New Martyr Elizabeth

The patron saint of Martha and Mary House is Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, who founded the Martha and Mary Convent of Love and Mercy in Moscow in 1909. She was martyred by the Communists in July 1918. Her husband, Grand Duke Sergei, had been assassinated by a young revolutionary in 1905. Several years earlier Elizabeth had said to her brother, Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse, that everybody had to have an ideal and strive to reach it, if they wished to live fully, and that she was afraid hers would be the hardest of all to attain. When her brother asked what it was, she replied that she longed to become 'a perfect woman', and that meant she must first - and that with full understanding - learn to forgive everything.(E.M.Almedingen, An Unbroken Unity, p.55)

Grand Duchess Elizabeth did forgive her husband's assassin. She wrote: "It is easier for feeble straw to resist a mighty fire, than for than for the nature of sin to resist the power of love. We must cultivate this love in our souls, that we may take our place with all the saints, for they were all pleasing unto God through their love for their neighbor."

The Martha and Mary Convent in Moscow ministered to the sick, the suffering and the poor, and Abbess Elizabeth wrote: We should not count how many souls we have saved or how many people we have helped. We must rejoice with the angels over one soul that is saved, over one cup of water given in the name of Christ…who said, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it it unto me." (Matt.25:40)

Saint Elizabeth New Martyr is a fitting patron for a house of healing for women who have aborted their children - and for pregnant women in crisis who choose to give life instead.

The Martha and Mary Convent of Love and Mercy was named for Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus of Bethany whom Jesus raised from the dead. Theirs was a house of prayer, hospitality and charity, where Jesus often was guest. We pray that He will be our guest as we seek to love Him in those who come to Martha and Mary House.

Our icon of Saint Elizabeth New Martyr was written by brother Aidan Hart. In 1997 Sarah Elisabet, our House Mother, with Orthodox friends Nicolas and Nina Chapman, visited brother Aidan in his Hermitage on the border of Wales. He had recently been to Moscow and visited the old Martha and Mary Convent of Love and Mercy where Sisters of Charity were beginning to work again. Sarah Elisabet shared her prayer concerning a future Martha and Mary House. Brother Aidan promised to join in praying and handed her the icon, saying, "please accept this as a first gift to Martha and Mary House."

Now the icon is in the Martha and Mary House prayer corner, and last fall in England, Sarah Elisabet happened across a recent article by Aidan Hart in "Orthodox Outlook". Aidan is married to Sarah and writes about their four month old son Alban in "The Gift of a Child", the wonder and mystery of fatherhood.

The small frames bordering the New Martyr Elizabeth icon depict her life, faith and work:

Beginning with the top row from left to right:

St. Martha, the sister of Lazarus
Archangel Rafael
The Theotokos
Christ
St. John the Forerunner
Archangel Gabriel
St. Mary, the sister of Lazarus
Top left side:

"The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit". (Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, granddaughter of queen Victoria, was Lutheran, married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, chose to be Chrismated in the Orthodox Church".
Top right side:

"A good wife is more precious than jewels".
Middle left side:

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death". (Grand Duke Sergei was killed by a communist assassin's bomb in 1905.
Middle right side:

"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted". (Elizabeth by her husband's coffin.)
Bottom left side:

"I have built the house for the name of the Lord". (Elizabeth built the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy in Moscow.)
Bottom right side:

"Take my yoke upon you for I am gentle and meek". (Elizabeth and her Sisters were tonsured as nuns, Elizabeth was Mother Superior)
Bottom row from left to right:

"How beautiful is Thy dwelling place", (Liturgy, worship and prayer was central at the Convent.)
"I was sick and you visited me".(Works of charity included caring for orphans, the sick and the poor.)
"How wonderful is the death of Thy saints" ( July 5, 1918 - Abbess Elizabeth, her attendant Nun Barbara and members of the Royal family were thrown into an old mine shaft where they died. An eye witness told that New Martyr Elizabeth prayed for their executioners before she was cast into the mine: "Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.")
"You have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem." (The bodies of New Martyr Elizabeth and Nun Barbara were smuggled out of Russia, through Siberia and China to Jerusalem and laid to rest in the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane.)
"Thou dids't bring my life up from corruption". (New Martyr Elizabeth and Nun Barbara were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1981.)
Following are the Troparion and Kontakion for
Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth (+1918)
Troparion, Tone 4
Thy noble rank hidden in humility, O Elizabeth, wise in God, With the two-fold service of Martha and Mary didst thou honor Christ. Having purified thyself with mercy, patience and love Like a righteous sacrifice thou didst offer thyself to God. Therefore, honoring thy life of good works and suffering as that of a true guide, We fervently beg of thee: Holy Martyr and Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Pray to Christ our God to save and enlighten our souls.

Kontakion, Tone 2
Who can tell us of thy great labor of faith: In the depths of the earth as in a bright paradise, The passion-bearer and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Rejoiced with the angels in psalms and hymns. And suffering to be murdered, she called out on behalf of the godless tormentors: Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do. Through her prayers, O Christ God, have mercy and save our souls.