Saint Elizabeth of Constantinople. Venerable Elizabeth the Wonderworker, Abbess of Constantinople

May 7th, 2015 , 08:12 am

Today the Orthodox Church honors the memory of:

Mch. Savva Stratelates and with him 70 warriors (272).
St. Savva of Pechersk, in the Near Caves (XIII); St. Alexy, the recluse of Pechersk, in the Near Caves (XIII); mchch. Pasikrates and Valentina (228); mchch. Eusebius, Neon, Leontius, Longinus and others (303); St. Thomas the Holy Fool, Syrian (546–560); St. Elizabeth of Constantinople, wonderworker, abbess (V);

sschmch. Branko Dobrosavljevic, presbyter (1941) (Serb.).
Mch. Sergius of Arkhangelsk (1938).

Icon of the Mother of God: Molchenskaya (1405).

Saints of the day, pray to God for us!

Martyr Savva Stratilates, Roman

(martyr Sava Stratilates of Rome, Serbia, Decani, Church of Christ Pantocrator)

The martyr Savva came from the Gothic tribe. With his courage, he reached the high rank of commander-stratelate and served under the emperor Aurelian (270 - 275).

From his youth, Savva was a Christian and diligently followed the commandments of Christ, helped the poor, and visited imprisoned Christians in prison. For his pure and virtuous life, the saint received from the Lord the gift of working miracles and in the Name of Christ he healed the sick and cast out demons.

When the emperor learned that Saint Sava was a Christian, he demanded that he renounce. The martyr threw off his military belt and confirmed that he would not abandon his faith. They beat him, burned him with candles, threw him into a cauldron of tar, but the martyr remained unharmed. Seeing his torment, 70 soldiers believed in Christ, and were immediately beheaded with the sword. Saint Sava was thrown into prison. At midnight, during prayer, Christ appeared to the martyr and illuminated him with the light of His Glory. The Savior commanded him not to be afraid, but to dare. Fortified, the martyr Savva endured new torment the next morning and was drowned in the river († 272).

Troparion of the Martyr Sava
voice 5
Having left your earthly rank and honors, you suffered,/ before the tormentor, the flattering king/ you confessed Christ, the existing God/ and for the sake of much suffering you lifted up, glorious./ With that beautiful crown of victory you tied/ from the King of all reigning,/ with the Heavenly howls are lightly decorated./ Standing before Him, Savvo, // pray that our souls will be saved.

Kontakion of the Martyr Sava
voice 4
The invincible stratilate appeared, / you defeated the barbarian machinations / and, having suffered, gloriously, most firmly, / you overcame many invisible enemies, / you also weaved a crown of victory. / Pray for us, O all-blessed Savvo, / who honor you with faith.

Venerable Savva and Alexy of Pechersk

He labored in the Near Caves in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery no later than the middle of the 13th century. In the handwritten calendar, in “ Book of Saints"And in the canon of the service to the venerable fathers of the Kiev-Pechersk he is called a miracle worker. The memory of the Monk Savva is also celebrated on the day of memory of the venerable fathers of the Near Caves, September 28, and on the day of memory of all the Kiev-Pechersk wonderworkers, on the 2nd Sunday of Great Lent. On April 24, the memory of the saint is celebrated for the sake of his namesake with the holy martyr Savva Stratelates.

Venerable Alexy, recluse of Pechersk, labored in the Near Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery in the 13th century. The relics of the saint were discovered after 1675. The memory of the Monk Alexy is also celebrated on the day of memory of the venerable fathers of the Near Caves, September 28, and on the day of memory of all the Kiev-Pechersk wonderworkers, on the 2nd Sunday of Great Lent. The holy relics of St. Alexy rest next to the relics of St. Savva of Pechersk.

Troparion to Savva and Alexy the recluse, Pechersk, in the Near Caves
voice 3
Our blessed and God-bearing fathers Savvo and Alexie,/ for having acquired boldness in the Lord/ by your equal angelic life,/ for whose sake you enriched Christ/ with incorruptibility and miracles of your power, / we pray to you diligently: / ask for cleansing for our souls / and great and rich mercy.

Kontakion to Saints Savva and Alexy the Recluse, Pechersk
voice 4
The wealth of grace and sonship of acquisitiveness/ by many deeds and virtues/ and for the sake of Christ your souls have settled/ in His heavenly villages/ by bestowing the grace of incorruptibility/ and the power of miracles to yours,/ for this reason we cry out to you:/ Rejoice, Savvo and Alexie,/ the faces of the monks praise and decoration

Elizabeth the Wonderworker was chosen to serve God even before her birth. Her mother had a revelation that the young woman would be the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit. From childhood, her parents sent the girl to a monastery.
She grew up in fasting and labor and received the gift of healing not only physical ailments, but also mental ones. The sisters elected the venerable abbess. The monk wore clothes made of sharp hair shirt. Her body was freezing, but her spirit was burning with the flame of Divine love.

The saint's abstinence was immeasurable: for many years she ate only herbs and vegetables without bread, and never took wine or oil. Many times the Monk Elizabeth spent the Holy Pentecost without eating anything. Imitating the publican’s humility, she did not raise her eyes to heaven for three years, but always looked to God with her spiritual eyes.

The saint performed many miracles: she killed a fierce snake with prayer, healed a bleeding woman who had been ill for many years, and drove away unclean spirits from people. Upon death, the coffin of St. Elizabeth also provided healing from illnesses. Even the very ashes taken from her relics gave sight to the blind.

Troparion
voice 8
Having adorned yourself with virtues, all-praised, and admiring all with fear of God, you have appeared to the poor, treasure, received wealth in Heaven, remember us to those who honor, glory to the righteous.

Kontakion
voice 6
Truly, you will gain a fair word of life, your church, the righteous, without doubting the heights, punishers of God, having pleased God, the more you will drink from nature; For this reason we call you: Rejoice, wise Elizabeth.

Born January 4, 1886 in Skadra near Voynich. In 1908 he graduated from the seminary in Sremski Karlovci. He was ordained a deacon on the 15th and a priest on March 22, 1909. He served in parishes in Buvači, Radovici and Veljuna. Awarded the Order of St. Sava and the Order of the Yugoslav Crown, V degree.

May 6, 1941, on his name day - St. Vmch. George, Fr. Branko was captured by the Croatian Ustasha, led by the Veljun teacher Ivan Šajfor. Together with the archpriest, his son Nebojsa, a medical student, priest Dimitri Skorupan, rector of the parish from Cvijanovic Brda, and about 500 other Serbs were captured. They were all locked up in the Velun gendarme department, where they were brutally tortured, especially the son of Fr. Branko - Nebojsu. The Ustasha demanded that Archpriest Dobrosavlevich perform the funeral service for his living son.

