A Miracle Which Confirms the Traditional Church Calendar

A Revelation of the Theotokos to the Virtuous Monk Boris (Nicholas in Schema) of the Holy Monastery of Valaam (†7 May 1969)

 

The Editors of the American Orthodox periodical, The Orthodox Word, recently visited the renowned Russian Monastery of Valaam, on Lake Ladoga, where Hieromonk Kensorin offered them the handwritten autobiography of his Elder, Father Boris (Nicholas in the Great Schema), which they published in English translation (The Orthodox Word, Vol. XXVII, Nos. 5-6 [160-161] [September-December 1991]).

Now, who was Father Boris? This holy Elder, whose life was filled with miracles, was born on 22 July 1876, After many tribulations, in 1900 he entered the Holy Monastery of Valaam, where he became distinguished for his virtue and ascetic labors.

A group of ascetics and confessors in this monastery, under Hieromonk Michael (†1962), remained faithful to the traditional Church Calendar, a stand which they took, indeed, at the cost of hardships and indignities.

In 1940, they left the Monastery of Valaam and went to the monastery of the same name on Finnish territory (New Valamo), where they stayed until 1957. Thereafter, they asked to return to their original monastery. However, instead of this, they were transferred to the Holy Monastery of the Pskov Caves, where they lived, until their repose, in its underground caves.

Certain members of this group had already (in 1926) come from Valaam to Czechoslovakia, where they joined the Brotherhood of St. Job of Pochaev (the Vladimirova Monastery) or placed themselves at the service of the Ecclesiastical Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, which still had its headquarters in Serbia (Sremski Karlovci). The most famous of them, Father Philemon, reposed in sanctity at the Holy Trinity Monastery, in Jordanville, U.S.A., in 1956.

The very striking miracle which we have published in what follows constitutes the fourteenth chapter of the autobiography of the venerable Monk Boris (Nicholas in Schema).

***

 

On September 25, 1925, there was a division of people in Valaam as to the “old” and “new” style calendars.

They began to force us to go to the new style. Many of the brothers remained true to the old style.

Legal proceedings began. The church administration arrived; there was a court with Abbot Paulinus in charge. They began to summon the brothers one by one, and many were expelled from the monastery.

Then my turn also came. I went into the room, and there sat Abbot Paulinus with others from the church administration.

Father Abbot said, “Here is a slave of God; ask him.” One of them said that he would speak and that everything should be recorded.

They asked, “Do you accept Fr. Paulinus as Abbot?” “Will you go to church services according to the new calendar?”

I could not answer this question; it was as if my tongue had become paralyzed. They hesitated and said, “Well, why aren’t you answering?” I couldn’t say anything. Then they said: “Well, go on, slave of God, and think this over.”

I began to pray to the Mother of God, my “Surety,” in my heart. “Tell me and indicate my life’s path: Which side should I go to, the new or old style? Should I go to the cathedral or somewhere else?” And I, the sinful one, prayed to the Mother of God during my obedience in the kitchen.

When I finished my evening obedience, I went to my cell and thought in the simplicity of my heart, “Why don’t you answer me, Mother of God?” But the grace of God did not abandon me, a sinner. He wants salvation for all.

Suddenly the cathedral appeared before me, the same as it is: the same height, length and width. I was amazed at this miraculous apparition—how could it enter my small cell? But my inner voice said to me: “Everything is possible with God. There is nothing impossible for Him.”

“Well,” I thought, “one must go to church in the cathedral according to the new style.” Then, as I was thinking thus, a blue curtain came down from above, in the middle of which was a golden cross. The cathedral remained behind the curtain. I remained on this side.

The cathedral became invisible to me, and the inner voice said to me: “Go to the old style and hold to it.”

And I heard a woman’s voice coming from above the corner: “If you want to be saved, hold fast to the traditions of the Holy Apostles and the Holy Fathers.”

And then the same thing was repeated a second time, and the third time the voice said: “If you want to be saved, keep fast to the tradition of the Holy Apostles and Holy Fathers, but not these ‘wise’ men.”

After this miracle, everything disappeared and I remained alone in my cell. My heart began to rejoice that the Lord had indicated the path of salvation to me, according to the prayers of the Mother of God. And ever since that time, I remember this great miracle for the salvation of man.

 

Source: Agios Kyprianos, No. 252 (January-February 1993), pp. 102-103. Translated into English by the Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, Etna, CA.