Met. Hilarion (Alfeyev) believes St. Nicholas once saved him from death

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, has related a story of miraculous rescue from St. Nicholas, whose relics were delivered to Moscow, reports Interfax-Religion.

“It was in Lithuania,” he said, speaking on the “Church and the World” program on TV station Russia-24. “I was a young priest, with an inexperienced driver behind the wheel, and the car driving into a band of fog,” the metropolitan continued.

“I heard banging sounds (as it turns out, the car had fallen off a cliff edge). Arriving at the scene of the accident, the police stated that surviving such a fall was impossible,” making it clear that they had been saved by Divine intervention. “As we were falling, I distinctly felt that St. Nicholas was present there,” the prelate recalled. “It wasn’t a vision, but I clearly felt it,” he continued.

As the UOJ reported, from May 21 to July 28, for the first time in 930 years, fragments of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, kept in the basilica of the city of Bari (Italy), will be staying in Moscow and St. Petersburg for veneration.

Read also

Myltsi Monastery shows pictures of shrine's revival from ruins

Archive footage of the St. Nicholas Monastery in Myltsi dated 1994 and modern photos of the revived monastery have been published online.

Embassy of Ukraine holds "prayer for Ukraine" at Weiling Wall in Jerusalem

The Ukrainian Embassy performed a ceremony at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

Founder of children's shelter in Athens asks for help to avoid prison

The Athens Court of Appeals sentenced the head of the Greek foundation to 9.5 years in prison with the right of redemption. 

In Butove, OCU supporters hold meeting on UOC parish "transfer"

In the House of Culture, residents of the village of Butove, Rivne region, decided the fate of St. John's Church of the UOC.

His Beatitude reads first part of Great Penitential Canon at Lavra

Metropolitan Onuphry led the Great Compline at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, with the reading of the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete.

Orthodox youth meetings held in deaneries of UOC's Rivne Eparchy

Spiritual and educational events ahead of Great Lent were held in the deaneries of the Rivne Eparchy with the participation of clergy and Orthodox youth.