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56-666: The convent was founded in 1908 by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (sister of Alexandra Feodorovna , the last Empress of Russia —both of whom are counted among the Russian New Martyrs ) to assist sick, wounded, and maimed soldiers in their recovery, and to provide for the needs of the poor and orphans. Grand Duchess Elizabeth was the widow of Grand Duke Sergeii Alexandrovich , who had been assassinated by terrorists in 1905. After her husband's death, she gave away her magnificent collection of jewels, including her wedding ring, and sold her other possessions. With

112-725: A monument was erected on the convent grounds, and in 1992, the Grand Duchess was glorified (canonized) by the Russian Orthodox Church (see Romanov sainthood ). Later that year, the celebration of divine services was resumed in the Church of Martha and Mary, and in 1994 the sisterhood was re-established. In 1999 the Educational Center of the SS Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy was founded, with

168-526: A collection of Marian hymns within the Georgian Chantbook of Jerusalem that he contends are of primarily pre-Chalcedonian authorship. Following Renoux he argues that the hymns, which are colourful and invocatory, contain theology closest to mid-5th century homilists, bearing witness to a highly developed cult of Mary at an earlier period than previous generations of scholars had appreciated. Reynolds summarises prevailing opinion as being in favour of

224-675: A convent is not placed under the responsibility of an abbot or an abbess, but of a superior or prior. In modern English usage, since about the 19th century, the term convent almost invariably refers to a community of women, while monastery and friary are used for communities of men. In historical usage they are often interchangeable, with convent especially likely to be used for a friary. When applied to religious houses in Eastern Orthodoxy and Buddhism , English refers to all houses of male religious as monasteries and of female religious as convents. The mendicant orders appeared at

280-587: A date for the Akathist "somewhere between the Councils of Epheus and Chalcedon." Similarly, Arentzen observes that most scholars now favour an early provenance. Since the 14th century the Akathist moved from the menaion to the moveable cycle of the triodion , and the custom established that the whole hymn was sung in four sections throughout Lent. As such it became part of the service of the Salutations to

336-685: A fire occurred at this monastery, and the monks were chanting the Akathist Hymn in front of this icon. Though the fire caused great destruction around it the icon itself remained untouched by the flames. The feast day of the Icon of the Theotokos "Akathist-Hilandar" is celebrated on January 12 (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar January 12 falls on January 25 of the modern Gregorian Calendar ). A similar icon

392-722: A grey woolen veil. Those tonsured also wore a cross made of cypress wood around their necks on a white string. The icons of the Image of Edessa and the Protection of the Mother of God were displayed on one side of the cross; the other side held an icon of Sts. Martha and Mary and the inscription: "Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all your soul, and all thy mind, and all thy strength; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Sisters received this cross at their tonsure into

448-412: A long white kerchief on their heads, which covered their foreheads completely. On Sundays and feast days the sisters wore white robes. The postulants wore gray robes. A primary obligation of the sisters was to visit the poor. A few sisters were sent out daily in pairs to visit assigned areas of the city. The Grand Duchess received over twelve thousand petitions annually. A portion of these were reviewed by

504-404: A medieval Novgorod architectural type. The cathedral's snow-white walls are adorned with carved crosses by Sergey Konenkov . The interior contains frescoes and mosaics by Mikhail Nesterov and Pavel Korin . The sisters woke at 6:00 a.m. and organized their rooms. At 7:30 they gathered in the hospital chapel for a common rule of prayer followed by the reading of a gospel, an epistle,

560-549: A meeting of a plurality of people who come together honestly for this purpose. In other circumstances, partial indulgence is permitted. There are three miraculous icons of the Theotokos on Mount Athos , which are known by the title of "Akathist": This icon "Panagia of the Salutations the Myrrhgusher" is in a chapel of the Dionysiou Monastery where the Akathist is sung daily before it. The inscription on

616-505: A psalm, and perhaps a brief sermon by the priest serving that day. The sisters departed from the chapel after receiving a blessing from the priest and greeting the mother superior. They then gathered for some tea before going to their daily obediences. Those who were not immediately needed at their obedience remained in the chapel for the Divine Liturgy. Sisters were responsible for the reading and chanting in both churches. The chant

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672-520: A short musical phrase, either about the last χαῖρε verse or about allelouia. When the word akathist is used alone, it most commonly refers to the original hymn by this name, the 6th century Akathist to the Theotokos . This hymn is often split into four parts and sung at the "Salutations to the Theotokos" service on the first four Friday evenings in Great Lent ; the entire Akathist is then sung on

728-667: A week an akathist hymn was read during the evening prayer rule: on Sundays, to the Savior; Mondays, to Archangel Michael and all the Heavenly Hosts; Wednesdays, to Sts. Martha and Mary; and Fridays, to the Mother of God or the Passion of Christ. The sisters were also obliged to attend Vigil and Liturgy at the Chudov Monastery on the feast days of the holy hierarch St. Alexis of Moscow, February 12 and May 20. A pilgrimage

784-495: Is a type of hymn usually recited by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Christians, dedicated to a saint , holy event , or one of the persons of the Holy Trinity . The name derives from the fact that during the chanting of the hymn, or sometimes the whole service, the congregation is expected to remain standing in reverence, without sitting down (ἀ-, a- , "without, not" and κάθισις, káthisis , "sitting"), except for

840-541: Is an enclosed community of monks , nuns , friars or religious sisters . Alternatively, convent means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church , Lutheran churches , and the Anglican Communion . The term convent derives via Old French from Latin conventus , perfect participle of the verb convenio , meaning "to convene, to come together". It

896-546: Is headed by an abbot , and a priory is a lesser dependent house headed by a prior . In the Middle Ages , convents often provided to women a way to excel, as they were considered inferior to men. In convents, women were educated and were able to write books and publish works on gardening or musicology. or on religion and philosophy. The abbess of a convent was often also involved in decisions of secular life and interacted with politicians and businessmen. Unlike an abbey ,

952-607: Is reflected within the synaxarion. When an akathist is chanted by itself, the Usual beginning , a series of prayers which include the Trisagion (thrice-holy) is often said as a prelude to the akathist hymn. The akathist may also be included as a part of another service, such as Matins or a Molieben . One of the exceptional features of this Akathist is its acrostic style; the Greek original consists of 24 oikoi, each one beginning with

1008-657: The Gospel and the singing of Akathists is standing considered mandatory for all. The akathist par excellence is the one written for the feast of Annunciation of the Theotokos (25 March). This kontakion was traditionally attributed to Romanos the Melodist since kontakia of Romanos dominated the classical repertoire of 80 kontakia sung during the cathedral rite of the Hagia Sophia , though recent scholarship rejects this authorship like in cases of many other kontakia of

1064-623: The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem . In 2002, HRH Prince Charles commissioned the British composer and convert to the Russian Orthodox Church , John Tavener , to write a choral piece in memory of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother . The work was entitled "Elizabeth Full of Grace" and celebrates the life, death and glorification of Saint Elizabeth the Grand Duchess. It

1120-497: The Theotokos herself. The hymn itself forms an alphabetical acrostic—that is, each oikos begins with a letter of the Greek alphabet, in order—and it consists of twelve long and twelve short oikoi . Each of the long oikoi include a seven-line stanza followed by six couplets employing rhyme, assonance and alliteration, beginning with the greeting Chaíre and ending with the refrain, "Rejoice, Bride without bridegroom!" (also translated as "Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded!") In

1176-528: The " royal doors " from the cathedral by moving them to the Church of the Holy Protection. Shortly after this, the order was officially disbanded, and eighteen of the remaining nuns were exiled to Turkestan in Central Asia. In 1928, both churches were finally closed, looted, pillaged, and desecrated. The frescos by Nesterov were covered and the church was turned into a movie theater. From 1945,

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1232-433: The Akathist; the elegance, antithetic and balanced style, the vividness of the narrative, the flowers of poetic imagery being all very suggestive of his work. His position as sacristan would naturally suggest such a tribute to the Theotokos , as the hymn only gives more elaborately the sentiments condensed into two epigrams of Pisida found in her church at Blachernae . Quercius also argues that words, phrases, and sentences of

1288-564: The Isaurian , and Constantine Pogonatus , similarly ascribed to the intervention of the Theotokos. No certain ascription of its authorship can be made. It has been attributed to Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople , whose pious activities the Synaxarion commemorates in great detail. J.M. Quercius (1777) assigns it to George Pisida , deacon, archivist, and sacristan of Hagia Sophia whose poems find an echo both in style and in theme in

1344-399: The Mother of God ... and called it Acathistus" (Synaxarion). This origin is disputed by Sophocles on the grounds that the hymn could not have been composed in one day, and its twenty-four oikoi contain no allusion to such an event and therefore could not have been composed to commemorate it. However the feast may have originated, the Synaxarion commemorates two other victories, under Leo III

1400-466: The Slavic traditions as a genre of its own as part of the general composition of an akolouthia , although not all compositions are widely known nor translated beyond the original language. Reader Isaac E. Lambertsen has done a large amount of translation work, including many different akathists. Most of the newer akathists are pastiche, that is, a generic form imitating the original 6th-century akathist to

1456-595: The Theotokos (used in the Byzantine tradition during Great Lent ). Apart from its usual dedication to the menaion and the early custom to celebrate kontakia during the Pannychis (festive night vigil celebrated at the Blachernae chapel ), the Akathist had also the political function to celebrate military victories or to ask during wars for divine protection intermediated by prayers of the Theotokos. This function

1512-450: The Theotokos into which a particular saint's name is inserted. In the Greek, Arabic, and Russian Old Rite traditions, the only akathist permitted in formal liturgical use is the original akathist. The Enchiridion Indulgentiarum of 2004 confirmed the plenary indulgence on condition that it is recited piously in a church or oratory (even alone), in a family, religious community , an association of Christ's faithful or, more generally, in

1568-503: The aged or infirm. The Akathist is also known by the first three words of its prooimion (preamble), Têi hypermáchōi strategôi (Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ στρατηγῷ, "To you, invincible champion") addressed to Holy Mary (Panagia Theotokos, "The all-holy birth-giver of God"). During Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox Christian religious services in general, sitting, standing, bowing and the making of prostrations are set by an intricate set of rules, as well as individual discretion. Only during readings of

1624-463: The ailing, others in the school, and yet others in the kitchen or other areas of the house. Twice a week between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. the spiritual father offered the sisters a lecture, one week on the catechism, and the following week one on the holy fathers. The sisters prepared for Holy Communion at least four times a year during the major fasts, though they were allowed to receive it more often if they wished. At 12:30 lunch

1680-544: The back of the icon states it was a gift to Saint Dionysius by Emperor Alexios III Komnenos , upon his visit to Trebizond in Asia Minor. According to tradition, this is the icon that Patriarch Sergius carried in procession around the walls of Constantinople in 626 A.D. when the city was attacked by the Persians and Avars. The icon of the Theotokos "Of the Akathist" is on the iconostasis of Hilandar Monastery. In 1837

1736-435: The basis of theological content. Cunningham concurs with Peltomaa's analysis of the hymn's Christology but postulates, from its "highly developed poetic form" and elaborate invocations of Mary, a somewhat later provenance of the latter 5th/early 6th century. In contrast, Shoemaker reasons that "Peltomaa's [arguments] for dating the Akathist hymn to the period before Chalcedon would seem to apply equally if not even more so" for

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1792-1145: The beginning of the 13th century with the growth of cities; they include in particular the Dominicans , the Franciscans , the Carmelites , and the Augustinians . While the Benedictine monks and their various variants devoted themselves to their agricultural properties, the mendicant friars settled from the start in the cities, or in the suburbs thereof, preferably in the poorer and more densely populated districts. They therefore had to adapt their buildings to these new constraints. Akathist Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: An Akathist or Acathist Hymn ( Greek : Ἀκάθιστος Ὕμνος , "unseated hymn")

1848-430: The blessings of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, for the purpose of training Orthodox girls as certified nurses . As a granddaughter of Queen Victoria , Grand Duchess Elizabeth is closely related to the Greek, Danish, and British Royal families. Elizabeth's older sister was Victoria, Marchioness of Milford-Haven , whose daughter Alice married Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark . Princess Alice became

1904-649: The church was used by the Grabar Institute as an icon and painting restoration studio. Veneration of the Grand Duchess as a Saint and New Martyr had begun outside of Russia soon after her interment at Jerusalem, and her memory was honored secretly within the Soviet Union . With the collapse of communism, official attitudes changed. Elizabeth had already been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in 1981, but in 1990

1960-491: The convent and its churches represented a rare gesamtkunstwerk (complete work of art), and that its synergy of architecture, decoration, and collections of fine and decorative art were exceedingly important. By 1922, however, the government began to order a systematic nationalization and confiscation of the convent's property, beginning to remove valuable gold and silver objects such as ikon oklads, rizas, gospel covers, crosses and ecclesiastical and liturgical objects. In 1923,

2016-451: The convent tried to remake itself as the "Martha and Mary Community of Industry" in order to continue their works despite the civil war and official atheist position of the government. By 1925, the convent was being attacked for its makeup of former aristocrats and bourgeoises, and soon, the organization was under strain. In 1926, the Church of Sts. Martha & Mary was closed, though the remaining nuns were able to remove over 200 icons and

2072-591: The core repertoire. According to the synaxary the origin of the feast is assigned by the Synaxarion to the year 626, when Constantinople , in the reign of Heraclius , was attacked by the Persians and Avars but saved through the intervention of the Most Holy Theotokos . "From that time, therefore, the Church , in memory of so great and so divine a miracle, desired this day to be a feast in honour of

2128-472: The exclamation: Alleluia, which is repeated by a choir in full settings or chanted by the reader in simple settings. Within the latter part of the oikos comes an anaphoric entreaty, such as Come or Rejoice. For example, the Akathist to the Theotokos: The thirteenth kontakion (which, unlike the preceding twelve, does not have a corresponding oikos ) is usually followed by the repetition of

2184-595: The fifth Friday evening. Traditionally it is included in the Orthros (Matins) of the Fifth Saturday of Great Lent, which for this reason is known as the "Saturday of the Akathist". In monasteries of Athonite tradition, the whole Akathist is usually inserted nightly at Compline . The four sections into which the Akathist is divided correspond to the themes of the Annunciation , Nativity , Christ , and

2240-489: The first oikos and kontakion . After the thirteen kontakia and oikoi , additional prayers are added, such as a troparion and another kontakion . The final kontakion is the famous " Tē i Hypermáchō i Stratēgō i " ("Unto the Defender General"), a hymn addressing Mary as the savior of Constantinople in the 626 siege: Another characteristic feature of the Akathist is the extraordinary length of

2296-403: The hymn are to be found in the poetry of Pisida. Leclercq finds nothing absolutely demonstrative in such a comparison and offers a suggestion which may possibly help to a solution of the problem. Before the turn of the 21st century the Akathist was usually assigned to the 6th or 7th century but more recent scholarship, driven by the work of Leena Peltomaa, has argued for a 5th century origin on

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2352-544: The mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh , and later founded a nursing order of Greek Orthodox nuns, the "Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary" . This was modelled on the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent that her aunt had founded in Russia, but the order eventually failed for want of suitable applicants. Princess Alice was buried near Grand Duchess Elizabeth in the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalen on

2408-584: The next letter of the alphabet. Due to the excessive length the kontakion became truncated like the others, but even the earliest chant books with musical notation (the Tipografsky Ustav , for instance) have the complete text of all 24 oikoi written out, but the last 23 oikoi without musical notation. The hymn itself is divided into thirteen parts, each of which is composed of a kontakion and an oikos (Greek: οίκος, house, possibly derived from Syriac terminology). The kontakion usually ends with

2464-567: The nuns. Working in conjunction with church authorities she developed the monastic rule and habit — which differed somewhat from the traditional habit of Orthodox nuns — that would be used at the convent. At its peak, the convent housed 97 sisters and served 300 meals daily to the poor. From 1908 to 1912, Alexey Shchusev designed the Church of Saints Martha and Mary and the Holy Protection Cathedral, both structures being Russian Revival and Art Nouveau renderings of

