One poor old woman had two children: a son and a daughter. The son became a monk, and the daughter, because of poverty, committed some crime, and the duke, the head of the city, wanted to put her to death according to the law of the court. The mother pulled her hair out and, upon coming to the duke, in despair said to him: “I beg you, duke: if you kill my daughter, then kill me as well; for without her there is no one to even bring a glass of water to me, and I cannot live without her. I had one son, but he became a monk, and now lives a holy life in a monastery”. The duke told her: “Call your son, about whom you say that he is holy. Let him pray for his sister; then I will let her go”. The old woman went to her son and announced to him the will of the duke. The monk son answered her: “Believe me, my mother, even if the prince kills you with your daughter, I will not leave the monastery, for I have died to the world.” After this, the mother first begged her son for a long time, but then, seeing that nothing was helping, she cruelly reproached him and then told the duke everything. The duke said to her again: “Bring your son, a monk, whom you yourself call holy”. She replied: “No, Vladyka, he is not holy and does not know God; for a long time I begged him to go to you, but he said to me: “if you and your daughter were condemned to death, even then I would not go; for I have died to the world before you”. The duke was astonished at the monk’s firm faith and was convinced that he was a great servant of God. And he said to the mother: “Believe me, old woman, if you brought a monk here, I would never have let your daughter go. But since he did not come here, I am convinced that he is a great man before the Lord. Take your daughter and go with God. I believe that your son prays for me. “
Once the Greeks led to Monk Agathon the possessed person and asked him to heal him. The elder said to the demon: “Come out of the creation of God!” The demon answered: “I’ll go out, just let me ask you: who are the righteous and who are the sinners?” The saint said: “A sinner is me, and who is righteous, God alone knows.” Hearing this, the demon cried out in a loud voice: “Behold, I go out for your humility!” – and immediately went out.
One priest was imprisoned in a camp. And the camp authorities decided to celebrate Easter in their own way – to gather all the prisoners, and to make the priest deny God before them. “You will go out and say that there is no God. Because if you won’t…” – the jailers instructed the priest.
He had no choice. The priest appears in front of his fellow prisoners and firstly, since it was Easter, he greets them:
– Christ is risen.
– Truly He is risen! – they answer him in unison.
– Christ is risen! – the father repeats to all four sides and leaves the rostrum.
– What are you doing?! – the camp authorities come up to him.
And he answered:
– Well, how can I say that there is no Christ when all the people claim that He is risen?!
Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Viktor_Gurev/prolog-v-pouchenijah-na-kazhdyj-den-goda/291
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Viktor_Gurev/prolog-v-pouchenijah-na-kazhdyj-den-goda/289
https://obitel-minsk.ru/chitat/den-za-dnyom/2020/ob-osvyaschenii-razgovlenii-i-doklade-genseku
