Stories about the miracles of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Miracles from Nicholas the Wonderworker. "An ambulance to those in need"

My husband went fishing, my son went to visit friends... I decided to wash my hair and go to church. I think: while I’m washing my hair, I’ll put some potatoes in - they’ll be cooked just before I leave. I put the potatoes on the stove, washed myself and went to the temple. And only towards the end of the service I remembered the pan on the stove. I ran out to the embankment and started hailing a taxi to get home faster. Nobody stopped. Then I prayed to Saint Nicholas, and immediately a GAZelle stopped in front of me. I told the driver about my trouble, asked him to drive faster, and asked his name. "Nikolai!" - he answered. Well, that means the Saint heard me! We rushed home, and then I saw that the potatoes were calmly boiling on the stove, and even after a few hours! - the water in the pan has not decreased at all. This struck me the most.

My husband and I were picking mushrooms, but the rain drove us out of the forest. We discovered missing documents in the car: license, registration certificate, which were dropped in the forest. We looked for them for a long time, asked God, but we didn’t find them. A week later, I advised my husband to pray on his knees before the image of St. Nicholas, to ask him for help. The husband agreed, only asked: “What should we do after prayer, go to the forest again?” I answered: “As God willing.” A minute later they called us and said that they had found our documents safe and sound, despite the fact that it had been pouring rain for a week. Returned free of charge.

V. went to work with his comrades. They built dachas outside the city. They lived near the construction site in trailers, which were heated in winter with electric heating devices, often homemade. One day, the men left the electric stove on overnight, and washed clothes were hung around it above it. At night, when everyone was sleeping, a fire broke out. Half-asleep workers jumped out of the trailer in horror. V. didn’t wake up right away, and when he woke up, it was too late to run away and there was nowhere to run. He sat in the middle of the trailer, and flames raged on all sides. Suddenly, among the fire and smoke, he saw St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint called him, and then abruptly pushed him through the window. V. received burns, but survived. The hands were especially damaged, but they did not lose their functionality. Soon V. recovered and changed his profession. Now he is a priest.

For many years I suffered from insomnia, and for the last two or three years I could only fall asleep with pills. And then I found out that the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. He will also be in Tolyatti, where I live. I was looking forward to this day with impatience and hope. When the image was brought to the temple in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, a religious procession was held. There were a lot of people: it seemed that the whole city had gathered. My soul was light and joyful, and my heart harbored hope for healing. And thanks to God's mercy it came. Now I sleep soundly. And every morning I thank our Savior, His Most Pure Mother and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Kaliningrad is a port city. Many people live there whose fate is connected with the sea. Therefore, a special providence is visible in the fact that the first city church was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of sailors. The church has a chapel in honor of All Saints who shone in the Russian land, above the entrance to which from the street side hangs an icon of St. Nicholas. One day, late in the evening, several guys walked past the temple. They decided to remove the image of the saint, which was not very high above the ground. Having done this, one of them gouged out the saint’s eyes on the icon... A few days later, to Fr. A woman came running to Mariana, one of the priests of the temple, and began to ask forgiveness for her son. It turned out that this was the mother of a guy who became blind after the incident. What happened next is unknown.

I have an image of St. Nicholas, simple in execution, but complex in its grace-filled power. I cut it out from the calendar, and it seemed to me - Lord, forgive me - not very successful: the face was too dark. But I just looked into the eyes of St. Nikolai Ugodnik felt uneasy: his gaze was stern, looking straight into your soul, and there was no escaping this gaze. It’s like in childhood: you stand in front of your parents and feel that they know about your fault, but they are waiting for you to confess, and it is impossible to evade it in any way. So I hung this paper image in the holy corner. And soon I found out that my mother’s friend’s son had disappeared. I haven’t been home for four days: I left work and didn’t return. She rushed to the holy corner. Who should I pray to? How to pray? And suddenly there was a completely clear thought in my head: to pray for the prisoner. Usually in difficult moments I turn to St. Blessed Xenia, but the prayer was especially warm when I prayed to St. Nicholas. With tears, in simple words, she prayed and asked for a quick helper in sorrow to return the prisoner. I didn’t expect everything to happen so quickly: half an hour later my mother called and said that our friend had been released. All beaten up, he returned home. Moreover, he later said that suddenly the robbers stopped demanding money from him and brought him to his house.

It was on the market. A strong wind was blowing, and a 4-meter iron sheet was torn off the roof of one of the pavilions. The sellers, white with horror, watched the iron colossus flying straight towards me, and I walked and prayed to Nicholas the Pleasant about something of my own, I was so carried away by the “conversation” with the saint that I did not immediately understand what was what. And suddenly this huge leaf rolls up into a tube, barely touching my shoulder, and stands rooted to the spot. The seller Nikolai, who witnessed the miracle (who was born on December 19 and was named strictly according to the calendar!), quietly congratulated me: “Happy birthday! You almost died, we saw it... So happy new birthday to you...". And it would be ungrateful not to talk about it.

1715 0

Saint Nicholas mastered a lot of secular professions: doctor, engineer, gardener, pilot, veterinarian, postman... The saint still saves lives and performs miracles today.

I remember the Day of St. Nicholas the Winter in 2008 very well. That day I was doing my usual job at UNIAN, working on topics of politics and economics.

The UNIAN-Religion project did not yet exist, as they say, at all. But there was a lot of responsible editorial work, which did not allow me to leave. But in my soul that day I was in the church, at the icon of St. Nicholas, mentally lighting a candle, with a prayer for the most important thing.

In the evening I found some free time and the idea came to create group in honor of St. Nicholas on the popular resource "Odnoklassniki".

“If the Lord, through a prayer appeal to Nicholas the Wonderworker, accomplished what you asked for, you can leave a detailed record of this, in memory of the modern miracles of St. Nicholas,” she wrote an appeal to the participants of the new group.

Very soon she became popular. Today the group has 54.8 thousand participants and 12 moderators (priests and students of theological seminaries. - Author).

Group members say that Saint Nicholas actively participates in their lives, helping even in intractable situations. He mastered a lot of secular professions: doctor, engineer, gardener, pilot, veterinarian, postman...

The saint protects from offenders, helps to get a job, solves housing problems, saves lives, calls for justice and shows miracles.

I’ll add that the birthday of the UNIAN-Religions project should probably also be considered December 19th. After all, the idea of ​​its creation came right then, along with a group in honor of St. Nicholas on a social network. And through prayers to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Holy Fathers of Pechersk, within a few months we launched a new project.

Fatima Alikova (Tsalikova) 35 years old, Moscow-Beslan.

