Chosen One of God
The future ascetic was born on November 1 (old style) 1890 in the city of Lebedyan, Tambov province. At holy baptism she received the name Matrona. She came from peasants, so from a young age she was introduced to work and learned strong folk piety. As was common throughout the Russian Empire in those days, the main wealth and decoration of the family were children. So the parents of God’s chosen girl, Polikarp Vasilyevich and Ekaterina Maksimovna Zaitsev, were surrounded by eight children. The family lived poorly, and the children had to work for rich people from an early age.
Orthodox traditions were strong in Lebedyan. There were seven churches for almost six thousand seven hundred inhabitants in the city, and in the vicinity were the Trinity Monastery and the Demetrius Monastery. The spiritual atmosphere permeated the entire way of life of the townspeople. All church holidays were revered here, and significant time was devoted to prayer, soul-helping reading and conversations in the houses. In this fertile environment, many became righteous, and from among the righteous, great saints of God emerged.
Even in adolescence, it became evident that Matrona was marked by special grace. The boys even unconsciously shouted about this, teasing her: “Nun, nun!” And at the age of twelve she first discovered her prophetic gift. Girls were playing on the street, and one girl was having fun with them. Matrona came up to her and said: “You are running around with us, and the groom has come from Moscow to woo you.” And indeed, every word was confirmed.
Family hearth
In 1910, Matrona Polikarpovna married Kirill Petrovich Belousov in the Nativity Church. The pious marriage was sealed by the birth of three children - Alexander, Olga and Mikhail.
Even before the revolution, the family moved to the city of Kozlov (now Michurinsk). They lived inconspicuously, were economical and pious like peasants. Outwardly, an unremarkable simple Russian woman meanwhile grew into a great ascetic: she diligently attended divine services, prayed unceasingly and strictly fasted, and generously gave to the poor.
As the example of Mother Seraphima, and many other ascetics, shows, you can acquire grace not only by being a hermit. Married life is by no means a hindrance to holiness. When a couple strives for the Christian ideal, when spouses value each other, when everyone rejects himself for the sake of his other half and children, this is pleasing to God. Matrona Polikarpovna placed a high value on obedience to the family: “First she will ask for the family, and then for everything else.” Kirill Petrovich, in turn, always respected his wife’s deep religiosity, unquestioningly let her go on pilgrimage and cordially welcomed her spiritual children into his home. He often gave up this precious communication time to others, which is also a kind of feat for a husband and father.
In memory of Mother Seraphima
There is a grave in the old cemetery, next to the Church of All Who Sorrow, a grave to which people come and come from other cities for consolation and healing. The parishioners’ souls become purer and calmer after these short visits to the burial place of Mother Seraphima - they know how much the Michurin elder loved people, tried to help everyone during her life, and they believe that even after death she will not leave them with her mercy.
On October 5, the day of the ascetic’s death, which also became the day of her glorification, the Church of “Joy of All Who Sorrow” was especially crowded. Parishioners and clergy from other churches and other cities gathered to honor the memory of Mother Seraphim. The Divine Liturgy and requiem service on this day was celebrated by Bishop Theodosius of Tambov and Michurinsk. During the sermon, Vladyka reminded those gathered in what difficult God-fighting years the Michurin ascetic lived for Orthodox Christians, how she constantly prayed, served God and her neighbor, which everyone who came to her with their needs became. And all those suffering left their mother as if inspired, confident in the undoubted help of God through her prayers. “The example of the ascetic life of Mother Seraphim should be internalized by all of us as a great moral feat of an Orthodox Christian meekly and resignedly bearing his cross,” emphasized Bishop Theodosius of Tambov and Michurinsk. The gift of foresight allowed Mother Seraphima to predict to many Michurin clergy their future spiritual path. She predicted the future of the rector of the Elias Church, Archpriest Pavel Medvedev. Currently, materials are being collected about the Michurinsk old woman, which will allow her to be canonized. There are testimonies from many people confirming that after visiting the grave of Mother Seraphim, the sick receive healing, and those in need are successfully resolved in life’s difficulties. Isn’t this a manifestation of the miraculous help and intercession of the ascetic, whose whole life was devoted to serving God! After the sermon, all parishioners remembered the Michurin eldress with traditional jelly and pie. And then everyone could go to the grave of Mother Seraphima, ask for something, light a candle, just stand and feel that here, in the last refuge, besides you and the crosses darkened by time behind the old fences, there is someone invisibly present whose prayer protects and guides you on the path leading to salvation.
Prayer and action
In 1934, the Belousovs moved to Voronezh. During the war, the country's leadership allowed the opening of churches: it was necessary to at least maintain the national spirit. There was active activity among believers. Matrona Polikarpovna also showed herself clearly. She led a religious community that petitioned for the transfer of the St. Nicholas Church in Voronezh “for indefinite and free use for worship.” The issue was resolved positively, and the restoration of the destroyed shrine began. At this time, mother suffered a lot of work and prayed a lot. And soon, amidst the devastation of war, in a time of sorrow and despair, a saving beacon, a place of consolation and consolation, shone in the city. For her diligence, mother was awarded a letter and book from Archbishop Jonah of Voronezh.
During the war, the old woman encouraged people and zealously performed her civic duty. So, she organized a fundraiser for the needs of the army and the front, for which she also received a high award - a certificate from Joseph Stalin. Once, when there was no water, mother watered many soldiers from one teapot. And a week before the Victory she proclaimed: “Ring all the bells: we have won!”
Flame of Faith
During the war, when the Germans entered Voronezh, mother, her husband, daughter Olga and three grandchildren left the city. As refugees, they did not take anything extra with them. Kirill Petrovich was carrying a sled, and Mother was walking with the icon of the Sorrowful Mother of God in her hands.
We got tired on the road and decided to rest in one of the village houses on the front line, where the territory had not yet been occupied by the Germans. The children cried: “Grandma, we want to eat,” but there was nothing to feed them. Mother reassured: “Now, now, guys, we will feed you.” Taking the icon of the Mother of God in her hands, she went into another room. There, falling in front of the icon of the Queen of Heaven, she tearfully asked for her intercession and mercy. During mother’s fiery prayer, a pillar of fire formed from the roof of the house to the sky. A policeman came running: “What’s going on here?” Having found nothing suspicious, he calmed down. Very little time passed, and kind people began to come to the house. Each of them brought something: sauerkraut, steamed oats... The children were finally able to eat and rest.
Mother said: “Pure prayer, when it comes from a pure heart, passes through heaven, straight to the throne of God.”
The life and feat of the Michurinsk elder schema-nun Seraphima (Belousova)
Bishop of Artsyz Victor
Report by Bishop Victor of Artsyz, vicar of the Odessa diocese, at the conference “Continuity of monastic tradition in modern monasteries” (Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, September 23–24, 2017).
Bless, Your Eminences, Eminences, all-honorable fathers, abbots, mother abbess, brothers and sisters!
From the example of many ascetics of piety, we know about the deep humility, love, patience and, most importantly, simplicity that distinguished them in life. Today I would like to share with you a story about another ascetic, practically our contemporary - Elder Seraphima Michurinskaya (Belousova) and about those zealots of piety with whom her life was connected.
The question of the possibility of achieving holiness in our days is one of the main ones addressed to the Church with great distrust. Even in the church environment, one often hears that saints are exclusively people of the era of early Christianity, indisputable authorities and giants of the spirit. That even in modern history the time of persecution, which brought forth a host of martyrs and confessors, has passed irrevocably. Yes, we can agree that in most countries of the enlightened world, sin is instilled from early childhood as the norm of life in modern society. But holiness is always the way of following Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). And above all, holiness is a personal choice of every person, regardless of time, place of residence and norms dictated by a corrupt society.
According to the apostolic word, the world lies in evil (see 1 John 5:19). The meaning of the life of a Christian, especially one who takes monastic vows when taking monastic vows, has always been expressed in the desire to unite with the Lord. One such striking example is the life feat and path of the Michurinsk elder schema-nun Seraphima (Belousova), a witness to many historical events up to the second half of the twentieth century.
