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In modern society, individuals may experience various psychological disorders. Imbalance and insanity are sometimes attributed to clinical pathology. The very name “holy fool” means crazy, foolish. But this term is used to a greater extent not for people suffering from mental personality disorders, but as a joke on a person whose behavior causes a smile. In common people, ordinary village fools could be called holy fools.
A completely different attitude towards holy fools who are canonized by the Church. Foolishness is a kind of spiritual feat of man. In this sense, it is understood as madness for the sake of Christ, a voluntary feat. It should be noted that this rank of saints appears precisely in Russia. It is here that foolishness is so clearly presented as sublime and points to various serious problems of society under the guise of imaginary madness.
For comparison, out of several dozen holy fools, only six labored in other countries. Thus, it turns out that holy fools are people canonized by the Church. Their crazy behavior called on people to look at the spiritual problems that exist in society.
The first mention of holy fools dates back to the 11th century. Hagiographic sources point to Isaac of Pechersk, who labored in the famous Kyiv Lavra. Later, for several centuries, the feat of foolishness is not mentioned in history. But already in the 15th - 17th centuries, this type of holiness began to flourish in Rus'. There are many people known who are glorified by the Church as great ascetics of piety. At the same time, their behavior could raise many questions among others. One of the most famous holy fools is St. Basil of Moscow. A famous temple was built in his honor in Moscow on the main square of the country. The names of Procopius of Ustyug and Mikhail Klopsky are preserved in history.
Foolish people did crazy things. For example, at the market they could throw cabbage at people. But it is worth distinguishing foolishness for Christ’s sake from innate foolishness (madness). Christian holy fools were usually wandering monks.
Historically in Russia, holy fools could also be called buffoons and clowns who entertained the princely palaces and pleased the boyars with their ridiculous behavior. The opposite of this is foolishness for Christ's sake. Such holy fools, on the contrary, denounced the boyars, princes and themselves for their sins.
What is the meaning of foolishness for Christ's sake
Holy fools were never called stupid or mad. On the contrary, some of them were quite educated, others wrote books about spiritual exploits. It is not so easy to delve into the mystery of holy foolishness in Rus'. The fact is that for the sake of Christ, the fools consciously took on such an image in order to hide their holiness under it. It was a kind of manifestation of personal humility. A hidden meaning was found in the crazy actions of such people. It was a denunciation of the stupidity of this world under the guise of imaginary madness.Foolish holy people could enjoy respect from the great figures of Rus'. For example, Tsar Ivan the Terrible personally knew St. Basil the Blessed. The latter accused the king of his sins, but was not even executed for this.
The very phenomenon of foolishness for Christ's sake, as a type of holiness, is not yet fully understood and explained by secular sciences. Fools who took upon themselves the feat of appearing insane voluntarily still attract the attention of psychologists, philosophers and theologians.
holy fool
Yuro marvelous And ( region) holy fool, holy fool, holy fool.
1. Stupid, eccentric, crazy. “Everyone has their own tale about the holy fool of the landowner.” Nekrasov.
2. in meaning noun holy fool, holy fool, husband. A Christian ascetic who is mad or has assumed the appearance of a madman and who, according to believers, has the gift of divination ( church, rel.). For Christ's sake or a fool in Christ. “Pray to God for me, holy fool!” Pushkin.
Ozhegov's Dictionary
holy fool
YR ABOUT WILD, oh, oh.
1. Eccentric, crazy (colloquial).
2. holy fool, Wow, m. A madman with the gift of prophecy.
| and. holy fool, oh (to 2 meanings).
Efremova's Dictionary
holy fool
- m. A Christian ascetic madman or who has assumed the appearance of a madman, possessing, according to believers, the gift of divination.
- m. An eccentric, stupid, crazy person.
- adj.
- :
- Eccentric, stupid, crazy.
- Full of foolishness.
- trans. decomposition Impractical, unsuitable for life.
- :
Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, Dal Vladimir
holy fool
crazy, god-willed, fool, crazy from birth; the people consider holy fools to be God's people, often finding in their unconscious actions a deep meaning, even a premonition or foreknowledge; the Church also recognizes fools for Christ’s sake, who have taken on the humble guise of foolishness; but in the same ecclesiastical meaning. A holy fool is sometimes stupid, unreasonable, reckless: Five of them are wise, and five are holy fools, Matt. Nowadays they are more pronounced: holy fool. Foolishness w. and foolishness cf. the state of a holy fool; madness To assume foolishness, to act like a fool, to act like a fool, to put on foolishness, to pretend to be a fool, as the jesters did of old;
play pranks, fool around. To make a fool of someone, to make a fool; to become a fool, to become like that, to become stupid, to become stupid, to lose one's mind. Foolishness, action or state according to the verb. Foolish life. Yurod and Yurod m. Yurodka f. fool, natural fool, weak-minded;
made a fool of himself.
Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language
holy fool
Old Russian - holy fool.
The word came into modern Russian from Old Church Slavonic. It means: “a weak-minded, mentally abnormal person, sometimes a beggar, in the opinion of deeply religious people, possessing the gift of clairvoyance.” Currently, the word is used very rarely and has practically fallen out of use. Quite often the only word used is “freak”, which in Old Church Slavonic was pronounced “fool”.
Russian - East Slavic - form of “freak”, from u- - a prefix that means “defectiveness”, “flaw”, “loss”. Yotation arose on Old Slavic soil.
Related are:
Ukrainian – holy fool.
Czech – jurodivy.
Derivative: to act like a fool.
(46 votes: 4.7 out of 5)- V.M. Zhivov
- Theological-liturgical dictionary
- hierome Alexy (Kuznetsov)
- prof.
- priest John Kovalevsky
- archim. Pavlos Papadopoulos
- Evgeniy Vodolazkin
- E.V. Grudeva
Foolishness For Christ's sake- a spiritual-ascetic feat, which consists of abandoning generally accepted norms of life, adopting a special way of behavior, partly (outwardly) reminiscent of behavior devoid of, in humble patient enduring of humiliation, contempt, reproach, and bodily deprivation.
The key to understanding this feat is the phrase from Holy Scripture: “... the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God...” ().
The holy fool (glorified stupid, crazy) is a person who has taken upon himself the feat of depicting the external, i.e. visible madness in order to achieve internal madness. For the sake of Christ, the holy fools set themselves the task of overcoming the root of all sins within themselves - . To achieve this, they led an unusual way of life, sometimes appearing as if they were devoid of reason, thereby causing people to ridicule them. At the same time, they denounced evil in the world in an allegorical, symbolic form, both in words and in actions. Such a feat was undertaken by the holy fools in order to humble themselves and at the same time to have a stronger influence on people, since people are indifferent to ordinary simple preaching. The feat of foolishness for the sake of Christ was especially widespread among us on Russian soil.
The Council of Trullo (692) prohibits feigned foolishness: “Those who pretend to be possessed and deliberately imitate him in the depravity of morals (should) be punished in every possible way. Let them be subjected to the same severity and hardships as if they were truly possessed.”
