For over a hundred years, the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery in the capital and regions has been providing charitable assistance to people in need, the sick and the poor, children with disabilities, the disadvantaged and orphans. The monastery has more than 20 branches open and operating in Russia.
Started with tragedy
An unusual monastery was founded by an equally unusual person. He was opened for good deeds by the great Russian Princess Elizabeth Fedorovna. Although she was not Russian by blood, a German by birth began to love Russia and confirm this with deeds and faith. Her mother Alice - the daughter of the English Queen Victoria, father Theodore Ludwig the Fourth - the Grand Duke of Hesse.
With the advent of the 20th century, turbulent times began in the Russian Tsarist Empire. In 1904, the terrorist Ivan Kalyaev organized an attempt on the life of Interior Minister Vyacheslav Pleve. A few months later, the same man entered the Kremlin and threw a deadly bomb at the emperor’s brother, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
The widow of Prince Elizabeth Fedorovna was so complacent that, despite the great sorrow - the loss of her husband, she forgave the killer and brought her personal gospel to the prison cell. She even asked Emperor Nicholas II to leave him life, but Kalyaev was still executed by hanging.
The widow Elizabeth gave away and sold her jewelry and property, and with the proceeds she bought a spacious house in the heart of the capital. In 1909, all four manor buildings were given over to the convent.
Elizaveta Fedorovna gave the religious institution the name of two saints, who are the personification of purity and faith in the Christian world. Martha and Maria are the famous sisters of Lazarus, who prayed fervently and lovingly all their lives.
Elizabeth's Innovation
The Grand Duchess strove for a goal: so that the convent would incorporate not only all the positive canons and traditions of Russian Orthodox Christianity, but also adopt the experience of foreign monasteries. Her dream was that in Russian churches the post of clergyman for women would be introduced, as well as the post of deaconess.
She made every effort to achieve this goal and received consent for the introduction of the rank of deaconesses from the Holy Synod in the monastery. That is, in fact, the church agreed that the service should be conducted by women who are in the dignity of a priest. Their duties would include conducting the sacrament of baptism of female believers, conducting services, and helping the suffering and needy. But this was not destined to come true. The emperor of Russia himself turned out to be against the initiative, and women were not allowed to church authority.
However, the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery is still much different than other monasteries. For example, in other places nuns lived in constant seclusion, and in the monastery of Elizaveta Fedorovna they actively traveled to hospitals to help the sick and devoted all their time to charity. And in order for the nuns to provide high-quality medical care, the novices were trained by brilliant metropolitan doctors. So they learned the basics of nursing and all the features of caring for sick patients.
In addition, anyone in need could personally come to the monastery and ask for help - the doors of the monastery were not locked either day or night.
At a time convenient for visitors, they organized spiritual readings and held meetings of the Orthodox Palestinian and Geographical Societies.
Another innovative point - the nuns did not oblige all their lives to devote themselves to the monastery and prayer. According to the modernized charter, after some time, any of the sisters could leave the monastery walls and return to normal life.
The Grand Duchess herself also lived permanently in the monastery. She spent daily in prayers and constantly visited hospitals to provide assistance to patients. In the First World War, she and her sisters collected alms to help the wounded and soldiers at the front. On a regular basis, the monastery completed and sent full-fledged formulations with food, medicine and medical dressings to be sent to the front.
Over the course of hostilities, the number of soldiers in need of prosthetics increased. The Grand Duchess raised money and began the construction of an enterprise for the production of medical prostheses. It is amazing that the factory opened by the founder of the monastery still functions today, continuing to produce components for prosthetics.
The murder of Elizabeth Fedorovna
The Soviet government did not spare anyone from the royal family. At the sight of the Bolsheviks were all the distant and close relatives of the emperor. The Grand Duchess was forcibly exiled to the Perm province.
A still living 53-year-old woman was thrown into a waste mine near Alapaevsk to die. In the same mine, 7 people were killed with her.
Then followed the closure of the monastery. This happened in 1926. But the more than a hundred nuns who lived in it were not dispersed, but left to serve the polyclinic, which opened in the former monastery building. It lasted until 1928. Then all were expelled from the monastery, the sisters were exiled to the Turkestan steppes and the Tver province.
Soviet period
After liquidating the monastery, the authorities arranged a city cinema and a public health lecture hall in the building. Restoration workshops were arranged in one of the rooms, and an outpatient clinic was organized in another. This lasted until the 1990s, only by this period the monastery was able to return to its true destination. The cathedral church was not transferred to the department of the church until 2006.
Museum Creation
Some of the rooms today are given over to a museum dedicated to the founder and perfect good deeds of Elizabeth Feodorovna, as well as the historical milestones of the monastery itself. Every day, tourists with an excursion visit the Martha-Mariinsky Convent, following from the Intercession Cathedral. Also many pilgrims come here.
Here you can see the rooms of the Grand Duchess, they restored the atmosphere, which was during the life of the founder. On the iconostasis are personal icons of Elizabeth, next to her is her own embroidery and even an old royal piano. Also in the rooms are:
- original tea set,
- Portraits
- personal items
- documentation,
- Photo.
In addition to the two existing churches, today in the monastery there is a small chapel, which is also dedicated to the founder of the monastery.
Abode today
Several years ago, the religious monastery was given the status of stavropegic. The Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery is officially assigned to the objects of the protected cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Within the walls of the institution, 30 nuns are constantly living. They work in a hospice, provide free assistance to incurable children, and also serve a canteen for the homeless and help military hospitals.
And novices of the Martha-Mariinsky monastery teach children in the gymnasium, the monastery contains an orphanage and a medical center for children with cerebral palsy.
Today there are more than 20 branches of the monastery throughout Russia, each nun must come to the main monastery for an internship.
And at the monastery classes are held for future parents and training for foster families. Children with developmental delays are brought into special groups; lectures on the history of faith and the church are held.
Of course, 30 nuns just don’t have time to do all this work every day, therefore volunteer organizations and ordinary volunteers regularly help the monastery.
