A
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX SAINT OF THE 16TH CENTURY
The
miraculous appearance of the Trinitarian God to
Saint
Alexander of Svir
This
miracle happened in the following way.
In 1508, when Alexander was sixty years old, he began his ascetic
struggles. These struggles went beyond
human endurance with hunger, thirst and enduring the extreme cold. He hoped that by encountering the fierce cold
weather he would avoid eternal damnation.
But the demons seeing that Alexander was attacking them and realizing
that they would be obliterated by his prayers, proceeded to terrorize him. They would appear to him at times as wild
animals and other times as snakes. These
entities would tread upon him while screaming like wild animals. They would also attack him with many unclean
temptations. One night as Saint Alexander was walking towards his monastic
cell, there appeared before him an army of demons who were attacking him with
great ferocity. He would pray for hours
in his monastic cell.