#iconic matrona

[enlitment]

fulvia for the character bingo?

Ofc! Thanks for the ask ✨

[andijaart]

+++ 🙏🏻God Bless🕊️ +++

Saint Matrona Of Moscow. Orthodox Wooden Icon Silver Plated .999 ( 3.1" X 4.3" ) 8cm X 11cm. Handmade. Gift box.

💫 International Orthodox Art Corporation Andcross

May the blessing of the Lord be upon you!

[mariacallous]

Georgian woman ordered detained for defacing Stalin icon in Tbilisi

Feb 2 (Reuters) - A court in Georgia has ordered five days' detention for a woman who defaced a religious icon depicting Soviet leader Josef Stalin, an act which ignited large protests last month in the capital Tbilisi, her lawyers said.

The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association confirmed in an email to Reuters that Natalia Peradze, also known as Nata, was convicted on Friday of petty hooliganism.

A thousands-strong protest erupted in mid-January to demand harsh punishment for Peradze, who was accused of splashing blue paint onto an icon on display in Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral in an act of protest.

A side panel of the icon includes a depiction of the Georgian-born Stalin - an avowed atheist who violently repressed religion across the Soviet Union - being blessed by St Matrona of Moscow, a Russian Orthodox saint, during World War Two.

The icon was subsequently removed from the church following the controversy, Georgian media reported.

Peradze's lawyers added that they had requested a temporary measure of protection last week due to numerous death threats against her.

"After pouring paint on an icon depicting Stalin, Natalia Peradze's life and health were threatened, as she received numerous threatening messages on social networks and violent groups were mobilized near her residence," Veriko Jgerenaia of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association said.

Orthodox Church activists and believers as well as far-right groups have agitated for Peradze to be subject to further criminal investigation for what they say was an act that insulted the icon and their beliefs.

[beardedmrbean]

The Georgian Orthodox Church has called for changes to an icon depicting Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin hung in a cathedral in the capital, Tbilisi.

The icon depicts scenes from the life of St Matrona of Moscow, a 20th Century Russian visionary and healer.

In one, the Russian Orthodox saint can be seen blessing Stalin.

The Patriarchate of Georgia said there was "insufficient evidence" the saint and Stalin ever met and that changes therefore needed to be made.

"The donors of the icon are called upon to make the appropriate changes to the image themselves - or we can do it ourselves," the statement said.

The Alliance of Patriots, a pro-Russian political party, said it gifted the icon to the cathedral several months ago.

But it only came to prominence this year, after an opposition former politician Giorgi Kandelaki highlighted its presence in protest at what he said was an attempt to present "one of the biggest mass murderers in history" in a "positive light".

The icon has been courting controversy since Mr Kandelaki drew attention to it. Earlier this week, an activist sprayed it with paint in protest.

Nata Peradze published a video of her throwing paint on the icon and said she was protesting against what she saw as the glorification of a tyrant.

"Stalin killed my whole family, he instilled terror and fear, he was not a hero," she told Politico, adding that she has been receiving death threats since posting the video on Facebook.

She also said her house has been targeted by mobs since the incident.

In its statement, the Patriarchate of Georgia said that an icon could depict "real stories related to the life of the saint, including rulers and ordinary people, heretics and persecutors of the Christian faith".

"However," it added, "this does not mean at all that the image glorifies these figures or attributes any dignity to them."

Stalin has a complex legacy in Georgia.

He was born Iosif Dzhugashvili in the town of Gori, in the east of the country, in 1878. A key figure in the Russian revolution which brought the Bolsheviks to power, he ruled the USSR from 1924 until his death in 1953.

Millions died as Stalin imposed iron discipline and state terror to root out "enemies of the people" and build a communist state.

Many people in the small South Caucasian country reject the legacy of the Soviet Union.

But some still view Stalin with some pride because he emerged from a humble background in Georgia to rule a superpower and defeat Nazi Germany.

[orthodoxydaily]

The wonderworking Kazan Icon has great significance for the faithful of Russia, and Russian Orthodox families treat it with unparalleled reverence. The magnificent Kazan Cathedral was built in Saint Petersburg, to house the Icon.

For the most part, it is this Icon that blesses the young to the crown, and its peaceful radiance of an unsleeping lamp illuminates the children. The meek face of the Mother of God looks lovingly at the growing children. In Moscow, the Kazan Cathedral stands on the historic Red (Beautiful) Square, opposite the Kremlin walls, two dozen steps from the Ivḗron chapel, in view of the monument to Pozharsky towering on the square. It stands as an unshakable remembrance of the mercy of the Mother of God toward the Russian land during one of its most terrible years.