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

“In 2004, I was held hostage in Beslan, at school No. 1. I won’t describe how hard it was for all of us in the gym these three days. During the explosion, I flew out of the window, and without realizing anything, I ran about 20 meters at random and hid between the iron garages. A shootout began, I lay down on the ground, covering my ears with my hands. I was very scared. Bullets whistled from all sides. The whole time I was lying there, I prayed to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

I just screamed to him in my heart to save me from death. It seemed to me that if my prayer was interrupted for even a second, a bullet would hit me. I lay there like that for an hour and a half, maybe more, I don’t know. At some point, the shooting died down, voices were heard behind the fence, and I called for help. They pulled me out and carried me on a stretcher to the ambulance. There wasn’t even a scratch on me, despite the fact that I was lying in the line of fire. All thanks to prayers to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker!”

Elena Bestuzheva, 57 years old, Tver, Russia.

“My dad was born in 1923. When he went to the front, my grandmother prayed for him to Nikolai Ugodnik. One autumn they were transferred to the front line. They walked through the mud, were very tired, when they got to the place, they dug in and fell down to sleep. Dad woke up to an old man in an untucked white shirt tugging at his shoulder. He said: “Vanyushka, run, run!” Dad jumped up and ran. Then I thought: where did the old man come from at the front line? He stopped and looked around... At that time a bomb hit the trench, and everyone who remained there was killed.”

Tatyana Ivanova-Suvorova, 47 years old, Lukyanov, Russia.

THE CATCHER

“My older brother, when he was two years old, got lost in the forest. The whole village searched for him, but to no avail. A day later, after crying, he was found on the edge of a cliff, above the river, on brushwood. The finder wanted to dress him warmly and feed him. But the child said: “I don’t want to and I’m not cold.” He was dressed lightly, and it was freezing at night. “Grey-haired grandfather warmed me up and gave me some bread.” All this happened on May 25th. The grandmother sincerely believed that it was Nikolai the saint who saved her grandson.”

Natasha Sidorova (Ulogova), 33 years old, Lobnya, Russia.

HUNGER

“It was in 1946, during the post-war famine. My mother was 9 years old. A handful of cereal - for the whole day, they ground acorns and made cakes from them, ate roots. My mother's two younger sisters were in the hospital due to exhaustion. It was a sunny summer day, and my mother was sitting on the rubble and playing with the ashes from the stove. Suddenly an old man appeared from around the corner. According to my mother’s story, my grandfather was very pleasant-looking: not very tall, with blue eyes and dressed all in white. His hair, eyebrows, and beard were completely gray. The suit was also white, the shoes were light.

In those days when everyone wore rags, it was impossible to see a person in such clothes. Grandfather approached mom and asked if she wanted to eat? And he gave mom two potatoes, bread, and two tomatoes. To celebrate, my mother didn’t even understand where this grandfather had gone. A neighbor came running to my mother and asked what kind of miracle it was? She saw all this from the window. She said that after giving mom the groceries, grandpa walked around the corner and... disappeared!!! They talked about this incident for a long time in the village, they assumed that it was St. Nicholas the Wonderworker himself! My mother often tells this story. She remembers everything, down to the smallest detail. And my mother is already 74 years old.”

HAPPY MARRIAGE

Tatiana Stivrinya, 49 years old, Jelgava, Latvia.

“I have a friend who got married through prayers to St. Nicholas. She is already over 40, she was divorced, but really wanted to find her soul mate. She was told that she should pray to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for marriage. She works in the church, so at every opportunity she began to approach the icon and ask for painful things. One day, while she was wiping the icon, a man her age approached her. “I’m watching you, you’re always at this icon.” She answers him so simply: “I ask the Lord for a husband.” He laughed and said: “Here I am!” It’s already the second year since we got married, and now the Lord has sent a child.”

Svetlana Lakhina (Chikantseva), 39 years old, Belaya Kalitva Sukhumi, Russia.

“I really wanted a baby, but I couldn’t carry it for more than 10 weeks. I was asked in Sunday school to embroider an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for the holiday of the Day of Love, Family and Fidelity. While I was embroidering, I asked St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for help. And 9 months later our daughter Juliana was born. Isn't it a miracle?

Galina Kovalenko 38 years old, Maykop, Russia.

“I couldn’t give birth for a long time - there were miscarriages. I prayed to Nicholas the Wonderworker. I became pregnant again, but I no longer believed, I thought nothing would work out. And late in the evening I was leaving work, an old man came towards me and said: “Happy holiday!” And it slipped my mind that it was Mother’s Day, I thought he was tipsy and joking. I replied: “And you too!” He laughed and said: “Ehhh! It’s me who congratulates you on Mother’s Day!” I replied: “Thank you!” And she moved on. And for some reason I immediately remembered about Nikolai Ugodnik. I turned around, and the old man was nowhere to be found... I realized that this was a sign, and that this time everything would be fine. My daughter was born!”

Lyubov Fedoseeva.

“I didn’t have children for seven years. Everyone I knew knew about infertility. I was advised to go to Turkey, to the temple where St. Nicholas the Wonderworker himself once served. There is still a church there, it is not active, but services are held there twice a year. Saint Nicholas bequeathed: “Whoever comes with good intentions to this temple, everything will be fulfilled.” My husband and I were traveling to ask for children. I cried when I was there, I believed and prayed. I returned from Turkey pregnant, a miracle happened! A daughter was born.

I wanted a lot of children, but again I couldn’t get pregnant for a long time. And I went to Turkey again. I asked Nikolai for twins. I had a dream: “It will be difficult for you to bear two children at once, since you had a caesarean section. You'll have better weather." After this dream I became pregnant. In the fifth month of pregnancy she fell ill with hepatitis. I couldn’t believe it, because my child was blessed by St. Nicholas the Wonderworker! I had to go to the hospital.

I prayed all night. Saint Nicholas himself appeared in a dream and said that I was healthy. I woke up and told my mom about it. Mom said that if this comes true, she will believe. I arrived at the hospital, they took tests, and I turned out to be healthy. The doctors were against pregnancy, insisted on an abortion, and scared me that I might die. I believed only Nikolai. A son was born. According to your faith, so be it to you. I know that for sure. I have three children - Lyubov, Maria and Bogdan. Thank God. Thanks to Nicholas the Wonderworker. These were the greatest miracles of my life.”

Irina Postarnak, 46 years old, Belgorod, Russia.

HOUSING PROBLEM

“My husband met another woman, I could no longer live in his lies and debauchery. He said: “If you don’t want to live with me, go wherever you want!” The director offered to move into an apartment with a shared apartment. The neighbor thought that we were having a fictitious divorce in order to get an apartment. The court decided to evict me. I came to church and stood on kneeled in front of the icon of Nikolayushka, and in her own words began to ask for help to send me some housing. I met the mayor of the city in the morning, I was going to work, for some reason I stopped, I saw sympathy in his eyes, and he told me to come to such and such an office. The next day I received a warrant. When help comes from above, all doors are open, no connections or money are needed.”

