This engineered 'saint' Matrona of Moscow is an obvious fake. I skimmed through some of her "Life" and stopped right here :
"When St. Matrona was still young, God granted her a chance to be a pilgrim. The daughter of a local estate owner, a devout kind girl, Lydia Yankova, took Matrona with her on pilgrimages: to the Kiev Caves Lavra, the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, St. Petersburg, and other holy places in Russia. Once Matrona met Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt. After the Liturgy in Andreevsky Cathedral, St. John asked the people to make way for the fourteen-year-old Matrona and said loudly: “Matronushka, come, come to me. Here is my replacement, the eighth pillar of Russia"
This is patently absurd. Since when did St John of Kronstadt speak in such an uncharacteristic way ?
How do we know that Matrona ever crossed paths with him ? There is no independent confirmation of that.
Then, to have the humble Saint boast of himself as "the seventh pillar of Russia" is a giveaway that the author of Matrona's 'Life' is highly prone to invention in order to shore up MP claims to trot out their chosen superstar as a figure worthy of mass devotion.
How many discerning people will believe this purported statement of the luminary of that pre-revolutionary age, St John of Kronstadt ? I am surprised at how far the cult of this made-up saint has traveled. The Rocor-MP has had a parish dedicated to her in Dania Beach, Florida since 2011. Small surprise that it similarly grandiosely calls itself the spiritual center of Florida.
No surprise that the rector, Archimandrite Alexander [Belya] and founder, Ivan Belya, were awarded by Patriarch Kirill via Met Hilarion [Kapral] the Order of St Innocent, 3rd Class after a mere 5 years service there. It always helps to do the MP's bidding : rewards arrive promptly when one promotes the MP's pet 'saints'.
Pat Kirill deep in apparent heartfelt prayer at the shrine of Matrona in the Pokrovsky Convent in Moscow. It seems that this new 'saint' has rescued the nuns of that Convent financially, since money has poured in due to all the propaganda about the so-called miracle-worker.
Recently, the World Orthodox Romanian synod obligingly added Matrona to its calendar of saints. How many rubles and/or leu changed hands to accomplish the proclamation of May 2 as her official day in Romania, one wonders ?
Meanwhile, the MP has managed to squeeze in another day for its false saint : March 8, the translation of her 'relics', as I recall.
But all the theatrics are merely a way to pull attention away from the TRUE Saints, canonized and not yet canonized. Today was the repose day of Eldress Dosithea, also titled "of Moscow". We know she was authentic because we have the word of the holy Abbot Moses [Putilov] of Optina for it. He wrote a letter to the Ivanov Convent where this Eldress had resided. In it, St Moses of Optina testified that he and his younger brother, the later Abbot of Sarov, had met the recluse on a few occasions for consultation. The proof of this assertion is that Elder Moses recalled the watercolor portrait on her wall of her mother, Empress Elizabeth of Russia. Who would invent that detail ?
Then, the wise Elder Philaret of Novospassky revered Eldress Dosithea - see : http://euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewto ... 071#p72071
These low-key demonstrations of respect are believable. No one has suggested that Eldress Dosithea may have been the 5th or 6th Pillar of Russia, preceding St John of Kronstadt !
The Matrona cult should be curtailed.