Life was not easy, but my mother constantly resorted to prayer. She generally prayed unceasingly, as she was convinced that prayer was a great power. The Almighty Creator hears a prayer from the heart and certainly answers it. After all, He cannot break His promises to those who fear Him: “Ask, and it will be given to you...” (Matthew 7:7). Therefore, it was prayer to her Lord that inspired my mother and helped her endure all the hardships of her difficult life. She also helped her loved ones with constant prayer.
What else could a weak woman do to resist the horror in which she had to live? The most effective remedy in those difficult conditions was prayer. And in this my mother saw her duty.
Already in their advanced, calm years, the parents, sometimes together, sitting at the table, sang sad psalms carried in their souls throughout their long lives. There are many hymns, but they sang those that reflected their destiny, that passed through their hearts. In them, each line revealed the hard-won past: “The sea of life is terribly raging. Stormy waves rock the boat..."
Their whole life passed under the symbol of an unabated storm. Constant fear for loved ones, tireless struggle for survival without hope for any improvement. That’s why they sang: “In mortal horror, in desperate grief, My God, God, I cry out to You...”
Tears streamed down their cheeks. Involuntary tears. Moments of hopelessness surfaced in my memory, when there seemed to be no way out. Mom recalled that when they announced to her father a sentence of ten years and five years of disqualification (it seemed like a lifetime!), her first human impulse was to throw herself under a tram. And fear. Not for myself, but for him.
Oh, how many of them there were, such moments... And only the support of the Creator kept me from rash actions in moments of hopelessness, when I completely ran out of strength and gave up. Who of those born under the sky can stand alone against the fierce and merciless elements of power? Only closeness to the Lord and prayer were the main engine in her life’s struggle.
What the words of the sad psalms remind us of is already in the past. Everything is over. Earthly destiny has been fulfilled. Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are children of God. The heavy cross of life has been carried to the end. The journey is over. Faith is preserved. They've had their fill for days. The mortal onslaught of the evil element of power that surrounded our parents all their lives has been overcome.
