Believers from all over the world come to the Matrona church in Moscow to bow to her icon and ask the good patroness for intercession, healing from illnesses and blessings. Who is the Matron, and why do Russian people go to her with their sorrows and joys?
Bird with eyes closed
Matrona Dmitrievna Nikonova was born in the Tula province, in the village of Sebino, on November 10 (22), 1881. Her parents, Dmitry and Natalya, were pious and hardworking peasants. Matron was the youngest of four children. The family lived very poorly, so it was decided to send little Matron even before she was born into an orphanage, which was patronized by Prince Golitsyn. However, before the birth, her mother had a prophetic dream: in her unborn daughter she appeared in the form of a white
bird with a human face and eyes closed. The God-fearing woman considered the dream a sign from above and decided to leave the child in the family. And the girl was really born blind.
God's chosen child
Scripture testifies that God chooses his helpers on earth even before they are born. Evidence of eyewitnesses has been preserved, claiming that during the baptism of Matron, the holy father said that the child was God-chosen, and it was not in vain that she was born blind, having accepted humility and patience from birth. Matronaās mother later said that from birth she didnāt eat anything on Fridays and Wednesdays - those days when Orthodox Christians fast. On Matronās chest was a mole in the shape of a cross. Surprisingly, a blind girl always knew about this and called the birthmark her cross, given at birth. From early childhood, the girl fell in love with going to church and actually grew up in it ...
In those years, none of the relatives could have imagined that once the name of their ailing girl would be called Orthodox churches throughout Russia, including the Matrona Church in Moscow. But God knew about this back then, endowing his ward with special gifts.
Spiritual Gifts of the Matron
The first manifestations of the gift began at eight years old. Already then the suffering and sick people came to the girl, for whom she prayed fervently. In his youth, Matrona traveled a lot with a spiritual mentor, made pilgrimages to many shrines. The seventeen-year-old Matrona was suddenly paralyzed, but she took it as God's will, and she never complained of weakness. Until the end of her life, Matron remained in a seated portable chair.
She had a chance to live in many cities, but she spent most of her life in Moscow, where she received pilgrims traveling from all directions, prayed for them, healed, predicted the future ... That's why she got her name - Matrona of Moscow. The church in Moscow and now accepts those who ask for the intercession of the good patroness before God. And only at the very end of her life, when Matron was already very weak, she began to limit the number of parishioners. Matron knew the time of her death in advance, so she managed to give all the necessary orders regarding the funeral service and burial. The burial of the blessed Matrona took place on May 2, 1952, on the week of the myrrh-bearing women, at the Danilov cemetery. The funeral service and burial of Matrona was the beginning of her glorification as God's saint. Matron was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church on May 2, 1999.
Church of St. Matrona in Moscow: services, address
All over Russia there are several churches, temples, chapels under the auspices of the saint. In 2008-2009, the Matrona Church appeared in Moscow. The temple building is a low- rise tent-chapel church with a single-span belfry. The nuns of the Pokrovsky monastery are patronized . Matrona Church in Moscow was built on private donations from believers. Vespers are held in the church every Saturday, and Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Sundays. From Monday to Saturday, an evening prayer takes place in the Matrona temple from 5:00 p.m. The liturgy is served at 07:30. On Sundays, Liturgies are held at 06:15 and 9:00.
Many believers come to St. Matronās church in Moscow to get married, to baptize children, to remember the deceased and just to pray. The church is located at: Moscow, Taganskaya street, 58.