Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova was born on November 1, 1864 in Darmstadt. She was an Honorary Member and Chairman of the Palestinian Orthodox Society in 1905-1917, the founder of the Moscow Marfo-Mariinsky Convent.
Elizaveta Romanova: biography. Childhood and family
She was the second daughter of Ludwig IV (Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt) and Princess Alice. In 1878, diphtheria overtook the family. Not only sick Elizaveta Romanova, Empress Alexander (one of the younger sisters). The latter was in Russia and was the wife of Nicholas II. From diphtheria, the mother of Princess Alice and the second younger sister Maria died. After the death of his wife, Ella's father (the so-called Elizabeth in the family) married Alexandrina Gutten-Chapskaya. The children were brought up mainly by their grandmother in Osborne House. Since childhood, Ella has been instilled with religious views. She participated in charity affairs, received homework lessons. Of great importance in the development of the spiritual world of Ella was the image of St. Elizabeth of Thuring, famous for mercy. Friedrich of Baden (her cousin) was considered a potential groom. For some time Elizabeth was courted by the Crown Prince of Prussia, William. He also was her cousin. According to a number of sources, William made an offer to Ella, but she rejected him.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanova
On June 3 (15), 1884, the wedding of Ella and Sergey Alexandrovich, brother of Alexander III, took place in the Cathedral Cathedral. After the wedding, the couple settled in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace. Later it became known as Sergievsky. The honeymoon was held in Ilyinsky, where later Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova and her husband lived. At the insistence of Ella, a hospital was established in the estate, regular fairs for peasants began to be held.
Activities
Princess Elizabeth Romanova was fluent in Russian. Confessing Protestantism, she attended services in the Orthodox Church. In 1888, she made a pilgrimage with her husband to the Holy Land. Three years later, in 1891, Elizaveta Romanova converted to Christianity. Being at that time the wife of the Moscow Governor General, she organized a charity. Its activities were carried out first in the city itself, and then spread to the district. With all the church parishes of the province, Elizabethan committees were formed. In addition, the wife of the Governor-General led the Ladies Society, and after the death of her husband, she became chairman of the Moscow Red Cross. At the beginning of the war with Japan, Elizaveta Romanova established a special committee to help soldiers. A donation fund for soldiers was formed in the Kremlin Palace . Bandages were prepared in the warehouse, clothes were sewn, parcels were collected, camp churches were formed.
The death of a spouse
During the reign of Nicholas II, the country experienced revolutionary unrest. Elizaveta Romanova also spoke about them. The letters she wrote to Nicholas expressed her rather tough stance regarding freethinking and revolutionary terror. February 4, 1905 Sergei Alexandrovich was killed by Ivan Kalyaev. Elizaveta Fedorovna was going through a loss. Later, she came to the killer in prison and conveyed forgiveness on behalf of the deceased spouse, leaving the Gospel to Kalyaev. In addition, Elizaveta Fedorovna filed a petition to Nicholas for clemency of the criminal. However, it was not satisfied. After the death of her husband, Elizaveta Romanova replaced him with the post of Chairman of the Palestinian Orthodox Society. She was in this post from 1905 to 1917.
The foundation of the Martha-Mariinsky monastery
After the death of her husband, Ella sold jewelry. Having transferred to the treasury the part owned by the Romanov dynasty, Elizabeth bought the estate on Bolshaya Ordynka with a large garden and four houses with the money she received. The Marfo-Mariinsky monastery was arranged here. The sisters were engaged in charity affairs, medical activities. When organizing the monastery, both Russian Orthodox and European experience were used. The sisters who lived in it made vows of obedience, non-possession, and chastity. Unlike the monastic service, after a while they were allowed to leave the monastery and create families. The sisters received serious medical, methodological, psychological and spiritual training. Lectures were delivered by the best Moscow doctors, and conversations were led by the confessor Father Mitrofan Srebryansky (who later became Archimandrite Sergius) and father Eugene Sinadsky.
The work of the monastery
Elizaveta Romanova planned that the institution will provide comprehensive, medical and spiritual and educational assistance to all those in need. They were not only given clothes and food, but also often engaged in their employment and placement in hospitals. Often the sisters convinced families who could not give their children a proper upbringing and send them to a shelter. There they received good care, a profession, and education. There was a hospital in the monastery, it had its own outpatient clinic, a pharmacy, part of the drugs in which was free. The shelter also worked, there was a dining room and many other institutions. In the Intercession Church, educational talks and lectures were held, meetings of the Orthodox Palestinian and Geographical Societies, and other events were held. Elizabeth, living in the monastery, led an active life. At night, she looked after the seriously ill or read the Psalter over the dead. During the day, she worked with the other sisters: she went around the poorest quarters, visited the Hitrov Market on her own. The latter was considered at that time the most criminogenic place in Moscow. From there, she took the minors and took them to a shelter. Elizabeth was respected for the dignity with which she always held, for the lack of exaltation over the inhabitants of the slums.
Establishment of a prosthetic plant
During the First World War, Elizabeth actively participated in providing the Russian army and helping the wounded. At the same time, she tried to support the prisoners of war, which were then crowded with hospitals. For this, she was later accused of aiding the Germans. At the beginning of 1915, with her active assistance, a workshop for assembling dentures from finished parts was established. Most of the elements were then delivered from St. Petersburg, from the factory of military medical products. It had a separate prosthetic workshop. This industry was not developed until 1914. Funds for the organization of a workshop in Moscow were collected from donations. During the war, the need for products increased. By decision of the Princess' Committee, the production of prostheses was transferred from Trubnikovsky Lane to Maronovsky, in the 9th house. With her personal participation in 1916, work began on the design and construction of the country's first prosthetic plant, which works today, producing components.
Murder
After the Bolsheviks came to power, Elizaveta Romanova refused to leave Russia. She continued to work actively in the monastery. On May 7, 1918, Patriarch Tikhon served a prayer service, and half an hour after his departure, Elizabeth was arrested by order of Dzerzhinsky. Subsequently, she was sent to Perm, then transported to Yekaterinburg. She and other representatives of the Romanovs' house were placed in the Ataman rooms. After 2 months they were sent to Alapaevsk. Together with the Romanovs, the sister of the monastery of Barbara was also present. In Alapaevsk they were in the Outdoor School. Near its building grows an apple tree, which, according to legend, was planted by Elizabeth. On the night of July 5 (18), 1918, all prisoners were shot and dumped while still alive (except for Sergei Mikhailovich) in the Nov mine. Selimskaya, 18 km from Alapaevsk.
Burial
On October 31, 1918, White entered Alapaevsk. The remains of the executed were removed from the mine and placed in coffins. They were put to burial in the church at the cemetery of the city. But with the advance of the Red Army detachments, coffins several times transported further and further to the East. In April 1920, they were met in Beijing by Archbishop Innocent, the head of the Russian spiritual mission. From there, the coffins of Elizabeth Feodorovna and the Barbara sisters were transported to Shanghai, and then to Port Said and finally to Jerusalem. The burial was made in January 1921 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem Damian. Thus, the will of Elizabeth herself was fulfilled, expressed in 1888, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Worship
In 1992, the Council of Bishops the Grand Duchess and sister of Barbara were ranked as saints. They were included in the Council of Confessors and New Martyrs of Russia. Shortly before that, in 1981, they were canonized by the Orthodox Church abroad.
Relics
From 2004 to 2005, they were located in Russia, the Baltic countries and the CIS. More than 7 million people bowed to them. As Patriarch Alexy II noted, long lines of people to the relics of the New Martyr act as yet another symbol of repentance for sins, testify to the country's return to the historical path. After that, they returned to Jerusalem.
Monasteries and Temples
In honor of Elizabeth Fedorovna, several churches were built in Russia, Belarus. The information base for October 2012 contained information about 24 churches, the main throne of which is dedicated to her, 6 where it is one of the additional ones, as well as about one church under construction and 4 chapels. They are located in the cities:
- Yekaterinburg
- Kaliningrad.
- Belousov (Kaluga region).
- P. Chistye Bory (Kostroma region).
- Balashikha.
- Zvenigorod.
- Krasnogorsk.
- Odintsovo.
- Lytkarine.
- Schelkovo.
- Shcherbinka.
- D. Kolotsky.
- P. Diveevo (Nizhny Novgorod region).
- Nizhny Novgorod.
- S. Vengerovo (Novosibirsk region).
- Orel.
- Bezhetske (Tver region).
Additional thrones in temples:
- Three Saints in the Spassko-Elizarovsky Monastery (Pskov Region).
- Ascension of the Lord (Nizhny Novgorod).
- Elijah the Prophet (Ilyinsky, Moscow region, Krasnogorsk district).
- Sergius of Radonezh and the Martyr Elizabeth (Yekaterinburg).
- Savior Not Made by Hands in Usov (Moscow Region).
- In the name of St. Elisaveta Fedorovna (Yekaterinburg).
- Assumption Virgin Mary (Kurchatov, Kursk region).
- St. Martyr Vel. Princess Elizabeth (Shcherbinka).
Chapels are located in Orel, St. Petersburg, Yoshkar-Ola, in Zhukovsky (Moscow region). The list in the information database contains data on house temples. They are located in hospitals and other social institutions, do not occupy separate buildings, but are located in the premises of buildings and so on.
Conclusion
Elizaveta Romanova has always sought to help people, often even to the detriment of herself. Perhaps there was not a single person who would not respect her for all her affairs. Even during the revolution, when her life was in danger, she did not leave Russia, but continued to work. In difficult times for the country, Elizaveta Romanova gave all her strength to needy people. Thanks to her, a huge number of lives were saved; in Russia, an orthopedic factory, shelters for children, and a hospital were launched. Learning about the arrest, contemporaries were extremely surprised, because they could not imagine how dangerous it could be for the Soviet regime. On June 8, 2009, the Prosecutor General’s Office rehabilitated Elizabeth Romanova posthumously.