Who was killed with the holy princess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

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 homework themselves: they cleaned the rooms, beds, and lit the fireplace. Subsequently, Elizaveta Fedorovna 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.

Elizaveta Fedorovna with her husband Sergei Alexandrovich.

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 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.

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 confirmation 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 Fedorovna, V.I. Nesterenko

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

Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna

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

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 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.

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 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 Feodorovna 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 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 the 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 ascend to a greater world - to a 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 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 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 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.

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 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 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.

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 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

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.

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. The image of St. was of great importance in the development of Ella’s spiritual world. 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 department 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.

Foundation 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 involved in charitable causes and 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 was established for assembling prosthetic parts from finished parts. 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 in 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, 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:

1. Yekaterinburg.
2. Kaliningrad.
3. Belousov (Kaluga region).
4. P. Chistye Bory (Kostroma region).
5. Balashikha.
6. Zvenigorod.
7. Krasnogorsk.
8. Odintsovo.
9. Lytkarine.
10. Shchelkovo.
11. Shcherbinka.
12. D. Kolotskoe.
13. P. Diveevo (Nizhny Novgorod region).
14. Nizhny Novgorod.
15. S. Vengerove (Novosibirsk region).
16. Orle.
17. Bezhetsk (Tver region).

Additional thrones in temples:

1. Three Saints in the Spassko-Elizarovsky Monastery (Pskov region).
2. Ascension of the Lord (Nizhny Novgorod).
3. Elijah the Prophet (Ilyinskoye, Moscow region, Krasnogorsk district).
4. Sergius of Radonezh and the Martyr Elizabeth (Ekaterinburg).
5. The Savior Not Made by Hands in Usovo (Moscow region).
6. In the name of St. Elisaveta Fedorovna (Ekaterinburg).
7. Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God (Kurchatov, Kursk region).
8. 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.

Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov

It is generally accepted that the Grand Duchess and the Grand Duke were in a “white marriage” (that is, they lived like brother and sister). This is not true: they dreamed of children, especially Sergei Alexandrovich. It is generally accepted that Elizaveta Fedorovna was a meek and quiet angel. And that's not true. Her strong-willed character and business qualities made themselves felt since childhood. They said that the Grand Duke was vicious and had unconventional inclinations - again, this was not true. Even the all-powerful British intelligence did not find anything more “reprehensible” in his behavior than excessive religiosity.

Today, the personality of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov either remains in the shadow of his great wife, the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, or is vulgarized - as, for example, in the film “State Councilor”, where the Governor-General of Moscow appears as a very unpleasant type. Meanwhile, it was largely thanks to the Grand Duke that Elizaveta Fedorovna became what we know her: “Great Mother”, “Guardian Angel of Moscow”.

Slandered during his lifetime, almost forgotten after death, Sergei Alexandrovich deserves to be rediscovered. The man through whose efforts Russian Palestine appeared, and Moscow became an exemplary city; a man who all his life bore the cross of an incurable disease and the cross of endless slander; and a Christian who took communion up to three times a week - with the general practice of doing this once a year at Easter, for whom faith in Christ was the core of his life. “God grant me to be worthy of the leadership of such a husband as Sergius,” wrote Elizaveta Feodorovna after his murder...

Our story is about the story of the great love of Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich, as well as the history of lies about them.

The name of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov is pronounced today, as a rule, only in connection with the name of his wife, the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna. She truly was an outstanding woman with an extraordinary destiny, but Prince Sergei, who remained in her shadow, turns out to have played first fiddle in this family. More than once they tried to denigrate their marriage, call it lifeless or fictitious, in the end, unhappy, or, on the contrary, idealized it. But these attempts are unconvincing. After the death of her husband, Elizaveta Feodorovna burned her diaries, but the diaries and letters of Sergei Alexandrovich were preserved, they allow us to look into the life of this exceptional family, carefully protected from prying eyes.

Not so simple bride

The decision to marry was made at a difficult time for Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich: in the summer of 1880, his mother, Maria Alexandrovna, whom he adored, died, and less than a year later, a bomb from Narodnaya Volya member Ignatius Grinevitsky ended the life of his father, Emperor Alexander II. The time has come for him to remember the words of his teacher, maid of honor Anna Tyutcheva, who wrote to the young prince: “By your nature, you should be married, you suffer alone.” Sergei Alexandrovich really had the unfortunate tendency to delve into himself and engage in self-criticism. He needed a loved one... And he found such a person.

