Matryona Nikonova
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| Matryona Dmitrievna Nikonova | |
|---|---|
| St. Matryona, Matryona, the Blessed Elder of Moscow | |
| Born | 1885, Sebena, Tula Province, Russia |
| Died | May 2, 1952, Moscow, Russia |
| Venerated in | Russian Orthodox Church |
| Major shrine | Saint Intercession Convent, Taganka District, Moscow |
| Feast | May 2 |
 Saints Portal |
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Matryona Dmitrievna Nikonova, (Russian: Блаженная Матрона Московская) the Blessed Elder of Moscow, (1885 – May 2, 1952), is a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Matryona was born to Dmitry and Natalia Nikonov in the village of Sebena in Tula Province[1]. She was the fourth child. Her struggling parents planned to place her in an orphanage after her birth, but her mother changed her mind after she had a dream. Natalia dreamed that a white bird of holy beauty, with empty eye sockets landed on her breast. When Matryona was born, she was blind, with eyelids closed over empty eye sockets. Her mother took this as a sign from God. By the time she was eight, she had revealed a gift for prophecy and healing powers.
[edit] Pilgrimages
By age 14, she was traveling to area holy sites in the company of Lydia Yankova, the daughter of a local nobleman. At St. Andrew's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, they attended a church service led by Archpriest Ioann of Kronstadt, who was later canonized by the church. Kronstadt, addressing the teenager, reportedly said, "Here comes my successor — the eighth pillar of Russia." At age 16, Matryona's legs were paralyzed. She saw a spiritual purpose in her affliction.
[edit] Revolution
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, she and her friend Lydia Yankova became homeless peasants who left their villages to find work and food in larger cities. By 1925, Matryona moved to Moscow, possibly following her two brothers, and took to a life of wandering, finding shelter with friends and relatives in houses, apartments, and basements. She could not stay with her two brothers, both Communists, because Matryona preached the Russian Orthodox faith.
[edit] Later life
At a time when other religious people were sent to Stalinist labor camps or sent into exile for their beliefs, no one ever betrayed Matryona's location. People continued to come to Matryona for advice and for help with their troubles.
In one unconfirmed legend, Joseph Stalin is said to have secretly visited her at the house of a friend who was sheltering her at the time. She allegedly told him that Moscow would not fall to the Nazis. Stalin, who had been a seminary student, believed her and remained in Moscow, which did not fall to the Nazis. Another story, related by her biographer, Zinaida Zhdanova, tells how Matryona told Zinaida's mother, Evdokia, described as being a plain 28-year-old, that she would marry a handsome nobleman. Evdokia moved to Moscow and became a cook at the house of a rich nobleman whose son, Vladimir, was betrothed to Princess Shukhova. Shortly thereafter, Vladimir is said to have had a dream in which a voice told him to marry a woman named Evdokia. The next morning he asked if there was such a woman in the household, met her, and nearly fainted. Later, he was sent for training to Perm with Evdokia, and Zinaida was born shortly thereafter.
In another of her reported miracles, she helped a college architecture student revise a paper required for graduation by describing in detail some of the great architectural achievements in Florence and Rome, including the Palazzo Pitti.
She is said to have predicted her own death three days in advance, accepting all visitors during those final days. Following her death in 1952, her gravesite became a pilgrimage site. She was recently canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Her remains are now in the Church of the Protecting Veil of Our Lady at St. Intercession Convent in Moscow[2]. The lines of people waiting to visit her gravesite is reported as regularly being quite long (often needing three or four hours to make a short visit to the gravesite) and well-behaved, which some have stated is rather unusual in Moscow.
Her day is commemorated by Russian Orthodox Church on May 2[3].
[edit] Further reading
- Zhadanova, Zinaida. The Life Story of the Blessed Elder Matryona, 1993.
