Romanov sainthood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia; Tsarina Alexandra; Grand Duchess Olga; Grand Duchess Tatiana; Grand Duchess Maria; Grand Duchess Anastasia; Tsarevich Alexei
This icon depicts the Romanov family as passion bearers of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II of Russia and Family Royal Passion-Bearer Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Family
Born	various dates, Peterhof, Russia
Died	July 17, 1918, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Venerated in	Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church Abroad
Canonized	1981 and 2000, United States and Russia by Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Russian Orthodox Church
Major shrine	Church on Blood, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Feast	July 17
Saints Portal

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei are saints of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and passion bearers of the Russian Orthodox Church. The family was assassinated on July 17, 1918 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

The family was canonized in 1981 as holy martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. They were canonized along with their servants, who had been killed along with them. The canonized servants were their court physician, Yevgeny Botkin; their footman Alexei Trupp; their cook, Ivan Kharitonov; and Alexandra's maid, Anna Demidova. Also canonized were two servants killed in September 1918, lady in waiting Anastasia Hendrikova and tutor Catherine Adolphovna Schneider. All were canonized as victims of oppression by the Soviet Union.

Alexandra's sister, Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, who was murdered by the Bolsheviks on July 18, 1918, was canonized as New-Martyr Elizabeth by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, along with Prince Ioann Konstantinovich of Russia, Prince Igor Konstantinovich of Russia, Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia, and Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, Fyodor Remez, Grand Duke Sergei's personal secretary, and Elizabeth's faithful companion, Sister Varvara Yakovleva, who were all killed with her. They were declared martyrs of oppression by the Soviet Union.

In 2000, after much debate, the family was canonized as passion bearers, the lowest category of sainthood, by the Russian Orthodox Church inside Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church did not canonize the servants, some of whom were not Russian Orthodox. Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Yakovleva were later also canonized as New-Martyr Elizabeth and New-Martyr Barbara by the Russian Orthodox Church inside Russia.

[edit] Controversy

The canonizations were controversial for both churches. In 1981, opponents noted Nicholas II's perceived weaknesses as a ruler and felt his actions led to the resulting Bolshevik Revolution. One priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad noted that martyrdom in the Russian Orthodox Church has nothing to do with the martyr's personal actions but is instead related to why he or she was killed.^[1] Other critics noted that the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia appeared to be blaming Jewish revolutionaries for the deaths and equating the political assassination with a ritual murder.^[2]

The Russian Orthodox Church inside Russia rejected the family's classification as martyrs because they were not killed because of their religious faith. There was no proof that the assassinations had been a ritual murder. Religious leaders in both churches also had objections to canonizing the Tsar's family because they perceived him as a weak emperor whose incompetence led to the revolution, the suffering of his people and made him at least partially responsible for his own murder and the murders of his wife and children. For these opponents, the fact that the Tsar was, in private life, a kind man and a good husband and father did not override his poor governance of Russia.^[1]

The Russian Orthodox Church inside Russia ultimately canonized the family as "passion bearers," or people who met their deaths with Christian humility. Proponents cited previous Tsars and Tsareviches who had been canonized as passion bearers, such as Tsarevich Dimitri, murdered at the end of the sixteenth century, as setting a precedent for the canonization of the Romanov family. They noted the piety of the family and reports that the Tsarina and her eldest daughter Olga prayed and attempted to make the sign of the cross immediately before they died. The bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of their daughters were finally interred at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on July 17, 1998, eighty years after they were murdered.^[3]

Since the late 20th century, believers have attributed healing from illnesses or conversion to the Orthodox Church to their prayers to Maria and Alexei, as well as to the rest of the family.^{[4] [5]}

[edit] Notes