On November 14, 1890, when a little less than a year remained before the death of the great Optina Elder Ambrose, the family of state peasants of the Streletskaya Sloboda, the city of Lebedyan, Lipetsk district, Tambov province, Polikarp and Ekaterina Zaitsev, who often visited him with their spiritual needs, had an eighth child, this time a girl. Due to the then raging cholera epidemic, the baby was immediately baptized with the name Matrona. At nine months old, the parents brought their daughter to Shamordino under the blessing of Saint Ambrose. The perspicacious elder took her in his arms and predicted that first she would live in a pious marriage, and then take monasticism, and “all Optina will be with her.” This prophecy implied that Matrona would become the spiritual daughter of the last Optina monks, deeply absorb their covenants and continue the succession of the spirit of grace-filled eldership that had developed in Optina.
The time has come, and the disciple of St. Ambrose, the holy Optina elder Hieroschemamonk Anatoly (Potapov), became the spiritual father of Matrona Zaitseva. Under his wise fatherly guidance, the future schema-montress and old woman grew up. And in her home, Matrona had someone to learn selfless love and compassion from. From early childhood, she had to work a lot and hard to help her parents, brothers and sisters in some way. To do this, she often had to get up before dawn and go to work with wealthy people. One day Matrona woke up because a hot tear fell on her from her mother, who was sorry to wake up her daughter. Since then, in order not to torment her loving mother’s heart, Matrona tried to wake up on her own; From her mother she learned humility and patience, which are precious in the eyes of God. Often she had to work all day for almost nothing. So, having once worked for ungrateful people from early morning until late evening, Matronushka brought home only yellow, overripe cucumbers - a meager wage for her hard work. Arriving home, she sat down and burst into tears from frustration, fatigue and resentment. And her mother, Ekaterina Maksimovna, consoled her, saying: “Don’t cry, daughter, first they gave you these cucumbers, and then they will see how well you work, and they will give you better ones.” Despite all the hard work of the friendly Zaitsev family, the food in the house was the simplest: Lenten kulesh on the water.
Since childhood, Matrona stood out among her peers. The spiritual daughter of Mother Seraphima recalled how she told her: “When I was still a girl, the boys shouted after me: nun! and threw stones at me. I would stop, sing a song to them, dance, but they still teased me. Elder Anatoly said to this that when the Lord puts the seal of His chosenness on a person, then the enemy inspires evil people, shows them who is who, and in every possible way annoys God’s servants through them.”
Matrona’s only consolation was visits to Optina Pustyn and fervent constant prayer. When she was twelve years old, the Lord showed His pure-hearted servant the grace-filled gift of clairvoyance. This was discovered when Matrona was on the street with her friends and, unexpectedly for everyone, turned to the ugly eighteen-year-old girl who was with them: “You are running around with us, and a groom from Moscow has come to you to woo you.” The surprised girl went home, and what the girl told her turned out to be true.
As predicted by the Monk Ambrose, at the age of nineteen, Matrona married a deeply religious nineteen-year-old peasant from Streletskaya Sloboda, Kirill Petrovich Belousov, who fell deeply in love with her. It happened on February 23, 1910. Elder Anatoly blessed them at the altar. In the family of Kirill and Matrona Belousov, unanimity, peace and harmony always reigned. In 1910, the Lord blessed their marriage with the birth of their first child, Alexander, and two years later they had a daughter, Olga. Before the tragic events of 1917 for Russia, they moved to Kozlov. Now the dear monks of Optina Pustyn began to often stay in their hospitable house, bringing the works of their hands to this city. Matrona’s love for Optina was so great that she once went out to see off the monastic guests and, without warning her family, went to Elder Anatoly and stayed with him for quite a long time, performing various obediences. And this out-of-the-ordinary event, although it made her husband worry, did not at all darken their truly Christian, sacrificial mutual love.
Matrona recalled: “When I was in Optina Hermitage, Father Anatoly wrote a letter to my husband: “Dear servant of God, your wife is in a spiritual hospital, don’t worry about her.” It was during that stay in the Optina monastery that mother, for her obedience to her venerable elder, was granted a long miraculous vision and a mysterious spiritual birth on the way to Shamordino. This was the summer of 1920. And the prayer books for her at that time were the monks Anatoly (the younger) and Nektary. At this time, within the walls of the monastery of the Venerable Elder Ambrose, Matrona was given a cassock in commemoration of her future monastic feat. Then she was honored there with a special visit from the Mother of God, after which for a long time she became a child in spirit and performed monastic obediences under the direct spiritual care of the Venerable Elder Nektarios, who himself was distinguished by chaste childishness, some special infantile purity. At the same time, the peculiarity of his spirituality was that he did not so much console the people who came to him, but showed them the path of achievement, tempering a person before the spiritual difficulties that awaited him, believing in the great power of grace, helping those who resolutely seek the truth and want to be saved.
On the night of August 12, 1922, the Monk Anatoly of Optina (Junior) rested in the Lord. With all the tension of the situation at that time - incessant persecution, oppression, bullying and threats - his sudden death was unexpected both for the persecutors and for the admirers of this holy man. It is all the more valuable that Matrona was honored to receive his last blessing: sparing her as his beloved spiritual child, the perspicacious elder Anatoly sent her away a week before his death, saying: “Go home, we will see you again.” She did not want to leave him in a painful state and said: “Father, you are very weak.” “Nothing,” the monk answered, “here’s a letter for you, read it in a week.” Arriving home and waiting for the time he had appointed, she read: “If you were at my death, you would not have endured this. The Mother of God will not leave you. All of Optina will come to you.”
Having become spiritually orphaned, the future great old lady sought communication with other ascetics. But fewer and fewer of them remained free and alive. In 1928, the Venerable Nectarius of Optina reposed in exile; in 1936, the Venerable Elder Isaac of Optina was exiled to prison and met his death in Siberia—Matrona addressed them with the blessing of Elder Anatoly.
In 1926, already at the mature age of thirty-six, Matrona Polikarpovna and Kirill Petrovich had a son, Mikhail. Another eight years passed, their first-born Alexander graduated from a construction college, and in 1934 the Belousovs moved to Voronezh. There Matrona Polikarpovna met and from then on constantly spiritually communicated with the rector of the Archangel Michael Church of the village of Yacheyka, Vertinsky district, Voronezh region, schema-abbot Mitrofan (Myakinin), who, without exaggeration, was distinguished by his holy and ascetic life. Until his death, he was mother's confessor. From his hands she received her monastic tonsure, and in the 1950s, from the hands of Schema-Archimandrite Macarius (Bolotov), she received the schema, with the blessing of then Bishop Zinovy, and later Schema-Metropolitan Seraphim (Mazhuga).
According to the memoirs of the late confessor of the Tambov diocese, Archpriest Nikolai Zasypkin, in the schema of Mitrofan, Father Schema-Hegumen Mitrofan (Myakinin) was a wonderful man, a true monk and a good shepherd. Despite the complexity of the times, people came to him from different cities and villages with their everyday and spiritual questions and needs. And he knew how to console everyone, gave everyone kind and useful advice, so that after a conversation with him, peace and tranquility came, and the difficulties that arose seemed not so insurmountable. A small community of nuns from closed monasteries, as well as newly tonsured secret nuns, formed around the ascetic. The community, of course, existed illegally, but its life proceeded strictly according to the monastic rules. While in Kiev, Father Mitrofan communicated with the reverend schema-abbot Kuksha (Velichko), now glorified as an All-Russian saint, who began monastic life on Holy Mount Athos, after which from 1913 until his five-year imprisonment and three-year exile (in 1938) and after his release was a resident of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra; then, from 1951, he labored in the Pochaev Lavra, from 1957 - in the St. John the Theologian Khreshchatsky Monastery in Bukovina and from 1960 in the Holy Dormition Patriarchal Odessa Monastery, where he ended his life's journey.
Father Mitrofan was also well acquainted with the famous Schema-Archbishop Anthony (Abashidze), who since 1923 lived in Kyiv, in the Chinese Hermitage, where believers from all over Russia came to him as a true spirit-bearing elder. In 1933, Archbishop Anthony was arrested and sentenced to five years of suspended imprisonment. He settled in a private apartment not far from the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, by the grace of God he lived until its opening and in 1942 was buried within its walls.
When the Great Patriotic War began, Matrona Polikarpovna, according to the testimony of Abbot Barsanuphius, who knew her well, encouraged and supported the suffering people. And one day, when there was nowhere to get water - there was practically none at that time - mother miraculously gave our retreating warriors a drink from one teapot. Before the German occupation of Voronezh began, Matrona Polikarpovna, along with her husband, daughter Olga and three grandchildren, hastily left the city and became refugees. They did not take anything extra with them, Kirill Petrovich was carrying a sled with children, and mother was carrying in her hands a lithographic icon of the Sorrowful Mother of God. Exhausted, they stopped in one of the village houses near the front line. The grandchildren cried from hunger, but there was nothing to feed them. Mother calmed the children, saying: “Now, now, guys, we will feed you.” Taking the icon of the Mother of God in her hands, she went out to pray, and, falling in front of the image of the Queen of Heaven, with tears she asked Her for intercession and mercy. And this prayer was so fiery that a pillar bright as fire formed from the roof of the house to the sky, which was noticed by a policeman who happened to be nearby. Suspecting that someone was giving a signal to the Germans, he ran into the house, but saw his mother tearfully praying, kneeling, beaming, and came out in amazement. In response to this prayer, kind people were soon found who brought steamed oats and sauerkraut to the six exhausted travelers.
Matrona Polikarpovna greatly revered the Queen of Heaven, often repeated her prayer and taught everyone: “I place all my trust in You, Mother of God, keep me under Your roof.” And mother’s husband, Kirill Petrovich, read an akathist every day before the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God. The granddaughter of Matrona Polikarpovna Yulia told from the words of her father Alexander that at the front, during a very difficult bloody battle, he constantly saw the image of his mother in front of him; bullets whistled incessantly, many soldiers died, but he remained safe and sound through her prayers.
As soon as the Germans left Voronezh, the Belousovs returned home. In the spring of 1944, with the blessing of the newly ordained ruling bishop of the Voronezh and Zadonsk diocese, Bishop Jonah, Matrona Polikarpovna Belousova became a member of the twenty and headed the executive body of the community of St. Nicholas Cathedral in the city of Voronezh, which was renewing its activities, thereby laying the foundation for a new selfless ktitor’s feat. When the future Elder Seraphima undertook to restore the destroyed St. Nicholas Church, she had only five rubles. Matrona Polikarpovna stood in prayer all night, the floor became wet from her tears, and the very next day a variety of people began to offer her all possible help. And this help, through her holy prayers, always came on time, so that the cathedral church in the name of St. Nicholas of Christ was almost completely restored in less than a year.
Shortly before the Voronezh Archbishop Jonah rested in the Lord, a gray-haired old man approached his mother and, showing her a bottle of water, said: “Just as there is not enough water in this bottle, you will not completely complete the temple. Soon after this, Matrona was honored with a vision of the Mother of God, who called her to extreme humility and patience and told her about the upcoming year of illness. Due to the illness that had really begun, the future old woman Seraphima retired and in 1946 she and her family returned to Kozlov (by that time renamed Michurinsk). Having settled in Michurinsk, she lived inconspicuously, went to church unforgettably, prayed unceasingly at home, and fasted strictly. Even on Easter, she allowed herself to eat only part of the blessed egg. No one had ever seen her spend time in idleness or rest. She herself placed a high value on obedience to the family and told others that for married women, the family should come first and they would have to answer for it before God: first they would ask for the family, and then for everything else.
In family life, mother adhered to strictness. She rarely showed her heartfelt feelings outwardly. When the dying Kirill Petrovich extended his hand to his mother in farewell, although she loved him with all her soul, being already a secretly tonsured schema-nun, she did not respond to his handshake. And when he died in 1961, she did not speak to anyone for a long time and prayed incessantly. They say that Kirill Petrovich, who was distinguished by his special generosity, even in the most hungry war years, fed the birds with the remains of meager homemade food, and they accompanied the coffin of their breadwinner to the cemetery.
