The Life of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth (Romanova). Icon of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth

home

Adviсe

Holy Martyr Elizaveta Fedorovna 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 Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia.

Grand Duchess of Hesse and Rhineland Alice 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 Elizabeth (right).

Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt

The children were brought up in the traditions of old England, their lives followed a strict order established by their mother. Children's clothing and food were very basic. The eldest daughters did their own work homework: they cleaned the rooms, beds, lit the fireplace. Subsequently, Elizaveta Feodorovna said: “They taught me everything in the house.” The mother carefully monitored the talents and inclinations of each of the seven children and tried to raise them on the solid basis of Christian commandments, to put in their hearts love for their neighbors, especially for the suffering.

Elizaveta Fedorovna's parents gave away most of their fortune to charity, and the children constantly traveled with their mother to hospitals, shelters, and homes for the disabled, bringing with them large bouquets of flowers, putting them in vases, and carrying them around the wards of the sick.

Since childhood, Elizabeth loved nature and especially flowers, which she enthusiastically painted. She had a gift for painting, and throughout her life she devoted a lot of time to this activity. She loved classical music. Everyone who knew Elizabeth from childhood noted her religiosity and love for her neighbors. As Elizaveta Feodorovna herself later said, even in her earliest youth she was greatly influenced by the life and exploits of her saintly distant relative Elizabeth of Thuringia, in whose honor she bore her name.

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

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

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

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

Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse and the Rhine

Artist - Henry Charles Heath

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

In her twentieth year, 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 House of Hesse. Before this, all applicants for her hand had been refused: Princess Elizabeth in her youth had vowed to remain a virgin for the rest of her life. After a frank conversation between her and Sergei Alexandrovich, it turned out that he had secretly made the same vow. By mutual agreement, their marriage was spiritual, they lived like brother and sister.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt

Elizaveta Fedorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich

Elizaveta Fedorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich.

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

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

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna Romanova.

F.I. Rerberg.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna Romanova.

Zon, Karl Rudolf -

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna Romanova.

A.P.Sokolov

For most of the year, the Grand Duchess lived with her husband on their Ilyinskoye estate, sixty kilometers from Moscow, on the banks of the Moscow River. She loved Moscow with its ancient churches, monasteries and patriarchal life. Sergei Alexandrovich was a deeply religious person, strictly observed all church canons and 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 different from what she encountered in the Protestant church.

Elizaveta Feodorovna firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy. What kept her from taking this step was 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 Fedorovna showed courage and, despite moral suffering, firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy.

On April 13 (25), on Lazarus Saturday, the sacrament of anointing 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 commemorates on September 5 (18).

Friedrich August von Kaulbach.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, V.I. Nesterenko

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

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna

In 1891, Emperor Alexander III appointed Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich as Moscow Governor-General. The wife of the Governor-General had to perform many duties - there were constant receptions, concerts, and balls. It was necessary to smile and bow to the guests, dance and conduct conversations, regardless of mood, state of health and desire.

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

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna

Room of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

In 1894, after many obstacles, the decision was made to engage Grand Duchess Alice to the heir Russian throne Nikolai Alexandrovich. Elizaveta Fedorovna rejoiced 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 Elizaveta 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 Elizaveta Feodorovna

But everything happened differently. The heir's bride arrived in Russia when Emperor Alexander III lay dying. On October 20, 1894, the emperor died. The next day, Princess Alice converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexandra. The wedding 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 being 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 establishment of workshops to help soldiers - all the halls of the Kremlin Palace, except the Throne Palace, were occupied for them. Thousands of women worked on sewing machines and work tables. Huge donations came from all over Moscow and the provinces. From here, bales of food, uniforms, medicines and gifts for soldiers went to the front. The Grand Duchess sent camp churches with icons and everything necessary for worship to the front. I personally sent Gospels, icons and prayer books. At her own expense, the Grand Duchess formed several ambulance trains.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna

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

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

In Moscow, she set up a hospital for the wounded and created special committees to provide for the widows and orphans of those killed at the front. But Russian troops suffered one defeat after another. The war showed Russia's technical and military unpreparedness and shortcomings government controlled. Scores began to be settled for past grievances of arbitrariness or injustice, the unprecedented scale of terrorist acts, rallies, and strikes. The state and social order was falling apart, a revolution was approaching.

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

Meanwhile, the fighting organization of the Social Revolutionaries sentenced Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to death. Its agents kept an eye on him, waiting for an opportunity to execute him. Elizaveta Fedorovna knew that her husband was in mortal danger. Anonymous letters warned her not to accompany her husband if she did not want to share his fate. The Grand Duchess especially tried 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 Princess Elizaveta Feodorovna

On February 5 (18), 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich was killed by a bomb thrown by terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. When Elizaveta Feodorovna arrived at the scene 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 the pieces of her husband’s body scattered by the explosion onto 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 didn’t want to kill you, I saw him several times and the time when I had a bomb 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 answered. She further said that she had 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, perhaps 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 Elizaveta Fedorovna and Kalyaev.

From the moment of the death of her husband, Elizaveta Fedorovna did not stop mourning, began to keep a strict fast, and 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 color, they contained only icons and paintings of spiritual content. She did not appear at social functions. She was only in church for weddings or christenings of relatives and friends and immediately went home or on business. Now nothing connected her with social life.

Elizaveta Fedorovna in mourning after the death of her husband

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

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

Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova.

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

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

The day at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent began at 6 o'clock in the morning. After the general morning prayer rule. In the hospital church, the Grand Duchess gave obedience to the sisters for the coming day. Those free from obedience remained in the church, where the Divine Liturgy began. The afternoon meal included reading the lives of the saints. At 5 o'clock in the evening, Vespers and Matins were served in the church, where all the sisters free from obedience were present. On holidays and resurrection it took place all-night vigil. At 9 pm in the hospital church they read evening rule, after him, all the sisters, having received the blessing of the abbess, went to their cells. Akathists were read four times a week during Vespers: on Sunday - to the Savior, on Monday - to the Archangel Michael and all the Ethereal 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 for the dead was read. The abbess herself often prayed there at night. Inner life The sisters were led by a wonderful priest and shepherd - the confessor of the monastery, Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky. Twice a week he had conversations with the sisters. In addition, the sisters could come to their confessor or abbess every day at certain hours for advice and guidance. The Grand Duchess, together with Father Mitrofan, taught the sisters not only medical knowledge, but also spiritual guidance to degenerate, lost and despairing 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 the general singing of prayers.

Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent

Archpriest Mitrofan Srebryansky

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

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna

A contemporary of the Grand Duchess, Nonna Grayton, maid of honor to 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 said the words “I can’t”, and there was never anything dull in the life of the Marfo-Mary Convent. Everything was perfect there, both inside and outside. And whoever was there took away a wonderful feeling.”

In the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery, the Grand Duchess led the life of an ascetic. She slept on a wooden bed without a mattress. She strictly observed 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, and sorted out petitions and letters.

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

The abbess always offered confession and communion as the main remedy for illnesses. She said: “It is immoral to console the dying with false hope of recovery; it is better to help them move into eternity in a Christian way.”

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

The abbess of the Martha and Mary Convent believed that the main thing was not the hospital, but helping the poor and needy. The monastery received up to 12,000 requests a year. They asked for everything: arranging for treatment, finding a job, looking after children, caring for bedridden patients, sending them to study abroad.

She found opportunities to help the clergy - she provided funds for the needs of poor rural parishes that could not repair the church or build a new one. She encouraged, strengthened, and helped financially the priests - missionaries who worked among the pagans of the far north or foreigners on the outskirts of Russia.

One of the main places of poverty, to which the Grand Duchess paid special attention, was the Khitrov market. Elizaveta Fedorovna, accompanied by her cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva or the sister of the monastery, Princess Maria Obolenskaya, tirelessly moving from one den to another, collected orphans and persuaded parents to give her children to raise. The entire population of Khitrovo respected her, calling her “ 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 uncleanliness, swearing, or a face that had lost its human appearance. She said: " The likeness of God may sometimes be obscured, but it can never be destroyed.”

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

Elizaveta Feodorovna organized charity homes for orphans, disabled people, and seriously ill people, found time to visit them, constantly supported them financially, and brought gifts. They tell the following story: one day the Grand Duchess was supposed to come to an orphanage for little orphans. Everyone was preparing to meet their benefactress with dignity. The girls were told that the Grand Duchess would come: they would need to greet her and kiss her hands. When Elizaveta Fedorovna arrived, she was greeted by little children in white dresses. They greeted each other in unison and all extended their hands to the Grand Duchess with the words: “kiss the hands.” The teachers were horrified: what would happen. But the Grand Duchess went up to each of the girls and kissed everyone’s hands. Everyone cried at the same time - there was such tenderness and reverence on their faces and in their hearts.

