Blessed Matronushka Barefoot (Petersburg)
At about one o'clock in the afternoon on March 30 (April 12), 1911, the elder schema-nun Maria, popularly known as Matronushka-Sandals, quietly reposed in St. Petersburg.
The funeral took place on April 3. In the morning, the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows was filled with people who had come. The heavily reinforced police force could barely contain the huge crowd. Soon, not only the church fence, but also Shlisselburg Avenue was filled with wanderers, factory workers, merchants, officials, and rich ladies. Wanting to say goodbye to their common comforter who had passed on to another world, they gathered near her coffin.
“How significant! – said Archimandrite Alexander in his farewell speech. – We celebrate Palm Sunday, when Christ entered Jerusalem and was solemnly greeted. And this servant of God, who visited Jerusalem several times, is now going to Heavenly Jerusalem... Palm Sunday is the victory of Christ over death. Her burial marks the transition to a new life... Over time, her memory will become even stronger and attract pilgrims who will pray for her. Let us pray in the hope that there, in another world, we will find ourselves not far from this woman who has risen to such spiritual heights.”
Matronushka Barefoot
Loud sobs were heard. The coffin was covered with a lid and lifted into the arms, carrying the body to its resting place.
A century later
In the fence of the church behind the chapel in honor of the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” a woman was sitting on a bench. Her gaze was clouded with tears, her lips moved silently, and her eyes gazed steadily at the grave covered with white marble. There were fresh flowers, sweets, chocolates, and apples on the grave. Gifts from people who visibly showed their gratitude.
The woman rose from the bench and, crossing herself, bowed to the ground. Walking around the grave, she kissed the large wooden cross.
I felt sorry for this woman, she looked like a shrunken ball of pain, and I handed her an angel cut out of paper by my niece. She held the angel in her hands, looking at him, and smiled. “She will help!” – I assured her.
I lit a candle and placed it on a street candlestick. I also came to ask for help. My stomach hurt very badly and I couldn’t eat. Added to this was general weakness, and I practically did not leave the house. I didn’t have the strength, and I had to quit my job. On top of everything else, rent arrears were added. In the vestibule of the temple, I saw an advertisement that a cleaner was needed. “Well,” I decided, “if I die, then in church!”
I warned the abbot that I was sick, and I didn’t want to let anyone down. To my surprise, Father Bogdan agreed to hire me with the words: “You haven’t tried it yet, so try it.”
For a week I felt sick, nauseous, and dizzy. But I didn’t tell anyone about this and worked, trying to do everything in good faith. I didn’t notice how a month flew by while washing the floors, but the most surprising thing is that my health has noticeably improved. And most importantly, I learned how to wash the floor. If you smile, it means you have no idea what it’s like to wash the floor in a temple.
Dream
– Where can I light a candle to get rid of passion? – I heard on one of the days of my duty. The exhausted eyes of a very tall man looked at me. I led him to the “Inexhaustible Chalice” icon.
“I came here because I’ve been dreaming about her for the second day now!” – he said excitedly.
In surprise, I almost dropped the iron plate for collecting candle stubs on the floor.
- Matryona is dreaming! I can not do it anymore!
– Does Matryonushka tell you anything? – I asked.
- He doesn’t say anything - he stands there, is silent and looks reproachfully and shakes his head.
- So it will help! - I said.
- I hope. My mother comes here often, but this is my first time. I want to stop drinking, but I give up.
“Perhaps the passion won’t leave right away,” I suggested.
– Yes, I know: healing cannot happen in an instant.
“I believe that since she brought you here, it means she will help.”
“I believe it too,” said the man.
He said these words with such humility and hope that it was clear that together with God we could conquer and overcome everything. We went outside, it smelled like spring, the sun was shining, and I remembered how a year ago my friend and I walked along the Neva, heading to a festive service at the temple. Thawed patches have appeared on the Neva. Looking at the ruffled ice floes, we saw two small figures opposite the temple. This happened on February 15, 2014.
Rescue on the waters
The Emergency Situations Ministry team went out onto the fragile ice with safety nets. The girls were already in the middle of the river. It was almost impossible to cross over the weak ice, not to mention the fact that it was dangerous, since there was a thaw. The employees were afraid to scare the children away. Everyone stood at the grave and prayed to Matryonushka. The girls crossed to the other side, passing through this dangerous section unharmed.
“Seven years ago,” said the guard standing next to us, “two boys died along the river a little further from this place.” First one went under the ice, then the other.
He stood silently for a minute. Then he continued:
“The current of the river under the ice is twice as strong, and if someone falls through, he can no longer emerge - he is carried under the ice. It was a miracle that the girls were saved.
“The Mother of God and Matryonushka saved them,” the friend said confidently.
By faith a miracle is given
So says the rector of the temple in honor of the icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” Priest Bogdan Polevoy.
“I am a priest, and I have repeatedly witnessed how sick people with the last stage of oncology came with gratitude after a month or two, falling to their knees completely healthy. By faith, a miracle is given.
...Matryona Petrovna Mylnikova was born into a family of peasant farmers. Father Pyotr Evstigneevich Shcherbinin and his wife Agathia, née Nesterova, besides Matryona, had three sons who were engaged in farming. Matryonushka married the tradesman Yegor Tikhonovich Mylnikov. During the Turkish War of 1877–1878. Matryonushka followed her husband, who was called to the front, as a sister of mercy. Her husband died in the war, and after the end of the war Matryonushka sold her house in Kostroma, distributed her property to the poor, and went on a wandering journey.
