CANADIAN DIOCESE: 4 November, 2024
An exhibition dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the birth of St Elizabeth opens in the Canadian Diocese

On Sunday, November 3, 2024, an exhibition dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the birth of the Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanov (November 1, 1864 – July 18, 1918), wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, elder sister of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, began at the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in Jackson’s Point ("Beryozki”), ON. Even before the weekend, His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Montreal and Canada honored the exhibition with his presence, blessing its opening in the presence of the clergy of the church and invited guests.

The exhibition includes numerous photographs of the Grand Duchess and her husband, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (Governor-General of Moscow, assassinated by a socialist revolutionary on February 4, 1905) and other members of her family, as well as letters, documents and various books about her in Russian and English, published both in Russia and abroad. The organizers of the exhibition were the clergy of the Smolensk church: its Rector, Priest Maxim Abroskin and Priest Valentin Losev. His Eminence thanked the rector for the work done, noting that this is the first time such an event has taken place within the Canadian Diocese. During his stay at Jackson’s Point, Archbishop Gabriel also consecrated new icons for the iconostasis of the church: the images of the Savior and the Reigning Mother of God, specially painted for this date by the diocesan iconographer Alexander Shelekhov.

The purpose of the exhibition, first of all, is educational, missionary: to acquaint a growing number of English-speaking parishioners and their families with the life and martyrdom of Grand Duchess Elizabeth: at birth – Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Louise Alice (Ella) of Hesse-Darmstadt, sister-in-law of the Tsar-Passion-Bearer Nicholas II Alexandrovich. The Grand Duchess was the chairman of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society from 1905 to 1917. Having taken monastic vows after the death of her husband, the Grand Duchess became the founder of the Martha and Mary Convent (Marfo-Mariinskaya Obitel’) in Moscow. In 1981, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia canonized Grand Duchess Elizabeth and her cell-attendant, Nun Barbara.

On the very day of the opening of the exhibition, Fr.Maxim addressed the parishioners with a lecture and discussion, after which the church Sisterhood, bearing the holy name of Elizabeth Feodorovna, invited those present to a luncheon.

With the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel, the exhibition will be open throughout the year and will continue to be replenished with new exhibits. Lectures, reports and screenings of documentaries about the Romanov family are also planned. In addition, with the blessing of the Ruling Bishop, during the next Lenten pastoral retreat in the Canadian Diocese, which will be held this time at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto, the participants will make a pilgrimage to Jackson’s Point to visit the exhibition.

Canadian Diocese