Holy Matrona of Ryazan. Blessed Matron of Anemnyasevo

Recording of the program dated July 29, 2018.
Video from the website of MUP RTRP “Noginsk” - www.tvnoginsk.ru

WITH Today is the memory of the blessed one. Matrona Anemnyasevskaya, confessor. We all know the blessing. Matrona of Moscow, but at about the same time another Matrona from the village of Anemnyasevo, Kasimov district, Ryazan province, achieved a similar feat. Matryona Grigorievna Belyakova was born on November 6, 1864.

D About seven years old, Matryosha was an ordinary child, she walked and played with her peers and girlfriends. For some reason, her parents disliked her from early childhood.

IN At the age of seven, Matryosha fell ill with smallpox. After this illness, the girl remained blind forever. Her duty was to nurse her younger sisters and brothers, and it was difficult for a blind girl to cope with this task. One day, ten-year-old Matryosha accidentally dropped her little sister from the porch onto the ground.

U Seeing this, the mother grabbed Matryosha and began to beat her severely. At that moment, the Queen of Heaven appeared to the girl’s spiritual gaze. Matryosha told her mother about this, but she continued to beat the girl even harder. The vision was repeated three times. During the last vision, the Most Holy Theotokos gave Matryosha a consoling note. Blessed Matrona never talked about what kind of note it was and what was written in it.

N and the next morning the mutilated girl was unable to rise from the stove. From that time on, Matryosha began the life of a martyr, nailed to her bed. She forever lost the ability to walk and do anything and never got out of bed for the rest of her life.

T Thus Matryosha lay in her parents' house until she was 17 years old, patiently enduring all sorts of sorrows and insults, and only in prayer finding consolation and joy. Fellow villagers knew about the girl’s suffering life and treated her with a sense of reverent respect. From the age of seventeen, people began to come to Matryosha, and the Lord, through her prayers, performed many miracles.

WITH Over time, these visits took on the character of a real pilgrimage: not only residents of surrounding villages, but also distant, sometimes even the most remote places of our Fatherland came to Matryosha. Moreover, they came in a continuous stream for more than fifty years in the amount of several tens, and sometimes hundreds, daily.

ABOUT The following is known about the last days and death of Blessed Matrona.

L In the summer of 1935, a case was opened in Belkovo “of the priests Pravdolyubov and the sick degenerate Matryona Belyakova.” According to the list, Blessed Matrona should also have been arrested. All those arrested had already been sent to Ryazan and Moscow, but they were afraid to touch Matrona.

N Finally, a collective farm meeting was held, at which it was decided to “remove” Matrona Grigorievna Belyakova as a “harmful element.” The village council gave a description of “Belyakova M.G.”, in which she was directly and openly called a saint without any quotation marks or irony. “This gr. is a harmful element in the village, with its holiness it greatly influences the dark masses... In view of this, the progress of collectivization is delayed.”

ABOUT was imprisoned in Butyrka prison. But she did not stay there long, because she became an object of veneration by almost all the prisoners, who began to sing akathists and pray. She had to go somewhere. They were afraid to kill him, and the example of the prisoners’ prayerful uprising in prison did not allow them to be sent to a camp.

P According to other data, the hopelessly ill mother of the investigator leading the case of Blessed Matrona received healing from Matrona, and the investigator managed to release her as sick and dying. He placed her in a home for the elderly and crippled.

D It is documented that Blessed Matrona died of heart failure on July 16/29, 1936 in the House of Chronicles named after Radishchev in Moscow, not far from the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vladykino.

X God hurt everyone!

Chronologically, the first of the revered and widely known Matrons - Barefoot - labored in St. Petersburg and is not glorified among the saints, but her commemoration and mental appeal to the ascetic is marked by several cases of spiritual help and healing. The Second Matrona, a native of a small village in the Meshchera region, was glorified in 2000 and was initially called Moscow after the place of her confessional feat and death. When in 2004 the third Matrona - from the Tula province - was canonized for church-wide veneration, the second modestly gave her the “title” of Moscow, and she herself began to be called after her place of birth, Anemnyasevskaya. On the day of her memory on July 29, we propose to remember the most famous Matrons of our Church.

White clothes

Blessed Matrona Barefoot (Petersburg)
† April 13 (March 30, old style) 1911

In 1814, in the village of Vanino, Kostroma province, a daughter was born into the peasant family of Peter and Agafya Shcherbinin, named Matrona (Matrona). Nothing is known about her childhood. She married a tradesman from the city of Kostroma, Yegor Mylnikov. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878, her husband was drafted into the army, and Matronushka went with him to the front, where she became a sister of mercy.

After the death of her husband in the war, Matrona decided to devote the rest of her life to God. Returning to Kostroma, she sold her property, distributed the money to the poor and set off to wander, taking upon herself a vow of foolishness for Christ’s sake. From that moment until her death (for 33 years), she walked only barefoot. Even in winter, Matronushka wore light summer clothes, always white.

Matronushka spent the last 30 years of her life in St. Petersburg, where she lived first on the Petersburg side, and then for 16 years at the chapel in the name of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” Barefoot in winter and summer, in a light white robe, with a staff in her hands, she often prayed at the Sorrow Chapel.

About 25 thousand people gathered for the funeral of the blessed Elder Matrona on Palm Sunday 1911. They buried the blessed one in the fence of the chapel, where at that time the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” (“with pennies”) resided. In 1933, the Church of Sorrows was blown up - only the chapel at the church remained.

Chapel address: St. Petersburg, prosp. Obukhovskoy Oborony, 24.

Spiritual eyes of a blind girl

Holy Blessed Matrona of Anemnyasevo, Confessor
Memorial Day July 29

Matrena Grigorievna Belyakova was born on November 6, 1864 in the village of Anemnyasevo, Kasimov district, Ryazan province. Her parents, Gregory and Evdokia, were perhaps the poorest people in the village and somehow managed their peasant farm. Until the age of seven, Matryosha was an ordinary child, but for some reason her parents disliked her from early childhood.

At the age of seven, Matryosha fell ill with smallpox. After this illness, the girl remained blind forever. Her duty was to nurse her younger sisters and brothers, and it was difficult for a blind girl to cope with this task.

One day, the mother grabbed Matryosha and began to beat her severely. At that moment, the Queen of Heaven appeared to the girl’s spiritual gaze. Matryosha told her mother about this, but she continued to beat the girl even harder.

The next morning, the mutilated girl was unable to rise from the stove. So Matresha lay in her parents’ house until she was 17 years old, patiently enduring all sorts of sorrows and insults and only finding consolation and consolation in prayer.

One day a sick peasant approached her with a request to cure his back. Matryosha held her hand on his back, and the pain stopped. Since then, people began to come to her with their needs, sorrows and illnesses.

In the summer of 1935, a case was opened in Belkovo against “the priests Pravdolyubov and the sick degenerate Matryona Belyakova.” After the prisoners were sent to Moscow, a car was sent for Blessed Matrona.

There is scant information about the Moscow period of the life of Blessed Matrona. She lived in Moscow for almost a year - at first, presumably, in Butyrka prison, from where she was moved to a home for the elderly and disabled.

Blessed Matrona died of heart failure on July 16 (29), 1936 in the House of Chronicles named after. Radishchev in Moscow, not far from the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vladykino; was buried here, in the local old cemetery near the temple.

In 1999, Matrona Anemnyasevskaya was glorified as a locally revered saint of the Ryazan diocese, and at the Jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000 she was canonized for church-wide veneration.

Legend

Where is the saint buried?
According to the testimony of the granddaughter of priest Boris Kondratyev, who in 1936 performed the funeral service for the deceased Matrona in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vladykino, her grandfather was also buried at the Vladykinsky cemetery in 1955, and in the 1970s he was reburied in the old territory of the Dolgoprudnenskoye cemetery (item 129 ). At this time, Blessed Matrona was also reburied. According to the woman, Matrona’s grave was close to the grave of her grandfather.

Addresses:
Temple and chapel on the site of the house of the blessed Matrona: Ryazan region, Kasimovsky district, Anemnyasevo village.
The revered icon of the blessed Matrona is in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Troitsky-Golenischev: Moscow, Mosfilmovskaya st., 18a.

Sister of the Bolsheviks, great servant of God

Blessed Matrona of Moscow
Days of remembrance: February 23 (March 7) in a leap year or February 23 (March 8) in non-leap years (finding of relics); April 19 (May 2)

Matrona was born into the peasant family of Dmitry Ivanovich and Natalia Nikitichna Nikonov in 1881 in the village of Sebino (now Kimovsky district, Tula region). The blessed one had no eyes from birth, and at the age of about 17 her legs became paralyzed. In her youth, Matrona had the opportunity to travel. The daughter of a local landowner, Lidiya Aleksandrovna Yankova, took her with her on pilgrimages. In 1899, in the Kronstadt Cathedral, Matrona attended the liturgy performed by Righteous John of Kronstadt.

After the revolution, Matrona and her friend Lydia Yankova, left homeless, went to look for work and food in the city. Around 1925, Matrona moved to Moscow. She lived wherever she could with friends and acquaintances - but not with her brothers who became Bolsheviks. In 1942–1949, Matrona also lived in the capital (for more details, see “5 Moscow addresses of the blessed old lady” in). In 1950–1952 she lived in Skhodnya near Moscow with distant relatives of the Kurochkins.

