Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Grand Duchess Elizabeth of by Lyubov Miller Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia: New Martyr of the Communist Yoke (L. Millar) To learn to be an Orthodox Christian is not just a manner of proper belief, but also of proper action. So it is not enough to study theology and read the right books. We also have the example of Orthodox saints who have struggled before us, and emulate their examples. I find the lives of modern saints particularly valuable in this regard- they are some challenges we face in modern times that those living in the early centuries A.D. never had to experience. St. Elizabeth the New-Martyr might be the most prominent of the 20th-century saints. Her life story is compelling, tragic, and thoroughly modern. She was a covert from the Lutheran church, a German noble wife of a Russian duke and sister of Empress Alexandra (wife of Tsar Nicolas II). St. Elizabeth lived and worked in the tumult of the First World War and the Russian Revolution. After the tragic death of her husband, St. Elizabeth left her life of privilege and comfort and instead became a nun, and founder of a unique monastic community that focused on healing the sick and helping the forgotten poor. Alas, she was killed shortly after the communists took control of Russia. St. Elizabeth the New Martyr does not appear much in secular history books, despite how close she was to the events of the Russian revolution. This is a pity, because her story is remarkable! There are a lot of valuable primary sources in this book. Since she was a royal, a lot of her letters to friends and family were preserved. These range from fanciful writings to her grandmother, Queen Victoria, as a young girl, to deeply profound spiritual meditations written later in her life. Ms. Millar reproduces a lot of these letters verbatim, and they are a wonderful personal perspective to life in the tumultuous late 19th and early 20th centuries, and also a unique glimpse as to how the thinking of a Godly woman matures from childhood to martyrdom. Ms. Millar also provides documents about the running of her Sts. Martha and Mary convent, and the tireless work the sisters did on behalf of the poor and ignored. Liubov Millar has written a wonderful biography. I love how much joy permeates the pages of this book, which on the fact of it, tells a really tragic story. St. Elizabeth grew up as a princess, is widowed at a young age, has everything she built and worked for destroyed by the communists, and ends up dead in an abandoned mine pit. We see the raw pain that she goes through, but also how it compels her to go out and heal the suffering of those around her. We feel the cruelty of her tormentors, but also the depth and sincerity of her forgiveness. I feel privileged to be able to read this story 20 years after the end of the cold war, to read in the book’s epilogue how her labors of love and kindness inspire imitators today in Russia and in the whole world, while the Soviet Union has become a forgotten relic. In our age, where the forces of cruelty and violence seem no less formidable than in St. Elizabeth’s time, her story is a crucial reminder that God is still sovereign, and those seemingly futile acts of faith, hope, and love will win out in the end. St. Elizabeth’s story is one that all Orthodox Christians should know, and Ms. Millar’s book is a wonderful account. Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia. Book Description Condition: Very Good. Hardcover VG+/VG DJ; Gently used with modest show of wear. Free of any markings and no writing. For Additional Information or pictures, Please Inquire. Seller Inventory # SKU04285. 2. Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia. Book Description Condition: Good. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust Jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,600grams, ISBN:1879066041. Seller Inventory # 8292638. 3. Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia. Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Item is in very good condition. If supplemental codes/CDs for textbooks are required please contact us prior to purchasing as they may be missing. Photos are stock pictures and not of the actual item. Seller Inventory # DS-1879066041-2. 4. Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia. Book Description Condition: Good. A+ Customer service! Satisfaction Guaranteed! Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. Seller Inventory # 1879066041-2-4. Grand Duchess Ella. The life and work of Grand Duchess Ella (Elizabeth Fyodorovna of Russia) continue to resonate in Russian society. The elder sister of the Tsarina shared her fate at the hands of the , a sad and premature end to a life dedicated to helping the less fortunate.Christopher Warwick’s acclaimed new biography of Ella sheds new light on a remarkable woman, writes Jonathan Taylor. Ella’s deep religious devotion, her sacrifices for the Russian people and her violent murder eventually led to her canonisation by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2001. A shrine to her memory exists at the Martha and Mary Convent, which she founded in Moscow in the years after her husband’s assassination. She is also