Everyday Saints and Other Stories by Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov

Author:Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov [Shevkunov, Archimandrite Tikhon]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780984284832
Publisher: Pokrov Publications
Published: 2012-09-30T22:00:00+00:00

One time they brought us a cow from Sarov. They wanted us to raise cows like theirs: gray-colored, big, healthy, strapping cows! But ours were sort of reddish in color and not very big. We took special care of this new calf from Sarov. For two years we didn’t allow it to go out into the general herd. We only let it out in the third year.

Anyway, when this calf was still only two years old one day it heard the lowing of the big herd of the other cows on the other side of the river. Those cows were all mooing. How excited my little calf became! She pulled and strained, wanting to get over to them, to the other cows in the big herd. But it wasn’t allowed.

I ran after her! I ran and ran, but that calf just plopped right into the river Satis, and swam. And the Satis is pretty deep, actually. But that calf swam right across it to the other side and ran up towards the big herd.

I was stuck on the other bank! I fell to my knees and cried out loud: “Dear Father Seraphim! Can’t you see what’s happening? That calf’s run away!”

Yes, there I was—insulting the saint himself in that very same tone of voice! “Can’t you see what’s happening?”

And guess what? That calf suddenly stopped and stood still! As if frozen! Then it turned around gradually and slowly, step by step, climbed back down and came back to me. It was as if someone was dragging her! And then she went into the river and slowly swam all the way, back!

When she got back to our side of the river, I was waiting for her with a rope. “Oh you mischievous little beast! You sure made trouble for me!” But I understand that it was really Father Seraphim who stopped her!

That calf never got up to any of those tricks again. And what a wonderful and lovely calf it turned out to be! But soon, we were the ones driven like calves out of Satis.

Oh yes, terrible times came upon us. First the big war came, and then they overthrew the Tsar. It was the Revolution. You never lived through that. You have no idea what it was really like.

At first they spared the monastery, but they robbed the farmsteads. They came to rob us too. And now it was our turn to suffer. But who was robbing us? Our own villagers! From our own village: Lomasovo, which is about six kilometers from Satis. We called the men and women from this village “Lomas-folk.” But what was it they wanted? To rob us and take everything!

But we were forewarned about what was going to happen. From the monastery they sent workers to us at Satis to drive the cattle into the monastery. Otherwise tomorrow they would be gone—taken away. And so, all night—all night, dear fathers, all night!—we drove the herd. Oh, what trouble we had with the cows—not to

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