The icon next to the relics of the matron. How the icon of the Matrona of Moscow helps

There are a large number of Orthodox saints who are worthy of the worship of believers. By their own spiritual feat they proved the greatness and power of the soul, so the Lord endowed them with special power that should help suffering and suffering people. Their physical death turns them into a spirit, they are able to continue to listen to prayers addressed to them and answer them, extending an invisible helping hand. This is exactly how the icon of Matrona of Moscow, a revered Orthodox ascetic who walked this earth relatively recently, helps.

The saint was also glorified relatively recently, but she is one of the most revered by modern Orthodox Christians, along with saints who achieved greatness in ancient times.

History of Matrona of Moscow

Matryona Nikonova was born in Sebino, in the province of Tula. She is known to all Orthodox Christians as Matryona of Moscow. Although this is not accepted in Orthodoxy, the icon of the Holy Blessed Matrona could well have appeared at an early age, because the girl showed miracles of faith almost from birth. Her mother had a prophetic dream that announced the coming of a holy but blind girl. This often happens to saints.

From an early age, Matrona helped people in every possible way, showing an affinity for church services, fasting and prayers. Even as a child, I played with icons, and not with simple toys.

Over time, the saint only gained her popularity among believers, although popularity here may not be the best word. There are many testimonies of healing, including those of the paralyzed. There is a story about John of Kronstadt, who called the girl “the eighth pillar of Rus'” and many other stories that speak of the originality of this personality. Even now, the icon of the blessed Matrona of Moscow continues to help people who turn to the image with prayer.

How does the icon of the Matrona of Moscow help?

She is able to evaluate sinful and righteous actions. She had to endure a life full of hardships and suffering, despite her own illnesses, she did not give up and showed endless compassion for the people around her. Therefore, the miraculous icon of the Matrona of Moscow continues to act to this day out of boundless compassion.

Therefore, she can be called a real helper, capable of feats accomplished by Faith and Compassion. Her serious illness did not become a curse; she perceived her own illnesses as part of the ministry, and thanks to constant prayer and the search for spiritual things, she was able to heal sick people.

She supported the dejected and helped them fight depression

Until now, the significance of the icon of the Matrona of Moscow is highly valued by believers who turn to the saint for advice.

The icon of Matryona is kept in the monastery, where not only the icon, but also the relics are located, we are talking about the Intercession Stavropegial Monastery in Moscow. Various people turn to the icon of the Matrona of Moscow in the Pokrovsky Monastery who want to find happiness or peace. They ask to find missing relatives or children, at least to find out good news about them and understand how they can be found. Others ask for health, to improve it or to recover completely. Women who cannot have children ask for the birth of their first child and his health.

The Matronushka icon listens to prayers for family well-being, the absence of conflicts and the desire to resolve them soon. Not only in Moscow can there be miraculous icons of Mother Matrona, they are in many churches. They ask her about personal female happiness and the search for a soul mate. It is reasonable to ask for a good salary to provide for your family. It can become a life-saving straw that can pull you out of protracted depression and alleviate suffering during illness and life’s difficulties. Thousands of people turn to her who want to be healed and return to a happy life full of joy and happiness.

There are many images; if we take the canonical description, then the icon of the Matrona of Moscow is distinguished primarily by its eyes. After all, the saint was blind, the other components and details can be very different, but you need to choose those that are recognized as canonical by the church.

Prayers to the icon

In addition, the icon is venerated on other days. For example, in March there is a moving date for the feast of the discovery of relics.

Prayer to Blessed Matrona of Moscow

Oh, blessed mother Matrono, with your soul standing in Heaven before the Throne of God, with your body resting on earth, and with the grace given to you from above, various miracles flow. Look now with your merciful eye on us, sinners, in our sorrows, illnesses and sinful temptations, waiting for our days, comfort us, desperate ones, heal our fierce ailments, from God to us Confused by our sins, deliver us from many troubles and circumstances, beg our Lord Jesus Christ forgive us all our sins, iniquities and sins, for whom we have sinned from our youth even to this day and hour, so that through your prayers we have received grace and great mercy, We see in the Trinity the One God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever. Amen.

Second prayer to Blessed Matrona of Moscow

Oh, blessed mother Matrono, hear and accept us now, sinners, praying to you, having become accustomed throughout your life to receive and listen to all those who suffer and mourn, with faith and hope for your intercession knowledge and help of those who come running, giving quick help and miraculous healing to everyone; May your mercy not fail now for us, unworthy, restless in this busy world and nowhere finding consolation and compassion in spiritual sorrows and help in bodily illnesses: heal the illnesses ours, deliver from the temptations and torment of the devil, who passionately fights, help him convey his everyday the cross, to bear all the hardships of life and not to lose the image of God in it, to preserve the Orthodox faith until the end of our days, to have strong trust and hope in God and unfeigned love for others; help us, after leaving this life, to achieve the Kingdom of Heaven with all those who please God, glorifying the mercy and goodness of the Heavenly Father, glorified in the Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit Haha, forever and ever. Amen.

Blessed Matrona (Matrona Dimitrievna Nikonova) was born in 1885 in the village of Sebino, Epifansky district (now Kimovsky district) of the Tula province. This village is located about twenty kilometers from the famous Kulikovo Field. Her parents - Dimitri and Natalia, peasants - were pious people, worked honestly, and lived poorly. The family had four children: two brothers - Ivan and Mikhail, and two sisters - Maria and Matrona. Matrona was the youngest. When she was born, her parents were no longer young.

Given the need in which the Nikonovs lived, the fourth child could, first of all, become an extra mouth. Therefore, due to poverty, even before the birth of the last child, the mother decided to get rid of him. The murder of a baby in the womb of a patriarchal peasant family was out of the question. But there were many orphanages where illegitimate and disadvantaged children were raised at public expense or at the expense of benefactors.

Matrona’s mother decided to send her unborn child to the orphanage of Prince Golitsin in the neighboring village of Buchalki, but she saw a prophetic dream. The unborn daughter appeared to Natalia in a dream in the form of a white bird with a human face and closed eyes and sat on her right hand. Taking the dream as a sign, the God-fearing woman gave up the idea of ​​sending the child to an orphanage. The daughter was born blind, but the mother loved her “unfortunate child.”

Holy Scripture testifies that the Omniscient God sometimes chooses servants for Himself even before their birth. Thus, the Lord says to the holy prophet Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb, I sanctified you” (Jer. 1:5). The Lord, having chosen Matrona for a special service, from the very beginning laid a heavy cross on her, which she bore with humility and patience all her life.

At baptism, the girl was named Matrona in honor of the Venerable Matrona of Constantinople, a Greek ascetic of the 5th century, whose memory is celebrated on November 9 (22).

The fact that the girl was chosen by God was evidenced by the fact that at baptism, when the priest lowered the child into the font, those present saw a column of fragrant light smoke above the baby. This was reported by a relative of the blessed Pavel Ivanovich Prokhorov, who was present at the baptism. The priest, Father Vasily, whom the parishioners revered as righteous and blessed, was incredibly surprised: “I baptized a lot, but this is the first time I see this, and this baby will be holy.” Father Vasily also told Natalia: “If a girl asks for something, you will definitely contact me directly, go and say directly what is needed.”