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. 1861

1884 Ella is one of the most beautiful brides in Europe. Sergei is one of the most eligible bachelors, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II the Liberator. Judging by the diaries, they first met when the Grand Duchess of Hesse and Rhine Alice-Maude-Mary, wife of Ludwig IV, was in the last months of pregnancy with the future wife of the Grand Duke. A photograph has been preserved where she sits with the Russian Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who came to Darmstadt, and her seven-year-old son Sergei. When the Russian crowned family returned to Russia from their trip to Europe, they again visited relatives in Darmstadt, and the little Grand Duke was allowed to be present at the bathing of the newborn Ella, his future wife.

Why Sergei made a choice in favor of Elizabeth escaped the attention of his family and educators. But the choice was made! And although Ella and Sergei both had doubts, in the end, in 1883, their engagement was announced to the world. “I gave my consent without hesitation,” Ella’s father, Grand Duke Ludwig IV, said then. - I have known Sergei since childhood; I see his sweet, pleasant manners and I’m sure that he will make my daughter happy.”

The son of the Russian emperor married a provincial German duchess! This is the usual view of this brilliant couple - and also a myth. The Darmstadt duchesses were not so simple. Elizabeth and Alexandra (who became the last Russian empress) are the granddaughters of Queen Victoria, from the age of 18 until her death in old age, the permanent ruler of Great Britain (Empress of India since 1876!), a person of strict morality and the iron grip with which Britain achieved its heyday The official title of Elizabeth Feodorovna, which passed to all Hessian princesses, was Duchess of Great Britain and the Rhine: they belonged, no more and no less, to the family that at that time ruled a third of the land. And this title - according to all the rules of etiquette - was inherited from their mother, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the daughter of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

Thus, the Romanovs became related to the British crown thanks to Alice of Hesse - like her mother Victoria, an unusually strong woman: having married a German duke, Alice was forced to face the fastidiousness of the Germans, who were not very willing to accept the English princess. However, she once chaired parliament for nine months; launched extensive charitable activities - the almshouses she founded operate in Germany to this day. Ella also inherited her acumen, and subsequently her character will make itself felt.

In the meantime, Elizabeth of Darmstadt, although an extremely noble and educated, but somewhat flighty and impressionable young lady, discusses shops and beautiful trinkets. Preparations for her wedding with Sergei Alexandrovich were kept in the strictest confidence, and in the summer of 1884, the nineteen-year-old Hessian princess arrived in the capital of the Russian Empire on a train decorated with flowers.

“He often treated her like a school teacher...”

Princess Ella of Hesse and Great Britain. Early 1870s

In public, Elizaveta Feodorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich were, first of all, high-ranking persons, they headed societies and committees, and their human relations, their mutual love and affection were kept secret. Sergei Alexandrovich made every effort to ensure that the internal life of the family did not become public knowledge: he had many ill-wishers. From the letters we know more than the Romanov contemporaries could know.

“He told me about his wife, admired her, praised her. He thanks God every hour for his happiness,” recalls Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, his relative and close friend. The Grand Duke really adored his wife - he loved to give her extraordinary jewelry, give her small gifts with or without any reason. Treating her strictly at times, in her absence he could not praise Elizabeth enough. As one of his nieces (future Queen Maria of Romania) recalls, “my uncle was often harsh with her, like with everyone else, but he worshiped her beauty. He often treated her like a school teacher. I saw the delicious flush of shame that washed over her face when he scolded her. “But, Serge...” she exclaimed then, and the expression on her face was like the face of a student caught in some mistake.”

“I felt how Sergei desired this moment; and I knew many times that he suffered from it. He was a real angel of kindness. How often could he, by touching my heart, lead me to a change of religion in order to make himself happy; and he never, never complained... Let people shout about me, but just never say a word against my Sergei. Take his side before them and tell them that I adore him, as well as my new country, and that in this way I have learned to love their religion ... "

From a letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to her brother Ernest about changing religion

Contrary to the rumors spread at the time, it was a truly happy marriage. On the day of ten years of married life, which occurred at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, the prince wrote in his diary: “In the morning I’m in church, my wife is in the warehouse*. Lord, why am I so happy?” (A donation warehouse for the benefit of soldiers, organized with the assistance of Elizabeth Feodorovna: clothes were sewn there, bandages were prepared, parcels were collected, camp churches were formed. - Ed.)

Their life was truly a service with the maximum dedication of all their strength and abilities, but we will have time to talk about this.

What is she? In a letter to her brother Ernest, Ella calls her husband “a real angel of kindness.”

The Grand Duke became in many ways a teacher to his wife, very gentle and unobtrusive. Being 7 years older, he is really involved in her education to a large extent, teaching her Russian language and culture, introducing her to Paris, showing her Italy and taking her on a trip to the Holy Land. And, judging by the diaries, the Grand Duke did not stop praying, hoping that someday his wife would share with him the main thing in his life - his faith and the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, to which he belonged with all his soul.

“After 7 long years of our happy married life, we have to start a completely new life and leave our cozy family life in the city. We will have to do so much for the people there, and in reality we will play the role of a ruling prince there, which will be very difficult for us, since instead of playing such a role, we are eager to lead a quiet private life.

From a letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to her father, the Grand Duke of Hesse, about the appointment of her husband to the post of Governor General of Moscow

Extraordinary religiosity is a trait that distinguished the Grand Duke from childhood. When seven-year-old Sergei was brought to Moscow and asked: what would you like? - he replied that his most cherished desire was to attend the bishop’s service in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.

Subsequently, when as an adult young man he met Pope Leo XIII during a trip to Italy, he was amazed at the Grand Duke’s knowledge of church history - and even ordered the archives to be pulled up to check the facts voiced by Sergei Alexandrovich. Entries in his diaries always began and ended with the words: “Lord, have mercy,” “Lord, bless.” He himself decided what church utensils should be brought to the consecration of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane (also his brainchild) - brilliantly knowing both the divine service and all its paraphernalia! And, by the way, Sergei Alexandrovich was the first and only of the great princes of the Romanov dynasty who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land three times during his life. Moreover, he dared to do the first through Beirut, which was extremely difficult and far from safe. And the second time he took his wife with him, who was still a Protestant at that time...

“Being of the same faith with your spouse is right”

In their family estate Ilyinsky, where Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Fedorovna spent the happiest days of their lives, starting with their honeymoon, a temple has been preserved, and now it is operating again. According to legend, it was here that the then Protestant Ella attended her first Orthodox service.

Due to her status, Elizaveta Fedorovna did not have to change her religion. 7 years would pass after her marriage before she wrote: “My heart belongs to Orthodoxy.” Evil tongues said that Elizaveta Fedorovna was actively pushed to accept the new faith by her husband, under whose unconditional influence she was always. But, as the Grand Duchess herself wrote to her father, her husband “never tried to force me by any means, leaving all this entirely to my conscience.” All he did was gently and delicately introduce her to his faith. And the princess herself approached this issue very seriously, studying Orthodoxy, looking at it very carefully.

Having finally made a decision, Ella first writes to her influential grandmother Queen Victoria - they have always been on good terms. The wise grandmother replies: “Being with your spouse of the same faith is right.” Her father did not accept Elizaveta Fedorovna’s decision so favorably, although it is difficult to imagine a more affectionate and tactful tone and more sincere words with which Ella begged the “dear Pope” for his blessing on the decision to convert to Orthodoxy:

“...I kept thinking and reading and praying to God to show me the right path, and I came to the conclusion that only in this religion can I find all the real and strong faith in God that a person must have to be a good Christian. It would be a sin to remain as I am now - to belong to the same Church in form and for the outside world, but inside myself to pray and believe the same way as my husband ‹…› I so strongly wish at Easter to partake of the Holy Mysteries together with my husband..."

Duke Ludwig IV did not answer his daughter, but she could not go against her conscience, although she admitted: “I know that there will be many unpleasant moments, since no one will understand this step.” So, to the indescribable happiness of the spouse, the day came when they were able to take communion together. And the third, last in his life, trip to the Holy Land had already been made together - in every sense.

90 Grand Duke Societies

The Grand Duke was one of the initiators of the creation and until his death - the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, without which today it is impossible to imagine the history of Russian pilgrimage to the Holy Land! Having become the head of the Society in the 1880s, he managed to open 8 farmsteads of the Russian Orthodox Church in Palestine, 100 schools where Arab children were taught the Russian language and introduced to Orthodoxy, and built a church of Mary Magdalene in honor of his mother - this is an incomplete list of his deeds, and All this was carried out quite subtly and cunningly. So, sometimes the prince allocated money for construction without waiting for permitting documentation to be issued, and somehow avoided many obstacles. There is even an assumption that his appointment in 1891 as Governor-General of Moscow was a cunning political intrigue invented by the intelligence services of dissatisfied England and France - who would like Russia’s “rule” in the territory of their colonies? - and had as its goal the removal of the prince from affairs in the Holy Land. Be that as it may, these calculations did not come true: the prince, it seems, only redoubled his efforts!

It’s hard to imagine how active the couple were, how much they managed to do during their generally short life! He headed or was a trustee of about 90 societies, committees and other organizations, and found time to take part in the life of each of them. Here are just a few: Moscow Architectural Society, Ladies' Guardianship of the Poor in Moscow, Moscow Philharmonic Society, Committee for the Construction of the Museum of Fine Arts named after Emperor Alexander III at Moscow University, Moscow Archaeological Society. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Arts, the Society of Artists of Historical Painting, Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities, the Society of Agriculture, the Society of Natural History Lovers, the Russian Musical Society, the Archaeological Museum in Constantinople and the Historical Museum in Moscow, the Moscow Theological Academy, the Orthodox Missionary Society, Department of distribution of spiritual and moral books.

Since 1896, Sergei Alexandrovich has been commander of the Moscow Military District. He is also the chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical Museum. On his initiative, the Museum of Fine Arts on Volkhonka was created - the Grand Duke laid six of his own collections as the basis for its exhibition.

“Why do I always feel deeply? Why am I not like everyone else, not cheerful like everyone else? I delve into everything to the point of stupidity and see differently - I myself am ashamed that I am so old-fashioned and cannot be, like all the “golden youth,” cheerful and carefree.”

From the diary of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich

Having become governor-general of Moscow in 1891 - and this meant taking care not only of Moscow, but also of the ten adjacent provinces - he launched incredible activities, setting out to make the city equal to European capitals. Under him, Moscow became exemplary: clean, neat paving stones, policemen stationed within sight of each other, all public services working perfectly, order everywhere and in everything. Under him, electric street lighting was established - a central city power plant was built, the GUM was erected, the Kremlin towers were restored, a new building of the Conservatory was built; under him, the first tram began to run along the capital, the first public theater opened, and the city center was put in perfect order.

The charity that Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Fedorovna were involved in was neither ostentatious nor superficial. “A ruler must be a blessing to his people,” Ella’s father often repeated, and he himself and his wife, Alice of Hesse, tried to follow this principle. From an early age, their children were taught to help people, regardless of rank - for example, every week they went to the hospital, where they gave flowers to seriously ill people and encouraged them. This became part of their blood and flesh; the Romanovs raised their children in exactly the same way.

Even while resting on their Ilyinsky estate near Moscow, Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Fedorovna continued to accept requests for help, for employment, for donations to raise orphans - all this was preserved in the correspondence of the manager of the Grand Duke’s court with various people. One day a letter arrived from the girls-compositors of a private printing house, who dared to ask to be allowed to sing at the Liturgy in Ilyinsky in the presence of the Grand Duke and Princess. And this request was fulfilled.

In 1893, when cholera was raging in Central Russia, a temporary first-aid post was opened in Ilyinsky, where everyone in need of help was examined and, if necessary, urgently operated on, where peasants could stay in a special “isolation hut” - like in a hospital. The first aid post existed from July to October. This is a classic example of the kind of ministry that the couple has been engaged in all their lives.

"White marriage" that never happened

The spouses are Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna. 1884 Sergei Alexandrovich and Elizaveta Feodorovna in their wedding year. Contrary to popular belief, they did not live in the so-called. “white marriage”: the Grand Duke dreamed of children. “We must not be destined to have complete happiness on earth,” he wrote to his brother Pavel. “If I had children, then it seems to me that there would be heaven for me on our planet, but the Lord does not want this - His ways are inscrutable!”

“How I would like to have children! For me there would be no greater heaven on earth if I had my own children,” Sergei Alexandrovich writes in his letters. A letter from Emperor Alexander III to his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, has been preserved, where he writes: “What a pity that Ella and Sergei cannot have children.” “Of all the uncles, we were most afraid of Uncle Sergei, but despite this, he was our favorite,” Prince Maria’s niece recalls in her diaries. “He was strict, kept us in awe, but he loved children... If he had the opportunity, he came to supervise the children’s bathing, cover them with a blanket and kiss them goodnight...”

The Grand Duke was given the opportunity to raise children - but not his own, but his brother Paul, after the tragic death of his wife, the Greek princess Alexandra Georgievna, during premature birth. The owners of the estate, Sergei and Elizaveta, were direct witnesses to the six-day agony of the unfortunate woman. Heartbroken, Pavel Alexandrovich, for several months after the tragedy, was unable to care for his children - young Maria and newborn Dmitry, and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich completely took upon himself this care. He canceled all plans and trips and stayed in Ilyinsky, participated in bathing the newborn - who, by the way, should not have survived according to the unanimous opinion of the doctors - he himself covered him with cotton wool, did not sleep at night, taking care of the little prince. It is interesting that in his diary Sergei Alexandrovich recorded all the important events in the life of his ward: the first erupted tooth, the first word, the first step. And after brother Pavel, against the will of the emperor, married a woman who did not belong to an aristocratic family and was expelled from Russia, his children, Dmitry and Maria, were finally taken into the care of Sergei and Elizabeth.

Why the Lord did not give the spouses their own children is His mystery. Researchers suggest that the childlessness of the grand ducal couple could be a consequence of Sergei’s serious illness, which he carefully hid from those around him. This is another little-known page in the prince’s life, which completely changes the usual ideas about him for many.

Why does he need a corset?

Coldness of character, isolation, closedness - the usual list of accusations against the Grand Duke.

To this they also add: proud! - because of his overly straight posture, which gave him an arrogant appearance. If only the prince’s accusers knew that the “culprit” of his proud posture was the corset with which he was forced to support his spine all his life. The prince was seriously and terminally ill, like his mother, like his brother Nikolai Alexandrovich, who was supposed to become the Russian emperor, but died from a terrible illness. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich knew how to hide his diagnosis - bone tuberculosis, leading to dysfunction of all joints. Only his wife knew what it cost him.

“Sergei is suffering a lot. He's not feeling well again. He really needs salts and hot baths, he can’t do without them,” Elizaveta writes to close relatives. “Instead of going to the reception, the Grand Duke was taking a bath,” the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper scoffed already in pre-revolutionary times. A hot bath is almost the only remedy that relieves pain (joint pain, dental pain) that tormented Sergei Alexandrovich. He could not ride a horse, could not do without a corset. In Ilyinsky, during his mother’s lifetime, a kumys farm was established for medicinal purposes, but the disease progressed over the years. And if it weren’t for the bomb of student Ivan Kalyaev, it is very possible that the Governor General of Moscow would not have lived long anyway...

The Grand Duke was closed, taciturn and withdrawn from childhood. Could one expect anything different from a child whose parents were actually in a divorce, which nevertheless could not take place? Maria Alexandrovna lived on the second floor of the Winter Palace, no longer having marital communication with her husband and enduring the presence of the sovereign’s favorite, Princess Dolgorukova (she became his wife after the death of Maria Alexandrovna, but remained in this status for less than a year, until the death of Alexander II). The collapse of the parental family, the deep attachment to the mother, who meekly endured this humiliation, are factors that largely determined the formation of the character of the little prince.

They are also grounds for slander, rumors and slander against him. “He is overly religious, withdrawn, goes to church very often, takes communion up to three times a week,” - this is the most “suspicious” of what English intelligence was able to find out about the prince before his marriage to Elizabeth, after all - granddaughter of the Queen of England. His reputation is almost impeccable, and yet, even during his lifetime, the Grand Duke was subjected to streams of slander and unflattering accusations...

“Be patient - you are on the battlefield”

There was talk about the dissolute lifestyle of the Governor-General of Moscow, rumors were spread around the capital about his unconventional sexual orientation, that Elizaveta Feodorovna was very unhappy in her marriage to him - all this was even heard in English newspapers during the prince’s lifetime. Sergei Alexandrovich was at first lost and perplexed, this can be seen from his diary entries and letters, where he poses one question: “Why? Where does all this come from?!”

“Be patient with all this slander during your lifetime, be patient - you are on the battlefield,” Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich wrote to him.

Elizaveta Feodorovna could not avoid attacks and accusations of arrogance and indifference. Of course, there were reasons for this: despite her extensive charitable activities, she always kept her distance, knowing the value of her status as a Grand Duchess - belonging to the imperial house hardly implies familiarity. And her character, which manifested itself from childhood, gave rise to such accusations.

In our eyes, the image of the Grand Duchess, admittedly, is somewhat unctuous: a gentle, meek woman with a humble look. This image was formed, of course, not without reason. “Her purity was absolute, it was impossible to take your eyes off her, after spending the evening with her, everyone looked forward to the hour when they could see her the next day,” her niece Maria admires Aunt Ella. And at the same time, one cannot help but notice that Grand Duchess Elizabeth had a strong-willed character. The mother admitted that Ella was the exact opposite of her older, obedient sister Victoria: very strong and not at all quiet. It is known that Elizabeth spoke very harshly about Grigory Rasputin, believing that his death would be the best way out of the catastrophic and absurd situation that had developed at court.

“...When he saw her, he asked: “Who are you?” “I am his widow,” she replied, “why did you kill him?” “I didn’t want to kill you,” he said, “I saw him several times while I had the bomb ready, but you were with him and I didn’t dare touch him.” “And you didn’t realize that you killed me along with him?” - she answered..."

Description of Elizabeth Feodorovna’s conversation with her husband’s killer from the book by Fr. M. Polsky “New Russian Martyrs”

As they would say today, the Grand Duchess was a first-class manager, meticulously able to organize a business, distribute responsibilities and monitor their implementation. Yes, she behaved somewhat aloof, but at the same time she did not ignore the slightest requests and needs of those who turned to her. There is a known case during the First World War when a wounded officer, who was facing amputation of his leg, submitted a request to reconsider this decision. The petition reached the Grand Duchess and was granted. The officer recovered and subsequently, during World War II, served as Minister of Light Industry.

Of course, Elizaveta Feodorovna’s life changed dramatically after a terrible event - the murder of her beloved husband... A photograph of a carriage destroyed by an explosion was then published in all Moscow newspapers. The explosion was so strong that the heart of the murdered man was found only on the third day on the roof of the house. But the Grand Duchess collected the remains of Sergei with her own hands. Her life, her destiny, her character - everything has changed, but, of course, her entire previous life, full of dedication and activity, was a preparation for this.

“It seemed,” recalled Countess Alexandra Andreevna Olsufieva, “that from that time on she was peering intently at the image of another world and devoted herself to the search for perfection.”

“You and I know that he is a saint.”

“Lord, I wish I could be worthy of such a death!” - Sergei Alexandrovich wrote in his diary after the death of one of the statesmen from a bomb - a month before his own death. He received threatening letters but ignored them. The only thing the prince did was stop taking his children - Dmitry Pavlovich and Maria Pavlovna - and his adjutant Dzhunkovsky with him on trips.

The Grand Duke foresaw not only his death, but also the tragedy that would overwhelm Russia in a decade. He wrote to Nicholas II, begging him to be more decisive and tough, to act, to take measures. And he himself took such measures: in 1905, when an uprising flared up among students, he sent students on an indefinite vacation to their homes, preventing the fire from breaking out. "Hear me!" - he writes and writes in recent years to the Emperor. But the sovereign did not listen...

On February 4, 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich leaves the Kremlin through the Nikolsky Gate. 65 meters before the Nikolskaya Tower a terrible explosion is heard. The coachman was mortally wounded, and Sergei Alexandrovich was torn into pieces: all that was left of him was his head, arm and legs - so the prince was buried, having built a special “doll”, in the Chudov Monastery, in the tomb. At the scene of the explosion, they found his personal belongings that Sergei always carried with him: icons, a cross given by his mother, a small Gospel.

After the tragedy, Elizaveta Fedorovna considered it her duty to continue everything that Sergei did not have time to do, everything into which he invested his mind and irrepressible energy. “I want to be worthy of the leadership of such a husband as Sergius,” she wrote to Zinaida Yusupova shortly after his death. And, probably driven by these thoughts, she went to prison to see her husband’s killer with words of forgiveness and a call to repentance. She worked until exhaustion and, as Countess Olsufieva writes, “always calm and humble, she found strength and time, receiving satisfaction from this endless work.”

It is difficult to say in a few words what the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent of Mercy, founded by the Grand Duchess and which still exists today, has become for the capital. “The Lord gave me so little time,” she writes to Z. Yusupova. “There is still a lot to be done”...

On July 5, 1918, Elizaveta Fedorovna, her cell attendant Varvara (Yakovleva), nephew Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, the sons of Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich - Igor, John and Konstantin, and the manager of the affairs of Prince Sergei Mikhailovich Fyodor Mikhailovich Remez were thrown alive into a mine near Alapaevsk.

The relics of the Grand Duchess rest in the temple that her husband built - the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane, and the remains of the Grand Duke were transferred in 1998 to the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow. She was canonized in the 1990s, and he... It seems that holiness comes in very different forms, and the great - truly great - Prince Sergei Alexandrovich again remained in the shadow of his great wife. Today the commission for his canonization resumed its work. “You and I know that he is a saint,” Elizaveta Fedorovna said in correspondence after her husband’s death. She knew him better than anyone.

The Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth was born on October 20, 1864 into the Protestant family of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. In 1884 she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Emperor
Russian Alexander III.

Seeing the deep faith of her husband, the Grand Duchess with all her heart sought the answer to the question - which religion is true? She prayed fervently and asked the Lord to reveal His will to her. On April 13, 1891, on Lazarus Saturday, the rite of acceptance into the Orthodox Church was performed over Elisaveta Feodorovna. In the same year, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was appointed Governor-General of Moscow.

Visiting churches, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes and prisons, the Grand Duchess saw a lot of suffering. And everywhere she tried to do something to alleviate them.

After the start of the Russian-Japanese War in 1904, Elisaveta Feodorovna helped the front and Russian soldiers in many ways. She worked until she was completely exhausted.

On February 5, 1905, a terrible event occurred that changed the whole life of Elisaveta Feodorovna. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich died from a bomb explosion by a revolutionary terrorist. 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.

In the hour of difficult trials, Elisaveta Feodorovna asked for help and consolation from God. The next day she received Holy Communion in the church of the Chudov Monastery, where her husband’s coffin stood. On the third day after the death of her husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna went to prison to see the killer. She didn't hate him. The Grand Duchess wanted him to repent of his terrible crime and pray to the Lord for forgiveness. She even submitted a petition to the Emperor to pardon the killer.

Elisaveta Feodorovna decided to devote her life to the Lord through serving people and create a monastery of work, mercy and prayer in Moscow. She bought a plot of land with four houses and a large garden on Bolshaya Ordynka Street. In the monastery, which was named Marfo-Mariinskaya in honor of the holy sisters Martha and Mary, two churches were created - Marfo-Mariinsky and Pokrovsky, a hospital, which was later considered the best in Moscow, and a pharmacy in which 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.

On February 10, 1909, the monastery began its activities. On April 9, 1910, during the all-night vigil, Bishop Trifon of Dmitrov (Turkestan; + 1934), according to the rite developed by the Holy Synod, consecrated the nuns to the title of sisters of the cross of love and mercy. The sisters took a vow, following the example of the nuns, to spend a virgin life in work and prayer. The next day, during the Divine Liturgy, Saint Vladimir, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna, placed eight-pointed cypress crosses on the sisters, and elevated Elisaveta Feodorovna to the rank of abbess of the monastery.
The Grand Duchess said that day: “ I leave the brilliant world...but together with you all I ascend into a greater world - the world of the poor and suffering“.

