Saint Louise Orthodoxy. Light unquenchable

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Elizabeth Feodorovna was called one of the most beautiful women in Europe. It would seem that a high position, a successful marriage should have brought happiness to the princess, but many trials fell to her lot. And at the end of her life's journey, a terrible martyr's death befell the woman.

Family of Ludwig IV, Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice was the second daughter of the Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, and the sister of the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Ella, as her family called her, was brought up in strict Puritan traditions and the Protestant faith. From an early age, the princess could serve herself, light the fireplace and cook something in the kitchen. The girl often sewed warm clothes with her own hands and took them to a shelter for those in need.

The Four Sisters of Hesse-Darmstadt (left to right) - Irene, Victoria, Elisabeth and Alix, 1885

As she grew older, Ella flourished and became prettier. At that time they said that there were only two beauties in Europe - Elisabeth of Austria (Bavarian) and Elisabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt. Meanwhile, Ella was 20 years old, and she was still not married. It is worth noting that the girl took a vow of chastity at the age of 9, she shunned men, and all potential suitors were refused, except for one.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna of Russia and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, 1883.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the fifth son of the Russian Emperor Alexander II, became the chosen one of the princess, and even then, after a whole year of reflection. It is not known for certain how the explanation of the young people happened, but they agreed that their union would be without physical intimacy and offspring. Pious Elizabeth was quite happy with this, because she had no idea how a man would deprive her of her virginity. And Sergei Alexandrovich, according to rumors, did not prefer women at all. Despite such an agreement, in the future they became incredibly attached to each other, which can be called platonic love.

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1887

The wife of Sergei Alexandrovich was named Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna. According to tradition, all German princesses received this patronymic in honor of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God. After the wedding, the princess remained in her faith, since the law allowed this to be done, unless there was a need to ascend the imperial throne.

Portrait of Grand Duchess Elizabeth, 1896.

Prince Sergei Alexandrovich and Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna in carnival costumes.

A few years later, Elizaveta Feodorovna herself decided to convert to Orthodoxy. She said that she fell in love with the Russian language and culture so much that she felt an urgent need to convert to another faith. Gathering her strength and knowing what pain she would cause her family, Elizabeth wrote a letter to her father on January 1, 1891:

“You should have noticed how deep a reverence I have for the local religion .... I kept thinking and reading and praying to God to show me the right path, and I came to the conclusion that only in this religion can I find all the real and strong faith in God that a person must have in order to be a good Christian. It would be a sin to remain the way I am now, to belong to the same church in form and for the outside world, but within myself to pray and believe like my husband…. You know me well, you must see that I decided to take this step only out of deep faith, and that I feel that I must appear before God with a pure and believing heart. I thought and thought deeply about all this, being in this country for more than 6 years and knowing that the religion was "found". I so strongly desire to partake of the Holy Mysteries with my husband on Easter.”

The father did not give his blessing to his daughter, but her decision was unshakable. On the eve of Easter, Elizaveta Feodorovna converted to Orthodoxy.

Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna with her husband Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Arrival in Moscow.

From that moment on, the princess began to actively help those in need. She spent huge amounts of money on the maintenance of shelters, hospitals, and personally went to the poorest areas. The people loved the princess very much for her sincerity and kindness.

When the situation in the country began to escalate, and the Socialist-Revolutionaries began their subversive activities, the princess kept receiving notes with warnings so that she would not travel with her husband. After that, Elizaveta Fedorovna, on the contrary, tried to accompany her husband everywhere.

The carriage destroyed by the explosion, in which the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was.

But on February 4, 1905, Prince Sergei Alexandrovich was killed by a bomb thrown by the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. When the princess arrived at the scene, they tried not to let her into what was left of her husband. Elizaveta Fedorovna personally collected the scattered pieces of the prince on a stretcher.

Elizaveta Feodorovna in Kalyaev's dungeon.

Three days later, the princess went to prison, where they kept the revolutionary. Kalyaev told her: "I did not want to kill you, I saw him several times at the time when I had the bomb at the ready, but you were with him, and I did not dare to touch him." Elizaveta Feodorovna urged the murderer to repent, but to no avail. Even later, this merciful woman sent a petition to the emperor to pardon Kalyaev, but the revolutionary was executed.

Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna in mourning.

After the death of her husband, Elizabeth put on mourning and decided to devote herself entirely to caring for the disadvantaged. In 1908, the princess built the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent and became a monk. The princess told other nuns about this: “I will leave the brilliant world where I occupied a brilliant position, but together with all of you I ascend to a greater world - to the world of the poor and suffering.”

After 10 years, when the revolution took place, the cloisters of Elizabeth Feodorovna continued to help with medicines and food. The woman refused the offer to go to Sweden. She knew what a dangerous step she was taking, but she could not abandon her wards.

Elizaveta Fedorovna - Mother Superior of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.

In May 1918, the princess was arrested and sent to Perm. There were also several other representatives of the imperial dynasty. On the night of July 18, 1918, the Bolsheviks massacred the prisoners brutally. They threw them alive down the shaft and detonated several grenades.

But even after such a fall, not everyone died. According to eyewitnesses, cries for help and prayers were heard from the mine for several more days. As it turned out, Elizaveta Feodorovna fell not to the bottom of the mine, but to a ledge that saved her from a grenade explosion. But this only prolonged her torment.

Nun Elizaveta Feodorovna, 1918.

In 1921, the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna were taken to the Holy Land and buried in the church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene.

Holy Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova

The Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna (officially in Russia - Elisaveta Feodorovna) was born on October 20 (November 1), 1864 in Germany, in the city of Darmstadt. She was the second child in the family of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. Another daughter of this couple (Alice) would later become Empress of Russia Alexandra Feodorovna.

Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse and the Rhine with her daughter Ella

Ella with her mother Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and the Rhine

Ludwig IV of Hesse and Alice with Princesses Victoria and Elisabeth (right).

Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt

Children were brought up in the traditions of old England, their life passed according to the strict order established by the mother. Children's clothes and food were the most basic. The older daughters themselves did their homework: they cleaned the rooms, beds, stoked the fireplace. Subsequently, Elizaveta Fedorovna said: "The house taught me everything." The mother carefully followed the talents and inclinations of each of the seven children and tried to educate them on a solid basis of Christian commandments, to put love for their neighbors, especially for those who suffer, into their hearts.

The parents of Elizabeth Feodorovna gave away most of their fortune for charitable purposes, and the children constantly traveled with their mother to hospitals, shelters, homes for the disabled, bringing with them large bouquets of flowers, put them in vases, carried them to the wards of patients.

Since childhood, Elizabeth loved nature and especially flowers, which she painted with enthusiasm. She had a picturesque gift, and all her life she devoted a lot of time to this occupation. Loved classical music. Everyone who knew Elizabeth from childhood noted her religiosity and love for her neighbors. As Elizabeth Feodorovna herself later said, even in her earliest youth, she was greatly influenced by the life and deeds of her holy distant relative Elizabeth of Thuringia, in whose honor she bore her name.

Portrait of the family of Grand Duke Ludwig IV, painted for Queen Victoria in 1879 by the artist Baron Heinrich von Angeli.

In 1873, Elizabeth's three-year-old brother Friedrich crashed to death in front of his mother. In 1876, an epidemic of diphtheria broke out in Darmstadt, all the children fell ill, except for Elizabeth. The mother sat at night by the beds of sick children. Soon the four-year-old Maria died, and after her, Grand Duchess Alice herself fell ill and died at the age of 35.

In that year, the time of childhood ended for Elizabeth. Grief intensified her prayers. She realized that life on earth is the way of the Cross. The child tried with all his might to alleviate the grief of his father, support him, console him, and to some extent replace his mother for his younger sisters and brother.

Alice and Louis with their children: Marie in the arms of the Grand Duke and (from left to right) Ella, Ernie, Alix, Irene, and Victoria

Grand Duchess of Hesse and Rhineland Alice

Artist - Henry Charles Heath

Princesses Victoria, Elizabeth, Irene, Alix of Hesse mourn their mother.

In the twentieth year of her life, Princess Elizabeth became the bride of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II, brother of Emperor Alexander III. She met her future husband in childhood, when he came to Germany with his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who also came from the Hessian house. Before that, all applicants for her hand were refused: Princess Elizabeth in her youth made a vow to keep her virginity all her life. After a frank conversation between her and Sergei Alexandrovich, it turned out that he secretly made the same vow. By mutual agreement, their marriage was spiritual, they lived like brother and sister.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Elisabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt

Elizaveta Feodorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich

Elizaveta Feodorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich.

The wedding took place in the church of the Grand Palace of St. Petersburg according to the Orthodox rite, and after it according to the Protestant rite in one of the living rooms of the palace. The Grand Duchess intensively studied the Russian language, wanting to study the culture and especially the faith of her new homeland in depth.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth was dazzlingly beautiful. In those days, they said that there were only two beauties in Europe, and both were Elizabeths: Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, and Elizaveta Feodorovna.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova.

