Volodimir

Volodimir--by Josyp Terelya from his book: Body and Blood

CHAPTER IX— 

Volodimir
The year was 1983, I was in a penal camp. One day I got to know an unusual prisoner, a former Soviet army officer. 

His name was Volodimir and he hailed from east Siberia where he was raised in an orphanage. His Ukrainian parents, from Poitava, died during the great artificial famine that was orchestrated by the Masons/Communists of USSR.

Volodimir was an interesting fellow and we engaged in endless conversations. There was only one trait that irked me and that was his hostility to God.

Time passed.

One day, both of us were punished by being suspended in chains from the ceiling. It was a painful torture. It usually led to shoulders becoming dislocated because of the pull exerted by the dangling body.

Both of us got a 24-hour sentence. 

We hung together in the same cell.

After about an hour of this, Volodimir begged and pleaded with the guards. He was ready to do anything they asked of him. 

For me, this was not the first time, so I hung on in silence. They let him down. He was a wreck.

Volodimir could not understand why I wouldn’t give in. All through the hanging, he kept glancing in amazement at my silence.

----Don’t you hate them?

----Why aren’t’ you cursing them?

After this event, his attitude did an about-face.

He asked me for a Bible that I had kept hiding. Shortly after that, Volodimir was moved out of my cell. 

Several months passed.

I met Volodimir again during one of the routine gatherings of prisoners. 

----“Can I become a Christian?” he asked.

Several weeks later he was baptized by Father Anton.

After this, like many converts, Volodimir would openly speak about Christ. He also started writing poems and songs about Jesus and Mary. This was a marked departure from his previous behavior. Volodimir was a typical military type who had exhibited little literary inclinations.

All this changed dramatically. It led to escalating problems with camp authorities. 

On one occasion, Volodimir brought me a poem about the Virgin Mary. It was beautiful. It had touched me more than any I had previously read.

Soon after that Volodimir became subjected to a barrage of harsh persecutions. He was put in solitary confinement. This only increased his output of poems about Jesus and Mary.

The authorities responded by breaking and mangling his right hand. He never recovered its use.

Volodimir switched to using his left hand. 

Tragedy followed. Two degenerate Russians, Lieutenant Saburov and Captain Litvinov, thrust his left arm into a woodchopper. It was ripped off at shoulder level.

Volodimer was handless but the Lord did not leave him. 

Volodimer’s strength grew with the horrors of his ordeals.

It was incredible to see a man, who had not been able to tolerate one hour of hanging from the ceiling, transformed into a being who feared nothing and who bore no rancor for his enemies.

One day I was released from solitary and was about to be discharged from that particular camp.

Near the door I was met by a smiling Volodimir. Between clenched teeth, he held a paper with a new song. It was titled, “Oh Jesus Come to Me”. 

This song was written by brother Volodimir with a pencil held between his teeth. A month later I left the prison with his song.

I never saw him again.He died in prison.

Whenever I think of him, his song rises hauntingly within me.

Oh Jesus Come to Me

Don’t leave me, Jesus, do not leave me
I’m frightened, without you, on this path
The night is not a time to be alone
The forest dark to cross
Jesus, my pathfinder, be always with me

From early years I stumbled 
You helped me when I fell
Guardian, in this world of wrongs and woes
I need your firm supporting hand
Don’t leave me, Jesus, do not leave me

A clashing cymbal am I
When love of others in not in me
The spark of life is love
Without You dark prevails
Be my fire, Jesus, be my fire

From early years I stumbled
You helped me as I fell
Teacher, in this world of wrongs and woes
I need your saving truth
Don’t leave me, Jesus, do not leave me

The enemy his arrows shoot
My life in peril lies
Without You as my shield
I never will survive
Protector, stay you by my side.