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| St. Paisios the Athonite (Arsenios) as a soldier standing in deep snow. |
Saint Paisios the Athonite narrated the following:
In the past, with what sacrifices the girls kept their chastity! I remember during the war, they had forced some villagers with their animals and they were shut in up on a hill from the snow.* Under the snowy fir trees, they made some kind of sheds with fir branches, to protect themselves from the cold. The women were forced to seek protection from fellow villagers, people they knew. A girl and an old woman were from a distant village and they were also forced to enter one of these fir sheds. But unfortunately there were some unbelievers and cowards, who are not shaken even in times of war. They do not grieve for their neighbors who are injured or killed, but, if they find an opportunity, they even seek to sin, because they are afraid that they will be killed and will not have time to celebrate, while they should rather, at least in times of danger, repent.
One of those who, as I mentioned, did not think of repenting in wartime, but of sinning, was pestering the girl so badly that she was forced to flee. She preferred to freeze, even to die outside in the snow, rather than lose her honor. Seeing that the girl had left, the poor old woman followed her tracks and found her thirty minutes away, under a small shed of a chapel of the Honorable Forerunner. The Honorable Forerunner took an interest in the honorable girl and led her to his chapel, which the girl did not even know about.
And then what did the Honorable Forerunner do? He appeared to a soldier,** in his sleep, and told him to go to his chapel as soon as possible. So the soldier got up and set off into the snow-lit night and went to the chapel; he knew roughly where it was. But what did he see! An old woman and a girl, knee-deep in snow, bruised and battered from the cold. He immediately opened the little chapel,*** they went inside and somehow recovered. The soldier had nothing else to offer them except his scarf for the old woman and a glove for each of them, and he told them to switch for each hand.
They told him about the temptation they encountered: “Well,” the soldier said to the girl, “what made you decide to leave at night, in the snow and to an unknown place?” And she replied: “I was the only one who could do that and I believed that Christ would help me from then on.” Then the soldier, completely spontaneously, out of pain and not just to console them, said: “Your suffering is over. Tomorrow you will be in your homes.” With these words they were very happy and warmed up even more.
And indeed, the L.O.M.2 started,**** they opened the road and the next morning the military transports were there, and the poor women went to their homes. Such Greek girls who are adorned with divine grace, and not those who are stripped of divine grace, should be admired and praised. Then that beast – may God forgive me – went and reported to the Commander that such and such soldier broke the door of the chapel and put the transports, that is, the mules, inside! The Commander said to him: “I don’t believe he would do such a thing!” And finally he ended up in prison.
In the past, with what sacrifices the girls kept their chastity! I remember during the war, they had forced some villagers with their animals and they were shut in up on a hill from the snow.* Under the snowy fir trees, they made some kind of sheds with fir branches, to protect themselves from the cold. The women were forced to seek protection from fellow villagers, people they knew. A girl and an old woman were from a distant village and they were also forced to enter one of these fir sheds. But unfortunately there were some unbelievers and cowards, who are not shaken even in times of war. They do not grieve for their neighbors who are injured or killed, but, if they find an opportunity, they even seek to sin, because they are afraid that they will be killed and will not have time to celebrate, while they should rather, at least in times of danger, repent.
One of those who, as I mentioned, did not think of repenting in wartime, but of sinning, was pestering the girl so badly that she was forced to flee. She preferred to freeze, even to die outside in the snow, rather than lose her honor. Seeing that the girl had left, the poor old woman followed her tracks and found her thirty minutes away, under a small shed of a chapel of the Honorable Forerunner. The Honorable Forerunner took an interest in the honorable girl and led her to his chapel, which the girl did not even know about.
And then what did the Honorable Forerunner do? He appeared to a soldier,** in his sleep, and told him to go to his chapel as soon as possible. So the soldier got up and set off into the snow-lit night and went to the chapel; he knew roughly where it was. But what did he see! An old woman and a girl, knee-deep in snow, bruised and battered from the cold. He immediately opened the little chapel,*** they went inside and somehow recovered. The soldier had nothing else to offer them except his scarf for the old woman and a glove for each of them, and he told them to switch for each hand.
They told him about the temptation they encountered: “Well,” the soldier said to the girl, “what made you decide to leave at night, in the snow and to an unknown place?” And she replied: “I was the only one who could do that and I believed that Christ would help me from then on.” Then the soldier, completely spontaneously, out of pain and not just to console them, said: “Your suffering is over. Tomorrow you will be in your homes.” With these words they were very happy and warmed up even more.
And indeed, the L.O.M.2 started,**** they opened the road and the next morning the military transports were there, and the poor women went to their homes. Such Greek girls who are adorned with divine grace, and not those who are stripped of divine grace, should be admired and praised. Then that beast – may God forgive me – went and reported to the Commander that such and such soldier broke the door of the chapel and put the transports, that is, the mules, inside! The Commander said to him: “I don’t believe he would do such a thing!” And finally he ended up in prison.
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* In Makryvaltos, of mountainous Nafpaktia.
** The Honorable Forerunner appeared to Arsenios (the name of Saint Paisios the Athonite in the world), who was sleeping at that time, and told him to go to the chapel as soon as possible.
*** He had the keys to light the lamps.
**** L.Ο.Μ.2 = Mountain Transport Company.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