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

Over time, she planned to establish branches of the monastery in other cities of Russia.

The Grand Duchess had a native Russian love of pilgrimage.

She traveled to Sarov more than once and happily hurried to the temple to pray at the shrine. St. Seraphim. She went to Pskov, to Optina Pustyn, to Zosima Pustyn, and 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 discovery or transfer of the relics of the saints of God. The Grand Duchess secretly helped and looked after sick pilgrims who were expecting 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 was the construction of the Russian Orthodox church in Italy, in the city of Bari, where the relics of St. Nicholas of Myra of Lycia rest. In 1914, the lower church in honor of St. Nicholas and the hospice house were consecrated.

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

In 1916, an angry crowd approached the gates of the monastery with a demand to hand over a German spy - the brother of Elizabeth Feodorovna, who was allegedly hiding in the monastery. The abbess came out to the crowd alone and offered to inspect all the premises of the community. A mounted police force dispersed the crowd.

Soon after the February Revolution, a crowd with rifles, red flags and bows again approached the monastery. The abbess herself opened the gate - they told her 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

In response to the demands of those who came to immediately go with them, the Grand Duchess said that she must make orders and say goodbye to the 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.

Elizaveta Fedorovna stood on her knees throughout the prayer service. 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 found nothing there except the sisters’ cells and a hospital with the sick. After the crowd left, Elizaveta Fedorovna said to the sisters: “ Obviously we are not yet worthy of the crown of martyrdom.".

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 in this difficult time.

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

Mikhail Nesterov

Fresco "Christ with Martha and Mary" for the Intercession Cathedral of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow

Mikhail Nesterov

For 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 arrived at the monastery: black bread, dried fish, vegetables, some fat and sugar. Limited quantities of bandages and essential medicines were provided.

Every person has their own path in life. He either saves himself or lives his life to his own condemnation. In this sense, wealth and poverty, prosperity and poverty, security and need are not in themselves either virtues or conditions of salvation. It all depends on how exactly a person manages his life circumstances. If it is for the glory of God, then poverty and misery are not a hindrance to him. And wealth with fame is not a shame. And although, as evidenced Holy Bible, it is very difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not at all easier for a poor person. How easy it is for a needy person to fall into anger and envy, to become inflamed with a thirst for violence and revenge, to be tempted by the desire to take possession of other people’s wealth. In turn, it is extremely difficult for a rich person not to become proud, not to become arrogant, not to experience a sense of superiority over “losers” and “tramps”...

Icon of the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova. Gallery of Shchigry icons.

Elizaveta Feodorovna was born among the powerful and glorious of this world. She was born on November 1, 1864 in the German city of Darmstadt, in a house on Wilhelminenstrasse. Her mother Alice was the daughter of Queen Victoria of England, and her father Theodore Ludwig IV was the Grand Duke of Hesse. Ella's parents - this diminutive name was once used to call the great Russian saint - were active and kind Christians by character and way of life. Their subjects had the right to consider themselves happy people. Being under the leadership of highly moral, deeply religious and decent rulers, they had every opportunity to develop their own souls. This was the very case when those in power beneficially influence the morals of the people and correct all their social shortcomings by personal example of piety.

Only life in Christ completely changes a person - regardless of his material condition and the class to which he belongs.

After her death, Ella's mother, Grand Duchess Alice, was perceived by the Germans as the true mother of the country, as an example of an exemplary family life, as a mother of well-educated children, as a standard of good morals and love for the common man. In the bosom of this truly noble family, Ella, the future martyr of the Russian land, and the future empress of Russia, the holy passion-bearer Alexandra Feodorovna, then Alix, Ella’s younger sister, were brought up.

The Grand Duchess Alice, who left England and followed her husband to Germany, had the noblest feature of her soul, which she inherited from her mother, Queen Victoria of England. All her life, through her deeds, she affirmed the two most important Christian principles for the salvation of the soul - repentance and mercy. Duchess Alice was naturally drawn to charity.

In the book of Countess A. A. Olsufieva, lady-in-waiting of the Grand Duchess (“The Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna of Russia.” London, 1923), we find the following characteristic lines: “Elizabeth Feodorovna received an early education from her mother, which prepared her for a high destiny. This wise and gentle mother put into the minds of her children early years main principle Christianity - love for one's neighbor.

She herself, always remaining an Englishwoman at heart, deeply fell in love with her new country; endowed with tact and prudence, she did a lot of charity work and during short life ensured the well-being of the German duchy like no one before her... Grand Duchess Elizabeth put her mother's covenant of mercy into practice - with generosity in her actions and restraint in speech. She never allowed herself to criticize anyone harshly and always found a gentle excuse for a person who made a mistake.” Ella's younger brother, Ernst Ludwig, also noted at one time that Elizaveta Feodorovna, by devoting herself to the needy and sick, proved that she was “the true daughter of the Grand Duchess Alice.”

Living love for a suffering person, along with the beauty and sophistication of the Grand Ducal lifestyle, outstanding people who visited her parents - musicians, composers, artists and poets - all this contributed to the formation in Ella of an exceptionally gentle and subtle soul, receptive to everything sublime and good, as well as the ability of genuine human participation in the destinies of the needy and disadvantaged, high demands for himself and amazing personal modesty and humility, which took its source from strict observance of the commandments of Christ.

Icon of the Venerable Martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara. Icon from the Church of the Iveron Mother of God on Vspolye, Moscow.

The magnificent castle in which Ella’s family lived was partially converted by her father into a museum, where paintings by famous artists (among them Holbein the Younger), stained glass windows, and rare exhibits of flora and fauna were collected. This neighborhood had the most positive influence on the development of aesthetic sense in all children.

Icon of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.
From the page of the Pupil of the St. Alexievsky Convent of the book Saratov St. Alexievsky Convent

Parents constantly took their children with them to hospitals and shelters, opened their eyes to human pain, and taught them to sympathize with the grief of others. Children gave flowers to patients, communicated with them and won the hearts of patients with their immediate sincerity and cordiality.

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. From the article Shamordino, embroidered icons of the monastery.

“Every Saturday morning,” recalled Ernst Ludwig, “we had to take bouquets of flowers to (...) the hospital on Mauerstrasse and, putting the flowers in vases, give them to different patients. In this way we overcame the timidity often characteristic of children... and became friends with many of the patients and certainly learned to have sympathy for others. There were no age restrictions; even the youngest among us had to go to the hospital.”

Here is what six-year-old Ella wrote to her father: “Darmstadt, December 29, 1870. My beloved dad, I wish you a happy New Year. Mom put your picture in our school room. We were at the city hall, where poor children received Christmas gifts, and their dads were at war. Farewell, beloved dad. Your obedient, loving daughter Ella.”

Then there was a war between Prussia and France, and almost the entire Grand Ducal Palace was turned into a hospital for the wounded.

All the noble ladies of Darmstadt looked after them. What an analogy can be seen here with the Kremlin chambers and with the future infirmary of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow, where during the First World War Elizaveta Feodorovna and other women from high society will also care for the wounded, send bales of things, gifts and food to the front!

Ella's father Theodore Ludwig, like his wife Alice, also helped create a healthy Christian atmosphere in the family. There was neither a feeling of exaltation from belonging to a noble family, nor lordly arrogance and arrogance in relations with his subjects. As mentioned above, the fate of ordinary people, suffering and needy, was put at the forefront in Ella’s family. The power and influence given to them by God was perceived by Grand Duke Ludwig and his wife Alice solely as an honorable burden of responsibility for arranging the destinies of those who were entrusted to their care by God himself.

In addition, love and peace, warmth and complete spiritual kinship reigned in the personal relationship between Ludwig and Alice. “I hope that my beloved Louis will be with me again this evening,” Alice wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria, “this is such a wonderful occasion for joy and gratitude. When he is next to me, all worries dissolve into peace and happiness.” What a beneficial influence these sensitive and caring parental relationships had on children!.. A kind and comfortable life, conversations on lofty topics, regular communication with children, care for their spiritual and physical health, frequent trips to nature and travel - all this was gratefully imprinted by the soft childish soul, gave its development the necessary and saving direction.

Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse took her maternal duty, inseparable from Christian faith. It is in this regard, according to many researchers of her biography, that one of the main sources of the future spiritual prosperity of her children was hidden.

Ella drew beautifully, loved classical music, played music herself, and embroidered. Today, the Red Hall of the Hessian Palace, recreated after World War II, houses her amazing childhood drawings and sewing.

Saint Ella's beloved was Elizabeth of Thuringia, the daughter of the Hungarian king, her distant relative, who lived in the first half of the 13th century. Married to the Landgrave of Thuringia, she was widowed early and expelled from her possessions. Elizabeth wandered for a long time, lived with the poor, bandaged their wounds, wore rough clothes, slept on the bare ground, walked barefoot and was a model of Christian humility. Her ascetic lifestyle greatly attracted Ella, who always strived for Christian perfection and already in her early youth secretly understood that without internal spiritual asceticism and strict abstinence it would never be achieved.

The tragic death of Ella's younger brother Friedrich and the early death of her mother, who died of diphtheria at thirty-five, brought an end to the girl's happy childhood and put her on the next stage. spiritual growth- Christian understanding of life as the Cross, preservation of the purity of youth and the further implementation of the main life goal - the salvation of the soul through active love for one's neighbor. She selflessly helped her father in everything, trying to ease his grief, looked after her sisters, and kept house. Much later, shortly before the execution of Elizaveta Feodorovna in 1918 near Alapaevsk, her Bolshevik guards were sincerely surprised how this lady from high society deftly, like a cook, handled pots in captivity and felt garden beds like at home.

Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova was born on November 1, 1864 in Darmstadt. She was an Honorary Member and Chairman of the Palestinian Orthodox Society in 1905-1917, the founder of the Moscow Martha and Mary Convent.

Elizaveta Romanova: biography. Childhood and family

She was the second daughter of Ludwig IV (Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt) and Princess Alice. In 1878, diphtheria overtook the family. Only Elizaveta Romanova, Empress Alexandra (one of the younger sisters) did not get sick. The latter was in Russia and was the wife of Nicholas II. Princess Alice's mother and second younger sister Maria died of diphtheria. After the death of his wife, Ella’s father (as Elizabeth was called in the family) married Alexandrina Gutten-Chapskaya. The children were raised primarily by their grandmother at Osborne House. From childhood, Ella was instilled with religious views. She participated in charitable causes and received lessons in housekeeping. Great importance in the development of the spiritual world of Ella had the image of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, famous for her mercy. Friedrich of Baden (her cousin) was considered a potential groom. For some time, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia courted Elizabeth. He was also her cousin. According to information from a number of sources, Wilhelm proposed to Ella, but she rejected him.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanova

On June 3 (15), 1884, the wedding of Ella and Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of Alexander III, took place in the Court Cathedral. After the wedding, the couple settled in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace. Later it became known as Sergievsky. took place in Ilyinsky, where Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova and her husband subsequently lived. At Ella’s insistence, a hospital was established on the estate, and regular fairs for peasants began to be held.

Activity

Princess Elizaveta Romanova spoke Russian perfectly. Professing Protestantism, she attended services in the Orthodox Church. In 1888 she made a pilgrimage with her husband to the Holy Land. Three years later, in 1891, Elizaveta Romanova converted to Christianity. Being at that time the wife of the Moscow Governor-General, she organized a charitable society. His activities were carried out first in the city itself, and then spread to the surrounding area. Elizabethan committees were formed at all church parishes in the province. In addition, the wife of the Governor-General headed the Ladies' Society, and after the death of her husband, she became the chairman of the Moscow administration of the Red Cross. At the beginning of the war with Japan, Elizaveta Romanova established a special committee to help soldiers. A donation fund for soldiers was formed. In the warehouse, bandages were prepared, clothes were sewn, parcels were collected, and camp churches were formed.

Death of a spouse

During the years the country experienced revolutionary unrest. Elizaveta Romanova also spoke about them. The letters that she wrote to Nicholas expressed her rather tough position regarding freethinking and revolutionary terror. On February 4, 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich was killed by Ivan Kalyaev. Elizaveta Fedorovna took the loss seriously. Later, she came to the killer in prison and conveyed forgiveness on behalf of the deceased husband, leaving Kalyaev with the Gospel. In addition, Elizaveta Fedorovna submitted a petition to Nicholas for pardon of the criminal. However, it was not satisfied. After the death of her husband, Elizaveta Romanova replaced him as Chairman of the Palestinian Orthodox Society. She held this post from 1905 to 1917.

Founding of the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery

After the death of her husband, Ella sold the jewelry. Having transferred to the treasury the part that was owned by the Romanov dynasty, Elizabeth used the funds received to buy an estate on Bolshaya Ordynka with a large garden and four houses. The Marfo-Mariinsky monastery was established here. The sisters were engaged charitable works, medical activities. When organizing the monastery, both Russian Orthodox and European experience were used. The sisters who lived there took vows of obedience, non-covetousness and chastity. Unlike the monastic service, after a while they were allowed to leave the monastery and start families. The sisters received serious medical, methodological, psychological and spiritual training. Lectures were given to them by the best Moscow doctors, and conversations were conducted by their confessor Father Mitrofan Srebryansky (who later became Archimandrite Sergius) and Father Evgeny Sinadsky.

Work of the monastery

Elizaveta Romanova planned that the institution would provide comprehensive medical, spiritual and educational assistance to all those in need. They were not only given clothes and food, but also often provided with employment and placement in hospitals. Often the sisters convinced families who could not give their children a proper upbringing to send them to an orphanage. There they received good care, a profession, and an education. The monastery operated a hospital, had its own outpatient clinic, and a pharmacy, some of the medicines in which were free. There was also a shelter, a canteen and many other institutions. In the Church of the Intercession, educational conversations and lectures were held, meetings of the Orthodox Palestinian and Geographical Societies, and other events were held. Elizabeth, living in the monastery, led an active life. At night she cared for the seriously ill or read the Psalter over the dead. During the day, she worked with the rest of the sisters: she walked around the poorest neighborhoods and visited the Khitrov market on her own. The latter was considered at that time the most crime-prone place in Moscow. From there she picked up the minors and took them to an orphanage. Elizabeth was respected for the dignity with which she always carried herself, for her lack of superiority over the inhabitants of the slums.

Establishment of a prosthetic factory

During the First World War, Elizabeth actively participated in providing support to the Russian army and providing assistance to the wounded. At the same time, she tried to support prisoners of war, with whom the hospitals were then overcrowded. For this, she was subsequently accused of collaborating with the Germans. At the beginning of 1915, with her active assistance, a workshop for assembling from finished parts prostheses. Most of the elements were then delivered from St. Petersburg, from the military medical products plant. It operated a separate prosthetic workshop. This industrial sector was developed only in 1914. Funds for organizing the workshop in Moscow were collected from donations. As the war progressed, the need for products increased. By decision of the Princess Committee, the production of prosthetics was moved from Trubnikovsky Lane to Maronovsky, in the 9th building. With her personal participation, in 1916, work began on the design and construction of the country's first prosthetic plant, which still operates today, producing components.

Murder

After the Bolsheviks came to power, Elizaveta Romanova refused to leave Russia. She continued active work at the monastery. On May 7, 1918, Patriarch Tikhon served a prayer service, and half an hour after his departure, Elizabeth was arrested by order of Dzerzhinsky. Subsequently, she was deported to Perm, then transported to Yekaterinburg. She and other representatives of the Romanov dynasty were placed in the Atamanov Rooms hotel. After 2 months they were sent to Alapaevsk. The sister of the monastery, Varvara, was also present with the Romanovs. In Alapaevsk they were in the Floor School. Near her building there is an apple tree, which, according to legend, was planted by Elizabeth. On the night of July 5 (18), 1918, all prisoners were shot and thrown alive (except for Sergei Mikhailovich) into the Nov mine. Selimskaya, 18 km from Alapaevsk.

Burial

On October 31, 1918, the Whites entered Alapaevsk. The remains of those shot were removed from the mine and placed in coffins. They were placed at the funeral service in the church at the city cemetery. But with the advance of the Red Army detachments, the coffins were transported further and further to the East several times. In Beijing in April 1920, they were met by Archbishop Innokenty, head of the Russian spiritual mission. From there, the coffins of Elizabeth Feodorovna and sister Varvara were transported to Shanghai, and then to Port Said and finally to Jerusalem. The burial took place in January 1921 by Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem. Thus, the will of Elizabeth herself, expressed in 1888, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was fulfilled.

Praise

In 1992, the Grand Duchess and sister Varvara were canonized by the Council of Bishops. They were included in the Council of Confessors and New Martyrs of Russia. Shortly before this, in 1981, they were canonized by the Orthodox Church abroad.

Relics

From 2004 to 2005 they were in Russia and the CIS. More than 7 million people bowed to them. As II noted, long lines of people to the relics of the New Martyrs act as another symbol of repentance for sins and indicate the country’s return to the historical path. After this they returned to Jerusalem.

Monasteries and temples

Several churches were built in honor of Elizabeth Feodorovna in Russia and Belarus. The information base as of October 2012 contained information about 24 churches in which the main altar is dedicated to her, 6 where it is one of the additional ones, as well as about one temple under construction and 4 chapels. They are located in the cities:

Yekaterinburg.
Kaliningrad.
Belousov (Kaluga region).
P. Chistye Bory (Kostroma region).
Balashikha.
Zvenigorod.
Krasnogorsk.
Odintsovo.
Lytkarine.
Shchelkovo.
Shcherbinka.
D. Kolotskoe.
P. Diveevo (Nizhny Novgorod region).
Nizhny Novgorod.
S. Vengerove (Novosibirsk region).
Orle.
Bezhetsk (Tver region).

Additional thrones in temples:

Three Saints in the Spassko-Elizarovsky Monastery (Pskov region).
Ascension of the Lord (Nizhny Novgorod).
Elijah the Prophet (Ilyinskoye, Moscow region, Krasnogorsk district).
Sergius of Radonezh and the Martyr Elizabeth (Ekaterinburg).
The Savior Not Made by Hands in Usovo (Moscow region).
In the name of St. Elisaveta Fedorovna (Ekaterinburg).
Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God (Kurchatov, Kursk region).
St. Martyr Vel. Princess Elizabeth (Shcherbinka).

The chapels are located in Orel, St. Petersburg, Yoshkar-Ola, and Zhukovsky (Moscow region). The list in the information base also contains data about house churches. They are located in hospitals and other social institutions, do not occupy separate buildings, but are located in buildings, etc.

Conclusion

Elizaveta Romanova always sought to help people, often even to her own detriment. There was, perhaps, not a single person who did not respect her for all her deeds. Even during the revolution, when her life was under threat, she did not leave Russia, but continued to work. In difficult times for the country, Elizaveta Romanova gave all her strength to people in need. Thanks to her, a huge number of lives were saved, a prosthetic factory, orphanages, and hospitals opened in Russia. Contemporaries, having learned about the arrest, were extremely surprised, because they could not imagine what danger she could pose to Soviet power. On June 8, 2009, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation rehabilitated Elizaveta Romanova posthumously.

Exactly one hundred years ago, the life of Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova was tragically cut short in the Urals - sister the last Russian empress, who was later canonized. Born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and converted to Orthodoxy. Elizaveta Fedorovna founded the unique Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow, where with my own hands treated the wounded. And during the revolutionary years, she refused to leave Russia, feeling more Russian than many of those born in the empire. The night after the murder royal family The Bolsheviks threw her alive into a mine near Alapaevsk. About forgiveness and fortitude - in the material of RIA Novosti.

Glove for memory

The arrest was unexpected, but to some extent logical. The family of the younger sister, Alix, the wife of Emperor Nicholas II, had been in exile in Tobolsk for six months.

They came for Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna on the third day after Easter. Patriarch Tikhon felt this way: he served a prayer service at the Martha and Mary Convent that day, and then talked for a long time with the abbess and sisters.

“The sisters survived. The monastery worked at that time as a medical spiritual institution. There was a warehouse and sewing workshops. Disabled war veterans made lampshades that were sold to benefit their families. Elizaveta Fedorovna participated as much as possible in the fate of her charges,” says Natalya Matoshina, director of the memorial museum of the Convent of Mercy.

It became more and more difficult to obtain food - potatoes, vegetables and herbs were grown in their own garden.

“I didn’t do anything bad to anyone. “God will be,” she wrote to her friend, Princess Zinaida Yusupova.

Aggressive people broke into the monastery several times, looking for German spies and weapons. The abbess showed them the rooms - storerooms, nurses' cells, wards with the wounded - and they left.

“The people are children, they are not to blame for what is happening. He was misled by the enemies of Russia,” she said.

But on May 7, everything was different: the Great Mother (as Elizaveta Fedorovna was called by her sisters and thousands of people whom she managed to help during the half-century of life allotted to her) was given only half an hour to get ready. Neither really say goodbye nor give orders.

“Everyone was praying on their knees in the hospital church with the priest, and when they began to take her away, the sisters rushed across: “We won’t give up our mother!” - they grabbed onto her, crying, screaming. It seems there was no strength to tear them off. They beat everyone off with rifle butts... They took her to the car along with cell attendant Varvara and sister Ekaterina. Father stands on the steps, tears streaming down his face, and just blesses them, blesses them... And the sisters ran after the car. As much as they had the strength, some fell straight onto the road...” recalled Mother Nadezhda (Brenner), who remained in the monastery until its closure in 1926.

Almost a hundred years later, Vladimir Boryachek, a descendant of one of the parishioners of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, brought a woman’s white glove made of cotton and linen, which was kept in their family as a shrine - on the day of the arrest, the Grand Duchess dropped it.

Train decorated with white flowers

The train took her further and further from her beloved Moscow. Where? It seems to be in the Urals. Thirty-four years ago, she arrived in Russia on another train, decorated with white flowers, to become the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, brother of Emperor Alexander III.

Her husband became her mentor and guide to Russian culture and Orthodoxy. Seeing his sincere faith, she at first curtsied before the icons, not knowing how to properly express her respect to them.

Her father, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt, never understood Ella’s desire to convert to Orthodoxy, although her decision had been brewing for seven years.

They spent their honeymoon with Sergei on the banks of the Moscow River in their beloved Ilyinsky, where, by the way, they opened a medical center, a maternity hospital, kindergarten and organized charity bazaars for the benefit of the poor.

All this has been close to her since childhood. The mother, the English princess Alice, considered it wrong to spoil her seven children. She raised her in love, but in English - in severity: invariably early rise, homework, simple food, modest clothing, iron discipline and compulsory work. Ella knew a lot: planting flowers, cleaning rooms, making beds, lighting a fireplace, knitting, drawing... From the age of three, she and her mother visited hospitals in her native Darmstadt.

During the days of the Austro-Prussian War, the duchess created the local women's Red Cross society.

Later, both of her daughters, Ella and Alix, will continue this activity in Russia.

Elizabeth Feodorovna's conversion to Orthodoxy coincided with her husband's appointment to the post of Governor General of Moscow. In 1891 they moved from St. Petersburg, where most of their relatives and friends remained. Sergei had 14 years to live.

Alexander III believed that his versatile education and religiosity would transform Moscow...

The new governor tried to justify the trust. It is impossible to count the societies and committees that he headed and patronized: Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, the Moscow Society for the Charity, Education and Training of Blind Children, the Society for the Protection of Street Children and Minors Released from Prisons, an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Arts, the Moscow Archaeological Society , Russian Musical Society - and this is only a small part of them.

He opened theaters, created museums, organized readings for poorly educated workers, and organized the distribution of spiritual and moral books.

And he died from the explosion of a bomb thrown at his carriage by Ivan Kalyaev on February 4, 1905. The parts of his body, torn apart by the explosion, were collected for several days...

Who would have thought that another 14 years would pass, and the outbreak of the revolution would justify his killer: the Bolsheviks would hold a conference at which Kalyaev would be ranked as a hero.

Along with the life of her husband, the social life of the Grand Duchess also ended. She remained the chairman of more than 150 charitable committees and organizations (only during the existence of one of them - the Elizabethan Society - 40 children's institutions were opened) and opened the unique, only Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Russia.

Life's work

Elizaveta Fedorovna invested all her talents and savings into building the monastery. The first thing she did was open a hospital in the estate she bought on Bolshaya Ordynka (in 1907).

And in the center of the building she built a temple in honor of the evangelical sisters Martha and Mary (one hardworking and caring, the second attentive to the teachings of Christ). According to the Grand Duchess, the service of the sisters of mercy, in addition to providing medical care should lead the suffering to Christ and eternal life.

Soon the monastery had a hospital for poor women and children, a home for poor consumptive women, a free outpatient clinic dispensing medicine, a work shelter for girls, a Sunday school for adult women, free library, dining room and hospice. Free lunches were given out every day.

Thanks to her status, Elizaveta Fedorovna was able to attract the best doctors.

Under their leadership, sisters of mercy underwent special training. Together with the abbess, they visited the Khitrov market and other slums to help those who had little hope for anything.

Other social projects of the Grand Duchess include bureaus for finding employment, children's labor artels, gymnasiums, kindergartens, and dormitories. Every day she received letters asking for help and, if necessary, allocated funds.

A cup of coffee for a headache

The Grand Duchess and two sisters of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent - Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva - who accompanied the abbess, were brought first to Perm, then to Yekaterinburg, where the family of Nicholas II was recently taken. Elizaveta Feodorovna was even able to give her family a food parcel. But they were not allowed to meet.

“Thank you very much for the eggs, chocolate and coffee. Mom drank the first cup of coffee with pleasure, it was very tasty. It is very good for her headaches, we just didn’t take it with us. We learned from the newspapers that you were expelled from your monastery, we are very sad for you. It’s strange that we ended up in the same province with you and my godparents,” Grand Duchess Maria will write a response on May 17.

The light is unquenchable. Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna

[M. Nesterov. Portrait of Elizaveta Feodorovna]

In May 1916, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna celebrated the 25th anniversary of her stay in Moscow. Among the numerous deputations that arrived to congratulate her on this significant date, there was also a deputation from the Iveron community of sisters of mercy of the Red Cross, which all this time was the subject of the special care of Mother the Great. Rector of the community church in the name of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Fr. Sergius Mahaev (Holy Martyr) addressed the august patroness with a welcoming speech:

The Iveron community, grateful for Your Highness’s constant memory of her, asks you to accept this sacred image of the Great Martyr Irina, whose memory is celebrated by the Holy Church on May 5, in prayerful memory of her, on the day when twenty-five years ago you entered the land of Moscow with that to never leave her again.

When Saint Irene set out to exchange the glory and kingdom of earth for the Kingdom of God, a dove with an olive branch flew into the window of her palace and, placing it on the table, flew out. An eagle with a wreath of different colors and also left it on the table. A raven flew into another window and left a small snake on the table.

Your Highness! We saw in your life a meek, pure dove with a blessed branch of peace and mercy. We know that you did not escape the sting of the serpent in the sorrows and difficult trials brought to us by the enemy of the human race. We pray that at the hour of the Lord’s reward for our deeds you will be worthy to see the royal eagle with the crown of reward for imitation of the great martyr in leaving the glory of the world for the glory of heaven.

The very name of the saint, Irina, means “peace.” May the Lord send you here on earth the peace that Christ left for those who loved Him, the peace of a calm conscience, confident in the holiness of the work of selfless love, done with joy and with the hope of Eternal Life. Amen.

The likening of the Grand Duchess to Saint Irene turned out to be prophetic. Soon the crown of martyrdom will crown her head. Then, in 1916, the first signs of an impending catastrophe appeared. The people, as the thinker L.A. noted in his diary. Tikhomirov was already “nervously drunk.” So much so that for the first time stones flew into the carriage of Elizaveta Fedorovna, hitherto so revered in Moscow. Rumors were spread that the Grand Duchess's brother, Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse, who had arrived in Russia to negotiate a separate peace, was hiding in the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. One morning, a gloomy crowd, inflamed by nimble agitators, gathered at the gates of the monastery.

Down with the German! Give up the spy! – screams rang out, and stones and pieces of brick flew through the windows.

Suddenly the gates opened, and Elizaveta Feodorovna appeared before the angry crowd of pogromists. She was completely alone pale but calm. The rioters froze in amazement, and, taking advantage of the ensuing silence, Mother the Great asked in a loud voice what they needed. In response to the leaders’ demand to hand over Duke Ernest, Elizaveta Feodorovna calmly replied that he was not here and offered to inspect the monastery, warning not to disturb the sick. Madness resumed in the crowd, and it seemed that it was about to rush at the august abbess and tear her to pieces. A mounted detachment of police arrived in time and dispersed the demonstrators, while the sisters of the monastery, at the direction of the Grand Duchess, immediately provided medical assistance to the injured.

Everything that happened brought back memories of the horrors of the 1905 revolution. That first revolution took Elizabeth Feodorovna’s husband away. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was torn to pieces by a bomb thrown into his carriage by the terrorist Kalyaev. The explosion was so powerful that, as they said, the martyr’s heart was found on the roof of one of the houses... The Grand Duchess, who rushed to the scene of the tragedy, collected the remains of her husband with her own hands. She wrote to her sister that at that moment she was possessed by only one thought: “Hurry, hurry - Sergei hated disorder and blood so much.” Elizaveta Fedorovna’s grief was enormous, but her self-control was enough to come to the bedside of the dying coachman of the Grand Duke and, in order to console the sufferer, tell him with a gentle smile that Sergei Alexandrovich had survived and directed her to inquire about the condition of the faithful man. The calmed coachman soon died. The Grand Duchess accomplished an even greater feat - she visited her husband’s killer in prison. This was not an act or a pose, but the movement of a merciful soul suffering from the fact that another soul is dying, even if it is the soul of a villain. Her desire was to awaken salutary repentance in the killer. During these dark days, the only time a smile illuminated her exhausted face was when she was informed that Kalyaev had placed next to him the icon she had brought. The killer, however, did not want to repent and was executed, despite Elizaveta Fedorovna’s petition to save his life.

[Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich]

After the death of her husband, the Grand Duchess decided to devote herself entirely to serving God and her neighbors. She had previously devoted a lot of time to works of mercy. During the Russo-Japanese War, she formed several ambulance trains, opened hospitals for the wounded, which she regularly visited herself, and created committees to provide for widows and orphans. Elizaveta Fedorovna established a sanatorium equipped with everything necessary for the wounded on the Black Sea shore, near Novorossiysk. She occupied the Kremlin Palace with workshops for women's labor to help soldiers, where she herself worked every day. Now the Grand Duchess left the world and, having sold all her jewelry, began to realize her dream - the construction of a monastery in which the service of Mary would be combined with the service of Martha, the feat of prayer with the feat of service to others. “The very name that the Grand Duchess gave to the institution she created is very interesting,” wrote ROCOR Metropolitan Anastasy (Gribanovsky), “Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent; it predetermined the mission of the latter. The community was intended to be like the house of Lazarus, in which Christ the Savior so often stayed. The sisters of the monastery were called to unite both the high lot of Mary, who listened to the eternal verbs of life, and the ministry of Martha, since they established Christ among themselves in the person of His lesser brothers..."

The choice of such a difficult path seemed strange to many. Some shrugged their shoulders in bewilderment, others supported Elizaveta Fedorovna. Among the latter was Alexandra Nikolaevna Naryshkina. During the Russo-Japanese War, she organized hospitals for wounded soldiers at her own expense and was very close to the Grand Duchess. A philanthropist and patron of folk arts and crafts, she was killed by the Bolsheviks in 1919 in Tambov. A sick seventy-year-old woman was taken out of the house on a stretcher and taken to the outskirts of the city - to the place of execution. She died on the way. Alexandra Nikolaevna was addressed to a letter from Elizaveta Fedorovna, in which she explained the reasons that prompted her to choose her path: “I am happy that you share my conviction in the truth of the chosen path; if you knew to what extent I feel unworthy of this immeasurable happiness, for when God gives health and the opportunity to work for Him, this is happiness.

You know me enough to understand that I don’t consider my work to be something completely extraordinary, I know that in life everyone is in their own circle, the narrowest, the lowest, the most brilliant... if at the same time we fulfill our duty and in our souls and prayers we entrust our existence to God, so that He would strengthen us, forgive us our weaknesses and instruct us (direct us on the true path). My life has developed in such a way that my brilliance in the big world and my responsibilities towards it are over because of my widowhood; If I tried to play a similar role in politics, I would not succeed, I would not be able to bring any benefit to anyone, and it would not bring me any satisfaction. I am alone - people suffering from poverty and increasingly experiencing physical and moral suffering should receive at least a little Christian love and mercy - this has always worried me, and now it has become the goal of my life...

...You can follow many others in telling me: stay in your palace as a widow and do good “from above.” But, if I demand from others that they follow my convictions, I must do the same as they do, I myself experience the same difficulties with them, I must be strong to console them, encourage them with my example; I have neither intelligence nor talent - I have nothing except love for Christ, but I am weak; We can express the truth of our love for Christ, our devotion to Him, by comforting other people - this is how we will give our lives to Him...”

In the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, everything was arranged according to the instructions of Elizabeth Feodorovna. There was not a single tree planted not by her order. In building appearance The monastery united the art of several geniuses at once: the architect Shchusev, the sculptor Konenkov, the artists Vasnetsov, who was part of the inner circle of the Grand Duchess and her late husband, and Korin, who was at that time a student of Vasnetsov and later married a pupil of the monastery.

In April 1910, 17 sisters of the monastery, led by Elizaveta Feodorovna, were ordained to the title of Cross Sisters of Love and Mercy, who for the first time changed mourning to monastic attire. On that day, Mother the Great said to her sisters: “I am leaving the brilliant world where I occupied a brilliant position, but together with all of you I am ascending to a greater world - the world of the poor and suffering.”

With her life, the Grand Duchess tried to imitate the monks. She secretly wore a hair shirt and chains, slept on a wooden bed without a mattress and on a hard pillow for only a few hours, got up at midnight to pray and went around the sick, I kept all the fasts and even at normal times did not eat meat (even fish) and ate very little. Elizaveta Feodorovna did not undertake any business without the advice of her spiritual fathers, to whom she was in complete obedience. Mother the Great was constantly in a state of prayer, saying the “Jesus Prayer.” She wrote to her brother about her: “Every Christian repeats this prayer, and it’s good to fall asleep with it, and it’s good to live with it. Say it sometimes, dear, in memory of your older loving sister.”