Saint Matrona received people during the day, healed them and gave them everyday advice, and prayed at night.

She died in Skhodnya on May 2, 1952. The funeral service in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe on Donskaya Street was performed by Archpriest Nikolai Golubtsov, who was well known to Matrona and revered her. She was buried at the Danilovsky cemetery. This place was chosen by Matrona herself to “hear the service” - in those years the cemetery church was one of the few operating in Moscow.

On the night of March 8, 1998, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II, the grave of Saint Matrona was opened, her relics were taken to the Moscow Danilov Monastery, then transferred to the Intercession Church on the territory of the Intercession Monastery and placed in a silver shrine.

On May 2, 1999, Matrona was canonized as a locally revered saint of the Moscow diocese. In October 2004, her church-wide glorification took place.

In Ryazan, the Zerna publishing house published a new book by Igor Evsin, “Matronushka. Stories about Blessed Anemnyasevo". This book is the fourth in a series of books about Ryazan, both famous and locally revered old women (previously books were published about Lyubushka Ryazan, Polyushka Zakharovskaya and Feodosia Skopinskaya). As you know, Blessed Matrona Anemnyasevskaya (Matrona Grigorievna Belyakova 1864-1963) - from the age of 8 she was paralyzed, stopped growing and moving. Being in this position, the girl constantly prayed to God and the Mother of God. For the humble carrying of her martyr’s cross, the Lord gave her the gift of prayer, through which miracles occurred, and most importantly, the gift of comforting the despondent, encouraging the faint-hearted, and strengthening people’s faith in God.

The power of a mother's prayer

Matronushka often spoke about the severity of life, about suffering and about the need to endure everything that the Lord sends. And the cross given by God to every person must be carried with gratitude and patience. At the same time, the blessed Anemnyasevo taught the people with the same words that the people themselves raised into a proverb: “God endured and commanded us.”

For patience, humility, for uncomplainingly bearing her cross, Matronushka, already during her lifetime, was rewarded by the Lord with grace-filled gifts - bold prayer, insight and the gift of miracles. And even today, the holy blessed Matrona of Anemnyasevo, in response to prayers to her, gives us her gracious help. She helps the childless find children, helps young people meet and start a family, heals illnesses, and rescues them from the most disastrous circumstances. Matronushka helps everyone who prayerfully turns to her with faith and love.

An interesting incident was told by the servant of God Eugenia.

Matrona helped me in a very difficult family situation,” said Evgenia Dmitrievna. - This was in the 1990s. It so happened that my son was put on trial. And someone advised me to pray to Matronushka Kasimovskaya. That’s what people called Matrona Anemnyasevskaya back then. At that time she had not yet been glorified as a saint, and I did not yet know anything about her, but I accepted the advice with all my heart. Something told me that it was Matronushka, even if not glorified, that I needed to pray to.

When I began to pray, the trial of my son was postponed. And when it was the day of the second trial, I thought that I should go not to the trial, but to the temple, to pray for my son. I thought about it, but my heart was somehow heavy. How can it be that you don’t go to court and don’t support your own son? And yet I went to the temple. She prayed to Matronushka and went to court. And now - a miracle. I have come to the beginning of the process. It turned out that the trial was postponed to a later time, and I was just in time for it to start.

The son was still convicted, but he was given a sentence half as long as they wanted to give. I also thought that if I had not then gone to church to pray for my son, he would definitely have received a much longer sentence.

But the most interesting thing happened next. When my son returned from prison, former prisoners began to come to him and demand to participate in some of their thieves' affairs. And then in my room I screamed with all my heart: “Matronushka, help! Matronushka, protect my son from evil deeds!” And the son really began to refuse complicity in thieves' affairs. Then they began to threaten him: “Do you want to break away from us? Do you know what happens to these people? Such people end up on the knife.” And indeed, they met him with a knife, threatened him, even beat him, but in the end, through Matronushka’s prayers, everything worked out. My son is back to normal."

This is what heartfelt maternal prayer means! Real prayer, according to the rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitsky-Golenishchevo, Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov, “can be seen, as if touched.” As a priest, as a minister of the Church of God, Father Sergius asserts that from prayer “certain waves, like clouds of clouds, come from the person praying and fill the space around...”

New wonders

In the life of Blessed Matrona Anemnyasevskaya, published by Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov, other modern cases of miracles through prayers to her are given. Thus, in the city of Kasimov, one elderly woman suffering from radiculitis grieved because she was unable to get up and go to work. She fervently begged Blessed Matrona for help. Suddenly her whole body was engulfed in heat, and when it passed, the woman felt healthy, got up and went to the temple.

Another case was related to the gift of a child to childless spouses. Servants of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitsky-Golenishchevo, Anatoly and Ioanna did not have children, having been married for 8 years. They earnestly asked the blessed one for the gift of a child, and in response to the prayer, a daughter was born to them.

In the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitsky-Golenishchevo there is one of the most revered shrines - the icon of the Holy Blessed Matrona of Anemnyasevo, which has miraculous powers. The rector of the church, Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov, testifies: “Many miracles were revealed in the church through the prayers of Blessed Matrona. Many previously childless families begged for children with her help, and there were healings. Images of butterflies, jewelry, embroidered, and beads are constantly brought to the icon of the saint. This is in gratitude for the help and miracles. Why butterflies? As a child, even before she went blind, the saint loved to catch butterflies: “I’ll put them in the window and won’t let them in - that’s the only sin I had...”

Matrona Anemnyasevskaya was canonized as a locally revered saint of the Ryazan diocese in 1999, and at the Jubilee Council of Bishops in 2000 she was canonized as an All-Russian saint with the addition of the title of sanctity “confessor.” Together with Blessed Matrona, in the same year 2000, the compilers of her life, priest Nikolai and Vladimir Pravdolyubov, were canonized as new martyrs and confessors of Russia. Thus, the life of Blessed Matrona Anemnyasevo acquires special significance: it is the testimony of the martyrs about the confessor.

The feat of the new martyrs and confessors of Russia is extremely instructive for us, for the modern generation. Let us give just one example from the life of Blessed Matrona Anemnyasevo Confessor. It is known that the seriously ill, paralyzed old woman took on strict fasts and often sorted and rearranged stones brought by her admirers from various holy places. But these stones were quite heavy. And so she fingered them with her small weak hands, and even laid some on her weak, sore chest.

As Maria Putilina said:

“I saw on Matryosha’s bed a bag with these stones, weighing about a pound. Among these stones there were also quite large ones. One day she began to sort through them and said:

I have to work. And you take this stone and put it on my chest.

The stone was very large and I was scared.

What are you doing, Matryosha? He'll crush you!

No, this stone is light. Lie down yourself, and put it on yourself.

I listened to the blessed one and did as she said. And behold, a miracle, a very large, heavy stone was easy to hold on the chest.”

A very instructive story. Imagine the sick, almost paralyzed Matronushka fasted strictly and worked, sorting out heavy stones. And in our healthy lives, sometimes we dig up a garden bed and already sigh about how hard it is for us. And fasting for us is a whole spiritual feat, which we are prevented from carrying out by one thing, then another, then a third... And so we work (no matter in what field), we work, we burden ourselves with something, but there is no peace in our souls we have. Maybe because our labors, both physical and spiritual, are not done for the sake of Christ? But He said directly: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Oh, if only we prayed, worked and fasted, like Blessed Matrona, with a meek and humble heart! Perhaps then we could take in our hands the heaviest stone of all the stones that fell upon our fate, and press it to our chests, like the light burden of Christ...

The life of Blessed Matrona Anemnyasevo gives us an example of how we can acquire meekness and humility, so that ultimately the burden of Christ, the cross of Christ placed on us, becomes light for us. Yes, we are not righteous and we cannot achieve righteousness, as Matronushka achieved it, but it is possible for us to compare our lives with the life of Christ, just as worthy bearing of the cross of life is possible.

Hiero-confessor Sergius Kasimovsky, speaking about the fact that bearing the cross of life is a yoke that is easy to bear, said remarkable, inspiring words with which we end this book: “... as soon as we begin our way of the cross, immediately, immediately we help is ready. Invisibly and silently, our Lord and Teacher will approach us, put His shoulder under our cross, and walk with us - and our cross will seem so light to us, and it will be so joyful to carry it!”

Igor EVSIN , Orthodox writer, Ryazan

Belyakova Matryona Grigorievna
Year of Birth = 1864
Birthday = 6
Birth Month = 11
Place of Birth = Ryazan province, Kasimovsky district, Anemnyasevo village
Known among her many admirers under the name of Matryosha or Matrona Anemnyasevskaya. There is a rumor that Matryosha was tonsured a monk by the elders of Sarov with the name Mardaria, but she herself did not say anything about it

PERIODS OF LIFE
Places of Accommodation

Year of Start of Residence = 1864
Day of Start of Stay = 6
Month of Start of Residence = 11
Year of End of Residence = 1935
Matresha’s parents were perhaps the poorest people in the village and somehow managed their peasant farm. In appearance, they were frail people and seemed somehow underdeveloped. My father was known in the village as a drunkard. They had a large family - six daughters and two sons. Three sisters died in childhood, Matresha was the fourth. Until the age of seven, Matryosha was an ordinary normal child. From early childhood, for some reason, her parents disliked her. The life of a child in his own family was unhappy. At the age of seven, Matryosha fell ill with smallpox. After this illness, the girl recovered, but remained blind forever. Now her responsibility was to nurse her younger sisters and brothers. For three years the blind girl could barely cope with this task. One day, when she was already ten years old, she was babysitting her sister as usual, and her mother went to the river. Matryosha accidentally dropped the girl from the porch onto the ground, got terribly scared, began to cry, and out of fear she jumped after her there. At that moment, the mother just approached, she grabbed Matryosha and began to beat her. The girl felt so bad from the beatings that at that moment she dreamed of the Queen of Heaven, which she told her mother about, but she began to beat her even harder. So the vision was repeated three times, and she kept telling her mother about it, and after each time the mother beat the child more and more. From that moment on, a more difficult life began for Matryosha. The blind, mutilated girl was forever deprived of the ability to walk or do anything. She became completely helpless, could only lie down, and never got out of bed for the rest of her life. It was the life of a martyr nailed to her bed. At first, Matryosha lay in her native home, then she moved to her own house, where she lived with her sister, and recently she lay with her nephew. It’s difficult to say how many insults and grief Matresha endured throughout her life, but she patiently bore her heavy cross, given to her by God. It would seem that her relatives should have eased her suffering, but in reality this was not the case. On the contrary, with their non-family relationships they further intensified the already unbearable severe suffering. “In a dream I saw three crosses on myself,” said Matryosha, “one from sorrows and illnesses all my life, another cross from my relatives, a third from the whole universe, from the people who came to me everywhere...” So Matryosha lay in her parents’ at home until the age of 17, patiently enduring all sorts of sorrows and insults, and only in prayer finding consolation and consolation. Fellow villagers knew about the girl’s suffering life and treated her with a sense of reverent respect. One day a sick peasant came to her: “Matrona,” he said, “you’ve been lying like this for several years, I suppose God pleases you. My back hurts... Touch my back, maybe it will go away for you. ..” Matryosha fulfilled his request - and he recovered. Since then, more and more people began to come with their needs and illnesses. Over time, these visits took on the character of a real pilgrimage: residents of not only surrounding places came to Matryosha, but residents of distant and sometimes even the most remote places of our Fatherland. Moreover, they walked in a continuous stream for more than fifty years in the amount of several tens, and sometimes hundreds, every day. In appearance, Matryosha was so small that she seemed like a ten-year-old child. But in extremely difficult and cramped conditions, the Lord granted Matryosha to see another world - an extremely rich world, full of inner content, interest and meaning. From our ordinary everyday point of view, this phenomenon seems surprising and almost inexplicable. Matryosha is a special and original ascetic. Obviously, the uninterrupted chain of trials and grief, experienced by Matresha with extraordinary patience from early childhood, was a school for her, that great feat in the crucible of which her soul was cleansed, her thought and heart renounced everything earthly, a constant desire for another world was established and strengthened , the highest, which was constantly presented to her spiritual gaze. Her soul was filled with living faith and hope in God, her heart was kindled with active love for everyone. responded with complete compassion and sympathy to every misfortune, grief, misfortune, to every human weakness. And God gave her the strength to achieve not only personal high spiritual perfection, but also to become the center and source of religious and moral life for many, many believers who came to her with their doubts, needs, sorrows and illnesses, and received from her what necessary for their spiritual growth, for their spiritual guidance on the difficult and difficult path of human life. Matryosha was distinguished by her extraordinary responsiveness. She spoke to everyone who came to her, gave advice, gave this or that instruction. Men and women, old and young, people of different positions, professions, conditions came to her in the same way, and everyone met with equally deep sympathy from her. Nobody knows how she prayed to God. It is only known that she knew by heart a lot of prayers, many akathists and chants, which she instantly memorized after the first reading aloud to her. In a conversation with one of her deep admirers, Matresha said that “you need to pray incessantly”, that “incessant prayer can do everything.” Moreover, she said about herself that she herself tries to pray incessantly. Matryosha often received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, every month without fail. For this purpose, she invited her confessor, the parish priest, to her, and the day of receiving the Holy Mysteries was the most joyful day for her. Five times during her life she received unction. She observed the fasts especially strictly. During church fasts I ate almost nothing or ate very little. Matryosha taught her visitors how to live in order to remember the future life, in order to prepare for it, and not to become attached to earthly things. She taught me to live “in God’s way”: to fulfill God’s law, to pray to God, to love God and only rely on Him. Firmly and resignedly bear your cross, sent down by God, is the main idea of ​​​​her conversations and instructions. In her conversations with visitors, Matresha very often cited texts of the Holy Scriptures, and especially a lot from the Gospel. She often referred to facts and events from Sacred