"Saint" Matrona of Moscow

[GOCPriestMark]

They are formerly H.O.O.M. and/or Platinaites. I have lost track of what all they are doing or where all their members have gone, but this page might help you: http://orthodoxwiki.org/Holy_Order_of_MANS

[Matthew]

How sad. Yet another group that tries to blend ideas together according to their own liking.

[Maria]

How sad. Yet another group that tries to blend ideas together according to their own liking.

Many people in this group either converted to the Serbian Orthodox Church or to the OCA. That was back at the turn of the century. I do not know if some found the True Orthodox. In these confusing times, probably not. The RTOC might know.

The information presented in wiki is obviously slanted toward World Orthodoxy.

[Maria]

Moderator Note:

Since Matrona of Moscow is not recognized by those jurisdictions in True Orthodoxy, the title has been changed and this thread has been moved into World Orthodoxy.

[Barbara]

^ Swift good work, Maria ! Excellent moderatorial ability she has. We should be fortunate.
This is important.

Now that I read this, I remember that story about Stalin supposedly SEVERAL times making nocturnal or secret
visits to Matrona's Moscow flat. The neighbors were shocked when the black limousine showed up - not once but a few times.
I believe the tale was that Stalin was trying to get matrona's feedback for new policies of his before he launched them ?
PERHAPS seeking personal intercession, too.
But mainly something along political lines, it is speculated in the accounts.

What else about Matrona was suspect ? Not that that isn't enough !

I mean one could imagine that maybe if she were some holy woman, that her reputation had drawn the most evil ruler
of the 20th [and probably many OTHER centuries combined] century to her door. That it wasn't her fault.
But somehow she had to agree to meet him and didn't SEEM to complain a whole lot from the story.

I doubt we can say she would be Stalinist, however !
Perhaps she was quaking in fear and did not dare to say no to the leader of the USSR.

What would we ourselves do if the dread black limousine careened up and parked on the street visible from the window of our flat.
Then tons of KGB agents disembark and jump up the stairs to knock on the door of OUR flat ? Not someone else's, as I believe
Matrona imagined the first time when paid such a sensational visit.

I want to be completely fair here.

[m. Evfrosinia]

The stories of Stalin visiting Matrona (or Matronushka, as the MP likes to call her) have been denounced as spurious by many of even her most fervent admirers and followers. There is a whole body of stalinist "Orthodox" legend, mostly dealing with events at the time of World War II (the "Great Patriotic War", as they call it) about Stalin supposedly turning to the Church or to well-known elders or people like Matronushka for prayers, about him organizing processions to protect Moscow, even about the Most Holy Mother of God appearing to him. All of this is closely connected with Stalin's foundation of the MP-- his decision to use the Church for political and prooganda purposes, and his permission for the MP to function under strict government control. Many serious scholars of the period have stated on numerous occasions that all of these accounts are entirely spurious. But many within the MP insist upon perpetuating them, regardless of this, so as to justify their sergianism. The veneration of Matronushka and her cult are a major part of this movement. Besides the stories of Stalin's visits, most "lives" of Matronushka contain accounts of her fervent prayers for Stalin and the Soviet government, her declarations of loyalty to him, the Soviet government and the Soviet Church, and "miracles" that she worked to help those people. Besides these blatantly Soviet and sergianist elements, most of the "lives" have suspiciously little to say about her spiritual life, her podvig or her prayer rules. It's all about miracles. People such as Fr. Deacon Andrei Kurayev (a well-known spokesman for the MP) have written against this cult. Fr. George Mitrofanov, a MP priest, church historian and formerly a member of the MP's commission working on information about the New Martyrs, told me personally that he doesn't recognize Matronushka as a saint. What I find really disturbing s that the ROCA(MP) already has a parish dedicated to Matronushka (in Florida, I believe), something that would have been impossible just a few years back.

[Matthew]

What a horrible spiritual adultery all of this represents! Lord have mercy!