Orthodox Icon of St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess

Saint Elizabeth the Grand Duchess COPYRIGHTED ART. Do not copy or deep-link to without prior permission from "COME AND SEE" Icons, Books & Art.

July 5th
Troparion (Tone 4)
You rejected worldly vanity and glories, having chosen the way of the ascetics, and you were guided by Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, how to unite the teachings of Christ with good deeds. Together with Barbara, your fellow-struggler, you also received a martyr's death. Wherefore, Christ crowned you with a two-fold crown, O humble and wise Abbess Elizabeth.

St. Elizabeth the Grand Duchess of Russia was a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria of England and sister to Empress Alexandra of Russia. She was born October 20, 1864. She was married to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich who was assassinated by a man who threw a bomb into the Kremlin on February 4, 1905. St. Elizabeth responded to the death of her husband with prayer, fasting and Christian compassion. She visited in prison the man who had killed her husband, calmly confronting him with the horror of his deed and trying to lead him to a place of repentance and salvation. She then took the vows of a nun and established the monastery of Ss. Mary and Martha in Moscow. It soon grew to a community of nearly 100 sisters. The Duchess devoted her wealth to establishing a hospital where the sisters and she served. They also gave shelter to orphans and homeless people from the streets of Moscow. The hospital was a training station for Red Cross nurses during World War I and many of the war wounded were treated there. She worked tirelessly for the sick, the poor and the afflicted, while maintaining the full monastic schedule of prayers and services as Abbess of the monastery. When the communists came to power, they, at first, allowed her to continue ministering in Moscow, even giving some aid to the house. But in early 1918, they arrested Abbess Elizabeth, along with Sister Barbara and took them to Ekaterinburg. She was told that they were taking her to be with the Royal Family, but she was not allowed to see them until that terrible night in July. They were all taken to a 200 foot deep mine shaft and thrown in. Then the soldiers threw hand grenades and junk on top of them. Only Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich was shot. Elizabeth landed on a ledge just 50 feet from the top of the mine. She lived for days and the peasants in the area could hear her singing Psalms and the funeral service for her relatives dying around her. She had bound up the wounds of Grand Duke John. But, at last, through starvation and loss of blood, she too succumbed to the sleep of death, to join the choirs in Heaven. Her scroll reads: "Forgive them Lord for they know not what they do."

This icon is by the hand of Nick Papas of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It is from St. Philip's Antiochian Orthodox Church, Souderton, Pennsylvania.

Order #phn-35