On November 22nd, the Orthodox Church commemorates Blessed Matrona of Moscow. Thousands of believers from all over Russia and other countries travel to the Pokrovsky Monastery in Moscow to pay homage to her relics. Matrona, who was born in a small village in the Tula region, had the gift of prophecy and healing from a young age. Her clairvoyance and miraculous healings attracted people from all walks of life.
After her death, Matrona was buried in the Danilov Cemetery in Moscow and remained there for nearly 50 years. In the late 1990s, Patriarch Alexy II granted permission for her relics to be transferred to the Pokrovsky Monastery, a historic monastery founded in the 17th century. The monastery is also home to the miraculous icon of Matrona of Moscow, which was painted in 1999 and is considered one of the most revered icons in Orthodoxy.
To visit the relics of Matrona of Moscow, one can travel to the Pokrovsky Monastery located at 58 Taganskaya Street. The nearest metro station is "Marksistskaya," and from there, one can take public transportation to the "Bolshaya Andronyevskaya" stop near the monastery. Alternatively, one can reach the monastery by getting off at the "Proletarskaya" or "Krestyanskaya Zastava" station and walking for 15 minutes towards Abelmannaya Square.
The monastery is open every day from 7am to 8pm, except on Sundays when it opens at 6am. However, it is worth noting that there are often long queues to see the relics of Matrona, with wait times of two to three hours on regular days and even longer on holidays. It is advisable to arrive a few hours before opening time to ensure a shorter wait.
The commemoration of Matrona of Moscow's Day of Memory will begin early in the morning on November 22nd at the Pokrovsky Monastery. The early Divine Liturgy will take place at midnight, followed by the start of the readings at 8:45am. The main Divine Liturgy, officiated by Metropolitan Theognost of Kashira, will begin at 9am. The evening before, on November 21st, the All-Night Vigil will be held. The monastery's website provides information on the schedule of services.
If attending the service is not possible, it is possible to request prayers for health and repose of the soul online. However, the monastery only accepts names of baptized Orthodox Christians in the genitive case (e.g., Vasily, Maria, Elena), and each name should be written on a separate line.
