Gury of Kazan: freed from his prison by a "great light"

In the late 1520s, the young Grigory Grigoryevich Rugotin (future Saint Gury of Kazan) from a poor aristocratic family in Radonezh, Russia, entered the service of Prince Ivan Penkov, who ruled the region. He was noticed for his excellent work and won his master's trust, but this earned him the jealousy of the prince's servants, who accused him of being the lover of Princess Penkova. After narrowly escaping the death penalty, Grigory was sentenced to life in prison. His subsistence was reduced to a jug of water and a bowl of porridge twice a week. This merciless treatment should have killed him.

Reasons to believe:

• The crime of which the young man was accused - adultery with his lord's wife - was particularly serious, since it represented a crime of treason punished by death. As he had never been officially cleared of this crime, the circumstances surrounding his release had to be miraculous for Grigory's entourage and his biographer to mention the alleged crime and charge against the saint.

• The young man's great piety and the penances he inflicted on himself proved the accusations to be groundless. However, desirous of imitating the martyrs, whom he admired, and of suffering to contribute to the deliverance of Russia, which was then under the yoke of the Golden Horde (Muslim Tatar tribes who persecuted the Christians), Grigory neither spoke in his own defence nor proclaimed his innocence, imitating Christ before Pilate: "And Jesus didn't answer him one word" (Mt 27:14; Mk 15:05; Lk 23:9; Jn 19:9), and growing in holiness. Instead of complaining, he thanked God for "having taken him away from this world and its temptations". He spent his time writing a small booklet to teach children how to read and write, and donated the proceeds from his primer to the needy.

• His conditions of imprisonment, in a dungeon, practically in isolation, deprived of care and food, resemble those endured by other witnesses to Christ in modern times, and we know that, without miraculous help, these conditions lead to death, despair or insanity. Only a very strong spiritual life can keep those witnesses alive.

• In his humility, a sign of his holiness, Grigory never mentioned the graces he had received, preferring to record the facts rather than explain them or talk about miracles.

• By giving him only two jugs of water a week and two bowls of oatmeal porridge, his jailers hoped for malnutrition and death. However, when his friend, Prince Penkov's first-born so from a first marriage, tried to provide him with sufficient food after he had been spared execution, the prisoner replied that he didn't need it because "God's abundant grace is more than enough to feed me." This was true, since he did not wither away, and found the strength to write to help the poor.

• If we want to know how Saint Gury of Kazan resisted this treatment and escaped, he only mentions the support and help of the Theotokos, the Mother of God,  represented by a small icon of Mary that he was able to keep in his prison and which protected him.

• The account of his deliverance is extraordinarily sober: "One day I saw a great light behind the door of my dungeon. I prayed, the light increased and I got out without further difficulty."

• This simple account is reminiscent of Saint Peter's escape from prison in Jerusalem, where he was awaiting execution. Its simplicity is a guarantee of authenticity.