Matrona of Moscow: Distraction from the REAL Saints

DIscussion and News concerning Orthodox Churches in communion with those who have fallen into the heresies of Ecumenism, Renovationism, Sergianism, and Modernism, or those Traditional Orthodox Churches who are now involved with Name-Worshiping, or vagante jurisdictions. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.


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Barbara
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Holy Hierarch Averky [Tashev] of Jordanville

Post by Barbara »

Thanks for reminding me, IXOYE ! I get distracted with so many other topics. Here are a few stories, to which I have added paragraphs and slight editing for clarity of reading :

  1. "Holy Hierarch Averky saved our lives.

My daughter Alla and I set out to go on a visit to our friends. On our way to Long Island, New York, my daughter speeded u to 100 miles per hour since there was no traffic [ Not too smart ! ]

I did not notice it, and we quietly talked. About halfway there we noticed the smell of burning rubber, but paid no attention and kept going. The smell increased but my daughter did not slow down. Suddenly she stopped the car and got out. I remained sitting in the front seat, crossed myself and suddenly lifted my eyes.

In front of the hood of the car, I suddenly saw Archbishop Averky standing in a gray cassock. He looked so unearthly, as if transparent, with a pleasant smile, as I had never seen him during his life life : such heavenly beauty is impossible to describe, it is only possible to depict in an icon. I never encountered anything like it in my whole life.

In this unexpected joy I even forgot that Vladyka had already left us [ had died ]. I raised m hands to get his blessing, when my daughter opened the door on my side and yelled, "Quickly, quickly, get out !" Seeing my exalted happiness, she cried, "What's the matter with you ?"

I exclaimed, "Vladyka Averky is standing here - go to get his blessing." "Where, where ?" she asked, looking at the spot to which I pointed ; but Holy Averky had disappeared and was no longer there.

When we came to the place where a lot of smelly smoke was coming from, we were shocked to see that the whole wheel had come out of its place and was standing separately next to the car ! We were petrified. Only when we took hold of ourselves and began to pray, did we understand that we had been saved from unavoidable death by Archbishop Averky, who I had just seen.

Then a mechanic arrived and, when he saw what condition our car was in, he loudly exclaimed that it was impossible to drive at such speed: "Unquestionably there occurred a miracle, for otherwise nothing would have remained of you." These were his precise words.

In our hearts there is no doubt that Holy Averky saved our lives..During his lifetime I considered him a saint, and now we pray to him, crying with gratitude : "Holy Averky, pray to God for us !"

  • Zinaida Nepomniatschy, October 12, 1977 [date the account was written, which is now the Feast of the Translation of St John Maximovitch's Relics]

Notice the vast contrast with the accounts of Sri Mata Matrona's "intercession". So many of them have a little old blind woman popping up and mysteriously telling the person what to do - but always in a rather vague way. Never very specific like a true Saint who would deliver a clear message. The fact is, the fondly imagined vision of Matronushka likely was a real life babushka, not the apparition of Sri Mata which is so hoped for by the Matrona-admirer. Most of the latter seem to suffer from a severe case of Wishful Thinking.

Now look at the difference between these 2 apparent members of Rocor. The story related by the mother, Zinaida, is crisp, clear and breathtaking. To have a wheel come off and still be alive after her daughter drove so ridiculously recklessly ?

Also, pay attention to the ethereal radiance of the reposed Abp Averky [Taushev]. This is highlighted by Zinaida, who, one feels, is still reliving that experience while she records the seeming apparition of the Jordanville rector. That feels authentic to me. Whereas the Matrona Tales are usually humdrum and do not record any heavenly appearance of the blind babushka. Just normal, prosaic : could be a human [ --- and most likely is one, nothing exalted such as was described in this simple but powerful account by Zinaida N. ]

[ Now watch: the MP's narratives to bolster their fake cult of Matrona will start copying this marvelous experience recorded by a spiritual daughter of Archbishop Averky ! ]

Next installment to follow. Stay tuned, for in one of the stories, Archbishop Averky endorses the GOC [ as it was then, anyway ] !
[/color]

Dear Barbara,
Great story.
I have copied your post on Archbishop Averky ... if you post any more stories about Archbishop Averky,
please post them at http://www.euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/vi ... 12&t=12623

In Christ,
Maria

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Barbara
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Re: Matrona of Moscow: Distraction from the REAL Saints

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Back to the one I call "Sri Mata Matrona" [ see earlier pages of this thread ], I was dismayed to see that the Rocor-MP New Shamordino Convent in Kentlyn, Australia, harbors a so-called 'relic' of this pseudo-saint, alongside so many true Saints [ though Amphilochius of Pochaev is an MP 'saint' also ].

It is alarming to read the list of highly revered early women Martyrs : Agnes, Cecilia, Agatha and Lucia - and then, as if on the same level with them, 20th century highly questionable Sri Mata. How long this 'relic' was in the Convent, founded in the 1950s by Bishop Savva [Raevsky] of Australia, I don't know. It may be a new import to keep up with the MP's programme of promoting Matrona around the world.

