The Head of the House of Romanoff visits St. Petersburg, Valaam, and the Island of Kizhi, July 11-16, 2013
As part of the national celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the ending of the Time of Troubles, the reestablishment of the Russian state, and the ascension to the throne of the House of Romanoff, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, visited Russia between July 11-16, 2013. The Grand Duchess traveled to St. Petersburg, the Monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Valaam, and the island of Kizhi.
On July 11, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia arrived in Moscow from Madrid. During her two-hour layover at the airport, Her Imperial Highness met with the leaders of several civic organizations, then flew to St. Petersburg.
Early in the morning of July 12, on the Feast Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the Head of the Russian Imperial House arrived at the Romanoff mausoleum in the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul, located in the Fortress of Ss. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg. A Litya, or commemorative prayer service, was served by Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets) in the New Mausoleum,[1] where the Grand Duchess’s great-grandfather, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, Her grandfather and grandmother, Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich and Empress-in-Exile Victoria Feodorovna, and Her parents, Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich and Grand Duchess LeonidaGeorgievna, are all buried. After the service, the Grand Duchess went to the adjoining Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral to attend the pine Liturgy, which was served by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill I, along with other clergy.
Among the clergy serving with His Holiness at the pine Liturgy were: His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; His Beatitude Metropolitan Varsonofii of Saransk and Mordova, Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; His Beatitude Metropolitan Chrysostom of Patras and Metropolitan Alexander of Mantineia and Kynouria (of the Greek Orthodox Church); His Grace Bishop Amvrosii of Peterhof, Dean of St. Petersburg’s Diocesan Schools; His Grace Bishop Markell of TsarskoeSelo; His Grace Bishop Sergii of Solnechnogorsk, Director of the Secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate; His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Kronstadt, Abbot of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevskii Lavra; His Grace Bishop Mstislav of Tikhvin and Lodeinopol; His Grace Bishop Mitrofan of Gatchinsk and Luga; Archpriest PavelKrasnotsetov, rector of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg; Archimandrite Alexander (Fedorov), rector of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral; Archpriest BogdanSoiko, rector of the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas in St. Petersburg; Archpriest SviatoslavMelnik, rector of the Kronstadt Naval Cathedral; HieromonkAntonii (Sevriuk), Secretary of the Patriarchal Churches in Italy; Hieromonk Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets), chaplain of the organization “For Faith and Fatherland”; clergy in the delegation from the Church of Greece; and other clergy from the diocese of St. Petersburg.
Other attending the pine Liturgy included: the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, I. B. pinskii, and other members of the city government of the Northern Capital; the Chief of the Administrative Department of the Central Elections Commission of the Russian Federation, and Chairman of the Knights’ Council of the Imperial Military Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Major-General A. V. Kirilin; the senior military King of Arms, King of Arms of the city of Moscow, and Recording Secretary of the Knights’ Council of the Imperial Military Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Colonel O. V. Kuznetsov; members of H.I.H.’s Chancellery; lay members of the delegation from the Church of Greece and representatives of the Foundation of St. Andrew the First Called, who brought the Cross upon which St. Andrew was crucified from Greece to Russia; and delegations from various civic organizations, as well as members of the Russian Nobility Association.
The choir at the pine Liturgy was from St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg (under the direction of Lev Dunaev).
After praying for all civil authorites during the Litany of Supplication, a special prayer was inserted “for Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna.” A Litany for the Departed included the names of “the ever-memorable rulers of Holy Russia, pious princes and princesses, tsars and tsaritsas,” with the names of all the rulers of the Romanoff dynasty and their spouses recited in full, beginning with the ancestors of the dynasty: Patriarch Filaret (Romanoff) and his wife, the nun Marfa (n?e Xenia IvanovnaShestova):
The Great Sovereign, His Holiness Patriarch Filaret
The Great Nun Marfa
Pious Tsars and Tsaritsas:
Anastasia Romanovna
Mikhail Feodorovich
Maria Vladimirovna
EvdokiaLukianovna
Aleksei Mikhailovich
Maria Il’inichna
Natalia Kirillovna
Feodor Alekseevich
Agafia Simeonovna
Marfa Matfeevna
IoannAlekseevich
Paraskeva Feodorvna
Peter I the Great
Evdokia Feodorovna, who took the monastic name Elena
Catherine I
Peter II
Anna Ioannovna
Ivan V
Elizabeth I
Peter III
Catherine II the Great
Paul I
Maria Feodorovna
Alexander I
Elizabeth Alekseevna
Nicholas I
Alexandra Feodorovna
Alexander II
Maria Alexandrovna
Alexander III
Maria Feodorovna
Kirill Vladimirovich
Victoria Feodorovna
Vladimir Kirillovich
LeonidaGeorgievna
His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow and All Russia, gave Holy Communion to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia.
