Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova, nun Anastasia

Orthodox Life

The history of Christianity in Rus' has been sanctified by a woman’s name from the very beginning. Saint Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, knelt before Christ long before Vladimirov’s baptism, thereby predetermining the spiritual path of Rus' as the path of the heart and intuition, rather than reason and rational analysis.

Venerable Anastasia of Kyiv

So Rus' was subsequently baptized - at the call of the soul, without particularly delving into the Greek prayers, incomprehensible to her ears, which for a long time remained both untranslated and unexplained. She was baptized as a foolish child is baptized, receiving a treasure of grace without yet understanding it. Subsequently, everything appeared - both understanding and learning. But before this, Rus' was dotted with countless monasteries and churches and gave the world thousands of great saints, as if to confirm that it continues to follow the path of Saint Olga, the path of the heart and intuitive recognition of its Heavenly Father in the Christian God.

Remembering the history of the Russian Church, one cannot help but notice how ardently the Russian soul, especially the female soul, responded to the spiritual choice of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga and her grandson, Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir. Reading the chronicle, we see many holy women, in particular from royal and princely families. The first such nun, according to the Tver Chronicle, was the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Rogneda. After divorcing her husband, she took monastic vows with the name Anastasia. Her name opens a long chain of royalty who became nuns. This is the wife of Grand Duke Yaroslav I Irina, and the daughter of Grand Duke Vsevolod Anna, and the wife of Prince of Polotsk Roman Predslav (Euphrosinia), and many other royal and princely wives and daughters who dedicated their lives to Christ. Is it possible to list all the exploits of pious Russian women, both monastic and non-monastic? They entered the people's memory not only as saints of our land, but also as the founders and trustees of hospitals, orphanages and other centers of charity and mercy, hosts of strangers.

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The history of female holiness in Rus' is amazing. But more striking is the fact when the peculiarities of Russian female religiosity, together with the acquisition of the Orthodox faith, enter the heart of a foreign woman, and she becomes a deeply Russian woman and even, if I may say so, the mother of the Russian people. This happened to the last Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her sister Elizabeth. But even earlier this happened to a woman who can rightfully be called the mother and patroness of the city of Kyiv. Perhaps this is the name that is borne in the Heavenly Kingdom by the one whom the world knew as Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova, and the Church glorifies her as Saint Anastasia of Kyiv.

The life of the saint is widely known today and does not need another retelling. Large-scale charity in the world, a long illness and miraculous healing, adoption of monasticism and the construction of the Intercession Monastery, abbot’s work, caring for the sick in the hospital she founded... Much has been written about all this, the princess’s feat has been studied and glorified. Without repeating the life story of Alexandra Petrovna again, I would like to highlight some facets of her asceticism and its significance. To do this, let's ask ourselves a few questions.

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Why do we even need to remember the story of nun Anastasia? Why look back so far? After all, it was a completely different time. There will never be such a life again. The phenomenon of Tsarist Russia is forever a thing of the past, having received an ambiguous assessment. Russia left, and with it went its saints - holy fools, saints, noble princes, righteous wives... Now there are completely different people, a different life and different ideals.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna

Ideals... But this is probably the reason for our memories of past times. The beauty of the ideal has lasting value. The question before us is not the state ideal, not the ideal of building a society, and not even the ideal of the national idea. The life story of Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna raises a more significant topic - the topic of the female ideal.

The memory of such saints as Anastasia of Kiev restores the image of a Russian woman, damaged over a hundred years of utter atheism. This is the gospel ideal of sacrifice and service, inner beauty and prayerful strength, sensitivity to the pain of another and a firm determination to do everything to alleviate it. The ideal of an honest woman, a pious mother, a great worker.

But was Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna really Russian? By origin - no. In spirit - yes. She became a deeply Russian woman and even the ideal of a Russian woman through the Orthodoxy she accepted. This is an amazing fact.

Vladimir Solovyov argued: “The idea of ​​a nation is not what it thinks about itself in time, but what God thinks about it in eternity” (V.S. Solovyov. Russian idea). These are wonderful words. You don’t need to be an academic to understand: God intended Orthodoxy in relation to Rus'. And only by Orthodoxy does Rus' live, and by it is it strong, just as the Israeli people were once strong by their God - and only by Him. Rus' without Orthodoxy is unthinkable and impossible.

The Orthodox faith made the princess with German roots a Russian saint. The Grand Duchess, having fallen in love with Orthodoxy once and for all, was imbued with God’s plan for Rus' through her faith and became one of the builders of the Russian Orthodox civilization - that for which and by what Rus' should live. Every woman who brings her life closer to the ideal of nun Anastasia stands next to her in the great work of revealing the beauty of Orthodoxy to the whole world. Maybe this is why Rus' is still alive. Perhaps that’s why she’s alive because women like her still exist. And it will live if Russian women are like this.

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In many Kyiv churches there is an icon of the nun Anastasia. But the feat of the Grand Duchess is not only a feat of confession of faith, but also an example of service to the fatherland in the gospel coordinate system. Mother's holiness is not so much monastic as civil. The Grand Duchess lived her entire life in the world - even in the monastery she was always surrounded by the bustling world. But the world did not swallow her - she taught the world. She taught us holiness in the world, showed that we can serve our neighbors not only in monastic robes, but also in the dress of a princess, not only in the grand-ducal reception room, but also on the humble bed of illness, not only in ardent youth, but also in the infirmity of old age. Therefore, there should be icons of nun Anastasia in Kyiv churches, and her portraits in Kyiv schools. Kievans should know their history and the best people in the history of Kyiv.

The feat of the Grand Duchess teaches true evangelical patriotism - serving one’s people in diligent fulfillment of the commandments of Christ. Only that patriotism is genuine, which creates and saves the human soul. Patriotism that destroys and hates, constantly looking for an enemy and not noticing the shortcomings of its people, is a devilish substitution. Evangelical patriotism does the will of God in the depths of its people, glorifies the name of the Lord among its nation and far beyond its borders. Evangelical patriotism turns any nation into the people of God and gives the representative of any nation a much higher name - the name of a Christian. The Englishman will be the best Englishman who will be the best Christian. That American will become the best of Americans who learns to do the will of God. So the Grand Duchess, in her service of evangelical patriotism, saved not only her soul, but also thousands around her, and became the best of us - the pride of the holy city of Kyiv. She served God through her neighbor, and the Lord exalted her above all others.

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The memory of the holy women who shone in the Russian land is not an excursion into the past, it is a look into the future. And there will be a future if the memory of people like nun Anastasia is preserved not just as a page of our history, but as an example to follow, an image dear to the heart of every Russian person, especially to the heart of a Russian woman.

Oh, our blessed mother Anastasia! Just as you had your heart filled with mercy and the love of Christ, teach us to love God with all our hearts and to be merciful to our neighbors.

Our Reverend Mother Anastasia, pray to God for us!

Sergey Komarov

Holy Fool at Court, Grand Duchess in the Monastery

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)

Everyone is hearing about the feat of the holy priest. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Much less known is the life story of another representative of the Imperial family - Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, née Oldenburg, monastically - Anastasia, aunt of the last Russian Tsar. The fates of both princesses are in many ways similar: both retired from the world after the loss of their spouses, both founded and headed monasteries of mercy. But there were also differences, and in some ways the fate of Alexandra Petrovna was even more tragic. We bring to your attention an essay about this amazing woman.

Daughter of an Enlightened Philanthropist

Alexandra Petrovna (1838-1900), the eldest daughter of the Prince of Oldenburg and Princess Theresa, adopted from her father, the “Enlightened Benefactor,” as it was written on his monument, the ideals of Christian service to people, which became her life credo.
She was born in St. Petersburg, received an excellent upbringing and education. The princess was especially interested in literature, music and drawing. Alexandra inherited the talent of a painter from her mother. According to the recollections of her grandson, Prince Roman Petrovich, “she painted wonderfully, and her paintings were hung in frames on the Znamenka estate
. Alexandra's childhood years were spent in her parents' palace (Dvortsovaya embankment, 2), where the family lived in the winter. Located in one of the most beautiful places in St. Petersburg between the Marble Palace and the Summer Garden. Previously, the palace building, built at the end of the 18th century according to the design of an unknown architect, belonged to the famous figure of the era of Catherine II I.I. Betsky and entered into the history of architecture of St. Petersburg as the “Betsky House”. Contemporaries of Fr.

Princess Alexandra took care of her younger brothers and sisters. In Eduard Gau's small watercolor "Children of Prince Peter of Oldenburg", painted in 1852, they are depicted sitting in a boat, driven by the brothers Nicholas, Alexander, George and Konstantin. Alexandra carefully holds her youngest sister Teresa in her arms. The seventh, Catherine, settled down at the feet of her older sister.

In this portrait, Alexandra was 14 years old. Her sweet and meek face enchants and captivates with its innocence, purity and girlish charm. The thoughtful, slightly wary look of her wide open eyes, the serious, perhaps even too serious, expression on her face, her whole appearance - everything reveals the nature of a romantic girl, but with a strong character, extraordinary, capable of defending her ideals. At this age, young girls from high society begin to go out into the world, a new life opens up for them, associated with the need to attend balls, receptions, and receptions. The first exits are especially exciting, memorable and seemingly significant. In the surviving short note from young Alexandra, the most important thing for her seemed to be which of her second cousins ​​she sat next to at a family dinner in the Anichkov Palace. And this is not surprising, since her cousins ​​could well become potential suitors for her. “In December 1853 I dined at the palace for the first time. I sat between Kotey and Sofia. And Niz sat next to Sofia

(Grand Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich, son of Nicholas I. -
Author ) And the second time we had lunch on the second day of Easter.
Then I sat between Nizeu and Michel... ”
Like all girls, she dreamed of her prince, of high and pure love, love for life. The Grand Duke seemed like such a person to her. Nikolai Nikolaevich (1831–1891), Nizi, as his family called him, the third son of Nicholas I. He studied in the First Cadet Corps, then served in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. He successively commanded a brigade, then a division of the Guards Cavalry, and was an inspector general for engineering. Since 1855 he has been a member of the State Council. Tall, very attractive and impressive in appearance, Nikolai Nikolaevich was able to charm the young princess without much difficulty. Therefore, when at one of the receptions he confessed his love to her and proposed his hand and heart, she agreed. This event has an unusual confirmation. On one of the many watercolors by E. Gau (Department of Drawing of the State Hermitage - Author) with images of the exquisite interiors of the Anichkov Palace there is a handwritten inscription by Nikolai Nikolaevich: “The Red Drawing Room, where I proposed in 1855 on November 13 - Do you want to make my happiness.”
And on another watercolor: “The dressing room of the Empress Mother, where she blessed us in November 1855.” How to bring the Grand Duke to reason Based on the laws of Russia, Princess Alexandra, who was of the Lutheran faith, had to convert to Orthodoxy when she married the son of the Russian Tsar. This complex religious ceremony took place in the church of the Winter Palace. As one of those present noted, “the princess’s obedience during the rituals was especially surprising: she said prayers in a loud voice, lay down on the floor many times and had to kiss the hands of numerous clergy.”

There is also a mention of this event in A.F.’s diary.
Tyutcheva, maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna: “Today (December 26, 1855) the young Princess of Oldenburg converted to Orthodoxy, she apparently understood the significance of this act, which she performed and seemed deeply concentrated.
She was dressed in a white satin dress and had her hair done very simply. She looked ugly: excitement reflects badly on her complexion, and this is the only thing good about her. Her facial features are rough and very irregular, but her expression of purity, sincerity and gentleness attracts sympathy for her.” The engagement reception took place in one of the most beautiful halls of the Winter Palace - the Mauritanian. Alexandra Petrovna was dressed in a luxurious blue velvet dress, decorated with diamonds, which her mother, the Empress, gave her, and on her head was a tiara with four large emeralds, a gift from the Tsar.

The wedding was celebrated in June 1856 with all the attributes and honors due to members of the royal family. Alexander II even interrupted his trip to Europe to attend his brother’s wedding. Princess Alexandra Petrovna received the title of Grand Duchess after her marriage, which placed her in rank above her brothers and sisters. The young married couple first settled in the Winter Palace, in rooms whose windows overlooked the Neva on one side and Palace Square and the Admiralty on the other. All rooms were newly decorated and looked very elegant and elegant. The marriage of Alexandra Petrovna and Nikolai Nikolaevich suited both families in all respects. The Oldenburg family considered it an honor to become related to the new generation of Romanovs, and for Alexander II it was a chance to settle down his brother, known for frivolous love affairs. On this occasion, the same Tyutcheva wrote: “The Emperor and Empress are delighted with this wedding... since Princess Alexandra, a meek, pretty creature, should have a good influence on the prince. We must hope that the Grand Duke will come to his senses in his honorable position as a husband. This is absolutely necessary for him, since he spent his life in the society of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, which was far from brilliant with intellectual interests.”