The acts of mercy performed by Elizaveta Fedorovna are innumerable. Working in the hospital for the poor created at the monastery, she took on the most responsible work: she assisted during operations, did bandages - and all this with kindness and warmth, with a comforting word that was healing for the sick. One day, a woman was brought to the hospital after accidentally knocking over a kerosene stove on herself. Her whole body was one continuous burn. Doctors declared the situation hopeless. The Grand Duchess undertook to treat the unfortunate woman herself. “She bandaged her twice a day,” writes Lyubov Miller in her book about Elizabeth Feodorovna. “The dressings were long - two and a half hours - and so painful that the Grand Duchess had to stop all the time to give the woman rest and calm her down. A disgusting smell emanated from the patient’s ulcers, and after each dressing, Elizaveta Fedorovna’s clothes had to be ventilated to get rid of it. But, despite this, the High Mother Superior continued to care for the patient until she recovered...”

Mother the Great had a genuine healing power. Famous surgeons invited her to assist in difficult operations in other hospitals, and she always agreed.

Elizaveta Fedorovna was present at the last breath of every dying patient in her hospital and she herself read the Psalter over him all night long. She taught the sisters how to properly prepare a terminally ill patient for transition to eternal life. “Isn’t it scary that out of false humanity we are trying to lull such sufferers to sleep with the hope of their imaginary recovery,” she said. “We would do them a better service if we prepared them in advance for the Christian transition into eternity.”

Caring for the dying sometimes served not only to help them, but also to save their loved ones. For some time, a woman was dying of cancer in the hospital. Her husband, a worker, was an atheist and a hater of the Reigning House. Visiting his wife every day, he was surprised to notice with what care they treated her. One of the sisters showed particular interest. She sat by the patient’s bed, caressed her, spoke comforting words, gave medicine and brought various sweets. The unfortunate woman refused the offer to confess and receive communion, but this did not change her sister’s attitude. She remained with her throughout the agony, and then with the other sisters she washed and clothed her. The shocked widower asked who this wonderful sister was, who cared more about his wife than her father and mother. When they answered him that this was the Grand Duchess, he burst into tears and rushed to thank her and ask for forgiveness that, not knowing her, he hated her so much. The affectionate reception given to him moved this man even more, and he came to faith.

In addition to the hospital, Elizaveta Fedorovna opened a home for consumptive women. Here they found hope for recovery. The Grand Duchess came here regularly. Grateful patients hugged their benefactress, not thinking that they could infect her. She, believing that her health was in the hands of God, never shied away from hugs. The dying handed over their children to Mother the Great, firmly knowing that she would take care of them.

And Elizaveta Feodorovna cared. Boys were placed in dormitories, girls in closed educational institutions or shelters. The last nun of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Mother Nadezhda, recalled: “Once one of the sisters came to the basement: a young mother, tuberculosis in last stage, two children at our feet, hungry... The little one pulls his shirt over his knees. His eyes are shiny, feverish, he’s dying, asking to arrange for the children... ...Nina is back, telling everything. Mother became worried and immediately called her older sister: “Immediately – today – get me admitted to the hospital. If there are no places, let them put up a false bed!” The girl was taken to their shelter. The boy was then sent to an orphanage... How many of them were there, situations that passed through Her hands? No bill. And She participated in each one – as if it were the only one – a fate close to Her.”

In one of the shelters, before the visit of the High Guest, little girls were instructed: “The Grand Duchess will enter, you all - in chorus: “Hello!” and – kiss the hands.”

Hello and kiss your hands! - the children exclaimed when Elizaveta Feodorovna entered, and extended their hands for a kiss. Mother Great kissed them all, then consoled the embarrassed headmistress, and the next day she brought many gifts.

A typhus epidemic broke out in the shelter of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery. Dozens of children lay in their cribs, and death was hanging over them. Elizaveta Fedorovna came to visit the patients. One of the pupils recalled: “And suddenly the door opened - and She entered. It was like the sun. All Her hands were busy with bags and gifts. There was no bed on the edge of which She did not sit down. Her hand rested on each bald head. How many sweets and toys were given away! All the sad eyes came to life and shone. It seems that after Her arrival, no one among us died anymore.”

The Grand Duchess saved children dying in brothels. She, along with other sisters, walked along the stinking alleys of Khitrovka, and was not afraid to visit corners where few would dare to look. The sight of people who had lost their human form did not frighten or repulse her. “The likeness of God may sometimes be obscured, but it can never be destroyed,” said Mother the Great.

She tirelessly went from brothel to brothel, persuading parents to hand over their children to her to raise. She managed to reach their darkened souls, and, moved to the point of tears, they entrusted the children to the Grand Duchess, who were thus rescued from the abyss of depravity.

Not a single inhabitant of Khitrovka dared to offend Elizaveta Fedorovna. One day, entering one of the brothels, she called out to a tramp sitting there:

A kind person…

How kind is he? - came the answer immediately. - This is the last thief and scoundrel!

But Mother the Great ignored this remark and asked the tramp to bring a heavy bag of money and things to the monastery to distribute to the poor.

I will immediately fulfill your request, Your Highness!

There was a noise in the den. The Grand Duchess was convinced that the one she had chosen would certainly steal the bag. But she remained adamant. When Elizaveta Fedorovna returned to monastery, she was informed that some tramp had brought her bag. He was immediately fed, and after asking to check the contents of the bag, he asked to be taken to work at the monastery. Mother the Great appointed him as an assistant gardener. From then on, the former tramp stopped drinking and stealing, worked conscientiously and diligently attended church.

Among other things, Elizaveta Feodorovna organized a circle for adults and children who gathered to work for poor children on Sundays. Members of the circle sewed dresses, outerwear was ordered for needy unemployed women, shoes were purchased with donated money - as a result, over 1,800 children from poor families were dressed in 1913 alone.

At the monastery there was a free canteen for the poor, which served over 300 meals daily, a library with 2,000 books, and a Sunday school for semi-literate and illiterate women and girls who worked in the factory.

Lady Goff of Princess Victoria of Battenberg, sister of Elizabeth Feodorovna, Nonna Grayton recalled the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent and its abbess: “She never had the words “I can’t,” and there was never anything sad in the life of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent. Everything was perfect there, both inside and out. And whoever was there took with them a wonderful feeling.” Metropolitan Anastasy wrote: “She was able not only to cry with those who weep, but also to rejoice with those who rejoice, which is usually more difficult than the first... She, better than many nuns, kept the great covenant of St. Nile of Sinai: blessed is the monk who honors every person as if he were a god after God. Finding the good in every person and “calling mercy to the fallen” was the constant desire of Her heart.”

For the fifth anniversary of the monastery, a brochure about it was published, written by Mother the Great herself, although the author’s signature was not on the book. The brochure ended with the following instruction: “The Lord sees the soul. Our duty is to serve and sow without expecting immediate fruit or reward. He who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good; for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So, while we have time, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the family of faith (Gal. 6:8-10).

How can we not understand that if, with the help of the Lord, we manage to plant a spark of God into a fallen soul, even for a moment, and thereby arouse a feeling of contrition, allowing us to breathe the fragrance of Heaven, then this will already be a spiritual fruit, and there may even be many such fruits, for we are alive the soul of the fallen man himself, as the prudent thief showed...

We must rise from the sorrowful earth to Paradise and rejoice with the Angels over one saved soul, over one cup cold water, given in the Name of the Lord.

Everything must be done with prayer, for God, and not for human glory. Reading the Holy Gospel, we are inspired; Wouldn't it be comforting to hear from the Divine Teacher: Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40)?

But again, even in these thoughts, we must humble ourselves and remember: “So you too, when you have fulfilled everything commanded you, say: we are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do (Luke 17:10) ...

Faith, they say, has become impoverished, but yet it is still alive. But we so often live for ourselves that we become short-sighted and pass with our sorrows past the sorrows of others, not understanding that sharing our grief is to reduce it, and sharing our joy is to increase it.

Let us open our souls so that the Divine Sun of Mercy will warm them.”

Of all the virtues, Elizaveta Fedorovna considered mercy to be the greatest, even in its smallest manifestation. “Is it difficult,” she said, “to take part in a person’s grief: to say kind word- to someone who is in pain; smile at the distressed, stand up for the offended, pacify those in a quarrel; give alms to the needy... And all such easy things, if done with prayer and love, bring us closer to Heaven and God Himself.” “Happiness does not lie in living in a palace and being rich,” wrote Elizaveta Fedorovna to her pupils – the children of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich (Sergei Alexandrovich’s younger brother) Maria and Dmitry. “You can lose all this.” True happiness is something that neither people nor events can steal. You will find it in the life of the soul and giving of yourself. Try to make those around you happy, and you yourself will be happy.” Another most frequent instruction of Mother the Great was this: “Nowadays it is difficult to find truth on earth, which is flooded more and more by sinful waves; In order not to be disappointed in life, we must look for the truth in heaven, where it has left us.”

In all her endeavors, the Grand Duchess was invariably supported by the Emperor and her crowned sister. The sisters were always very close; their spiritual kinship was great, which was based on deep religiosity. Unfortunately, in recent years their relationship has been overshadowed by the dark shadow of Rasputin. "This horrible man wants to separate me from them,” said Elizaveta Fedorovna, “but, thank God, he does not succeed.” Hegumen Seraphim wrote in her book “Martyrs of Christian Duty”: “The deceased was so wise that she rarely made mistakes about people. She deeply grieved that Bishop Theophan, being the confessor and spiritual leader of the Empress, believed Grigory Rasputin and presented him as a rare ascetic and seer in our time...

No matter how much Gregory and other people like him sought to receive the Grand Duchess, she was as firm as adamant in this regard and never accepted any of them...”

Elizaveta Fedorovna saw great evil and danger in Rasputin. When, while in Kostroma, she learned that the “elder” was there and with his presence was spoiling the celebration of the three-hundredth anniversary of the House of Romanov, she screamed in horror and, falling to her knees in front of the icons, prayed for a long time.

Many people sincerely devoted to the Sovereign and the Fatherland more than once turned to the Grand Duchess with a request to influence her august sister, to open her eyes to the fatal mistake she was making. But it was impossible to change the opinion of the mother of a child suffering from a terrible illness regarding the only person who knew how to ease his torment. All attempts made in this regard by Elizaveta Fedorovna failed. After the last conversation on a sore subject, a cooling appeared in the Empress’s attitude towards her sister. This was their last meeting. A few days later Rasputin was killed. Not yet knowing about the participation of her nephew Dmitry Pavlovich in this matter, Mother the Great sent him a careless telegram. Its contents became known to Alexandra Fedorovna, who considered her sister to be involved in the conspiracy. Even much later, already in captivity, she could not overcome this so erroneous suspicion. Then, following to Alapaevsk through Yekaterinburg, the Grand Duchess managed to transfer to the Ipatiev House Easter eggs, chocolate and coffee. In response, she received a letter of gratitude from Princess Maria Nikolaevna, but there was no letter from the Empress...

Elizaveta Feodorovna was very afraid of war, remembering the terrible consequences the Japanese campaign led to. When it was nevertheless announced, Mother the Great told Abbot Seraphim that “The Emperor did not want war, the war broke out against his will... She blamed the proud Emperor Wilhelm for listening to the secret suggestion of the world's enemies, who were shaking the foundations of the world... he violated the covenant of Frederick the Great and Bismarck who asked to live in peace and friendship with Russia..."

During the war, the Grand Duchess worked tirelessly. Hospitals, ambulance trains, caring for wounded and orphaned families - everything with which her path of Mercy began ten years ago resumed again. Elizaveta Fedorovna herself went to the front. Once, at one of the official events, she had to replace her sick sister next to the Emperor. The Sovereign's acceptance of the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief worried her. As Lyubov Miller writes, “she knew that no one else but the Emperor himself could inspire his troops to new exploits, but she was afraid that the Emperor’s long stay at Headquarters, far from Tsarskoe Selo and Petrograd, could have a detrimental effect on the internal situation of the country ..."

O. Mitrofan Srebryansky Shortly before the February Revolution, Fr. Mitrofan of Srebryansky (holy martyr), confessor of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery, saw a pre-dawn dream, contents which he told Mother the Great before the start of the service:

Mother, I am so excited by the dream I just saw that I cannot immediately begin serving the Liturgy. Maybe by telling it to you, I can clarify what I saw. In a dream I saw four pictures replacing each other. The first one shows a blazing church that was burning and collapsing. In the second picture, your sister Empress Alexandra appeared before me in a mourning frame. But suddenly white sprouts appeared from its edges, and snow-white lilies covered the image of the Empress. The third picture showed Archangel Michael with a fiery sword in his hands. On the fourth, I saw St. Seraphim praying on a stone.

“I will explain to you the meaning of this dream,” Elizaveta Fedorovna answered after thinking. – In the near future, our Motherland will face severe trials and sorrows. Our Russian Church, which you saw burning and dying, will suffer from them. The white lilies in the portrait of my sister indicate that Her life will be covered with the glory of a martyr’s crown... The third picture - Archangel Michael with a fiery sword - predicts that great battles between the Heavenly Powers of the Ethereal and the dark forces await Russia. The fourth picture promises our Fatherland the deep intercession of St. Seraphim.

May the Lord have mercy on holy Rus' through the prayers of all Russian saints. And may the Lord have mercy on us in His great Mercy!

The February Revolution released crowds of criminals into the vastness of Russia. In Moscow, gangs of ragamuffins robbed and burned houses. The Grand Duchess was repeatedly asked to be careful and keep the gates of the monastery locked. But she was not afraid of anyone, and the hospital's outpatient clinic continued to remain open to everyone.

Have you forgotten that not a single hair will fall from your head unless it is the will of the Lord? - Mother the Great answered all the warnings.

One day, several drunken rioters appeared at the monastery, swearing obscenely and behaving unbridledly. One of them, in a dirty soldier’s uniform, began shouting at Elizaveta Fedorovna that she was no longer Her Highness, and who was she now.

“I serve people here,” the Grand Duchess answered calmly.

Then the deserter demanded that she bandage the ulcer that was in his groin. Mother the Great sat him down on a chair and, kneeling down, washed the wound, bandaged it and told him to come for dressing the next day so that gangrene would not set in.

Puzzled and embarrassed, the pogromists left the monastery...

Elizaveta Feodorovna did not harbor the slightest malice against the rioting crowd.

The people are children, she said, they are not to blame for what is happening... they are misled by the enemies of Russia.

The Grand Duchess wrote to her sister, Princess Victoria, in those days: “God's ways are a mystery, and it is truly a great gift that we cannot know the whole future that is prepared for us. Our entire country is torn into small pieces. Everything that has been collected over centuries has been destroyed, and our own people, which I love with all my heart. Indeed, they are morally sick and blind so as not to see where we are going. And my heart hurts, but I don't feel bitter. Can you criticize or condemn a person who is delirious, insane? You can only feel sorry for him and long to find good guardians for him who could protect him from the destruction of everything and from killing those who are in his way.”

Anticipating the martyrdom of the Emperor and his family, Mother the Great once told Archbishop Anastasy (Gribanovsky) about the suffering they were experiencing with enlightened gentleness:

This will serve their moral purification and bring them closer to God.

She repeated to her sisters the words from the Gospel to encourage them: “And you will be hated because of My name... Save your souls through your patience” (Luke 21, 17, 19).

St. Patriarch Tikhon
The Bolsheviks' coming to power, accompanied by the shooting of the Kremlin's shrines, in which the rebel cadets had taken refuge, coincided with the election of the first Patriarch in two centuries. Elizaveta Fedorovna, who was present at the Divine service, during which His Holiness gave a blessing, wrote to Countess Alexandra Olsufieva: “The Holy Kremlin, with noticeable traces of these sad days, was dearer to me than ever before, and I felt to what extent Orthodox Church is the real Church of the Lord. I felt such deep pity for Russia and for its children, who currently do not know what they are doing. Isn't it 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. This is how I feel every day. Holy Russia cannot perish. But Great Russia, alas, no longer exists. 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 appease the Ever-Virgin and She will pray for us to Her Divine Son and that the Lord will forgive us.”

In another letter, addressed to the same Countess Olsufieva, there are the following lines: “If we delve deeply into the life of every person, we will see that it is full of miracles. You will say that life is full of horror and death. Yes it is. But we do not clearly see why the blood of these victims should be shed. There, in heaven, they understand everything and, of course, have found peace and a real homeland - the Heavenly Fatherland.

We, on this earth, must direct our thoughts to the Heavenly Kingdom, so that with enlightened eyes we can see everything and say with humility: “Thy will be done.”

“Great Russia, fearless and impeccable,” was completely destroyed. But “Holy Russia” and the Orthodox Church, which “the gates of hell will not overcome,” exist, and exist more than ever before. And those who believe and do not doubt for a moment will see the “inner sun” that illuminates the darkness during the thundering storm.

I'm not exalted, my friend. I am only sure that the Lord who punishes is the same Lord who loves. I have been reading the Gospel a lot lately, and if we realize the great sacrifice of God the Father, who sent His Son to die and rise for us, then we will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, who illuminates our path. And then joy becomes eternal even when our poor human hearts and our little earthly minds experience moments that seem very scary.”

