Chapter 22 Empress Elisaveta Petrovna

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

Ella's mother Princess Alice gave away most of her estate to charity. The ducal couple had seven children: Victoria, Elisabeth (Ella), Irena, Ernest-Ludwig, Friedrich, Alice (Alix) - the future Empress of Russia Alexandra Feodorovna, and Maria. The older children did everything for themselves and were taught housekeeping and handicrafts. But most importantly, they were taught to be compassionate. Together with their mother, they went to hospitals, shelters, and homes for the disabled. They brought armfuls of flowers, divided them among everyone, and placed bouquets by each bed.

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

As Elisaveta Feodorovna herself later said, even in her earliest youth she was greatly influenced by the life and exploits of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, Queen of Hungary, in whose honor she bore her name. This Catholic saint, the ancestor of the Dukes of Hesse, became famous for her deeds of mercy and the gift of miracles. Her husband forbade her to care for the unfortunate and was cruel in his treatment of her. One day she went to prison to visit the prisoners and carried bread in a basket, covered with a mantilla on top. The husband came towards me: “What is this with you?!” He answers: “Roses...” He pulled off the transparent cover, and underneath were roses! She buried her husband, wandered, was poor, lived in poverty, but did not change God’s calling. Already in her old age, she organized a leper colony and took care of lepers herself.

In my parents' house in Darmstadt there were always many musicians, actors, painters, composers, and professors. In a word, gifted people of various specialties. A society unique in its spiritual and cultural depth gathered here.

When Elizabeth was 11 years old, while playing, her three-year-old brother Friedrich fell from the balcony onto the stone slabs. He was sick with hemophilia and died in agony from the bruises he received. She was the first to pick him up, bloody, and carry him into the house. On this day, she made a vow to God - not to get married, to never have children, to never suffer so terribly. At the age of 14, she buried her mother, who died untimely at the age of 35 from diphtheria. 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.

Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Photo from 1892

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. The Grand Duke, upon assuming the post of Governor-General of Moscow, was obliged to marry, and proposed to Ella, whom he had known since childhood, when he came to Germany with his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who also came from the House of Hesse. Before this, all applicants for her hand were refused. However, she immediately felt a liking for the Russian prince, a man of deep faith and loyalty to Christ the Savior. He was a highly cultured person, loved reading and music, and helped many people without advertising it. She told him about her vow, and he: “That’s good. I myself decided not to get married.” This is how this marriage (needed by Russia for political reasons) took place, in which the spouses promised God to maintain virginity.

The whole family accompanied Princess Elizabeth to her wedding in Russia. Instead, her twelve-year-old sister Alice came with her, who met here her future husband, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich. Elisaveta Feodorovna set foot on Russian soil for the first time on the day of the Most Holy Trinity.

The wedding took place in the church of the Grand Palace of St. Petersburg according to the Orthodox rite, and after it according to the Protestant rite in one of the living rooms of the palace.

The Grand Duchess studied the Russian language, culture and history of Russia. For a princess who married the Grand Duke, a mandatory conversion to Orthodoxy was not required. But Elisaveta Feodorovna, while still a Protestant, tried to learn as much as possible about Orthodoxy, seeing the deep faith of her husband, who was a very pious man, strictly observed fasts, read the books of the Holy Fathers and often went to church. She accompanied him all the time and fully attended church services. She saw the joyful state of Sergei Alexandrovich after he received the Holy Mysteries, but, being outside the Orthodox Church, she could not share this joy with him.

The Grand Duchess immediately charmed everyone with her cordiality, simplicity of manner and subtle sense of humor. She knew how to create comfort around herself, an atmosphere of lightness and ease, danced well and, having excellent taste, knew how to dress beautifully and gracefully. She 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.

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

I look at you, admiring you every hour:
You are so inexpressibly beautiful!
Oh, that's right, underneath such a beautiful exterior
Such a beautiful soul!
Some kind of meekness and innermost sadness
There is depth in your eyes;
Like an angel you are quiet, pure and perfect;
Like a woman, shy and tender.
May there be nothing on earth among the evils and much sorrow
Your purity will not be tarnished.
And everyone who sees you will glorify God,
Who created such beauty!

Ovchinnikov P.Ya. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna's own living room, 1902

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

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

View of the Russian site in Gethsemane in 1882. Photo of Timon's father

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

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

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

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

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

Interior of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane. Photo of Father Timon, 1888

She wrote to her father, who took this step of hers with acute pain: “ You call me frivolous and say that the external splendor of the church has enchanted me... I come from pure conviction; I feel that this is the highest religion and that I do it with faith, with deep conviction and confidence that there is God’s blessing for this" Of all the relatives, only the Grand Duchess’s grandmother, Queen Victoria, understood her state of mind and wrote a tender, encouraging letter, which made the saint incredibly happy. Elizabeth.

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

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

Romanov family and Hesse family 1910

When the Russian-Japanese War began in 1904, Elisaveta Feodorovna 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 at sewing machines and work tables. At her own expense, the Grand Duchess formed several sanitary trains. In Moscow, she set up a hospital for the wounded, which she herself constantly visited.

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

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

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

The killer of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, terrorist Ivan Kalaev

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

Requiem service for the late Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in the Chudov Monastery, in the Kremlin, in 1905.

After the first funeral service at the Chudov Monastery, Elisaveta Feodorovna returned to the palace, changed into a black mourning dress and began writing telegrams, from time to time inquiring about the condition of the wounded coachman Sergei Alexandrovich, who had served the Grand Duke for 25 years. She was told that the coachman's situation was hopeless and he might die soon (his body was pierced by nails and shrapnel from the carriage, he had 70 wounds in his back). In order not to upset the dying man, Elisaveta Feodorovna took off her mourning dress, put on the blue one she had been wearing before, and went to the hospital. There, bending over the dying man’s bed, she caught his question about Sergei Alexandrovich and, in order to calm him down, she overcame herself, smiled at him affectionately and said: “He sent me to you.” And reassured by her words, thinking that Sergei Alexandrovich was alive, the devoted coachman Andrei died that same night.

On the third day after the death of her husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna went to the prison where the murderer was kept. Kalyaev said:

— I 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.

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

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

Sergei Alexandrovich was buried in the small church of the Chudov Monastery. Here the Grand Duchess felt special help and strengthening from the holy relics of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, whom she especially revered from then on. The Grand Duchess wore a silver cross with a particle of the relics of St. Alexis. She believed that Saint Alexy put in her heart the desire to devote the rest of her life to God.

At the site of her husband's murder, Elisaveta Feodorovna erected a monument - a cross designed by the artist Vasnetsov. The words of the Savior from the Cross were written on the monument: “ Father, let them go, they don’t know what they’re doing" Now this Cross is located on the territory of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow, where the body of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich also rests in the Romanov family tomb.

Cross-monument in the Novospassky Monastery

Grand Duchess Elizabeth asked that all the luxurious furniture be removed from her bedroom in the St. Nicholas Palace, the walls repainted white, she left only icons and paintings of spiritual content on the walls, so her bedroom began to resemble a monastic cell. Elizaveta Feodorovna sold all her jewelry and transferred part belonging to the Romanov family to the treasury, and the remaining amount founded the Convent of Mercy in Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka. She didn’t even keep her wedding ring as a souvenir.

Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent of Mercy is a monastery in Moscow, located on Bolshaya Ordynka. The founder and also the first abbess of the monastery was Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna.

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

The monastery was created in honor of the holy sisters Martha and Mary. The sisters of the monastery were called to unite the high lot of Mary, who heeds the words of eternal life, and the service of Martha - serving the Lord through her neighbor.

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

Intercession Cathedral monastery

She worked for a long time on the rules of the monastery, wanting to revive the ancient institution of deaconesses, and went to Zosimova hermitage to discuss the project with the elders. In 1906, the Grand Duchess read the book “The Diary of a Regimental Priest who served in the Far East during the entire period of the last Russo-Japanese War,” written by priest Mitrofan Serebryansky. She wanted to meet the author and summoned him to Moscow. As a result of their meetings and conversations, a draft Charter of the future monastery appeared, prepared by Father Mitrofan, who St. Elizabeth took it as a basis.

To perform divine services and provide spiritual care for the sisters, according to the draft Charter, a married priest was needed, but who would live with his mother as brother and sister and would constantly be on the territory of the monastery. St. Elizabeth persistently asked Father Mitrofan to become the confessor of the future monastery, since he met all the requirements of the Charter. He agreed, but soon refused, fearing to upset the parishioners with his departure. And suddenly, almost immediately, the fingers on my hand began to go numb and my hand became paralyzed. Father Mitrofan was horrified that he would no longer be able to serve in the church, and understood what had happened as admonition. He began to pray fervently and promised God that he would give his consent to move to Moscow - and two hours later his hand began to work again. Father Mitrofan became the true confessor of the monastery, mentor and assistant to the abbess, who highly valued him (Father Mitrofan of Srebryansky was glorified among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia).

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

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

One of the main places of poverty, to which the Grand Duchess paid special attention, was the Khitrov market, where revelry, poverty and crime flourished. Elisaveta Feodorovna, accompanied by her cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva or the sister of the monastery, Princess Maria Obolenskaya, tirelessly moving from one den to another, collected orphans and persuaded parents to give her children to raise. The entire population of Khitrovo respected her, calling her “sister Elisaveta” or “mother.” The police constantly warned her that they could not guarantee her safety. In response to this, the Grand Duchess always thanked the police for their care and said that her life was not in their hands, but in the hands of God. If Elisaveta Feodorovna went somewhere, people recognized her, greeted her enthusiastically and followed her. She was already loved throughout Russia and called a saint.

She never interfered in politics, but suffered greatly, seeing that the political situation in Russia was deteriorating. During the First World War, St. Elizabeth’s work increased: it was necessary to care for the wounded in hospitals. At first, Elisaveta Feodorovna, prompted by Christian feelings, visited the captured Germans. Wild fictions about the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery as a center of German espionage began to spread throughout Moscow.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the German government obtained the consent of the Soviet authorities to allow Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to travel abroad. The German Ambassador, Count Mirbach, tried twice to see the Grand Duchess, but she did not accept him and categorically refused to leave Russia. She said: " I didn't do anything bad to anyone. The Lord's will be done!«

In April 1918, on the third day of Easter, when the Church celebrates the memory of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested and immediately taken out of Moscow. On this day, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon visited the Martha and Mary Convent, where he served the Divine Liturgy and prayer service. This was the last blessing and parting word of the patriarch before the Grand Duchess’s way of the cross to Golgotha. Two sisters went with her - Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. One of the sisters of the monastery recalled: “... Then she sent a letter to us, to the priest and to each sister. One hundred and five notes were included, each with its own character. From the Gospel, from the Bible sayings, and to some from myself. She knew all her sisters, all her children..."

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

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

The sisters accompanying their abbess were brought to the Regional Council and offered to be released. Varvara Yakovleva said that she was ready to sign even with her blood, that she wanted to share her fate with the Grand Duchess. So she made her choice and joined the prisoners awaiting a decision on their fate.

Deep on the night of July 5 (18), 1918., on the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, along with other members of the imperial house, was thrown into the shaft of an old mine. When the brutal executioners pushed the Grand Duchess into the black pit, she said a prayer given by the Savior of the world crucified on the Cross: “Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23.34). Then the security officers began throwing hand grenades into the mine. One of the peasants, who witnessed the murder, said that the singing of the Cherubim was heard from the depths of the mine. It was sung by the Russian new martyrs before passing into eternity. They died in terrible suffering, from thirst, hunger and wounds.

The Grand Duchess did not fall to the bottom of the shaft, but to a ledge that was located at a depth of 15 meters. Next to her they found the body of John Konstantinovich with a bandaged head. All broken, with severe bruises, here too she sought to alleviate the suffering of her neighbor. The fingers of the right hand of the Grand Duchess and nun Varvara were folded for the sign of the cross.

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

Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane

Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem

Church of Mary Magdalene (modern view)

Church of Mary Magdalene

Interior of the Church of Mary Magdalene

Reliquary with the relics of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

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

Troparion, tone 1:
Having hidden your princely dignity with humility, / God-wise Elisaveto, / through the intense service of Martha and Mary, / you honored Christ. / Having purified yourself with mercy, patience and love, / as if you offered a righteous sacrifice to God. / We, who honor your virtuous life and suffering, / as a true mentor, earnestly ask you: / Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, / pray to Christ God to save and enlighten our souls.

Kontakion, voice 2:
Who tells the story of the greatness of the feat of faith: / in the depths of the earth, as in the paradise of lordship, / the passion-bearer Grand Duchess Elizabeth / rejoiced with the Angels in psalms and songs / and, enduring murder, / cried out for the godless tormentors: / Lord, forgive them this sin, / They don’t know what they’re doing. / Through your prayers, O Christ God, / have mercy and save our souls.

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.
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.

Elizaveta Fedorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich

The whole family accompanied Princess Elizabeth to her wedding in Russia. Instead, her twelve-year-old sister Alice came with her, who met here her future husband, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich.
The wedding took place in the church of the Grand Palace of St. Petersburg according to the Orthodox rite, and after it according to the Protestant rite in one of the living rooms of the palace. The Grand Duchess intensively studied the Russian language, wanting to study 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.

