Mother Maria Skobtsova—She had two titles: The "Saint of the Open Door" and The "Trash Can Saint". She was also Martyred by the Nazis

What follows is a brief story about a woman who would have had to be considered one of the most unlikely candidates for sainthood. A chain-smoking, twice divorced, nun with a brilliant mind and a heart so big she just could never love enough. However, being part of the Roman Church or the Eastern Orthodox Church mattered not to the Nazis; Catholic was Catholic.

 Elizaveta Pilenko was born in Latvia, inside the Russian empire, in 1891. Her parents were devout Orthodox and also quite wealthy. Elizaveta embraced her Catholic faith easily and with open arms. By the time she was seven, she was asking her mom if she could become a nun. But when Elizaveta was a teenager, her father died.

 The girl was crushed, and her heart experienced a profound sorrow that left her feeling empty inside. Her faith crumbled like stale crackers.  Elizaveta decided that God's "nonexistence" was well known to adults but kept a secret from children. Her childhood was over. She entered into a personal sea of nothingness called atheism. She was quoted as having said, "If there is no justice, then there is no God."

 In 1910, at the age of eighteen, she married, Dimitri Kuzmin-Karaviev. Dimitri was an alcoholic and their marriage lasted only three years.  But during this time, Elizaveta gave birth to her first child Guiana, published a  book of poetry, and began to study theology. A strong and determined woman she was accepted into the theological academy of the Alexander Nevsky  Monastery in St. Petersburg. Soon, she began to realize that Christ did exist.

 In 1918, while living in the town of Anapa, she was arrested as a Bolshevik and put on trial. However, a local judge, Daniel Skobstova, fell in love with her, married her, and saved her life. Soon she was pregnant with her second child. The family fled to Georgia and she gave birth to another son, Yuri. Then, moving to Yugoslavia, she gave birth to her second daughter, Anastasia.  In 1923, it was onto Paris.

 Tragedy and heartache soon struck Elizaveta. Her  daughter, Anastasia, died in 1926. Her marriage failed and then her daughter, Gaiana died suddenly. This altered Elizaveta's life immensely. She yearned to care for those who were struggling with disabilities, drug addiction, and mental illness. Already separated from her husband for several years, she asked her bishop for help and guidance.  He helped her get an ecclesiastical divorce. She became a nun and her name became Mother Maria Skobtsova.

 An old, beat up house was found in an area of Paris where there were many Russian refugees. Here she could take in a hundred people. There were also stables in the back which became the new church. On the 10th of May, 1940.  Hitler's army invaded France. One month and fifteen days later, it was over. The Fall of France was complete.

 It happened quickly. The Jewish people began coming to Mother Maria for fake baptismal certificates and for refuge. Father Dmitri Klepinin, the chaplain, would provide the "papers," and Mother Maria would hide as many people as she could. She was even sneaking into a local stadium where many Jews were being held. She would smuggle in food and water and one time managed to smuggle four children out in a garbage truck. (See book written about this called  “—Trash Can Rescue.”)

 Mother Maria, her son Yuri and Father Dimitri, fought the good fight as long as they could. Father Dimitri and Yuri were arrested by the Gestapo first. They were sent to the Dora Concentration Camp where they both died. Yuri was executed on  February 6, 1944, and Father Dimitri died of pneumonia lying on a dirt floor four days later.

 Mother Maria Skobstova was arrested on February 10, 1943 and was sent to Ravensbruck, the infamous concentration camp for women. Mother Maria lasted until Holy Week. She was sent to the gas chamber and died for Christ on Holy Saturday, 1945. The war ended shortly thereafter.

 Mother Maria, along with Father Dimitri, and Yuri, were canonized on January 16, 2004 in the Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Paris. Their feast day is July 20.

 We ask them all to pray for us.

 copyright©Larry Peterson 2019