Martyr
Martyrs Eudocia, Daria, Daria and Maria of Puzo
† 18 августа 1919
Also known as: Мцц. Евдокия, Дария, Дария и Мария, Пузинские мученицы, Суворовские мученицы, Евдокия (Шейкова), Дария (Улыбина), Дария (Тимагина), Мария (Неизвестная), Дивеевские мученицы
Blessed Eudocia Sheikova, a paralysed ascetic of the village of Puzo near Diveyevo, and her three cell-attendants Daria Ulybina, Daria Timagina and Maria, who chose to share her martyrdom on 18 August 1919.
Eudocia Alexandrovna Sheikova was born on 11 February 1856 into a peasant family in the village of Puzo (now Suvorovo), Nizhny Novgorod province. Paralysed after an illness at twenty, she led a strict life of prayer and foolishness for Christ together with her cell-attendants, and became known for gifts of healing and clairvoyance.
On 16 August 1919 a punitive detachment arrived in Puzo. Accused of hiding a deserter and agitating against the Red Army, Eudocia was beaten and her icons trampled, and a mock trial was held in the village square. On the morning of 18 August a priest gave Communion to her and to her attendants Daria Ulybina, Daria Timagina and Maria, who had decided to share her fate. As she was carted to the cemetery, they shielded her from blows with their own bodies. All four were shot and buried in a common grave, which the villagers venerated throughout the Soviet years.
The Jubilee Council of Bishops of 2000 glorified them among the New Martyrs of Russia. Their relics were uncovered on 5 June 2001 and rest in the Dormition Church in Suvorovo. They are commemorated on 5/18 August and 23 May/5 June, and belong to the Synaxis of the Saints of Diveyevo.