On the morning of May 7, 1941 they were all taken to the Kestenovac forest near Croatian Blaj, where they were killed. After liberation, in 1946. their remains were transferred to Veljun, where they were buried in a mass grave.

Martyr Sergius of Arkhangelsk, psalmist

Commemorated on April 24, at the Councils of New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church and Moscow Saints.

Born on September 4, 1898 in the village of Pogost Tenth Pyatnitsa, Bogorodsky district, Moscow province, in the family of priest Vasily Arkhangelsky.
In 1910 he graduated from a rural school, and in 1915 from the Perervinsky Theological School. In 1916, he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, but did not have time to graduate from it; after the revolution, all theological educational institutions were closed by the Bolsheviks.

In 1919 he was drafted into the Red Army and served as a freight forwarder.
From 1937, for two months until the day of his arrest, he served as a psalm-reader in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the village of Saurovo-Upolzy, Pavlovo-Posad district.

- Have you lost your right to vote? - the investigator asked him.
- Yes, I lost it. From 1922 to the day the constitution was published.
- Who else among your relatives was deprived of voting rights?
- Father, Vasily Dmitrievich Arkhangelsky, as a priest, Cousin Maria Arkadyevna Zachateiskaya, living in the village of Kupelitsy, Vereisky district, Moscow region, as the wife of a priest.
- Testify which of your relatives was repressed by the NKVD.
- Cousin’s husband Ilya Aleksandrovich Zachateisky.
- The investigation has material that you systematically conduct anti-Soviet agitation directed against the activities carried out by the party and the government. The investigation requires truthful testimony from you. What were your anti-Soviet activities?
- I was not involved in any anti-Soviet propaganda and I can’t show anything on this issue.
- The investigation knows that you campaigned for the collapse of Soviet power, you said that Denikin and Kolchak would soon come, sweep away Soviet power, and then we would hang all the communists. Do you plead guilty to this?
- I do not admit myself guilty of agitating for the collapse of Soviet power and the hanging of communists. I've never said this to anyone.
- The investigation knows that you said that the Soviet government strangled you with taxes: you have neither livestock nor land - but let’s pay taxes. Do you plead guilty to this?
“There really was a conversation between me, Nikolsky, Sokolov and Pomerantsev about the fact that I don’t have livestock, a house or anything, and for some reason I was obliged to supply meat. There was also a conversation among us that clergymen are now being arrested. We didn't say anything else.
- You continue to deny, you do not want to testify, you want to hide your counter-revolutionary activities from the investigation. Once again we demand frank testimony from you.
- I was not involved in any counter-revolutionary activities and stand by the testimony I previously gave.
- What did you say regarding the arrest of clergy?
- Regarding the arrest of clergy, we had a conversation with Priest Sokolov and Deacon Nikolsky that people often come to us from other parishes to baptize a child, who say that their priest was arrested, but why they arrested them and their opinions on this issue no one expressed it.

At this point the interrogations were completed, and on November 29 the entire investigation was completed.
On December 3, 1937, the NKVD troika sentenced the psalm-reader to ten years in a forced labor camp.

He died in custody on May 7, 1938 and was buried in an unknown grave.
Canonized as the Holy New Martyrs of Russia by a resolution of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on May 7, 2003, for church-wide veneration.

Martyrs Eusebius, Neon, Leontius, Longinus and 40 others

Eusebius, Neon, Leontius, Longinus and 40 others were present at the suffering of the Great Martyr George (+ 303) and believed in Christ. They were imprisoned. After the execution of the Great Martyr George, Emperor Diocletian (284-305) issued a decree that all prisoners should offer sacrifices to idols. The martyrs refused. They were beaten with iron rods until their insides were exposed, and then their heads were cut off with a sword.

Venerable Thomas the Syrian, Fool for Christ's Sake

Thomas was a monk of one of the monasteries in Caesarea Cappadocia (Asia Minor). He was obedient to collecting alms for the needs of the monastery. When the Monk Thomas came to the city of Antioch in Syria, he took upon himself the act of foolishness.

The steward of one of the churches, Anastasy, who was tired of the requests of the Monk Thomas, hit him on the cheek. Those present reproached Anastasius for his rude treatment of the holy fool, but St. Thomas reassured them, saying: “ From now on, neither I will accept anything from Anastasy, nor Anastasy will be able to give me anything. "These words turned out to be prophetic. The next day Anastasius died, and the monk reposed on the way to his monastery in the church of St. Euphemia in the suburbs of Daphne. He was buried in the place where wanderers were buried.

After some time, a certain wanderer was buried over the saint’s coffin. Four hours later, the earth erupted the wanderer’s coffin. She was buried here again, but in the morning the coffin was again on top of the ground. Then she was buried in another place.
The same thing was repeated during the burial of another woman. Everyone then understood that St. Thomas did not want a woman to be buried above him. The incident was reported to the Antiochian Patriarch Domnus (546-560). At his command, the relics of St. Thomas were transferred to Antioch and placed in a tomb where the relics of many holy martyrs rested. A small church was built over these relics, which exuded many healings.
Through the prayers of St. Thomas, the pestilence in Antioch stopped. From that time on, residents began to annually honor the memory of St. Thomas.

Martyrs Pasikrates and Valentin Dorostolsky

The martyrs of Christ Pasikrates and Valentinus came from Rhodostos, a Mysian city, and, being warriors, served under the hegemon of that country, Avsolan. In that country there were many idolaters who made sacrifices to demons, for the rulers of the country, with the threat of torture, forced people to idolatry. The Christians of that country, fearing torture, fled and hid. These same two holy men openly and boldly declared themselves Christians and, glorifying the one true God, cursed soulless idols. For this they were seized by idolaters and brought to the judgment seat, where they were forced to burn incense in front of the idols. There was an idol of Apollo here. Saint Pasikrates, approaching the idol, spat in its face and said:

- Such is the honor due to this god!

Pasikrates was immediately tied up with heavy chains and thrown into prison. The warrior of Christ, adorned with these chains, as if decorated with golden royal attire, rejoiced that he was honored to wear these chains for Christ. Valentin was imprisoned with him. Soon they were again demanded for trial before the hegemon. When they appeared at the court, Pasikrit's brother Papian also came there. He was a Christian, but for fear of torment, he sacrificed to idols. Papian began with tears to beg his brother to, following the example of himself, bring incense to the idol, so that, having become for a while, as it were, an idolater, he would get rid of fierce torment, but Pasicrates rejected his brother’s request and called him unworthy to be considered in his family because he departed from the faith of Christ. He himself, going up to the altar and placing his hand on the fire, said to the hegemon:

- The body is mortal and, as you can see, burns in fire, but the soul, being immortal, despises all these visible torments.

Saint Valentine, interrogated immediately by the hegemon, said the same thing and showed his complete readiness to endure all torment for Christ. They were both sentenced to be beheaded with the sword. When the tormentor's servants led them outside the city to their death, Pasikrates' mother followed them, who admonished him to go to his death without fear, fearing for him, so that he would not be afraid, for he was very young. The heads of the holy martyrs were beheaded. Saint Pasicrates was twenty-two years old, and Valentine was thirty. The mother accepted their bodies with joy and joy and buried them with honor, glorifying Christ God.

Icon of the Virgin Mary of Molchensk

Memory April 24, September 18.

Appeared on September 18, 1405 in the Molche swamp near Putivl. Initially it was located in the Molchensk Sophronium Hermitage, and in 1605, probably on April 24, it was moved to the Putivl Molchensky Monastery.
A fire in the monastery destroyed the original icon, but " by the grace of God, the first copy of the Molchensk Icon of the Mother of God, written in 1724 under Abbot Moses, who became famous for many miracles and is miraculous, has been preserved ".

In 1925, after the monastery was closed, the icon disappeared. For many years they tried to find the icon, but to no avail.

Rediscovery of an icon

Version 1

In the 1960s, Fr. Georgy Kozachenko. Between deanery matters, he was especially interested in the issue of searching for the Molchenskaya Icon of the Mother of God. But neither the clergy nor the laity knew the location of the shrine. Father George often offered his prayers to the Mother of God so that She would reveal where one of her miraculous images was located. In 1969, the wife of the late headman Sekerin approached him so that Fr. George accepted the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos bequeathed to him by his late husband. But it was not the Molchensk Icon, but the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, a list from the 19th century. After a thorough examination of the inside of the repository, it turned out that under the Vladimir image of the Mother of God the miraculous ancient icon of Molchenskaya was kept. At first, the icon was kept as a family shrine at home (for obvious reasons - the communists were in power).

On May 7, 1995, the icon was solemnly transferred to the Putivl Molchensky Monastery. During the religious procession, many people received healing.

Version 2

According to other information, Archimandrite German, rector of the Sofroniyevo-Molchensk Hermitage, in response to prayer, received a revelation according to which the Mochen icon was found in the village of Ugodichi with an unbelieving Tatar family, where the icon was used for grinding chalk. The icon was solemnly brought to the Sophronievo-Molchensky Monastery.

Version 3

"Disappeared"The list has not been lost, it is kept in the Epiphany Church in the village of Ugodichi, Rostov region. Local historian, historian and writer" peasant of the village of Ugodich "Alexander Yakovlevich Artynov reports that Count Mikhail Vladimirovich Tolstoy, author of the book" Shrines and antiquities of Rostov the Great", visited Ugodichi in 1866. Examining the revered Molchensky icon, he said that due to its antiquity and the nature of the writing, the Ugodichi icon may well be the same icon from Putivl.

Troparion
voice 4
Today the glorious city of Moscow is shining brightly/ and in Putivl there is great rejoicing,/ as they honor, O Mother of God, Thy wondrous icon,// giving everyone the honey of grace.

Kontakion

Let us come to the people, / to our Lady, the Virgin Mother of God, / for she gave us Her Molchenskaya icon, / exuding currents of healing, / giving all sorts of help in mental and physical ailments, / and leading to eternal life.

Greatness

We magnify You, / Most Holy Mother of Christ our God, / who has risen silently with Your icon from the crony, / and the people who honor Your holy image / / delivering from troubles.

ELISABETH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Open Orthodox encyclopedia "TREE".

Elizabeth of Constantinople (VI - VIII), abbess, wonderworker, reverend.

She grew up in fasting and labor and received the gift of healing not only physical ailments, but also mental ones. The sisters elected the venerable abbess. The monk wore clothes made of sharp hair shirt. Her body was freezing, but her spirit was burning with the flame of Divine love.

Used materials

http://www.jmp.ru/svyat/apr24.htm

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Orthodox encyclopedia Tree. 2012

As presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov

The Venerable Elizabeth, even from her mother’s womb, was chosen to serve God, for before her mother was born, it was announced from God that she would have a daughter who would be the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit. From her youth, given over to the service of God and ignorant of the immortal Bridegroom Christ, Saint Elizabeth in the rank of Angels served God, among other virgin nuns 1, exhausting her body with fasting and labor, and she pleased God so much that she received from Him the gift of healing the ailments of people, not only physical, but also mental. With her prayer she healed every bodily illness, and with her speeches and God-inspired instructions she healed human souls, instructing them to repentance and all virtues. Only a stiff hair shirt served as clothing for her, and although her body was frozen from the cold, her spirit always burned with the flame of divine love. Having been appointed abbess over the sisters, the saint showed even greater feats, caring for the salvation of their souls.

Her abstinence was excessive, for she spent many years without eating bread and eating only fruits and vegetables; she never tasted oil or wine in her entire life. Very often she fasted for forty days, like the great Moses 2, not eating anything during this time 3. For three years, she, imitating the humility of the Gospel tax collector (Luke 18:13), did not raise her bodily eyes to heaven, but with her spiritual eyes she always looked to the God who lives in heaven and, contemplating Him in her thoughts sitting on a high and adorned throne surrounded by seraphim, she did not turn her thoughts to earthly objects. When, as usual, she prayed alone at night, she was illuminated by heavenly light from above.

In addition, Saint Elizabeth performed many miracles: she once killed a fierce serpent with prayer; another time she healed a woman who had been bleeding for a long time, also cast out unclean spirits from people, and performed many other miracles. Miracles were performed by her not only during her life, but also after her blessed death. At her tomb many different healings were given to the sick; for example, many blind people received their sight at her tomb. May Christ God, wondrous in His saints, be glorified through her!

________________________________________________________________________

1 Saint Elizabeth was a nun of the Constantinople monastery, built in honor of the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian by Emperor Justin I (who reigned from 518 to 527). In this monastery she later became abbess (abbot). It is impossible to indicate the exact time of her life and activity due to the lack of information about this in historical monuments. But based on the fact that in honor of her in the second half of the 9th century. The canon was written by Saint Joseph the hymnographer (who died in 883), they conclude that Saint Elizabeth lived between the 6th and 9th centuries.

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Life of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth.

WITH Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna is the daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. In this family, the children were raised strictly in English:They were accustomed to simple clothing and food, to housework, and spent a lot of time on lessons.Parents carried out extensive charitable activities and constantly took their children with them to hospitals, shelters, and homes for the disabled. Princess Elizabeth was especially distinguished by her love for her neighbors, serious, deep character.