At the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna led an ascetic life: she slept on a wooden bed without a mattress, often for no more than three hours; She consumed food very moderately and strictly observed it; at midnight she got up for prayer, and then went around all the hospital wards, often remaining at the bedside of a seriously ill patient until dawn. She told the sisters of the monastery: “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. We would do them a better service if we prepared them in advance for the Christian transition into eternity.” Without the blessing of the monastery’s confessor, Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky, and without the advice of the elders of the Optina Vvedenskaya Hermitage and other monasteries, she did nothing. For complete obedience to the elder, she received inner consolation from God and gained peace in her soul.

Since the beginning of the First World War, the Grand Duchess organized assistance to the front. Under her leadership, ambulance trains were formed, warehouses for medicines and equipment were set up, and camp churches were sent to the front.

The abdication of Emperor Nicholas II from the throne was a big blow for Elizabeth Feodorovna. Her soul was shocked, she could not speak without tears. Elisaveta Feodorovna saw into what abyss Russia was flying, and she wept bitterly for the Russian people, for her dear royal family.

Her letters from that time contain the following words: “I felt such deep pity for Russia and 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, to help him. Holy Russia cannot perish. But Great Russia, alas, no longer exists. We... must direct our thoughts to the Kingdom of Heaven... and say with humility: “Thy will be done.”

Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna was arrested on the third day of Easter 1918, Bright Tuesday. On that day, Saint Tikhon served a prayer service at the monastery.

The monastery sisters Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva were allowed to go with her. They were brought to the Siberian city of Alapaevsk on May 20, 1918. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich and his secretary Feodor Mikhailovich Remez, Grand Dukes John, Konstantin and Igor Konstantinovich and Prince Vladimir Paley were also brought here. Elisaveta Feodorovna's companions were sent to Yekaterinburg and released there. But sister Varvara ensured that she was left with the Grand Duchess.

On July 5 (18), 1918, the prisoners were taken at night in the direction of the village of Sinyachikha. Outside the city, in an abandoned mine, a bloody crime took place. With loud curses, beating the martyrs with rifle butts, the executioners began to throw them into the mine. The first to be pushed was Grand Duchess Elizabeth. She crossed herself and prayed loudly: “Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing!”

Elisaveta Feodorovna and Prince John fell not to the bottom of the mine, but to a ledge located at a depth of 15 meters. Severely wounded, she tore off part of the cloth from her apostle and bandaged Prince John to ease his suffering. A peasant who happened to be near the mine heard the Cherubic Song sounding in the depths of the mine - the martyrs were singing.

A few months later, the army of Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak occupied Yekaterinburg, and the bodies of the martyrs were removed from the mine. The venerable martyrs Elizabeth and Barbara and the Grand Duke John had their fingers folded for the sign of the cross.

During the retreat of the White Army, the coffins with the relics of the holy martyrs were delivered to Jerusalem in 1920. Currently, their relics rest in the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

The venerable martyr nun Varvara was a sister of the cross and one of the first nuns of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery in Moscow. Being a cell attendant and the sister closest to Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, she did not boast or be proud of it, but was kind, affectionate and courteous to everyone, and everyone loved her.

In Yekaterinburg, sister Varvara was released, but both she and another sister, Ekaterina Yanysheva, asked to be returned to Alapaevsk. In response to the intimidation, Varvara said that she was ready to share the fate of her mother abbess. As she was older in age, she was returned to Alapaevsk. She suffered martyrdom at the age of about 35 years.

The memory of the venerable martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and nun Varvara is celebrated on July 5 (18) and on the day of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth was glorified by the Russian Church Outside of Russia in 1981, and in 1992 she was glorified by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Church.

Exactly one hundred years ago, in the Urals, the life of Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova, the sister of the last Russian empress, who was later canonized, tragically ended. 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 she treated the wounded with her own hands. 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 of the 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, sisters' 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 Feodorovna 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, a kindergarten for the peasants 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 Charity, Education and Training of Blind Children, the Society for the Patronage of Street Children and Minors Released from Prisons, 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 ministry 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, a free library, a canteen and a hospice. Free lunches were given out every day.

Thanks to her status, Elizaveta Feodorovna 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.