No need to look for an unusual person
Was Prince Myshkin a real holy fool? How true foolishness relates to mental illnesses, is it possible to be both a holy fool and sick, explains Priest Vladimir Novitsky, a psychiatrist, cleric of the Church of the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian in the village of Kosmodemyanskoye (Moscow), director of the “Good Deed” service for helping those suffering from alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness:
– Foolishness presupposes a very high degree of spiritual life and is accepted quite consciously. To comply with these two conditions, you must at least have a sound mind and a sober memory. According to patristic asceticism, such a feat could be accepted by a person not only mentally and spiritually healthy, but also one who had achieved dispassion, that is, a state when, as the fathers said, “feelings fall silent” and a person ceases to act depending on them, but is guided in his behavior by the spiritual mind. And the ascetic hides this height of life behind foolishness, as if behind a screen, in order to serve God in secret. To avoid veneration, he puts on the mask of a mental patient, accepting insults that help him fight pride and achieve perfect humility. The behavior of a holy fool is often deliberate in form, sometimes provocative, and inadequate. But such deliberateness is a mask behind which is a complete personality with maximum concentration of mind, will and feelings, with very clear logic, in full spiritual consciousness. The holy fool always knows that he is acting like a fool. His controlling self-awareness, or patristic sobriety, helps him to assess himself and everything around him as adequately as possible. This is a state of grace in which not only human efforts or abilities are present, but also the transforming and facilitating power of God. Therefore, foolishness is not a disease, but a spiritual feat adopted as a result of one’s own choice.
A mentally ill person has a disordered self-awareness and personality integrity; he is unable – fully or partially – to control his desires, thoughts, and will. He has disharmony of the entire mental structure at different levels: on the surface, behavioral, manifested in psychopathy, deeper emotional, and even deeper, when thinking, will are upset and a person begins to become infected with various delusional ideas, hallucinate, becoming open to demonic forces. Such a person is not critical of himself and other people, and does not adequately establish connections between events and people.
Unlike the holy fool, who strives to belittle his “I” (after all, this is a feat of fighting pride), to replace the “I” with God in an act of humility, a sick person still needs to heal his “I”, to realize himself as an individual. Due to the disunity of the forces of the soul, such a person is often deprived of a very important act - the conscious expression of will, which guides the ascetic when taking on the feat. And therefore it is absolutely impossible to be a holy fool and mentally ill at the same time. This, of course, in no way diminishes the mentally ill in the eyes of God; it is simply important to remember that foolishness is an exceptional type of asceticism and very few are called to it and are capable of it.
Another case is false foolishness, hysteria. Here the criterion may be the difference in motivation and goals: if the holy fool struggles with pride and vanity, the false holy fool, most often unconsciously, seeks to feed his pride. That is, here the feat itself is taken for the sake of pride - for the purpose of material benefits, or manipulation of someone, or satisfying one’s own power. This is a way to attract the attention of a person with a hysterical mentality.
A separate category in this matter are the so-called strange ones, or, as they are often called among the people, blessed ones, which has nothing to do with the blessed ones in the canonical sense. These people are also distinguished by strange behavior and unusual statements that attract attention. But this is by no means foolishness in the patristic understanding. Because, unlike holy fools, “strange ones” are often organically damaged people. Due to a decrease in intelligence, they may have a compensatory development of intuition. Being believers, living humbly, they can express some interesting thoughts. But such “blessed” ones do not consciously take on anything, this is who they are, this is a manifestation of the characteristics of their psyche, often illness. It is best to treat them calmly, compassionately, but also with caution. Don't look for an unusual person. Because when they strive for spiritual life, they are not looking for another person, but for Christ.
Why can’t we say that Prince Myshkin was a holy fool? Firstly, because he was sick, epileptic. Secondly, he did not consciously take on foolishness, he was simply like that on his own: deeply religious, intuitively developed. But this was not bearing the cross - foolishness.
It is very difficult to build a scheme: here is a holy fool, here is a clique, here is a strange one. True holy fools are spiritual people. Only the spiritual can judge the spiritual. We cannot penetrate the secret of their inner world, we can only have some guidelines that show that this is true or fake. The Lord reveals, when necessary, both holiness and false holiness, and the latter are put to shame. And vice versa: the light, the true grace of God, cannot be hidden. For example, Ksenia of Petersburg (from whose life it is known that she underwent a medical examination and was declared mentally absolutely healthy) was revered by people during her lifetime, even if not immediately, but even ordinary people noticed that she was a holy person. Loving, humble, serving God and people, possessing grace-filled power and miraculous prayer. All holy fools are like that.