At nineteen, she became the bride of the Russian Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II. The wedding took place in the Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

The Grand Duchess studied the Russian language, culture and history of Russia. For a princess who married the Grand Duke, a mandatory conversion to Orthodoxy was not required. But Elisaveta Feodorovna, while still a Protestant, tried to learn as much as possible about Orthodoxy, seeing the deep faith of her husband, who was a very pious man, strictly observed fasts, read the books of the Holy Fathers and often went to church. She accompanied him all the time and fully attended church services. She saw the joyful state of Sergei Alexandrovich after he received the Holy Mysteries, but, being outside the Orthodox Church, she could not share this joy with him.

The Grand Duchess thought a lot about faith, trying to find the truth, read books in solitude (in general, she was burdened by secular entertainment), and prayed to the Lord for admonition. In 1888, Sergei Alexandrovich was entrusted to be the representative of the Russian Emperor at the consecration of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal-to-the-Apostles in Gethsemane. Elisaveta Feodorovna went with him, rejoicing at the opportunity in the Holy Land to pray that the Lord would reveal His will to her. Seeing this temple, she said:

How I would like to be buried here.

Gradually she came to a firm decision to accept Orthodoxy. She wrote to her father, who took this step of hers with acute pain:

You must have noticed what deep reverence I have for the local religion. I kept thinking and praying to God that He would show me the right path, and I came to the conclusion that only in this religion could I find all the real and strong faith in God that a person must have to be a good Christian. It would be a sin to remain as I am now - to belong to the same church in form and for the outside world, but inside myself to pray and believe the same way as my husband. You cannot imagine how kind he was; he never tried to force me by any means, leaving all this entirely to my conscience. He knows what a serious step this is and that he had to be absolutely sure before deciding to take it.

This change of religion, I know, will make many people cry, but I feel that it will bring me closer to God. I know all its tenets and will happily continue to study them. You call me frivolous and say that the external splendor of the church has charmed me. This is where you are wrong. Nothing external attracts me, not even worship, but the basis of faith. External signs only remind us of the internal. I pass from pure conviction; I feel that this is the highest religion and that I do it with faith, with deep conviction and confidence that there is God’s blessing for this.

The Sacrament of Confirmation was performed on April 12 (25), 1891 on Lazarus Saturday. The Grand Duchess was left with her former name, but in honor of the holy righteous Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist.

In 1891, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was appointed Governor-General of Moscow. His wife had to attend receptions, concerts, and balls. But this was not what brought joy to the Grand Duchess - her soul strove for acts of mercy, she visited hospitals for the poor, almshouses, shelters for street children, distributed food, clothes, money, wanting in every possible way to alleviate the living conditions of the unfortunate.

In 1894, Elisaveta Feodorovna's sister, Alice, married the Heir to the Russian Throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich, who soon became Emperor. In Orthodoxy she received the name Alexandra.

In 1903, Nikolai Alexandrovich with Alexandra Feodorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich with Elisaveta Feodorovna were at the Sarov celebrations in honor of the glorification of the great Russian saint, St. Seraphim of Sarov, who was always very revered.

In 1904, the Russian-Japanese War began. Elisaveta Feodorovna, who already had good experience in charity work, became one of the main organizers of assistance to the front. She set up special workshops, which occupied all the halls of the Kremlin Palace, except the Throne Palace. Thousands of women worked here at sewing machines and work tables. From here food, uniforms, medicines, and gifts were sent to the front. At her own expense, the Grand Duchess formed several ambulance trains, set up a hospital for the wounded in Moscow, and created special committees to provide for the widows and orphans of fallen soldiers and officers. She also organized the sending of marching churches to the front with everything necessary for worship.

However, Russian troops suffered defeat after defeat. The political situation in Russia became increasingly tense. One could often hear revolutionary slogans and calls for strikes. Terrorist organizations have emerged. The fighting organization of the Social Revolutionaries sentenced Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich to death. Elisaveta Feodorovna knew that he was in mortal danger; she received anonymous letters in which she was warned not to accompany her husband if she did not want to share his fate. But she tried, if possible, not to leave him alone.

On February 5 (18), 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich was killed by a bomb thrown by terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. Three days later, Elisaveta Feodorovna arrived at the prison where the killer was kept. She said that she brought him forgiveness from Sergei Alexandrovich and asked him to repent. She held the Gospel in her hands and asked to read it, but Kalyaev refused. But still she left the Gospel and a small icon in the cell, saying:

My attempt was unsuccessful, although, who knows, it is possible that at the last minute he will recognize his sin and repent of it.

Then the Grand Duchess turned to the Emperor with a request to pardon Kalyaev, but the request was rejected.

From the moment of the death of her beloved husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna did not stop mourning, kept a strict fast, and prayed a lot. Her bedroom turned into a monastic cell: expensive furniture was taken out, the walls were repainted white. The Grand Duchess collected all her jewelry and gave part of it to the treasury, part of it to relatives, and part of it was used for the construction of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy.

She worked for a long time on the rules of the monastery, wanting to revive the ancient institution of deaconesses, and went to Zosimova hermitage to discuss the project with the elders. In 1906, Grand Duchess Elizabeth met the priest Mitrofan of Srebryansky, a man of high spiritual life, who took an active part in drawing up the rules of the monastery and became its confessor, as he met all the high requirements.

For our business, Father Mitrofan is God’s blessing

- said Elisaveta Feodorovna.

Father Mitrofan of Srebryansky was glorified among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.

The basis of the Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy was the charter of the monastery hostel. The sisters were taught the basics of medicine; their main concern was visiting the sick and poor, and helping abandoned children.

The best specialists worked at the monastery hospital. All operations were carried out free of charge. At the monastery there was a free canteen for the poor, an excellent library that anyone could use, and a shelter for orphan girls was created.

Elisaveta Feodorovna led an ascetic life. She slept on bare wooden planks, secretly wore a hair shirt, ate only plant foods, prayed a lot, slept little, but tried in every possible way to hide it. The Grand Duchess always did everything herself, without requiring help from others, and participated in the affairs of the monastery as an ordinary sister. She loved to make pilgrimages to holy places. According to the testimony of those who knew Elisaveta Feodorovna, the Lord rewarded her with the gift of reasoning and revealed to her pictures of the future of Russia.

She also continued to engage in charitable activities outside the walls of the monastery, visiting the unfortunate in various hospitals and shelters. During the First World War, the Grand Duchess was involved in the formation of ambulance trains, arranging warehouses for medicines and equipment, and sending camp churches to the front.

For the first time after the October revolution, the monastery was not touched. The Grand Duchess was acutely worried about the terrible events taking place, but refused offers to go abroad, wanting to share the fate of her country, which she deeply loved - in one of her letters she wrote:

With every fiber of my soul I am Russian.

