In 1890, we lived in Shuvalov Park, a few kilometers from Petrograd on the railway to Finland. I was 6 years old at the time. In May, I was returning by train from the city, and on that occasion, through the window of the wagon, sparks from the locomotive flew into my right eye, after which a terrible burning occurred. The doctors tried diligently to save my sight, but in vain. There was complete blindness. I still remember being tortured with powerful lamps - projectors, which examined the inside of the eye. Because of the nerve connection, I also lost my left eye. The doctors decided to perform an operation and separate the uninjured left eye from the right one, thus saving the sight of this eye. With a bandage on the eyes, they drove me in a carriage.
In the morning, before breakfast, my father usually took me to a small lake under a hill called "Parnas". There, in the thick shadow, he removed the bandage from my eyes, and I saw only a dim green light.
One week before the operation, my father, as usual, took me there at around 10 o'clock. After about half an hour, we headed back to our villa. We were met by a crowd of about 15-20 people with a priest in the middle. Seeing me with a bandage over my eyes, the priest separated himself from the crowd and approached us. My father, a Lutheran, did not know that it was Father John of Kronstadt.
"What kind of sick boy is this?" he asked.
"Sick, Father. A big accident happened, the boy went blind, a spark of coal got caught in his eye," my father replied.
"It's nothing, he'll get well!" said the priest, and with a quick motion removed the bandage from my eyes.
In front of me, I saw a small skinny priest walking away with a crowd of people. My vision was perfectly clear and remained so throughout my life.
When we got home, my father excitedly told my mother what had happened. Suddenly, I glanced out the window and saw a crowd of people and priests in front of the garden of the neighboring villa Popova.
"Mom, it's that Father!" I exclaimed.
"Well, that's Father John of Kronstadt," she replied, who was Orthodox and very pious.
My testimony is important because all my father's relatives were of the Lutheran faith.
After my healing, my faith in Father John of Kronstadt was boundless. My father left a will to be buried according to the Orthodox rite.
(Testimony of A. Schneuer, Colonel General Staff, letter dated February 21, 1937 from Tunisia)
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