the category of holy ascetics who have chosen a special feat - foolishness, i.e. the appearance of madness, adopted for the sake of “desecration of the world,” a radical rejection of the values of worldly life and service to Christ through witnessing to the exclusion of Christ’s path from worldly wisdom and worldly greatness. Foolishness as the path of holiness realizes the opposition between the wisdom of this age and faith in Christ, which is affirmed by the Apostle Paul: “Deceive no one himself: if anyone among you thinks to be wise in this age, let him be foolish, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world there is foolishness in the sight of God, as it is written: He catches the wise in their craftiness" (I Cor. 3. 18-19), cf. also: “We are fools for Christ’s sake” (I Cor. 4.10).
Foolishness as a special kind of asceticism arose among Eastern monasticism around the 5th century. Palladius in Lawsaic (see Patericon) tells of a nun in one of the Egyptian monasteries who pretended to be mad and possessed by demons, lived apart, did all the dirty work, and the nuns called her salh, later her holiness is discovered, and Palladius points out, that she put into practice those words from the Epistle to the Corinthians that were quoted above. Evagrius (d. 600) tells in his Church history about herbivores, ascetics who ate herbs and plants; these ascetics returned from the desert to the world, but in the world they continued their ascetic feat - they walked in only loincloths, fasted and pretended to be insane. Their behavior was full of temptation, and this demonstrated that complete dispassion (((((((), non-susceptibility to temptations, which they achieved through their ascetic feat. From this environment, according to the life written by Leontius of Naples (mid-7th century), comes Simeon, the holy fool from Emesa in Syria, who, under the guise of madness, denounced sinners and performed miracles; after his death, the inhabitants of Emesa are convinced of his holiness. Thus, foolishness as a certain path of holiness developed by the 6th-7th centuries. Foolishness presupposes external madness (possession ) as an extreme means, the destruction of pride, the ability to prophecy, carried out under the guise of madness and only gradually comprehended by people, the humble acceptance of reproaches and beatings as following Christ, the denunciation of sinners and the ability to see the demons surrounding them, secret prayers at night and demonstrative impiety during the day, etc. d.
Foolishness as a type of behavior apparently uses the model that was set by the demoniacs who lived near the relics of saints. In the V-VI centuries. near churches built on the graves of saints (martyriums), communities of demoniacs are formed, who are periodically subjected to exorcism, and the rest of the time they live near the church, performing various works in the church household. Those who are possessed take part in church processions and can, with shouts and gestures, denounce those in power for sins and impiety; their denunciations are perceived as prophetic words emanating from the demon living in them (the conviction that demons living in demons can reveal truths hidden from people is based on the Gospel examples of demons confessing the Son of God, cf. Matt. 8.29; Mark 5. 7). At the same time, in the lives of holy fools, the motif of perceiving them as possessed by demons, and their prophecies and denunciations as coming from demons is often repeated (in the life of Simeon of Emesa, in the life of Andrew, the holy fool of Constantinople, etc.).
The feat of foolishness did not receive significant distribution in Byzantium, or, in any case, only in rare cases received recognition in the form of veneration sanctioned by the church. A number of saints resort to foolishness only for a certain time, devoting, however, most of their lives to asceticism of a different type. The period of foolishness is noted, for example, in the lives of St. Basil the New (10th century), Rev. Simeon the Studite, teacher of Simeon the New Theologian, Saint Leontius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 1175), etc. Byzantine sources, however, contain numerous stories about “people of God” who took the form of madmen, walked naked, wore chains and enjoyed exceptional veneration of the Byzantines. John Tsetse (12th century) speaks, for example, in his letters about noble ladies of Constantinople who in their home churches hang not icons, but chains of holy fools who filled the capital and were revered more than the apostles and martyrs; John Tsetse, however, writes about them with condemnation, as do some other late Byzantine authors. This kind of condemnation was apparently characteristic of the church authorities of this era and was associated with the desire to establish communal monasticism, living according to the rules and not practicing unregulated forms of asceticism. Under these conditions, naturally, the veneration of holy fools as saints did not receive official sanction.
If in Byzantium the veneration of holy fools is limited, in Russia it becomes very widespread. The first Russian holy fool should be considered Isaac of Pechersk (d. 1090), who is described in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. Further information about holy fools is absent until the 14th century, in the 15th - first half of the 17th century. there was a heyday of asceticism associated with holy foolishness in Muscovite Rus'. Russian holy fools were guided primarily by the example of Andrei, the holy fool of Constantinople, whose life became extremely widespread in Russia and caused numerous imitations (the life was written in Byzantium, apparently in the 10th century and was soon translated into Slavic; Andrei’s life date is attributed to the 5th century ., numerous anachronisms and other kinds of inconsistencies encourage us to think that Andrei Yurodivy is a fictional figure). Among the revered Russian holy fools are Abrahamy of Smolensk, Procopius of Ustyug, Basil the Blessed of Moscow, Maxim of Moscow, Nikolai of Pskov Salos, Mikhail Klopsky, etc. In their ascetic feat, those features that are characteristic of the Byzantine tradition of holy foolishness are clearly recognizable: external madness, the gift of divination , temptation as a principle of behavior (inverted piety), denunciation of sinners, etc. In Muscovite Rus', holy fools receive greater social significance; they act as denouncers of unrighteous power and heralds of God's will. Foolishness is perceived here as a full-fledged path of holiness, and many holy fools are revered during their lifetime.
The feat of foolishness or blessedness is one of the most difficult spiritual paths in Christianity. People follow them for the sake of God, but under the secret spiritual guidance of experienced monastic mentors and spiritual fathers.
Feat of foolishness
The word blessed is the name adopted in the Russian Orthodox Church for the saints of the Christian Church before the Great Schism, the division into Catholic and Orthodox (for example, Blessed Augustine)
It was only in Ancient Rus' that holy fools began to be called “blessed.” Foolishness is a spiritual feat of voluntary, for the purpose of salvation and pleasing Christ, renunciation of the world, pleasures and pleasures, but not in monasticism, but being “in the world”, but without adhering to generally accepted social norms. The holy fool takes on the appearance of an insane or unreasonable, naive person. Many people swear and mock such fools, but the blessed always endure hardships and mockery humbly. The goal of foolishness is to achieve inner humility, defeat the main sin, pride.
However, over time, the holy fools, having reached a certain spiritual level, denounced sins in the world in an allegorical form (verbally or in action). This served as a means of humbling oneself and humbling the world, improving other people.
It is interesting that the feat of foolishness for the sake of Christ was somewhat widespread in Byzantium, but the flowering of the feat of the blessed occurred on Russian soil, not only in ancient times, but also later. Saint Andrew the Fool is famous for seeing the Mother of God in Byzantium - this is how the Feast of the Intercession appeared; St. Basil the Blessed is famous - the Moscow wonderworker. Modern holy fools are also known - Matronushka, Matryona Barefoot of Minsk, the Saratov blessed ones; Saint Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, who lived in the 18th century, is very famous.
Andrey the holy fool
The Feast of the Intercession is associated with the name of St. Andrew the Fool. It was installed in the 10th century. It was a difficult time for Byzantium: Constantinople, the capital of the empire, was encircled by pagan barbarians. Most of the townspeople, believing that they were on the verge of a terrible death, came to pray to the Intercessor of the human race, the Mother of God, under the arches of one of the capital’s churches - here was a great shrine, part of Her attire.
The holy fool Andrew, known in Constantinople for his righteous life, also came here. Feigning madness for God's sake, living on the streets, eating alms and constantly praying to God, he was honored to see many miracles of God. After his death, Saint Andrew was glorified and canonized by the Church. Based on the life of the holy fool, the Church established the Feast of the Intercession.
