OCTOBER 23 - Memorial Day of St. Ambrose of Optina

TWO SISTERS . The history of the saint's vision. 

Two sisters come to the elder from St. Petersburg. The youngest is a bride, with a cheerful mood; the eldest is a quiet, pensive, pious. One asks for the blessing of marriage, and the other for the monastery. 

The elder gives the prayer rope to the bride, and to the eldest says: “What monastery? “You will marry, but not at home — that’s what you’d like,” and called the province where they had never gone. Both are returning to the capital. 

The bride finds out that the bridegroom has changed his mind. This produced a terrible change in her because her affection was deep. She grasped the vainness of what was before her, her thoughts turned to God, and soon she entered a monastery. 

Meanwhile, the eldest received a letter from a distant province from a forgotten aunt, a devout woman who lived next door to a convent. She called her to look at the life of the nuns. 

But it turned out differently: having lived with the aunt, the niece met a man already elderly, very fit to her in nature, and married him.

The elder often quoted the proverb: “You will run from the wolf, you will attack the bear.” It remains only to be patient and wait, listening to yourself and not condemning others, and praying to the Lord and the Queen of Heaven, that they arrange things useful for you, as they please.