"The holy items of the convent include a portion of the Live-Creating Cross of the Lord; relics of the Optina Elders and Elder Ambrose; of Holy Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna (in the altar table); St John of Shanghai and San Francisco; St Moses; Great Martyr Barbara; Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon; St George the Victory-Bearer; St Makrina; SS Job and Amphilochius of Pochaev; 82 relics of saints of both the Near and Far Kievan Caves; Abbess Sophia, first abbess of Shamordino Convent; Hieromartyrs Avxentios, Kharlampius and Philipp; Martys Tryphon and Mamant; Martyrs Agnes, Lucia, Cecilia and Agatha; Blessed Matrona of Moscow; a relic of the Infants of Bethlehem; and stones from holy sites in the Holy Land."

http://www.synod.com/synod/eng2013/2013 ... enaus.html

Note : the history of the founding and development of New Shamordino Convent is quite interesting to read at the link above.

Finally, today is the date assigned to Abbess Sophia [Yankova] of Shamordino [ 1845-1888 ], Elder Amvrosy of Optina's hand-picked choice to run his prized project of a woman's monastery near Optina. I don't believe Schemanun Sophia has been canonized outside the MP, assuming that she has been glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate. But January 24/February 6 was the repose day of the hardworking right hand of St Ambrose in establishing his convent.
When he visited, the Elder used to go straight to Abbess Sophia's grave after praying in the Convent's Church dedicated to the Kazan Mother of God and pray fervently there. He told the nuns that Schemanun Sophia was watching everything that goes on at the Convent; obviously the great Optina Elder felt the presence of the soul of his dedicated disciple.

Now - did a great and TRUE Elder vouch for the righteousness, let alone sanctity, of Matrona of Moscow this way ?
This authentication is missing from the legend of Sri Mata with the exception of the fictional prophecy of Matrona as the "8th Pillar of Orthodoxy".

Which statement by a great holy figure of Russian Orthodoxy is reliable ?
St Amvrosy's down to earth comment about Abbess Sophia ? Or this grandiose concoction put into the mouth of St John of Kronstadt ?

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Barbara
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Re: Matrona of Moscow: Distraction from the REAL Saints

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A poor choice indeed for one out of nine cited in the article below. Can anyone guess who is the black sheep on this list ?

It's breathtaking that Sri Mata appears here in the midst of a high-powered group of Saints, including Russian warrior Saint St Alexander Nevsky. If the information below is at all indicative, it seems there are plans afoot to catapult her into the highest ranks of revered Russian Saints. There must be a concerted campaign working toward this goal. Places of worship dedicated to sri Mata will spring up all over the world as if inspired by Heaven. In the former Kingdom of Hunza, at the feet of the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan ; in the dense Amazon jungles ; in the rubber plantations of Malaysia there will suddenly appear "missions" under the aegis of Matronushka.

This is a calculated effort -- by the highest circles of the Russian Federation's decision makers.

Tomorrow being the drummed up occasion of the so-called translation of her 'relics' - presumably from Moscow's Danilov Monastery to the Pokrov Convent near Novospassky Monastery in 1998 - let's look at this surprising bit of information from last year.

"The Russian airline IrAero, based in Irkutsk and Omsk, has decided to name the planes of its new Sukhoi Superjet 100 fleet after several great saints, including apostles and great Russian saints, reports aviaport.ru.

“Our air fleet has been replenished with nine Russian-made airplanes. Together with the Irkutsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, the names of nine saints were chosen,” a message from the airline’s press service reads. The nine planes were acquired in 2016 and 2017.

The aircrafts will be given the names of St. Spyridon, St. Matrona of Moscow, St. Vladimir, St. Ksenia of St. Petersburg, Apostle St. Peter, Apostle St. Paul, St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Seraphim of Sarov, and the Right-Believing St. Alexander Nevsky.

The consecration ceremony for the naming of the airplanes is scheduled for November 7. The service will be celebrated by Archpriest Constantine Kozhukhovsky, the rector of the Church of St. Dimitry Donskoy at the Irkutsk airport.

IrAero airline was founded in 1996, based at the international Irkutsk airport and in Omsk."

http://orthochristian.com/107746.html11/2/201

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Barbara
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Re: Matrona of Moscow: Distraction from the REAL Saints

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Of passing interest, it turns there was a REAL "Sri" Mata prophetess, not in Russia but from a Serbian village called Kremna.

This Serbian woman prophesied the end of the Obrenovich dynasty by assassination. It is not clear when Mata of Kremna made that prediction. However, the Belgrade newspapers somehow picked up the story many years later and ran it a few months before the dreadful murder on May 28, 1903 of King Alexander and his wife Draga by a treacherous band of military officers. [ As a sidenote, out of all Europe, only Austria and Russia recognized the new Karageorgevich regime. All the other nations refused out of shock and disgust, with England's King Edward VII particularly incensed that a fellow reigning monarch had been treated with such unspeakable cruelty. ]

This ill-fated King Alexander of Serbia is not to be confused with the Karageorgevich monarch, Alexander I, who was assassinated 31 years later in Marseilles, France. That latter was the subject of commemoration of the famous pannikhida served by St John Maximovitch on that actual site.

