Just as he did during his life, out of his great
kindness St. Spyridon continues to help people who pray to
him. Here is a story sent to the editors of Eskom-Vera
from Olga of the town of Syktyvkara.
It
happened last year. Before then, my husband and I lived
with our three children in a crowded two-room
apartment. When a fourth little one appeared to the
world, it became clear that six people could not live
there and we had to look for a larger place. The matter
could not be put off, time was running out, and we
still couldn’t find a suitable apartment. Then
Olga began ordering molebens to St. Spyridon in the
local church, remembering that he helps with finding
living space. She ordered one moleben, but nothing
changed, and then a second, with the same result. Then
suddenly a friend, a very good man, out of nowhere gave
Olga a small icon of St. Spyridon of Tremithus, for the
children. “I heard that St. Spyridon helps
children,” he said. It was as if the saint wanted
to send a mysterious message through this friend, to
say, “Don’t despond, it’s in the
works, although you don’t see it yet.” Soon
we found an apartment—four rooms, a large
kitchen, and an entrance room just as large! And it was
not expensive because it was on the first floor, but
that also turned out to be a good thing: our four
little foot-stompers could now stomp around as much as
they like without disturbing the neighbors. From the
apartment windows the church where Olga ordered the
molebens to St. Spyridon could be seen. And what is
even more amazing is that twenty years ago this
apartment was a “children’s room”; it
is where the kids from the surrounding yards would come
to pass the rainy summer days playing checkers and
table tennis… This is the
“children’s room” that the kind
God-pleasing, children-loving St. Spyridon spotted for
Olga’s family. They moved right before the New
Year. There’s no need to say how joyful they all
were. And St. Spyridon looks at them from the icon as
if to say, “Never despair, but be joyful, for the
Lord is near!”
Elena Grigoryan