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).
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.
In 1894, after many obstacles, the decision was made to engage Grand Duchess Alice to the heir to the Russian throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich. Elizaveta Feodorovna 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.
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 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.
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 the shortcomings of public administration. 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 tougher 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.
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.
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 the luxurious furniture was taken out, the walls were repainted white, and only icons and paintings of spiritual content were on them. 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 largest 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 - confessor of the monastery, classes of the school for girls of the orphanage and a library.
On February 10, 1909, the Grand Duchess gathered 17 sisters of the monastery she founded, took off her mourning dress, put on a monastic robe and said: “I will leave the brilliant world where I occupied a brilliant position, but together with all of you I ascend to a greater world - to a world of the poor and suffering."

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

The day at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent began at 6 o'clock in the morning. After the general morning prayer rule. In the hospital church, the Grand Duchess gave obedience to 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 Sundays an all-night vigil was held. At 9 o'clock in the evening, the evening rule was read in the hospital church, after which 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. The inner life of the sisters was led by a wonderful priest and shepherd - the confessor of the monastery, Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky. Twice a week he had conversations with the sisters. In addition, the sisters could come to their confessor or the 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.
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.
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 was taken away with 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 the Grand Duchess emanated a healing power that 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 sisters of the monastery took a course in medical knowledge. Their main task was to visit sick, poor, abandoned children, providing them with medical, material and moral assistance.
The best specialists in Moscow worked at the monastery hospital; all operations were performed free of charge. Those who were rejected by doctors were healed here.
The healed patients cried as they left the Marfo-Mariinsky Hospital, parting with the “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 missionary priests 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 Elisaveta” or “mother.” The police constantly warned her that they could not guarantee her safety.
In response to this, the Grand Duchess always thanked the police for their care and said that her life was not in their hands, but in the hands of God. She tried to save the children of Khitrovka. She was not afraid of 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 Fedorovna 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.
The “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.
More than once she traveled to Sarov and happily hurried to the temple to pray at the shrine of 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 a 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 demanding the extradition of 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.
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 for the consolation and advice of the “great mother.” Elizaveta Fedorovna received everyone, listened to them, and strengthened them. People left her peaceful and encouraged.
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.
But everyone around was scared, patrons and wealthy donors were now afraid to provide assistance to the monastery. To avoid provocation, the Grand Duchess did not go outside the gate, and the sisters were also forbidden to go outside. However, the established daily routine of the monastery did not change, only the services became longer and the sisters’ prayers became more fervent. Father Mitrofan served the Divine Liturgy in the crowded church every day; there were many communicants. For some time, the monastery housed the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Sovereign, found in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow on the day of Emperor Nicholas II’s abdication from the throne. Conciliar prayers were performed in front of the icon.
After the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace, the German government obtained the consent of the Soviet authorities to allow Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to travel abroad. The German Ambassador, Count Mirbach, tried twice to see the Grand Duchess, but she did not accept him and categorically refused to leave Russia. She said: “I didn’t do anything bad to anyone. The Lord's will be done!
The calm in the monastery was the calm before the storm. First, they sent questionnaires - questionnaires for those who lived and were undergoing treatment: first name, last name, age, social origin, etc. After this, several people from the hospital were arrested. Then they announced that the orphans would be transferred to an orphanage. In April 1918, on the third day of Easter, when the Church celebrates the memory of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Elizaveta Fedorovna was arrested and immediately taken out of Moscow. On this day, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon visited the Martha and Mary Convent, where he served the Divine Liturgy and prayer service. After the service, the patriarch remained in the monastery until four o’clock in the afternoon, talking with the abbess and sisters. This was the last blessing and parting word from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church before the Grand Duchess’s way of the cross to Golgotha.
Almost immediately after Patriarch Tikhon’s departure, a car with a commissar and Latvian Red Army soldiers drove up to the monastery. Elizaveta Fedorovna was ordered to go with them. We were given half an hour to get ready. The abbess only managed to gather the sisters in the Church of Saints Martha and Mary and give them the last blessing. Everyone present cried, knowing that they were seeing their mother and abbess for the last time. Elizaveta Feodorovna thanked the sisters for their dedication and loyalty and asked Father Mitrofan not to leave the monastery and serve in it as long as this was possible.
Two sisters went with the Grand Duchess - Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. Before getting into the car, the abbess made the sign of the cross over everyone.
Having learned about what had happened, Patriarch Tikhon tried, through various organizations with which the new government reckoned, to achieve the release of the Grand Duchess. But his efforts were in vain. All members of the imperial house were doomed.
Elizaveta Fedorovna and her companions were sent by rail to Perm.
The Grand Duchess spent the last months of her life in prison, in school, on the outskirts of the city of Alapaevsk, together with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (the youngest son of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, brother of Emperor Alexander II), his secretary - Fyodor Mikhailovich Remez, three brothers - John, Konstantin and Igor (sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich) and Prince Vladimir Paley (son of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich). The end was near. Mother Superior prepared for this outcome, devoting all her time to prayer.
The sisters accompanying their abbess were brought to the Regional Council and offered to be released. Both begged to be returned to the Grand Duchess, then the security officers began to frighten them with torture and torment that would await everyone who stayed with her. Varvara Yakovleva said that she was ready to sign even with her blood, that she wanted to share her fate with the Grand Duchess. So the sister of the cross of the Martha and Mary Convent, Varvara Yakovleva, made her choice and joined the prisoners awaiting a decision on their fate.
In the dead of night of July 5 (18), 1918, on the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, along with other members of the imperial house, was thrown into the shaft of an old mine. When the brutal executioners pushed the Grand Duchess into the black pit, she said a prayer: “Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Then the security officers began throwing hand grenades into the mine. One of the peasants, who witnessed the murder, said that the singing of the Cherubim was heard from the depths of the mine. It was sung by the Russian new martyrs before passing into eternity. They died in terrible suffering, from thirst, hunger and wounds.

