Martyr Anisia Maslanova (1878 – 1937)
Martyr Anisiya Ivanovna Maslanova was born on December 25, 1878 in the village of Barmino, Makaryevsky district, Nizhny Novgorod province, into a peasant family. Her father Ivan Maslanov was engaged in fishing on the Volga and trade. Once upon a time it was a large prosperous village, with pious traditions, whose inhabitants sacredly honored and fulfilled the commandments of God.
Ivan Maslanov's house stood at the upper end of the village, on a steep Volga slope. Four sisters grew up here with Anisia. As a young girl, Anisiya Ivanovna left for Nizhny Novgorod and got a job as a servant in the house of the entrepreneur Ivan Ivanovich Shalygin, who until 1907 was listed in the petty bourgeois class. His city estate was located in the city center on Gruzinskaya Street, in the parish of the Intercession Church.
Shalygin I.I. in the settlements of the village of Chernoye (now the territory of the city of Dzerzhinsk) established a timber and alabaster factory, which employed up to 50 people. There was also a tannery in the Nizhny Novgorod province. Before the revolution, he was elected as a member of the Nizhny Novgorod City Duma, where, being a fair and pious man, he defended the interests of the poor part of Nizhny Novgorod residents.
When Ivan Ivanovich was widowed, Anisiya Ivanovna became his wife and the full-fledged mistress of not only the house, but capital. She was hospitable and responsive to the needs of ordinary people. Her fellow countrywoman Nadezhda Mikhailovna Zakharova, in order to avoid an unwanted marriage, ran away from Barmino, reaching Nizhny Novgorod by boat, and lived for a year in Anisiya Ivanovna’s house, and in 1924 she married a worthy man and returned to her homeland. The descendants of N. M. Zakharova still keep a photograph of the martyr Anisia as a precious family heirloom.
Anisiya Ivanovna did not forget about her relatives in the village of Barmino. With money, she helped her sister Anna build a good house with a stone lower floor and a log upper floor. This house also houses a large photograph of Anisia Ivanovna for many decades, in which a beautiful and well-groomed woman, adorned with jewelry, was photographed in her home. On the left, a large temple candlestick, intended for home prayer and installed in the holy corner, came into the frame. A prayerful and godly life was the main treasure of Anisia Maslanova.
Anisiya Ivanovna Maslanova
After the death of her husband, Anisia continued to conduct personal trade at the Nizhny Novgorod fair, while owning a large amount of real estate in the city. When, after 1918, the new authorities banned private trading, alone, without family and children, Anisiya Ivanovna completely devoted herself to serving the Church. Beginning in 1929, she began to fulfill the duties of church warden in the Nizhny Novgorod Church of St. John the Baptist.
On November 6, 1937, Anisiya Ivanovna was arrested and imprisoned in the special corps of the Gorky prison, accused of having connections with the Nizhny Novgorod clergy and that her apartment was a gathering place for anti-Soviet elements: churchmen, wandering nuns.
On November 22, 1937, she was interrogated by an investigator.
— You were arrested as an active participant in a counter-revolutionary church-fascist organization. The investigation materials have established the facts of your subversive activities. Do you plead guilty to this?
“I don’t plead guilty.”
— By denying your guilt, you have taken the path of deceiving the investigation, but you will not succeed. I propose to stop the denial and give truthful testimony.
“I was not a member of any counter-revolutionary organizations and was not involved in anti-Soviet activities.
- You continue to lie, the investigation insists on giving truthful testimony.
“I’m not hiding anything from the investigation and I don’t admit guilt.” I can’t say anything more to the investigation.
By December, the investigation was completed, and by decision of the Special Troika of the NKVD on December 2–3, 1937, Anisiya Maslanova was sentenced to death. Martyr Anisiya Maslanova was shot on December 14, 1937 and buried in an unknown mass grave.
Document from the investigation file
When Nadezhda Mikhailovna Zakharova, who at one time received help and shelter from Anisiya Ivanovna, learned about her arrest, her husband Konstantin Ivanovich Doronin contacted the NKVD three times to find out about the fate of the arrested woman and the place of her detention. The last time he was informed that she was sent by convoy to Siberia and died there on the way. But in fact, the persecution of the faithful children of the Church of Christ from beginning to end was based on lies, and the earthly life of the martyr Anisia ended in the dungeons of the Gorky prison.
In 1977, in the homeland of the martyr Anisia in the village of Barmino, a wooden church burned down. According to the Providence of God, the house of her niece, Tatyana Alekseevna Maslanova, initially became a rural prayer house. Today in the house church of this village there is an image of Saint Anisia, before which not only her relatives, but also all the residents offer their prayers.
