Nun Maria (Sergeyevna Rykova)

Saint Mary was born in 1892 in Moscow. Having decided to dedicate her life to God, she became a nun. On June 23, 1937, she was arrested as part of the group case of 'Archbishop Alexius (Orlov) and others.' Nun Mary was accused of 'belonging to a counter-revolutionary center of churchmen.' During the interrogation, she stated that 'I did not belong to any counter-revolutionary organization and did not conduct any counter-revolutionary work.' In August 1937, the troika of the NKVD for the South Kazakhstan region sentenced nun Mary (Rykova) to the highest measure of punishment. On September 27, 1937, she was shot in the Lisyaya Balka near the city of Chimkent.