The Catalog of Good Deeds

With a deep love for God and the Heavenly Queen, a monk once asked in his sincere prayer, “show me what mortal in our sinful world lives like the Holy Fathers and what struggler pleases Thee in his love for Thee and his neighbor.” After his prayer the Heavenly Queen appeared to him, pointing directly to the Island of Zalit, where the spirit filled Elder Nikolai lived. “Go there immediately,” She said, “do not waste time.” The words She spoke to him entered so clearly into his heart that he was able to write them down after this vision. This is what the Mother of God told him:

“There lives on the island a man of great spiritual strength, and he is particularly dear to the Lord, because he is one from the last times. In him all of you can see the precious manifestations of our faith and the highest love of Christ, which is so rare and uncommon. The Elder Nikolai loves Christ and his neighbor so excessively that nothing could distract him from the love of God. That place on the island is to be sacred, a Temple of the Throne of God will be erected there. Ordinary people shouldn’t work at that place; there should be monks with pure hearts and righteous thoughts. By God’s Will, the departure time of Father Nikolai to the Abode of God is approaching. There is no person on this sinful earth who doesn’t need his holy blessing.”

Thus the Heavenly Queen revealed the otherworldliness of the righteous God bearing Elder Nikolai Guriyanov.

This Elder of the last times was a chosen vessel of God’s grace from his youth. “Even as a little kid,” he said, “I was very much attached to the Church of God, her servants, and I have kept this love all my life. I served in the altar, read and sang in choir, and visited houses together with priests to sing molebens.” Holy Martyr Benjamin of Petersburg, the spiritual father of the Elder, frequently visited the Church where the young Elder served. Before his martyrdom, Bishop Benjamin embraced and kissed the young Nikolai and said: “What a lucky man you are that you are with the Lord.” Then the Bishop prophetically put a prelate cross around the neck of the 8-year-old Nikolai. The Elder carried the cross of the Bishop reverently and courageously throughout his life and presented himself before Christ with the same prelate cross in his hands. “I was a monk from my childhood,” said the Elder, “I didn’t know or seek anybody except for the Lord. Because monasticism is a reward from the Lord, God’s calling, it is such a heavenly joy to serve the Heavenly Bridegroom!”

In 1926 Nikolai finished Gatchina Pedagogical College and in 1929 he received an incomplete pedagogical education at the Leningrad Institute, from which he was excluded for having spoke out at a meeting against the closure of one of the nearby churches. In 1931 when the Elder was 22, he was arrested by the communist authorities for serving the Church of Christ and thrown in the prison “Kresty” (Crosses) in Leningrad. He was sentenced to suffer in the gulag labor camps near Kiev in Ukraine and spent 7 years in Syktyvkar (Republic of Komi). When freed, Fr. Nikolai worked as a teacher of mathematics in Tosno because residence in Leningrad was denied him. Enduring much persecution and risking his life, he served the Church in Tosno as a Psalm reader. During WWII, Fr. Nikolai was not mobilized because of a weakness and pain in his feet that was caused by the severe work forced upon him in the gulags. When German forces occupied his home district of Gdov, he and other residents were exiled to the Baltic. In exile, Fr. Nikolai became a student at the Vilnius Theological Seminary in Lithuania, which opened in 1942. After two semesters of seminary studies the Elder was consecrated to the priesthood by the exarch metropolitan Sergius (Voskresenskiy) at Riga Orthodox Cathedral of Christ`s Nativity in Latvia.

