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ATHONS GERONTICON. ARTICLE 2. ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS INTERVENTION OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
Iversky Monastery
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We continue to introduce readers of the Pravoslavie.ru website to the work of Archimandrite Ioannikis, who in the form of short stories told about the Athonite ascetics of modern times (although some stories introduce the tradition of the Holy Mountain dwellers of ancient times). In this chapter, the author has collected stories about cases of miraculous help from God and His saints, revealed on Mount Athos.
The man who founded the Dochiar monastery was Saint Euthymius, a companion of our holy father Athanasius of Athos. He also built a church in the name of St. Nicholas and labored very hard for the Lord.
The second builder of the monastery was Saint Neophytos, nephew of Saint Euthymius. He was the son of a nobleman at the court of Emperor Nikephoros Phocas and served as the first adviser to Emperor John Tzimisces. His renunciation of the honors and glory of this world was truly admirable.
The Monk Theophan of Dokhiarsky was awarded the title of wonderworker. He turned salty sea water into fresh water, and stormy seas into calm ones. He built a monastery near the city of Veria, dedicated to angels, and after his death many miracles took place there.
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Our glorious Mother of God and Protector, the Lady Theotokos, has repeatedly demonstrated Her maternal care for Her beloved children - the Athonite monks. There is a huge amount of evidence of Her guardianship. One day, when pirates were preparing a secret attack on the monastery, the pious abbot of Vatopedi heard the voice of the Most Holy Theotokos coming from the icon. She told him not to open the gates, but to sound the alarm and order the monks to climb the fortress walls to repel the enemy.
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In the same monastery lived the venerable hierodeacon, who hid the icon of the Mother of God, called “Vimatarissa,” in the monastery well. She was discovered only many years after the capture of the monastery by barbarians standing vertically in the water with a candle lit in front of her.
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Gennady, the cellarer of Vatopedi, lived a holy life in accordance with the will of God and was honored to witness a miracle from the Most Holy Theotokos: he saw how the empty vessel itself was filled with so much oil that it poured over the edge and under the door into the pantry.
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They say that in the Iveron Monastery there lived a monk born blind, whose name was Anfim. Having heard about the miracles of the icon of our Lady Theotokos “Portaitissa”, produced by her all over the world, he began to pray to her for a cure for blindness and began to reverence the icon “Portaitissa” so much that he asked the icon painter to paint it for him. Having agreed, the icon painter began to prepare. But every time he tried to get down to business, his hand seemed to be seized with cold.
A few days later, Father Anfim, deciding that the icon was already ready, went to the icon painter, and he told him that every time he began to paint, his hands became so numb that he could not work. When Father Anfim heard this, he knelt down and earnestly began to beg the Mother of God so that his brother would paint Her holy icon.
The Mother of God did not ignore his prayer. The icon appeared on the board itself, without the intervention of the icon painter, and Anthimus’s eyes opened, so that he could see the faces of the Most Pure One and our Lord Jesus Christ. This event became known to everyone. Father Anfim saw the icon with his own eyes, enjoying his vision immensely; then his eyes clouded over again, and he became the same as before.
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Two elderly ascetics, John and Theodosius, lived in the Kerasya monastery. They were assigned obedience - to carve wooden spoons. In a short time they made so many of them that they were able to fill two bags with them, and then, by the Providence of the All-Tsarina, a merchant from Romania arrived and bought them all.
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On St. George's Day, the cell of St. George in Karuli celebrates its patronal feast day. This story happened during such a holiday somewhere between 1930 and 1935. Approximately 20–25 Russian and Greek devotees gathered for the vigil, but they did not have fish for the holiday.
Father Zosima, a very pious and simple monk who loved people and was the most merciful among all the Russian ascetics of Athos, invited them to fish in the place where they were, since their house was located on the edge of a cliff above the sea. “But how can we catch fish without a hook or bait?” - others answered.
“Here is a nail, a small string and a piece of bread,” said the elder. They crossed themselves, cast unusual fishing rods and miraculously caught a large fish, from which they cooked fish soup. It was a gift sent by the patron of the holy cell!
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The next miraculous event occurred 30 years ago in the monastery of St. Paul during the German occupation. He once again confirmed the participation of the Most Holy Theotokos in all the needs of our lives. In this monastery lived a simple old man with a pure heart, monk Thomas.
His obedience was to help in the bakery. One day it turned out that the two monks who were in charge of the bakery were not there, and all responsibility fell on their assistant, Elder Thomas. He needed to prepare and bake enough bread to last for two days, and this is a huge amount intended for all the brothers and pilgrims.