N. Kurguzova-Miroshnik. Portrait of V.K. Elizabeth
Elizaveta Fedorovna had the opportunity to leave Russia. Kaiser Wilhelm, who was once in love with her, offered to take her abroad through the Swedish ambassador. This was a great temptation, since her brother and two sisters were abroad, whom she had not seen since the beginning of the war. But the Grand Duchess withstood the test, answering the ambassador that she could not leave her monastery, the sisters and the sick entrusted by God. The next proposal followed the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace. Count Mirbach twice sought to receive Elizabeth Feodorovna, but she did not accept him as a representative of an enemy country. Mother the Great categorically refused to leave Russia: “I haven’t done anything bad to anyone. The Lord's will be done! At the beginning of March 1918, a certain shoemaker, whose wife was in the monastery hospital, suggested that the Grand Duchess arrange her escape, saying that he had a good sleigh and horses to take her to a safe place. Touched by this attitude, she replied that the sleigh could not accommodate all her sisters, and she could not leave them. “...It seemed that she stood on a high, unshakable rock and from there looked without fear at the waves raging around her, fixing her spiritual gaze into the eternal distance,” recalled Metropolitan Anastassy.

Elizaveta Feodorovna was arrested on the third day of Easter, 1918. Paraskeva Tikhonovna Korina (the artist’s wife) said that for the rest of her life she remembered that piercing, long bell that rang at the gates of the monastery when the Latvian security officers came to arrest Mother the Great. She asked to be given two hours to make the necessary arrangements for the monastery, but she was given only half an hour to get ready. Weeping, the sisters ran to the Church of Saints Martha and Mary and surrounded the High Mother Superior standing on the pulpit. They all understood that they would see her for the last time. Very pale, but without tears, the Grand Duchess blessed those gathered:

Don't cry, I'll see you in the next world.

At the gate, the security officers tore her sisters away from her with beatings and, putting Elizaveta Fedorovna in a car, took her away from her native walls forever.

On the way to exile, Mother the Great wrote a letter to the sisters, trying to console them. “I am now reading a wonderful book by St. John of Tobolsk,” she wrote. – This is how he writes: “The merciful God preserves, makes wise and pacifies every person who has heartily surrendered to His Holy Will and with the same words supports and strengthens his heart - not to transgress the Will of God, mysteriously instilling in him: you are always with Me, you remain in My mind and memory, you meekly obey My Will. I am always with you, I look at you with love and I will protect you so that you do not lose My Grace, mercy and gifts of grace. All of Mine is yours: My heaven, the Angels, and even more so My Only Begotten Son, “I am yours and I myself, am yours and will be yours, as I promised to faithful Abraham. I am your shield, my reward is great forever and ever” (Genesis). My Lord, you are mine, truly mine... I hear You and I will fulfill Your words with all my heart.”

Say these words every day, and your soul will be easy.

“Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be weary” (Isaiah).

“Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” “My children, let us love not with words or tongue, but with deed and truth” (Message).

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is with you, and my love is with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen".

In Alapaevsk, the Grand Duchess was imprisoned in the building of the Floor School. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, princes John Konstantinovich, Igor Konstantinovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich and Vladimir Paley were also stationed here. Elizaveta Feodorovna worked a lot in the garden, embroidered and constantly prayed. Local residents took pity on the prisoners and brought them food when the guards allowed. A towel of rough rustic linen with embroidery and the inscription has been preserved: “Mother Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna, do not refuse to accept, according to the old Russian custom, bread and salt from the faithful servants of the Tsar and the Fatherland, the peasants of the Neivo-Alapaevsk volost of the Verkhoturye district.” Maria Artyomovna Chekhomova, who was ten years old at that time, recalled: “It used to be that my mother would collect eggs, potatoes, and bake a shanka in a basket, cover it with a clean cloth on top and send me. You, he says, pick them some more flowers along the way... They didn’t always let them in, but if they did let them in, it was at about eleven in the morning. You bring it, but the guards at the gate won’t let you in, they ask: “Who are you going to?” “Here, I brought the mothers something to eat...” - “Well, okay, go.” Mother will go out onto the porch, take the basket, and Herself will have tears flowing, turn away, and wipe away the tear. “Thank you, dear girl, thank you!” At one of the meetings, the Grand Duchess gave Masha a piece of pink fabric for a dress.

Mother the Great and her prisoners were killed on July 18, 1918, Memorial Day St. Sergius, who was the day of the Angel of Elizabeth Feodorovna’s husband. The executioners pushed her first into the yawning abyss of an abandoned mine. At the same time, she crossed herself and prayed loudly:

Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.

All the prisoners thrown into the mine, except for Sergei Mikhailovich, who was killed during the resistance and the lackey Fyodor Remez, who died from the explosion of one of the grenades thrown into the pit, for a long time remained alive. A peasant witness heard the Cherubic song coming from the depths of the mine.

When, with the arrival of the Whites, the mine was excavated and the bodies were raised to the ground, it turned out that the Grand Duchess, even in last hours throughout her life she was faithful to the cause of Mercy. Seriously wounded herself, in complete darkness, she managed to bandage the head of the wounded Prince John with her apostle... On the chest of Mother the Great they found an icon of the Savior, decorated precious stones, with the inscription "Palm Saturday April 11, 1891". This was the day of Elizabeth Feodorovna’s conversion to Orthodoxy. She managed to hide the dear relic from the security officers.

[Vera Glazunova. Murder of Elizaveta Fedorovna]

“Not every generation is destined to meet on its path such a blessed gift of Heaven as the Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna appeared,” wrote Metropolitan Anastasy. Everyone who had the good fortune to meet Mother the Great remembered her with reverence. No one noticed the fatigue and concern on her enlightened, always affectionate face. And only a few relatives, left alone with her, saw thoughtfulness and sadness in her eyes. “On her face, especially in her eyes, a mysterious sadness appeared - the stamp of high souls languishing in this world,” noted Protopresbyter M. Polsky. The last nun of the Martha and Mary Convent, Mother Nadezhda, recalled: “...One face - you just looked and you saw - a man had descended from Heaven. Evenness, such evenness and even tenderness, one might say... From such people, living Light spreads throughout the world, and the world exists. Otherwise, you can suffocate if you live the life of this world. Where are these people? There are none, no. The world is not worthy of them. This is Heaven and earth - these people in comparison with the worldly. During their lifetime they left this world and were in the Other. Nowadays you can’t even hear from such people. Staying near them is like breathing the air of eternity. Next to Her, everything changed, feelings were different, everything was different. And such people were persecuted, not recognized, persecuted! The Lord took Them because the world was not worthy of Them..."

“Together with all the other sufferers for the Russian land, she was both the redemption of the former Russia and the foundation of the future, which will be erected on the bones of new martyrs,” wrote Metropolitan Anastassy. – Such images have enduring significance, their destiny is eternal memory both on earth and in heaven. It was not in vain that the people’s voice called her a saint during her lifetime.”

The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent outlived Mother the Great for seven years, during which, however, it practically ceased its previous activities. In 1926, most of the sisters were deported to Central Asia, the premises were occupied by various institutions, and a club was tripled in the Church of the Intercession. Later, in it, in the altar, where there used to be a throne, a huge statue of Stalin was installed...

The last nun of the monastery, Mother Nadezhda (Zinaida Alexandrovna Brenner), died in 1983. Last years She spent her life in the house of E.V. Nevolina, who recorded the memories and numerous teachings of her amazing guest, who kept within herself the spirit of the Martha and Mary Convent and its High Abbess, which permeated her every deed and word.

[F. Moskovitin. VC. Elizabeth] “In the most desperate situation, God is with us,” said Mother Nadezhda. “He, not anyone else, is in control of the situation.” He always wins! Look at God's world, at God's bright souls. We need to see that God is in charge, that He wins - even when we suffer defeat... Just so as not to betray Christ... Stay with the Lord - until the end. Do not accept sinful blackness. Do not agree to despondency, much less despair.

If you feel bad, start thanking... ...It will definitely help. The main thing is to let God into your soul. Demons cannot stand: Glory to Thee, God! - They immediately run away.

The worst thing is to delve into the sins of others or your own until you don’t notice how they take hold of you. We have no right to allow either melancholy, despondency, despair, or demonic aggression into ourselves. This is loyalty to the Lord. And then they say: the power of darkness is growing. But as long as we don’t let this darkness into our souls. Yes, the devil ruins and destroys everything. But the Lord, on the contrary, connects and creates everything. The main thing is that the demon does not destroy and destroy through us. Let God, using us, recreate, please, console... This is fidelity to Christ. We must be His instrument. Let the whole world seethe with a storm of passions - God will not let us drown if we keep His commandments: to respond to evil with good, to hatred - with compassion. Those who do evil are the most unfortunate. They deserve pity. These people are in big trouble.

Sections