He added that Matrona would take his place and even predict his death. This is what happened later. One night Matronushka suddenly told her mother that Father Vasily had died. The surprised and frightened parents ran to the priest's house. When they arrived, it turned out that he had indeed just died.

They also talk about the external, physical sign of the baby’s chosenness by God - on the girl’s chest there was a bulge in the shape of a cross, a miraculous pectoral cross. Later, when she was already six years old, her mother once began to scold her: “Why are you taking off your cross?” “Mommy, I have my own cross on my chest,” the girl answered. “Dear daughter,” Natalia came to her senses, “forgive me!” And I keep scolding you..."

Natalia’s friend later said that when Matrona was still a baby, her mother complained: “What should I do? The girl doesn’t breastfeed on Wednesday and Friday, she sleeps for days on these days, it’s impossible to wake her up.”

Matrona was not just blind, she had no eyes at all. The eye sockets were closed with tightly closed eyelids, like those of the white bird her mother had seen in her dream. But the Lord gave her spiritual sight. Even in infancy, at night, when her parents were sleeping, she would sneak into the holy corner, in some incomprehensible way take icons off the shelf, put them on the table and play with them in the silence of the night.

Matronushka was often teased by children, even mocked at her: the girls lashed her with nettles, knowing that she would not see who exactly was offending her. They put her in a hole and watched with curiosity as she groped her way out of there and wandered home.

From the age of seven or eight, Matronushka discovered the gift of prediction and healing the sick.

The Nikonovs' house was located near the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God. The temple is beautiful, one for seven or eight surrounding villages. Matrona’s parents were distinguished by deep piety and loved to attend divine services together. Matronushka literally grew up in church, going to services first with her mother, then alone, whenever possible. Not knowing where her daughter was, her mother usually found her in church. She had her usual place - on the left, behind the front door, near the western wall, where she stood motionless during the service. She knew church hymns well and often sang along with the singers. Apparently, even in childhood, Matrona acquired the gift of unceasing prayer.

When her mother, feeling sorry for her, said to Matronushka: “You are my unfortunate child!” - She was surprised: “Am I unhappy? You have Vanya, the unfortunate one, and Misha.” She understood that she was given much more from God than others.

Matrona was marked by God from an early age with the gift of spiritual reasoning, insight, miracles and healing. Those close to her began to notice that she knew not only human sins and crimes, but also thoughts. She felt the approach of danger and foresaw natural and social disasters. Through her prayer, people received healing from illnesses and consolation in sorrows. Visitors began to come and visit her. People were coming to the Nikonovs’ hut, carts and carts with the sick from the surrounding villages and hamlets, from all over the district, from other districts and even provinces. They brought in bedridden patients, whom the girl raised to their feet. Wanting to thank Matrona, they left food and gifts for her parents. So the girl, instead of becoming a burden to the family, became its main breadwinner.

Matrona's parents loved to go to church together. One day on a holiday, Matrona’s mother gets dressed and calls her husband with her. But he refused and did not go. At home he read prayers and sang. Matrona was also at home. The mother, while in the temple, kept thinking about her husband: “Here, he didn’t go.” And I was still worried. The liturgy ended, Natalia came home, and Matrona said to her: “You, mother, were not in church.” “How was it not? I just arrived and I’m undressing!” And the girl remarks: “My father was in the temple, but you weren’t there.” With spiritual vision, she saw that her mother was in the temple only physically.

One autumn Matronushka was sitting on a rubble. Her mother says to her: “Why are you sitting there, it’s cold, go to the hut.” Matrona replies: “I can’t sit at home, they put fire on me and stab me with pitchforks.” The mother is perplexed: “There is no one there.” And Matrona explains to her: “You, Mom, don’t understand, Satan is tempting me!”

One day Matrona says to her mother: “Mom, get ready, I’ll have a wedding soon.” The mother told the priest, he came and gave the girl communion (he always gave her communion at home at her request). And suddenly, after a few days, carts go and go to the Nikonovs’ house, people come with their troubles and sorrows, they carry the sick and for some reason everyone asks Matronushka. She read prayers over them and healed many. Mother asks: “Matryushenka, what is this?” And she replies: “I told you there will be a wedding.”

Ksenia Ivanovna Sifarova, a relative of Blessed Matrona’s brother, told how Matrona once told her mother: “I’ll leave now, and tomorrow there will be a fire, but you won’t burn.” And indeed, in the morning a fire started, almost the entire village burned down, then the wind spread the fire to the other side of the village, and the mother’s house remained intact.

In her adolescence she had the opportunity to travel. The daughter of a local landowner, a pious and kind girl Lydia Yankova, took Matrona with her on pilgrimages: to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, to St. Petersburg, and other cities and holy places of Russia. A legend has reached us about Matronushka’s meeting with the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who, at the end of the service in St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Kronstadt, asked the people to make way for the 14-year-old Matrona, who was approaching the salt, and said publicly: “Matronushka, come, come to me. Here comes my shift—the eighth pillar of Russia.” Mother did not explain the meaning of these words to anyone, but her relatives guessed that Father John foresaw a special service for Matronushka to Russia and the Russian people during the times of persecution of the Church.

A little time passed, and in her seventeenth year Matrona lost the ability to walk: her legs suddenly became paralyzed. Mother herself pointed to the spiritual cause of the disease. She walked through the temple after communion and knew that a woman would approach her and take away her ability to walk. And so it happened. “I didn’t avoid it—it was God’s will.”

Until the end of her days she was “sedentary.” And her stay - in different houses and apartments where she found shelter - continued for another fifty years. She never grumbled because of her illness, but humbly bore this heavy cross given to her by God.

Even at an early age, Matrona predicted the revolution, how “they will rob, destroy churches and drive everyone away.” She figuratively showed how they would divide the land, grab plots of land greedily, just to grab the extra for themselves, and then everyone would abandon the land and run in all directions. Nobody will need the land.

Matrona advised the landowner from their village Sebino Yankov before the revolution to sell everything and go abroad. If he had listened to the blessed one, he would not have seen the plunder of his estate and would have avoided an early, untimely death, and his daughter would have avoided wanderings.

Matrona’s fellow villager, Evgenia Ivanovna Kalachkova, said that just before the revolution, one lady bought a house in Sebino, came to Matrona and said: “I want to build a bell tower.” “What you are planning to do will not come true,” Matrona answers. The lady was surprised: “How can it not come true when I have everything - both money and materials?” So nothing came of the construction of the bell tower.

For the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, at the insistence of Matrona (who had already gained fame in the area and whose request was perceived as a blessing), the icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost” was painted. Here's how it happened.

One day Matrona asked her mother to tell the priest that in his library, in such and such a row, there was a book with the image of the icon “Recovery of the Lost.” Father was very surprised. They found an icon, and Matronushka said: “Mom, I will write out such an icon.” The mother was saddened - how to pay for her? Then Matrona says to her mother:

“Mom, I keep dreaming about the icon “Recovery of the Dead.” The Mother of God asks to come to our church.” Matronushka blessed the women to collect money for the icon in all villages. Among other donors, one man gave a ruble reluctantly, and his brother gave one kopeck out of laughter. When the money was brought to Matronushka, she sorted through it, found this ruble and a kopeck and said to her mother: “Mom, give it to them, they are ruining all my money.”

When we collected the required amount, we ordered an icon from an artist from Epifani. His name remains unknown. Matrona asked him if he could paint such an icon. He replied that this was a common thing for him. Matrona ordered him to repent of his sins, confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Then she asked: “Do you know for sure that you will paint this icon?” The artist answered in the affirmative and began to paint. A lot of time passed, finally he came to Matrona and said that nothing was working out for him. And she answers him: “Go, repent of your sins” (with spiritual vision she saw that there was still a sin that he did not confess). He was shocked how she knew this. Then he went to the priest again, repented, took communion again, and asked Matrona for forgiveness. She told him: “Go, now you will paint the icon of the Queen of Heaven.”

With the money collected from the villages, with the blessing of Matrona, another icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost” was commissioned in Bogoroditsk.

When she was ready, she was carried in a procession with banners from Bogoroditsk to the church in Sebino. Matrona went to meet the icon four kilometers away, they led her arm in arm. Suddenly she said: “Don’t go further, it’s already soon, they’re already coming, they’re close.” The woman who was blind from birth spoke as if she were sighted: “In half an hour they will come and bring the icon.” Indeed, half an hour later a religious procession appeared. A prayer service was served, and the procession headed to Sebino. Matrona either held onto the icon, or was led by the arms next to it. This image of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost” became the main local shrine and became famous for its many miracles. When there was a drought, they took him out to a meadow in the middle of the village and served a prayer service. After it, people did not have time to reach their homes before it began to rain.

Throughout her life, Blessed Matrona was surrounded by icons. In the room where she subsequently lived for a particularly long time, there were three red corners, and in them there were icons from top to bottom, with lamps burning in front of them. One woman who worked at the Church of the Deposition of the Robe in Moscow often went to Matrona and later recalled how she told her: “I know all the icons in your church, which one is where.”

People were also surprised by the fact that Matrona also had the usual, like sighted people, idea of ​​the world around her. To the sympathetic appeal of a person close to her, Zinaida Vladimirovna Zhdanova: “It’s a pity, mother, that you don’t see the beauty of the world!” — she once answered: “God once opened my eyes and showed me the world and His creation. And I saw the sun, and the stars in the sky, and everything on earth, the beauty of the earth: mountains, rivers, green grass, flowers, birds...”

But there is even more amazing evidence of the blessed one’s foresight. 3. V. Zhdanova recalls: “Mother was completely illiterate, but she knew everything. In 1946, I had to defend my diploma project “Ministry of the Navy” (I was then studying at the Architectural Institute in Moscow). My boss, for some unknown reason, was following me all the time. For five months, he never consulted me, deciding to “fail” my diploma. Two weeks before the defense, he announced to me: “Tomorrow a commission will come and confirm the inconsistency of your work!” I came home in tears: my father was in prison, there was no one to help, my mother was dependent on me, my only hope was to protect myself and work.

Mother listened to me and said: “Nothing, nothing, you’ll defend yourself! We’ll have tea in the evening and talk!” I could barely wait for the evening, and then my mother said: “You and I will go to Italy, to Florence, to Rome, and see the works of the great masters...” And she began to list the streets and buildings! She stopped: “Here is Palazzo Pitti, here is another palace with arches, do the same as there - the three lower floors of the building with large masonry and two entrance arches.” I was shocked by her behavior. In the morning I ran to the institute, put tracing paper on the project and made all the corrections with brown ink. At ten o'clock the commission arrived. They looked at my project and said: “Well, the project turned out great, it looks great - defend yourself!”

Many people came to Matrona for help. Four kilometers from Sebino lived a man whose legs could not walk. Matrona said: “Let him come to me in the morning, crawl. By three o'clock he will crawl, crawl." He crawled these four kilometers, and walked away from her on his own feet, healed.

One day, women from the village of Orlovka came to Matrona during Easter week. The matron received while sitting by the window. She gave prosphora to one, water to another, a red egg to the third, and told her to eat this egg when she went outside the gardens to the threshing floor. This woman put the egg in her bosom, and they went. When they left the threshing floor, the woman, as Matrona told her, broke an egg, and there was a mouse. They got scared and decided to go back. We went to the window, and Matrona said: “What, is there a nasty mouse?” “Matronushka, how can you eat it?” “How did you sell milk to people, especially to orphans, widows, and the poor who don’t have a cow? The mouse was in the milk, you pulled it out, and gave the milk to people.” The woman says: “Matronushka, they didn’t see the mouse and didn’t know, I threw it out of there.” - “God knows that you were selling mouse milk!”

Many people came to Matrona with their illnesses and sorrows. Having intercession before God, she helped many.

A.F. Vybornova, whose father was baptized together with Matrona, tells the details of one of these healings. “My mother comes from the village of Ustye, and she had a brother there. One day he gets up - neither his arms nor his legs move, they become like whips. But he did not believe in Matrona’s healing abilities. My brother’s daughter went to the village of Sebino to pick up her mother: “Godmother, let’s go quickly, things are bad with my father, he’s become like a fool: he’s dropped his hands, his eyes aren’t looking, his tongue can barely move.” Then my mother harnessed a horse and she and my father rode to Ustye. We arrived at my brother’s, and he looked at my mother and barely said “sister.” She gathered her brother and brought him to our village. She left him at home and went to Matryusha to ask if she could bring him. She comes, and Matryusha says to her: “Well, your brother said that I can’t do anything, but he himself has become like a fence.” And she hasn’t seen him yet! Then she said: “Bring him to me, I’ll help.” She read over him, gave him water, and sleep fell on him. He slept like a log and woke up completely healthy in the morning. “Thank your sister, her faith healed you,” was all Matrona said to her brother.”

The help that Matrona gave to the sick not only had nothing to do with conspiracies, divination, so-called folk healing, extrasensory perception, magic and other witchcraft actions, during which the “healer” comes into contact with a dark force, but had a fundamentally different, Christian nature. That is why the righteous Matrona was so hated by sorcerers and various occultists, as evidenced by people who knew her closely during the Moscow period of her life. First of all, Matrona prayed for people. Being a saint of God, richly endowed with spiritual gifts from above, she asked the Lord for miraculous help for the sick. The history of the Orthodox Church knows many examples when not only clergy or ascetic monks, but also righteous people who lived in the world healed those in need of help through prayer.

Matrona read a prayer over the water and gave it to those who came to her. Those who drank the water and sprinkled it with it got rid of various misfortunes. The content of these prayers is unknown, but, of course, there could be no question of the blessing of water according to the rite established by the Church, to which only clergy have the canonical right. But it is also known that not only holy water has beneficial healing properties, but also the water of some reservoirs, springs, wells, marked by the presence and prayer life of holy people near them, and the appearance of miraculous icons.

