“This sign was given by the Lord for our admonition and repentance,” said His Eminence Job, Metropolitan of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust, who headed the commission of the diocesan administration, which recently visited the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city of Troitsk. After the reverent service of a prayer service with an akathist, which was headed by the ruling bishop, the members of the commission subjected to careful study the very fact of the appearance on the glass of the kiot of the Image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Not Made by Hands. The conclusions of the commission, along with photo and video materials and a report from the rector of the cathedral, priest Andrei Alyoshin, were sent His Holiness Patriarch Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, who showed a keen interest in the Trinity miracle. Next, we place the story of the editor-in-chief of our magazine about the appearance of the Image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker not made by hands in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city of Troitsk, Chelyabinsk diocese.
While working on the next issue of our Orthodox magazine“Cathedral of the Holy Trinity” we received a document from the Orenburg archive stating that before the revolution, near the city of Troitsk, there was a male Nikolaevsky monastery. And in our church for two years now there has been an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, returned by the Trinity artists, and there is an inscription on it that it is from the Nikolaev Monastery and was revered as a copy from the miraculous icon. We published this information in our newspaper The Cross Way, brought one copy of it to the Metropolitan of Chelyabinsk and Zlatoust Job, and received his blessing for a special prayer in front of the icon of St. Nicholas.
We began to serve a prayer service with akathists in front of the icon, to take it to the processions, the parishioners bought a new expensive lamp. This went on for three weeks.
Due to the fact that the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker began to be especially revered in our church, and its very dark face began to brighten (there were testimonies of parishioners about this before), we decided to restore the fallen part of the paint layer in the place of the image of the Saint's face. For objective reasons, the restoration was postponed several times, and its beginning (as if by chance) coincided with the feast of the transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands (Ubrus) of the Lord Jesus Christ. On the morning of August 16/29, 2001, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was removed for restoration and transferred to the refectory of our cathedral. With great difficulty, the icon painter Gennady Ivanchin and the workers of the temple removed the glass of the icon case, and when by 11 o’clock the work on restoring the icon was completed, it was decided to put the glass back in its place. The artist thought it was dirty, so he rubbed it with his finger (on the positive and negative of the image you can see an empty erased place in the area of the Saint's chin) and asked the woman standing next to wash the glass of the icon case well. Olga Kalina, a pious single mother of four small children, constantly visits the church at all services, took this glass and, in the reflected rays of light, saw on the glass a silver Image of St. Nicholas. They called the rector of the cathedral. When I arrived, I immediately transferred the glass with the Image to the altar and began to study it carefully.
Microscopic oily drops of a silvery color made up the Image on transparent glass, copying the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the finest details. The image layer is so thin that it can only be seen against a dark background a little from the side. The oily liquid that made up the image does not dry out and is odorless, but when I began to wipe the traces of the artist's fingers on the Image with a communion cloth, a subtle fragrance was heard. It should be noted that the glass onto which the Image was transferred was at a distance of 1-2 cm from the icon. for which the restoration was started.
A photo and video filming of the icon of St. Nicholas and his Image Not Made by Hands was made. The peculiarities of finding the Image of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Shroud of Turin were recalled and therefore negatives were made from the pictures of our glass. And... a positive image of St. Nicholas appeared on the negative, i.e. the glass itself and the Image Not Made by Hands on it are the negative of the real image of the Saint. At the transition of the smallest details of the icon to the glass, at the same time, the expression of the face and eyes on the icon and the negative is very different. If on the icon the expression of the face of the saint is merciful, then on the glass Image it is strict and compassionate.
The priests of our city (and some of them felt a special fragrance in the temple), the abbess of the convent Xenia, dozens of parishioners of the cathedral witnessed the acquisition of the Icon Not Made by Hands of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
At present, the Image Not Made by Hands is widely revered by the parishioners of the cathedral, the faithful people of our city, and numerous pilgrims from other cities and villages. Numerous mass media, both electronic and printed, showed great interest in this event.
We ordered and made a special kiot for the Image of St. Nicholas Not Made by Hands, and at the moment the icon itself and the Image are open for worship in the temple part of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city of Troitsk, Chelyabinsk diocese.
edited news olqa.weles - 12-04-2012, 23:50
Best Stories about Miracles
In France, there is an ancient cross with words about the Lord Jesus Christ engraved on it.
If it were not for God's Miracles, then there would be no Orthodox Faith!
All over the world, at all times, MIRACLES have always happened, and are happening today - amazing and inexplicable phenomena and events from the point of view of science. There are a lot of them, thanks to these miracles, many people on earth gained faith in Almighty God and became believers. History stores a large number of reliable facts of all sorts of amazing cases and events that actually happened on earth, and therefore people believe in God or not, but these miracles, as they happened before, they still happen in our time and help people gain real faith in God.
Therefore, no matter how unbelieving people say and assert that there is no God and cannot be, that all people who believe in God are ignorant and insane, nevertheless, let's leave room for existing real facts, that is, such events that occurred on really. And we will carefully listen to those people who themselves were participants and witnesses of these events ...
The Lord wants to save every person, and for this good purpose - He performs many Miracles and Signs through the saints He has chosen. So that people learn about God through these Miracles, or at least remember Him and really think about their lives - are they living the right way? Why do they live in this world - what is the meaning of life? ..
DEATH IS NOT THE END
Several testimonies of the professor
Andrey Vladimirovich Gnezdilov, St. Petersburg psychiatrist, doctor of medical sciences, professor of the Department of Psychiatry of St. Petersburg medical academy in Postgraduate Education, Scientific Supervisor of the Gerontology Department, Honorary Doctor of the University of Essex (Great Britain), Chairman of the Russian Association of Oncopsychologists:
« Death is not the end or the destruction of our personality. This is just a change in the state of our consciousness after the completion of earthly existence. I worked in an oncology clinic for 10 years, and now I have been working in a hospice for over 20 years.
Over the years of dealing with seriously ill and dying people, I have many times had the opportunity to make sure that human consciousness does not disappear after death. That our body is just a shell that the soul leaves at the moment of transition to another world. All this is proved by numerous stories of people who have been in a state of such a "spiritual" consciousness during clinical death. When people tell me about some of their secret experiences that deeply shocked them, then the great experience of a medical practitioner allows me to distinguish hallucinations from real events with confidence. Not only I, but no one else can yet explain such phenomena from the point of view of science - science by no means covers all knowledge about the world. But there are facts proving that in addition to our world there is another world - a world that operates according to laws unknown to us and is beyond our understanding. In this world, which we will all enter after death, time and space have completely different manifestations. I want to tell you a few cases from my practice that can dispel all doubts about its existence.
I will tell you one interesting and unusual story which happened to one of my patients. I want to note that this story made a great impression on Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva, academician, head of the Institute of the Human Brain of the Russian Academy of Sciences, when I retold it to her.
Somehow they asked me to look at a young woman named Julia. Yulia experienced a clinical death during a major operation, and I had to determine whether the consequences of this condition remained, whether her memory and reflexes were normal, whether consciousness was fully restored, and so on. She was in the recovery room, and as soon as we started talking to her, she immediately began to apologize:
“Sorry for causing so much trouble for doctors.
- What kind of trouble?
- Well, those ... during the operation ... when I was in a state of clinical death.
“But you can't know anything about it. When you were in a state of clinical death, you could not see or hear anything. Absolutely no information - neither from the side of life, nor from the side of death - could come to you, because your brain was turned off and your heart stopped ...
“Yes, doctor, that’s all right. But what happened to me was so real... and I remember everything... I would tell you about it if you promise not to send me to a psychiatric hospital.
“You think and speak perfectly rationally. Please tell us about what you experienced.
And this is what Julia told me then:
At first - after the introduction of anesthesia - she was not aware of anything, but then she felt some kind of push, and she was suddenly thrown out of own body some 
then a rotational movement. To her surprise, she saw herself lying on the operating table, saw the surgeons bending over the table, and heard someone shout: “Her heart stopped! Get started immediately!" And then Julia was terribly frightened, because she realized that this is HER body and HER heart! For Yulia, cardiac arrest was tantamount to the fact that she died, and as soon as she heard these terrible words, she was instantly seized with anxiety for her loved ones who remained at home: her mother and little daughter. After all, she did not even warn them that she would be operated on! “How is it that I will die now and not even say goodbye to them ?!”
Her consciousness literally rushed towards her house and suddenly, oddly enough, she instantly found herself in her apartment! He sees that her daughter Masha is playing with a doll, her grandmother is sitting next to her granddaughter and knitting something. There is a knock on the door and a neighbor enters the room and says: “This is for Mashenka. Your Yulenka has always been a model for her daughter, so I sewed a polka-dot dress for the girl so that she would look like her mother. Masha rejoices, throws the doll and runs to a neighbor, but on the way she accidentally touches the tablecloth: an old cup falls off the table and breaks, a teaspoon lying next to it, flies after it and falls under a stray carpet. Noise, ringing, turmoil, grandmother, clasping her hands, shouts: “Masha, how awkward you are! Masha is upset - she feels sorry for the old and such a beautiful cup, and the neighbor hurriedly consoles them with the words that the dishes are breaking fortunately ... And then, completely forgetting about what happened earlier, the excited Yulia approaches her daughter, puts her hand on her head and says: "Masha, this is not the worst grief in the world." The girl turns around in surprise, but as if not seeing her, immediately turns away. Yulia does not understand anything: it has never happened before that her daughter turned away from her when she wants to console her! The daughter was brought up without a father and was very attached to her mother - she had never behaved like this before! This behavior of hers upset and puzzled Yulia, in complete confusion she began to think: “What is going on? Why did my daughter turn away from me?
And suddenly she remembered that when she spoke to her daughter, she did not hear her own voice! That when she reached out and stroked her daughter, she didn't feel any touch either! Her thoughts begin to churn. "Who am I? Can't they see me? Am I already dead? In dismay, she rushes to the mirror and does not see her reflection in it ... This last circumstance knocked her down, it seemed to her that she would simply go crazy from all this ... But suddenly, in the midst of the chaos of all these thoughts and feelings, she remembers everything that happened to her before: “I had an operation!” She recalls how she saw her body from the side, lying on the operating table, recalls the doctor’s terrible words about a stopped heart ... These memories frighten Yulia even more, and in her confused mind it immediately flashes: “I must by all means be in the operating room now, because if I don’t have time, the doctors will consider me dead!” She rushes out of the house, she thinks about what kind of transport to get there as soon as possible in order to be in time ... and at the same moment she finds herself in the operating room again, and the voice of the surgeon reaches her: “The heart has worked! We continue the operation, but quickly, so that it does not stop again! A memory lapse follows, and then she wakes up in the recovery room.
And I went to Yulia's house, conveyed her request and asked her mother: "Tell me, at this time - from ten to twelve o'clock - did a neighbor named Lidia Stepanovna come to you?" “And do you know her? Yes, she came." “Did you bring a dress with polka dots?” - "Yes, I did"... Everything came together down to the smallest details except for one thing: they did not find a spoon. Then I remembered the details of Yulia's story and said: "Look under the carpet." And indeed - the spoon lay under the carpet ...
So what is death?
We fix the state of death, when the heart stops and the work of the brain stops, and at the same time, the death of consciousness - in the concept in which we always imagined it - as such, simply does not exist. The soul is freed from its shell and is clearly aware of the entire surrounding reality. There is already a lot of evidence for this, this is confirmed by numerous stories of patients who were in a state of clinical death and experienced a post-mortem experience in those minutes. Communication with patients teaches us a lot, and also makes us wonder and think - after all, it is simply impossible to write off such extraordinary events as coincidences and coincidences. These events dispel all doubts about the immortality of our souls.
SAINT JOSAPH OF BELGOROD
Then I studied at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. I had a lot of knowledge, but there was no real faith. I went to the celebrations on the occasion of the opening of the relics of St. Joasaph with reluctance and thought about the huge crowd of people thirsting for a miracle. What kind of miracles can be in our time?
I arrived and something stirred inside: I saw such things that it was impossible to remain calm. Sick people, cripples came from all over Russia - so much suffering and pain that it's hard to watch. And one more thing: the general expectation of something miraculous involuntarily passed on to me, despite my skepticism about what was to come.
Finally, the Emperor arrived with his family and a celebration was scheduled. At the celebrations I already stood with deep emotion: I did not believe, and yet I was waiting for something. It is difficult for us now to imagine this spectacle: thousands and thousands of sick, twisted, demon-possessed, blind, crippled lay, stood on both sides of the path along which the relics of the saint were to be carried. One crooked man caught my special attention: it was impossible to look at him without shuddering. All parts of the body have grown together - some kind of ball of meat and bones on the ground. I waited: what can happen to this person? What can help him?!
And so they carried out the coffin with the relics of St. Joasaph. I have never seen anything like this and I am unlikely to see it again in my life — almost all the sick, standing and lying along the road — HEALED: the Blind — SIGHTED, the Deaf — began to HEAR, the Mute — began to SPEAK, scream and jump for joy, among cripples - sick members straightened.
With trepidation, horror and reverence, I looked at everything that was happening - and did not lose sight of that crooked one. When the coffin with the relics caught up with him, he parted his arms - there was a terrible crunch of bones, as if something was being torn and broken inside him, and he began to straighten up with effort - and stood up! What a shock it was for me! I ran up to him with tears, then grabbed some journalist by the hand, asked him to write down ...
I returned to St. Petersburg a different person - a deeply religious person!
Miracle of healing from deafness from the Iberian Icon in Moscow
The newspaper Sovremennye Izvestia published a letter from a man who was healed in Moscow in 1880 (newspaper issue 213 of this year). One music teacher, a German, a Protestant, but who did not believe in anything, lost his hearing, and at the same time his job and livelihood. Having lived everything he had acquired, he decided to commit suicide - to go and drown himself. It was July 23 of that year. “Walking past the Iberian Gate,” he writes, “I saw a crowd of people gathered around the carriage in which the icon was brought to the chapel. Mother of God. An irresistible desire suddenly appeared in me to approach the icon and pray together with the people and venerate the icon, although we are Protestants - we do not recognize the icon.
And so, having lived to the age of 37, for the first time sincerely crossed myself and fell on my knees before the image - and what happened? An undoubted, amazing Miracle happened: I, having heard almost nothing until that moment for a year and 3 months, was considered by the doctors to be completely and hopelessly DEAF, having kissed the icon, at the same moment I GOT the ability of HEARING again, received to such an extent completely that not only sharp sounds, but also quiet conversations and whispers BECAME HEAR quite clearly.
And all this happened suddenly, instantly, painlessly ... Immediately, before the image of the Mother of God, I took an oath to myself to confess honestly to everyone what happened to me. This man later converted to Orthodoxy.
MIRACLES FROM THE HOLY FIRE
This incident was told by a nun who lives in the Russian Gornensky monastery near Jerusalem. They transferred her there from the Pyukhtitsky monastery. With awe and delight she set foot on the Holy Land...
This is the first Easter in the Holy Land. Almost a day later, she took a place closer to the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher in order to see everything well.
It was noon on Holy Saturday. In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher all the lights are extinguished. Tens of thousands of people are looking forward to the Miracle. Reflections of light appeared from Kuvuklia. The happy Patriarch brought out two bundles of lighted candles from Kuvuklia to convey the fire to the jubilant people.
Many people look under the dome of the temple - blue Lightnings CROSS it there...
And our nun does not see lightning. And the fire from the candles was normal, although she watched eagerly, trying not to miss anything. Great Saturday has passed. How did the nun feel? There was also disappointment, but then came the realization of one's unworthiness to see the Miracle...
A year has passed. Holy Saturday has come again. Now the nun has taken the most modest place in the Temple. The cuvuklia is almost invisible. She lowered her eyes and decided not to raise them: "I am not worthy to see the Miracle." The hours of waiting have passed. Again a cry of jubilation shook the Temple. The nun did not raise her head.
Suddenly, as if someone forced her to look. Her gaze fell on the corner of Kuvukliya, in which a special hole was made, through which burning candles are passed from Kuvukliya to the outside. So, a bright, flickering cloud SEPARATED from this hole - and immediately a bunch of 33 candles in her hand FIRED by itself.
Tears of joy welled up in her eyes! What a thank you to God!
And this time she also saw blue lightning under the dome.
THE MIRACULOUS HELP OF JOHN OF KRONSTAD
A resident of the Moscow region, Vladimir Vasilyevich Kotov, suffered from severe pain in his right arm. By the spring of 1992, the hand had almost stopped moving. Doctors established a presumptive diagnosis - severe arthritis of the right shoulder, but failed to provide significant assistance. Once a patient got a book about a saint and righteous John Kronstadt, reading it, he marveled at the miracles and miraculous healings of patients from their illnesses, which were described in this book, and he decided to go to St. Petersburg. On August 12, 1992, Vladimir Kotov confessed, took communion and served a prayer service to the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt and anointed his hand, his entire shoulder with consecrated oil from the lamp from the tomb of the saint.
At the end of the service, he left the monastery and went to the tram stop. Vladimir Vasilievich hung the bag on his right shoulder and carefully laid his helpless hand on it, as he usually did in Lately. When walking, the bag began to fall off and he mechanically corrected it with his right hand, without feeling any pain. Stopping in his tracks, still not believing himself, he again began to move his sore hand. The hand was completely healthy.
One man's mother had a heart attack, had a stroke and became paralyzed. She could not even move, he was very worried about his mother, and as a believer he prayed a lot for her, asking God to help his mother. And the Lord heard his prayers, he accidentally met one, already old, nun, the spiritual daughter of the holy righteous father John of Kronstadt, he told her about his misfortune and she comforted him. She gave him a mitten, which was once worn by the saint of God, Father John, and said that this mitten has great power and helps sick people, you just need to put it on the patient’s hand. He served a water-blessed prayer service to Father John of Kronstadt, dipped a mitten in holy water, and, having come home, sprinkled his mother with this water.
Then he put a mitten on his mother's hand, and ... immediately the fingers on the sore hand began to move. The doctor, when she came to the patient, did not believe her eyes - the former paralyzed woman was sitting calmly on a chair and was healthy. Having learned the story of the patient's healing, the doctor asked for this glove. But the point here is not in the mitten ... But in the grace of God.
NICHOLAS PLEASANT HEALED A PARALLYZED
In Moscow, in the lower Cathedral of Christ the Savior, there is an amazing miraculous icon of St. Nicholas the Pleasant, donated to Russia by the state of Italy. This icon is unusual, it is made of mosaics, small multi-colored pebbles. Approaching the icon, I doubted the power and miraculousness of this icon, as I saw that the icon is not at all like ordinary hand painted icons and thought to himself: “Like, where can the Italians get something good, especially holy and miraculous, they are not Orthodox, and the icon itself is somehow incomprehensible and does not look like an icon”? A year later, the Lord dispelled all my doubts and showed that God, all His saints, all their icons and relics have divine miraculous power, which heals all the infirmities of people and helps the suffering in everything, all who turn with faith to the holy saints of God.
Here's how it happened. About a year after this incident, one of my relatives told the following story. She had an adult son, who, along with his wife, lived in a family hostel, where they had their own room. His mother often visited him, so that day, as usual, she came to visit him, but her son was not at home. She decided to wait on the watch for the return of her son, and got into a conversation with the woman watchman, who told her the following story. Her mother has three children, two sons and a daughter, that is, she herself. They had a misfortune, first the father dies, and then the youngest son dies after him, and the mother could not stand such a big loss, she was paralyzed, and besides that, she fell into an unconscious state. They did not take her to the hospital, because they recognized her as hopelessly ill, and they said that she would not live long. The daughter took her mother to her and looked after her for more than two years, of course, everyone in her house was very tired from such a heavy load, but the daughter continued to look after her paralyzed and insane mother.
And just then this icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was brought from Italy, and she decided to go. When she approached the icon, she thought about asking “Nikolushka” a lot, but, going up to the icon, she forgot everything and only asked St. Nicholas to help her mother, kissed the icon and went home.
Approaching the house, she suddenly saw how her sick, paralyzed mother was walking towards her, on her feet, coming up to her and well, indignant: “What are you, daughter, you made such a mess in the room, there is so much dirt, it stinks, some kind of rags hang everywhere.” It turns out that the mother came to her senses, got out of bed, seeing that the room was a mess, dressed and went to meet her daughter to scold her. And the daughter shed tears of joy for her mother and a great feeling of gratitude to "Nikolushka" and to God for the miraculous healing of her mother. For a long time, the mother could not believe that she had lain unconscious and paralyzed for two years.
SAVED BATYUSHKA SERAPHIM
This happened in the winter of 1959. My one year old son fell seriously ill. The diagnosis is bilateral pneumonia. Since his condition was very serious, he was taken to the intensive care unit. I was not allowed to see him. Twice there was a clinical death, but the doctors saved. I was in despair, ran from the hospital to the Elokhovsky Epiphany Cathedral, prayed, cried, shouted: "God! Save your son!" And here in again I come to the hospital, and the doctor says: "There is no hope for salvation, the child will die tonight." I went to the temple, prayed, sobbed. Came home, cried, then fell asleep. I see a dream. I enter the apartment, the door of one of the rooms is ajar, and blue light comes from there. I enter this room and freeze. Two walls of the room are hung from floor to ceiling with icons, a lamp is burning near each icon, and an old man is kneeling in front of the icons with his hands up and praying. I stand and don't know what to do.
Then he turns to me, and I recognize him as Seraphim of Sarov. "What are you, a servant of God?" — he asks me. I rush to him: "Father Seraphim! My child is dying!” He told me: "Let's pray." Get on your knees and pray. I stand behind and also pray. Then he gets up and says: "Bring him here." I bring him a child. He looks at him for a long time, then with a brush, which is used for anointing with oil, he anoints his forehead, chest, shoulders crosswise and says to me: "Don't cry, he will live."
Then I woke up, looked at the clock. It was five o'clock in the morning. I quickly got dressed and went to the hospital. I enter. The nurse on duty picked up the phone and said: "She came". I stand, neither alive nor dead. The doctor comes in, looks at me and says: “They say there are no miracles, but today a miracle happened. Around five in the morning, the child stopped breathing. Whatever they did, nothing helped. I was about to leave, looked at the boy - and he took a deep breath. I didn't believe my eyes. He listened to the lungs - almost clear, only slight wheezing. Now he will live." My son came to life at the moment when Father Seraphim anointed him with his brush. Glory to Thee, O Lord, and to the great Reverend Seraphim!
IT CAN NOT BE
I work at the Moscow airport. Once at work I read in the book of Hieromonk Tryphon “ End Time Miracles about how St. Seraphim of Sarov appeared to people. I thought to myself: “This simply cannot be. It's all common fiction."
After a while, I go to the plane and see Father Seraphim walking quietly towards me. I could not believe my eyes, although I immediately recognized him, exactly the same as on the icon. We equalized. He stopped, smiled kindly at me, and said without opening his mouth: “You see, it turns out that this can be!” And he went further. I was so startled that I didn't say anything, I didn't ask him anything, I just looked away until he was out of sight. Valentine, Moscow.
HOW TO QUIT SMOKING
I live in Italy, in Rome, I go to the Orthodox Church. In the library of this church I saw your book " End Time Miracles”, dear father Tryphon. Low bow to you for your work. I read it with great pleasure. Here, abroad, there is little spiritual literature, and each such book is of great value. I am writing to you about what happened to me. Maybe someone will benefit from knowing about it.
Once, in one book, I read a short story of a man who smoked a lot, as they say, one cigarette after another. One day, while traveling on an airplane, he was reading the Bible. There were no other books. Having flown to the destination, he was surprised to find that in all four hours of the flight he had never lit a cigarette and even - DID NOT WANT to smoke! This story sunk into my heart, because I myself had been smoking for a long time, but I consoled myself with the fact that I smoked no more than three to five cigarettes a day. Sometimes I didn’t smoke for several days to prove to myself that I could quit at any time. What self-deception for all smokers! As a result, I eventually began to smoke a pack a day. It was scary to think what would happen to me next. 'Cause I'm sick too bronchial asthma, and smoking for me, especially in such quantities, was just suicidal.
So, after reading this story, I decided to try to quit smoking by reading the Bible. And I was absolutely sure that the Lord would help me. I read it all free time. And at work there was one desire - to quickly work out for the book. 1306 pages of large format in small print were read in three months.
During those three months, I STOP smoking. At first I forgot that I had not smoked since morning. Then one day the smell of smoke seemed nasty, which was very surprising. Then I noticed that I was literally forcing myself to smoke out of habit: I still didn’t understand what was the matter. And, finally, I thought: “If I don’t feel like smoking, then I won’t buy a new pack for tomorrow.” A day later I came to my senses - I did not smoke! It was only then that I realized that a real miracle had happened! Thank God!
WHEN CHILDREN ARE SICK, YOU SHOULD RELY ON GOD'S HELP
I got married early. I had faith in God, but work, household chores, everyday fuss pushed faith into the background. I lived without turning to God with a prayer, without observing fasts. To put it simply: I COOLED to faith. It never even occurred to me that the Lord would hear my prayer if I turned to Him.
We lived in Sterlitamak. I got sick in January youngest child, a five-year-old boy. The doctor was invited. He examined the child and said that he had acute diphtheria, prescribed treatment. They waited for relief, but it did not follow. The child is weak. He no longer recognized anyone. Couldn't take medicine. A terrible wheezing escaped from his chest, which was heard throughout the apartment. Two doctors came. They looked sadly at the patient, and talked anxiously among themselves. It was clear that the child would not survive the night. I did not think about anything, mechanically did everything necessary for the patient. The husband did not leave the bed, afraid to miss his last breath. Everything in the house was quiet, only a terrible whistling wheeze was heard.
They struck the bell for vespers. Almost unconsciously, I got dressed and said to my husband:
- I'll go and ask you to serve a prayer service for his recovery. Can't you see that he is dying?
- Don't go: it will end without you.
- No, - I say, - I'll go: the church is close.
I enter the church. Father Stefan is coming towards me.
“Father,” I tell him, “my son is dying of diphtheria. If you are not afraid, serve a prayer service with us.
We are obliged to admonish the dying everywhere. Now I will come to you.
I returned home. The wheezing continued to echo throughout the rooms. Her face turned blue, her eyes rolled back. I touched my legs: they were very cold. Heart sank painfully. Whether I cried or not, I don't remember. I cried so much during these terrible days that seems to cry out all the tears. I lit the lamp and prepared the necessary things.
Father Stefan came and began to serve a prayer service. I carefully picked up the child, along with the duvet cover and pillow, and carried it out into the hall. It was too hard for me to stand up to hold him, and I sank into a chair.
The prayer continued. Father Stefan opened the Gospel. I hardly got up from the chair. And a miracle happened. My boy raised his head and listened to God's word. Father Stefan finished reading. I applied; the boy also joined. He put his arm around my neck and listened to the prayer service. I was afraid to breathe. Father Stefan raised the Holy Cross, blessed the child with it, let him kiss and said: "Get well soon!"
I put the boy to bed and went to see the father off. When Father Stefan left, I hurried to the bedroom, surprised that I did not hear the usual rattle that tears my soul. The boy slept quietly. Breathing was even and calm. With emotion, I knelt down, thanking the Merciful God, and then I myself fell asleep on the floor: my strength left me.
The next morning, as soon as it struck for matins, my boy got up and said in a clear, sonorous voice:
- Mom, what am I all lying down? I'm tired of lying!
Is it possible to describe how joyfully my heart beat. Now the milk was warmed up, and the boy drank it with pleasure. At 9 o'clock our doctor quietly entered the hall, looked into the front corner and, not seeing a table with a cold corpse there, called out to me. I answered in a cheerful voice:
- I'm going now. — Is it better? the doctor asked in surprise.
“Yes,” I replied, greeting him. The Lord has shown us a miracle.
Yes, only by a miracle could your child be healed.
A few days later Father Stefan served us a thanksgiving service. My boy, perfectly healthy, prayed earnestly. At the end of the prayer service, Father Stefan said: “You need to describe this incident.
I sincerely wish that at least one mother who has read these lines does not fall into despair in the hour of sorrow, but RESERVES faith in the great Grace and love of God, in the goodness of the unknown ways in which God's Providence leads us.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF PROSCOMIDE
One very great scientist, physician, fell seriously ill. The invited doctors, his friends, found the patient in such a state that there was very little hope of recovery.
The professor lived only with his sister, an old woman. He was not only completely unbelieving, but he was little interested in religious issues, he did not go to church, although he lived not far from the temple.
After such a medical sentence, his sister was very sad, not knowing how to help her brother. And then she remembered that there was a church nearby where she could go and apply for a proskomedia for a seriously ill brother.
Early in the morning, without saying a word to her brother, the sister gathered for an early mass, told the priest about her grief and asked him to take out a particle and pray for his brother's health.
At the same time, her brother had a vision: as if the wall of his room seemed to have disappeared and the inside of the temple, the altar, was opened. He saw his sister talking to the priest about something. The priest approached the altar, took out a particle, and this particle fell on the diskos with a ringing sound. And at the same moment the patient felt that some kind of Force entered his body. He immediately got out of bed, which he had not been able to do for a long time.
At this time, my sister returned, her surprise knew no bounds.
- Where have you been? exclaimed the former patient. “I saw everything, I saw how you spoke to the priest in the church, how he took out a particle for me.
And then both with tears thanked the Lord for the miraculous healing.
The professor lived for a long time after that, never forgetting the mercy of God that was toward him, a sinner. He went to church, went to confession, took communion, and began to observe all the fasts.
They say that God's miracles cannot be hidden. So I decided to tell you how the Mother of God saved me from death. It was already many years ago.
FAITH IN GOD SAVE ME
I used to live in the village, and when there was no work, I moved to the city, they bought me half of the house. After some time, new neighbors moved into the second half of the house. Then we were told that our houses would be demolished. Neighbors began to offend me. They wanted to get a bigger apartment and told me: “ Leave here for the village". They broke my windows at night. And I began to pray every morning and evening, Alive in help”I learned, I will cross all the walls and only then I go to bed. On weekends I prayed in the temple.
One day the neighbors offended me very much. I cried, prayed, and in the afternoon lay down to rest and fell asleep. Suddenly I wake up, I look - there is no lattice on the window. I thought that the neighbors broke the bars - they intimidated me all the time, and I was very afraid of them. And then in the window I see a Woman - so beautiful, and in Her hands is a bouquet of red roses, and dew on the roses. She looked at me so kindly, and my soul became calm. I realized that it was the Most Holy Mother of God, that She would save me. Since then, I began to trust in the Mother of God and was no longer afraid of anything.
Somehow I come home from work. Neighbors have been drinking for a week now. I just managed to go home, I wanted to lie down, but something tells me: I need to go out into the canopy. Later I realized that it was the Guardian Angel who prompted me. She went out into the canopy, and there was already fire. She ran out and only managed to cross her house. And she begged Nicholas the Wonderworker to save my house so that I wouldn't be left on the street. Firefighters quickly arrived and flooded everything, my house survived. The neighbors died in the fire. Faith in God saved me.
HOW I SAVE MY SON'S LIFE BY HOLY BAPTISM
When my son was three months old, he contracted bilateral staphylococcal bronchopneumonia. We were urgently hospitalized. He got worse and worse. A few days later, the head of the department transferred us to a solitary ward and said that my little one did not have long to live. My grief knew no bounds. Called my mother “A child dies unbaptized, what should I do?” Mom immediately went to the temple to the priest. He gave mom Epiphany water and said what prayer should be read during the performance of Baptism. He said that in emergency cases, when a person is dying, a layman can also perform Baptism. Mom brought me Epiphany water and texts of prayers.
The priest said that if there is a danger of the death of a child and there is no way to invite a priest to him, then let his mother, father, relatives, friends, and neighbors baptize him. Pour, reading the prayers “Our Father”, “King of Heaven”, “Hail to the Virgin Mary” - into a vessel with water a little holy water or Epiphany water, cross the child and dip three times with the words: "The servant of God is baptized(here you need to say the name of the child) in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen". If the child survives, then Baptism will then be supplemented by a priest.
There were glass doors in the ward, sisters were constantly scurrying along the corridor. Suddenly, at three o'clock, they had a meeting. Our nurse has instructed me to monitor my son's condition while she attends the meeting. And I calmly, without interference, christened my son. Immediately after Baptism, the child came to his senses.
After the meeting, the doctor came in and was terribly surprised: “ What happened to him? I answered: "God helped!" A few days later we were discharged from the hospital, and soon I brought my son to church, and the priest completed Holy Baptism.
EVERYONE WILL RECEIVE
One man bought a house in the village. There was a burnt chapel in this village, and this man decided to build a new one. He bought timber and boards, but, to his surprise, none of the inhabitants of this village wanted to help him. It was spring, vegetable gardens, crops, plantings - all their affairs were up to their necks. I had to build it myself, after planting my garden. There was so much work on the construction site that weeding and watering the plantings had to be forgotten. By autumn the chapel was almost ready. Guests arrived - colleagues with children. The guests had to be fed, and then only the builder remembered about his garden. He sent summer residents there - what if something grew up? The garden met them with a wall of overgrown weeds. « impenetrable taiga»,
the guests joked.
But, to everyone's surprise, along with weeds, plantings also GROWN, moreover, of enormous size. The fruits of the plants turned out to be just as huge. People from all over the village came to see this miracle.
So the Lord rewarded this man for his good deed. And in the village, for all the inhabitants this year, the harvest turned out to be useless, although they watered and weeded in their gardens ...
Everyone will get their own way!
WE NEVER TELL THE TRUTH
One familiar woman, no longer young, was addicted to talking with the "Voices". "Voices" passed to her miscellaneous information about all relatives, and at the same time about other planets. Some of what they reported was false or didn't come true. But my friend did not consider this convincing enough and continued to believe them. As time went. She began to feel unwell. Apparently, doubts crept into her soul. One day she asked them directly: "Why do you often tell lies?" " We never tell the truth»
- answered "Voices" and began to laugh at her. My friend became terrified. She immediately went to church, went to confession, and never did it again.
WHAT CAN I SAY TO YOU WHEN YOU CALL ON GOD?
Nun Xenia told the following about her nephew. Her nephew is a young man of 25 years old, an athlete, a bear hunter, a karateka, recently graduated from one of the Moscow institutes - in general, a modern young man. At one time he became interested in Eastern religions, then he began to communicate with "voices from space." No matter how mother Xenia and her sister, the mother of a young man, dissuaded him from these activities, he stood his ground. For some reason, he was not baptized in childhood and did not want to be baptized. Finally - this was in 1990 - 1991 - "Voices" made an appointment for him at one of the ring metro stations. At 18.00 he was supposed to get into the third car of the train. Of course, his family dissuaded him, but he went. Exactly at 18.00 he got into the third car and immediately saw the person he needed. He understood this by some extraordinary power emanating from him, although outwardly the man looked ordinary.
The young man sat down opposite the stranger, and suddenly he was terrified. Then he said that even when hunting, one on one with a bear, he had never experienced such fear. The stranger looked at him silently. The train was already making its third circle around the ring, when the young man remembered that in danger he should say: “Lord, have mercy,” and he began to repeat this prayer to himself. Finally he got up, went up to the stranger and asked him: "Why did you call me?" “And what can I tell you when you call on God?” he replied. At this time, the train stopped, and the guy jumped out of the car. The next day he was baptized.
THE GOTHELESS'S REPENTANCE
“I had a close friend who got married. In the first year, her son Vladimir was born. From birth, the boy was struck by an unusually meek character. In the second year, her son Boris was born, who also surprised everyone, on the contrary, with an extremely restless character. Vladimir passed all classes as the first student. After graduating from university, he entered the theological academy and was ordained a priest in 1917. Vladimir embarked on the path he aspired to and was chosen by God from birth. From the very beginning he began to enjoy the respect and love of the parish. In 1924, he and his parents were deported to Tver without the right to leave the city. They had to be constantly under the supervision of the GPU. In 1930 Vladimir was arrested and shot.
Another brother, Boris, joined the Komsomol, and then, to the sadness of his parents, became a member of the Union of Atheists. Father Vladimir, during his lifetime, tried to bring him back to God, but could not. In 1928, Boris became chairman of the Union of Atheists and married a Komsomol girl. In 1935 I came to Moscow for a few days, where I met Boris by chance. He joyfully rushed to me with the words: “The Lord, through the prayers of my brother, Father Vladimir in heaven, brought me back to Himself.” Here is what he told me: “When we got married, the mother of my bride blessed her with the image of the “Savior Not Made by Hands” and said: “Just give me your word that you will not leave His image; let him now you do not need, just do not quit. He, really unnecessary to us, was demolished in a barn. A year later, we had a boy. We were both happy. But the child was born sick, with tuberculosis of the spinal cord. We did not spare money for doctors. They said that the boy could only live to the age of six. The child is already five years old. Health is getting worse. We have heard a rumor that a famous professor of childhood diseases is in exile. The child is very ill, and I decided to go and invite the professor to us.
When I ran to the station, the train left before my eyes. What was to be done? Stay and wait, and there is only one wife and suddenly the child dies without me? I thought about it and turned back. I arrive and find the following: the mother, sobbing, is kneeling by the bed, hugging the boy’s already chilling legs ...
The local paramedic said it was last minutes. I sat down at the table opposite the window and gave myself over to despair. And suddenly I see, as if in reality, that the doors of our barn are opening and my own late brother Father Vladimir is coming out. He holds in his hands our image of the Savior. I was stunned: I see how he walks, how his long hair flutters, I hear him open the door, I hear his steps. I went as cold as marble. He enters the room, approaches me, silently, as it were, passes the Image into my hands and, like a vision, disappears.
Seeing all this, I rushed into the barn, found the image of the Savior and placed it on the child. In the morning the child was perfectly healthy. The doctors who treated him only shrugged. There are no traces of tuberculosis. And then I realized that there is a God, I understood the prayers of my brother.
I announced my withdrawal from the Union of Atheists and did not hide the miracle that had happened to me. Everywhere and everywhere I proclaimed the miracle that had happened to me and called for faith in God. They baptized their son, giving him the name - George. I said goodbye to Boris and never saw him again. When she returned to Moscow in 1937, she learned that after the baptism of her son, he left for the Caucasus with his wife and child. Boris spoke openly about his error and salvation everywhere. A year later, being completely healthy, he suddenly died. The doctors did not determine the cause of death: the Bolsheviks removed him so that he would not talk too much and the people would not stir up ... "
Suggested by Saint Alexander Svirsky
It often happens to us that we make mistakes, and we know that we are doing wrong, but we continue to make them without even realizing their significance. And then help comes from above. Or in a book you find out, or someone will tell you, or right person you will meet, but God's providence is in everything.
I used to think that the uniform for Orthodox woman it doesn’t matter much: today I went in trousers or in a miniskirt - it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is to come to the temple as it should be, but in the world - as you want. And I somehow have a dream, I go into the temple, to my left is an icon, I go up to it, and Alexander Svirsky comes out of the icon to meet me. He tells me: “Put on simple women’s clothes on your body and wear it as it should, and pray to St. Zosima.”
Subsequently, the priest explained to me the importance of the words spoken to me by the Monk Alexander. Trousers on a woman, a short skirt and other tight clothes are tempting. And now, imagine, you entered the subway in such clothes, and how many men looked at you and even sinned in their thoughts - that's how many people you will be the cause of their sin. After all, it is said: “Do not tempt!”
Healing from blindness
During the consecration of water, a wondrous prayer is said, in which HEALING POWER is requested for those who use this water. Consecrated objects contain spiritual properties that are not inherent in ordinary matter. The manifestation of these properties is like miracles and testifies to the connection of the human spirit with God. Therefore, any information about the facts of the manifestation of these properties is very useful to people, especially during times of temptation and doubts in faith, that is, in the spiritual connection of a person with God. This is especially important at the present time, when there is a widespread misconception that such a connection does not exist and that this has been proven by science. However, science operates with facts, and denying facts on the sole basis that they do not fit into a given scheme is not a scientific method.
To numerous manifestations of special healing properties consecrated water, you can add another quite reliable case that took place at the end of the winter of 1960/61.
An elderly retired teacher A.I. was sick with her eyes. She was treated in an eye dispensary, but, despite the efforts of the doctors, she became completely blind. She was a believer. When trouble struck, for several days in a row she applied a cotton swab moistened with water to her eyes with a prayer. Epiphany water. To the surprise of the doctors, one really beautiful morning, she again began to see well.
It is known that in patients with glaucoma such drastic improvements are impossible with conventional treatment, and getting rid of A.I. from blindness is one of the manifestations of the miraculous healing properties of Holy water.
Unfortunately, not all miracles are written down, even fewer get into print, and there are many things we simply do not know. The miracle that I have spoken about will obviously be known only to a narrow circle of people, but we, who by the grace of God have been honored to be among them, will give thanks and glory to God.
THE POWER OF FAITH IN GOD
One woman told a story about her father Ivan Safonovich Romashchenko, born in 1907, about how at the end of 1943, on a false denunciation of a traitor who collaborated with the Nazis, he ended up in camps for 10 years. And how many hardships he had to endure there. In addition, he was very ill with tuberculosis, which is why he was not taken to the front in 1941.
Even while there, in incredibly difficult conditions, her father continued to be a real Orthodox Christian. He prayed, tried to live according to the Commandments, and even... keep the fasts! Although it was hard exhausting work, and there was only gruel from food, he still LIMITED himself in food on fasting days. Father kept a calendar, knew and remembered the days of the great church holidays, calculated the day of the onset of the main bright holiday of Easter. He told his cellmates a lot of interesting things about the saints, sacred history, knew by heart many prayers, psalms and places Holy Scripture. Father especially honored the main Orthodox holidays and especially Easter.
Once he refused to go to work on this bright Holiday, for which, on the orders of the camp leadership, as a rebellious one, he was immediately taken to the so-called "Knee Bag". This building really looked like a narrow bag, but made of stone. A person could only stand in it. The guilty were left in it FOR DAYS without outerwear and hats. In addition, burning bright lamp, and cold water constantly dripped on the crown of the head. And if we take into account that in the North during this period of the year the temperature is minus 30-35 degrees below zero, then the outcome for the father was known in advance - death. Moreover, from numerous experiences, everyone knew that a person in this “Stone Bag” withstood no more than a day, during which he gradually FREEZED and died.
And so the father was locked up in this terrible deadly structure. Moreover, having learned that Easter had come, the camp authorities and guards began to celebrate it. The prisoner closed in the “Knee Bag” was remembered only at the end of the third day.
When the sent sentry came to pick up his body in order to bury it, he was taken aback. Father stood - Alive and looked at him, although he was all COVERED with ice. The sentry got scared and ran off to report to his superiors. Everyone ran there to look at the Miracle.
When they took him from the “Sack” and, having placed him in the infirmary, they began to ask how he could SURVIVE, because before him everyone DIE within a day, he answered that he had not slept for all three days, but incessantly PRAYED to God. At first it was terribly COLD, but by the end of the first day it became Warmer, then even warmer, and on the third day it was already HOT. He said that the heat came from somewhere INSIDE, although there was ice outside. This event had such an effect on everyone that the father was left alone. The head of the camp canceled work on Easter, and even allowed my father not to work on other church holidays for his great Faith.
But now the camp authorities have changed. The former head of the camp was replaced by a new one, just the same beast, not a man. Cruel, heartless, not recognizing God. The Holy Pascha of Christ has come again. And although no work was expected that day, at the last moment he ordered everyone to be sent to work. Father again refused to go to work on this bright Holiday. But the cellmates persuaded him to go to the place of work, otherwise, they say, this beast without a soul and heart will simply torture you.
My father came to the place of work, but refused to work on cutting down the forest. Reported to the boss. He ordered to immediately SET on him, specially trained to catch up and tear apart a person, dogs. The guards released the dogs. And so, more than a dozen big dogs with an evil bark rushed at the father. Death was inevitable. All prisoners and guards froze, waiting for the end of the terrible bloody tragedy.
The father, having bowed and crossed himself to the four cardinal directions, began to pray. It was only later that he said that he read mainly the 90th psalm (“Living in help”). So, the dogs rushed in his direction, but not having reached him 2-3 meters, they suddenly, as it were, STUNNED against some kind of invisible OBSTACLE. They jumped furiously around their father and barked, first angrily, then quieter and quieter, and finally began to wallow in the snow, and then all the dogs fell asleep in unison. Everyone was simply dumbfounded by this obvious Miracle of God!
So once again, everyone was SHOWN the huge Faith in God of this person, and God's POWER was also demonstrated! AND “How near is the Lord our God to us, whenever we call on Him”(Deut. 4, 7). He did not allow the death of His faithful servant, who loves Him.
My father returned home to his family in Mikhailovsk in December 1952, where he lived for almost 10 more years.
DID NOT GIVE A BRIBE…
Three years ago, they wanted to expel my daughter from the College of Music for complete failure. However, the real reason for the expulsion was different: I did not want to bribe the teacher. At that time I was in the hospital, and my frustrated child came there so that I would give her a blessing to pass the exam before a special commission. The results of the exam were known in advance; it was called “funeral”. I blessed my daughter and began to pray to Saint Nicholas for a miracle. And my prayer was heard: after a while, my daughter returned joyful, with a “four” for the exam. It turned out like this: the teacher, deprived and burning with a thirst for revenge, could not join the commission - just before the exam, her taps broke in both the kitchen and the bathroom. Other examiners listened to the girl's game impartially and gave her a good mark. Now my daughter has successfully graduated from the Music and Pedagogical College.
The second case occurred relatively recently - in the spring of 2003. Just before St. Nicholas Day, a large stone was found in my left kidney, and I ended up in the hospital. On the eve of the holiday, at the vigil in the hospital church, I asked St. Nicholas to perform a miracle - to free me from this without surgery dangerous stone. And the miracle did not slow down. On the morning of the holiday itself, first an ultrasound and then an X-ray showed that there was no stone in the kidney anymore, and I was discharged home.
Priest Vladimir SERGIENKO, Holy Cross Cossack Cathedral, St. Petersburg
TWO GIFTS
In the 1950s, my aunt Domna looked after the servant of God, John, a seriously ill, bedridden man. This is what he said about himself. In 1930 he was 8 years old. He did not go to school, he could not read, and when his mother and grandmother called him to church, he refused or said that he would go, but would not pray. Instead of school, he went to graze village cows. One day he was grazing cows, and suddenly, out of nowhere, an old man appears in front of him with a book in his hand. “Take,” he says, “a book: you will read it.” The boy refuses, says that he is illiterate, and the old man insists: “Take it! Your whole life is in this book, but you will learn to read.”
The boy leafed through the book - there are no pictures in it; I wanted to return the old man, but he had already disappeared ... Three days later the boy fell ill, went to bed, and then he again picked up the book he had been presented with (it was the Gospel in Russian) - in a few days he mastered the letter and began to read. No one could help him in this: his parents were illiterate themselves, and teachers did not come to them, to believers. Then Vanya realized that the old man who gave him such an expensive gift was St. Nicholas. The boy’s illness turned out to be very serious: John lay in bed for 25 years, until his death, but he never complained, and among his fellow villagers he was known as a blessed and perspicacious person: many came to him for advice, striving to find out the will of God about themselves. And the Gospel given by the Saint is still kept in our family.
Another incident occurred during the Great Patriotic War. My friend, R. B. Anna, it was very difficult to live in a family with a father-in-law and mother-in-law. She decided from such a life to throw herself under a train. She chose the time when a freight train was supposed to pass by, and ran to the rails at a run. And at that moment an old man, in appearance somewhat similar to her late grandfather, whom she loved very much, suddenly called out to her. He called out as grandfather called: “Annushka, dear!” She stopped, and he went up to her, threw a sheepskin coat over her shoulders (it was winter, and she ran out of the house in one dress) and disappeared immediately; the train left in the meantime. Anna always kept this sheepskin coat. Time passed, and by the icon she recognized St. Nicholas in her savior.
E.V. KHOKHLOV, Volgograd region
MIRACLES AT BUS STOPS
My brother came to visit us for the weekend. When it was time for him to leave, he and his mother went to the bus station, and there was already the last bus. There are a lot of people around: everyone needs to go, but there are no places. My mother prayed to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to help my brother leave. And suddenly a female conductor comes out of the bus and says: “I have one place. Now I myself will choose which of you will go.” She spreads the crowd with her hands and moves towards my brother, who was standing farthest of all: “So you will go with me!” The surprised and happy brother got on the bus and left.
And with me there was such a case. I was late for work, but there were no buses for a long time. In desperation, I prayed to St. Nicholas, and suddenly I see a bus without passengers rushing past me at high speed. I braked sharply, the doors opened, the driver jumped out ... I went to him: “Please help - I'm late!” - "Sit down, I'm on the way!" And in five minutes without stopping he rushed me to work. I even had time to reach the temple and thank the Lord and Saint Nicholas for the unexpected help.
Stefan VOKHMIN, Ukhta, Komi
FOREIGN LAND
Through the holy prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Seraphim of Sarov, by the grace of the Mother of God, my newborn son, myself and my two older children were saved from death. I'll tell you everything in order.
I fell in love with an Azerbaijani. Spiritual father did not bless me to marry this man. I didn't listen to my father. Lived with my beloved in fornication. Now this is called a civil marriage, but fornication is fornication. I rarely went to church... I loved the Azerbaijani very much, I treated him like a husband, and on his part it was all a game. Years passed. God gave me children: Elizabeth, Michael and Nicholas. When I gave birth to a daughter, it was only by a miracle that the child and I survived. My church friends and father prayed for me. Before the birth of my third child, the father of my children, an Azerbaijani, was put on trial. I tried to save him from prison, prayed to the Lord for him as I had never prayed before, and asked God for the sake of three small children to keep their father free. He was released pending trial; and we went to Azerbaijan, to his homeland. I went without the blessing of the priest, in the seventh month, leaving my seriously ill father and mother in St. Petersburg.
Poverty, cold, hunger and disease awaited us in Azerbaijan. The house was completely unsuitable for winter, and there in the mountains the winter is no worse than in St. Petersburg. The children were constantly ill, the treatment was paid, there was no money, my husband's relatives were a big family, but unfriendly ... Under these conditions, I gave birth to my youngest son, Nikolai. In the hospital, I found out that I had been ill for a month inflammation of the lung. Medicines in hospitals in Azerbaijan are given only for money, but neither my husband's relatives, nor he himself helped me a single penny. It got to the point that I wanted to give my pectoral cross for two aspirin tablets, but God saved me: he sent me a good doctor, a woman named Moral, who took pity on me and began to treat me for free. My milk was gone from hunger; they began to feed the newborn with cow's milk, but it is impossible for them to really feed the child. The baby began to slowly die of hunger. I decided to go home a long time ago, but they did not let me go.
And I prayed. I prayed to the Lord, prayed to St. Nicholas, after whom I named my little one, prayed to Seraphim of Sarov - and repented of my sins. The older children never left me: they were very afraid to be alone in this house: it seemed as if something evil lurked here, behind its walls ... How I asked Father Nicholas the Wonderworker to save baby Nicholas and my other children! .. And finally, my The Sahib gave me permission to send a letter to my mother. Mother came and took me with the children to St. Petersburg.
In my hometown, both I and the children quickly recovered. Little Nikolai lost half of his weight during a month of hunger, but thanks to the intercession of St. Nicholas and skillful doctors, he quickly recovered. Only here, in my homeland, did I finally baptize my children. The mercy of God turned out to be boundless to me, a sinner.
r.B. Svetlana, St. Petersburg
MIRACLE IN THE MINE
Miner N. was a man of little faith, but his believing wife always accompanied her husband to work with a prayer. Once, when N. was descending into the mine, the cage broke off ... N. was threatened with imminent death. As he flew down, his whole life passed before his eyes. And suddenly, from the side, he saw a gray-haired old man flying next to him: no higher and no lower. N. was surprised: “Where is the old man from?” When N. was already falling, the old man sharply pushed him to the side: otherwise N. would have fallen flat on the protruding trunk, and then death would have been inevitable, and so N. received multiple fractures, but remained alive. N. lay in bed for a year: almost all the time at home, in the hospital they provided only first aid, they considered him hopeless. Coming to his senses and beginning to recover, N. recognized his savior in St. Nicholas. Some time later, his son was born. They called him Nicholas.
"Lampada", Novoaltaysk
STOLE DOCUMENTS
I, the servant of God Zinaida, once went to the doctor. I waited a long time for the bus at the bus stop, and when it came up, a lot of people had already accumulated. I began to squeeze through to the door, and when I had already stood on the step, I felt that someone pulled my purse with documents strongly. I somehow pressed her to me and felt to the touch that something was missing in her. On the bus, sitting in an empty seat, I saw the handbag: it was cut with a razor, and everything that was there disappeared, and there were only documents. And so, on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, on the evening of May 21, I prayed to the Saint - both at home and in church - that my documents would be returned. The next day I'm leaving for the country; I return, and my husband tells me that everything that was missing has been found: both my documents, and his, and the key to my daughter's apartment. There was only a small pocket prayer book. I thanked Saint Nicholas and placed a candle in front of his image in the church. He often helped me after that incident. Once my daughter had an operation, and I prayed to the Saint, and everything went well.
r.B. Zinaida, Krasnoyarsk
TWO RIDERS
I want to tell you about two similar cases when I prayed to St. Nicholas, and he helped me.
Once (I was 17 at the time) I was waiting for a bus at a bus stop. There were many people. A car with tinted windows drove up and stood for a long time without turning off the engine. None of it came out. I thought, "It's like they're looking out for someone." A tall Caucasian man in a long black coat gets out of the car, comes up to me and politely offers me a lift. I refused, but he repeated his offer again, gently taking my arm. I, as if hypnotized, followed him. The back door of the car opened and it turned out that three more people were sitting there. I got really scared and stopped. Then, unnoticed by others, some grandfather took me under the other hand and said very quietly: “Daughter, are you tired of living?” Then I overcame my fear and told the Caucasian that I would not go anywhere, and he left me alone. I am sure that if it was not St. Nicholas himself who stopped me, then he sent me this grandfather to save me from trouble.
Another time, I again stood at the bus stop, but it was in the village, and buses ran very rarely there. It was winter. Everyone tried to catch a ride, but I couldn’t do it. And then a miracle happened: a white Zhiguli stopped nearby. Everyone ran to the car, but the driver said he would only take me. He himself put my things in the trunk and off we went. On the way, he told me how once he was walking along the taiga road 11 km on foot, and no one wanted to give him a lift; since then, he told himself that from now on he would not give a ride to anyone. For a long time he adhered to this rule, and suddenly today he saw me and felt sorry for me. To my shame, I got a little worried, and he, noticing this, put a woman with a child in the car, and did not charge anyone. I regret not asking his name.
r.B. Juliania, Leningrad region.
PARCEL TO SPAIN
My five year old grandson lives with his parents in Spain. I miss him so much and he misses me too. Once I collected a parcel for him: a book, vitamins, chocolate and some other trifle, packed it in a large envelope and sent it by mail. I sent it, but I myself worry: what if they return from the road? A week passed, another ... The daughter calls that she did not receive anything, and we decided that the letter was gone. The third week has passed, the fourth… Two days later, the feast of St. Nicholas. I couldn't take it. She fell on her knees in front of the icon of the Wonderworker and began to ask with tears: “Father Nikolai! Will my Ilyusha not receive a gift from his grandmother for your holiday? You help all people, make a small miracle for us too!” And here's the surprise! On the day of St. Nicholas, the son-in-law calls and says: “Today Ilyusha received your present.”
Ekaterina Alexandrovna KUN, Ukraine
AT THE STATION
I was returning from the Velikoretsky procession: from the city of Vyatka, back to St. Petersburg. As soon as I arrived at the station, the first thing I heard on the speakerphone was: “Tickets to St. Petersburg sold out three days in advance.” Nevertheless, I took the queue and, standing in it, prayed: “Father, Saint Nicholas, help! I can’t stand three days at the station: after the procession, I can barely stand on my feet!” And then a ticket office opens next to me, where tickets are sold for an additional fee by reservation. I rush there, submit my blockade documents and get a free ticket in a sleeping car for a train that leaves in two and a half hours.
When I got into the carriage, the conductor at first did not even want to let me in: it already hurt my pilgrimage appearance did not fit the sleeping car. But, by the grace of God and through the intercession of St. Nicholas, I got home safely.
r.B. Nina, St. Petersburg
MIRACULOUS SALVATION ICON
One woman told such an incident that happened in their family when she was six years old. Her mother was very religious, and her father, on the contrary, was a communist and was hostile to the church. Mom had to keep secret from her father somewhere in a closet among things the icon of St. Nicholas, the blessing of her mother. One day she came home from work and started lighting the stove. She already had firewood in her, all she had to do was kindle it, but she couldn’t do it, she fought, fought, but the firewood did not burn at all. Finally, she began to pull them out and found the icon of St. Nicholas, which her husband found in the closet and decided to destroy with his wife's hands.
“Nikolo-Shartomsky evangelist”, Shuya, Ivanovo region
IN A FOREIGN CITY
A. lived in one of the republics of the CIS. Once she went on a long business trip to Moscow. There was little money, and there was a lot of work to be done. When the funds began to decrease, A. did not succumb to despair, but went to the church of St. Nicholas, which was on the way to work. There she saw an announcement that the temple urgently needed a cleaner. It turns out that shortly before her arrival, one of the permanent cleaners was injured. She fell down the stairs, hit the huge icon of St. Nicholas, and only later found out that this saved her from a spinal injury. A. was hired until the end of the business trip, and this work did not interfere with the main one. By the time she left, the cleaning lady, who was injured, had recovered and went to work ...
"Lampada", Novoaltaysk
FIRE ON CONSTRUCTION
V. went to work with his comrades. They built cottages outside the city. They lived near the construction site in wagons, which were heated in winter with electrical heating appliances, often home-made. Once, the men left the electric stove turned on for the night, and washed laundry was hung around it. At night, when everyone was sleeping, a fire broke out. Half-asleep workers jumped out of the trailer in horror. V. did not wake up immediately, but when he woke up, it was too late and there was nowhere to run away. He sat in the middle of the trailer, and flames raged on all sides. Suddenly, among the fire and smoke, he saw St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint called him, and then abruptly pushed him out of the window. V. received burns, but survived. The hands were especially affected, but they did not lose their working capacity. Soon V. recovered and changed his profession. Now he is a priest.
"Lampada", Novoaltaysk
The Bible tells us that once, through the prayer of the righteous, the sea parted and the sun stopped. The lives of the saints describe cases of healing the sick and even resurrection of the dead. But all this is "deeds for a long time past days", and what miracles happen through the prayers of believers in our time? Can a job or a happy marriage be considered a miracle?
Any believer who prays not occasionally, but constantly, can tell more than one or two stories that can be considered a miracle that happened in response to prayer. Or you can simply perceive it as the fulfillment of the gospel words "ask, and it will be given to you."
Miracle #1. One woman was expecting guests in the morning and decided to bake a cake in the evening. She had already begun to prepare the dough, when she suddenly discovered that the milk required by the recipe was not in the house. What to do? The time is late, the store is long closed, around the clock outlets there is no Internet near the house, the Internet in the apartment - too. The woman began to pray: "Help, Lord, I really want to treat my friends to this pie." After a while, she decided to go out onto the landing and saw that between the two doors of her apartment was ... a carton of milk. How he ended up there is a mystery, but the cake was ready by the arrival of the guests.
Miracle #2. One young man was bored to death with his work. At the same time, there was a crisis in the yard - it is risky to simply go "to nowhere". And he already has a new position, and several new genus fantasized about his activities: "the head of such and such a department."
For about a month, the young man constantly called out to God with a request: "Lord, help me become the head of such and such a department. I will fulfill my new duties well, I promise You."
Once upon a time mailbox a letter arrived at the young man, which at first he almost mistook for spam and did not delete. There was an announcement: "Such-and-such an enterprise requires the head of such-and-such a department." This was the job he dreamed of. The young man phoned a potential employer and went for an interview. He was very worried: after all, he did not have managerial experience, he applied for a position with a promotion. But a few days later, the company called him back and said: "Congratulations, you are accepted. We looked at about 30 candidates and decided that you are the best fit for us."
Miracle #3. A pregnant young wife was about to undergo a paid ultrasound prescribed by doctors and suddenly discovered that not a penny of money was left in the house. Well, okay, you can live without ultrasound, but what to eat? At the same time, the only breadwinner in their family - her husband - was delighted at work with the news that the salary, which had already been delayed for two weeks, would be issued no one knows when.
The woman began to pray, order prayers in the church and ask various acquaintances to pray for herself. After praying, she felt she had to take such and such a book off the shelf. Opening the book, the woman found between the pages ... a thousand dollars. Who, when and why put money in this book, they never found out. But they went through an ultrasound, bought good products and gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Is it right to call such stories miracles? After all, they are all quite everyday, nothing supernatural happens: fire does not descend from heaven, and stones do not speak.
"What is a trolleybus? What is energy? What is heat? Here we can give formal definitions relating to the material world. What is a miracle? The question itself contains an internal contradiction. Because the subject of our study, by its nature, is not amenable to complete knowledge, study by a rational mind. When we formulate such questions, we try to lift ourselves up by the hair," Hieromonk Macarius (Markish), a teacher at the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Theological Seminary, said in an interview with Pravda.Ru.
According to a well-known priest, "speaking of a miracle, we go beyond the laws of the material world. And as soon as we go beyond the laws of the material world, we cannot give a formal definition to a miracle."
“A miracle is our connection with otherness. Does a miracle require a violation of the laws of nature? Of course not. We find a wonderful example in textbooks on theology. would be taken as a miracle. But there is no violation of the laws of nature: the locomotive consists of the same parts that are present in the material world. But the fact of its presence on the moon would be very wonderful, "said Father Macarius.
As he emphasized, this or that event will be miraculous, it will find a connection with the invisible world "only through the personal perception of a person, through his personal destiny. Outwardly - well, you never know, he went, looked for a job, then found it. Well, what's so special about that? some new, invisible to outside world phenomena or events that elevate this phenomenon to the category of a miracle.
As an example, Father Macarius told the following parable:
One person comes to work very excited, nervous:
“Oh, a miracle happened to me, really huge, I don’t even know how to thank the Lord!
He is asked:
— What exactly happened?
- Oh, I was driving to work ... Suddenly, for no apparent reason, a huge truck flies into a red light, rushes straight at me and stops ten centimeters from me. And not a scratch, nothing. I went further.
The second speaker says:
“You know, a miracle happened to me today too.
— What happened? Did that truck jump out too?
— No, I arrived without problems.
"It's perceived as a joke. And now we're looking - there are terrorist attacks all around, and you really don't know, today I got home, remained alive, the children did not fall into some terrible abomination - is it a miracle or what? God's help or natural law?" the hieromonk remarked.
According to Father Macarius, "when we really see a storm on this sea of life, every mile traveled on this sea of life can be perceived as a miracle."
Have miracles ever happened to you? If so, about this edition of the rubric "Religion".
Miracle, what is it? If this is “the result of the intervention of an extranatural intelligent force in the natural course of things,” then the idea of a miracle goes beyond the competence of science. And this, of course, is true, but only in part. After all, it is precisely scientists who are able to find objectively correct arguments in favor of the fact that a certain event can be considered as miraculous.
However, it should be remembered: not all knowledge in the world is obtained by scientific means. Sometimes a revelation is given to the elect and they take it to others. There is knowledge about which we cannot say at all where it comes from. We simply know that it is.
Miracles objectively exist, which means that our world is not arranged quite the way positivist scientists say. It turns out that scientific picture world is incomplete and even, probably, in some cases incorrectly answers the most important questions for any person.
A miracle is not a breaking of the laws of nature. It is simply the result of an influence from outside, the result of something that has had an impact on nature and brought to life what nature itself is not able to do.
Belief in a miracle is identical to the essence of faith in general. Religious faith is faith in a miracle; faith and a miracle are completely inseparable.
It is known that with the help of physical vision we are not able to see everything that actually exists. Some things may indeed seem strange to us, but this is not a reason to deny them. For example, we cannot see radiation, but only its consequences, but this does not mean that such a phenomenon does not exist.
Art critic A. Saltykov (1900–1959) wrote in his work “About a Miracle”: “A true miracle is never accidental, but is due to internal spiritual necessity, and its meaning is not at all in the forced mastery of a person’s will by exposing him to an external effect but in revealing to him the inner, spiritual side of life… A miracle happens only where there is faith, that is, a free willingness to accept the inner meaning revealed by it.”
Miracles were created by the founders of world religions and are demonstrated by modern psychics. Insights, prediction of the future, diagnosing by “aura”, treatment by laying on of hands and remotely, telepathic transmission of thoughts and feelings, moving objects by “willpower”, walking on fire, on water and, materialization and dematerialization of things and one’s own body ...
Signs and wonders in spiritual world human are as important as greatest events in outer life. There are true and false miracles, therefore it is important to know what the scientific interpretation of a miracle is, how science and religion define it.
The relationship between science and miracle is an eternal problem. More than a thousand years ago, it was brilliantly resolved by Blessed Augustine. In his formulation - what is a miracle and science and how are they related to each other? - asserts:
“Miracles do not contradict the laws of nature. They only contradict our ideas about the laws of nature.”
Miracle of the Holy Fire
For the church, a miracle is something ordinary. Most often, icons are “renewed” or myrrh-streaming or healing occurs with the help of icons. There is also a miracle that takes place every year, for more than one and a half thousand years, in front of thousands of pilgrims. This miracle of finding the Holy Fire in the Jerusalem Church of the Holy Sepulcher takes place in Good Saturday on the eve of Orthodox Easter.
But even this miracle happens when certain objective conditions are present: after a long prayer, with strict observance of the ritual. The sacred fire is received by the Jerusalem Patriarch; the holy hermit elders must also be present. Local boys (Orthodox Arabs) also play their part, who burst into the temple with a tambourine, songs and dances glorify Christ. From the outside it looks almost sacrilege, but without them, the fire does not appear.
All the people present in the temple are patiently and with trembling waiting for the patriarch to come out with fire in his hands. It is believed that if the Holy Fire does not descend, it will come, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher itself will be destroyed. IN different years The agonizing wait can last from five minutes to several hours. Before the convergence of the fire, the temple begins to light up with bright flashes of light: here and there small lightning flashes. In slow motion, which journalists and pilgrims have done many times, it is clearly seen that they come from different places temple: from the icon hanging over Kuvuklia, from the dome of the church, from windows and other places - and flood everything around with bright light. In addition, here and there between the columns and walls of the temple, quite visible lightning flashes, which often pass through standing people without harming them.
In a moment, the whole temple turns out to be belted with lightning and glare, which snake down its walls and columns, as if flowing down to the foot of the temple, the whole room is illuminated, and fireballs roll on the slab that closes the Holy Sepulcher. From them the patriarch lights the first candle. Lightning spreads across the square among the pilgrims. At the same time, candles are lit at those standing in the temple and on the square, the lamps themselves are lit, located on the sides of Kuvuklia.
The first time - 3-10 minutes - a lit fire has amazing properties- absolutely does not burn, regardless of which candle and where it is lit. Parishioners literally wash themselves with this fire - they drive it over their faces, over their hands, they scoop it up in handfuls, and it does not harm them, at first it does not even scorch their hair.
At this moment, other miracles happen. Western journalists even filmed the healings taking place. The film shows two cases: in a person with a mutilated rotting ear, the wound, “smeared” with fire, healed right before his eyes, and the ear takes on a normal appearance, and also shows the insight of a blind man with a thorn in his eye, which instantly disappears.
Some of the scientists have suggested that the fireballs that preceded the appearance blessed fire, nothing but . 
Shroud of Christ
The main and valuable Christian relic is equated to a miracle -. The famous Christian relic remains as the main subject of contention between religion and science, but at the same time, the link that unites these two areas of knowledge of the world.
The Shroud is kept in the Cathedral of San Giovanni, in the side chapel, with all the holes, patches, traces of blood, fire and water (in 1532 it was extinguished by a fire that almost killed it). The relic is held in a deep vacuum and will not be retrieved until 2025. Already nat doubt that the imprint male body on the Shroud of Turin belongs to Jesus Christ.
known different methods shroud research. Some are so convincing that there is no doubt about its authenticity.
Well, for example, the contour of the face, the negative of which is printed on the fabric, is combined with the most ancient of the surviving icons depicting Christ. The lines of the lips, nose, and location of the eyes on the Byzantine icon of the 6th century coincided to a millimeter with the imprint on the shroud. The textures of the shroud and canvas made in Palestine in the 1st century BC are compared. e. They are absolutely identical.
Palynologists, scientists who study plant pollen, analyzed the spores stuck in the fabric of the shroud. The spores and, for comparison, the spores of cereals growing in Palestine at the time of Jesus were magnified tens of thousands of times. No differences were found.
Was held chemical analysis brown spots that create a negative image of a man on the shroud. What this substance is is unclear. But it is precisely proved that it is not paint.
And here is a mystery that scientists have not solved. After a fire in the 16th century, the fabric of the shroud was patched up. The patches were made from the then Dutch fabric. The seam is also from Dutch threads. But today the structure of the fabric of patches and threads is indistinguishable from the structure of the "native" canvas and threads of the 1st century BC. e. To give an explanation for this strangeness, no one undertakes.
The legendary crown of thorns that pricked the head of the martyr-Christ - it was perhaps the same as this one, made from dried Palestinian thorns. And here are the small spots of blood that remained above the eyebrows of the man resting in the shroud, their geometry corresponds to the geometry of thorns.
The imprint of the dead body, which was wrapped in a shroud, was photographed in polarized light. And then they found out that the eyes of the deceased were covered with coins (which is not visible from the print, viewed in the rays of ordinary light).
Covering the eyes of the deceased with coins is a tradition for the Jewish burial ritual. But when the researchers carefully examined one of the leaked coins - Pilate's mite with the inscription "Emperor Tiberius" - an error was found in the inscription. Moreover, collectors responded, having several exactly the same, with an identical error, coins.
And finally, the most surprising thing is something that certainly cannot be. A sensation obtained in the course of the latest, in the jubilee year 2000, studies of the shroud. The experts did a reasonable experiment: they processed the imprint of the deceased's face on a computer in accordance with the different intensities of the shades of the multitude of dots. A three-dimensional image of an elongated dead face appeared on the display screen. But if you process an ordinary photograph or drawing in this way, the image will turn out to be flat, two-dimensional. This means that the imprint on the shroud is a kind of hologram: it contains a volume. Exactly how, no one can understand.
miraculous omens
Surely, everyone is familiar with the feeling of a miracle - an amazing moment when something happens that does not fit into the framework of the usual. Miracles are described in almost every life of an Orthodox saint, in the works of the Fathers of the Church, spiritual ascetics. And in our time, evidence of miracles in Orthodoxy - are they only a matter of faith?
God's special mercy is revealed even today. First of all, this is the multiplicity of miraculous signs, their incredible abundance. The most frequent reports of myrrh flow, lacrimation. There are also known facts of transferring the image to the glass of the icon case (“doubling”), sound signs.
Many miraculous signs are described. A large number of cases of updating icons have been collected - these are phenomena when the image on the icon that has darkened with time for no apparent reason becomes bright and distinct, as if new.
And the icon, according to church tradition, is a “window” to the heavenly world, to the “world above the world” ...
When the Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Art returned the miraculous icon of the Mother of God to the Church, the image suddenly “came to life”, and the hall was filled with an incomparable fragrance. Anyone who deals with icons (not necessarily in a temple, but in a museum) knows that in reality, from time to time, a fragrance comes from some icons that has nothing to do with the smell of incense or church oil. Is it possible to analyze it?
From the historical chronicles we know that before the eyes of tens of thousands of townspeople, icons and church domes of the temple were renewed, when the bells themselves rang without the participation of bell ringers.
From medieval Tibetan sources, we know of numerous cases of self-emergence of sacred images and statues of Buddhas, deities and bodhisattvas, possessing truly miraculous properties. They may laugh or cry, sometimes bloody tears, spontaneously move in space or refuse to leave their pedestal. They appear to worshipers in a dream, in reality or during meditation and express their demands and wishes to them.
The memory of unusual phenomenon blessed fire, when the elevated consciousness is illuminated by the fiery tongues of the outgoing light. Ancient documents say: during the prayer of St. Francis, the monastery shone so brightly that the travelers got up, thinking: “Is it not dawn?”. A radiance flared up over the monastery when St. Clara. Once the light became so brilliant that the surrounding peasants fled, thinking that "there was a fire."
Myrrh-streaming icons
Church tradition knows several icons from which holy myrrh emanated. Even in ancient times, in the 6th century, oil flowed from the hand of the Virgin on the Pisidian icon. Myrrh-streaming or lachrymation of an icon is not an exceptional phenomenon. In the 20th century in Russia, these signs were massive. Hundreds of cases have been recorded. Icons are miraculously acquired, renewed, streaming myrrh - in churches, monasteries, in houses ordinary people. And above all, it is the myrrh-streaming and lamentation of icons.
The myrrh-streaming in itself was not an event, on the basis of which the icon was considered miraculous. As a rule, she revealed her healing power through prayers before her before or after the myrrh-streaming, which only indicated that the icon was chosen. Almost always myrrh was collected and used specifically for the healing of mental and bodily ailments.
Laboratory tests showed that this liquid is of organic origin, at times reminiscent of olive oil. As a result of a study of moisture taken from one of the weeping icons, it was found that "these are real tears." Myrrh is not exhausted from the substance of the icon, but arises on it “out of nothing” (in broad sense In modern literature, myrrh-streaming means any miraculous manifestation of moisture on icons and sacred objects).
The type, color and consistency of the resulting liquid are different: from thick, viscous resin to dew, therefore they sometimes speak of "untreated" or "drip". It may have a fragrant aroma, reminiscent of the smell of flowers (roses, jasmine) or incense. The shape and size of the droplets are also very different. Sometimes they cover the entire image, sometimes they seem to flow from certain points. There were cases when the myrrh flowed from the bottom up, contrary to the law of gravity. Miro can disappear for a while, and then reappear.
Some explain this phenomenon by the fact that many lamps burn in temples, the oil evaporates, and in a cold place it condenses in the form of drops. In some cases, the surface of condensation can serve as a colorful layer of icons.
However, it is known that lamp oil is a mineral raw material, it is a product of oil distillation, and the oil flowing from the icons is of organic origin, similar to vegetable oil. It's two different class chemical substances, which cannot be confused. And there is no way to turn one into the other - that would be a miracle, more incredible than the expiration of the world. Besides, be it condensation, why does it only happen on icons? Have we seen drops of oil on the walls, the ceiling, on the temple floor? And what about the “weeping” icons in the homes of ordinary people, where only one lamp is lit?
An experiment was carried out in a house where massive myrrh-streaming was observed: several icons lay on the table with wide gaps between them. Not only the icons were covered with large drops of oil. It also appeared in between. The expert physicist placed a simple cardboard icon on the table next to the owners' already oiled icons. Just before his eyes, a clean, "non-miraculous" icon was covered with three oil stains. Within an hour, these spots increased in size. Large drops of oil rolled off it.
Science helps to separate the banal from the unique and inexplicable, without the involvement of extranatural intelligent forces. In particular, physics helps to evaluate the process of myrrh-streaming and the power of a myrrh-streaming icon, which is comparable to the power of a nuclear power plant. Such a phenomenon in life occurs only in the case of a nuclear transformation, when during an explosion nuclear bomb matter is converted into energy. Theoretically, energy can be converted back into matter. No one has proved that science can describe all the phenomena of the material world.
Miracles with icons
Icons in temples or houses are sacred due to their spiritual content and meaning. But some are chosen by the providence of God for special signs. The inexpressible light, fragrance, holy myrrh emanating from them are material manifestations of the heavenly world, the Kingdom of God.
The history of Orthodoxy has about a thousand images, famous for miracles. The main reason for venerating the miraculous image was the certified gift of concrete help to a person. Sometimes this help was preceded or accompanied by some supernatural event: the Mother of God Herself came in a dream or in a vision and told where and how to find Her image: the icons walked through the air, descended or ascended by themselves; from them it was observed: a radiance at their acquisition, a fragrance emanated, a voice sounded; the icon itself was updated or the image on it came to life.
Some of the images miraculously exuded blood and tears. The outflow of blood usually came from a wound inflicted on the image - to admonish people who offended the shrine. Tears flowing from the eyes Holy Mother of God, were perceived both as a sign of the Mother of God's sorrow for human sins, and as a sign of the mercy of the Lady, crying for Her children. In 1854, Bishop Melchizedek of Romance became one of the eyewitnesses to the flow of tears from the icon, which later received the name “Weeping” (in the Romanian Sokolsky Monastery).
Among the phenomena associated with icons, there is, although much less often, the doubling of imagery on the glass protecting the icon. As if an invisible diamond chisel draws the contours of an iconic plot on it. At the same time, such a phenomenon has never been heard in museums and art galleries where paintings are stored. It turns out that the phenomenon has a selective nature, it is associated with the meaning of what is depicted on the icon, and sometimes with ongoing events. This reality lies beyond what we used to call science.
Apparition of Angels
An extraordinary miracle is luminous moonlight ethereal forms of entities, of enormous growth.
Such creatures are found in space and in our time. They were observed repeatedly by both our and American astronauts. Back in 1985, when the Soviet space program was on the rise, and it was not customary to talk about emergencies in space, space station"Sa-lut-7" the unforeseen happened. Passed the 155th day of the flight. A crew of six: three "old-timers" - Leonid Kizim, Oleg Atkov, Vladimir Solovyov - and "guests" - Svetlana Savitskaya, Igor Volk, Vladimir Dzhanibekov - were engaged in the planned experiments.
Suddenly, a large cloud of orange gas of unknown origin appeared on the path of the Salyut station. While the astronauts were guessing what it could be, and the Mission Control Center was analyzing the messages received from the station, Salyut-7 entered the cloud. For a moment it seemed that orange gas had penetrated into the orbital complex. An orange glow surrounded each astronaut, blinding and making it impossible to see what was happening. Fortunately, vision returned almost immediately. Rushing to the porthole, the astronauts froze - from the other side of the heavy-duty glass in the orange cloud of gas, 7 figures of incredible size were clearly visible.
None of the crew doubted: creatures of light hovered in space in front of them - heavenly angels!
Almost like people, they were still different. And it's not about huge wings or dazzling halos around their heads. The main difference was in the expression on their faces. As if sensing their eyes on them, the angels turned their faces to the people. “They were smiling,” the astronauts later said. It was not a smile of greeting, but a smile of delight and joy. We don't smile like that." The ship's clock impassively counted 10 minutes. After this time, the angels accompanying the station disappeared. The orange cloud also disappeared, leaving in the souls of the astronauts a feeling of inexplicable loss.
When the flight leaders got acquainted with the report on what had happened, the report immediately received the stamp “secret”.
Now, when a lot has become public, it turned out that American astronauts met angels many times in space. They were even photographed using the Hubble Space Telescope. The appearance of angels was also noted by the equipment of research satellites.
Relatively not so long ago, the Hubble telescope again gave a surprise. During the study of the galaxy NGG-3532, the Hubble sensors recorded the appearance of seven bright objects in the orbit of our planet. Some of the pictures taken later showed a slightly blurry, but still distinguishable figures of luminous winged creatures, reminiscent of biblical angels! “They were about 20 meters high,” said Hubble project engineer John Pratchers. - Their wingspan reached the length of the wings of modern airbuses. These creatures radiated an incredible glow. We cannot yet say who or what they are. But we thought they wanted to be photographed.”
Imperishable relics
The relics of the saints remain incorruptible for many centuries. Is it possible with scientific point vision to explain their miraculous power? Studies of the burial places of saints in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra revealed a powerful biological radiation that comes from the relics. An experiment was carried out: elite wheat seeds were irradiated in the laboratory with 13,000 x-rays, and then they were applied to the shrines, as if “irradiated” divine energy. The result exceeded all expectations: the seeds that visited the icons and relics gave friendly shoots. And the seeds that were not applied to the shrines withered, despite good watering and fertilized soil.
Usually, miraculous healings at icons and relics are explained by self-hypnosis. But experience with seeds proved that psychological aspect nothing to do here. And how many babies are healed. It would be possible to consider all the examples as a mere coincidence, but there are dissertations of doctors that describe cases of the healing of hopeless patients. From a medical point of view, they cannot be explained.
A few years ago in Buryatia, a cedar sarcophagus with the body of the Hombo Lama (Supreme Lama of Buryatia) Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov XII was opened. In 1927, anticipating the impending massacre of the Buddhist cult, the Hombo Lama sat in the lotus position and plunged into meditation. After a while, he calmed down. According to the teacher's will, the students placed his lifeless body in a sarcophagus and placed fragrant herbs nearby. Having opened, almost according to the will of the deceased, the sarcophagus after 30 and 75 years, the Buddhists were convinced of the incorruptibility of the body.
In 2002, the sitting hombo lama was moved to the Ivolginsky datsan, where believers can see him and experts can study him. Recent analyzes of the body and organs, which were carried out relatively recently by a group of forensic experts, confirmed that the body does not show signs of smoldering, the joints remain mobile, and the skin remains elastic, occasional small cuts allow you to see a red gelatinous fluid resembling blood.
Meditation can do wonders. The fantastic power of psychic energy has been demonstrated. Hombo Lama deliberately introduced himself into lethargy, in which the metabolism was reduced to almost zero. It is quite possible to assume that the Buddhist priest is still alive, we simply have not encountered such a form of existence before.
It also happens this way: a miracle remains a fact of consciousness, but does not affect the depths of the soul, has no spiritual consequences. Indifference to the miracle probably prevents it from appearing again. The meaning of the miracle is in the awakening of a sense of faith. Only the manifestation of absolute faith stimulates the appearance of a miracle. Internal forces awaken the unknown and induce to manifestations of unusual, miraculous phenomena.
