Priest Ioan Istrati
A priest told me a miracle he lived. He was accused unjustly of some terrible deeds. Knowing he was innocent he burst into tears being in the car. He cried for half an hour.
Then he looked at the dashboard of his car where he had a plasticized icon with the Theotokos as a baby at three years old with a lily in her hand. He wondered: how do you allow such injustice my Mother? He heard a voice in his head: I was accused injustly too by the lawless.
Wiping his tears the priest looked carefully at the icon with the Theotokos. All the icon was filled with teardrops inside the outside plastic. He was stunned by such a miracle. In that moment a huge scent of heavenly lilies filled the car where he was. It was something so overwhelming as if the whole heaven had fallen into his heart. Nothing else mattered then, nothing else meant anything except for that spring of beauty. If until then he had cried out of pain, of fury and distress now his tears fell down out of his joy, a joy greater than all heavens.
He told me: each moment on this earth it is a longing to feel once again that scent of lilies. There is nothing in the world so wonderful.
Since then he kept that icon at his chest. Because of the tears the colors faded and the face of the tearful Virgin was hardly distinguished.
I kissed too that icon which bore like in a divine shrine the tears of the Theotokos.