Memory MC. Anisia December 11.
Quoted from the book “Lives of the Saints, New Martyrs and Confessors of the Nizhny Novgorod Land.” - Nizhny Novgorod, 2015. Authors and compilers: Archimandrite Tikhon (Zatekin), Abbot Damascene (Orlovsky), O.V. Degteva.
The Suffering of the Holy Martyr Anisia the Maiden
The Suffering of the Holy Martyr Anisia the Maiden
On January 12, we remember the honest suffering of the holy martyr Anisia, who suffered for her faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
During the reign of the wicked emperor Maximian, there lived in the glorious city of Thessaloniki one young woman named Anisia, the daughter of rich Christian parents who raised her in the fear of God, so that she grew in virtues rather than in years, for her parents fed her more with the truths of faith and piety than with milk. . When her infancy years passed and Anisia grew up to be a beautiful young woman, her parents carefully taught her all the wisdom of books. Gifted with reason, Anisiya quickly and easily learned everything and showed in practice the worthy fruits of her teaching. Filled with the Spirit of God, she had a truly angelic disposition, and her face shone with incomparable beauty. At this time, she rarely left the house and, hiding her youthful beauty in the upper room, she often said to herself with regret:
- O deceptive life of youth, destroying some and being destroyed by others! Old age is good, but, alas for me! The length of time fills me with sorrow, for I will have to wait for it for many years, many years separate me from heaven!
And Anisia never stopped calling on Christ for help, bending her knees and shedding copious tears on the ground. When her parents departed to the Lord and she became the heir to her father’s property, she began to think about what she should do with her wealth. For her parents collected great treasures of silver and gold, vast estates, huge herds, countless slaves and slaves, valuable silk and gold-woven clothes, golden utensils, decorated with pearls and precious stones and shining with splendor. Seeing all this, Saint Anisia said:
– How to be saved in the midst of so many earthly riches? How to step on the head of the ancient serpent-devil and overcome his power? But I know what to do: I will use the serpent’s cunning against the serpent. Just as he himself is renewed annually, stripping off his old skin, so I will get rid of my wealth. For they cause great harm to those who use them for evil and infect with incurable poison all who gather them, while they bind the stingy and unmerciful with their shackles and nets. Possession of estates teaches one to anger and accumulates wealth through deception and unrighteous means; valuable clothes teach one to act vainly and draw one into sin; gold chains and necklaces make you raise your head proudly, because they want people to see and praise them. This is how I will deal with them: I will be their natural mistress before they gain unnatural dominance over me. I will truly become their mistress and spend them for good, at the same time avoiding the temptations they generate. I will find strong protection for them: I will put them, as in a treasury, in the houses of widows, orphans and the poor. And my surety is faithful, the Lord, who will reward me not only doubly, but a hundredfold and will make me a participant in eternal life. I will distribute everything so that I may receive everything intact, multiplied a hundredfold, and, having distributed, I will take up the cross of Christ. For then it will be easy for me to follow Christ, leaving earthly things on earth to live with the Angels in heaven. It is better to avoid a destructive and unclean life and desire an everlasting life and spiritual achievements. I will exchange the temporary for the eternal: I will honor an imperishable marriage, I will remain in chastity and I will keep my body clean for the Creator. Now it is necessary to make a purchase while there is a market. May persecution and persecution obtain my reward in heaven. Let tormentors and torments open me up to the joys of heaven, and let wounds and prison lead me into the palace of Christ; for not only men receive rewards, but also wives are awarded crowns.
This is what she said to herself and prayed with tears:
- Lord, Jesus Christ! My light! Source of immortality! The root of incorruption, inexpressibly conceived in a virgin womb, and at Christmas preserved Thy Most Pure Mother incorruptible! Good Lord, make me, too, enter into the ranks of the virgins and not be separated from Your palace! Include me among the wise virgins (Matthew 25:1-12) and grant me the ability to meet You with an unquenchable lamp, so that I may be a partaker of Your glory, having accomplished my feat immaculately!
Having prayed like this, Saint Anisia immediately sold all her property, and not at the price it was worth, and not in the way that usually happens during market sales and purchases. For she said to the buyer:
– Know that the things sold belong to the poor and wretched. Therefore, set a fair price in order to also receive some reward, for the Lord is righteous and loves righteousness and rewards in righteousness.