history, placing them as the basis for her instructions and teachings. No less often, Matryosha gave examples from the lives of saints, setting them up as the highest model and example of religious and moral life, teaching them to pray to them and try to imitate them in their lives. She advised prayer differently, depending on each person’s situation. Matryosha's conversations and instructions with visitors were extremely varied depending on the variety of circumstances in which she had to conduct these conversations and give her instructions. Matryosha, as if seeing right through a person, usually pointed out his most painful place that required healing, and thereby forced him to realize his illness, the existence of which he still may not have suspected, and to take the path of correction. At the same time, Matryosha pointed out only one vice, one disease, thereby forcing a person to focus his attention on one shortcoming, and not to be scattered in many directions, which makes it difficult to fight with oneself and does not always lead to the desired results. Matryosha gradually led the person along the path of correction. And it must be said that this leadership went far beyond the personal life of one or another of its visitors. Instructions, advice, and instructions from Matryosha, made to one person by her, became the property of many, many. Here with Matresha, as her admirers said, one learned from another. Many of Matryosha’s admirers experienced this systematic, gracious guidance from her and therefore tried to use her advice and instructions as often as possible, resorting to her in moments of doubt, misfortune and spiritual sorrow, in those difficult moments when the ground shakes under one’s feet and a person, feeling its powerlessness, is in greater need of solid support, firm spiritual guidance. In the vicinity of Anemnyasev, many people not only visited Matresha in difficult circumstances of their lives, but lived entirely “with the blessing of Matresha” - they did not start a single business without her blessing, so that spiritual guidance extended throughout their lives
Arrests
Ryazan province, Kasimovsky district, Anemnyasevo village
Year of Arrest = 1935
Summer 1935 In Belkovo, a case was opened against “the priests Pravdolyubov and the sick degenerate Matryona Belyakova.” it began with a denunciation of priest Nikolai Pravdolyubov in connection with a handwritten book collected and written by him and his brother, and prepared for printing (the book was a biography of Matrona, and its manuscript was preserved in the investigative file). 10 people were arrested (although 12 should have been arrested). According to the list, Blessed Matrona should also have been arrested. All those arrested had already been sent to Moscow and Ryazan, but they were afraid to touch Matrona. Finally, a collective farm meeting was convened, at which it was decided to “remove” Matrona Belyakova as a “harmful element.” Out of 300 village residents, only 24 activists signed up. The village council gave a description of “Belyakova M.G.”, in which she was directly and openly called a saint without any quotation marks or irony. “This group is a harmful element in the village; with its holiness it greatly influences the dark masses... In view of this, the progress of collectivization is delayed by the s/s.” In the investigative file there are no details of the arrest of Blessed Matrona and a description of her further fate. It only shows how sacredly the witnesses and relatives, everyone who was close to Matrona, cherished her name and bright image, no one slandered her, no one turned out to be a traitor. Her confessor showed particular courage and daring in defending Matrona -
priest Alexander Vasilyevich Orlov (who spent 5 years in Solovki in connection with this case). After the prisoners were sent to Ryazan, a car was sent for Blessed Matrona. We drove up to her house during the day without hiding. We entered. Then they were seized with fear, they were afraid to approach. On duty, the chairman of the village council came up and, overcoming fear, lifted Matryonushka out of bed. Matrona screamed in a thin voice. The people were numb. (The chairman was punished for his sins: his children, according to Matrona’s prediction, stopped growing after her arrest; the chairman himself died very hard a few years later. He screamed so loudly in pain that half the village could hear. The people said: “This is not Matreshenka for you raise!.." But he called the priest and sincerely and fervently repented of his sins, died in peace with the Church.") A resident of Belkovo said about Matryosha’s arrest: “They didn’t protect such a shrine, it flew away like a bird...” About the Moscow period of her life. There is scant information about Blessed Matrona. She lived in Moscow for almost a year
Convictions
Year of Conviction = 1935
GroupCase = "Case of Belyakova Matrona Anemnyasevskaya. Ryazan Island, 1935."
It is unknown whether she was convicted or not, but several people were convicted in her case
PlacesConclusions
Moscow, Butyrskaya prison (?)
Year of Beginning and Conclusion = 1935
Year of Completion = 1935
Presumably she was imprisoned in the Butyrka prison, where all her “accomplices” were imprisoned. But she did not stay there long, because she became an object of veneration by almost all, without exception, the prisoners, who began to sing akathists and pray. She had to go somewhere. They were afraid to kill them, but they were not allowed to be sent to a camp by the example of the prisoners’ prayerful rise in prison
Moscow, House of Chronicles named after Radishchev
Year of Beginning and Conclusion = 1935
Year of Completion = 1936
End Day = 29
End Month = 7
According to other sources, the hopelessly ill mother of the investigator who was in charge of the case of Blessed Matrona received healing from Matrona and the investigator managed to release her as sick and dying. He placed her in what was then a home for the elderly and disabled - the chronically ill
Demise
1936
Day of Death = 29
Month of Death = 7
Cause of Death = died in custody
Place of Death = Moscow, House of Chronicles named after Radishchev
Burial place = Moscow
It is documented that Blessed Matrona died of heart failure on July 16/29, 1936 in the House of Chronicles named after Radishchev in Moscow, not far from the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in Vladykino. Probably, Matrona was buried in the cemetery next to the House of Chronicles - Vladykinsky. Currently, due to the reconstruction of the cemetery, her grave remains unknown. The prayerful help of Blessed Matrona was felt and felt not only 60 years ago, but also now
Canonization
1