The Kazan campaign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible resembled a Cross Procession. It seemed that the goal was to bring a new flock to Christ rather than to subjugate the new kingdom to the Muscovite Tsar. Kazan fell on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. An explosion from the wall and towers of Kazan was heard when, during the Liturgy in the mobile royal church, the deacon intoned the petition of the Great Litany: "That He may aid him and subdue beneath his feet every foe and adversary...."

After entering Kazan the next day, the Tsar immediately laid the foundation for a cathedral in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. At the same time, the Tsar determined a place for the construction of other churches, and the following year a Diocese was established in Kazan and Saint Guria became the first Bishop of Kazan.

Under the zealous disseminator of the light of Christ, Bishop Guria, and his successor, Saint Germanos the affirmation of the Faith in Kazan was successful, but then the Moslems made a strong resistance. At this time the Mother of God decided to strengthen Orthodoxy, and she was pleased to glorify her Icon.

In 1579, after a terrible fire that destroyed half of the Kazan Kremlin and part of the city adjacent to it, the Moslems began to say that the Christian God had no mercy for the Russians and showed His wrath by this fire. "The faith of Christ," the chronicler remarks, "has become a proverb and a desecration." Then the Lord showed His mercy.

A certain archer intended to build a new house on the site of the conflagration. In a dream, the Mother of God appeared to his nine-year-old daughter Matrona, ordering her to tell the Archbishop and the city chiefs that they would remove her Icon from the bowels of the earth, and in another dream, the Mother of God pointed out the place where the Icon was hidden on the ashes of the burnt house. The girl told her mother about her dream, but she attached no importance to her daughter's words. The vision was repeated, but the mother did not pay attention to the command of the Mother of God, transmitted through the mouth of her child. Finally, for the third time, in a dream, the girl saw the Icon itself, from which a formidable voice was heard: "If you do not reveal my words, I will appear in another place, but you will perish."

The girl woke up shocked and frightened and began to call her mother,demanding that she obey the command of the Queen of Heaven. Then, finally, she agreed and she took her daughter to the officials and to Archbishop Jeremiah. But none of them believed the girl's words.

On July 8, returning from fruitless walks, the mother stood at noon and began to dig at her daughter's direction. Others also helped her, but the Icon did not appear. Then Matrona began to dig, and near the place where she was in the burnt house, soon the treasure was found. She saw that the Icon of the Mother of God was covered with an old sleeve of cherry-red cloth. The face on the Icon was fresh, unspoiled, as if the Icon had just been painted. Those who were present at the discovery of the Icon immediately spread the news throughout the city. When the authorities learned about the event, everyone gathered at the archer's house; the Archbishop of Kazan made a Cross Procession with the clergy to the place of the apparition, and the Icon was solemnly transferred to the parish church of Saint Nicholas, whose Icon is popularly known as "of Tula." Its rector was the priest Errmogenes, later Metropolitan of Kazan, and later Patriarch of All Russia (+ February 17, 1612), who reposed during the Time of Troubles for Orthodoxy. He described the event of the appearance of the Icon.

A solemn Moleben served at the church of Saint Nicholas, and then the Icon was carried to the Annunciation Cathedral. On the way, the first miracle occurred. a man named Joseph, who had been blind for three years, was able to see. Then, in the cathedral itself, another blind man named Nikḗtas was healed. Afterward, it was noticed that many healings took place before the Kazan Icon, especially for those who suffered from afflictions of the eyes.

Soon the Archbishop and the officials sent the Tsar in Moscow a detailed report on the discovery of the Icon with an exact copy. The Tsar ordered a convent to be built for forty nuns on the site of the apparition, and to keep the Icon there. The young girl Matrona and her mother were the first to be tonsured in the new monastery. In addition to the original churches, a new stone church was soon built, with a trapeza. One hundred souls were given for the maintenance of the monastery. In 1594 a new extensive cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God was built and consecrated by Metropolitan Errmogenes the following year. At the same time, the number of nuns was increased to 64; rich contributions of utensils, icons, and vestments were brought to the monastery; the Icon was covered by a riza adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls.

