Saint Elizabeth Feodorovna - Orthodox Princess of Europe. Life of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth

29.09.2019

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 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, the 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

In 1891 the emperor Alexander III appointed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich as 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.

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.

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 the luxurious furniture was taken out, the walls were repainted in White color, they contained 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 convent 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 more great world— to the world of the poor and the suffering.”

Elizaveta Fyodorovna Romanova.

The first temple of the monastery ("hospital") was consecrated by Bishop Tryphon on September 9 (21), 1909 (on the day of the celebration of Christmas Holy Mother of God) in the name of the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary. The second temple is in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, consecrated in 1911 (architect A.V. Shchusev, murals by M.V. Nesterov)

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

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 best traditions 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 Martha and Mary 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 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 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 arranged in closed schools or shelters, where they also looked after 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.

Soon after February Revolution the 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 shown respect, twice a week a truck with food drove up to the monastery: black bread, dried fish, vegetables, some fat and sugar. Of the medicines, bandages and essential medicines were issued in limited quantities.

Grand Duchess Elisaveta (Elizaveta Alexandra Louise Alice), born November 1, 1864. She was the daughter of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. Her family name was Ella.

Ella's mother, Princess Alice, gave away most of the estate to charity. The ducal couple had seven children: Victoria, Elisaveta (Ella), Irena, Ernest-Ludwig, Friedrich, Alice (Alix) - the future Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and Maria. The older children did everything for themselves, were taught housekeeping and needlework. But most importantly, they were taught compassion. Together with their mother, they went to hospitals, shelters, nursing homes. Armfuls of flowers were brought, divided among all, bouquets were placed by each bed.

Princess Elizabeth grew up very beautiful girl, tall, slender, with beautiful features. Her beauty matched her spiritual qualities. She showed no sign of selfishness. She was cheerful and had a subtle sense of humor. God rewarded her with the gift of painting and a sense of music. With her appearance, children's quarrels stopped. Everyone began to give in and forgive each other.

As Elizabeth Feodorovna herself later said, even in her earliest youth, she was greatly influenced by the life and deeds of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, the Queen of Hungary in whose honor she bore her name. This Catholic saint, the ancestor of the Dukes of Hesse, became famous for her works of mercy and the gift of miracles. Her husband forbade her to take care of the unfortunate and was cruel in his treatment of her. Once she went to prison to visit the prisoners and carried bread in a basket, covered with a mantilla on top. Towards the husband: “What is it with you ?!” He answers: "Roses ..." He pulled off the transparent cover, and under it - roses! She buried her husband, wandered, lived in poverty, lived in poverty, but she did not betray God's calling. Already in her advanced years, she organized a leper colony and took care of lepers herself.

In the parental home in Darmstadt there have always been many musicians, artists, painters, composers, professors. In a word, gifted people of various specialties. A society unique in its spiritual and cultural depth gathered here.

When Elizabeth was 11 years old, playing, her three-year-old brother Friedrich fell from the balcony onto stone slabs. He was ill with hemophilia and died in agony from his bruises. She was the first to pick him up bloody and bring him into the house. On this day, she made a vow to God - not to get married, never to have children, never to suffer so terribly. At the age of 14, she buried her mother, who died untimely at the age of 35 from diphtheria. In that year, the time of childhood ended for Elizabeth. Grief intensified her prayers. She understood 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.

Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Photo from 1892

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. The Grand Duke, assuming the post of Governor-General of Moscow, was obliged to marry, and proposed to Ella, whom he had known since 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. However, to the Russian prince, a man of deep faith and fidelity to Christ the Savior, she immediately felt the location. He was a highly cultured person, he loved reading and music, he helped a lot without advertising it. She told him about her vow, and he: “That's good. I myself decided not to marry. This is how this (necessary for Russia for political reasons) marriage took place, in which the spouses promised God to keep their virginity.

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 studied the Russian language, culture and history of Russia. For a princess who married the Grand Duke, there was no mandatory conversion to Orthodoxy. But Elisaveta Feodorovna, while still a Protestant, tried to learn as much as possible about Orthodoxy, seeing the deep faith of her husband, who was a very pious person, strictly observed fasts, read the books of the Holy Fathers and often went to church. She accompanied him all the time and fully stood up for church services. She saw the joyful state of Sergei Alexandrovich after he received the Holy Mysteries, but, being outside the Orthodox Church, she could not share this joy with him.

The Grand Duchess immediately captivated everyone with her cordiality, simplicity of address and subtle sense of humor. She knew how to create comfort around herself, an atmosphere of lightness and ease, danced well and, having excellent taste, knew how to dress beautifully and elegantly. She was dazzlingly beautiful. In those days they said that in Europe there are only two beauties, and both are Elizabeths: Elisabeth of Austria, the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, and Elisaveta Feodorovna.

Artists who tried to paint her portrait failed to capture her true beauty; one artist said that perfection is impossible to depict. Also, none of the surviving photographs fully conveys the beauty of the Grand Duchess. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov in 1884 wrote a poem in honor of St. Elizabeth.

I look at you, admiring hourly:
You are so unspeakably good!
Oh, right, under such a beautiful exterior
Such a beautiful soul!
Some meekness and innermost sadness
There is depth in your eyes;
Like an angel you are quiet, pure and perfect;
Like a woman, shy and gentle.
Let nothing on earth among evils and many sorrows
Your purity will not be stained.
And everyone who sees you will glorify God,
who created such beauty!

Ovchinnikov P.Ya. Private living room of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, 1902

Despite his success in society and frequent trips, St. Elizabeth felt in herself a desire for solitude and reflection. She loved to walk alone in nature, indulging in the contemplation of its beauty and thinking about God. The Grand Duchess also began to secretly do charity work, which only her husband and a few close people knew about.

In 1888, the Grand Duchess had the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land. Emperor Alexander III instructed V.K. Sergei Alexandrovich to attend the consecration of the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane, built in memory of their mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna. There, at the foot of the Mount of Olives, the Grand Duchess uttered prophetic words: "I would like to be buried here." At the Holy Sepulcher, the Savior revealed His will to her, and she finally made up her mind to convert to Orthodoxy.

View of the Russian site in Gethsemane in 1882. Photo of Father Timon

Construction of the church of St. Mary Magdalene. 1885-1888 Photo of Timon's father.

Construction of the church of St. Mary Magdalene. 1885-1888 Photo of Father Timon

Construction of the church of St. Mary Magdalene. 1888 Photo of Father Timon

Grand Dukes Sergius Alexandrovich, Pavel Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem
On the left, the head of the RDM in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Anthony (Kapustin)
Photo of Timon's father. 1888

Procession during the consecration of St. Mary Magdalene October 1, 1888

Interior of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane. Photo of Timon's father, 1888

She wrote to her father, who took this step of hers with acute pain: You call me frivolous and say that the external brilliance of the church enchanted me ... I pass from pure conviction; I feel that this is the highest religion and that I do it with faith, with deep conviction and confidence that there is God's blessing on it". Of all the relatives, only the grandmother of the Grand Duchess, Queen Victoria, understood her state of mind and wrote an affectionate, encouraging letter, which made St. Elizabeth.

In 1891, on Lazarus Saturday, the rite of acceptance into the Orthodox Church was performed on her through the Sacrament of Confirmation, leaving her former name, but in honor of the holy righteous Elizabeth, mother of St. John the Baptist. Emperor Alexander III blessed his daughter-in-law with a precious icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, with which Elizabeth Feodorovna was martyred.

Members of the imperial family (in Ilyinsky during the coronation celebrations). Photo 1896
Standing from left to right:
- Crown Prince of Romania Ferdinand;
- Emperor Nicholas II;
- Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich;
- Victoria Feodorovna (Victoria-Melita), Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duchess of Saxony;
- her first husband Ernst-Ludwig (Albert-Karl-Wilhelm), Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine.
Sitting left to right:
- the son of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich and Princess of Greece Alexandra Georgievna Dmitry;
- Crown Princess Maria of Romania
- Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with her daughter Grand Duchess Olga;
at her feet:
- daughter of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich and Princess of Greece Alexandra Georgievna Maria;
further in order:
- Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich;
- Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha;
- sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Victoria;
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

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. 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.

The Romanov family and the Gessen family 1910

When the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, 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, were occupied for them. Thousands of women worked at sewing machines and work tables. At her own expense, the Grand Duchess formed several hospital trains. In Moscow, she set up a hospital for the wounded, which she herself constantly visited.

However, the state and social order was falling apart, a revolution was approaching. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich believed that it was necessary to take tougher measures against the revolutionaries. Considering that in the current situation he could no longer hold the post of Governor-General of Moscow, he resigned.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Meanwhile, the militant organization of the Socialist-Revolutionaries sentenced Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to death. Grand Duchess Elizabeth received anonymous letters warning her not to accompany her husband if she did not want to share his fate. She tried all the more not to leave him alone and, whenever possible, accompanied her husband everywhere.

Assassin of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, terrorist Ivan Kalaev

On February 18, 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich, leaving home, was killed by a bomb thrown by terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. Elizaveta Feodorovna, who rushed to the place of the explosion, saw a picture that, in its horror, surpassed the human imagination. Silently, without crying or tears, kneeling in the snow, she began to collect and put on a stretcher parts of the body of her beloved and alive husband a few minutes ago. Within a few days after the explosion, people found more pieces of the body of the Grand Duke, which were scattered everywhere by the force of the explosion. One hand was found on the other side of the Kremlin wall on the roof of a small chapel of the Savior, the heart was found on the roof of some building.

Panikhida for the deceased Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Bose in the Miracle Monastery, in the Kremlin, in 1905

After the first memorial service at the Miracle Monastery, Elisaveta Feodorovna returned to the palace, changed into a black mourning dress and began to write telegrams, from time to time inquiring about the condition of the wounded coachman Sergei Alexandrovich, who had served with the Grand Duke for 25 years. She was told that the coachman's position was hopeless, and he might die soon (his body was pierced with nails and shrapnel from the crew, he had 70 wounds in his back). In order not to upset the dying, Elisaveta Feodorovna took off her mourning dress, put on the blue one she had been wearing before, and went to the hospital. There, bending over the bed of the dying man, she caught his question about Sergei Alexandrovich and, in order to calm him, overcame herself, smiled at him kindly and said: "He sent me to you." And reassured by her words, thinking that Sergei Alexandrovich was alive, the devoted coachman Andrei died that 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 didn't realize that you killed me along with him?" she replied.

The Grand Duchess gave the killer forgiveness from Sergei Alexandrovich, the Gospel and the icon, hoping for a miracle of repentance, and also asked Emperor Nicholas II to pardon Kalyaev, but this request was rejected.

Monument-cross, built on the site of the murder of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (designed by V. Vasnetsov), on Senate Square, in the Kremlin, consecrated on April 2, 1908. The monument-cross was the first thing that the Bolsheviks demolished in the Kremlin. They arranged such a Subbotnik on May 1, 1918 under the direct supervision of Lenin...

Sergei Alexandrovich was buried in the small church of the Chudov Monastery. Here the Grand Duchess felt special help and strengthening from the holy relics of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, whom she had especially revered ever since. 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 site of the murder of her husband, 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're doing". Now this Cross is located on the territory of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow, where the body of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich also rests in the family tomb of the Romanovs.

Cross-monument in the Novospassky Monastery

Grand Duchess Elizabeth asked to take out all the luxurious furniture from her bedroom in the Nikolsky Palace, paint the walls white, she left only icons and paintings of spiritual content on the walls, so her bedroom began to resemble a monastic cell. Elizaveta Feodorovna sold all her jewelry and a part belonging to the Romanov family, transferred it to the treasury, and for the remaining amount founded the monastery of Mercy in Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka. She did not keep her wedding ring as a keepsake.

The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy is a monastery in Moscow, located on Bolshaya Ordynka. The founder, as well as the first abbess of the monastery was Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

On February 10, 1909, the Grand Duchess gathered 17 sisters of the convent founded by her, took off her mourning dress, put on a white monastic robe and ascended into the world of the poor and suffering: “ I accepted it not as a cross, but as a path full of light, which the Lord showed me after the death of Sergei».

The monastery was created in honor of the holy sisters Martha and Mary. The sisters of the monastery were called to unite the high lot of Mary, heeding the verbs eternal life, and the service of Martha is the service of the Lord through his neighbor.

Two temples were created - Marfo-Mariinsky and Pokrovsky(architect A.V. Shchusev, murals by M.V. Nesterov), as well as a hospital, which was later considered the best in Moscow, a pharmacy where medicines were dispensed to the poor free of charge, an orphanage and a school. Outside the walls of the monastery, a house-hospital was built for women with tuberculosis.

Intercession Cathedral of the monastery

She worked for a long time on the charter of the monastery, wishing to revive the ancient institution of deaconesses, she traveled to Zosima Hermitage to discuss the project with the elders. In 1906, the Grand Duchess read the book Diary of a Regimental Priest Who Served in the Far East During the Entire Period of the Past Russo-Japanese War”, written by priest Mitrofan Serebryansky. She wished to meet the author and summoned him to Moscow. As a result of their meetings and conversations, a draft Charter of the future monastery appeared, prepared by Father Mitrofan, who was St. Elizabeth took over.

