On October 11, the Church celebrates the discovery of the relics of the Holy Princess Elizabeth Feodorovnatranslated

The discovery of the relics of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, which took place in 1918, is celebrated by the Church on October 11.

In February 1905, terrorist Ivan Kalyaev killed her husband, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. The carriage did not have time to drive far from the house, and when Elizaveta Feodorovna heard the explosion, she immediately ran out into the street.

In the snow, stained with blood, she saw scraps of clothing, fragments of a carriage and... pieces of the body of her husband, to whom she had said goodbye just a few minutes ago. With her own hands, the Grand Duchess collected the remains of Sergei Alexandrovich from the pavement and laid them on a stretcher. And three days later she came to the cell of the Butyrka prison to the arrested terrorist and said that she forgives him.

She brought the Gospel and an icon into the cell and asked the killer to repent and have pity on his soul. For the first time after the death of Sergei Alexandrovich, a smile lit up the Grand Duchess’s face when she was told that Kalyaev had placed the donated icon under his pillow.

The terrorist was hanged, despite the request of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna for his pardon. Thirteen years later, she will ask the Lord in the same way to have mercy on the drunken Red Army soldiers who, with blows from their rifle butts, will throw her into a deep mine...