РОСА НАДЕЖДЫ ПОТЕРЯВШИМ НАДЕЖДУ

To the Hope of the unreliable, the Helper of the weak, and the Intercessor of all sinners: Cover me and intercede from all troubles and needs of the soul and body (In Worship). Miracle 20 in 1676, August 26 There is a city in the Chernigov region called Sosnitsa. From there a certain woman Agafya came to the Ilinsky Monastery and brought a coral monastery with seven silver crosses and two silver tablets for the image of the Most Holy Theotokos. She confessed about herself in all conscience: I, he says, was in bed for twelve weeks. In this illness of mine, a great and incurable ulcer was created on my neck. From her I suffered unspeakable pain and already despaired of my life, just as those who were with me did not hope to see me alive, they were waiting for the hour of death. But one day some neighbors who had been here to worship and heard about miracles told me: “Promise to pray to the miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos in Chernigov, with Saint Elijah, and believe that you will be healthy.” Then in my mind, for I could no longer speak with my lips, I immediately earnestly called on the Most Holy Virgin for help, vowing to walk and venerate the holy image of which I heard. And the ambulance did not hesitate: she heard and had mercy. At that very hour I accepted relief from the illness and soon completely recovered. And now I am fulfilling my promise. Whoever is only sick in body, but I am sick in soul, and would have long ago despaired of my health if I had not had hope in You, Mother of God, You do not put anyone who trusts in You to shame. Many place their hopes in many things: the weak in their doctors, the healthy in the strength of their strength, the rich in their treasures, slaves in their masters, masters in their well-being. But, oh people! Here, with me, change your hopes! Let the doctors be healed themselves (see Luke 4:23), let the healthy see their strength in their tombs, let the rich cry about the fierce sorrows coming upon them (see James 5:1); let slaves recognize the grace of their masters, who rides on a mottled horse1; May the gentlemen see how fast their well-being runs like a wheel. Here, in the Shameless Intercessor, place your hope, and you will not lose everything you demand! Sick people, do you demand health? Trust in the Virgin Mary, for She “transforms illness into health” (Canon of Prayer to the Mother of God). Healthy, do you require strength and strength? You will find them in the One who gave birth to “the mighty and mighty Lord, the mighty Lord in battle” (Ps. 23:8). Do you need wealth? Where better to get rich, if not with She who carries in Her arms He who has “in Her left hand” “wealth and glory” (Proverbs 3:16)? Slaves and masters, trust in the Lady, who said about herself: “Behold, the Handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38). She will teach you to serve the Lord and dominate passions. And every hopeless person, especially a sinner who despairs of his salvation, place hope in She who is the only refuge for sinners, hope for the hopeless, help for the overcome, ready intercession for those who resort to Her. By relying on Her, you will not perish, for who, who placed his hope in Her, perished? Oh, my Good Hope, “my hope comes from my mother’s breasts! I have been committed to You from birth, from my mother’s womb” (Ps. 21:10-11). You are my Patroness! Don't leave me and don't leave me! Let us hear, beloved, the reason for which the aforementioned Agafya came from her city to fervently pray to the Most Holy Theotokos, how she was sick and recovered by the grace of the Mother of God. See how the Provident organizes everything for the benefit of everyone: he repeatedly brings various illnesses upon us, so that we become more chaste, so that we renounce our sins, so that we come to God with repentance. And that this is so, let us listen to the Holy Fathers. Saint Callistus says: “God, who is good and desires the salvation of all, often allows people to fall into illness, so that those possessed by sins may be cleansed of their sins, for this is how he says in the voice of the Divine Prophet Jeremiah: “You will be executed with illnesses and wounds, O Jerusalem.” And Gregory of Nazianzus says: “Truly, through bodily illnesses the soul approaches God.” And another Gregory, Pope of Rome, says that “God, wounding a person, gives health, and when He executes His chosen ones from the outside, He wants them to be alive inside. Kills in order to give life; strikes to heal.” And Isidore: “Illness in the body is health in the soul: illness hurts the body, but heals thoughts. Illness suppresses the power of carnal lusts.” So, when it happens to us to be sick in the body, from this we recognize the goodness of God, for thereby it leads us to repentance. And not despairing, but hoping for the mercy of His benevolence, let us correct our lives, having the Most Holy Virgin as our Helper in this. The one who was angry before is now very good. A sinner comes to his senses when his body hurts. Saint John the Merciful told about a certain Mytnik Peter, who was very unmerciful. He hated the poor so much that one day, not having anything with which to hit and drive away a begging beggar, he threw some bread that came to hand in his face. After some time, the Lord allowed him to fall into a severe illness, so that he became sick to death. And horror came over him: he saw himself caught up to judgment, where the demons put all his sins, committed from his youth, on the scales. The angels did not find any virtue in him to put against sins, only the bread that hit the beggar in the face. And they counted him as alms, and put him on the scales, and the scales became level. Then the Angels said to him: “Peter, go, add more to that bread, so that your side will win over.” Having come to his senses, Peter gradually recovered, and became so wise that he gave all his property to the poor, then he gave himself over to the work of Christ for the sake of Christ, and distributed the price he had taken for himself to the poor. He was also honored with a gift from God, such that he healed the dumb and deaf with a word. See the Providence of God: how, having punished him with bodily illness, he brought him into such chastity. You might be interested in: