The 20th century was remembered for its cruelty towards the Orthodox. Churches and monasteries were closed, priests and their families were shot, ordinary believers were ridiculed. And someone, such as Olga Evdokimova, took death for faith.
Biography
Let us return to the end of the 19th century, when tsarist Russia still existed, people were God-fearing, often visited the temple and firmly followed the teachings of Christ. In those years, the future new martyr Evdokimova Olga Vasilievna was born. She was born in the village of Novorozhdestveno, Ruzsky district of the Moscow region. Today it has practically disappeared, according to 2008, only three people lived there.
Olga’s father was a forester, and her mother was a pious woman raising her children in the Christian faith. Olga Evdokimova, together with her parents, visited the church in honor of John the Baptist, located in her native village.
Time passed, the girl grew up, turned into a beauty. She graduated from a village school, married a peasant Pyotr Mikhailovich Evdokimov. The husband was much older than Olga, managed to serve in the army in 1905, work as a watchman, become a factory worker. He died in 1921, leaving a young widow with two small children in her arms.
The beginning of persecution
According to the biography, Olga Evdokimova was a little over forty years old when the Moscow Region Executive Committee decided to close the church in the village of Novorozhdestveno. In anticipation of the commission, which is to carry out the verdict, people gathered in the church, not wanting to give it to the hands of the atheists. Despite massive protests, the temple was closed. However, the keys remained in the hands of his parishioners.
The closure of the temple took place in October 1936, and a year later the priest and the entire church parable were arrested. Evdokimova Olga Vasilievna was among the prisoners, the woman behaved boldly, directly answering the questions of the investigator.
Interrogation
What happened in a stuffy and cramped office, when they interrogated a brave parishioner, we will never know. It remains to be satisfied with the data that happened to be found in the protocols, and the distant testimonies transmitted by word of mouth.
Only one thing was required of Olga Evdokimova: to testify against the priests, the church elder and the psalmist, confirming their involvement in anti-Soviet activities. But the woman categorically refused to do this, despite all the torment that she had experienced.
They demanded that she communicate with church ministers, Olga replied that she considered the priests to be their spiritual mentors, they had a religious connection, in addition, the woman took priests to the apartment and was an active parishioner of the church in honor of John the Baptist.
Apparently, the investigator did not satisfy such an answer; he continued to harass a brave woman, accusing her of counter-revolutionary activity. It meant some cries against the Soviet regime and a call to fight it.
In fact, Olga Evdokimova did not call anyone anywhere, she defended her temple along with other parishioners. Cries to the authorities were the usual calls to choose a person from among the believers, send him with a petition to Moscow so that the temple would not be closed. The woman embarked on the path when it is necessary to defend her faith, choosing between God and earthly power. Olga chose the Lord, for which she was arrested.
Death
There was no execution of the Orthodox Christian, although in the country of the Soviets they preferred to get rid of priests and believers in this way. She was just arrested, sentenced to ten years. Olga was sent to a forced labor camp to serve her sentence. This happened at the end of October 1937, six months later, in February, a woman gave her soul to God.
Day of Remembrance
Memorial Day of the martyr Olga Evdokimova falls on February 10, when she was gone. In 2005, by the definition of His Holiness the Patriarch, a woman was reckoned among the new martyrs and confessors of Russia of the 20th century.
Conclusion
Behind the above lines is the whole life of an ordinary woman. It would seem a simple peasant, but how much was given to her. I was honored to become a martyr for Christ, I was not afraid and did not back down from Him in the most terrible moments of life.
How many of them are new martyrs, about whom the world does not yet know? Only God knows, Olga Evdokimova is glorified in the face of saints.
Holy New Martyr Olga, pray to God for us!