Feast Day of Saint Elizabeth the New Martyr at Mary Magdalene Convent of Gethsemane
July 2015
Information and events from the Delegate of Christian Affairs in the Holy Land for the Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem
July 18th, 2015, Gethsemane, Mary Magdalene convent of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The feast day of Saint Elizabeth Fyodorovna, born Princess Elisabeth Hesse of the Rhine, later married to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Imperial Russia. Her sister was Tsaritsa Alexandra, wife of Tsar Nicholas II. Following the assassination of her husband in 1905, Elizabeth became a Russian Orthodox nun, founding the convent of Mary and Martha in Moscow. She was martyred in 1918 with Saint Barbara, also commemorated on July 18th, through a violent murder by Bolsheviks.
Their bodies were recovered by White Russian soldiers, who assisted with the transfer of their remains to the convent of Saint Mary Magdalene, which had been built in part with funds from Saint Elizabeth and her husband, the Grand Duke Sergei. The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem was honored to be present during the festal service through its Delegate of Christian Affairs in the Holy Land, who greeted Archimandrite Roman Krassovsky, head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Mother Elizabeth and Abbess of Mary Magdalene Convent. The Order continues to express its support for the Mission through its support of the Orthodox Girls School of Bethany, and looks forward to strengthening this relationship in the years to come.