By this time, in Fr. Nikolai’s Russian motherland, all monasteries had been raided; monks and nuns were shot and sent to gulag camps to die. His entire mother Church was liquidated at the hands of Godless atheists. Any signs of religiousness in the country were violently uprooted and all Church Hierarchs, Priests and lay people were silenced, usually by torture and death. The totalitarianism of the Godless government strived at any cost to cut the ground from under the centuries-old tree of Russian Orthodoxy. The preservation of all ancient monastic traditions and other traditions of the Church seemed doomed. While the blood of martyrs was being spilt all around him, Fr. Nikolai continued to serve as a Priest in the Baltic States. It seemed that the mind of Fr. Nikolai was being preserved by God for his Russian people. In a world when monastics were being murdered, Fr. Nikolai preserved strict monastic tradition without any proper training. He was a lover of truth and therefore a stranger to this world. The Lord was forming in him the radical characteristics of an Orthodox Elder, a tradition being suppressed by the authorities around him. He portrayed meekness, longsuffering, love, and purity, imitating his suffering Savior. All these characteristics were instilled in him by God, he had no great spiritual guidance, but developed these virtues through his extreme denial of this world.

When Fr. Nikolai was forty years old he went back to Leningrad to study at the Theological Seminary. During this time the Lord called Fr. Nikolai’s soul from this life and death came upon him. His soul was then lead to Heaven and then shown the abyss of hell. When gazing upon hell and the people suffering therein, the righteous Fr. Nikolai cried out in pain, “Lord how to save them?” The Lord answered him, “Only people living on earth can save them through their prayers.” Then the Elder began to beg the Lord to send him back to his body so that he could pray for them. He was then restored to life and he always kept this vision in mind, being mindful always of his death. He would say, “Do not forget about your outcome and there will be no sin in your soul.” And close to the end of his life he told others, “I was ready long ago, it is a sin to remain here, my relatives are waiting for me: the Tsar and the Empress, Father John of Kronstadt, Illarion Gdovski, and my mom is waiting.”

In 1958, the already formed Elder was transferred to the Pskov bishopric as parish priest of Saint Nicholas’ church on the island of Zalit in Chudskoye lake where he spent the remaining 42 years of his life; 40 as a priest and then retiring to a small and humble wooden cell near by. During this whole time, the holiness of the Elder was kept secret and in obscurity. Only those who knew him saw glimpses of the otherworldly fervor he possessed.

When the Soviet government collapsed, the Elder was able to fling open the doors of his humble cell to receive all those who were weary and heavy laden. During these times, Russia was baptized a second time. Churches began to open in all the villages and Monasteries were reborn. Church life began to flourish and Orthodox crosses began to shine once again over the cities. The Church began to take in many catechumens and books began to be printed about Christ’s ancient Church and the mysticism of Orthodoxy. The people of Russia were thirsty for Christ, yet seventy years of atheist oppression had crippled them. The Soviets had murdered the Church’s leaders, her elders, and all her holy men. This was the Elder’s calling and this is why God had set him apart for so long. In a time when Holy people were scarce and only found in books, the Elder represented a living and breathing link with Russia’s ancient and spiritually rich past. He was a new Moses, leading people away from the captivity of the atheist regime. He was the yeast that helped cause the new bread of Russia to rise from the ashes of a suppressive government. The Island of Zalit became a spiritual hospital and a safe haven for those on the weary road of life. The Elder was a spiritual force, penetrating into the souls of Christ’s followers, and sometimes even further into the hearts of yesterday’s communists, making them stand with reverence before God. Thus the Elder not only helped his people, but his previous persecutors, imitating Christ in every part of his life.

The Elder didn’t talk with people in complicated parables like many false self-proclaiming gurus, but he talked with simplicity and in this God’s will was revealed to the listener. He spoke to the hearts of many from all corners of the earth. He knew what was in the hearts of all who came to him; he clearly saw the past, present, and future of his spiritual children and he would simply great all with what they needed. The Lord gave him the knowledge of man’s inner state. He would never say something that would affect a person’s feelings, but to those who were haughty he would give sound advice. To one man who was very severe to his wife, the Elder simply said to him, “Be softer.” With these words the man walked away with a new revelation about himself. It often happened this way, a man would coming seeking something and leave with a new understanding about himself and a lesson he didn’t expect to hear. Fr. Nikolai was gracious and lenient to the repentant people visiting him. One visitor, standing next to the fence of the Elder’s cottage and tormenting from so much shame, that not only could he not talk to the elder but also couldn’t lift his eyes up on him, suddenly heard the quiet voice of Fr, Nikolai say to a lay sister, “Go, call him.” She went over and invited the tormented man to the Elder. Fr. Nikolai then anointed him and kept repeating: “God’s mercy is with you, God’s mercy is with you…” The oppressive condition of the man thawed and disappeared in this ray of the Elder’s love. However the elder could meet differently those, who didn’t have any repentance: “Don’t visit me anymore.” He told to one pilgrim. These are frightful words to hear from such a great and righteous man.