2520-518: The proceeds, she opened the Convent of SS Martha and Mary and became its abbess . Her vision was to begin a religious community, made up of women from all social strata, that would merge the ideals of saints Martha and Mary , dedicated both to prayer and to serving the needs of the poor. She purchased a tract of land in Moscow and constructed a hospital , an orphanage for girls, and quarters for

2576-548: The properties of the lower church of the Archangel Michael and All the Bodiless Powers, the hospital Church of Sts. Martha and Mary, the funerary chapel, and the psaltery. This extraordinary catalogue and several which were later published provide a complete enumeration of the liturgical objects, icons, artworks, valuables, and their placement. Despite the anti-religious sentiment, it was well understood that

2632-537: The refrain or ephymnion which consists of a great number of verses beginning with χαῖρε (“Rejoice”) which are called in Greek Chairetismoi (Χαιρετισμοί, "Rejoicings") or in Arabic Madayeh , respectively; in the Slavic tradition these are known as Khayretizmy (Хайретизмы). The chairetismoi are only repeated in every second oikos, and from a musical point of view the ephymnion consists just of

2688-521: The short oikoi, the seven-line stanza is followed by the refrain, Alleluia . The Salutations to the Theotokos service, often known by its Greek name, the Χαιρετισμοί/Chairetismoí (from the Χαίρε/Chaíre! so often used in the hymn), consists of Compline with the Akathist hymn inserted. It is known in Arabic as the Madayeh . The writing of akathists (occasionally spelled acathist ) developed within

2744-505: The sisterhood, giving a vow to devote this specific period of their lives to God and neighbor, and to abide by the rules of the community. All sisters were given a prayer rope upon entering the community with the obligation to recite the Jesus Prayer 100 times daily. Postulants did not wear the prayer rope externally, but those tonsured wore the prayer rope they received a second time at their tonsure on their left hand. Postulants wore

2800-561: The sisters, processed along with the numerous other requests and information about the poor received from other sources. In 1920, the convent was forced by the Soviet authorities to provide a comprehensive listing of the Order's properties, both moveable and immoveable. This document contained not only information concerning the Cathedral of the Holy Protection, but also information concerning

2856-499: Was also made to the sepulchre church of the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich on February 4, the day of his repose. The sisters wore white cotton robes on Sundays and feast days. The work uniform was a grey cotton robe cut like a cassock, sewn together in front and closed on the sides. with white cuffs on the sleeves. The head covering of tonsured members was a white apostolnik cut in the monastic style with

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2912-484: Was common evening prayer at 9:00 p.m. in the hospital chapel. The sisters retired to their cells following prayer, receiving a blessing from the superior as they departed. By 10:30 p.m. all prepare for sleep, and by 11:00 p.m. there was quiet and all lights were extinguished. For their spiritual strengthening and edification the sisters visited with the Abbess or spiritual father at appointed times. Four times

2968-511: Was first used in this sense when the eremitical life began to be combined with the cenobitical. The original reference was to the gathering of mendicants who spent much of their time travelling. Technically, a monastery is a secluded community of monastics, whereas a friary or convent is a community of mendicants (which, by contrast, might be located in a city), and a canonry is a community of canons regular . The terms abbey and priory can be applied to both monasteries and canonries; an abbey

3024-414: Was generally of a simple monastic style, with concert singing very seldom used. The choir members also did handiwork in the community workshop, where all the clothing of the sisters was made. Following morning prayers, the sisters would be found at their various obediences: some in the hospital awaiting the doctors making rounds, others in the clinic to provide treatment such as massages, injections, etc., for

3080-530: Was premiered at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on 28 February 2003 by Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Chorus and Orchestra. Proceeds from the performance went to benefit the charitable work of the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy. 55°44′15.6″N 37°37′21.8″E  /  55.737667°N 37.622722°E  / 55.737667; 37.622722 Convent A convent

3136-400: Was served with the reading of the life of the saint of the day during the meal. Meals were prepared in accordance with church fasting rules. Tea was served at 4:00 p.m. followed by vespers and matins at 5:00 p.m. Sisters who had completed their obediences were present at these services. Before feast days and Sundays, all-night vigils were held. At 7:30 p.m. dinner was served. There

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