Leonid Kichko, 53 years old, Lipetsk, Russia.

PLITTERING

“By profession, I am a repairman of technological equipment. After one of the repairs, the unit’s performance did not meet the norm: it was disassembled and reassembled three times, and commissioning was delayed. Frustrated, I went to the temple. Standing at the icon of St. Nicholas the Pleasant, he asked him for help. To be honest, when I returned to the site, I forgot about the request. Having disassembled and reassembled once again, without finding any reason, we made a hopeless decision about a test run. Imagine the surprise of everyone present when the unit began to work. Nobody could explain what was happening. Having visited the temple, I remembered the request and thanked St. Nicholas. Not knowing prayers, I asked in my own words.”

EMERGENCY DOCTOR

Irina Vladina, 42 years old, Kostroma, Russia.

“I was 7-8 years old. My ears hurt very badly, I was screaming in pain! The whole family stood by my bed, not knowing how to help. My great-grandmother Olga had an icon of St. Nicholas - a simple one, on a paper cardboard... I remembered about the icon, and through my tears I shouted: “Grandma, pray to St. Nicholas the Pleasant!” Grandmother quickly went into the room. As soon as she disappeared behind the door, the pain disappeared. Now I am 42 years old, and this miracle is not forgotten. No one had any doubts - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker helped!”

Irina Kholopova, 52 years old, Moscow, Russia.

“My relative was cured in Mir. I flew to Turkey with herpes on my back. I warned him about the consequences. But youth... He said: “I’ll anoint you with iodine and everything will pass.” And then there was chills and pain. We decided to skip the sea and go on an excursion. This is how they got to the Lycian Worlds. On the way back to the hotel I noticed: no pain, no chills. The skin healed quickly, without marks.”

Vladimir Altunin, 64 years old, Sevastopol, Ukraine.
“At work we were repairing an electric motor. My crowbar fell off and I hit my elbow hard. The fingers on my left hand began to go numb. One day we stopped at the Foros Church. I stood near the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and mentally said: “I don’t believe in God, but if you help me with my health, I will believe!” At the same moment, warmth flowed through my hands, as if entering a warm bath from the cold. Five years passed, my hands never went numb again. Everyone at work knows, they saw how I suffered. Believe it if you want! It happened to me."

Liliya Kozina (Polozhnova), 36 years old, Moscow.
“About 15 years ago I had an ovarian cyst. The gynecologist prescribed therapy, after which she had to undergo surgery to remove the cyst. For exactly a month I took the prescribed pills, washed down with holy water and praying to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. On December 19 (!) the cyst came out on its own. The gynecologist, experienced and competent, was very surprised. I spent a long time looking through the ultrasound, but in the end I admitted that the operation was not necessary.”

Margarita Bozhko (Gusarova), 47 years old, Kursk, Russia.

ST. NICHOLAS - GARDENER

“I planted tomatoes on the loggia, they bloomed all summer, but none of them set fruit. In October I look at these barren flowers and think: “At least one tomato has started, for consolation.” And three days later one started. I immediately realized that it was Nikolai Ugodnik who gave me the tomato, since his icon is on the window right next to the tomatoes.”

Ekaterina Yudkevich, 49 years old, Leningrad region, Russia.

ICON ON ASPHALT

“It was at a very difficult moment in my life, when I lost a loved one, and came to St. Petersburg to get documents. It was pouring rain, and it seemed to me that I would simply die, I could not stand the grief. Near the Tekhnologichesky Institute metro station there is a very busy place, people walk in a stream, no one notices anyone. I walked in this stream, and my soul was overcome by despair. Suddenly on the sidewalk I saw an icon standing right in the middle of the road. It is not clear how she could stand, and how people did not knock her down. I bent down and picked it up. It was an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the size of a palm, on a tree. What’s also surprising is that in the pouring rain it was completely dry! I was filled with such unexpected joy, peace, love - all this is difficult to convey in words! My confessor said that it was Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker who consoled me.”

Alexander Vorobyov 52 years old, Kaliningrad, Russia.

DEFAMATED ICON

“The incident took place in the mid-90s. We have a temple of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kaliningrad. Above the entrance is an icon of St. Nicholas. One day they discovered that the icon was missing. An empty, broken icon case was found in a flowerbed. A few months later the icon was returned; the eyes of St. Nicholas were dug out. Father told us a terrible story about how the icon came to be in his possession and what happened. The woman returned the icon to the temple; she was in tears and told how it all happened.

That night, her son and a group of teenagers entered the temple territory and removed the icon of St. Nicholas. She was very beautiful and looked rich from afar. When the guys brought the icon home and saw in the light that it was simple, one of the teenagers, out of anger, took a nail and picked out the saint’s eyes. A month later, the teenager who committed the sacrilege had both eyes gouged out. When it became clear that he remained disabled for life, he told his mother about what he had done and where the desecrated icon lay. Then the woman took the icon to the temple and told the priest how much grief they had suffered because of her son’s blasphemy. The icon was restored, inserted into the icon case and installed in its original place. There is no information about what happened to the boy and his mother.”

Irina Sorochan, 49 years old, Astana, Kazakhstan.

LAW ENFORCEMENT

In July 2005, my mother died. Less than 40 days had passed, I decided to go to the cemetery alone. A man sat at my mother’s grave, looking scary. He and I looked at each other. I walk and think he will follow me now. And so it happened, he and another 2 meters tall man are walking. It became scary; we had cases where people were attacked in the cemetery. And then grandfather comes out of the bushes, I still thought that he had come to visit someone. He was dressed simply, but I noticed his face: extraordinary, clean, so light that it was impossible to convey, his beard and hair were white. A familiar face, where could I have seen him? He looked at me so sternly and walked past my mother’s grave, and I followed him as if spellbound. Those two men followed us, but did not increase their pace. On the way, I went to my husband’s grave, laid flowers, he slowed down, waited for me, and those two also stopped. We reached the fork, and I saw that he was gone, as if he had sunk into the water. I returned home safely. When she came to our church, she approached the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and gasped, recognizing in that old man the beloved St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, it was him. That is, he helped me, even without turning to him. I thank the Lord for giving me such a miracle - to meet Nikolai Ugodnik."

Inna Rimskaya 41 years old, Kyiv, Ukraine.

WIZARD IN A BLUE HELICOPTER

“In 1998, my friend Olya and I went to Valaam. Money was running short, we couldn’t leave: either there was no boat, or we didn’t know about its departure. We have already gotten used to the idea that we will use our last money to travel by boat to Sortavala, because the return tickets were bought in Kyiv and we will not receive the money if we return them. Out of grief, we went to the hotel, ate all the porridge taken from the refectory, and then, for consolation, we began to read an akathist to St. Nicholas and sang glorification. When we sang the praise for the third time, a helicopter landed near the hotel and we flew away. Two hours later we were already in St. Petersburg.”

