Maria Beruski
Maria Aparecida Berushko was a school teacher who died saving her students in a school fire in Brazil. She may become the first Orthodox saint in Latin America.[1]
Maria, being of Ukrainian descent, was born in 1959, in Joaquim Távora, Paraná, Brazil.
When a school caught fire in 1986, Maria refused a chance to leave the building, instead she stayed inside and assisted her pupils in escaping. Berushko assisted in saving the lives of 5 children, but 8 children died together with the teacher in the fire.
The Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Latin America already placed the issue of Maria's beatification to the agenda.[2] It is expected the final decision to be made within three years.
A street in the Brazilian town of Curitiba has already been named after Maria Berushko (rua Maria Aparecida Beruski).
References
- 1959 births
- 1986 deaths
- Brazilian people of Ukrainian descent
- Brazilian educational theorists
- People from Paraná (state)
- People from Curitiba
- 20th-century Christian saints
- Christian female saints of the Late Modern era
- Eastern Orthodox Christians from Brazil
- Members of Ukrainian Orthodox church bodies
- Deaths from fire
- Accidental deaths in Brazil
- Brazilian people stubs