Miracles, imaginary and real. Occultism and Orthodoxy.

Miracles of Orthodoxy

What are the miracles of Orthodoxy? A miracle in the broadest sense is any direct action of God in the world. For example, this is His creation of the world. This is the action of the Church Sacraments, in which the believer, according to the teachings of the Church, unites with the invisible spiritual reality. This is also the moral rebirth of this or that person.

“Where God, who exists above nature, is present, there supernatural deeds are performed” (St. Theophan the Recluse, 1815-1894).

Christ performs the miracle of turning water into wine (19th century church fresco)

In a narrower sense, a miracle is defined as a supernatural manifestation of God's power in the world. Moreover, this action should contribute to a person’s faith and his salvation. Miracles can be performed through saints or through those who have strong faith.

“In Russian, the word “wonderful” has a double meaning. On the one hand, it indicates something that cannot be explained on the basis of the laws of nature or that can be explained by the intervention of a higher supernatural force. On the other hand, the word “wonderful” is equivalent to the highest degree of beauty.

The ability to denote two concepts in one word in this case testifies to the genius of the Russian language. Because here the deepest truth is revealed. We will understand this if we want to see this double meaning in the wonderful events of the Gospel and Christian history.

The casting out of demons, the healing of the sick, the resurrection of the dead, the rebirth of the human soul - all this is miraculous in both senses of the word. In these events, on the one hand, the action of a supernatural, divine force is revealed. And on the other hand, the highest triumph of beauty, meaning over nonsense, light over darkness, life over death, eternity over decay, love over the cold of evil” (Bishop Alexander Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, 1890-1979).

Miracles and false miracles

An obsessive desire to see a miracle with your own eyes can do a disservice. So, when you get lost in an unfamiliar city, you can make the mistake of following the first one who says: “Come follow me!” If you find yourself in trouble, you can bring on even greater trouble if you ask for help from someone who doesn’t even think about helping.

“Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light, and therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness” (Second Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, 11:14-15).

Orthodoxy claims that a miracle always has a real benefit for people. For example, cases of resurrection of the dead, healing of the sick, miraculous feeding of the hungry. External showiness, which is not characteristic of real miracles, often indicates false miracles. They are, according to the Church, the action of the devil.

Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807-1867) wrote that

“The desire found in Christian society to see miracles and even to perform miracles should not be ignored. This aspiration needs careful consideration.” Orthodoxy insists on a restrained, sober attitude towards mysterious phenomena: after all, miracles can be “black”.

Who does St. Nicholas the Wonderworker help?

Photo: Flickr.com
The grace of God was bestowed on the saint for his deep faith and righteous life. And after death, to this day, he comes to the aid of believers.

In every house where Orthodox people live, there is always an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Someone has an old one, carefully and reverently passed on by inheritance. And for some it is simple, cardboard, but at the same time people pray in front of it with feeling and faith.

Contemporaries collected many facts when, in the form of a handsome old man, the saint appeared to people, giving them timely advice, lending a helping hand, or pointing out the right path. This phenomenon occurred immediately after, in a difficult situation, people prayed to this saint, hoping for his prayers before God.

Nicholas the Wonderworker helps everyone who sincerely believes, even if not explicitly.

The miracles of Orthodoxy are not the main thing

The life of the Church is not only about signs and wonders. Indeed, in the first centuries of Christianity, people accepted the Christian faith, seeing miracles performed by the apostles in the name of Christ. Although for subsequent Christians, the presence of a miracle seen was not the reason for their faith.

“The Gospel denies miracles as a “reason for faith,” as proof of the existence of God. It is said about Christ that in one place He was unable to perform miracles because of the unbelief of the people. And thus, no matter how we define a miracle, for Christians faith is not from a miracle, but a miracle from faith” (Archpriest Alexander Schmeman, 1923-1981).

The Orthodox Church calls for maintaining a sober position in relation to miracles. That is, do not strive for them, do not consider them an obligatory and necessary attribute of faith.

A supernatural phenomenon is recognized as a miracle if it is recognized by the Church.

So, in 1383, the Tatars launched a raid on the city of Kursk. One of the soldiers cut the icon of the Mother of God from the Root Hermitage into two parts. Only a few months later the halves of the image were found. But when they were put together, they miraculously “grew together.”

The Russian Orthodox Church currently has a Commission for the Description of Miraculous Signs (Appearances). In August 2002, the icon of the Royal Martyrs was transferred to this Commission. There was an “imprint” of the image of the icon on the glass of the icon case. Previously, the icon was in the Yekaterinburg Church of the Nativity of Christ. The design on the glass of the icon case was studied by all available scientific methods. It turned out that there was a different substance on the icon and on the glass. They could not scientifically explain the nature of the appearance of the pattern on the glass. Such are the miracles of Orthodoxy.

Miracles of the Lord in our lives

I remember she promised to tell me where exactly to start, I don’t know, and when I’ll continue, I don’t know either, but I’ll probably start with the last one, because this miracle of the Lord was given to us by YOUR prayers.

…

As you remember, last August, I strongly asked for prayers for my mother Nadya, the mother of my husband

. And it all went something like this:

19 years earlier, she was diagnosed with cancer, but it was quite severe, extensive, and medicine was not yet at the current level. In general, the doctors gave her a MAXIMUM of 3 years, and then only with strict adherence to all requirements and recommendations. But what kind of requirements can we talk about when the eldest son got married, divorced, got married, and the granddaughter remained “out of business”, the middle one cannot understand what is on the personal front, and the youngest is generally in the most difficult transitional age. In a word, when she came for the next examination, the doctor did not hide her surprise: “Are you still alive?”

…

But 19 years passed and my mother began to have headaches, we often told her about the hospital, but all people are adults, and she, in some places, won’t tell, in others she will remain silent, in others she will say that she was there, but as it turned out , she was afraid to be examined. She was afraid that the disease had returned...

One August morning, the phone rang, it was my husband’s middle brother, “Come urgently, we didn’t understand anything, but dad called in the morning and said that mom wasn’t talking to him, we didn’t take it seriously, we decided that they had a fight. Now dad called back and said that mom was screaming and not reacting to anything. We’re going after her, and you come urgently.”

We live 70 km from the city, and they are all in the city.

When we left, I felt a slight chill, but even then I did not realize that everything was so difficult.

On the way, we learned that, so as not to delay, they did not call an ambulance and took my mother to the hospital. She doesn't recognize anyone...

When we arrived at the hospital, I was shocked to see this look into nowhere, painful cries for help...

Then there were tests, tomography, waiting - time dragged on endlessly. And then the doctor came out and, without looking into the hole, began to clarify whether there had been any health problems before? Having heard what they were and what they were, she became slightly encouraged (which means we are mentally prepared) and said a preliminary diagnosis, which sent a chill down my spine, and the only thing I thought about was that if only my dad could bear it now, he has a heart disease. And the diagnosis sounded like a death sentence - multiple metastases in the brain

The first thing I did, after recovering from the shock, was to call my dad to arrange the unction, there was a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes - I didn’t believe that this was all real. Some may think these are too strong words, because these are not my parents, but for me they are family, and I love them very much.

Then there were endless mooings, because... they didn’t know where to put her, there is no oncology department in this hospital, and to transfer her to an oncology clinic you need a bunch of papers that take several days to complete. In general, my mother was admitted to the toxicology department, because... free places were found only there. But, in fact, I think so - because of the screams. Mom screamed very much in pain, even though she was unconscious, but it seemed like there were “not people” lying there, you don’t feel sorry for them, unlike other patients.

When they put my mother in bed, they injected her with something so that she would become a little calmer and they straightened us out, saying that we couldn’t help here.

Arriving home, I couldn’t find a place for myself, and my husband and I decided to return to the hospital. Well, we couldn’t leave her there alone in that condition. We quickly got ourselves in order (to go to work in the morning), packed our things and went, we returned to the hospital at one o'clock in the morning.