Tatyana Moskaleva (Ilyasova), 54 years old, Kansk, Russia.

POSTMAN

“I read in a magazine how Saint Nicholas helped one husband give away his daughters, and I thought: where can I get Nicholas the Wonderworker for everyone? I was in a difficult situation - I was raising my son alone, he was a freshman. Winter is outside, but he has no warm clothes. The next day I come home from work, there is a notice at the door - money has arrived from my sister. I bought a down jacket for my son. And my sister told me that she suddenly thought that we needed money more than they did.”

Marina Idadze, Kutaisi, Georgia.

VET
“Our puppy got sick. We took his illness hard. For about a week he lay there, did not eat or drink, and breathing was almost inaudible. And suddenly, out of the blue, he shows interest in food, starts running and playing pranks... We were very surprised. And then dad admitted that he asked Nicholas the Wonderworker for the puppy to recover. As it turned out, dad was heard. But the vet refused to treat our dog! This is such a miracle..."

Evgeny Polyakov, 51 years old, Moscow, Russia.

ON VALAAM

“About 15 years ago, with Abbot Joel, we sailed to Valaam on a small motor boat. As soon as we passed St. Nicholas Monastery, our engine stalled. While the oars were being taken out, a terrible fog fell, only the domes of the St. Nicholas Church were visible. We barely made it on the oars. If the engine had stalled later, no one knows what would have happened to us. Saint Nicholas saved from death!

Svetlana Krykun (Arkhipova), 52 years old, Murmansk.

"YOU PROMISED"

“It was in 1988-1989, my daughter was 4 years old. At work she boasted that she had never been to the hospital with a child. That same evening, a child with larigotrachiitis was taken away. I prayed to God to have mercy on my child, and promised to go to church in case of healing and light a candle. My girl recovered, but I never went to church. A year later I had a dream, a man in a long robe was standing in the doorway, his arm was slightly bent, as if pointing to an icon, and he said: “You promised!” I didn’t know who I dreamed about. After 13 years, my daughter entered FINEK in St. Petersburg, I took her there, and I took her to the Kazan Cathedral. I went to inspect the icons, approached one, and immediately started to cry like a river: it’s him - Nikolayushka, from my dream, I’ve just never seen a full-length icon of the Wonderworker before.”

Olga Gavrilova, 44 years old, Russia, Krasnoyarsk.

"IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, GIVE SOME SIGN"

“My daughter graduated from college, received a degree as an artist-designer, went to live in St. Petersburg, and for 4 months could not find a job. And so, when my strength and patience were running out, my legs led me to the Vladimir Cathedral. There is a very old icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. She turned to him with a prayer: “If you hear me, give me some sign!” Suddenly the window opened, the wind blew out all the candles, leaving only the candle in the daughter’s hands burning. On the same day, they brought her a newspaper with advertisements where the company needed a designer. This was 8 years ago. Now my daughter has her own company. She never parts with the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.”

Tatyana Shvedova 42 years old, Zaporozhye, Ukraine.

“WHEN I SEE A TRAFFIC POST, I ASK NICHOLAS THE WONDERWORKER TO COVER US WITH YOUR HANDS”

“When we drive past the traffic police post, I ask St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to cover us with his hands so that they don’t see us. No one ever dared to stop us."

Flight engineer Lyudmila Maygurova, 38 years old, Volgograd, Russia.

“I LOOKED OUT THE PORTHOLE, AND I WAS STUNNED: THE PATTERN OF WINGS WAS CLEARLY VISIBLE ON THE GLASS”

“We flew on a Boeing 737-200, which is the smallest and with which disasters occur more often than others. We took off normally, gained altitude, began serving us drinks and food, people relaxed... Suddenly we entered a zone of turbulence, the plane was throwing in all directions so that glasses, plates, napkins and everything in the world were flying around the cabin. The passengers turned white with horror, the people did not know what to grab with their hands to stay in their seats...

I had with me an icon with images of Nicholas the Pleasant, the Mother of God, the Guardian Angel and the Lord with the traveler’s prayers to them. She took it out with shaking hands and began to read all the prayers in a row. I finish - and again. I read prayers and out of the corner of my eye I see people looking at me with such hope. And I began to read prayers not to myself, but out loud. Then suddenly everything calmed down as quickly as it started. And some guy, when I finished reading the prayers out loud, shouted to the whole plane: “Hallelujah!” I looked out the porthole and was stunned: the pattern of wings, like an angel’s, was clearly visible on the glass... Probably it was a sign. For some, but for me, it was a miracle. Thank God for everything!"

Anna Gorpinchenko, UNIAN-Religions.

If you notice an error, select it with the mouse and press Ctrl+Enter

Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, is perhaps the only saint to whose name the word “Wonder Worker” is added. December 19 is the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. I congratulate everyone on the day of remembrance of one of the most revered Christian saints, and I want to tell you about the miracles that St. Nicholas showed in my life.

The first of them took place in the Moscow Church of All Saints on Kulishki, where I ended up at the very beginning of my churching. I was surprised not only by its beauty and beautiful Byzantine chants, but also by the fact that one of the deacons there was a dark-skinned man (possibly of African origin). One of my first confessions took place here. From here, with my problems, they sent me to the Intercession Monastery to the relics of the Matronushka of Moscow. This is where my love for Greece begins. It was here, after my fervent prayers at the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, that one of the first miracles in my life happened...

On Kulishki

The most famous and one of the oldest in Moscow, the All Saints Church is located on Slavyanskaya Square near Solyanka. In 1999, the Church of All Saints in Kulishki received the status of the Metochion of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' and the representation of the Primate of the Alexandrian Orthodox Church - His Beatitude the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa.

The rector of the temple is Metropolitan Athanasius of Kirin, exarch of the Libyan Peninsula, representative of the Patriarch of Alexandria to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Divine services at the courtyard are performed in Slavic and Greek.

The church on Kulishki has been known since the 14th century.

The first wooden temple-monument to the military glory of the Russian army was erected by the noble prince of Moscow Dimitri Donskoy in gratitude to the Lord for the victory granted in 1380 on the Kulikovo field and in memory of the soldiers who fell there.

In ancient times, on the site of modern Varvarka and Solyanka streets there was Vasilyevsky Meadow, which, together with the adjacent lands, was called Kulishki (Kulizhki, Kuligami). This was the name given to plots of land for haymaking along river banks.

The chronicler mentions the temple in 1488: “...at the ninth hour of the day the Church of the Annunciation on the Swamp caught fire, and therefore it burned from the city to Kulishka, not even to All Saints.”

