New Martyr Elizabeth

facing loss; encountering surrender; finding love

'But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ'.Philippians 3:7

The Orthodox theologian Fr. JohnChryssavgis has said: 'Reading the texts ofthe early ascetics, I have come to realize thatperhaps the most essential lesson learned inlife is the lesson of surrender, of letting go. Itis a hard lesson, and one that is onlyreluctantly embraced by most of us. But I amconvinced that this life is given to us in orderto learn how to lose. We think that thepurpose of a good spiritual life is to acquirevirtues, or perhaps to lead a solid, productive,dignified, admirable, and even influentiallifestyle. In fact, every detail -- whetherseemingly important or insignificant, whetherpainful or joyful -- in the life of each one of ushas but a single purpose, namely to prepareus for the ultimate act of sharing andsacrifice.’ ‘When you know how to lose, youalso know how to love! In some ways, everymoment in our life is a gradual refinement sothat we are prepared to encounter death,which is the ultimate loss.'

Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna'slife can be seen as continually facing thisspiritual truth: the early death of her mother,brother and sister; leaving her country of birth;changing the form of her christian faith; the

brutal murder of her husband; leaving 'theworld' to become a nun; leaving the conventshe founded through forced exile and finallyher own martyr's death. Yet her life is one thatcontinually radiates compassion and love.What is this connection between loss,surrender and love?

Elizabeth was born on November 1,1864, the daughter of Grand Duke Louis ofHesse-Darmstadt and Princess Alice, whowas daughter of Britain's Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria and her grandchildrenElla is seated on the right

She was named after St. Elizabeth ofTurigen, a paternal ancestor, whose life ofcharity and service to others influenced youngElla, as she became known within the family.Her mother was another great influence, whothrough her support for members of her familybecame known as the 'Angel of the House'.She considered it vital that her childrenbecame aware of the needs of others and Ellajoined her on visits to those benifitting fromher many welfare projects.

Two of Ella's childhood letters written toher grandmother, Queen Victoria, give insightto her early compassion and realization thatlife on earth contains suffering and sorrow.When Ella was fourteen, her mother andsister died from diphtheria and Queen Victoriawrote to her Hesse grandchildren, that theirloss would become 'only greater, and you willfeel day after day more and more theirreparable dreadful loss your darling Mama isto you!' 'treasure her in your hearts as aSaint'. In contrast, Ella replied, 'It has beensaid that death is a dark lattice that lets inbright day - and may that comfort you as it didpoor Mama in thinking of little May.' (May wasElla's sister who also died). Again she wroteto her grandmother, 'I feel so much for youand am grieved to hear how deeply you stillfeel the death of your true and faithful servant(the Scotsman John Brown)……but still itmust be a comfort to you to know that he isfree from the cares and sorrows of this world,may God comfort you'. Many years later,arrested by the Bolshevics and traveling toforced exile in Perm, she was able to write toher nuns in Moscow, 'We are all going throughthe same experience and find consolationonly in Him as we bear the cross of ourseparation. The Lord has found that it is timefor us to bear His cross. Let us try to beworthy of it. I thought we would be so weak,that we would not measure up to bearing such

a heavy cross but the Lord giveth and theLord taketh away. As it was pleasing to theLord, so it happened. Blessed be the name ofthe Lord for evermore.' Although thecircumstances differ, these letters convey astrong belief that our life belongs to God, andit is only in surrender to God that we can findtrue peace and love.

At the age of nineteen, deeply in love,she married Grand Duke Sergei, son of TzarAlexander II of Russia. She began to studyRussian language, culture and Orthodox faithbut hesitated about leaving the Lutheran faithfor fear of upsetting her family, until finally shelet go, and was received into the church bychrismation. After fourteen years of happymarriage her world was suddenly shattered bythe horrific, terrorist murder of her husband.She was at home in the Nicholas Palace,Moscow, when she heard an explosion.Fearing the worst, she rushed outside to findthe body of her husband blown to pieces. Herfirst shocked reaction was to gather togetherthe blood soaked parts of his body in acloth...'He never liked mess', so that theycould be taken to the chapel of the ChudovMonastery. There, still in blood stainedclothing, she attended prayers for the deadand comforted their two foster children saying,'He loved you so, he loved you.'

Serge and Ella on left with their neiceand nephew who later became their foster children

Later she removed all unnecessary furniturein her bedroom and had the walls paintedwhite to display icons. She never ate meat orfish again. It may seem that her withdrawalfrom the opulence of court life suggests deepemotional scarring; certainly her family wereconcerned, and some disapproved of herincreasingly monastic lifestyle. But thischange was no withdrawal from life or fall intoself-pity, but rather a cathartic opening to along held desire to help those who suffer. Sheexplained this in a letter to her brother-in-law,Tzar Nicholas, 'I took it up not as a cross - butas a road full of light. God showed me afterSerge's death and which years and yearsbefore had begun in my soul. I can't tell youwhen - it seems to me often that already as(a) child there was a longing to help those thatsuffer.' Even on the day of Serge'sassassination, after drafting telegrams tofamily in Russia and abroad, she made twohospital visits; the first to Serge's coachmanwho was dying of injuries, and the second tothe bedside of Countess Mengden who wasrecovering from an operation. She decidedthat it was best to keep silent about herhusband’s death.

Ella soon after Serge’s death

As her sister Victoria recalled, 'It wasvery difficult for her to keep from showing anyemotion and talk in a natural manner (so) she

took refuge in reading a book aloud to thepatient.’ Later, in stictest secrecy, she visitedthe assassin Kalayev in prison and spoke withhim alone. Their conversation remains privatebut it seems it was to try to reconcile herhusband's killer with God. 'I have nothing todo with earthly justice,' she told her sister, 'Itwas his soul and not his body that I wasthinking of.' She found light in the deepdarkness of mourning through focussing onGod and the needs of others.

Four years after Serge’s death, withguidance from bishops and the Holy Synod ofthe Russian Church, Grand DuchessElizabeth founded the Convent of Mercy of StMartha and Mary. Her vision was that she andher sisters would devote their lives to prayer,tending the sick, helping the poor and takingcare of the many street children. Sheestablished a rent-free hostel, hospital, clinic,school for nurses and a soup kitchen. Shetook part in all the work and visited even themost dangerous parts of Moscow. She wasloved by all those who met her, some ofwhom never knew she was a member of theroyal family. On becoming Abbess she wroteto Tzar Nicholas, ‘I am espousing Christ andHis cause, I am giving all I can to Him and ourneighboughs, I am going deeper into ourOrthodox Church’. When the Revolution camein 1917, at first the Bolsheviks did not interferewith the Convent although churcheseverywhere were being desecrated. Shewrote to her sister, the Tzarina, ‘We labour,pray, hope, and every day we feel DivineMercy. In fact, it is a constant miracle that weexperiece; others begin to feel it too, andcome to our Church to seek rest for theirsouls. Pray for us, dear soul.’ Finally theBolsheviks arrived to arrest her, allowing twosisters to accompany their Abbess into exilewhere they were joined by other royal family.Accounts and facts concerning their martyr’s

death are contradictory, but we do know thatthe victims were severely beaten before beingthrown down a disused mine shaft in the earlyhours of July 18th. None of them drowned inthe water and after hearing their voices it isclaimed that two grenades were then thrownin. Sounds continued so the mine shaft wasfilled with brushwood and set alight. It wasalso claimed that hymn singing was heard, butthe post-mortem of the bodies revealedsevere chest injuries which would probablyhave made singing impossible, but not moresilent prayer.

Abbess Elizabethwith her godson and nephew

What form of prayer supported AbbessElizabeth throughout her life? We know thatshe practiced the Jesus Prayer and joined thedaily prayer in the Convent church. If ahospital patient died, prayers were read untiltheir burial, with Abbess Elizabeth reading thePsalter through the night. During her exile theother captives would join her to celebrateVespers. However, one of the most movingaccounts of her compassionate prayer forothers is of her silent prayer.

In 1915 Abbess Elizabeth and threerelatives, all recently widowed, gathered for ameal. After the meal, while the others wereresting, Abbess Elizabeth and DuchessTatiana sat together. Tatiana wrote, ‘I kneeleddown before her, and put my hands on herknees. I looked straight into her eyes and shegazed into the depths of mine. Silently. Forhalf an hour. Without uttering a singleword.………..Impetuously, a torrent from myanguished soul passed from my being tohers…………..I felt she understoodeverything………She consoled me, gave mestrength……Silently. Without a singlemovement. After half an hour I rose, kissedher hand, and said, “Thank you.” Glory to Godfor everything.’

In a book on prayer, MetropolitanAnthony writes about our relationship betweenloss and love: ‘The life and health that wepossess we cannot keep, and not only healthbut so many of our psychosomaticqualities:..…If we realise that we have nobeing in ourselves, and yet we exist, we cansay that there is a sustained unceasing act ofdivine love. If we see that whatever we have,we can no wise compel to be ours, theneverything is divine love, concretelyexpressed at every single moment; and thenpoverty is the root of perfect joy because allwe have proves love….Then we come to thejoyful thought: ‘Thanks be to God, it is notmine; if it were mine, it would meanpossession, but alas without love.’ Therelationship to which this thought brings us iswhat the gospel calls the kingdom of God.The moment when we discover God within thesituation and that all things are God’s andeverything is of God, then we begin to enterthis divine kingdom and acquire freedom.’

Extract of Interview with Fr. John Chryssavgis Publ. Zenit 2006 http://www.zenit.org/article-16614?l=english

Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Lubov Millar, Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society 1991

Ella, Princess, Saint and Martyr, Christopher Warwick, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 2006

Grand Duchess Elizabeth, DVD- English version by St. Innocent/ Firebird Videos, Audios & Books 1992

Living Prayer, Metropolitan Anthony, Darton, Longman & Todd 1966 p.23-25