The doctor on duty was not happy to see us, but he couldn’t keep us out either. He said one thing, with her diagnosis and condition, people no longer come to their senses, why should you be here? But I stubbornly insisted that my mother would come to her senses and we should be close. She’s there even without her things, and we brought her slippers and a shirt. My husband’s older brother later told me that when he sees that I’m taking slippers (they tried to reason with me that even if I’m lucky and my mother gets better, then with her diagnosis, she won’t need slippers), and I kept repeating one thing, but how Will she get up without slippers? The floor is dirty.

Probably at that moment I was not entirely aware of my actions or did not fully accept reality - in a word, it is useless to argue with me at the best of times...

That night in the hospital became the strangest night of my life. It is incredibly difficult to hear a loved one screaming in pain and not be able to do anything. It is incredibly scary to see how the eyes of a loved and loving person look through you. It was an incredibly long night... I begged the doctors to give her more painkillers, it made her feel better and my mother calmed down not for long, for 20-40 minutes, and then again, but after the 4th injection the doctor said that there was nothing more she could do , because This was the daily norm and if I inject more, my heart will not stand it...

The whole ward cursed us, and all my feelings turned off from pain for my mother. My husband and I took turns holding her hand while the other was lying on the bed; it was not possible to sleep, but there was no strength at all, and not because it was night, but because my nerves could not stand it. And holding my hand, I no longer felt anything, it was empty inside, probably nervous, shock, otherwise my heart wouldn’t have been able to withstand this pain for a dear and close person.

In the morning my older brothers arrived, and I went to work to write a leave application. I told my husband that if my mother doesn’t get better, I will leave work, but we won’t leave her alone.

When we left, my husband’s older brother called me, “Mom has come to her senses!!!” The pain has gone away and she smiles and asks about something. The only thing I asked him at that moment was to ask my mother if she agreed to confess and receive communion. Mom agreed and I immediately called my dad. He didn’t answer the phone, the service was going on, but then he said, feeling the vibration of the call, he realized that it was me, and it was a real miracle, because... Mom felt better at the moment when a special request for the health of the sick woman was made.

After the service, dad called me back, I told him that mom can not only receive unction, but also confess and receive communion. Immediately after the service, he and the priest went to the hospital. And at lunchtime my mother already went for a walk along the corridor.

But not even a day had passed since the moment when the doctor told us that she would no longer come to her senses and the doctor was in shock.

Then there were many examinations, because... Oncologists did not believe that with such tests, my mother not only came to her senses, but also returned to a full life. Neurologists clearly saw that this was not their profile. And so six months later passed with endless examinations, a ton of tomographs, and yet the initial diagnosis was confirmed. Moreover, during these six months, according to the tests, it became worse, but my mother’s health was relatively normal, the doctors could not understand why this was so.

But in fact, everything is simple, where man is powerless, God is omnipotent.

Today, my mother has completed a course of radiation, received the first group of disability, but she lives, she was happy about our Wonder, she was worried that we did not have berries on the site and collects them for us in buckets. Yes, there are certain difficulties, but she LIVES!!! She not only came to her senses, but returned to normal life and the doctors cannot find an explanation for this, because... God's miracles are not under their control!!!

Thank God for everything!!!

Miracles in Orthodoxy: examples from history

Descriptions of many miracles can be found in the Gospel. First of all, this is the immaculate conception of the Son of God by the Virgin Mary, the birth of the Savior. Christ performed many miracles during His earthly life. Transformation of water into wine, healing of the paralytic and lepers, deaf and blind from birth, resurrection of the dead. The Savior could walk on water. He fed several thousand people with a small amount of bread. The main miracle that laid the foundation for the Christian religion is the Resurrection of Christ from the dead.

The disciples of Christ also performed miracles. Evidence of miracles is also found in the lives of saints. It should be noted that all Orthodox miracles are performed directly by God's power. Only the Creator of the laws of the universe can change the established rules. “Without Me you can do nothing” (Gospel of John 15:5). God's saints receive from the Creator a special gift of grace to help people for the glory of God.

Why miracles are rare

In the history of the Church, miracles, signs, and cases of grace-filled help occurred constantly. They do not stop happening in our time. But miracles in Orthodoxy cannot be constant, as if coming off an assembly line. After all, God's miracles are aimed at strengthening faith. Besides, as they say, a miracle must be earned.

