St. Elizabeth the New Martyr: the Quest to Restore the Order of Deaconesses

THE CHURCH ACROSS TIME St. Elizabeth the New Martyr: The Quest to Restore the Order of Deaconesses Elena B. and Nadezhda A. Beliakova St. Elizabeth Fyodorovna (1864–1918) and charity. In his memoirs, Eliza- occupies a special place in Russian beth’s brother Ernest wrote that she history. had noticed that Russian nuns did lit- tle besides needlework, while nurses In 1884, Princess Elizabeth of Hesse were often so uninhibited that many and by Rhine, who was known as people regarded them negatively. Ella, married Grand Duke Sergei Al- This was why she decided to establish exandrovich, brother of the Russian something between a monastery and a Emperor Alexander III. She was the community of sisters of mercy. second child of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his first wife, Princess At the same time, Elizabeth became Alice of the United Kingdom. Prin- very familiar with the activities of cess Ella was raised in a deeply Chris- Western European deaconesses. The tian tradition of serving people. After Russian church press was also cov- seven years of marriage, Elizabeth ering this topic. In January 1906, Tsar converted to Orthodox Christianity. Nicholas II authorized a Preconciliar It was a carefully considered step Commission of the Russian Orthodox for her. In 1892, she established the Church to discuss necessary church re- Elizabeth Society—a charity to help forms. A presentation made by Arch- children of poor mothers—and very priest A. P. Maltsev, rector of the Or- soon branches of the Society were thodox Cathedral in Berlin, was titled, established in 224 Moscow parishes. “Our Mission Abroad Including the Elizabeth also headed the Women’s Order of Deaconesses.” In his presen- Committee of the Red Cross, and after tation, Maltsev spoke in detail about the beginning of Russo-Japanese War how priests in Switzerland, Norway, she organized the Special Committee Austria, England, Italy, and Greece to Assist Soldiers. served the poorest and how they organized shelters and schools. He also In 1905, Elizabeth’s husband was as- informed the Commission about the sassinated. Four years later, she sold charitable work of deaconesses, who all her jewelry to fund the opening belonged to different social classes and of the Convent of Saints Martha and were not bound by monastic vows, not- Mary in Moscow on February 10, ing that “it would be highly desirable 1909. The convent had a dual pur- to restore this forgotten but very useful pose, focusing on spiritual growth institution [in the Russian Church].” 22 Another call for the restoration of the ancient ecclesiastical rank of deaconesses came from Mother Catherine (Countess Efimovskaya, 1850–1925), abbess of Lesna Monastery. The Le- sna community had been established in Siedlce Province in western Russia (now Poland) in 1884 by Archbishop Leonty in order to strengthen Ortho- doxy in an area dominated by Greek Catholics. Mother Catherine was an energetic and talented woman with a medical degree. She and her nurses of mercy cared for sick peasants, and organized an orphanage and a school for children of all faiths. Mother Cath- erine believed that deaconesses could play an important role in society and that a number of social problems could be solved with their help. Fur- thermore, she thought that orders of deaconesses could attract educated women who otherwise would not be interested in joining a monastic community. In her 1905 memorandum on the foundation of a community of women deacons, she wrote: they would decide whether to stay or St. Elizabeth the leave. All of them went through both New Martyr. Due to the common belief that medical and religious training. monasticism is a strictly egocen- tric life aimed at individual salva- The Typikon of the Convent of Saints tion through fasting and prayer, it Martha and Mary was written by its is completely alienated from the confessor, Mitrofan Srebryansky. Due world. Our monasteries do not to Elizabeth’s reputation, the convent meet the high aspirations of edu- grew rapidly and soon it opened up cated Christian women who want new charitable institutions. In her to dedicate their lives to helping 1910 report, Elizabeth wrote: people, so they are usually completely filled with uneducated Every kind of charity we under- common girls. Many of them sim- took arose as an answer to calls ply seek improvement of their ma- for assistance from the poor, the terial being or social status. The sick, and the helpless. Some calls few intellectual women who do required visits to people’s homes join monasteries for some special in order to see firsthand the extent reason become completely lost for of their need and estimate what the mission of educating others should be done in order to help; and have no influence on society. others had to be treated for dis- eases and hunger; still others had Women could join the Lesna commu- to be saved from horrible living nity for a certain period after which conditions in order to enable them The Wheel 8 | Winter 2017 23 to get stronger morally and learn an abbess, after which she asked the basic literacy and things that every Synod of the Russian Church, on be- Orthodox Christian ought to know. half of the convent, to grant the sisters While coming to these needy with the official title of “Sister-Deacon- all possible assistance, the monas- esses.” She was well aware that the tery has been gradually expand- status of the monastery relied only ing its medicinal, educational, on her authority, and so she wanted and compassionate services. to secure its legitimacy, writing in a Our sisters visit needy people not letter dated January 1, 1912, that “this only for the sake of observing their order should be a specific part of the poverty, sometimes blatant and Church structure; otherwise it will terrible, but also from the desire fluctuate and, after my death, who to provide fraternal comfort and knows? It might be transformed into to embrace the poor, the sick, and a traditional Orthodox monastery or the helpless, following the exam- community.” Predictably, some mem- ple of the holy Myrrhbearers and bers of the clergy accused her of Prot- the holy deaconesses who would estantism. However, Metropolitan come to the suffering and sinners, Vladimir of Moscow supported Eliz bringing them the joy of the Holy abeth and filed a petition to the Synod Gospel. In Moscow alone there asking it to award the title of “Deacon- are about 100,000 needy families, ess” to the sisters of the convent. and up to 40,000 children in need of help. That is why these visits It should be noted in passing that are becoming an internal mission, Elizabeth was against the restoration to which our sisters have avowed of the liturgical function of deacon- themselves, devoting themselves esses that existed in the early church to serving the Lord and the Holy because, as she put it in an explana- Church. To find a perishing soul tory note on the purpose of the con- and help its salvation is a great vent: “The conditions of Church life deed of Christian benevolence and have changed. The consecration of a true image of Christianity. the ancient deaconesses was neces- sitated by their participation in the Thus, the modes of charity and assis- baptism of adult women, the an- tance that were practiced by the sis- nouncement of the baptized, and ters of the convent originated from a the old ritual of Communion, when deep understanding of the reality of a woman could enter the altar area. life in Russia. Elizabeth observed the Today, this is no longer needed, but contrast between the beauty of the Or- there is a need to preach the Chris- thodox tradition and the detachment tian faith and help others following of the Orthodox world from the grief the example of the ancient diaconate and distress of others, and this fuelled on behalf of the Church and for the her desire to find adequate ways to sake of Christ.” serve all those in need. The Typikon of the Convent of Saints The sisters of the convent wore special Martha and Mary was sent for review habits and were tonsured as “Sisters of to the church historian Alexey Afa- the Cross” in a rite designed by Bishop nasievich Dmitrievsky and canonist Tryphon of Dmitrov (Prince Boris Pet- Ilya Stepanovich Berdnikov. In his rovich, Grand Duke of Turkestan). letter to Elizabeth, Professor Dmi- On April 10, 1910, Elizabeth became trievsky wrote: “On the basis of a care- 24 ful study of the Church’s canons and madding crowd. If, however, ancient Christian liturgical practice, I the future Council of the Russian have come to the conclusion that the Church recognizes the need to re- restoration of the order of deaconesses store the order of deaconesses in would not contradict Orthodoxy and full, I, as a loyal daughter of the is desirable in the interests of modern Church, will be ready to obey. life. Moreover, based on the canons, Your Highness, I . agree with your In his report “On Deaconesses” classification of deaconesses: (1) dea- prepared for the Holy Synod, Dmi- coness-sisters are not part of the clergy trievsky argued for the importance and can leave the community and of a complete restoration of the an- even marry, and (2) deaconesses in cient ecclesiastical rank of female dea- the proper sense belong to the clergy cons. He believed that deaconesses and receive ordination.” should be ordained only after they had reached forty years of age. The In her response, Elizabeth explained cheirotonia (laying on of hands) should to Dmitrievsky her preference for dea- take place in accordance with early coness-sisters: Christian manuscripts that describe the ordination rite for deaconesses in To tell you the truth, I do not stand which, at the end of the rite, a female for the second form.

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