Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna Romanova

Biography of the Grand Duchess

Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt was born in 1864 in the family of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. Second daughter of Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. As a German princess, she was raised in the Protestant faith. Elizabeth's sister Alice became the wife of Nicholas II, and she herself married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov in 1884 and became a Russian princess. According to tradition, all German princesses were given the patronymic name Feodorovna - in honor of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God. In 1878, the entire family, except Ella (as she was called in the family), fell ill with diphtheria, from which Ella’s younger sister, four-year-old Maria, and mother, Grand Duchess Alice, soon died. Father Ludwig IV, after the death of his wife, entered into a morganatic marriage with Alexandrina Hutten-Czapska, and Ella and Alix were raised by their grandmother, Queen Victoria at Osborne House. From childhood, the sisters were religiously inclined, participated in charity work, and received lessons in housekeeping. A major role in Ella’s spiritual life was played by the image of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, in whose honor Ella was named: this saint, the ancestor of the Dukes of Hesse, became famous for her deeds of mercy. Her cousin Friedrich of Baden was considered as a potential groom for Elizabeth. Another cousin, the Prussian Crown Prince Wilhelm, courted Elizabeth for some time and, according to unconfirmed reports, even proposed marriage to her, which she rejected. German by birth, Elizaveta Fedorovna learned the Russian language perfectly and fell in love with her new homeland with all her soul. In 1891, after several years of reflection, she converted to Orthodoxy.

Reference

Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth, Visit of Mary (lat. Visitatio Mariae) - a meeting of the Virgin Mary and righteous Elizabeth, which took place a few days after the Annunciation; described in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:39-56). According to the Gospel of Luke, having learned at the Annunciation from the Archangel Gabriel that her middle-aged, childless cousin Elizabeth was finally pregnant, the Virgin Mary immediately went from Nazareth to visit her in the “city of Judah” (Luke 1:39). The Gospel describes the meeting as follows: When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried with a loud voice, and said: Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the fruit of Your womb! And where does it come from for me that the Mother of my Lord came to me? For when the voice of Your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped joyfully in my womb. And blessed is she who believed, because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled. - Luke 1:41-45

Letter from Elizabeth Feodorovna to her father about accepting Orthodoxy

Elizaveta Feodorovna has been thinking about accepting Orthodoxy since she became the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. But the German princess was worried that this step would be a blow to her family, loyal to Protestantism. Especially for his father, Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse-Darmstadt. Only in 1891 did the princess write a letter to her father: “...Dear Pope, I want to tell you something and I beg you to give your blessing. You must have noticed the deep reverence I have had for the religion here since you were last here, more than a year and a half ago. I kept thinking and reading and praying to God to show me the right path, and I came to the conclusion that only in this religion can I find all the real and strong faith in God that a person must have to be a good Christian. It would be a sin to remain as I am now - to belong to the same church in form and for the outside world, but inside myself to pray and believe the same way as my husband. You cannot imagine how kind he was, that he never tried to force me by any means, leaving all this entirely to my conscience. He knows what a serious step this is, and that he must be absolutely sure before deciding to take it. I would have done this even before, but it tormented me that by doing this I was causing you pain. But you, won’t you understand, my dear Dad? You know me so well, you must see that I decided to take this step only out of deep faith and that I feel that I must appear before God with a pure and believing heart. How simple it would be to remain as it is now, but then how hypocritical, how false it would be, and how I can lie to everyone - pretending that I am a Protestant in all external rituals, when my soul belongs entirely to religion here. I thought and thought deeply about all this, being in this country for more than 6 years, and knowing that religion was “found”. I so strongly wish to receive Holy Communion with my husband on Easter. This may seem sudden to you, but I have been thinking about this for so long, and now, finally, I cannot put it off. My conscience won't allow me to do this. I ask, I ask, upon receipt of these lines, to forgive your daughter if she causes you pain. But isn’t faith in God and religion one of the main consolations of this world? Please wire me just one line when you receive this letter. God bless you. This will be such a comfort for me because I know there will be a lot of frustrating moments as no one will understand this step. I only ask for a small, affectionate letter.”

Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich

The father did not bless his daughter to change her faith, but she could no longer change her decision and through the sacrament of Confirmation she became Orthodox. On June 3 (15), 1884, in the Court Cathedral of the Winter Palace, she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, as announced by the Highest Manifesto. The Orthodox wedding was performed by the court protopresbyter John Yanyshev; the crowns were held by Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, Grand Dukes Alexei and Pavel Alexandrovich, Dmitry Konstantinovich, Peter Nikolaevich, Mikhail and Georgy Mikhailovich; then, in the Alexander Hall, the pastor of St. Anne’s Church also performed a service according to the Lutheran rite. Elizabeth's husband was both a great-uncle (common ancestor - Wilhelmina of Baden), and a fourth cousin (common great-great-grandfather - Prussian King Frederick William II). The couple settled in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace purchased by Sergei Alexandrovich (the palace became known as Sergievsky), spending their honeymoon on the Ilyinskoye estate near Moscow, where they also lived subsequently. At her insistence, a hospital was established in Ilyinsky, and fairs were periodically held in favor of the peasants. Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna mastered the Russian language perfectly and spoke it with almost no accent. While still professing Protestantism, she attended Orthodox services. In 1888, together with her husband, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. As the wife of the Moscow governor-general (Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was appointed to this post in 1891), she organized the Elizabethan Charitable Society in 1892, established in order to “look after the legitimate babies of the poorest mothers, hitherto placed, although without any right, in the Moscow Educational house, under the guise of illegal.” The activities of the society first took place in Moscow, and then spread to the entire Moscow province. Elizabethan committees were formed at all Moscow church parishes and in all district cities of the Moscow province. In addition, Elisaveta Feodorovna headed the Ladies' Committee of the Red Cross, and after the death of her husband, she was appointed chairman of the Moscow Office of the Red Cross. Sergei Alexandrovich and Elisaveta Feodorovna did not have any children of their own, but they raised the children of Sergei Alexandrovich’s brother, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, Maria and Dmitry, whose mother died in childbirth. With the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Elisaveta Feodorovna organized the Special Committee for Assistance to Soldiers, under which a donation warehouse was created in the Grand Kremlin Palace for the benefit of soldiers: bandages were prepared there, clothes were sewn, parcels were collected, and camp churches were formed. In the recently published letters of Elisaveta Feodorovna to Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess appears as a supporter of the most stringent and decisive measures against any freethinking in general and revolutionary terrorism in particular. “Is it really impossible to judge these animals in a field court?” - she asked the emperor in a letter written in 1902, shortly after the murder of Sipyagin (D.S. Sipyagin - the Minister of Internal Affairs was killed in 1902 by Stepan Balmashev, a member of the AKP BO. Balmashev (involved in the Gershuni terror), acquired a military uniform and, introducing himself adjutant of one of the grand dukes, when handing over the package, he shot at the minister. Sipyagin was mortally wounded in the stomach and neck. Balmashev was executed), and she herself answered the question: “Everything must be done to prevent them from becoming heroes... to kill them They have a desire to risk their lives and commit such crimes (I think that it would be better if he paid with his life and thus disappeared!). But who he is and what he is - let no one know... and there is no need to feel sorry for those who themselves do not feel sorry for anyone.” On February 4, 1905, her husband was killed by terrorist Ivan Kalyaev, who threw a hand bomb at him. Elisaveta Feodorovna was the first to arrive at the scene of the tragedy and with her own hands collected parts of her beloved husband’s body, scattered by the explosion. This tragedy was hard for me. The Greek Queen Olga Konstantinovna, cousin of the murdered Sergei Alexandrovich, wrote: “This is a wonderful, holy woman - she is apparently worthy of the heavy cross that lifts her higher and higher!” On the third day after the death of the Grand Duke, she went to prison to see the killer in the hope that he would repent, she conveyed forgiveness to him on behalf of Sergei Alexandrovich, and left him the Gospel. To Kalyaev’s words: “I didn’t want to kill you, I saw him several times and that time when I had a bomb ready, but you were with him, and I didn’t dare touch him,” Elisaveta Feodorovna replied: “And you didn’t realize that did you kill me along with him? Despite the fact that the killer did not repent, the Grand Duchess submitted a petition for clemency to Nicholas II, which he rejected. After the death of her husband, Elizaveta Fedorovna replaced him as Chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society and held this position from 1905 to 1917. Elisaveta Feodorovna decided to devote all her strength to serving Christ and her neighbors. She bought a plot of land on Bolshaya Ordynka and in 1909 opened the Martha and Mary Convent there, naming it in honor of the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary. On the site there are two churches, a hospital, a pharmacy with free medicines for the poor, an orphanage and a school. A year later, the nuns of the monastery were ordained to the rank of cross sisters of love and mercy, and Elisaveta Feodorovna was elevated to the rank of abbess. She said goodbye to secular life without regret, telling the sisters of the monastery: “I am leaving the brilliant world, but together with all of you I am ascending to a greater world - the world of the poor and suffering.” During the First World War, the Grand Duchess actively supported the front: she helped form ambulance trains, sent medicines and camp churches to the soldiers. After Nicholas II abdicated the throne, she wrote: “I felt deep pity for Russia and its children, who currently do not know what they are doing. Isn't it a sick child whom we love a hundred times more during his illness than when he is cheerful and healthy? I would like to bear his suffering, to help him. Holy Russia cannot perish. But Great Russia, alas, no longer exists. We must direct our thoughts to the Kingdom of Heaven and say with humility: “Thy will be done.”