F.I. Rerberg.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova.

Zon, Karl Rudolf-

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova.

A.P.Sokolov

Elizaveta Feodorovna firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy. From this step, she was held back by the fear of hurting her family, and above all, her father. Finally, on January 1, 1891, she wrote a letter to her father about her decision, asking for a short telegram of blessing.

The father did not send his daughter the desired telegram with a blessing, but wrote a letter in which he said that her decision brings him pain and suffering, and he cannot give a blessing. Then Elizaveta Feodorovna showed courage and, despite moral suffering, firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy.

On April 13 (25), on Lazarus Saturday, the sacrament of chrismation of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was performed, leaving her former name, but in honor of the holy righteous Elizabeth - the mother of St. John the Baptist, whose memory the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 5 (18).

Friedrich August von Kaulbach.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, V.I. Nesterenko

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, 1887 Artist S.F. Alexandrovsky

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

The people of Moscow soon appreciated her merciful heart. She went to hospitals for the poor, to almshouses, to shelters for homeless children. And everywhere she tried to alleviate the suffering of people: she distributed food, clothes, money, improved the living conditions of the unfortunate.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna's room

In 1894, after many obstacles, a decision was made on the engagement of the Grand Duchess Alice with the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich. Elizaveta Fedorovna was glad that the young lovers could finally unite, and her sister would live in Russia, dear to her heart. Princess Alice was 22 years old and Elizabeth Feodorovna hoped that her sister, living in Russia, would understand and love the Russian people, master the Russian language perfectly and be able to prepare for the high service of the Russian Empress.

Two sisters Ella and Alix

Ella and Alix

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

But everything happened differently. The bride of the heir arrived in Russia when Emperor Alexander III was in a terminal illness. On October 20, 1894, the emperor died. The next day, Princess Alice converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexandra. The marriage of Emperor Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna took place a week after the funeral, and in the spring of 1896 the coronation took place in Moscow. The celebrations were overshadowed by a terrible disaster: on the Khodynka field, where gifts were distributed to the people, a stampede began - thousands of people were injured or crushed.

When the Russo-Japanese War began, Elizaveta Fedorovna immediately began organizing assistance to the front. One of her remarkable undertakings was the arrangement of workshops to help the soldiers - all the halls of the Kremlin Palace, except for the Throne Palace, were occupied for them. Thousands of women worked on sewing machines and work tables. Huge donations came from all over Moscow and from the provinces. From here, bales of food, uniforms, medicines and gifts for soldiers went to the front. The Grand Duchess sent marching churches to the front with icons and everything necessary for worship. She personally sent Gospels, icons and prayer books. At her own expense, the Grand Duchess formed several sanitary trains.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, D. Belyukin

Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

In Moscow, she arranged a hospital for the wounded, created special committees to provide for the widows and orphans of those who died at the front. But the Russian troops suffered one defeat after another. The war showed the technical and military unpreparedness of Russia, the shortcomings of public administration. The settling of scores for past insults of arbitrariness or injustice, an unprecedented scale of terrorist acts, rallies, strikes began. The state and social order was falling apart, a revolution was approaching.

Sergei Alexandrovich believed that it was necessary to take tougher measures against the revolutionaries and reported this to the emperor, saying that in the current situation he could no longer hold the post of Governor-General of Moscow. The sovereign accepted his resignation and the couple left the governor's house, temporarily moving to Neskuchnoye.

Meanwhile, the militant organization of the Social Revolutionaries sentenced Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to death. Her agents were watching him, waiting for an opportunity to carry out the execution. Elizaveta Feodorovna knew that her husband was in mortal danger. She was warned in anonymous letters not to accompany her husband if she did not want to share his fate. The Grand Duchess tried all the more not to leave him alone and, if possible, accompanied her husband everywhere.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, V.I. Nesterenko

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

On February 5 (18), 1905, Sergei Aleksandrovich was killed by a bomb thrown by the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. When Elizaveta Fyodorovna arrived at the site of the explosion, a crowd had already gathered there. Someone tried to prevent her from approaching the remains of her husband, but with her own hands she collected pieces of her husband's body scattered by the explosion on a stretcher.

On the third day after the death of her husband, Elizaveta Fedorovna went to the prison where the murderer was kept. Kalyaev said: "I did not want to kill you, I saw him several times and the time when I had the bomb at the ready, but you were with him, and I did not dare to touch him."

- « And you didn't realize that you killed me along with him? she replied. Further, she said that she brought forgiveness from Sergei Alexandrovich and asked him to repent. But he refused. Nevertheless, Elizaveta Fedorovna left the Gospel and a small icon in the cell, hoping for a miracle. Leaving prison, she said: "My attempt was unsuccessful, although, who knows, it is possible that at the last minute he will realize his sin and repent of it." The Grand Duchess asked Emperor Nicholas II to pardon Kalyaev, but this request was rejected.

Meeting of Elizabeth Feodorovna and Kalyaev.

Since the death of her wife, Elizaveta Feodorovna did not take off her mourning, she began to keep a strict fast, she prayed a lot. Her bedroom in the Nicholas Palace began to resemble a monastic cell. All luxurious furniture was taken out, the walls were repainted white, they were only icons and paintings of spiritual content. She did not appear at social receptions. I only went to the church for weddings or christenings of relatives and friends and immediately went home or on business. Now she had nothing to do with social life.

Elizaveta Feodorovna in mourning after the death of her husband

She collected all her valuables, gave part to the treasury, part to her relatives, and decided to use the rest to build a monastery of mercy. On Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow, Elizaveta Fedorovna bought an estate with four houses and a garden. The largest two-story house housed a dining room for the sisters, a kitchen and other utility rooms, in the second - a church and a hospital, next to it - a pharmacy and an outpatient clinic for visiting patients. In the fourth house there was an apartment for the priest - the confessor of the monastery, classes of the school for girls of the orphanage and a library.

On February 10, 1909, the Grand Duchess gathered 17 sisters of the monastery she founded, took off her mourning dress, put on a monastic robe and said: “I will leave the brilliant world where I occupied a brilliant position, but together with all of you I ascend to a greater world - to the world of the poor and the suffering."

Elizaveta Fyodorovna Romanova.

Mikhail Nesterov. Elisaveta Feodorovna Romanova. Between 1910 and 1912.

The day at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent began at 6 o'clock in the morning. After the general morning prayer rule. In the hospital church, the Grand Duchess gave obedience to her sisters for the coming day. Those free from obedience remained in the church, where the Divine Liturgy began. The afternoon meal was accompanied by the reading of the lives of the saints. At 5 pm Vespers and Matins were served in the church, where all the sisters who were free from obedience were present. On holidays and Sundays, an all-night vigil was performed. At 9 pm, the evening rule was read in the hospital church, after which all the sisters, having received the blessing of the abbess, dispersed to their cells. Akathists were read four times a week at Vespers: on Sunday to the Savior, on Monday to the Archangel Michael and all the Disembodied Heavenly Powers, on Wednesday to the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary, and on Friday to the Mother of God or the Passion of Christ. In the chapel built at the end of the garden, the Psalter was read for the dead. The abbess herself often prayed there at night. The inner life of the sisters was led by a wonderful priest and shepherd - the confessor of the monastery, Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky. Twice a week he held talks with the sisters. In addition, the sisters could come daily at certain hours for advice and guidance to the confessor or to the abbess. The Grand Duchess, together with Father Mitrofan, taught the sisters not only medical knowledge, but also the spiritual guidance of degraded, lost and desperate people. Every Sunday after the evening service in the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God, conversations were held for the people with a common singing of prayers.

Marfo-Mariinsky Convent

Archpriest Mitrofan Srebryansky

Divine services in the monastery have always stood at a brilliant height thanks to the confessor chosen by the abbess, who was exceptional in his pastoral merits. The best shepherds and preachers not only of Moscow, but also of many distant places in Russia came here to perform divine services and preach. As a bee, the abbess collected nectar from all flowers so that people could feel the special aroma of spirituality. The monastery, its temples and divine services aroused the admiration of contemporaries. This was facilitated not only by the temples of the monastery, but also by a beautiful park with greenhouses - in the best traditions of garden art of the 18th - 19th centuries. It was a single ensemble that harmoniously combined external and internal beauty.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

A contemporary of the Grand Duchess, Nonna Grayton, the maid of honor of her relative Princess Victoria, testifies: “She had a wonderful quality - to see the good and the real in people, and tried to bring it out. She also did not have a high opinion of her qualities at all ... She never had the words “I can’t”, and there was never anything dull in the life of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. Everything was there perfectly both inside and out. And who has been there, carried away a wonderful feeling.

