On this day, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of finding the relics of the holy blessed old man Matron of Moscow, one of the most revered saints in Russia.
Blessed Matron ( Matrona Dimitrievna Nikonova ) was born in 1885 in the village of Sebino, Tula province, in a poor large family. Therefore, even before the birth of the child, the parents decided to give him to the shelter, fearing that they would not be able to feed another mouth. But the mother somehow saw a strange dream about a white bird of extraordinary beauty, but blind. Considering the dream to the believers, she left the thought of shelter.
The daughter was born blind, and not just blind – the girl had no eyes at all, and the eye cavities closed tightly for centuries. But the mother loved her child, and the Lord gave her spiritual vision, choosing her for a special ministry. By the way, they talk about the external, bodily sign of the god-chosenness of Matrona – on her chest was a bulge in the shape of a cross, an unmanned native cross. At baptism, the girl was named Matron in honor of the Rev. Matron of Constantinople.
From early childhood, with her actions and words, Matrona showed her chosenness – from the age of eight she treated patients and predicted the future for people. She felt the approach of danger, foresaw natural and social disasters. Through her prayer, people received healing from illnesses and comfort in sorrows.
Upon learning of this gift, visitors from the surrounding villages and villages, from other counties and even provinces reached it. And she helped everyone, and wanting to thank Matron, people left her parents food and gifts. So a blind girl became the main nurse in the family, and not at all a burden. But at the age of 17, Matron fell out a new test – her legs were taken away, and until the end of her days she was « gray ». But she never grumbled because of her illness…
And people in thousands continued to come to her for help, which, in the end, could not help but attract the attention of the authorities at that time. Therefore, in order not to endanger her parents, Matron moved to Moscow, where it was easier to hide, and where she lived until the end of her life. She loved the well-fed capital very much, she said that « is a holy city, the heart of Russia », although here she became a homeless wanderer, constantly moving and living, sometimes, in terrible conditions. But everywhere she continued her ascetic life, received visitors during the day, and prayed at night.
Until the last days of her life, she lived righteously and continued to receive visitors. Blessed predicted her death in three days and died on May 2, 1952 in Moscow. At her request, she was buried in the Danilovsky cemetery of the capital.
More than thirty years after the death of Matron, her grave became one of the holy places of Orthodox Moscow, where people from all over Russia came with their troubles and requests. And in March 1998, with the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II, the honest remains of the blessed old man Matron were found in the Danilovsky cemetery. And after the completion of the work of the commission for the opening of the burial, the relics of Matrona were transferred to the Moscow Pokrovsky Monastery on May 1, where the mass pilgrimage to the saint began. Thousands of people from all over Russia and from abroad come here daily. St. Matrona prays for cure for diseases, for the health of loved ones, for solving problems, etc.
Back in 1999, the blessed old man Matron was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the face of local saints of the Moscow Diocese, and in October of that year her church canonization took place.