that my candles will soon run out, and I will not be able to buy as many of them as needed, I will not be able to fulfill my promise. Suddenly the daughter calls: "Mom, they brought small inexpensive candles there!" That was my joy! I thanked Saint Nicholas for helping the ambulance. I went to the candlestick to buy these candles home, but they were already over.
For the third time he helped me with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, when on Easter week I turned to him with a fervent prayer: "Heal me for the sake of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!"
Saint Nicholas saved me when an evil man came to me on the street. I was returning from the store, and he firmly grabbed my hand and began to say nasty things. In such cases, I always managed to wriggle out, but here I couldn’t, I even cried out of despair. I think he will drag me into the gateway, in broad daylight, and no one will intercede. What a shame in old age! I raised my head to the sky and said: "St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, help me get away from him!" The man let go of his hand, and I ran across the road. I turned around - I feel: something is happening to him, and left as soon as possible.
Larisa, St. Petersburg
At the cross
I was born in an atheistic environment. Family, school, books, television and newspapers completely blocked our generation's path to the knowledge of the Truth. Restructuring and the collapse of old stereotypes led me to a painful search for the meaning of life. When I was demobilized, I discovered that the ideals that seemed clear and unchanging in the army turned out to be illusory and false in “civilian life”.
My spiritual throwing of those times is akin to the search for many young people: rock music, informal associations, student skits, finally, Freemasonry - thank God, only its pitiful likeness - and sectarianism. In the end, I decided to commit suicide. But the Lord saved me. After the hospital, he began to read Dostoevsky a lot, then Soloviev, Ilyin and, finally, Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. But the main role in my churching was played by St. Nicholas.
This was in 1991. After graduating from the institute, I went on assignment to a distant taiga town. I had to go through the city of Mineralnye Vody, and for several days I stopped in Kislovodsk. On the last day of my stay there, I walked aimlessly around the city.
There was some trifle in my pocket, and I decided to go to the pastry shop. There was a break. Unexpectedly for myself, I found myself near a small wooden cross, on which there was a sign with an explanation that St. Nicholas Cathedral would be built on this place. There was a candlestick at the cross. A candle-maker was on duty next to the donation box.
I was about to leave when two women approached the cross, a mother and a daughter, who differed from those around them in their inexplicable natural aristocracy. Having involuntarily admired them, I lingered at the cross. They slowly bought candles, put their donations in the box and began to pray. It was something incomprehensible to me, and at the same time, uniquely beautiful. Tears ran down the girl's face. Their prayers were fervent and sincere. I don't know why, but I wanted to cry too. The soul was filled with a hitherto unknown emotion. I suddenly felt with all my heart something important, which my restless soul so longed for.
Those women had long gone, their candles had burned out long ago, the break in the pastry shop was long over, and I still stood and stood at the cross - a small, unprepossessing one, which suddenly became dear to me. Having pulled out all the small change from my pocket, I handed it to the candlestick: “Do not disdain, mother. That's all I have. " She smiled and told the parable of the poor widow and her mite. Since then, this place in Kislovodsk has been especially sacred for me. Now the walls of a magnificent temple have ascended there. Each time I approach him with spiritual trepidation, as if I were going on a date with the saint himself.
Later St. Nicholas the Wonderworker saved my son. It was to him that I fervently prayed for the preservation of the life of an unborn baby. Today it is difficult to imagine what would have happened to me if that summer day the saint of God Nicholas had not led me to a small cross, momentarily revealing for me the cover of the greatest mystery of the universe, whose name is Truth.
Oleg Seledtsov, Maykop
Thanks to my mother's faith
Our family comes from the village. Edrovo, Valdai district, Novgorod region. There used to be two churches in the center of the village: in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and Nikolskaya. It will be about the second temple.
As a five-year-old girl, my mother, along with other children, frolicked near the church. A thunderstorm was approaching, but everyone laughed: copying the adults, they crossed themselves and fell to their knees. Suddenly there was a strong thunderclap. Everyone froze, and my mother saw a huge fiery cross over the church. She ran home in dismay. Since then, throughout her long, very difficult life, mother has honored St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
She studied at school for only two years: she was given to a nanny, then she served as a maid in St. Petersburg. I saw the revolution, felt sorry for the young cadets, who were seized right on the streets and taken to execution. She returned to her homeland, got married, and got married with her husband in St. Nicholas Church. The eldest son, Boris, served in Kronstadt on the destroyer Strogiy. Then he said: “Mom, your prayer has always saved me. Once we were on duty with a friend on deck. A shell fell, a comrade died, and I am alive. Bitter for my comrade, happy for myself. "
During the war, we were evacuated to the Sverdlovsk region. We arrived in a remote village. On an early winter morning, my mother went to the regional center to look for work. The mother of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for help. Suddenly a dark spot appeared in the distance. Isn't it a wolf? Coming closer, my mother saw a stranger who told her in detail how to get to the regional center. Thanks to God and St. Nicholas, my mother arrived safely, got a job in a vegetable store and began to bring us delicious vegetables every evening.
After breaking the blockade of Leningrad, we were allowed to return home to Yedrovo. For two years our garden has been overgrown with weeds. For several days, my mother dug it up by hand and did not go to work on the collective farm. For this, an application was filed against her in the people's court. Valdai judge Shtokman pounded on the table with her fist: "You are not Soviet, we will evict you!" Mom didn't cry. After the verdict - six months of "coercion" - she bowed to the assembly and calmly said: "Thank you, good people."
At home I prayed for a long time, wrote a letter to my son in Kronstadt. At night, my mother had a dream: she sits on a collective farm field after harvesting flax and sees how the sky opened up and the Mother of God moves from the depths with the Baby in her arms, smiles at her. Mom shouted: "Look, Mother of God, look!" But everyone was just surprised, and the vision disappeared. A few days later my brother Boris arrived, went to Valdai and restored justice. The court verdict was canceled.
So, thanks to my mother's faith, the Lord protected our family with the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, amid many troubles and trials.
My mother passed away to the Lord on Nikolas Zimny and was buried on the site of the former Nikolskaya church in the village of Lokotsko, in front of the altar. There is now a chapel next to her grave, where we pray and thank the Lord for everything, as my dear mother thanked Him.
And in the Nikolskaya church of our native village of Edrovo, a teahouse was set up, from which cleaning women ran away at midnight, hearing bells ringing and church singing. Now in its place is the Moscow-Petersburg highway.
Zinaida Gadalina, Novgorod region
"How is it worthy to praise your miracles?"
In 1988, I was admitted to the hospital with bouts of severe pain. I had a difficult operation ahead of me. My husband was in St. Nicholas Cathedral, praying to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. to the healer Panteleimon about my recovery. I must say that at that time I was not baptized and rarely went to church, did not understand the services and turned to God only with requests for help. Before the operation, having mentally called to the Lord Jesus Christ, I promised to be baptized if I stay alive. I asked for help from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. the healer Panteleimon. And - lo and behold! The most complicated operation, which lasted about three hours, was completed successfully. I got better without complications. After leaving the hospital, she was baptized in the St. Nicholas Cathedral. Glory and thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ, St. Nicholas and St. Panteleimon.
My daughter was very sad about her childlessness. With faith and hope, I again turned to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. I prayed at his miraculous icon in St. Nicholas Cathedral. And a year later, the desired, begged son and grandson was born. Glory to the Lord in His saints!
The third case of explicit help from St. Nicholas the Pleasant happened to me recently. I love the sea very much, but I was always afraid to swim far away. At that time the sea was calm, and I, scolding myself for indecision, called for the help of the Guardian Angel, swam a long distance. Here it was as if someone ordered me: "Come back!" There was no one around. I slowly swam to the shore.
The tide has begun. The waves drove me harder and harder to the shore. I was glad for their “help”. And suddenly, almost at the very shore, they began to cover me with their heads. I did not have time to take in air, catch my breath, did not reach the bottom. I understood: a little more, and I will drown. From the fear of dying without confession, without Holy Communion, I mentally began to cry out to the Lord and the Mother of God for help. The waves seemed to cover me less often. Trying frantically to remember the name of the saint helping at sea, she exclaimed: “Saint Nicholas! Help me, give me strength to cry for help, calm the waves! " And ... she was able to shout, call her daughter. They heard me and helped. Saved! It all happened in a matter of minutes. Glory and thanksgiving to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Holy Guardian Angel!