After the pine Liturgy, His Holiness served a commemorative prayer service, or Litya, during which the names of all the Heads of the House of Romanoff and their spouses were again recited. During the Litya, His Holiness censed the graves of the members of the Imperial House of Romanoff.
After the Litya, an intercessory prayer service, or moleben, was offered to the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers.
After the conclusion of these services, His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga gave a brief speech welcoming His Holiness the Patriarch. Then the rector of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Archimandrite Alexander (Fedorov) offered a word of welcome to the Patriarch on behalf of the clergy and parishioners of the Cathedral. Father Alexander presented His Holiness with a copy of the Feodorov Icon of the Mother of God, noting that this icon was the main symbol of the House of Romanoff.
In his sermon, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill I of Moscow and All Russia congratulated all those present on the Feast Day of the Heavenly Protectors of the Northern Capital, the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Patriarch also congratulated everyone on the 280th anniversary of the consecration of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’, and the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanoff.
Here is the complete text of His Holiness’s sermon:
Your Eminences! Maria Vladimirovna, Head of the Imperial House! Dear Fathers! Brothers and Sisters!
I would like to welcome you all on this very special day—the Feast Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to whom this historic cathedral in our nation’s Northern Capital is dedicated. Today, we celebrated the pine Liturgy, remembering that it was 280 years ago that this cathedral was consecrated. It has truly become one of the spiritual centers of St. Petersburg, as well as the mausoleum for members of the Romanoff dynasty who ruled the country from the Northern Capital.
Our celebration of the Feast Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul coincides with another important celebration—Metropolitan Chrysostom of Patras and Metropolitan Alexander of Mantineia and Kynouria and other clergy and faithful of the Greek Orthodox Church have brought to the Northern Capital a great holy object: the cross of St. Andrew the First-Called, the tree upon which was martyred the first apostle, the enlightener of many lands that would one day become our great patrimony, Rus’—a powerful state that draws it spiritual and moral authority from the teachings of St. Andrew the First-Called, and from the service that the Russian Orthodox Church performs in the furtherance of those teachings.
In calling to mind the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, we think about the fact that there is an apostolate and we ponder the meaning of this kind of service. From history, we know that the apostolate was established by our Lord and Savior. He wanted to have an intimate circle of disciples who heard all that He said and saw all that He did, who would be a living witness of His mission. It was these disciples that our Lord blessed to go into the world and thereby took on the title “Apostles”—or messengers. They were witnesses to the ends of the Earth of all that the Lord had done, including His crucifixion on the Cross and resurrection, and by their testimony bringing the Gospel message to the entire human race.
At the center of this testimony is the revelation that Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, is not simply a great teacher and prophet, but He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the One promised to the first humans who had sinned in Paradise. And this testimony was accompanied by many very important spiritual and intellectual ideas, which, when embraced, made it easier for people to understand what, in fact, the Lord Jesus Christ had done. The entire collection of these ideas, the body of pine truths, was concisely and convincingly conveyed to the Apostles by the Lord Himself. On the basis of this spiritual and moral message, a new civilization was founded, which was destined to become the most powerful civilizations in all human history—one founded on Christian morality. And we know that many generations of people have striven to fulfill this spiritual and moral ideal in their personal, family, social, and public lives. Some have succeeded, and some have not—such is the vale of human life. Racked with passions and tempted by the world around him, man frequently rejects this ideal—if not in his mind, then at least in his actions—and we know that over the course of 2000 years this ideal, which is found in the teachings of the Apostles and has been adopted by so many, has not always yielded good fruits. And yet, if this ideal had never existed, then the darkness of paganism, which 2000 years ago was corroding the lives of the people and driving them to search for the living and true God, would by today have eroded the spiritual life of the human race, it having long ago exhausted its potential.The Gospel message, which lived in history and which has been adopted by each subsequent generation, has become the foundation of our culture. And this wonderful cathedral, which has been so beautifully restored to its former glory, serves as an example of how the Christian ideal inspired artists, architects, engineers—all who created this magnificent architectural masterpiece. But not only the visual arts: the spiritual life is also captured on the pages of literary works and poety, becoming the bearer of this same ideal, which is contained in the Apostles’ teachings and which has informed the Church over the millennia.
This year we celebrate the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’, and with today’s pine services in this historic cathedral in Russia’s Northern Capital, we begin the Church’s celebration of this important anniversary. The Russian Church has been the living bearer of the Apostolic tradition, which the Lord, through His disciples, conveyed to the entire world. We know that the history of the Church has been eventful—filled both with joys and sorrows, and victories and defeats—but the Church has carried on through the millennia on the strength of its message. And we, the people of the 21st century, who are so immersed in science and technology, who understand so much more than previous generations, who enjoy material well-being more than those who came before us—we bow our heads and open our hearts to the message of the Apostles, which the Russian Orthodox Church has conveyed to us. And we know that it is precisely because of this pine truth, which has transformed the life of our people, that we exist, continuing this great tradition and preserving God’s law in our hearts.
This year we also celebrate the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanoff. Today, we offered prayers for the entire dynasty, beginning with His Holiness, Patriarch Filaret (Romanoff), who, although not himself tsar, ruled Russia during the minority of his son, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. We prayed that the Lord would forgive the members of the dynasty of their sins and receive them in His Heavenly Kingdom, and we with gratitude remembered all that was accomplished by prominent members of our nation, upon whose shoulders fell the enormous responsibility of preserving Holy Russia. We know how much was achieved. We know how Russia at the turn turn of the 20th century had been transformed into a world power, how its industry, economy,culture, and art had blossomed, and how the spiritual life of the people had flourished. But at the same time we cannot deny that seeds of doubt, that surrending to various kinds of temptations,andthat the enslavement of the mind to ideas taken from elsewhere—all this weakened the inner, spiritual unity of the people, which led to the martyrdom of the last emperor and to the destruction of historical Russia. We know the many trials that these events brought upon us, and how today’s celebration in this crowded cathedral occurs against the backdrop of our entire drama that is our nation’s history—in the presence of this assembly of bishops, in the presence of the Head of the Imperial House of Romanoff, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, in the presence of many who well know our history and who are aware of the spiritual and symbolic significance of today’s Liturgy.
We prayed today for our country, for historic Rus’, which today is represented by three fraternal Slavic nations: Russia, Ukraine, and Belorus. To this historic Rus’ are joined many many people who live in other countries but consider themselves the heirs of the Kievan baptismal font. We prayed for the prosperity of historic Rus’, for the prosperity of our three fraternal Slavic peoples, and that the increase in the material well-being of our peoples, which is so much needed today, will be matched by an increase in their spiritual well-being, will help develop our national identity,andwill strengthen the operation of moral principles and faith in people’s daily lives; for only this will provide complete independence and real freedom of our people, only this will provide the continual forward development of our nation, without the terrible disruptions, fractures, and disasters that we had to endure in the past. And may the Lord, through the prayers of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, bless our country, our peoples, and our Church, and will grant to us all a firm mind,resolute faith, and heartfelt love, so that in us and in all our people may be glorified the name of the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
For the original Russian version of this sermon, see: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3096684.html; or http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/3095588.html.)
After the conclusion of the Patriarch’s sermon to the clergy and faithful, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, expressedHer gratitude to His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, for his prayers, and presentinga gift for the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral: a small chest containing a fragment of the Cross of the Lord and the Sign that had been nailed to it,[2] a rock from Golgotha, and fragments of the relics of the Holy Apostles.[3]The Grand Duchess also presented a gift for the Kronstadt Naval Cathedral: an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Alexander Nevskii. One hundred years ago, in 1913, this icon had been given as a gift by the Holy Royal Passion-Bearer Emperor Nicholas II to the Naval Cathedral to commemorate the Imperial Family surviving their yacht running aground on the Gulf of Finland in 1907.[4]
At the conclusion of the services in the cathedral, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia went to the New Mausoleum, where the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church personally led the singing of the hymn “Memory Eternal” on behalf of souls of the departed grandparents and parents of the Head of the Russian Imperial House—Kirill, Victoria, Vladimir, and Leonida.
The services in the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral were broadcast on the television network “100 TV.” See http://www.tv100.ru/program/view/8698/; and http://www.tv100.ru/news/pravoslavnye-hristiane-otmechayut-chetyre-prazdnika-75990/.
These celebrations in the cathedral coincided with a holiday declared in the city of St. Petersburg called “The Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul,” the main events of which took place in the Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress, including the opening of an exhibit “Archive of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna” in the exhibition hall of the Ivannovskyrevelin.
During the afternoon, a reception was held in the Blue Hall of the Metropolitan’s residence in the St. Alexander Nevskii Lavra. Before the reception began, an investiture ceremony was held, attended by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill I, during which the Head of the Russian Imperial House awarded Imperial Orders and Medals. Among those awarded were: His Beatitude Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; His Beatitude Metropolitan Varsonofii of Saransk and Mordova; His Grace Bishop Sergii of Solnechnogorsk; His Grace Bishop Mstislav of Tikhvin and Lodeinopol; His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Kronstadt;the Secretary of Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, Archpriest S. I. Kuksevich; the rector of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral, Archimandrite Alexander (Fedorov); the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, I. B. pinskii; the Chief Administrator for the Nevskii District of the City of St. Petersburg, K. N, Serov; and the Chairman of the Special Commission for Veteran Affairs of the Standing Committee for Social Policy and Health Care of the Legistative Assembly of the City of St. Petersburg, I. V. Vysotskii. There also took place on this occasion the first ever investiture into the Imperial Order of St. Anastasia the “Alleviatrix of Captives,” founded by the Head of the Russian Imperial House in 2010 in anticipation of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the ending of the Time of Troubles and the ascension to the throne of the House of Romanoff. The Order honors the first tsaritsa from the House of Romanoff—the wife of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, Anastasia Romanova. (For a description of the Order, see: http://imperialhouse.ru/eng/dynastyhistory/honoursaward/2462.html.)The first recipients of the Order of St. Anastasia are Abbess Ioanna, of the Vvedeno-Oyatskii Convent, and Abbess Lukiana of the Pokrovo-Tervenicheskii Convent.
The Grand Duchess presented to His Holiness a bell cast by craftsmen in Voronezh in honor of the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanoff, and also presented to the Library of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy a copy of the three-volume book Mount Athos, the Orthodox Church, and House of Romanoff Abroad.
After the reception, the Grand Duchess presented the Imperial Medal “Anniversary of the Nation’s Victory” to the Assistant to the Chairman of the Office of External Church Relations, Protodeacon Vladimir Nazarkin, and to the Director of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg (in Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress), A. N. Koliankin.
From St. Alexander Nevskii Lavra, the Head of the House of Romanoff went to the First Childrens’ Hospice (see http://www.kidshospice.ru/p/blog-page_3.html). The Director of the Hospice, Archpriest Alexander Tkachenko, described for the Grand Duchess the institution’s history and range of activities. Her Imperial Highness met with children, their parents, and with the Hospice’s staff, to whom the Grand Duchess expressed her admiration for their selfless efforts to care for their seriously and terminally ill young patients. Later, in the Hospice’s chapel of St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol’ and the Crimea, the Grand Duchess presented the Imperial Medal “Anniversary of the Nation’s Victory” to members of the Hospice staff.
Having returned to her hotel, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia received in audience Caption-Second-Rank A. I. Suglobov and Captain-Third-Rank S. Iu. Skorniakov, the commander and executive officer, respectively, of the frigate Yaroslav the Wise, of which Her Imperial Highness is patron. A. I. Suglobov described for the “mother [matushka] of the ship,” as the ship’s crew refers to their royal patron, what life at sea was like during a recent lengthy deployment, when the ship was at sea for more than 200 days. The Grand Duchess asked the officers to convey to the crew and to their families her warmest word of greetings and support.
Grand Duchess Maria of Russia also received in audience E. Anisimova of the “Anisimov Bell Factory” in Voronezh, which is casting a number of commemorative bells in honor of the anniversary of the Romanoff dynasty, which feature a depiction of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and Grand Duchess Maria of Russia (it was one of these bells that had been presented earlier to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill I at the St. Alexander Nevskii Lavra).
Then an investiture ceremony took place in the Chekhov Hall, where a number of Imperial Orders and Imperial Medals were awarded to military officers, scholars, philanthropists, and several prominent figures in society and culture of St. Petersburg.
After the investiture ceremony, the Head of the Russian Imperial House went to the Military-Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers, and Communications Forces (see the Museum’s webpage: http://www.artillery-museum.ru/), where the Grand Duchess toured the exhibit “For Faith and Fatherland: The Romanoff Dynasty and the Army.” The Grand Duchess awarded the Imperial Medal “Anniverary of the Nation’s Victory” to the Director of the Museum, Professor and Colonel Iu. A. Krylov, PhD, and to Major-General Iu. A. Dashkin. Her Imperial Highness also presented a copy of the medal “Anniverary of the Nation’s Victory” to be included in the museum’s collection. The Grand Duchess also conveyed to the museum a gift from her son and Heir, H.I.H. Grand Duke George of Russia—a coin, enclosed in a decorative display card, which was minted during the reign of the first tsar of the House of Romanov, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.
That evening, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, along with Major-General A. V. Kirilin, Colonel O. V. Kuznetsov, members of H.I.H.’s Chancellery, and Hieromon Nikon (Levachev-Belavenets) visited the headquarters of the Western Military District, which is located in the historic Imperial General Staff Building. An investiture ceremony took place in the St. George’s Hall of the General Staff Building, during which the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel-General A. A. Sidorov, and the commander of the headquarters, First Deputy Commander of the Forces of the Western Military District, Lieutenant-General A. V. Kartapolov, were awarded the Imperial Military Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The Grand Duchess toured the General Staff Library, and donated several books on the history and current status of the House of Romanoff to its collections. After the completion of the tour, the Grand Duchess attended a dinner held in her honor by the knights of the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. During dinner, Her Imperial Highness discussed with the commander of the Western Military District a range of issues related to the revival and support of the historical traditions of the modern Russian army, and ways that the Imperial House, the Army, and Russian society in general can work together to provide a sound patriotic education for those serving in the military.
Later that evening, the Grand Duchess received a report from the Master of Heraldry in H.I.H.’s Chancellery, S. V. Dumin, who presented a number of coats of arms of hereditary and life nobles, which in turn were approved by Her Imperial Highness. In addition, the Grand Duchess recognized the hard work by K. K. Nemirovich-Danchenko, Advisor to the Chancellery for Relations with Civic and Governmental Organizations, awarding him the Imperial Monogram First Class.
On the morning of July 13, 2013, the Head of the Russian Imperial House visited Kazan Cathedral and venerated one of the most significant relics in all Christianity: the Cross of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First Called. The Grand Duchess also received in audience the publicist and one of the intellectual leaders of the legitimist movement, M. A. Alexandrov, awarding him during their meeting the Imperial Medal “Anniversary of the Nation’s Victory.” Afterwards, Her Imperial Highness departed by helicopter to the island of Valaam.
On Valaam Island, the Grand Duchess was met by the Director of the Orthodox Cultural and Educational Center “The World of Valaam,” HegumenMefodii (Petrov), and by the head of the Chancellery of Transfiguration Monastery, HegumenIosif (Kriukov). After getting settled in the monastery’s hotel, the Grand Duchess met with the Abbot of Transfiguration Monastery of Valaam, the Chairman of the Synodal Commission for the Canonizationof Saints, His Grace Bishop Pankratii of Troitsa. Then the Grand Duchess proceeded together with Bishop Pankratii and other clergy to the monastery’s Transfiguration Cathedral.[5] The Head of the House of Romanoff venerated the holy relics of St. Sergii and St. Herman, Hegumens of Valaam Monastery; a copy of the icon of Our Lady of Valaam, and the relics of St. Antipii of Valaam. After a brief service, or moleben, the Grand Duchess awarded the Imperial Medals “Victory of the Nation’s Victory” and the “Commemorative Medal of the 400th Anniversary of the House of Romanoff” to His Grace Bishop Pankratii, and the Medal “Victory of the Nation’s Victory” to HegumenMefodii and HegumenIosif. Her Imperial Highness also presented a copy of the book Mount Athos, the Orthodox Church, and House of Romanoff Abroad and other books on the history of the Romanoff dynasty, to the monastery’s library.
Photo by S. Aksenov. See: http://wolf-brsk.livejournal.com/31717.html.
After lunch, Grand Duchess Maria of Russia and Hegumen Iosif visted the St. Vladimir Skete[6] and St. Nicholas Skete. The royal pilgrim traveled on the monastery’s ferry, the Pallada, to St. Ilia Skete, where she was greeted by Hegumen Sofronii. The Grand Duchess prayed in the church in the St. Elia Skete and at the Cross erected on the shore of the island, then drank water drawn from the skete’s holy spring.
After dinner in the monastery’s hotel, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, accompanied by Hegumen Mefodii and Hegumen Iosif, traveled by boat, the St. Anastasia, to the Island of Light (Svetlyi), where Her Imperial Highness prayed in the Chapel of the Icon of Our Lady of Valaam, it being the eve of the Feast Day of the holy icon.
On July 14, 2013, on the Feast Day of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God, the Grand Duchess and HegumenIosif arrived at the Smolensk Skete, which was built to commemorate soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the First World War. The Abbot of the skete, SchemamonkSerafim (Pokrovskii) greeted the Grand Duchess on her arrival. The hymn “Memory Eternal” was sung on behalf of Emperor-in-Exile Kirill Vladimirovich, Empress-i-Exile V