No space or time was limited to the otherworldly Elder. He was so immersed in the love of God that he worked many miracles in His name, including appearing to others in need of help on the other side of the world. The second conductor of the Chicago symphony orchestra, arriving in St Petersburg on a tour, visited the Elder and shared with him his fears. On the eve of his journey his wife got in a motor-car accident, and this caused a miscarriage to happen. This incident made the conductor to worry in his soul and have the gloomy idea that these events might mean that their marriage wasn’t God’s Will. The Elder consoled the arriving musician and said that his fears are in vain. The next day the happy husband called to America to share his gladness with his wife. “I know everything”, answered the wife from the other end of the line. “How do you know?” – stunned conductor asked. “He came to me in a light sleep at night with words of love and encouragement.” The Elder performed many miracles like this, comforting the people. There is no doubt that the Elder has affected the consciousness of today’s Orthodox Christian, for even the memory of him brings joy to one’s soul.

Shortly before his death, the Elder said, “I will fly away on wings, I have huge and strong ones and I will reach “there” in that moment … and at Home will pray for you all…” After many miracles of healing paralytics, the blind, those with cancer, and the mute, the Elder said in his last days, “”Christ is light of my entire life. He fills all around me and in me. I gave all I could to people, to the people of God and to Mother Church. Now I am ready and leave to the Sweatiest Savior of the world – Christ.” Upon his deathbed, the Elder saw the Holy Archangel Gabriel enter his room with a bouquet of lilies to symbolize the Elder’s purity and holiness. Seeing this the Elder said, “He has blessed me, and crossed with this lily!” The Elder then passed away on April 4th 2002.

After vesting his body and preparing it for the funeral, the Priest walked over to the Elder’s coffin to place a blessing cross and Gospel book in his hands. When the Priest got close to put the cross in his right hand, the Elder’s hand suddenly moved and grabbed the cross from the Priest. The Priest then leaned over and saw the Elder left hand open in order for the Priest to put the Gospel in it. In this, Christ already revealed the glorification of the Elder, whom because of his love for Christ, death could not contain. Many of his spiritual children which where gathered around witnessed this miracle and also continually smelt the fragrant lilies the Elder said the Archangel had before. As some were kissing his hands at the last farewell, myrrh was seen to miraculously flow from his right hand. Thus, not being bound by death, the Elder continues to console and lead people to the last true rebellion, which is Faith in Christ.

Source: http://deathtotheworld.com/articles/elder-nikolai-guryanov/

By St. Theophan the Recluse

Rarely does the Rite of Orthodoxy, which is now being performed, take place without censures and reproaches on somebody’s part. And no matter how many sermons are given explaining that the Church here acts wisely for the salvation of her children — still the malcontents just keep repeating their line. Either they do not listen to the sermons, or these sermons do not strike home as regards the latters’ perplexities, or perhaps they have formed their own conception of this rite and do not want to abandon it, no matter what you tell them.

To some people our anathemas seem inhumane, to others constricting. Such charges might be valid in other situations, but there is no way they can apply to our Rite of Orthodoxy. I will clarify for you briefly why the Church acts thus, and I think you yourselves will agree with me that in so doing, the Church acts wisely.