Having taken secret tonsure into the mantle with the name Maria, and then the great image in honor of St. Seraphim, mother became a warm prayer book and a real sadwoman of our land. She spent days and nights in unceasing tearful prayers before her cell icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Seeking the Lost.” Having never strived for wealth in marriage, she perfectly fulfilled the commandment of non-covetousness by accepting monasticism. The late Archpriest Georgy Pluzhnikov told the dean of the Michurinsky district, Archpriest Alexander Filimonov, more than once about the extraordinary, truly Christian, spiritual generosity of Mother Seraphim. In addition to the gifts of prayer, humility and love that mother received from above, the Lord further deepened the grace-filled gift of foresight that had already manifested itself in her. Long before the events themselves, she predicted the opening of the Tambov Transfiguration Cathedral, the Michurinsky Bogolyubsky Cathedral, the Zadonsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, as well as the opening and flourishing of the Mother of God of the Znamenskaya Sukhotinsky Convent, just as she knew in advance the day of the end of the Great Patriotic War.
There is a reliably known case of the resurrection of a dead boy lying in a coffin, who later became an excellent Tambov doctor, orthopedist-traumatologist. Mother Seraphim, who read the Psalter over him, was moved by the untimely death of the youth and turned to the Lord with a bold prayer. Despite the obvious signs of the process of physiological decay, after about half an hour of asking for his return to life, the child miraculously came to life.
Of course, given the severity of that time, the family had to urgently leave Michurinsk and hide for a long time. When mother began to age, at first only her spiritually close children from Yelets, Gryazi and other places nearby knew about it. Mother greeted everyone with such love and mercy that they left her spiritually renewed. But with the gift of insight, she exposed secret sinful thoughts. Everything she said always sounded very simple and convincing.
At the beginning of 1966, Maria Nikitichna Murzina, the future schema-nun Pitirim, worked in the sacristy of the Holy Protection Cathedral of the Tambov Cathedral. A friend of her sister came to her and asked: “Do you burn old icons?” The nun replied: “It happens that they burn it.” “I have an icon on which you can’t see anything, it’s dark. Can I bring it? I’ll give it to you, and when they burn it, burn it.” - “Bring it.” The Lord will announce when they will burn.” Maria Nikitichna wiped the brought icon, but was afraid to give it away to be burned. I decided to ask for a blessing from Mother Seraphima, my spiritual mother. The old woman said: “Don’t let it be burned, I will bless you with this icon. Put it in the red corner and pray. Over time you will see what image is on the icon. Then you will give it to the monastery, it is miraculous.” The woman prayed as her mother blessed her, read an akathist to the Savior and the Mother of God, and the icon began to be renewed. First the cross became visible, then the image of the Savior-Infant of God. Then the image of the Mother of God “Vyshenskaya” appeared - a very rare icon. Maria Nikitichna read in front of her an akathist to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (the “Vyshenskaya” icon is the one who reads this akathist), and the image was completely renewed.
Mother reposed on October 5, 1966, Wednesday, at 1 p.m., just shy of 76 years old. At the very moment of her repose, some of the people on the street saw an extraordinary pillar of fire emanating from the old woman’s house. They even thought that the Zhuravlevs (the married name of the mother’s daughter) had a fire. But it was the Lord who showed that the righteous soul of schema-nun Seraphima, who always strived for God, ascended to her Creator. Until the burial, the hands of the deceased were soft and warm. And his face, according to eyewitnesses, was shining.
Fifty years have passed since the blessed death of the Michurinskaya Elder. However, her name is well known to people who were born after her death and have never been to Michurinsk. Miracles and healings do not dry out at Mother’s resting place. Her veneration among the people is growing. Grateful Michurin residents laid an asphalt path all the way to their mother’s grave, over which a tombstone chapel has stood since 1998. Mother Seraphim is remembered and loved in different countries, villages and cities where she never visited during her earthly life. The laity, priests, and bishops equally reverently testify to her as a great prayer book and wonderworker.
Numerous testimonies of God’s miraculous help provided through the prayers of Mother Seraphima have been documented, and this list continues to grow to this day. I would like to believe that the canonization of the Michurin ascetic is just around the corner, and the Lord will vouchsafe us with great joy to sing with all the fullness of the church: Reverend Mother Seraphima, pray to God for us!
In this short report, I wanted to reflect the amazing communication that the monastics had among themselves during difficult times for our country. And, unfortunately, it is worth noting that we do not always find this reverent communication in our, as it seems to us, free time. The persecution that many ascetics of piety had to endure never stopped them - they again returned to their prayer work. Unfortunately, this is something that many of us forget. After all, without prayer, everything else is emptiness, just like without love.
10.10.2017
