...continued from part one.
A. A Light For Our Own Trials
When you commemorate a righteous person, the people leap with inner joy and hope. They find in them support in their personal struggle and under the shadow of their trials they rest, breathe, bloom and move forward. A heroine of pain is "Sister Mariam", the well-known "Theia Maroula" from Limassol.
What I will record comes from personal experiences and conversations with her. These are the things that have been running through my mind since the day of her funeral. I thought it good to put them on paper because they are very useful to me and I don't want to forget them.
In the ten years of my acquaintance with the "symbol" of patience, Theia Maroula, I learned so much, that I could write a whole book. Here I will describe only a few things that were strongly impressed on my memory.
She was lying on the bed of pain for 30 whole years. Her body was a martyrdom. There was no part of her body and soul that was not martyric.
She said to us:
"I can understand every pain, because I hurt with every pain."
Her heart became sensitive like a little child.
"You are all my children," she said. "I was not blessed by God with children in order to be able to feel you all as my children. Once we tried to adopt a child and that child couldn't bear to see me in bed and abandoned us. It's okay though, I get it. My situation is difficult. Many times I even told my husband, Christakis, to divorce me and remarry, rebuild his life. He, however, told me: 'I loved one Maroula and there will never be another.'" (cries)
What a sacrifice indeed for both of them. Love finally transcends the whole world and these two had "love". They were a model couple. Whenever I went to her house I realized how poor I was in love.
God tests great souls like gold in the furnace. Theia Maroula was a great soul.
The Panagia herself told a girl about Maroula's ancestral home.
"My people live in this house." Here's how the incident goes:
B. The Friends of the Panagia
A girl, whose father died and then her mother remarried, found herself in a very difficult position. Her stepfather wanted to lure her into prostitution. In order to escape, she desperately fled to the Church of Panagia the Katholiki (Limassol). The church was closed and she was crying outside. Suddenly a woman touches her sweetly on the back.
"Don't be afraid, I have people of mine nearby who will help you." She takes her by the hand and leads her to Theia Maroula's welcoming home. When she got there, the strange black-clad, sweet woman disappears. Then she realized it was the Panagia. This girl was accommodated for some time until the difficulty was overcome.
With such a family, Maroula learned to love people and sympathize with them. Wherever she heard that an old or sick woman wanted help, she ran with great joy.
The age of marriage had come. She married her "Christakis". She did not get to enjoy her marriage when Christakis was suddenly in the hospital in danger of dying.
Maroula prayed. She asked for a miracle. On her love she is unprovoked. She knelt.
"O God, I don't want my Christakis to die. Better give me as many diseases as you want but let him live." The all-wise God who heard her prayer, healed Christakis.
Unknown for what reason, the Lord knows, shortly after this her own 30-year Golgotha begins. She gets sick and has her first operation. It fails. She becomes bedridden. Another thirteen operations followed. Breast cancer, stomach problems, liver problems, herpes, eye problems...etc.
She doesn't get intimidated, she doesn't blame God. Christakis stands beside her as a true hero of love, who gives without asking for anything in return.
We went to their house, it was full of people. Christakis treated and welcomed everyone with a smile. He himself cooked, shopped, washed, ironed, cleaned and generally served his great love Maroula. Theia Maroula was upset to the point that one day she told her Christakis:
"Why don't you put me in an institution and rebuild your life? I don't want to make you unhappy."
"What are you saying, my Maro! I can't live without you. And please God let me go first, because if I lose you I will not bear it but I will die over your grave."
C. The Death of Her Husband
However, the trials continued and Theia Maroula is now about to taste the death of her partner, protector and only relative. After nineteen years of marriage, God calls "her Christakis" to Him to reward him for his efforts and to subject the long-suffering Maroula to the last and most difficult test. He wanted to make her His bride. Her crown was to be completed by also gaining the crown of venerability. She received the crown of martyrdom while lying down. As a nun, she now emerges as a Venerable Martyr.
D. The Day of Death
"My Christakis was away from home and was late to return. I'm waiting, waiting... I was worried...
They brought him to me in the coffin. My heart stopped beating. Sudden death is an unbearable ordeal. And now I have no one in the world. No father, mother, husband, family. I'm utterly alone. I have only God. It's hard guys. Watch out for your companions. There is no one like your partner." (cries)
E. The Great Temptation
Sister Mariam:
"When I realized that I lost my partner I lost it for a moment. My bedside table had a bottle of pills. The wicked one says in my ear: 'Drink them and get it over with. Life has no meaning for you anymore.'
I almost got carried away and killed myself. I gathered my strength. From Hades where I was I shouted with all the strength of my soul. 'God save me!' I started to gather courage. With difficulty I left this word inside me: 'No, I must not deny my God. I will not despair. God will provide.' At that time the door to the room opened. A large cross taller than the door bends and enters the room. He is on it. The Lord Himself. He stood in front of me over my bed. His face bright as the sun. His appearance is peaceful. He looks at me with His merciful gaze and says three words to me:
'Faith, Patience, Hope.'
He disappeared. It leaves an indescribable fragrance in the room and peace in the soul. I was comforted. I took courage. God heard me. Golgotha continues for another eleven years.
They brought helpers to take care of me from abroad. They were good people. But they were not the right ones.
An assistant from Serbia had beaten me early in the morning.
'I can't stand you,' she tells me and her eyes were on fire. 'I will choke you!'
I was shouting and the neighbors saved me. She left, another came. I was thinking:
Where are you my Christaki? God help me to endure. Many diseases. Little understanding."
F. An Angel Lifts Her Up
"Once I had slipped and fell to the floor. The assistant could not lift me. I started freezing on the ground. I cried. 'God, you have so many angels. You see me here and no one can help me. Lord, send me an angel...' I didn't get to finish my conversation and I feel two hands grab me, pick me up, put me on the bed and cover me. I look, I see no one. With tears I thanked the Lord for giving me trials on the one hand and divine consolations on the other."
G. Miracle of Elder Paisios
"I had breast cancer, I was getting ready for surgery the next day. I was in a lot of pain. They had brought me a stone from the grave of Elder Paisios. I took it in my hands. I prayed: 'Elder, look at my pains. I have pain in my back, abdomen, legs and now my chest. Please help me.' I made the sign of the cross with the stone over my breast cancer. I calmed down a bit and I fell asleep. I see Elder Paisios saying to me: 'I have come to take what you have.'
I woke up. I felt the spot and there was nothing. The cancer was gone. The doctor discovered the miracle the next day.
A. A Light For Our Own Trials
When you commemorate a righteous person, the people leap with inner joy and hope. They find in them support in their personal struggle and under the shadow of their trials they rest, breathe, bloom and move forward. A heroine of pain is "Sister Mariam", the well-known "Theia Maroula" from Limassol.
What I will record comes from personal experiences and conversations with her. These are the things that have been running through my mind since the day of her funeral. I thought it good to put them on paper because they are very useful to me and I don't want to forget them.
In the ten years of my acquaintance with the "symbol" of patience, Theia Maroula, I learned so much, that I could write a whole book. Here I will describe only a few things that were strongly impressed on my memory.
She was lying on the bed of pain for 30 whole years. Her body was a martyrdom. There was no part of her body and soul that was not martyric.
She said to us:
"I can understand every pain, because I hurt with every pain."
Her heart became sensitive like a little child.
"You are all my children," she said. "I was not blessed by God with children in order to be able to feel you all as my children. Once we tried to adopt a child and that child couldn't bear to see me in bed and abandoned us. It's okay though, I get it. My situation is difficult. Many times I even told my husband, Christakis, to divorce me and remarry, rebuild his life. He, however, told me: 'I loved one Maroula and there will never be another.'" (cries)
What a sacrifice indeed for both of them. Love finally transcends the whole world and these two had "love". They were a model couple. Whenever I went to her house I realized how poor I was in love.
God tests great souls like gold in the furnace. Theia Maroula was a great soul.
The Panagia herself told a girl about Maroula's ancestral home.
"My people live in this house." Here's how the incident goes:
B. The Friends of the Panagia
A girl, whose father died and then her mother remarried, found herself in a very difficult position. Her stepfather wanted to lure her into prostitution. In order to escape, she desperately fled to the Church of Panagia the Katholiki (Limassol). The church was closed and she was crying outside. Suddenly a woman touches her sweetly on the back.
"Don't be afraid, I have people of mine nearby who will help you." She takes her by the hand and leads her to Theia Maroula's welcoming home. When she got there, the strange black-clad, sweet woman disappears. Then she realized it was the Panagia. This girl was accommodated for some time until the difficulty was overcome.
With such a family, Maroula learned to love people and sympathize with them. Wherever she heard that an old or sick woman wanted help, she ran with great joy.
The age of marriage had come. She married her "Christakis". She did not get to enjoy her marriage when Christakis was suddenly in the hospital in danger of dying.
Maroula prayed. She asked for a miracle. On her love she is unprovoked. She knelt.
"O God, I don't want my Christakis to die. Better give me as many diseases as you want but let him live." The all-wise God who heard her prayer, healed Christakis.
Unknown for what reason, the Lord knows, shortly after this her own 30-year Golgotha begins. She gets sick and has her first operation. It fails. She becomes bedridden. Another thirteen operations followed. Breast cancer, stomach problems, liver problems, herpes, eye problems...etc.
She doesn't get intimidated, she doesn't blame God. Christakis stands beside her as a true hero of love, who gives without asking for anything in return.
We went to their house, it was full of people. Christakis treated and welcomed everyone with a smile. He himself cooked, shopped, washed, ironed, cleaned and generally served his great love Maroula. Theia Maroula was upset to the point that one day she told her Christakis:
"Why don't you put me in an institution and rebuild your life? I don't want to make you unhappy."
"What are you saying, my Maro! I can't live without you. And please God let me go first, because if I lose you I will not bear it but I will die over your grave."
C. The Death of Her Husband
However, the trials continued and Theia Maroula is now about to taste the death of her partner, protector and only relative. After nineteen years of marriage, God calls "her Christakis" to Him to reward him for his efforts and to subject the long-suffering Maroula to the last and most difficult test. He wanted to make her His bride. Her crown was to be completed by also gaining the crown of venerability. She received the crown of martyrdom while lying down. As a nun, she now emerges as a Venerable Martyr.
D. The Day of Death
"My Christakis was away from home and was late to return. I'm waiting, waiting... I was worried...
They brought him to me in the coffin. My heart stopped beating. Sudden death is an unbearable ordeal. And now I have no one in the world. No father, mother, husband, family. I'm utterly alone. I have only God. It's hard guys. Watch out for your companions. There is no one like your partner." (cries)
E. The Great Temptation
Sister Mariam:
"When I realized that I lost my partner I lost it for a moment. My bedside table had a bottle of pills. The wicked one says in my ear: 'Drink them and get it over with. Life has no meaning for you anymore.'
I almost got carried away and killed myself. I gathered my strength. From Hades where I was I shouted with all the strength of my soul. 'God save me!' I started to gather courage. With difficulty I left this word inside me: 'No, I must not deny my God. I will not despair. God will provide.' At that time the door to the room opened. A large cross taller than the door bends and enters the room. He is on it. The Lord Himself. He stood in front of me over my bed. His face bright as the sun. His appearance is peaceful. He looks at me with His merciful gaze and says three words to me:
'Faith, Patience, Hope.'
He disappeared. It leaves an indescribable fragrance in the room and peace in the soul. I was comforted. I took courage. God heard me. Golgotha continues for another eleven years.
They brought helpers to take care of me from abroad. They were good people. But they were not the right ones.
An assistant from Serbia had beaten me early in the morning.
'I can't stand you,' she tells me and her eyes were on fire. 'I will choke you!'
I was shouting and the neighbors saved me. She left, another came. I was thinking:
Where are you my Christaki? God help me to endure. Many diseases. Little understanding."
F. An Angel Lifts Her Up
"Once I had slipped and fell to the floor. The assistant could not lift me. I started freezing on the ground. I cried. 'God, you have so many angels. You see me here and no one can help me. Lord, send me an angel...' I didn't get to finish my conversation and I feel two hands grab me, pick me up, put me on the bed and cover me. I look, I see no one. With tears I thanked the Lord for giving me trials on the one hand and divine consolations on the other."
G. Miracle of Elder Paisios
"I had breast cancer, I was getting ready for surgery the next day. I was in a lot of pain. They had brought me a stone from the grave of Elder Paisios. I took it in my hands. I prayed: 'Elder, look at my pains. I have pain in my back, abdomen, legs and now my chest. Please help me.' I made the sign of the cross with the stone over my breast cancer. I calmed down a bit and I fell asleep. I see Elder Paisios saying to me: 'I have come to take what you have.'
I woke up. I felt the spot and there was nothing. The cancer was gone. The doctor discovered the miracle the next day.
H. She Becomes a Nun
Her life was likened by many to that of recluse ascetics. The fullness of time had come for Theia Maroula to wear the angelic schema. Her name now is “Sister Mariam”. Her face becomes even more sacred, more pained, more peaceful, more calm. People in pain see her and forget the pain. She has from God the gift of the Apostle Barnabas, i.e. of consolation.
I. The End
I saw her a month before her repose. For the first time she is so tired and emaciated.
"How are you doing?" I ask her.
"My end is near. Bring your children so I can see them and say goodbye to them, as well as your wife. I'm not going to live long. I asked God for two things: give me light and reason until the end."
God heard her and until the last moment she had clarity of spirit in a body broken by diseases.
Her journey ended on August 18th 2004. Wednesday. The earth is poorer than ever. However, heaven became rich and we also acquired an intercessor in heaven before the Master.
Let us have her blessing.
Source: Martyrs in the Great Struggle, D.H., Holy Church of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul in Avgoros, Catechetical Publications of Avgoros 2004. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Her life was likened by many to that of recluse ascetics. The fullness of time had come for Theia Maroula to wear the angelic schema. Her name now is “Sister Mariam”. Her face becomes even more sacred, more pained, more peaceful, more calm. People in pain see her and forget the pain. She has from God the gift of the Apostle Barnabas, i.e. of consolation.
I. The End
I saw her a month before her repose. For the first time she is so tired and emaciated.
"How are you doing?" I ask her.
"My end is near. Bring your children so I can see them and say goodbye to them, as well as your wife. I'm not going to live long. I asked God for two things: give me light and reason until the end."
God heard her and until the last moment she had clarity of spirit in a body broken by diseases.
Her journey ended on August 18th 2004. Wednesday. The earth is poorer than ever. However, heaven became rich and we also acquired an intercessor in heaven before the Master.
Let us have her blessing.
Source: Martyrs in the Great Struggle, D.H., Holy Church of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul in Avgoros, Catechetical Publications of Avgoros 2004. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