New magnificent decorations were placed on the Icon by Empress Katherine. In 1798 she decided to build another church to replace the dilapidated temple which had stood for two hundred years. She donated 25, 000 rubles for this purpose, and the church was consecrated in 1808.

The mind of a believer is involuntarily struck by one circumstance. The appearance of the Kazan Icon signified the triumph of the Russians over the Moslem Tatars. And all the time, while the cherished shrine remained in Kazan, they considered themselves safe from the east.

On the night of June 29, 1904, several thieves broke into the cathedral church of the Kazan Monastery and after stealing it, took the miraculous Kazan icon with them. The robbers have never been found, and the Icon disappeared without a trace. Then we were defeat came from the east. There are two opinions egarding the fate of the true Kazan Icon.

Some believe that the original Icon was kept in Moscow and transferred there at the pious desire of the Tsars, But without publicity, so as not to upset the residents of Kazan. The Russian Tsars liked to concentrate these shrines in Moscow, from all places. The Hierarch Ermogenes could have brought this Icon from Kazan with him, when he moved to the patriarchal cathedral. At the transfer of the capital to St. Petersburg, supporters of this opinion say, it was this Icon that was among others, that was moved to the new capital; therefore, the real Kazan Icon was in the St. Petersburg Kazan Cathedral. Others claim that the original Kazan Icon was with Pozharsky's army and, arriving in Moscow, she stayed in the cathedral built for her by Pozharsky on Red Square. The dimensions of this Icon were much less than the missing Kazan Icon, which remained in St. Petersburg.

Be that as it may, all three Icons were great sources of the grace of the Mother of God. The St. Petersburg Kazan Icon is the most cherished and beloved shrine of St. Petersburg. The faithful always stand before her, and many businessmen with a strong religious feeling come every day to venerate the Icon, as if in the midst many activities they took a minute to go and greet their Mother.

In the Kazan Cathedral, Kutuzov rests from his immortal historical exploit. When in 1812, heeding the voice of the people, who demanded that he be placed at the head of the Russian armies, Alexander I appointed Kutuzov as commander-in-chief, the latter, before leaving for the army, stopped by to pray in the Kazan Cathedral. People harnessed the horses of his carriage and cried out: "Drive out the French!" After a Moleben, the Kazan Icon was placed on Kutuzov, who was always known for his piety, The Mother of God did not reject the hopes which the old commander entrusted to her. And the field marshal, with indescribable glory, returned in a coffin to repose in the Kazan Cathedral.

There is another memory from that time - a magnificent iconostasis was cast in silver. The silver was stolen by the Cossacks from the French after they had looted the Moscow churches, and they brought the silver as a gift to the Kazan Cathedral. Beneath the wonderworking Icon, in gold letters, there is a brief notice: "The diligent offering of the Don army."

Something wonderful blows under the highest arches of the Kazan Cathedral between the majestic granite pillars with banners attached to them, symbols of past victories. Both the Moscow Ivḗron Icon, and the St. Petersburg Kazan Icon stand in the center of noisy and lively metropolitan life. There, beyond the walls, is the world and its deeds. And here — eternity, a quiet, thoughtful eternity. After standing for at least a few minutes in this thoughtful silence, you already feel, how much further one becomes from the temporal world, and how much closer to the world of eternity. And there, before the Icon, they light their candles with fervent supplications, and from the ground tises the hymn to the Mother of God: "O fervent intercessor...."

The origin of the Icon in Moscow's Kazan Cathedral is as follows. She was sent from Kazan to Prince Pozharsky, who went to liberate Moscow with the squads of the northern cities. The Russian soldiers prayed fervently to the Mother of God, asking her to help them rescue the capital. The Poles locked themselves in Kitay-Gorod, which surrounds the Kremlin in a narrow ring. In the Kremlin the Greek Archbishop Arsenios languished as a captive of the Poles..Saint Sergius of Radonezh appeared to him and said that through the prayers of the Mother of God, the reigning city was delivered from its enemies. The news of this appearance reached the Russians and animated them. On October 22, they drove the Poles out of Kitay-Gorod, and then the Poles surrendered the Kremlin. The clergy came out to meet the Russian army with the cherished Moscow shrines, and at the head of the Russian squads was the Kazan Icon.

In remembrance of this event, another commemoration of the Kazan Icon was established on October 22, first in Moscow, and then throughout Russia.