In God's good standing At first, the married life of the young couple was going well. A magnificent palace was built for them, designed by architect A.I. Stackenschneider, called Nikolaevsky, on Blagoveshchenskaya Square (more recently - the Palace of Labor on Truda Square).

Nikolai Nikolaevich and his wife also owned the Summer Palace in Znamenka, not far from Peterhof, where the family lived from early spring until late autumn. Alexandra Petrovna was a hospitable and hospitable hostess. Holidays were often held in the city and country palaces, at which almost all the Romanovs usually gathered. However, despite the successful start to family life, this marriage was not destined to be happy. The brilliant court life did not attract Alexandra Petrovna; she tried to avoid noisy society and attended balls and receptions only if necessary, so as not to violate court etiquette, she dressed very modestly, which often displeased her husband. He sometimes even envied his cousin Grand Duke. Konstantin Mikhailovich, whose wife Alexandra Iosifovna loved to shine in society with her beauty and exquisite outfits. Alexandra Petrovna, raised by her parents in a truly Christian spirit, professed completely different ideals, incomprehensible and seemingly strange to court society. Prince D.A. Obolensky, an intelligent and observant person, had the opportunity to communicate repeatedly with both Nikolai Nikolaevich and Alexandra Petrovna. His assessment of the spouses dates back to 1876 - before Russia entered the war with the Turks: “Several corps are mobilizing. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich was appointed commander-in-chief: I have great hopes for this Grand Duke, I don’t know why. He is said to be a good cavalry general, and his soldiers love him. He doesn’t have much intelligence, but he is simple, without pretensions, and although he is weak in the feminine side and has done a lot of damage to himself, he looks like a good fellow. Of course, one cannot judge his strategic abilities, but if God wants to bless our cause, then he will give abilities to those who do not have them, and if the Grand Duke himself has not earned favors from God, then his wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, has already , undoubtedly, He is in good standing... This woman is an extraordinary phenomenon. Here they laugh at her in high society, and she gives reason for this, because she treats all secular and courtly decency with open contempt. She appears among the court as some kind of holy fool or blessed one. And she really is like that, and it’s genuine in her. Moreover, she is not just a holy fool, but a Russian holy fool, with all the instincts, tastes and sympathies of the simplest Russian woman. But how much good she does and how she does it - only those who have benefited from her know about it. All this seems so extraordinary to me that I am ready to think that there is something portentous in this eccentricity.”

Nikolai Nikolaevich successfully promoted. In 1859 he was appointed commander of the Guards Corps, in 1864 - 1880. - Commander of the Guard and at the same time Inspector General of Cavalry. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The Tsar appointed the Grand Duke commander-in-chief of the Active Danube Army. For the capture of Plevna and the capture of the army of Osman Pasha and the leader of the Turkish army himself, he received the highest rank of the Russian army - field marshal general and was awarded the Order of St. George 1st degree. Was he an outstanding military leader? Military historians do not have a unanimous opinion on this issue.

Alexandra Petrovna actively participated in the public life of representatives of her circle. Even before her marriage in 1854, she became a full and honorary member of the Imp. Women's Patriotic Society, as well as a trustee of the 1st Vasileostrovskaya private school on the corner of Maly Prospect and 3rd line. With the financial support of her husband, already in the first years of family life, Alexandra Petrovna opened a medical center in the village of Znamenka for the surrounding peasants, where she herself conducted consultations, gave out free medicines, made bandages and even visited patients at home. She believed: “The duty of conscience commands me to give everything I have to the realization of my ideal. Since childhood, I have been close to patients and loved them. I saw the example of my unforgettable parents..."

In 1858, Alexandra Petrovna, with the support of her husband, founded the Intercession Community of Sisters of Mercy in the galley harbor of Vasilyevsky Island and became its trustee. The community's goal was to train experienced nurses and educate poor and street children. Widows and girls of the Orthodox faith of all classes aged 17 to 40 were accepted into the department of sisters of mercy. At the end of their training, the sisters took an oath in which they swore to serve with sincere mercy, humility, selflessness and love for their neighbors. The Community's medical personnel were always ready to be sent to the theater of operations in the event of war and to provide necessary assistance to the population in times of social or natural disasters. The Community opened an orphanage for 65 children, a department of nurses, and built a hospital, which opened on November 1, 1859. Since 1860, visiting local residents were received free of charge, and they were also provided with free medicine.

Her daughter’s charitable activities were approved by her father P.G. Oldenburgsky. In a letter dated July 12, 1856 from Wildbad (Germany), where he was undergoing treatment, the prince wrote: “I am so glad that you are doing good to your peasants. Please arrange a school for them. God will reward you for this...”

During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878.
Alexandra Petrovna organized a sanitary detachment at her own expense, and “in the palace of her husband, the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Army, halls are open to everyone who wants to work for free to help the wounded;
A large number of representatives of high society gather in these halls every day. On holidays, many girls from shops and sewing workshops work in these halls.” Until 1881, the Grand Duchess was the chairman of the Council of Orphanages of the Department of Institutions of the Empress Maria. Thanks to her care, a capital was built up, which reached 2 million rubles in the 90s. This money supported 23 large shelters: 21 in St. Petersburg, one in Tsarskoe Selo and one in Peterhof. They cared for up to 5 thousand orphans.

On the path to living monasticism The married life of Nikolai Nikolaevich and Alexandra Petrovna after the birth of their second son Peter in 1864 (the first son Nikolai was born in 1856) went wrong. The Grand Duke became interested in the dancer E.G. Numerical, with whom he had four children. This connection turned out to be so serious that it continued until Chislova’s death in 1889.

Discord in the family and a serious illness prompted Alexandra Petrovna to leave St. Petersburg. The disease overcame her after an accident when, during a trip in a carriage, the horses carried and overturned the carriage. She was severely injured, which subsequently affected her health - her legs gave out. Doctors recommended treatment in the south. In 1879, the Grand Duchess left St. Petersburg, as it turned out, forever. On the way, she stopped in Kyiv, where she lived in the Imperial Travel Palace. Almost a year and a half - from November 1880. until July 1881 - Alexandra Petrovna spent abroad, trying to restore her health. For some time she lived in Naples and on the island of Corfu. The island of Corfu with its unique climate had a beneficial effect, but the disease did not completely recede.

In June 1881, Alexandra Petrovna, on a steamboat, accompanied by Rear Admiral Golovachev, made a stop off the coast near the Athos Monastery. Alexandra Petrovna could not visit the Holy Mountain, since women were prohibited from visiting this monastery. But she was visited by the Athonite elders on the ship, in conversations with whom she found consolation and strengthening of her spiritual strength. The brethren of the Russian Ilyinsky Skete on the Holy Mountain, through the mediation and participation of Archimandrite Macarius, abbot of the Panteleimon Monastery, turned to Alexandra Petrovna with a request to lay the first stone in the foundation of the cathedral church, which they planned to build on the site of the old one that had been damaged by the earthquake. “The Grand Duchess graciously agreed to this, and on June 22 sent a stone with a decent inscription, instructing Rear Admiral Golovochev, who accompanied her, to place it on her behalf at the foundation of the cathedral. Thus, with the help of God, the foundation stone of the cathedral was completed. The cathedral will have two altars: the main altar is in the name of the prophet Elijah, the side altar is in the name of the holy martyr Queen Alexandra. Leaving the shore of Mount Athos, Her Imperial Highness wished to see the monastery. The steamer stopped opposite him. The abbot and the brethren hurried onto the ship, taking with them the most important shrine of the monastery - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Mammal" and the holy relics - the foot of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Her Highness reverently venerated the shrine and then left the shores of Athos, guided by the fervent prayers and well-wishes of the Russian inhabitants of the Holy Mountain.”

After returning from abroad, a separate house was rented for Alexandra Petrovna in the aristocratic Lipki district of Kyiv. Despite all the efforts of the doctors and her own, she was never able to move independently. Left alone with her illness, spending her life alone, confined to a wheelchair, Alexandra Petrovna found solace in prayers and reading the Psalter, which she called “a source of eternal joy.” After much thought, she decided to stay in Kyiv forever, which meant a break in marital relations. It was a bold step, but how could she come to terms with the betrayal and open bigamy of her husband, who violated both her feelings and her faith, and deeply wounded her soul! Alexandra Petrovna's moral suffering further aggravated her physical illness.

Having made a decision, she finally settled in Kyiv, bidding farewell to the capital forever. Here Alexandra Petrovna completely devoted herself to serving God and people. She began to implement the idea that captivated her - the idea of ​​​​"living monasticism."

In the 19th century, in church circles, in connection with the development of populist ideals, the idea of ​​“living monasticism” arose, which implied not only the strictest adherence to the monastic rules of St. Savva the Sanctified and Theodore the Studite, but also practical service to suffering humanity. The idea of ​​living monasticism found a response both among representatives of the clergy, monasticism, and church intelligentsia, as well as among believers who decided to take monastic vows, of which there are many examples. A representative of Warsaw high society, Countess Efimovskaya founded the Lesninsky Mother of God Monastery in the Warsaw province with educational institutions and a hospital to provide free medical care to surrounding peasants. In Estonia, the Virov Convent of the Kholm region, as well as the Pukhtitsky Assumption Convent with a school, hospital, and public library, became famous for their extensive activities. Monasteries carried out great charitable work, carrying out the mission of mercy and education. Among them are the Pereyaslavl Feodorovsky Convent of the Vladimir Diocese, the Pechenga Monastery of the Arkhangelsk Province, other monasteries, including the Holy Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, as well as the Holy Trinity Sergius Primorskaya Monastery near St. Petersburg

Alexandra Petrovna became a champion of living monasticism. She wanted “our monasteries, while maintaining strict paternal rules and commandments, to be nurseries of enlightenment and charity in all forms... Living monasticism is the banner that is so dear to my heart,” she stated in one of her letters. “No monastic vows or rules prevent you from loving your neighbor as yourself, serving the sick, feeding the poor.”

In a picturesque corner of Kyiv - Lukyanovka, on the high slope of Voznesenskaya Mountain, Alexandra Petrovna bought a large estate with an area of ​​six acres from the merchant Dikovsky, paying 50,000 rubles from her personal funds for this plot of land. Here she founded the Holy Protection Convent (1889). The basis of the monastic Rule was a combination of monastic feat and caring for the sick. In five months, the Church of the Intercession was built on the territory of the monastery, and in a short period of time a whole town grew here. Everything was created under the personal supervision of the Grand Duchess. She herself drew up plans for new buildings, bills for the construction and maintenance of all the institutions of the monastery, and there were many of them: a hospital with therapeutic and surgical departments, a pharmacy with free distribution of medicines, a shelter for the blind and incurable patients, a hospital for visitors - the largest in the south. western region, a school for orphan girls, a shelter for chronically ill women, barracks for infectious patients, a morgue, laundries, canteens and kitchens.

It was financially difficult to maintain such a large farm. Alexandra Petrovna sold her grand-ducal jewelry and invested the proceeds in the construction and equipment of hospitals. She also wanted to sell the most expensive item to her - a gift from Alexander II for her wedding - a large emerald. True, a buyer was never found, because the cost of the stone was very high. Alexander III, who treated his aunt very warmly, upon learning of her intentions, ordered to buy the emerald. More than once he financially supported Alexandra Petrovna in her noble cause. This probably happened often, since it began to cause indignation among officials at the Ministry of Finance. Secretary of State A. A. Polovtsev on this occasion, Fr.

Thanks to this indirect evidence, we see what kind of funds Alexandra Petrovna needed to organize her institutions.
Her daughter-in-law, Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna, recalled that during a visit to the monastery, Alexandra Petrovna, showing her her household, explained: “This building is my earrings, here is my necklace, and all my rings went here.”

In 1889, she moved to live in a new monastery, where she changed her usual environment to a monastic one, occupying a one-room cell. Alexandra Petrovna put on monastic attire; apparently, around the same time she took monastic vows with the name Anastasia, but this became known only after her death, after the opening of Alexandra Petrovna’s spiritual will. In her office there was a miraculous icon of the Pochaev Mother of God - a gift from her father. Praying before her, the Grand Duchess received healing: she was brought to the monastery monastery on a cart, and here she began to walk, as if resurrected for a new life, justifying her new name (Anastasia, from Greek - resurrected - Author ).

Life and order in the monastery were organized according to strict monastic rules. The sisters' entire life was spent in prayer and labor. The Grand Duchess herself spent many hours in the hospital, sometimes standing on sore legs for 5-6 hours, assisting the surgeon. She took upon herself all supervision over the preparation of patients for operations, cleaning of operating rooms, and duty at the beds of operated patients at night. Supervision of order in the hospital, the work of the sisters in the hospital, the nutrition of the sick, and their spiritual life was also borne by the “Great Mother,” as she was lovingly called. Alexandra Petrovna treated the doctors cordially, encouraged them like a mother, tried to help them in life, and trusted their professionalism. It was not for nothing that she herself underwent more than one operation at the monastery hospital.

In 1898, a congress of naturalists and doctors was held in Kyiv. They visited medical institutions, including the hospital of the Intercession Monastery, which amazed Warsaw professor M. Zenz with its equipment and order: “Each office is equipped with all the necessary supplies for its specialty. Cleanliness, light, air and, if you like, luxury leave nothing to be desired. I counted 12 of all offices, in which, judging by the list, they see 20 doctors. One of the offices is designed for doctors to relax and is furnished as the offices of rich people are furnished.

All the duties of the sisters of mercy at this outpatient clinic are performed by nuns...

By the way, the hospital has the only room in Kyiv for taking photographs with X-rays, serving the purposes of not only this, but also other Kyiv hospitals.”

With the creation of the monastery with its numerous medical and charitable institutions, with the activities of the monastery sisters for the benefit of neighbors and suffering people, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna marked the beginning of a new era in the cultural significance of monasteries in Rus'.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, monastic Anastasia at her sick bed
Simultaneous death In 1890, her husband Nikolai Nikolaevich became seriously ill and left for Crimea in the hope of recovery. But the disease progressed, he did not recognize anyone, refused food, and suffered from fits of violence. Nikolai Nikolaevich died in Alupka in April 1891. He was buried in the grand-ducal tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Alexandra Petrovna did not come to the funeral, for which many condemned her. However, she felt sorry for her former husband and was aware of his serious illness, as evidenced by her letters to her son Peter Nikolaevich dated October 16, 1890: “Dear dear Peter! ...Your poor father’s health is irretrievably ruined, this is the opinion of the doctors - and with this disease you can live for a long time, slowly falling into complete idiocy. I am burdened by the thought that in the present situation we have not yet grasped the moment for communion of his Holy Sacraments. I pray to the Lord that the All-merciful One will grant a peaceful, Christian death to the poor sufferer, not a physical sufferer, for there is probably no such suffering. Today my brother Alek left Alupka, he will tell you all the details”... In a letter dated May 11, 1891: “In 40 days after the death of your parent, I propose to have a Bishop’s funeral service. She set up a special psalter, where the psalter about the repose of the soul of the newly departed is continuously read day and night. At every liturgy there is also a litany and a memorial service every day.

Give alms for the repose of the soul of your Parent. It’s better to dine at a cheaper restaurant and feed the poor for the repose of his soul. I wrote to Nikolasha, asking you to donate something to the monastery for commemoration. I can’t give numbers - alms are freedom. The Lord accepts zeal and purity of thought, and not the amount of money.” Most of all, she was tormented by the fact that he, having fallen into madness, did not have the opportunity to consciously confess and partake of the Holy Sacraments before his death.

The sons of Alexandra Petrovna and the Romanov relatives supported her ascetic activity morally and financially and repeatedly visited the Kiev Holy Protection Monastery. Nicholas II did not ignore his unusual relative, when he and his wife visited “Aunt Sasha” in 1896. He donated a large sum for the expansion of the hospital and ordered the release of 80 thousand rubles from the treasury annually. for the maintenance of the monastery. During this visit by the royal couple, in their presence, the foundation stone was laid for a cathedral church in the name of St. Nicholas, the preliminary design of which was prepared by Pyotr Nikolaevich, the youngest son of Alexandra Petrovna.

Alexandra Petrovna and Nikolai Nikolaevich had two sons. Senior – led. book Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. (1856 - 1929) was born in St. Petersburg, received a good initial education at home, studied at the Nikolaev Engineering School, at the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, from which he graduated with a silver medal. He made an excellent military career; during the First World War, Nicholas II appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. He was married to the daughter of the King of Montenegro, Anastasia Nikolaevna, and had no children. After the revolution, the Grand Duke emigrated and lived in France, where he died at the age of 72.

Vel. book Pyotr Nikolaevich (1864 - 1931) was also born in St. Petersburg. Army service did not attract him, although he devoted more than 10 years to it, serving in engineering units. His vocation was painting and architecture. Due to poor health, he retired in 1895 and settled on his Dulber estate in Crimea. At the age of 25, Pyotr Nikolaevich married Militsa Nikolaevna, the daughter of the Montenegrin king, his grandchildren are alive - Nikolai (b. 1922), a historian by training, living in Rome, currently the head of the House of Romanov, and Dmitry (b. 1926), a financier, lives in Copenhagen.

Alexandra Petrovna died quietly at 1 hour 20 minutes. nights from 12 to 13 April. It’s amazing that this happened on the same day, hour and even minutes, like her husband, Grand Duke. Nikolai Nikolaevich nine years earlier. On April 13, the Imperial Manifesto, given in Moscow, was published, announcing the death of Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, nun Anastasia. With the special permission of Nicholas II, she was buried in the monastery cemetery, fulfilling the will of the deceased herself, expressed in her will dated March 11 (23), 1889. “I humbly ask my Most Powerful Father and Benefactor to allow me to bury my body on the eastern side of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in my monastery in the city of Kiev in the open air, without making any adaptation in the ground, in a simple pine coffin... I ask you to perform my funeral service without any worldly glory, vanity and without any wreaths and flowers. During burial and generally after my death, I ask that you call me Alexandra, the servant of God, or some other name, if I am ever honored with monastic vows.

I ask you to place a very small and cheapest stone cross over the grave, embedding in it an icon of the Queen of Heaven, which I received on Mount Athos, the work of Hierodeacon Lucian - on the cross there is an inscription: here lies the ashes of God’s servant Alexandra...”

Despite political upheavals and war, the Holy Intercession Monastery survived, and the grave of the Great Mother was also preserved. And today there are always fresh flowers on it, and on the stone cross there is an inscription: “Nun Anastasia.” The nuns of the monastery sacredly honor the memory of nun Anastasia, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, Princess of Oldenburg. The descendants of Alexandra Petrovna visit her grave to bow to this wonderful woman and, if possible, support the existence of the monastery she founded.

Paying tribute to the ascetic activity of the Grand Duchess, her unparalleled Christian feat, Professor Sikorsky will write after her death: “Her modest grave will become a people's shrine, because She performed a great service to the Russian people. Kyiv will bring Her prostration, because She created glory for it, choosing it as the place of her high life and deeds.

The Russian woman will bow before Her, because in Her person the idealism, mercy and service of a woman to her highest duty have found their full realization. She set an example of the Merciful sister of the Russian people... Bow to Her from all the living!”

Alexandra Petrovna’s asceticism is an example of selfless and true service to a high idea. She was a truly happy person, as she could give other people the happiness of gaining health, the happiness of finding the meaning of life, the happiness of realizing the benefits and necessity of her work. “You need to be able to carry happiness within yourself in order to make others happy. You have to stick to the idea."

Emma ANNENKOVA is a historian, philologist, translator, member of the Interregional Union of Writers of Russia. Tatiana DELOVA is a member of the Russian Assembly of Nobility and the Historical and Genealogical Society. Descendant of the Princes of Oldenburg

From the journal No. 64 of the meetings of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate dated November 24, 2009: At the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church chaired by His Beatitude Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kiev and all Ukraine

WE LISTENED to the report of His Grace John, Archbishop of Kherson, Head of the Commission for the Canonization of Saints of the UOC, on the canonization of the founder of the Holy Intercession Convent of the city of Kiev, ascetic of piety nun Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova) as a locally venerated saint of the Kiev diocese.

Having analyzed the life, works, miracles and taking into account the popular veneration of the ascetic of piety nun Anastasia (Romanova)

DECIDED: 1) To bless the local glorification and veneration of nun Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova). 2) Approve the iconographic image of the saint 3) Approve the submitted projects of the troparion and kontakion of the holy Venerable Anastasia of Kyiv. 4) Consider the remains of the saint as holy relics 5) Commemorate the holy Venerable Anastasia on Thursday of Bright Week and on the day of the discovery of her relics in October/November 2 6) Bring thanks to the All-Merciful God, wondrous in His saints, for showing us a new prayer book for the Holy Church and our people . Source: Journals of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the UOC on November 24, 2009. Translation by Dmitry REBROV

See also the film about the royal nun, filmed by the Glas TV channel (in Ukrainian): Holy Reverend Nun Anastacia, pray to God for us!

List of cited literature:

1. Bazhenova E.M. House of I.I. Betsky on the Field of Mars. // Leningrad panorama 2. Great Guard. Book one. Hieromonk Jerome, elder-confessor of the Russian Monastery of St. Pantileimon on Mount Athos. M. 2001. 3. Demicheva N.N., Akselrod V.N. Architects and builders of the Anichkov Palace. St. Petersburg, 1994. 4. Notes of Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich Obolensky. St. Petersburg, 2005. 5. Levitsky G. Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (monastically Anastasia). Kyiv. 1904. 6. Niva // 1877. No. 18. P. 294 7. Sikorsky. Death of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna. Kyiv. 1900. 8. Tyutcheva T.F. , At the court of two emperors. M., 1929. 9. Royal Nun. Kyiv. 2003. P. 63. 10. Romanow Roman Prinz. Am Hof ​​des letzten Zaren. Munich. 2006. 11. Tantzen R. Das Schicksal des Hauses Oldenburg in Russland. // Oldenburger Janrbuch/ Bd. 50. 1960 12. Archive of the Holy Protection Monastery, Kyiv. 13. GARF. F. 653. Op. 2. D. 512. Letters from Alexandra Petrovna to her son Pyotr Nikolaevich (1890 - 1892). 14. GARF. F. 680. Op. 1. d.3. 15. GARF. F.680. Op.1. D. 29.

Life as a feat: a love triangle that led to holiness

On November 2, 2009, the relics of the Venerable Princess Anastasia were discovered in Kyiv. The story of her holy life became available to us relatively recently. Much of her biography will remain a secret, known only to God. But from what we know, we can say that St. Anastasia is a person of great faith, determination and sacrifice.

Reverend Anastasia in the world was Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova. Coming from a very noble family, the Princess of Oldenburg was originally a Lutheran by religion, like all her ancestors. Kindness as the basis of life was brought up in her by her parents from childhood.

Pyotr Georgievich Oldenburgsky. Artist Joseph-Désiré Cour. Fragment. Photo: wikipedia.org

Her father, Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg, for his unprecedented charity, on May 5, 1889, in front of the Mariinsky Hospital, a monument by I. N. Schroeder was erected with the inscription: “To the enlightened philanthropist Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg. 1812-1881". More than a million rubles were spent by the prince on the establishment of the first Imperial School of Law, organized according to his own project. With the light hand of Pyotr Georgievich, women's gymnasiums began to appear in Russia. Grand Duchess Alexandra's mother, Princess Teresa, founded the first community of sisters of mercy in Russia.

The princess's parents were people with kind and sensitive hearts, so their daughter learned a lot from them.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna. 1853. Future wife of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, son of Emperor Nicholas I, daughter of Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg and Princess Theresa of Nassau, great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I. Founder of the Intercession Monastery in Kyiv. Photo: liveinternet.ru

Princess Alexandra was born on May 21, 1838. Her father was the youngest son of Catherine Pavlovna, daughter of Emperor Paul the First. Princess Catherine resolutely refused to marry Napoleon and preferred the Prince of Oldenburg to the Emperor of France. This family became part of the Romanov dynasty and they were all members of the imperial family.

At the age of fourteen, Princess Alexandra, as was then customary, began to go out into the world to attend receptions in the royal palace. There she met her future husband. Nizi, as she then called him, or Nicholas, was the Grand Duke, the brother of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. His father Nicholas the First set the goal of giving his sons not only a good education, but also making them excellent military men. Therefore, they spent most of their time on military exercises and on campaigns. But, returning home, Prince Nikolai more and more often looked for reasons to see Princess Alexandra, and a little later he proposed marriage to her.