Historical information about the holy couple

The righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth are known to us from the Gospel of Luke, where the apostle informs the world about the birth of the one who will prepare the way for Christ. The sacred origins come from the line of priests. John's mother Elizabeth and Righteous Anna, the mother of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, were sisters, so Righteous Elizabeth was the aunt of the Mother of Christ.

The priest Zechariah served in the temple of Jerusalem. Aaron's descendants became so numerous that they could not all serve in the temple together. By order of King David, they were divided into 24 rows, so that each face had its own ministry in a certain week.

Each individual series was headed by a most honest man, appointed king; by lot the priests determined who to serve and in what week. The priest Abijah, from whose family John’s father was, drew lots blessing him to serve in the eighth week. This is what the prophet Zechariah was serving when the Archangel appeared to him.

Holy Righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth

The holy couple were famous for their righteousness, fulfilling all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

The priest, who was already in his old age, having heard the message of the Archangel Gabriel, doubted it, for which the Lord deprived him of the power of speech. Righteous Elizabeth became pregnant, could not believe in the miracle of conception, hid from people for a long time and rejoiced that God had saved her from shame. When the pregnancy was 6 months old, Maria, who was not yet married, came to her.

By the intense movement of the baby, it was revealed to Elizabeth by the Holy Spirit that the Blessed Mother of the Lord Jesus Christ was standing before her, and the Baby was living in her womb.

The news of the birth of a son to a middle-aged couple quickly spread among their relatives and neighbors, everyone rejoiced at the miracle given. On the day of circumcision, the elders asked righteous Elizabeth what name she wanted to give her son, for Zechariah remained mute.

The answer was that his name would be John. Everyone around him was very surprised, because according to Jewish custom, the children were given the names of one of their ancestors, but in the family of Aaron’s tribe, where the boy’s parents came from, there was no such name.

They asked the prophet Zechariah, and he wrote: “John,” and at that very moment the veil of silence was lifted from the priest. Further, by the Holy Spirit, through the prophecy of Zechariah, the Almighty told people that this baby would become God's messenger. John was sent to earth to prepare the way for the Lord.

Nativity of John the Baptist

Martyrdom of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

In 1918, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested. In May 1918, she, along with other representatives of the Romanov house, was transported to Yekaterinburg and placed in the Atamanov Rooms hotel (currently the building houses the FSB and the Main Internal Affairs Directorate for the Sverdlovsk Region, the current address is the intersection of Lenin and Vainer streets), and then, two months later, they were sent to the city of Alapaevsk, into exile in the Urals. The Grand Duchess refused to leave Russia after the Bolsheviks came to power, continuing to engage in ascetic work in her monastery. On May 7, 1918, on the third day after Easter, on the day of the celebration of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Patriarch Tikhon visited the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy and served a prayer service. Half an hour after the departure of the patriarch, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested by security officers and Latvian riflemen on the personal order of F. E. Dzerzhinsky. Patriarch Tikhon tried to achieve her release, but in vain - she was taken into custody and deported from Moscow to Perm. One of the Petrograd newspapers of that time - “New Evening Hour” - in a note dated May 9, 1918, responded to this event in the following way: “... we don’t know what caused her deportation... It’s hard to think that Elisaveta Feodorovna could pose a danger to Soviet power, and her arrest and deportation can be considered, rather, as a proud gesture towards Wilhelm, whose brother is married to Elisaveta Feodorovna’s sister...” The historian V.M. Khrustalev believed that the deportation of Elisaveta Feodorovna to the Urals was one of the links in the Bolsheviks’ general plan to concentrate in the Urals all representatives of the Romanov dynasty, where, as the historian wrote, those gathered could be destroyed only by finding a suitable reason for this. This plan was carried out in the spring months of 1918. Mother was followed by nurses Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. Catherine was later released, but Varvara refused to leave and remained with the Grand Duchess until the end. Together with the abbess of the Martha and Mary Convent and the sisters, they sent Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, his secretary Fyodor Remez, three brothers - John, Konstantin and Igor; Prince Vladimir Paley. On July 18, 1918, on the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the prisoners - Elisaveta Feodorovna, sister Varvara and members of the Romanov family - were taken to the village of Sinyachikhi. On the night of July 18, 1918, the prisoners were escorted to the old mine, beaten and thrown into the deep Novaya Selimskaya mine, 18 km from Alapaevsk. During her torment, Elisaveta Feodorovna prayed with the words that the Savior said on the cross: “Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” The executioners threw hand grenades into the mine. The following died with her: Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich; Prince John Konstantinovich; Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich (junior); Prince Igor Konstantinovich; Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley; Fyodor Semyonovich Remez, manager of the affairs of Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich; sister of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery Varvara (Yakovleva). All of them, except for the shot Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, were thrown into the mine alive. When the bodies were recovered from the mine, it was discovered that some of the victims lived on after the fall, dying of hunger and wounds. At the same time, the wound of Prince John, who fell on the ledge of the mine near the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, was bandaged with part of her apostle. The surrounding peasants said that for several days the singing of prayers and the Cherubic song could be heard from the mine. The martyrs sang until they were exhausted from their wounds. On October 31, 1918, Admiral Kolchak’s army occupied Alapaevsk. The remains of the dead were removed from the mine, placed in coffins and placed for funeral services in the city cemetery church. The Venerable Martyr Elizabeth, Sister Varvara and Grand Duke John had their fingers folded for the sign of the cross. However, with the advance of the Red Army, the bodies were transported further to the East several times. In April 1920, they were met in Beijing by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archbishop Innokenty (Figurovsky). From there, two coffins - Grand Duchess Elizabeth and sister Varvara - were transported to Shanghai and then by steamship to Port Said. Finally the coffins arrived in Jerusalem. The burial in January 1921 under the Church of Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane was performed by Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem. Thus, the desire of Grand Duchess Elizabeth herself to be buried in the Holy Land, expressed by her during a pilgrimage in 1888, was fulfilled.

