Orthodox Parables and Stories: Fr. Trofim (Tatarikov)

A little less than thirty years ago, in the Vvedensky temple of Optina Desert, there was such a case.

A very young girl managed to stick her hand into such a narrow slot in the heating battery that it was  impossible to pull it out. Around the sobbing child, people crowded right there, trying to free the girl. But from their efforts, the hand only turned blue and swollen, and the young girl screamed more and more desperately. Hearing the cry from the altar, a monk of a heroic physique came. He prayed briefly in front of the icon, and then went up to the crying girl. He began to play with her, portraying how a kitty washes, how a bunny chews a carrot. A minute later the girl was already laughing and asked:

"Show me another kitty, another bunny." People standing around began to murmur softly: there is such a disaster, you need to save the child, and he plays in the zoo. But when the child calmed down and relaxed her hand, the monk pulled it out of the metal trap with a soft elusive movement.

It was Father Trofim (Tatarnikov), who was killed a few months later, on Pascha night, at the Monastery Belfry.