Contemporary miracles

And God said...

John Sanidopoulos’s translation of Contemporary miracles (1953) really caught my eye, particularly after having read Fr. Stephen’s blognote on that ancient Syriac belief that the Shekinah glory now rests in the Cross (this of course being also a contemporary Jewish belief):

During an adjournment in a recent major court case, the District Attorney Mr. Liberis Papandreou, recounted the following story to me, when he noticed that I had a Cross around my neck. He showed me a Cross that he was wearing around his neck, and told me:

“This Cross saved my life. Without it I would have died in the winter of 1943. This was a period when anyone who fell into the hands of the Germans was hauled off to their torture chamber on Merlin Street and did not leave unless on his way to the graveyard. “At that time I, too, was arrested having been accused by a high ranking official of the Municipality of Piraeus—a lackey of the Germans— and mayor of one of the municipal districts of Piraeus as the General Prosecutor for the Communists. I had arrested both of these two men for misappropriating provisions that were set aside for the starving. My denial of guilt enraged my interrogators.

“After these enormous torturers, the interrogator himself took over. At one point, he lost control of himself and grabbed me by the throat with both of his hands, and began to strangle me. I realized that I would die of suffocation. I mustered whatever reserves I had and freed myself from his hands. I immediately tore open my shirt, exposing my chest. I wanted to breathe. I had no idea what I had done.“At that very moment, however, I perceived that my tormentor had grown pale. Later he turned white—whiter than the wall of the room, which was as white as snow. He was trying to lift up his hands, but could not succeed in doing so. “He then started to weep…. Yes, he wept in terror, and like a small child! He then came up to me, bowed to my chest and…kissed this very Cross! I confess that I could not believe what I saw with my own eyes.

“Shortly after this, he called out and he was brought a glass of water. With it he washed my wounds himself, with his hands, which he could now move. He then sat me on a chair, so that I could recover, and left, only to return with several of his colleagues in whose presence he related the following: ‘As soon as this man exposed his chest, this tiny Cross shined in my eyes like lightning. The lightning white formed a flaming Nein (“no” in German). I then realized that my hands were paralyzed. I was terrified, as you can understand. Now that I have come to, gentlemen, I can say that God is close to the Faithful.’

“He then addressed me, saying: ‘I would ask you to present me with this Cross, so that it might protect me from unjust judgment. Not from death, since I am not afraid of it. But I am not worthy — I do not believe in God as you do, for if I did…’  — and at that point he stopped speaking.”

From N. Kapitsoglou, Contemporary miracles. Arc, No. 21 / September 1953, p. 347

Who said miracles don’t happen today?

Glory to God and amen.