According to the draft Charter, a married priest was needed to perform divine services and provide spiritual guidance to the sisters, but who would live with his mother like a brother and sister and would constantly be on the territory of the monastery. St. Elizabeth insistently asked Father Mitrofan to become the spiritual father of the future monastery, as he met all the requirements of the Charter. He, at first, agreed, but soon refused, fearing to upset the parishioners with his departure. And suddenly, almost immediately, the fingers on the hand began to go numb and the hand was taken away. Father Mitrofan was horrified by the fact that now he would not be able to serve in the church, and he understood what had happened as an admonition. He began to pray fervently and promised God that he would agree to move to Moscow - and two hours later the hand began to act again. Father Mitrofan became a true confessor of the monastery, a mentor and assistant to the abbess, who highly valued him (Father Mitrofan of Srebryansky was glorified as the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia).

In the Martha and Mary Convent, the Grand Duchess led the life of an ascetic, sleeping on wooden planks without a mattress, secretly wore a sackcloth and chains. Accustomed to work from childhood, the Grand Duchess did everything herself and did not demand any services from her sisters for herself. She participated in all the affairs of the monastery, like an ordinary sister, always setting an example for others. Once, one of the novices approached the abbess with a request to send one of the sisters to sort out potatoes, since no one wants to help. The Grand Duchess, without saying a word to anyone, went herself. Seeing the abbess sorting through the potatoes, the ashamed sisters ran and set to work.

In the hospital of the monastery worked the best specialists Moscow. All operations were carried out free of charge. Here, those who were refused by other doctors were healed. The healed patients cried as they left the Marfo-Mariinsky hospital, parting with the “Great Mother,” as they called the abbess. In the hospital, Elisaveta Feodorovna took on the most responsible work: she assisted in operations, did dressings, comforted the sick and tried with all her might to alleviate their suffering. They said that healing power emanated from the Grand Duchess, which helped them endure pain and agree to difficult operations.

One of the main places of poverty, to which the Grand Duchess paid special attention, was Khitrov Market, where rampant, poverty and crime flourished. 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. If Elisaveta Feodorovna went somewhere, the people recognized her, enthusiastically met and followed her. She was already loved all over Russia and was called a saint.

She never interfered in politics, but she suffered a lot, seeing that the political situation in Russia was deteriorating. During the First World War, St. Elizabeth's work increased: it was necessary to take care of the wounded in the infirmaries. At first, Elisaveta Feodorovna, prompted by a Christian feeling, visited the captured Germans. Wild inventions about the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent began to spread around Moscow, as about the center of German espionage.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the German government reached agreement Soviet power for the departure of the Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna abroad. 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 didn't do anything wrong to anyone. Be the will of the Lord!«

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 holy patriarch Tikhon visited the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, where he served the Divine Liturgy and a prayer service. This was the last blessing and parting word of the patriarch before the way of the cross of the Grand Duchess to Golgotha. Two sisters went with her - Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. One of the sisters of the convent recalled: “... Then she sent a letter to us, to the priest and to each sister. One hundred and five little notes were enclosed, each according to its character. From the Gospel, from the Bible sayings, and to whom from myself. She knew all the sisters, all her children ... "

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 to railway 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. 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 she made her choice and joined the prisoners who awaited the decision of their fate.

deep on the night of July 5 (18), 1918., on the day of finding the relics St. Sergius Radonezhsky, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, along with other members of the imperial house, were 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.

Remains the abbess of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery and her faithful cell-attendant Varvara were transferred to Jerusalem in 1921 and laid in the tomb of the church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal-to-the-Apostles in Gethsemane. When the coffin with the body of the Grand Duchess was opened, the room was filled with fragrance. The relics of the new martyrs turned out to be partially incorrupt.

Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane

Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem

Church of Mary Magdalene (modern view)

Church of Mary Magdalene

Interior of the Church of Mary Magdalene

Cancer with the relics of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

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 Barbara, establishing a celebration for them on the day of death - July 5 (18).

Troparion, tone 1:
With humility the dignity of the prince was hidden, / God-wise Elisaveto, / with the special service of Martha and Mary / Christ honored you. / Having cleansed yourself with mercy, patience and love, / like a righteous sacrifice to God, you brought it. / But we, honoring your virtuous life and suffering, / as a true mentor, earnestly ask you: / holy martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveto, / pray to Christ God to save and enlighten our souls.

Kontakion, tone 2:
The greatness of the feat of faith who is the story: / in the depths of the earth, as if in heaven of lordship, / the passion-bearer Grand Duchess Elizabeth / rejoiced with the Angels in psalms and singing / and, suffering a slaughter, / crying out for godless tormentors: / Lord, forgive them this sin, / they don't know what they're doing. / Through prayers, O Christ God, / have mercy and save our souls.

The memory of the Monk Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Varvara is celebrated on July 5 (18) and on the day of their martyrdom and the Synod of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Biography of the Grand Duchess

Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was born in 1864 to Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. The second daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, granddaughter of the English Queen Victoria. As a German princess, she was brought up in the Protestant faith. Elizabeth's sister Alice became the wife of Nicholas II, and she herself married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov in 1884 and became a Russian princess. According to tradition, all German princesses were given patronymic Feodorovna - in honor of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. In 1878, the whole family, except for Ella (as she was called in the family), fell ill with diphtheria, from which she soon died younger sister Ella, four-year-old Maria and mother, Grand Duchess Alice. Father Ludwig IV, after the death of his wife, entered into a morganatic marriage with Alexandrina Hutten-Czapska, and Ella and Alix were brought up by their grandmother, Queen Victoria, at Osborne House. From childhood, the sisters were religiously minded, participated in charity work, and received lessons in housekeeping. An important role in the spiritual life of Ella was played by the image of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, after whom Ella was named: this saint, the ancestor of the Dukes of Hesse, became famous for her works of mercy. Her cousin Friedrich of Baden was considered as a potential groom for Elizabeth. Another cousin, Prussian crown prince Wilhelm, courted Elizabeth for some time and, according to unconfirmed reports, even made her an offer of marriage, which she rejected. German by birth, Elizaveta Feodorovna perfectly learned the Russian language and fell in love with her new homeland with all her heart. In 1891, after several years of deliberation, she converted to Orthodoxy.

Letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to her father about the adoption of Orthodoxy

Elizabeth Feodorovna had been thinking about accepting Orthodoxy ever since she became the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. But the German princess was worried that this step would be a blow to her family, faithful to Protestantism. Especially for his father, the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV. Only in 1891 did the princess write a letter to her father: “… 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 outside world, and within myself to pray and believe as my husband did. 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 simple it would be to remain as it is now, but then how hypocritical, how false that 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 bless his daughter to change her faith, but she could no longer change her mind and through the sacrament of Confirmation she became Orthodox. On June 3 (15), 1884, in the Court Cathedral of the Winter Palace, she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother Russian emperor Alexander III, which was announced by the Supreme Manifesto. The Orthodox marriage was performed by the court protopresbyter John Yanyshev; crowns were held by Tsesarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, Hereditary Grand Duke Gessensky, Grand Dukes Alexei and Pavel Alexandrovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, Pyotr Nikolaevich, Mikhail and Georgy Mikhailovich; then, in the Alexander Hall, the pastor of the church of St. Anna also performed a service according to the Lutheran rite. The husband was Elizabeth and a cousin uncle (a common ancestor - Wilhelmina of Baden), and a fourth cousin (a common great-great-grandfather - the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm II). The couple settled in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace bought by Sergei Alexandrovich (the palace became known as Sergievsky), spending their honeymoon in the Ilyinsky estate near Moscow, where they also lived later. At her insistence, a hospital was set up in Ilyinsky, fairs were periodically held in favor of the peasants. Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna perfectly mastered the Russian language, spoke it almost without an accent. While still professing Protestantism, she attended Orthodox services. In 1888, together with her husband, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. As the wife of the Moscow governor-general (Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was appointed to this post in 1891), in 1892 she organized the Elizabethan Charitable Society, established in order to "see the legitimate babies of the poorest mothers, hitherto placed, although without any right, in the Moscow Educational house, under the guise of illegal. The activities of the society first took place in Moscow, and then spread to the entire Moscow province. Elisabeth committees were formed at all Moscow church parishes and in all county towns of the Moscow province. In addition, Elisaveta Feodorovna headed the Ladies' Committee of the Red Cross, and after the death of her husband, she was appointed chairman of the Moscow Department of the Red Cross. Sergei Alexandrovich and Elisaveta Feodorovna had no children of their own, but they raised the children of Sergei Alexandrovich's brother, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, Maria and Dmitry, whose mother died in childbirth. With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Elisaveta Feodorovna organized a Special Committee for Assistance to Soldiers, under which a donation warehouse was created in the Grand Kremlin Palace in favor of the soldiers: bandages were prepared there, clothes were sewn, parcels were collected, and camp churches were formed. In the recently published letters of Elizabeth Feodorovna to Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess appears as a supporter of the most stringent and decisive measures against any freethinking in general and revolutionary terrorism in particular. “Is it really impossible to judge these animals by a field court? "- she asked the emperor in a letter written in 1902 shortly after the assassination of Sipyagin (D. S. Sipyagin - The Minister of the Interior was killed in 1902 by a member of the AKP BO Stepan Balmashev. Balmashev (involved in the terror of Gershuni), acquired a military uniform and, introducing himself as an adjutant of one of the Grand Dukes, when handing over the package, he shot at the minister. Sipyagin was mortally wounded in the stomach and neck. Balmashev was executed), and she herself answered the question: - “Everything must be done to prevent them from becoming heroes ... to kill they have a desire to risk their lives and commit such crimes (I think that he would rather pay with his life and thus disappear!). But who he is and what he is - let no one know ... and there is nothing to pity those who themselves do not pity anyone ”On February 4, 1905, her husband was killed by terrorist Ivan Kalyaev, who threw a hand bomb at him. Elisaveta Feodorovna was the first to arrive at the scene of the tragedy and with her own hands collected parts of the body of her beloved husband, scattered by the explosion. I took this tragedy hard. The Greek Queen Olga Konstantinovna, cousin of the murdered Sergei Alexandrovich, wrote: “This is a wonderful, holy woman - she is apparently worthy of a heavy cross that lifts her higher and higher!” On the third day after the death of the Grand Duke, she went to prison to the killer in the hope that he would repent, she conveyed forgiveness to him on behalf of Sergei Alexandrovich, left him the Gospel. To the words of Kalyaev: “I didn’t 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 didn’t dare touch him,” Elisaveta Feodorovna replied: “And you didn’t realize that you killed me along with him?". Despite the fact that the killer did not repent, the Grand Duchess filed a petition for pardon to Nicholas II, which he rejected. After the death of her husband, Elizaveta Feodorovna replaced him as Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society and served in this position from 1905 to 1917. Elisaveta Feodorovna decided to devote all her strength to serving Christ and her neighbors. She bought a plot of land on Bolshaya Ordynka and in 1909 opened the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent there, naming it in honor of the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary. There are two temples, a hospital, a pharmacy with free medicines for the poor, an orphanage and a school on the site. A year later, the nuns of the monastery were consecrated to the title of cross sisters of love and mercy, and Elisaveta Feodorovna was elevated to the rank of abbess. She said goodbye to secular life without regret, saying to the sisters of the convent: "I leave the brilliant world, but together with all of you I ascend to a greater world - to the world of the poor and suffering." During the First World War, the Grand Duchess actively supported the front: she helped form ambulance trains, sent medicines and field churches to the soldiers. After the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne, she wrote: “I felt deep pity for Russia and its children, who currently do not know what they are doing. Isn't this a sick child whom we love a hundred times more during his illness, and not when he is cheerful and healthy? I would like to bear his suffering, to help him. Holy Russia cannot perish. But Great Russia, alas, is no more. We must direct our thoughts to the Kingdom of Heaven and say with humility: “Thy will be done.”

Martyrdom of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

In 1918, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested. In May 1918, she, along with other representatives of the Romanov dynasty, was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Ataman Rooms hotel (currently the FSB and Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Sverdlovsk region are located in the building, the modern address is the intersection of Lenin and Weiner streets), and then, two months later, they were sent to the city of Alapaevsk, into exile in the Urals. The Grand Duchess refused to leave Russia after the Bolsheviks came to power, continuing to do ascetic work in her monastery. On May 7, 1918, on the third day after Easter, on the day of the celebration of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God, Patriarch Tikhon visited the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy and served a prayer service. Half an hour after the departure of the patriarch, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested by security officers and Latvian riflemen on the personal order of F. E. Dzerzhinsky. Patriarch Tikhon tried to get her released, but in vain - she was taken into custody and deported from Moscow to Perm. One of the Petrograd newspapers of that time - "New Evening Hour" - in a note dated May 9, 1918, responded to this event in the following way: "... we do not know what caused her expulsion ... It is difficult to think that Elisaveta Feodorovna could pose a danger to Soviet power, and her arrest and expulsion can be regarded rather as a proud gesture towards Wilhelm, whose brother is married to the sister of Elisaveta Feodorovna ... ". The historian V. M. Khrustalev believed that the expulsion of Elisaveta Feodorovna to the Urals was one of the links in the general plan of the Bolsheviks to concentrate all representatives of the Romanov dynasty in the Urals, where, as the historian wrote, those gathered could be destroyed, only finding a suitable reason for this. This plan was carried out in the spring months of 1918. Matushka was followed by sisters of mercy Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. Catherine was later released, but Varvara refused to leave and stayed with the Grand Duchess to the end. Together with the abbess of the Martha and Mary Convent and the sisters, they sent Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, his secretary Fyodor Remez, three brothers - John, Konstantin and Igor; Prince Vladimir Paley. On July 18, 1918, on the day of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the prisoners - Elisaveta Feodorovna, sister Varvara and members of the Romanov family - were taken to the village of Sinyachikhi. On the night of July 18, 1918, the prisoners were taken under escort to an old mine, beaten and thrown into the Novaya Selimskaya deep mine, 18 km from Alapaevsk. During the torment, Elisaveta Feodorovna prayed with the words that the Savior uttered on the cross: “Lord, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” The executioners threw hand grenades into the mine. Together with her died: Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich; Prince John Konstantinovich; Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich (younger); Prince Igor Konstantinovich; Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley; Fyodor Semyonovich Remez, manager of the affairs of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich; sister of the Martha and Mary Convent Barbara (Yakovleva). All of them, except for the shot Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, were thrown into the mine alive. When the bodies were removed from the shaft, it was discovered that some of the victims lived after the fall, dying of hunger and wounds. At the same time, the wound of Prince John, who fell on the ledge of the mine near Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, was bandaged with part of her apostle. The surrounding peasants said that for several days the singing of prayers could be heard from the mine, the Cherubic Hymn sounded. The martyrs sang until they were exhausted from their wounds. On October 31, 1918, the army of Admiral Kolchak occupied Alapaevsk. The remains of the dead were removed from the mine, placed in coffins and put to a funeral service in the cemetery church of the city. The Monk Martyr Elizabeth, Sister Barbara and Grand Duke John had their fingers folded for the sign of the cross. However, with the advance of the Red Army, the bodies were transported further to the East several times. In April 1920, they were met in Beijing by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archbishop Innokenty (Figurovsky). From there, two coffins - Grand Duchess Elizabeth and sister Varvara - were transported to Shanghai and then, by steamer to Port Said. Finally, the coffins arrived in Jerusalem. Burial in January 1921 under the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane was performed by Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem. Thus, the desire of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth herself to be buried in the Holy Land, expressed by her during the pilgrimage in 1888, was fulfilled.

Novo-Tikhvinsky Monastery, where Elizaveta Feodorovna was kept on the eve of her death

Where are the relics of the Grand Duchess

In 1921, the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Varvara were taken to Jerusalem. There they found peace in the tomb of the church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane. In 1931, on the eve of the canonization of the New Martyrs of Russia by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, it was decided to open the tombs of the martyrs. The autopsy was supervised by a commission headed by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe). When they opened the coffin with the body of the Grand Duchess, the whole room was filled with fragrance. According to Archimandrite Anthony, there was a "strong smell, as it were, of honey and jasmine." The relics, which turned out to be partially incorrupt, were transferred from the tomb to the church of St. Mary Magdalene itself.

Canonization

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia canonized the martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara in 1981. In 1992, the Russian Orthodox Church, by a Council of Bishops, ranked the Reverend Martyr Grand Duchess Elisabeth and Nun Barbara among the Holy New Martyrs of Russia. We celebrate their memory on the day of their martyrdom on July 18, according to the new style (July 5, according to the old style).

Most often, icon painters depict the holy venerable martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna standing; her right hand is turned to us, in the left is a miniature copy of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. Sometimes, in the right hand of St. Elizabeth, a cross is depicted (a symbol of martyrdom for the faith since the time of the first Christians); in the left - a rosary. Also, traditionally, the Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna is written on icons together with the nun Varvara - “Reverend Martyrs Barbara and Elisaveta Alapaevsky”. Behind the shoulders of the martyrs is the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery; at their feet is the shaft of the mine into which they were thrown by the executioners. Another icon-painting plot is "The Murder of the Martyr Elizabeth and others like her." The Red Army soldiers are under escort the Grand Duchess Elisaveta, the nun Varvara and other Alapaevsky prisoners in order to throw them into the mine. In the mine, the icon depicts the face of St. Sergius of Radonezh: the execution took place on the day of finding his relics on July 18.

Prayers of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Troparion voice 1 With humility, the dignity of the prince was hidden, God-wise Elisaveto, with the special service of Martha and Mary Christ honored you. Having cleansed yourself with mercy, patience and love, as if a righteous sacrifice to God was brought to you. We, honoring your virtuous life and suffering, as a true mentor, earnestly ask you: Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveto, pray to Christ God to save and enlighten our souls. Kontakion voice 2 The greatness of the feat of faith who is the story? In the depths of the earth, as if in paradise of lordship, the passion-bearer Grand Duchess Elizabeth with angels rejoiced in psalms and singing and, suffering a murder, crying out about the godless tormentors: Lord, forgive them this sin, they do not know what they are doing. Through prayers, Christ God, have mercy and save our souls.

Poem about Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna

In 1884, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov dedicated a poem to Elisaveta Feodorovna. I look at you, admiring every hour: You are so inexpressibly good! Oh, right, under such a beautiful exterior. Such a beautiful soul! Some kind of meekness and innermost sadness There is depth in your eyes; Like an angel you are quiet, pure and perfect; Like a woman, shy and gentle. Let nothing on earth among the evils and sorrows of Your many tarnish purity. And everyone, seeing you, will glorify God, who created such beauty!

Marfo-Mariinsky Convent

After the death of her husband at the hands of a terrorist, Elisaveta Feodorovna began to lead an almost monastic lifestyle. Her house became like a cell, she did not remove mourning, did not attend social events. She prayed in the temple, observed a strict fast. She sold part of her jewelry (giving away to the treasury that part of it that belonged to the Romanov dynasty), and with the proceeds she bought an estate with four houses and a vast garden on Bolshaya Ordynka, where the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy, founded by her in 1909, is located. There were two temples, a large garden, a hospital, an orphanage and much more. The first temple in the monastery was consecrated in the name of the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary, the second - in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy, the charter of the monastery hostel was in force. In 1910, Bishop Trifon (Turkestanov) consecrated 17 nuns to the title of cross sisters of love and mercy, and the Grand Duchess to the rank of abbess. Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky became the confessor of the monastery. The abbess herself led an ascetic life. She fasted, slept on a hard bed, got up to pray even before dawn, worked until late in the evening: distributed obediences, was present at operations in the clinic, and managed the administrative affairs of the monastery. Elisaveta Feodorovna was a supporter of the revival of the rank of deaconesses - the ministers of the church of the first centuries, who in the first centuries of Christianity were delivered through ordination, participated in the celebration of the Liturgy, approximately in the role in which subdeacons now serve, were engaged in catechism of women, helped with the baptism of women, served the sick. Received the support of the majority of members Holy Synod on the issue of conferring this title to the sisters of the monastery, however, in accordance with the opinion of Nicholas II, the decision was never made. When creating the monastery, both Russian Orthodox and European experience was used. The sisters who lived in the monastery took vows of chastity, non-possession and obedience, however, unlike the nuns, after a certain period the charter of the monastery allowed the sisters to leave it and start a family. “The vows that the sisters of mercy gave in the monastery were temporary (for one year, for three, for six, and only then for life), so that although the sisters led a monastic lifestyle, they were not nuns. The sisters could leave the monastery and get married, but if they wished, they could be tonsured into a mantle, bypassing monasticism. (Ekaterina Stepanova, Martha and Mary Convent: a unique example, an article from the Neskuchny Sad magazine on the website Orthodoxy and the World). “Elisabeth wanted to combine social service and a strict monastic charter. To do this, she needed to create the new kind women's church ministry, a cross between a monastery and a sisterhood. The lay sisterhoods, of which there were many in Russia at that time, did not please Elisaveta Feodorovna for their secular spirit: the sisters of mercy often attended balls, led a too secular lifestyle, and she understood monasticism exclusively as contemplative, prayerful doing, complete renunciation of the world (respectively, of work in hospitals, hospitals, etc.). (Ekaterina Stepanova, Martha and Mary Convent: a unique example, an article from the Neskuchny Sad magazine on the website Orthodoxy and the World) The sisters received serious psychological, methodological, spiritual and medical training at the convent. They were lectured by the best doctors of Moscow, the conversations with them were conducted by the confessor of the monastery, Fr. Mitrofan Srebryansky (later Archimandrite Sergius; canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church) and the second priest of the monastery, Fr. Eugene Sinadsky.

According to the plan of Elisaveta Feodorovna, the monastery was supposed to provide comprehensive, spiritual, educational and medical assistance to those in need, who were often not only given food and clothing, but were helped in finding employment, placed in hospitals. Often the sisters persuaded families who could not give their children a normal upbringing (for example, professional beggars, drunkards, etc.) to send their children to an orphanage where they were given an education, good care and profession. A hospital, an excellent outpatient clinic, a pharmacy, where part of the medicines were given free of charge, a shelter, a free canteen, and many other institutions were created in the monastery. Educational lectures and talks, meetings of the Palestinian Society, the Geographical Society, spiritual readings and other events were held in the Intercession Church of the monastery. Having settled in the monastery, Elisaveta Feodorovna led an ascetic life: at night caring for the seriously ill or reading the Psalter over the dead, and during the day she worked, along with her sisters, bypassing the poorest quarters. Together with her cell-attendant Varvara Yakovleva, Elisaveta Feodorovna often visited Khitrov Market, a place of attraction for the Moscow poor. Here, mother found homeless children and gave them to city shelters. All Khitrovka respectfully called the Grand Duchess "Sister Elizabeth" or "Mother". She maintained relations with a number of well-known elders of that time: Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Zyryanov) (Eleazar Hermitage), Schemagumen German (Gomzin) and Hieroschemamonk Alexy (Soloviev) (Elders of the Zosima Hermitage). Elisaveta Feodorovna did not accept monastic vows. During the First World War, she actively took care of helping the Russian army, including wounded soldiers. Then she tried to help the prisoners of war, with whom hospitals were overcrowded and, as a result, she was accused of aiding the Germans. With her participation, at the beginning of 1915, a workshop was organized to assemble prostheses from ready-made parts, obtained in most of the St. Petersburg military medical manufacturing plant, where there was a special prosthetic workshop. Until 1914, this branch of industry did not develop in Russia. Funds for the equipment of the workshop, located in private ownership on Trubnikovsky Lane in house No. 9, were collected from donations. As hostilities developed, the need to increase the production of artificial limbs increased and the Committee of the Grand Duchess moved production along Maronovsky Lane, 9. Realizing the social significance of this area, with the personal participation of Elisaveta Feodorovna, in 1916, work began on the design and construction of the first in Moscow in Russian prosthetic plant, which is still engaged in the production of components for prostheses.

Elisaveta Feodorovna wanted to open branches of the monastery in other cities of Russia, but her plans were not destined to come true. The First World War, with the blessing of the mother, the sisters of the monastery worked in field hospitals. The revolutionary events affected all members of the Romanov dynasty, even the Grand Duchess Elisabeth, whom all of Moscow loved. Shortly after the February Revolution, an armed crowd with red flags came to arrest the abbess of the monastery - "a German spy who keeps weapons in the monastery." The monastery was searched; after the crowd left, Elisaveta Feodorovna said to the sisters: "Obviously, we are still unworthy of the martyr's crown." After the October Revolution of 1917, at first the convent was not disturbed, and food and medicine were even brought to the sisters. Arrests began later. In 1918, Elisaveta Feodorovna was taken into custody. The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent existed until 1926. Some sisters were sent into exile, others united in a community and created a small vegetable garden in the Tver region. Two years later, a cinema was opened in the Intercession Church, and then a house of health education was located there. A statue of Stalin was placed in the altar. After the Great Patriotic War, the State Art Restoration Workshops settled in the cathedral of the monastery, the rest of the premises were occupied by a polyclinic and laboratories of the All-Union Institute of Mineral Raw Materials. In 1992, the territory of the monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now the monastery lives according to the charter created by Elisaveta Feodorovna. The residents are trained at the St. Demetrius School of Sisters of Mercy, help those in need, work in the newly opened orphanage on Bolshaya Ordynka, a charity canteen, a patronage service, a gymnasium and a cultural and educational center.

Statues of 20th-century martyrs on the west façade of Westminster Abbey: Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Macemola, Gianani Luvum, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi and Wang Zhiming

relics

In 2004-2005, the relics of the New Martyrs were in Russia, the CIS countries and the Baltic States, where more than 7 million people bowed to them. According to Patriarch Alexy II, "long queues of believers to the relics of the holy new martyrs are another symbol of Russia's repentance for the sins of hard times, the country's return to its original historical path." Then the relics were returned to Jerusalem.

