The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-24

800 ~ 90 0C@Ao
and by no means a religious man. would
not consent to her leaving the house. Much
vexed. she went to her window. and was
astonished 10 find she could hear every
word as distinctly as If she had been on
the spot. Her husband asked why she did
not come down, and she said she was
listening to the sermon. He laughed at the
notion. but. going upstairs, found he could
hear the words spoken quite plainly.
St Petersburg has its strong men and
pugilists. as well as other headquarters OF
-sport-London, New York. Chicago. One
or them, called Bull Serge" is a danger
Gus character. When in his cups he Is a
match for ten policemen. In January last
Papa Ivan happened to be on a visit to the
capital when Bull Serge was on one of his
periodical rampages. He had assailed a
dozen persons ere it was possible to re-
strain him. Officers were besieging him in
the corner Of a public house, but were
afraid to go further, one man having al
ready suffered the loss Of a finger. another
that OF his nose. in combat with the brute,
who threatened to have a dozen ears before
he got through. St. John, learning from
the crowd in front Of the saloon what had
happened. entered and. brushing the po-
Hceman aside. approached Bull Serge.
Take a care. black coat" Numbered the
rufian. you are overstepping the death
line"
II see you don't know me, brother"
smiled the priest. 81 am John Of Cron-
stadt, sent by the Lord to prevent you
from doing further mischief"
est John?' cried Bull Serge. In a
changed voice.
Just plain Papa Ivan. Come hitler,
Serge
The bully trembled at the sound of the
gentle voice. hung his head and fell heavily
on the ground. striking his forehead thrice
on the marble slab. Then he crawled for
ward on all fours and licked the sandals Of
the man Of God, like the whipped cur he
was.
MANAGED WITH GENTLENESS.
You see how easily he is managed with
q little gentleness." said the good priest.
addressing the police lieutenant, who in
the meantime had arrived on the scene. Il
pray you. leave Serge to me for a little
while. If 1 can't cure him of his vicious
ness l promise to lead him to prison with
my own hand" Accordingly the pugilist
was paroled in the custody Of Papa Ivan.
who lodged and fed him for a week. max
ing constant prayer on his behalf, and dis
missed him perfectly cured and gentle as
a lamb. And, what is more, Serge has
kept on the path of righteousness ever
since and is now a useful member Of So
ciety.
Papa Ivan was not always a millionaire;
indeed, his initial campaigns for humanity
and charity were fought under the most
distressing circumstances, and, like the
Savior, he Inc his coworkers often lacked
a crust of bread to assuage their hunger.
This was before the late Car Alexander's
trust in him had made the Cronstadt rector
a prominent figure before all the Russias.
Once the home where he attempted to take
care Of nineteen poor men and women was
wholly without food for two days. Then,
in desperation, the holy man cried to
heaven:
20 Blessed Savior, tender Father, at Thy
command 1 have built this house, and wilt
Thou leave Thy servants to die for want
of bread? Good master, give us food or
we perish. Send US a few loaves of bread.
Our wants are not great, but great is Thy
power and infinite Thy love-"
The saint wrote Gown the above prayer
for your correspondent and continued:
IN ACAA0 ~ L q 6AOOI IA y
In the street. 1t came from a swarm of
beggars following a wagon loaded with
food and bound for my asylum. We all
had plenty then and never afterwards
wanted for anything. The food sent in the
nick of time was the gift of a kind old lady
who had become interested in my work.
and. learning of the straits we were in,
nobly came to our rescue
HEALER OF DEFORMITIES.
Many of St. Johns cures of rheumatism,
paralysis and kindred diseases approach
the miraculous. but Papa Ivan would be
the last man in the world TO admit it. A
particularly interesting case is that of the
little son of a ST. Petersburg army Of
fcer, born with his arms glued to his
side and his legs TO his thighs. The head
OF the child. too, was loathsome to con-
template, horrifying all who saw it. The
child was confined to a Cronstadt nurse,
who, in the course of time, grew to be very
fond of her charge and anxiously concealed
his deformities. When the child was a
year old she showed him to st. John, whc
prayed over him and taught the nurse
to massage the little ones face and limbs
He also ordered her to substitute loose
garments for the swathing bands in which
Russian children of tender age are or.
dinarily arrayed. The child took a great
liking to the mild priest, and when his
outing time was near always cried TO be
taken to church, where he listened with
evident pleasure to the chanting and organ
music. Papa Ivan noticed this with pleas
ure and became daily more devoted TO the
little cripple. taking care to massage and
otherwise treat him according to sound
natural and scientific principles. This went
on for a year or longer, until one day
when the child was in the chapel. he raised
his arms and folded his hands in imitation
of st. John. lisping Jesus" and "holy
mother" Later the child also gained the
use of his legs, and his head, hideously
formed at the birth. is now normally
shaped, thanks to the priests personal eff
forts and advice. Yet very few people In
Cronstadt will acknowledge that, every
body insisting that nothing short Of a
miracle could have produced such glofious
results.
Papa Ivan lives up to his sanity repu.
tation in every way possible, save that
Of suffering for the sake Of suffering. 81
have little respect for those story-boob
saints who gloried in acts OF unmanly
humility" he said to your correspondent