For centuries, countless souls have knelt before this holy icon, pouring out their sorrows and prayers. But what happened when a skeptical philosopher stepped into this sacred space? Watch as he experiences a divine revelation that changes everything!
This is a video recording of Fr. Constantin Galeriu (+2003), one of the most well-known priests and spiritual fathers from Bucharest, Romania.
Video source (watch the full video here): FoodForSpirit
https://youtu.be/G33RskeywPg, around year 1993-1995
Fr. Constantin:
Think, beloved: man is called to an eternal future, to an everlasting ascent. But does the entire ensemble of euphoria and oneiric (dreamlike) experiences through which we attempt to forget our troubles, our burdens, truly elevate us? I often think of films, of the dreamlike spectacles we witness—especially when the Olympic Games begin—so many colors, so many attempts at ascent, at elevation. I wondered how much these things truly raise us up in our very being, in our spirit.
Yet the holy icon carries within it this prophetic dimension, filled with grace, lifting up the faithful soul. There are, indeed, wonderworking icons that bear this divine message.
Allow me to share the testimony of a philosopher who was skeptical, doubtful in his heart, filled with inner turmoil. He entered a church where there was a famous wonderworking icon. As he stepped inside, he beheld a multitude of faithful kneeling before the icon. Their heads were bowed, absorbed in contemplation, united with the divine. And he sensed how the entire atmosphere, their very beings, seemed transfigured.
As he stood there, praying and pleading with God to enlighten him—the doubter—suddenly, his spirit was illumined. What did he understand in that moment of enlightening, instructive radiance? He realized that, on one hand, the icon to which the faithful had come to pray was itself drawing them in, radiating the divine, the divine grace within it.
On the other hand, in his own deep contemplation—where one thought called forth another—he grasped how, for centuries, countless souls had fallen before this sacred image. Thousands upon thousands of souls, over the centuries. And he saw the icon imbued, penetrated by their sorrows, their tears, their cries.
Think of it! The human spirit, invoking, praying—thought itself is energy. And all these prayers had entered into the icon, filling it with divine grace. It became the very meeting place between the divine and the human. And at that moment, the philosopher, too, fell to his knees, uniting himself with the multitude who, in that instant, truly felt heaven upon earth.
He understood that the words of the Lord’s Prayer were being fulfilled before his very eyes: “On earth as it is in heaven.” O Lord, let Thy light, Thy truth, Thy love, and Thy saving power be made manifest!
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