AN ISSUE THAT ALL HUMANITY WORLDWIDE NEEDS TO KNOW UNDERSTAND AND COPY.. BECAUSE THE CHANGE OF THE WORLD IS WITHIN THE HAND OF THE MAN
A message the entire world must hear, understand, and imitate — because the change of the world lies in the hands of ordinary people like him.
As we all know, the divine gift of myrovlysia — the flowing of holy myrrh from the relics of a saint — is something extraordinarily rare and exalted, a special grace bestowed by God the Awarder only upon a very few among those who struggle. There are strict, unyielding, and absolutely necessary conditions for this unique and exclusive gift to be granted.
Listen carefully now, my brothers: hear how this man received that very gift — and mark this well: he was not a monk, not even among the clergy. He was a married layman! Yes! A married layman!
This story was shared with us by a brother who is the grandson of this myrrh-flowing soul. We share it especially because this account shatters many myths, false beliefs, and stereotypes that often circulate in wider Ecclesia circles.
This story is absolutely true and authentic. It came to us not through our own initiative or search, but as an unexpected, unprovoked narration — a seemingly chance encounter. Personally, I wish I had understood in the Spirit and in Truth the full weight, value, and significance of what I heard at that very moment when I was a hearing witness. Unfortunately, my scattered character and my passions did not allow me to delve deeply, to grasp it fully, to accept it, and to live it. I pray that, by God’s grace, you will not fall into the same mistake. Instead, be like the wisest merchants: “sell everything you have and buy the pearl of great price.”
The man who witnessed these events and narrated them to me comes from a devout, large Orthodox Christian family that came out of this man father Stelas. He himself lives a spiritual struggle. Therefore, his word and this story carry special weight and value. I present it to you exactly as it was told to me, without unnecessary or superfluous details.
Let me say only this in introduction:
On the Day of Judgment, we will see many surprises. People who were “shadows” here on earth will shine like the sun, while others who appeared bright and glorious will stand there dim and completely invisible.
Moreover, it is not the outward appearance in a person that determines his Salvation, but the hidden and unknown. Neither thoughts, nor words, nor deeds, nor all that a person can perceive or achieve, nor even whether he is a clergyman or a layman, a monk or married — none of these will be the cause or reason for a person’s Salvation or his ranking among the saved. What truly matters, by God’s Mercy, is the free choice of the will, the mindset, the determination, the sacrifice, the selflessness, the offering, the compassion, the impartiality, the justice, the truth, the forgiveness, the almsgiving, the readiness, the kindness, the meekness, the humility, the absence of judgment, and in a word, obedience to Gods Will, the blamelessness of conscience, spiritual courage, and endurance.
In short: it is the powers and the quality of the powers of the human soul — those special talents given and granted by the All-Good God — which we are all called to manage, to trade with, and to multiply in this life, in imitation of the Lord and in fulfillment of all His most Ηoly Commandments.
And now the story itself:
The grandfather of our brother, father Stelas, was a poor man who lived mainly from farming the land. He was a person who never shirked daily toil — from sunrise to sunset.
In the days when he was young, there was great poverty in his region. Many people could barely survive. In a known family, relatives, fearing that an orphan girl would perish from hunger, decided to hand her over to an institution.
In that era there were no special orphanages; so the little girl was necessarily placed in an asylum where people with mental illnesses were mainly housed.
Although the girl was completely normal and healthy when she entered, while living there she unavoidably acquired the habits and behaviors of the other inmates.
Father Stelas knew the situation in every detail. Although he had absolutely no natural obligation to intervene, when he reached marriageable age he set in motion all the necessary procedures so that he could marry this girl — with the sole purpose of delivering her from the hell of the asylum. And so it happened.
When the girl came out of the asylum, she was in no way different from the other inmates — even though, as we said, she had been perfectly healthy in mind and soul when she was taken there as a child.
Father Stelas with his love and patience, by the grace of God, managed to restore his wife perfectly to full health. Not only that, but together they had many children, among them the mother of the brother who gave us this account.
The years passed. Father Stelas paid the common debt of all mankind: he fell asleep in the Lord and was buried. Three years later, his son-in-law (the father of our brother) together with his son went to perform the exhumation of the bones.
The tomb was opened — and an ineffable fragrance flooded the place. When they reached the bones, they saw that the clothes had remained incorrupt and were soaked in myrrh! The myrrh was indescribably fragrant and was moistening the tomb, the clothes, and the bones themselves.
The father and son completed the exhumation.
From that day and for fifteen full days, even though they washed their hands daily as usual, the same fragrance remained unchanged on their hands and in the surrounding air!
We said that this grandfather, as a human being, was a poor, simple, pious, hardworking layman. The brother even told me that in his “sitting” (his relaxation) he could drink four okas -that is about five kilos, eleven pounds- of wine… AND YET THIS MAN BECAME A MYRRH-STREAMER — something that is sometimes not even found among Great Martyrs!!!
He became a Myrrh- Streamer because ..''he saved a soul from death, and thus covered a multitude of sins''.
Now let no one be reckless or hasty and turn into a drinker because of this story. First do what father Stelas did — and only then try the wine… and also manage never to become drunk, because father Stelas drank the wine and never the wine father Stelas, he never had been seen drunk.
Brothers, I do not know about you, but I personally understand this: God the Holy One was so greatly pleased by the sacrificial love of His child that, although he was a layman, married, and even a great drinker by circumstance, He granted him the gift of myrrh-flowing in order to reveal to all of us how much He is pleased by the practice of sacrificial love.
Because He Himself gave His soul on the Cross to redeem us from the devil and from death — Amen, truly! — father Stelas imitated the Lord in this matter, so that He might grant him, and through him to all of us as an example, this greatest of all gifts.
This gift is possessed by only a few Saints who are called Myrrh-Streamers, and they usually come from the rank of the Venerable or the Martyrs.
Forgive me if at this point I add the following: the only comparable or even greater gift that surpasses what was given to father Stelas is an incorrupt body — or part of an incorrupt body — together with Myrrh-Streaming and this is usually granted in very certain and few cases to Venerable Saints, Virgin-Martyrs, or Great Martyrs.
We mention this so that we may all clearly understand into which choir of Saints the All-Good God has ranked father Stellas, and the significance of the reason for which He ranked him there — even though he was a layman, married, and a strong drinker. Yet among even the Venerable Virgin-Martyrs, only few attain this gift!
I have the thought, brothers, that if he didn't drink, perhaps his whole body would have remained incorrupt, or at least part of it… But I will stop here. I will say no more, because “Wonderful is God in His saints!”
At one moment I had a problem, a difficulty, and I asked him for help… He proved to be swift to hear and handed to me the solution to my problem!
These are the facts, my good brothers, and we give glory, honor, and worship to the Holy Lord and God and Savior of us, Jesus Christ!
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
This is not just a story. This is a living call to every human heart on earth: The Kingdom of God is built by ordinary hands that choose sacrificial love. Copy it. Live it. Change the world with it.
