biarritzbasquegirl: Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna: Beauty, Princess, Martyr, Saint (1864
biarritzbasquegirl: Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna: Beauty, Princess, Martyr, Saint (1864 - 1918) Part 3 of 3As the political climate became more turbulent in Russia, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich knew that he was being “hunted” by terrorists just as his father Alexander II had been (even though these two Romanovs had opposite political views.) In 1905, as he was preparing his retirement as Governor General of Moscow, he was blown to pieces by a bomb. Immediately after her husband’s gruesome death, her family feared for Ella’s sanity. But she soon recovered her equanimity. It seemed as though Sergei’s departure from the world also signaled her own. After a period of grief, intense prayer and seclusion, Ella went into action (quite purposeful and well thought out.) She settled a substantial dowery on her niece Marie and arranged an appropriate dynastic marriage for the young woman (which did not work out and earned Ella much criticism later on.) Her nephew Dmitry was left extremely well off and became the proprietor of one of his uncle’s most luxurious palaces in Saint Petersburg; he would be busy for the next few years completing the military education required of all Romanov Grand Dukes and breaking hearts. Ella then sold her extensive jewelry collection (her wedding ring included) and with that money proceeded to buy land and build the convent of Martha and Mary in Moscow.She had to use all her connections to found her religious order and have the Holy Synod recognize it. She became the Abbess of the convent. Orthodox nuns in Russia had traditionally lived a cloistered life of contemplation and prayer. Those in the order founded by Ella were quite active, visiting the slums and taking care of the poorest of the poor, the orphaned and the sick and dying; Mother Elizabeth worked side by side with them. Eventually, the convent of Martha and Mary boasted of a hospital, a pharmacy, an orphanage and a church in its grounds. The hospital was one of the best in Moscow. Of course, Ella imparted to everything a touch very much her own. The icons and frescoes in the church were painted by famous painter and iconographer Mikhail Nesterov, who also designed the habits for the order. Her convent was beautiful inside, with white walls decorated by blue and gold frescoes. Eventually the church would be considered a work of art.In April of 1918, the Bolsheviks arrested the Grand Duchess. In May, she was taken to the Siberian city of Alapayevsk. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, his secretary Fiodor Réméz, Princes John, Konstantine and Igor Konstantinovich, and Vladimir Palei (son of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich by his second wife) had also been delivered there. The sisters who accompanied Elisabeth were released, but Sister Barbara (who had been her maid prior to following her into religious life) was allowed to stay with her. On the night of July 5, 1918, Ella, Sister Barbara and the other members of the imperial family were thrown into an old abandoned mine near Alapayevsk. Granades were thrown into the mine. Only one of them perished as a result of the initial fall and the grenades. The others were left to die a slow death. Religious hymns were heard coming out of the mine for a long time…and then they stopped.In 1920, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna’s remains and those of Sister Barbara were taken to Jerusalem and laid to rest in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives (the same church Ella and Sergey had helped build and then visited many years before. At that time, Ella had expressed her wish to be buried there.) In 1981 she was canonized outside of Russia. Canonization in Russia followed in 1992. Photographs: 1. Abbess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova; 2. Ella and some of her sisters with soldiers; 3. Ella as beauty and saint; 4. Abbess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova; 5. (a) Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow (b) The Imperial family with Ella posing at the door of the convent/church © Religious depiction of the martyrs of Alapayevsk (d) Icon of Saint Elizabeth; 6. A statue of Saint Elizabeth Feodorovna among other martyrs above one of the doors to Westminster Abbey; 7. Two photographs of Saint Elizabeth; 8. Depiction of Ella at the Alapayevsk mine shaft; 9. Saint Elizabeth’s relics at the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene of Gethsemane; 10. Beautiful Ella -- source link
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