Elizaveta Feodorovna (at birth Elizaveta Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt, German Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alice von Hessen-Darmstadt und bei Rhein, her family name was Ella, officially in Russia - Elisaveta Feodorovna; November 1, 1864, Darmstadt - July 18, 1918, Perm province) - Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt; in marriage (to the Russian Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich) the Grand Duchess of the reigning house of Romanov. Founder of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow. Honorary member of the Imperial Kazan Theological Academy (the title was Supremely approved on June 6, 1913).

She was canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992.

She was called the most beautiful princess in Europe - the second daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, whose mother was Queen Victoria of England. The august poet Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov dedicated the following poem to the beautiful German princess:

I look at you, admiring you every hour:
You are so inexpressibly beautiful!
Oh, that's right, underneath such a beautiful exterior
Such a beautiful soul!
Some kind of meekness and innermost sadness
There is depth in your eyes;
Like an angel you are quiet, pure and perfect;
Like a woman, shy and tender.
May there be nothing on earth
amidst much evil and sorrow
Your purity will not be tarnished.
And everyone who sees you will glorify God,
Who created such beauty!

However, Elizabeth's real life was very far from our ideas of how princesses live. Brought up in strict English traditions, the girl was accustomed to work from childhood; she and her sister did housework, and clothing and food were simple. In addition, from a very early age, the children in this family were involved in charity work: together with their mother, they visited hospitals, shelters, and homes for the disabled, trying to the best of their ability, if not to alleviate, at least to brighten up the stay of those suffering in them. Elizabeth’s life example was her relative, the German saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, after whom this sad and beautiful girl was named.

The biography of this amazing woman, who made her life’s journey during the Crusades, is surprising to us in many ways. At the age of four, she was married to her future husband, Landgrave Ludwig IV of Thuringia, who was not much older than her. In 1222, at the age of 15, she gave birth to her first child, and in 1227 she was widowed. And she was only 20 years old and had three children in her arms. Elizabeth took a monastic vow and retired to Marburg, where she devoted herself to serving God and people. On her initiative, a hospital for the poor was built here, where Elizabeth worked selflessly, personally caring for patients. Backbreaking work and grueling asceticism quickly undermined the strength of the young, fragile woman. At the age of 24 she died. Elizabeth lived in a world where brute force and class prejudices reigned. Her activities seemed absurd and harmful to many, but she was not afraid of ridicule and anger, was not afraid of being different from others and acting contrary to established views. She perceived each person, first of all, as the image and likeness of God, and therefore caring for him acquired a higher, sacred meaning for her. How consonant is this with the life and work of her holy successor, who became the Orthodox Martyr Elizabeth!

Second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. Her younger sister Alice later became Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in November 1894, marrying Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

From childhood she was religiously inclined and participated in charity work with her mother, Grand Duchess Alice, who died in 1878. The image of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, after whom Ella was named, played a large role in the spiritual life of the family: this saint, the ancestor of the Dukes of Hesse, became famous for her deeds of mercy.

