Orthodox Parables and Stories: About the Power of Confession and Prayer

Have mercy on us, Lord! Blessed Virgin Mary, SAVE US!
ABOUT THE POWER OF CONFESSION AND PRAYER.
Author: Abbot Nikon of Mt. Athos.
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Father Nikon told us one story about the power of the Sacraments of the Church.
Once, a judge came to Mount Athos to confess. He was one of the most famous judges in Greece, but he was tormented by serious personal problems, and he wanted to confess to his father Ephraim.
When the judge stayed in the monastery for several days, the elder told him that he would accept his confession tomorrow. The day of confession came, and the monks led him to the confessor.
“Soon after the judge entered Father Ephraim,” said Father Nikon, “there were violent cries. We hastened to see what happened, fearing that the judge would not do something bad to the old man.
Upon entering, we saw that Father Ephraim takes off his epitrachelion, and the judge beats on the floor, like a fish on the shore. The elder told us that everything was in order, that the judge should be held in his room, and that the confession would continue the next day.
We took the judge to his room, he came to his senses and asked what happened to him. He was told that nothing of the kind, he just lost consciousness. The next day, the judge again went to elder Ephraim to continue the confession. We were not far away, and when we heard terrible screams again, we rushed to the elder to find out what was happening, and saw the same picture as the day before. The elder now asked to take the judge to his room and said that the next day he would continue to confess this man.
Finally, after three days, the confession was completed.

Later, this judge himself told us what happened to him at Elder Ephraim.
He said that during the confession, something came out of him, causing him terrible agony. It was like a tumor that his body was spewing. Now he felt much better and realized what kind of voice he had  telling him for years to kill his wife. He was overcome by an obsessive desire to kill his wife, he often came to the kitchen and took a knife to commit this evil deed. But he loved her very much and therefore, to drown out this urge to kill, he stuck a knife into her photograph. This voice set him on his children. There was not a single photograph in the house that would not be tormented by a knife.

Father Nikon said that the man had visited him recently. The judge said that after this confession nothing similar happened to him, which he had suffered from this misfortune for more than fifteen years.

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Father Nikon told us another story that happened to one young soldier.
Once he drove a truck along a mountain road. The road was wide, and he rode at high speed. Suddenly, he faced a sharp turn. He wanted to brake, but the brakes did not work. Then he tried to turn the truck to the hillside so as not to fall into the abyss. However, the steering wheel also failed. The soldier could not understand how this is possible so that both the steering wheel and the brakes are faulty at the same time. He wanted to open the door to jump out of the truck, but could not. And the other car door didn’t open either.
What to do?! He grabbed his head with both hands and began to pray to the Mother of God:
- Blessed Virgin Mary, save me!
The truck was about to collapse into the abyss. But ... Time passed, and nothing terrible happened. The truck still raced along the road. And the young man exclaimed:
- Mother of God, thank you! You have done a miracle!

The soldier safely reached the place. Months and years passed, and he forgot about this incident, which could have ended irreparably.
Once, having arrived in Athens, he visited his old friend from Patra. They had not seen each other for a long time, and the guest suggested spending this day together. But a friend promised to visit a person who was being treated in a psychiatric clinic near Athens, and they went there. In the courtyard of the hospital, patients were strolling, and everyone behaved rather strangely. An elderly approached them and led to the one whom they came to visit.
And then one of the patients attacked the soldier and grabbed him by the throat. He shouted:
“A vile rat, yes, on that mountain road you escaped!” The woman in black sat behind the wheel of your truck just when I was about to kill you!
Then other orderlies arrived in time and dragged the obsessed man away.
Father Nikon, having finished this story, said :
“ Do not forget: demons are terribly afraid of this woman in the black robe."

Translated from Bulgarian by Vitaliy Chebotar
Source: "Orthodox is holy"
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