2010 Articles

The Marian Dimension of Mother Maria's Orthodox Social Christianity

Ermolaev, Natalia

“Mother Maria,” has in recent years become an exemplar of modern Orthodox social engagement. Often hailed as Orthodoxy’s Dorothy Day, Skobtsova is known for the network of shelters, soup kitchens and medical facilities she opened from impoverished Russian émigrés in Paris during the 1930s. Perhaps her most radical work was in the French Resistance movement, where her assistance to French Jews led to her arrest by the Nazis and deportation to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Many have read about Mother Maria’s dramatic life and times in the excellent biography by the priest and Slavist Sergei Hackel, whose, Pearl of Great Price: The Life of Mother Maria Skobtsova has been translated into many languages and was republished numerous times since its first appearance in 1965.