In recent years, I have not worked, but the habit of putting off all household chores on Saturdays remained for a very long time. Even though I knew I was doing the wrong thing, I kept skipping the night. I justified myself that it is necessary for the family, that household chores are also important, that this is my obedience. But my conscience was tormented, and every Saturday I was faced with the question: what to do?
I’ve been suffering for six months. And then one day, returning from the Sanaksar monastery, where the Lord gave permission to live for ten days, I see in a dream the Sanaksar elder Theodor (Ushakov), as he is depicted in a portrait in a refectory: ascetic appearance, in a black robe, in a klobuka. The old man looks at me with stern eyes and, lifting his thin long finger upwards, says twice: “Go to all night on Saturday!” Then he points at me with his finger and repeats for the third time, “Go to the All-Night.” To this day, remembering this, I clearly hear the voice of the elder — bass, strict, slightly cracked with senility.
Since then, only once did I disobey the orders of the elder, and all my work, which I did instead of being at the all-night service, went to dust. And as soon as the thought of skipping the Sabbath evening service due to urgency of affairs or weakness creeps in, the strict voice of Elder Theodore appears in the soul: “To the all-night service – go!”
The servant of God Tatyana Shlayeva from the Mordovian village Zubov Polyana.
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