Lyilya, a dear friend of mine (whom you see wearing the beige scarf in pictures here), took me to Pokrovsky Monastery last week.

It’s probably the most popular pilgrimage site in Moscow and the burying ground of one of Russia’s most beloved Saint – Matryona Nikovna, known as Matrona of Moscow.

Also known as The eight Pillar of Russia and the Blessed Elder of Moscow, (1885 – May 2, 1952), Matryona Nikovna is the last saint to have been canonized by Russian Orthodox Church in 1998.

According to CO sources, Matrona was blind from birth – actually she had no eyes – and in her teens she lost the use of her legs. From an early age she was a clairvoyant with the gift of healing. Most of her life she had to move frequently from one end of Moscow to another to avoid persecutions and lived in extreme poverty. She was canonized by Patriarch Alexis II in 1998.

The last two shots are of the neighboring it Novospassky Monastery (Новоспасский монастырь), taken in the evening, on our way to the tube and back home.

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