“God usually works signs when evil increases. When He sees that His servants are oppressed, and His opponents revel in tormenting them beyond measure, then He shows His own dominion” (St. John Chrysostom, 347-407).

Often, a miracle is God’s response to a person’s faith. During his earthly life, the Savior performed only a few miracles in Nazareth (Gospel of Matthew, 13:58). According to Christ you need to have

“the faith of God, for truly I say to you, if anyone says to this mountain, “Be taken up and thrown into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, whatever he says will be done for him” (Gospel of Mark, 11:23).

According to the Holy Fathers, a miracle is possible when faith puts the person praying in a position where he imagines himself having already received from God everything he prays for and desires.

Miracles of Jesus Christ

It follows that miracles are one of the most important supernatural signs of the true Revelation of God, for only God can perform them. What the Lord Himself, who performed obvious miracles that no one but God could do, repeatedly pointed out to the Jews in confirmation of His Sonship to God the Father and the truth of His teaching:

“But I have a greater testimony than John: for the works which the Father gave Me to do, even these very works which I have done, testify of Me, that the Father has sent Me” (John 5:36).

A similar thing happened in the Jerusalem temple, in Solomon’s porch, on the feast of renewal:

“Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him: How long will You keep us in bewilderment? if you are the Christ, tell us directly. Jesus answered them: I told you, and you do not believe; The works that I do in the name of My Father, they testify of Me” (John 10: 24-25).

From here it becomes clear that the Lord performed miracles as evidence of His Divinity and that He is the Son of God. However, the Jews, blinded by their own absurd dreams of world power, were not at all enlightened by these clear evidence of the Savior’s divinity.

So in this episode, when they asked: “If you are the Christ, tell us directly,” then by Christ they meant not the Son of God, but an earthly king, a messiah and a powerful warrior, who, in their opinion, should have overthrown the power of the Romans and, conversely, to give the Jews themselves this imperial power. When the Lord did not do this, they “took hold of stones to stone Him” (John 10:31).

According to the logic of things, normal people, not biased by their ridiculous national ideas, after such great miracles, should have accepted Christ as the Son of God and God. This is exactly what the pagans did, seeing the miracles of the apostles and their disciples, miracles also performed by the power of Christ. But this was not the case with the malicious Jews.

By the way, regarding this episode in Solomon’s porch, when the Jews grabbed stones to beat Jesus Christ with them, the holy fathers remark: how many stones are there in this very porch? This is not a street; Surely there are no stones lying on the floor there. Where did the Jews get them from?! The answer is simple: they brought it with them in advance; so the expression “keeping a stone in one’s bosom” here quite adequately describes this Jewish situation.

And all this taken together says that even great miracles can positively influence the moral state of only those people who see and accept these miracles as something truly wonderful!

Miracle of Prayer

A miracle is God's answer to people's prayers. But this requires faith (Gospel of Matthew, 9:2; 9:28; 17:20; 21:21) and fulfillment of the commandments of God (Gospel of John, 14:21).

Prayer serves as proof of a person’s faith. At the same time, it strengthens his faith, elevates his spirit, and enlightens his soul.

Saint Paisius the Svyatogorets (1924-1994) gave the following instruction to those praying:

“Consider yourself as a little child, and God as your Father, and ask Him for everything you need. Conversing with God in this way, you will not want to leave Him later, because only in God does a person find security, consolation, inexpressible love, combined with divine tenderness. Prayer means placing Christ in your heart, loving Him with all your being.”

Only with this approach to prayer can one expect the fulfillment of what one asks from God.

“Many, out of inexperience, say that such and such a saint performed a miracle, but I learned that it is the Holy Spirit, Who lives in man, who works miracles. The Lord wants everyone to be saved and to be with Him forever, and therefore listens to the prayers of a sinful person, for the benefit of others, or the one who prays” (Rev. Silouan of Athos, 1866-1938).

Rescue from the bathysphere

(These two stories were told by customs officer Vasily E., a resident of the town of B. near Moscow).

The demon attacked the sailor and he fell onto the locker

When I was drafted into the army, my mother told me:

- Vasya, when you feel bad there, remember the Lord...

“Come on,” I muttered.

I was an unbeliever. And now I believe, not much, but I believe - I know God helps.

I ended up in the Morflot, but part of it was on the shore. One day, I was lying on the top bunk (bed) and suddenly the demon began to choke me...

-Have you seen the demon? - we ask Vasily.

- No. It is almost invisible, but you feel it when it is there. It was not yet dark, I was not sleeping, but just wanted to doze off, when the demon grabbed me by the throat. I've never had this happen before. I didn't know what to do. Already out of breath, I remembered my mother’s words: “Remember the Lord.” And I screamed inside myself:

- Lord have mercy!

And then the demon flew away from me. No, I didn’t see him, but at the same time, somehow I still saw him: a dark ball, like smoke, but alive.

Then I came to my senses and was about to doze off again, when suddenly he grabbed me by the throat for the second time. No, not in the imagination, but literally, he grabbed me by the throat, it hurt a lot. Then I didn’t wait, I immediately prayed to God:

- Lord have mercy! Help!

And the demon immediately flew away. In an instant it became easy.

But then, you won’t believe it, there was a roar - my partner Kolya fell onto the locker. A locker is a box for linen and other things, like a chest, only narrow, narrower than a bunk. So Nikolai fell from the lower bunks onto the locker under the bunks and continues to sleep with his arms folded on his chest! According to the laws of physics, this is impossible: he should have fallen into the span between the bunks, but he fell diagonally onto the locker, which is already a bunk. Do you understand? And lies asleep. I go down to him and wake him up:

- Kohl, how did you get here? How did you fall?

He woke up and doesn’t understand anything, how he got from the bunk to the locker, and he didn’t even wake up.

This is the first story when God drove a demon away from me, and the demon attacked my neighbor. The second story is worse.

Miracles of Orthodoxy - why are they?

The Lord miraculously provides help when all natural possibilities have been exhausted. And even then, He performs a miracle only when it is necessary for salvation.

“Miracles in general should not be too frequent. They are performed to achieve the highest goals in the kingdom of Grace. To fulfill the wisest Divine plans for man. Therefore, they can exist under circumstances, especially important ones, that could dispose us to a moral change and turning to God. They should shake our entire being...

Therefore, such lofty manifestations of God’s direct assistance to people should not become more frequent. So that our feelings, from frequent shock, either do not become upset at all, if it is weak, or do not get used to them, if they are firm and cruel, and do not begin to regard them as something ordinary in the existence of the world and people. Thus, strong and frequent thunder either completely destroys a person’s hearing and mind, or completely ceases to make impressions on him” (teacher at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, theologian Dmitry Sosnin, d. 1833).

Once during the war in Afghanistan, the bodies of 300 dead soldiers were transported by plane. Due to fog, the plane had to be landed on enemy territory. To save the bodies of the dead from desecration, the crew of eight took on an unequal battle with 200 dushmans. The pilots, as best they could, called on God and the Mother of God for help. Two hours later reinforcements arrived. Only one pilot died, covering the grenade with his body, thereby saving others.

From the description of the life of Righteous John of Kronstadt (1929-1908), many cases of miraculous healing of the sick through the prayers of the saint are known. However, the righteous John of Kronstadt was not always able to perform miracles. It is known that the Lord did not give healing to those who did not believe in the power of God. Thus, one day Saint John of Kronstadt visited the house of a wealthy man whose daughter suffered from severe squint. Even after the prayer of the holy man, healing did not occur.

Appearances of saints in our time

Our modern times are also replete with miraculous appearances of the holy fathers to ordinary people.

Thus, there are many stories of ordinary people about the miraculous help of St. Nicholas, who more than once appeared in the form of an old man and showed the right path to people, then mysteriously disappeared.

Together with Nicholas the Pleasant, other saints often appeared and helped people who revered these saints and constantly turned to them in prayer.

Thus, the holy saints of God accompany us invisibly, and sometimes even visibly provide great help in our days.