Date of Canonization = 04/22/1999
Canonized by = His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II
Locally venerated Ryazan diocese
Days of memory
1
Memory DateSt = 16/07
MemoryDateNewSt = 29/07
ExplanationMemoryDates = death day, summer memory

2
Memory DateSt = 10/06
MemoryDateNewSt = 23/06
ExplanationDatesMemory = memory with the Cathedral of Ryazan Saints

2
Blessed Matrona Anemnyasevskaya (Belyakova)
Date of Canonization = 08/20/2000
Canonized by = Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, August 13-16, 2000.
WhoPresented = Ryazan Diocese
Days of memory
ExplanationMemoryDates = Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
First Sunday, starting from 01/25/07/02 Troparion, tone 8: Like the lightning of heavenly fire rising in the Ryazan country, the blessed old woman Saint Matrona, who creates memory today, let us praise Christ God, begging Him to grant us patience through intercession in illnesses, troubles and sorrows Great mercy to our souls. Kontakion, the same voice: In weakness you found strength, in blindness you found imperishable eyes, you were on your sick bed, you were everywhere like a bird in spirit, infancy in body, you were the mother of the grieving and overwhelmed, and do not leave those who honor your memory in prayers, and help us get rid of sins by repentance, and gain the Kingdom of Heaven with you
Publications
1 Life of the Holy Blessed Matrona of Anemnyasevo / Comp. Priest Nikolai Pravdolyubov, Vladimir Pravdolyubov. Edition prot. Sergius Pravdolyubov. M.: Saint Cyprian, 1999. - 72 p.
2 Act of the Anniversary Consecrated Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church on the conciliar glorification of the new martyrs and confessors of the Russian 20th century. Moscow, August 12-16, 2000

(c) Orthodox St. Tikhon's Humanitarian University.

LIFE
Matryona Grigorievna Belyakova was born on November 6, 1864 in the village of Anemnyasevo, Kasimovsky district, Ryazan province. Her parents Gregory and Evdokia were perhaps the poorest people in the village and somehow managed their peasant farm. In appearance, they were frail, frail people and seemed somehow underdeveloped. My father drank a lot and was known in the village as a drunkard. They had a large family - six daughters and two sons. Three sisters died in childhood; Matryosha was the fourth in a row.
Until the age of seven, Matryosha was an ordinary child; like all children of her age, she walked and played with her peers and girlfriends. For some reason, her parents disliked her from early childhood. The life of a child in her own family was unhappy, where she, more than any of her brothers and sisters, had to endure insults, abuse, and beatings; but even greater suffering awaited the girl in the future.
At the age of seven, Matryosha fell ill with smallpox. After this illness, the girl recovered, but remained blind forever. Now her responsibility was to babysit her younger sisters and brothers. It was hard for the blind girl to cope with this matter. One day, ten-year-old Matryosha accidentally dropped her little sister from the porch onto the ground. Seeing this, the mother grabbed Matryosha and began to beat her severely. At that moment, the Queen of Heaven appeared to the girl’s spiritual gaze. Matryosha told her mother about this, but she continued to beat the girl even harder. The vision was repeated three times. During the last vision, the Most Holy Theotokos gave Matryosha a consoling note. Blessed Matrona never talked about what kind of note it was and what was written in it.
The next morning, the mutilated girl was unable to rise from the stove. From that time on, Matresha began the life of a martyr, nailed to her bed. She forever lost the ability to walk and do anything and never got out of bed for the rest of her life.
So Matryosha lay in her parents' house until she was 17 years old, patiently enduring all sorts of sorrows and insults, and only in prayer finding comfort and consolation. Fellow villagers knew about the girl’s suffering life and treated her with a sense of reverent respect. From the age of seventeen, people began to come to Matryosha. The first to come for help was a peasant from her own village, a sawyer by profession.
“Matrona,” he said, “the way you’ve been lying there for several years, you’re probably pleasing to God.” My back hurts and I can’t saw. Touch your back, maybe it will go away for you. What should I do, I was treated - the doctors are not helping.
Matryosha fulfilled his request - the back pain actually stopped, and he got up to work.
This peasant told one of his neighbors about his healing, and he said:
- I’ll go to her too: our children are tormented, soon the twelfth will be born; I’ll ask her to pray that the Lord will stop having children with us.
He came to Matryosha and asked to pray. Matryosha prayed, and they had no more children.
Since then, more and more people began to come to Matresha with their needs, sorrows and illnesses. Over time, these visits took on the character of a real pilgrimage: not only residents of surrounding areas, but also distant, sometimes even the most remote, places of our Fatherland came to Matryosha. Moreover, they came in a continuous stream for more than fifty years in the amount of several tens and sometimes hundreds every day.

