Saint Raphael. appears to a man-Ο Άγιος Ραφαήλ εμφανίζεται σε έναν άνδρα

It

was a man I did not know. He said, “Who are you?” and the other replied, “I am Saint Raphael.” He had large eyes. He was a young man, about nineteen years old at the time. He was a “child of the night,” very far from God, with no connection at all.

He had been in a car accident and was hospitalized. His mother was holding her prayer books and the supplications to the saints, reading them in the hospital's small chapel. One day, after many days, as she was reading, she felt faint and heard a voice telling her, “Go upstairs; your child has woken up.” And indeed, when she went up, Dimitris had awakened. Meanwhile, Dimitris had a vision. Someone appeared to him—he believed it was Saint Raphael—who told him, “Come with me.” He felt his soul leaving his body in the intensive care unit, as if someone were taking him. He said they went through something like a tunnel and then arrived in a place full of light, an endless light. There, he could see and hear chanting. He saw people, all around thirty-three years old. He didn’t know anything about such things before. He saw villagers who had recently died, and there were birds, light, and flowers. His soul was filled with joy. Then the figure said, “Let’s go now to see the other place.” The light disappeared, and he found himself in total darkness—endless darkness. He could hear souls as if they were boiling, and a terrible smell suffocated him. He said to his guide, “Please take me away from here; I can’t bear it anymore.” And he was told, “Dimitris, if you don’t change your way of life, this is where you will be.” At that moment, he slowly returned and found himself back on the hospital bed in intensive care. Right then, his mother entered the room. He recovered, went through physiotherapy, and got well. His mother made a vow, and they went to venerate it. But the main point is this: we do not approach or draw near to the saints only because of miracles. Of course, miracles do happen when we pray and ask for help, especially in illness or difficulty. We ask the saints because, through their virtue, they are close to Christ, and through them Christ performs miracles. And Saint Raphael, like many other saints, performs miracles and intervenes in the lives of the faithful—and not only the faithful.