Mother Maria – a saint of our days, Pearl of Great Price
Maria Skobtsova, better known as Mother Maria, is one of the most fascinating religious figures of the twentieth century. She was a Russian noblewoman, poet, nun and member of the French Resistance during World War II. In 2004 Maria was canonized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople as a Martyr.
Elizaveta Pilenko (her real name) was born on December 8, 1891 in Riga. In 1895 Liza’s family moved to Anapa. Her father died on July 17, 1906. The girl was shocked by this tragedy and, in her own words, had lost faith in God. In August 1906 Liza, her mother and her younger brother Dmitry moved to St. Petersburg.
You know, in February 1908, Elizaveta met poet Alexander Blok, they had a long and complex relationship.
On February 19, 1910, she married Dmitry Kuzmin-Karavayev, former Bolshevik and close friend of many writers.
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