When it is hard for me, sorrowful, I pray, read akathists, canons. Thoughts, heart and soul calm down. Joy and strength come to live on.
Tamara, St. Petersburg
The day I was born
I was born on May 22nd and never thought about what a wonderful day it is. She came to the Lord recently, already having a family and two children. I know: I will follow the path of Orthodoxy, and my children are by my side. I want to tell you about how St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, having heard my prayers.
In the kindergarten, in the group where I work as a teacher, state money was kept. Somehow I felt very bad. I asked to go home, but before leaving, I decided to hide the money that was in plain sight on the lower shelf, where no one looks. Having removed other things, in a serious condition, I hardly made it home. She told the caller where she put the money.
A heart attack put me out of action for a long time. And when I returned to work, I found out that my partner had not found money, and she had not looked very hard. After crying, breaking all the closets and turning everything upside down, suspecting one person in my soul, I still pulled myself together and decided to gradually pay off the debt. State money, there was nowhere to go.
A month has passed. With my grief, I went to church, and in confession I told that I doubted a person. Suddenly it dawned on me! Remembering that on my birthday the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, I came to the Holy Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral, to the image of the saint. I asked Saint Nicholas to help me remove the pain of suspicion from my soul. She begged him: “If the money is in the group, tell me where it is. I don’t want to think badly of people! ”
The next day, having prayed again at home to St. Nicholas, I came to work and immediately, as if by chance, went to the right place. I have looked there for money before, but maybe not as carefully as necessary. I opened the closet, took the folder and immediately saw the lost money in it. I would never have thought that I could have put them there! How I rejoiced, apologized to my colleagues, thanked the Lord and Saint Nicholas!
Maybe it will seem to someone that there is nothing surprising in my story, but for me it was a real miracle and a deliverance from evil thoughts. And on Trinity in the church we were presented with icons of St. Nicholas. And now I have his icon at home. Yes, and in the church I always hasten to his image, I thank, I ask for his warm intercession before the Lord. My heart opened and turned to Saint Nicholas.
Anna Bolachkova, St. Petersburg
At the site of a miraculous phenomenon
On June 11, 1897, a thundercloud swept over the village of Kuyuki, Kazan province, bursting out with a terrible hail and an unprecedented downpour in these places. The hail was so strong that it destroyed the crops of many farms and injured the peasants. The downpour blew down the gates and fences. When the Kuyukov peasants left their homes the next day, they were surprised to find that their dry river Kuyukovka had turned into a stormy stream that changed its course. On the banks of the stream, layers of hard rubble stone appeared. The people of Kuyukov really needed it both for construction and for sale. While mining the stone, the peasants acquired a small chased image of St. Nicholas.
An unusual find - a copper image floated over the water - made the people of Kuyukov think: what to do with the image, where to put it? Before the arrival of the priest, they made something like a lectern out of stones, covered it with a white tablecloth and placed the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. They lit up the icon lamp. The people went to the holy face, prayed in front of him, leaving their labor pennies on a platter for donations. With these donations, local peasants built a stone church in two years, where they transferred the honest icon.
The image became famous for many miracles. There were days when up to five thousand pilgrims gathered to bow to St. Nicholas.
Today the church is desolate. But every year on June 25, at the place where the icon was found, where the cross was erected, a prayer service with consecration of water to St. Nicholas is served. On this day, the priest consecrates the lake. People bathe in it, and there are cases of healing from diseases.
Galina, Kazan
The face of the saint
My mother had an old icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The mother is gone - the icon is gone. Wrapped in a rag, put in a chest, carried to a closet. There was no one to pray in front of the icon: there is no faith in the soul, either in Christ or in the saints.
Time has passed. Once I was sorting through the little things in the chest, and this icon of St. Nicholas caught my eye. She took it in her hands, looked closely - she was looking at me with a stern, almost stern face. The longer I look, the more I feel great wisdom in this face, as if the saint wants to tell me something very important for my life. Suddenly my heart ached, it began to speak: some feeling inside was ashamed. It became uncomfortable. How many years the icon has been lying, but I have never remembered about it! I brought it into the room, put it in a corner. No, no, yes, and I'll take a look at St. Wonderworker. Sometimes I cross myself. The soul is callous, unresponsive, empty. No faith, no.
One late evening I was lying in bed with my eyes closed: there was no sleep, different thoughts were wandering in my head. Suddenly I heard right above my ear: "My daughter!" The words sounded clear and clear. I did not attach much importance to this. I forgot. Three days passed. Everything repeated, only the words I heard were different: "I have been waiting for you for a long time." I unwittingly put these two phrases together. I thought about it. What does it mean? Whose voice is this? Undoubtedly: he was from the icon! I realized that Saint Nicholas was waiting for me to turn to him.
What is love for a person, what is patience! For many years, the saint of God waited for me to finally receive my sight and turn to the Lord, to him. I did not know prayers, but, as best I could, I asked forgiveness from the saint. From then on, I began to approach him with faith and reverence. I understood what God, our Savior, means to us. He settled in my heart for the rest of my life. How much I had lost before, how long my sinful soul longed for communion with God!
I began to join the Church, taught my children to pray and believe in God. It is impossible to convey the feelings that settled in me when, through the Sacraments of the Church, I became connected with the Lord. Now you have the strength to live, believe, love and win. I began to look at everything and everyone with different eyes.
Tamara Ivanova, Saratov
"My Faith Got Stronger"
When my premature birth began, I took with me to the hospital a prayer book and icons of the Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. I reassured myself only that my child would not die on the holiday. For almost a week the baby was on the verge of life and death, and all these days I closed myself in my soul, put icons in front of me and prayed, prayed, prayed ...
A son was born on October 20. He breathed himself - the doctors said it was a miracle. And he breathed on his own for a day: there was no free artificial respiration apparatus in the hospital. They told me to be ready for anything. And I prayed. Then there were ten days of intensive care, a children's clinic, a cerebral hemorrhage, weak lungs, low weight ... I understood that this was a test given to me by God. My faith has grown stronger. My husband believed and was baptized. In the hospital, they managed to baptize their son with the name Nikolai. Soon the child began to recover, we were discharged.
A month later, an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, written with the one that is at the relics of the saint, for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Of course, I carried my son to her. The child was predicted to have disability and many chronic diseases. But for a year now, he has been alive and well. He accepts the Holy Gifts with trepidation unusual for a baby. Becomes serious in front of the icons.
"Saint Father Nicholas, pray to God for us!"
Julia, Yekaterinburg
Healing myrrh
When my son was not even two years old, he suffered from severe food poisoning. My wife called me at work and said that he was in serious condition. The temperature is high and rising steadily. The doctor will come in the afternoon, and if the child gets worse before his arrival, an ambulance should be called. I immediately went home. The son lay in the crib, staring blankly at the ceiling, not recognizing anyone. When I touched his head, my heart went cold with fear: the fontanelle * was open, like a newborn's. The wife was in a state of pre-stress, read "Theotokos Virgin" and trusted only in God.
I threw myself on my knees in the holy corner in front of the icons and began to pray fervently. Then he returned to his son and, putting his hand on his stomach, read "Our Father". We decided not to call an ambulance. When the doctor came, the child felt better, the temperature dropped. The doctor said that he could not send his son to the intensive care unit, but give him medications that he would prescribe. After the doctor left, I prayerfully anointed the boy's forehead and tummy with the oil from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with the addition of peace from his relics. It was Thursday - the day of remembrance of this saint. The son fell asleep. The wife ran to the pharmacy for medicines.
An hour later, the child woke up. The temperature is normal, there is a smile on the face, the fontanelle is closed. We realized that a miracle had happened. The son recovered without having time to take medicine. "Did anyone come to you in a dream?" I asked. “Yes,” he replied. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker healed our child.
Sergey, Samara
"Precious from perdition"
When the war began, our family lived in Gatchina. We had to evacuate with a part of the Putilov plant, where my father worked, to the Urals. Early in the morning we rode out of the house on horseback. In the evening we reached Aleksandrovka, where we were stopped by a military patrol. We were forced to occupy a vacant house on the edge of the village. There was no light. Mom threw some things on the floor and made a bed for all of us in the right corner of the hut.
At night, an intensive raid began: the Germans were rushing to Pulkovo. Our anti-aircraft guns answered. There was a strong roar, everything was blazing, and it was very scary. We huddled in a heap, began to pray: "Lord, help!" When another explosion lit up the room, my mother screamed and looked into the corner opposite. There, in the strip of light, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was clearly visible. We prayed to him.
Leaving Alexandrovka, my mother took the image with her. He went through the whole war with us, and we had to go through three fascist concentration camps. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker guarded us, and we returned alive.
Nina Sokolova, St. Petersburg
"Warming beings in the scum"
In 1922 I had to preach in one of the temples behind Taganka, not far from the Rogozhsky cemetery. He spoke about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and how many miracles he performed and what a quick henchman he is.
I agreed. P-cue and his wife lived near the temple. They were childless; it was evident from the furnishings and things that they had previously had good means.
This is what the hospitable host told me: “My father lived in a small district town in the Voronezh province. He was engaged in petty trade, buying up hemp, flax, leather, etc. in the villages. We lived in poverty; my father had a big family.
One day in December, when I was ten years old, my father decided to take me with him, heading to the villages located twenty-five versts from the city, to buy goods. We had an old horse and a very light sled. It was a beautiful winter day. The sun was already warming up, the road was good, and we did not notice how we drove more than ten miles from the city. The terrain there is steppe, and we did not come across a single village on the way.
Suddenly the wind changed, clouds came and it began to rain. The road turned black. Soon all our clothes got wet, and water began to flow under our collars. Also, suddenly the wind moved to the north, frost hit and a blizzard roared around. A blizzard in that area is a very dangerous thing, and my father, having calmed down, began to drive the horse, which could hardly move along the road covered with snow. The blizzard was getting stronger. The wet clothes froze, and we began to suffer from the cold wind that penetrated through the clothes to the very body. The horse slowed down and finally stood up. Suddenly we felt somehow warm and pleasant, and we began to doze. Finally I fell asleep.
Suddenly I saw in the distance some kind of luminous point, which was rapidly approaching, increasing in volume and gradually taking the form of a light oval, on which the face of an elderly man with a short beard and dark hair, but gray at the ends, soon emerged.
This man looked at me menacingly and said: "Vasya, wake up your father." I made an attempt to get up to do it, but all my members refused to obey me, and I could not move. Then the elder shouted loudly: “Vasily, they tell you! Wake up your father, you are freezing! " I again tried to get up and wake my father - but again to no avail. And suddenly I noticed that my hand was on my father's. Then I pressed it with all my fingernails through the mitten.
My father woke up, and at that moment a dog barked not far from us. Then he got up, crossed himself and said: "Glory to God, we are saved!" Then he got out of the sleigh and went to bark, not paying attention to the storm.
Soon we stumbled upon the fence. The dog barked louder. Walking along the wattle fence, my father came to the hut of a one-family man who lived here on his land plot. When he came out to knock, his father explained to him that we had lost our way and had already begun to freeze.
Within five minutes I found myself in a hotly heated hut, where they pounded me with warm vodka and put me, wrapped in a sheepskin coat, on the stove. The samovar arrived. They gave me tea, and I fell asleep as if killed. The next day we got up late, but perfectly healthy, and decided to return home.
I somehow completely forgot about the vision, thinking that it was a dream, and did not tell anyone anything.
On the first of January my mother said to me: “You, Vasya, are the birthday boy today. Let's go to Mass: you will confess and take the Holy Mysteries. " When the service was over, my mother stayed in the church, not finding her memorial anywhere. While she was looking for her, I began to wander around the temple and suddenly, to my amazement, I saw on the right pillar supporting the dome, the image of the old man who appeared to me when my father and I were freezing during our unsuccessful trip. It struck me so much that I could not take my eyes off this image, written directly on the plastered wall.
By the way, the artist depicted what could not be: the old man has dark hair on his head, and the ends are gray. This is how the old man dreamed of me when I was freezing. The elder was depicted in full growth against a light background of an oval-shaped medallion, in a cross-shaped phelonion, as I saw him.
Mother began to call me home. Excited, I began to make signs to her to come up to me. Then I told her about what happened to me when we were caught in the field by a blizzard.
The story made a strong impression on my mother. She told me: “This is an image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. He saved the life of you and your father. " She immediately asked to call a priest from the altar, to whom she conveyed my story and asked him to serve a thanksgiving service with an akathist to St. Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas saved my life many, many years later, when I already lived in Moscow and had a fairly well-known enterprise in the city, sometimes successfully competing with Mendel. This was in 1920.
It was a hungry time. One could get anything edible in the village only in exchange for some things, valuable items, clothes or shoes. At the same time, the peasants valued all this very cheaply, and the supplies sold, on the contrary, were very expensive.
In January or February, I, taking with me pieces of chintz, some clothes and similar items for exchange, went by rail to the Tula province, to an area well known to me, where I knew several well-to-do peasants. Leaving the carriage at one of the stations beyond Tula, I came to a neighboring village where a peasant I knew lived. I told him about the purpose for which I had come and asked him to borrow a horse to go to one of the nearest villages, where, in response to my request, they promised me to give up three sacks of potatoes in exchange for manufacture and clothing.
They gave me a horse, and the next day I went to this village. There I quite successfully exchanged chintz and a three-piece suit for potatoes and, having rested a little, set off on my way back. In the middle of the path I was following, I had to climb a mountain. The road was lined with birches on both sides, and I could not see what was happening behind the trees.
Suddenly, a huge wagon train appeared from around the bend, carrying some goods from the railway station. Heavy snow fell recently and the road was very narrow. Wanting to make way for the baggage train, I turned my horse to the left and began to make my way closer to the birches, when suddenly, not noticing the slope, I felt that the sleigh first bent down, and then fell down, dragging the horse along.
I found myself in a ravine filled with loose snow, under an overturned sleigh. The horse lay on its side, leaning against the shaft. All attempts of the horse to get up failed, since the loose snow was very deep, and it did not have the opportunity to firmly rest on the ground with its feet. For the same reason, even though I barely freed my head from under the sled, I could not get off the sled and stand on my feet. My feet, unable to find support, slid helplessly and bogged down in the snow, free-flowing like sand.
While I was floundering like this, the wind changed to the north, and the frost began to noticeably intensify. I became very cold, although at first, when I was still trying to get to my feet, I even sweated from the efforts I made. The horse lay obediently.
Suddenly I felt the same as twenty-five years ago, when my late father and I nearly froze to death. The trembling passed, a pleasant warmth spread through my body, and to the sound of the tall firs swaying by the wind, I began to feel sleepy. I began to make desperate movements again, trying to get to my feet, but only got stuck deeper in the snow. Then I raised a loud cry. I screamed so loudly that my voice was probably heard at a great distance. Soon, over my head, on a high slope where the road passed, I heard the creak of runners and the voices of people passing by. I screamed even louder.
The creak of the runners stopped, and soon I began to hear two people with the greatest difficulty making their way to me, talking with each other. Finally they noticed me. They approached, looked sympathetically, made an attempt to raise the horse, trampling the snow around the sled. But they didn’t manage to do anything, and they left, shouting to me: “There are four people going in the sledge. All the same, we can't take you with us, dear man, and we don't know where to take the horse. We are strangers, from afar. Shout, maybe the local people will hear and help you. Goodbye! ” Then they left.
The wind got stronger and it started snowing. Soon it spun around and made a noise: the wind carried whole clouds of dry snow. I realized that I was dying.
Then I remembered how in my childhood, when I was in the same trouble, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And, lying in a ravine, covered with snow, I turned to the great saint with an earnest prayer for salvation.
I remember, - P-kiy continued his story, - that I prayed with tears, childishly, folding my appeal to St. Nicholas: “Grace of God! You saved my life when I died as a child with my father, freezing in the steppe twenty-five years ago. Have mercy and now with your holy prayers save my life, do not let me die without repentance in a foreign land. You are quick to help those who call you with faith. Save me, I am perishing! "
As soon as I finished my prayer, I heard the creak of runners and people talking above me. It was clear that a large train was moving. I screamed with all my might. The squeak of the runners stopped. The wagon train stopped, and I saw several peasants who, rolling down the slope, walked towards me, falling almost waist-deep into the loose snow. There were four or five of them. With difficulty they lifted me and the horse, and, taking it by the bridle, led me down to the side road, along which I again climbed the high road.
Three quarters of an hour later I was already at my friend's, who had lent me a horse, who, seeing that a strong blizzard had risen and it became dark, began to worry about me.
I warmly thanked the Lord God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the secondary salvation of my life, - he finished the story, adding that from that time on he began to especially venerate this great saint of God.
“Here,” added P-ky, “they say that miracles do not happen, but I believe that the Lord saved me through the prayers of St. Nicholas ”.
His story could not but make a deep impression on me.
Archpriest Konstantin Rovinsky From the book “Conversations of an old priest” M., 1995
New miracles of St. Nicholas. M., 2000
On the evening of May 21, for the first time, a particle of the relics of one of the most revered saints, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, was delivered from Italy to Russia. In Christianity, he is the patron saint of travelers, prisoners and orphans, in the West - the patron saint of almost all strata of society, but mainly children. In Russia, many churches and monasteries are named after him, and his icons are in the houses ...
The relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker delivered to Russia were kept for 930 years in the Italian city of Bari in the Basilica of St. Nicholas, a 12th century Romanesque temple. As Patriarch Kirill noted, this is a unique event, since during the entire stay of the relics of St. Nicholas in Bari, they never left the city.
The transfer of part of the relics became possible after the meeting of Cyril with Pope Francis on February 12, 2016.
Saint Nicholas is considered the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children. However, absolutely everyone turns to him with everyday problems: it is believed that Nikolai the Pleasant is the quickest helper, source of spiritual support, protector and savior from injustice and unnecessary death. Nicholas performed miracles both during his lifetime and after death. Here is some of them.
The theft that saved the shrine
Surprisingly, the most "popular" saint in Russia was born in the 3rd century after the Nativity of Christ in Asia Minor - on the territory of modern Turkey. On the city square in the Turkish city of Demre, a huge Santa Claus rises - this is St. Nicholas.
Also in the city is the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. In the southern part of the temple there is a sarcophagus in which the saint was originally buried. In 1087, the Italians stole about 80 percent of the relics of Saint Nicholas from the Byzantine church and reburied them in the city of Bari.
After that, the temple was attacked, and later was flooded by the dirty waters of the Miros River. But the relics of the saint were already safe - in such a miraculous way they survived. According to church sources, this did not happen by chance: Nicholas the Pleasant appeared to one of the Italian priests in a dream, ordering him to transport his relics to Bari.
Fragrant branch
The rest of the relics, nine years after the raid of the Barians, was removed from the sarcophagus in Demre by the Venetians. They dismantled the tomb, where they found only water and church oil, and then searched the entire church, while torturing the guards.
One of them could not stand it and showed the relics, but two other saints - the predecessors of St. Nicholas: the martyr Theodore and the uncle of St. Nicholas, who was also a priest.
When the Venetians were already sailing away from the coast, they suddenly felt a fragrance emanating from the direction of the church. Returning there and breaking the floor of the altar, they began to dig and found another floor under a layer of earth.
Having destroyed it, they found a thick layer of vitreous substance, and in the middle - a mass of petrified asphalt. When it was opened, inside they saw another sintered mixture of metal and asphalt, and in it were the holy relics of the miracle worker Nicholas. A wonderful fragrance spread throughout the church.
The bishop wrapped the relics of the saint in his mantle. Here the first miracle happened at the relics of St. Nicholas - a palm branch brought by the saint from Jerusalem and laid with him in the coffin gave shoots. The Venetians took the branch with them as proof of God's power.
Miracles on the water
The saint performed many miracles while traveling by ship to Palestine, where he went to worship holy places. On the ship, Nicholas showed the gift of foresight: once the saint of God announced the storm to the sailors.
The bad weather did not keep you waiting long: the wind rose, which threw the ship from side to side, the sky was clouded with leaden clouds. Panic began on the ship, but Nikolai calmed the sailors and turned to God. His prayers were heard: the unfolding element, not having time to cause trouble, began to subside.
Soon Saint Nicholas performed another miracle here - he resurrected a man. One of the sailors slipped and fell on the deck. Seeing a lifeless comrade, the sailors turned to the miracle worker for help. After the prayer of Nicholas, the young man came to life.
On the way, the ship often stopped off the coast. The saint physically and spiritually healed local residents: he healed some of diseases, from others he expelled evil spirits, and to others he gave consolation in sorrows and sorrows.
Salvation of the native people
There is a legend that while visiting the holy places of Palestine, Saint Nicholas decided to pray in the church one night. Approaching the doors, he saw that they were locked. And then, under the influence of a miraculous power, the doors themselves opened before God's chosen one. But he was not destined to stay to serve the Lord in Palestine - Nicholas was needed more by the people in his native Lycia.
At this time in the Lycian country, food supplies became scarce: the population was experiencing severe hunger. The disaster became more and more widespread. But Saint Nicholas did not allow a terrible misfortune.
One merchant, having loaded his ship with bread in Italy, before sailing, saw in a dream the Wonderworker Nicholas, who ordered him to take the bread for sale to Lycia and gave a deposit - three gold coins.
When the merchant woke up, he actually found money in his hand. He considered it his duty to fulfill the will of the saint, and went to Lycia, where he sold his bread and told about the prophetic dream.
The appearance of Nikola in the sky over Mozhaisk
The miracle-working image of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky is evidence of the mercy of Nicholas the Wonderworker for our country and for our ancestors. He received the name from the city of Mozhaisk in the Moscow region, where he was in the cathedral church named after the saint. The origin of the Mozhaisk image dates back to about the XIV century.
During the siege of Mozhaisk by the Mongols, an amazing sign appeared in the sky. Saint Nicholas appeared to be standing in the air above the cathedral: in one hand he held a sword, and in the other - an image of a temple surrounded by a fortress, which made the Mozhaisians happy and frightened the enemies. The enemy was terrified by the vision, lifted the siege and fled. After that, the revered image of the Pleasant was created in gratitude for his wonderful help.
Perhaps, in memory of this incredible appearance of the Miracle-worker for the salvation of the city, the image is now called manifest, and new miraculous signs have confirmed for him the glory of the miracle-working.
Zoe's standing
In 1956, events took place in Kuibyshev (present-day Samara) that shocked the Orthodox world - the famous "Standing of Zoya".
During the New Year's celebration, the girl Zoya, an employee of the pipe plant, could not wait for the groom: he was lingering somewhere. Music played, young people danced and had fun, only Zoya had no pair. The displeased girl took down the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from the wall and began to dance with her, saying: "If God exists, let Him punish me!" And suddenly Zoya froze in place with the icon of the saint pressed to her chest and turned to stone - they could not budge her. At the same time, the girl's heart continued to beat.
The news of the miracle quickly spread throughout the city, people came in droves to watch "Zoino Standing". But after some time, the authorities blocked the passages to the house, setting up a detachment of police officers on duty around.
Before the feast of the Annunciation, a certain noble old man asked the guards to let him in, but he, like everyone else, was refused. He tried to enter the house several times, and in the end, on the very day of the Annunciation, he succeeded. The old man turned to Zoya: "Well, are you tired of standing?" When the guards looked into the room, the elder was not found there. The witnesses of this miracle are convinced that it was Saint Nicholas himself.
Zoya stood immovable for four months - 128 days. On Easter, she began to come to life, the petrification of fabrics began to subside, but the girl constantly asked everyone to pray for the world perishing in sins and iniquities, and she prayed herself - thanks to the prayers of Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Lord had mercy on her.
These events so amazed the local residents of Kuibyshev that many rushed to church with repentance: they began to atone for sins, get baptized, and order crosses. So this amazing incident turned hundreds of people to faith - to faith in justice and the power of repentance, to faith in Nicholas the Wonderworker and God ...
Where can you worship the relics?
From May 22 to July 12, particles of the relics of Nicholas the Wonderworker will be available for worship at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow (15 Volkhonka St., metro Kropotkinskaya).
On May 22, access to the relics will be carried out from 14.00 to 21.00, and on the following days - from 8.00 to 21.00.
From 13 to 28 July, the relics will stay in St. Petersburg. According to TASS with reference to the head of the press service of Patriarch Kirill Alexander Volkov, the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra is being considered for their placement. After which the relics will return to Italy.
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker even during his lifetime he became famous for the numerous miracles that he performed through prayers to God. About the help of St. Nicholas to ordinary people, about his virtues in relation to the needy, about intercession, about healing, is told in But a lot of miracles were performed and are being performed after the earthly death of Nicholas the Pleasant.
Today, everyone turns to Nicholas the Wonderworker - both simple people and scientists, believers and unbelievers, even many who are alien to Christianity, Muslims and Buddhists turn to him with reverence and fear. The reason for such a large-scale veneration is simple - an ambulance, not keeping you waiting, help from God, sent through the prayers of this greatest saint. People who have addressed him with faith and hope at least once know this, of course.
Below are just some of the testimonies of St. Nicholas' miraculous help in money, in healing from illness, etc.
The priest's story about the help of Nicholas the Wonderworker
It was in 1993. Difficult and impoverished time of perestroika, which has not yet been rebuilt. My wife and I rented a dacha in Ilyinka for the fall-winter. It was much cheaper than even the most seedy housing in Moscow, I was not yet a priest and served as a sexton and reader in one of the newly opened monasteries. We lived more than modestly, and the feeding pollock was our exquisite festive meal. We had a second child, money was catastrophically short, and I didn't want to return to secular work and leave the church.
Once in confession, I complained to my spiritual father about life and he said to me:
- Pray to St. Nicholas, read everything will be fine. I came home and told my wife about this, and we began to read the akathist.
On the third day, one old friend calls me and says:
- Dimitri, listen, how are you still working in the church?
- In the church - I say.
“And, of course, you have no money.
- Of course not.
- Listen, this is the case here, a friend, the chief accountant of the bank, was balancing it, and she somehow got 40 thousand, neither here nor there, no matter how superfluous they are, won't you take it? She wanted to donate to one of the believers so that they could pray.
- I'll take it, - I say, - of course I'll take it, I'll take it with great joy.
And took. And he brought it home. Forty thousand rubles was a lot of money at that time. My wife and I were shocked. Incredible, unthinkable!
We decided to give half of the money to help one Nikolsky monastery in the Kaluga region, and on the other half we lived comfortably, I don’t remember for what, but for a long time. However, money tends to run out, and we were again depressed, but decided to take up the akathist again. And on the second day, my friend calls again:
- Dimitri, how is it still in the church?
- In the church.
- Listen, again the same story, only this time 50 thousand, will you take it?
I probably won't be able to write about our experiences and feelings with my wife. You need to think about this for a long time, like over poetry. We again halved the money in the same directions and lived comfortably for a considerable period of time, and there I became a deacon, then a priest and life took a completely different turn. But to this day and, I hope, until death, my mother and I treat the great and most holy name of Nicholas the Wonderworker with love, fear, trepidation and delight. Through his prayers and to all of you, I wish on the day of his holy memory and on all days - salvation and help from God, intercession and consolation in all sorrows, sorrows and hardships. I believe that the great saint will wipe away every tear you shed with his omophorion, support with his right hand everyone who has raised his foot over the perilous abyss, with the fire of his heart he will warm our sinful, weak, but faithful souls with the fire of his heart.
Priest Dimitri Arzumanov
Saint Nicholas's help in healing the disease
4 days before the birth of Christ in 1887, a peasant from the Kostroma province of the Buisk district, a retired private Filimon Otvagin, came to the Nikolo-Babaevsky monastery, suffering from relaxation of the entire right side of the body, and could not control his right hand and dragged his right leg - he walked with someone else's help. The certificate issued to him from the Vologda zemstvo hospital indicated that he was there recovering from "semi-paralysis of the right half of the body resulting from cerebrovascular embolism, a disease that was completely incurable and prevented him from engaging in personal physical labor." On the night of December 25-26, Otvagin reports, in a vision in a dream he saw St. Nicholas the Wonderworker standing at his head, and the Most Holy Theotokos straightening. The saint told him:
- Work hard and pray with me, the Lord will grant you healing.
The Queen of Heaven told him the same.
When he woke up, he began to feel strength in the previously unowned limbs, and he brought his right hand to his head, which he could not do before, and was baptized with his left hand. Arriving on the morning of the early liturgy on the 26th, he could already freely sign himself with the sign of the cross with his right hand. Now he feels healed and wished to stay in the monastery forever.
Miraculous salvation of the baby by Nicholas the Wonderworker
A husband and wife lived in Kiev, who had an only son - still a baby. These pious people had a special faith in Saint Nicholas and the martyrs Boris and Gleb. Once they were returning after a feast from Vyshgorod, where the holy relics of the holy martyrs were kept. When we were sailing along the Dnieper in a boat, the wife, who was holding the baby in her arms, dozed off and dropped the baby into the water. It is impossible to imagine the grief of poor parents. In their lamentation, they turned with complaint and reproach especially to Saint Nicholas. Soon the unfortunate ones changed their minds and, deciding that, apparently, they had angered God with something, they turned to the Wonderworker with fervent prayer, asking for forgiveness and consolation in the grief that had befallen them.
The next morning, the sexton of the Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, having come to the church, heard the crying of children. Together with the watchman, he entered the choir. Here, in front of the image of St. Nicholas, they saw a lying baby, all wet, as if it had just been taken out of the water. The news of the found baby quickly reached the parents. They immediately ran to the church and here they really recognized their drowned child in the child. Joyful they returned home, thanking God and His great Wonderworker. The image of the saint, in front of whom the drowned baby was found, is still called "Nikola the Wet".
(Based on the book "New Miracles of St. Nicholas". Author - Vladimir Gubanov, Trim Publishing House, Moscow, 1996.)
Help of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in money
I will remember this incident for the rest of my life. This was the very first year of my service in the temple. Then my close friend Mikhail helped me. In the summer, the village authorities finally evicted the veterinary hospital that had been occupying it for a number of years from the house that had already been officially transferred to the church. The former owners left us real ruins, especially in the part of the house that they did not occupy. The repairs had to be done urgently, as autumn was approaching. We soon managed to find workers and come to terms with them. It only remained to get the required amount of money. Very few people went to church, but we were lucky again, by the grace of God, we soon collected this money. When the foreman of the workers was informed about this, we heard the following from him: "You will pay us one and a half times more, or we are leaving for another object."
Michael and I had no choice but to enter our church, among the distorted, burned walls with protruding reinforcement, raise our hands to Heaven and turn to the true rector: “Father St. Nicholas, you see everything. As you please, so be it. " We didn't expect anything. Less than five minutes later, a man enters the door and, we ourselves were amazed, donates exactly as much money as we needed.
"Hail Nicholas, speedy helper and glorious miracle worker." In the autumn we already lived in the Church House.
By priest Alexy Timofeev
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Crosswise This story took place at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. It was told to me by a Moscow priest. It happened with [...]
Crosswise
This story took place at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War. It was told to me by a Moscow priest. It happened to one of his close relatives. She lived in Moscow. The husband was at the front, and she was left alone with small children. They lived very poorly. Then there was famine in Moscow. I had to live in difficult conditions for a very long time. The mother did not know what to do with the children, she could not calmly look at their suffering. At some point, she began to come to a state of complete despair and was about to commit suicide. She had an old icon of St. Nicholas, although she did not particularly venerate him, she never prayed. She did not go to church. The icon may have been inherited from her mother.
And so she came up to this icon and began to reproach Saint Nicholas, shouting: “How can you look at all this suffering, at how I suffer, I struggle alone? See my children starving to death? And you do absolutely nothing to help me! " In despair, the woman ran out onto the landing, perhaps already heading for the nearest river or something else about to do with herself. And suddenly she stumbled, fell, and saw in front of her two ten-ruble bills folded crosswise. The woman was shocked, began to look: maybe someone dropped it, if there was anyone nearby, but she saw: no one was there. And she understood that the Lord had mercy on her, and Saint Nicholas sent her this money.
This made such a strong impression on her that it was the beginning of her conversion to God, to the Church. Of course, she left all bad thoughts, returned home to her icon, began to pray, cry, thank. With the money sent to her, she bought groceries. But most importantly, she gained faith that the Lord is near, that He does not leave a person and that in such difficult moments, when a person needs help, the Lord will definitely give it.
Then she began to go to church. All her children became Orthodox Church people, and one son even became a priest.
Saint Nicholas visited his church
In the spring of 1976, the day after the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, nun Olympias (now deceased) said that at the festive Divine Liturgy in St. Nicholas Church in Kursk, several parishioners who prayed were honored to see something completely unusual.
Two priests, Archpriests Anatoly Filin and Lev Lebedev (also now deceased - he died a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), performed divine services in the altar.
After the service, one of them was asked the question:
- And where is the third priest who served with you?
- Which? Yes, there was no one besides us!
Meanwhile, several eyewitnesses, through the opened Royal Doors, to their right, saw a gray-haired old man standing in the altar at the bishop's place, who fervently prayed and bowed. His clothes were much brighter, richer than the vestments of other priests, his robe seemed to be on fire. It is known for certain: there is no such exquisite vestments in the sacristy of St. Nicholas Church. So those who saw the elder thought: the capital's father came to visit. Meanwhile, Vladyka Chrysostom of Kursk was away on that patronal day. Otherwise, everything was as usual. Unless just the day before, the Father Superior neglected the instructions of the Commissioner for Religious Affairs, took and put on a lectern, for worship, the miraculous image of the Saint in white vestments. But the wonderful priest never left the altar to worship the shrine.
Having learned about the mysterious visitor, the priests began to check whether their reflection was gleaming in the glass of the icons, became different, this and that, but they did not see anything similar.
- Girls, well, it's a miracle! - One of the archpriests who served that Liturgy remarked then, turning to the choristers.
- How handsome he was, how fervently he was baptized, and bowed down, all in the High Place. We thought it was Bishop Pimen of Saratov, - answered the singers.
And only with time did people realize that the third priest that day in St. Nicholas Church was ... Saint and Miracle Worker Nicholas!
Evgenius Muravlev
Living miracle
40 years have passed since then, and this miracle is still in front of my eyes, like a living thing. I will not forget him until death. It was a hot May morning. There is lively bargaining at the bazaar. A long line stretched along the shopping arcade. We come up with Dunya Alekseeva, and there the icons are sold on photographic paper for 10 rubles. Everyone wants to buy the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, but they hesitate. This icon costs 15 rubles. The women bargain, dress up, ask the saleswoman to yield and sell her for 10 rubles. And the saleswoman disagrees. “No,” he says, “I have only Nikolai Ugodnichek.” My neighbor and I also really wanted to buy this icon, and we even had the money ready at the ready, but it was a shame to take it out of line. After all, many wanted to buy it. We got up with our neighbor Evdokia at the very end of the line. We are waiting in excitement: what if it doesn't get it! The weather was hot, so quiet, not the slightest breeze. Wipe the sweat from your face. Nobody takes an icon for 15 rubles. Slowly they argue, beg the saleswoman, wait: maybe he will yield. But the merchant is relentless. And suddenly, amid such and such a sultry complete silence, this very icon rose into the air, flew like a moth or an autumn leaf, and clung directly to my heart. And with great joy I hugged her with my left hand to my chest. Everyone gasped in one breath:
- How is that so ?! And there was no wind!
- This is a miracle! - said the saleswoman, crossing her arms over her chest.
- And why not to me or to someone else she clung to? - Evdokia complained with annoyance. I put the money on the counter and ran home. Dunyasha followed me, almost crying. For a long time later, Dunya and I recalled this miracle. They told acquaintances. Now she, the deceased, is no longer alive. But let her hear with a dead ear: I speak the truth. Maybe someone else remembers from the witnesses about this miracle.
V. Starostina, Tatarstan
Intercession of the Prelate
Our family keeps an ancient icon of St. Nicholas, the Pleasant of God, who was especially revered by my great-grandmother Daria Pavlovna. And why? - a family legend tells about it.
Once my great-grandmother, then still a young woman, went to an early service at the Iversky Vyksa convent. She lived 15 kilometers from the monastery in the village of Velet'ma, and the road went through a forest. Somewhere halfway, a dirty, shaggy man suddenly jumped out of the forest and blocked Daria's path. What was a lonely defenseless woman to do? She began to pray fervently: "Father Nicholas, help!" And then a small gray old man with a stick in his hand came out of the forest. He waved his stick towards the rascal, and said to his great-grandmother: "Do not be afraid of anything, the servant of God." The peasant looked at the old man, staggered back, then said, turning to Daria: "Well, woman, pray to God and your patron saint, otherwise ..." and he disappeared into the forest. And the old man also disappeared, just as he was not ... Thus, in a miraculous way, the grace of the pleasing of God Nicholas appeared. Talking about the miracle that happened to her, the great-grandmother always cried and prayed fervently in front of the icon of the Saint.
Stepan Fomenkov, Nizhny Novgorod region
Don't let me die
This happened in October 1943 while crossing the Dnieper. Zinovy Ivanovich Nemtyrev was performing another combat mission. Accustomed from childhood to obedience, he readily carried out any assignment from the command. And the leadership relied on him, knowing that from any, even the most difficult situations, Nemtyrev would find a way out. But this case is truly wonderful! Zinovy Ivanovich confidently drove the car across the pontoon bridge across the Dnieper.
Suddenly, enemy anti-aircraft guns opened fire, and one of the shells hit the bridge. Zinovy Ivanovich's car began to sink. "Nikola, help me, don't let me die!" - a short prayer fell from his lips. Miraculously managed to get out of the car. But the coast is far away. Do not swim to the shore of Zinovy! Suddenly he felt a big fish on his left, under his arm. He pulled her to him and, supported by her, safely reached the shore. And despite the cold autumn weather, he did not catch a cold.
... Zinovy Ivanovich even now often recalls that amazing incident. And every time tears come to my eyes.
"Destroyer of God-Loathing Teachings"
Hieromonk Sergiy (Rybko), rector of the Moscow Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at the Lazarevskoye cemetery, reported the following case: in the early 90s he was a resident of Optina Hermitage. One of the pilgrims told him about how she came to faith. She was an active member of the Communist Party and was engaged in anti-religious propaganda. And so her grandfather Stefan, a former priest, began to appear to her in a dream. He told his granddaughter some of the circumstances of his and her life, which she could not even suspect. In particular, he revealed to her that her mother was not at all the woman she believed to be, which was later confirmed. And in one of her dreams, she saw the martyrdom of her grandfather, how they beat him, mocked him and threw him alive into a well, where he was dying in heavy torment, and the family of mother and children was forced to stand at the well for a whole day, looking at his torment.
After these dreams, the atheistic views of the priest's granddaughter wavered, but not completely. And then the following happened. This woman had a daughter who was expecting a child at that time. In the seventh month of pregnancy, she was saved, the child was very weak, and the doctors warned them that they must prepare for his loss.
Hearing the final verdict of the doctors, the woman came home and immediately fell to her knees. They had no icons in their house, because she herself took them off when she was an unbeliever. Only she remained a small dusty icon of St. Nicholas, all in a cobweb, hanging from the very ceiling, to which hands simply did not reach. And it was to this saint that she began to pray fervently. After a while, she saw a luminous star appear above her right shoulder and, approaching the icon, entered it. Then the woman realized that her prayer had been answered.
