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Maria Skobtsova | |
|---|---|
 Maria withNikolai Berdyaev andStefan Tsankov, 1930 | |
| Born | Elizaveta Yurievna Pilenko 20 December 1891 |
| Died | 31 March 1945 (aged 53) |
| Cause of death | Poison gas |
| Title | Mayor of Anapa |
| Political party | Socialist-Revolutionary Party |
| Spouse(s) | Dmitry Kuzmin-Karavayev (m. 1910-1913; divorced) Daniil Skobtsov (dissolved 1932)[1] |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Righteous among the Nations |
Mother Maria of Paris | |
|---|---|
 Saint Maria Skobtsova of Paris | |
| Righteous Martyr | |
| Born | Elizaveta Pilenko 20 December 1891 Riga,Russian Empire |
| Residence | 77, Rue de Lourmel,Grenelle,15th Arrondissement of Paris |
| Died | 31 March 1945 Ravensbrück Concentration Camp,Fürstenberg/Havel,Germany |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Episcopal Church Anglican Church of Canada Anglican Church of Australia |
| Canonized | 1 May 2004[2],Istanbul by theEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. |
| Feast | 20 July[3] [July 7Old Calendar] |
Maria Skobtsova[a] (20 [8Old Calendar] December 1891 – 31 March 1945) was aRussian noblewoman,poet,nun, and member of theFrench Resistance duringWorld War II.
Also known asMother Maria,[b] Saint Mary of Paris, or Mother Maria of Paris, she has beencanonized asaint in theEastern Orthodox Church and is remembered with aLesser Feast in theEpiscopal Church, theAnglican Church of Canada, and theAnglican Church of Australia.
Maria was born to an aristocratic family in 1891 inRiga,Russian Empire (nowLatvia). She was given the name Elizaveta Pilenko.[4] Her father died when she was a teenager, and she embracedatheism. In 1906 her mother moved the family toSt. Petersburg, where she became involved in radical intellectual circles. In 1910, she married aBolshevik by the name ofDmitriy Kuz'min-Karavaev. During this period of her life she was actively involved in literary circles and wrote much poetry. Her first book,Scythian Shards (Скифские черепки), was a collection of poetry from this period. By 1913, her marriage to Dimitriy had ended. He subsequently converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic priest.[5]
Through a look at the humanity ofChrist — "He alsodied. He sweatedblood. They struck his face"[citation needed] — she began to be drawn back into Christianity. She moved—now with her daughter, Gaiana — to the south of Russia where her religious devotion increased. Furious atLeon Trotsky for closing theSocialist-Revolutionary Party Congress, she planned hisassassination, but was dissuaded by colleagues, who sent her toAnapa.[6] In 1918, after theBolshevik Revolution, she was elected deputy mayor of Anapa in Southern Russia. When theanti-communistWhite Army took control of Anapa, the mayor fled and she became mayor of the town. The White Army put her on trial for being a Bolshevik. However, the judge was a former teacher of hers, Daniil Skobtsov, and she was acquitted. Soon the two fell in love and were married.[7]
Soon, the political tide was turning again. In order to avoid danger, Elizaveta, Daniil, Gaiana, and Elizaveta's mother Sophia fled the country. Elizaveta was pregnant with her second child. They traveled first toGeorgia (where her son Yuri was born) and then toYugoslavia (where her daughter Anastasia was born). Finally they arrived inParis in 1923. Soon Elizaveta was dedicating herself to theological studies and social work. In 1926, Anastasia died of influenza. Gaiana was sent away toBelgium to boarding school. Soon, Daniil and Elizaveta's marriage was falling apart. Yuri ended up living with Daniil, and Elizaveta moved into central Paris to work more directly with those who were most in need.
Her bishop encouraged her to take vows as a nun, something she did only with the assurance that she would not have to live in a monastery, secluded from the world. In 1932, with Daniil Skobtov's permission, an ecclesiastical divorce was granted, and she took monastic vows. She took the religious name "Maria". Her confessor was FatherSergei Bulgakov. Later, Fr. Dmitri Klepinin would be sent to be the chaplain of the house.
Mother Maria made a rented house in Paris her "convent". It was a place with an open door for refugees, the needy and the lonely. It also soon became a center for intellectual and theological discussion. In Mother Maria these two elements — service to the poor and theology — went hand-in-hand.
After theFall of France in 1940, Jews began approaching the house asking forbaptismal certificates, which Father Dimitri would provide them. Many Jews came to stay with them. They provided shelter and helped many to flee the country. Eventually the house was closed down. Mother Maria, Fr. Dimitri, Yuri and Sophia were all arrested by theGestapo. Fr. Dimitri and Yuri both died at theDora concentration camp.
Mother Maria was sent to theRavensbrück concentration camp. OnHoly Saturday, 1945, she was sent to thegas chamber.
Mother Maria wasglorified (canonized asaint) by act of theHoly Synod of theEcumenical Patriarchate on 16 January 2004. The glorification of Mother Maria, together with Fr. Dimitri, Yuri, andIlya Fondaminsky took place at the Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Paris on 1 and 2 May 2004. Their feast day is20 July.[2]
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On June 24, 2020, a memorial plaque to Skobtsova was unveiled at the famous Sainte Genevieve de Bois cemetery, on the territory of the Russian necropolis.[8]
Skobtsova is also commemorated in theAmerican Episcopal Church's calendar, with a lesser feast onJuly 21.[9][10]
Mother Maria was designated asRighteous among the Nations atYad Vashem in Israel.[11]
In July, 1942, when the order requiring Jews to wear theyellow star was published, she wrote a poem entitled "Israel":
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