Living in solitude, the German princess apparently had no desire to get married. In any case, all applicants for the hand and heart of the beautiful Elizabeth were refused. That was until she met Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II, brother of Emperor Alexander III. At the age of twenty, Elizabeth became the bride of the Grand Duke, and then his wife.

On June 3 (15), 1884, in the Court Cathedral of the Winter Palace, she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, as announced by the Highest Manifesto. The Orthodox wedding was performed by the court protopresbyter John Yanyshev; the crowns were held by Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, Grand Dukes Alexei and Pavel Alexandrovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, Peter Nikolaevich, Mikhail and Georgy Mikhailovich; then, in the Alexander Hall, the pastor of St. Anne’s Church also performed a service according to the Lutheran rite.

The couple settled in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace purchased by Sergei Alexandrovich (the palace became known as Sergievsky), spending their honeymoon on the Ilyinskoye estate near Moscow, where they also lived subsequently. At her insistence, a hospital was established in Ilyinsky, and fairs were periodically held in favor of the peasants.

She mastered the Russian language perfectly and spoke it with almost no accent. While still professing Protestantism, she attended Orthodox services. In 1888, together with her husband, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1891, she converted to Orthodoxy, writing before this to her father: “I thought and read and prayed to God all the time to show me the right path - and came to the conclusion that only in this religion can I find the true and strong faith in God that a person must have to be a good Christian."

Thus began the “Russian” era of the German princess’s life. A woman’s homeland is where her family is, says a popular proverb. Elizabeth tried to learn the language and traditions of Russia as best as possible. And soon she mastered them perfectly. She, as a Grand Duchess, did not have to convert to Orthodoxy. However, Sergei Alexandrovich was a sincere believer. He regularly attended church, often confessed and partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, observed fasts and tried to live in harmony with God. At the same time, he did not put any pressure on his wife, who remained a devout Protestant. The example of her husband influenced Elizabeth’s spiritual life so much that she decided to convert to Orthodoxy, despite the protest of her father and family who remained in Darmstadt. Attending all services with her beloved husband, she had long since become Orthodox in her soul. After the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Grand Duchess was left with her former name, but in honor of the holy righteous Elizabeth - the mother of the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John. Only one letter has changed. And all life. Emperor Alexander III blessed his daughter-in-law with the precious icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, with which Elisaveta Feodorovna did not part with her entire life and accepted a martyr’s death with it on her chest.

It is characteristic that while visiting the Holy Land in 1888, examining the Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal-to-the-Apostles on the Mount of Olives, the Grand Duchess said: “How I would like to be buried here.” She did not know then that she had uttered a prophecy that was destined to be fulfilled.

As the wife of the Moscow governor-general (Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was appointed to this post in 1891), she organized the Elizabethan Charitable Society in 1892, established in order to “look after the legitimate babies of the poorest mothers, hitherto placed, although without any right, in the Moscow Educational house, under the guise of illegal.” The activities of the society first took place in Moscow, and then spread to the entire Moscow province. Elizabethan committees were formed at all Moscow church parishes and in all district cities of the Moscow province. In addition, Elizaveta Fedorovna headed the Ladies' Committee of the Red Cross, and after the death of her husband, she was appointed chairman of the Moscow Office of the Red Cross.

As you know, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was the Moscow governor-general. This was the time of spiritual growth for the Grand Duchess. The residents of Moscow appreciated her mercy. Elisaveta Feodorovna visited 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. But the Grand Duchess’s talents for mercy were especially evident during the Russo-Japanese and First World Wars. Help for the front, the wounded and disabled, as well as their wives, children and widows was organized in an unprecedented way.

With the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Elizaveta Fedorovna organized the Special Committee for Assistance to Soldiers, under which a donation warehouse was created in the Grand Kremlin Palace for the benefit of soldiers: bandages were prepared there, clothes were sewn, parcels were collected, and camp churches were formed.

In the recently published letters of Elizabeth Feodorovna to Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess appears as a supporter of the most stringent and decisive measures against any freethinking in general and revolutionary terrorism in particular. “Is it really impossible to judge these animals in a field court?” - she asked the emperor in a letter written in 1902 shortly after the murder of Sipyagin, and she herself answered the question: “Everything must be done to prevent them from becoming heroes... to kill in them the desire to risk their lives and commit such crimes (I believe that it would be better if he paid with his life and thus disappeared!) But who he is and what he is - let no one know... and there is no point in pitying those who themselves do not pity anyone.”

