"The illiterate grandmother and the Gospel.."

  

A  certain illiterate but pious grandmother went to Church one day and heard the preacher say:

He who does not read the Holy Bible will not be saved!

As soon as the grandmother heard this word, she turned pale, became disappointed and, returning home, said to her daughter:

My child, I will go to hell, because I do not read the Holy Bible!

Her daughter tried to reassure her, but in vain.

One day, the grandmother decided to go to an enlightened elder, to help her.

As soon as the grandmother saw him, she said to him:

My father, I will not be saved, because I do not read the Holy Bible, because I am illiterate!

But the elder reassured her and said to her:

And how were so many illiterate people saved, grandmother? In fact, we also have Saints who were completely illiterate! How were they saved? Letters do not save, but neither does illiteracy bring damnation.

So, grandmother, you will do this: You will take the Gospel, open it to the first page, put your palm on the Gospel and then go to the iconostasis and say the following prayer: ''My Christ, what you write in the Gospel, put into my heart!''.

The next day you will put your palm on the second page and so on.

The grandmother applied the elder's words to the letter for several months. One day at home, her grandchildren were playing and began to speak badly and criticize.

The grandmother heard this and observed them, telling them:

My children, do not judge so that you will not be judged!

Her daughter is a bone!

Mother, what you said, where did you hear it and say it? This is what the Gospel says, you are illiterate, who told you?

My child, I did not hear it from somewhere, but it came from my heart!

From that moment on, the grandmother began to reproduce words of the Gospel, without understanding it! Because the grandmother obeyed the elder with faith and simplicity, Christ began to implant the words of the Gospel in her heart.

What will save us is faith in Christ and not our education.

Besides, Christ chose illiterate people as His Disciples, to show that He can make you all-wise, even if you are illiterate, as long as one has faith and humility..

Elder Ephraim of the Skete of Saint Andrew