What is the holy Church? It is a society of believers, united among themselves by a unity of confession of divinely revealed truths, by a unity of sanctification by divinely established Mysteries, and by a unity of government and guidance by God-given shepherds. The oneness of confession, sanctification, and administration constitutes the rule of this society, which is obligatory for anyone who joins it. Membership in this society is contingent upon accepting this rule and agreeing with it; remaining in this society is contingent upon fulfilling it. Let us see how the holy Church grew and how it continues to grow. The preachers preach. Some of the listeners do not accept the preaching and leave; others accept it and as a result of accepting it are sanctified by the holy Mysteries, follow the guidance of the shepherds, and thus are incorporated into the holy Church — they are churched. That is how all the Church’s members enter her. In entering her, they are mingled with all her members, they are united with them, and they remain in the Church only as long as they continue to be one with them all.

From this simple indication regarding how the Church is formed, you can see that as a society, the holy Church came to be and continues to exist just like any other society. And so regard it as you would any other, and do not deprive it of the rights belonging to any society. Let us take, for example, a temperance society. It has rules which every member must fulfill. And each of its members is a member precisely because he accepts and abides by its rules. Now suppose that some member not only refuses to abide by the rules but also holds many views completely opposed to those of the society and even rises up against its very goal. He not only does not himself observe temperance but even reviles temperance itself and disseminates notions which might tempt others and deflect them from temperance. What does the society ordinarily do with such people?

First it admonishes them, and then it expels them. There you have an anathema! No one protests this, no one reproaches the society for being inhuman. Everyone acknowledges that the society is acting in a perfectly legitimate manner and that if it were to act otherwise, it could not exist.

So what is there to reproach the holy Church for when she acts likewise? After all, an anathema is precisely separation from the Church, or the exclusion from her midst of those who do not fulfill the conditions of unity with her and begin to think differently from the way she does, differently from the way they themselves promised to think upon joining her. Recollect how it happened! Arius appeared, who held impious opinions concerning Christ the Savior, so that with these notions he distorted the very act of our salvation. What was done with him? First he was admonished, and admonished many times by every persuasive and touching means possible.

But since he stubbornly insisted upon his opinion, he was condemned and excommunicated from the Church — that is, he is expelled from our society. Beware, have no communion with him and those like him. Do not yourselves hold such opinions, and do not listen to or receive those who do. Thus did the holy Church do with Arius; thus has she done with all other heretics; and thus will she do now, too, if someone appears somewhere with impious opinions. So tell me, what is blameworthy here? What else could the holy Church do? And could she continue to exist if she did not employ such strictness and warn her children with such solicitude about those who might corrupt and destroy them?

Let us see — what false teachings and what false teachers are excommunicated? Those who deny the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, divine providence; those who do not confess the all-holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the One God; those who do not acknowledge the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and our redemption by His death on the Cross; those who reject the grace of the Holy Spirit and the divine Mysteries which bestow it, and so forth.

Do you see what manner of issues they touch upon? These are issues which are the very reason the holy Church is the Church, principles upon which she is founded and without which she could not be that which she is. Therefore those who rise up against such truths are to the Church what those who make attempts against our lives and our property are to us in our daily life. Robbers and thieves, after all, are nowhere permitted to carry on freely and go unpunished!

And when they are bound and handed over to the law and to punishment, no one considers this to be inhumane or a violation of freedom. On the contrary, people see in this very thing both an act of love for man and a safeguard for freedom — with regard to all the members of society. If you judge thus here, judge thus also concerning the society of the Church. These false teachers, just like thieves and robbers, plunder the property of the holy Church and of God, corrupting her children and destroying them.

