Стяжавшая любовь. Том III

It once happened that a certain man came to her and said «Old woman! Look, I have three very expensive dachas [country cottages]. I will sell them and give you every penny, if you will only tell me how you heal people and how you pray to God. What is it? Do you pray to God until midnight, and then summon «him»? He had in mind the spirit of evil. Matushka said nothing, and resting her head on her hands, lapsed into silence. Her appearance was distant and contemplative. She remained silent for a long time. The man waited, waited, and then started to prod her, «Our conversation isn’t finished.» Matushka solemnly replied, «Why would I need your pennies? I have bread, I have potatoes, and I do not need anything else.»

Likewise, here is how Matushka responded to a woman's insistent plea that, in the vocabulary of various healers and fortune-telling women, she «pass on» some [information] to her. She replied, «And what should I pass on to you? What should I pass on to you?» She pointed to her old skirt, as if to say that that was all she owned.

The subject of making a change in the calendar held a special place in Matushka's life. Such a trend already exists in the Orthodox world, fulfilling what the Eldress had foretold. Before her death, Matushka shifted her calendar to show that Lent had begun before it was yet Lent, or that it was already Pascha when everyone else was still in Lent. Things done by a Fool for Christ, though seemingly inadequate or impious, are always intended to make people think, to make them see from another perspective that they are going astray, and to think better of their convictions. To some, her actions were a source of temptation, but the Eldress, who was acting in obedience to God's directions, paid them no mind, and endured their condemnations. After a while, Matushka once again began to observe the Fast with everyone else.

People came to Matushka from all over the Soviet Union with a wide variety of problems. Some had family problems, some had problems with work or housing, some asked for healing from disease, for a blessing to enter a monastery, or a blessing to marry. It would be impossible to recount them all. One did not have to tell Matushka his problems, for they were already known to her before any question had been asked. Those who from experience were already aware of her clairvoyance would even converse with her mentally, posing their questions to her in their thoughts. The Eldress would immediately reply. If such a conversation was going on in the presence of several or more visitors, the Eldress would give an allegorical answer that, while seeming to be about herself or some outside party, was in fact relevant to the person affected by the given subject. All of this was done so as not to be a source of embarrassment or a source of idle curiosity on the part of those whom it did not concern.

As someone schooled and experienced in spiritual warfare, someone capable of sober analysis, Matushka Alipiya would always warn those seeking after spiritual direction and advice on how to be pleasing to God, to beware of apparent asceticism. Two youths who happened to come to see her wanted to become solitaries, living in the caves of the Caucusus, to emulate the ascetics of old. They could not manage to ask her about it, as there were a great number of people present, and they did not want to talk in front of everybody. However, Matushka anticipated their questions. In front of everyone, she said, «Here are people who want to live in the mountains, like the ascetics of old.» With a smile, she continued, «Now is not the time. That is not your path.» To another man who also wanted to go off to become a bee-keeper in the mountains, she said, without him having to ask, «Buy honey at the bazaar, do not abandon your wife, or you will be lost.»

For a young man who was preparing to enter a monastery, Matushka prepared a test of obedience. She asked him to stack some cans in an arrangement that was not quite convenient or correct. The young man of course arranged them as he thought best. Matushka said to him, «He wants to become a monk, but does everything in his own way.»

Two girls were coming to see the Eldress for the first time, and were talking as they walked. One of them said that she dreamt of doing good works – selling her possessions and giving the proceeds to the poor. They encountered an old woman who said with a bit of sarcasm, «And just what is it that you are selling?» In a moment, Matushka Alipiya had brought the girl, who was lost in romantic ideas, back down to earth.