And I remembered about the St. Porphyry Kavsokalivit who used to meet in prayer with his disciples. They prayed for a wish at the same hour in the evening. So I childishly told my friend “Let’s pray together for your wish, to ask the intercession of the Mother of God and Apostle Simon the Zealot - the groom of Cana in Galilee. If there is a groom for you in this world, you will meet him one day. If not, you won’t. But don’t be sad if you won’t.”

Sincere friendship is truly a priceless gift. Only those who have enjoyed of a true friendship know the joy of sharing kindness, pain or grief, the abundance of sooth that come through the soul of a friend, the worth of a sincere hug.

I was affected by the grief of my friend. She wished so much to get married, to find a man she could trust and share the earthly life. And I remembered about the word of the Lord, Who said that if we will unite two or three in His name and will ask something to His Father, our prayers will be listened if it will be in our benefit. And I remembered about the St. Porphyry Kavsokalivit who used to meet in prayer with his disciples. They prayed for a wish at the same hour in the evening. So I childishly told my friend “Let’s pray together for your wish, to ask the intercession of the Mother of God and Apostle Simon the Zealot - the groom of Cana in Galilee. If there is a groom for you in this world, you will meet him one day. If not, you won’t. But don’t be sad if you won’t.”

And we started to send our thoughts every night to God. This communion in thought is wonderful. The joy of it was already a great achievement. But the joy would become even greater.

In July, my friend received a telephone call: a young man called her and said he wanted to meet her. He told her he had her phone number from his spiritual father, who knew my friend. And they met. Everything went well and they wanted to set the date of their marriage.

They set the date for the first Saturday of May, because it was the only date available to the restaurant where they wanted to celebrate. They looked in the calendar and saw that it was the 5th of May, the celebration of Saint Ephrem the New! My friend was surprised because she knew that this saint was the protector of my family. Thus, they married on this day and chose the saint as their protector. She told me recently that they feel the saint very close to them.

So, there was a worldly groom for my friend as well. We praise the Mother of God, the Saint Porphyry Kavasokalivit and Ephrem the New for their intercession, praying that they may protect our families and friendship.

(Sfântul Efrem cel Nou. Minuni din România, Editura Sophia, pp. 256-257)