When all the property was sold, she began to distribute the proceeds to the poor and suffering in prison. Entering all the prisons herself, the saint not only provided everything they needed, but also served the prisoners with her own hands, especially those who, after many torments and wounds, could not serve themselves. She treated such people, anointing them with ointments and bandaging their wounds, consoled those who were grieving, visited those lying on their sick beds and helped them from her wealth; she walked around the squares and streets and with a generous hand gave abundant help to all the poor and sick lying on the rot that she found. At the same time she said to herself:
“I will not seek comfort and pleasure in riches, which on the day of judgment will not equal even a drop of water.”
When Anisia spent everything to the last coin, leaving nothing for herself, she shut herself up in a certain upper room and with her own labor began to obtain the food necessary for the body, eating her bread by the sweat of her brow, following the words of the Apostle: “if anyone does not want to work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10), for it is proper for Christians to eat from the labor of their hands. Asceticizing in prayers and fasting, Anisia lived like a disembodied person. Accustomed to exploits and a harsh life, she spent her days in labor and reading divine books, and her nights in psalmody and prayer. The earth served as her bed, instead of a soft bed she had only a reed bedding, instead of warm blankets - thin rags; She slept very little, for she said to herself:
“It is not safe for me to sleep while my enemy is awake.”
At the same time, the saint shed copious tears and her sighs were more numerous than the words coming from her lips. She was embraced to such an extent by Divine love that when she knelt down to pray, it seemed to her that she was falling at the feet of the Savior and kissing them, and wiping the dust from the Lord’s feet with her hair. This thought gave rise to sources of tears in her, just as she once cried who washed the Lord’s feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her head (Luke 7:36-50); and she had an incessant desire to free herself from the bonds of the body and live with Christ. And she, praying, struck herself on the chest and said:
- Almighty Lord God, Father of Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and God and Savior, who sits on the throne of Your glory! You, Whom thousands of thousands of Archangels serve and Whom stands before the darkness of those who obey the command of His thrones, dominions, principalities and powers, Whom the cherubim praise and the seraphim constantly glorify, crying out the thrice-holy song! You, who plunged into the hellish abysses the spirits who rebelled against You and bound with indestructible shackles the serpent who had lost Your grace, cast down his throne to the earth, deprived him of heavenly service, and trampled down his pride with the shame of the cross! You, who sent us from the immaculate bosom of Your God the Word, the eternal Savior of our souls, born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and through Him You sought the lost, strengthened the weak, and healed the broken! I call upon You with all my heart, Thy humble and sinful servant. You, who know the thoughts of every person, who kindled in my heart ardent love for You, come and save me, Your unworthy servant, for I desire You, I seek You, and I cleave to You with all my strength. Lord God the Son, accept my prayer, which I offer to You with a contrite heart and a humble spirit. Do not despise me, O Jesus Christ, for which you were nailed to the cross, struck on the cheeks, and for which you drank bile and vinegar, tasted bitter death, on the third day you rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father: do not disgrace me and do not reject me from among Your servants, but make me worthy of Christian death, in the image of Your holy cross! Make me a participant in Your sufferings, so that I may be worthy to appear before Your face. Keep me faithful to You! “My flesh trembles at Your fear, and I fear Your judgments” (Ps. 119:120), “Turn away my eyes, so as not to see vanity; quicken me in Your way” (Ps. 119:37), but “open my eyes,” I pray to You, “and I will see the wonders of Your law” (Ps. 119:18). Ps.119:37 – . I was devoted to You from my mother’s womb, You are my Lord! “For my father and my mother have forsaken me” (Ps. 26:10). You, Lord, have received me. Make my ways right, so that Your servant may not be filled with shame, but “show me a sign for good” (Ps. 85:17) and fulfill my request, for “Lord! All my desires are before You, and my sighing is not hidden from You” (Ps. 37:10). And again I pray to You, Father God, help me, so that no sin may be found on me, Your servant; for I offer myself as a sacrifice to You. Accept me as burnt offerings of sheep and bulls, and as ten thousand fat lambs, that my sacrifice may be before You. And grant me worthy to follow Your spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, with whom be Yours, with the Holy Spirit, glory, honor and power forever and ever, Amen.