The original Kazan Icon disappeared during the chaos of the Revolution, and thieves stole the jeweled riza from it. It has been suggested that they may have destroyed the Icon, since they were more interested in the jewels

[walpu]

From Matrona Groose to Ronda Landau: "What the hell do you mean with female rivality? I was staring at you because I thought you were pretty" 🍂

she's so iconic, I get her on every level 😭

[mechaolmec88]

Russian Orthodox priest venerating the icon of St. Matrona of Moscow blessing Stalin.

[hzaidan]

06 Works, Today, March 27th, is Saint Matrona's Day, With Footnotes - #85

06 Works, Today, March 27th, is Saint Matrona’s Day, With Footnotes – #85

Saint Matrona Matrona of Barcelona or Matrona of Thessalonica is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. She was recognized as a saint pre-congregation. She lived in the third or fourth century. She was a young girl and a slave to the Jewish woman Pautila, wife of one of the military commanders, or governor, of Thessalonica.According to legend, she believed in…

[hinamikyoukachan]

💛💛

[dresspheres]

117 Icons | Matrona | Seven Deadly Sins

117 Icons for Matrona from Seven Deadly Sins.

Please like or reblog this post if you plan on using the icons.

Credit me if you edit them! Otherwise, credit’s very much appreciated.

Download link.

Preview

[andijaart]

+++ 🙏🏻God Bless🕊️ +++

Saint Matrona Of Moscow. Orthodox Wooden Icon Silver Plated .999 ( 3.1" X 4.3" ) 8cm X 11cm. Handmade. Gift box

💫 International Orthodox Art Corporation Andcross

May the blessing of the Lord be upon you!

[sdsmangacaps]

[russianicons]

The featured icon most likely belongs to the Mstera icon painting school, which is known for its highly decorative style and abundance of details in the icons. In the picture, you can see a so-called Calendar icon for November, depicting the constellation of saints arranged chronologically according to their feast days in Orthodox Christianity. Among them are Menas of Egypt, Matrona of Moscow, Philip the Apostle, and Nikon of Radonezh, among others. The holy piece dates back to the late 1700s – early 1800s, with the icon painter being unknown.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Friday, June 7, 2024

may 25_june 7

THIRD FINDING OF THE PRECIOUS HEAD OF St JOHN the BAPTIST (850)

Holy Scripture tells us that after St. John the Baptist was beheaded, the impious Herodias forbade the prophet’s head to be buried together with his body. Instead, she desecrated the honorable head and buried it near her palace. The saint’s disciples had secretly taken their teacher’s body and buried it. The wife of King Herod’s steward knew where Herodias had buried St. John’s head, and she decided to rebury it on the Mount of Olives, on one of Herod’s estates. When word reached the royal palace about Jesus’ preaching and miracles, Herod went with his wife Herodias to see if John the Baptist’s head was still in the place they had left it. When they did not find it there, they began to think that Jesus Christ was John the Baptist resurrected. The Gospels witness to this error of theirs (cf. Mt. 14:2)....

...Emesa and Constantinople. The Second and Third Finding of the Precious Head.

After many years, the head of St. John the Baptist was uncovered a second time. We know about this from a description by Archimandrite Marcellus of the monastery in Emesa, as well as from the life of St. Matrona (†492, commemorated November 9/22), written by St. Simeon Metraphrastes. According to the first description, the head was discovered on February 18, 452. A week later, Bishop Uranius of Emesa established its veneration, and on February 26 of the same year, it was translated to the newly-built church dedicated to St. John. These events are celebrated on February 24/March 8, along with the commemoration of the First Finding of the Precious Head.

After some time, the head of St. John the Forerunner was translated to Constantinople, where it was located up to the time of the iconoclasts. Pious Christians who left Constantinople secretly took the head of St. John the Baptist with them, and then hid it in Comana (near Sukhumi, Abkhazia), the city where St. John Chrysostom died in exile (407). After the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787), which reestablished the veneration of icons, the head of St. John the Baptist was returned to the Byzantine capital in around the year 850. The Church commemorates this event on May 25/June 7 as the Third Finding of the Precious Head of St. John the Baptist.

The Fourth Crusade and travel to the West

Ordinarily, the Orthodox history of the finding of the head of St. John the Baptist ends with the Third Finding. This is due to the fact that its later history is bound up with the Catholic West. If we look at the Lives of the Saints written in the Menaon of St. Dimitry of Rostov, we find a citation in small print, often overlooked by readers, at the end of story of the Finding of the Forerunner’s Head. However, after unexpectedly discovering the head of St. John the Baptist in France and then returning home to Russia, this citation became a real revelation for us. It is this next “finding” of the head of St. John the Baptist that we would like to write about below.

