Liudmila was standing on the threshold of the cathedral—for the first time with a sincere intention to start integrating into Church life. For a long time her sister had been trying to persuade her to come to God with all her problems, but something inside her had kept distracting, hindering, and resisting. And she had postponed her repentance over and over again. And now, finally, she made up her mind. The woman read the necessary literature and went over her whole life from the day of her Baptism, writing everything down—despite the false shame that everyone had warned her about—and headed for the nearby cathedral. It was snowing outside, and snowdrifts were quietly growing after a prolonged autumn, covering the trees and streets of the city of Irkutsk with a soft blanket of snow.
Liudmila entered the cathedral and was stunned. Earlier, she used to stop by, just in case, to submit an intercession list and light a candle: “What if it helps?” As a rule, the cathedral would be empty, and only its cleaners, working with their mops, would wash the marble floor after the service. But now the woman saw such splendor—a sea of light, flickering candles and burning icon lamps—that she squeezed her eyes shut in surprise. Liudmila’s sister had told her that that day was the festive service in honor of St. Innocent of Irkutsk, and that she should necessarily bow before his holy relics with her prayer requests. “He’s like that—he’ll definitely help you!” she exclaimed at the end of their conversation. And Liudmila believed it.
While people were quietly queuing up—some to the candle shop, others to confession—she went to the saint’s relics, knelt down and started imploring St. Innocent to return her errant husband. They had been divorced for six years, and her heart was in turmoil. The children did not understand why they had divorced, and their parents did not deem it important to explain it. And the children’s constant questions about their father troubled her soul.
Having sobbed out her grief and turned to the saint with her petition, Liudmila rose and went to confession. She sincerely repented, weeping and blaming herself for all the troubles of their family. And once the priest had absolved her of her sins, the service began. The choir started singing. It seemed to Liudmila as if she heard angelic singing, the chants flowed so endearingly!
“I wish I could sing like that!” the woman thought. That was followed by the reading of the Holy Scriptures. They read the Gospel passage: And when He was come nigh, even now at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in Heaven, and glory in the Highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto Him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out (Lk. 19:37–40).
“The stones would cry out,” flashed through her mind. “And I want to praise God the same way! Father Innocent, help me, if it’s possible!”
At last, the service was over, and the people began to move, some to the exit, others to venerate the icons.
Life was going along as usual, work and home. Three days passed, and Liudmila’s phone rang. It was her ex-husband calling:
“Are you at home?”
“Yes. What happened?”
“I’ll come over to your place—we need to talk.”
Half an hour later, he was already standing on the doorstep of Liudmila’s house. And after a couple of minutes, he suggested registering their marriage again:
“I don’t want to look for anyone else. I haven’t found a better one than you. Forgive me if you can!”
“I forgave you a long time ago,” Liudmila sobbed.
She was crying from happiness. And what offences? Much water had flown under the bridge since their separation. They got married again soon afterwards.
And a few months after returning to the Church, Liudmila had a conversation with the priest:
“Can you sing?” he asked.
“I used to sing on stage.”
“Do you know the service?”
“I tried to study it.”
“Then join our choir. They’ll teach you how to sing properly.”
Liudmila ordered a thanksgiving service to the Lord, Who promised us all: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Mt. 7:7–8).
