Story
The founder and first abbess of the Moscow Martha and Mary Convent was the Grand Duchess St. Elisaveta Feodorovna. In 1894, the wedding of her younger sister Alice of Hesse and Nicholas II took place. The Grand Duchess began to engage in charity work and help the homeless, sick and poor. When the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, she sent ambulance trains, food, uniforms, medicines, gifts and even camp churches with icons and utensils to the front, and in Moscow she opened a hospital for the wounded and committees for the care of widows and orphans of military personnel. It was at that time that the grand ducal couple began to patronize the Iveron community in Zamoskvorechye, where nurses were trained. After the death of her husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna, completely withdrawing from social and palace life, divided the jewelry into three parts: the first was returned to the treasury, the second was given to her closest relatives, the third went to charity, and mainly to the creation of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery. The princess acquired a large plot with a luxurious garden with money from family jewelry and from a sold mansion on Fontanka in the northern capital.
“The Abode of Labor and Mercy” became an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of Orthodox Moscow. According to the founder’s plan, her sisters combined prayer and handicraft with help from the laity, and poor people could find here both consolation and real help, first of all, qualified medical help - good Moscow doctors worked in the local free hospital and taught sisters at special courses at the monastery basics of medicine. They especially prepared to care for the terminally ill, not consoling them with the hope of an imaginary recovery, but helping to prepare the soul for the transition to Eternity. In addition, sisters of mercy served in the hospital at the monastery, in orphanages, infirmaries, and helped the needy and poor families with many children - for this, the abbess collected charitable donations from all over Russia and never refused the help of the laity.
Orthodox girls and women from 21 to 45 years old were accepted into the monastery. The sisters did not take monastic vows, did not dress in black, could go out into the world, calmly leave the monastery and get married (Paul Korin, who worked on the painting of the cathedral church of the monastery, was himself married to her former pupil), and could also take monastic vows. It is sometimes believed that St. Elizabeth initially wanted to revive the ancient institution of deaconesses.
The monastery on Ordynka had two churches, a chapel, a free hospital, a pharmacy, an outpatient clinic, a canteen, a Sunday school, a shelter for orphan girls and a library. On the outer wall of the monastery there was a box into which notes asking for help were thrown, and up to 12 thousand of these requests were received a year. The abbess was going to open branches of the monastery in all the provinces of Russia, set up a country monastery for retired sisters, and in Moscow itself, organize orphanages and an almshouse in all parts and build a house with cheap apartments for workers.
On May 22, 1908, on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the foundation stone of the cathedral church in the name of the Intercession took place on Bolshaya Ordynka, which was built before 1912 by the architect A. Shchusev in the Art Nouveau style with elements of ancient Novgorod-Pskov architecture. Elisaveta Feodorovna invited outstanding artists to paint the temple: Mikhail Nesterov, his student Pavel Korin and the famous sculptor S. Konenkov. Nesterov created his famous compositions here: “The Path to Christ”, depicting 25 figures, “Christ with Martha and Mary”, “Morning of the Resurrection”, as well as the under-dome image of God Saphaoth and the face of the Savior above the portal. In the Church of the Intercession there was a secret staircase leading to an underground tomb - it was painted by Korin on the plot of “The Path of the Righteous to the Lord.” The abbess bequeathed herself to be buried there: after choosing Russia as her second homeland with her heart, she decided to change her will and wished to find peace not in the Palestinian Church of St. Mary Magdalene, and in Moscow, within the walls of her monastery. In memory of the blessed visit to the Holy Land in his youth, on the facade of the Church of the Intercession a view of Jerusalem was depicted, with the rotunda of the Holy Sepulcher and the dome of the Church of Mary Magdalene. The 12 bells of the temple belfry were deliberately selected to match the “Rostov ringing”, that is, they sounded like the famous bells of Rostov the Great. One pre-revolutionary local historian noted the squat appearance of the cathedral church, “tying it to the earth,” “the earthly, laborious character of the temple,” as if embodying the plan of the entire monastery. Outwardly, a very small, almost miniature temple was designed for a thousand people and was also supposed to be a lecture hall. To the left of the gate, under the pine trees, a blue-domed chapel was erected, where the sisters read the psalter for the deceased sisters and benefactors of the monastery, and where the abbess herself often prayed at night. .jpg)
In the fall of 1909, the second hospital church of the monastery was consecrated in the name of Sts. Martha and Mary - according to the abbess's plan, it was designed so that seriously ill people, without getting out of bed, could see the divine service directly from the wards through the open doors. And the next year, when the monastery opened, St. Elizabeth took monastic vows within its walls - she was ordained into monasticism by Metropolitan Vladimir (Epiphany), the future new martyr who was killed in Kiev in January 1918. In April 1910, at an all-night vigil, according to a special rite compiled by the Holy Synod, 17 nuns were ordained together with the saint Elizabeth to the title of sisters of the cross, and the next morning at the Liturgy of St. Elizabeth was elevated to the rank of abbess of the monastery. Bishop Tryphon, addressing St. Elizabeth, said: “This robe will hide you from the world, and the world will be hidden from you, but at the same time it will be a witness to your beneficial activities, which will shine before the Lord to His glory.”
The abbess led the life of an ascetic, spending time in prayer and caring for the seriously ill, sometimes even assisting doctors in operations and doing bandages with her own hands. According to the testimonies of patients, some kind of healing power emanated from the “Great Mother” herself, which had a beneficial effect on them and helped them recover - many of those who had already been refused help by doctors were healed here, and the monastery remained their last hope.
The abbess and her sisters actively went out into the world and treated the leprosy of society: they helped orphans, incurable patients, the poor, and the inhabitants of Khitrovka, whom the princess persuaded to give their children to her to raise. She organized a hostel for boys, who later formed a team of messengers, and for girls - a house for working women with a cheap or free apartment, where they were protected from hunger and the influence of the street. She organized Christmas trees for poor children with gifts and warm clothes made by her sisters. She opened a shelter for terminally ill patients with tuberculosis. Consumptive women embraced the princess, not realizing the danger of these embraces for her, and she never shied away from them. The abbess also helped the clergy, especially rural ones, where there was no money to build or renovate a church, missionary priests in the Far North and other outskirts of Russia, and Russian pilgrims going to visit the Holy Land. With her funds, a Russian Orthodox church was built in the Italian city of Bari, where the tomb of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
After the revolution, the monastery was not touched and they even helped with food and medicine. In order not to give rise to provocations, the abbess and sisters almost never left the walls; Liturgy was served every day. Gradually, the authorities approached this Christian island: first they sent questionnaires for those living and being treated, then they arrested several people from the hospital, then they announced the decision to transfer the orphans to an orphanage. And in April 1918, on Bright Tuesday after Easter, the monastery served the Liturgy and prayer service to St. Patriarch Tikhon, who gave St. Elizabeth's last blessing. Immediately after his departure, the abbess was arrested - she was not even given the requested two hours to get ready, allotting only “half an hour.” Having said goodbye to her sisters, under the armed guard of Latvian riflemen, she left in a car, accompanied by two sisters - her beloved cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva.
Her Moscow monastery existed until 1926, and then for another two years there was a clinic there, where former sisters worked under the leadership of Princess Golitsyna. After her arrest, some nuns were sent to Turkestan, while others created a small vegetable garden in the Tver region and survived there under the leadership of Fr. Mitrofan Serebryansky. After the closure, a city cinema was opened in the cathedral church of the monastery, then a house of health education, and in the Marfo-Mariinskaya Church - an outpatient clinic named after. Professor F. Rein. Her temple icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women was transferred to the neighboring Zamoskvorechye Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy, and a statue of Stalin was installed on the territory of the former monastery. After the war, the former Church of the Intercession housed the State Restoration Workshops, transferred here from the St. Nicholas Church on Bersenevka. Until recently, this organization under the name of the Art Restoration Center named after. I.E. Grabar occupied the premises of the Zamoskvorechsk monastery. And in the Marfo-Mariinsky Church back in the 1980s. There was a laboratory of the All-Union Institute of Mineral Raw Materials and a physical therapy room with a gym equipped in the premises of the former temple.
Mercy (Bolshaya Ordynka, 34) is a unique phenomenon. It is not a female monastic monastery in the usual sense for us. This is a community of sisters of mercy, open to the world and, according to its charter, approaching the monastery.
“A certain Lazarus was sick from Bethany, from the village where Mary and Martha, her sister, lived. Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was the one who anointed the Lord with myrrh and wiped His feet with her hair. The sisters sent to tell Him: “Lord! Behold, the one You love is sick.” Jesus, hearing this, said: “This illness is not for death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” (John 11:1-5)
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Elizaveta Fedorovna
The founder and first abbess of the Moscow Martha and Mary Convent was Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna Romanova, born German Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt - the widow of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, killed by terrorists. Many Muscovites often called her “Great Mother,” or more touchingly, “White Angel of Moscow.”
Elizaveta Feodorovna was the elder sister of the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas II. In 1884, she married Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Russian Emperor Alexander III, and received the title of Grand Duchess.
Having moved to Russia, she fell in love with it immediately and unconditionally. She was especially shocked by our Moscow, with its huge number of churches, the ringing of bells, the piety of Muscovites and their hospitality. Her first teacher of the Russian language and the Word of God was her husband, the Grand Duke.
At first, the wedding of Sergei and Elizabeth took place according to the Orthodox rite, then according to the Protestant rite. The transition of the Grand Duke's wife to Orthodoxy was not mandatory. And although the Grand Duchess remained a Protestant, Protestantism was already narrow and cramped for her, and she comprehended Orthodoxy with all her soul and strove for it, attending all services with her husband. 
Monument to Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna by Vyacheslav Klykov. Installed on the territory of the monastery in 1990
In 1888, a significant event occurred in her life. She had the opportunity, together with her husband, chairman of the Imperial Palestine Society, to travel to Jerusalem to the Holy Land. There, at the Holy Sepulcher, Elizaveta Fedorovna made, probably, the most important decision in her life - to convert to Orthodoxy.
Struck by the beauty of the Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane, she said: “How I would like to be buried here.” If only Elizaveta Fedorovna had known how prophetic this desire of hers would turn out to be.
In 1891, Elizaveta Feodorovna became a Muscovite - Emperor Alexander III appointed his brother governor of Moscow. The Grand Duchess, in love with Moscow, immediately found something to do - she established the Elizabethan Charitable Society, which takes care of babies from the poorest families, and headed the Ladies' Committee of the Red Cross.
During the Russo-Japanese War, helping soldiers fighting for their Fatherland became the main work of her life. She gave the luxurious Kremlin palace to workshops in which women worked - they sewed, collected humanitarian aid for soldiers, and prepared gifts for them. The Princess herself sent camp churches to the front.
Then she already exchanged her luxurious princely dresses for the simple, rough outfit of a nurse; she believed that in times of war and general disasters there should be no place for luxury.
On February 5, 1905, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was torn to shreds by a bomb thrown by terrorist Ivan Kalyaev. Elizaveta Feodorovna came to the terrorist in prison, in his solitary cell on death row, to ask him one question - why did he do it? She left the Gospel for the killer, and even petitioned the emperor to pardon Kalyaev. She forgave the bomber.
Secular society did not understand her; why is this game of love and mercy needed? And she simply fulfilled one of the commandments of Christ - love your enemies. This is probably the highest manifestation of Christian love - to sincerely forgive the one who caused you the greatest harm.
At the same time, Elizaveta Fedorovna decided to finally say goodbye to the world and devote herself to serving people. She divided her jewelry into three parts: the first was returned to the treasury, the second was given to her closest relatives, and the third was used to create the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery. The Princess acquired a large plot on Bolshaya Ordynka with a luxurious garden with money from family jewelry and from a sold mansion on Fontanka in the northern capital.
According to the Princess's plan, it was neither a monastery nor a secular charitable institution. The monastery was a spiritual institution, where only Orthodox girls and women who wanted to devote their lives to the sick and poor were accepted. There was also a special rite of initiation into “sisters of the cross”, based on the vow of service. The Princess herself took monastic vows.
Then she uttered her famous words: “I am leaving the brilliant world where I occupied a brilliant position, but I am ascending with you to a higher world, to the world of the poor and suffering.”
The sisters did not take monastic vows, did not dress in black, and could go out into the world, calmly leave the monastery, and get married. But they could also take monastic vows.
Two churches, a chapel, a hospital, a library, an outpatient clinic, a canteen, a Sunday school, and a shelter for orphan girls were built on Ordynka. On the outer wall of the monastery there was a box where people threw notes asking for help. The abbess was going to open such monasteries in all the provinces of Russia and set up inexpensive housing for workers.
Elizaveta Fedorovna enjoyed great love among Muscovites. She walked the streets of Moscow, accompanied only by the nun Varvara, distributing alms and visiting poor houses. She did not shy away from the dens of Khitrovka, filled with tramps, thieves and escaped convicts; she looked for street children and placed them in shelters.
The Great Mother, very lenient towards the young sisters, was incredibly demanding of herself. She slept on a simple wooden bed without a mattress, ate almost nothing, observed all fasts, and prayed constantly. They said that she accepted the “great schema” with the name Alexia.
During the First World War, she and the sisters of the cross worked incessantly in hospitals. They formed ambulance trains, collected medicines, and sent camp churches to the front.
Elizaveta Feodorovna expected her martyrdom. More than once she was offered to leave Russia, salvation was so close, but she could not and did not want to leave her sisters on the cross. “I am Russian, and I want to share with my people their sad fate.”
After the revolution, the monastery was not touched at first and they even helped with food and medicine. In order not to give rise to provocations, the abbess and sisters almost never left the walls; the Liturgy was served every day. But gradually the authorities approached this Christian island: first they sent questionnaires for those living and being treated, then they arrested several people from the hospital, then they announced the decision to transfer the orphans to an orphanage.
In April 1918, on Bright Tuesday after Easter, Patriarch Tikhon served the Liturgy and prayer service at the monastery, giving Elizabeth the last blessing. Immediately after his departure, the abbess was arrested - she was not even given the requested two hours to get ready, allotting only “half an hour.” Having said goodbye to her sisters, under the armed guard of Latvian riflemen, she left in a car, accompanied by two sisters - her beloved cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva.
First, she, along with other members of the imperial house, was sent to Yekaterinburg, and then to Alapaevsk. Her faithful friend Varvara voluntarily went into exile for her beloved mother. On the night of July 18, 1918, she and several other people were brutally killed by the Bolsheviks. They were thrown alive into the shaft of an abandoned mine near Alapaevsk, sixty meters deep. Before her death, the Grand Duchess crossed herself and said: “Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing!”
With obscene curses, the executioners began to throw their victims into the pit, beating them with rifle butts. This ferocious massacre of the innocent was so terrible that even some of the participants could not stand it. Two of them went crazy. The first to be pushed was Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Then they began to abandon the others. Everyone was pushed out alive, except for Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich. He was the only one dead before he reached the bottom of the shaft. At the last moment, he began to fight the executioners and grabbed one of them by the throat. Then he was killed with a revolver shot to the head.
When all the victims were already in the mine, the security officers began throwing hand grenades there. They wanted to fill up the mine with explosions and hide the traces of their crime. Only one martyr, Fyodor Remez, was killed by a grenade. His body, recovered from the mine, was severely burned by the explosion. The remaining martyrs died in terrible suffering from thirst, hunger and wounds received during the fall.
Grand Duchess Elizabeth fell not to the bottom of the shaft, but to a ledge that was located at a depth of 15 meters. Next to her they found Prince John with his wounded head bandaged. It was the holy Grand Duchess, severely bruised and with injuries in the head area, who bandaged him in the dark, using her apostolic.
A peasant witness heard the Cherubic song begin to be heard from the depths of the mine. This was sung by the martyrs, led by Elizaveta Feodorovna. The fanatics, having thrown their victims into the mine, thought that they would drown in the water that was at the bottom of the mine. But when they heard their voices, the main one, Ryabov, threw a grenade there. The grenade exploded and there was silence. Then the voices resumed again and a groan was heard. Ryabov threw a second grenade. And then the executioners heard the singing of the prayer “Save, Lord, Thy people” coming from the mine. Horror gripped the security officers. In a panic, they filled the mine with brushwood and dead wood and set it on fire. The singing of prayers could still reach them through the smoke.
When the White Army of Admiral Kolchak occupied the area of Yekaterinburg and Alapaevsk, an investigation began into the atrocities of the Bolsheviks in the murder of the Imperial family and prisoners of Alapaevsk. A week of time was spent and a lot of effort was made to excavate the mine and retrieve the bodies of the martyrs who were located at various depths of the mine.
Next to the Grand Duchess lay two unexploded grenades. The Lord did not allow the body of His saint to be torn into pieces. The fingers of the holy ascetic’s right hand were folded for the sign of the cross. Nun Varvara and Prince John had their fingers in the same position. It was as if they wanted to cross themselves at the moment of their death, and perhaps they did.
The investigation established that in the pitch darkness of the mine, exhausted from her own pain, the holy Grand Duchess Elizabeth fulfilled her last duty on earth - to alleviate the suffering of others. She groped, carefully so as not to fall down from the ledge of the shaft, and bandaged Prince John's wounded head. And with her singing of prayers, she encouraged others and helped them overcome the pain and horror of impending death and rush to God in prayer.
The hellish crime in Alapaevsk occurred on the night of July 18, when the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Sergius of Radonezh. It was the day of the Angel of Elizabeth Feodorovna's late husband, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
Through Chita and Beijing, the coffins with the incorruptible remains of the Great Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna and the nun Varvara were delivered to the Holy Land in Jerusalem. The Great Mother was buried where she once dreamed, in the Church of Mary Magdalene
Her Moscow monastery existed until 1926, and then for another two years there was a clinic there, where former sisters worked under the leadership of Princess Golitsyna. After her arrest, some nuns were sent to Turkestan, while others created a small vegetable garden in the Tver region and survived there under the leadership of Fr. Mitrofan Serebryansky.
After the closure, a city cinema was opened in the cathedral church of the monastery, then a house of health education, and in the Marfo-Mariinsky Church - an outpatient clinic named after. Professor F. Rein. Her temple icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women was transferred to the neighboring Zamoskvorechye Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy, and a statue of Stalin was installed on the territory of the former monastery.
The revival of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy began in 1992, when, by decree of the capital government, the architectural complex of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent was transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate. But the keys to the main cathedral of the monastery - the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos - were returned to the Church by the center named after them. I.E. Grabar only at the end of 2006.
In 1981, the Russian foreign church canonized Elizabeth Feodorovna and her faithful companion Varvara. In 1992 and the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Elizabeth Feodorovna and Varvara as holy martyrs. In 2004, the relics of Saints Elizabeth and Barbara were brought to Russia
Currently functioning at the Marfo-Mariinskaya Monastery are:
St. Elizabeth's Orphanage for Girls, where more than twenty children live permanently;
Mercy Medical Center for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy, which has a day care group;
Children's palliative outreach service for disabled children with incurable progressive diseases, which serves about seventy families;
St. Elizabeth's Grammar School, where more than two hundred and fifty children study;
Summer cottage for disabled children and children from large families with their parents in the courtyard in Sevastopol;
Family placement center and school for foster parents
The “work with petitioners” service, which provides one-time financial assistance to those in need;
Mercy helpline, coordinating requests from those in need with relevant city services;
Organizations of volunteers engaged in various types of assistance - more than one and a half thousand people.
Getting ready to open:
Respis (24-hour stay group) for disabled children with their parents, or disabled children - wards of the palliative service of the Convent;
Almshouse for women;
March 13th, 2014
Marfo-Mary Convent of Mercy- community of sisters of mercy , according to its charter, approaching monastery . Located in Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka street . Founded by the Grand Duchess Elizaveta Fedorovna in 1909. 
main entrance
The founder and first abbess of the Moscow Martha and Mary Convent was the Grand Duchess St. Elisaveta Feodorovna. In 1894, the wedding of her younger sister Alice of Hesse and Nicholas II took place. The Grand Duchess began to engage in charity work and help the homeless, sick and poor. When the Russo-Japanese War began in 1904, she sent ambulance trains, food, uniforms, medicines, gifts and even camp churches with icons and utensils to the front, and in Moscow she opened a hospital for the wounded and committees for the care of widows and orphans of military personnel. It was at that time that the grand ducal couple began to patronize the Iveron community in Zamoskvorechye, where nurses were trained. After the death of her husband, Elisaveta Feodorovna, completely withdrawing from social and palace life, divided the jewelry into three parts: the first was returned to the treasury, the second was given to her closest relatives, the third went to charity, and mainly to the creation of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery. The princess acquired a large plot with a luxurious garden with money from family jewelry and from a sold mansion on Fontanka in the northern capital.
Gatehouse and Chapel
Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Orthodox girls and women from 21 to 45 years old were accepted into the monastery. The sisters did not take monastic vows, did not dress in black, could go out into the world, calmly leave
monastery and get marriedor they could have taken monastic vows.
The chambers of Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna are now a museum
alcove 
on the right is the Gardener's house
On May 22, 1908, on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, the foundation stone of the cathedral church in the name of the Intercession took place on Bolshaya Ordynka, which was built before 1912 by the architect A. Shchusev in the Art Nouveau style with elements of ancient Novgorod-Pskov architecture. Elisaveta Feodorovna invited outstanding artists to paint the temple: Mikhail Nesterov, his student Pavel Korin and the famous sculptor S. Konenkov. Nesterov created his famous compositions here: “The Path to Christ”, depicting 25 figures, “Christ with Martha and Mary”, “Morning of the Resurrection”, as well as the under-dome image of God Saphaoth and the face of the Savior above the portal. In the Church of the Intercession there was a secret staircase leading to an underground tomb - it was painted by Korin on the plot of “The Path of the Righteous to the Lord.” The abbess bequeathed herself to be buried there: after choosing Russia as her second homeland with her heart, she decided to change her will and wished to find peace not in the Palestinian Church of St. Mary Magdalene, and in Moscow, within the walls of her monastery. In memory of the blessed visit to the Holy Land in his youth, on the facade of the Church of the Intercession a view of Jerusalem was depicted, with the rotunda of the Holy Sepulcher and the dome of the Church of Mary Magdalene. The 12 bells of the temple belfry were deliberately selected to match the “Rostov ringing”, that is, they sounded like the famous bells of Rostov the Great. One pre-revolutionary local historian noted the squat appearance of the cathedral church, “tying it to the earth,” “the earthly, laborious character of the temple,” as if embodying the plan of the entire monastery. Outwardly, a very small, almost miniature temple was designed for a thousand people and was also supposed to be a lecture hall. To the left of the gate, under the pine trees, a blue-domed chapel was erected, where the sisters read the psalter for the deceased sisters and benefactors of the monastery, and where the abbess herself often prayed at night
Chapel in the garden 
Calvary 
After the revolution, the monastery was initially left untouched and they even helped with food and medicine. In order not to give rise to provocations, the abbess and sisters almost never left the walls
Gradually, the authorities approached this Christian island: first they sent questionnaires for those living and being treated, then they arrested several people from the hospital, then they announced the decision to transfer the orphans to an orphanage. And in April 1918, on Bright Tuesday after Easter, the monastery served the Liturgy and prayer service to St. Patriarch Tikhon, who gave St. Elizabeth's last blessing. Immediately after his departure, the abbess was arrested - she was not even given the requested two hours to get ready, allotting only “half an hour.” Having said goodbye to her sisters, under the armed guard of Latvian riflemen, she left in a car, accompanied by two sisters
The monastery existed until 1926, and then for another two years there was a clinic there, where former sisters worked under the leadership of Princess Golitsyna. After her arrest, some nuns were sent to Turkestan, while others created a small vegetable garden in the Tver region and survived there under the leadership of Fr. Mitrofan Serebryansky. After the closure, a city cinema was opened in the cathedral church of the monastery, then a house of health education, and in the Marfo-Mariinskaya Church - an outpatient clinic named after. Professor F. Rein. Her temple icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women was transferred to the neighboring Zamoskvorechye Church of St. Nicholas in Kuznetsy, and a statue of Stalin was installed on the territory of the former monastery. After the war, the former Church of the Intercession housed the State Restoration Workshops, transferred here from the St. Nicholas Church on Bersenevka. Until recently, this organization under the name of the Art Restoration Center named after. I.E. Grabar occupied the premises of the Zamoskvorechsk monastery. And in the Marfo-Mariinsky Church back in the 1980s. There was a laboratory of the All-Union Institute of Mineral Raw Materials and a physical therapy room with a gym equipped in the premises of the former temple.
fountain
The revival of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy began in 1992, when, by decree of the capital government, the architectural complex of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent was transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate. The keys to the main cathedral of the monastery - the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos - were returned to the Church by the center. I.E. Grabar only at the end of 2006.
children's playground and on the right - a shelter house for girls
monument to Elizabeth Feodorovna
entrance to the underground temple
The chambers of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna - then the green house - this
Infirmary with the Church of Martha and Mary -
In the fall of 1909, it was consecrated for the second time, in the name of Sts. Martha and Mary - according to the abbess's plan, it was designed so that seriously ill people, without getting out of bed, could see the divine service directly from the wards through the open doors. And the next year, when the monastery opened, St. Elizabeth took monastic vows within its walls
drinking fountain
scheme 
Church of Martha and Mary - from Bolshaya Ordynka
When you come to the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, you always look forward with trepidation to something new in your life: new knowledge, new emotions, new acquaintances. This is especially true for historically significant places.
They are filled with special energy; it seems that you are completely immersed mentally in the era when significant events took place here. The history of such places is extremely interesting and I want to visit as many of them as possible every time.
Such places include the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent, located in Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka. It is not just a monastery, but has a special way of life, which distinguishes it from other similar organizations.
In contact with
History of the founding of the nunnery
The founder of the monastery is Princess Elisaveta Fedorovna. Her decision was not spontaneous; she had previously been involved in charity work and provided assistance in every possible way to those who needed it.
These were people wounded in the war, and those who found themselves in difficult life situations, and the poor, and the sick. After her husband’s death, she used the proceeds from the sale of jewelry to buy a mansion, which became a convent.
For the capital, the appearance of the monastery was a sensational event, since women did not just pray and do household work, but actively helped people in need. They were called sisters of mercy. Moreover, medical assistance was even provided. The best doctors worked here, and sisters learned the basics of medicine.
Mother Superior
The abbess of the monastery was Princess Elisaveta Fedorovna. She was a sincere person, always ready to help people. She saw her calling in this and could not live without it.
The princess personally participated in the life of her brainchild and provided assistance to those in need along with the other sisters; she made dressings and assisted in operations.
On the territory of the monastery organized by the princess, the Church of the Intercession was built, which was painted by famous artists invited by the abbess, and a year later another temple of Saints Martha and Mary appeared. In this church, seriously ill people could watch the services without getting up.
For the first time after the revolution, the monastery was not touched; Elisaveta Fedorovna and other sisters tried not to go beyond its boundaries and not attract unnecessary attention to themselves. But trouble could not be avoided; in 1918, the abbess and 2 sisters were arrested and taken to the Urals.
There, the day after the execution of the royal family, they were thrown into a mine, where they died. Only in 1920 were the relics of the princess extracted and transported to Jerusalem. Now some of the relics are kept in the Intercession Cathedral.
During the revolution, the activities of the Marfo-Mariinsky monastery attracted close attention from the authorities. When in 1918 the princess was arrested and taken outside the city, to the Urals, the monastery was left without a leader, but this did not prevent it from existing for another 8 years.
Then a clinic began to operate on the territory, and the Church of the Intercession was converted into a cinema. Only in 1992 the Marfa-Mariinsky monastery was transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate. And only fourteen years later, in 2006, the Intercession Church was returned to Orthodox believers.
Current state
Nowadays, the Martha-Mariinskaya monastery functions in full force and continues the work begun by the Venerable Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna.
Sisters work in various medical institutions and help sick people, especially those with terminal diseases, organize monitoring of them and train their loved ones to care for such patients.
It is important to know: In addition, on the territory of this historical shrine there is a center for children diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The monastery has branches throughout the country that work successfully and help people. These are people from whom everyone often turns away. There are also branches outside Russia: in Belarus and Ukraine.
Currently, Elisaveta (Pozdnyakova) is the abbess of the monastery.
Temples and convent buildings
In the Martha-Mariinsky Convent, much attention was paid to providing qualified medical care, so most of its territory was occupied by medical institutions.
Among them was a barracks where patients with contagious diseases were housed, a shelter for girls, a Sunday school was organized for adult women, and an outpatient clinic was operating with free distribution of medicines to those in need. The community sisters themselves were directly involved in the maintenance of all these buildings.
The temples located on the territory deserve special attention. This is the Church of the Intercession and the Church of Martha and Mary. They have become real architectural monuments for Moscow.
Monastery Museum
The house in which the princess abbess lived was turned into a museum. Hundreds of tourists come here, including many people who have nothing to do with Orthodoxy.
Inside the chambers, the restaurateurs tried to keep everything as it was during the princess’s life. There are also documents and things belonging to the princess that can tell about her as a person with a big heart.
Among the items are icons, the embroidery of which was done by the abbess herself.
Social service
The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent was conceived not just as a monastery, but as an organization dedicated to providing medical assistance to those who find themselves in difficult situations.
Particular attention was paid to those people who became victims of incurable diseases. The sisters of mercy looked after them and helped them prepare for death.
In addition to medical care, assistance was provided to the poor, orphans, and widows in finding employment, providing housing, and obtaining education.
Cultural and educational activities
The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent is widely known throughout the world, as it is unique and has no analogues. Many tourists living both in Russia and in other countries want to get acquainted with the history and way of life of this organization.
The current leadership of the shrine decided to organize a museum in the house where the abbess Elisaveta Feodorovna lived. The choice of this particular room was not accidental, because the princess was revered and respected for her work and the help she provided to people in difficult moments of their lives. Every year a huge number of people come here on excursions and with great pleasure get acquainted with the life of this great woman.
Training at the monastery
Particularly noteworthy is the fact that in addition to helping those in need, this organization is actively involved in training not only its employees, but also those who express such a desire.
For several years now, weekly lectures have been held on the history of the Christian Church. Also, nurses from the regions come here for internships to exchange experiences with their capital colleagues. Meetings with managers of various projects in Moscow are organized for them, and seminars are held.
Recently, lectures have been launched for everyone about the Russian new martyrs.
The history of this great shrine is filled with interesting facts, which distinguished it from many other similar organizations. It could not be called a monastery, since the sisters did not take monastic vows, did not wear black robes, but, on the contrary, could freely leave its boundaries. Moreover, many women got married and started families, and this was considered normal.
Another interesting story is connected with the relics of Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna. When they decided to open the coffin with the relics of the abbess, tightly closed, the room was filled with the aroma of honey and jasmine. Then part of the relics was transported from Jerusalem to the monastery.
No less interesting is the story about the third temple, which was built underground, and where the princess bequeathed to bury herself. This is where the secret staircase leads from the abbess's house.
Information for pilgrims and tourists
The beauty of this architectural monument attracts many tourists and pilgrims every day, who are interested in the history and activities of the monastery from the inside.
The guide is a wonderful storyteller and an expert on the history of this organization. He introduces tourists in detail to the internal routine of the monastery, with the people thanks to whom it still functions.
The money received from the excursions is directed to the needs of seriously ill people under the care of the monastery staff. By visiting this unique place in Moscow, you can save someone’s life or alleviate someone’s suffering.
Various events, meetings, and celebrations are also held here, about which you can find out more on the official website.
Address of the monastery and official website
The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent is located in Moscow on Bolshaya Ordynka, building 34 and is a kind of island of peace and silence in a huge and noisy metropolis.
Here you can learn not only about the history of this architectural monument, but also see the schedule of events held with the participation of the monastery and even sign up for them. In addition, the site contains photo and video materials, after viewing which few people have any doubts whether to visit or not; this is a historically significant place.
Schedule of services
The value of the Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent as a culturally significant architectural monument does not raise the slightest doubt. A special role in this is played by divine services conducted by the clergy of the monastery or by invited hierarchs.
Muscovites eagerly come to them, as well as to various lectures and seminars organized by the monastery for everyone. The schedule of services of the Martha and Mary Convent for a month in advance is posted on the organization’s website. Here anyone can familiarize themselves with it and choose a convenient time to visit the temple.
A piece of paradise in a huge city appeared many years ago on the initiative of a great woman, Princess Elisaveta Feodorovna. But even now, in modern times, the activities of the monastery are relevant and in demand. Those sisters who are in the monastery today devote themselves entirely to charity, caring for people in need, and try in every possible way to make his life more diverse.
This is exactly how its founder wanted to see the monastery, this is exactly how she imagined its activities. And the fact that this unique organization has existed for the second century once again proves its necessity for society.
Watch an interesting film about the monastery in the following video:
