Remember Zoya?.~''The girl who turned to stone'' 31st Dec 1956 - 31 Dec 2006

This is an interesting article that I thought I would share with other members here at BTS...
I will post a bit of the article here ....
I also have included the link to whoever wants to further read on Zoya.......

A WORD FOR NEW YEAR REVELLERS:
REMEMBER ZOYA, THE GIRL WHO TURNED TO STONE,
31 DECEMBER 1956 - 31 DECEMBER 2006
.............................After what had happened to Zoya, people flocked to the churches. They bought up crosses, candles and icons. Those who were not baptized got baptized. There is no doubting that all this really did take place. A girl really did ‘turn to stone’. There are the testimonies of eyewitnesses, some still alive today, and documents from Communist Party meetings of the time. ‘This isn’t some fairy tale or never-ending fable’, said Anton Zhogolev, editor of the Samara Orthodox newspaper ‘Good Tidings’ (Blagovest) and co-author of a book about Zoya, who has done years of research into the case. From the research, it is clear that this was not the only case of ‘petrification’ in Soviet times.

ZOYA

Apparently there are other known cases of similar happenings.
I found the article interesting and have my opinions on it......
So, what do others think?

helen
Happy New Years to all.
Be safe.

edited the 'post' heading.


[edit on 1/1/2007 by helen670]

At first glance this is similar to the story of Lot's wife who was turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying the angels' instructions when she looked back. The angels are traditionally said to be messengers of God so therefore Lot's wife was in fact disobeying God's instructions.

Hmmmm But in closer comparison it is not similar. I don't understand how a likeness of a saint could be considered taboo to handle? Where is that in the Bible? And also, she did not disobey or mock God, it was a saint, who would be first in line to mock himself and be humble. And then there's this, God in Lot's wife's story gave fair warning, there was no instance of this in Zoya's case, so therefore it was not from God.

What was clearly present in this event was a strong belief that it would be a sin to dance while holding the icon. This community seemed to put great importance on physical objects with many taboos attached. I would have to consider this either a voodoo type of event based on strong subconscious beliefs of Zoya's or perhaps it was a physical illness which the locals attributed to her actions.

Interesting event nonetheless, thanks for sharing it. I've always been fascinated with miracles, even though some I don't believe are authentic there are just enough out there to convince me that they truly do occur. Please keep posting any that you find, it is inspirational for me when I believe they are authentic.

STM

Hi seentoomuch/

Hmmmm But in closer comparison it is not similar. I don't understand how a likeness of a saint could be considered taboo to handle? Where is that in the Bible? And also, she did not disobey or mock God, it was a saint, who would be first in line to mock himself and be humble. And then there's this, God in Lot's wife's story gave fair warning, there was no instance of this in Zoya's case, so therefore it was not from God.

It wasn't the likeness of the Saint that was taboo to handle, it was the thought that was behind it.
(Saints are revered, and not worshipped).........I have written about Icons and Saints before, I could find them if you are interested, or could give you a link where you could read about Holy Relics and Saints

If Zoya had just picked up the religious Icon, and said a prayer, it would not have mattered, but instead, she felt left out of not having a date, and decided to dance with the Icon.
Lots wife did not come back to life, she was warned and she did not heed the warning, and therefore became a 'pillar of salt''.
Zoya's medical doctors confirm that she was in a state of being frozen with a faint heartbeat.........and later returned to life.
I cannot say much on the subject about Zoya, because I have also just read about it for the first time.
I do know that God works in mysterious ways........some of which we do not understand and some which we totally ignore.
Glad you enjoyed reading this.

helen

Thanks for the link, the section on icons was a great help and also the history of icons was very interesting. For example: I did not know that originally icons were created to teach people who could not read about the Gospels and that early Christianity enjoyed the art of icons along with music and poetry.

Here’s a link to the subsection on icons and their history:

www.orthodoxphotos.com...

I would be very interested in reading your posts discussing saints and icons, am looking forward to it.

I'm still not convinced of the authenticity of Zoya's story, but will keep an open mind about it.

Best wishes,

STM

Hi seentoomuch/

Glad that you enjoyed it!
An Icon is like a photo of someone you love,You dont worship the photo, you behold what is pictured there, and memories come to mind of what is pictured there.

I'll look for the posts I did awhile back....
You can also do this for anyones post, or maybe it is a subject you are after?
Go to Advanced Search ......
Don't worry about the 'heading' of this post! Easy Advanced Search explained!

I'm still not convinced of the authenticity of Zoya's story, but will keep an open mind about it.

Best wishes,

STM

That's ok, one does not have to believe in miracles to have Faith , Hope and Love.
Best wishes to you too.
helen

Here are a few that I posted.....
In defense

of SaintsRevelation.....smoke of the incense

Healing Prayers ......talks about Saint intercede on our behalf

Hope that is of some help.
take care,
helen

[edit on 1/4/2007 by helen670]