In the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, the Grand Duchess led the life of an ascetic. Slept on a wooden bed without a mattress. She strictly observed the fasts, eating only plant foods. In the morning she got up for prayer, after which she distributed obediences to the sisters, worked in the clinic, received visitors, sorted out petitions and letters.

In the evening, rounds of patients, ending after midnight. At night she prayed in the chapel or in the church, her sleep rarely lasted more than three hours. When the patient rushed about and needed help, she sat at his bedside until dawn. In the hospital, Elizaveta Fedorovna took on the most responsible work: she assisted in operations, did dressings, found words of comfort, and tried to alleviate the suffering of patients. They said that a healing power emanated from the Grand Duchess, which helped them endure pain and agree to difficult operations.

As the main remedy for ailments, the abbess always offered confession and communion. She said: "It is immoral to console the dying with a false hope of recovery, it is better to help them pass in a Christian way into eternity."

Healed patients wept as they left the Marfo-Mariinsky hospital, parting with " great mother”, as they called the abbess. A Sunday school for factory workers worked at the monastery. Anyone could use the funds of the excellent library. There was a free canteen for the poor.

The abbess of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent believed that the main thing was not the hospital, but help to the poor and needy. The monastery received up to 12,000 petitions a year. They asked for everything: arrange for treatment, find a job, look after children, take care of bedridden patients, send them to study abroad.

She found opportunities to help the clergy - she gave funds for the needs of poor rural parishes who could not repair the temple or build a new one. She encouraged, strengthened, financially helped priests - missionaries who worked among the pagans of the Far North or foreigners of the outskirts of Russia.

One of the main places of poverty, to which the Grand Duchess paid special attention, was Khitrov Market. Elizaveta Feodorovna, accompanied by her cell-attendant Varvara Yakovleva or the sister of the monastery, Princess Maria Obolenskaya, tirelessly moving from one brothel to another, collected orphans and persuaded parents to give her children to raise. The entire population of Khitrov respected her, calling " sister Elizabeth" or "mother". The police constantly warned her that they could not guarantee her safety.

Varvara Yakovleva

Princess Maria Obolenskaya

Khitrov market

In response to this, the Grand Duchess always thanked the police for their care and said that her life was not in their hands, but in the hands of God. She tried to save the children of Khitrovka. She was not afraid of impurity, abuse, which lost its human face. She said: " The likeness of God may sometimes be obscured, but it can never be destroyed.”

The boys torn from Khitrovka, she arranged for hostels. From one group of such recent ragamuffins, an artel of executive messengers from Moscow was formed. The girls were placed in closed educational institutions or shelters, where they also monitored their health, spiritual and physical.

Elizaveta Fyodorovna organized charity homes for orphans, the disabled, the seriously ill, found time to visit them, constantly supported them financially, and brought gifts. They tell such a case: one day the Grand Duchess was supposed to come to a shelter for little orphans. Everyone was preparing to meet their benefactor with dignity. The girls were told that the Grand Duchess was coming: they would have to say hello to her and kiss her hands. When Elizaveta Fyodorovna arrived, she was met by little ones in white dresses. They greeted each other and all extended their hands to the Grand Duchess with the words: "Kiss the hands." The teachers were horrified: what will happen. But the Grand Duchess approached each of the girls and kissed everyone's hands. Everyone cried at the same time - such tenderness and reverence was on their faces and in their hearts.

« great mother”hoped that the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy, which she had created, would blossom into a large fruitful tree.

Over time, she was going to arrange branches of the monastery in other cities of Russia.

The Grand Duchess had a primordially Russian love for pilgrimage.

More than once she went to Sarov and with joy hurried to the temple to pray at the shrine of St. Seraphim. She traveled to Pskov, to Optina Hermitage, to Zosima Hermitage, was in the Solovetsky Monastery. She also visited the smallest monasteries in provincial and remote places in Russia. She was present at all spiritual celebrations associated with the opening or transfer of the relics of the saints of God. The Grand Duchess secretly helped and looked after sick pilgrims who were waiting for healing from the newly glorified saints. In 1914, she visited the monastery in Alapaevsk, which was destined to become the place of her imprisonment and martyrdom.

She was the patroness of Russian pilgrims going to Jerusalem. Through the societies organized by her, the cost of tickets for pilgrims sailing from Odessa to Jaffa was covered. She also built a large hotel in Jerusalem.

Another glorious deed of the Grand Duchess is the construction of a Russian Orthodox church in Italy, in the city of Bari, where the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra of Lycia are buried. In 1914, the lower church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas and the hospice.

During the First World War, the work of the Grand Duchess increased: it was necessary to take care of the wounded in the infirmaries. Some of the sisters of the monastery were released to work in the field hospital. At first, Elizaveta Fedorovna, prompted by a Christian feeling, visited the captured Germans, but the slander about the secret support of the enemy forced her to refuse this.

In 1916, an angry mob approached the gates of the monastery demanding to hand over a German spy, the brother of Elizaveta Feodorovna, who was allegedly hiding in the monastery. The abbess went out to the crowd alone and offered to inspect all the premises of the community. The police cavalry dispersed the crowd.

Shortly after the February Revolution, a crowd again approached the monastery with rifles, red flags and bows. The abbess herself opened the gate - she was told that they had come to arrest her and put her on trial as a German spy, who also kept weapons in the monastery.

Nikolai Konstantinovich Konstantinov

To the demand of those who came to immediately go with them, the Grand Duchess said that she must make orders and say goodbye to her sisters. The abbess gathered all the sisters in the monastery and asked Father Mitrofan to serve a prayer service. Then, turning to the revolutionaries, she invited them to enter the church, but to leave their weapons at the entrance. They reluctantly took off their rifles and followed into the temple.

The entire prayer service Elizaveta Feodorovna stood on her knees. After the end of the service, she said that Father Mitrofan would show them all the buildings of the monastery, and they could look for what they wanted to find. Of course, they did not find anything there, except for the cells of the sisters and the hospital with the sick. After the crowd left, Elizaveta Fedorovna told the sisters: Obviously, we are not yet worthy of a martyr's crown..

In the spring of 1917, a Swedish minister came to her on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm and offered her help in traveling abroad. Elizaveta Fedorovna replied that she had decided to share the fate of the country, which she considered her new homeland and could not leave the sisters of the monastery at this difficult time.

There have never been so many people at worship in the monastery as before the October Revolution. They went not only for a bowl of soup or medical help, but for consolation and advice " great mother". Elizaveta Fedorovna received everyone, listened, strengthened. People left her peaceful and encouraged.

Mikhail Nesterov

Fresco "Christ with Martha and Mary" for the Pokrovsky Cathedral of the Martha and Mary Convent in Moscow

Mikhail Nesterov

The first time after the October Revolution, the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent was not touched. On the contrary, the sisters were respected, twice a week a truck with food drove up to the monastery: brown bread, dried fish, vegetables, a little fat and sugar. Of the medicines, bandages and essential medicines were issued in limited quantities.

The Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna was the second child in the family of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. Another daughter of this couple, Alice, would later become Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia.

Children were brought up in the traditions of old England, their life passed according to the strict order established by the mother. Children's clothes and food were the most basic. The older daughters themselves did their homework: they cleaned the rooms, beds, stoked the fireplace. Subsequently, Elisaveta Feodorovna said: "They taught me everything at home." The mother carefully followed the talents and inclinations of each of the seven children and tried to educate them on a solid basis of Christian commandments, to put love for their neighbors, especially for those who suffer, into their hearts.

The parents of Elisaveta Feodorovna gave away most of their fortune for charitable purposes, and the children constantly went with their mother to hospitals, shelters, homes for the disabled, bringing with them large bouquets of flowers, put them in vases, carried them to the wards of patients.

Since childhood, Elizabeth loved nature and especially flowers, which she painted with enthusiasm. She had a picturesque gift, and all her life she devoted a lot of time to this occupation. Loved classical music. Everyone who knew Elizabeth from childhood noted her religiosity and love for her neighbors. As Elisaveta Feodorovna herself later said, even in her earliest youth, she was greatly influenced by the life and deeds of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, in whose honor she bore her name.

In 1873, the three-year-old brother of Elizabeth Friedrich crashed to death in front of his mother. In 1876, an epidemic of diphtheria broke out in Darmstadt, all the children fell ill, except for Elisabeth. The mother sat at night by the beds of sick children. Soon the four-year-old Maria died, and after her, Grand Duchess Alice herself fell ill and died at the age of 35.

In the twentieth year of her life, Princess Elizabeth became the bride of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II, brother of Emperor Alexander III. She met her future husband in childhood, when he came to Germany with his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who also came from the Hessian house. Before that, all applicants for her hand were refused: Princess Elizabeth in her youth took a vow of virginity (celibacy). After a frank conversation between her and Sergei Alexandrovich, it turned out that he secretly took a vow of virginity. By mutual agreement, their marriage was spiritual, they lived like brother and sister.

