Illustration: etsy.com
I met Masha, who’s the same age as me, in Paris. She is a musician from the Urals and I am an unsuccessful artist from Georgia.
We really enjoyed each other’s company. We’d walk around Paris, sit on the Seine embankment near Place de la Bastille, and later we’d walk into a store selling pianos and grand pianos where you could even try them out by putting headphones on. Masha would play Tchaikovsky, songs from “Abba” and a lot of other stuff, anything from classics to popular. It was a challenge to deflect her from playing and drag her out of this store. Forty minutes later, I usually turned red, and feeling embarrassed before the salesperson, would drag my friend towards the door. Pulling away from the piano, she would sadly say:
“Do you know why I love music? Because it is immaterial.”
I knew that Masha was raised by her maternal grandmother, a devout Christian. However, she was seventeen now and her grandmother had been dead for a long time already, but her soul still longed to find God. Then, out of nowhere, a Hare Krishna sect emerged in their city and Masha went all in, up until the time she left for Europe.
We never spoke about religion, it’s not that I really believed in anything at the time, even though it would have been quite a stretch to brand me an atheist. Later in life though, when we were both worn down by life, each one of us individually, I moved to another city. We lost touch with one another and met again only twelve years later.
By then, I had become an Orthodox Christian and was actively involved in icon painting. I tried to open Masha’s eyes to Christianity, but all attempts were in vain. Nevertheless, upon learning that I was painting icons, Masha insisted that I should paint her an icon.
A little time later, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was ready for my beloved friend. In the evening, I called to arrange a meeting with her to hand over the icon. We lived two hundred and fifty kilometers away from each other and I had never been to the apartment she was staying in then. So, I called her saying that on Tuesday I am going to be in Paris on some business and will bring her the icon of St. Nicholas. At this point, I should note that Masha, enthralled with Georgian polyphony, was also absolutely enchanted with everything Georgian, so I offered to give her the icon of Elder Gabriel as a gift. I told her about him a few months prior to that. Also, I received this icon from a sister of the Samtavro Monastery, where the saint lived. She was delighted to hear about my gift.
And then I asked her:
“Have you thought about where these icons are going to hang?”
Masha got all excited, began to think out loud and then suggested:
“Let’s make a video call so I can show you my little room and the place where I thought of hanging the icons.”
She makes a video call and describes:
“Here is where my TV hangs—it won’t work to hang the icons there. This wall has paintings, the third has the window. So all that’s left is this wall: that’s where they’re going to hang.”
And what do I see there: some kind of a wooden board hangs there already and Masha plans to hang icons next to it. So, I ask her:
“Masha, what’s that?”
“Oh, Marishka, it’s my wood carving. I simply adore this piece, I sometimes stare at it for hours on end, and I’m just never tired of looking at it…”
She brings the camera closer—and…
My aunt! What do I see there! A Hindu dancing goddess with many hands, with either a dragon or a snake writhing at her feet. And Masha is about to hang the icons of our St. Nicholas and “Mama Gabrieli” next to this thing!..
Of course I was bewildered, but my heart directed me that I should give no sign of it. We arranged our meeting and said goodbye.
And so, I plead feverishly:
“O Nicholas the Wonderwoker, O Mama Gabrieli, help me! No matter what I tell her— she will never get it why holy icons can’t be hung next to this thing. Why don’t you two handle all this, please!”
And that’s how St. Nicholas and Venerable Gabriel expelled an idol from her house
That’s how I was praying right up to our meeting.
So, on the appointed day and hour, my Masha arrives. We had a talk, she unwrapped the icons, and it was obvious she was glad to have them. But when I was about to leave, she suddenly reached out for some package and said sort of embarrassingly:
“Marisha, I also decided to give you something as a present. So, I present you with my most prized thing!”
And just think of it! She procures this goddess dancing on the dragon, a meticulously sculpted wood carving.
My tongue failed me. So, that’s how St. Nicholas and Venerable Gabriel expelled the idol from her house!
Of course, I destroyed that wood carving…
Masha is praying next to the icons, but she hasn’t come back to Christ yet.
Please say a little prayer for Maria to the Lord!
