The execution of pious women during this period of persecutions was extremely numerous. Anonymous nuns, wives, sisters and nurses of clergy, perished along with simple women in camps and prisons. Those who remained free were subdued into servitude. Imperceptibly, they accomplished their Christian service by accompanying persecuted clergy, spending entire nights outside prison doors, protecting churches and holy relics from robbery and destruction. They stood firm at a time when it seemed that the life and prosperity of the Orthodox world would never return. They also took care and educated children who were orphaned by the persecution. But not a single tear of nameless suffering is forgotten by God.
In this composition, a woman wearing a white shawl protects two children from the threatening rifle of a soldier. Yet she stands fearless, strengthened instead by the knowledge of God's paradise. The dramatic nature of this scene contrasts with the soft, pink coloring around it, a leitmotiv throughout this icon.