In April 1918, on the third day of Easter, on the day of the celebration of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Elisaveta Feodorovna was arrested and taken away from Moscow. Two sisters went with her - Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. They were taken to Perm. The Grand Duchess wrote to her sisters:

For God's sake, don't lose heart. The Mother of God knows why Her Heavenly Son sent us this test on the day of Her feast day; the Lord found that it was time for us to bear His cross. Let's try to be worthy of this joy. As God wished, so it happened. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

The Grand Duchess spent the last months of her life in prison, in a school on the outskirts of the city of Alapaevsk. She devoted all her time to prayer. The sisters who accompanied their abbess were brought to the regional council and offered to go free, but they begged to be returned to the Grand Duchess. Then the security officers began to scare them with torture and torment that would await everyone who stayed with her. Varvara Yakovleva replied that she was ready to sign even with her blood, that she wanted to share the fate of her abbess.

In the dead of night 5 (July 18), the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, along with other members of the Imperial House, was thrown into the shaft of an old mine. When the brutal executioners pushed the Grand Duchess into the black pit, she prayed: Lord, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23; 34). Then the security officers began throwing hand grenades into the mine. One of the peasants, who witnessed the murder, said that from the depths of the mine the sounds of the Cherubim were heard, which the sufferers sang before crossing into eternity.

Elisaveta Feodorovna fell not to the bottom of the mine, but to a ledge that was located at a depth of 15 meters. Next to her they found the body of John Konstantinovich, the son of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, with his head bandaged. Even here, with severe fractures and bruises, she sought to alleviate the suffering of her neighbor. The fingers of the right hand of Grand Duchess Elizabeth and nun Varvara were folded for the sign of the cross. They died in terrible agony from thirst, hunger and wounds.

The remains of the martyrs in 1921 were transported to Jerusalem by Father Seraphim, abbot of the Alexievsky monastery of the Perm diocese, friend and confessor of the Grand Duchess, and laid in the tomb of the Church of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane. The burial of the New Martyrs was performed by Patriarch Damian. Their relics turned out to be partially incorrupt. Patriarch Diodorus of Jerusalem blessed the solemn transfer of the relics from the tomb to the temple of St. Mary Magdalene itself.

In 1992, the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Varvara were canonized by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church. Their memory is celebrated on the day of their death - July 5 (18).

1. “Many daughters have created strength, many have acquired wealth,” 1 says the wise Solomon, prophetically proclaiming that not only men, but also women at various times shone with the beauty of all kinds of virtues, became involved in the gifts of the Divine Spirit and in an extraordinary way performed amazing miracles and signs throughout the entire universe. For Scripture presents how tens of thousands and countless numbers of women, both in law and by grace, 2 transformed female weakness into courageous will, with the help of abstinence and laborious asceticism, valiantly repelled by the power of the Most High the ancient deceiver of the foremother Eve and the common enemy and adversary of the human race, and were crowned with brilliant signs of victory.

2. One of them is Elizabeth, praiseworthy and glorified by miracles: her homeland was the capital city of Heraclea Thracian 3, and her parents were not some unknown and ignorant people, but noble ones, famous for wealth and outstanding in virtue (Eunomian - the name of her father, who was then a disciplinarian 4 , mother - Euphemia). Living according to the meaning of their names 5, loving and pleasing to God, and constantly practicing the law of the Lord, they were known to everyone and extolled by everyone. For living near the mentioned city, in a place formerly called Frakocrina, and now Avidina, they were, like righteous Job, pious and blameless 6 and, imitating the hospitality of the patriarch Abraham 7, generously provided those in need with everything they needed. Therefore, they receive, like that one, according to the promise, the fruit of the womb 8 worthy of their own beauty and charity, and how this happened will explain our story. After all, although sixteen years had passed since their wedding, they remained childless and, deprived of offspring, naturally grieved, suffered and earnestly begged God, Who Looks at hearts, to resolve their sadness about childlessness and give them a child who would inherit their family and wealth. The Lord, who fulfills the desires of those who fear Him, graciously listened to their prayer and did not despise their prayer for what was pleasing to Him.

3. And indeed, according to the ancient custom that existed in this place, the inhabitants of the surrounding villages gathered every year in memory of the good-victorious martyr Glyceria 10 and celebrated her together with the townspeople for a whole week (and it takes place on May 13). The wonderful parents of the saint also celebrated with everyone. And performing prayers and all the nightly praises, they walked around the holy temples of this city, in which rested the honorable relics of forty holy women and the deacon Ammun 11, and many others (about them, as well as about the splendor and wonderful buildings of these famous churches, the life tells more extensively great among the hierarchs Parthenius 12). Honoring them and bestowing them according to their dignity, everyone celebrated and had fun together, carrying with them everywhere the ever-honored head of the martyr, cut off for Christ. Looking at her during the performance of divine mysteries 13 by the then bishop of this city Leo in the divine temple of the Mother of God called Thysavros 14, the above-mentioned father of the Monk Eunomian saw that she was either cheerful, as if smiling, or gloomy. Considering this a clear sign of his hope in the martyr, his soul wavered between joy and sadness. And when the festive service finally ended, many people said fervent prayer in the Church of the Mother of God, which the locals call Katahil, and at about the ninth hour returned to the holy temple of the martyr Glyceria 15. And after Vespers, Eunomian alone, together with his wife Euphemia, when everyone else had left, remained in this place, fervently praying to the victorious martyr to resolve their bonds of infertility and give them a child beyond their dreams. And so, continuing their prayer until midnight, they lay down on the floor and fell asleep. Then - oh, the unspeakable and terrible mysteries of God! - the sweetest martyr, like her name 16, appears in a dream to this husband and says to him: “Why are you bothering me, man, and asking me for what only God can give you? However, if you truly promise me to acquire a contrite heart and a humble spirit and never to exalt yourself above your neighbors, then with my help the Greatly Gifted Lord will soon give you a female child, and you will call her Elizabeth, for she will be like the mother of the Baptist and Baptist John.” When did he [i.e. Eunomian] swore an oath to fulfill this willingly, the saint, having sealed him with the sign of the cross, departed from him. And having woken up, the husband immediately told his wife about this vision, and she said that she herself had seen something similar. Likewise, the most God-loving archbishop, venerable for his prophetic gift, exhorted and admonished both spouses in agreement with the martyr of Christ. And after the holiday, having received them as guests for three days and blessing them, he sent them home in peace.

