Matrona of Moscow is one of the most famous and beloved saints of the last century. “Matronushka” - that’s how they affectionately called her in Rus'. The blessed one is considered the patroness of the city of Moscow. Disabled since childhood, she dedicated her life to serving God and her neighbors. Suffering unbearably in body, she gave healing to other people through prayer. An illiterate peasant woman, Matrona knew more than the scientists of this world. According to legend, the last Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II, came to her for advice.
Years of Matrona’s life: 1885-1952.
Childhood of a holy saint
Matronushka was born into a pious family. She was the youngest of four children. At the time of her birth, her parents were already old. They lived poorly, and the saint’s mother decided to give the child away from the family. However, the Lord did not allow this, and through a dream he influenced Matrona’s mother. She dreamed that a beautiful bird landed in her arms. But the bird had no eyes. The mother interpreted this dream as a sign from above that the child should be left in her own family.
The saint of God was born blind, like that bird from her mother’s dream. At birth she had a cross-shaped bulge on her chest. The blind baby became a joy for her family, instead of being a burden. The older the girl became, the more it became clear that this child was different from other children. And not only externally.
The other children did not like Matrona. They mocked her, knowing the girl’s defenselessness. And from an early age she was most often at home. Didn't play with peers.
Adulthood
When Matronushka turned 17, she lost her legs. And for the rest of her life she could only sit and lie. The blessed old woman did not have the opportunity to move independently. But she did not complain, thanked God for her cross and humbly bore it. Despite her own infirmities, Matrona consoled everyone who came to her for help. And many people flocked to the blind servant of God. And she consoled, encouraged, supported everyone.
Having no place of her own, Matronushka wandered from home to home. First one will shelter the old woman, then another. In some places her life was good, but in others it was very difficult. Every now and then I had to change my place of residence, because in Soviet times, and even in Moscow, living without a passport was something unrealistic. And Matrona lived like this all her life.
Although physically blind, the blessed one had the gift of clairvoyance. And she bequeathed people to come to her grave after her death. Like a living person, with her own troubles and sorrow. She promised that Matronushka would greet everyone who honors and converts her posthumously in Heaven.
Way of the Cross
At the age of seventeen, Matrona faced a new test. She knew that a witch was waiting for her in the temple with the goal of harming her, but the brave girl went anyway. When the saint was walking after communion, a woman approached her, after which Matrona lost her legs forever. For the rest of her life she could not take another step.
Matrona had severe pain in her legs, they curled up and began to dry out . In addition, the saint was tormented by several chronic illnesses. Sometimes she could not sleep all night, moaning in pain. Matrona often prayed at night. She never grumbled, did not complain about illness, she endured everything and prayed.
Despite the severe pain that tormented her every day, the saint spent the whole day receiving those who came to her, advising, and healing the sick with prayer. One man could not walk, but crawled to her village. He left her on his own feet, healthy. Matrona healed many demoniacs from a terrible illness with one Epiphany water.
In the photo on the left is Blessed Matronushka
One day Matrona told her mother that the icon of the “Seeking of the Lost” of the Most Holy Theotokos was asking to come to their church. She asked to tell the priest that in his house there was a book with an image of this icon. At the same time, the girl named the shelf and row, although she had never been to his house. Matronushka asked to paint an icon from this image. To do this, she ordered to collect money from fellow villagers. When some people gave coins to laugh at, the girl ordered them to give back their money with the words: “They ruin everything.”
When they found the icon painter, Matrona ordered him to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ before starting work. He did it, but soon came and said that the work was not going well. Then the saint named him a sin that he was afraid to name in confession. The icon painter went to repent again, and only then was he able to paint the icon.
When the icon was ready, they began to walk with it in a religious procession. Matronushka herself met the icon and venerated it. It happened that during a drought, a prayer service was served in front of the shrine, and before it ended it began to rain.
In 1912, Matrona's father died. By that time the mother was weak and sick . Matrona tirelessly predicted terrible times coming to Rus'. She ordered the landowner to quickly go abroad, but he did not listen, and he had a hard time during the critical revolutionary years.
Matrona predicted that churches would soon be closed, monasteries would be destroyed, and monks would be expelled. One woman came to her for a blessing to build a bell tower, but the Blessed One did not allow it. The petitioner did not listen, but did not have time to complete the construction of the bell tower.
In the photo is Saint Matronushka
Finding the relics
The relics of the blessed saint of God were found on March 8, 1998. And since then they have been in the Intercession Convent in Moscow. There is also an icon of the Matrona of Moscow.
Before her death, Matronushka said that for a long time her grave would be forgotten and desolate. But the moment will come when people will go in droves to the blessed old woman. The way it is. Nowadays there is a constant line of pilgrims within the walls of the Intercession Monastery. Everyone wants to venerate the relics of the saint and pray before the icon of the blessed Matrona of Moscow.
What does the Icon of Matrona of Moscow help with?
There are many testimonies of Matronushka’s miraculous help:
- in illnesses and injuries, healing even serious diseases;
- in difficult material circumstances, poverty, misery;
- in finding your own home and life stability.
Trust any of your troubles and desires to the blessed Matrona: the saint will guide you on the right path, and by the grace of God will arrange everything for the better. You can express your request in free form, according to the movement of your soul. Ask also the saint
- in protection from witchcraft influences;
- in assistance with conception, pregnancy and healthy childbirth;
- in maintaining the health and well-being of children;
- in strengthening faith, getting rid of despair
There is a pious Orthodox tradition of writing notes to Saint Matrona - like personal letters. It is known that there are prayers to the Matrona of Moscow, and simply in your own words you can ask Matronushka for help. However, according to tradition, you can write notes and place them behind the icon in the temple or at the relics of the saint. It helps both with mental prayer and with notes. This is a special work, one might say, for the sake of the saint.
Flowers
In the Pokrovsky Monastery there are two icons of the Matrona of Moscow. One of them is big. And each one is buried in flowers. The holy old woman loved flowers during her lifetime, so people bring bouquets to their beloved Matronushka. These flowers are consecrated on the relics of the old woman and distributed to pilgrims. Some people get just one petal, while others get several heads.
What to do with blessed flowers? They can be brewed into tea, for example. Or put it in the “red corner”, next to the icons.
What should you ask the blessed one for?
In front of the icon of the Matrona of Moscow they pray for various needs. It eliminates financial penalties and helps those who are desperate to find a job. He does not leave his intercession to those who cannot become parents. Helps in housing issues, in resolving illnesses and illnesses. The main thing is that the request is sincere.
What if help is “late”? This may be the case if the person's request is not beneficial to him. Sometimes it happens that the person asking is simply “stuck” in a sinful life. And then he should reconsider his life principles.
How to ask for help?
With full confidence and sincerely. Icon of the Matrona of Moscow - in Moscow, in the Intercession Convent. But if you can’t get there, don’t get upset right away. There is an icon of the old woman in every church. Come, light a candle and pray earnestly for what you want without guile. Matronushka, like all saints, sees the deceiver. And she will not help someone who is trying to deceive her. Also, you should not hope for the help of a saint if the request falls into the category of “bad”. For example, if a woman is trying to break up someone else’s family, motivating her actions by the fact that “we love each other” and “he will get divorced anyway,” is it possible to ask Matronushka for help in such a situation?
Holy feat
At the age of 8, the girl began to accept people - to heal and predict the future. At first, people from the village came to her, asking for health, and she managed to raise bedridden patients with her prayers. The girl begged for relief to the mourners. But Matrona did not take money for her help. They brought her food as a thank you. So the girl became the breadwinner in the family.
Matrona Moskovsk receives visitors
Soon they learned about her throughout the entire district, and people flocked to her house from all sides. Being blind, Matrona saw and knew a lot. She described cathedrals and temples located abroad and their interior decoration. The woman was illiterate, but could “read” street names and house numbers.
She also saw the future. One day the girl told her mother that a big fire was coming, but she told her mother to stay, although she herself said that she would leave. As a result, the very next day after the conversation, a fire broke out in the village, in which more than one house burned down, but the Nikonovs’ home was not damaged.
Together with the daughter of a local landowner, Lydia Yankova, Matrona traveled a lot; Lida took her with her on pilgrimage trips. So they visited many holy places. They visited the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and also visited the Kronstadt Cathedral, where Matrona met with John of Kronstadt. There he asked the parishioners to leave and called the girl to him, saying that this
“It is being replaced – the eighth pillar of Russia.”
At the age of 17, Matrona’s legs gave out and the girl was never able to walk again. She lived the next 50 years “sedentarily.” She predicted this fate for herself in advance, but believed that this was the will of God.
Icon of Matrona of Moscow
There is a legend about how one day a woman came to her and told her about her paralyzed husband, she tearfully asked Matronushka to help him. But the saint said that he should come to her himself. The woman repeated herself, saying that her husband couldn’t walk, how could he come? To which Matrona replied:
“Let him come to me in the morning, crawl. He’ll crawl by three o’clock.”
As a result, he crawled 4 kilometers towards her, and left Matrona on his own feet.
Matrona saw not only the future of specific people, but also the country. She predicted the tragic events of 1917. She said that everything would be plundered and destroyed, including temples, and everyone would leave their lands. These events also affected Matrona herself.
With the advent of Bolshevik power, her brothers became convinced communists. Of course, the Orthodox sister, to whom people flocked in a continuous stream, was an “eyesore” for them. Of course, they were also afraid for themselves, that such a relationship would cast a shadow on them.
Therefore, Matrona was forced to leave her native village. Together with Lida Yankova they went to Moscow. Some believe that at this moment the rural saint disappeared and Matrona of Moscow was born. In the capital, Matrona faced hardships and dangers - persecution, denunciations, lack of registration.
She had no housing. At first I lived wherever I had to. In one of the houses where she had to live, it was so cold that her hair froze to the wall. Later, the woman settled with a fellow villager, and in the last years of her life she lived with distant relatives in the Moscow region.
Thanks to her gift, she always knew when the police would come to the house. But one day, even knowing about their arrival, she deliberately stayed in the apartment. When the policeman arrived, she convinced him that she was not going to run away from him. But he should hurry home.
Oddly enough, he listened to Matrona, since even then many had heard about her miraculous gift. As a result, it turned out that the policeman’s house caught fire, and he managed to save his wife from the fire. After the incident, he flatly refused to arrest Matrona.
Every day the saint received visitors - 40 people. But at night I didn’t sleep, I prayed in front of the icons. Many stories have been preserved about her miracles. She prayed for water, which healed.
Icon of Matrona of Moscow
It is amazing that she helped even those who did not believe in God. One day a woman approached her; with her was her sick atheist brother, who no longer believed in recovery. But Matrona was able to heal him. At the same time, she noted that he should thank his sister, who sincerely believes in the power and will of God.
There is a legend that Joseph Stalin himself turned to Matrona. This is written in the book of Zinaida Zhdanova, who lived side by side with Matrona for several years. But some of the data from this book differs from the data given in the canonical life of the saint.
Icon "Matrona and Stalin"
According to “legend,” Stalin asked her whether the Germans would take Moscow. She answered him unequivocally - victory will be for the Russian people. And she added that he was the only one among the authorities and would not leave the capital. Their meeting was captured by icon painter Ilya Pivnik in the icon “Matrona and Stalin”. In 2008, it was exhibited in the Church of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga in Strelna.
Soon the actions of abbot Evstafy Zhakov, who placed the icon in the church, were condemned. Some even accused him of sectarianism. As a result, he took the icon home, and soon asked to be relieved of his position as rector. Historians consider this meeting a fiction.
What can you read?
In front of the icon of the Blessed Matrona of Moscow you can read her akathist. Thoughtfully and slowly, from the bottom of my heart. After the akathist there are prayers to Matronushka. They also need to be subtracted. And, of course, stand in front of the image and ask in your own words. Out loud or inside. It is worth remembering that with God everyone is alive. He has no death. It was for us, according to our weaknesses, that God divided people into the living and the dead. And there, in Heaven, everyone is alive. Matrona is alive, hears her petitioner and you can talk to her as if you were asking someone nearby for something.
What does the image look like?
A photo of the Matrona of Moscow icon will be presented below. Usually the image of a saint is painted on a gold background. Matronushka herself is depicted with her eyes closed, wearing a white scarf and a green dress.
As already mentioned, in the Intercession Monastery there are two images of the blessed one. On one of them she is depicted as described above. The second, large one, is a full-length image of the saint. Behind her is a monastery, and above her head is the image of the Mother of God. On the sides, above the head, are two Angels. The icon of the Matrona of Moscow is written on a soft blue background.
Matrona Moscow icon meaning – up to 800 characters.
Like many saints, from birth the saint was accompanied by signs of God's grace: Matronushka's mother, Natalya, in a dream saw a beautiful but blind white bird that landed on her chest. Natalya immediately realized that this was a prophetic dream from the Lord, and left the child in the family. Since childhood, the blessed one prayed a lot in church and at home, and attended divine services. At the age of 17, Matronushka lost her legs, but the Lord rewarded her with the gift of healing and insight.
Therefore, in the icon the saint is depicted with her eyes closed - physically blind, but spiritually sighted.
There is a tradition of going to Matronushka for help with flowers - a living offering to her, evidence of the sincerity of your prayer and love for the saint. You will definitely feel that Matrona of Moscow becomes like family to you, as for many people - that’s why she is affectionately called Matronushka. In the Pokrovsky Monastery there are always many bouquets of fresh flowers around the shrine (tomb) with the holy relics of the blessed one. Often priests give their blessing to take flowers laid by other people who are seriously suffering and ill as a gift from the Matrona of Moscow herself.
Remember that saints hear our prayer not only near their icons or relics. Like the Lord, Saint Matrona is always nearby and hears the call of the heart.
Every day about 40 people came to the saint for help; she spent the night in prayer, dozing only occasionally. With humility, she bore the heavy cross of bodily infirmities and did not grumble, but accepted God’s will for herself. She received many, helped everyone with prophetic advice, and at night she prayed for everyone. She died in 1952. By traditional standards, Saint Matrona of Moscow was canonized soon after her death - in 1999.
