Righteous · 1881–1952
Matrona of Moscow
Blessed Matrona of Moscow
New Calendar May 2 Old Calendar May 15
Why they are a saint
Matrona of Moscow was blind from birth, a 20th-century eldress of Moscow consulted by crowds; widely asked for help in daily needs. The New Calendar feast is May 2. This memory is kept in the Russian Church. The faithful remember her among the righteous of the Old and New Covenants.
Life
Saint Matrona (Nikonova) was born in 1881 in the village of Sebino in Tula province, into a God-fearing peasant family. Blind from birth, she received from God the gifts of spiritual vision, prayer, discernment and clairvoyance, and people came to her for counsel from early on. At seventeen her legs became paralysed, and she never walked again, yet she bore this cross without complaint.
In 1925 she moved to Moscow, where, persecuted by the atheists, she had to keep changing her refuge in the homes of believers. Endless numbers of people came to her, and by her prayers many were healed and helped. After her death miracles took place at her grave in the Danilov cemetery; she was glorified for local veneration in 1999, and her relics rest in the Protection Convent in Moscow.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Matrona of Moscow as a patron when they bear the name Matrona at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on May 2. Russian Orthodox faithful also honor her as one of their own.
Prayer
O holy Matrona of Moscow, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.
Do not confuse with Matrona of Thessalonica (martyr).