4. And immediately his wife conceived in her womb 17 and after nine months gave birth to a female child 18 according to the true prediction of the martyr. And after the forty-day period had expired, 19 Eunomian, taking the child and his mother, brought them to the city. Having reached the temple of the glorious martyr and finding himself in front of her honest image, standing on the right side, he threw himself prostrate on the ground, thanking her with joy in his heart and with tears. Then, looking at the image and saying due thanks, he saw a strange and extraordinary sight. After all, her image shone more than the sun, and slightly moving her lips, she said: “It’s time for you, Eunomian, to fulfill your promises to God.” This caused him fear, trepidation 20 and the greatest shock; and having come to the most reverend archbishop and greeting him according to custom, they asked to give the child the seal of Christ. He himself baptized her, announcing her, and named her Elizabeth, as the martyr had predicted. Having fervently prayed for them, he said to the baby: “May the Lord be merciful to me, child, thanks to you, granting me remission of sins.” So they immediately returned home with joy. The child prospered at the age of 21 and beauty. And when she was three years old, her father gave her to study the Holy Scriptures, in which she showed great skill and skill, so that she could immediately retell the lives of the saints only after hearing them. She had barely reached her twelfth year when her mother passed away; and when her father wanted to marry her off, the young woman did not even want to hear about it, wanting to quickly become the bride of the immortal Bridegroom Christ. When three more years passed after this, her father Eunomian joyfully went to the Lord, and the blessed one, left alone, immediately turned her gaze to the Father of orphans - God. And having desired a solitary and non-acquisitive life, she distributed the gold and silver that her parents had accumulated for her, and the rest of her fortune, which was quite large, to the poor and through the hands of the needy she entrusted it to God, and she honored male and female slaves with freedom.

5. She herself irrevocably rushed to the capital 22 and, having reached the sacred monastery of the holy Great Martyr George, which is called Small Hill 23, where her paternal aunt was the abbess, she withdrew there from the world, put on an angelic image and devoted herself with all her soul to monastic deeds. And having quickly succeeded in every kind of virtue, she became filled with all the gifts of the Spirit, for she enslaved and pacified her body with long fasts, 24 often spending without food, like the great Moses and Elijah the Tishbite, for forty whole days and never touching oil, but eating only only living and heavenly bread. Abundantly adorned with elevating humility 25 and spiritually looking at divine beauty with the eyes of her heart, she did not want to raise her eyes to heaven at all, so for three years or more, bending to the ground, she never looked at the heavenly heights. She considered non-covetousness to be the best wealth and in every possible way welcomed non-covetousness, always walking in one tunic and wearing clothes of incorruptibility, woven by her from above through dispassion, and, burning with the fire of divine love, she easily endured the winter cold, keeping her feet bare, as if they were beautiful and running to the honor of the highest calling. 26. She never allowed hot water to be poured over her body, but each time she washed it, according to the psalmist, with ever-flowing streams of tears and cleansed it of all dirt, keeping it pure and making the soul godlike.

6. And two years after she entered the monastery, the abbess of the monastery, [Elizabeth’s] paternal aunt, passed away from this life, appointing the venerable monk as her successor, whom the great Gennady 27, who was then standing at the bishop’s helm, blessed as usual and appointed her as abbess of the monastery . And this is how she showed herself in God’s deeds and deeds, and reached such a high peak of virtue and perfection that she acquired the greatest power of miracles: she healed incurable diseases, and cast out demons by calling on Christ, and was awarded divine insight and revelation from above, and prophetically predicted the future . Thus foreseeing, by divine revelation, a terrible fire approaching the city because of God's wrath 28, she announced this to the pious Leo, who was holding the scepter of the Roman kingdom at that time, 29 and the same and similar things to Daniel, the stylite in Anaples, 30 – and if the prayers of both of them had not reached God, then almost the entire city would have become a victim of fire. From that time on, this Christ-loving king acquired great faith in the saint and, duly honoring and favoring her, he donated one of the royal estates in Hebdomon 31, bearing the name of St. Vavili 32, where there were ruins of some ancient buildings, not small in number. Living in them for a long time, the terrible snake destroyed many who passed nearby, and made this place completely impassable for everyone, from which the entire city was overwhelmed with grief and despair, not knowing where to look for salvation from such a misfortune. Having learned about this from someone, the saint, moved by divine jealousy, took the weapon of the honorable cross and came to this place; and, raising her eyes to heaven and calling for help from above, she called out to the beast and forced him to leave, albeit against his will, from his lair. Having sealed him with the sign of the cross, which caused his mouth to fill with foam, she grabbed him by the head and, trampling him with her feet, killed him with the words: “Tread on the asp and the basilisk, and cross the lion and the serpent” 33 - she herself was protected by an honorable cross. And thus, she completely freed the inhabitants of the city from its harm. Having thereby acquired, as it were, firm hope and having received complete assurance that she would win victory over the spiritual serpent as well as over this material one, with the help of [Christ], she boldly began to work miracles.

7. And when the rumor about her spread throughout the whole city, one noble and rich husband, whose only daughter suffered from a hemorrhage, who, having in vain spent most of his estate on doctors, did not cure her in the least, since the disease was stronger than their art, finally despairing , that they will save her, takes her child and throws herself at the feet of the saint, exclaiming with tears: “Save, servant of God, my unfortunate daughter, whom I trust to God and your prayers and hands, and take, if you want, everything, what I have." She [tells] him: “What is in your house, child, keep for yourself, for I have no need for it, but if you unshakably believe and promise to be humble in accordance with the Gospel commandments to the end and to be merciful to the poor, then your life will be healed.” daughter". And when the husband agreed to do this immediately, then having anointed the child with holy oil from the Great Martyr George 34 with prayer, she restores her health and sends her, joyful and grateful, home with her father. But she healed many other women who were susceptible to the same disease of bleeding and who came to her with faith in their souls, stopping the flow of blood through prayer. Together with them, a certain husband, blind from birth, comes to her, having heard about the miracles of the saint. And led by the hands of others, he said: “Have mercy on me, faithful disciple of God, and open my eyes, so that, thanks to you, seeing the sweet light, I will glorify the Creator of all.” The venerable one philanthropically condescends to his requests and, without hesitation at all, prayerfully raised her hands to heaven, and anointed his eyes with oil from the saint, in seven days forcing him to become very vigilant and loudly glorify God. 8. Thus, having shone with the rays of extraordinary miracles and enlightened those who came with faith, the saint saw one day, while performing divine mysteries in the temple, how an indescribable light sparkled all around, and the All-Holy Spirit in the form of a white sheet descended inside the altar after the Cherubic song 35 and surrounded the priest, standing before the divine throne. Filled with horror and amazement 36, she did not tell anyone about what she had seen until the time came for her to repent to God. Already approaching him, she wanted, as she herself said, to see her homeland; and having reached Heraclea and bowed to the venerable temples of the saints there, she entered the so-called Chalcopratian Church of the Mother of God. And while she was praying there, a certain woman appeared to her, apparently one of the noble and prominent people of the city, and hugging and kissing her in a friendly manner, said: “Welcome, O beloved mother.” The monk [asks] her: “My lady, who am I, poor foreigner, that you so joyfully hugged and kissed me, whom you have never seen?” And she says in response: “Living here, I knew you even before you were conceived in your mother’s womb 37 . And if you want, let’s go to my house and you will make sure of this.” When the monk asked: “Where, O my lady, is your house?” “You will see me to the right of the temple of the holy martyr Roman 38,” she said and with these words she became invisible. Frightened and trembling with fear, the monk looked around the entire temple, looking for the one who had appeared to her, and when she did not see her anywhere, she hastily went to the beautiful church of the Holy Martyr Roman. And having prayed there and marveled at its beauty and grandeur, she found herself on the right side; and coming out of the gate, seeing the image above it and looking closer, she decided that what she saw in the Church of the Virgin Mary was a ghost. When she was thinking about this, a voice came from the image: “The one you see now, and the one you recently saw in the temple, is me. But return quickly to your monastery, for you must soon leave the earth and move to your heavenly homeland.” At this, fear and trembling seized the saint, and, falling in the temple vestibule and falling into sleep, she again saw the martyr of Christ, who said to her: “As I told you before, return to your monastery, because the time of your departure is near. For another twenty-four days, and you will depart in peace to the Lord after the annual feast of the glorious Great Martyr George is celebrated in your monastery 39.”