Novo-Tikhvin Monastery, where Elizaveta Fedorovna was kept on the eve of her death

Saints Prophet Zechariah and Righteous Elizabeth, parents of the Prophet and Forerunner of Christ John.
Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth came from the clan of Aaron. The Prophet Zechariah was the son of Barachiah and served as a priest in the Jerusalem Temple. Holy Righteous Elizabeth was the sister of the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Anna. And the story of this illustrious married couple began almost the same way as the story of the parents of the Most Holy Theotokos, Saints Joachim and Anna - it began with childlessness, the burden of which in this case turned out to be even heavier, because Zechariah, as an Old Testament priest, had to show his for parishioners - devout citizens - an example of strict fulfillment of God's commandments, perhaps the main one of which was considered the duty to continue one's family. It is curious that the Gospel of Luke begins with a story about this particular couple. On the one hand, this indicates that Zechariah and Elizabeth are heroes of a new, that is, New Testament history, the law of which was the Spirit, and not the letter. On the other hand, the story about the birth of their son (the future Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John) precedes the story of the Nativity of Christ and thus, as it were, prepares the reader for the perception of the completely unusual (according to Old Testament concepts!) story of the virgin conception of Mary. The first thing that evokes special respect for the characters in this amazing story is the deliberate nobility of Zechariah, who, like Joachim, the father of the Virgin Mary, did not want to either leave his barren wife or divorce her, although he had every right to do so. Therefore, this time too, conjugal love itself triumphed over the duty of legality, revealing the advantages of the romantic feeling itself over the duties of a “man and citizen.” The story itself begins with a story about how Zechariah, performing another service in the temple, entered the sanctuary to burn incense. Separated from the worshipers by a curtain and invisible to them, he suddenly saw in front of him the angel of the Lord - Archangel Gabriel, whose mission was to preach about the unusual, mysterious, paradoxical and, above all, to announce those births that, according to the logic of things, simply could not take place. Gabriel begins his speech to Zechariah with the same warning “do not be afraid!” With which, just a few months later, he will begin his appeal to the Virgin Mary. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John,” the angel said to the astonished priest. If in Zechariah’s place there had been a simple person, not involved in church traditions and sacraments, then his distrust, caution, prudence would have been justified. But he was a priest, called upon to show special sensitivity to the very possibility of giving birth to a child at an advanced age: after all, Abraham and Sarah were older than Zechariah and Elizabeth, but they accepted the miracle of the birth of Isaac with reverence and gratitude, not even allowing themselves to doubt is that with God all things are possible! In the world of the “ordinary miracle”, which is the entire New Testament history, skepticism is punishable. Zechariah also suffered punishment for him: having questioned the good news of the Archangel Gabriel, he was immediately struck dumb. However, having closed the father’s mouth, God opened the mother’s womb, who soon conceived and gave birth to a baby in due time. Contrary to the insistence of his relatives, who wanted to name him by his father’s name, Zacharias, Elizabeth demanded that he be given a different name - John. The same opinion was expressed by Zechariah himself, who, due to his muteness, wrote exactly this name on the tablet. And as soon as his hand imprinted this name, predicted by the angel, the priest immediately gained the gift of speech and began to enthusiastically prophesy about the deliverance and salvation of the faithful: it was obvious that, having bestowed grace on himself, God would not abandon the entire people with his intercession. The story, which began tragically, found a happy ending... Here, even before Christ, we see the implementation of the gospel law: “bear one another’s burdens,” which, in fact, should become the “fundamental law” of family life. In fact: Zechariah and Elizabeth, as befits real spouses, supported each other in all the troubles of life. They truly constituted a single whole, a single body, a single organism, both “parts” of which truly compensate and complement mutual shortcomings: when doubt threatens one of the spouses with death, then the faith of the other becomes salvation for both him and the entire couple as a whole. And this “mutuality” of the spouses could not help but bring results: when the husband, doubting the possibility of a miracle, lost the power of speech, his wife, on the contrary, gratefully accepted God’s mercy and acquired the gift of childbearing. As a result, we were shown an example of marital mutual assistance and like-mindedness, which was expressed without words, only by intuition: independently of each other, husband and wife, neglecting the wishes of relatives, choose the same name for the newborn. It was this unanimity, which was inspired by love, harmony and joint endurance of sorrows, that returned peace and happiness to the spouses. Marital love - they testify to us - is, among other things, also the ability to communicate without words: “the heart gives the heart a message” even when this message cannot be expressed in words. The Gospels do not tell about the further fate of Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth. Meanwhile, this fate is tragic, like the fate of many righteous people. When the wicked King Herod heard from the Magi about the born Messiah, he decided to beat all babies under the age of 2 in Bethlehem and its environs, hoping that the born Messiah would be among them. Herod knew well about the unusual birth of the baby John and wanted to kill him too, fearing that he was the King of the Jews. But righteous Elizabeth took refuge with her son in the mountains. The murderers pursued them, and Elizabeth, trying to hide from them, with tears began to pray to God for salvation, and immediately the mountain parted and sheltered her and the baby from pursuit. Zechariah, in these disastrous days, fulfilled his turn of service in the Jerusalem temple. The soldiers sent by Herod tried in vain to find out from him where his newborn son was. The saint was silent. Then, at the command of Herod, they killed Zechariah, stabbing him right in the temple between the altar and the altar (Matthew 23:35). Righteous Elizabeth died 40 days after her husband, and very little John was left an orphan and, protected by the Lord, remained in the desert until the day of his appearance to the Israeli people.

Where are the relics of the Grand Duchess buried?

In 1921, the remains of Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna and nun Varvara were taken to Jerusalem. There they found peace in the tomb of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles, in Gethsemane. In 1931, on the eve of the canonization of the Russian new martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, they decided to open the tombs of the martyrs. The autopsy was supervised by a commission headed by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Anthony (Grabbe). When they opened the coffin with the body of the Grand Duchess, the whole room was filled with fragrance. According to Archimandrite Anthony, there was a “strong smell, as if of honey and jasmine.” The relics, which turned out to be partially incorrupt, were transferred from the tomb to the church of St. Mary Magdalene itself.

Icon of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna

Most often, icon painters depict the holy martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna standing; her right hand is facing us, in her left there is a miniature copy of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery. Sometimes, in the right hand of St. Elizabeth a cross is depicted (a symbol of martyrdom for the faith since the time of the first Christians); in the left there are rosary beads. Also, traditionally, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna is written on icons together with the nun Varvara - “Reverend Martyrs Varvara and Elisaveta of Alapaevsk.” Behind the shoulders of the martyrs the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery is depicted; at their feet is the shaft of the mine into which the executioners threw them. Another iconographic subject is “The Murder of the Martyr Elizabeth and others like her.” The Red Army soldiers are escorting Grand Duchess Elizabeth, nun Varvara and other Alapaevsk prisoners to throw them into the mine. In the mine, the icon depicts the face of St. Sergius of Radonezh: the execution took place on the day of the discovery of his relics, July 18.

Prophecy from an angel

Before the birth of Jesus Christ, humanity lived in anticipation of the Mission promised by God to the first people in the Garden of Eden. The Son of God had to come to earth in human form in order to restore the lost union of man and God and open the way to eternal life. Before this great event, the one who would prepare the way for Christ had to appear to people. His mission was to prepare people to accept the Savior. This man was the prophet, the Forerunner, the Baptist of the Lord, John.

The Prophet John was born into the family of the Jewish priest Zechariah, a descendant of Ithamar, the son of the Prophet Aaron, brother of Moses, who led the Jewish people from Egyptian captivity. Zechariah and Elizabeth lived to an old age, but they did not have children, which in Jewish society was equated with God's punishment and was considered a disgrace.

Appearance of an Angel to Elder Zechariah in the Jerusalem Temple

One day, while serving in the temple sanctuary, the prophet Zechariah saw an angel.

Archangel Gabriel told the priest that God had heard the prayers of him and Elizabeth and was sending them a son. The son named John will become joy and joy for his parents, many will rejoice, for he will be great before the Creator.