Having prayed like this, Saint Anisia stood up and made the sign of the cross. The evil enemy of the human race saw all this and could not bear her angelic and heavenly life. He saw her already abiding in spirit in heaven and with all her heart wanting to suffer for Christ, and gnashed his teeth at her and tried to shake and overturn her upper room: but, seeing her everywhere fenced with the sign of the cross, he ran away, as if driven by invisible blows. However, sometimes he managed to instill laziness and despondency in the saint, but she immediately crushed his treachery, protecting herself like a wall with unceasing prayer. And the enemy of truth grieved and said to himself:
- Alas for me, wretched one! I drew angels with me from heaven, I conquered many mighty ones, and now the young men and women laugh at me. They love death more than life and, crowned by it, flow to heaven and leave this world empty for me. The blood of the murdered martyrs consoled me, but their faith and exploits and their preaching changed entire cities and nations. My temples are being destroyed, the oracles are falling silent, the altars are being overthrown, the priests who were having fun before are becoming despondent. To my destruction, a cross is erected everywhere and my kingdom comes into decline, for those who are joyful in torment are terrible in their graves: they burn me, beat me and drive me away from everywhere; and what I had invented against them turned to my even greater misfortune. But I know what to do with them: I found a new trick.
And immediately the enemy comes up with the following: wanting to bury the glory of the holy martyrs in the dust of oblivion, so that subsequent generations would not remember them, to make their exploits unknown and deprive them of description, the envious man arranged for Christians to be beaten everywhere without trial or testing, no longer by kings and military leaders , but by the simplest and lowest people. The all-evil enemy did not understand that God does not require words, but only good will.
Having destroyed a great many Christians, Maximian, at the instigation of the devil, pretended to be exhausted. Having had his fill of the blood of the innocent, he became like a bloodthirsty beast, which, when it is already fed up with meat and no longer wants to eat, it seems as if meek and neglects the animals walking by, and this wicked tormentor, having received an aversion to murder, pretended to be meek. He said:
“Christians are unworthy to be put to death in front of the king’s eyes.” What need is there to test and judge them and record their words and deeds? For these records will be read and passed on from generation to generation by those who profess the same Christian faith, and their memory will then be celebrated forever. Why shouldn’t I command that they be slaughtered like animals, without questioning or recording, so that their death would be unknown and their memory would fade into silence?
Having made such a decision, the wicked king immediately issued a command everywhere so that anyone who wanted could kill Christians without fear, without fear of either trial or execution for murder. And they began to beat up Christians without number every day and in all countries and cities and villages, in squares and roads. Anyone who met a believer, as soon as he found out that he was a Christian, immediately, without saying a word, struck him with something, or pierced him with a knife and cut him with a sword or any other instrument, a stone or a stick, and killed him like an animal, so that they were fulfilled words of Scripture: “But for Your sake they kill us every day; they count us as sheep doomed to the slaughter” (Ps. 43:23).
During this cruel time for Christians, Saint Anisia, burning in her heart with the desire to die for Christ, one day came out of her upper room, prompted by the spirit, and intended to go to the temple of the Lord. Entering the so-called Kasantrioti Gate, she heard a noise among the people. The wicked celebrated the festival of the sun on this day and offered their unclean sacrifices. And so, one of the royal soldiers, who was coming towards him, saw the beautiful maiden, Saint Anisia, stopped her, instigated by the devil himself, and said:
- Stop, girl, and tell me where are you going?
Seeing his shamelessness and insolence and believing that this was an enemy temptation, she protected herself with the sign of the cross in front of his eyes. But the warrior was not ashamed of the virgin’s chaste silence, but considering it a dishonor for himself and an expression of contempt, he grabbed her like a beast, like a wolf grabs a sheep, for truly he was fiercer than the beast and in a menacing voice asked her: who is she and where is she coming from? Wanting to free herself from his hands and the impudent glances fixed on her, the lamb of Christ tried to get rid of him with a meek answer and said:
- I am a servant of Christ and I am going to church.
But the shameless warrior, prompted by the demon in him, objected to her:
“I will not let you go, but I will lead you to the place where they make sacrifices to our gods, for today we honor the sun with a festival.”
Saying this, he tried to forcibly remove the cover that was on her head, wanting to completely open her face, but she courageously resisted him and did not allow her to open her head, but spat in his face and said:
– May my Lord Jesus Christ forbid you, devil!
Then a warrior. unable to bear the name of Christ, he drew the sword that was with him, and, striking her in the side, pierced her through. The holy virgin fell to the ground and, along with the shedding of blood, gave up her holy soul into the hands of Christ her God, Whom she loved and for whom she earnestly desired to die all the days of her life. Passers-by who saw this surrounded her, already dead and lying in blood, and some mourned her youth and cruel death, while others grumbled at the godless king, who issued such a harsh law to destroy innocent people. Some of the believers took her honorable relics and, honorably removing them, buried them two miles from the Kasantriotian gates, on the left side of the people's path. Subsequently, a prayer house was built over the burial place of Anisia. This happened at a time when Maximian reigned on earth, and our Lord Jesus Christ reigned over the believers for endless ages, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
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