In the hot summer months, a four-member family happened to be away from their home, in very difficult circumstances. The head of the household was very ill and after three months even the doctors lost hope of his healing. It was as if the heat and exhaustion had taken away his last strength. He couldn’t even open his mouth, let alone eat. His wife could never forget the strange look on doctor’s face and the voice in which he somehow strangely said that he would drop by tomorrow. It sounded like he was announcing her parting with her husband. So she sent the children into the neighborhood, two houses away from where they lived, and then opened the door wide to let in some fresh air.
“My sadness was also compounded by the concern; how I was going to feed the two little children all by myself,” said this gentle woman after a few years. “Eh, if I were home, I would go to the Smolen Cemetery to blessed Xenia. At her grave I would pray and weep my sorrow and pain.
My thought was interrupted by the sound of the gate, and then a strange guest appeared silently at the door. I couldn’t determine her age. Her clothes were very unusual. She was wearing warm, soft felt boots on her feet, and she was dressed in an all in folds tailored coat. On her head was a white fluffy headscarf, tied as the women were usually tying it during the angry Russian winters. She looked very strange and, I don’t know how, but at the same time beautiful.
” Dear, I’m looking for Pirogovs. Tell me, where do they live, ”- she asked me in a soft voice.
“Two houses away,” I said.
‘And what, your husband is not well?’ she asked, pointing to the door of the room where the patient was lying.
Then she silently passed by me, walked into the patient’s room and stared at him for only one minute.
“Listen, dear, don’t grieve. A very good doctor came by yesterday. People are saying that he’s very knowledgeable. He advises that patients should be fed every half hour in very small portions- only two teaspoons: first some milk, then tea, then some soup, and then whatever else you come up with…”
“But he has not even opened his mouth for three days!” – I answered.
“Don’t worry, just give it a try! Now, I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry.”
And, she disappeared so quietly that the door of the exit gate was not heard. I went out to the patio. Looked to the right and left, the street was bathed in bright sunshine, but my winter guest was nowhere to be seen. Only then did I realize all the disparity between her winter clothes and this unbearable heat.
I went in to the patient, and he very quietly asked me to give him something to drink. With trembling hands, I brought him a cup of tea, still unable to even dare to believe that this faint air of life was a hint of his possible healing.
“Who was that with me?” the patient asked.
“An unknown woman,” I answered.
He sighed deeply, as if a great burden fell off his back. Then, sinking into sleep, he said:
” I feel better. Who was that with me?”
The children returned. I asked them if a woman dressed in winter clothes visited the Pirogov family. They told me that neither she nor anyone else had come to the Pirogov’s house. I went to my husband with a cup of milk. He greeted me with a faint smile on his face. He looked so thin that he didn’t look like himself anymore. He drank half a cup of milk and then asked me again:
“Who was that with me?”
I explained to him, as best as I could, the appearance of a mysterious guest and promised to go to the Pirogov’s to ask them about her.
After asking my neighbors, they told me they had no visitors, and when I described the stranger, they began to mock me, saying:
“In the heat like that in a coat and boots? Well, it must have been either some kind of a ghost or a fool for Christ.
Getting no answers, I returned home. My husband was already sitting on the bed, leaning against the pillows.
“What have you found out?” he asked me.
“Nothing; she wasn’t there,”I answered him.
“Then listen to me,” my husband said. “I was almost dead. I had neither the strength to open my eyes nor to call you for help. Suddenly I felt like someone was approaching me and instantly a kind of life-giving freshness hit me. It only took a moment and I strained to reach the stream of that freshness. Now I know I’m recovering. Did you pray? Whom did you call for help?
“I prayed to the blessed Xenia,” I said through sobs.
When my husband fully recovered, he began to inquire who the doctor that was “passing by” was. It turned out that there was no doctor passing by and no one saw the unusual winter guest.
My soul knows it was Blessed Xenia. Infinitely grateful to God and Saint Xenia, I have never ceased to invoke God’s saint Xenia in my prayers:
Holy Xenia, pray to God for us sinners!
Blessed St. Xenia has helped me uncountable times, I dearly love her. Be prepared that if you ask for her intercession you will see heard prayers very fast – sometimes instantly! She is a remarkable saint and I advise you run to her aid at all times. You could thank her with prayers for the soul of her husband Andrei, I have read somewhere that this was her request.