Prayers to the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna

Troparion voice 1 Having hidden your princely dignity with humility, the godly Elisaveto honored Christ with the intense service of Martha and Mary. You have purified yourself with mercy, patience and love, as if you offered a righteous sacrifice to God. We, who honor your virtuous life and suffering, earnestly ask you as a true mentor: Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, pray to Christ God to save and enlighten our souls. Kontakion voice 2 The greatness of the feat of faith who tells the story? In the depths of the earth, as if in the paradise of lordship, the passion-bearer Grand Duchess Elizabeth and the angels rejoiced in psalms and songs and, enduring murder, cried out for the godless tormentors: Lord, forgive them this sin, for they do not know what they are doing. Through your prayers, O Christ God, have mercy and save our souls.

ELIZAVETA

[Heb. , Greek ᾿Ελισάβετ], the name of 2 women in the Holy. Scripture.

In the OT, E. is the daughter of Abinadab from the tribe of Judah (Exodus 6.23; 1 Chronicles 2.3-10), the wife of Aaron, the 1st Old Testament high priest (Exodus 28.1-2). From him E. gave birth to 4 sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar (Exodus 6.23) - the founders of the 1st priestly family in Israel. Brother E. Nahshon was “the leader of the sons of Judah” (Numbers 2.3; cf. 1 Chronicles 2.10). The name Elizabeth means “my God is seven (the number of completeness or perfection in the biblical symbolism of numbers. - Author)” and indicates that God is the One who fulfills His promises (Durham. 1998. P. 180), or “my God is an oath” (i.e., binding Himself with an oath). This name was given to her, probably as a sign of the faithfulness of God, who fulfilled His promises of deliverance from Egypt during the Exodus. slavery (Slayton. P. 474).

In the New Testament, E. is a righteous woman (mem. September 5), the wife of a priest. Zechariah and mother of St. John the Baptist. She came from the family of Aaron (Luke 1.5), a relative of the Most Holy. Mother of God. According to the story of the Evangelist Luke, E. lived with her husband in one of the cities of Judea “in the days of Herod, king of the Jews” (Luke 1.5). The pious (Luke 1.6) elderly spouses did not have children, since E. “was barren” (Luke 1.7, 36). When Zechariah, in his turn, performed incense in the Jerusalem temple, the archbishop appeared to him. Gabriel announced that through his prayer E. would give birth to a son, who would be a prophet and a Nazarite “and be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1.15). Soon E. conceived a son and did not inform anyone about the pregnancy for 5 months, rejoicing at the miracle of God, which removed from her “reproach among people” (Luke 1.25), that is, freed her from infertility (see: Gen. 30.1; Exod. 23.26; 2 Kings 6.23, etc.). An unexpected miraculous resolution from the infertility of the elderly E. in fulfillment of the words of Arch. Gabriel and prayers are right. Zechariah has parallels in the OT, e.g. in the history of Sarah (Gen. 17. 15-21; 18. 9-15; 21. 1-7), Rebecca (Gen. 25. 21), Anna (1 Kings 1. 1-20), etc. These examples give reason to see in child E. One who will play an important role in the life of Israel. In the 6th month of E.’s pregnancy, she was visited by the Virgin Mary, who had received news the day before from Arch. Gabriel about the birth of the Savior from Her. Mary undertook this journey from the Galilean city of Nazareth to Judea in order to share joy with her relative, about whose pregnancy She learned from the archangel (Luke 1.36), and once again make sure of the wonderful motherhood ahead of her, “raising her mind from natural birth to supernatural" (Ioan. Chrysost. Peccata fratrum non evulganda. VIII // PG. 51. Col. 361). When She entered the house and greeted E., the latter’s “baby leaped in her womb” and she was “filled with the Holy Spirit,” under the influence of which she delivered a welcoming speech-prophecy, where she called Mary “Mother of the Lord” and glorified Her faith in the promised miraculous birth of the Son (Luke 1.41-45). According to the blzh. Theophylact of Bulgaria, “Elizabeth’s prophetic words to Mary were not the words of Elizabeth, but of a baby; and the lips of Elizabeth only served him, just as the lips of Mary served the One who was in Her womb - the Son of God. For Elizabeth was then filled with the Spirit, when the child leapt in the womb; if the baby had not jumped, she would not have prophesied” (Theoph. Bulg. In Luc. // PG. 123. Col. 707-708). As modern notes. Exegete J. Nolland, E. "responds only to the greeting, while the unborn John reacts directly to the presence of Jesus... What she says is the result of a divinely inspired interpretation of the movement of the unborn child, as seen in verse 44" (Nolland 1998. P. 79). The Virgin Mary answered E. with a solemn poetic hymn: “My soul magnifies the Lord...” (Luke 1.46-55). After staying in the house of Zechariah and E. for approx. 3 months, Mary returned to Nazareth. A little later, E. gave birth to a son, whom, at the direction of the angel (Luke 1.13), she and her husband named John.

Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. Mosaic of the Cathedral Church Euphrasiana in Porec, Croatia. 543-553 Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. Mosaic of the Cathedral Church Euphrasiana in Porec, Croatia. 543-553

In the image of E. and in the description of her environment, it is emphasized that the Savior is born and grows among the poor and ignorant, but righteous people, the best representatives of Israel, who remain faithful to the commandments and hope in the promises of God and in response to this become the first witnesses and heralds of the fulfillment of the latter. E. and people like her, living with a thirst for God’s promised salvation, become the connecting link through which the continuity of the New Testament Church of Christ of the Old Testament chosen people is ensured and preserved (Brown. 1997. P. 227-228). The description of the image of E., according to a number of researchers, is built into the theological concept of the Gospel of Luke, in which, unlike the other Gospels, women are given more attention, their greater sensitivity and devotion to God's will is emphasized in comparison with men (Witherington. 1992. P 63). It is E. and Mary, and not Zechariah and Joseph, who are the first to hear the news of the coming of Christ and respond to it with complete confidence (Luke 1-2; cf. Matthew 1-2). The faith of E. (along with the faith of Mary), and not Zechariah, is considered exemplary. E. and the Virgin Mary are the main ones in the events preparing the birth of John the Baptist and Savior. In the scene of the circumcision of her child and the naming of the name E., the first gives him the name John, and Zechariah only confirms his wife’s decision, after which the gift of hearing and speech returns to him (Nolland. 1998. P. 79). E. is depicted as a prophetess, foreseeing the completed conception and imminent birth of the Lord and praising His Mother. In some old times. versions of the text of the Gospel of Luke IV-VIII centuries. (Nestle-Aland. NTG. P. 153; Metzger BM A Textual Comment. on the Greek NT. Stuttg., 19942. P. 130-131), as well as in quotations from this Gospel contained in Armenian. translation of the treatise schmch. Irenaeus of Lyons “Against Heresies” (Adv. haer. III 10. 2 and IV 7. 1), the hymn “My soul magnifies the Lord” is attributed to E., and not Mary. The handwritten tradition of attributing prophetic words to E., and not Mary, is also mentioned by Bl. Hieronymus of Stridon in the translation of Origen's homilies (Hieron. Transl. Homil. Orig. in Luc. // PL. 26. Col. 233C; for a detailed analysis of this problem and methods for solving it, see: Brown. 1993. P. 334-336).

Flight into the desert. Mosaic of the Hora Monastery (Kahrie-jami) in K-pol. 1316-1321

In the apocryphal “Proto-Gospel of James” (2nd half - late 2nd century) there is a story about the flight of E. with the baby John from assassins sent by King Herod the Great to Mt. After E.’s desperate plea to the Lord, “the mountain opened and let her in.” The story ends with the words: “And the light shone for them, and the angel of the Lord was with them, protecting them” (chapter 22). In the liturgical traditions of a number of Eastern Christ. The churches add details of E.'s flight with her son. In Greek Synaxaran narratives say that they fled into the desert “beyond the Jordan” (SynCP. Col. 16) and that after 40 days E. died in a cave, and her son was nourished and raised by an angel until the day of his call to ministry. The synaxarion of the Coptic Church says that E. fled with John to the Sinai desert and died there 7 years later (ActaSS. Nov. T. 2. P. 20). Greek historian Nicephorus Callistus with reference to St. Hippolyta of Rome wrote that E.’s mother bore the name Sobi (Σόβη), lived in Bethlehem and was Prav’s sister. Anna (see article “Joachim and Anna”), mother of the Most Holy. Theotokos (Niceph. Callist. Hist. eccl. II 3 // PG. 145. Col. 760).

