This story happened in one of the villages of the Ternopil region during the terrible times of post-war horrors, when the godless Soviet government destroyed and closed churches, turned them into warehouses and other economic premises, trying with all their might to destroy the most important thing for the soul of every person - faith in God. The disobedient were killed, tortured, intimidated, sent to prisons and camps. On holidays, peasants were forced to work hard, and they tried to impose communist values ​​and ideals on children.
At that time, the spirit of fear and mistrust reigned in the village. After all, there were different people among the locals - nationalist patriots, simple peasants who, despite all the prohibitions, still believed in God, and there were also supporters of the Bolshevik government. The young tractor driver Ivan belonged to the latter. At that time, he already had a wife and three children - two sons and a daughter. It is not known for certain why he became an atheist, but the fact remains. When an instruction came from the top management to mutilate the village church, which was the architectural "highlight" of the village, and in which an ancient organ played even before the war, Ivan agreed to this black deed, even though his wife cried and persuaded him not to do it, fearing God's punishment.
However, that dark day, when a simple person raised his hand to the saint, did come. Ivan, together with other "braves", began to drop crosses from the domes, as well as to throw chains on the necks of the statues of angels, which were decorated with the church. Chains were attached to the tractors and pulled the figures so that they, falling from a height, would break into pieces. The pious people wept from powerlessness and from hitherto unheard and unseen ignorance and sacrilege, knowing that the Lord's punishment would not be delayed, while the ungodly were destroying the sanctuary.
Time passed, and the evil caused by the boomerang returned to Ivan's family. His beautiful daughter, at the dawn of her youth, committed suicide by hanging herself in the garden because of unrequited love. And this was the first chain on the angel's neck. People in the village discussed this tragic news for a long time, realizing that the death of an innocent child was not accidental, but a consequence of her father's great sin. As the people say, then God showed Ivan his finger for the first time.
Life went on. The sons grew up, created their own families, and gave their parents grandchildren. It was as if nothing foretold trouble, but it came unexpectedly. Ivan fell seriously ill and melted before his eyes, like a candle from a fire. Doctors waved their hands, medicines did not help, and the pain became more and more unbearable. Sensing the imminent arrival of death, Ivan panicked, doubting the correctness of atheistic ideals. He was tormented by the question: what if the afterlife still exists and after death his soul will stand before the Court of God, what will he say then in his justification?