The Russian Orthodox Church has commemorated the memory of Grand Duchess Elisabeth Fyodorovna Romanov and tragic events of the 1917 Revolution in a service and procession, with hundreds of worshipers joining the holiday outside Moscow.

On Sunday, crowds of pilgrims took part in a sacred mass, held just outside the Russian capital, where the Grand Duchess lived with her husband Grand Duke Sergey Aleksandrovich Romanov in their Ilyinskoye estate. Canonized as a Holy Martyr, the Russian Orthodox Church marks her birthday on September 18, when she first attended a liturgy in a local church in 1884.

Following the service in the church, nearly 1,000 people walked towards the Moskva River, passing the Romanovs’ estate, including a hospital, maternity home and school the couple built. Holding icons, the worshipers and priests crossed the river on rafts. Coming for the sixth time, the procession ended with a prayer to the Holy Martyr.

A German princess, Elisabeth Fyodorovna, who voluntarily converted to Orthodoxy, was actively engaged in charity, helping orphans and the poor. The Grand Duchess headed the Women’s Committee of the Red Cross, becoming responsible for the entirety of the organization in Moscow after her husband’s death.

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