Temples and monasteries

Several Orthodox monasteries in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, as well as churches are dedicated to the Grand Duchess. The Temples of Russia website database (as of October 28, 2012) includes information about 24 operating churches in different cities of Russia, the main throne of which is dedicated to the Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna, about 6 churches in which one of the additional thrones is dedicated to her, about 1 under construction temple and 4 chapels. The existing churches in the name of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna Alapaevskaya (in brackets - construction dates) are located in Yekaterinburg (2001); Kaliningrad (2003); the city of Belousovo, Kaluga region (2000-2003); the village of Chistye Bory, Kostroma region (late XX - early XXI centuries); the cities of Balashikha (2005), Zvenigorod (2003), Klin (1991), Krasnogorsk (mid-1990s - mid-2000s), Lytkarino (2007-2008), Odintsovo (early 2000s), Shchelkovo (late 1990s - early 2000s), Shcherbinka (1998-2001) and the village of Kolotskoye (1993) of the Moscow region; Moscow (temples of 1995, 1997 and 1998, 3 churches of the mid-2000s, 6 churches in total); the village of Diveevo, Nizhny Novgorod region (2005); Nizhny Novgorod; the village of Vengerovo, Novosibirsk Region (1996); Orle (2008); the city of Bezhetsk, Tver region (2000); Khrenovoe village (2007). The existing churches with additional thrones of the Reverend Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna Alapaevskaya (in brackets - the dates of construction) include: the Cathedral of the Three Great Hierarchs in the Spaso-Eleazarovsky Monastery, Pskov Region, the village of Elizarovo (1574), additional thrones - the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Reverend Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna; Church of the Ascension of the Lord, Nizhny Novgorod (1866-1875), additional thrones - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Icon of the Mother of God the Burning Bush, the Monk Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna; Church of Elijah the Prophet in Ilyinsky, Moscow region, Krasnogorsk district, with. Ilyinsky (1732-1740), additional thrones - John the Theologian, the Monk Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, Theodore of Perga; Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands in Usovo (new), Moscow region, p. Usovo (2009-2010), additional thrones - the Icon of the Mother of God Sovereign, the Monk Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, Hieromartyr Sergius (Makhaev); Temple in the name of St. Elizabeth Feodorovna (Elizaveta Feodorovna), Sverdlovsk Region, Yekaterinburg. Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, Kursk Region, Kurchatov (1989-1996), additional throne (2006) - Martyrs Elisabeth Feodorovna and Nun Varvara. The chapels are located in St. Petersburg (2009); Orla (1850s); G. Zhukovsky, Moscow Region (2000s); Yoshkar-Ole (2007). Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the Monk Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna in Yekaterinburg - under construction. The list includes house churches (hospital churches and churches located at other social institutions), which may not be separate structures, but occupy premises in hospital buildings, etc.

Rehabilitation

On June 8, 2009, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office posthumously rehabilitated Elisaveta Feodorovna. Decree on the termination of the criminal case No. 18/123666-93 "On the clarification of the circumstances of the death of members of the Russian Imperial House and persons from their entourage in the period 1918-1919."

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 understood 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.
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.

Elizaveta Feodorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich

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.
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 in Europe there are only two beauties, and both are Elizabeths: Elisabeth of Austria, the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, and Elizaveta Feodorovna.

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, fasts, often went to 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 met in a Protestant church.
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 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).
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.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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 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, 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.
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 jewels, 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. In the largest two-storey house there is a dining room for 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 - 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 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).

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.
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.
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 Martha and Mary 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 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 console the dying with a false hope of recovery, it is better to help them pass in a Christian way into eternity.”
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.
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, helped materially the 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 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."
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 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.
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 Mir 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 crowd 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.
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 still unworthy 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. 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 from the “great mother”. Elizaveta Fedorovna received everyone, listened, strengthened. People left her peaceful and encouraged.
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.
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 she was in the monastery miraculous icon The Sovereign Mother of God, found in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow on the day of the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from the throne. 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, questionnaires were sent - 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, Elizaveta 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. Elizaveta Fyodorovna 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. Elizaveta Feodorovna thanked the sisters for their dedication and loyalty and asked Father Mitrofan not to leave the monastery and serve in it as long as it was 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.
Elizaveta Fedorovna 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, Fyodor 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 Elizabeth 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 the black pit, she said a prayer: "Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." 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 transferred to Jerusalem in 1921 and laid in the tomb of the church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal-to-the-Apostles in Gethsemane.
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).

The Holy Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna (Comm. 18 July) was a reformer of merciful service in Russia. What new species social service did she bring?

The activities of the Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, who converted to Orthodoxy and founded the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, were varied. She was always distinguished by her personal involvement.

Prmc life. Elizabeth was not divided into "just life" and "good deeds."

She personally visited Khitrovka - the "bottom" of Moscow, where the poor and the "criminal element" lived and where even men were afraid to go.
She personally assisted in operations that were carried out in the hospital of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.

Already after the execution, when the Grand Duchess Elizabeth, wounded, was thrown into the mine, she, having received fractures, a head injury, bandaged the wounds of other victims and consoled them.

With all her active involvement in affairs, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna maintained a prayerful mood. Far from all the monasteries of that time were engaged in the Jesus Prayer. Saint Elizabeth was its "doer" and even - at least one letter has been preserved - advised her family to pray this prayer.

Wrote the charter of a fundamentally new monastery of mercy. The Monk Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna treated the Russian Orthodox monastic traditions with great respect.

But in the monastery, first of all, she saw a departure from the world, from an active life for the sake of prayer.

V big city, such as the second capital Russian Empire, Moscow, according to led. book. Elizabeth Feodorovna, a monastery was needed that responds to the most diverse needs of people, where a person can be helped both in word and deed. And where anyone in need could come, regardless of religion and nationality.

Therefore, she began to create new institutions of sisters. Both sisters who had taken a vow of obedience, virginity and non-possession for the time of their service in the monastery, and sisters who had accepted or were preparing for monastic vows could live in the Martha and Mary Convent.

Creating the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, ow. book. Elizabeth was guided by the ancients monastic charters and the advice of spiritual authorities, who could hardly be called modernists - the Moscow Metropolitan, St. Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky), Bishop Tryphon (Turkestanov), the elders of the Zosima Hermitage near Moscow.

I wanted to revive the institute of deaconesses. V ancient church there were deaconesses - women who helped the bishop in missionary service and works of mercy, as well as in the performance of the Sacrament of Baptism over adult women.

Thus, the deaconess Thebe, a disciple of the Apostle Paul, and St. Olympias, interlocutor of Chrysostom. In the Middle Ages, the institute of deaconesses was forgotten, but at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. voices began to be heard in the Church in favor of its revival.

