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the holy new martyrs of eastern russia - Coptic Orthodox teaching

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lived in obedience to her, we did everything with her blessing. She, <strong>the</strong><br />

servant <strong>of</strong> God, kept <strong>the</strong> whole region free from heresy. She stood like an<br />

unbending pillar!<br />

"In <strong>the</strong> churches <strong>the</strong>y began to read <strong>the</strong> 'declaration' <strong>of</strong> Metropolitan<br />

Sergius. How it dismayed us. The priest went out and began to read it to <strong>the</strong><br />

people. But matushka went up to him and said loudly:<br />

"'You're a wolf, a wolf!... You are apostates. You have denied Christ-God.<br />

How can you read such a paper in <strong>the</strong> church <strong>of</strong> God!...'<br />

"The priest was embarrassed. She knocked <strong>the</strong> declaration out <strong>of</strong> his hands.<br />

She was pushed aside. But she continued:<br />

"'Sergius is a turn-coat, a traitor <strong>of</strong> Christ, like Judas... What does he write?<br />

What does he say? He says it is necessary to thank Soviet power... For what?<br />

For <strong>the</strong> bloody persecution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Church?! And he suggests that we<br />

rejoice with <strong>the</strong> antichrist at his joys and sorrow at his sorrows... How<br />

shameful!'<br />

"The people supported her:<br />

"'Shameful! Shameful!'<br />

"The priest cut <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong> reading and went into <strong>the</strong> altar. But <strong>the</strong> people said:<br />

"'Matushka has spoken rightly. That was right!'"<br />

Maria Ivanovna told <strong>the</strong> following story:<br />

"I will tell you a story which proves that Matushka Schema-Abbess had <strong>the</strong><br />

gift <strong>of</strong> clairvoyance.<br />

"It was completely understandable that <strong>the</strong> authorities should look for her,<br />

but <strong>the</strong>y did not succeed in finding her. First one group <strong>of</strong> believers, and <strong>the</strong>n<br />

ano<strong>the</strong>r, took her into <strong>the</strong>ir home. She was transferred from one province to<br />

ano<strong>the</strong>r. So <strong>the</strong> KGB resorted to a diabolical trick.<br />

"There appeared in that region what appeared to be a homeless wanderer,<br />

a nun who had been persecuted for Christ's sake. But in fact she was an<br />

experienced co-worker <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> KGB. And if it had not been for Matushka<br />

Schema-Abbess, no-one would ever have guessed that she was an agent. She<br />

did everything in a monastic way, her clo<strong>the</strong>s in <strong>the</strong> house were monastic and<br />

everything about her was monastic. And she began to go round <strong>the</strong> houses <strong>of</strong><br />

everyone who might know where <strong>the</strong> schema-abbess was. She went from<br />

house to house, but did not gain <strong>the</strong> information she needed. Finally, she<br />

458

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