Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine

thumb|Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fëdorovna, 1887. thumb|Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fyodorovna wearing the habit of the Order of the Sisters of Martha and Mary, which she founded after her husband's assassination Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1 November 1864 – 18 July 1918), later known as Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia, was a German princess of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine. Quotes about Durante l'inverno del 1905, il 4 di febbraio, a Mosca, il granduca Sergio Alexàndrovich fu ucciso da una bomba nella sua carrozza. Fu assassinato da un rivoluzionario di nome Koliàeff. La sua vedova, la granduchessa Elisabetta Fiòdorovna (sorella maggiore dell'imperatrice Alexandra Fiòdorovna) accettò il suo dolore con spirito profondamente cristiano. Andò a trovare Koliàeff in prigione; vi andò per perdonarlo e per donargli una copia del Nuovo Testamento. Poco dopo fondò l'Ordine delle suore di Marta e Maria, con annesso ospedale, e dedicò tutta la sua vita all'assistenza dei malati e dei poveri. Le suore vestivano di grigio, un'innovazione, questa, perché le religiose russe ortodosse indossano, per tradizione, sempre il nero. During the winter of 1905, on February 4, in Moscow, Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich was killed by a bomb in his carriage. He was assassinated by a revolutionary named Koliàeff. His widow, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Fiodorovna (elder sister of Empress Alexandra Fiodorovna) accepted his grief in a deeply Christian spirit. He went to see Koliàeff in prison; he went there to forgive him and to give him a copy of the New Testament. Soon after, she founded the Order of the Sisters of Martha and Mary, with an adjoining hospital, and devoted her entire life to caring for the sick and poor. The nuns wore gray, an innovation, this, because Russian Orthodox nuns traditionally always wear black. Varvara Dolgorouki, I Quaderni. Russia 1885-1919, translation into Italian by Amalia D'Agostino Schanzer, Rusconi, Milano, 1976, p. 83. La mia sorella maggiore Trubetzkòy, mentre accompagnava il marito, diretto al fronte, fino a Mosca, vi si fermò: desiderava esprimere la sua partecipazione al lutto della granduchessa lasciando la propria firma al palazzo. Inaspettatamente fu invitata a entrare e rimase grandemente colpita dalla straordinaria serenità, umiltà e devozione della granduchessa. Una volta, molto più tardi, ebbi l'occasione di vederla anch'io, già madre superiora. Fu al matrimonio della nipote di suo marito, la granduchessa Maria Pàvlovna junior, con un principe svedese. Ella entrò in chiesa per la cerimonia: in un abito monastico bianco-crema, pareva una bellissima santa. Mi spiace dover dire che quel matrimonio, celebrato con gran pompa a Tsàrskoie Selò, non durò a lungo. My older sister Trubetzkoy, while accompanying her husband, on his way to the front, to Moscow, stopped there: she wished to express her participation in the Grand Duchess's mourning by leaving her signature at the palace. She was unexpectedly invited to enter and was greatly impressed by the Grand Duchess's extraordinary serenity, humility and devotion. Once, much later, I had the opportunity to see her too, already Mother Superior. It was at the wedding of her husband's niece, Grand Duchess Maria Pàvlovna junior, to a Swedish prince. She entered the church for the ceremony: in a creamy-white monastic habit, she looked like a beautiful saint. I am sorry to say that that marriage, celebrated with great pomp in Tsarskoie Selò, did not last long. Varvara Dolgorouki, I Quaderni. Russia 1885-1919, translation into Italian by Amalia D'Agostino Schanzer, Rusconi, Milano, 1976, p. 83-84. External links 10644474 Elizabeth Feodorovna Category:1864 births Category:1918 deaths Category:Martyrs Category:Aristocrats from Russia Category:Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church