An incident that happened to the monk Cyril of Karelia.

An incident that happened to the monk Cyril of Karelia.

One day Father Cyril went out into the courtyard of his hut and breathed in the fresh morning air. The elder had already lived on Athos for many years, but every day it was as if he felt afresh its wonderful atmosphere of prayerful silence.

Suddenly, Father Cyril was struck on the head as if by a kick in the head: profanity, blasphemous words reached his ears! The monk could not believe his ears - who here on the Holy Mountain could speak so rudely about Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary?

Father Cyril went in the direction from which the voices and coarse laughter were heard; it turned out that it was the Athenian workers, who were felling wood near Father Cyril's cell, who were talking to each other.

When they saw the monk, the loggers fell silent. "Well, now he's going to start preaching," each of them probably thought. But Father Cyril was not going to do that. In tears he got down on his knees and begged the workers not to swear anymore.

The lumberjacks were at a loss. This was not what they had expected! Almost crying themselves, they rushed to lift the elderly monk from his knees.

"Father, come on, really! Well, forgive us, for God's sake, we promise we will never say a swear word again!" the workers said.

They parted with the monk as friends. Since then, the loggers, shocked by Father Cyril's behavior, carefully watched themselves and instead of swearing, prayed to themselves.

Elder Cyril of Karelia explained this change very simply: "It is not necessary to scold and rebuke people," he said. - That will not do any good. But humility and kindness can touch someone's heart and awaken piety in him in a single minute".

New Athos Patericon.