The servant of God Sophia testifies:

 

The servant of God Sophia testifies:

– My husband and I had a fight after he forbade me to continue going to various doctors and healers in order to get pregnant. To my great regret, I said hurtful words to my husband – I mentioned the fact that he advised me to seek alternative and folk medicine. He left the house and said: when you stop believing your old healers, then call him. I was so offended that I was not going to call him myself.

It would be wrong to say that our family was church-going or deeply religious. About five days passed and I came across information on the Internet that an icon from Georgia, before which many miracles are performed, would be in Moscow and that they would also bring an ark. I thought: “What do I have to lose? I will go and try to be healed, because many have already found comfort and healing.” I went, entered the church, approached the icon and began to ask who these saints were.

I did not immediately recognize Seraphim of Sarov and did not know anything about Father Gabriel. I expected that the icon would flow with myrrh or shine, since it was miraculous, but not seeing anything of the kind, I was a little disappointed, but nevertheless I bowed to it and returned home. On the way, I remembered that I had not asked anything from the icon, but I consoled myself with the fact that the icon did not shine or flow with myrrh anyway, so it was not so bad.

A few days later, I had a strange dream. I was standing in a church with several women, a service was being held, several priests were incensed, and one stood on the pulpit with a cross and repeated the words: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife…” When I woke up, my soul was restless. I thought it was a sign from the Lord that I should reconcile with my husband and ask him for forgiveness.

I got dressed and returned to Irina’s church to at least ask the saints to give me the strength to reconcile with my husband. I entered the church, approached the icon, and saw my husband standing in line for the icon. I could not believe how such a coincidence had happened, that without prior agreement we decided to come to church at the same time. This happened despite the fact that before that we only went to church once a year. My husband was also very surprised to see me. He kissed the icon, and I followed him. And before I could say that I had decided to apologize and reconcile with him, he gave me the book “Good Grandfather Gabriel” and said: “I bought this book. It turned out that he is a Georgian saint. And he is a miracle worker.” I was stunned. On the cover I recognized the face of the priest who had said in my dream: “Women, obey your husbands…” The image in the icon was different, and the face in the photo was the one I had seen in my dream.

We left the church in silence, reconciled, went home, and my husband said to me: “Imagine, let no one say that the Lord does not exist. Do you know why I came to church? I had a strange dream... It was as if I was standing in a church, and Seraphim of Sarov was serving there as a priest, a censer. And some priest came out to the pulpit and repeated several times: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church.” I woke up and could not find a place for myself. I began to search the Internet for the location of the church of Seraphim of Sarov and came across information that in the church of Irina there would be an icon with Seraphim of Sarov and Gabriel of Samtavros. From a photograph, I learned that Gabriel was the one serving. So I went there to worship him and would call you to make peace.”

A shiver ran through me and tears flowed from my eyes by themselves. I also told my husband about my dream. We visited the icon almost every day, and then we went to my husband's parents in Yekaterinburg for a week. We told a priest we knew, a relative, about our dreams, who told us that it was Saint Gabriel who reconciled us and read us verses from the Gospel that are read during a wedding.

After learning that we were not married, he advised us to get married anyway. After some time, we got married, started going to church, and literally a few weeks ago we found out that I was pregnant.

I can't hold back my tears when I look at the icon of the elders, which we bought and put in the most prominent place in our apartment. We went to Diveyevo, venerated the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and soon we will go to Georgia to venerate the relics of St. Gabriel, because they supported us and supported us in such a friendly way. It is no coincidence that the icon is called “Friendship in Christ of the Russian and Georgian Orthodox peoples".