On the eve of the commemoration day of St. Sergius of Radonezh, we asked readers to share their stories about miraculous help from the Abbot of the Russian Land.
St. Sergius of Radonezh
Sergiy B.
Once I got into some trouble
This happened a long time ago... One night I found myself in trouble alone—and I wasn’t robbed or beaten only because my name is Sergey and I knew about St. Sergius. An old thief, covered in tattoos, shielded me from his companions and convinced them not to touch me, instructing me to thank the Saint and remember all with the name Sergey.
Anna
Now we have Dashenka
Over twenty years ago, at the spring of St. Sergius of Radonezh, I asked the saint to help my sister conceive and give birth to a child. Almost immediately, a miracle happened. My sister had been unable to conceive for many years. Thanks to the prayers to St. Sergius, we now have our Dashenka, a gift from God.
Natalia I.
I wanted to leave the center for working with drug addicts
This happened to me in 2002. By that time, I had been working for seven years at the Center of St. John of Kronstadt in Moscow. Our center helps people who have suffered from sects, occultism, alcoholism, and drug addiction. My duty was very challenging: constant communication and helping these unfortunate people required great physical and spiritual dedication. A moment came when I was completely exhausted. Despair overwhelmed me. The devil whispered to me that my great sacrifice was meaningless and it was unknown how much my help was needed. Thoughts of leaving surfaced. As usual in difficult moments, I decided to pray at the relics of St. Sergius in the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra, seeking an answer to my doubts.
Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra
Upon entering the church where the relics of the Saint rest, I bumped into three of our charges, as they say, “head-on.” They told me they came seeking help from St. Sergius to overcome their drug addiction. Everything became clear to me. The answer from the Saint “stood” before me in the form of these three guys. It was as if the Saint handed them over from his hands to mine. All my doubts vanished immediately. Praise be to God! One of them has since graduated from the seminary and became a priest. He is now studying at the theological academy. He has three children now, maybe even four—I haven’t spoken to him in a while. This is the miracle that happened to me!
Maxim
The Saint helped me find a job
I had been searching for a job for two weeks and had a few uninteresting options. After a trip to St. Sergius, I received a call with an ideal job offer! Praise be to God!
Olga
People started spreading lies about me at work
This incident occurred this spring. I had problems at work: Someone began spreading false stories about me to my boss. He called in my immediate supervisor and told him to fire me as soon as possible. My supervisor was also confused, as he had no reason to dismiss me, but he couldn’t do anything about it either. I work at a university, and since my job is related to education, I went to our Father. Sergius at the Lavra. The Saint had always helped me with my studies and later with my job. I prayed to Batiushka Sergius, and when I came to work the next day, my boss said there had been some misunderstanding and that I could continue working. I am sure that this happened thanks to the prayers of St. Sergius.
By the relics of St. Sergius
Anna
I Prayed to the Saint Before Every Exam
This year I finished night school and took the Unified State Exam. Before each exam, I prayed to the Saint. The math exam turned out to be unexpectedly easy, with my favorite problems. Russian... For three years, it had been a nightmare for my teachers at night school. I couldn’t write essays based on other people’s texts and barely managed to write one complete training essay after working on it for several days. But during the actual exam, I got a wonderful text for the essay, and the arguments matched perfectly with the works I knew and loved well, even though they were not from the recommended reading list for students. The result: a “5” in math and 90 points in Russian. After the exam, I almost immediately forgot how I solved all the tasks. But I have my diploma now—it must have been needed for something. God is wondrous in His saints!
Kseniya K.
I prayed to get into university
In the summer I graduated from school and was applying to university, I once attended a church service. After the service, the priest shared how he prayed to St. Sergius of Radonezh during his student years before an exam, to pass it with a “4.” And he did... After that, I began praying to pass the entrance exam to university with the minimum passing score. And I passed... The number of points I scored was exactly the passing score. Venerable Father Sergius, pray to God for us!
Yana Y.
