Testimony of servant of God Andrew B, Izhevsk, Russia
It happened last summer (July, 2003), when my wife was on the eighth month of her pregnancy, we were expecting twins. On one of the weekends my father, mother, sister and I came to our country house, 40 km from town, in a deep forest. My father has a habit of walking around the place inspecting it every time we come there. In the far corner of the plot, we have a plum tree, it didn't blossom last spring and a half of it had withered away. During the inspection, my father discovered two lizards pinned on the withered branches of that plum tree. That scene reminded us of some dark ritual, of witchcraft. We could have passed by the tree a hundred times and not notice anything. It was as if someone had opened my father's eyes.
How a man can come up to the exact tree among many others and spot lizards whose skin color matches the color of the tree's branches? It would be equal to finding a needle in a stack of hay. My mother wanted to take off those lizards right away. But I though I'd better talk to Fr.Oleg. I told my mom not to touch the lizards and not to take them off. After we came home in the evening I wrote an e-mail to Fr.Oleg and told about that evil discovery. Fr.Oleg responded promptly.
In his letter he told me that he had recently done the reading of the prayers for exorcism and, during the reading, it dawned upon him to include me in the reading, too. Father Oleg also explained in his letter how to get rid of our find. When we came to our garden plot with the purpose of getting rid of that charm, we didn't see the lizards on the tree at first. My mother and I were looking very closely at almost every branch of that tree and did not see them - so strong was the delusion. Only my father could point them out. I cut off the branches and burned them while saying the Jesus prayer.
At the end of my wife's pregnancy the doctors discovered that one of the twins was in a breech position and scheduled a c-section. My wife started preparing for it. I came to God in my prayers for a gracious delivery and asked Fr.Oleg to pray for my wife and for the babies in her womb. As a result her labor and delivery were miraculous. The leading doctor decided that my wife would deliver naturally, without doing C-section. The first to come out was our son, he was born in a breech position, bent in half, and after 5 minutes our daughter came out. One month after my wife and children came home from the hospital, our city was appalled by horrible news - two newborn children died in the same hospital due to the carelessness of a nurse. The closeness of that event, the place where it happened and the number of the dead babies led me to the thought that the same could have happened to my children.
I'd like to say some words about Fr.Oleg's sermons. His sermons are the best testimony to the fact that the grace of the Holy Spirit is upon him. It's only by the grace of the Holy Spirit that a man is made able to utter such Sermons. I try to listen to each of them for several times - not once or twice. And every time something new is being opened for me. This is a true nourishment for my mind and a remedy for my soul. My heart responds with tenderness to the words of his sermons. And I am at peace.
O Lord, thank You for all of Your unspoken mercy that You constantly bestow without measure upon us, sinful people, thank You for having connected us with Fr.Oleg by Your holy providence.
Fr.Oleg, pray for us, sinful people.
Sincerely, Andrey.