"Elizaveta Iurievna Kuzmina-Karavaeva Skobtsova, later known as Mother Maria, was a Russian Orthodox religious thinker, poet and artist. Her multi-faceted legacy includes articles, poems, art, and drama. In the 1910s she was part of the literary milieu of St. Petersburg and was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. She fled Russia soon after the Bolsheviks' takeover and lived in Paris, where she became a nun. In 1935, she participated in organizing the so-called Orthodox Action, which was designed to help Russian immigrants in France. She and her fellow-workers from Orthodox Action opened a house for homeless and sick immigrants in Paris. During the Nazi occupation of the city, the house was transformed into a refuge for Jews and displaced persons. Mother Maria and her son were arrested by the Gestapo in 1943 and died in the Ravensbruck camp in Germany. Mother Maria's selfless devotion to people and her death as a martyr will never be forgotten. In 2004, the Holy Synod confirmed the glorification of Mother Maria." - from Columbia University Libraries Special Collection link

Suffering

"God does not only not punish by suffering, He even ameliorates the power of suffering by His mercy. And the utmost manifestation of Divine mercy -- is the voluntary sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world."  - Mother Maria of Paris

The notions of blessing and punishment can tell us a lot about a person.  Many believe that when one is "doing well" and is "successful" that the face of God is shining upon them.  Conversely, when people are "doing poorly" and "failing" that the face of God is not shining upon them.

This belief is so shallow that it fails to make a simple a direct connection to Jesus himself.  Jesus was beaten, ridiculed, and killed by the people of his day - from within his own faith and also by those outside of it.  This would mean that he "clearly was not in God's favor" if we believed that "doing well" was a sign of God's favor.

Mother Maria helps us edge a bit closer to a more integrated understanding of suffering in our lives.  She challenges us to dig deeper into our understanding of suffering.  Look past a simplistic answer.

This is from a woman who saw suffering all around her.  Mother got people out of the ghettos of the Nazi regime by putting them in trashcans.  Smuggled outside of the walls in a trash truck, these children of God were able to escape to freedom.  She herself was put to death in Ravensbruk for her "crimes" against the state.

Nazi Germany and the "final solution" itself should also challenge us to look deeper into the meaning of suffering.  The Jews, the Children of God, were put to death for being the children of God.  Can we look at this and apply some simple formula to why people suffer?  I can't.

The issue of suffering is deep and complex.  A portion of the dilemma seems to be that suffering itself is something that we must come to terms with.  Finding an answer to the question of why we suffer is somehow a very important part of what it means to be human.

What seems to mark people as "integrated individuals", or "actualized", or "saints" is an ability to help people in their suffering (and out of their suffering) while still continuing the struggle to find meaning in suffering.  Wrestling with the notions of suffering, we can still seek to put an end to human suffering.  Mother Maria was all about that.

She saw that sacrifice was wrapped up in the process of putting an end to suffering.  Not only Christ's sacrifice, but her's as well.


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