Thus, we read in this citation that after 850, part of the head of St. John the Baptist came to be located in the Podromos Monastery in Petra, and the other part in the Forerunner Monastery of the Studion. The upper part of the head was seen there by the pilgrim Antony in 1200. Nevertheless, in 1204 it was taken by crusaders to Amiens in northern France. Besides that, the citation shows three other locations of pieces of the head: the Athonite monastery Dionysiou, the Ugro-Wallachian monastery of Kalua, and the Church of Pope Sylvester in Rome, where a piece was taken from Amiens.

The history of the Baptist’s head’s appearance in France differs little from the history of many other great Christian relics.

On April 13, 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, an army of knights from Western Europe seized the capital of the Roman Empire—Constantinople. The city was looted and decimated.

As Western tradition has it, Canon Wallon de Sarton from Picquigny found a case in one of the ruined palaces that contained a silver plate. On it, under a glass covering, were the hidden remains of a human face, missing only the lower jaw. Over the left brow could be seen a small perforation, most likely made by a knife strike.

On the plate the canon discovered an inscription in Greek confirming that it contained the relics of St. John the Forerunner. Furthermore, the perforation over the brow corresponded with the event recorded by St. Jerome. According to his testimony, Heriodias in a fit of rage struck a blow with a knife to the saint’s severed head.

Wallon de Sarton decided to take the head of the Holy Forerunner to Picardy, in northern France.

On December 17, 1206, on the third Sunday of the Nativity fast, the Catholic bishop of the town of Amiens, Richard de Gerberoy, solemnly met the relics of St. John the Baptist at the town gates. Probably the bishop was sure of the relic’s authenticity—something easier to ascertain in those days, as they say, “by fresh tracks”. The veneration of the head of St. John the Baptist in Amiens and all of Picardy begins from that time.

In 1220, the bishop of Amiens placed the cornerstone in the foundation of a new cathedral, which after many reconstructions would later become the most magnificent Gothic edifice in Europe. The facial section of the head of the St. John the Baptist, the city’s major holy shrine, was transferred to this new cathedral.

Eventually, Amiens became a place of pilgrimage not only for simple Christians, but also for French kings, princes and princesses. The first King to come and venerate the head in 1264 was Louis IX, called “the Holy”. After him came his son, Phillip III the Brave, then Charles VI, and Charles VII, who donated large sums for the relic’s adornment.

In 1604, Pope Clement VIII of Rome, wishing to enrich the Church of the Forerunner in Rome (Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano), requested a piece of St. John’s relics from the canon of Amiens.

Saving of the head from the outrages of the French revolution

After the revolution in 1789, inventory was made of all Church property and relics were confiscated.

The reliquary containing the head of the Holy Forerunner remained in the cathedral until November, 1793, when it was demanded by representatives of the Convention. They stripped from it everything of material value, and ordered that the relics be taken to the cemetery. However, the revolutionary command was not fulfilled. After they left the city, the city’s mayor, Louis-Alexandre Lescouve, secretly and under fear of death returned to the reliquary and took the relics to his own home. Thus was the sacred shrine preserved. Several years later, the former mayor gave the relic to Abbot Lejeune. Once the revolutionary persecutions had ended, the head of St. John the Baptist was returned to the cathedral in Amiens in 1816, where it remains to this day...Continue reading St Elizabeth Convent

A text by Priest Maxim Massalitin Translated by OrthoChristian.com

2 CORINTHIANS 4:6-15

6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed- 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

MATTHEW 11:2-15

2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" 4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. 7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 10 For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.' 11 Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

[wastingoxygensince1983]

I was thinking an idea for encanto, like a sequel? But from my perspective.

Until now I have:

-with help with the community Bruno starts a theater and he is the leading role in something he wrote. The family is very excited for this.

-Dolores and Camilo are the plot A of the story. But not sure what to make of it yet.

-the plot B would start at the beginning. We see Alma getting ready for her day. Focusing on her manners. Then she starts pushing Mirabel to spent the day with her(who is more with Bruno or the plot A, and she wants to spent time is with them). The entire time Alma is telling Mirabel how things are done in the house and in the town. Mirabel doesn’t pay attention to much at first, but then we learned that Alma is preparing Mirabel to be the next matrona of the house, the family and the town.