Soon the daughter safely gave birth to a child, and when she was discharged from the hospital, they all went home together. The baby was in the arms of the grandmother. They brought him into the room, swaddled him, and his gaze fell on the icon of St. Nicholas. The child, weak, tiny, born underdeveloped, happily smiled at the saint and pulled his hands towards him. “It was a perfectly meaningful gesture. Then I understood everything at once, threw away my membership card and was baptized right there, ”this servant of God finished her story.
So the great saint denounced the godless communist teaching, led to faith and reconciled with God the granddaughter of the martyr. May the Lord rest his soul and have mercy on us with his holy prayers. Amen.
The church was no longer touched
Not far from our village is the village of Nikolskoye, in which there is a church in the name of St. Nicholas. It still stands now, large, beautiful and fertile, although it was built a long time ago.
The old people say that at the time when the churches were being destroyed, some man wanted to remove the cross from the temple. He went upstairs to the very dome and saw that some old man was standing at the dome and said to him: "Why are you here?" The man guessed that it was Saint Nicholas, was frightened and quickly climbed down. The church was no longer touched.
Tanya Avdeeva,
with. Bobyakovo, Voronezh region
Nikola
It so happened that from the Pacific Ocean, where I served on a cruiser, through the whole of Mother Russia, I had to move to the Black Sea at the invitation of my comrade. But, having arrived in Odessa, I was saddened to learn that my friend had gone abroad on a voyage. It was impossible to blame him for this - he did not depend on his own decisions.
But I myself am to blame for the way I used my time and my money. Youth and recklessness are bad advisors, and I soon found myself without a livelihood, squandering my naval money. And I decided to go to Donbass to earn money (at that time in Odessa there was a brisk recruitment for the mines).
So, completely without planning it earlier, I ended up in Donbass at one of the old low-productivity mines. Sometimes I got so tired that, when I came to the hostel, I collapsed on my bed, dead, right in my clothes. New friends tried not to make noise while I slept. Soon I got involved in work, calluses on coarse hands had to be cut off with a knife, but I liked that I did not lose heart and did not run away, like some.
And everything would be fine, but trouble happened. That day I so did not want to go down into the cage in the mine! The soul seemed to have sensed trouble. When we walked along the road to the bottom, suddenly from above - a crash, a crash, a blow to the left shoulder and arm, a wild pain in the leg, and finally - a blow to the head and flying into nowhere. Darkness.
I woke up, covered with rock and mud. It was hard to breathe. The collapse. As we were taught, I began to move a little, to look for free space around me. The left hand was motionless, moved the fingers of the right - they work! And I began to free myself from the captivity of the earth, stone by stone, often losing consciousness from the pain.
But I did not want to die buried alive and believed that I was partially overwhelmed. And my desperate struggle ended in victory - I freed myself from the rubble. It was pitch black all around. And silence. I shouted, calling my comrades, but no one answered me. Feeling myself, I found several wounds on my left hand, blood oozing from them. My leg ached unbearably, but there was no blood, I decided that there was a closed fracture. Having ripped open the vest, I somehow bandaged my hand. I began to scream again, but only the echo of the underworld answered me mockingly.
I forgot myself in a heavy sleep, but suddenly I distinctly heard laughter and screeching. I crawled along the road, dragging my sore leg. The noise and barking increased and then receded. I rested, trying to find at least a little water dripping from above. And suddenly, very close by, I heard a malicious giggle, a loud grunt and a perky hooting. And I crossed myself! It's me, a naval Komsomol member!
But a miracle - the vile sounds stopped! And I crawled in the opposite direction. But where? There are many workings in this old mine. This means that I will have to wander through them for a long time and, perhaps, forever remain in this dungeon. I lost myself in a heavy sleep. I dreamed of my childhood and my mother, standing in the left wing of the Intercession Cathedral in front of the icon of St. Nicholas. She gave me a candle and whispered: “This is your heavenly patron Nikola the Wonderworker. Put a candle for him. If you pray to him, he will always come to the rescue, save you from any trouble. Remember this always. Is always".
I crossed myself and whispered: "Nikola the Wonderworker, save me!" - and woke up. I woke up suddenly, as if someone had touched me. A calm male voice said: "Get up, young man, and follow me." I thought of a broken leg, but the same voice firmly insisted, "Follow me!" And I got up! But all the same, being afraid to step on my sore leg, I went holding on to the wet wall of the drift.
I no longer heard the voice, but it was as if I saw in the darkness the one who attracted me like a magnet. From time to time I stopped to rest, and the one in front of me also stopped and waited. At the next stop the light flashed, and I recognized it! It was Nikola from the icon of the Barnaul Pokrovsky Cathedral!
“Well, that's all,” he said, “soon they will come to you from there.” I looked in the direction he was pointing, and when I turned around, there was no one near me. I again fell into an unconscious state, from which rescuers took me out and decided to check the old adits. To all the questions about my salvation, I answered only: "Nikola, Nikola". Since that time I have been nicknamed Nikola-Siberian.
For nine days I got out after the collapse, wandering through the adits, and then eleven people died.
After I was discharged from the hospital, friends accompanied me with honors to my homeland - my native, blooming Altai. My gray-haired mother greeted me with happy tears. After my detailed story, my mother told me: “On the day when you got into trouble, I went to the garden to water the beds. Everything was fine, I was quite healthy, but suddenly it darkened in my eyes, I felt so bad that I could hardly get home. I drank Corvalol, lay down on the bed and dozed off. I dreamed of you, shrouded in a black cloud, in which lightning flashed from time to time. I was very sick, and also this dream. I dreamed about him for several days. Only now I understand that the black cloud is the darkness of the mine, and the light is Saint Nicholas, your savior, glory to him and the Lord Jesus Christ, without whose will not a single hair will fall from a person's head!
The next day we went to the Intercession Cathedral to pray for my miraculous salvation, to thank the Lord and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Nikolay Blinov,
Novoaltaisk, "Lampada"
"There definitely is a God!"
Hello!
Such a miracle happened during the Second World War. Recorded from the words of Ivan Dmitrievich.
It happened a long time ago, during the Great Patriotic War. The Germans occupied the railway station, but did not enter the neighboring village. They controlled her, of course, but most of the forces were at the station to guard her. Vanka, already at the age of 14, worked with partisans and was engaged in laying explosives under the trains of German trains. He often visited the station and the Germans did not even suspect that this kid was the demolition man they were looking for for so long. Vanka helped unload the cars, and for this he was given bread biscuits.
And then one day, after another assignment, Vanka was returning to the village and accidentally came across a dilapidated church. Digging in the wreckage, he accidentally found what he thought was a beautiful picture in a golden frame. An elderly man of old age with clear eyes and a stern gaze looked at him from her. "Beautiful!" - thought Vanka and, brushing the dust off her, put it in his bosom. Finding nothing else suitable, he headed for the exit and immediately saw a German patrol. Vanka, in fact, always calmly reacted to the appearance of the patrol, but at that moment for some reason he got scared and, without realizing it, rushed to run. Two German soldiers rushed after him, shouting after him: - Sofort bleibe stehen !, which meant stop immediately! But Vanka was rushing at full speed to the forest, not looking back. And suddenly Potap appeared just before the border of the forest. He was a country man, and besides, he was silent, and then Vanka saw him in the uniform of a policeman.
- Come on, you bastard! - Potap shouted and raised his rifle.
- Uncle Potap, it's me Vanka! - he shouted in response.
- So you're the one putting the explosives under the trains? - Potap asked without lowering his weapon.
- So you are a traitor, Uncle Potap? Did the partisans talk about you? - Vanka shouted with surprise and annoyance in his voice.
Potap pulled the trigger and a shot rang out. The bullet struck in the chest. The blow was so strong that Vanka flew three meters back and fell flat on the ground. Soldiers immediately ran up. One of them walked over to the lying body and pushed it with his foot. It did not move, but blood was flowing from its mouth. The soldier bent down and pulled out two pieces of fuse-cord from Vanka's hand and showed them to the other. The second shook his head and waved his hand to Potap to come up.
