Last Sunday, January 25, 2026, the monoplay “Mother Maria” was presented in Paris, dedicated to the fate of one of the most striking figures of Christian holiness of the twentieth century: Mother Maria (Skobtsova) – our contemporary and the new spiritual patroness of Paris.
The play is not just a theatrical production, but a truly profound reflection on the holiness born amidst inhuman hatred, on passion-suffering and the highest form of love. The feat of St. Mother Maria is unusual even in its modernity – a poet, philosopher, mother, nun, participant in the Resistance, who died in a concentration camp, she revealed holiness not in separation from the world, but in the very heart of its man-made abyss.
Today, when the word “sacrifice” is heard less and less, her life again becomes a question addressed to each of us: what is a person capable of for the sake of another?
The play is based on the book by Ksenia Krivosheina, About how little Lisa Pilenko became the holy mother Mary (Xénia Krivocheine, «Comment la petite Liza Pilenko est devenue sainte mère Marie») and is performed in the form of a confessional monologue: strictly piercing and extremely sincere.
The role of Rev. Mary is played by Alfiya Fabre, actress and director of the play. In the summer of 2025, she participated in the Kineshma Theater Festival, where she was awarded the award for best female role.
“The performance – we also read in the news dedicated to the event – took place in Paris: the city with which the life, works and spiritual legacy of Mother Mary are inextricably linked. This encounter with her image is not only a tribute to her memory, but also a living attempt to hear the voice of holiness addressed to the man of the 21st century.”
Source: Parlons d’orthodoxie.