Matrona said:
- And your children will be so easy.
Several years ago, the archpriest of the Trinity Church in the village of Gus-Zhelezny, Fr. Seraphim was burying one of the sons of the then chairman. He was very short. All the children of the chairman stopped growing after the arrest of Blessed Matrona.
The car broke down twice on the way to Kasimov. Someone was holding Blessed Matrona in their arms while the car was being repaired. From Kasimov she was quickly taken to Ryazan and then to Moscow.
The chairman who “removed” the blessed Matrona died very hard a few years later. It was summer. The house stood with the windows open due to the heat. He screamed so loudly in pain that half the village could hear. People said:
- It’s not for you to raise Matryoshenka!
But he called the priest and sincerely and fervently repented of his sins and died in peace with the Church.
There is scant information about the Moscow period of the life of Blessed Matrona. She lived in Moscow for almost a year. Presumably, she was imprisoned in Butyrka prison. But she did not stay there long, because she became an object of veneration by almost all, without exception, the prisoners, who began to sing akathists and pray. She had to go somewhere. They were afraid to kill, and the example of prison prayers of the prisoners did not allow them to be sent to a camp.
According to other sources, the hopelessly ill mother of the investigator leading the case of Blessed Matrona received healing from Matrona, and the investigator managed to release her as sick and dying. He placed her in a home for the elderly and crippled.
It is documented that Blessed Matrona died of heart failure on July 16/29, 1936 in the House of Chronicles named after Radishchev in Moscow, not far from the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vladykino. Since next to the House of Chronicles there was a large Vladykinsky cemetery, partially preserved to this day, we can make the assumption that Blessed Matrona was buried here in the local old cemetery.
The Holy Blessed Matrona of Anemnyasevo today, like 60 years ago, gives gracious help in response to prayers. The rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Trinity-Golenishchevo, Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov, and many parishioners testify to modern miracles through the prayers of the newly glorified saint.
Servants of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitsky-Golenishchevo, Anatoly and Ioanna did not have children, having been married for 8 years. The couple asked the Blessed One for the gift of a child, and in response to the prayer, a daughter was born to them.
Galina, a parishioner of the Trinity Church, had severe pain in her legs. The elderly woman found it difficult to attend church services, for which she greatly grieved. Galina fervently prayed to two blessed Matrons: Anemnyasevskaya and Moscow. In response to her prayer, the paper icons began to exude droplets of fragrant liquid. Many parishioners of the Trinity Church visited Galina’s apartment, venerated the myrrh-streaming icons of both saints, and were anointed with the myrrh flowing from them. Galina felt much better, her legs stopped hurting.
The rector of the Trinity Church, Archpriest Sergius, was driving a car along Berezhkovskaya embankment. Suddenly an emergency situation arose. According to Father Sergius, the only thing that saved him from falling into the Moscow River was that he instantly managed to call Blessed Matrona for help.
In the city of Kasimov, an elderly woman suffering from radiculitis was grieving because she was unable to get up and go to work. She fervently begged Blessed Matrona for help. Suddenly her whole body was engulfed in heat, and when it passed, the woman felt healthy, got up and went to the temple.
In front of the revered icon of the blessed Matrona, which is located in the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitsky-Golenishchev, many candles are always burning, so it is difficult to find a free place on the candlestick. The candlestick in front of the icon is a gift from the family of parishioners, admirers of the blessed one. Believers constantly order holy prayer services; many, having heard about the miracles of Blessed Matrona, come from afar. We do not have the opportunity to give here stories about all the numerous cases of the saint’s gracious help: in finding a job, in family troubles, and in raising children.