The whole family accompanied Princess Elizabeth to her wedding in Russia. Instead, the twelve-year-old sister Alice came with her, who met her future husband, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, here.

For most of the year, the Grand Duchess lived with her husband in their Ilinskoye estate, sixty kilometers from Moscow, on the banks of the Moscow River. She loved Moscow with its ancient churches, monasteries and patriarchal way of life. Sergei Alexandrovich was a deeply religious person, strictly observed all church canons, often went to fasts for services, went to monasteries - the Grand Duchess followed her husband everywhere and stood idle for long church services. Here she experienced an amazing feeling, so unlike what she had met in a Protestant church. She saw the joyful state of Sergei Alexandrovich after he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and she herself so wanted to approach the Holy Chalice in order to share this joy. Elisaveta Feodorovna began to ask her husband to get her books of spiritual content, an Orthodox catechism, an interpretation of Scripture, in order to comprehend with her mind and heart what kind of religion is true.

In 1888, Emperor Alexander III instructed Sergei Alexandrovich to be his representative at the consecration of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane, built in the Holy Land in memory of their mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Sergei Alexandrovich was already in the Holy Land in 1881, where he participated in the founding of the Orthodox Palestine Society, becoming its chairman. This society sought funds to help the Russian Mission in Palestine and pilgrims, expand missionary work, acquire land and monuments associated with the life of the Savior.

Having learned about the opportunity to visit the Holy Land, Elisaveta Feodorovna took it as the Providence of God and prayed that at the Holy Sepulcher the Savior Himself would reveal to her His will.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and his wife arrived in Palestine in October 1888. The Church of St. Mary Magdalene was built in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. This five-domed temple with golden domes is one of the most beautiful temples in Jerusalem to this day. At the top of the Mount of Olives rose a huge bell tower, nicknamed the "Russian candle". Seeing this beauty and grace, the Grand Duchess said: "How I would like to be buried here." Little did she know then that she had uttered a prophecy that was destined to be fulfilled. As a gift to the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Elisaveta Feodorovna brought precious vessels, the Gospel and air.

After visiting the Holy Land, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy. From this step, she was held back by the fear of hurting her family, and above all, her father. Finally, on January 1, 1891, she wrote a letter to her father about her decision.

This letter shows what path Elisaveta Feodorovna went through. We will reproduce it almost in full:

“... And now, dear Papa, I want to say something to you and I beg you to give your blessing. You must have noticed the deep reverence I have for the religion here since you were last here over a year and a half ago. I kept thinking and reading and praying to God to show me the right path, and I came to the conclusion that only in this religion can I find all the real and strong faith in God that a person must have in order to be a good Christian. It would be a sin to remain as I am now - to belong to the same church in form and for the outside world, but within myself to pray and believe as my husband does. You cannot imagine how kind he was that he never tried to force me by any means, leaving it all entirely to my conscience. He knows what a serious step this is, and that one must be absolutely sure before deciding on it. I would have done it even before, it only tormented me that by doing this I bring you pain. But you, don't you understand, my dear Papa? You know me so well, you must see that I decided to take this step only out of deep faith and that I feel that I must appear before God with a pure and believing heart. How easy it would be to remain as it is now, but then how hypocritical, how false it would be, and how can I lie to everyone - pretending to be a Protestant in all outward rites, when my soul belongs entirely to the religion here. I thought and thought deeply about all this, being in this country for more than 6 years, and knowing that the religion was "found". I so much wish to partake of the Holy Mysteries on Easter with my husband. It may seem sudden to you, but I've been thinking about it for so long, and now, finally, I can't put it off. My conscience won't let me. Please, please, upon receipt of these lines, forgive your daughter if she causes you pain. But isn't faith in God and religion one of the main comforts of this world? Please wire me just one line when you receive this letter. God bless you. It will be such a comfort to me because I know there will be many awkward moments as no one will understand this step. I only ask for a small affectionate letter.

The father did not send his daughter the desired telegram with a blessing, but wrote a letter in which he said that her decision brings him pain and suffering, and he cannot give a blessing. Then Elisaveta Feodorovna showed courage and, despite moral suffering, firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy. A few more excerpts from her letters to relatives:

“... My conscience does not allow me to continue in the same spirit - that would be a sin; I have been lying all this time, remaining for everyone in my old faith... It would be impossible for me to continue to live the way I used to live...

Even in Slavic, I understand almost everything, never learning it. The Bible is available in both Slavonic and Russian, but the latter is easier to read.

You say... that the external brilliance of the church fascinated me. In this you are wrong. Nothing external attracts me, and not worship, but the foundation of faith. External signs only remind me of the internal...

I pass from pure conviction; I feel that this is the highest religion, and that I will do it with faith, with deep conviction and confidence that there is God's blessing on it.

On April 13 (25), on Lazarus Saturday, the sacrament of Confirmation of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was performed, leaving her former name, but in honor of the holy righteous Elizabeth - the mother of St. John the Baptist, whose memory the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 5 (18). After Confirmation, Emperor Alexander III blessed his daughter-in-law with a precious icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which Elisaveta Feodorovna revered sacredly all her life. Now she could say to her husband in the words of the Bible: “Your people have become my people, your God has become my god! (Ruth 1.16).

In 1891, Emperor Alexander III appointed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich as the Governor-General of Moscow. The wife of the governor-general had to perform many duties - there were constant receptions, concerts, balls. It was necessary to smile and bow to the guests, dance and carry on conversations, regardless of mood, state of health and desire. After moving to Moscow, Elisaveta Feodorovna experienced the death of loved ones: her beloved daughter-in-law of the princess - Alexandra (Pavel Alexandrovich's wife) and her father. It was the time of her mental and spiritual growth.

After the death of her father, she and Sergei Alexandrovich went along the Volga, with stops in Yaroslavl, Rostov, Uglich. In all these cities, the couple prayed in local churches.

In 1894, after many obstacles, a decision was made on the engagement of the Grand Duchess Alice with the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich. Elisaveta Feodorovna was glad that the young lovers would finally be able to unite, and her sister would live in Russia dear to her heart. Princess Alice was 22 years old and Elisaveta Feodorovna hoped that her sister, living in Russia, would understand and love the Russian people, master the Russian language perfectly and be able to prepare for the high service of the Empress of Russia.

This is how this tragic reign began - among memorial services and funeral memories.

In July 1903, the solemn glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov took place. The entire imperial family arrived in Sarov. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna prayed to the monk for the gift of a son to her. When the heir to the throne was born, at the request of the imperial couple, the throne of the lower church built in Tsarskoe Selo was consecrated in the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Elisaveta Feodorovna and her husband also came to Sarov. In a letter from Sarov, she writes: “... What weakness, what illnesses we saw, but also what faith. It seemed as if we were living in the time of the earthly life of the Savior. And how they prayed, how they cried - these poor mothers with sick children, and, thank God, many were healed. The Lord vouchsafed us to see how the dumb girl spoke, but how her mother prayed for her ... "

When the Russo-Japanese War began, Elisaveta Feodorovna immediately began organizing assistance to the front. One of her remarkable undertakings was the arrangement of workshops to help the soldiers - all the halls of the Kremlin Palace, except for the Throne Palace, were occupied for them. Thousands of women worked on sewing machines and work tables. Huge donations came from all over Moscow and from the provinces. From here, bales of food, uniforms, medicines and gifts for soldiers went to the front. The Grand Duchess sent marching churches to the front with icons and everything necessary for worship. She personally sent Gospels, icons and prayer books. At her own expense, the Grand Duchess formed several sanitary trains.

Meanwhile, the militant organization of the Social Revolutionaries sentenced Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to death. Her agents were watching him, waiting for an opportunity to carry out the execution. Elisaveta Feodorovna knew that her husband was in mortal danger. She was warned in anonymous letters not to accompany her husband if she did not want to share his fate. The Grand Duchess tried all the more not to leave him alone and, if possible, accompanied her husband everywhere.

On February 5 (18), 1905, Sergei Aleksandrovich was killed by a bomb thrown by the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. When Elisaveta Feodorovna arrived at the site of the explosion, a crowd had already gathered there. Someone tried to prevent her from approaching the remains of her husband, but with her own hands she collected pieces of her husband's body scattered by the explosion on a stretcher. After the first memorial service at the Chudov Monastery, Elisaveta Feodorovna returned to the palace, changed into a black mourning dress and began to write telegrams, and first of all to her sister Alexandra Feodorovna, asking her not to come to the funeral, because. terrorists could use them to assassinate the imperial couple. When the Grand Duchess wrote telegrams, she inquired several times about the condition of the wounded coachman Sergei Alexandrovich. She was told that the coachman's position was hopeless and he might soon die. In order not to upset the dying, Elisaveta Feodorovna took off her mourning dress, put on the same blue one she had been wearing before, and went to the hospital. There, bending over the bed of the dying man, she, overpowering herself, smiled at him kindly and said: "He sent me to you." Reassured by her words, thinking that Sergei Alexandrovich was alive, the devoted coachman Yefim died the same night.