I Searched for a Job for a Long Time
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh Once, I spent several months looking for a job. Despite having a good education and knowing three foreign languages, I wasn’t accepted anywhere... Then, an icon of Father Sergius with a relic was brought to our city. I went to the prayer service (not to ask for a job, but simply to pray because I love going to church, I love Sergiev Posad, and St. Sergius of Radonezh). After the service, I returned home and opened my email to find an interview invitation! Another time, I was very anxious about an interview and decided to calm down by reading an akathist to St. Sergius before going to bed. In the morning, I went to the interview in a good mood and was welcomed warmly as if they had been waiting just for me; and of course, I was accepted. Everything matched my wishes: the schedule and the salary! That’s how it was!
Ekaterina K., Minsk
I felt my son’s the soul
Seeing the direct question on the Pravoslavie.Ru website: “Has St. Sergius ever helped you?” I immediately answered: “Of course, he has!” St. Sergius is one of my favorite saints. I thought it would be easy to recount the times he helped us, but it turned out that St. Sergius was constantly present in our lives, and it was hard to pinpoint specific moments. It seemed, what’s the big deal, what kind of miracle is this, why write about it?.. Then I decided it would be unfair to remain silent. As a result, St. Sergius helped me make sense of a significant part of my life—a very difficult but also very important one.
Although my life hasn’t become serene, I now know that the Mother of God and the saints will definitely help me as long as I remember them and trust them in everything. Then everything will be possible for us!
The meeting of Sts. Sergius and Stephan
A miracle is especially noticeable against the backdrop of complete hopelessness, when there seem to be no prospects for improvement in your life, when all circumstances weigh you down, depriving you of strength and hope. That’s why my story turned out quite long.
St. Sergius has been clearly present in our family life since 2010. That year, my son Konstantin went to serve in the army. Before that time, life was difficult for us and for him.
When Kostya was nine years old, my husband and I divorced. Three years later, I started living in a civil marriage with another man. The relationship between him and Kostya did not work out and by the age of fifteen, it had become very tense. Kostya distanced himself from me, his performance in school declined; and worse, he frequently skipped classes. Despite being talented, especially in languages, he never completed anything, constantly disappearing to clubs, strangers’ apartments, and gambling arcades. As a result, I had to transfer him from a gymnasium to another school. Later, he decided not to attend the final grade and enrolled in a college for foreign languages. He got in but didn’t finish as he started skipping classes again, this time due to “love” (he had a new girlfriend). He was reinstated twice in the first year—all in vain. When he turned eighteen, he didn’t even have a secondary education certificate (he was supposed to get it after the third year of college). Thus, without an education, without interests, without a job, my Kostya received a draft notice from the military commissariat.
It’s reasonable to ask here: “What were the mother, father, and other relatives doing while the child was going astray?” Honestly, such an outcome was determined by our previous lives. I sacrificed friendship with my son for a prestigious, well-paid job, my husband (a doctor) drank, the boy’s grandparents were ill and undergoing surgeries, and we were all very far from the church. The child was provided for materially (toys, a computer, fashionable clothes, cafes, trips), but I hardly thought about the spiritual side of life—although I tried to raise him to be decent and well-mannered. Therefore, prestige in education for future life arrangements played a big role. But Kostya, as if on purpose, disrupted all my ambitious plans.
When everything started falling apart, I suddenly felt I couldn’t cope. I began to understand that there was a big problem in how I lived and in my values. I started to rethink and reevaluate my life. What I did and—oh horrors!—boasted about, became disgusting to me. I started feeling ashamed of myself, where I used to feel satisfaction and pride. Having gone through Eastern philosophies and esoteric books, I unexpectedly found a path I didn’t want to stray from. It was as if I accidentally approached a bottomless well filled with such wisdom that I wanted to drink from it endlessly. As a result, I piled all my esoteric books next to the garbage cans and started going to the nearest church.
By the time Kostya received his draft notice, I had nine years of a difficult path to the church, to Orthodoxy, a series of clumsy, painful confessions, complex preparations for Communion, all sorts of breakdowns and obstacles. But by then I already knew that I couldn’t live without it, that it was the only path that would save both me, my son, and our entire family. I remember one day during confession, the priest said he would not allow me to take Communion. I first had to resolve my relationship with my common law husband (by the way, that day my Kostya took Communion and was very surprised that I wasn’t allowed). That was the first time I got scared. I realized that this was all very serious, that the games were over, and I had to take action. In 2008, we were officially married.
It became unimportant to me whether my son graduated from a prestigious university or became successful in this life. Over the years, prayer entered my life. After the divorce, it was just cries and pleas for help, relief from pain, forgiveness, and protection. Later, in a new family, they were requests not to repeat past mistakes. When relations with Kostya became strained, I began to pray to our Lady Theotokos. Previously, I had rarely turned to Her. When Kostya disappeared for several days, I relentlessly appealed to Her, asking for his return and safety. At that time I admitted my complete failure as a mother and begged the Mother of God to take my son under Her protection and to guide me on how to behave with him. Only then did I realize that it no longer mattered to me whether my son would graduate from a prestigious university, earn a lot of money, or become successful in this life. I didn’t care how we looked in the eyes of others, or that we were now complete “failures” in everything.
I prayed to many saints. My home iconostasis grew. Every saint’s image became the image of a friend. Thank God, there are many materials and lives of saints available on the internet now. Some saints became especially close to me in spirit. St. Sergius of Radonezh, the abbot of the Russian land, became such a “close” saint for me. Incidentally, there wasn’t much information about him. But I even liked that, because it was so characteristic of him. Modesty, even nowadays, 700 years later! I started turning to St. Sergius more often, constantly approaching his icon in the church and praying for my son. I was confident that the saint would “pull” my Kostya out of being a “failure,” strengthen him, enlighten him, and bless him for the battle in this world, just as he blessed Sts. Oslyabya and Peresvet for battle.1
Igor Sushenok. St. Sergius of Radonezh blesses St. Dimitry Donskoy
This is how, with the Theotokos and St. Sergius, I decided to bless Kostya to go to the army. To my surprise, he said that he himself wanted to serve, although he previously planned to ask his doctor-father to “get him out of it.”
On the morning before heading to the military recruiting base, I decided to anoint Kostya with oil consecrated at the relics of St. Sergius. When I reached for his forehead with my hand, the bottle almost tipped over, and the oil generously spilled onto my son’s face and chest. For some reason, we both rejoiced, and I said that St. Sergius had given his blessing for service. From that moment, the miracles of St. Sergius began.
Kostya ended up in a very good unit, with an excellent commander and fellow soldiers. Formerly accustomed to nightclubs, dressed in rapper clothes with earrings in his ears, lazy and disorganized, he now loved serving! When I visited him at the unit, I was amazed at how quickly he was changing, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The biggest surprise was when he said he wanted to take external exams to get a high school diploma. I honestly expressed my doubts and disbelief in this endeavor, knowing he wasn’t used to exerting himself in studies, and how could he study and take exams while serving in the army—twelve subjects externally?! But he was calm and confident. I felt ashamed of myself and decided to help him at all costs, understanding that his desire didn’t just appear, but was with God’s help. Everything went smoothly and quickly. All the documents gathered up by themselves, there were no obstacles. The people involved were wonderful and understanding. The unit commander allowed him to take the exams. In the end, Kostya passed all the exams and received his diploma. The grades were good, better than he would have received in school.
In the army, he made many good friends, with whom he still keeps in touch. He received an excellent character reference. After his mandatory service, Kostya served in his unit under contract for another two years. As soon as he returned from the army, he immediately enrolled in the psychology department at a university for distance learning. He is still studying there. Later, he quickly found a stable job in a good company, where a friend brought him.
I also believe that the blessing of St. Sergius and the intercession of the Theotokos helped Kostya find a good fiancée from a military family. Last year, the two were married.
Appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh. Napkin. 14th c.
When I prayed to the Mother of God, St. Sergius, and other saints, I suddenly felt my son’s soul for the first time.
I definitely want to say that during that difficult time, when I fully relied on the Ever-Virgin Mary, when I prayed to St. Sergius and other saints, I suddenly felt my son’s soul for the first time in many years, feeling the warmth emanating from it. It turned out that the door wasn’t closed! The eighteen-year-old child unexpectedly let me in as if I had finally guessed the access password. I now have a warm relationship with my son and his wife. I hope, with the help of the Theotokos and the guidance of St. Sergius of Radonezh, we will maintain this connection for many years, see our grandchildren, and try to raise them in the love of God, the Mother of God, and the saints. Glory to Thee, O Lord, for all Thy lessons and care for us!
Olga Sh.
