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Irene Chrysovalantou

20 bytes added, 16:40, October 28, 2006
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:"I am a sailor from Patinas and I joined a boat coming to this town for business. As we were passing the coast of that island, we saw a very old man on the shore who called to us to wait for him. We could not because we were near the rocks, so with a good wind behind us we left. He then shouted all the more loudly ordering the boat to stop. This it did at once. Then he came to us walking on the waves and soon entered the boat. Then taking three apples from beneath his cloak, he gave them to me saying, 'When you go to the capital, give these to the patriarch and tell him that the Almighty sends them to him from His beloved [[disciple]], John.' After that he took another three and asked that these be presented to you, the abbess of Chrysovalantou. To you he said, 'Eat these and all that your beautiful soul desires will be granted you because this gift comes to you from John in Paradise.' Having said this he blessed God, wished us well, and disappeared."
Irene offered a prayer of thanksgiving, with tears of joy, for St. [[John the Theologian]], the [[Apostle]], [[Evangelist]], and beloved disciple of Christ. The sailor asked for a blessing and left the monastery. Irene fasted for a week, thanking God for the apples. After this, she ate small pieces of the first apple daily, without any other form of sustenance, for forty days; when she ate, she smelt as if she was exuding [[myrrh]]; during this time, the remaining apples became more beautiful and aromatic. On [[Holy_Week|Holy Thursday]], she directed her sisterhood to receive Communion; after the Liturgy, the second apple was divided between them; when eaten, so sweet was the taste that the sisters felt as if their souls were being fed. The third apple was kept until Irene would know what to do with it.
On [[Holy_Week|Holy Friday]], during the singing of the [[hymn]]s of the [[Passion]], Irene had a vision of countless radiant angelic beings entering the church: some with stringed instruments, singing beautiful hymns to God; others with goblets of myrrh, to be poured onto the [[altar]], which filled the monastery with a wonderful fragrance. Among these beings was a particularly majestic man, a face radiant like the sun, who was treated with devotion. He approached the altar and, taking the shroud offered to him by the other beings, covered the now-fragrant alter.
The angel who stood by the altar, with great sadness, cried out to the majestic one, "Until when, O Lord?" to which a voice replied, "Until the second Solomon, when the heights will be united with the depths and all will be one. Then the Lord will be exalted and the memory of Irene will be glorified." Irene took this as confirmation of her teaching that no one, whether herself or another of the sisters, could be glorified until they achieved the Kingdom in death. Irene gathered the community, reiterating the necessity of running from worldly honour to achieve and behold the glory of God.
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