He didn’t know what to do, had no idea how or where to start. Then, with tears in his eyes, the monk prayed to the Mother of God, asking for help. After that, he took some yeast and added it to the water and flour. At that moment, a beautiful Wife appeared, all in black. She herself mixed the necessary ingredients, fashioned the loaves and baked them. All this time, Elder Thomas felt as if he was not here.
When he later told the fathers what had happened, they realized that the woman was the Virgin Mary. The bread tasted very sweet and pleasant. “Father Thomas, you probably added something to the bread to make it bake so quickly and taste so good!” - they told him.
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The Holy Icon "Portaitissa" is known as the greatest miraculous icon on the Holy Mountain. When she appeared, a pillar of fire was visible from sea to sky, which pointed to the place where the icon was found. This was revealed to the Iberian hermit Saint Gabriel, who descended from the mountain and walked along the sea as if on dry land. He took the icon, and the monks placed it with great honor in the temple. But the Most Holy Virgin, appearing, said to the abbot: “I came here to protect you, and not for you to protect Me.” And after this, the monks repeatedly found the icon at the gates of the monastery, after which they placed it back in the temple. From that time on, the icon was called “Portaitissa”, which means “at the gate”. She is full of greatness, magnificent; this is an image worthy of the Mother of God - She Who is our great Patron and Helper.
On the face of the Portaitissa icon there is a scar from a sword strike. The blow was inflicted by a Turkish pirate, who immediately saw blood from the wound he inflicted. This miracle affected him so strongly that he was baptized, became a monk and remained in the monastery. Out of a feeling of repentance, he did not want to be called anything other than Barbarian, and lived such a pious life that he was forgiven. There is a fresco with his image in the small chapel of "Portaitissa". He is dressed like a pirate and is called "Saint Barbarian".
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When our holy father Akaki Kavsokalivit labored in a cave as a hermit, according to the testimony of his life writer, Hieromonk Jonah from the Kavsokalivit monastery, every morning a beautiful bird flew in, sat on a tree near the cave and made exquisite trills. When the saint listened to the bird, he was filled with great joy, which freed him from boredom and sadness, which sometimes attack the silent. Perhaps the bird was an angel of God, sent to him as a consolation in this inconsolable desert.
Saint Akakios was endowed with the gift of peace. When someone was tormented by inner thoughts, he only had to look at the joyful face of the saint in order to immediately reconcile himself and stop worrying.
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In the 13th century, the Monk Gregory labored in the Lavra, who was the spiritual father of St. Gregory Palamas, the great teacher of our Orthodox faith.
This blessed old man improved so much in non-covetousness and devoted himself to tireless prayer that an angel appeared to bring him food.
Many years have passed since that wonderful miracle that happened on the day of St. Nicholas in the Grigoriat Monastery. The famous monk Hadji George was at that time still a novice Gabriel. The fathers were saddened that due to bad weather they were unable to catch fish for the holiday dinner. But Gabriel did not despair. All his faith and hope was in Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. He became completely immersed in prayer and soon after that, on the eve of the holiday, strong waves carried many large fish ashore to the monastery. As soon as the fathers saw this, they ran to collect fish to prepare dinner, glorifying St. Nicholas and singing his praises.
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The famous confessor Father John from the Aksion Estin monastery once spoke about a new worker who came to the monastery of St. Andrew to confess. This worker told him that he died when he was still a child. Before he was buried, his mother went to church and tearfully prayed on her knees for a long time. Then she returned home, put on her best clothes and lay down next to her son, who was in the coffin, and said: “Rise, my child, I will go in your place.” The child was resurrected, and the mother died at the same moment. Many years later this man came to the Holy Mountain to be a worker in Kareya.
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One day, monk Aglay from the Konstamonita monastery fell ill, and the doctor advised him to eat meat, since he turned out to have tuberculosis and often spat blood.
The sick elder was very sad, because in this case he would not be able to serve as a sexton in his monastery. He prayed incessantly, fervently asking the Lord for recovery. One day, while he was praying in this way, he suddenly saw a large deer appear in front of him with his head down, and then fall down, writhing. Father Aglai, fearing that he was about to die, quickly ran to inform the other fathers and the gardener, who was not a monk. When the gardener saw the poor animal in this condition, he killed it and skinned it. The elders decided that Father Aglai should cook himself some meat every day. They believed that the deer was sent by God as a gift, blessing and medicine for the sick monk.
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“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33) - this commandment of the Lord, which conveys the fullness of faith in Divine Providence, is the life guidance of ascetics.
Elder Cherubim from the monastery of St. Basil was a true ascetic, full of faith and hope. But he was a little hard of hearing. Once, after a heavy snowfall, he found himself cut off from the outside world in his cell and spent a whole week without food. And then suddenly a stranger with a loaded mule knocked on his door, and it was almost night outside. The traveler asked if he would have time to get to St. Peter's Cave before dark, and then return to the monastery of St. Paul.
Father Cherubim answered him: “My brother, there is so much snow that you will not be able to get to the monastery of St. Peter, even if you have a whole day ahead of you. Stay here overnight, and you can leave early tomorrow morning.”
The stranger said: “Father, I have brought food that I would like to sell and then return home. If you want, keep it all and give me some money.” - “Since you are in a hurry, leave them here, in this corner, and I will give you the money that the wanderers donated to me.” The elder went to his cell, and the stranger began to unload the goods, but when the elder returned, he was no longer there. Father Cherub looked out into the street and called, but there were no traces of either animals or people in the snow. Then he realized that all this was a visible manifestation of the invisible Divine Providence, which takes care of everything. The elder entered his small chapel and thanked the Lord. Gratefully, he placed the food in the pantry. They lasted all winter.
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I, unworthy, somehow heard about such miracles, and the former abbot of the monastery of St. Paul, Archimandrite Andrei, told a similar story. The poor hermit Ephraim lived in a modest cell between the monasteries of Katunaki and St. Basil. His cell was a cave covered with several sheets of tin, located under a huge rock. He lived there, suffering innumerable misfortunes and hardships.
One winter there was a lot of snow, and poor old man Ephraim was completely covered with it. His supply of crackers ran out and he was left without food for several days. One day, before entering his cave, he saw a layman standing with a huge sack on his back.
“Father, bless me, I’m going to Kerasya, but there’s so much snow, and it’s already getting dark. It would be good to leave the bag here and pick it up tomorrow afternoon.”
The hermit Ephraim, extremely surprised, asked the stranger: “Where are you here from, my brother? As you can see, there is no road here. But come in. There is a fire here for you to warm yourself. Leave your cargo here and come back for it at any time.”
But the stranger pretended to be in a hurry to return to the monastery of St. Paul, and disappeared right before the eyes of the hermit. The moment Father Ephraim stopped seeing him, a bag appeared in front of him. He looked: there were no traces to the right or left of the cave. Having opened the bag, the elder found crackers and other foods in it, which he ate until the winter weather ended. His eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude, and he glorified God and His miracles.
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Father Evstratiy did not wear a beard, despite the fact that he was 30 years old. After the death of his elder in the Holy Trinity cell of the monastery of St. Paul, he went to Kavsokalyvia. There the elders refused to accept him because they did not want any of them to be without a beard. Evstratiy was persistent. That night they had a vigil in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the morning, several hairs miraculously appeared on Eustratius’ face, for which he gave Her praise and gratitude. The most amazing thing, however, was that over time his beard grew to the ground.
In 1864, Chusni Pasha, the governor of Thessalonica, visited Athos. Being a highly educated man, he wanted to visit Protaton. There he saw, in particular, the frescoes of Saints Onuphrius and Peter of Athos. But he did not believe that their beards were down to the ground, as shown in the frescoes. The fathers assured him that this was possible, and brought the long-bearded elder Eustratius as proof. Pasha, surprised, said in Turkish: “Afentersin efentiler,” which means: “I beg your pardon, gentlemen!”
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In 1750, the Sunday before Lent began with the fact that the monk Macarius from the monastery of St. Anne became very ill. He was near death. His novice, Father Theoktist, that year was an assistant monk who is responsible for the main temple of the monastery and the reception of guests. After the liturgy, Father Theoktist was very upset because he had to find fish to cook soup to treat the elders. He went down to the monastery pier, but found neither boats nor fishermen there.
The area was deserted. The sea was rough. Father Theoktist, falling to his knees, began to pray to Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos and the patroness of their monastery.
He had barely finished his prayer when he saw a huge fish splashing playfully in the waves. He made the sign of the cross in that direction, and suddenly the fish was thrown onto the sand by the next wave. Rejoicing, Father Theoktist immediately picked her up and ran to the main monastery, where his elder lay bedridden. He cooked the fish, fed the old man, who instantly recovered, and with what was left was fed to all the monks and pilgrims who found themselves in the monastery that day. They said that they had never tasted fish tastier in their lives than this one sent by God.
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In the New Skete lived a poor monk, Elder Dorotheos, who had never left Athos since he came here as a child. He didn't do anything to sell. He could only fish in a small boat. One day, when he ran out of all the oil, the all-good Lord made a barrel of oil come from the sea and float between the New Skete and the pier of St. Paul.
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On Easter Day 1935, the abbot of St. Paul, Archimandrite Seraphim, and all 60 fathers of the monastery went out into the courtyard to serve the liturgy in honor of the Resurrection of Christ. In a joyful mood, full of the exclamation “Christ is Risen!”, the abbot said to one of the brethren: “Father Thomas, go to the relics of the fathers and tell them that Christ has risen.” “Bless me, father,” he answered, and without hesitation he quickly went to the ossuary.
“Fathers, I was sent by the abbot to tell you: “Christ is risen!”,” he exclaimed in a loud voice.
And suddenly the bones creaked and jumped. One skull rose a meter into the air and answered: “Truly he is risen!”
After this there was dead silence. Father Thomas rushed back to tell everything he saw and heard. The venerable elder Theodosius, later the librarian of the monastery, often talks about this incident.
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Everyone called him “Abba”, and he really was “Dad” - Elder Isaac of Dionysia. In his monastic exploits of fasting, prayer and spiritual struggle, he loved everyone and was obedient to everyone in everything. And everyone loved him.
Once, when he was on obedience at the monastery in Karei, his mentor Father Gelasius, who at that time represented their monastery in Karei, warned him that it was already noon and a storm was expected, so he could get lost on the way back at that hour in winter time. But the elder replied that, without any excuse, he absolutely had to return to Dionysiatus, which was a five-hour walk from Kareya. And so, on his knees, the blessed one left. When he reached the top of the mountain, it began to snow heavily. It became difficult to walk. When he reached the hill called Bosdum in Simonopetra, the snow was already knee-deep and it was beginning to get dark. Elder Isaac was frightened by this darkness, snow and wild animals in the forest.
Trusting in the Lord, the holy elder cried out from the very depths of his heart: “Lord Jesus Christ, my God, with the blessing of the holy elder, please save me at this hour.” And immediately he was lifted up by an invisible force and carried to the gates of his monastery.
The time for Vespers was approaching, and the gatekeeper was about to close the gate. When he saw Abba Isaac, he was very surprised and, having greeted him, asked him with reverence how he was able to get there in such bad weather. The blessed one replied that he came from Kareya.
“But how did you manage to end up here in this weather?” Abba could not answer, but only looked at the icon of St. John the Baptist.
The gatekeeper also noticed that there were no footprints in the snow from the direction of Kareya. Finally, after persistent questioning by the gatekeeper about how he left the Athos capital and how he arrived in Dionysiat, Abba Isaac was able to tell him and the other fathers what happened: he said that he remembers everything that happened to him in the first half of the journey, but then he can only remember how he asked God for help. And then he found himself in front of the entrance to the monastery.
Archimandrite Ioannikiy
https://www.pigizois.net/agglika/athoniko_gerontiko/
Miracles Given by Jesus
God's miracles in no way violate the laws of nature that the Creator Himself established. All unusual phenomena refer to special actions of God, which humanity cannot yet explain.
Quite recently, mobile phones seemed fantastic, laser treatment was beyond the scope of the human mind, but now these are the most ordinary things.
The concept of miracles includes cases of healing, resurrection, curbing natural phenomena and many others that cannot be explained from the point of view of scientific research.
Read about miracles:
- Zoya's standing
- Barnaul miracle
- Lanchang Miracle
The Lord reveals the miracles of Jesus Christ to faithful people as they become church members and join the life of the Church.
Miracles as the power of God's grace
Jesus left examples of Christian miracles as a gift to his disciples:
- turning water into wine;
- walking on water;
- stopping storms;
- reviving the dead;
- feeding thousands of people with a few loaves of bread.
Reading the New Testament, you can find more than one evidence of miracles performed through the prayers of Christ and His disciples from different angles. The first inexplicable action was the very birth of Jesus, both God and man, from the Holy Spirit.
Healings
A miraculous healing affected a woman who suffered from bleeding for 12 years, spent all her savings on doctors and was healed by one touch of the hem of the savior’s robe. Faith saved her. (Matthew 9:20)
The cleansing of the leper (Matthew 8:2), when a man suffering from leprosy said that if the Savior wanted, he could heal him. The sick man did not doubt the power of Jesus, he gave Him the right to this and submitted to the Divine will. Heal if you want.
Giving sight to a man born blind as evidence of God's glory (John 9:1-33)
Miracles of Jesus Christ's Healing
Restoring friends of the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12)
Jesus gave hearing to the deaf, freed them from demons, restored sick bones, no one who asked Christ for healing was refused. During sermons on the mountains and in the deserts, everyone who followed the Teacher was healed.
The New Testament describes miraculous healings performed by the apostles through the power of Jesus. (Mark 3:15)
Important! The miracles of healing have not lost their power even now, because the apostles left instructions on how to act in case of illness.
Through the prayers of Peter and John, the lame man began to walk. In the name of Jesus Paul, Philip and all the apostles healed.
If any of you suffers, let him pray. If anyone is happy, let him sing psalms. If any of you is sick, let him call the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will forgive him. Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed: the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:13-16)
