Vol. 54, No. 3 (320) May-June, 2018

A God-given Eldress: Schemanun Theodosia (Kosorotikhina)

This issue of The Orthodox Word is dedicated entirely to the life of a truly remarkable woman—Schemanun Theodosia of the Ryazan region of Russia, who reposed in 2014. Born Natalia Kosorotikhina in 1923, she quietly led an exemplary Christian life amidst the bitter Soviet reality of her time. After a serious work accident at about thirty years of age, she remained in a coma for almost twenty years. When she finally regained consciousness, she was found to be totally paralyzed from the neck down. At the same time, it was discovered that God had granted her the gifts of clairvoyance and of healing through prayer. She used these gifts for the good of the many people who came to her small village home, taking up a nearly forty-year ministry of consoling, guiding, and helping those in need. In time she became well known throughout Russia. This is a deeply moving story of one who, while bearing a weighty cross of affliction herself, was able to lighten the burdens of others through the power of Christ working in her.