The Shepherd, February 2009
The Miracles
of Our Father Among the Saints,
PHILARET
the New Confessor
Nikolai Jovanovich (Australia): From my early years I have suffered from sinus troubles and various allergies. On 20th April, 2005, I wrote the following in my diary: “Two weeks ago I had a strong sinus attack, accompanied by the flu, and my nose ran like a tap. The medicines, which I had been taking for three days, did not help. I was desperate, but just at this time Metropolitan Philaret came to mind. In China, Metropolitan Philaret had baptized me. I did not know - was it right or not? - but I asked the Lord to forgive me if I was doing anything wrong. I turned in prayer to Metropolitan Philaret, and asked God’s help from him. My running nose dried up. Within 30 minutes my nose was completely dry. Yesterday (19th April) again, while I was praying, my nose began to run. I prayed to Metropolitan Philaret, asking him to help me, and immediately it all passed.” From that time I have never taken any medication for my nose troubles.
Elena Pikul (Australia): From 1946, our family lived in Harbin. We attended the church attached to the House of Kindheartedness, where Father Philaret served. Once during the Winter of 1960, my elder son, Galik, fell ill. His temperature rose to over 40o. He was suffering greatly. We called a Chinese doctor, and he found that pneumonia was setting in. Before the doctor came, our daughter, Zina, ran to Fr Philaret, but he was not at home. She asked the neighbours to tell Batiushka that her brother had fallen ill. I sat by Galik’s bed; his temperature was 40 and higher; his heart was pounding. He was delirious… and then what? His temperature began to fall, it went down to 37o. Galik started breathing regularly, his pulse was normal; the patient peacefully fell asleep. When he woke up, he felt very much better. My daughter returned, we were both bewildered. What had happened? What had happened was this: soon after Zina had left [his place], Fr Philaret returned and went to the neighbours for a cup of tea. They told him about Zina’s visit. Immediately Batiushka jumped up from his place without finishing his tea, he quickly ran up the stairs to his apartment and began to pray. From what the neighbours reported it is evident that my son began to recover at the very same moment that Father Philaret prayed for him. His prayer is powerful!
O. Chistyakova (Australia): When I was in Harbin in 1955, in hospital I happened to be the witness of the healing from a nervous disorder of the sick T.M. The patient, a young woman, came down with a nervous disorder, and not only did she refuse to drink, but she even put the baby at her breast in the wardrobe! They committed her to hospital, and Father Philaret prayed for her. She improved gradually so that, meeting her some years later, one could only say that she was a normal young woman. Whether Archimandrite Philaret prayed for her in the hospital or at his place in the House of Kindheartedness, I cannot say. Members of her family are still alive, although she herself has died of a completely different illness.
Abbess Alexandra (Chernyavskaya), Monastery of St John: I became acquainted with Vladyka Philaret in my student days, and he became my spiritual father. The first miracle of Metropolitan Philaret is bound up with my family life. In 1967, I was expecting a second child and the doctor said that it was highly probable that the baby would be stillborn. I was totally desperate, and in my grief I went to Vladyka Philaret. Vladyka calmed me down, saying that everything was in God’s hands. After this, he anointed me with holy oil and blessed me. By turning to prayer, Vladyka saved my baby. The power of his prayer was such that shortly thereafter I safely gave birth to a healthy child. Just as the doctor on duty said, this was a manifest miracle.
The Nun Ioanna (Karlova), Monastery of St John: I was not well acquainted with Metropolitan Philaret’s legacy, but nonetheless, I was in two minds about whether he was a holy man. Then the thought would come to me that one could place him in the same rank as such a luminary as Vladyka John of Shanghai and San Francisco, in whose honour I was tonsured. On 14th December [n.s.], 2007, on the nameday of Vladyka Philaret, I was standing by the table in my cell and looking at the church calendar, and doubtful thoughts about the sanctity of Metropolitan Philaret again came into my head. Suddenly for no apparent reason I started to fall backwards. Behind my back there was a chair, which was then pushed over and turned on its side. Nothing was hurt, I fell onto the rug, lying alongside the bed. This was a very felicitous fall: physically I suffered nothing, but somehow at that very time the Lord showed me that Vladyka Philaret was indeed a saint. After this with reverence and with greater interest I read through his sermons.
Below we are appending some reports of miracles which are found in the book, “The Fiery Pillar,” which has been compiled by the Nun Cassia (Seninoy), published in Saint Petersburg, 2007.
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