Spouses Nikolai Nikolaevich and Alexandra Petrovna. Photo: liveinternet.ru

Before marrying Prince Nicholas, Alexandra converted to Orthodoxy.

There is a misconception that this was necessary according to the regulations of that time. But that's not true. Only the wife of the reigning person had to accept Orthodoxy. But in relation to princesses there was no such mandatory rule. Princess Alexandra accepts Orthodoxy not out of coercion, but because it has become dear to her soul and heart.

On January 25, 1856, Prince Nicholas married Princess Alexandra. All the newspapers of the empire then wrote about this event. Bell ringings, festive illuminations, hundreds of cannon shots - this was the beginning of this unhappy marriage.

At first, everything went well for the young people. The luxurious Nikolaevsky Palace was built for them on Blagoveshchenskaya Square. In winter, the newlyweds lived in the Winter Palace, and in the summer they went to the country estate of Znamenka. Here, on his first visit, the Grand Duke presented his wife with a huge bouquet of flowers, intertwined with a ribbon with a precious brooch, under the lid of which he placed his portrait.

Time will pass, and Prince Nikolai will give Princess Alexandra a list of all the jewelry that he once gave her with a demand to return them. And each time in his duplicate of this list he will note when, on what day and hour the princess returned the gift to him.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna. Photo: liveinternet.ru

In the meantime, they enjoyed life. When Prince Nicholas was at military exercises, Princess Alexandra wrote him tender letters: “Hello, my dear darling. I thank God that you are alive and well. Please take care of yourself, you are my life, my treasure, it’s terribly sad without you. You know how much I truly love you. Yours forever, Sasha..."

In Znamenka, the princess organized a free medical aid station for peasants, where she did dressings and even went home to call people. And after some time, the couple had their first child, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich.

After his birth, the princess organized the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, which later grew into the huge Pokrovskaya hospital for the poor in St. Petersburg on Vasilyevsky Island. The hospital trained nurses, cared for and fed the poor. The Grand Duchess spent twenty thousand rubles annually to provide the hospital with everything necessary. The hospital had a free pharmacy and a maternity hospital. Later, a paramedic school was opened there under the direction of Professor Sergei Botkin. The Grand Duchess helped the professor during operations, took on the duties of a nurse, and performed the dirtiest work. In those days, the upper strata of society treated these “oddities” of the Grand Duchess as foolishness.

Happy family. Photo: liveinternet.ru

Five years after the wedding, in 1861, the Nikolaev Palace was completed, and the family moved there to live. The happy life of the young family continued there. In 1864, their second son was born, who was named Peter. Princess Alexandra, as before, spent all her free time on charity and helping the suffering.

Living in luxury, the princess did not notice her. She did not wear jewelry, did not gossip, did not judge, behaved modestly, and spent all her money on others. Alexandra Petrovna did not notice the barriers that separated the grand-ducal world and ordinary people, and walked towards the orphaned and wretched.

“Bearing the name of a Christian, we must try to be worthy of this name, remembering that we will be responsible for every harsh word. We must judge ourselves strictly and fight every day against the slightest manifestations of sin,” the princess wrote in her diary. This manner of behavior was strange for the majority of noble people who surrounded the princess at that time. She was considered almost crazy. Prince Obolensky wrote that Princess Alexandra treated all secular and court decorum with open contempt. Balls, theaters, everything that the nobility of that time lived with did not interest her at all.

Chislova Ekaterina Gavrilovna. Photo: clowiki.org

But the princess’s husband, Grand Duke Nicholas, was quite passionate about social life. He especially liked the ballet, which the prince attended quite often. In the mid-sixties, when the family already had two sons, Grand Duke Nicholas became interested in a young ballerina from the troupe of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater, Ekaterina Chislova. The young friend captivated the Grand Duke, and he rented her an apartment overlooking the palace where Nikolai Nikolaevich lived with his wife and children. In 1868, Catherine gave birth to the prince’s first child, and then four more children, one after another.

Since 1870, the whole of St. Petersburg already knew about this love affair. Of course, Grand Duchess Alexandra also knew about this. It is difficult for us to imagine what was going on in her soul. The man whom she loved with all her heart, who was her husband and the father of her children, almost openly lived with two families.

The ballerina, meanwhile, demanded from Prince Nikolai guarantees of a comfortable existence for herself and her children. Finally, Ekaterina Chislova wanted to become the full-fledged mistress of the Nikolaev Palace. Grand Duke Nicholas lost his head over his young mistress so much that, according to the testimony of his own children, he dreamed of only one thing - the speedy death of his own wife.

Alexandra Petrovna during her illness. Photo: interesniy.kiev.ua

At this time, Grand Duchess Alexandra has an accident. Something strange happened to her crew. Only by luck, due to the fact that the princess fell out of the carriage, did she not die. But both legs and right arm were paralyzed due to a spinal bruise. We cannot speak reliably, because there is no data on this matter, but one of the versions may well be the assumption that this accident was built by Grand Duke Nicholas in order to get rid of his wife who was boring him.

After a failed assassination attempt, no longer having any other weapon except slander, Prince Nikolai accuses his wife of treason. Since there were no other candidates for the role of lover among Princess Alexandra’s acquaintances, the prince, without thinking twice, accused her of having an affair with her confessor, Priest Vasily Lebedev. After this, the prince expels Princess Alexandra from the Nicholas Palace and brings his mistress Catherine to live there. At her instigation, Prince Nikolai compiled a list of all the jewelry given to Princess Alexandra with a demand that they be returned.

Prince Nicholas’s brother, Emperor Alexander II, did not look into the details of the scandal and took the side of his relative. Emperor Alexander II sent Princess Alexandra abroad under the pretext of the need to undergo a long course of treatment.

Photo: interesniy.kiev.ua

The Grand Duchess left Petersburg with deep sadness. She is forty-two years old. She is confined to a wheelchair. Her own husband, who was dearer to her than anyone else in the world, betrayed her. She was essentially deported from her native country. An uncertain future lies ahead... When the ship with Princess Alexandra passed by Athos, she decided to make a stop off the coast of the Holy Mountain. One of the Athonite elders sailed on a boat to the ship and talked for a long time with the princess. We do not know the content of this conversation, but we can assume that it helped the princess get answers to many of the questions that worried her. After this conversation, Alexandra seemed to come to life. Her strength returned, and her faith in God strengthened.

After the accession of her nephew Alexander III to the throne, the princess wrote him a letter in which she asked permission to return to her homeland and settle in Kyiv. “Unfortunately, my health is not improving,” she writes to the Emperor. “I feel worse than when I left.” The strongest homesickness takes away my last strength. I beg you to allow me to return to Holy Rus'. And slowly, with God’s help, settle in Kyiv. Living in this holy city would be a spiritual joy for me. I ask you to listen to the cry of my heart. Devoted to you, Aunt Sasha.” Alexander III allowed the princess to return.

Venerable Theophilus of Kyiv. Photo: cont.ws

In the Lukyanovka area, Princess Alexandra acquired land and began construction of the Intercession Monastery. Without knowing it, the princess was fulfilling the prophecy of the Kiev-Pechersk elder Theophilus. Once this ascetic predicted that a convent would be built on this site, and “the royal wife would be its organizer.”

In January 1889, Princess Alexandra laid the foundation for the Intercession Church and the adjacent building. Construction of the monastery proceeded at a very fast pace. Within six months, twelve buildings of the monastery were ready. All the Grand Duchess’s personal funds went into this construction project, and all her grand ducal jewelry was sold. She could not sell the only, very expensive emerald - a wedding gift from Tsar Alexander II: its price was too high, and few could afford such a purchase. Having learned about this, Emperor Alexander III himself bought this jewel from the princess.

Temples of the Intercession Monastery. On the left is Nikolsky, on the right is Pokrovsky. 1910s. Photo: interesniy.kiev.ua

The gates of the monastery were always open to all those who suffered. At the monastery there was a free pharmacy and the largest hospital for the poor in South-West Russia. This hospital was equipped with the latest medical technology. It even had an X-ray machine at a time when few people knew about it. In one year, more than 20,000 people visited this hospital.

Rumors about the hospital spread throughout Russia. People even came here from Siberia. Local residents also brought blind and disabled people to the hospital gates and left them there. Thus, a whole department for the disabled was formed in the monastery. The blind were taught church singing. Orphans, incurable patients, everyone was looked after, fed and looked after.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova (nun Anastasia) assists a surgeon during an operation, 1890s. Photo: interesniy.kiev.ua

And a miracle happened to Princess Alexandra herself. She received healing from the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God. In a letter to Metropolitan Platon of Kyiv, the princess wrote about this: “I dared to pray to my Intercessor. “If you wish, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, raise me up to serve You, accept my sinful labors and zeal. Let me serve You and the holy monastery created in Your Name until the end of my life.” I once again sighed prayerfully to the Most Pure, Most Blessed Mother of our Lord and said: “Help me.” She stood up and walked a few steps..."

For several days, until the legs were completely stronger, this miracle was kept secret. And one day everyone was shocked by the sight of the Grand Duchess, who came out onto the porch on her own two feet after ten years of complete paralysis. Doctors could not call it anything other than a miracle.

Having barely gained strength, the princess began to care for the sick. She took out the bedpan, cleaned up the vomit, and washed the purulent wounds. She stood on her feet for many hours of operations, assisting doctors. The princess taught her nuns to care for the sick as if they were Christ Himself. The saint herself lived in a cramped and very modest cell.

Pokrovsky Convent. Modern look. Photo: relax.com.ua

Only after her death did it become clear that the Grand Duchess had secretly taken monastic vows with the name Anastasia. The founder of the Intercession Monastery, nun Anastasia, rested in the Lord on April 13, 1900, on the same day, hour and even at the same minute as her husband, but only nine years later. Until the end of her life, the princess prayed for her husband.

Prince Nikolai, alone, abandoned by everyone, died on April 13, 1891 in Alupka. In 1880, he was diagnosed with a malignant gum tumor that metastasized to the brain, which greatly affected his mental health. After the death of his mistress, the prince's illness worsened. He fell into complete idiocy and lived out his life in an almost animal state. Ballerina Ekaterina Chislova died two years before her lover in 1889 from esophageal cancer, when she was only forty-three years old.

On November 24, 2009, Grand Duchess-nun Anastasia was canonized by the decision of the Holy Synod of the UOC. Her memory is celebrated on October 20 according to the Julian calendar and on Thursday of Bright Week.

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Saturday, February 07, 2015 07:44 + to quote book Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (monastically Anastasia) Romanova

Timofey Andreevich Neff. Alexandra Petrovna. 19th century On November 24, 2009, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church blessed the local glorification and veneration of nun Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova) as a saint.

1853 Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna (May 21, 1838, St. Petersburg - April 13, 1900, Kyiv). Wife of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, son of Emperor Nicholas I, daughter of Prince Peter Georg of Oldenburg and Princess Theresa of Nassau, great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I. Founder of the Intercession Monastery in Kyiv. Alexandra Friederike Wilhelmina Princess of Oldenburg was born on May 21, 1838 in St. Petersburg, the eldest daughter in the family of Peter Georg of Oldenburg (1812-1881) and Theresa Wilhelmina of Nassau (1815-1871). In baptism according to the Protestant rite she received the name Alexandra Friederika Wilhelmina. Her father, the son of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, was in the Russian service and had Russian citizenship, since 1845 - the title of Imperial Highness, granted by Nicholas I. She received an excellent upbringing and education. The princess was especially interested in literature, music and drawing. Alexandra inherited the talent of a painter from her mother. According to the recollections of her grandson, Prince Roman Petrovich, “she painted wonderfully, and her paintings were hung in frames on the Znamenka estate.” Alexandra's childhood years were spent in her parents' palace (Dvortsovaya embankment, 2), where the family lived in the winter, located in one of the most beautiful places in St. Petersburg between the Marble Palace and the Summer Garden. In Eduard Gau's small watercolor "Children of Prince Peter of Oldenburg", painted in 1852, they are depicted sitting in a boat, driven by the brothers Nicholas, Alexander, George and Konstantin. Alexandra carefully holds her youngest sister Teresa in her arms. The seventh, Catherine, settled down at the feet of her older sister.

In this portrait, Alexandra was 14 years old. Having inherited her father’s views, she was already involved in charity work at a young age. Until 1881, the Grand Duchess was the chairman of the Council of Orphanages of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, which was headed by the Prince of Oldenburg. Thanks to her care, a capital was built up, which reached 2 million rubles in the 90s. This money supported 23 large shelters: 21 in St. Petersburg, one in Tsarskoe Selo and one in Peterhof. They cared for up to 5 thousand orphans. Nikolai Nikolaevich (1831-1891), Nizi, as he was called in the family, the third son of Nicholas I would become her husband. He studied in the First Cadet Corps, then served in the Life Guards Cavalry Regiment. He successively commanded a brigade, then a division of the Guards Cavalry, and was an inspector general for engineering. Since 1855 he has been a member of the State Council. Tall, very attractive and impressive in appearance, Nikolai Nikolaevich was able to charm the young princess without much difficulty. Therefore, when at one of the receptions he confessed his love to her and proposed his hand and heart, she agreed. On one of the many watercolors by E. Gau with images of the exquisite interiors of the Anichkov Palace there is a handwritten inscription by Nikolai Nikolaevich: “The Red Drawing Room, where I proposed in 1855 on November 13 - Do you want to make my happiness.” And on another watercolor: “The dressing room of the Empress Mother, where she blessed us in November 1855.” Based on the laws of Russia, Princess Alexandra had to convert to Orthodoxy when she married the son of the Russian Tsar. After her engagement in November 1855 to Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, on December 26 of the same year she converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexander. This complex religious ceremony took place in the church of the Winter Palace. As one of those present noted, “the princess’s obedience during the rituals was especially surprising: she said prayers in a loud voice, lay down on the floor many times and had to kiss the hands of numerous clergy.” There is also a mention of this event in the diary of A. F. Tyutcheva, maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna: “Today (December 26, 1855) the young Princess of Oldenburg converted to Orthodoxy, she apparently understood the meaning of this act, which she performed and seemed deeply concentrated . She was dressed in a white satin dress and had her hair done very simply. She looked ugly: excitement reflects badly on her complexion, and this is the only thing good about her. Her facial features are rough and very irregular, but her expression of purity, sincerity and gentleness attracts sympathy for her.” The engagement reception took place in one of the most beautiful halls of the Winter Palace - the Mauritanian. Alexandra Petrovna was dressed in a luxurious blue velvet dress, decorated with diamonds, which her mother, the Empress, gave her, and on her head was a tiara with four large emeralds, a gift from the Tsar. On January 25, 1856 she married Vel. book Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder (he was her cousin), brother of Emperor Alexander II. Alexander II even interrupted his trip to Europe to attend his brother’s wedding. Princess Alexandra Petrovna received the title of Grand Duchess after her marriage, which placed her in rank above her brothers and sisters.

S. Zaryanko. Portrait of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder (1831-1893). 1853 A young married couple first settled in the Winter Palace, in rooms whose windows overlooked the Neva on one side, and Palace Square and the Admiralty on the other. The marriage of Alexandra Petrovna and Nikolai Nikolaevich suited both families in all respects. The Oldenburg family considered it an honor to become related to the new generation of Romanovs, and for Alexander II it was a chance to settle down his brother, known for frivolous love affairs. On this occasion, the same Tyutcheva wrote: “The Emperor and Empress are delighted with this wedding... since Princess Alexandra, a meek, pretty creature, should have a good influence on the prince. We must hope that the Grand Duke will come to his senses in his honorable position as a husband. This is absolutely necessary for him, since he spent his life in the society of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting, which was far from brilliant with intellectual interests.”

Nikolai Nikolaevich Senior in the chief's uniform of the Life Guards Sapper Battalion and field marshal epaulettes. Portrait of N.G. Schilder, end of the 19th century. At first, married life was going well. A magnificent palace was built for them, designed by the architect A. I. Stackenschneider, called Nikolaevsky, on Blagoveshchenskaya Square. They also owned the Summer Palace in Znamenka, not far from Peterhof, where the family lived from early spring until late autumn. Alexandra Petrovna was a hospitable and hospitable hostess. However, court life did not attract Alexandra Petrovna; she tried to avoid noisy society and attended balls and receptions only if necessary, so as not to violate court etiquette, she dressed very modestly, which often displeased her husband.

Two sons were born in this marriage: • Nikolai (1856-1929) • Peter (1864-1931). Nikolai Nikolaevich the Younger was born in St. Petersburg, received a good primary education at home, studied at the Nikolaev Engineering School, at the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff, from which he graduated with a silver medal. He made an excellent military career; during the First World War, Nicholas II appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. He was married to the daughter of the King of Montenegro, Anastasia Nikolaevna, and had no children. After the revolution, the Grand Duke emigrated and lived in France, where he died at the age of 72. Vel. book Pyotr Nikolaevich was also born in St. Petersburg. Army service did not attract him, although he devoted more than 10 years to it, serving in engineering units. His vocation was painting and architecture. Due to poor health, he retired in 1895 and settled on his Dulber estate in Crimea. At the age of 25, Pyotr Nikolaevich married Militsa Nikolaevna, the daughter of the Montenegrin king, his grandchildren are Nicholas (b. 1922), a historian by training, living in Rome, was the head of the Romanov house, and Dmitry (b. 1926), a financier, lives in Copenhagen. Both sons died in France and were buried in the Archangel Michael Church in Cannes. Nikolai Nikolaevich in 1859 was appointed commander of the Guards Corps, in 1864 - 1880. - Commander of the Guard and at the same time Inspector General of Cavalry. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The Tsar appointed the Grand Duke commander-in-chief of the Active Danube Army. For the capture of Plevna and the capture of the army of Osman Pasha and the leader of the Turkish army himself, he received the highest rank of the Russian army - field marshal general and was awarded the Order of St. George 1st degree. Even before her marriage in 1854, she became a full and honorary member of the Imperial Women's Patriotic Society, as well as a trustee of the 1st Vasileostrovskaya private school on the corner of Maly Prospect and 3rd line. With the financial support of her husband, already in the first years of her family life, Alexandra Petrovna opened a medical center in the village of Znamenka for the surrounding peasants, where she herself conducted appointments, gave out free medicines, made dressings, and even visited patients at home. She believed: “The duty of conscience commands me to give everything I have to the realization of my ideal. Since childhood, I have been close to patients and loved them. I saw the example of my unforgettable parents...” In St. Petersburg she founded the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a department for orphan girls, and a school for paramedics (later a women’s gymnasium). With the support of her husband, she founded the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy in 1858 in Galernaya Harbor of Vasilyevsky Island, the poorest working-class part of the city, and became its trustee. Already by 1860, the community was a whole town (8 buildings for social purposes and the Holy Protection Church, consecrated in 1860). The community's goal was to train experienced nurses and educate poor and street children. Widows and girls of the Orthodox faith of all classes aged 17 to 40 were accepted into the department of sisters of mercy. At the end of their training, the sisters took an oath in which they swore to serve with sincere mercy, humility, selflessness and love for their neighbors. The Community's medical personnel were always ready to be sent to the theater of operations in the event of war and to provide necessary assistance to the population in times of social or natural disasters. At the Community, they opened an orphanage for 65 children, a department of the Sisters of Charity, and built a hospital, which opened on November 1, 1859. Since 1860, visiting local residents were admitted free of charge, and they were also provided with free medicines. Alexandra Petrovna herself said that she gave the best years of her life to the Pokrovskaya community. Some buildings of the community have survived to this day. Now they house the Pokrovskaya Hospital, the largest St. Petersburg cardiology center. In its building in 2000, a marble bust of Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna was installed. Her name is engraved on the hospital's memorial plaque dedicated to the Sisters of Mercy. Prince D. A. Obolensky, an intelligent and observant man, had the opportunity to communicate with Alexandra Petrovna and her husband more than once. His assessment of the spouses dates back to 1876, before Russia entered the war with the Turks: “...This woman is an extraordinary phenomenon. Here they laugh at her in high society, and she gives rise to this, because she treats all secular and courtly decency with open contempt. She appears among the court as some kind of holy fool or blessed one. And she really is like that, and it’s genuine in her. Moreover, she is not just a holy fool, but a Russian holy fool, with all the instincts, tastes and sympathies of the simplest Russian woman. But how much good she does and how she does it - only those who have benefited from her know about it. All this seems so extraordinary to me that I am ready to think that there is something portentous in this eccentricity.” During the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878. Alexandra Petrovna organized a sanitary detachment at her own expense, and “in the palace of her husband, the Commander-in-Chief of the Southern Army, halls are open to everyone who wants to work for free to help the wounded; A large number of representatives of high society gather in these halls every day. On holidays, many girls from shops and sewing workshops work in these halls.”

Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburg Entry of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich into Tarnovo on June 30, 1877. 1885 Marital life after the birth of the second son Peter in 1864 (the first son Nikolai was born in 1856) went wrong. The husband, a passionate ballet lover, had a mistress - ballerina Ekaterina Gavrilovna Chislova, with whom he cohabited openly and who gave birth to 5 children from him. This relationship turned out to be so serious that it continued until Chislova’s death in 1889. After 10 years of marriage, he expelled his wife, publicly accusing her of infidelity with his confessor - the rector of the house church of the Nicholas Palace, Archpriest Vasily Lebedev. In 1879, an event occurred in the life of Alexandra Petrovna that dramatically changed her life. The disease overcame her after an accident when, during a trip in a carriage, the horses carried and overturned the carriage. She was severely injured, which affected her health - her legs gave out. Doctors recommended treatment in the south. In 1879, the Grand Duchess left St. Petersburg, as it turned out, forever. On the way, she stopped in Kyiv, where she lived in the Imperial Travel Palace. Alexandra Petrovna spent almost a year and a half - from November 1880 to July 1881 - abroad, trying to restore her health. For some time she lived in Naples and on the island of Corfu. The island of Corfu with its unique climate had a beneficial effect, but the disease did not completely recede. In June 1881, Alexandra Petrovna, on a steamboat, accompanied by Rear Admiral Golovachev, made a stop off the coast near the Athos Monastery. She could not visit the Holy Mountain, but she was visited by the Athonite elders on the ship, in conversation with whom she found consolation and strengthening of her spiritual strength. The brethren of the Russian Ilyinsky monastery on the Holy Mountain, through the mediation and participation of Archimandrite Macarius, abbot of the Panteleimon Monastery, turned to Alexandra Petrovna with a request to lay the first stone in the foundation of the cathedral church in the Athos monastery (in the Ilyinsky monastery), which they planned to build on the site of the old one, damaged by the earthquake . “The Grand Duchess graciously agreed to this, and on June 22 sent a stone with a decent inscription, instructing Rear Admiral Golovachev, who accompanied her, to place it on her behalf at the foundation of the cathedral. Thus, with the help of God, the foundation stone of the cathedral was completed. The cathedral will have two altars: the main altar is in the name of the prophet Elijah, the side altar is in the name of the holy martyr Queen Alexandra (who was her heavenly patroness). Leaving the shore of Mount Athos, Her Imperial Highness wished to see the monastery. The steamer stopped opposite him. The abbot and the brethren hurried onto the ship, taking with them the most important shrine of the monastery - the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Mammal" and the holy relics - the foot of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. Her Highness reverently venerated the shrine and then left the shores of Athos, guided by the fervent prayers and well-wishes of the Russian inhabitants of the Holy Mountain.” After this, she established correspondence with two Athonite elders: the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Macarius, and the confessor of the brotherhood, Father Jerome, who visited Her Highness and in subsequent years constantly spiritually supported Alexandra Petrovna. After returning from abroad, a separate house was rented for Alexandra Petrovna in the aristocratic Lipki district of Kyiv. Despite all the doctors' efforts, she was unable to move independently. Left alone with her illness, spending her life alone, confined to a wheelchair, Alexandra Petrovna found solace in prayers and reading the Psalter, which she called “the source of eternal joy.” After much thought, she decided to stay in Kyiv forever, which meant a break in marital relations. It was a bold step, but how could she come to terms with the betrayal and open bigamy of her husband, who violated both her feelings and his faith, deeply wounding her soul! Alexandra Petrovna’s moral suffering further aggravated her physical illness. Having made the decision, she finally settled in Kyiv, Alexandra Petrovna completely devoted herself to serving God and people. In the 19th century, the idea of ​​“living monasticism” arose in church circles, which implied not only the strictest adherence to the monastic rules of St. Savva the Sanctified and Theodore the Studite, but also practical service to suffering humanity. Alexandra Petrovna became a champion of living monasticism. In a picturesque corner of Kyiv - Lukyanovka, on the high slope of Voznesenskaya Mountain, Alexandra Petrovna bought a large estate with an area of ​​6 dessiatines from the merchant Dikovsky, paying 50,000 rubles from her personal funds for this plot of land. Here she founded the Holy Protection Convent (1889). The basis of the monastic Rule was a combination of monastic feat and caring for the sick. In 5 months, the Church of the Intercession was built on the territory of the monastery, and in a short period of time a whole town grew here. Everything was created under the personal supervision of the Grand Duchess. She herself drew up plans for new buildings, bills for the construction and maintenance of all the institutions of the monastery, and there were many of them: a hospital with therapeutic and surgical departments, a pharmacy with free distribution of medicines, a shelter for the blind and incurable patients, a hospital for visitors - the largest in the south. western region, a school for orphan girls, a shelter for chronically ill women, barracks for infectious patients, a morgue, laundries, canteens and kitchens. It was financially difficult to maintain such a large farm. Alexandra Petrovna sold her jewelry and invested the proceeds in the construction and equipment of hospitals. She also wanted to sell the most expensive item to her - a gift from Alexander II for her wedding - a large emerald. True, a buyer was never found, because the cost of the stone was very high. Alexander III, who treated his aunt very warmly, upon learning of her intentions, ordered to buy the emerald. More than once he financially supported Alexandra Petrovna in her noble cause. This probably happened often, since it began to cause indignation among officials at the Ministry of Finance. Secretary of State A. A. Polovtsev on this occasion, Fr. On Pobedonostsev’s report to the emperor dated November 18, 1889, with a copy of Alexandra Petrovna’s letter attached, in which she said that she was “looking for a private loan,” assuring that she “feels the strength and ability to turn around and put the matter in place,” Alexander III wrote: “For all With the information I collected, I managed the business. The princess is in a sad state, thanks to her undertakings and buildings, and most importantly, it is unknown who is operating her and who is in charge of all her financial affairs. <…> Debts led. princesses range from 300-400 thousand, and all this is beginning to worry me greatly.” Her daughter-in-law, Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna, recalled that during a visit to the monastery, Alexandra Petrovna, showing her her household, explained: “This building is my earrings, here is my necklace, and all my rings went here.” In 1889, she moved to live in a new monastery, where she changed her usual environment to a monastic one, occupying a one-room cell. Alexandra Petrovna put on monastic attire; apparently, around the same time she took monastic vows with the name Anastasia, but this became known only after her death, after the opening of her spiritual will. In her office there was a miraculous icon of the Pochaev Mother of God - a gift from her father. Praying before her, the Grand Duchess received healing: she was brought to the monastery on a cart, and here she began to walk. In 1890, her husband Nikolai Nikolaevich became seriously ill and left for Crimea in the hope of recovery. But the disease progressed, he did not recognize anyone, refused food, and suffered from fits of violence. Nikolai Nikolaevich died in Alupka in April 1891. He was buried in the grand-ducal tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Alexandra Petrovna did not come to the funeral, for which many condemned her.

husband and wife She felt sorry for her husband and was aware of his illness, as evidenced by her letters to her son Peter Nikolaevich dated October 16, 1890: “Dear dear Peter! ...Your poor father’s health is irretrievably ruined, this is the opinion of the doctors - and with this disease you can live for a long time, slowly falling into complete idiocy. I am burdened by the thought that in the present situation we have not yet grasped the moment for communion of his Holy Sacraments. I pray to the Lord that the All-merciful One will grant a peaceful, Christian death to the poor sufferer, not a physical sufferer, for there is probably no such suffering. Today my brother Alek left Alupka, he will tell you all the details”... In a letter dated May 11, 1891: “In 40 days after the death of your parent, I propose to have a Bishop’s funeral service. She set up a special psalter, where the psalter about the repose of the soul of the newly departed is continuously read day and night. At every liturgy there is also a litany and a memorial service every day. Give alms for the repose of the soul of your Parent. It’s better to dine at a cheaper restaurant and feed the poor for the repose of his soul. I wrote to Nikolasha, asking you to donate something to the monastery for commemoration. I can’t give numbers - alms are freedom. The Lord accepts zeal and purity of thought, and not the amount of money.” Most of all, she was tormented by the fact that he, having fallen into madness, did not have the opportunity before his death to consciously confess and partake of the Holy Sacraments. After the death of her husband (April 13, 1891; the marriage was not formally dissolved), she secretly took monastic vows with the name Anastasia in the Intercession community she founded in Kyiv (later converted into a nunnery). She seemed to have been resurrected for a new life, justifying her new name (Anastasia, from Greek - resurrected). The harsh, full of hardships life of the sisters of the monastery, organized according to the strict Studio Rules, was spent in prayer and labor, despite this, the number of people wishing to enter there in the first year there were 400 people, while the monastery could only accommodate 150 nuns. She was a strict faster, lived in a simple cell, donating all her funds to the maintenance of the institutions she founded. She herself performed the duties of an assistant surgeon during operations, supervised the hospital routine, nutrition and spiritual life of patients, preparations for operations, kept watch at the beds of operated patients, and supported the spirit of the patients. The sisters' entire lives were spent in prayer and labor. The Grand Duchess herself spent many hours in the hospital, sometimes standing on sore legs for 5-6 hours, assisting the surgeon. She took upon herself all supervision over the preparation of patients for operations, cleaning of operating rooms, and duty at the beds of operated patients at night. Supervision of order in the hospital, the work of the nurses in the hospital, the nutrition of the sick, and their spiritual life was also borne by the “Great Mother,” as she was lovingly called. Alexandra Petrovna treated the doctors cordially, encouraged them like a mother, tried to help them in life, and trusted their professionalism. It was not for nothing that she herself underwent more than one operation at the monastery hospital. At the Intercession Monastery, Alexandra Petrovna opened a modern hospital for the poor with the only x-ray room in Kyiv, established a free pharmacy, a school and a shelter for orphan girls, shelters for terminally ill women and for the blind. In 1898, a congress of naturalists and doctors was held in Kyiv. They visited medical institutions, including the hospital of the Intercession Monastery, which amazed Warsaw professor M. Zenz with its equipment and order: “Each office is equipped with all the necessary supplies for its specialty. Cleanliness, light, air and, if you like, luxury leave nothing to be desired. I counted 12 of all offices, in which, judging by the list, they see 20 doctors. One of the offices is designed for doctors to relax and is furnished as the offices of rich people are furnished. All the duties of the sisters of mercy at this outpatient clinic are performed by nuns... By the way, the hospital has the only office in Kyiv for taking photographs with X-rays, serving the purposes of not only this, but also other Kyiv hospitals.” Until 1894, when the Grand Duchess’s health began to deteriorate and she herself needed surgery, Alexandra Petrovna was present at all monastery services, she herself read the Six Psalms, the hours, and the canon. In 1894, the Mezhigorsky Monastery, transformed into a women’s monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, was annexed to the Intercession Monastery. The sons of Alexandra Petrovna and the Romanov relatives supported her ascetic activity morally and financially and repeatedly visited the Kiev Holy Protection Monastery. Nicholas II did not ignore his unusual relative, when he and his wife visited “Aunt Sasha” in 1896. He donated a large sum for the expansion of the hospital and ordered the release of 80 thousand rubles from the treasury annually. for the maintenance of the monastery. During this visit by the royal couple, in their presence, the foundation stone was laid for a cathedral church in the name of St. Nicholas, the preliminary design of which was prepared by Pyotr Nikolaevich, the youngest son of Alexandra Petrovna. With funds donated by the emperor in 1897-1898. a new hospital building was opened and medical equipment was improved.

In 1897, the Grand Duchess prevented a typhus epidemic in Kyiv by organizing several specialized hospitals. The “Princess” monastery, as the Intercession monastery was called, had missionary and educational significance: there were bookstores and icon shops, and sheets of religious and moral content were published in large quantities; The Stundist sectarians placed in the monastery, thanks to gentle treatment and conversations with the Grand Duchess, again returned to Orthodoxy. Alexandra Petrovna died quietly at 1 hour 20 minutes. nights from April 12 to April 13 on Tuesday of Bright Week. It’s amazing that this happened on the same day, hour and even minutes, like her husband’s. book Nikolai Nikolaevich nine years earlier. With the special permission of Nicholas II, she was buried in the monastery cemetery, fulfilling the will of the deceased herself, expressed in her will dated March 11 (23), 1889. “I humbly ask my Most Powerful Father and Benefactor to allow me to bury my body on the eastern side of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos in my monastery in the city of Kiev in the open air, without making any adaptation in the ground, in a simple pine coffin... I ask you to perform my funeral service without any worldly glory, vanity and without any wreaths and flowers. During burial and generally after my death, I ask that you call me Alexandra, the servant of God, or some other name, if I am ever honored with monastic vows. I ask you to place a very small and cheapest stone cross over the grave, embedding in it an icon of the Queen of Heaven, which I received on Mount Athos, the work of Hierodeacon Lucian - on the cross there is an inscription: here lie the ashes of God’s servant Alexandra...” Her burial on April 15 was led by the Metropolitan Kiev Ioannikiy (Rudnev). She was buried in front of a huge crowd of people in the monastery she founded, opposite the altar of the Church of the Intercession. On her death, the Highest Manifesto was given, recognizing the merits of the deceased in the field of charity and calling her “Our most dear cousin, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, nun Anastasia.” On the day of her burial, April 15, Emperor Nicholas II and the Empress attended a funeral service in the Moscow Kremlin palace Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Senya. Canonized by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on November 24, 2009 as a locally revered saint of the Kyiv diocese under the name of St. Anastasia of Kyiv. Commemorated on October 20 according to the Julian calendar and on Thursday of Bright Week. The celebration of glorification took place on January 24, 2010. Her relics were found on November 2, 2009 and now rest openly in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the monastery. Despite political upheavals and war, the Holy Intercession Monastery survived, and her grave was preserved. The nuns of the monastery sacredly honor the memory of nun Anastasia, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, Princess of Oldenburg. The descendants of Alexandra Petrovna visit her grave to bow to this wonderful woman and, if possible, support the existence of the monastery she founded.

From the journal No. 64 of the meetings of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate dated November 24, 2009: At the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church chaired by His Beatitude Vladimir, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine. WE LISTENED to the report of His Grace John, Archbishop of Kherson, Head of the Commission for the Canonization of Saints of the UOC, on the canonization of the founder of the Holy Intercession Convent of the city of Kiev, ascetic of piety nun Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova) as a locally revered saint of the Kiev diocese. Taking into account the popular veneration of the ascetic of piety, nun Anastasia (Romanova), they DECIDED: 1) To bless the local glorification and veneration of nun Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova). 2) Approve the iconographic image of the saint 3) Approve the submitted projects of the troparion and kontakion of the holy Venerable Anastasia of Kyiv. 4) Consider the remains of the saint as holy relics 5) Commemorate the holy Venerable Anastasia on Thursday of Bright Week and on the day of the discovery of her relics October/November 2 6) Bring thanks to the All-Merciful God, wondrous in His saints, for showing us a new prayer book for the Holy Church and our people . https://voskresenie.com.ua/%D0%B6%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8...%D1%85/item/%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BF https:// www.sedmitza.ru/text/872543.html

Series of messages “The Romanovs”:
Part 1 - Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov Part 2 - The Last Emperor - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov ... Part 39 - Abbess Tamara on the Mount of Olives from the imperial house of the Romanovs Part 40 - Palace of Versailles. Two pictures from the life of Emperor Nicholas II Part 41 - Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova - locally revered saint of the Kiev diocese Part 42 - John Konstantinovich Romanov, prince of the imperial blood - New Martyr of Russia Part 43 - Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna Romanova, Queen of Greece - great-grandmother of Prince Charles ... Part 46 - Two sisters. Ella (Elizaveta Fedorovna) and Alix (Alexandra Fedorovna) Part 47 - Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov. Love story. A story of lies Part 48 - The love of Queen Victoria and the future Emperor Alexander II. No king can marry for love...

Series of messages “holy princes and princesses”:
Part 1 - Alexander Nevsky in Russian church-monumental painting Part 2 - Holy Fool at court, Grand Duchess in the monastery... Part 22 - Who is Alexander Nevsky by nationality? Part 23 - Holy Martyr Prince Vladimir Paley. Part 24 - Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova - locally revered saint of the Kyiv diocese Part 25 - John Konstantinovich Romanov, prince of the imperial blood - New Martyr of Russia Part 26 - Two brothers. Nicholas II "Cousin Nicky" and George V "Cousin Georgie". Part 27 - Unknown moments in the life of the saint. Drawings of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Part 28 - Two sisters. Ella (Elizaveta Fedorovna) and Alix (Alexandra Fedorovna) Part 29 - Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov. Love story. History of lies

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Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova Anastasia Romanova holy monastery

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To the glorification of nun Anastasia as a saint

Anastasia Kievskaya Article from volume 2 of the “Orthodox Encyclopedia”. Moscow, 2001

Anastasia Kyiv (Alexandra Petrovna; 05/2/1838, St. Petersburg - 04/13/1900, Kyiv), mon., founder of the Kyiv in honor of the Intercession of the Holy. Mother of God women mon-rya, led. Kng. Daughter of Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg, a famous philanthropist, a Protestant in Baptism. The ceremony received the name Alexandra Frederick Wilhelmina. Having inherited her father’s views, already in her youth she helped poor and sick children. 25 Jan 1856 Converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexander and married Vel. book Nikolai Nikolaevich, brother of the Emperor. Alexandra II. The couple had children - led. Princes Nicholas and Peter. Vel. The princess founded the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a department for orphan girls, a paramedic school and other charitable institutions in St. Petersburg. Until 1881, she was the chairman of the board of orphanages of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, headed by the Prince of Oldenburg. Thanks to the caring conduct. The princess created a capital, the income from which supported 23 shelters for 5 thousand orphans. During the Russian tour. war, she organized a sanitary detachment at her own expense.

In 1879 he led. The princess, suffering from breast cancer, went abroad for treatment; in 1880 she moved to Kyiv, where in 1889 she founded the Pokrovskaya Women. the monastery in which she settled. Here was the lead. The princess, bedridden for many years, received miraculous healing and began to walk. After the death of her husband (April 13, 1891), she secretly took monastic vows with the name Anastasia. At the Pokrovsky Monastery, A.K. opened the modern. a hospital for the poor with the only x-ray room in Kyiv, established a free pharmacy, a school and a shelter for orphan girls, shelters for terminally ill women and for the blind. The harsh life of the sisters of the monastery, full of hardships, organized according to the strict Studio Rule, was spent in prayer and labor, despite this, the number of people wishing to enter there in the first year was 400 people, while the monastery could only accept 150 nuns.

A.K. was a strict faster, lived in a simple cell, donating all her funds to the maintenance of the institutions she founded. A.K. performed the duties of an assistant surgeon during operations, supervised the hospital routine, nutrition and spiritual life of patients, preparations for operations, kept watch at the beds of operated patients, and supported the spirit of the patients. In 1897 he led. The princess prevented a typhus epidemic in Kyiv by organizing several. specialized hospitals. Until 1894, when the state of health led. The princess began to deteriorate and she herself needed an operation, A.K. was present at all monastery services, she herself read the Six Psalms, the hours, and the canon.

The “Princess” monastery, as the Intercession monastery was called, had missionary and educational significance: there were bookstores and icon shops, and leaflets with religious and moral content were published in large quantities, placed in the monastery of the Stundist sectarian thanks to the gentle treatment and conversations with the leaders. After some time, the princess returned to Orthodoxy.

In 1894, the Pokrovsky Mon-Rue was annexed and converted into women's. Mezhigorsky Monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In 1896, during the visit of the saints, Emperor. Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a cathedral was founded in the Intercession Monastery in the name of St. Nicholas led the project. book Peter Nikolaevich. With funds donated by the emperor in 1897-1898. a new hospital building was opened and medical equipment was improved.

A.K. died after great suffering on Tuesday of Bright Week. She was buried in front of a huge crowd of people in the monastery she founded, opposite the altar of the Intercession Church.

N. N. Krasheninnikova

Locally revered saint of the Kyiv Metropolis

“Princely” monastery - this is what the Kiev Intercession Monastery was called before the revolution of 1917 - a unique monastery. It once occupied a very vast territory in Lukyanovka on the slope of the picturesque Voznesenskaya Mountain. Now Lukyanovka is one of the prestigious central districts of the city, but during the founding of the monastery it was the outskirts of Kiev. This place was chosen for the monastery by Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova, nee Princess of Oldenburg, great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I.

At that time, the Grand Duchess, having survived a family drama - a break with her husband, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, was seriously ill: she could not walk. She was treated abroad for a long time and unsuccessfully, and finally came to Kyiv. Having settled in Lipki, she prayed for healing to the monk of Kiev-Pechersk. In 1888, Alexandra Petrovna began to look for a place in the outskirts of the city to create a monastery that would combine prayer and widespread charity. Tradition tells that where the monastery now stands, there was a garden of a certain Theodosia Didkovskaya. Blessed Theophilus of Kiev († 1853), a holy fool for Christ’s sake, loved to pray in that garden. He predicted at one time that in place of this “royal wife” a “prince’s monastery” would be created. Acquiring six acres of land from Theodosia Didkovskaya, the Grand Duchess did not know about the prediction of Blessed Theophilus. By that time, the hostess herself had forgotten about the elder’s prophecy and did not realize that she was fulfilling his words, but remembering, she told the Grand Duchess about it. She came to indescribable amazement and served a requiem mass at the grave of St. Theophilus (the saint was canonized in 1993).

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna

In 1889 the monastery was opened. And after some time, a miraculous healing of its founder took place here. She began to walk, after which she took secret tonsure with the name Anastasia. And she devoted herself entirely to the monastery and charity: at the monastery there was a school, workshops, shelters, and most importantly, a hospital was opened with the most modern medical equipment for those times and highly professional medical staff.

This is one of the places of amazing beauty and landscape where it seems that time has stopped. Behind the high wall of the monastery, ancient Kyiv is noisy, but here there is a blessed silence, filled with the prayer of the Pokrov nuns, which has not stopped for almost 125 years. Only during the period of atheistic madness was the monastery closed for 17 years. But the Pokrovsky mothers continued to live near the monastery, visiting the grave of the Grand Duchess, where an unquenchable lamp glowed under a large white cross. The monastery was restored in 1942. A hospital for soldiers of the Soviet army was also located here. After the war, the monastery was not closed, however, now it did not occupy all of its once very vast territory with the buildings of medical clinics and other charitable institutions.

Until 1992, the Intercession Monastery was one of two operating in ancient Kyiv. The Pechersk Lavra has been closed since 1961; after the revolution, dozens of other monasteries in the city and its suburbs were abolished. But the Pokrovskaya monastery lived. It became a favorite place for Orthodox Christians, including the Kyiv intelligentsia, who secretly practiced their faith. In the 1980s and early 1990s, famous Kyiv priests and confessors served here - Archpriests Mikhail Boyko and Feodor Sheremeta. They baptized and married many in secret. At that time, few people knew about the history of the monastery and the life of its royal founder. And only after the collapse of the Union, materials began to be collected about the life feat of Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova.

The Intercession Monastery published several books telling about this amazing woman who lived an incomprehensibly difficult life dedicated to Christ, crowned with great deeds of mercy, prayer and holiness.

“In the world, Alexandra Petrovna Romanova, in the Protestant baptism of Alexandra Frederick Wilhelmina, was born on May 21, 1838 in St. Petersburg,” we read in her life. – Her father, Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg, a prominent Russian military and statesman, member of the Russian Imperial House (son of Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna, nephew of Nicholas I), was also an outstanding philanthropist, founder and trustee of the Imperial School of Law, and stood at the head of the cause of female education in the country, was an honorary member of various scientists and charitable societies, a trustee of the Kyiv Home for the Poor, and a patron of the Eye Hospital. Helping her father, Alexandra herself was involved in charity work from a young age: in St. Petersburg she founded the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a department for orphan girls, and a school for paramedics. The Grand Duchess was active in the Council of Orphanages of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, managed by her father.

On January 25, 1856, she converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexander and married Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov (senior), brother of Emperor Alexander II. In this marriage two children were born - Grand Dukes Nicholas and Peter. A prisoner without love, he was not happy, and ten years later he actually fell apart: the Grand Duke, a passionate lover of ballet, in 1865 became interested in the ballerina Ekaterina Chislova, with whom he openly cohabited and who gave birth to five children from him. Now Grand Duchess Alexandra, who previously did not like social pastimes, completely focused on her charitable activities. Prince D.A. Obolensky described her in 1877 as follows: “She appears among the court as some kind of holy fool or blessed one. And she really is like that, and it’s genuine in her. Moreover, she is not just a holy fool, but a Russian holy fool, with all the instincts, tastes and sympathies of the simplest Russian woman. But how much good she does and how she does it - only those who have benefited from her know about it. All this seems so extraordinary to me that I am ready to think that there is something portentous in this eccentricity.”

The prince was not mistaken. Indeed, this “eccentricity” a few years later resulted in the great feat of “living monasticism” - a trend that was then becoming increasingly widespread in the country and presupposed not only the strictest adherence to the monastic rules of Saints Sava the Sanctified and Theodore the Studite, but also practical service to suffering humanity. But before this, Grand Duchess Alexandra faced a new blow: in order to somehow justify his frivolous behavior in the eyes of Alexander II, Nikolai Nikolaevich publicly accused his wife of adultery. The culprit was named as the confessor of the Grand Duchess, Archpriest Vasily Lebedev, rector of the house church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” in the Nicholas Palace. The Emperor did not want to understand what had happened and refused to accept the Grand Duchess for an explanation. Under the pretext of treatment, he sent the princess abroad. But treatment was really necessary: ​​one day, during a trip in a carriage, the horses carried and overturned the carriage, Alexandra Petrovna received a severe spinal injury, which subsequently affected her health: her legs gave out. In 1879, the Grand Duchess left St. Petersburg, as it turned out, forever.

She spent a year and a half abroad, but failed to radically improve her health. Alexander III, who ascended the throne after the murder of his father by the Narodnaya Volya, allows her to return to Russia. In a letter to the Emperor, Alexandra Petrovna wrote about her desire to settle in Kyiv: “Living in St. Petersburg with my serious illness and the mood in our House, with my weakness, is disastrous... The only hope for healing is a peaceful life. Living in Holy Kyiv would be a spiritual joy for me...”

Returning to her homeland by ship, in June 1881 she made a stop off the coast near Mount Athos. The Grand Duchess could not visit the Holy Mountain, since women were prohibited from visiting Athos. But on the ship the princess was visited by the Athonite elders, and in conversation with them she strengthened her spiritual strength.

Upon returning from abroad, she rented a house in Lipki, an aristocratic district of Kyiv. Despite intensive treatment, Alexandra Petrovna was still unable to move independently. Confined to a wheelchair, she found solace in prayer and reading the Psalter, which she called “a source of eternal joy.” Imbued with the idea of ​​“living monasticism,” she wrote in one of her letters: “Living monasticism is the banner that is so dear to my heart. No monastic vows or rules prevent one from loving one’s neighbor as oneself, serving the sick, or feeding the poor.” Using personal funds (50,000 rubles), she bought a large estate in Lukyanovka with an area of ​​six acres, where in 1889 she founded the Holy Intercession Convent.

The monastery provided shelter for poor women who wanted to devote themselves to God and their neighbors. In just five months, under the care of the Grand Duchess, the Church of the Intercession was built on the territory of the monastery, and soon a whole town grew up here. In the very first years, many charitable institutions were created: a free hospital, a shelter, an outpatient clinic and a pharmacy, a parochial school with a dormitory for students. Church, residential, hospital and utility buildings were built according to the design of the outstanding Kyiv architect Vladimir Nikolaev.

Already in 1893, a free outpatient hospital for the poor came into operation, which received up to 500 patients a day and in its size, convenience and equipment had no equal in the entire empire. The first “photographs with X-rays” were taken in the Intercession Monastery already in 1896 - a year after their discovery. Thanks to the highly qualified doctors, the mortality rate during operations was no more than 4%, which was an incredibly low figure for that time. Alexandra Petrovna treated the doctors cordially, encouraged them like a mother, helped them and trusted their professional skills - she herself underwent several operations in the monastery hospital. All this required huge amounts of money. The Grand Duchess sold her jewelry and invested the proceeds in the construction and equipment of hospitals. Even during construction, Alexandra Petrovna settled in a small cell and donned monastic attire; a little later she took monastic vows with the name Anastasia, but this became known only after her death, after the opening of her spiritual will. In the Grand Duchess's office there was a gift from her father - the miraculous Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, in front of which she prayed daily and received healing: the princess was brought to the monastery on a cart, and here she began to walk. In gratitude for God's mercy, the princess herself cared for bedridden patients, was their nurse, was present at operations, and often even assisted surgeons during hours-long operations. Supervision over the order in the hospital, the work of the sisters, the nutrition of the sick and their spiritual life was also borne by the “great mother,” as she was soon lovingly called.

