Orthodox Parables and Stories: The Miracle Priest

In the early 1990s, a young man from a neighboring village came to the monastery of St. Stephen with the intention of committing suicide by jumping down from the bridge connecting the top of the cliff with the road. He stood on the bridge, preparing to rush into the abyss, and at that moment an old priest approached him. He introduced himself as the confessor of the monastery, and although they had never met before, he began talking with the youth about his life, about the trials that fell to his lot, urging him not to despair and assuring that the Lord would help him. The young man felt peace and joy in his soul. He returned home and began to regularly attend the liturgy. A few weeks passed. He again went to the monastery to speak with that priest. The sister whom he met at the entrance said that there was no ever-present confessor in the monastery; there are only priests who specifically come to serve the liturgy. It turned out that on the day when the young man was standing on the bridge, not a single priest came to the monastery. She asked the young man what that father looked like, and he described him in detail. According to this description, the sisters immediately recognized Saint Charalambos himself as an old priest