1. Miraculous delivery from a Swedish raid
During the dark years of the 17th century, the Monastery of Saint Adrian of Ondrusov was raided multiple times by hordes of Swedish and Polish invaders.
A large band of Swedish warriors once approached the Island of Gach in several large ships. The island was only two kilometres away from the monastery, and the Swedes began to prepare for landing. Suddenly, a dense fog descended, through which they saw a large number of troops ready to defend the monastery. Not expecting to encounter a large opposing army, the Swedes turned their boats around and sailed away. When the fog melted, the large defending army turned out to be a grove of birches. The monastics had been praying before the Venerable Adrian for their rescue, and praised to the Lord and the saint for his miraculous intercession.
2. The rescue of Hegumens Innocent
Hegumen Innocent of Valaam Monastery has left a hand-written account – which has survived to this day – which describes the miraculous events that had inspired him to commence the God-pleasing work of rebuilding the Ondrusov Monastery.
In August 1789, Starets Innocent of blessed memory – then a hieromonk – was sailing across Lake Ladoga from the town of New Ladoga to Valaam Island. As they were passing the Hermitage of Ondrusov, they were caught in a violent storm. The boats were thrown ashore and broken to pieces. Through the will of God, the monastics landed a bare rock, unharmed. Huge waves were towering over them, and they were expecting death at any moment. The righteous Starets Innocent was praying to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Venerable Martyr Adrian imploring them to intercede before the Lord for their delivery. He made a vow to reopen the once-abandoned Ondrusov Monastery.
With firm faith in the intercession of the saints, the monastics made a raft from their belts and the pieces of their boat. They sailed on it amid the storm towards the monastery founded by Saint Adrian, and reached their destination in safety.
A month later, Father Innocent saw a vision of Saint Nicholas and Saint Adrian. They reminded him of his vow and predicted another trial for him. Exactly a year later, Starets Innocent was caught in another raging storm off the site of Ondrusov Monastery, and it was even still worse than the last one.
It was a dark night, thunder and lightening were raging without stop. The monks were blinded by the lightening, and the water from the heavy rain was filling the boat to the rim, causing it to tilt to the side amid the tall waves. A violent gust of wind broke the masts and ripped away the sails. The Starets was thrown overboard twice, but his faith was strong, and he succeeded in reaching the shore in safety with all the other monks.
3. The miracle at the Village of Obzhi
During World War 2, the region of Karelia was occupied by Finland. In 1944, the Red Army launched a major offensive on the Karelian front. The environs of Obzhi Village were exposed to heavy fire from artillery weapons and Katyusha rocket launchers. The Finnish troops had left the village before the offensive, but this was not known to the Red Army artillery troops. The shells were falling close to the village houses; the village was caught in smoke, fire and a deafening rumble. The villages were fleeing their homes in fear, and found refuge together with the cattle in a large gulley near a river.
Terrified by the shelling, a cow ran out of the shelter and was mired in a fen. But nobody came to its help until the shelling stopped and the forward combat forces approached. Finally, the villagers left their shelter when they felt it was safe.
As the advance artillery detachments were marching forward, a long line of rocket launchers was rolling through the village. An artillery captain came up to the villagers and looked closely into their faces, as of he was looking for someone. He asked, “Where can I find the grey-haired old man with a beard dressed in white?” But the villagers said that they did not know of such a man. The captain then told them that they had aimed one of the rocket launchers at the village as they were shelling its environs. As they were about to fire, an old man came out, raised his hand in a sign to halt the fire and said: “There are only civilians here”. The captain wanted to ask the old man more questions, but he disappeared in the smoke without a trace. Having heard the captain’s story, Nastya Bibikova, a resident of the village stepped forward and said that it was Saint Adrian of Ondrusov; he came to their rescue and saved their lives.
Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://azbyka.ru/days/p-prepodobnyj-adrian-ondrusovskij-chudotvorec
