Venerable Martha of Diveyevo
From generation to generation, the Diveyevo sisters pass on the story of the life of the Venerable Martha. They say that she was an extraordinary youth, endowed with angelic qualities. A snow-white face, blue eyes, light brown hair, a stately figure, and tall stature distinguished the girl from other nuns.
Biography
In the world she was called Maria Semyonovna Milyukova. Her father, Semyon Dmitrievich, was an appanage peasant. He and his household had to go through difficult times. They barely made ends meet. I had to work hard to feed my family and pay rent. The Milyukovs were known as God-fearing, righteous people and were closely acquainted with Seraphim of Sarov.
Three children were raised in a poor peasant family. The elders - Praskovya and Ivan - became monks and served as an example for the younger sister - Maria.
Childhood years
Maria was born on February 10 (23), 1810, and was baptized on February 13 of the same year. Her homeland is the village of Pogiblovo (in our time Malinovka) in the Ardatov district of the Nizhny Novgorod province.
From an early age, the girl attended services in the parish church in the village of Khokhlova with special pleasure. At the age of thirteen, during Lent, she was returning from service. The road went through the Irzha River. Maria did not notice the wormwood and miraculously did not drown in it.
Having survived such an ordeal, the girl decided that this was a sign from above. She devoted a lot of time to prayers, did not like noisy games, and often retired.
Day of Remembrance
The Russian Orthodox Church venerates Saint Martha of Diveyevo as a saint on August 21 (September 3).
Honor and glorification
The veneration of schema-nun Martha began during the life of the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov himself. He himself revered it and taught it to others. Since then, the Venerable Martha, like the other venerable wives of Diveyevo, has been revered by the Orthodox.[7]
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, September 27, 2000, the discovery of the holy relics of the first schema-nun Alexandra, schema-nun Martha and nun Elena took place.[8] Work began on September 26 after the Liturgy and prayer service in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary and litia at the graves.[9] When the excavations began, it became known that early in the morning one of the visiting priests saw three pillars: two above the graves of Mother Alexandra and Helen, and the other to the right of Martha’s grave.[9] Indeed, it turned out that Martha was buried to the right of the place where the cross stood.[9]
On December 22, 2000, the reverend wives, the founders of the monastery, were glorified as locally revered saints of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. For three days before the glorification, the monastery had a special routine. In the evening, funeral services were served in three churches, in the morning - funeral Liturgies were held in all churches of the monastery, and almost continuously - memorial services in the Church of the Nativity of Christ for the repose of Schema-nun Alexandra, Schema-nun Martha and nun Elena.[9] The main celebrations took place in the Trinity Cathedral, where the late liturgy was celebrated by the bishop's rite, co-served by more than 150 clergy.[9] At the small entrance, the Act on the canonization of the Diveyevo ascetics was read, and Metropolitan Nicholas blessed the people with an icon with the relics of the Venerables Alexandra, Martha and Elena.[9] In the evening after the service, the relics were carried in a procession along the Holy Canal with the singing of the paraklis, and then placed for veneration in the Transfiguration Cathedral for two days.[9]
On December 24, the reliquaries with the relics of the founders of the monastery were transferred to the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, designated for them by the Monk Seraphim.[9]
On October 6, 2004, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, together with two other Diveyevo ascetics, Alexandra (Melgunova) and Elena (Manturova), determined to canonize the Venerable Martha as a pan-church saint.[8]
In April 2008, a new holiday was established - the Cathedral of Diveyevo Saints. Among other saints, on this day the memory of Martha of Diveyevo is revered.
In honor of the holy wives of Diveyevo Martha, Elena and Alexandra, on August 21, 2008, Bishop George consecrated a chapel in the Kazan Church.[10] The day of the discovery of the relics - August 26[11] - is celebrated as a joint day of remembrance and patronal feast day in the chapel consecrated in their honor.[12]
Mary's entry into the Kazan community
Some time after falling into the icy water, the teenage girl begged her older sister Praskovya to take her with her to the Sarov Hermitage to visit St. Seraphim of Sarov. After a sincere conversation, the great elder saw God’s grace in Mary and blessed her to go to Diveevo. On the day of the Feast of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple (November 21, 1823), she was accepted into the Kazan women's community, located at the parish church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Diveevo.
The head of the community was Elder Ksenia Mikhailovna Kocheulova, a woman of strict rules.
The girl's life was spent in constant prayer. By nature, Maria was meek, humble and silent: she did not speak, only answered questions from other sisters when necessary, and loved solitude. To prevent worldly thoughts from distracting her from prayer, Mary tied her scarf so that she could only see the road under her feet and not look around. She approximately observed all the commandments and led a strict ascetic life.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4
Venerable Martha of Diveevskaya (Milyukova)
(unspecified)
.
Patron saints of the Nizhny Novgorod land
. Nizhny Novgorod Metropolitanate. Access date: December 15, 2014. - ↑ 1 2
Birthday of the Venerable Martha
(unspecified)
.
Life of the monastery
. Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery (February 23, 2011). Access date: December 17, 2014. - ↑ 1 2 3 Archimandrite Seraphim (Chichagov)
. Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. - M.: Pilgrim, 2002. - 868 p. - World lamp. Venerable Seraphim of Sarov. Chapter 15. Marvelous Diveevo (undefined)
.
Library
. Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. Access date: January 14, 2015. - Archpriest Sergius Ilyin
. The teaching of St. Seraphim of Sarov about the Holy Spirit. - M.: Lestvitsa, 2003. - 256 p. p.116 - ↑ 1 2 3
Groove of the Queen of Heaven in the Diveyevo Monastery
(unspecified)
.
Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery.
Part two. 1903-1927 _ Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. Access date: December 18, 2014. - Report of Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna, Chairman of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints
- ↑ 12
Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery - ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Glorification
(undefined)
.
The Saints
. Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. Access date: December 17, 2014. - Anastasia Shokhina.
Archbishop Georgy consecrated the next chapel of the Kazan Church of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery
(unspecified)
. Nizhny Novgorod diocese (January 17, 2009). Access date: December 17, 2014. Archived December 17, 2014. - Feast of the Venerable Women of Diveyevo (unspecified)
. Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery (September 26, 2011). Access date: December 27, 2014. - Cathedral of St. wives of Diveyevo (undefined)
. Official website of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery (September 26, 2010). Access date: December 27, 2014.
Creation of the Mill Community
Seraphim of Sarov loved a modest, kind, warm-hearted and pious girl, and trusted her a lot for her purity. He initiated his student into the revelations that he received from the Queen of Heaven. On November 25, 1825, he had a vision of the Mother of God with the apostles John the Theologian and Peter. The Mother of God showed the monk the place where he was to establish a new monastery.
On December 9 of the same year, Seraphim took two sisters with him to the desert. Here, in the hut, he handed the sisters lighted candles, placed Mary to the right of the Crucifixion hanging on the wall, Praskovya to the left, and, standing between them, began to pray. An hour later, he venerated the Crucifix, ordered the sisters to read a prayer and venerate the same. A new monastery was founded on this site.
For four years, under the leadership of St. Seraphim, together with other sisters, Maria built the Mill Monastery. She humbly performed any work: she prepared timber and pillars for the construction of a mill, without sparing herself and her health, she carried heavy stones for the construction of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The maiden community was named Melnichnaya, in honor of the mill built here.
Death of Martha
Martha lived a short life. She tore her health up during the construction of the temple and had trouble with her stomach. Shortly before her death, Father Seraphim secretly tonsured the girl into the schema with the name Martha. He foresaw his death and cried for his devoted student.
The nineteen-year-old girl reposed in the Lord on August 21, 1829. The Monk Seraphim of Sarov told the sisters about the secret dedication, and with his own hand gave for the funeral an oak coffin, a schema, a mantle, a kamilavochka, yellow and white candles, towels, 25 rubles for the funeral and another 25 so that everyone who came to say goodbye would be given three kopecks.
In the church, at the hour of the funeral service, my sister Mary had a vision: the deceased was floating in the air with the Mother of God at the royal doors. In response to this story, Seraphim of Sarov ordered Praskovya not to lose heart and said that the Most Holy Martha would be “a prayer book for your entire family.” And the elder also said that she would be the ruler of the Diveyevo orphans in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Schema-nun Martha was buried in the church cemetery next to the Venerables Alexandra and Elena. In 1927, the Diveyevo Monastery was closed and the tomb chapels were destroyed. Until 1960, there was a bus station on this site, and only in 1991, during excavations, the graves were restored.
In September 2000, archaeologists carefully transferred the remains of Martha, Alexandra and Helen to the Church of the Nativity. Since 2016, the relics of the saints have been kept in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
During her short existence, Martha left a bright mark on the souls of those people who had the good fortune to be with her, and now she helps believers who turn to her for help.
Impressum
memory : September 3
Reverend Mother Martha (in the world Maria Semyonovna Milyukova) was born in 1810 on February 23 (10) in a family of peasants in the Nizhny Novgorod province of Ardatovsky district, the village of Pogiblovo (now Malinovka). The Milyukov family led a righteous and godly life and was close to St. Seraphim of Sarov. Maria had older brothers and sisters - Praskovya and Ivan. With the blessing of the Venerable Seraphim, Praskovya Semyonovna (Mary’s elder sister) entered the community of the Venerable Mother Alexandra, the founder of the Diveyevo monastery, and enjoyed a high spiritual life.
When Maria was 13 years old, she and her sister Praskovya came to Father Seraphim for the first time. This happened on November 21, 1823, on the day of the Entry into the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Praskovya Semyonovna said, Maria “tagged along with her,” and so they both came to Sarov. The great elder, seeing that the girl Maria was a chosen vessel of God’s grace, did not allow her to return home, but ordered her to remain in the community. Thus, 13-year-old Maria Semyonovna entered the number of selected Seraphim orphans, into the community of Mother Alexandra, whose head at that time was Elder Ksenia Mikhailovna Kocheulova, whom Father Seraphim called “a pillar of fire from earth to heaven” and “spiritual torment” for her righteous life.
Maria, this extraordinary, hitherto unseen youth, incomparable to anyone, angelic, child of God, began to lead an ascetic life from an early age, surpassing in the severity of her feat even the sisters of the community, who were distinguished by the severity of their lives, starting with the boss Ksenia Mikhailovna herself. Continuous prayer was her food, and she answered only necessary questions with heavenly meekness. She was almost silent, and Father Seraphim loved her especially tenderly and exclusively, devoting her to all his revelations, revealing to her the future glory of the monastery and other great spiritual secrets. Father Seraphim asked her not to tell anyone about this until the time came, which she did religiously, despite the requests and pleas of the surrounding sisters and relatives. When she returned from St. Seraphim, she was all beaming with indescribable joy.
Soon after Mary entered the community at the Kazan Church, the Queen of Heaven deigned to create a new one next to this community, from which the creation of the monastery began, promised by the Queen of Heaven to Mother Alexandra. The Mother of God commanded St. Seraphim, to establish a new monastery in Diveevo, take eight sisters from the community of Mother Xenia, indicating them by name.
Soon after this, on December 9, 1825, Maria, together with another sister, came to the Monk Seraphim, and the priest announced to them that they should go with him to the same distant desert. Arriving there and entering the hut, Fr. Seraphim gave the sisters two lighted wax candles that he had taken with him at his order, along with oil and breadcrumbs. Then he ordered Maria to stand on the right side of the Crucifix hanging on the wall, and Praskovya Stepanovna (that was the name of the other sister) to stand on the left. They stood like that for more than an hour with lit candles, and Fr. Seraphim prayed all the time, standing in the middle. Having prayed, he venerated the Crucifix and ordered them to pray and venerate. So, before the beginning of the founding of a new community, the Reverend performed this mysterious prayer with the sisters whom the Mother of God had chosen for special service to Her and the monastery.
For four years, Mary labored, helping St. Seraphim and the sisters in establishing a new community. Together with him and other sisters, she prepared poles and timber for the mill, which the Mother of God blessed to build on the site of the founding of the new community; carried stones for the construction of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; she ground flour and performed other obediences, never abandoning heartfelt prayer, “silently lifting up her burning spirit to the Lord.”
This wonderful young woman was endowed by the Lord with the very rare gift of pure and unceasing prayer. In everything she was always guided by the Monk Seraphim himself. As an example of her unconditional obedience, they said that once when her sister Praskovya Semyonovna asked a question about some Sarov monk, she asked in surprise and childishly innocently: “What kind of monks, Parasha, do they look like the priest?” Surprised in turn by her sister’s question, Praskovya Semyonovna answered her: “You go to Sarov so often, didn’t you see that you were asking?” “No, Parashenka,” Maria Semyonovna said humbly, “after all, I don’t see or know anything; Father Seraphim ordered me never to look at them, and I tie a scarf over my eyes so that I can only see the road under my feet.”
This is what this ascetic child was like, who lived in the monastery for only six years and at the age of 19 from birth peacefully and quietly departed to the Lord.
On August 21, 1829, the Diveyevo monastery lost this wonderful, holy life of the youth, Maria Semyonovna Milyukova, Schema-nun Martha. Having foreseen in spirit the hour of her death, the Monk Seraphim suddenly began to cry and with the greatest sorrow said to Fr. To Pavel, his cell neighbor: “Paul! But Maria has moved away, and I feel so sorry for her, so sorry that, you see, I keep crying!” Father Seraphim wished to give her an oak coffin, round, hollowed out. Praskovya Semyonovna followed him with another Diveyevo sister, Akilina Vasilievna. Praskovya Semyonovna was very upset, and the priest received her like a father, caressed her and encouraged her. Then he told her: “...Mary is schema-nun Martha, I kidnapped her! She has everything: the schema and the mantle and my kamilavochka, put her in all this! Don’t be discouraged, mother, her soul is in the Kingdom of Heaven and near the Holy Trinity at the Throne of God, and your whole family will be saved through her!” In addition, Father Seraphim gave 25 rubles for funeral expenses and 25 rubles of copper in order to give 3 kopecks each to all the sisters and lay people, no matter who was present at her burial. He also gave two towels for the altar, a pile of yellow candles for the magpie so that they would burn day and night in the church, and a ruble yellow candle for the coffin, and half a pound of white twenty-kopeck candles for the funeral.
Thus, with the blessing of the Monk Seraphim, they laid Maria Semyonovna, schema-nun Martha, in a coffin: in two scrolls (shirts), in a paper cassock, belted with a black woolen trim, in addition to this in a black schema with white crosses and a long mantle. They put a green velvet cap embroidered with gold on his head, on top of it was Father Seraphim’s kamilavka, and finally tied it with a large dark blue draped shawl with tassels. In his hands are leather rosaries. All these things were given to her by Fr. Seraphim from his hands, ordering them to always go to the communion of the Holy Mysteries, which was exactly what Mary did every twelfth holiday and all four fasts. The Monk Seraphim sent everyone who came to him these days to Diveevo for the funeral of Maria Semyonovna. So, he sent Ekaterina Egorovna and Anna Alekseevna, who were picking berries in the Sarov forest, and others home rather, saying that whoever will be at the funeral of Maria Semyonovna will receive absolution. Even the Sarov monks and a whole crowd of people coming to him, Fr. Seraphim sent for the burial, ordering the worldly maidens and sisters to dress up, comb their hair and fall at her tomb!
During the funeral service, Elder Praskovya Semyonovna, the sister of the late schema-nun Martha, clearly saw the Queen of Heaven and Maria Semyonovna at the royal doors, standing in the air. Having gone into a frenzy with delight, she loudly shouted to the whole church: “Queen, do not leave us!” Suddenly she began acting like a fool, prophesying, saying extraordinary things to those around her, giving away all the clothes she was wearing, then immediately became very weak. The demons called out, made noise and began to scream. This incident greatly affected those gathered. When Elder Akilina Vasilievna, after the funeral, hurried to Father Seraphim and told him what had happened, he said: “It is, mother, the Lord and the Queen of Heaven wanted to glorify our mother Martha and Lady Mary. And if I, poor Seraphim, had been at her burial, then many would have been healed from her spirit!”
Then Maria Semyonovna’s brother, Ivan, who also went to his sister’s funeral, arrived to the priest and asked: “Will Praskovya Semyonovna, who was ill after the vision, recover?” Having vigilantly examined Ivan Semyonovich, whom he knew, the priest suddenly became so joyful and bright that the rays of the sun seemed to emanate from his face, and Ivan had to hide from Fr. Seraphim, not being able to look at him. Then Father exclaimed: “Behold, my joy! What mercy she received from the Lord! In the Kingdom of Heaven at the Throne of God, near the Queen of Heaven with the holy virgins! She is a prayer book for your entire family! She is schema-nun Martha, I tonsured her. When visiting Diveyevo, never pass by, but fall to the grave, saying: “Our Lady and Mother Martha, remember us at the Throne of God in the Kingdom of Heaven!”
The Monk Seraphim also said that over time the relics of Maria Semyonovna - schema-nun Martha - will rest openly in the monastery, for she pleased the Lord so much that she was honored with incorruption! At the same time, Father Seraphim remarked: “Wow, mother, how important obedience is! That’s why Mary was silent and only out of joy, loving the monastery, she transgressed my commandment and told little, and yet, when her relics are opened in the future, only her lips will give in to corruption!”
There were many sisters from the Milyukov family in the monastery until its closure in 1927. After the resumption of the monastery, the Lord wonderfully celebrated the day of memory of the holy venerable schema-nun Martha by consecrating the Transfiguration Cathedral. Built in 1917 and not consecrated, the cathedral, destroyed during the years of Soviet power, was transferred to the reconstructed monastery in 1991. Until 1998, the cathedral was restored; its consecration inadvertently coincided with the day of the saint’s blessed death.
In 2000, Schema-nun Martha was canonized as a locally revered saint of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, and now her relics rest in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery.
Prayer to St. Marfa Diveevskaya
Prayer to Venerable Martha of Diveyevo
O venerable and God-bearing mother Martha, of Diveyevo with joy and praise, a wondrous branch of the righteous family and the fruit of the holy family of the pious, who from childhood flowed with your relatives to the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, for obedience to him by Divine grace she became completely wise, and became his secret keeper and a great angelic image by hand having received it, in your short years you have fulfilled all your needs, and you have ascended into the kingdom of heaven with your virgin soul, unaddressed by your holy elder. Pray for us, unworthy and malicious, who honor your memory with love, may the Lord cleanse us from all mental and physical defilement, intercede, save, have mercy and preserve us with His grace. Amen.
Troparion of St. Marfa Diveevskaya, voice 2:
The “wonderful youth” and interlocutor of the Venerable Seraphim, our Lady and Mother Martha, acquired an equal life with the angels, now resting in the incorruptible relics and standing at the Throne of God, pray for us to the Merciful God of Heaven, Diveeva’s boss
Kontakion St. Marfa Diveevskaya, tone 8:
You were filled with heavenly meekness, silence and unearthly joy, young and hitherto unseen in Diveyevo, our venerable mother Martha, endowed with the great schema from the venerable Seraphim, and with the same you settled with the wise virgins in the heavenly devil and with the Angels you constantly stood before the All-Tsar.
