Olga Tereshkovetz, of the city of Daugavpils, Latvia tells this account of the Holy Hierarch St. Nicholas’ intercession that she heard from her mother-in-law, Evdokia S. Tereshkovetz. As a young man, her father received a summons to join the army during Russia’s war against Turkey. At that time he was already married, had a young child and a homestead in the village of Nitsgal.
On the way to the recruitment station his companions were laughing and joking, but Sidor (Evdokia’s father) continually prayed to the Holy Hierarch Nicholas the Wonderworker. A medical checkup was done. Sidor was in good health, but for some reason one of the examiners on the commission asked: “Do you want to go to war?” “You will send me no matter what I say,” Sidor replied. They inquired if he had a wife and family. Then, quite unexpectedly, they sent him home.
From that time on he had an even greater veneration for Saint Nicholas. His family grew, and he taught his many children to pray to this merciful wonderworker. My mother in law is now eighty-seven years old, and she treasures her large, antique icon of St Nicholas.
Evdokia also told her of another incident. In their village of Nitsgal there lived a wealthy man. He was married, but had no children; he led a dissolute life, drank and partied a lot. His wife took in a young niece to bring up as their own, and he even tempted her. This caused so much grief to the wife that she cried constantly and asked St Nicholas for help.
Once when the wife was not home her husband fell asleep and saw demons in the guise of two unknown, ferocious men. He was so frightened that he decided to visit a priest to repent of his sins right in the middle of the night. The demons said to him: “We will go with you!”
It was a perilous journey, and the man constantly prayed to St Nicholas as he walked. There was a river to cross, and it seemed to him that there were two bridges over the water. The demons began to push him forward, saying: “Go, go!’ But through the prayers of St Nicholas he turned around and made his way to the hut of an old, pious woman who lived nearby. His persistent knocking woke her up, and she found him in a terrified state. She had him venerate an icon, and then he himself saw that there were no bridges over the river at all…
From that time on he quit drinking and began to live righteously. St Nicholas miraculously saved this man. In gratitude, he ordered an icon of the saint to be written and donated it to the local church.