St. Petersburg, June 7, 2015
“We always tend to rely on a miracle in our faith. But the Lord works miracles precisely in the moments when we really need them,” - says Hieromonk Joseph, head of the delegation from Mt. Athos who is guarding the reliquary, reports AgionOros.ru. “Having venerated the hand of St. George the Victory-Bearer, a blind woman with a cane left the church. In the street she opened her eyes and exclaimed in joy and tears: ‘I can see! O God, I can see!’—although for the past ten years she was virtually blind. Dozens of believers, including ourselves, were eyewitnesses of this miracle”.
Fr. Joseph adds that the Athonite monks do not pay too much attention to cases of physical healings and do not keep records of them.
“The most important miracle is the rebirth, the eternal salvation of a human soul. And we have seen such miracles in St. Petersburg more than once. We have seen this in eyes of the faithful, in their smiles, their tears.”
According to the hieromonk, the faithful in St. Petersburg feel with all their heart that Holy Great Martyr George revives and blesses all the people who call upon him.
“Even if we leave the testimonies of physical cures which are not always recorded, we can definitely bear witness to the presence of a special, unusual grace inside the church. Volunteers and all the worshippers alike notice this. A relief in difficult situations comes at once. Those who come here with their sorrows, with a heavy heart, leave the temple absolutely transformed,” relates Priest Dmitry Dmitriyev, head of the volunteer service at the St. Petersburg Diocese’s youth department.