What a Miracle of God we have

 A lady in her 50s comes to my church. She is a widow. She knows me from Facebook.

She says: "Father, you are different from on the phone. I ask: "how so? She says: "more alive."

She tells me that for 4 years she has suffered from terrible depression. She didn't leave the house for a year. She feared the presence, the scrutinizing eyes of people. It seemed to her that she was ugly, that she was deformed. Every laugh from a stranger she thought was her mockery. She was afraid to look in the mirror.

 - Father, I broke all the mirrors in the house. Loneliness hurts me terribly, but I can't stand the presence of people either. People hurt me, father. They are mean and sly and ridiculous and evil. They love to step on your feet.

 She hasn't confessed in four years. She was afraid and ashamed.

 - Madam, I say, the soul is like a garden. If you don't take care of it for 4 years, the weeds suffocate and kill all the flowers. In addition, some vipers, devils, are also nesting, threatening anyone with death.

 The woman nods her head in approval.

 I continue: - We need Christ like air, every moment. Otherwise we suffocate. We must always receive His Blood in the Eucharist, otherwise death digs new trenches and vast dungeons. Without God we die before death, we become dust and the dwelling place of demons.

 The woman looks blank, lost. It's already too much for her.

 I call it the release of sins. Instinctively, I kneel down next to her and hug her. She widens her eyes. She bursts into tears.

 - Father, no one has held me in their arms for years.

 I say:

 - God loves you so much that He died on the Cross for you, and now He suffers infinite longing. YOU MUST PRAY AGAIN.

 LET US CONSTANTLY TALK WITH HIM, WITH CHRIST-GOD.

 Ask His counsel in all things. SEE AND TASTE THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD.

 I give her a solid rule of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

 The woman leaves, turns from the door.

 - Father, I feel like I'm flying.

 I bless her once again.

 What a MIRACLE OF GOD WE HAVE, which we 

 DIE (ONCE)

 and RISE FOREVER.

 Prof. Lecturer Dr Ionel Istrati  School of Orthodox Theology  from Ovidius University  from KONSTANTA