On the third day after the death of her husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna went to the prison where the murderer was kept. Kalyaev said: "I did not want to kill you, I saw him several times and the time when I had the bomb at the ready, but you were with him, and I did not dare to touch him."

- "And you did not realize that you killed me along with him?" she replied. Further, she said that she brought forgiveness from Sergei Alexandrovich and asked him to repent. But he refused. Nevertheless, Elisaveta Feodorovna left the Gospel and a small icon in the cell, hoping for a miracle. Leaving prison, she said: "My attempt was unsuccessful, although, who knows, it is possible that at the last minute he will realize his sin and repent of it." The Grand Duchess asked Emperor Nicholas II to pardon Kalyaev, but this request was rejected.

Of the grand dukes, only Konstantin Konstantinovich (K.R.) and Pavel Alexandrovich were present at the burial. They buried him in the small church of the Chudov Monastery, where funeral requiems were performed daily for forty days; the Grand Duchess was present at every service and often came here at night, praying for the newly deceased. Here she felt the grace-filled help and strengthening from the holy relics of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, whom she especially revered since then. The Grand Duchess wore a silver cross with a particle of the relics of St. Alexis. She believed that St. Alexis had planted in her heart the desire to devote the rest of her life to God.

At the place of her husband's murder, Elisaveta Feodorovna erected a monument - a cross designed by the artist Vasnetsov. The words of the Savior from the Cross were written on the monument: “Father, let them go, they don’t know what they are doing.”

Since the death of her wife, Elisaveta Feodorovna did not take off her mourning, she began to keep a strict fast, she prayed a lot. Her bedroom in the Nicholas Palace began to resemble a monastic cell. All luxurious furniture was taken out, the walls were repainted white, they were only icons and paintings of spiritual content. She did not appear at social receptions. I only went to the church for weddings or christenings of relatives and friends and immediately went home or on business. Now she had nothing to do with social life.

She collected all her valuables, gave part to the treasury, part to her relatives, and decided to use the rest to build a monastery of mercy. On Bolshaya Ordynka in Moscow, Elisaveta Feodorovna bought an estate with four houses and a garden. The largest two-story house housed a dining room for the sisters, a kitchen and other utility rooms, in the second - a church and a hospital, next to it - a pharmacy and an outpatient clinic for visiting patients. In the fourth house there was an apartment for the priest - the confessor of the monastery, classes of the school for girls of the orphanage and a library.

to the world of the poor and the suffering."

The first temple of the monastery (“hospital”) was consecrated by Bishop Tryphon on September 9 (21), 1909 (the day of the celebration of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos) in the name of the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary. The second temple - in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, was consecrated in 1911 (architect A.V. Shchusev, paintings by M.V. Nesterov). Built according to the patterns of Novgorod-Pskov architecture, it retained the warmth and comfort of small parish churches. But, nevertheless, it was designed for the presence of more than a thousand worshipers. M.V. Nesterov said about this temple: “The Church of the Intercession is the best of the modern buildings in Moscow, which, under other conditions, can have, in addition to its direct purpose for the parish, an artistic and educational purpose for the whole of Moscow.” In 1914, a church was built under the temple - a tomb in the name of the Powers of Heaven and All Saints, which the abbess intended to make her resting place. The painting of the tomb was made by P.D. Korin, student of M.V. Nesterov.

The dedication of the created monastery to the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary is significant. The monastery was supposed to become, as it were, the home of St. Lazarus, the friend of God, in which the Savior so often visited. The sisters of the monastery were called to unite the lofty lot of Mary, heeding the words of eternal life, and the service of Martha - the service of the Lord through her neighbor.

The basis of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy was the charter of the monastic community. On April 9 (22), 1910, in the Church of Saints Martha and Mary, Bishop Trifon (Turkestanov) consecrated 17 sisters of the monastery, headed by Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, as cross sisters of love and mercy. During the solemn service, Bishop Tryphon, addressing the Grand Duchess already dressed in a monastic robe, said: “This garment will hide you from the world, and the world will be hidden from you, but at the same time it will be a witness to your beneficial activity, which will shine before the Lord. to His glory." The words of Lord Tryphon came true. Illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the activity of the Grand Duchess illuminated the pre-revolutionary years of Russia with the fire of Divine love and led the founder of the Martha and Mary Convent to the crown of martyrdom along with her cell-attendant, nun Varvara Yakovleva.

The day at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent began at 6 o'clock in the morning. After the general morning prayer rule! In the hospital church, the Grand Duchess gave obedience to her sisters for the coming day. Those free from obedience remained in the church, where the Divine Liturgy began. The afternoon meal was accompanied by the reading of the lives of the saints. At 5 pm Vespers and Matins were served in the church, where all the sisters who were free from obedience were present. On holidays and Sundays, an all-night vigil was performed. At 9 pm, the evening rule was read in the hospital church, after which all the sisters, having received the blessing of the abbess, dispersed to their cells. Akathists were read four times a week at Vespers: on Sunday to the Savior, on Monday to the Archangel Michael and all the Disembodied Heavenly Powers, on Wednesday to the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary, and on Friday to the Mother of God or the Passion of Christ. In the chapel built at the end of the garden, the Psalter was read for the dead. The abbess herself often prayed there at night. The inner life of the sisters was led by a wonderful priest and shepherd - the confessor of the monastery, Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky. Twice a week he held talks with the sisters. In addition, the sisters could come daily at certain hours for advice and guidance to the confessor or to the abbess. The Grand Duchess, together with Father Mitrofan, taught the sisters not only medical knowledge, but also the spiritual guidance of degraded, lost and desperate people. Every Sunday after the evening service in the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God, conversations were held for the people with a common singing of prayers.

“On the entire external environment of the monastery and its very inner life, and on all the creations of the Grand Duchess in general, lay the imprint of grace and culture, not because she attached any self-sufficient significance to this, but because such was the involuntary action of her creative spirit” - Metropolitan Anastassy writes in his memoirs.

In the evening, rounds of patients, ending after midnight. At night she prayed in the chapel or in the church, her sleep rarely lasted more than three hours. When the patient rushed about and needed help, she sat at his bedside until dawn. In the hospital, Elisaveta Feodorovna took on the most responsible work: she assisted in operations, did dressings, found words of consolation, and tried to alleviate the suffering of patients. They said that a healing power emanated from the Grand Duchess, which helped them endure pain and agree to difficult operations.

As the main remedy for ailments, the abbess always offered confession and communion. She said: “It is immoral to comfort the dying with a false hope of recovery; it is better to help them pass on to eternity in a Christian way.”

The sisters of the monastery took a course in medical knowledge. Their main task was to visit sick, poor, abandoned children, providing them with medical, material and moral assistance.

The best specialists of Moscow worked in the monastery hospital, all operations were performed free of charge. Here those who were refused by doctors were healed.

The healed patients cried as they left the Marfo-Mariinsky hospital, parting with the “great mother,” as they called the abbess. A Sunday school for factory workers worked at the monastery. Anyone could use the funds of the excellent library. There was a free canteen for the poor.

One of the main places of poverty, to which the Grand Duchess paid special attention, was Khitrov Market. Elisaveta Feodorovna, accompanied by her cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva or the sister of the monastery, Princess Maria Obolenskaya, tirelessly moving from one brothel to another, collected orphans and persuaded parents to give her children to raise. The entire population of Khitrov respected her, calling her "sister Elizabeth" or "mother." The police constantly warned her that they could not guarantee her safety.

In response to this, the Grand Duchess always thanked the police for their care and said that her life was not in their hands, but in the hands of God. She tried to save the children of Khitrovka. She was not afraid of impurity, abuse, which lost its human face. She said, "The likeness of God may sometimes be obscured, but it can never be destroyed."

Elisaveta Feodorovna organized charity homes for orphans, the disabled, the seriously ill, found time to visit them, constantly supported them financially, and brought gifts. They tell such a case: one day the Grand Duchess was supposed to come to a shelter for little orphans. Everyone was preparing to meet their benefactor with dignity. The girls were told that the Grand Duchess was coming: they would have to say hello to her and kiss her hands. When Elisaveta Feodorovna arrived, she was met by babies in white dresses. They greeted each other and all extended their hands to the Grand Duchess with the words: "Kiss the hands." The teachers were horrified: what will happen. But the Grand Duchess approached each of the girls and kissed everyone's hands. Everyone cried at the same time - such tenderness and reverence was on their faces and in their hearts.