Image
Original Icon of St John Maximovitch from the Damascene Gallery in West Virginia

[ Ironically, St John was made a Bishop earlier that same year, 1934, but did not return to Europe until 1951 or so - as Archbishop of Brussels and Western Europe. The date of this pannikhida was not recorded, but would have taken place somewhere in the 1950s. ]

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Barbara
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Re: Matrona of Moscow: Distraction from the REAL Saints

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I found this account, garbled by the automatic translator, last year. It's the eve of another of Sri Mata's so called feast days, thus appropriate to post it. Written by a Russian, it's difficult to read for English-speakers. But we can get the main points of the author's sarcastic approach to the 'staritsa-wonder girl'.
I looked up finally the word "oxbow" which always appears in these translations. It means Eldress, staritsa, I learned.

Apparently published by RIA Novosti in a section called Russia News Today - though it's not 100% clear whether it's the piece or the photo which is RIA Novosti copyrighted.


"How to remove evil eye by using icons, why come to Holy relics, it is imperative with the right foot and how many devils are able to defeat the man?
In an endless queue at Moscow’s Pokrovsky convent and did not hear. For twenty years here lies the most «popular» and the most controversial Holy Russian Orthodox Church — blessed Matrona of Moscow. By a strange coincidence, her relics were discovered in the night of international women’s day. Why incredible worship eldress ordinary people is abhorrent to the educated believer, how come that the Church banned the first edition of her life, and whether Matrona of Moscow to serve as an example for those who are trying to bring Christianity to the masses — in the material RIA Novosti.

She was accused of occultism and attributed secret meetings with Stalin, and the search engine Yandex on request «Matrona of Moscow» will also offer information about Juneau and Wang. The first life of the blessed published in the early nineties a huge number of copies, the biblical-theological Commission of the Moscow Patriarchate criticized for assertions that are contrary to the Christian faith. In Pokrovsky monastery it is still banned. But in the daily queue to [Sri Mata's] relics will tell you about the miracles and about the last hope. Only her, everywhere persecuted and accused of vagrancy simple woman, I trust thousands of people.

Terribly far from the people

«Not to trust [the] people — an amazing property of our intelligentsia. I am from her [presumably author is from the intelligentsia], but always very reverent attitude, even if it disgusts me, who to trust and the desire of ordinary people to touch the Holiness and miracle. This is a unique trait of our people that should be protected. If it does not coincide with your thoughts and feelings, it’s worth asking the question: «why?» — says the rector of the University Church of St. Martyr Tatiana, the former head of the press service of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky. [ Author of the article "When Will They Bury [the Unmentionable in Red Square ] ?"]

Holiness, she [[ he, the above Archpriest ] said, does not mean sinlessness, but simply a synonym of the involvement of man to God, which, as it is written in the gospel, takes to himself all «who are weary», «burdened» and «poor in spirit». «Such people can be very strange, and the Matron is a good example — the Lord, in contrast to companies that adopt it. We are unable to explain what it is the phenomenon that God’s grace was manifested in this way, while the unexplained really attractive,» — says the rector.

«All I hear»

Blessed [Sri Mata]knew the day of [her] death and very afraid of her. came to her before the death of the priest: «What, are you afraid?» To be buried she asked at the Danilovsky cemetery, next to one of the few then existing churches, «to hear.»

«She healed me from childhood diseases, from terrible headaches who are now returning only occasionally. I was at her grave, not believing in miracles and knowing nothing about the except that she was persecuted and ill, and asked for help. His head was held. I was told that I just «outgrew» the pain that the drugs finally took effect and a lot more, but I always thought and still think that it’s just a little illiterate blind woman prayed for me» — quietly said sister Eugenia.

https://chelorg.com/2018/03/08/pain-med ... of-moscow/


So the author is expressing his or her skeptical approach while chalking it up to the pervasive attitude of the educated classes in Russia toward the lower ones. It sounds as though he is not alone but his entire segment of society is prone to the same repulsion that he feels toward a questionable personage with little to offer, and in fact many red flags. He or she brings up a few.

Sri Mata's fear of death is one question. We never find that attitude evinced among TRUE Elders. Did St Amvrosy or St Joseph or St Barsanuphius of Optina wring their hands in fear of their imminent reposes ? No, they accepted their souls' impending flight to eternity calmly and peacefully.

So why this agitation on the part of this person ? Orthodoxwiki excuses Matrona and tries to turn a suspicious behavior into a virtue : [/color]

"She was very humble and like ordinary sinful people, she was afraid of death and did not hide her fear from those who were close to her." https://orthodoxwiki.org/Matrona_of_Moscow

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