However, the country was overwhelmed by terrorist attacks, rallies, and strikes. The state and social order was falling apart, a revolution was approaching. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich believed that it was necessary to take tougher measures against the revolutionaries, 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 the resignation. Nevertheless, the fighting organization of the Social Revolutionaries sentenced Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to death. Its agents watched him, waiting for an opportunity to carry out their plan. Elizaveta Fedorovna knew that her husband was in mortal danger. She received anonymous letters warning 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. On February 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. And with her own hands she collected the pieces of her husband’s body scattered by the explosion onto a stretcher. Then, after the first funeral service, I changed into all black. On the third day after the death of her husband, Elizaveta Fedorovna went to the prison where the murderer was kept. The Grand Duchess brought him forgiveness from Sergei Alexandrovich and asked Kalyaev to repent. She held the Gospel in her hands and asked to read it, but he refused both it and repentance. Nevertheless, Elizaveta Fedorovna left the Gospel and a small icon in the cell, hoping for a miracle that did not happen. After this, the Grand Duchess asked Emperor Nicholas II to pardon Kalyaev, but this request was rejected. At the site of her husband’s murder, Elizaveta Fedorovna erected a monument - a cross made according to the design of the artist Vasnetsov with the words of the Savior spoken by Him on the Cross: “Father, let them go, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). These words became the last in her life - July 18, 1918, when agents of the new godless government threw the Grand Duchess alive into the Alapaevsk mine. But until this day there were still several years left, filled with the ascetic labor of the sister of the cross of mercy Elizabeth in the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery founded by the Grand Duchess. Without becoming a nun in the proper sense of the word, she was not afraid to be different from others, like her German ancestor, devoting herself entirely to serving people and God...

Soon after the death of her husband, she sold her jewelry (giving to the treasury that part of it that belonged to the Romanov dynasty), and with the proceeds she bought an estate on Bolshaya Ordynka with four houses and a vast garden, where the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent of Mercy, founded by her in 1909, is located (this was not a monastery in the exact sense of the word, the charter of the monastery allowed the sisters to leave it under certain conditions, the sisters of the monastery were engaged in charitable and medical work).

She was a supporter of the revival of the rank of deaconesses - ministers of the church of the first centuries, who in the first centuries of Christianity were appointed through ordination, participated in the celebration of the Liturgy, approximately in the role in which subdeacons now serve, were engaged in catechesis of women, helped with the baptism of women, and served the sick. She received the support of the majority of members of the Holy Synod on the issue of conferring this title on the sisters of the monastery, however, in accordance with the opinion of Nicholas II, the decision was never made.

When creating the monastery, both Russian Orthodox and European experience were used. The sisters who lived in the monastery took vows of chastity, non-covetousness and obedience, however, unlike the nuns, after a certain period of time they could leave the monastery, start a family and be free from the previously given vows. The sisters received serious psychological, methodological, spiritual and medical training at the monastery. The best doctors in Moscow gave lectures to them, conversations with them were conducted by the confessor of the monastery, Fr. Mitrofan of Srebryansky (later Archimandrite Sergius; canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church) and the second priest of the monastery, Fr. Evgeny Sinadsky.

According to Elizaveta Fedorovna’s plan, the monastery was supposed to provide comprehensive, spiritual, educational and medical assistance to those in need, who were often not just given food and clothing, but helped in finding employment and placed in hospitals. Often the sisters persuaded families who could not give their children a normal upbringing (for example, professional beggars, drunkards, etc.) to send their children to an orphanage, where they were given an education, good care and a profession.

A hospital, an excellent outpatient clinic, a pharmacy where some medications were provided free of charge, a shelter, a free canteen and many other institutions were created in the monastery. Educational lectures and conversations, meetings of the Palestine Society, Geographical Society, spiritual readings and other events were held in the Intercession Church of the monastery.

Having settled in the monastery, Elizaveta Feodorovna led an ascetic life: at night caring for the seriously ill or reading the Psalter over the dead, and during the day she worked, along with her sisters, bypassing the poorest neighborhoods, she herself visited the Khitrov market - the most crime-prone place in Moscow at that time, rescuing young children from there. There she was highly respected for the dignity with which she carried herself and her complete lack of superiority over the inhabitants of the slums.

She maintained relations with a number of famous elders of that time: Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Zyryanov) (Eleazar Hermitage), Schema-Abbot Herman (Gomzin) and Hieroschemamonk Alexy (Solovyov) (Elders of Zosimova Hermitage). Elizaveta Fedorovna did not take monastic vows.

During the First World War, she actively took care of helping the Russian army, including wounded soldiers. At the same time, she tried to help prisoners of war, with whom the hospitals were overcrowded and, as a result, was accused of collaborating with the Germans. She had a sharply negative attitude towards Grigory Rasputin, although she had never met him. The murder of Rasputin was regarded as a “patriotic act.”

Elizaveta Fedorovna was an honorary member of the Berlin Orthodox Holy Prince Vladimir Brotherhood. In 1910, she, together with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, took under her protection the fraternal church in Bad Nauheim (Germany).

She refused to leave Russia after the Bolsheviks came to power. In the spring of 1918, she was taken into custody and deported from Moscow to Perm. In May 1918, she, along with other representatives of the Romanov house, was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Atamanov Rooms hotel (currently the building houses the FSB and the Main Internal Affairs Directorate for the Sverdlovsk Region, the current address is the intersection of Lenin and Vainer streets), and then, two months later, they were sent to the city of Alapaevsk. She did not lose her presence of mind, and in letters she instructed the remaining sisters, bequeathing them to maintain love for God and their neighbors. With her was a sister from the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Varvara Yakovleva. In Alapaevsk, Elizaveta Fedorovna was imprisoned in the building of the Floor School. To this day, an apple tree grows near this school, according to legend, planted by the Grand Duchess (12 trips to the Middle Urals, 2008).

On the night of July 5 (18), 1918, Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna was killed by the Bolsheviks: she was thrown into the Novaya Selimskaya mine, 18 km from Alapaevsk. The following died with her:

Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich;
Prince John Konstantinovich;
Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich (junior);
Prince Igor Konstantinovich;
Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley;
Fyodor Semyonovich Remez, manager of the affairs of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich;
sister of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery Varvara (Yakovleva).

All of them, except for the shot Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, were thrown into the mine alive. When the bodies were recovered from the mine, it was discovered that some of the victims lived on after the fall, dying of hunger and wounds. At the same time, the wound of Prince John, who fell on the ledge of the mine near the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, was bandaged with part of her apostle. The surrounding peasants said that for several days the singing of prayers could be heard from the mine.

On October 31, 1918, the White Army occupied Alapaevsk. The remains of the dead were removed from the mine, placed in coffins and placed for funeral services in the city cemetery church. However, with the advance of the Red Army, the bodies were transported further to the East several times. In April 1920, they were met in Beijing by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archbishop Innokenty (Figurovsky). From there, two coffins - Grand Duchess Elizabeth and sister Varvara - were transported to Shanghai and then by steamship to Port Said. Finally the coffins arrived in Jerusalem. The burial in January 1921 under the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane was performed by Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem.

Thus, the desire of Grand Duchess Elizabeth herself to be buried in the Holy Land, expressed by her during a pilgrimage in 1888, was fulfilled.

In 1992, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Grand Duchess Elizabeth and sister Varvara and included them in the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia (previously, in 1981, they were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia).

In 2004-2005, the relics of the new martyrs were in Russia, the CIS and Baltic countries, where more than 7 million people venerated them. According to Patriarch Alexy II, “long lines of believers to the relics of the holy new martyrs are another symbol of Russia’s repentance for the sins of hard times, the country’s return to its original historical path.” The relics were then returned to Jerusalem.

The monument to this merciful and virtuous woman was erected more than 70 years after her martyrdom. Elizaveta Feodorovna, being a member of the imperial family, was distinguished by rare piety and mercy. And after the death of her husband, who died as a result of a terrorist attack by the Social Revolutionaries, she completely devoted herself to serving God and helping the suffering. The sculpture depicted the princess in monastic clothing. Opened in August 1990 in the courtyard of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery. Sculptor V. M. Klykov.

Literature

Materials for the life of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Letters, diaries, memories, documents. M., 1995. GARF. F. 601. Op.1. L. 145-148 vol.
Mayerova V. Elizaveta Fedorovna: Biography. M.: Publishing house. "Zakharov", 2001. ISBN 5-8159-0185-7
Maksimova L. B. Elisaveta Feodorovna // Orthodox Encyclopedia. Volume XVIII. - M.: Church and Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia", 2009. - P. 389-399. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-032-5
Miller, L.P. Holy Russian martyr Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. M.: "Capital", 1994. ISBN 5-7055-1155-8
Kuchmaeva I.K. Life and feat of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. M.: ANO IC "Moskvovedenie", OJSC "Moscow Textbooks", 2004. ISBN 5-7853-0376-0
Rychkov A.V. 12 travels in the Middle Urals. - Malysh and Carlson, 2008. - 50 p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9900756-1-0
Rychkov A. Holy Reverend Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna. - Publishing house "MiK", 2007.