The “Great Mother” hoped that the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy, which she had created, would blossom into a large fruitful tree.

Over time, she was going to arrange branches of the monastery in other cities of Russia.

The Grand Duchess had a primordially Russian love for pilgrimage.

During the First World War, the work of the Grand Duchess increased: it was necessary to take care of the wounded in the infirmaries. Some of the sisters of the monastery were released to work in the field hospital. At first, Elisaveta Feodorovna, prompted by a Christian feeling, visited the captured Germans, but the slander about the secret support of the enemy forced her to refuse this.

In 1916, an angry mob approached the gates of the monastery demanding to hand over a German spy, the brother of Elisaveta Feodorovna, who was allegedly hiding in the monastery. The abbess went out to the crowd alone and offered to inspect all the premises of the community. The Lord did not allow her to perish that day. The police cavalry dispersed the crowd.

The whole prayer service Elisaveta Feodorovna stood on her knees. After the end of the service, she said that Father Mitrofan would show them all the buildings of the monastery, and they could look for what they wanted to find. Of course, they did not find anything there, except for the cells of the sisters and the hospital with the sick. After the crowd left, Elisaveta Feodorovna said to the sisters: "Obviously, we are not yet worthy of the martyr's crown."

In the spring of 1917, a Swedish minister came to her on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm and offered her help in traveling abroad. Elisaveta Feodorovna replied that she had decided to share the fate of the country, which she considered her new homeland and could not leave the sisters of the monastery at this difficult time.

There have never been so many people at worship in the monastery as before the October Revolution. They went not only for a bowl of soup or medical help, but for consolation and advice from the “great mother”. Elisaveta Feodorovna received everyone, listened, strengthened. People left her peaceful and encouraged.

But everyone around was frightened, patrons and wealthy donors were now afraid to help the monastery. The Grand Duchess, in order to avoid provocation, did not go out of the gate, the sisters were also forbidden to go out. However, the established daily routine of the monastery did not change, only the services became longer, the prayer of the sisters became more fervent. Father Mitrofan served the Divine Liturgy every day in the crowded church, there were many communicants. For some time, the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, the Sovereign, found in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow on the day of the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from the throne, was located in the monastery. Cathedral prayers were performed before the icon.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the German government obtained the consent of the Soviet authorities for Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to leave the country. The German ambassador, Count Mirbach, twice tried to see the Grand Duchess, but she did not receive him and categorically refused to leave Russia. She said: “I have done nothing wrong to anyone. Be the will of the Lord!”

The tranquility in the monastery was the calm before the storm. First they sent questionnaires - questionnaires for those who lived and were on treatment: name, surname, age, social origin, etc. After that, several people from the hospital were arrested. Then it was announced that the orphans would be transferred to an orphanage. In April 1918, on the third day of Easter, when the Church celebrates the memory of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested and immediately taken out of Moscow. On this day, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon visited the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, where he served the Divine Liturgy and a prayer service. After the service, the patriarch stayed at the monastery until four in the afternoon, talking with the abbess and sisters. This was the last blessing and parting word of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church before the way of the cross of the Grand Duchess to Golgotha.

Almost immediately after the departure of Patriarch Tikhon, a car with a commissar and Latvian Red Army soldiers drove up to the monastery. Elisaveta Feodorovna was ordered to go with them. We were given half an hour to get ready. The abbess only had time to gather the sisters in the church of Saints Martha and Mary and give them the last blessing. Everyone present wept, knowing that they were seeing their mother and abbess for the last time. Elisaveta Feodorovna thanked the sisters for their selflessness and fidelity and asked Father Mitrofan not to leave the monastery and serve in it as long as it would be possible.

Two sisters went with the Grand Duchess - Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. Before getting into the car, the abbess made the sign of the cross to everyone.

Upon learning of what had happened, Patriarch Tikhon tried, through various organizations with which the new government was considered, to achieve the release of the Grand Duchess. But his efforts were in vain. All members of the imperial house were doomed.

Elisaveta Feodorovna and her companions were sent by rail to Perm.

The Grand Duchess spent the last months of her life in prison, at a school, on the outskirts of the city of Alapaevsk, together with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (the youngest son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich, brother of Emperor Alexander II), his secretary, Feodor Mikhailovich Remez, and three brothers, John, Konstantin and Igor (sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich) and Prince Vladimir Paley (son of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich). The end was near. Mother Superior prepared for this outcome, devoting all her time to prayer.

The sisters accompanying their abbess were brought to the Regional Council and offered to be released. Both begged to be returned to the Grand Duchess, then the Chekists began to frighten them with torture and torment, which would await everyone who would stay with her. Varvara Yakovleva said that she was ready to give a subscription even with her own blood, that she wanted to share her fate with the Grand Duchess. So the cross sister of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent Varvara Yakovleva made her choice and joined the prisoners who were waiting for their fate to be decided.

In the dead of night on July 5 (18), 1918, on the day of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, along with other members of the imperial house, was thrown into the mine of an old mine. When the brutalized executioners pushed the Grand Duchess into a black pit, she uttered a prayer bestowed by the Savior of the world crucified on the Cross: “Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Then the Chekists began throwing hand grenades into the mine. One of the peasants, who witnessed the murder, said that from the depths of the mine, the singing of the Cherubim was heard. It was sung by the New Martyrs of Russia before passing into eternity. They died in terrible suffering, from thirst, hunger and wounds.

The Grand Duchess fell not to the bottom of the shaft, but to a ledge, which was at a depth of 15 meters. Next to her, they found the body of John Konstantinovich with a bandaged head. All broken, with the strongest bruises, here she also sought to alleviate the suffering of her neighbor. The fingers of the right hand of the Grand Duchess and nun Varvara turned out to be folded for the sign of the cross.

The remains of the abbess of the Martha and Mary Convent and her faithful cell-attendant Varvara were transported to Jerusalem in 1921 and placed in the tomb of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal-to-the-Apostles in Gethsemane.

In 1931, on the eve of the canonization of the Russian New Martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, it was decided to open their tombs. The autopsy was carried out in Jerusalem by a commission headed by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe). The tombs of the New Martyrs were placed on the pulpit in front of the Royal Doors. By God's providence, it so happened that Archimandrite Anthony was left alone at the sealed coffins. Suddenly, the coffin of Grand Duchess Elizabeth opened. She got up and went up to Father Anthony for

blessing. The shocked Father Anthony gave his blessing, after which the New Martyr returned to her coffin, leaving no traces. When the coffin with the body of the Grand Duchess was opened, the room was filled with fragrance. According to Archimandrite Anthony, there was a "strong smell, as it were, of honey and jasmine." The relics of the new martyrs turned out to be partially incorrupt.

Patriarch Diodorus of Jerusalem blessed the solemn transfer of the relics of the New Martyrs from the tomb, where they had previously been located, to the very church of St. Mary Magdalene. They appointed the day May 2, 1982 - the feast of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women. On this day, the Holy Chalice, the Gospel and the airs presented to the temple by the Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna herself when she was here in 1886 were used during the divine service.

The Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992 canonized the Holy New Martyrs of Russia, the Monk Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Varvara, establishing a celebration for them on the day of their death - July 5 (18).

At a meeting of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, which took place from March 31 to April 5, 1992, seven new martyrs who suffered for their faith during the years of Soviet power were canonized. Among them is the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Elizaveta Fedorovna is an extraordinary, amazing saint. The image and fate of her contain so much that they give the impression of a truly epic action. Even in the most concise retelling, being outlined by a common light frame, the circumstances of the life of this great woman show the broadest historical and personal-moral perspective.

See for yourself!

The charm of la belle epoque - a beautiful era without wars that came to Europe between the last decades of the 19th century. and 1914, with the accelerated development of the economy and technical innovations, the exceptional flowering of culture, are combined in her biography with the period of pre-revolutionary unrest in Russia, with the anxieties and disasters that followed the Bolshevik coup.

The traditions of the leading houses of the Western European aristocracy (Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice - nee Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England) are continued in the exceptionally high, influential position of the Grand Duchess and half-sister of Empress Alexandra, wife of the Autocrat of Russia Nicholas II, head of the Reigning Romanov dynasty.

A strong-willed German character, upbringing in strict rules is combined with a reverent penetration into Russian life, love and devotion to Russia and its people. The deep piety of a Lutheran, imbibed from childhood, has as its continuation the acquisition of genuine closeness to Christ in the bosom of Orthodoxy. Extraordinary femininity, grace, fragility, combined with the qualities of an active philanthropist and a skilled organizer.

The tenderness and romanticism of her relationship with her husband, the Grand Duke Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, with courage and composure beyond the bounds of conceivable courage, with which she began to collect and stack the torn pieces of flesh of her beloved, who fell victim to a terrorist attack by a revolutionary bomber.