The temple burned in fires in 1493, 1547, 1688, 1737. In 1930 or 1931 the temple was closed. In 1991, it was returned to the Church, consecrated and restored.

The shrines of the temple are the Crucifixion Cross, the icons of the Mother of God “Tikhvinskaya”, “The Sign”, “Hodegetria-Sumela”, “Merciful”, the icons of the martyr Andrew Stratilates and the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian. They also bring here shrines from other places, including a particle of the relics of the very revered Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea.

About the miracles that began in this temple

year 2014.

The sanctity of motherhood.
At the end of January 2013, my brother became seriously ill, at the same time my house burned down, and at the beginning of December of the same year I was laid off at work. Having suppressed my wild despair, I remembered who helped me find a permanent job in 2004, and came to the All Saints Church, not knowing that every Thursday morning here you can venerate a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas, and in the evening you can pray at a prayer service with akathist and blessing of water.

On January 30, 2014, my birthday, I took communion at the Church of All Saints and was about to leave. But Saint Nicholas did not let me go, I kept standing by his icon and suddenly I heard one granny tell another that they would soon take out the ark with a particle of his relics. When they brought him out, the women and I read an akathist to the great wonderworker.

Needless to say, almost immediately after this I was offered a job. Currently, I am covering the topic of “the sanctity of motherhood” and making my contribution to the fight against such an evil as abortion.

Throne with the tomb of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari. Lower Temple.

2010

Like Nikolushka and Dmitry DostoevskyThey brought me to Bari.
I’ll tell you how, through the prayers of St. Nicholas, I was able to venerate his venerable relics, exuding fragrant myrrh, in the Italian city of Bari. I have not the slightest doubt that it was Nicholas the Wonderworker who brought me to Italy. Knowing that he helps with material needs (remember the bag of money thrown by the saint for two poor girls), I read the akathist to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for forty days - from March 18 to April 29, 2010 (then I read it from July 2 to August 13 and from August 30 to October 10, 2010).

And suddenly, on March 21, the magazine “Slavyanka” appeared in my hands with an article by Nikolai Kozhukhin “Meeting with Great Wonderworkers” (2009. No. 12). Under the unusual image of a saint in a cap, they were talking about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, about his quick help: “Nikolushka the saint will never leave! He has a loving heart; As soon as you ask him for anything, he’s right there!” (page 92). At these words, I burst into tears and, turning to Nicholas the Pleasant (and that was St. Spyridon!), bitterly reproached him: “Why do you help others, but don’t hear me?”

That year, under the weight of the trials that befell me, my faith, acquired eight years ago at the bedside of my brother, who was dying in intensive care, collapsed. Over the years, I have visited so many shrines that no one else will ever see in their entire life. And it seemed to me that my faith grew stronger. But God sent a blow of such force that I barely survived it and begged the Lord: “Help, Father!!!”

Hundreds of times I have read the phrase in the Gospel: “Your faith has saved you.” “I didn’t save, but destroyed! God doesn't hear me! He left me, punished me, didn’t help!” - I complained with approximately these words that night to two saints - Nicholas the Pleasant and Spyridon of Trimifuntsky. How could I have known then that in the summer I would meet two great miracle workers at once? What if this article hadn’t caught my eye? What a pity that the Slavyanka magazine burned down along with my house - in those minutes I wrote down in the margins of the article, the date and time of the miracle that occurred.

On March 23, that is, a day after my night conversation with the saints depicted on the pages of “Slavyanka”, Olga Alexandre, the director of the international children’s Orthodox camp “Blagovestnik”, whose work I covered in 2009, called me. She offered to come to Switzerland again as a journalist and teacher. At that moment I was terribly depressed, but out of inertia I agreed.
Around the same days, a letter arrived from Doctor of Philology, Professor Stefano Aloe, who is an associate professor at the Department of Russian Literature and Slavic Studies at the University of Verona and executive secretary of the International Dostoevsky Symposium. When I read that my report was included in the symposium program, I didn’t believe it, because... In recent years, she has been engaged not in science, but in journalism and social activities. When applying to participate in the forum, I myself did not believe that anything would come of it.

In Italy, I never tired of thanking God and St. Nicholas for this miracle. Nikolushka returned Dostoevsky to me, my dear Dostoevsky brotherhood, which, by the way, was the first to come to my aid after the fire in January 2013. Already a trip to the conference was enough to understand the power of reading the akathist for 40 days. But the main miracle was that Dostoevsky, in turn, led me to the great miracle worker - to the shrine with his holy relics.

While in March I was moaning and crying in an unheated house about my broken fate, upstairs they took care of my fate in such a way that it is impossible to say in a fairy tale or describe with a pen! For many years I dreamed of visiting Bari, but I could not even imagine that I would find myself there, and not alone, but with the great-grandson of the writer Dmitry Dostoevsky.

Even before arriving in Naples, I asked Stefano Aloe in a letter if I would have the opportunity to travel from Naples to Bari. Stefano, whom I remember as a graduate student who came to St. Petersburg for the Dostoev readings, said that it’s unlikely, because it's a bit far. But remembering my question, he told Dmitry Dostoevsky about my desire, who was looking for travel companions for a trip to the great Christian shrine. I owe this unforgettable trip to him!

And here we are with Dmitry Dostoevsky (he turned 72 in 2017) and several of our other friends and colleagues in Bari! It was like a dream.

After Italy, I again felt a taste for life, and the miracles continued! Immediately after Naples and Bari, I just as miraculously ended up in Greece (and not in Switzerland, where I had already bought a ticket). On July 8, 2010, on the day of remembrance of the blessed princes Peter and Fevronia, I was informed that the Russian World Foundation, which a year earlier had allocated a grant for holding the first Orthodox camp in Switzerland, supported my project “Russian World in the Swiss Alps.”

Having received a grant from the “Russian World” for a trip to Switzerland, by God’s providence I was able in a matter of days to rework the project into “The Russian World at the Foot of Parnassus” and go to a Greek Orthodox children’s camp at the invitation of Archimandrite Nektarios (Antonopoulos), now Metropolitan of Argolid.
I owe my trips to Italy and Greece to two saints - Nicholas the Wonderworker and Spyridon of Trimifuntsky, whose icon is also in the Church of All Saints in Kulishki.

2004

About how Nikolushka employed me at the Apostle Andrew the First-Called Foundation.

How fervently, with tears, I prayed at the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the St. Nicholas chapel in 2004! I prayed for myself, unemployed, for my husband, who received mere pennies at the Institute of Developmental Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was absolutely impossible to live on this with a small daughter.

I was on the verge of despair, but I didn’t really believe in any miracles, I didn’t believe that Nikolushka could help... However, literally the next day, a good friend of mine called me from America and asked: “Did your husband defend his Ph.D. thesis? We need a biologist with a degree for a Russian-American company. Write down the address. The salary is good!”

My husband passed the first interview in Russian very successfully, but he did not go to the second interview in English, no matter how much I tried to persuade him. All in tears, not understanding why he refused this offer, I again prayed in the same temple: “Nikolushka, help!”

Imagine my surprise when, almost immediately after this, I was invited to a permanent job at the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, where I worked for more than ten years. In March 2004, I moved there from the Moskovskaya Pravda newspaper, where Saint Joasaph of Belgorod brought me, in turn. I still don’t understand how I alone managed to be the editor of three websites at once - “Dialogue of Civilizations”, the Center for National Glory and the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, and the first of them also had a version in English.

Here are just three miracles through the prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, to whom I especially pray a lot. The saint of God receives us with love, being a father to the orphans, a nourisher to the poor, a comforter to those who cry, and an intercessor to the oppressed. I feel his help all the time. Sainted Father Nicholas, pray to God for us sinners!

On August 11, Christians celebrate the birth of St. Nicholas. He is revered as the patron saint of sailors, merchants and children. In addition, absolutely everyone who needs help turns to him with their problems. It is believed that it is Nikolai Ugodnik who comes to the rescue most quickly and is the savior from injustice and unnecessary death. It is no coincidence that he is called Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint performed his miracles both during life and after death. Let's look at the most famous cases.

Rescue of homeless women

According to the description of the saint’s life, when Nicholas was still a young priest, one of his parishioners went bankrupt. He had three marriageable daughters, but no money for their dowry. The father saw only one solution to his problems: to give his daughters to harlots. Nikolai decided to save the girls and at night threw a wallet with gold into the parishioner’s house. He did this three times. The owner of the house found out who was helping him and wanted to thank him, but Nikolai did not accept the help and forbade him to talk about it.

Lucky theft

An amazing story happened after the death of Nicholas the Wonderworker with his relics. In the 11th century, the Turks ravaged the lands in Asia Minor and destroyed all traces of Christianity. Destruction also awaited the relics of St. Nicholas, which were in the city of Demre. One day, Nikolai appeared to one of the priests in Italy and asked him to hide his remains more securely. In April 1087, Christians from the city of Bari (Italy) managed to steal the relics of the saint, took them to their city and placed them in the Church of St. Stephen. Several miraculous healings of believers from ailments immediately took place here. And the temple in Demre was subjected to many attacks after that, and was later flooded by the dirty waters of the Miro River.

Sailor Rescue

They say that Nicholas often helped sailors during his travels. So, one day, on the way to Palestine, Nikolai predicted that a terrible storm would soon break out. Almost immediately a strong wind arose, the waves raged, and it was clear that the ship would not survive. The panic began. Nikolai began to pray, and the elements calmed down.

They also say that the Wonderworker was able to resurrect people. So, one of the sailors slipped and fell on the deck. After Nicholas’ prayer, the young man came to life.

Salvation of Lycia

While Nicholas was traveling to Palestine, famine began in his home country of Lycia. All remnants of food were eaten, and people were preparing for death. At this time, one Italian merchant, whose ship was full of bread, saw the Wonderworker Nicholas in a dream. He ordered him to take the bread to Lycia and even gave him three gold coins as a deposit. The merchant woke up and found money in his hand and believed in the dream. So he went to Lycia, where he sold all his grain and saved the population.

Zoya's standing

One of the most amazing events happened in the city of Kuibyshev in 1956. On New Year's Eve, the girl Zoya did not wait for her groom. All her friends were dancing, and she was the only one who didn’t have a partner. Then she took the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and began to dance with it. To the exclamations of her friends, she replied: “If there is a God, let Him punish me!” And suddenly the girl seemed to be petrified - she froze in place with the icon of the saint pressed to her chest, and no one could move her. The girl did not move, but her heart continued to beat. When this story reached the authorities, the house was blocked off and policemen were posted around. On the day of the Annunciation, some old man begged the guards to let him through to the girl. Entering the house, he asked Zoya: “Well, are you tired of standing?” The guards looked into the room, the old man was no longer there. Zoya stayed until Easter - four months.

People say that Saint Nicholas still performs miracles today. Everyone who turns to him for help receives it. That is why in the cities where the relics of the saint are brought, huge queues of sufferers line up.

On October 19, 2009, in Perm, the gas pedal of a bus driving along the main street jammed. He couldn't stop on his own. It happened during rush hour in the morning, when everyone was going to work. The bus rushed through the city center for about three kilometers - and not a single one was seriously injured. The video footage shows how the pedestrian miraculously avoided being run over. Mild concussion in four people. The driver followed what turned out to be the only safe route. On his way, he did not come across any trams, trolleybuses, or buses, although he crossed many intersections. He turned slightly just in front of the former cathedral and the Church of St. Mitrophan of Voronezh - towards the monument to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And he stopped on the stairs towards him: the wheels hung in the air.

Eyewitnesses say: “If the driver had made a sharper turn, he would have gone head over heels; if he had continued straight, he would have rushed past the gallery and, most likely, would have fallen from a height of 3-5 meters onto the embankment.” People perceived it as a miracle, Vesti says.

Alena Belyaeva told the Pravoslavie.ru portal that one day she and her family went on vacation to the sea by car. Mom insisted on taking the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with us. Having argued, the young people finally took the icon and, not having had time to drive 100 km from the house, they witnessed an accident: “Another car flew into the car in front of us from the oncoming lane at speed, and they, hitting their heads, began to spin in front of us... Glass, plastic, spare parts were flying at us, and the cars themselves were flying at us... I realized that I wouldn’t have time to read the prayer. At that time, my husband was turning the steering wheel in different directions so that we were thrown from side to side. We woke up. 200 meters later, when we realized that the mangled cars were left behind, and there wasn’t a scratch left on our car. My husband said that when he tried to avoid the collision, time slowed down, like in the movies. That’s how Nikolai the Wonderworker helped us. It was a miracle. "

I DID NOT GIVE A BRIBE...

Three years ago they wanted to expel my daughter from music college for complete failure. However, the real reason for expulsion was different: I did not want to bribe the teacher. I was in the hospital at that time, and my upset child came there so that I could give her my blessing to pass the exam before a special commission. The exam results were known in advance; it was called “funeral”. I blessed my daughter and began to pray to St. Nicholas for a miracle. And my prayer was heard: after some time, my daughter returned joyful, with a “B” for the exam. This is how it turned out: the teacher, deprived and burning with a thirst for revenge, was unable to join the commission - just before the exam, her taps burst in both the kitchen and the bathroom. The other examiners listened to the girl’s performance impartially and gave her a good mark. Now my daughter has successfully graduated from music pedagogical college.

