That wonderful story hapened to me at one of
the exhibitions organized by our convent.
I was offering people the products made by our convent
– icons, church supplies and other beautiful works. There were many people since
everyone wanted to buy some gifts for the coming great feast – Pascha.
At one moment I saw two women standing not far from my
counter. I understood that they wanted to ask me something but they were too
confused. Finally, one of them coped with her embarrassment and decided to
address me:
- I am not Orthodox, I don’t know anything about tour
faith. Tell me, are there any saint doctors in your Church, who help people to
be cured? – she asked.
- Of course, there are. Here is one of them – St. Luke
of Crimea, a surgeon, a genius doctor and our contemporary, - I replied and
handed her a bottle of oil, consecrated on St. Luke's holy relics.
At the very moment she took the bottle, her hand
started to bleed. Terrified she looked at her hand, at me, again at her
bleeding hand and cried out. She was laughing and crying at the same time. To
be honest, her friend and I were just shocked with what was going on. We began
to look for a cloth to wipe her hand, but she refused, showed her hand to me
and her friend and repeated only one phrase, “Do you see that it’s bleeding?
You see?”
Of course, we saw that and were totally confused. A
bit later, the woman wiped her hand. There was no cut or wound on her hand that
could bleed so heavily. Seeing wonder in our eyes, in which one could see a lot
of questions, she explained everything:
- I am sick. My blood is too thick. To thin the blood,
doctors prescribed me to take the meds that have a bad effect on my heart. I
did not know whether I should take them or not, and now I’ve got the answer to
my question! I really thank your saint! I won’t take any pills! My blood is
thin enough and doesn’t clot as the doctors said. I will be tested once again,
and may be the results will be different. Then they will prescribe me a more
suitable course of treatment.
In front of my eyes, St. Luke made a sign for an
unfaithful woman, who believed that an unknown Orthodox saint would help her.
According to your faith let it be to you!
By Sister
Natalia (Bunde)
March 13,
2018
St.
Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION