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Published by Stetson
University Russia Religion News, July 25,
2004
Russians venerate royal relics on loan
SACRED RELICS OF
GRAND DUCHESS ELIZABETH AND SISTER BARBARA SENT TO
MOSCOW
Portal-credo.ru,
25 July 2004 - From Jerusalem the sacred relics of
Grand Duchesses Elizabeth and Sister Barbara were
sent to Moscow, NTV television company reports. On
25 July the reliquary was taken, accompanied by a
prayer service and solemn liturgy, in the
Jerusalem church of St. Mary Magdalene. The
ceremonial greeting is supposed to occur on Sunday
25 July in the Russian capital in the church of
Christ the Savior. Thousands of Orthodox Russians
will participate in it.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia offered
the reliquary for Russian believers to venerate
for six months. In this time a train with the
relics will travel about all regions of the
country. Church hierarchs have already called this
event an important step in the convergence of the
two separated branches of the Orthodox church.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanova is known to
believers as the founder of the Martha and Mary
cloister. After the revolution of 1917 she refused
to abandon Russia and accepted a martyr's death
along with her closest associate, the nun
Barbara. (tr. by PDS, posted 25 July 2004)
RETURN OF SAINT ELIZABETH
by Nadezhda kevorkova Gazeta, 26 July 2004 - On
Sunday, from the church of Mary Magdalene of the
Jerusalem convent in Gethsemane, which belongs to
the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR),
was ceremonially transported to Moscow in Russia
the ark containing relics of the Grand Duchess
Elizabeth, the founder of the Martha-Mary convent,
widow of the Moscow governor-general, who was
slain by Socialist Revolutionaries, and sister of
the last Tsarina Alexandra. This is the first
joint action of the Russian and diaspora Orthodox
churches, which have begun to reconcile after
eighty years of mutual rejection.
About 100 Russians arrived early in the morning at
the Gethsemane convent of Mary Magdalene, where
since 1921 the relics of Grand Duchess Elizabeth
and her cellmate Sister Barbara have been
venerated. On the gates hung a notice requesting
that no photographs be made and that the nuns not
be interviewed. It was explained that the local
news media, which usually are indifferent to
Christian events, has spread news that "Moscow
priests" have robbed the "whites" and will take
away all the relics of Elizabeth Fedorovna
completely. Then the acting supervisor of the
Russian annex managed to begin the service. To be
sure, our sisters, brothers, and fathers calmly
stood along the walls, crossing themselves and
singing, since there still has been no conciliar
decision regarding the reunification of the
churches, so that there are also no joint
services.
Bishop of Boston Mikhail (ROCOR) came out of the
church with a shiny chest, removed the cover, and
showed the people the reliquary, and hand-in-hand
with Bishop of Dmitrovsk Alexander (RPTs) carried
the gift down to the entrance of the Garden of
Gethsemane. The chest contained a silver ark
holding the right finger of the grand duchess and
a wooden ark that was made out of pieces of the
casket in which the body of the martyr, who had
been brutally murdered by bolsheviks in 1918 in
Alapaevsk, had been brought from Beijing to
Palestine.
The initiator and producer of this event, the
president of the Fund of Andrew the First-called,
Alexander Melnik, explained for Gazeta: "You know,
this is the very beginning of our dialogue; the
nuns are afraid that nobody knows who we
are--people in Russia now, who live in difficult
circumstances in the Holy Land, and our country is
for them, primarily that place where hundreds of
thousands of people were killed simply for their
faith and loyalty to Russia." And he added: ""We
specially ordered the chest for Russia; the
sisters love it very much."
The ark was placed in a wooden crate, which was
put into a special microbus. Along with the
current abbess of the Martha-Mary convent,
Elizabeth, and nurses from Hospital No 1,
diplomats, bishops, and clerics from both churches
from just about all the world, and pilgrims from
Georgia and even a team of Russian aerialists, the
reliquary was carried to the airport. Here the bus
was searched by dogs and for three hours the
secret information of the delegation was carefully
reviewed. Finally the patriarchal vicar blessed
the airplane and everybody crossed themselves,
even the most secular crew members.
At Domodedevo 100 priests, who had waited two
hours in scorching sun, greeted the relics
directly on the tarmac, performed a prayer
service, and then the entire procession
ceremonially left for the church of Christ the
Savior. Here the relics will spend ten days, a
procession of the cross will be conducted from the
church of Christ the Savior to the Saint Daniel's
monastery, after visiting the Martha-Mary cloister
founded by the duchess.
On 6 August the reliquary will be sent on
pilgrimage from Chukotia to Kaliningrad. It will
travel about Ukraine from Kharkov to Lvov and
spend time in Belarus, Moldova, and Cisdnestra,
Baltics, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia. In February
the relics will be returned to Jerusalem. When the
[Moscow] Martha-Mary convent is finally restored,
the Gethsemane sisters will present the wooden ark
to it as a gift.
In January 2004, even before the visit to Russia
of the head of ROCOR, Metropolitan Laurus, and his
first meeting with the patriarch, that is,
basically before the beginning of negotiations of
the heads of the churches, the Andrew fund of
Russia turned to the synod of ROCOR suggesting
bringing the relics of Grand Duchess Elizabeth.
The synod not only agreed but also suggested that
instead of two weeks the stay be six months, going
from the day of the royal martyrs to the feast of
new martyrs who are venerated both in Russia and
abroad. "This pilgrimage involves all people,
everyone will know that these are Russians, that
the relics are from abroad, and that there also
exist Russian people and the Russian church. Our
mutual movement to meeting one another will
begin," said Bishop of Boston Mikhail, returning
to the topic of mutual relations of the churches.
"Fellowship, dialogue, convergence, call it what
you will, but do not call this reunification,
since there never was a separation. We are not
hurrying and we are doing nothing out of
willfulness. We do not know where this will lead.
After all, three generations of Russian people
have lived abroad, and for the public this is
almost an eternity." The bishop added that it is
hoped that the president "will not be able to
remain apart from this topic and will be
interested in church matters."
Elizabeth of Darmstadt, Russian martyr
Elizabeth was born in 1864 in the family of the
daughter of British princess Victoria and the
Hessian heir. Her mother died when Elizabeth was
14 and the future last empress of Russia,
Alexandra, was six. The nineteen-year-old Lutheran
became the wife of the brother of Tsar Alexander
III, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. In 1888, for
the 900-th anniversary of the baptism of Rus she
went with her husband to Palestine for the
consecration of the church of Mary Magdalene, and
she returned with relics along with relics of
Efrosiniia of Polotsk, telling the sisters of
Gethsemane that she would dream of lying here
after her death. That is how it came out. Her
husband became Moscow governor-general in 1891.
Elizabeth studied the Russian language earnestly.
When Russians kneeled before icons, she made a
prostration, striving in her own way to show her
esteem of the Russian faith. Without any
compulsion she consciously embraced Orthodoxy in
1891. In 1905 her husband was killed in the
Kremlin by a bomb that was tossed by the Socialist
Revolutionary Kaliaev. Elizabeth collected the
remains of her husband in her own hands and on the
third day visited his murderer. Kaliaev said that
he wished her no sorrow but he did not repent of
what he had done nor ask forgiveness for it.
Elizabeth donated all her jewels for constructing
the Martha-Mary convent. In 1910 she took
religious vows and became the abbess of the
convent, gathering unfortunate orphans for
protection. She spoke out against the "elder"
Rasputin. This alienated her from the empress.
After the revolution she often was advised to
leave, but she refused.
She was arrested on Easter 1918, and on 18 July,
in Alapaevsk, she and another seven prisoners were
thrown alive into a pit. They died from their
wounds and starvation, but Elizabeth bound up
their wounds and sang psalms before their death.
The British royal family took part in her
posthumous fate. Through their efforts the bodies
of Elizabeth and Barbara were taken from Beijing
in 1920.
RPTs recognized her as the first martyr of all the
Romanovs, just after the communist regime fell in
1991. "If people now are not able to go to
venerate her, she will come to Russia herself,
accessible to all, as before," That is what a nun
said to me at the airport while greeting the chest
with the relics. (tr. by PDS)
BACKGROUND
A Sacrificing Love - New Martyr Grand Duchess
Elizabeth
Russian Orthodox Church in America - One of
the brightest stars in the celestial array of
Russia's New Martyrs is holy Grand Duchess
Elizabeth. A convert to Orthodoxy, she outshone
many of those whose Faith she had so ardently
embraced. She was like a sun whose penetrating
rays warm hearts grown cold and renew the lost
faith of a fallen and despairing humanity, as if
to say that not all have succumbed to an
egotistical self love, that there are still those
servants of Love, whose example points the way to
the true path, tom happiness both on this earth
and for all eternity. She placed a law in her
heart: that the strong bear the frailties of the
weak. Love was the cornerstone of her life and all
her activities. This love made easy for her what
was difficult, it made serving her fellowman a
plea sure, and through it the forgiveness of
enemies was made possible. For the sake of this
Love she sacrificed herself for others, thereby
fulfilling that greatest of commandments according
to the Apostle of love, that "we ought to lay down
our lives for the brethren" (I John 3:16).
There exists perhaps no more eloquent tribute to
the holy Grand Duchess than the spiritual portrait
so finely drawn by the late Metropolitan Anastassy:
"She was a rare combination of exalted Christian
spirit, moral nobility, enlightened mind, gentle
heart, and refined taste. She possessed an
extremely delicate and multifaceted spiritual
composition and her outward appearance reflected
the beauty and greatness of her spirit. Upon her
brow lay the seal of an inborn, elevated dignity
which set her apart from those around her. Under
the cover of modesty, she often strove - though in
vain, to conceal herself from the gaze of others,
but one could not mistake her for another.
Wherever she appeared, one would always ask: "Who
is she who looketh forth as the morning, clear as
the sun" (Song of Solomon 6:10)? Wherever she
would go she emanated the pure fragrance of the
lily. Perhaps it was for this reason that she
loved the color white--it was the reflection of
her heart. All of her spiritual qualities were
strictly balanced, one against another, never
giving an impression of one-sidedness. Femininity
was joined in her to a courageous character; her
goodness never led to weakness and blind,
unconditional trust of people. Even in her finest
heartfelt inspirations she exhibited that gift of
discernment which has always been so highly
esteemed by Christian ascetics..."
The Grand Duchess was born on October 20, 186l,
the daughter of Princess Alice of Hesse and the
granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England, under
whose strict tutelage she received both an
extensive and a practical education. Her mother
died when she was still young, the first tragedy
in a life marked by inner suffering. But through,
greatness of spirit, her sorrow at the absence of
maternal love was later transformed into a tender
and solicitous compassion for others who lacked
this love.
Chosen as the future wife of the Grand Duke Sergei
Alexandrovich, the Grand Duchess arrived in Moscow
and set about learning all she could about her
newly adopted homeland, its people and its
culture. Her heart was soon captured by the beauty
and spiritual depth of Orthodoxy which she
discovered so tightly interwoven into the rich
fabric of the Russian soul. It was not mere
formality that prompted her decision to become
Orthodox, but a strong inner conviction. In
Orthodoxy she found full expression for the
natural spiritual cast of her character. Social
obligations at the palace, however, prevented this
disposition from blossoming, although in keeping
with her new position she was able to dedicate
much time to philanthropic activities. It was only
with the tragic assassination of her husband in
1905 that Providence granted her the opportunity
to withdraw from the tumult of a world which her
soul found so wearisome. But through her patient
endurance she had already achieved a measure of
Christian perfection. This was manifest in her
ready forgiveness of her husband's murderer whom
she even went to visit in hopes of softening his
heart. On the memorial cross erected upon the site
of her husband's death, she had inscribed the
Gospel words, "Father, forgive them for they know
not what they do...' She had already begun the
ascent up the ladder of Christian virtue.
Ignoring the scandal caused by such a move, the
Grand Duchess left the royal apartments and
settled in a building which she had acquired at
Ordinka. Here, with the counsel of the eiders of
the Zosima Hermitage under whom she had placed
herself in total obedience, she laid the
foundation for a sisterhood which combined in
itself the ascetic labors of the monastic life and
works of charity. This quiet haven in the midst of
a bustling city was named in honor of Mary and
Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, whose two natures
of service and prayer were so beautifully
intertwined in the mission of the new community.
"To be not of this world and at the same time to
live and act in the world in order to transform
it--this was the foundation upon which she desired
to establish her convent."
The Grand Duchess was personally involved in all
the plans for the buildings of the community, and
they reflected her refined aesthetic
sensibilities. The main church was built in the
traditional Novgorod-Pskov style and painted by
the well-known Russian artist Nesterov. The
austere white walls were balanced with exquisite
sculptured ornamentation. The architectural
harmony of the buildings, the peaceful atmosphere,
the beauty of the church services--all combined to
lift the tired soul from its earthly cares and
give it a glimpse of paradise. Even members of the
unchurchly contemporary Russian society, whose
spiritual re-education was of such concern to the
Grand Duchess, were drawn to this unique
community.
"It is not surprising that the convent quickly
blossomed and attracted many sisters from the
aristocracy as well as the common people. Nearly
monastic order reigned within the inner life of
the community and both within and without the
convent the activities of the Grand Duchess
consisted in the care of those who visited the
sick who were lodged in the convent, in the
material and moral help given to the poor, and in
the almshouse for those orphans and abandoned
children found in every large city. The Grand
Duchess paid special attention to the unfortunate
children who bore within themselves the curse of
their fathers' sins, the children born in the
turbid slums of Moscow only to wither before they
had a chance to blossom. Many of them were taken
into the orphanage built for them where they were
quickly revived spiritually and physically. For
others, constant supervision at their place of
residence was established. The spirit of
initiative and moral sensitivity which accompanied
the Grand Duchess in all her activities, inspired
and impelled her to search out new paths and forms
of philanthropic activity, which sometimes
reflected the influence of her first, western
homeland, and its advanced organizations for
social improvement and mutual aid..."
Wherever there was a need the Grand Duchess would
try to answer it, and only her strong spirit was
able to keep her from being entirely overcome
physically by all that she in her willingness was
ready to undertake. All her activities, however,
did not cause her to wander from the "one thing
needful," and while serving the least of Christ' s
brethren, she was ever at Christ's feet, listening
to His words.
The sorrowful tribulations which visited Russia as
the Revolution spread its shadow over the land
only caused her virtues of love and self-sacrifice
to shine more brightly. Together with her younger
sister, Tsaritsa Alexandra, she was slandered on
account of her German blood. But she harbored
neither bitterness nor hatred towards her enemies,
and even the revolutionaries recognized her
greatness of spirit and spared her and her
community for a time,
Finally, however, the martyr's crown was brought
within her reach. On Pascha, 1918, the Grand
Duchess was suddenly arrested and taken first to
Ekaterinburg and then to Alopaevsk where, with her
ever-faithful companion Sister Barbara, she was
imprisoned in one of the city schools. On the
fateful night of July 5/18, together with other
royal captives, she was taken in an automobile
outside the city and buried alive in a mine shaft.
Even here, in the bowels of the earth, she did not
cease to manifest her sacrificing love.
Excavations have shown that until the last moment
she strove to serve the grand dukes who were
severely injured by the fall.
At last her precious remains - which, according to
eye-witnesses were found in the mine shaft
completely untouched by corruption - were
received with triumph in Jerusalem and laid to
rest in a sepulchre of the church of St. Mary
Magdalene, just over the hill from Bethany where
the sisters, Sts. Martha and Mary, served and
glorified the Lord.
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