9. And indeed, having risen from sleep, the saint, having received the command from the martyr to go, gave her due thanksgiving and worship and left the city. Having boarded the ship, she returned to her sacred monastery on April 1 and from that time on she did not stop admonishing, admonishing, teaching and expounding everything related to salvation to all the sisters. And after the days determined before her death, she radiantly celebrated the bright and worldwide holiday of the glorious martyr George. And when she received communion of the immaculate and life-giving mysteries, her face immediately shone like the sun 40 . Then, with great joy and inspiration, she stretched out her hands high and exclaimed in gratitude: “Now you release Your servant, Master, according to the word of Your victorious martyr, in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation 41.” And seized with a strong fever, she endured from the sixth hour until the next day, and about the third hour she rested in peace and gave up her spirit into the hands of God, on April 24. Her honorable remains, having gathered, all the surrounding monasteries, with psalms and chants, were buried with honor in the church of the martyr [i.e. Vmch. George]. They, preserved by God's power and grace unharmed to this day, are known as a hospital for all who come in faith, for whoever, without doubt and with righteous intention, approaches her tomb and calls on her God-given name, no matter what illness he may have captured, immediately through her direct intercession receives a response healing from suffering.

10. However, it is worthy to mention in words the miracles that happened after the repose of the blessed one, and to briefly tell about them for the benefit of those listening. A certain man with a withered hand, who had resorted to every medical art to no avail, came to the tomb of the saint, encouraged only by faith in her, and thanks to her he was soon granted an amazing healing. For it happened, speaking in the Gospel, that he believed and his withered hand became healthy, like the other 42, after being anointed with holy oil. And another man, a blind man, with the same zeal and faith approached the saint’s shrine and, thanks to a similar anointing with holy oil, left, clearly seeing and magnifying the mercy and power of the miracle worker. Another, possessed by an unclean spirit and tormented inordinately by it, fell to the holy shrine of the venerable one and was immediately freed from the destructive demon, returning home in his right mind and telling everyone about the great deeds of God 43 . These are the miracles of our venerable wonderworker Elizabeth, [and they are also] others, many greater and more amazing than these, however, due to their abundance, they are not listed in this book, but are written down elsewhere.

11. Such is the life of [the Venerable One], such are the deeds and gifts with which the Lord of all worthily glorified her both during her life and after her repose. Through her intercession, may we all, striving to gain her protection and intercession, always remain above bodily as well as spiritual passions, may we avoid unharmed the temptations of invisible and mental enemies and, having peacefully ended our present life, will we be honored with heavenly bliss in Christ Jesus, the Lord ours, to whom is due all glory, honor and worship, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

This translation is based on the edition: Halkin F. Sainte Elisabeth d’Héraclée, abbesse a Constantinople // Analecta Bollandiana 91,1973. P. 249-264.

1 Wed. Proverbs 31.29.

2 That is in the Old Testament and in the New Testament times.

3 Heraclea Thracian(otherwise Perinthos) is a large city in Eastern Thrace, on the shores of the Sea of Marmara, the capital of the province of Europe.

4 Disipate(“twice consul”) - a high Byzantine official rank.

5 Eunomian meaning in Greek good-lawful and Euphemia - good-spirited.

6 Wed. Job. 1.1.

7 Gen. 18.1-8.

8 Wed. Life 30.2; OK. 1.42.

9 Ps. 144, 19.

10 Glyceria the maiden suffered along with the martyr. Laodicea ca. 177 in Heraclea (May 13/26).

11 Ammun deacon suffered with 40 fasting virgins in Heraclea in the 4th century (September 1/14).

13 That is liturgy.

14 Treasure.

15 On the occasion of the feast of St. Glyceria.

16 Glyceria in Greek means sweet.

17 Wed. Is. 7, 14, etc.

18 That is birth of St. Elizabeth happened sometime in February.

19 That is the period of uncleanness of the woman in labor.

20 Wed. Ps. 54.6.

21 Wed. OK. 2, 52..

22 That is Constantinople.

23 The Monastery of St. George Small Hill is not known from other sources; Monk Chariton in his life of St. Elizabeth clarifies that he was located next to the cistern of St. Mokia.

25 Wed. Matt. 23.12.

26 Phil. 3, 14.

27 St. Gennady – Patriarch of Constantinople (458-471); (Comm. August 31/September 13).

28 This refers to the fire of 465.

29 a lion I – Byzantine emperor (457-474).

30 This fire is also mentioned in the life of St. Daniel the Stylite (|490; commemorated December 11/24). Anapl is a suburb of Constantinople.

31 Hebdomon – southwestern suburb of Constantinople, where one of the imperial palaces was located.

32 Apparently, this means sschmch. Vavila, ep. Antioch (f251 commemorated September 4/17).

34 That is oil from a lamp in front of the temple image of the monastery.

35 This is a clear anachronism, since the Cherubic Hymn was introduced into Constantinople worship only c. 574

36 Wed. Acts. 3, 10.

37 Wed. Onion. 2, 21.

38 Probably means schmch. Roman, deacon of Caesarea (|303; commemorated November 18/December 1).

41 Wed. OK. 2.29-30.

42 Wed. Matt. 12, 13.

43 Wed. Acts 2, 11.

Hagiographic commentary

The life of the Venerable Elizabeth is one of the most mysterious pages of Byzantine hagiography. Mentioned in the Greek synaxarions on April 1, 24, the saint is devoid of specific biographical features. Hence the ambiguity regarding the time and circumstances of her life that prevailed until the middle of the 20th century. and was reflected in many works, including those of St. Demetrius of Rostov 2.