The second incident occurred relatively recently - in the spring of 2003. Just before St. Nicholas Day, a large stone was discovered in my left kidney, and I ended up in the hospital. On the eve of the holiday, at the all-night vigil in the hospital church, I asked St. Nicholas to perform a miracle - to free me from this dangerous stone without surgery. And the miracle did not slow down. On the morning of the holiday, first an ultrasound and then an x-ray showed that there was no longer any stone in the kidney, and I was discharged home.

Priest Vladimir SERGIENKO, Holy Cross Cossack Cathedral, St. Petersburg

TWO GIFTS

In the 50s, my Aunt Domna looked after the servant of God John, a seriously ill, bedridden man. This is what he said about himself. In 1930 he was 8 years old. He didn’t go to school, couldn’t read, and when his mother and grandmother called him to church, he refused or said that he would go, but would not pray. Instead of going to school, I went to graze the village cows. One day he was grazing cows, and suddenly, out of nowhere, an old man appeared in front of him with a book in his hand. “Take,” he says, “a book; you will read.” The boy refuses, saying that he is illiterate, but the old man insists: “Take it!” This book is your whole life, and you will learn to read.”

The boy leafed through the book - there were no pictures in it; I wanted to give it back to the old man, but he had already disappeared... Three days later the boy fell ill, went to bed, and then he again picked up the gifted book (it was the Gospel in Russian) - in a few days he himself mastered reading and writing and began to read. No one could help him with this: his parents themselves were illiterate, and the teachers did not come to them, the believers. Then Vanya realized that the old man who gave him such an expensive gift was St. Nicholas. The boy’s illness turned out to be very serious: John lay in bed for 25 years, until his death, but he never complained, and among his fellow villagers he was known as a blessed and perspicacious man: many came to him for advice, trying to find out God’s will for themselves. And the Gospel given by the Saint is still kept in our family.

Another incident occurred during the Great Patriotic War. My friend, R. B. Anna, life was very difficult in the family of her father-in-law and mother-in-law. She decided to abandon such a life and throw herself under a train. She chose the time when a freight train was supposed to pass by and ran to the rails. And at that moment an old man, whose appearance was somewhat similar to her late grandfather, whom she loved very much, suddenly called out to her. He called out as grandfather called: “Annushka, honey!” She stopped, and he came up to her, threw a sheepskin coat over her shoulders (it was winter, and she rushed out of the house in only a dress) and disappeared immediately; Meanwhile, the train left. Anna always kept this sheepskin coat. Time passed, and from the icon she recognized Saint Nicholas as her savior.

E.V. KHOKHLOVA, Volgograd region.

MIRACLES AT BUS STOPS

My brother came to visit us for the weekend. When the time came for him to leave, he and his mother went to the bus station - and there the last bus was already standing. There are a lot of people around: everyone needs to go, but there is no room. My mother prayed to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to help my brother leave. And suddenly a female conductor gets off the bus and says: “I have one seat. Now I will choose which of you will go.” She spreads the crowd with her hands and moves towards my brother, who stood the farthest: “So you’ll go with me!” The surprised and happy brother got on the bus and left.

And such a case happened to me. I was late for work, but there were no buses for a long time. In desperation, I prayed to St. Nicholas, and suddenly I saw a bus rushing past me at high speed without passengers. He braked sharply, the doors opened, the driver jumped out... I said to him: “Please help, I’m late!” - “Sit down, I’m on my way!” And in five minutes without stopping he drove me to work. I even had time to go to the temple and thank the Lord and St. Nicholas for the unexpected help.

Stefan VOKHMIN, Ukhta, Komi

ANOTHER LAND

According to the holy prayers of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, St. Seraphim of Sarov, by the grace of the Mother of God, my newborn son, myself and my two older children were saved from death. I'll tell you everything in order.

I fell in love with an Azerbaijani. My spiritual father did not bless me to marry this man. I didn’t listen to the priest. I lived with my lover in fornication. Now this is called civil marriage, but fornication is fornication. I started going to church rarely... I loved the Azerbaijani very much, treated him like a husband, and on his part it was all a game. Years passed. God gave me children: Elizabeth, Mikhail and Nikolai. When I gave birth to my daughter, it was only by miracle that the child and I survived. My church friends and my priest prayed for me. Before the birth of my third child, the father of my children, an Azerbaijani, was put on trial. I tried to save him from prison, prayed to the Lord for him as I had never prayed before, and asked God for the sake of three small children to preserve their father’s freedom. He was released pending trial; and we went to Azerbaijan, to his homeland. I went without my father’s blessing, in the seventh month, leaving my seriously ill father and mother in St. Petersburg.

Poverty, cold, hunger and disease awaited us in Azerbaijan. The house was not at all adapted to winter, and there in the mountains the winter is no worse than in St. Petersburg. The children were constantly sick, treatment was paid, there was no money, my husband’s relatives were a large but unfriendly family... Under these conditions, I gave birth to my youngest son, Nikolai. At the maternity hospital I learned that I had been sick with pneumonia for a month. Medicines in Azerbaijani hospitals are given only for money, but neither my husband’s relatives nor he himself helped me with a penny. It got to the point that I wanted to give away my pectoral cross for two aspirin tablets, but God saved me: he sent me a good doctor, a woman named Moral, who took pity on me and began to treat me for free. I lost my milk from hunger; They began to feed the newborn with cow's milk, but it is impossible to truly feed the child with it. The baby began to slowly die of hunger. I decided to go home a long time ago, but they wouldn’t let me go.

And I prayed. I prayed to the Lord, I prayed to Saint Nicholas, after whom I named my little one, I prayed to Seraphim of Sarov - and repented of my sins. The older children never left my side: they were very afraid to be alone in this house: it seemed as if something evil was hiding here, behind its walls... How I asked Father Nicholas the Wonderworker to save baby Nicholas and my other children!.. And finally my Sahib allowed me to send a letter to my mother. Mother arrived and took me and the children to St. Petersburg.

In our hometown, both I and the children recovered quickly. Little Nicholas lost half his weight during the month of hunger, but, thanks to the intercession of St. Nicholas and skillful doctors, he quickly recovered. Only here, in my homeland, did I finally baptize my children. God's mercy turned out to be limitless towards me, a sinner.

r.B. Svetlana, St. Petersburg

MIRACLE IN THE MINE

Miner N. was a man of little faith, but his believing wife always accompanied her husband to work with prayer. One day, when N. was going down into the mine, the cage broke... N. was in imminent danger. As he flew down, his whole life passed before his eyes. And suddenly, from the side, he saw a gray-haired old man flying next to him: no higher and no lower. N. was surprised: “Where is the old man from?” When N. was already falling, the old man sharply pushed him to the side: otherwise N. would have fallen flat on the protruding trunk, and then death would have been inevitable, but N. received multiple fractures, but remained alive. N. spent a year: almost all the time at home, in the hospital they provided only first aid, and considered it hopeless. Having come to his senses and beginning to recover, N. recognized his savior in St. Nicholas. Some time later, his son was born. They called him Nikolai.