distinguished as one of the ten 20th-century martyrs from across the world depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey, London. Ella was born on November 1, 1864, the second child of Grand Duke Louis IV of Hesse and Princess Alice of Great Britain, Queen Victoria’s third child. Louis and Alice’s children were destined to marry amongst Europe’s most powerful royal families. Apart from the future Tsarina Alix and Ella marrying into the Romanov dynasty, their sisters Princess Victoria of Hesse and Princess Irene both married well. Victoria to the minor German prince, Louis Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Milford Haven; Princess Irene to Prince Albert Wilhelm Heinrich of Prussia, younger brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Alix and Ella, who would both become deeply religious as they grew older, were marked by the loss of theiry oungest sister Marie and their mother. The cause of the tragedy was diptheria, which swept through the Hesse household in the winter of 1878, killing Marie and a few weeks later Princess Alice. Ella was fortunate not to be in Hesse at the time and was the only member of the family not affected by the outbreak. (Above) Ella’s rooms in the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary were located in the low building. This school room is now a chapel dedicated to Ella’s memory. (Top) 23 April 1894. The Newly engaged, ‘Nicky’ Tsarevich Nikolai Romanov and ‘Alix’ Princess Alexandra of Hesse (back row left), photographed in Darmstadt with Victoria, Princess Louis of Battenberg, Ernie,Grand Duke of Hesse,Irene (front row left), Ella, Victoria Melita (‘Ducky’, Ernie’s first wife) and Grand Duke Serge. Ella married before Alix, to Grand Duke Sergei Romanov in 1884. Sergei was the fifth son of Tsar Alexander II. However, the marriage was not a happy one, possibly partly due to the fact of Sergei’s alleged homosexuality. Russian high society was becoming more tolerant regarding sexuality, and Sergei did not hide his, but Ella’s upbringing and nature were conservative and she struggled to come to terms with her husband, a rather harsh character who was in political matters a reactionary. The pivotal moment in Ella’s lifecame in 1905 when autocracy in the shape of Sergei in his role as Commander of the Moscow Military was confronted by revolutionary terrorism. Ivan Kalyayev, a young socialist-revolutionary,carried out the Grand Duke’s assassination on February 17,1905. It was a brutally simple murder – a bomb was thrown into Sergei’s coach as he and his coachman neared the official residence in the Moscow Kremlin. It was a gruesome sight – Sergei’s body was shattered by the blast and days later body parts were still being found in the vicinity. Kalyayev was arrested immediately. Days later the grief stricken Ella visited her husband’s murderer in the hope of persuading him to repent so that his soul would be saved. He refused and was subsequently hanged on May 23, 1905. There is no doubt that the loss of her husband affected Ella profoundly, in a sense she spent the rest of her life in mourning. Yet her almost morbid response to the murder spurred her into action and in some respects softened her character. Tragedy brought Ella’s humanity out and her inner strength proved to be remarkable. Grand Duchess Ella withdrew from a world she found unbearably cruel – she gave away her jewellery, sold many of her possessions and became a nun. With the proceeds she opened the ‘Convent of Saints Martha and Mary’ in Moscow and for many years helped the city’s poor and its orphans. Ella’s mission of mercy developed into a new vision of a diaconate for women. In April 1909 Ella and seventeen women were dedicated as Sisters of Love and Mercy. Their work flourished and soon they opened a hospital and a variety of other philanthropic ventures arose. Alix and Ella with their mother Princess Alice of Great Britain. Photo © Leppi Publications. July 18, 1918 – Execution of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Five Other Romanovs. On July 18, 1918, the day after the execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (age 53) and five other Romanovs, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (age 59), Prince Ioann Konstantinovich (age 32), Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich (age 28), Prince Igor Konstantinovich (age 24), and Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley (age 21) along with Varvara Alexeievna Yakovleva, a nun from Elizabeth’s convent, and Feodor Semyonovich Remez, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich’s secretary, were executed by the Bolsheviks. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna in her nun’s habit; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. The second of the seven children of Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, and a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was born Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine. She was known in her family as Ella and was an elder sister of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (born Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine), the wife of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia. In 1884, Ella married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the second youngest son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. The couple had no children but they later became the guardians of the children of Sergei’s brother Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich: Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the younger), and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. The children’s mother Alexandra of Greece and Denmark had died in 1891 giving birth to Dmitri, and they spent much time with Sergei and Ella. In 1905, Grand Duke Sergei was assassinated when a bomb was thrown into his carriage. Four years after her husband’s assassination, Ella sold all her jewelry and with the proceeds opened the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary in Moscow and became its abbess. A hospital, pharmacy, and orphanage were opened on the convent’s grounds, and Ella and her Russian Orthodox nuns spent their time serving the poor of Moscow. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. Born in 1869, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia and Cecile of Baden (Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna). His father was a son of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia. Sergei had a military career, achieving the rank of Adjutant General. He served as General Inspector of the Artillery and Field Inspector General of Artillery. Grand Duke Sergei never married but had a long affair with the famous ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska who had previously been the mistress of Nicholas II while he was still unmarried and the heir to the throne. Prince Ioann Konstantinovich; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. Prince Ioann Konstantinovich was born in 1886 and was the eldest of the six sons and the eldest of the nine children of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich, a grandson of Nicholas I, and Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg (Elizaveta Mavrikievna). Ioann was very religious and thought about becoming a monk but he fell in love. In 1911, he married Princess Helen of Yugoslavia, daughter of King Peter I of Yugoslavia and Zorka of Montenegro, and she took the name Yelena Petrovna. The couple had two children: (1914 – 1973) (1915 – 2007) Ioann fought in and was a decorated war hero. His sister Princess Vera Konstantinovna, his mother Grand Duchess Elizaveta Mavrikievna, and wife Princess Yelena Petrovna left Russia in April 1919 with help from Swedish and Norwegian diplomats. Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. Nicknamed Kostya, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich was born in 1891, the third of the six sons and fourth of the nine children of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich, a grandson of Nicholas I, and Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg (Elizaveta Mavrikievna). Prince Konstantin wanted to act in the theater but instead, he attended the Corps des Pages, a military academy . He served as an officer in the Izmaylovsky Regiment during World War I. Prince Igor Konstantinovich; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. Prince Igor Konstantinovich was the fifth of the six sons and the six of the nine children of Grand Duke Konstantine Konstantinovich, a grandson of Nicholas I, and Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg (Elizaveta Mavrikievna). He was born in 1894 and like his brother Konstantin, Igor liked the theater and attended the Corps des Pages, a military academy in Saint Petersburg. Despite having fragile health, Igor served with the Izmaylovsky Regiment during World War I and was a decorated war hero. Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. Born in 1896, Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley was the son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (the youngest child of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia) and his mistress Olga Valerianovna Karnovich. In 1902, Grand Duke Paul, who was a widower, made a with Vladimir’s mother. Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria created Olga Valerianovna Countess von Hohenfelsen in 1904, and Vladimir was titled Count Vladimir von Hohenfelsen. In 1915, Olga Valerianovna was created Princess Paley by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia which allowed Vladimir to use the title of Prince Paley. Vladimir grew up in Paris and then attended the Corps des Pages, a military academy in Saint Petersburg. During World War I, he fought with the Emperor’s Hussars and was a decorated war hero. A talented poet from an early age, Vladimir published two volumes of poetry and wrote several plays and essays. On March 9, 1918, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was arrested in St. Petersburg and, with his secretary Feodor Semyonovich Remez, was sent to Perm, a city in Perm Krai, Russia. The three brothers – Princes Ioann, Konstantin, and Igor – along with Prince Vladimir Paley, were arrested in St. Petersburg on March 26, 1918. In late April, all four were transferred to the “red capital of the Urals” – , a city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was arrested in Moscow on May 7, 1918, along