This icon of the “Kazan” Mother of God with the words partially worn away in Latin letters, “Eta ikona budet hranit was wsu schizn,” adorns the Church of the Joy of All Who Sorrow in St. Petersburg. One of the church’s parishioners told its amazing story. One day, an old woman came into the church and waved her arms when she saw the Kazan icon of the Mother of God. “Where did that icon come from? I gave it to a German soldier!” She exclaimed in amazement. I recognize it by a characteristic dent in the frame.” I explained that this icon was given to the church by the German Consulate in our city. The woman broke into tears, said that her name was Vera, and told the story of how her Orthodox family icon ended up in Germany. “I fled my native village, which ended up in the center of the battles. I wanted to leave with my sister and three children earlier, but mama fell seriously ill, and wouldn’t have survived the journey. ‘I will come later,’ I promised my sister, sending her with the children to a place near Ryazan, where our aunt lived in a collective farm village. Mama died a month later, but before her death was able to bless me with the family icon of the “Kazan” Mother of God. My reposed grandfather in his time had blessed my mother before her wedding, and mama blessed Sasha and me with it fifteen years ago, even though my husband was in the Komsomol. Now the icon lay in my threadbare refugee bag. I myself sat down under the awning of one of the station freight houses, watching the crazy dance of whirling snow. I couldn’t think about anything; I only tried to shove my fingers into the narrow sleeves of a light overcoat. Cold and hunger—that was all I could feel. Now a train rumbled up to the station, the doors of the cars opened, and the Fritzes stood in ranks handing long boxes along to each other. ‘They’ve brought weapons,’ the indifferent thought crossed my mind. But then suddenly I felt a painful stab: “It’s going to the front! Where my Sasha is fighting! They will shoot at him with those rifles, and at other Russian soldiers… Oh, the cursed ones!’ “It is strange, but the German patrols paid no attention to me, a lonely woman, emaciated with hunger. I don’t even remember when I had eaten last. I had long ago traded my watch, wedding ring, and mama’s earrings for food. I ran my hand over the brass frame behind the frosty cloth of the bag. ‘O Intercessor, Most Holy Mother of God!’ I whispered with my frozen lips. ‘Save and guard my little ones, my sister Nadya. Save and guard my husband, slave of God, soldier Alexander.’ “’Vat? Somzing wrong?’ came the words just above my ear. I raised my head. Next to the bench stood a German soldier. I could feel sympathy in his words, and answered, “It’s bad.” The German sat down next to me. He set his bulging knapsack on the ground, fished around in it for a bit, then held out his hand. ‘Nimmt!’ There was a square piece of bread on which a slice of lard lay all pink. I took the gift and devoured it. The German pulled out a thermos, poured some steaming tea into the lid, and said, ‘Heiss! Gut!’ Probably he was part of the watch here at the station. He looked about twenty years old, blue-eyed. His face was guileless. Probably his hair was light colored, like my son’s, Andreika’s, only you couldn’t see it under his cap. “The German pointed to the train engine, then at me, and comically furrowing his brow, apparently trying to find the word, asked, ‘Far?’ “Far! Now I won’t make it there!’ I immediately started telling him that I had hoped to go to my aunt’s but was now left without anything. Ending my story I said, ‘I have children there. Kinder. Understand? I traced with my hands, from high to low. The lad nodded, ‘Oh, ja, Kinder!’ ‘But I won’t reach them. I’ll just freeze.’ I wasn’t even aware that I was crying. The German again reached into his knapsack and pulled out a weighty package. ‘Here. Take.” He opened the package and touched its contents, then licked his finger and said, ‘Gut!’ There was salt in the package. Salt… which was then worth more than gold. For salt you could get bread, milk, well, anything… There was no less than three kilograms in the package. And here he was just handing it over to me, a completely unknown Russian woman. Seeing the shock on my face, the lad smiled and said something I didn’t understand. Then he rose, screwed the lid onto his thermos, put it back in the knapsack, waved his hand, and left. “’Stop!’ I ran after the soldier. “Was ist es? ‘This icon will guard you all your life,’ I said with firm assurance. He didn’t understand. Again I said, ‘This icon will guard you all your life!’ The lad pulled a chemical pencil out of his pocket, wetted it with spittle, and turning over the board asked me to say it again. As I repeated it slowly, syllable by syllable, he wrote it down on the back of the icon in Latin letters: ‘Eta ikona budet hranit was wsu schizn’. We never met again… But I was able to trade the salt for warm clothes, felt boots, and bread, and I reached Ryazan. In ’45 my husband, Sasha, returned from the war.” After listening attentively to the agitated woman, I joyfully told her that what we had heard from the representatives at the German consulate who had given the Kazan icon to our church. That German soldier went through the entire war. His comrades died before his eyes; once a truck that he was riding in exploded, but he was able to jump out of it only a moment before the explosion. The rest perished. At the end of the war, a shell hit their dugout, which he had abandoned just a twinkling before. The unseen power of the Russian icon had surely saved him. He now understood and reevaluated very much his life, and his soul opened up to prayer. He returned home, married, and raised his children. He placed the icon in a beautiful glass case in a place of honor in his home, and prayed before it all his life. When he grew old, he commanded his oldest son to take the icon to the Russian consulate after his death. “This icon lived in Russia and should return there. Let them take it to Leningrad, the city that withstood the blockade, dying from cold and hunger, but not surrendering.” That is how in the mid 1990’s, to one of the newly-reopened churches of St. Petersburg, where the rector at the time was Archpriest Alexander Chistyakov, came the small icon of the “Kazan” Mother of God with a strange inscription in Latin letters on the back.
Irina Blinova Translation by OrthoChristian.com 04 / 11 / 2014
Here is a story about St.Paisios where he taught the nature of miracles.
"A group of young men, of no religious background, visited the Elder. They had heard of Father Paisios and were curious to meet him. After giving them the typical Mount Athos treat (loukoumi and water), he sat next to them to listen to what they had to say. The told him: - Father, we want you to work a miracle in our presence, so we can believe in God. - Wait a second, he replied. He went inside and brought a knife and said jokingly: - Stand up in line! I will cut your heads off and then I will miraculously glue them back to their place. But please, don't stand next to each other, in case I mix them up. The young men reacted at once" - No!! We want to see a different kind of miracle. then, the Elder sat by their side and told them the following: - It would be very easy, if God wished so, to make people believe in Him by working miracles; with His supernatural power, visible to all of us, He would make everyone believe. However, God does not want people to believe in Him out of admiration for His supernatural power; on the contrary, He wants us to believe in Him and love Him because He is extremely kind.
God will never work a miracle in order to demonstrate His power, and thus acquire more believers. He works miracles to cover up human weaknesses. ..."
We cannot put the burden on God to make us have faith in Him. This is a matter for our own free-will. The Elder is beautifully telling us that it is only through a relationship of love that we embody faith and know God's power. Miracles can happen to those of faith when they are in need due to their human weaknesses. They come when we seek with humility and faith based on a love of Him.
Ο εν τω κόσμω πιστός και τα μέλη της οικογένειας στην οποία ανήκει θα πρέπει να λειτουργούν ως μέλη μιας «κατ’ οίκον Εκκλησίας». Η οικογένεια είναι μία μικρή Εκκλησία. Θα πρέπει τα μέλη της, κατά μίμηση της μοναστικής Ενορίας, να καλλιεργήσουν την κοινή λειτουργική ζωή, την νηστεία, την φιλανθρωπία, την απλότητα και αφελότητα, την ανιδιοτελή αγάπη, την κοινή προσευχή μέσα στο σπίτι καθώς και την πνευματική συμμελέτη της Αγίας Γραφής και των Πατερικών συγγραφών.
Ο συμπνευματισμός, η φιλόθεος αδολεσχία και η κοινή προσευχή καλό είναι να γίνονται σε τακτά χρονικά διαστήματα και σε καθορισμένες ώρες που να μπορούν όλοι να συμμετέχουν. Τα μικρά παιδιά ας συμμετέχουν για λιγότερο χρόνο. Η νηστεία επίσης προσαρμόζεται από τον Πνευματικό ανάλογα με τις δυνατότητες και την ηλικία του καθενός.
Πρέπει να τονιστεί ότι η κατήχηση των παιδιών από τον πατέρα που έχει και την συμπαράσταση της μητέρας, καθώς και η κοινή τράπεζα το μεσημέρι και το βράδυ είναι πρακτικές που έχουν καίρια σημασία για… την πνευματική πρόοδο των μελών της οικογένειας και την εν Χριστώ ενότητά τους.
Η κοινή προσευχή ας γίνεται τουλάχιστον το πρωί, το βράδυ (το Απόδειπνο) καθώς και στο γεύμα και στο δείπνο (πριν και μετά). Υπάρχουν στα συνήθη προσευχητάρια οι τυποποιημένες προσευχές πριν και μετά το φαγητό τις οποίες καλό είναι να τις γνωρίζουν όλα τα μέλη της οικογένειας και να τις απαγγέλουν. Πολύ βοηθητικό για την οικογένεια είναι να έχουν όλα τα μέλη της τον ίδιο Πνευματικό οδηγό, στον οποίον να εξομολογούνται τακτικά.
Το κορυφαίο γεγονός στην χριστιανική οικογένεια είναι η Θεία Κοινωνία στην οποία όλοι, με την ευλογία του Πνευματικού, θα πρέπει να μετέχουν πολύ συχνά. «Φύλακας άγγελος της οικογενείας» δίδασκε ένας αγιασμένος σύγχρονος Αγιορείτης είναι η άσκηση. «Όταν λέµε άσκηση εννοούµε τη λειτουργική ζωή της οικογενείας. Χωρίς την Εκκλησία δεν µπορεί να διατηρηθεί η οικογένεια. Η οικογένεια πρέπει να έχει τον Πνευµατικό της σαν τον οικογενειακό της γιατρό. Όταν είναι υπό την παρακολούθηση του Πνευµατικού λύνονται όλα τα προβλήµατα και οι σύζυγοι αλληλοκατανοούνται.
Η πνευµατική αγάπη ανέχεται και τα αρνητικά στοιχεία του άλλου. Δεν επιµένει εγωϊστικά να εκπληρώνονται όλα τα θελήµατά του. Η νηστεία, η προσευχή και η Θεία Λειτουργία αγιάζουν τα παιδιά και τους συζύγους. Η καλυτέρη πρακτική άσκηση είναι οι µετάνοιες.
Η µεγαλυτέρη όµως άσκηση και ευλογία στην οικογένεια είναι η συµµετοχή στην Θεία Κοινωνία. Πρέπει να εγκρατεύεστε και να ρυθµίζετε έτσι την ζωή σας, ώστε µε την ευλογία του Πνευµατικού σας να µπορείτε τακτικά να κοινωνάτε Σώμα και Αίμα Χριστού. Όταν το επιτύχετε αυτό δεν ζείτε σαρκικά, αλλά πνευµατικά και η Χάρις του Θεού αναπαύεται επάνω σας. Το πρόβληµα στην οικογένεια προέρχεται από τον σαρκικό τρόπο ζωής, διότι σκοτίζεται ο νους και αρχίζει η εµπάθεια και ο εγωϊσµός.
Όταν µάς κατευθύνει µόνο το σώµα κάνουµε πολλά λάθη. Αλλάζουν όµως τα κριτήρια όταν υπάρχει άσκηση και η βίωση της χριστιανικής ζωής. Τότε υπάρχει ευλογία και χαρά στην οικογένεια. Ο Χριστός µάς τα δίνει όλα τα αγαθά και είναι όλα ευλογηµένα. Είναι κρίµα να µήν αγαπάτε την οµορφιά και την ζεστασιά που φέρνει ο Χριστός στην οικογένεια!» Πολύ βοηθητικό για τα μέλη της χριστιανικής οικογένειας είναι το να εκμεταλλεύονται τις διάφορες πνευματικές ευκαιρίες, να παρακολουθούν τις διαλέξεις-κηρύγματα του Πνευματικού τους και άλλων αγιασμένων προσωπικοτήτων. Επίσης συντελούν πολύ στην πνευματική πρόοδο οι επισκέψεις σε Μοναστήρια και ο σύνδεσμος μικρών και μεγάλων με Γέροντες και Γερόντισσες. Ιδιαίτερα τα παιδιά πολύ βοηθούνται όταν αναπτύξουν πνευματική φιλία με καλούς μοναχούς, τα αγόρια και εξαγιασμένες μοναχές τα κορίτσια. Η αλληλοσυμβουλευτική που αναπτύσσεται μεταξύ των νέων δεν βοηθεί, αντίθετα τους βλάπτει πολύ. Η επικοινωνία με αγιασμένους μοναχούς μπορεί να την υποκαταστήσει πολύ επιτυχημένα.
Παράλληλα με την οικογενειακή Πνευματική ζωή ο ποιμένας της κοσμικής Ενορίας οφείλει ιδιαίτερα να μεριμνήσει ώστε να δημιουργηθεί στην Ενορία μία ακμάζουσα λατρευτική ζωή.
A Gerondas from the Holy Mountain Athos enumerated the following points about the difference of the Jesus prayer from Yoga.
1. The Jesus prayer express faith in God through His Son Jesus as part of a trinitarian God. It emphasizes that salvation is attained through God which is why we ask for His mercy. Salvation cannot be attained by our own efforts.
2. We are not attempting to find some impersonal God or absolute truth through the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer focuses on a personal relationship with the God-Man Jesus.
3. We cannot fall into the sin of pride through the unceasing prayer of Jesus because in the prayer we continually seek mercy for our weaknesses. We consider ourselves unworthy of God’s grace and recognize our sinfulness in His eyes.
4. Salvation is about union with God. In this union we do not eliminate our personality. The human factor is not denied as it is in some Eastern yoga practices. We are not assimilated in this union, but retain our personhood.
5. As we progress in the prayer we gain the ability to discern error. We learn the movements of the devil and enhance our ability to distinguish between good and evil.
6. The struggle in the practice of the Jesus Prayer is connected with the cleansing of our body and soul from the negative effect of passions. We do not seek apathy or to destroy our passions, but to transform them into help to seek a relationship with God. Our salvation depends on this struggle of transformation, which requires the help of God’s grace.
7. We do not try and attain absolute nothingness, but seek to turn our heart so it brings the grace of God into our soul, so it can be spread throughout our body. We make no effort to negate or destroy the body, but see it as the temple of the Spirit. We practice the prayer because we want to live with God eternally.
8. We are not indifferent to the world. We continually pray for all beings. Salvation is a union with Christ, while we are in communion with other persons. It is not an individual goal.
9. We do not put great emphasis on psychosomatic methods or on body postures. They can only assist us in concentration. The difference from “New Age” practices or Eastern yoga meditation has been described by using the analogy of a framed masterpiece. We can admire the beautiful frame of a masterpiece, but the frame is not the masterpiece.
The similarities between the Jesus Prayer and various meditation practices can be considered to be like the frame of a masterpiece. The masterpiece in the practice of the Jesus Prayer is union with Jesus Christ. The frame is only the methods used. There may be similarities with postures, techniques and other acts of the outer form of this prayer, but the content and aim is totally different and uniquely Christian.
(Metropoitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos, A Night in the Desert of the Holy Mountain, pp 48 -50)
