On
December 15/28, the Moscow Sretensky Monastery
celebrates one of its major feasts—the
commemoration of the uncovering of the relics of Holy
Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), the abbot of the
monastery before his arrest and martyric death in
1929. St. Hilarion’s relics are preserved in
the monastery’s Church of the Meeting of the
Vladimir Mother of God, for veneration by the
faithful.
The reliquary of Holy Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), Sretensky Monastery, Moscow (
One parishioner tells of the miraculous healing of her eyes through the prayers of Holy Hieromartyr Hilarion.
I would like to tell you about the miraculous help of Holy Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky) to me, the unworthy servant of God Nadezhda.
For a long time (ten years) I was under observation by an oculist (Doctor L. D. Rudyk of my local clinic). All these years I was considered to be in a risk group, and was shown a number of times to a professor of ophthalmology at the MONIKIhospital (in Moscow). Then in April 1998, during one of my consultations, professor of ophthalmology Y. M. Karetskaya suggested that I immediately have an operation for glaucoma, but I refused, out of fear. I decided to put all my trust in God’s will, and began to pray fervently to the Lord, the Mother of God, and Righteous Simeon of Verkhotoury for the healing of my soul and my eyes. I promised the Lord that I would never murmur and ask for help, no matter what sicknesses be sent to me in the future because of my sins, if only the Lord would preserve my eyesight.
Time went by, and my eyesight got acutely worse. I could not distinguish the numbers on the city buses, couldn’t see prices in stores, and could cut my fingernails by touch alone. I couldn’t recognize clergymen I’d known for years at my church. From the summer of 1999 I read the large-type Psalter with difficulty, and could only with difficulty read wearing +3 glasses under a 100 watt light.
I was a little depressed about my stubbornness and said, “Lord, let Thy will be done.”
I used to come to the relics of St. Hilarion (Troitsky) with little faith, coldly and rarely. But then one day in July 1999, after Divine Liturgy, I came up to the relics thinking that if he is truly a saint glorified by the Holy Church, then he can help me. I asked him to pray to the Lord for the forgiveness of my sins and the healing of my eyesight. I prayed and then forgot about it.
In the evening when I came to my dacha I picked up an Orthodox calendar, but I didn’t have my glasses handy. Then—oh, the miracle! I suddenly clearly saw the lines and letters of the text and easily began to read them. I could not believe it. I started picking up other books with varying typefaces. I could read everything freely and easily, without glasses, under ordinary electric lighting.
In the hustle-bustle of the following days I did not ascribe any significance to the miracle that happened to me. Only a week or two later did I begin to analyze it and look for the cause of my healing. I remembered how I had venerated the relics of St. Hilarion with such hope.
Lord, Thy mercy endures forever!
Well, a year passed and I went to my oculist (L. D.), she examined my eyes and was amazed at the result. I asked, “What about the operation?” But she replied smiling that an operation was out of the question. She asked me what treatment I used. I told her the truth, but it is still hard for her to understand.
I thank Thee, O Lord, for sending me a most glorious healer—Holy Hieromartyr Hilarion.
Much-sinful Servant of God Nadezhda
October 2000, Moscow
