The spiritual daughter of the schiegumen Sava said: “One girl came to Pechora to Father Sava, having read books about monasticism, about strangers and deciding that she too, apparently, needs such a path.” And he turned to Father Sava:
Father, this is the first time I have seen you. Even though you don’t know me, I’m here for your word. If you say so, I may be a stranger or a nun, how do you bless?
He smiled at her and said,
Be patient, your husband is coming soon, George. Hold on for three days?
And the elder told her (not knowing her before!) that she and her sisters would marry priests. But two sisters will have orphans because they will depart to the Lord early. And he said that this girl will take care of three children, and her twin sister – four.
She was so excited that before the end of three days she asked:
Father, when will this young man arrive?
“Tomorrow morning,” replied Father Savva. — Can you stand it? You’ll run three kilometers to the station, of course. Run, run!
— How will I know, Father, that it is him?
No one else will come, only George.
And she really couldn’t stand it: if the bus didn’t come, suddenly she ran three kilometers on foot. Ahead of the bus ran to the station and waited. A train came from Moscow and she couldn’t see anyone. Where is he?! Now the bus is leaving — and it’s gone. And suddenly a young man comes in from behind the bushes — he was stacking something in his suitcase. She yells at him:
Hurry, hurry, the bus is leaving!
He rushed, thanked her. They got on the bus. She stands next to him and thinks, What a mystery, he stands and knows nothing, that he is my husband and I am his wife! How interesting: I see him, and he doesn’t know anything, and I’m kind of prescient. Suddenly George (and she had no doubt that it was George) says:
Will you give me 20 kopecks?
— Of course I do!
We arrived at the square, the young man is focused, thinking about something. And his future wife suddenly realized, «Well, he’s going to be asking the same question as I did three days ago.» It happened.
George approaches Father Sava and says with a sad appearance:
— Father, I was told to turn to you. I want God to speak through you. I am finishing the seminary, what should I choose? Say monasticism, then monasticism, he added in a sad voice like her.
“You know what the matter is,” says the father. It is a good idea to be a monk. But I don’t know about the Lord, we need to pray. Here I have one girl who also wants monasticism, asks: What will God’s will be? You have one goal. Walk together around the monastery, pray, the prayer “To the Virgin, rejoice…” read. Only until you read 150 times, don’t talk to each other, don’t stop, and then you can talk.
They were told to walk for three days like this. They pray, and then they can’t talk to each other – they are the same in everything, their interests are the same. And the young man was internally afraid that he would lose this girl, so dear to his soul, but they did not dare to talk about it among themselves.
Three days pass, George comes in trepidation, no longer thinks about monasticism, so he likes this girl. And she trembles and rejoices that he knows nothing, and she knows that he is not in danger of separation, that he is her future husband. Father asks George:
— How do you like her?
I really like it, but… As you say, it will be.
And he blesses them:
— Husband and wife. God will help you not only to raise your children, but also to raise them. And to you, George, God will give the effort to serve Him as a priest.
How did their lives go on? It happened just as Father Sava predicted. Years later, I was in Moscow at the church of John the Warrior, where Father Procopius served. I saw his mother and was stunned: how is she the mother of Father Procopius, when she is the mother of Father George? I say:
Mother, do you have a sister?
— Got it.
— Is she after Father George?
— Yeah.
— Did your two sisters die?
She shuddered and said,
— Yeah.
— And you took them?
— Yeah, I’m four and my sister is three.
I started crying and I said,
— I knew your sister, she told me how Father Savva predicted her life.
Schiagumen Savva Ostapenko
The Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Soul investment!
Orthodox stories from life
