Saint Anna
by Walt Reimer

The Russian Orthodox Order of Saint Anna the Defender (Svyatoy Anna Zaschitnik, feast day July 17) was founded in 1921 by decree of the Grand Duchess of Vostok Island and Patriarch Pavel. It has the distinction of being a bit of an anomaly in several senses, because unlike the Western monastic traditions there are no distinct clerical orders in the Russian Orthodox Church, and because it is a militant order restricted to women.

The Order’s matron saint is (was, when she was alive) Anna Stepanovna Demidova, a lady’s maid employed by the Tsarina Alexandra. Her martyrdom story relates that in 1918, as the Red Guards prepared to execute the lepine and her employers, Anna called upon Saints Peter and Paul to aid her in defending the Imperial Family "for the glory of Christ and of Mother Russia," and imbued with their power and armed with a workman's hammer, she slew fully ten Red Guards who had scoffed at her prayers and insulted Russian Orthodoxy.

The fact that she and the Imperial Family were martyred anyway has led to certain wags naming her Svyatoy Anna Nyedachnik, or Saint Anna the Unfortunate. Those who do, however, are wise to do so away from the ears of her devotees.

The miracle story that led to her glorification relates that as the Tsarist forces retreated toward Vladivostok, a trainload of children was being menaced by a closely-pursuing Red armored train. It is said that Anna appeared, hammer in her paws, and struck fear in the advancing Reds as the Tsarists managed to get the children to safety. Had they not, the advancing Reds would have massacred the children.

Ikons of Saint Anna depict her as a tall and statuesque rabbit nun in flowing robes, standing athwart a set of railroad tracks, her hammer either in her paw or hung at her belt, and her right paw raised in a warding-off gesture. The children she saved are seen clustered around her feet.

Interestingly, the ikons of Saint Anna are rendered in a modern Art Nouveau style rather than the more formalized Byzantine. The reason behind this was to stress that the Saint was a modern creation at the time, and to accentuate the divide between the Russian Empire and the newly-created Empire-in-Exile. The framing around the images in the ikon resemble the front of a generic locomotive. The legend at the bottom reads "Saint Anna Defender of Children" in Russian Old Church Slavonic.

The Order inhabits monasteries on the west coast of Romanov Island, where a Soviet invasion is expected. The nuns crew anti-aircraft guns and practicing swimming out to invasion ships to attach bombs to their hulls. Some of the nuns have stated that the hammer in Saint Anna’s paws will be used when she appears again, to lead the Imperial armies to victory over the Soviet usurpers.

Art by Blackdragon-sama.  :-)