The fact of God's help from Ekaterina 27.09.2024

Hello! I want to share my journey to God and the miracles He has shown me! For eight years, my husband and I struggled to conceive a second child. We visited countless doctors, underwent tests and procedures—yet everything appeared normal. I began to wonder why the Lord wasn’t granting us a child. I went through all the emotions—tears, despair, even resentment toward God… Then, one night, I had a dream in which I was painting an image of the Mother of God. My mother asked me to turn it into an icon, and soon, huge crowds of people began coming to venerate it. But what struck me most was that this icon was the Kazan Mother of God, glowing in gold, and instead of the Christ Child, there was a blank white space. A year later, my father unexpectedly brought me a bundle of three old icons and asked me to have them restored. As I unwrapped them, I was overcome with tears—one of them was exactly like the one from my dream! The same faded-out area where the Christ Child should have been, though the overall icon was dark. Later, during the restoration process, a golden background was revealed underneath—just like in my dream! This was a true miracle! From that moment, I began praying to the Most Holy Theotokos for a child. And then another miracle—the paper on which I wrote my prayer began to exude myrrh and a beautiful fragrance! This continued for over a month! Some time later, a white dove appeared at our doorstep. It sat there for three days, breathing toward our door, unafraid of anything, never leaving. On the third day, I gave it some water, and when I returned from a walk, it was gone. Another miracle! I then found myself searching for a deeper meaning in life, searching for God. I "accidentally" came across the sermons of Father Vladimir Golovin online, and my whole world turned upside down. I suddenly saw clearly for the first time, truly repented, and found what my soul had been seeking all along—the Lord! I joined the prayers by agreement and began reading the Akathist to the Mother of God, "Unexpected Joy." I deeply wished to meet Father Vladimir in person and hear his sermons live. It seemed impossible—my husband was skeptical, and we lived in London. But God’s ways are beyond our understanding! My husband and I went on a pilgrimage to Kazan and Bolgar to see Father Vladimir. There, we visited the church in Tri Ozyora, where the miraculous Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, "Bestower of Children," is kept. We prayed before it! Two months later, on the eve of Christmas, I found out I was pregnant! A miracle! Now, our Tikhvin blessing—our son Timofey—is two years old! Glory to God for everything! But that was not the end of God’s guidance in my life… I once had another dream—a powerful voice spoke to me three times: "You must create icons." By profession, I am a designer in artistic textiles—I used to weave tapestries and was preparing a collection for an exhibition. I had never painted icons before. Yet strangely enough, my very first commission was a woven icon of Saint Nicholas! After that, I made several more. At the time, it felt like just an artistic experiment—I knew nothing about proper iconographic rules or traditions. But as I worked, I realized I couldn’t continue without proper knowledge. So, I stopped weaving icons and, over time, lost all creative inspiration. For years, I felt empty inside. Nothing could fill that void. During our trip to Bolgar, Father Vladimir blessed me to pray the Akathist to Archangel Michael for the gift of talents. At that moment, however, I was completely focused on praying for a child, and forgot about this blessing for a long time. Only last winter did I remember the Akathist and pray it—just twice. Then, by “chance” (but we know there are no coincidences with God!), I came across an online iconography course. My heart lit up with excitement! I signed up immediately. Now, I am studying icon painting at the Samara Russian Iconography School under the guidance of an incredible teacher, Elena Alexandrovna. For the first time in 10 years, I feel inspired again! I study with great reverence and joy. My first icon of the Kazan Mother of God was a gift to my mother for her birthday, which fell on a Parents' Saturday (a day of prayer for the departed). Now, I see icon painting as my service to God. Glory to God for everything! Dear readers, I share my experience to strengthen your faith. Do not despair. Pray, and according to your faith, it will be given to you! The Lord loves each of us and constantly knocks on the door of our hearts. We only need to open that door and allow Him to act—not as we wish, but as is best for us. May God help you all!