High society manners coexist with the complete absence of arrogance, disgust when meeting with pictures of the bottom of society. Outstanding creative abilities, impeccable aesthetic taste set off unshakable determination in choosing the service of a sister of mercy with the realities of human pain, blood, mutilation, loss of reason.

The ability to appreciate life, to rejoice in any of its manifestations with its completion and a worthy crown has the feat of accepting martyrdom for faith, full of firmness and humility.

Truly, it is unbelievable, it does not fit in the imagination, it seems fantastic! But the fact remains that a huge mass of events, meetings and deeds was contained in the life of just one real person: the Reverend Martyr of Russia, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

They say that from an early age she was an unusual child and, more than about personal well-being and the glory of a secular lady, dreamed of great deeds and giving herself to the good of society.

11-year-old Ella made a vow to God to remain chaste and never have children of her own. This happened after the three-year-old brother Friedrich died tragically as a result of a fall from a window. The sister was the first to arrive in time to help and carried the bloody boy into the house in her arms. He remained alive, but soon died, as he suffered from a hereditary disease of hemophilia, and even a slight hemorrhage carried a mortal danger. The impressions of the elder sister from the incident were the strongest. Young Elizabeth already knew that she could pass on this disease to her child through the female line.

The favorite saint of the princess of Hesse-Darmstadt was Elisabeth of Thuringia, her distant relative, who lived in the first half of the 13th century, during the time of the Crusades.

Married to the Landgrave of Thuringia, she was widowed early and expelled from her dominions. Elizabeth suffered a lot from human injustice and was a model of Christian humility. She wandered, lived with the poor, bandaged their wounds, wore coarse clothes, slept on bare ground, and walked barefoot. Her ascetic image attracted Ella, who aspired to Christian perfection.

Later, in her marriage to the Grand Duke, Elizaveta Feodorovna discovered the Orthodox Church and Orthodox saints. Her ardent desire to change her confession and join the faith of her husband and all Russian people became the cause of her father's displeasure and a regrettable break with her German relatives. In 1881, she wrote to her father: “You must have noticed what a deep reverence I have for the local religion since you were last here - more than a year and a half ago. I kept thinking and reading and praying to God to show me the right path, and I came to the conclusion that only in this religion can I find all the real and strong faith in God that a person must have in order to be a good Christian.

Charity was a frequent occupation for the most august persons and representatives of high society in those days. Many charitable and educational institutions, educational societies, sisterhoods were under the care of noble ladies, and at the Own Office of His Imperial Majesty there was a whole Department of Institutions of the Empress Maria (Dowager), who was in charge of mercy affairs on the scale of the vast Empire.

However, the view of Elizabeth Feodorovna's charity was somewhat different and special. It seemed insufficient to the Grand Duchess to donate money alone to help the poor and maintain schools, shelters, and hospitals. In her opinion, it was necessary to change the whole way of life of the aristocracy with its secular amusements and often unnecessary, demonstrative luxury, which caused bitterness in society. The duty of mercy is to go out to those in need, to learn about the life and needs of ordinary people, to master the practical activities of sisters of mercy, teachers, thereby restoring trust and solidarity. Such, if you like, was Elizaveta Feodorovna's own plan to prevent the catastrophe that was approaching Russia - to stop the unrest and revolution, to establish social peace. And this plan, in contrast to a large number of political projects, was very, very specific.

The direction of charity, founded by the Grand Duchess, proceeded from the principle, firstly, of voluntary merciful asceticism. Its participants, unmarried girls and widows, not burdened with family chores and caring for children, agreed to accept modest living conditions and constantly work, serving those in need. They gathered in communities that were the basis for institutions of social charity. The second indispensable condition was strict ecclesiasticism. The vows and organization of life in such communities resembled monastic ones, with prayers and divine services, the fulfillment of the statutory requirements of fasting, etc. However, the sisters of the "Elizabeth" communities, one of which was in St. Petersburg, the other in Moscow, did not renounce the world. They actively participated in the surrounding life and the needs of people, did not sit inside the walls of the monastery, but every day they went to the city to visit the poor "in the field." Subsequently, each of the sisters had the right to leave the community and start a family.

By her own example, the Grand Duchess proved such an opportunity and inspired to follow her. From the palace chambers, she moved to the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent founded by her in the center of Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka, and with tireless energy, day and night, she performed not only the duties of the abbess and organizer of the activities of the sisters, but also a direct participant in medical and charitable missions. In total, during the heyday (1914-1917), more than 150 sisters of mercy worked in the monastery.

For Russia, this kind of activity looked unusual, like a real discovery. Openly and boldly, Elizaveta Fedorovna asserted a new view on the social role of a woman, on her independence and initiative in a wide range of issues. This was relevant and valuable, especially since the slogan of women's liberation had already penetrated the masses, and the "struggle for equal rights" had become the strong point of the political opposition. The Elizabethan women's movement stood out both against the background of the adventurism and demagogy of the left, and against the backdrop of feminism that came from the West. Adherence to the traditional Christian virtues of humility, diligence and compassion, responsibility and political moderation were his main distinguishing qualities.

A number of moments demanded great fearlessness from the Grand Duchess, even manifestations of heroic qualities. During the period of unrest, street barricades and skirmishes with the police in 1905-1907. Elizaveta Feodorovna abandoned personal security measures and, contrary to the exhortations of those who begged the Grand Duchess to leave Moscow, continued to help the victims of the unrest. “I would rather be killed by the first random shot from some window than sit here with my hands folded,” she admitted.

Another bright episode was the work in the slums of Khitrovka filled with a criminal element. In those days, a vast area in the center of Moscow near the Khitrov market (the junction of the current Basmanny and Tagansky districts) was a real cesspool.

The authorities could not do anything about the constant accumulation of unemployed, homeless and downtrodden people. The authorities and the police were afraid to enter the lost world, living according to its animal laws. But the sisters of mercy, together with the abbess, regularly went around the doss houses, giving medicines and bandaging the sick, offering places to the unemployed.

Elizaveta Fyodorovna picked up the homeless orphans of the "Khitrovites" and sent them to a special school at the monastery. Here the children were taught to work, corrected the bad inclinations that attracted boys to theft, and girls to the bar. If the parents were alive, and the family had not completely fallen, the children were left with their parents and attended classes together, received clothes, food. The inhabitants of Khitrovka got used to the frequent visits of the Grand Duchess and fell in love with her, assigning affectionate names: “our angel”, “our princess”.

Just think how this woman of white bones and blue blood, a born princess from Germany, could fall in love with Orthodoxy and Russians, that she could not find peace and longed to bring comfort and light to the darkest and most seedy back streets of this “backward, barbaric”, by the standards of an enlightened European crazy countries! In one of her letters after the revolution, the Grand Duchess will write the following lines, clearly reflecting her inner world and feelings regarding the new Fatherland: “I felt such deep pity for Russia and its children, who currently do not know what they are doing. Is it not a sick child whom we love a hundred times more during his illness than when he is cheerful and healthy? I would like to bear his suffering, teach him patience, help him. That's how I feel every day."

Russia, meanwhile, was entering a period of historical storms and, through the hands of worthless people, was preparing to repay her merciful patroness with extreme cruelty. Like Jerusalem, which once did not recognize the time of the visitation of Christ, black envy for the best, the brightest, accumulated in it. In 1916, due to failures at the front, the search for "German spies" began. Stones began to fly into the crew of Elizabeth Feodorovna, beloved and respected by Muscovites. The crowd, inflamed by agitators, gathered at the gates of the monastery. The abbess herself came out to meet her, completely alone, calm, majestic. The pogromists, taken aback, did not dare to touch her.

But the new revolutionary government soon began to implement a plan to destroy the august Romanovs. The German ambassador Maybach personally met with Elizaveta Fedorovna, offering her a plan to escape to Germany. But this would fit for someone else who thought his destiny was a calm and contented life abroad, in the care of rich and eminent German relatives. The Grand Duchess moved away from this - the events of more than 30 years of life here, on Russian soil, lay too deeply in her memory: joy and loss, stress of work, disputes, struggle, overcoming, closeness with people who were her employees and demanded help. The princess refused to leave Russia under diplomatic cover, citing the need to take care of her sisters. On May 8, 1918, after the end of the liturgy served in the monastery by His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, the Bolshevik "emergency" took the matushka and her two cell-attendants in an unknown direction.

On the night of July 18, 1918, she and seven other members of the royal family and close associates were thrown into the Novaya Selimskaya mine, 18 km from the Ural city of Alapaevsk. A symbolic offering “for her friends”, justification and evidence of Russia’s gratitude to her White Angel, Grand Duchess and leader of the movement of good souls, was the refusal of her closest friend and companion, Elizabeth Feodorovna, nun Varvara, to be separated from her beloved mother at the moment of death. Of a simple family, Varvara could easily have avoided execution, but she insisted on following everyone into the dark, rocky crater of the Alapaevsk mine.