“This is an amazing person,” Father Bogdan continued to tell. - A variety of people came to Matryona, she received everyone, prayed for everyone, helped everyone. She took upon herself the feat of foolishness - a special form of service. Barefoot both in winter and summer, she walked in a white robe, with a staff in her hand.
– Even on the worst day, in frost, rain, heat, people come and light candles, and then after some time they return with gratitude. Come to the Mother of God, venerate the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” come to Matryonushka and give this love and this joy to those around you. So that everyone can see that this is an Orthodox Christian, warmth and joy radiate from him,” the rector concluded with these words.
Granny
One such example for me is a woman whom I met at work in a temple.
As a little girl she survived the blockade. Several times, walking me home after work, she showed me the places where they ate grass during the blockade.
“We ate all the grass here,” she said.
I poured her some hot tea and she carefully unwrapped the prosphora.
“I haven’t had breakfast yet,” she said. – I, one might say, crawled to Matryonushka. They put me on the tram, and to get off, I went down, holding the handrails, my legs couldn’t hold me. I couldn't walk at all. She lay down on the grave and cried: “Matryonushka, help.” And - a miracle! She got up from the grave and walked on her own feet. Now I go and tell everyone about her.
We didn’t notice how Gennady, a parishioner, sat down next to us.
“My legs hurt too,” he complained.
“Take off your shoes,” said Granny, and she was the first to deftly take off her shoes. - And let's follow me.
Gennady took off his shoes and, stepping heavily with his bare feet, followed his grandmother around the grave.
“My legs became light, and fatigue disappeared somewhere,” he said, smiling.
- My angel! – I heard an employee address me. - The baptism will be in half an hour, we need to get everything ready.
I had to shackle my feet again with shoes, and Gennady and grandma stood barefoot, continuing their treatment.
“Now I know the road to health,” said Gennady.
– My angel, we still have time to wash the floor! – the employee said, pulling me along with her. This woman often calls her interlocutors this way. I won’t tell you her name, otherwise I’ll never hear that from her again. But it was she who taught me how to wash the floor. She will never leave the temple if it is not cleaned. She scrubs the floor the way sailors scrub the deck of their ship. She has a soapy sponge under her feet and a scraper in her hands, and not a single speck, not a single piece of wax on the floor escapes this hardworking “weaser.”
Yesterday we came under the blessing of Fr. Vladimir, and she says to him:
- Forgive me, Father Vladimir.
- Why should I forgive you? You are an angel of God.
It turns out that what you call others is what you are.
Come to my grave
“Come to my grave as if I were alive,” Elder Seraphim of Vyritsky bequeathed. This is what both Matryonushka of Moscow and Saint Seraphim of Sarov said. Every day I see people coming to the grave, crying, rejoicing, praying, asking. And invisibly from an unearthly other world, the Mother of God responds to the mourning prayers - through the prayers of Matryonushka.
One day a child, a six-year-old boy Ignat, suffering from diabetes mellitus and insulin dependent, came to the grave. His own aunt brought him here. And then he brought his mother Maria here. Showed the way!
Maria said: “He came from Matryonushka so happy and said that he felt so good, “like his mother,” and immediately wanted to come to me. But the most important thing is that I saw joy in his eyes. Despite the hospitals, injections, strict diet, his eyes shone with happiness!”
Come, you too, and grace will embrace you, and you will exclaim: “Seeing the currents of miracles pouring out from Your holy icon, good Mother of God, as You are the good Helper of those who pray, the Offended Intercessor, the hopeless hope, the sad consolation, the hungry Nurse, the naked robe, the virgin chastity, strange Teacher, help to the laboring, sight to the blind, blessing to the deaf, healing to the sick, we cry out to God with gratitude for You.”
(From the akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos in honor of Her icon “Joy of All Who Sorrow”).
Gift of Serendipity
Matrona saw the fate of everyone who came to her, as if she had known the person all her life. With just one prayer, Barefoot could influence the outcome of fatal diseases. Hopelessly ill people came to her, and now they pray to her for healing. They say that her help is especially strong for oncology, chronic alcoholism and problems with conceiving a child.
Military personnel, ambassadors, and travelers who went to places affected by epidemics and wars often visited her. Mother sprinkled everyone with holy water, blessed them with an icon, and in the midst of mortal danger they remained safe and sound.
Even during her lifetime, Matrona had the miraculous ability to appear in dreams to those who most needed help. In this way, she made it clear to the suffering that they should come to her in person and that the holy fool would definitely help with the power of her prayers. Surprisingly, she continues to appear in dreams to this day, despite the fact that she left this world 110 years ago.
About
Previous life
Kostroma Kremlin
Matrona was born in 1814 in the village of Vanina, Kostroma province, into the peasant family of the Shcherbinins. The girl was baptized in the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in the neighboring village of Odelevo.
Memorial cross on the site of the former village of Vanina
Little is known about Matrona’s childhood: her parents came from local peasant farmers and raised four children. In addition to Matrona, Peter and Agafya Shcherbinin had three sons: Makar, Alexander and Ivan, all of them were engaged in farming and were, like Matrona herself, illiterate. Matrona Petrovna married a tradesman from the city of Kostroma, Yegor Mylnikov. In Kostroma, the family had their own house and grocery store. During the Turkish War of 1877–1878. Her husband was drafted into the army, Matronushka went with him to the front as a sister of mercy. Even then, her humble soul, which received the great gift of compassion from God, manifested itself in full. She helped everyone as best she could, and distributed all her nursing salary (25 rubles) to needy soldiers.
V. Vereshchagin. After the attack. Dressing station near Plevna.
