A fool for Christ: Mother Maria Skobtsova's faith was passionate, severe, even insane - Mother Maria Skobtsova: Essential Writings - Book Review

This does not imply a rejection of traditions and usages. In another essay, "In Defense of the I Pharisees," Mother Maria underlines the necessity of the collective memory of past blessings and the need for securities and points of reference. During certain historical epochs, of persecution or even in times of relative stability and in the absence of prophecy, adherence to traditions could be the predominant note in the life of the church, its anchor and guarantee. But this fidelity to the past must not become a paralyzing slavery History is constantly presenting new challenges, and the church must be free to receive the prophetic gifts when such gifts are given and renew itself accordingly Faced with modernity and bearing witness to the Gospel in our contemporary world, the church cannot let itself be bound by archaic and irrelevant structures.

Mother Maria's view of the Christian life is anything but horizontal. She has no use for "trends of social Christianity ... based on a certain rationalistic humanism [that] apply only the principles of Christian morality to 'this world' and do not seek a spiritual and mystical basis for their constructions." The gift of oneself to others must be rooted in an intense and loving communion with the Son of God "who descended into the world, became incarnate in the world, totally, entirely, without holding any reserve, as it were, for his divinity.... Christ's love does not know how to measure and divide, does not know how to spare itself." Our love should not be any different.

In her writings, Mother Maria expresses what she tried to live. After taking her monastic vows--which she saw as a means of committing herself irrevocably to her vocation within the church--she rented a building that became her monastery, a soup kitchen and a refuge for the rejects of society. It resembled a Catholic Worker house more than anything else. One observer described the "monastery" as "a strange pandemonium; we have young girls, madmen, exiles, unemployed workers and, at the moment, the choir of the Russian opera and the Gregorian choir of Dom Malherbe, a missionary center, and now services in the chapel every morning and evening." The monastery hosted lectures and discussions with speakers from the St. Serge Institute. Mother Maria's very intense, mystical and personalist convictions did not prevent her from organizing on a larger scale. She founded a sanatorium for impoverished Russians suffering from tuberculosis and was instrumental in the launching of Orthodox Action with its multiple charitable works.

When the German armies occupied Paris, the monastery of Mother Maria became a refuge for persecuted Jews until escape routes could be found. For those who requested them, false baptismal certificates were provided. The Nazis eventually discovered what was going on. Mother Maria, her son Yuri, the monastery's chaplain and its lay administrator were detained and sent to concentration camps. Only the lay administrator would survive. Those who knew Mother Maria in the camps bore witness to the courage, hope and optimism she imparted to others in the worst of conditions. The date and circumstances of her death are uncertain. There were reports that her name appeared on a list of those sent to the gas chambers on April 31, 1945, and that she offered herself in the place of a young Polish woman--but that has not been fully established.