Стяжавшая любовь. Том III

Her visitors relate that she was quite capable of addressing one or another of her children in a loud voice, asking them to come to their senses, or giving them advice. By her prayers, everything was set right. When someone with whom she had been speaking in spirit arrived, the circumstances of what had transpired would become clear.

For example, there was an argument in a certain family to which she was close. In her cell, Matushka asked them to make peace with one another. By the Eldress' prayers, the conflict died down, and the very next day, they decided to go see Matushka. Upon their arrival, they learned what the Eldress had been saying during their argument, and they were amazed by her clairvoyance.

When the electricity to her cell was cut off, she would loudly call the woman who had installed the electrical wiring, «Vera, give me light!» and immediately, there would be light.

Likewise, after listening to people's woes, Matushka would sternly address those who had offended them. For example, she asked that an apartment be returned to the people from whom it had been taken: «Just how much can you torture people? Give back the apartment! Give it back!» Afterwards, the guilty party himself went to the organization that handled housing assignments, and renounced his claim to the apartment.

Here is another example of the Eldress' clairvoyance. She happened to tell her cell attendant to come over, as an elder from Mt. Athos would be arriving. The next day, it turned out that she had had no visitors other than a single priest. That priest later went to live on Mt. Athos, and now is spiritual director of a monastery on the Holy Mountain.

Another of the Eldress' features was her great feeling of thankfulness, both to God, Whom she always thanked for everything, and to anyone who ever did her the slightest kindness. You might not even take notice of it, but Matushka always saw everything, and would say, «Thank you! May God save you! I bow down to the ground before you.» On one occasion, when she was drenched with rain and chilled to the bone, a man who previously had not wanted to let her into his house, called her to come in and get warm. This was at a time when the Eldress had not yet found a place to live. He heated the stove, and allowed her to spend the night. A few days later, his wife encountered Matushka at church, and the Eldress said to her, «Did you know that your husband's name has been recorded by God? Do you know what he did for me?!»

If any of the people who came to see the Eldress helped with the domestic chores or in the garden, she would always give him a little money. Of course, no one wanted to take it, but it was impossible to turn down the Eldress' insistent requests.

Matushka blessed those about to enter her cell to first read the Symbol of Faith [i.e. the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed]; in that way, one who entered attested to his belonging to the Orthodox Faith. For Matushka, the truth of the Orthodox Faith was indisputable. After her death, just as she did in life, Matushka has continued to guide people to Orthodoxy and to bear witness to the fact that salvation can be found only in the canonical Orthodox Church. A certain youth, who had started visiting the Pentecostals, but had not told Matushka of it, often heard her make veiled warnings not go to them. When it came down to his final decision, she directly pronounced a ban: «Save yourself here! The Truth is here!» In response to his complaint that in Orthodoxy, he did not understand anything, Matushka foretold that he would soon meet a priest who instruct him on everything. That came to pass. Later, that youth became a priest. Also, there was a certain man who came to see the Eldress, and who, before Baptism, had espoused Judaism. He did not tell Matushka about that fact, but the Eldress praised him for doing right by coming to Christ.

Those who revered Matushka Alipya were especially confused and troubled by her attitude to then Metropolitan Philaret of Kiev. More than once, she foretold that he would take away churches, and that there would be a schism; she also cut the eyes out of his photograph in the calendar. When «Metropolitan» Philaret would serve in the Ascension Church, Matushka Alipiya would loudly criticize him before all of the people: You are renowned and famous, but you will die as just a man. She told a certain nun to tell all of her acquaintances that there would be a schism, and that the true Church would be subjected to insults, but that there was «salvation only in the canonical Orthodox Church.» When «Metropolitan» Philaret, now the defrocked and excommunicated Michael Denisenko, created a schism and organized a self-styled church, and in so doing trampled all of the canons of the Orthodox Church, the truth of Matushka's words was revealed for everyone to see.