An elderly priest, Father Alexy Emelianenko, served in our church. He told the following story:
— It happened twenty years ago. I then served in this church as a sexton, and also as a watchman. One day the service ended, I waited in the vestibule for the parishioners to come out and was just about to close the doors, when suddenly a middle-aged man came in and began to walk around the inside of the church, carefully peering at the icons. I stood somewhat to the side, under the choir stairs, and he did not notice me. Near a large, ancient icon of St. Nicholas, a man suddenly fell to his knees and burst into tears. It was so unexpected that I did not dare to disturb him… A few minutes later the man rose from his knees and headed towards the exit. He, of course, would have passed by, but I couldn’t resist and asked if any trouble had happened to him and if I could help… “No, no,” he answered excitedly, now it’s all over.
It’s just… You see, I’m a military pilot, from the airfield in Gvardeyskoye — which is near Simferopol. And yesterday I had a night flight. I was alone in the cabin. And suddenly my engine stopped. The plane began to fall. It happened very quickly, everything was decided in seconds. I tried to do something, but nothing helped and I realized that I was dying. And suddenly I see that some grandfather is sitting next to me in the cabin.
It’s strange, but I wasn’t surprised at all… And this grandfather tells me so calmly, even affectionately: — Son, don’t worry… turn this little knob, and now turn on this toggle switch… and press this button… I did as he said and the engine started working… I brought the plane out of the dive, landed safely and only then realized WHAT happened to me… When I gave up… shift and got to the city, then I came to your temple and just found out WHO was the old man who saved me from death!
Priest Dimitry Shishkin
Holy Land Charitable Foundation
Investment in the Soul!
Orthodox stories from life