Life ended, but the ordeal of the venerable martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara turned out to be unfinished. Their honest remains, along with the bodies of other dead, had to be transported by rail across Siberia to China by the retreating white troops. At this time, those who accompanied the mournful cargo witnessed an amazing miracle: from the hastily knocked together coffins, liquid oozed onto the floor of the car, and the one that flowed from the relics of the Grand Duchess was fragrant! Bubbles with her parted later as relics among the emigration, began to be reverently preserved by admirers of the memory of the saint.

One of the nuns of the Russian Diaspora recalls: “Shortly before his death, hegumen Seraphim gave me a vial with the ashes of the Grand Duchess. The contents of the vial is a dried mass of dark brown color, which has settled to about half of the bottle. The cork, soaked with liquid, has dried up and no longer closes the bottle tightly. The neck is tied with a cloth of the same dark brown color, and the whole bottle is wrapped with another cloth covered with the same spots. The whole thing gives off a very pleasant, spicy-spicy fragrance unlike any smell I have ever smelled. Despite its tenderness and subtlety, this smell is very penetrating, as it passes through the nylon bag in which I wrapped the bottle with rags. It stands on my shelf in front of the images, where the lamp is always lit. From time to time, the smell changes a little, as if one or the other aromatic substances alternately predominate in the composition. Of course, I do not allow myself to often touch the bottle, but only venerate it on the day of the anniversary of the murder of the Grand Duchess as if it were a relic.”

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Varvara were glorified as saints, first by the Church Abroad in 1981, and then in 1992 by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church. Despite the fact that monastic vows were not performed on them, they are revered in the rank of venerable martyrs. The vows of celibacy and non-possession taken by both allow this possibility.

The venerable martyrs Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Varvara were buried according to the will of the Grand Duchess in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem, in the Russian convent of Gethsemane.

You can familiarize yourself with the biography of the Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna in more detail.

“... And I love your soul more than your face ...” - A. S. Pushkin

“Beauty will save the world…” - now these words are often pronounced. But, what beauty did the famous writer-philosopher F.M. Dostoevsky? The beauty of the body and face cannot be called beauty without the beauty of the soul. If the soul is ugly, then everything else takes on the same ugly features. And if this is not immediately noticeable, then after some time the understanding comes that there is simply no beauty without a soul.

Many moral qualities were destroyed and lost over time. And only love for one's neighbor can bring them back.

Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna

Now the memory of those who did good deeds, showed mercy or extended a helping hand to the destitute is returning to Russia. Charitable work in Russia was a common thing for rich people, it was even the rule, not the exception. Rich people knew that the work of mercy is the rule of a Christian's life, indicated among all others in the Gospel.

A significant part of hospitals, hospices and other care and even cultural and educational institutions until 1917 were built with the money of donors and patrons. For example, by the beginning of the 20th century, many hospitals were built, on which memorial plaques hung with the names of the benefactors of the merchants Morozov, Kashchenko, the book publisher Soldatenkov, and Prince Shcherbatov.

Orphanages, widows' houses, almshouses, cheap, and even free apartments, vocational schools were built with the money of the manufacturers Bakhrushins, Rakhmanovs, Solodovnikovs and other donors. The People's University in Moscow was built by the gold miner Shanyavsky.

Among all the names today in the days of the Holy Resurrection of Christ, I would like to recall the name of the founder of the Martha and Mary Convent, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, the sister of the last Russian Empress. She was the wife of the Moscow Governor-General - Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, who was killed by Kalyaev in Moscow in 1905.

The future Grand Duchess married a member of the imperial family, converted to Orthodoxy and immediately began to engage in charitable activities, to which she was accustomed from an early age by her parents, who generously distributed income throughout her life.

As children, Elizaveta Fedorovna and her sisters went to hospitals every Saturday, visiting suffering people. Therefore, love for one's neighbor for the Grand Duchess was the main feature of her character, seemingly soft, but in fact strong and noble. Many contemporaries spoke of her in the same way: "rare beauty, wonderful mind, ... angelic patience, noble heart."

During the Russo-Japanese War, Elizaveta Fedorovna led the patriotic movement: she organized sewing workshops for the needs of the army, which included women of all classes, equipped several ambulance trains at her own expense, visited hospitals daily, took care of the widows and orphans of the dead.

When Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich died, she devoted herself entirely to charitable activities. Elizaveta Feodorovna was a deeply religious person, and this is what explained many of her actions. For example, after the death of her husband, she turned to the king for a pardon for the murderer. After a long period of mourning, she dismissed her court and decided to withdraw completely from the world, to devote her life to serving God and her neighbors, the needy and the suffering.

She divided her entire fortune into three parts: to the treasury, and to charitable needs. She left nothing for herself, not even a wedding ring. On Bolshaya Ordynka, the Grand Duchess acquired a small estate with four houses and a garden. A hospital with a house church, a pharmacy, an outpatient clinic, a shelter for girls and other household facilities were located here. In addition, there was a library, a dining room and a hostel for the sisters.

In 1910, 17 girls of different classes became the first sisters of the new convent. In 1911, when, according to the project of A.V. Shchusev, the Cathedral of the Intercession Church was built, this abode of goodness and mercy took on a completed architectural appearance, they called it Marfo-Mariinsky.

The Gospel tells about two sisters Martha and Mary, who combined two main life paths: the spiritual path - serving God and the path of mercy - serving others. The sisters of the monastery shared equally any work. The best doctors worked in her hospital - experts in their field.

Every week, 34 doctors saw patients, and for free, they did not take money from the poor for medicines, others received medicines at a big discount compared to other pharmacies in the city. On Sundays, classes were held in the monastery for the illiterate. Orphanage girls, in addition to learning to read and write, received medical training.

The personal life of Elizabeth Feodorovna was, one might say, harsh. She slept on a wooden bed without a mattress, observed a strict fast, and on other days her food consisted of vegetables and a small amount of milk. The Grand Duchess prayed for a long time at night, and during the day she constantly took care of her sisters, distributed assignments - to everyone in her power, monitored the health of the sisters, went around all the hospital wards.

For the most seriously ill, Elizaveta Fedorovna looked after herself and even assisted in operations. In addition to her work and cares in the monastery, the abbess visited and helped the poor locally. People learned from each other with what care and love they treat the sick and suffering here in the monastery, and they petitioned for treatment, for employment, for looking after small children, and even with petitions for help in finding a place to study.

The monastery received more than ten thousand petitions a year. And besides everything, help came from here both in money and in clothes. But most importantly, the suffering and sick needed compassion, and they received it here.

And that was not all. Elizaveta Feodorovna went around the rooming houses of the "famous" Khitrov market, as she revered the soul of any person as immortal and honored the image of God in it. And the inhabitants of this part of the city were far from divine. But the princess tried to touch the heart of everyone, mired in sins and vices, to touch the depths of the soul and turn it to repentance.

Sometimes these same people called themselves: “We are not people, how come you come to us!” She persuaded the parents of little children living in this swamp, as M. Gorky once said - “At the bottom”, to give their children to be raised in a monastery. The girls were brought up in an orphanage, and the boys were placed in a hostel.

The sisters of the monastery needed neither glory nor reward, all their activities were bound by the gospel commandments - love for God and neighbor.

By 1914, there were already 97 sisters in the monastery. The war began, some of the sisters went to the field hospitals, others worked in a hospital in Moscow.

1917 Chaos began in the country. More than once the German ambassador tried to see Elizaveta Fedorovna, offering her a trip to Germany. She did not accept him, but replied that she refused to leave Russia: “I have done nothing wrong to anyone. Be the will of the Lord."

1918 The Chekists arrested several patients from the monastery, then took away all the orphans. On the third day of Easter in April, Elizaveta Fedorovna was also arrested, because all those who bore the name of the Romanovs were doomed to death, and her good deeds were not included in the calculation.

In the dead of night on July 18, 1918, along with other members of the imperial family, Elizaveta Feodorovna was thrown into the mine of an old mine. Before the execution, according to the testimony of an “eyewitness”, she was baptized all the time and prayed: “Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” And when, after three months, the bodies of the executed were removed, next to the princess they found the body of the victim with a bandaged wound. So the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna left her earthly life, fulfilling the gospel commandments until the last minute.

After the arrest of the abbess, the monastery, apparently thanks to Krupskaya, still existed for about seven years. Then the sisters of the monastery were deported to Central Asia, and the premises of the monastery were given over to various institutions, and a club was set up in the Intercession Church itself.

The memory of the Grand Duchess will help us find the way for moral and spiritual rebirth.

Portal for the student. Self-training

RELATED ARTICLES