Interpersonal Communion as a Mystical Path to Holiness on the Margins of Society in Maria Skobtsova

Orhideja Josifovski

Interpersonal Communion as a Mystical Path to Holiness on the Margins of Society in Maria Skobtsova

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62983/rn2865.26a.5

Keywords: Maria Skobtsova, mysticism of interpersonal communion, holiness, social theology, liturgy outside the church, Orthodoxy, monasticism

Abstract:
This article examines the concept of the mysticism of interpersonal communion in the theological thought of Mother Maria Skobtsova (1891–1945) and its significance for understanding holiness. Drawing on selected writings by Mother Maria Skobtsova—especially Мистика человекообщения, Вторая евангельская заповедь, О монашестве, Социальный вопрос и социальная реальность, and Оправдание фарисейства—as well as contemporary scholarship on her work, the article argues that interpersonal communion constitutes the central theological principle of her understanding of the human person, Christian love, monasticism, and the social mission of the Church. The article demonstrates that Mother Maria understood the human person as inseparable from relationships with both God and other people. Consequently, love of neighbour is not merely an ethical obligation but an essential expression of Christian faith. This perspective also shapes her understanding of asceticism, which is directed not toward individual spiritual perfection but toward self-giving service, responsibility, and solidarity with others. Particular attention is devoted to the relationship between the second Gospel commandment, monasticism in the world, and the concept of the “outside-the-church” liturgy. Mother Maria argues that the liturgical and eucharistic life of the Church must extend beyond its walls through concrete acts of mercy, hospitality, and service. Holiness is therefore understood not as withdrawal from society but as active witness to Christ among those who suffer, especially the poor, the excluded, migrants, and people living on the margins of society. The article concludes that the mysticism of interpersonal communion forms the foundation of Mother Maria’s anthropology, ecclesiology, and social theology. Her understanding of holiness as an encounter with Christ in the other person represents an original contribution to twentieth-century Orthodox theology and remains highly relevant in contemporary societies marked by social inequality, migration, loneliness, and exclusion.

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