Efforts led. book. Elizabeth Feodorovna was supported by some hierarchs (St. Martyr Vladimir Bogoyavlensky) and rejected by others (St. Martyr Pitirim of Tobolsk).

Prmc. Elizabeth was reproached for taking as a basis the German Lutheran communities of the deaconesses of pastor Flidner.

However, St. Elizaveta Feodorovna turned to the practice of the Ancient Church, which in some matters was thoroughly forgotten.

In early Christian times, there were deaconesses by robe (service) who took vows, and deaconesses who were ordained. “I ask only for the first (category),” Elizaveta Fedorovna wrote to Alexei Afanasyevich Dmitrievsky, professor at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. “To tell the truth, I am not at all for the second degree, the times are not right now to give women the right to participate in the clergy, humility is achieved with difficulty and the participation of women in the clergy can introduce instability into it.”

Opened a sanatorium for wounded soldiers. Hospitals for wounded soldiers were opened by many, including the PMC. Elizabeth. Less common examples of creating rehabilitation centers. Sanatorium equipped with last word of the then medical technology, was organized by ow. book. Elizaveta Fedorovna near Novorossiysk during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

Organized a collection point for aid to the front in the palace. In the halls of the Grand Kremlin Palace during the Russo-Japanese War, on the initiative of vl. book. Elizabeth worked workshops where they sewed uniforms for soldiers. Donations of money and things were also accepted here.

Elizaveta Fedorovna herself monitored the general organization and progress of work every day.

Created the best surgical hospital in Moscow. The first operation in the clinic at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent was performed on the Grand Duchess Elizabeth herself. Subsequently, the most seriously ill patients were brought here, who were refused in other hospitals.

Prmc. Elizabeth not only personally helped with operations, but personally nursed the most seriously ill patients. She sat by the bed, changed the bandages, fed, consoled.

There is a case when she left a woman with severe burns of the whole body, which doctors considered doomed.

However, the hospital in the monastery was not considered a priority. Outpatient care was the main one, patients were received free of charge by qualified Moscow doctors (in 1913, 10,814 visits were registered in it).

Built a building with cheap apartments for working women.

Cheap apartments (dormitories) for working women, opened in the monastery, became a new type of assistance for Russia. It was a trend of the times as more and more young women began to work in factories.

The monastery helped them get out of the world of workers' settlements and suburbs with their drunkenness and depravity.

Oriented the monastery on a mission among the poor. There was a public library in the priest's house at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. It collected 1590 volumes of religious, moral, secular and children's literature.

There was also a Sunday school, where in 1913 75 girls and women who worked in factories studied. If a patient died in the clinic of the monastery, the nuns of Moscow monasteries and sisters who were not engaged in serving the sick would read the Psalter from him. The abbess of the monastery also participated in the prayer. She was put in line at night, because during the day she was busy.

Picked up children from Khitrovka's brothels. The area of shelters described by Gilyarovsky at the beginning of the 20th century was a world lost in the center of Moscow, living according to animal laws. Only the Soviet government succeeded in “liminating” the Khitrovants, which, unlike the tsarist government, used all the power and cruelty of the repressive machine.

Before the revolution, the authorities put up with the existence of Khitrovka. It was believed that the influx of unemployed, homeless and downtrodden people could not be stopped, and in the city center the flophouse area would be under greater police control than in the outskirts. Khitrovka was visited by various benefactors. So it is known that Bishop Arseniy (Zhadanovsky) rescued many former choristers from Khitrovka. People who drank everything to the skin were dressed in new clothes and gave them a chance to get a job in the temples again.

A special choir was even composed of the Khitrovsky choristers, who sang during the services of the bishop. Moscow elder, righteous Alexy Mechev, went to Khitrovka to preach.

A feature of the service of St. Elizaveta Feodorovna was that she took children from the doss houses and sent them to a special school at the monastery. So she saved them from an inevitable fate - for boys, theft, for girls - a panel, and as a result, hard labor or early death. If the family had not yet completely descended, then the children could stay with their parents and only attend classes at the monastery, receive clothes and food there.

Was she afraid to go to brothels? St. Elizabeth went to the poor with alacrity. So, during the revolutionary unrest in Moscow (1905), in the evenings, with only one escort, she went to the hospital to the soldiers wounded in battles with the Japanese. And always refused the protection and assistance of the police.

Russia is a sick child...

In one of the letters after the revolution, Prmts. Elizaveta Fedorovna wrote: “I felt such deep pity for Russia and its children, who at present 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 what I feel every day.

Holy Russia cannot perish. But great Russia unfortunately no more. But God in the Bible shows how he forgave his repentant people and gave them blessed power again. Let us hope that prayers, intensifying every day, and increasing repentance will propitiate the Ever-Virgin, and she will pray for us her Divine Son, and that the Lord will forgive us.

Saint Elizabeth Feodorovna - Orthodox Princess of Europe. Life of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth

Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Photo from 1892

Ovchinnikov P.Ya. Private living room of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, 1902

View of the Russian site in Gethsemane in 1882. Photo of Father Timon

Construction of the church of St. Mary Magdalene. 1885-1888 Photo of Timon's father.

Construction of the church of St. Mary Magdalene. 1885-1888 Photo of Father Timon

Construction of the church of St. Mary Magdalene. 1888 Photo of Father Timon

Grand Dukes Sergius Alexandrovich, Pavel Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem On the left, the head of the RDM in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Anthony (Kapustin) Photo of Timon's father. 1888

Procession during the consecration of St. Mary Magdalene October 1, 1888

Interior of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane. Photo of Timon's father, 1888

The Romanov family and the Gessen family 1910

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Assassin of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, terrorist Ivan Kalaev

Panikhida for the deceased Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Bose in the Miracle Monastery, in the Kremlin, in 1905

Cross-monument in the Novospassky Monastery

The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy is a monastery in Moscow, located on Bolshaya Ordynka. The founder, as well as the first abbess of the monastery was Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

Intercession Cathedral of the monastery

Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane

Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem

Church of Mary Magdalene (modern view)

Church of Mary Magdalene

Interior of the Church of Mary Magdalene

Cancer with the relics of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Biography of the Grand Duchess

Letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to her father about the adoption of Orthodoxy

Martyrdom of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Where are the relics of the Grand Duchess

Canonization

Prayers of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Poem about Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna

Marfo-Mariinsky Convent

relics

Temples and monasteries

Rehabilitation

Grand Dukes Sergius Alexandrovich, Pavel Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem
On the left, the head of the RDM in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Anthony (Kapustin)
Photo of Timon's father. 1888