Two girls went to Sergiev Posad to venerate the Saint...
After my nephew’s baptism, I began actively attending church, perhaps excessively. I annoyed many, especially one priest to whom I frequently confessed. He directed me to distance catechism courses. But since I missed the autumn course, I waited for the spring one. Meanwhile, in December, I visited the Lavra, where I was literally “turned inside out,” shaking off all the rubbish from me. From the first day, I felt at home there. I rejoiced at every moment. I extended my stay at the hotel... And it was quite expensive. There, I made a very close friend, with whom I still keep in touch. Naturally, I prayed for forgiveness. At that time, as it turned out later, my future husband successfully enrolled in those same distance courses but dropped out after some time. Eventually, we both started the spring course simultaneously. At the end of the course, we were invited to meet in Moscow. And we met. We exchanged phone numbers and forgot about it. We returned home. Everyone went about their own business. We are from the same city, but the meeting took place in Moscow. After some time, we called each other, talked, and started meeting periodically... We met often... Then we started working together. We got married.
Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra
My husband’s name is Sergei. And my friend’s husband’s name is also Sergei. This is how two girls went to Sergiev Posad to venerate the Saint. Since the beginning of my church attendance, I have been surrounded by many Sergeis: the priest, a friend, a protégé... Later, there was a godfather named Sergei. I am grateful to St. Sergius of Radonezh for invisibly guarding and protecting our family. At the end of October, I am going to the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra. I haven’t been there for two years. It feels like an eternity has passed! I hope to calm my soul a little. My husband passed away, but this place has always been more than just the resting place of the Abbot of All Russia for both of us—it’s our home.
Olga V.
I was told there would be a pathology
Two doctors were yelling: “Do you realize WHAT has developed there?! Tomorrow, get here urgently with your things for a cesarean!”
St. Sergius of Radonezh is a miraculous saint. He helped me for the first time when I was still a non-believer, only baptized as an infant. I was pregnant with my daughter when, at the end of the eight month, I was diagnosed with a severe pathology. Two doctors, pointing to my belly, yelled: “Do you realize WHAT (not who) has developed there?! With such a pulse, you will have a heart attack during childbirth. Tomorrow, get here urgently with your things for a cesarean!” I cried all night and went to the Lavra, to St. Sergius, in the morning. I venerated his relics. Thank God, through the prayers of St. Sergius of Radonezh, I gave birth to a healthy daughter, naturally and on time, although not in my usual hospital.
Also, the Saint helped my son get into university. My son has a writing disorder, and one of the exams—an essay—was impossible for him to pass. Again, I went to pray to St. Sergius of Radonezh for help. When we arrived to submit documents to the university, it turned out that the essay in his department was replaced with a Russian language test. Thank God! Thanks to St. Sergius of Radonezh and his warm prayers, my son got into university. Thank God!
Svetlana Demina
“I knew an Anatoly who was crushed by a beam”
I want to tell you about a miracle. I went to the Lavra of St. Sergius and decided to order a Liturgy for the health of my loved ones in the refectory church. I listed everyone, and came to Anatoly (my dad). Then suddenly the monk, who was writing down the names, started drawing something on paper. Then he said: “I knew an Anatoly who was crushed by a beam.” And he showed me the drawing. I felt uneasy. Then I thought, maybe he made a mistake. And we parted ways. Time passed. My dad and I were building a house at the dacha, and it was time to place the last beam on top. Dad wanted to just throw it up without any precautions. And I remembered that monk with his drawing—everything was exactly the same as our situation, and the words about the beam crushing Anatoly echoed in my head. I said, “Dad, this won’t do; we need to do it differently.” And we safely raised the beam. That’s the story.
Photo: A. Goryanov/Pravoslavie.ru
Margarita D.
Problems started in Sunday school
I am the mother of three children, two of whom attend Sunday school. Once, there were big conflicts and problems at the Sunday school. We went with the children from Sunday school to the Lavra to the relics of the saint and prayed for our Sunday school. Three months later (the summer had passed), new teachers from the Moscow Theological Academy (at the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra) joined us. They are wonderful teachers whom we love very much!