There’s an emotional moment between them, then more emotional moments between Alma and everyone of the family(this moment happened probably at Bruno’s opening night or Dolores big thing).

Alma ends her story going to the river again. But this time she is not dress in her iconic colors. She is dressed exactly like she looked back in the flashbacks, even the hair. Is night and suddenly Pedro is there. And Alma is not longer her old self, she is the young version of herself.

Pedro greet her, giving her a kiss and saying the amo(like in the dos oruguitas flashback, but this time would be a hello instead of a goodbye).

They talked for a while. A lot of souls searching from Alma. She talks that she lost her way, about what happened in the first movie. Pedro listening and give her words of encouragement(yeah, but you made it work then, or something like that).

Pedro offers her his hand, they both looked back to where encanto is supposed to be.

Both of them smile. They say in unison “they are in good hands” thinking about Mirabel.

And both start walking away. Direction of the town they used to lived. A swarm of yellow butterflies pass around them and they vanished.

The story ends with a scene of Mirabel getting ready. Just like it opens with Alma. But this time is Mirabel.

Then she goes down the staircase. This time, instead of just Pedro. There’s a photo of Alma and Pedro together.

She says “good morning abuelos”.

And heads up to the town, to be the leader she is.

[a-queer-seminarian]

Disabled St. Seraphim & his bear-friend, Misha

ID: photograph of a Playmobil brand log cabin with a bearded man in white robes and blue hat standing outside, beckoning to a brown bear. There is soil beneath the playmobil display, and a background of trees. / end ID

My friend Laura (they/them; of the Autistic Liberation Theology Podcast) creates art of various biblical figures & Saints using Playmobil — you can see all their work here. Their most recent creation features the Eastern Orthodox Saint Seraphim, a hermit monk who was friends with a bear he called Misha.

Seraphim lived in Russia relatively recently (1759-1833). He is a disabled saint: during his first 25 years as a hermit in the forest just outside Sarov, he experienced a swelling of the feet that limited his mobility; moreover, an attack by robbers left him with a hunchback for the remainder of his life. The robbers found no money in his cabin, only an icon of the Theotokos (Mary the God-bearer); and Seraphim pleaded mercy on their behalf at their trial.

One of the most famous quotes of St. Seraphim is "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved."

But what about the bear?? Well, according to legend, “All creatures obeyed him. Animals from the woods streamed to his cell, and he fed them bread. He was asked where he was able to get enough food for them all. He answered that there was always enough food for them in the basket.”

[ID: the same cabin with its bearded figure and bear outside. Now, a nun in black robes is also there; she has her arms raised in surprise. / end ID]

One day a nun named Matrona visited Seraphim and found him sitting next to a bear. She screamed, so Seraphim sent the bear away. She sat down with him to talk, and not long after, the bear returned. Matrona relates,

“I was as terrified as before, but when I saw Father Seraphim, quite unconcerned, treating the bear like a lamb, stroking him and giving him some bread, I calmed down. I looked at the father and was dazzled by the sight of his face which seemed to me full of light and like an angel’s. When I was wholly reassured the Staretz [spiritual teacher] gave me a piece of bread and said: ‘You needn’t be the least afraid of him, he won’t hurt you.’ So I held out the bread to the bear and, while he was eating it, it was such joy to be feeding him that I wanted to go on doing so. Seeing how much I was enjoying it, Father Seraphim said: ‘You remember the story of St Jerome feed­ing a lion in the desert? Well, here we’ve got a bear obeying us.’”

[ID: interior of the playmobil cabin; two nuns stand inside next to a table with food on it. The bearded figure stands between them and the doorway, where the bear is standing with a honeycomb in its mouth. / end ID]

Matrona was not the only nun to witness this friend of the hermit’s...

“Two nuns from a certain convent once came to visit Saint Seraphim. Suddenly a bear lumbered unexpectedly out of the woods and frightened the visitors with his appearance. ‘Misha,’ said the saint, ‘why do you frighten the poor orphans! Go back and bring us a treat, otherwise I have nothing to offer to my guests.’ Hearing these words, the bear went back into the woods, and two hours later he tumbled into the holy elder’s cell and gave him something covered with leaves. It was a fresh honeycomb of purest honey. Father Seraphim took a piece of bread from his bag, gave it to the bear, pointed to the door – and the bear left immediately.”