August 18 — the day of remembrance of the Puzin martyrs

      Text by Tatyana Garina

      The martyrs Evdokia (Sheikova), Daria (Timagina), Daria (Ulybina) and Maria (surname now lost) belong to the assembly of Diveyevo saints. The name "Puzin New Martyrs" comes from the old name of the village Suvorovo — Strakhova Puza. Daria (Timagina), Daria (Ulybina) and Maria cared for the sick Evdokia and together with her received a martyr’s death in 1919.

      The martyr Evdokia Alexandrovna Sheikova was born on 11 February 1856 into a peasant family in the same village Strakhova Puza, which at that time belonged to the Ardatov uyezd of the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate. After the death of her parents Evdokia was raised in the family of her uncle — the churchwarden. In childhood she visited with pilgrims the Sarov men’s hermitage in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Seraphim-Diveyevo and Seraphim-Ponetaev monasteries. At age twenty, after a severe illness, the young woman became paralyzed.

      When it became clear that Dunya would no longer be able to walk, her relatives made a couch of boards in her parents’ izba, spread puttees on it, and placed a zipun (peasant coat) under the girl’s head. Young peasant women took care of the infirm.

      Together with novice cell-companions Evdokia created a sort of monastic community. She bore the asceticism of holy folly, led a strict prayerful life. Most of the time Evdokia and her cell-companions (in the village they were called khozhalki) dedicated to prayer. They prayed from five in the morning until noon, with a twenty-minute rest. The girls sang troparia and kontakia to the Queen of Heaven and the saints, read the Psalter, the Holy Gospel, canons and akathists. During prayer everyone performed prostrations. In the evening, from eight until midnight, they prayed again. Evdokia loved church chants very much.

      Because of her infirmity Dunya could not attend church, so the local priests—Archpriest Vasily Radugin (served in the Dormition church from 1877 to 1923) and Priest Ioann Rybakov (served from 1904 to 1916)—came to the women on feast days with the Holy Gifts and administered Communion to them at home. Evdokia had a spiritual father — monk Anatoly from the Holy Dormition Sarov Hermitage.

      People in the village and the surrounding area related differently to Dunya and her khozhalki. Many loved and pitied her, came to her for advice, helped and prayed together with her. But there were among the peasants those who hated her. Dunya reproved their sinful lives, perceived in people’s souls and minds what was hidden from others. Once, on the first day of Holy Pascha, the windows in their house were smashed. Dunya lay among the shards, in blood, until the sisters had finished reading the rule. Only after prayer did she allow the glass to be removed from her bed.

      Seeing the spiritual battle with the unclean one around them, Dunya constantly protected everything — the walls, the food, and the water — with the sign of the cross and the prayer: “Protect, O Lord, by the power of Your Precious and Life-Giving Cross.”

      Evdokia Sheikova became known in the district for the gift of healing and of providence. She knew she would receive a martyr’s end. Hearing the funeral bell toll from the Dormition church, she said: “What happy people! They die — they ring the bell, and they will throw me into the pit like cattle.”

      On 16 August 1919 a punitive detachment arrived in the village. After a denunciation accusing them of harboring a deserter and of agitation against the Red Army, soldiers burst into Evdokia’s cell. They beat the sick woman, threw and trod on icons with their feet. The people were driven into the square, and the detachment commander staged a mock trial, demanding a vote for execution.

      On the morning of 18 August Father Vasily Radugin was allowed to come to Evdokia; he administered the Holy Mysteries to her together with the cell-companions Daria, Daria and Maria, who had decided to share their spiritual mother’s fate. When the martyrs were driven by cart to the place of execution at the village cemetery, they continued to be whipped, and the cell-companions shielded their spiritual mother with their bodies.

      There were people who tried to intercede for the sufferers. They too were beaten. To this Evdokia said: “Look how sins fall from them. Like leaves from a broom in the bathhouse.”

      There is a lively tradition in Suvorovo that during this procession white angelic wings appeared over Evdokia, Daria, Daria and Maria, covering them from the blows.

      A common grave had already been dug in the cemetery. Some of the Red Army soldiers refused to carry out the sentence. Nevertheless there were those who fired. Maria, wounded, was stabbed with a bayonet. The inhabitants were ordered to bury the martyrs.

      The grave was venerated by local residents throughout the years of Soviet power, and after the finding of the relics people come here for consolation and healing.

      Evdokia (Sheikova) was glorified together with her cell-companions by the Hierarchical Jubilee Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on 13–15 August 2000. On 5 June 2001 the relics of the Puzin martyrs were discovered and now repose in the church in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.

      The Dormition church also preserves the Gospel book that belonged to the Puzin martyrs and the cross of the martyr Evdokia.

      On 28 December 2017, at a meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, its participants resolved to approve and recommend for use in the church-wide liturgical practice the presented service texts for the New Martyrs Evdokia, Daria, Daria and Maria of Puzin.

      On 12 December 2021 in the Sormovsky district of Nizhny Novgorod on Sutyurin Street the laying of the foundation for a chapel was performed, which, with the blessing of Metropolitan Georgy of Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas, will be consecrated in honor of the holy martyrs Evdokia, Daria, Daria and Maria of Puzin. The foundation-laying rite was performed by the head of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia. On the day of the finding of the relics of the Puzin New Martyrs, 5 June 2022, the first moleben with an akathist to the saints was served at the construction site of the chapel. On 18 August 2023, on the day of commemoration of the holy martyrs, the first Divine Liturgy in the church building was celebrated. The service was led by the rector of the church under construction, Priest Valery Romashov. The chapel project was developed by specialists of LLC “Regional Engineering Center” under the direction of Yuri Koval. The total area of the building will be 225 square meters, the height — 25.2 meters, capacity — 200 people. At the construction site of the chapel a moleben singing to the Puzin martyrs is performed on the third Sunday of each month.

      When citing, a link (hyperlink) to the website of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia is mandatory.

      More news about the event:

      18 August — Day of Remembrance of the Puzin Martyrs

      Text by Tatyana Garina

      The martyrs Evdokia (Sheikova), Daria (Timagina), Daria (Ulybina) and Maria (surname now lost) belong to the assembly of Diveyevo saints. 07:19 18.08.2025 Nizhny Novgorod Diocese - Nizhny Novgorod

      The head of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia celebrated an all-night vigil in the Dormition church of the village of Suvorovo, Diveyevo municipal district

      Text by Tatyana Garina

      17 August, on the eve of the day of remembrance of the Puzin martyrs, 21:05 17.08.2025 Nizhny Novgorod Diocese - Nizhny Novgorod

      News from neighboring regions on the topic:

      For City Day a new iconostasis appeared in the chapel of St. Catherine

      Preparations for City Day in Yekaterinburg are underway in the chapel of the Great-Martyr St. Catherine. 07:01 18.08.2025 Orthodox Newspaper - Yekaterinburg