Looking back on our past, we remember the miraculous cases of God’s help, perhaps not explicitly expressed. But still. God gives His help in the most desperate moments.
For example, we recall miracles on the way to the grave of St. Theodosius of the Caucasus.
When I learned about St. Theodosius of the Caucasus, I first went to his grave, and then decided to go there with my family. I already had a Moskvich at the time. It was going to spring, the weather is changeable, then thaw, then frost, and the road in the morning was covered with a thin layer of ice. Mother, I and my children left Stavropol this morning. The sun looked out, and as they approached the Mineral Waters, it warmed up, and the ice on the road thawed. We were already approaching the cemetery, where was the grave of Father Theodosius, the road began dirt and our car suddenly fell on all four wheels. No forward, no backward, no push. There is no one around, the place is deserted. No people, no cars. Mother and children got out of the car, I say to myself: “Father Theodosius, help, you see, we can’t get out, how come?” Suddenly I see something moving ahead. The Big Ural is a military heavy machine, which has no off-road value. I’m waving his hand, saying, help. The driver asks, «Is there a cable?» Got it. I hooked the cable, pulled it. Without effort, he pulled the car to an even place and drove away. In a completely hopeless situation came such unexpected help.
The second incident occurred when I was serving in the Dark Forest. My car was old and often broke down. I just took it out of repair and immediately, without checking, went to the service. I came, I served, I’m coming back. Winter night. The road from Temnoleska to the highway is 14 km. Late evening, no people, no cars. And somewhere in the middle of the road, my car suddenly stalled. It turned out that I ran out of gasoline, in a hurry I forgot to pour it. What do I do? No gas, we gotta go. Frost. With me are singers who lived like me in Stavropol. I tell them, «Let’s pray.» What else do we do? We start praying as best we can. I’m reading «Our Father,» asking for help. It’s been ten minutes. And I see from the side of the dark forest headlights — a car is coming. It doesn’t look like a car. A large mobile car workshop is coming. I’ve never seen such a car in my life. Where it came from in the dark, I don’t know. The driver stopped and found out what was going on. He poured us a can of gas. I’m filling up the car and the engine won’t start anyway. The specialists quickly checked everything, adjusted the ignition, tweaked it, and told me to drive ahead. In case I have to fix something again. And so I got to the track. And the road is already good, the car went confidently. I thanked the masters and went on.
The third case of unexpected help that came at the right time.
I once went in the opposite direction from the Temnoleska, to the Stavropol village. There’s a long slide on the way. My car began to sneeze, the engine barely pulls, and when I went to the slide, it stalled already firmly. We need to find some help. And the time is later — eight o’clock in the evening. The workshops don’t work at this time. Come on, I think there might be a man who understands car breakdowns. Coming. A big gate ahead. Knocked. Opening. There’s a garage and a small car shop. Two guys doing something, working. I got into the workshop! I asked them to help. They identified a malfunction in the carburetor, drove about an hour. And then I went on my own.
One last case. When I served in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross in Stavropol, I had the idea to help poor people who cannot send children to the sea. We decided to make a general pilgrimage at the expense of the church. We gathered a group of children, negotiated with the bus and went. The ultimate goal of our trip was Tyumryuk, on the Black Sea coast.
We drove, and somewhere near the end of our journey, our bus started to falter and got up. The engine failed. We asked for help in one car house, there tried to fix the bus, but the breakdown was difficult. Since we have children, we were sorry and allocated a tractor who picked up our bus and drove. Temryuk wasn’t far away. We’re in tow. The road narrows and narrows… On the sides of the road, bases, camps resting on the sea. But we can’t see anything. Night. Dark. The driver of the tractor says: “The road will be narrower, I will not be able to turn around.” Let’s stay somewhere.” We stopped. We got off the bus and went to the light. Come on. It turns out that this is the base of some school. But students are late for some reason. We agreed that they would let us spend the night. Unloading, settling in. We slept together, the bus stayed, the truck left. In the morning, the children went to bathe, and I began to walk around the camps and bases, because in this place we were only accepted for one night. But everything was occupied by vacationers, and if they agreed to let in, then at sky-high prices. And when I, sadly, returned to the base where we were received for the night, they called from the city and said that the students were staying for two weeks. We were able to stay for the whole term. So we miraculously ended up at night in the only place where we could be received with our modest money. We had a quiet time, the children rested, and everything was fine.
From «Through Thorns to God»
ROTOIERAY ALEXANDER FISUN
The Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Orthodox stories from life
Soul investment!