How to venerate an icon?
We found out where the icon of the Matrona of Moscow is located. This is the Intercession Monastery in Moscow. How to dress for a pilgrimage there? How to apply yourself to the image?
- Women must wear a skirt or dress below the knee and a headscarf. No decorative cosmetics on the face and no lipstick.
- During times of uncleanness (critical days), one must not venerate the icon. In general, touching the shrine during this period is unacceptable. Unless we are talking about an extraordinary situation.
- Men come to the monastery in trousers. No shorts are allowed. Before entering the monastery territory, you must remove your headdress, if you are using one.
- Approaching the icon, the pilgrim makes the sign of the cross twice. If possible, makes a bow from the waist.
- Having carefully kissed the icon, the petitioner moves away from it and crosses himself again. This time just once.
- Before the relics, it is advisable to make two prostrations, reverently venerate (kiss), step away and make another prostration.
- It is unacceptable to make a row in line to see the Matrona of Moscow icon, to make noise, to talk loudly, or to use swear words in your vocabulary.
- On the territory of the monastery you should behave calmly and reservedly. Do not shout, do not litter, do not try to enter into conflicts with other pilgrims.
- If the nun of the monastery made a remark, you should not “get into trouble.” You need to answer “sorry” and try to correct the point where the misunderstanding arose.
- Without the blessing of the abbess, you cannot take a photo of the icon of the Matrona of Moscow and her relics. It is prohibited to photograph the sisters of the monastery.
- All photo and video filming is carried out only with the blessing of the abbess.
Miracles of Matrona
Most of all, Zinaida Zhdanova, with whom the Blessed One lived, provided evidence of the miracles of Matrona. Zinaida described the saint’s appearance:
“The matron most often sat on a bed or chest, with her legs crossed and hidden under her wide skirt. Fluffy hair is parted back. The face is bright and smiling. Mother had a notch on her forehead due to the fact that she often made the sign of the cross.”
She was always kind to everyone, stroked those who came on the head, and called them affectionate names. She often acted like a fool, calling the women by male names: “Petka”, “Vaska”. Either jokingly or seriously, she said: “hold on to my heel and you will be saved.” When the relics of Matrona were discovered, the heel turned out to be incorrupt.
During the war, the saint predicted for women whose husband would return from the war alive. One woman thought that her husband was dead. But Matrona predicted to her that he would return alive to Kazanskaya and knock on the window. And so it happened.
- Matrona helped Zhdanova herself several times. When she didn’t go to college, she was despondent, but her mother calmed her down, saying: “You’ll be there!” Classes had already begun, the dean met Zinaida and asked why she was not at the lectures. She objected that she did not do so. The dean said she was accepted. Matronushka also helped Zhdanova defend her diploma project. She studied at the architectural institute. The saint, even though she was illiterate, began to tell her how buildings were built in Italy, showing remarkable architectural knowledge.
- Many times the saint helped people who suffered from the actions of sorcerers. One woman came to her and complained about the appearance of a hump on her back. Matrona prayed over her, and the hump disappeared without a trace . It turned out that this was done by the witch who lived across the street.
- Another woman came to Matrona with tears because the witch splashed water on her from a bucket and whispered something. Since then, the unfortunate woman's tumor has grown . She was sent for an operation, but the saint reprimanded her with prayers, and the operation was not needed. The tumor has disappeared.
- But Matrona of Moscow could not help everyone. One day an elderly man came and asked Matrona to help his dying son. But she asked him: “Did you do it to his death?” and drove him away. She realized that the man was a sorcerer and that he himself had cast a deadly spell on his son. Matrona herself suffered from witchcraft spells . More than once she suffered from furunculosis from the malice of sorcerers, but she treated it with holy prayer.
- One day a woman came to the saint and complained that she had nothing to go to the monastery with. Matrona promised her that she would definitely go there. And soon a friend gave her money for a ticket. But the pilgrim didn’t have enough to make the way back. They wanted to throw the woman off the train, but an unknown man stood up for her, introducing himself as a correspondent for a local newspaper. Returning, the woman came to thank Matrona and brought onions. And they just didn’t have onions, and Matrona said that she would bring onions now.
According to legend, Stalin himself came to Matrona to find out the outcome of the war. The saint predicted: “The red rooster will win.”
- Matrona also predicted the glorification of the murdered Tsar Nicholas II, the revival of Orthodox Russia , but also the difficult times to come. She also prophesied that after her death everyone would forget about her for a while. But then people will go to her grave, light candles, and pray. And so it happened.
We wrote more about the miracles of Matronushka in this article.
