Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1913-12-05

II
ties. an1 sfse 1aaee6 1eslgAsslig VIZ
him. md ysE Dexezfs ~ ~ SASS
/ souci ex1erl1r there 1ss5s : TseDly
moved sOsg ~ hpmaE cors1znsf1~ Sne
aas. Il IA are, seeDIg soFry for her
/ husband, And PITY ~ akin - Soys
The Mogcovltes ha6 AZ instinct " tsis
/ On he few church z.G ceremonial
days when the GrsD1 Dzks serge
drove out from me Krsniar tkse Grand
Duchess Elizabeth sat beaide AKA, and
| they returned safe.
AZ the political bszek escrs1s weigh
ed down more and more tarezreniDgiy
on the governor ~ Mosc0E tne car
In st. Petersburg was advised 70 aocF
ish the Office. This Was decided on
and one February morning Serge Vac
driving cut ia single horse closed
carriage 10 pay q final poor orenors
congo call On one OF the saccessors
TO part Of bis authority ghec The
young student, Ralaie2, threw thu
bomb thar killed master and coach
man together. Il q feE minutes the
Grand Duchess, barehea6ed and Nrag,
ped In a peIigse, darred acrozs the
snow and knelt By what remained IL
blood-drenched cloak of her husband
A day later, again barenezdee. she
walked through the snOy-clzd G1reets
at the simple funeral Of the coacnlan,
taking her place side b. side win MS
peasant wife and the family o. poor
people. She went TO see Ealaien IN
prison and begged In simple. pittfal
way TO be told ETny the young man
killed her husband Kalaien remained
unmoyed By this appeal. but her o~n
distress brought tears TO his eyes. He
would not ask for pardon, although
she said to him, stretching out her
hands, that she herself as a Christian
woman pardoned him, and wccld pray
for him 10 God.
II is from that tragic day that the
Grand Duchess put this world behind
her and fixed her whole being on the
consultations OF religion. For many
months she lived in complete seciu-
sion. Then Trepoff, who had been
transferred 10 St Petersburg as gov
nor and had beaten down the angry
population, had himself fallen in dis
grace and died Of sheer exhaustion and
an overweight heart The car and
his family were cruising at the time,
and none of them, nor Of the mag
mates at the court, would return TO
stand by Trepoff's grave. The car
even signified that the occasion need
not be recognized, but the Grand
Duchess Elisabeth defed his Will
She left her retirement in Moscow.
came to st. Petersburg and attended
every one of the elaborate services
for the dead held beside Trepoff's
collins and stood by while IL was put
in its grave.
When she returned to Moscow she
gave her mind to organizing her re-
ligious life into a system. At first
she took the regular VOWS Of a nun
of poverty, chastity and obedience
Then in a large, bare house outside
the Kremlin gates she started on the
beginnings ola Convent of Mary and
Marta. At first ten ladies of high
Russian families worked under her.
Their day began at in the morning
with prayer. Later they occupied
themselves with needlework for the
aged poor and for the sick in hos
pitfalls, and they were taught the dis
pensing of simple medicines. Since
then the numbers in the convent
have grown to about thirty Some
of them go out reading to the bedrid-
den; and the Grand Duchess herself
sometimes performs the duty Of wash
ing the dead. There are no servants
whatever in the convent. All the
work is done by the aristocratic sis
tiers themselves.
AS Mother Superior the Grand
Duchess has four rooms At first
some of her followers thought that
her complete devotion might pass
away as her personal sorrow was soft
ened by time But the travail of her
soul is leading her rather to more
complete abnegation of earthly con-
Germs. She attends all the severe
night services of the Russian Ortho-
dox church where prayers of interces-
sion are said. On of the sisters Of
the convent has mentioned to her fam
lily how the Mother Superior, the
Grand Duchess, on returning from the
night service, pins an ikon over her
bed and again prays alone before it.
At times the life of Serge's widow
seems to suggest a remote parallel
with that other fate-crossed imperial
woman, the Empress Elizabeth OF
Austria With both great beauty and
physical health bore them till middle
life through years of what seemed
complete enjoyment OF this world,
and then came a sudden turning aside.
But with the Russian Elisabeth this
has been marked by no failing of the
mental faculties. Women like the
Grand Duchess Serge make their
choice definitely and with serene vi
sion. Even among the Moscow poor,
as they see her tall graceful figure in
her white robe moving actively and
noiselessly among their dwellings,
there is just silent look of recogni-
ton. They know of her VOWS and, like
all the other Russians, see In her a