Maria
How I Found Housing, Studied at PSTGU, and Got Married
The Saint always helps me. I don’t know why, but I attended a church dedicated to the Saint in my homeland; and when I arrived in Moscow, the first thing I did was go to the Lavra (I had dreamed of visiting it since childhood). I was somehow confident that miracles would happen to me, just as I was confident in the saint’s prayerful help.
I had no acquaintances in Moscow—only confidence that the Saint would help.
I won’t go into how I entered the St. Tikhon Orthodox University through the prayers of the Saint. Because “the most interesting things” began during my first session. First, I went to the session without any “arrangements” for accommodation: I had no acquaintances in Moscow—only confidence that the Saint would help. And I immediately went to Sergiev Posad. It was an autumn evening, dark and, by my Ukrainian standards, cold outside. I remember asking someone at the station how to get to the Lavra, and my running there. Unfortunately, the Lavra gates were already closing. I went into the telegraph office next to the Lavra to warm up. And I mentally prayed: “O Saint, help me!” And then a group of young, pretty girls fluttered into the telegraph office. They were in long skirts and headscarves, and I immediately understood: These are our people. I rushed to one of the girls and said, “Please help me, I have nowhere to stay for the night.” The girls turned out to be students of an icon painting class, and I stayed with them. It might seem like nothing special—they would help anyone. However, I was given a “sign”: The girl I approached was a student at the school where I taught Russian after my first university degree.
Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra
Then things got even more amazing. In the morning, I woke up. I venerated the relics. I left the gates. And I kept praying non-stop: “O Saint, help me find me a place to live.” And, please, don’t think I am overly emotional—I’m not, I’m normal. But I felt some inexplicable joy. And this joy was guiding me. I was walking, walking. It seemed like I was moving my feet, but joy was leading me. And suddenly I saw a female silhouette down the road. I understood that the woman was elderly, ran to her, and shouted, “Grandma, wait.” The “grandma” stopped. She put the bucket on the ground (she was fetching water). She waited for me. I ran up to her and said: “Grandma, take me in; I have nowhere to live.” She said: “Do you know me?” I replied: “No.” She said, “Take the bucket.” I took the bucket. She said: “Carry it to the porch.” I carried it. There was another empty one there. She said, “Fill this one with water.” I went outside (there was a pump), filled it, and brought it back. She said, “Take it into the house.” I took it in. We entered the house. There, under the icons, was a nun praying. I was internally stunned. The “grandma” I met on the street wasn’t wearing an apostolnik, so I didn’t realize she was a nun. And now the one who brought me in asked the other, “Well, Mother, shall we take her in?” The other smiled, beamed, and waved her hands. “We will, we will!” So, I stayed with them.
Probably, the fact that studying at the St. Tikhon Orthodox University was not easy I will also leave out. As well as the fact that at every session, St. Sergius helped me, not a very diligent student...
I will tell you how the Saint got me married after my studies. During my thesis defense, I was recommended for graduate school. My matushka, the one I met on the street (she was stricter), wasn’t very supportive of further studies. But I reasoned that since I was not married anyway, what else was there to do? So, I went on to further studies. But inside, there was some restlessness, something was missing. Especially since I started my studies at St. Tikhon Orthodox University as a mature girl and was finishing as a very mature woman. When I first started studying, I met a man who was older than me and loved me very much, but he never made any attempt to marry me (this happens when a man is mature and never married, and the girl is foolish and not thinking about marriage). The man was very good and kind; I remembered him and, to be honest, I suffered. But I studied honestly. And here, one study ended, another began, and I... In general, I went to the Saint. I prayed, but I didn’t know what I was praying for. Just prayed. I left. It so happened that from the Saint, I ended up in another monastery—the Protection of the Theotokos. And so, I was leaving that monastery when suddenly my phone rang. It was that very man who is now my husband. Naturally, I went to him immediately. We gathered with friends in a gazebo, drinking tea, chatting... And the thought didn’t leave me: How is this possible? This is a miracle! While everyone was sitting outside, I quietly went into the house to rinse my hands. And I thought: how is this possible? Who helped? Our friends are good, kind people, but not churchgoers. And so, I was going to the bathroom, thinking, “Who helped?” And suddenly I saw an icon of St. Sergius on a small table near the bathroom, the only icon in the house. Well, then I understood everything, of course.