While praying in the temple, Saint Andrew, together with Epiphanius, his disciple, saw that the walls of the temple seemed to move apart and the Most Holy Theotokos appeared above those praying. She came down from heaven, knelt down in front of the Royal Doors and prayed to Her Son for the salvation of unfortunate people. She was surrounded by the Heavenly Powers and all the saints, in her hands she held an omophorion (a veil, part of the outer garment) and seemed to cover it with the praying citizens of Constantinople. Saint Andrew and his disciple saw this miraculous phenomenon together and were horrified, not in a night vision, but with their own eyes seeing the Mother of God who had long since departed to Heaven, standing as if alive above them.
Immediately after the service, they told the people of Constantinople about the vision. Hopeful, the townspeople, with a firm belief in salvation, went home and to their places of service. And almost immediately the pagan enemies retreated from the capital without a single battle.
Saint Basil the Blessed
Both Russians and guests of our country know one of the main attractions of Moscow - St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square.
Saint Basil lived in the 15th and 16th centuries, under Ivan the Terrible. According to witnesses, he walked the streets in any weather barefoot and almost naked, enduring the cold and heat. Not only his appearance and behavior were strange, but also his actions. It is known that he often spilled the kvass he was selling or knocked over trays of goods from merchants in the shopping arcades - as if on purpose, wanting to be beaten. After the beating, he thanked God and rejoiced. Only later did it turn out that these particular goods or drinks were spoiled, perhaps specifically by traders.
Over the years, Muscovites came to know and love St. Basil, considering him a saint during his lifetime.
Saint Basil called people to mercy, helped those in need and those who were ashamed to ask for help.
Thus, the saint gave the things given to him by the sovereign himself to a visiting overseas guest, a foreign merchant who seemed to be rich, but due to tragic circumstances lost all his property. He was hungry, but he could not even ask for alms - he was wearing expensive clothes. St. Basil foresaw that he needed help.
Also, St. Basil condemned people who gave alms for the sake of appearance and glory, and not out of mercy.
It is interesting that the saint visited taverns - taverns, brothels. A priest or monk could not come here, he would have been accused of sin, but the holy fool consoled many fallen sinners, seeing, as if the Lord Himself, good in their souls.
Saint Basil had the gift of clairvoyance. In 1547, he predicted the great Moscow fire, and with prayer from a distance he extinguished the flames of the fire in Novgorod.
The life of the saint testifies that he fearlessly denounced Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself, for example, he told him that instead of praying during divine services, the tsar was thinking about building a royal house on the Sparrow Hills.
Saint Basil died on August 2 (old style) 1557. His burial was performed by Moscow Metropolitan Macarius in the assembly of the clergy - so widely was the blessed one known. The saint was buried at the Trinity Church - in its place the Intercession (St. Basil's) Cathedral was erected.
31 years later, on August 2 (15), Saint Basil was canonized by the Council of Bishops headed by Patriarch Job of Moscow.
Blessed Ksenia - Saint Ksenyushka
Xenia the Blessed is one of the most revered and beloved saints by the people. “Ksenyushka” - many affectionately called her during her lifetime, and they still do now, when she helps us from Heaven with her prayers. She lived relatively recently - in the 18th century (after all, many revered saints to whom the entire Church prays lived in the first centuries of our era, at the dawn of Christianity).
Blessed Xenia was very famous in St. Petersburg in the 18th century. After the death of her husband Andrei. St. Andrew's Church on Vasilievsky Island, she gave away all her property and feigned madness - she began to call herself by her husband's name. In reality, she did not want her, a young widow of 27 years old, to be married off by her relatives, and was only concerned about the afterlife fate of her beloved husband. She prayed for their life together in Heaven, for the Lord to accept her beloved husband into the Kingdom of Heaven. For the sake of love for her husband and for God, she accepted the feat of poverty and foolishness (imaginary madness), and received from the Lord the gift of prophecy and healing.
Blessed Xenia fulfilled the will of God, helping other people - revealing the future to them in an allegorical form, directing them to good deeds. Already during her lifetime, St. Petersburg residents considered her a saint. Before her death, she promised to help many people from Heaven.