with Varvara Alexeievna Yakovleva, the nun from her convent, and was first sent to Perm and then to Yekaterinburg. With the family of Nicholas II also in Yekaterinburg, the Bolsheviks decided that there was too much of a concentration of Romanovs and decided part of them scatter them. On May 20, 1918, they were all taken to Alapaevsk, a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, where they were kept in the Napolnaya School. During the beginning of their confinement, the prisoners had a certain amount of freedom. They were allowed to write letters, leave the school to go to church, and were able to walk in a nearby field. Elizabeth Feodorovna spent her time praying, painting, and embroidering. The prisoners could sit in a small garden where they sometimes drank tea in the fresh air. Their so-called freedom disappeared in mid-June 1918 when there was an incident during the execution of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, the brother of Nicholas II. It appeared to his executioners that Michael had been trying to escape after the gun that was intended for him misfired. The incident was used by local authorities to justify the necessity of keeping all imprisoned Romanovs under a strict regime of imprisonment. All their property was confiscated including shoes, clothes, linens, pillows, jewelry, and money. They each were left with only one set of clothes, one pair of shoes, and two sets of linens. In addition, they were prohibited from leaving the school, could not write letters, and had limited food rations. On the night of July 18, 1918, the prisoners were awakened and told they needed to be taken to a safe place because there was a risk of armed raids. The prisoners were blindfolded and their hands were tied behind their backs. The women were placed in a horse-drawn cart and the men in another. Only Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich resisted. The prisoners were taken out of town to one of the abandoned iron ore mines known as Lower Selimskaya. When the carts reached the destination, the prisoners were made to walk into the forest. They walked to the edge of a mine shaft that was partially filled with water. According to the personal account of Vassili Ryabov, one of the killers, the prisoners were then hit in the head and thrown into the mine shaft. Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich once again resisted and he was shot in the head and thrown down the mine shaft. When it was obvious that the prisoners were not dead, grenades were thrown down the mine shaft. All was quiet but after a short time, talking was heard and more grenades were thrown down the mine shaft. The prisoners then started singing the prayer “Lord, Save Your People.” This terrified the executioners. They had no more grenades and it was necessary for them to finish their job. The executioners set fire to wood and threw it down the shaft. The hymns and prayers continued for a while and then stopped. The mission was accomplished. The mineshaft in Alapaevsk where remains of the Romanovs killed there were found; Photo Credit – By Витольд Муратов – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7964735. On September 28, 1918, the White Army captured , hoping to rescue the prisoners from the school building. Some local peasants directed them to the abandoned mine and on October 8, 1918, bodies began to be retrieved from the mine shaft. After a medical examination and autopsy, the bodies were washed, wrapped in white shrouds, and placed in wooden coffins. Funeral services were held and the coffins were placed in the crypt of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Alapayevsk where they remained until July 1919. Holy Trinity Cathedral in Alapayevsk; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. For their safety, the coffins were moved around Russia during struggles between the White Army and the Red Army. The coffins made their way to , where they were interred in a chapel at the former Russian Mission. In 1921, the remains of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna were interred at the St. Mary Magdalene Church on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem along with the remains of her fellow nun Varvara Yakovleva. The church was built in 1886 by Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia to honor his mother Empress Maria Alexandrovna, born Marie of Hesse and by Rhine, a first cousin once removed of Elizabeth. Tomb of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna; Photo Credit – Автор: Deror Avi – собственная работа, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6527236. In 1957, the chapel at the former Russian Mission in Beijing, China was demolished and the coffins of the five Romanov men were moved to the Russian Orthodox cemetery in Beijing. However, in the late 1980s, the Chinese converted the cemetery into a park and it is believed that the coffins are now buried under a parking lot. Tombs of Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich and Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich at the crypt of All Holy Martyrs Church (Beijing) circa 1938-1947; Photo Credit – Wikipedia. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna was canonized in 1981 as New-Martyr Elizabeth by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia along with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, Prince Ioann Konstantinovich, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich, Prince Igor Konstantinovich, Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, and Varvara Yakovleva. However, Feodor Remez, Grand Duke Sergei’s personal secretary, was not canonized. They are known as the Martyrs of Alapaevsk. In 1992, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and Varvara Yakovleva were canonized as New-Martyr Elizabeth and New-Martyr Barbara by the Russian Orthodox Church. The others killed with them were not canonized. Icon of the Martyrs of Alapaevsk; Credit – Автор: группа иконописцев Православного Свято-Тихоновского Богословского Института – [1], Добросовестное использование, https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1807234. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna is one of the ten 20th-century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London, England. Ella’s convent was closed in 1920 during the Soviet regime, but the convent was re-opened in 1994 and the sisters there continue doing the work Ella started. Statue of Elizabeth (far left) and other martyrs of the 20th century at Westminster Abbey in London; Credit – Wikipedia. Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, 1864 – 1918. Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia was how she became more commonly known, however she was born as Princess Elizabeth of Hesse and by Rhine. Her mother was Princess Alice, the third child of Queen Victoria and her father was Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. Both her parents died young, her mother in particular was only 36 when she contracted diphtheria and died along with Elizabeth’s youngest sister Marie. The impact of losing her mother when she was only 14 made Elizabeth keen for her own family. She was much admired throughout European Royal courts and had many suitors, including her own cousin the future Kaiser Wilhelm II. Having turned down several proposals she agreed to marry the dashing Grand Duke Sergei of Russia. He had showered her with gifts of great value, though this didn’t necessarily win over the princess, who initially said no to him. However his charm won her over and they were married in June 1885. Upon Elizabeth’s arrival in Russia she was perceived by the people as a positive influence to the Romanov family. This was helped by her sincere conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church, a pinnacle part of many of the populations lives. Despite her popularity, there were issues in her marriage. Six years after the wedding, and no children to show for it, rumours circulated that the Duke was in actual fact homosexual. Whether or not this was the case, the couple fostered two children and created a family home in St. Petersburg. After his appointment as Governor of Moscow in 1892 they moved to the capital, residing in Kremlin Palaces. It was while living here the political situation in Russia, which had always been troublesome, grew to an ultimately damning height. The autocratic power of the Romanov family and the weakness of the Duke’s nephew and Elizabeth’s brother-in-law, Tsar Nicholas II would play a major factor in the fall of the and the death of Elizabeth. The Assassination of the Duke in 1905 by a notable revolutionary group signaled the end of royal life for Elizabeth. She made the drastic decision to become a nun and give up all her worldly possessions and riches and proceeded to devote her time to helping the poor and destitute living in abhorrent conditions throughout the city. Elizabeth She became Abbess of Saints Martha and Mary Convent, establishing orphanages and hospitals to support the sick and vulnerable. This work continued throughout the First World War with her pioneering nursing training to assist with vast number of casualties. Her efforts were not matched by her sister, the Tsarina Alexandra, who played an instrumental role in the failures of the war by her poor judgement and influence over her husband. Alexandra’s demise came before her sister’s. The brutal murder of the Tsarina, the Tsar and their 5 children in 1918 by the Bolshevik’s, has been consider one of the worst atrocities of the War. Elizabeth, despite her pious living and care of the people, was not spared. The Bolshevik’s seized her from the monastery, and along with several other prisoners, dragged them to the a remote area, beat them then threw them into a deep pit. Elizabeth was pushed first, but survived the fall. The killers above, realised this and threw down a grenade, however an orthodox hymn could be quietly heard, led no doubt by Elizabeth. A second grenade was thrown, yet the singing continued. It was the use of flames that eventually silenced the victims. The later discovered bodies showed that Elizabeth had helped bandage the hurt other prisoners, even though she herself was badly injured. In 1981 Elizabeth was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Elizabeth Romanov. In 1998, a statue of Elizabeth was included as one of the ten 20th century modern martyrs above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey.