Saint Elizabeth of Russia was born a German princess and granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. In 1884 she married Grand Duke Sergei of the Russian Imperial Court. She had a happy loving marriage and converted to the Russian Orthodox faith in 1891. In 1905 Sergei was assassinated whereupon she forgave the killer, sold her personal possessions and started the Convent of Saints Martha and Mary in Moscow, that served the poor, suffering and orphans through prayer and action. In 1909 she formed the Sisters of Love and Mercy. In 1918 she and others from the Imperial Family were murdered in a mineshaft with grenades by the Bolsheviks.