Does the holy Church really err in judging them, binding them, and casting them out? And would it really be love for man if she regarded the actions of such people with indifference and left them at liberty to destroy everyone else? Would a mother permit a snake to freely crawl up to and bite her little child, who does not understand the danger? If some immoral person were to gain access to your family and begin tempting your daughter, or your son — would you be able to regard their actions and their speeches with indifference? Fearing to gain a reputation for being inhumane and old- fashioned, would you tie your own hands? Would you not push such a person out the door and close it against them forever?! You should view the actions of the holy Church in the same way. She sees that individuals of corrupt mind appear, and corrupt others — and she rises up against them, drives them away, and calls out to all those who are her own: Beware — so-and-so and such-and-such people wish to destroy your souls. Do not listen to them; flee from them. Thus she fulfills the duty of motherly love, and therefore acts lovingly — or as you put it, humanely.

At the present time, we have a proliferation of nihilists, spiritists and other pernicious clever ones who are carried away with the false teachers of the West. Do you really think that our holy Church would keep silence and not raise her voice to condemn and anathematize them, if their destructive teachings were something new? By no means. A council would be held, and in council all of them with their teachings would be given over to anathema, and to the current Rite of Orthodoxy there would be appended an additional item: To Feyerbach, Buchner, and Renan, to the spiritists, and to all their followers — to the nihilists – – be anathema. But there is no need for such a council, and there is no need either for such an addition.

Their false teachings have already all been anathematized in advance in those points where anathema is pronounced to those who deny the existence of God, the spirituality and immortality of the soul, the teachings concerning the all-holy Trinity and concerning the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you not see with what wisdom and foresight the holy Church acts when she makes us perform the present proclamation and listen to it?

And yet they say, “This is outdated.” It is precisely now that it is relevant. Perhaps 100 years ago it was not relevant. But one must say concerning our time, that if a Rite of Orthodoxy did not as yet exist, it would be needful to introduce one, and to perform it not only in the capital cities but in all places and in all churches: in order to collect all the evil teachings opposed to the Word of God, and to make them known to all, in order that all might know what they need to beware of and what kind of teachings to avoid. Many are corrupted in mind solely due to ignorance, whereas a public condemnation of ruinous teachings would save them from perdition.

Thus, the Church excommunicates, expels from her midst (when it is said, “Anathema to so-and-so”, that means the same thing as, “So-and-so: out of here”), or anathematizes for the same reason that any society does so. And she is obliged to do this in self-preservation and to preserve her children from destruction. Therefore there is nothing blameworthy or incomprehensible about this present Rite. If anyone fears the act of anathema, let him avoid the teachings which cause one to fall under it. If anyone fears it for others, let him restore him to sound teaching. If you are Orthodox and yet you are not well disposed toward this act, then you are found to be contradicting yourself.

But if you have already abandoned sound doctrine, then what business is it of yours what is done in the Church by those who maintain it? By the very fact that you have conceived a different view of things than that which is maintained in the Church, you have already separated yourself from the Church. It is not inscription in the baptismal records which makes one a member of the Church, but the spirit and content of one’s opinions.

Whether your teaching and your name are pronounced as being under anathema or not, you already fall under it when your opinions are opposed to those of the Church, and when you persist in them. Fearful is the anathema. Leave off your evil opinions. Amen.

Source: http://preachersinstitute.com/2017/03/01/what-is-an-anathema/

By Father Andrew Lemeshonok

A week has passed by and God gathers us all here again. Often it happens in our world that people try to hide from each other. They run in different directions. It is a great victory, if people just sit for a while together without thinking or talking about something, for we stop so rarely. We calm down so rarely. Who is ready to say a penitential and reasonable word now? Perhaps, we have already said everything, but these words reach our hearts rarely as well!

People live with each other. Children talk to their parents, parents talk to children, husbands talk to their wives, employees communicate with their managers... Everyone says something, everyone wants something, and no one hears anything. A land of the deaf. When you start to think of what is going on around you, you become terrified: how empty and senseless is the world, if there is nothing more than our temporary life. It all comes down to the point of how to make it longer, more interesting and much more comfortable. People spend all of their energy to: keep the diet, watche their figure and appearance – just as if they did not understand that they would decay sooner or later. “But I am worth something right now!”

