At Christmas, miracles happen and heaven opens only for the righteous, believers say. It is believed that on Christmas every person can make a wish because it is believed that then wishes come true
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, people become better, kinder, more devoted. Why do we change like this? Why is there so much love this time of year? Is this what Christmas evokes in our country - love? Why do we start paying more attention to the people we love and to others around us? We start helping those in need, participating in charity events. Is it because we are trying to clear our conscience, or are we really feeling so good!? Why don't we do it during the rest of the year, after all, even then there are needy people, children…
Now we will tell you about the miracles that are happening in the chapel of the Sofia Alexander Hospital, where with a lot of faith and prayer, patients have received healing from serious diseases. Dr. Kamen Danov, gastroenterologist and assistant at the Department of Internal Diseases Propaedeutics of the Medical University, rector of the temple "St. Martyr Georgi Sofiyski Newest", located on the territory of the hospital.
“With the help of the miraculous icon of St. Martyr Georgi The newest patients are really being healed in Alexandrovska hospital. Over the years since the temple was built, some interesting things have happened that amaze us medics. My patient, a young boy, was in extremely serious condition, with almost no chance of survival. His parents, strongly religious people, asked for a candlelight vigil in the chapel. Most of us doctors were skeptical that this would help, but here it is," said Dr. Danov.
The boy was discharged from the hospital alive and well after a week. "It has been scientifically proven that when people have confidence, the outcome is better. Our miraculous icon saved the eyes of a patient", the doctor also pointed out.
Are you a person of faith, Dr. Danov?
- Regardless of how exactly one defines his belief and in what, but all people are believers. Even atheists have particular beliefs, and in mortal danger there is hardly a person who is not a believer.
They say that miracles happen at Christmas… Has it ever happened to you?
- Miracles happen at any time, not only at Christmas. The point is, one must have eyes to see them. Sometimes we assume that a miracle happened out of nowhere, but it was simply because things lined up the right way. I will tell you what happened to the chapel of our hospital where I am a superintendent. In 2012, right at this time of the year, the current Metropolitan John of Varna and Veliko Preslav gave us an old iconostasis from the rotunda of "St. George". Here is a gift from nowhere - but St. is buried there. George. It is with gifts and choir donations that our chapel is filled.
Tell us about the temple icon of St. George. Where did it come from, who brought it?
- The icon that became miraculous first gained popularity because of its history. Both icons of St. Georgi were given to us by the family of our young patient, who by coincidence, with his lifestyle, was rushed to the hospital in a rather serious condition. His relatives, very religious people, made an oil candle, praying for he alth, they prayed for their boy in the temple. And although the prognosis from our side was not good, he was one of those recorded cases of very quick recovery, literally in a few days. His relatives are completely convinced and categorical that St. George helped him.
Even in biblical times, the Church says that doctors are the right hand of God on earth and they do everything with this help. After his discharge, a priest family from Varna commissioned a painter to paint an icon of the saint and donated it to the chapel. Over time, this story spread and many people came to pray for he alth and prosperity at the hospital temple. It is they who share with me about the miracles that happened to them after praying in front of the icon, which are recorded in a special book.
We saw children's clothes left in front of the icon…
- Yes, some leave children's clothes, towels, wheat, whatever they decide. They said they were helped to have a child,
we give them to poor people
It is believed that the parents of St. Georgi The newest were childless for a long time. He could prove to be a heavenly intercessor to help with such problems as well. The flow of people tells us that there are many people in need of help, but also very grateful for the help of St. George.
Are we Bulgarians faithful people?
- If we compare ourselves to our neighbors, we don't go to church en masse. I think that younger Bulgarians still do not know what our faith is, what it has saved us from. But there are also young people with in-depth qualitative theological knowledge. The flip side of the coin is the celebration of Halloween - this year we looked at horrific things, dismembered bodies, pictures that border on psychopathology. It is bad to encourage young people to this strange and unhe althy culture, provided we have enough beautiful Christian holidays, honored since our forefathers.
Old people say that on Christmas the heavens open and the wishes said with a fervent prayer come true. Is it really so?
- I can hardly give the right answer. It is said in the Gospel that
there is nothing stronger than the prayer of the righteous
which really works wonders. Since it is also in the New Testament writings, it is probably so. One must respect all moral common human categories when one steps with humility, maybe not only at Christmas miracles can happen. Many of my medical colleagues, who are exceptional specialists, have shared that when they don't know what else to do with a patient in dire straits, they read passages from the Bible and always find some wisdom that applies specifically to the particular case. That is why I said that we must have ears to hear and eyes to see the little miracles around us.
Do patients enter the temple more humble, or do they leave the temple more humble?
- They are different people. Some are euphoric, cheerful, others come with great sorrow, quietly praying somewhere further away, in the corner of the temple. Each person, depending on his personal emotional state, enters in a different way, but always everyone leaves humble, reconciled as if first with himself. I see all kinds of people - young, old, modestly dressed, good-looking. For whatever reason they are passing through the hospital, most of them stop to light a candle.
What would you like to say to our readers, to your patients, to your colleagues as a doctor, but also as a head of the temple?
- I will start with the colleagues - I will allow myself to advise them to "enter" the emotional situation of the patient, since understanding and pure human respect have an extremely good effect on the healing process. Let's not resist if the sick person wants to talk to a priest, a psychologist or a relative.
Let the people have, on the one hand, more humility. They need to know they are not alone. Whether they stand together with their doctor or with their loved ones, they will face the challenges in their lives, they will be stronger and achieve the desired results faster together. Do not despair under any circumstances. There's always a way out!
Fact
Temple "St. Georgi Sofiyski Nai-novi" is located in the courtyard of the medical institution, near the place where the saint was killed in 1534. It was built entirely with voluntary labor and funds donated by doctors and patients, priests, citizens and business organizations. The chapel is open every weekday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. By decision of the Sofia Metropolis, Father Radoslav Vutov from the capital church "St. George Pobedonoset" conducts periodic services, prayer, voodoo, prayers for various occasions, confession and communion at the bedside of the sick.
Father Radoslav:
Stay he althy and don't lose your humanity
“What can a clergyman wish for, apart from he alth and strengthening of faith, fear of God and not to lose the human in ourselves. In these dynamic and global times we live in, we seem to be losing the main thing, namely love. In our hectic everyday life, we should not lose the image and likeness of God, which is in each one of us.
In recent years, Bulgarians really enter the temple with faith and hope. There is a revival of the young, their conversion to the temple, and this is joyful. More and more young people, unburdened, enter the Lord's doors with hope and love, more and more fill the temples with their pure hearts.
As much as I can, I serve on holidays, take care of the chapel at Alexandrovska hospital, meet with patients when they seek me or need me. You can find me at the Church of St. Georgi", at "Pette Kosheta", the parish priest Radoslav Vutov shared with us with strong wishes for he alth and many years of prosperity days before Christmas.