The Gospel of Luke does not give the name of the city in which Zechariah and E. lived; it only states that it was “the city of Judah” (i.e. in Judea) “in the mountain [ὀρεινή] (area).” Under this Greek. the word can mean both the mountainous terrain of one of the parts of Judea (cf. Lk 1.65; Ios. Flav. Antiq. XII 1.1), and the area previously inhabited by the tribe of Ephraim (1 Sam. 1.1), which was part the same geological formation (Nolland. 1998. P. 65). Lit. a tradition dating back to the 6th century connects E.’s place of residence with Ein Kerem (see Ain Kerem), which is located 6.5 km west of Jerusalem (Baldi. 1982. P. 44 ff.). Study of the remains of 2 churches of the 4th century. shows that this legend goes back to an earlier time (Das grosse Bibellexikon / Hrsg. H. Burkhardt ua Wuppertal etc., 1988. Bd. 2. S. 776). Some archaeologists identify this place with the city of Bethkar mentioned in Jeremiah 6.1 (Younker. P. 686).

According to the Roman Martyrology, the memory of St. Zechariah and E. indicated November 5. (MartRom. P. 498), in Greek. Churches – September 5 and 30 Dec. (BHG, N 1881-1881), Jacobites commemorate 16 Dec. (PO. T. 10. Fasc. 1. P. 36), Syro-Maronites - June 25 (ActaSS. Nov. T. 3. P. 28-29). The memory of E. Copts is celebrated on the 16th day of the month of Amshir (SynAlex (Forget). Beryt, 1922. Louvain, 1953r. Vol. 1: [Versio]. P. 500-501. (CSCO; 78. Arab.; 12) , Ethiopians - on the 17th day of the month Yaqitti (ActaSS. Nov. T. 3. P. 20).

Lit.: Ballarini L. Elisabetta // BiblSS. Vol. 5. Col. 1079-1087; Baldi. D. Enchiridion Locorum Sanctorum: Doc. S. Evangelii loca respicientia. Jerusalem, 1982r; Younker RW Beth-haccherem // ABD. Vol. 1. P. 686-867; Slayton JC Elisheba // Ibid. Vol. 2. P. 474; Witherington B. Elizabeth // Ibid. P. 474-475; idem. The Birth of Jesus // Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels / Ed. JB Green ea Downers Grove (Ill.), 1992. P. 60-74; Brown RE The Birth of the Messiah. NY; L., 19932. P. 256-285, 330-392; idem. An Introduction to the NT. NY; L., 1997. P. 225-230; Durham JI Exodus. Waco (Tex.), 1998, pp. 79-84. (WBC; 3); Holland J. Luke. Vol. 1: 1-9: 20. Dallas (Tex.), 1998. P. 13-81. (WBC; 35a); Bauckham R. Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels. Grand Rapids (Mich.); Camb., 2002. P. 47-76; Murphy CM John the Baptist: Prophet of Purity for a New Age. Collegeville (Minn), 2003, pp. 41-49.

P. Yu. Lebedev

Hymnography

Veneration of St. John the Baptist, as well as the miraculous circumstances of his birth, led to the veneration of E. as the mother of St. John the Baptist, therefore E. is remembered in Orthodoxy. divine services on those days when his conception (Sept. 23) and Christmas (June 24) are remembered. In the hymnographic works of the mentioned holidays in the Studio and Jerusalem Menaions, the circumstances of the conception and birth of the barren E. St. are spoken of. John the Baptist, as well as about E.’s meeting with the Most Rev. Theotokos (for example, the stichera of June 24 on “Lord, I cried”, on the stichera). The words of E., spoken by the Most Rev. The Mother of God at their meeting (“Blessed are You among women, and blessed is the fruit of Your womb!” - Luke 1.42a), formed the basis of the often used in Orthodoxy. during the service of the hymn “Virgin Mother of God”, and also became a very common form of glorifying the Most Holy. Mother of God, which can be seen in many. Orthodox chants liturgical books.

The Mother of God with the Infant Christ and with the upcoming righteous Anna and Elizabeth with the infants Mary and John. Fresco c. Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome. Ser. VII century The Mother of God with the Infant Christ and with the upcoming righteous Anna and Elizabeth with the infants Mary and John. Fresco c. Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome. Ser. VII century

In the month of Orthodoxy. For a long time, the church did not have a separate memory of E. In Greek. and glory liturgical books compiled in accordance with the Studio Charter, September 5. The memory of the prophet is celebrated. Zechariah, some manuscripts include the memory of E. along with this memory, but in the subsequent 5 September. in the studio liturgical books there were no hymns containing direct glorification of E. In the Jerusalem Typicons and Menaions, which became widespread in various Local Churches from the 12th century, the same position is preserved, only an indication of the memory of E. 5 Sep. becomes mandatory. In the beginning. XVIII century the birth of one of the daughters of Peter I, who received the name E. in baptism, served as an occasion to celebrate the memory of E. September 5. more solemnly. In 1719, the “Service to Zechariah and Elizabeth” was published in Moscow - a follow-up in honor of E., which is an addition to the follow-up to the prophet. Zechariah in the Menaion. The service was compiled in the beginning. XVIII century (presumably the Archimandrite of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Theodosius (later Metropolitan of St. Petersburg) for the name day of the daughter of Peter I (see in the 9th song: ;). Since 1719, throughout Russia, on September 5, a solemn service was held in honor of E.; E.’s succession was republished many times, both as a separate book and as part of the September Menaion (starting with the edition of 1724). In 1763, after the death of Elizaveta Petrovna, the inspectors of the Moscow Synodal Printing House made a proposal not to print this service. Moscow Printing Office proposed the service to be printed, replacing expressions indicating the namesake of the late empress in the text of the troparions of the 9th canto with general expressions like “about all of us...” These proposals, apparently, were not considered by the Synod, therefore, in all subsequent editions of the service Menya the polyeleos E.'s service was published in almost the same form as under Elizaveta Petrovna.

Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. Painting of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Ferapontov Monastery. 1502 Master Dionysius

In modern rus. The edition of the Menaion (Minea (MP). September. pp. 134-145) also contains the polyeleos service of E., which includes the troparion of the 2nd tone (common troparion to both saints), the kontakion of the 4th tone, the canon of the 8th tone with irmos: beginning: magnification (with the naming of saints) and selected psalm (composite: 1st part - selected psalm for the Nativity of John the Baptist, 2nd part - various verses from the Psalter glorifying the righteous), luminaries, several. cycles of stichera-podnov, a number of samoglasnov, several. sedalnov. At vespers readings Gen. 18. 1-14, Judgment 13. 2-20, 1 Kings 1. 9-20a (partially coincide with the proverbs of June 24), at matins the prokeimenon from Ps. 15, with a verse from Ps. 67 (the discrepancy between the psalms indicates artificial late origin of the prokeemna), Gospel - Luke 1. 5-25.

Lit.: Dmitrievsky A. A. September 5th: Service (“ina”) of St. Prophet Zechariah and St. Righteous Elizabeth // RukSP. 1885. No. 44. P. 241-252.

A. A. Lukashevich

Iconography

The earliest image of E., mother of St. John the Baptist, preserved in the scene “Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth” on the mosaic of the cathedral church. Euphrasiana in Porec, Croatia (543-553): E. in a light yellow maforia and lilac dress meets the Mother of God on the threshold of the house, stretching out her hands to Her. In the painting c. Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome (mid-7th century) the image of E. is included in a unique composition, where on the sides of the throne of the Mother of God, holding a medallion with the Child Christ in front of her chest, full-length frontal figures of rights are presented. Anna with the Baby Mary (right) and E. with the Baby John (left) in her arms. Assimilation of E. rights. Anne is also reflected in the single image of the saint in the oranta pose with a medallion on her bosom as part of the Pala d'Oro (c. 1100, St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice). A similar option will be used in Russian. art of the era of Tsar John IV Vasilyevich, the same name prophet. John the Baptist. The image of E. with the figurine of the baby John in his bosom is present in the paintings of the Cathedral of the Assumption Monastery of Sviyazhsk (early 60s of the 16th century), on the west. wall as part of a composition illustrating the Christmas stichera.

Among St. wives mentioned in the Old Testament, the image of E. is found on the field of the icon “The Mother of God and Child on the Throne, with Prophets and Selected Saints” (2nd half of the 11th-12th centuries, monastery of the Great Martyr Catherine on Sinai) next to the right . Zechariah. E. is depicted in an olive dress and a dark maforia, in her left hand there is a scroll, and her right hand points to her mouth.

E. is depicted in the compositions of the life cycle of St. John the Baptist: “The Meeting of Zechariah and Elizabeth” (“The Conception of St. John the Baptist”), “The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth”, “The Nativity of St. John the Baptist”, “Flight into the Desert” (for example, the marks of Byzantine and Russian icons: in a light olive dress and dark maforia - on the icon “St. John the Baptist, with Life” (beginning of the 13th century, mon. ry of the Martyr Catherine on Sinai); on the icons “St. John the Baptist Angel of the Desert, with Life” - Yaroslavl, mid-16th century, YAM; Kostroma, ca. 1687, KGOIAMZ; Kostroma, last third of the 17th century, c The Resurrection of Christ on Debra, etc.).

Composition “Nativity of St. John the Baptist" as a separate story is often presented in Russian. iconography (for example, 2-sided tablets (on the back of one there is an image of St. John the Baptist, another - the Cathedral of the Apostles), Novgorod, late 15th century, both in the Tretyakov Gallery).

“The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth” also illustrates the lines of the 3rd Ikos of the Akathist to the Most Holy. The Mother of God “Having the Virgin womb” (for example, the chapel of St. Gregory the Theologian of St. Clement in Ohrid, Macedonia (1364-1365); icons “Praise of the Mother of God, with Akathist” from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, 3rd quarter. XIV century, GMMK, and Moscow, late 16th century, Tretyakov Gallery, fresco in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Ferapont Monastery (1502, master Dionysius), etc.). “The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth” and “Flight into the Desert” can be combined into a series of events depicted in complex compositions, such as, for example, on the icons “The Nativity of Christ” (from the collection of I. S. Ostroukhov, late 16th century. , Moscow; from the collection of A. V. Morozov, 2nd half of the 16th century, Kholmogory, both in the Tretyakov Gallery).

The plot of “The Conception of St. John the Baptist" is known as a separate image in Russian monuments. icon painting: on the icon of the Novgorod letter, which served as a temple image of the church in the village. Novokotovo, Tver region. (2nd half - end of the 15th century, Central Museum of Art and Culture, see: Icons of Tver, Novgorod and Pskov of the 15th-16th centuries // Edited by L. M. Evseeva, V. M. Sorokaty. M. , 2000 [Cat. collection Issue I]. Cat. 29. P. 142-145; Icons of the 13th-16th centuries in the collection of the Central Museum of Art and Culture: Cat. M., 2007. Cat. 14. P. 102-105) . On the left side, the righteous Zechariah and E. are depicted leaning towards each other. She is wearing a green dress and a scarlet maforia. Scenes "The Nativity of St. John the Baptist" and "Flight into the Wilderness" are described in the cycle "Miracles of the Forerunner" in Erminia by Hierom. Dionisia Furnoagrafiot (c. 1730-1733): “In the upper room, Elizabeth lies on the bed, half-covered with a blanket. A girl stands in front of her and waves a fan of peacock feathers around her. Other girls come out of the side room with food and present it to Elizabeth...”; “... there [in the mountains] Elizabeth, holding the baby John in her arms and looking back, runs into a cleft in the rock and hides in it from the warrior pursuing her” (Erminia DF. Ch. 3. § 21. P. 183). In Russian in the consolidated iconographic originals, despite the fact that the memory of E. and Zechariah is indicated under September 5, a description of the appearance of only the rights is given. Zechariah, and on September 23, in celebration of the conception of St. John the Baptist, the Gospel of Zechariah is described.

Single images of E. are found as part of mineain cycles. On miniatures from Greco-cargo. manuscripts of the 15th century, so-called Athos Book of Specimens (RNB. OI58), E. is depicted twice together with right. Zechariah. In the first case, their shoulder-shaped images in medallions reveal the rank of prophets (L. 48 vol.), in the second - under September 23. (L. 79) - E. is presented full-length in an oranta pose, dressed in a dark lilac maforium and a brown dress.

There is a rare example of an image of the hagiographic cycle of E., presented in 12 marks on an icon of the 1st half. XIX century (Central Russia; private collection) (see: Komashko N. I., Saenkova E. M. Russian hagiographic icon. M., 2007. P. 26-29).

Lit.: Antonova, Mneva. Catalog. T. 1. P. 144, 167; T. 2. P. 115, 149, 234; LCI. Bd. 6. Sp. 130; Lazarev V.N. History of the Byzantines. painting. M., 1983. Ill. 247, 328; Evseeva. Athos book. pp. 63, 202, 237.

E.P.I.

Poem about Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna

In 1884, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov dedicated a poem to Elisaveta Feodorovna. I look at you, admiring you every hour: You are so inexpressibly beautiful! Oh, that’s right, underneath such a beautiful exterior there’s an equally beautiful soul! Some kind of meekness and hidden sadness lurks in your eyes; Like an angel you are quiet, pure and perfect; Like a woman, shy and tender. May nothing on earth, amid the evils and much sorrow of Yours, sully your purity. And everyone, seeing you, will glorify God, who created such beauty!

Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent

After the death of her husband at the hands of a terrorist, Elisaveta Feodorovna began to lead an almost monastic lifestyle. Her house became like a cell, she did not take off her mourning, did not attend social events. She prayed in the temple and observed strict fasting. She sold part of her jewelry (giving to the treasury that part that belonged to the Romanov dynasty), and with the proceeds she bought an estate on Bolshaya Ordynka with four houses and a vast garden, where the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent of Mercy, founded by her in 1909, was located. There were two temples, a large garden, a hospital, an orphanage and much more. The first church in the monastery was consecrated in the name of the holy myrrh-bearing women Martha and Mary, the second - in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy, the charter of the monastery hostel was in effect. In 1910, Bishop Tryphon (Turkestan) ordained 17 nuns to the title of Cross Sisters of Love and Mercy, and the Grand Duchess to the rank of abbess. Archpriest Mitrofan Serebryansky became the confessor of the monastery. The abbess herself led an ascetic life. She fasted, slept on a hard bed, got up for prayer even before dawn, worked until late in the evening: distributed obediences, attended operations in the clinic, and conducted administrative affairs of the monastery. Elisaveta Feodorovna was a supporter of the revival of the rank of deaconesses - ministers of the church of the first centuries, who in the first centuries of Christianity were appointed through ordination, participated in the celebration of the Liturgy, approximately in the role in which subdeacons now serve, were engaged in catechesis of women, helped with the baptism of women, and served the sick. She received the support of the majority of members of the Holy Synod on the issue of conferring this title on the sisters of the monastery, however, in accordance with the opinion of Nicholas II, the decision was never made. When creating the monastery, both Russian Orthodox and European experience were used. The sisters who lived in the monastery took vows of chastity, non-covetousness and obedience, however, unlike the nuns, after a certain period of time, the charter of the monastery allowed the sisters to leave it and start a family. “The vows that the sisters of mercy made at the monastery were temporary (for one year, three, six, and only then for life), so, although the sisters led a monastic lifestyle, they were not nuns. The sisters could leave the monastery and get married, but if they wished, they could also be tonsured into the mantle, bypassing monasticism.” (Ekaterina Stepanova, Martha and Mary Convent: a unique example, article from the Neskuchny Garden magazine on the Orthodoxy and World website). “Elizabeth wanted to combine social service and strict monastic rules. To do this, she needed to create a new type of women's church ministry, something between a monastery and a sisterhood. Secular sisterhoods, of which there were many in Russia at that time, did not please Elisaveta Feodorovna for their secular spirit: sisters of mercy often attended balls, led an overly secular lifestyle, and she understood monasticism exclusively as contemplative, prayerful work, complete renunciation of the world (and, accordingly, work in hospitals, hospitals, etc.).” (Ekaterina Stepanova, Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent: a unique example, article from the magazine “Neskuchny Sad” on the website “Orthodoxy and the World”) The sisters received serious psychological, methodological, spiritual and medical training at the monastery. They were given lectures by the best doctors in Moscow, conversations with them were conducted by the confessor of the monastery, Fr. Mitrofan Srebryansky (later Archimandrite Sergius; canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church) and the second priest of the monastery, Fr. Evgeny Sinadsky.