Meanwhile, the complete life of St. 3 was miraculously preserved - in just one Florentine manuscript of the 14th century, Cod. Flor. gr. 50 (Conv. soppr. B.I. 1214), containing biographies of the holy women. It indicates not only the time of life of the ascetic, a contemporary of Emperor Leo I (457-474) and Patriarch Gennady (458-471) and a witness to the great fire of 465, but also describes in detail her entire course, from conception to death and posthumous miracles. This text is filled with many geographical and ecclesiastical archaeological realities, which testifies to the good acquaintance of its anonymous author with places in Perinth and Constantinople associated with St. Elizabeth.

There are several opposing opinions regarding the time of compilation of this life - only a clear terminus ante quem is known - the date of the manuscript itself is the 14th century. First publisher, Fr. Francois Alquin 4 believed that the life was written before 591, when the Avars destroyed the temple of St. Glykeria in Heraclea - however, as you know, it was immediately restored by Emperor Mauritius. Byzantine scholar A.P. Kazhdan 5 unreasonably believed that the episode with the killing of the serpent, a kind of female parallel to the miracle of St. George, and could not have appeared earlier than the 12th-13th centuries. Meanwhile, this story is mentioned already in the Constantinople synaxar of the 10th century. The researcher of the life of the Venerable V. Karras 6 correctly determined the terminus post quem of our monument - the year 574, when Emperor Justin II introduced the Cherubic Hymn, mentioned in the Life 7, into the liturgy. But the researcher’s reasoning about the creation of the text in the 9th-11th centuries, based on the separate location of the head and body of St. Glyceria in the 8th-9th centuries seems unconvincing to us. It is important to note that some geographical realities of life still bear early names: for example, the monastery of St. George, the Small Hill became the Small Roman Hill in the Middle Byzantine era, and in the later era it was generally dedicated to the Mother of God. Therefore, we are inclined to attribute our monument to the pre-iconoclastic era (late 6th - early 8th centuries).

Another life of St. Petersburg is also presumably dated in the same way. Elizabeth, compiled by the monk Chariton 8. In fact, this is rather a word of praise, all the factual material in which is borrowed from the above-mentioned anonymous life. The arguments of Renato Criscuolo, who first published this life, in favor of the dependence of the anonymous life on Chariton are not convincing. The only addition is a torn off (due to the loss of the end of the text) mention of healing at the relics of the holy daughter of the prefect, borrowed, apparently, from some other description of the miracles of the ascetic, which is also mentioned at the end of the anonymous life.

Worship of the incorruptible, according to the testimony of life, relics of Saint Elizabeth, which were in her monastery, continued in Constantinople until its capture by the Turks in 1453. About them, along with the remains of St. Thomaids, mentioned by Russian pilgrims Stefan of Novgorod in 1348-49. and Hierodeacon Zosima in 1419-22. 9 In the saint’s homeland, in Thrace, until the 20th century. The miraculous spring of the saint was revered in Phanari near Selimvria.

1 Synaxarium ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae / Ed. H. Delehaye // Acta Sanctorum, Nov., Propylaea. Bruxelles, 1902. Col. 625.

2 Lives of saints in Russian, set out according to the guidance of the Four Mena of St. Demetrius of Rostov. Book 8. M., 1906. P. 398-400. The information given here about the abbess of St. Elizabeth in the monastery of St. Cosmas and Damiana are unreliable, since the monk lived many decades before the founding of this monastery under Emperor Justin I (518-527).

3 Bibliotheca hagiographica graeca. Bruxellex, 1957. No. 2121.

4 Halkin F. Sainte Elisabeth d'Héraclée, abbesse à Constantinople // Analecta Bollandiana 91,1973. P. 249-264.

5 Kazhdan A. Hagiographical Notes. 16. A Female St. George // Byzantion 56, 1986. P. 169-170.

6 Life of St. Elisabeth the Wonderworker / Transl. by V. Karras // Holy women of Byzantium / Ed. by A.-M. Talbot. Dumbarton Oaks, 1996, pp. 117-135.

7 This date must be taken with caution, since it is likely that the Cherubic Song is somewhat older.

8 Bibliotheca... No. 2122, 2122a; Criscuolo R. Vita di santa Elisabetta di Constantinopoli, la taumaturga, scritta dal monaco Caritone // Annali della facolta di lettere e filosofia dell’ Università di Napoli 14, 1972. P. 49-68.

9 Majeska G. Russian travelers to Constantinople in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Wash. 1984. P. 40, 148, 188, 321-325.

INSTRUCTION OF REVEREND ELIZABETH WONDERWORKERS, ABBESSES CONSTANTINOPLE NUNES' MONASTERY HOLY GREAT MARTYR GEORGE, AGAINST ELIGIBILITY AND EVILITY.

Reverend Elizabeth, the abbess of the convent, herself a strict ascetic, who had studied the characteristics of the female heart through long-term experiments, became a zealous and experienced leader in the salvation of the sisters entrusted to her care in the Lord. Thus, she inspired her sisters and other women to especially beware of wickedness and evil tongues as sins that are very common among women. “We are weak both in body and mind,” she said, “and with this weakness we think to be strong, either by cunning or by evil tongues. But our cunning, as inseparable from lies, makes us direct servants of Satan. He is the father of lies and acts bravely where lies are loved. And female talkativeness is all the more sinful because with a lack of prudence and with irritability of heart, we most often waste emptiness, lies, slander, frivolity, which is harmful to ourselves and others.”

“The heart of the righteous ponders the answer, but the lips of the wicked spew out evil,” says the Wise One (Proverbs 15:28), (Gabriel, Bishop of Imereti. Words and Speeches) 1 .

1 Quoted from: Dyachenko G., prot. A complete annual circle of short teachings, comp. for every day of the year. T. 1; M., 1901. P. 289.

See also: Rev. Filaret (Gumilevsky), Archbishop. Chernigovsky. Lives of the holy ascetics of the Eastern Church. M., 1994. S. 224-225.

Saint Elizabeth of Constantinople. Venerable Elizabeth the Wonderworker, Abbess of Constantinople

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what ELISABETH OF CONSTANTINOPLE is in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

As presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov

Life of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth.