Overdose
Story from deathtotheworld.com
part one: Monk Ephraim
In the year of 1425 a monk was taken captive and tortured to
death in his monastery in Greece for being a Christian. He was
slowly tortured to death over a period of a year. After each
episode his wounds were allowed to heal, and then he was
subjected to new and worse punishments. Finally they executed
him. He was hung upside down from a tree in his monastery
ground sand run through with a pole which had been sharpened
to a point and set on fire. All traces of his life and martyrdom were
forgotten until this century, when he appeared to the abbess of a
convent and told her of his life and sufferings. He also revealed
the spot where his bones, which had never decomposed, were
buried. They dug up the bones for the glory of God.
part two: the addict and the Saint
Some years later an American teenager in the Midwest was grappling with his own life. He was heavily
using drugs (cocaine and heroin) and was quickly sliding to destruction. He had neither a stable family life
nor a religious upbringing, and though still young was in serious trouble.
One night an ugly old man appeared to him and said, “I am your friend, I want to make an appointment with
you to meet me.” He directed him to get into his car and drive as quickly as he could down a certain road
which had a hairpin turn at the end with a sheer cliff at the bend. The young man did as he was told, got into
his car and drove as fast as he could down the road. Losing his nerve at the last minute he managed to
slam on his brakes and barely made the turn. He arrived home shaken.
Two nights later, the old man appeared again and said with anger and indignation, “I am very disappointed
that you didn’t meet me. Get into your car again and drive as fast as you can and this time don’t put on the
brakes.” The young man felt strangely compelled to do this. Once again he got into his car, drove as fast as
he could and this time didn’t stop but drove at high speed off the cliff. The car was demolished but,
surprisingly, he escaped with only cuts and bruises, and with a concussion.
A few weeks after he was out of the hospital, the ugly man appeared to him once again and said, “I am
furious with you for not keeping our appointment. Tonight without fail you will meet me! Put a double dose of
the drug in your needle.” Again the boy felt compelled to do this, and after injecting himself went into a
coma from the overdose. He was taken to the hospital where doctors told his family that he probably
wouldn’t live. And if by chance he did live he would only be semi-conscious – in a vegetative state. There
was almost no chance of recovery. In two weeks, however, the young man did awake, fully conscious. He
told those around him that he had seen a man which looked like some sort of radiant monk. He came to him
and said, “I have been praying for you…. God has given you another chance. You will live, but you must
correct your life. You are to go to Greece so as to visit the resting place of my bones, giving thanks to God
for your salvation. My name is Ephraim.
Author: John Valadez of DeathToTheWorld.com