Ivan always prayed to God during the war. His commander remembered him as well-trained, persistent, and very disciplined. The two were together when a German shell exploded nearby, leaving them with severe shell concussions. "The war was so horrifying," he said later, "that I made a vow to God that if I survived this terrible battle, I would definitely enter a monastery."
He witnessed transformations that were dramatic but true; one incident made such an impression on him that he used it later to describe how he came to believe so strongly in God. "Just imagine: a cruel battle is on, German tanks are crawling toward our front lines, crushing everything in their path. In that outer darkness of hell, I suddenly see our battalion commissar rip off his helmet, fall on his knees, and....pray to God. Yes, yes -- he was muttering the half-forgotten prayers of his childhood, begging the Most High, Whom he had only yesterday profaned, for mercy and salvation. I understood at that moment that every man has God in his soul, and each will turn to Him one day."
-An excerpt about Father Alypy of the Pskov Caves Monastery-
taken from 'The Orthodox Word' no.275 p.267-268
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