Of course, when we recall the life we have lived, we can pay attention to certain events and say: that was real. How much of those true moments have you had in your life? How many words have you heard? What people have you met? Time erases everything. Everything will be thrown out unto the dump of time. Today you can be stunned with something. You may think this event is going to change you and your whole life. Time passes, and you forget about this. You are overwhelmed with problems and worries. Everything passes by. And then the soul is waiting for the storm, which will make us make the sign of the cross and ask God for help.

We cannot isolate ourselves from this world, because we are all a part of it. But there is still something different in us. Apostle Paul said: “Two different men dwell in me” (Referred to Romans, 7:15-23). We know that these words concern us as well. A new man is born in us, and we have to bring him up.

I wish that we learn to listen to each other, to accept the words which we may not like without quarrels. People suppress each other and torture each other, because they do not hear each other and, what is more, do not hear God. But everything we need to do is to keep the silence inside ourselves, so that our heart can see God, Who is always near us.

But where is He? Where is He hiding from us? In Eden, God was looking for Adam and Eve: “Adam, where are you?” Of course, God did know where Adam was. He was close, but still wanted Adam and Eve to reveal themselves. Now it is our turn to seek God: “God, where are You? Where are You hiding? Why do you not answer? Why do I suffer, and You are so indifferent to my sorrows?” What is going on? It is vital for us to overcome our dreams, intentions, sins, passions and manage to see God. It is vital that we come and bow to Him, just like the blind man did, and just like the leper did, the only one out of ten, who came to thank God. Blind, deaf and insane – this is all about us, about our life without God, about our decisions and actions, with which we could hurt our close ones.

Everything that the Church offers us today, the entire church calendar, is for our salvation. Everything is designed for us, so that we can reach the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not something abstract, it is for me, for I need to learn how to talk to God. On the one hand, imagination should not be involved in the church prayer. On the other hand, we should not vacantly pronounce the words, but should do it wholeheartedly.

The meeting with God shows a new world and a new time to each of us – the eternity. We are leading two lives. Out earthly life is going on, but at the same time, we understand that there is nothing but God in this life. And the life, which we appropriated to ourselves, should be devoted to God.

At every Divine Service, we have a chance to make a step towards God, to overcome our flash and blood. We should make such steps constantly. The only important question is whether we want to live forever, whether we want to live with God; whether we want our King to wear a crown with precious stones, or a crown of thorns; whether we want Him to sit on the throne, surrounded by His subjects, or to be beaten, cursed and wounded, nailed to the Cross… Do we want Him to be our King? Do we want to follow Christ until the end, or not? We are free to choose. Without God’s help and God’s grace, we cannot make this choice. This is why we come to a church and ask for help, and absorb the words full of the Holy Spirit. We need these words, we need Blood and Body of Christ, which let us live the minutes of the life eternal.

March 6, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

We have the obligation to wear a cross, so as to keep an ancient Christian tradition. When a person is baptized, the priest puts the cross on him with his own hand, and so let the hand of no un-ordained layman dare to take it off. The cross accompanies us throughout our life. We may replace it only in case of necessity. We may wear a consecrated wooden cross in the bath or during an operation.

The Cross is a material sign of a person's membership in the Church of Christ. At the same time it is a sharp sword in our spiritual warfare:

"Let us make the sign of the Cross over our doors, and on our brow, and on our breast, and on our lips, and over every member of our body, and let us arm ourselves with this invincible weapon of Christianity, the vanquisher of death, the hope of the faithful, the light of all the ends of the earth, the key that opens Paradise and overcomes heresies, the confirmation of the Faith, the great preserver and the saving boast of the Orthodox. We shall, O Christians, wear this weapon on our person in every place, by day and by night, and at every hour and every minute. Do nothing without it, whether you sleep, or rise from sleep, work, eat, drink, find yourself along the way, or sail upon the sea, or cross a stream – adorn all the members of your body with the life-giving Cross, and no evil will come to you, and no wound will touch your body (cf. Psalm 90:10)."

(St Ephraim the Syrian, Homily on the Universal Resurrection, on Repentance and Love, on the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, Part 1, Homily 103).

A person who takes off his cross, or neglects to wear it after Baptism, suffers from a lack of faith, and absence of a real consciousness of the Church. In ancient Rus it was said of immoral persons, "He wears no cross." In the story of I. A. Bunin, "The Fowls of Heaven," a poor man, to whom a student offers money, says, "Only the Devil is poor, for he wears no cross."

By Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)

Source: http://www.stnicholasstratford.org/article_nov2010_cross.html

My daughter has pointed out to me that the incorrupt bodies of Saints are not unlike mummies or the unembalmed remains of certain Indians and other native peoples that are many years old. The embalmed mummies can be explained. But why do we argue that incorrupt relics are a sign of sanctity? I have seen relics that were in a state of near total incorruption—something not observed in other remains—, but this does not answer the questions of those without such experience. (Dr. E.Z., CA)

The bodies of the dead can be preserved by embalming, by certain chemicals in the soil, and by the effects of extremely cold or arid conditions. No one denies this. And such rare instances—and we must emphasize that bodies which do not dissolve after death are a rare exception—present no challenge to our veneration of the relics of Saints. The Christian veneration of relics, whether these be in the form of bone fragments or whole bodies, stems from our belief that Grace not only changes and transforms the soul, but the physical substance of the human body as well. Thus, many Saints’ relics exude a special fragrance which evokes a sense of spiritual beauty—a fragrance sometimes strong and at other times weak. Other relics elicit a sense of awe and spiritual peace. These qualities attest to the eternal and encompassing effects of holiness and to a spiritual presence that survives death and manifests itself even in the remnants of a Saint’s physical body.

Now, whereas we may or may not know why the mummified bodies that archaeologists study have not disintegrated, we certainly do know why the incorrupt relics of the Saints have not. We can draw a parallel between the sanctity of these Saints and the incorruptibility of their bodies; indeed, we Orthodox believe that there is a direct correlation between the sanctity of the Saints’ lives and the state of their bones or bodies after death. Other incorrupt remains are of no interest to us, just as Christianity is ultimately unconcerned with the adventitious virtue that one sometimes sees in worldly people, but with the specific virtue formed by the Christian life in those who have overcome and cured sin by spiritual exercise and submission to the Will of God.

For centuries, and in monasteries especially, it has been observed by the Church that often only one or two bodies, among many buried in the same place, remain incorrupt. This would have no meaning, were it not for the fact that, through such long-term empirical observation, it has also been ascertained that these incorrupt bodies, as well as skeletal remains bearing a certain color or fragrance, are almost always those of individuals who lived exceedingly and exceptionally virtuous lives. The supernatural phenomenon which we acknowledge, then, is not the incorruptibility or exceptional quality of remains as such, but the virtuous lives to which these attributes attest. Likewise, when we venerate relics, we are not venerating the miracle of bodies that do not decay (indeed, there are instances in Church history where the bodies of corrupt people have remained whole after death); rather, we approach relics, whatever their state of incorruption, out of awe for the virtues that once adorned these precious remnants of the human body. Relics, like Icons, are, of course, Grace-bestowing; but ultimately they serve to lift us up and beyond their material form to the Saints who bequeathed them to the Church. Their final reality is understood only by those who attain to this communion with the Saints, which is ultimately communion with Christ Himself, to Whom the Saints have been joined and Whose majesty and power they reflect.

Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/death/mummies.aspx

The Kozelshchansk Icon of the Mother of God was glorified in the late nineteenth century, though it is older than that. This icon is of Italian origin and was brought to Russia by one of Empress Elizabeth’s (1741-1761) maids of honor, who was Italian. The owner of the icon married a records clerk of the Zaporozhsky-Cossack army, Siromakh. So, the icon went to the Ukraine with them.

During the nineteenth century it belonged to the family of Count Vladimir Kapnist, and was one of their sacred possessions. The icon was in the village of Kozelschina, Poltava governance. During Cheesefare Week in the year 1880, Maria, the daughter of V. I. Kapnist, dislocated some bones in her foot. The local doctor said the problem was not serious. Dr. Grube, a noted surgeon in Kharkov, agreed with the diagnosis, and he applied a plaster cast to Maria’s foot. He also prescribed hot baths and iron supplements. To lessen the discomfort of the foot while walking, a special shoe was made with metal bands that went around the girl’s leg. Lent passed, but the girl did not feel any relief.

After Pascha, Maria’s other foot became twisted. Then both shoulders and her left hip became dislocated, and she developed pain in her spine. The doctor advised Count Kapnist to take his daughter immediately to the Caucasus for the curative mineral waters and mountain air. The journey to the Caucasus and the curative treatments caused even greater affliction. The girl lost all feeling in her hands and feet, and did not even feel pinches.

Because of the advanced degree of the illness, and since therapy was not helping, they were compelled to return home.

In the month of October, the father journeyed with his sick daughter to Moscow. Here he consulted specialists, who declared that they could do nothing for Maria.

The parents and the sick girl began to despair. However, an unexpected opportunity for help from a foreign professor presented itself. Since it would be some while before his arrival in Moscow, the sick girl asked to return home. The Count sent her back to the village, and his wife promised to bring their daughter back to Moscow when he received news of the the professor’s arrival. On February 21, 1881, they received a telegram saying that the professor had arrived in Moscow.

On the day before the appointment, Maria’s mother suggested that she pray before the family icon of the Mother of God. She said to her daughter, “Masha [a diminutive form of Maria], tomorrow we go to Moscow. Take the icon, let us clean its cover and pray to the Most Holy Theotokos that your infirmity be cured.”

The girl, who had no confidence in earthly physicians, placed all her hope in God. This icon had long been known as wonderworking. According to Tradition, young women would pray before it to have a happy family. It was also the custom to clean the cover of the icon, and the one praying would wipe it with cotton or linen.

Pressing the holy icon to her bosom, the sick girl, with the help of her mother, cleaned it and poured out all her sorrow and despair of soul to the Mother of God. All at once, she felt the strength return to her body and she cried out loudly, “Mama! Mama! I can feel my legs! I can feel my hands!” She tore off the metal braces and bandages and began to walk about the room, while continuing to hold the icon of the Mother of God in her hands.

The parish priest was summoned at once and celebrated a service of Thanksgiving before the icon. The joyous event quickly became known throughout all the surrounding villages. The Countess and Maria went to Moscow and took with them the holy icon of the Mother of God. News of the healing quickly spread about Moscow and people began to throng to the hotel, and then to the church, where they had brought the icon.

The icon continued to work several more healings. When the family returned home to Kozelschina, people had already heard about the miracles of the Kozelschansk icon of the Mother of God in Moscow, and many came to venerate the icon. It was no longer possible to keep the icon at home, so by the order of Archbishop John of Poltava, the icon was transferred to a temporary chapel on April 23, 1881. Every day from early morning, services of Thanksgiving and Akathists were served before the icon.

In 1882 a chapel was built on the grounds of the estate, and then a church. decision of the Holy Synod on March 1, 1885 a women’s monastery was established, and on February 17, 1891 it was dedicated to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

At present, the Kozelschansk Icon is in the Krasnogorsk Protection women’s monastery (Kiev diocese). In the lower left corner of the icon is a table with a cup and a spoon. It is believed that this symbolizes the Mother of God as a “bowl for mixing the wine of joy” (Akathist, Ikos 11). A Service and an Akathist have been composed for the Kozelschansk Icon.

Source: https://oca.org/saints/lives/2012/02/21/100578-icon-of-the-mother-of-god-kozelshchansk

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