In 1925, Matrona moved to Moscow, where she would live until the end of her days. In this huge capital city there were many unfortunate, lost, fallen from the faith, spiritually sick people with a poisoned consciousness. Living for about three decades in Moscow, she performed that spiritual and prayerful service that turned many away from death and led to salvation.

The blessed one loved Moscow very much, she said that “this is a holy city, the heart of Russia.” Both Matrona's brothers, Mikhail and Ivan, joined the party, Mikhail became a rural activist. It is clear that the presence in their home of the blessed one, who received people all day long, taught them by deed and example to preserve the Orthodox faith, became unbearable for the brothers. They feared reprisals. Feeling sorry for them, as well as for her elderly parents (Matrona’s mother died in 1945), Mother moved to Moscow. They began wandering around relatives and friends, in houses, apartments, basements. Matrona lived almost everywhere without registration, and miraculously escaped arrest several times. The novices—hozhalki—lived with her and looked after her.

This was a new period of her ascetic life. She becomes a homeless wanderer. Sometimes she had to live with people who were hostile to her. Housing in Moscow was difficult; there was no choice.

Z.V. Zhdanova told what hardships the blessed one sometimes had to endure: “I came to Sokolniki, where mother often lived in a small plywood house, given to her for a while. It was deep autumn. I entered the house, and in the house there was thick, damp and dank steam, an iron stove-stove was burning. I went up to my mother, and she was lying on the bed, facing the wall, she couldn’t turn to me, her hair was frozen to the wall, she could barely pull it off. I said in horror: “Mother, how can this happen? After all, you know that we live together with my mother, my brother is at the front, my father is in prison and what happened to him is unknown, but we have two rooms in a warm house, forty-eight square meters, a separate entrance; why didn’t you ask to come to us?” Mother sighed heavily and said: “God did not order so that you would not regret it later.”

Before the war, Matrona lived on Ulyanovskaya Street with priest Vasily, the husband of her novice Pelageya, while he was free. She lived on Pyatnitskaya Street, in Sokolniki (in a summer plywood building), in Vishnyakovsky Lane (in her niece’s basement), she also lived at the Nikitsky Gate, in Petrovsko-Razumovsky, and visited her nephew in Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk), in Tsaritsyno. She lived the longest (from 1942 to 1949) on Arbat, in Starokonyushenny Lane. Here, in an old wooden mansion, in a 48-meter room, Matrona’s fellow villager, E.M. Zhdanova, lived with her daughter Zinaida. It was in this room that three corners were occupied by icons, from top to bottom. Antique lamps hung in front of the icons, and heavy expensive curtains hung on the windows (before the revolution, the house belonged to Zhdanova’s husband, who came from a rich and noble family).

They say that Matrona left some places in a hurry, foreseeing impending troubles in spirit, always on the eve of the police coming to her, since she lived without registration. Times were hard, and people were afraid to register it. In this way she saved not only herself, but also the hosts who sheltered her, from repression.

Many times they wanted to arrest Matrona. Many of her loved ones were arrested and imprisoned (or exiled). Zinaida Zhdanova was convicted as a member of a church-monarchist group.

Ksenia Ivanovna Sifarova said that Matrona’s nephew Ivan lived in Zagorsk. And suddenly she mentally calls him to her. He came to his boss and said: “I want to take time off from you, I just can’t, I need to go to my aunt.” He arrived without knowing what was going on. And Matrona says to him: “Come on, come on, take me quickly to Zagorsk, to your mother-in-law.” As soon as they left, the police came. It happened many times: they just want to arrest her, but she leaves the day before.

Anna Filippovna Vybornova recalls such an incident. One day a policeman came to take Matrona away, and she said to him: “Go, go quickly, there is misfortune in your house! But the blind woman won’t get away from you, I sit on the bed, I don’t go anywhere.” He obeyed. I went home, and his wife was burned from the kerosene gas. But he managed to get her to the hospital. He comes to work the next day, and they ask him: “Well, did you take the blind woman?” And he answers: “I will never take the blind woman. If the blind woman had not told me, I would have lost my wife, but I still managed to take her to the hospital.”

Living in Moscow, Matrona visited her village - either they would call her on some business, or she would miss home, her mother.

Outwardly, her life flowed monotonously: during the day - receiving people, at night - prayer. Like the ancient ascetics, she never really went to bed, but dozed, lying on her side, on her fist. Years passed like this.

Once in 1939 or 1940, Matrona said: “Now you are all quarreling, dividing, but the war is about to begin. Of course, many people will die, but our Russian people will win.”

At the beginning of 1941, Z. V. Zhdanova’s cousin Olga Noskova asked her mother for advice on whether she should go on vacation (they gave her a ticket, but she didn’t want to go on vacation in the winter). Mother said: “You need to go on vacation now, then there will be no vacations for a long, long time. There will be a war. Victory will be ours. The enemy will not touch Moscow, it will only burn a little. There is no need to leave Moscow.”

When the war began, mother asked everyone who came to her to bring willow branches. She broke them into sticks of equal length, peeled them from the bark and prayed. Her neighbors recalled that her fingers were covered in wounds. Matrona could be spiritually present in various places; for her spiritual gaze, space did not exist. She often said that she was invisible at the front, helping our soldiers. She told everyone that the Germans would not enter Tula. Her prophecy came true.

Matronushka received up to forty people a day. People came with their troubles, mental and physical pain. She refused to help anyone, except those who came with crafty intentions. Others saw in mother a folk healer who had the power to remove damage or the evil eye, but after communicating with her they realized that this was a man of God, and they turned to the Church and its saving sacraments. Helping her people was selfless; she did not take anything from anyone.

Mother always read her prayers loudly. Those who knew her closely say that these prayers were well-known, read in church and at home: “Our Father,” “May God rise again,” the ninetieth psalm, “Lord Almighty, God of hosts and all flesh” (from morning prayers). She emphasized that it was not herself who helped, but God through her prayers: “What, Matronushka is God, or what? God helps! - she answers Ksenia Gavrilovna Potapova when asked to help her.

Healing the sick, mother demanded that they believe in God and correct their sinful lives. So, she asks one visitor if she believes that the Lord is able to heal her. Another, who fell ill with epilepsy, orders not to miss a single Sunday service, to confess at each and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ. She blesses those living in a civil marriage to be sure to get married in the Church. Everyone must wear a cross.

What did people come to mother with? With the usual troubles: incurable illness, disappearance, husband leaving the family, unhappy love, loss of job, persecution from superiors... With everyday needs and questions. Should I get married? Should I change my place of residence or service? There were no less sick people, obsessed with various ailments: someone suddenly fell ill, someone for no apparent reason began to bark, someone’s arms and legs were cramped, someone was haunted by hallucinations. Popularly, such people are called “corrupted” sorcerers, healers, and sorcerers. These are people who, as people say, have been “done”, who have been subjected to special demonic influence.

One day, four men brought an old woman to Matrona. She waved her arms like a windmill. When her mother scolded her, she weakened and was healed.

Praskovya Sergeevna Anosova, who often visited her brother in a psychiatric hospital, recalls: “Once, when we were going to see him, a man and his wife were traveling with us to discharge their daughter from the hospital. We rode back together again. Suddenly this girl (she was 18 years old) started barking. I say to her mother: “I feel sorry for you, we are driving past Tsaritsyno, let’s take our daughter to Matronushka...” This girl’s father, the general, at first didn’t want to hear anything, he said that it was all fiction. But his wife insisted, and we went to Matronushka... And so they began to bring the girl to Matronushka, and she became like a stake, her hands like sticks, then she began to spit on Matronushka and struggled. Matrona says: “Leave her, now she won’t do anything.” The girl was released. She fell, began to thrash and spin around on the floor, and began vomiting blood. And then this girl fell asleep and slept for three days. They looked after her. When she woke up and saw her mother, she asked: “Mom, where are we?” She answers her: “We, daughter, are with a perspicacious man...” And she told her everything that happened to her. And from that time on, the girl was completely healed.”

3. V. Zhdanova says that in 1946, a woman who occupied a high position was brought to their apartment, where Matrona then lived. Her only son went crazy, her husband died at the front, and she herself, of course, was an atheist. She traveled with her sick son to Europe, but famous doctors could not help him. “I came to you out of despair,” she said, “I have nowhere to go.” Matrona asked: “If the Lord cures your son, will you believe in God?” The woman said, “I don’t know what it’s like to believe.” Then Matrona asked for water and, in the presence of the unfortunate mother, began to read a prayer loudly over the water. Then handing her this water, the blessed one said: “Go now to Kashchenko (a psychiatric hospital in Moscow), arrange with the orderlies so that they hold him tightly when they take him out. He will fight, and you try to splash this water in his eyes and be sure to get it in his mouth.”

Zinaida Vladimirovna recalls: “After some time, my brother and I witnessed how this woman came to Matrona again. She thanked her mother on her knees, saying that her son was now healthy. And it was like this. She arrived at the hospital and did everything as mother ordered. There was a hall where her son was taken from one side of the barrier, and she approached from the other side. The bottle of water was in her pocket. The son struggled and shouted: “Mom, throw away what you have in your pocket, don’t torture me!” She was amazed: how did he know? She quickly splashed water into his eyes, got it into his mouth, suddenly he calmed down, his eyes became clear, and he said: “How good!” He was soon discharged."

Often Matrona put her hands on her head and said: “He, he, now I’ll clip your wings, fight, fight bye!” “Who are you?” - he will ask, and the person will suddenly begin to buzz. Mother will say again: “Who are you?” - and it will buzz even more, and then she will pray and say: “Well, the mosquito has fought, now that’s enough!” And the person leaves healed.

Matrona also helped those whose family life was not going well. One day a woman came to her and told her that she was not married for love, and she was not living well with her husband. Matrona answers her: “Who is to blame? It's your fault. Because the Lord is our head, and the Lord is in male form, and we women must obey a man, you must keep the crown until the end of your life. It’s your fault that you don’t live well with him...” This woman listened to the blessed one, and her family life improved.

“Mother Matrona fought all her life for every soul that came to her,” recalls Zinaida Zhdanova, “and won. She never lamented or complained about the difficulties of her feat. I can’t forgive myself for never feeling sorry for Mother, even though I saw how difficult it was for her, how she was rooting for each of us. The light of those days still warms us. In the house, lamps glowed in front of the images; mother’s love and her silence enveloped the soul. There was holiness, joy, peace, and gracious warmth in the house. There was a war going on, but we lived like in heaven.”

How do people close to you remember Matrona? With miniature, child-like, short arms and legs. Sitting cross-legged on a bed or chest. Fluffy hair parted in the middle. Eyelids tightly closed. Kind bright face. Affectionate voice.

She consoled, calmed the sick, stroked their heads, made the sign of the cross, sometimes joked, sometimes sternly rebuked and instructed. She was not strict, she was tolerant of human weaknesses, compassionate, warm, sympathetic, always joyful, and never complained about her illnesses and suffering. Mother did not preach, did not teach. She gave specific advice on what to do in a given situation, prayed and blessed.

She was generally taciturn and briefly answered questions from those who came. Some of her general instructions remain.

Mother taught us not to judge our neighbors. She said: “Why judge other people? Think about yourself more often. Each sheep will be suspended by its tail. What do you care about other ponytails?” Matrona taught to surrender oneself to the will of God. Live with prayer. Often apply the sign of the cross to yourself and surrounding objects, thereby protecting yourself from evil forces. She advised me to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ more often. “Protect yourself with the cross, prayer, holy water, frequent communion... Let the lamps burn in front of the icons.”

She also taught to love and forgive the old and infirm. “If old people, sick people, or people who have lost their minds say something unpleasant or offensive to you, then don’t listen, just help them. You need to help the sick with all diligence and you need to forgive them, no matter what they say or do.”

Matronushka did not allow us to attach significance to dreams: “Don’t pay attention to them, dreams come from the evil one - to upset a person, to confuse him with thoughts.”

Matrona warned not to run around among confessors in search of “elders” or “seers.” Running around different fathers, she said, you can lose spiritual strength and the right direction in life.

Here are her words: “The world lies in evil and delusion, and delusion—the deception of souls—will be obvious, beware.” “If you go to an elder or priest for advice, pray that the Lord will make him wise to give the right advice.” She taught me not to be interested in priests and their lives. She advised those who wished for Christian perfection not to stand out externally among people (black clothes, etc.). She taught patience in sorrows. 3. She said to V. Zhdanova: “Go to church and don’t look at anyone, pray with your eyes closed or look at some image, icon.” St. Seraphim of Sarov and other holy fathers also have similar instructions. In general, there was nothing in Matrona’s instructions that would run counter to the patristic teaching.

Mother said that putting on makeup, that is, using decorative cosmetics, is a great sin: a person spoils and distorts the image of human nature, complements what the Lord did not give, creates fake beauty, this leads to corruption.

About the girls who believed in God, Matrona said: “God will forgive everything to you girls if you are devoted to God. Anyone who condemns herself not to get married must hold on until the end. The Lord will give a crown for this.”

Matronushka said: “The enemy is approaching - you must definitely pray. Sudden death happens if you live without prayer. The enemy sits on our left shoulder, and on the right is an angel, and each has his own book: our sins are written in one, and good deeds in the other. Get baptized often! The cross is the same lock as on the door.” She instructed not to forget to baptize food. “By the power of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross, save yourself and defend yourself!”

Mother said about sorcerers: “For someone who voluntarily entered into an alliance with the power of evil, took up sorcery, there is no way out. You can’t turn to grandmothers, they will cure one thing, but harm your soul.”

Mother often told her loved ones that she was fighting with sorcerers, with evil forces, and invisibly fighting them. One day a handsome old man, with a beard, sedate, came to her, fell on his knees in front of her, all in tears and said: “My only son is dying.” And mother leaned over to him and quietly asked: “What did you do to him? To death or not? He answered: “To death.” And mother says: “Go, go away from me, there is no need for you to come to me.” After he left, she said: “The sorcerers know God! If only you would pray like they do when they beg God’s forgiveness for their evil!”