Elisaveta Feodorovna dressed as a sister of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent

According to Elisaveta Feodorovna’s plan, the monastery was supposed to provide comprehensive, spiritual, educational and medical assistance to those in need, who were often not only given food and clothing, but helped in finding employment and placed in hospitals. Often the sisters persuaded families who could not give their children a normal upbringing (for example, professional beggars, drunkards, etc.) to send their children to an orphanage, where they were given an education, good care and a profession. A hospital, an excellent outpatient clinic, a pharmacy where some medications were provided free of charge, a shelter, a free canteen and many other institutions were created in the monastery. Educational lectures and conversations, meetings of the Palestine Society, Geographical Society, spiritual readings and other events were held in the Intercession Church of the monastery. Having settled in the monastery, Elisaveta Feodorovna led an ascetic life: at night caring for the seriously ill or reading the Psalter over the dead, and during the day she worked, along with her sisters, going around the poorest neighborhoods. Together with her cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva, Elisaveta Feodorovna often visited the Khitrov market, a place of attraction for the Moscow poor. Here mother found street children and sent them to city shelters. All of Khitrovka respectfully called the Grand Duchess “sister Elizabeth” or “mother.” She maintained relations with a number of famous elders of that time: Schema-Archimandrite Gabriel (Zyryanov) (Eleazar Hermitage), Schema-Abbot Herman (Gomzin) and Hieroschemamonk Alexy (Solovyov) (Elders of Zosimova Hermitage). Elisaveta Feodorovna did not take monastic vows. During the First World War, she actively took care of helping the Russian army, including wounded soldiers. At the same time, she tried to help prisoners of war, with whom the hospitals were overcrowded and, as a result, was accused of collaborating with the Germans. With her participation, at the beginning of 1915, a workshop was organized to assemble prosthetics from ready-made parts, mostly obtained from the St. Petersburg Military Medical Manufacturing Plant, where there was a special prosthetic workshop. Until 1914, this industry did not develop in Russia. Funds for equipping the workshop, located on private property at No. 9 Trubnikovsky Lane, were collected from donations. As military operations progressed, the need to increase the production of artificial limbs increased and the Grand Duchess Committee moved production to Maronovsky Lane, 9. Understanding the full social significance of this direction, with the personal participation of Elisaveta Feodorovna in 1916, work began on the design and construction of the first in Moscow Russian prosthetic plant, which is still producing components for prosthetics.

Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent of Mercy. Moscow, end of the 19th century.

Elisaveta Feodorovna wanted to open branches of the monastery in other cities of Russia, but her plans were not destined to come true. The First World War began, with the blessing of Mother, the sisters of the monastery worked in field hospitals. Revolutionary events affected all members of the Romanov dynasty, even Grand Duchess Elizabeth, who was loved by all of Moscow. Soon after the February Revolution, an armed crowd with red flags came to arrest the abbess of the monastery - “a German spy who keeps weapons in the monastery.” The monastery was searched; After the crowd left, Elisaveta Feodorovna said to the sisters: “Obviously we are not yet worthy of the crown of martyrdom.” After the October Revolution of 1917, the monastery was not disturbed at first; they even brought food and medicine to the sisters. The arrests began later. In 1918, Elisaveta Feodorovna was taken into custody. The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent existed until 1926. Some sisters were sent into exile, others united into a community and created a small vegetable garden in the Tver region. Two years later, a cinema was opened in the Church of the Intercession, and then a house of health education was located there. A statue of Stalin was placed in the altar. After the Great Patriotic War, the State Art Restoration Workshops settled in the monastery cathedral; the remaining premises were occupied by a clinic and laboratories of the All-Union Institute of Mineral Raw Materials. In 1992, the territory of the monastery was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. Now the monastery lives according to the charter created by Elisaveta Feodorovna. The nuns are trained at the St. Demetrius School of Sisters of Mercy, help those in need, work in the newly opened shelter for orphan girls on Bolshaya Ordynka, a charity canteen, a patronage service, a gymnasium and a cultural and educational center.

Sculptural portrait of Elizabeth Feodorovna by Pavel Trubetskoy, 1899

Statues of 20th century martyrs on the west façade of Westminster Abbey: Maximilian Kolbe, Manche Masemola, Janani Luwum, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Esther John, Lucian Tapiedi and Wang Zhiming

Prophet Zechariah and righteous Elizabeth. Orthodox calendar for September 18

Main church holidays, days of remembrance of saints and Orthodox shrines of today

September 18 (September 5 according to the “old style” - the church Julian calendar). Friday of the 15th week of Pentecost (fifteenth week after the great twelfth feast of the Holy Trinity, Pentecost). It's a fast day; at the meal, Lenten food with vegetable oil is blessed. Today in the Russian Orthodox Church the memory of 15 saints known to us by name and one revered shrine is celebrated. Next we will briefly talk about them.

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Holy Prophet Zechariah and Holy Righteous Elizabeth . Some of the most revered saints of God at the turn of the Old Testament and New Testament eras. The righteous parents of the greatest of the prophets - John the Baptist of the Lord . Righteous Zechariah was from a family of Old Testament priests and served in the Jerusalem Temple, and his wife, Righteous Elizabeth, was the sister of the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, Saint Anna.

Despite the fact that the pious spouses Zechariah and Elizabeth, according to the Holy Scriptures, lived in everything “walking blamelessly according to all the commandments of the Lord,” they did not have children, which in those days was considered a severe punishment from God. But one day, when Saint Zechariah was performing divine services, he received news from an Angel that Elizabeth, who was already in her old age, would give birth to a son who “will be great before the Lord.”

Righteous Zechariah dared to doubt the angel's message, for which he was punished by muteness. But the next year they actually had a son. And when the father was asked what he wanted to name the newborn, Zechariah wrote the name John on the tablet, and immediately the righteous old man returned to speech.

The prophet Zechariah died at a time when the wicked king Herod gave the order to kill all babies, hoping to destroy Christ Himself and His future Baptist John. Righteous Elizabeth managed to escape with her child, and the priest Zechariah was stabbed to death in the Jerusalem Temple right between the altar and the altar. After 40 days, his pious wife also departed to the Lord, but the Lord preserved the baby John.

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Venerable Martyr Athanasius of Brest . Western Russian saint of the 17th century from the Nativity of Christ, one of the most active and consistent fighters against the so-called Union of Brest, the forced accession of thousands of Orthodox Christians of Western Russia to the Catholic Church. Saint Athanasius was born at the end of the 16th century into an Orthodox family in the Brest region. Having received an excellent education, he took monastic vows. From 1638 to 1648, he was abbot of the Brest Simeon Monastery, where he selflessly defended Orthodoxy from the encroachments of the Uniates. It was for this that he was killed by a traitor to our faith. You can learn more about the Venerable Martyr Athanasius of Brest

Venerable Martyr Athanasius of Brest. Photo: www.pravoslavie.ru

Martyrs Fifael (Sarvil) and his sister Thebea (Vivea) . about these holy sufferers for Christ and His Church at the end of the 1st - first half the 2nd century from the Nativity of Christ. From their lives we only know that they accepted the crown of martyrdom not only for their loyalty to Christianity, but also for its successful preaching among the pagans. There is a version that Fifael himself was a pagan priest before accepting Christianity. After the most severe torture, Saint Thephael was hung from a tree and brutally sawed with a saw, and his righteous sister Thebea was stabbed to death with a spear in the neck.

Martyr Iraida (Raisa) of Alexandria . This saint died for her confession of the Christian faith in 308 AD. She voluntarily joined the Christian prisoners who were transported by ship from Alexandria to the Egyptian city of Antinoe (Antinole). Saint Iraida (Raisa) was the first to boldly go to execution, and other sufferers joined her.

Martyrs Iuventinus and Maximus warriors . These saints suffered for Christ and His Church during the years when Christianity was already proclaimed the state religion in the Roman Empire, but the wicked Emperor Julian the Apostate, who reigned in 361-363 , betrayed the great cause of his holy uncle, Equal-to-the-Apostles King Constantine the Great, and tried to revive paganism. Persecution began again against Christians, and those who dared to expose the apostasy of the wicked Julian were brutally tortured and killed. One of these sufferers were the holy warriors Juventinus and Maximus, who publicly opposed the sprinkling of food supplies with blood sacrificed to idols.

Martyrs Urvan, Theodore, Medimnus and with them 77 men from the church rank . These saints died for Holy Orthodoxy in 370 AD, when the Arian heretic emperor Valens reigned in the Roman Empire. They were representatives of the Orthodox clergy who were sent to the emperor with a request to stop the persecution of adherents of the true faith. After the audience, the wicked ruler Valens ordered the secret death of these holy confessors. When they returned home, their ship was set on fire, and all 80 sufferers received martyr's crowns.

Martyr Obadiah (Avid) of Persia . A Christian who publicly professed the true faith and refused to worship the sun and fire. He died after terrible torture, thanking the Lord until his last breath for the opportunity to die for Him. This happened in the 1st century AD under the Persian king Yazdegerd I.

Blessed Prince Gleb, David in Holy Baptism . The son of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir , this saint the 11th century from the Nativity of Christ was supposed to become the heir to the young Christian power, but his path turned out to be different: together with his brother Boris, he ended his earthly life tragically, giving all Russian people the main historical example that they Those who are vested with almost unlimited power are capable of voluntarily sacrificing it. And not only with power, but also with life. You can learn more about the noble prince-martyrs Boris and Gleb, their martyrdom and lesson, as well as about the Moscow shrine dedicated to these holy sufferers from our material published on the pages of Constantinople.

Holy princes-passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. Photo: www.pravoslavie.ru

Martyr Evfimy Kochev . This sufferer for Christ (Orthodox Komi, 70-year-old church warden of a village church) accepted the crown of martyrdom in Syktyvkar during one of the most terrible moments of the period of Soviet atheistic persecution - during the so-called Great Terror in 1937 . He was glorified as a saint among the many thousands of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church.

Finding the relics of the venerable confessor Alexander (Urodov) . This saint of the 20th century was tonsured at the famous Sanaksar monastery. After 1917, he served in various monasteries, including as their rector with the rank of archimandrite. Father Alexander suffered a lot, spending many years in prisons, camps and exile. But the Lord granted the priest to live to a ripe old age. Archimandrite Alexander (Urodov) died peacefully in 1961 , 40 years later his venerable relics were found, and the priest himself was canonized.

Orsha Icon of the Mother of God . This miraculous image of the Most Holy Theotokos was found in 1631 from the Nativity of Christ in Western Russian lands during the founding of the Kuteinsky Epiphany Monastery near the city of Orsha on the banks of the Kuteinka River.

Congratulations to all Orthodox Christians on the day of this shrine and to all today's saints! Through their prayers, Lord, save and have mercy on us all! We are happy to congratulate those who received names in their honor through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism or monastic tonsure! As they used to say in Rus' in the old days: “A golden crown for the Guardian Angels, and good health for you!”

To our departed relatives and friends - eternal memory!

Temples and monasteries

Several Orthodox monasteries in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, as well as churches, are dedicated to the Grand Duchess. The database of the website Temples of Russia (as of October 28, 2012) includes information about 24 operating churches in different cities of Russia, the main altar of which is dedicated to the Reverend Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna, 6 churches in which one of the additional altars is dedicated to her, and 1 under construction temple and 4 chapels. Operating churches in the name of the Holy Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna Alapaevskaya (construction dates in brackets) are located in Yekaterinburg (2001); Kaliningrad (2003); the city of Belousovo, Kaluga region (2000-2003); the village of Chistye Bory, Kostroma region (late 20th - early 21st centuries); cities of Balashikha (2005), Zvenigorod (2003), Klin (1991), Krasnogorsk (mid-1990s - mid-2000s), Lytkarino (2007-2008), Odintsovo (early 2000s), Shchelkovo (late 1990s - early 2000s), Shcherbinka (1998-2001) and the village of Kolotskoye (1993) in the Moscow region; Moscow (temples from 1995, 1997 and 1998, 3 churches from the mid-2000s, 6 churches in total); the village of Diveevo, Nizhny Novgorod region (2005); Nizhny Novgorod; village of Vengerovo, Novosibirsk region (1996); Orle (2008); the city of Bezhetsk, Tver region (2000); village of Khrenovoe (2007). Current churches with additional altars of the Venerable Martyr Elisaveta Feodorovna of Alapaevsk (construction dates in brackets) include: the Cathedral of the Three Great Hierarchs in the Spaso-Eleazarovsky Monastery, Pskov region, Elizarovo village (1574), additional altars - the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Venerable Martyr Elizaveta Feodorovna; Church of the Ascension of the Lord, Nizhny Novgorod (1866-1875), additional altars - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Icon of the Mother of God of the Burning Bush, Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna; Church of Elijah the Prophet in Ilyinsky, Moscow region, Krasnogorsk district, village. Ilyinskoe (1732-1740), additional thrones - John the Theologian, Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, Theodore of Perga; Church of the Savior Image Not Made by Hands in Usovo (new), Moscow region, p. Usovo (2009-2010), additional thrones - Icons of the Mother of God Sovereign, Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, Hieromartyr Sergius (Makhaev); Temple in the name of St. Elizabeth Feodorovna (Elizabeth Feodorovna), Sverdlovsk region, Yekaterinburg. Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Kursk region, Kurchatov (1989-1996), additional throne (2006) - Martyrs Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Varvara. The chapels are located in St. Petersburg (2009); Orle (1850s); Zhukovsky, Moscow region (2000s); Yoshkar-Ole (2007). The Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the Martyr Elisabeth Feodorovna in Yekaterinburg is under construction. The list includes home churches (hospital churches and churches located at other social institutions), which may not be separate structures, but occupy premises in hospital buildings, etc.

Icon of the kissing of the Mother of God by Righteous Elizabeth on the wall of the temple.

Thus, Elizabeth became the first person to proclaim to the Mother of God her future. Elizabeth’s words of greeting were included in the famous Christian prayer, called the Song of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Orthodoxy, and the Hail Mary in Catholicism. In response, the Virgin Mary uttered a majestic hymn of thanksgiving, beginning with the words “My soul magnifies the Lord” (Luke 1:46-55), known in the Western tradition as the Magnificat. According to the Gospel, Mary lived in the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth for about three months and returned to Nazareth shortly before the birth of John the Baptist.