Report of the Trip to St Albans Cathedral and Knebwoth
30th September 2023
Our pilgrimage and educational trip to St Albans Cathedral and Knebworth House on 30th September was a great success. About 35 people took part in it, among them about half were members of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanov Society. The event was a combined effort of the parish of the All-Merciful Saviour in St Leonards-on-Sea (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia), and the Society. We are grateful to our Trustee Father Aleksandr Groves, the Rector of the parish, who managed to organise all the logistics and the service at the Cathedral, where we venerated the true and unique relics of the first Martyr of the British Isles. Most of the people were Orthodox Christians but we were open to everybody and we were joined by the hosts, the Anglican Christians, and visitors of different backgrounds. We had a short service and sung hymns to the Holy Protomartyr Alban.
After the service we had the privilege of a guided tour especially designed for us by Anthony Lizotte, an official guide at the Cathedral and a parishioner of the London cathedral (ROCOR).
He outlined for us the history of the Cathedral (more than 900 years) and concentrated on the wall paintings and on the composition of the statues: the Martyrs of the 20th century on the Nave Altar screen with its sculpture of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth on the right side.… KEEP READING
Trip to St Albans Cathedral and Knebworth House – Saturday 30 September 2023
GDERS UK and Parish of All-Merciful Saviour, ROCOR
Contact Maria Harwood 07503213750, nd2315@gmail.com
MEMBERS of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Romanov Society are invited to join a cultural, educational and religious trip to the places connected with the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Tsar Martyr Nicholas II.
St Albans Cathedral is a unique Anglican Church where Saint Elizabeth’s sculptural image was placed in the nave altar screen. You will see this image and hear the story of its creation. The Romanov Cross on the Isle of Wight has the third image of St Elizabeth known in this country, after Westminster Abbey and St Albans Cathedral.
Knebworth House is where Grand Duke Michael lived with his family before the First World War. He was the nephew of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and a good friend of his English cousins. Michael was the Tsar of Russia just for one day after the abdication of Nicholas. He was murdered by the Bolsheviks and has been glorified by the Russian Church Outside Russia in 1981 in New York.
The Programme
| 8 am | Coach from St Leonards, 81 Pevensey Rd, TN38 0LR |
| 9 am | Coach from Tunbridge Wells, Train Station (parking) |
| 10:45 | We will start our visit with a short service of prayer to St Alban, the first martyr of the British Isles, at his shrine. |
Fifth anniversary of the Romanov monument on the Isle of Wight
THE GRAND DUCHESS ELIZABETH ROMANOV SOCIETY’S PILGRIMAGE TO THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 26th and 27th June, 2023
On 26th and 27th June the patrons of the GDERS, Father Alexander Groves, Maria Harwood (Chairman) and John Harwood (Hon Secretary) and members of the Society Paul Oxborrow, Marina Scirska and Matthew Cradduck travelled to the Isle of Wight to mark the 5th Anniversary of the erecting of the Monument to the Romanov Martyrs in July
2018 (you can read about this event here https://gdelizabeth-society.co.uk/marking-thecentenary-of-romanovs martyrdom-in-uk/). This was a major project of the Society dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of their martyrdom when Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Emperor Nicholas II and his whole family and other Romanovs and their servants were
savagely killed in Alapaevsk and Ekaterinburg. Other killings happened in Perm (Grand Duke Michael, Nicholas’s brother) and in St Petersburg. The creation and opening of the monument was enthusiastically supported by the local authorities and the public. The monument was blessed by Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe (ROCOR) in presence of the Lord Lieutenant of the County, Major General Sir Martin White, and Prince Rostislav Romanov, who unveiled the monument.
The honorary member of the society from the Isle of Wight Lady Sally Grylls, and two prospective members attended the service of prayers to the Royal Martyrs and Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth.… KEEP READING
Prince Philip: Вечная память – Memory Eternal.
It was with great sadness that we learnt of the repose of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Philip was born in Greece in 1921 and was baptised as an Orthodox Christian. His father was Prince Andrew, the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece (who was the son of King Christian IX of Denmark). His father’s mother was Olga Constantinovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I.
Prince Philip’s mother was Princess Alice, eldest child of Princess Victoria of Battenberg (daughter of Princess Alice the Grand Duchess of Hesse Darmstadt and third child of Queen Victoria). His grandmother’s younger sisters were Empress Alexandra of Russia and Grand Duchess Elizabeth – both of whom were martyred by the Bolsheviks and have been canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church.
He allowed his DNA to be used to identify the remains of Tsar Nicholas and his family.
Last Great Lent of the Russian Royal Family as Reflected in the Diary of Nicholas II
by Anastasia Parkhomchik
Tsar Nicholas II formally abdicated from the throne on 3 March 1917 and six months later he was exiled to Tobolsk, Russia, together with his family, attendants and servants. The royal family lived in Tobolsk until the end of April 1918. Afterwards, they were dispatched to Ekaterinburg, where its members met their martyr’s deaths on 17 July 1918.
That year — the last in the lives of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers – Easter fell on 5 May, and the Great Lent did not begin until 18 March. The family spent the Lenten period together in Tobolsk, but they were separated for the Easter Sunday.
The Emperor’s diary has survived to this day, with records from each day of the Great Lent of 1918. They are mostly short and factual. Yet despite the brevity, they open a window on the hardships of the exile for the Royal Family and their life there. They also provide wonderful examples of great courage, strong hope and solid faith in the Divine Will, which fill every line of the narrative.
We present to your attention some of the most striking fragments of the Emperor’s diary about the readings, works and worship in his family in those difficult times.… KEEP READING