Mother revered the late priest Valentin Amfitheatrov. She said that he was great before God and that at his grave he helped the suffering; she sent some of her visitors to fetch sand from his grave.

The massive falling away of people from the Church, militant atheism, growing alienation and anger between people, the rejection of traditional faith by millions and sinful life without repentance have led many to grave spiritual consequences. Matrona understood and felt this well.

On the days of the demonstration, mother asked everyone not to go out into the street, to close windows, vents, doors - hordes of demons occupy all the space, all the air and embrace all people. (Perhaps Blessed Matrona, who often spoke allegorically, wanted to remind us of the need to keep the “windows of the soul” closed from the spirits of evil - as the Holy Fathers call human feelings.)

3. V. Zhdanova asked mother: “How did the Lord allow so many churches to be closed and destroyed?” (She meant the years after the revolution.) And mother answered: “This is the will of God, the number of churches has been reduced because there will be few believers and there will be no one to serve.” “Why isn’t anyone fighting?” She: “The people are under hypnosis, not themselves, a terrible force has come into action... This force exists in the air, penetrates everywhere. Previously, swamps and dense forests were the habitat of this power, because people went to churches, wore crosses, and houses were protected by images, lamps and consecration. Demons flew past such houses, and now people are also inhabited by demons due to their unbelief and rejection of God.”

Wanting to lift the veil over her spiritual life, some curious visitors tried to spy on what Matrona did at night. One girl saw that she was praying and bowing all night...

Living with the Zhdanovs in Starokonyushenny Lane, Matronushka confessed and received communion from the priest Dimitri from the church on Krasnaya Presnya. Continuous prayer helped Blessed Matrona to carry the cross of serving people, which was a real feat and martyrdom, the highest manifestation of love. Scolding the possessed, praying for everyone, sharing people’s sorrows, mother was so tired that by the end of the day she could not even talk to her loved ones and only moaned quietly, lying on her fist. The inner, spiritual life of the blessed one still remained a mystery even for people close to her, and will remain a mystery for others.

Not knowing the spiritual life of mother, nevertheless, people did not doubt her holiness, that she was a real ascetic. Matrona's feat consisted of great patience, coming from purity of heart and ardent love for God. It is precisely this kind of patience that will save Christians in the last times that the holy fathers of the Church prophesied. Like a true ascetic, the blessed one taught not with words, but with her whole life. Although physically blind, she taught and continues to teach true spiritual vision. Unable to walk, she taught and teaches to walk the difficult path of salvation.

In her memoirs, Zinaida Vladimirovna Zhdanova writes: “Who was Matronushka? Mother was an incarnate warrior angel, as if she had a fiery sword in her hands to fight evil forces. She treated with prayer, water... She was small, like a child, all the time reclining on her side, on her fist. I slept like that, never really went to bed. When she received people, she sat down with her legs crossed, two arms extended directly above the head of the person who came in the air, put her fingers on the head of the person kneeling in front of her, made the sign of the cross, said the main thing that his soul needed, and prayed.

She lived without her own corner, property, or supplies. Whoever invited her, she lived with him. She lived on offerings that she could not manage herself. She was in obedience to the evil Pelageya, who was in charge of everything and distributed everything that they brought to her mother to her relatives. Without her knowledge, mother could neither drink nor eat...

Mother seemed to know all the events in advance. Every day of her life is a stream of sorrows and sorrows of people who come. Helping the sick, comforting and healing them. There were many healings through her prayers. He will take the head of the crying person with both hands, take pity, warm him with his holiness, and the person leaves inspired. And she, exhausted, just sighs and prays all night long. She had a dimple on her forehead from her fingers, from frequent sign of the cross. She crossed herself slowly, diligently, her fingers searching for the hole...”

During the war there were many cases when she answered those who came to their questions - whether he was alive or not. He will tell someone - he’s alive, wait. For some, a funeral service and commemoration.

It can be assumed that those who sought spiritual advice and guidance also came to Matrona. Many Moscow priests and monks of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra knew about Mother. Due to the unknown fates of God, there was no attentive observer and student near mother who could lift the veil over her spiritual work and write about it for the edification of posterity.

Countrymen from her native place often visited her, then from all the surrounding villages they wrote notes to her, and she answered them. They came to her from two or three hundred kilometers away, and she knew the person’s name. There were both Muscovites and visitors from other cities who heard about the perspicacious mother. People of different ages: young, old, and middle-aged. She accepted some, but not others. She spoke to some in parables, to others in simple language.

Zinaida once complained to her mother: “Mother, my nerves...” And she: “What nerves, after all, in war and in prison there are no nerves... You have to control yourself, be patient.”

Mother instructed that it was necessary to undergo treatment. The body is a house. Given by God, it needs to be repaired. God created the world, medicinal herbs, and this cannot be neglected.

Mother sympathized with her loved ones: “How sorry I am for you, you will live to see the last times. Life will get worse and worse. Heavy. The time will come when they will put a cross and bread in front of you, and they will say - choose!” “We will choose the cross,” they answered, “but then how can we live?” “And we will pray, take land, roll balls, pray to God, eat and be full!”

Another time she said, encouraging in a difficult situation, that there was no need to be afraid of anything, no matter how scary it was. “They carry the child in a sleigh, and there is no care! The Lord himself will manage everything!”

Matronushka often repeated: “If a people loses faith in God, then disasters befall them, and if they do not repent, they perish and disappear from the face of the earth. How many peoples have disappeared, but Russia existed and will exist. Pray, ask, repent! The Lord will not leave you and will preserve our land!”

Matronushka found her last earthly refuge at the Skhodnya station near Moscow (23 Kurgannaya Street), where she settled with a distant relative, leaving her room in Starokonyushenny Lane. And here, too, a stream of visitors came and carried their sorrows. Only just before her death did my mother, already quite weak, limit her intake. But people still came, and she could not refuse help to some. They say that the time of her death was revealed to her by the Lord three days in advance, and she made all the necessary orders. Mother asked to be buried in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe. (At this time, priest Nikolai Golubtsov, beloved by the parishioners, served there. He knew and revered Blessed Matrona.) She did not order wreaths and plastic flowers to be brought to the funeral.

Until the last days of her life, she confessed and received communion from the priests who came to her. In her humility, she, like ordinary sinful people, was afraid of death and did not hide her fear from her loved ones. Before her death, a priest, Father Dimitri, came to confess her; she was very worried whether she had folded her hands correctly. Father asks: “Are you really afraid of death?” "Afraid".

On May 2, 1952, she died. On May 3 at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, a note about the repose of the newly departed blessed Matrona was submitted for a memorial service. Among many others, she attracted the attention of the serving hieromonk. “Who submitted the note? - he asked excitedly. “What, she died?” (Many inhabitants of the Lavra knew and revered Matrona well.) The old woman and her daughter, who came from Moscow, confirmed: the day before Mother died, and this evening the coffin with her body will be placed in the Moscow Church of the Deposition of the Robe on Donskaya Street. This is how the Lavra monks learned about the death of Matrona and were able to come to her burial. After the funeral service, which was performed by Father Nikolai Golubtsov, everyone present came up and touched her hands.

On May 4, the Week of Myrrh-Bearing Women, the burial of Blessed Matrona took place in front of a large crowd of people. At her request, she was buried in the Danilovsky cemetery in order to “hear the service” (one of the few functioning Moscow churches was located there). The funeral service and burial of the blessed one were the beginning of her glorification among the people as a servant of God.

The blessed one predicted: “After my death, few people will go to my grave, only close ones, and when they die, my grave will be deserted, except occasionally someone will come... But after many years, people will learn about me and will go in droves for help in their sorrows and with requests to pray for them to the Lord God, and I will help everyone and hear everyone.”

Even before her death, she said: “Everyone, everyone, come to me and tell me, as if alive, about your sorrows, I will see you, and hear you, and help you.” And mother also said that everyone who entrusts themselves and their lives to her intercession with the Lord will be saved. “I will meet everyone who turns to me for help at their death, everyone.”

More than thirty years after the death of mother, her grave at the Danilovsky cemetery became one of the holy places of Orthodox Moscow, where people from all over Russia and from abroad came with their troubles and illnesses.

Blessed Matrona was an Orthodox person in the deep, traditional meaning of the word. Compassion for people, coming from the fullness of a loving heart, prayer, the sign of the cross, fidelity to the holy statutes of the Orthodox Church - this was the focus of her intense spiritual life. The nature of her feat is rooted in the centuries-old traditions of popular piety. Therefore, the help that people receive by prayerfully turning to the righteous woman brings spiritual fruits: people are confirmed in the Orthodox faith, become churchgoers externally and internally, and become involved in everyday prayer life.

Matrona is known to tens of thousands of Orthodox people. Matronushka - this is how many affectionately call her. She, just like during her earthly life, helps people. This is felt by all those who with faith and love ask her for intercession and intercession before the Lord, towards whom the blessed old woman has great boldness.

Finding the honest remains of the blessed old lady Matrona

On the evening of March 8, 1998, the week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus', the honest remains of the 20th century ascetic of piety, Blessed Elder Matrona, were found at the Danilovskoye cemetery in Moscow. The commission for opening the burial was headed by Archbishop Arseny of Istra. Participating in the transfer of the venerable remains of Elder Matrona were: the abbot of the Novospassky Monastery, Bishop Alexy of Orekhovo-Zuevsky, the abbot of the St. Danilov Monastery, Archimandrite Alexy, and the brethren, and the rector of the Church of Martin the Confessor in Moscow, priest Alexander Abramov. In the church in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, which is at the Danilovsky cemetery, a funeral litany was performed by the abbot of the St. Danilov Monastery, Archimandrite Alexy, in the co-service of the council of clergy. The coffin with the honorable remains of Elder Matrona was taken to the Danilov Monastery and placed in the gate church in the name of St. Simeon the Stylite. Everyone present at this memorable event was in a particularly solemn and joyful state of mind.

In addition to representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, the work of the Commission was attended by an expert on forensic medical examination, anthropologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor Viktor Nikolaevich Zvyagin and archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences Andrey Kirillovich Tanyukovich.

On March 13, the Commission finished its work. It was noted that during the examination of the remains of Elder Matrona, a bulge in the shape of a cross was discovered on her chest, which is mentioned in her biography.

In the Intercession Church of the St. Daniel Monastery, a piece of the coffin of the blessed Matrona was placed on a lectern. Here, during the days of Great Lent, memorial services were served for the repose of the servant of God Matrona.

On April 30, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, during the solemn singing of the Easter troparion “Christ is risen from the dead...”, the honorable remains of the blessed Matrona were transferred to the Church of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. In the evening, the brethren of the monastery served a funeral all-night vigil.

On May 1, Friday of the 2nd week of Easter, on the eve of the 46th anniversary of the repose of Blessed Matrona, the Divine Liturgy and memorial service were celebrated in the same church by Archbishop Arseny of Istra. There were many people praying during the service, although this event was not officially announced.

On the same day, the coffin with the honorable remains of the blessed Matrona was transferred to the Moscow Intercession Convent, near the Abelmanovskaya outpost. There he was solemnly greeted by the ringing of bells by Abbess Feofaniya and the sisters of the monastery.

Now the honest remains of the blessed one, revered by believers as holy relics, rest in this monastery, where, as during her earthly life, people go in an endless stream for help to this ascetic.

miracles of healing hopeless patients

November 22, 1881 A saint was born in the Tula province Matrona of Moscow (Matrona Dmitrievna Nikonova). The girl was given this name in honor of the Greek associate Matrona of Constantinople, whose memory is celebrated on this day.

Many parishioners believe that Saint Matrona is capable of working miracles. Photo panteleimon2013.ru

Today, righteous Mother Matrona, like , is considered one of the most revered saints among Orthodox believers. Every day, a huge number of people come to the Intercession Convent in Moscow, where the relics of the blessed one are kept, to ask for help in situations from which there seems to be no way out.

Shortly before her earthly death, Mother predicted that after her death her grave would be abandoned, but time would pass and people would come in crowds to ask for help.

“And I will help everyone, and I will hear everyone,”- said the blessed one.

And so it happened. Even before Matrona of Moscow was canonized in 1998, believers began to come to her grave and to churches where there are icons of Matronushka with various requests.

3 .Those people who themselves or whose relatives suffer from an incurable disease, for example, cancer, also come to the relics of Saint Matrona with the hope of a miracle. And it often happens that sick people, for whose health they sincerely pray, are healed.

Miracles of Matrona of Moscow

Much has been written in the life of Matrona of Moscow about the miracles that the saint performed during her lifetime and that occurred after her death. And in the Intercession Monastery they keep a book in which the clergy record all the miracles of the saint.

For example, the Life tells that Matrona, having learned that an immobile man lived four kilometers from her, told him to tell him to crawl to her on his knees. He did so, and after meeting his mother he began to walk.

Today, cases of cancer are not uncommon among adults and children. Matrona of Moscow helps with this too. One of the entries in the book of the Intercession Monastery says that a believing woman prayed for a long time at the grave of Saint Matrona and took sand with her from the cemetery. And when this parishioner’s sister was diagnosed with a malignant tumor of the thyroid gland, sand and sincere prayers at the icon of the saint helped her. Mother Matrona came to the sick woman in a dream and promised that she would recover. And so it happened.

Or another story. In one of the oncology departments in Moscow, a young woman who had two young children was dying of cancer. The nurse felt very sorry for the patient, she went to pray for her health to the relics of Mother Matrona. At the monastery she was given dry roses blessed on the relics, which she took to the dying woman. The first miracle happened on the way: the flowers sprouted fresh sprouts. And after some time, the patient, who was considered hopeless, received roses and was healed.

The book also records cases when the saint was asked for help by those whose relatives had been injured, for example, in car accidents and had not recovered for a long time. Thus, a believer from Tbilisi, whose son fell into a coma after a terrible accident, and the doctors suggested disconnecting him from life support, prayed for a long time at the icon of St. Matrona. What a surprise the doctors were when the blood from the child’s brain mysteriously disappeared, and the baby returned to a full life.

The main thing, when asking Saint Matrona of Moscow for help in this or that matter, is to believe that a miracle will happen, pray sincerely and be sure to thank Mother for her support.

Among the fairly large number of Orthodox saints who are worshiped by believers and not only, there are several very special personalities. Their spiritual feat is so great that even during their lifetime these people were endowed with a unique divine power to help the suffering. And after their physical death, already embodied in spirit, they continue to hear people’s prayers and extend invisible hands of support to us. It is precisely such remarkable personalities that include Matryona Nikonova, a native of the village of Sebino, which was once located in the Tula province. True, she is better known under another name - Mother Matrona, or Matrona of Moscow

Great Trials

The icon of the Matrona of Moscow is in almost every church, monastery, in many rural houses and city apartments. Every day thousands of prayers turn to her, and in each there is great hope for a miracle, help, blessing and support. The Life of Matrona of Moscow tells the story of the fate of this amazing woman.

If we consider it true that the Lord marks another person with a special sign even before his birth, then the case of Matryona is a clear example of this. Her mother had a prophetic dream - a bird, beautiful in appearance, but blind, sat on her chest. And then a girl was born into the Nikonov family, whose eyes were devoid of life. God's mercy was manifested in the fact that, not seeing white light, the child had unusually sharp inner, spiritual vision. She felt, understood, and appreciated both sinful human actions and righteous ones. And her whole life, full of hardships, persecution, her own illnesses and endless compassion for people, is regarded as asceticism, a feat in the name of Faith and Charity. Therefore, being herself struck by a serious illness, almost immobile (paralysis overtook her in adulthood), thanks to piety and indestructible, conscious constant prayers, fasting, and being in spiritual quest, the woman could heal the hopelessly sick, support those who were discouraged, and foresee those or other events.

For her inner gaze there were no spatial boundaries, and she, like the Holy Spirit, sitting on the bed in her room, was with the soldiers on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, protecting their lives.

For those who suffered for their faith in the cells of the NKVD, disappeared in the Gulag, it supported the will and vitality. It is difficult to overestimate the enormous moral influence this woman had on thousands of people. And after death, which she predicted for herself, each icon of the Holy Matrona of Moscow has the same miraculous properties. Mother Matronushka announced to everyone who was saddened by her death to come to her with their needs, problems, troubles, just as if she were nearby. At her grave or in front of the icon they shared everything that hurt. The saint promised that she would hear everyone and try to help, becoming an intercessor before the face of God.

Miracle-working icon

The promise was kept. The church celebrates the day of this great martyr and seer, healer and comforter. The icon of the Matrona of Moscow in the monastery where she is buried, as well as the modest grave, turn into places of endless pilgrimage. What kind of requests do people make? Someone’s child or one of their relatives has disappeared, and they ask to send news about him, to help him find him. They ask for the sick - for health. Women deprived of the happiness of motherhood pray for the opportunity to conceive and bear a baby.

The icon of the Matrona of Moscow also hears requests to resolve family conflicts, to eliminate discord between spouses, and misunderstandings between children and parents. About a happy personal life. So that the person praying can get a decent job and support his family. But you never know what we might need, you never know what we might end up in! And often it is the icon of the Matrona of Moscow that becomes the very straw that gives hope and does not allow us to drown in the abyss of despair.

The icon of the Matrona of Moscow is known not only in Moscow, but also in other parts of the country. Every year a huge number of pilgrims come to the image to ask for help in solving their problems. Believers celebrate the feast day of Saint Matrona three times throughout the year: on the day of her death - May 2, on the day of her angel - November 22 and on the day of receiving the relics - March 8.

There are several varieties of icons with the face of Matrona:

• a half-length image where the saint holds a rosary in her left hand and blesses with her right hand;
• an image with hands folded in prayer on the chest;
• an image where the saint raises her hands to the Virgin Mary;
• an image where Matrona is depicted in full growth;
• image of the representation of the blessed Matrona.

To understand how the icon shown in the photo in this article helps, you should find out how it became a saint and why people believe that it can help in life. Matrona was born blind, and they wanted to leave her in an orphanage, but her mother had a dream in which she was told that she had an unusual child. The parents considered this a prophetic omen and left the girl. Matrona first showed her abilities at the age of 8, when she discovered the gift of healing. Another girl could predict the future.

At the age of 18, another tragedy happened - Matrona stopped walking, but this did not stop her from helping people. Her life reflects compassion, self-denial and patience. She did not ask for anything for her help and did everything selflessly. Since 1917, Matrona wandered around Moscow because she did not have her own home. By the way, she foresaw the Great Patriotic War and predicted the victory of the Russian people. Thanks to the gift of foresight, Matrona knew in advance that she would soon die, so she told all the people who came to her that even after death they could turn to her for help. And so it happened, today many pray in front of the icon, near the grave and relics of the saint.

There is information that in order to gain the favor of the saint, it is necessary to give alms to poor people in the name of the Lord and out of respect for Matrona. You can also feed pigeons or stray dogs. The thing is that during her lifetime many people treated a blind woman like a mongrel, so by helping animals, you can earn the saint’s attention.

What does the icon of the Matrona of Moscow help with?

There is a huge amount of evidence that the face of the saint works real miracles. Most often, prayers are offered in front of the image by women who would like to solve problems in their personal lives. They turn to her, asking for children. Many people are interested in whether the icon of the Matrona of Moscow helps get rid of diseases. Today you can find many confirmations of the healing abilities of the image. Matrona helps to get rid of various kinds of diseases, both physical and mental. They turn to the saint in times of financial problems, as well as during natural disasters. Having an icon at home, you can protect yourself from the intrigues of enemies, various life troubles and misfortunes.

Understanding what helps and what the significance of the Matrona of Moscow is, it is worth saying that this saint is also considered an intercessor. Repentant sinners who want to beg God for forgiveness can turn to her.

Knowing how prayer in front of the icon of the Matrona of Moscow helps, you need to figure out how to correctly address the saint. You can pray both at home and in church; the location does not matter. It is important that the words are sincere and come from a pure heart.

The clergy say that you need to contact Matrona only after offering prayer to Jesus Christ and the Mother of God.

There are many different prayers to Saint Matrona, let’s consider the most famous and universal:

“Oh blessed mother Matrono, with my soul The heavens stand before the throne of God, but their bodies rest on the earth, and with the grace given from above, they exude various miracles. Look now with your merciful eye on us, sinners, in sorrows, illnesses and sinful temptations, our waiting days, comfort us, desperate ones, heal our fierce ailments, from God we are allowed by our sins, deliver us from many troubles and circumstances, pray to our Lord Jesus Christ forgive us all our sins, iniquities and falls, in whose image we have sinned from our youth even to this day and hour, and through your prayers having received grace and great mercy, we glorify in the Trinity the One God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever. Amen."