“Lamp”, Novoaltaysk

STOLEN DOCUMENTS

I, God's servant Zinaida, once went to the doctor. I waited at the bus stop for a long time, and when it arrived, a lot of people had already gathered. I began to squeeze towards the door, and when I was already standing on the step, I felt that someone tugged my purse with documents strongly. I somehow pressed her to me and felt that something was missing from her. On the bus, sitting down on an empty seat, I saw my purse: it had been cut with a razor, and everything that was there had disappeared, and there were only documents there. And so, on the eve of the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, on the evening of May 21, I prayed to the Saint - both at home and in church - for my documents to be returned. The next day I leave for the dacha; I return, and my husband tells me that everything that was missing has been found: my documents, his, and the key to my daughter’s apartment. The only thing missing was a small pocket prayer book. I thanked St. Nicholas and placed a candle in front of his image in the church. Even after that incident, he often helped me. One day my daughter was undergoing surgery, and I prayed to the Saint, and everything went well.

r.B. Zinaida, Krasnoyarsk

TWO TRAVELERS

I want to tell you about two similar cases when I prayed to St. Nicholas, and he helped me.

One day (I was 17 years old at the time) I was waiting for a bus at the bus stop. There were a lot of people. A passenger car with tinted windows pulled up and stood for a long time without turning off the engine. Nobody came out of it. I thought: “It’s like they’re looking out for someone.” Then a tall Caucasian man in a long black raincoat gets out of the car, comes up to me and politely offers me a ride. I refused, but he repeated his offer again, gently taking my arm. As if hypnotized, I followed him. The back door of the car opened and it turned out that three more people were sitting there. I got completely scared and stopped. Then, unnoticed by others, some grandfather took me by the other arm and said very quietly: “Daughter, are you tired of living?” Then I overcame my fear and told the Caucasian that I wouldn’t go anywhere, and he left me alone. I am sure that if it was not Saint Nicholas himself who stopped me, then he sent me this grandfather to save me from trouble.

Another time I stood at the bus stop again, but it was in the village, and buses went there very rarely. It was winter. Everyone was trying to catch a ride, but I couldn’t do it. And then a miracle happened: a white Zhiguli stopped nearby. Everyone ran to the car, but the driver said he would only take me. He himself put my things in the trunk and we drove off. On the way, he told me how he once walked 11 km along the taiga road, and no one wanted to give him a lift; From then on, he told himself that from now on he himself would not give anyone a lift. He adhered to this rule for a long time, and suddenly today he saw me and felt sorry for me. To my shame, I became a little worried, and he, noticing this, put a woman and a child in the car, and did not charge anyone. I regret not asking his name.

r.B. Juliana, Leningrad region.

SHIPPING TO SPAIN

My five-year-old grandson lives with his parents in Spain. I miss him very much and he misses me too. I once collected a package for him: a book, vitamins, chocolate and some other small items, packed it in a large envelope and sent it by mail. I sent it, but I’m worried: what if they return me from the road? A week passed, then another... My daughter called that she had not received anything, and we decided that the letter was missing. The third week has passed, the fourth... In two days, the feast of St. Nicholas. I couldn't stand it. She fell to her knees in front of the icon of the Wonderworker and began to ask with tears: “Father Nikolai! Will my Ilyusha not receive a gift from his grandmother for your holiday? You help all people, do a small miracle for us too!” And here's a surprise! On St. Nicholas Day, the son-in-law calls and says: “Today Ilyusha received your gift.”

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna KUN, Ukraine

AT THE STATION

I was returning from the Velikoretsk religious procession: from the city of Vyatka, back to St. Petersburg. As soon as I arrived at the station, the first thing I heard over the speakerphone was: “Tickets to St. Petersburg for three days in advance have been sold out.” Nevertheless, I took the queue and, standing in it, prayed: “Dear Father, Saint Nicholas, help! I can’t stand three days at the station: after the procession I can barely stand on my feet!” And then a box office opens next to me, where they sell tickets by reservation for an additional fee. I rush there, submit the blockade documents and get a free ticket in a sleeping car for the train, which leaves in two and a half hours.

When I got into the carriage, the conductor at first didn’t even want to let me in: my pilgrim appearance no longer matched the sleeping car. But, by the grace of God and through the intercession of St. Nicholas, I reached home safely.

r.B. Nina, St. Petersburg

THE MIRACULOUS RESCUE OF AN ICON

One woman told about such an incident that happened in their family when she was six years old. Her mother was a very religious person, but her father, on the contrary, was a communist and was hostile to the church. My mother had to keep, in secret from my father, somewhere in the closet among her things the icon of St. Nicholas, the mother’s blessing. One day she came home from work and began to light the stove. There was already firewood in it, she just had to light it, but she couldn’t do it, she fought and fought, but the wood wouldn’t burn. Finally, she began to pull them out and found the icon of St. Nicholas, which the husband found in the closet and decided to destroy with his wife’s hands.

“Nikolo-Shartomsky evangelist”, Shuya, Ivanovo region.

IN ANOTHER CITY

A. lived in one of the CIS republics. One day she went on a long business trip to Moscow. There was little money, but there was a lot of work to be done. When funds began to dwindle, A. did not succumb to despair, but went to the Church of St. Nicholas, which was located on the way to work. There she saw an advertisement that the temple urgently needed a cleaner. It turns out that shortly before her arrival, one of the regular cleaners was injured. She fell down the stairs, hit a huge icon of St. Nicholas, and only later learned that this saved her from a spinal injury. A. was hired until the end of the business trip, and this work did not interfere with the main one. By the time she left, the cleaner who had been injured had recovered and returned to work...

“Lamp”, Novoaltaysk

FIRE AT CONSTRUCTION SITE

V. went to work with his comrades. They built dachas outside the city. They lived near the construction site in trailers, which were heated in winter with electric heating devices, often homemade. One day, the men left the electric stove on overnight, and washed clothes were hung around it above it. At night, when everyone was sleeping, a fire broke out. Half-asleep workers jumped out of the trailer in horror. V. did not wake up right away, and when he woke up, it was too late to run away and there was nowhere to run. He sat in the middle of the trailer, and flames raged on all sides. Suddenly, among the fire and smoke, he saw St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint called him, and then abruptly pushed him through the window. V. received burns, but survived. The hands were especially damaged, but they did not lose their functionality. Soon V. recovered and changed his profession. Now he is a priest.

“Lamp”, Novoaltaysk