The Byzantine Shrine on Beacon Hill

Blessed Matrona of Moscow

Matrona Dimitrievna Nikonova was born in 1881 in the village of Sebino, Tula province, into a God-fearing peasant family. This village is located twenty kilometers from Kulikovo field. During her childhood. Matrona, blind from birth, received from God the gift of spiritual vision, and penetration into mysteries of God’s Providence. The grace which rested upon her was manifested in the gifts of prayer, spiritual reasoning, knowledge, and clairvoyance. Early on, people started coming to her for advice. At first, it was just local residents, and then visitors from other regions. In her seventeenth year, Matrona’s legs suddenly became paralyzed, and she permanently lost the ability to walk. She never complained because of her ailments, but humbly bore the cross God had given to her.

Matrona left for Moscow in 1925, which became the place of her ascetical service, and of her righteous repose. Persecuted by the atheists, Matrona was constantly forced to change her place of residence, finding refuge in the homes of believers. An endless stream of people visited Matrona, thirsting for spiritual healing, instruction, and her prayerful help. By her prayers, the infirm were healed of paralysis, or suffering from mental and physical ailments. Her prophecies and predictions helped many people to avoid danger and death, and to find the right path in difficult circumstances. Numerous testimonies of these miraculous events have been preserved.

After her righteous repose, which occurred in 1952, many people came to Matrona’s grave in the Danilov cemetery, veneration of the deceased increased, and miracles and healings took place. In 1999, by the decision of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Eldress Matrona of Moscow was numbered among the righteous Saints for local Church veneration in Moscow, and in the Moscow diocese. Her revered relics rest in the Stavropegial Protection Convent in Moscow.

Saint Matrona is commemorated on April 19 / May 2, on March 7/ 20, on the Sunday before August 28 / Sept. 10, the Synaxis of the Moscow Saints, and on September 22 / Oct. 5, the Synaxis of the Tula Saints.

Troparion — Tone 4

Offspring of the land of Tula, angelic ascetic of the city of Moscow, blessed Eldress Matrona. / You remained blind from birth until the end of your life, / but you received spiritual sight, clairvoyance, and intercession from God. / Most of all, you received the gift of healing the spiritual and bodily illnesses / of all who come to you and ask you with faith, O our joy.

Troparion — Tone 2

Today, O faithful, let us glorify the divinely-wise blessed Eldress Matrona, / who blossomed in the land of Tula and who gloriously adorned the city of Moscow; / for she, not knowing the light of day, / was illumined by the light of Christ and was enriched with the gift of healing. / Having been a migrant and a wanderer on earth, / now, in the heavenly Bridal Chamber, she stands before God’s throne and prays for our souls.

Kontakion — Tone 7

Called to serve Christ from your mother’s womb, O righteous Matrona, / you walked the path of sorrows and tribulations, / showing steadfast faith and piety, / you were well pleasing to God. / Therefore, honoring your memory, we pray to you: / Help us to abide in the love of God, O blessed eldress!