And indeed, people from all over Russia went to her grave at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg for help. After her canonization by the entire Orthodox Church in the twentieth century, Blessed Xenia became known throughout the world. Several times they dismantled her tombstone, pebble by stone. Finally, a chapel was built over her burial place at the expense of Ksenyushka’s admirers.
Over time, a tradition of special prayer appeared for those who want to turn to Ksenyushka with their great trouble or special desire. You need to come to the Smolensk cemetery to the chapel where the blessed one’s grave is located, pray and venerate it (there is a queue there, but you can also read a prayer in the queue; in addition, prayer services with the blessed akathist are constantly performed at the grave). Then walk around the chapel three times, mentally praying to Ksenyushka, write your wish on a piece of paper and insert it into one of the cracks of the chapel, and then place a candle at its eastern wall. Since blessed Ksenia suffered for many years from loneliness without her deceased husband and was consoled only by the grace of God, she knows this misfortune and helps everyone who asks for a happy marriage and relief from melancholy.
Over time, a tradition of special prayer has emerged for those who want to turn to Ksenyushka - as St. Petersburg residents affectionately call her - with their great trouble or special desire. You need to come to the Smolensk cemetery to the chapel where the blessed one’s grave is located, pray and venerate it (there is a queue there, but you can also read a prayer in the queue; in addition, prayer services with the blessed akathist are constantly performed at the grave). Then walk around the chapel three times, mentally praying to Ksenyushka, write your wish on a piece of paper and insert it into one of the cracks of the chapel, and then place a candle at its eastern wall. Since blessed Ksenia suffered for many years from loneliness without her deceased husband and was consoled only by the grace of God, she knows this misfortune and helps everyone who asks for a happy marriage and relief from melancholy.
Matronushka - Saint Matrona of Moscow
Matronushka, blessed Matrona, Saint Matrona of Moscow - all these are the names of one saint, revered by the entire Orthodox Church, beloved and dear to Orthodox Christians around the world. The saint was born in the 19th century and died in 1952. There are many witnesses to her holiness who saw Matronushka during her lifetime. Even monks from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra came to her for spiritual advice and consolation.
She was born completely blind, her parents even wanted to leave her in an orphanage, but in a dream her mother saw a blind white bird landing on her chest and decided that this was a sign from the Lord. From early childhood she spent a lot of time in church, at services and in her free time, and already in her youth she discovered the gift of insight. The Lord revealed to her the past, future and present - so, one night she suddenly spoke about the death of the priest who baptized her, who lived in a neighboring village and actually died at that time.
The fame of the little saint spread throughout many provinces of Russia, many people came to see her, but there were also envious people: at the age of 17, her legs suddenly became paralyzed. As Matronushka said, the Lord allowed this to happen because of the malice of one woman. However, the saint, as if in return from the Lord, received the gift of healing.
After the revolution, the saint and her friend went to Moscow, where she wandered for many years, living with good people, hiding from the persecutors of Orthodoxy and accepting everyone who asked for her help. Every day about 40 people came to her for help, she spent the night in prayer, dozing only occasionally. With humility, she bore the heavy cross of bodily infirmities and did not grumble, but accepted God’s will for herself. She received many, helped everyone with prophetic advice, and at night she prayed for everyone. She died in 1952.
By traditional standards, Saint Matrona of Moscow was canonized shortly after her death - in 1999. The veneration of Saint Matrona blessed the Church. With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, on March 8, 1998, her holy relics were found, which are located in the Intercession Monastery in Moscow and to which people queue every day, knowing about the miracles from the shrine. Matronushka was canonized as a saint.
Matronushka still helps those who pray today; there are many testimonies about miracles after prayers in front of her icons and relics in the Matrona Church on Taganka and about the appearances of blessed Matrona in dreams to believers.
May the Lord protect you with the prayers of all holy fools!