- Gut schießt Du! You shoot good, - the German soldier Potap praised, - you will get an extra can of stew! Very good!
They removed their weapons and headed back to the station to report that the Demoman
destroyed.
Vanka woke up from the fact that his face was licked by the dog, whom he sheltered, finding him on the street half-starved and sick. Vanka opened his eyes and looked at the dog. He whined slightly and twisted his tail in joy for his master. Vanka tried to get up, but a sharp pain in his chest made him cry out, and he again lay down on his back. Gathering strength, he turned on his side and with difficulty overcoming the pain, he managed to sit up. "How so?" - thought Vanka - "I'm not dead!"
He reached into his bosom and pulled out the icon. Looking at her, he could not believe what he was seeing!
Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker held a bullet in his hand, which he raised in a blessing gesture.
Vanka examined the icon again. But it was written on a wooden board that was more than a dozen years old. Only now Vanka understood what had happened. He, like all Soviet children, did not know how to pray, and he did not even know how to do it. He only remembered how his grandmother did it furtively. He made his way to the forest, leaned the icon against a tree and, bending down to the ground, not paying attention to the pain in his chest, shedding tears, lamented: “Thank you, grandfather! Thanks for saving me! "
Finally calming down, he lay down on the grass and, looking with wide eyes at the sky, over which white clouds were floating, he thought: “There is definitely a God! My grandmother talked about it all the time, but I didn't believe it. And now he saved me. "
Vanka got up, thrust the icon into his bosom and immediately caught himself thinking that there was no pain in his chest. He touched himself and really - his chest no longer hurt. "Wonders!" - thought Vanka and went into the forest to the partisans.
Vanka went through the whole war without leaving the icon anywhere for a minute. Throughout the war, he did not even receive a scratch, although at times he participated in the most fierce battles and alterations. Now the icon is in the red corner of Ivan Dmitrievich, and Nicholas the Wonderworker is still holding the bullet fired by Potap's treacherous hand. Many experts looked at this miracle, but no one could give any explanation for this.
Sincerely,
Nikolay Anisimov
Rescue of a Muslim
In the mid-1980s, a Russian person happened to be in an Orthodox church in Tashkent. And there he saw a Muslim who, with great reverence, incessantly bowing, lit candles in front of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. There, near the icon, they struck up a conversation, and the Muslim told about the miracle that Saint Nicholas had done to him.
On a winter night, he was walking across the steppe to a distant village, and suddenly very close he heard a wolf howl. A few minutes later, he was surrounded by a pack of wolves. In horror and despair, the Muslim shouted: "Russian God and Nikola, help!" Suddenly a strong wind blew, a blizzard rose. She ran into a wolf pack and, twisting it in a whirlwind, took it to the steppe.
When the wind died down, the Muslim saw a gray-haired old man next to him, who told him: “Look for me in the Russian church,” and immediately disappeared. Arriving at an Orthodox church, the Muslim with amazement and great joy recognized in the image of St. Nicholas the very "grandfather" who appeared to him at night in the steppe.
Nun Pelagia
Way out of hell
The incident I want to tell about was told to me by my mother, and to her - by an acquaintance with whom they go to church together. He testifies that Saint Nicholas helps everyone, even people who are far from God.
This incident took place in Belarus, at the very beginning of the war. The woman's husband was an officer. They lived on the territory of the Brest Fortress. When the battles for the fortress began, a woman with a newborn baby in her arms miraculously managed to escape from the war-embraced fortress walls.
When she came to her senses, she saw that she was in the forest, in an unfamiliar place, and did not know where to go next. She fell into despair. A crying child is in her arms, and trees are all around, and there is no hope of finding a way. But suddenly an old man with a stick appeared from somewhere and indicated to her: "Go this way, you will be saved there." And suddenly he disappeared. The woman leaned in the direction indicated by the old man, and after a while she went out to the farm. There she was met by elderly peasants, husband and wife.
Throughout the war, she lived with her child on this farm. There were no Germans here. After the war, the woman went to church and there she saw the icon of the "old man". This was Saint Nicholas. “Since then, I always go to church and never forget to pray to the saint,” this woman says.
Elena Chistikina
Did not admit desecration
One woman related an incident in their family when she was barely six years old.
Her mother was very religious, and her father, on the contrary, being a communist, was hostile to the Church. Mama had to keep secret from her father somewhere in the closet, among the things, the icon of St. Nicholas, the mother's blessing.
One day she came home from work and began to light up the stove. There was already firewood in it, it was only necessary to light it up. But she couldn't do it. No matter how hard she fought, the wood does not burn, and that's it!
Then she began to pull them out and, together with the logs, took out of the oven the icon of the saint, which the husband found in the closet and decided to destroy with his wife's hands.
Reprinted from the people's newspaper for the glory
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "The Rule of Faith"
"Who is praying for you? .."
When I was little, a sea captain came to our village to visit his parents. I remember his story for the rest of my life.
“Our ship,” he said, “went out to sea to fish as usual. It was quiet, calm. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strong wind blew, a storm arose. The sails were torn off, the ship became uncontrollable and tilted to one side, the connection was cut off. Huge waves tossed the ship like a matchbox. There was nowhere to wait for help, and everyone felt imminent death.
I jumped upstairs and with raised hands, crying loudly, began to pray, asking Nicholas the Wonderworker for help. How much time has passed, I do not know, but the storm began to subside. "Guys, - I shout to the sailors, - pull the sails!" They answer distantly: "It's already useless: the bottom is broken, the water floods the ship." I began to insist. The three of us set the sails in a matter of minutes, although usually ten of us can't handle them. The storm subsided. When we went down, we saw that a big fish had plugged the hole.
The sailors surrounded me with crying and asked: "Captain, tell us, who is praying to God for you?" Then it was persecuted. I answer them: "My grandmother and my mother are praying for me, and that's who saved us," and took out a wallet from his pocket, where a small icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker lay.
The management awarded me an extraordinary leave, and the sailors asked me to buy them icons of St. Nicholas and serve a thanksgiving prayer service in the church. Everyone who was on the ship gave a deep bow to my grandmother and mother for their prayer. "
L.N. Goncharova,
Volgograd region
Reprinted from the people's newspaper for the glory
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "The Rule of Faith"
Autumn evening
It happened in 1978 when I was nineteen years old. One evening I sat at a friend's. When I got to my area, it was already eleven o'clock in the evening. All around is dark and deserted. Due to the frivolity inherent in youth, I was not afraid of anything, believing that nothing bad could ever happen to me. And she did not attach any importance to the fact that the door of one of the entrance halls was ajar and a man was peeping out of there.
When I passed the door, he followed. Feeling that something was wrong, I wanted to run, but did not have time: a strong hand was already holding me. The man who caught up with me began to drag me into the front door. I resisted, but in vain. Began to ask: "Let go!" He replied: "I will kill you now." Around - not a soul. Help is nowhere to be found. Then I raised my eyes to the sky and silently, with my heart, prayed: “Lord, Nicholas the Wonderworker! Step up, help! "
And a miracle happened. The fingers that were tightly holding my hand unclenched. I felt that I was free. The man who had just made a vicious threat didn’t say another word. And he didn't try to follow me. He stood in place, as if petrified. I got home safely.
Many years have passed, but I cannot forget that autumn evening when I experienced the power of the miraculous intercession of our Lord our God and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Ludmila
Reprinted from the people's newspaper for the glory
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "The Rule of Faith"
"Grant me a peaceful sleep"
For many years I have suffered from insomnia, and in the last two or three years I have only slept with pills.
And then I learned that the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. He will also be in Togliatti, where I live. I have been looking forward to this day with impatience and hope. When the image was brought to the temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, a procession of the cross took place. There were a lot of people: it seemed that the whole city had gathered. The soul was light and joyful, and the heart harbored hope for healing. And thanks to God's mercy it came.
Now I sleep soundly. And every morning I thank our Savior, His Most Pure Mother and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Servant of God Galina,
Togliatti
Reprinted from the people's newspaper for the glory
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker "The Rule of Faith"
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