In 1894, the Synod decided to annex the Mezhigorsky Monastery, which was then in complete decline, to the thriving Pokrovsky Monastery. Thanks to the efforts of the royal nun, this monastery also found a rebirth.

In 1896, Nicholas II and his wife visited “Aunt Sasha.” The Emperor donated a large sum for the expansion of the hospital and ordered the annual release of 80 thousand rubles from the treasury for the maintenance of the monastery. In the presence of the royal couple, a majestic cathedral church was laid in the name of St. Nicholas, the preliminary design of which was prepared by Pyotr Nikolaevich, the youngest son of Alexandra Petrovna. With funds donated by the Tsar, a new hospital building was also opened in 1897–1898 and medical equipment was improved.

“Great Mother” was a strict faster and prayer worker. Until 1894, when her health began to deteriorate and she herself needed a serious operation, she was present at all monastery services, she herself read the Six Psalms, the Hours, and the Canon. The “royal nun” died after great suffering at 1 hour 20 minutes. nights from April 12 to April 13, 1900, Tuesday of Bright Week. She was buried, according to her will, in the monastery cemetery, and a simple stone cross was installed on her grave.

Despite all the cataclysms and wars with which the 20th century was so rich on our land, the Holy Protection Monastery survived, and the grave of the “Great Mother” was also preserved. The nuns of the monastery and numerous pilgrims sacredly honor the memory of nun Anastasia, Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna, Princess of Oldenburg.”

By the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Journal No. 64 of November 24, 2009), nun Anastasia († April 13/26, 1900) was canonized as a locally revered saint of the Kyiv Metropolis. And on January 24, 2010, at the Holy Intercession Convent in Kyiv, celebrations were held on the occasion of the glorification of the founder of this monastery, Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova). The rite of glorification during the Divine Liturgy in the St. Nicholas Church of the monastery was led by His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine Vladimir of blessed memory († 07/5/2014).

Reliquary with the relics of St. Anastasia

CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE BRANCHESTER

Thursday of Holy Week and October 20/November 2

On January 24 of this year, at the Holy Intercession Convent in Kyiv, celebrations were held on the occasion of the glorification of the founder of this monastery, Anastasia (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna Romanova), as a locally revered saint.

The solemn glorification took place during the Divine Liturgy, which was led by His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev and All Ukraine in the St. Nicholas Church of the monastery.

At the end of the service, Metropolitan Vladimir, together with the concelebrating clergy, venerated the venerable relics of the saint, after which he congratulated those gathered on the glorification of nun Anastasia as a saint.

Nun Anastasia of Kiev (Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna; 05/2/1838, St. Petersburg - 04/13/1900, Kyiv) - daughter of Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg, a famous philanthropist. At Baptism, according to the Protestant rite, she received the name Alexander Frederick Wilhelmina. Having inherited her father’s views, already in her youth she helped poor and sick children.

25 Jan 1856 Converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexander and married Vel. book Nikolai Nikolaevich, brother of the Emperor. Alexandra II. The couple had children - Grand Dukes Nicholas and Peter.

The Grand Duchess founded the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a shelter for orphan girls, a paramedic school and other charitable institutions in St. Petersburg. Until 1881, she was the chairman of the board of orphanages of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, which was headed by the Prince of Oldenburg. Thanks to the care of the Grand Duchess, a capital was created, the income from which supported 23 shelters for 5 thousand orphans. During the Russian-Turkish War, she organized a sanitary detachment at her own expense.

In 1879 he led. The princess, suffering from breast cancer, went abroad for treatment; in 1880 she moved to Kyiv, where in 1889 she founded the Pokrovskaya Women. the monastery in which she settled. Here the Grand Duchess, bedridden for many years, received miraculous healing and began to walk.

After the death of her husband (April 13, 1891), she secretly took monastic vows with the name Anastasia.

At the Pokrovsky Monastery, nun Anastasia opened a hospital for the poor with the only x-ray room in Kyiv, established a free pharmacy, a school and a shelter for orphan girls, shelters for terminally ill women and for the blind.

The harsh life of the sisters of the monastery, full of hardships, organized according to the strict Studite Rule, was spent in prayer and labor, despite this, the number of people wishing to enter there in the first year was 400 people, while the monastery could only accept 150 nuns.

Nun Anastasia was a strict faster, lived in a simple cell, donating all her funds to the maintenance of the institutions she founded. She performed the duties of an assistant surgeon during operations, supervised the hospital routine, nutrition and spiritual life of patients, preparations for operations, kept watch at the beds of operated patients, and supported the spirit of the patients. In 1897, Anastasia prevented a typhus epidemic in Kyiv by organizing several specialized hospitals. Until 1894, when her health began to deteriorate and she herself needed surgery, nun Anastasia was present at all monastery services, she herself read the Six Psalms, the Hours, and the Canon.

The “Princess” monastery, as the Intercession monastery was called, had a missionary and educational significance: there were bookstores and icon shops, leaflets with religious and moral content were published in large quantities, placed in the monastery of the Stundist sectarian thanks to the gentle treatment and conversations with the leaders. After some time, the princess returned to Orthodoxy.

In 1894, the Mezhigorsky Monastery, transformed into a women’s monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, was annexed to the Intercession Monastery. In 1896, during the visit of the saints, Emperor. Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a cathedral was founded in the Intercession Monastery in the name of St. Nicholas led the project. book Peter Nikolaevich. With funds donated by the emperor in 1897-1898. a new hospital building was opened and medical equipment was improved.

Nun Anastasia died after great suffering on Tuesday of Bright Week. She was buried in front of a huge crowd of people in the monastery she founded, opposite the altar of the Church of the Intercession.

An excerpt characterizing Anastasia Vasilievna (Princess of Kiev)

- Well, swords! - said Rostov. - Oh, Moscow aunties! - said Dolokhov and took up the cards with a smile. - Aaah! – Rostov almost shouted, raising both hands to his hair. The seven he needed was already at the top, the first card in the deck. He lost more than he could pay. “However, don’t get too carried away,” said Dolokhov, glancing briefly at Rostov and continuing to throw. After an hour and a half, most of the players were already jokingly looking at their own game. The whole game focused on Rostov alone. Instead of one thousand six hundred rubles, a long column of numbers was written down behind him, which he had counted up to the tenth thousand, but which now, as he vaguely assumed, had already risen to fifteen thousand. In fact, the entry already exceeded twenty thousand rubles. Dolokhov no longer listened or told stories; he followed every movement of Rostov’s hands and occasionally glanced briefly at his note behind him. He decided to continue the game until this entry increased to forty-three thousand. He chose this number because forty-three was the sum of his years added up with Sonya's years. Rostov, leaning his head on both hands, sat in front of a table covered with writings, covered in wine, and littered with cards. One painful impression did not leave him: these broad-boned, reddish hands with hair visible from under his shirt, these hands that he loved and hated, held him in their power. “Six hundred rubles, ace, corner, nine... it’s impossible to win back!... And how fun it would be at home... Jack on n... it can’t be!... And why is he doing this to me?...” Rostov thought and recalled. Sometimes he would play a big card; but Dolokhov refused to beat her, and he himself nominated the jackpot. Nicholas submitted to him, and then prayed to God, as he prayed on the battlefield on the Amsteten Bridge; then he wished that the card that would be the first to fall into his hand from a pile of curved cards under the table would save him; either he calculated how many laces there were on his jacket and with the same number of points he tried to bet a card on the entire loss, then he looked around at the other players for help, then he peered into Dolokhov’s now cold face and tried to understand what was going on inside him.

ANASTASIA Kyiv

(Alexandra Petrovna; 05/2/1838, St. Petersburg - 04/13/1900, Kyiv), mon., founder of the Kyiv in honor of the Intercession of the Holy. Mother of God women mon-rya, led. Kng. Daughter of Prince Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg, a famous philanthropist, a Protestant in Baptism. The ceremony received the name Alexandra Frederick Wilhelmina. Having inherited her father’s views, already in her youth she helped poor and sick children. 25 Jan 1856 Converted to Orthodoxy with the name Alexander and married Vel. book Nikolai Nikolaevich, brother of the Emperor. Alexandra II. The couple had children - led. Princes Nicholas and Peter. Vel. The princess founded the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, a hospital, an outpatient clinic, a department for orphan girls, a paramedic school and other charitable institutions in St. Petersburg. Until 1881, she was the chairman of the board of orphanages of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria Feodorovna, headed by the Prince of Oldenburg. Thanks to the caring conduct. The princess created a capital, the income from which supported 23 shelters for 5 thousand orphans. During the Russian tour. war, she organized a sanitary detachment at her own expense.

In 1879 he led. The princess, suffering from breast cancer, went abroad for treatment; in 1880 she moved to Kyiv, where in 1889 she founded the Pokrovskaya Women. the monastery in which she settled. Here was the lead. The princess, bedridden for many years, received miraculous healing and began to walk. After the death of her husband (April 13, 1891), she secretly took monastic vows with the name Anastasia. At the Pokrovsky Monastery, A.K. opened the modern. a hospital for the poor with the only x-ray room in Kyiv, established a free pharmacy, a school and a shelter for orphan girls, shelters for terminally ill women and for the blind. The harsh life of the sisters of the monastery, full of hardships, organized according to the strict Studio Rule, was spent in prayer and labor, despite this, the number of people wishing to enter there in the first year was 400 people, while the monastery could only accept 150 nuns.

A.K. was a strict faster, lived in a simple cell, donating all her funds to the maintenance of the institutions she founded. A.K. performed the duties of an assistant surgeon during operations, supervised the hospital routine, nutrition and spiritual life of patients, preparations for operations, kept watch at the beds of operated patients, and supported the spirit of the patients. In 1897 he led. The princess prevented a typhus epidemic in Kyiv by organizing several. specialized hospitals. Until 1894, when the state of health led. The princess began to deteriorate and she herself needed an operation, A.K. was present at all monastery services, she herself read the Six Psalms, the hours, and the canon.

The “Princess” monastery, as the Intercession monastery was called, had missionary and educational significance: there were bookstores and icon shops, and leaflets with religious and moral content were published in large quantities, placed in the monastery of the Stundist sectarian thanks to the gentle treatment and conversations with the leaders. After some time, the princess returned to Orthodoxy.

In 1894, the Pokrovsky Mon-Rue was annexed and converted into women's. Mezhigorsky Monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. In 1896, during the visit of the saints, Emperor. Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, a cathedral was founded in the Intercession Monastery in the name of St. Nicholas led the project. book Peter Nikolaevich. With funds donated by the emperor in 1897-1898. a new hospital building was opened and medical equipment was improved.

A.K. died after great suffering on Tuesday of Bright Week. She was buried in front of a huge crowd of people in the monastery she founded, opposite the altar of the Intercession Church.

Lit.: Zhpodv. April. pp. 167-175; Russian pilgrim. 1900. No. 17; Levitsky G. Her Imp. Highness Vel. Kng. Alexandra Petrovna (monastically Anastasia): Biogr. feature article. K., 1904; Memories of the august builder of Kiev-Pokrovsky women. monastery to nun Anastasia. K., 1911; Taisiya [Kartsova], mon. Russian Orthodox female monasticism of the 18th-20th centuries. George, 1988, 1992r. pp. 239-240; Royal nun. Od., 1995.

N. N. Krasheninnikova

Biography

From August 22, 1417 - the wife of the Kyiv prince Alexander (Olelk) Vladimirovich. In 1421 she came to her father in Moscow. After the blinding of her brother, Vasily II the Dark, by Dmitry Yuryevich Shemyaka, she kept her spy in Moscow, whom she sent from Kyiv in 1446 to monitor Shemyaka’s actions and inform her brother in time about his intentions and plans; She helped her brother and his supporters who fled to Lithuania in every possible way. She corresponded with Moscow Metropolitan Jonah.

Olelka and Anastasia had two sons. The eldest son, Semyon Olelkovich, by decision of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV, became his father’s successor on the Kiev princely throne, receiving it for life. His heirs were already deprived of the right to claim Kyiv. The youngest son, Mikhail Olelkovich, was the prince-governor of Veliky Novgorod. In addition to their sons, Olelko and Anastasia had three daughters. One of them, Evdokia Olelkovna (d. 1468), became in 1463 the wife of the ruler of Moldavia, Stephen the Great (1457-1504).