The Unfading Light Of Charity. Grand Duchess Olga As a Philanthropist And Painter

We, the contemporaries of the end of the second millennium of the birth of Christ, must pay particular attention to the personality of Her Highness the Grand Duchess Olga, and not just because she was the daughter and sister of the Emperors of Russia. We must do so above all because she was an amazing woman who devoted a significant part of her waking hours to the achievement of charitable and merciful deeds in the name of Christ. Together with her high birth, the Lord granted Grand Duchess Olga the talent of a painter. She cultivated this talent throughout her life, without ever having wasted or betrayed it, just as the Grand Duchess never betrayed the memory of her crowned parents.

Grand Duchess Olga

Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga was born 120 years ago in Peterhof on June 1 (14), 1882, and was thus the only porphyrogenite child of his Majesty Emperor Alexander III. A porphyrogenite child is born of a reigning emperor anointed by God. In ancient times in Greece, a child of this kind was said to be Born in the Purple. A particular significance was attributed to this in Byzantium, the first Christian Empire.

Under Emperor Alexander III, the empire enjoyed peace which reigned over the entire land, as well as in international relations. Although the future Emperor of all the Russias participated personally and heroically in the Balkan War of 1877-1878, he considered any war "infamy." According to him, "All peoples must resolve their differences without firing a single shot."

Emperor Alexander III and Empress
Maria Feodorovna,father and mother
of Grand Duchess Olga

Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga was born 120 years ago in Peterhof on June 1 (14), 1882, and was thus the only porphyrogenite child of his Majesty Emperor Alexander III. A porphyrogenite child is born of a reigning emperor anointed by God. In ancient times in Greece, a child of this kind was said to be Born in the Purple. A particular significance was attributed to this in Byzantium, the first Christian Empire.

Although Grand Duchess Olga spent her childhood in the imperial palaces, she was subject to the strictest of discipline and near Spartan living conditions. Many tall tales have been told about the lavish style of life enjoyed by the Romanoff dynasty. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Russian Imperial Court was undoubtedly the most splendid by far of the monarchies in the eastern or western worlds. The magnificence of the imperial suites did not, however, trickle down to the children's quarters. The Tsar's children slept on a firm bed with a hard, flat pillow and a very narrow mattress. A modest rug covered the floor. Straight-backed wicker chairs, the most ordinary of tables and bookshelves, needlework and toys, made up the only furnishings. A single precious object sat in the beautiful corner (icon corner): a silver-framed icon of the Blessed Mother of God, studded with pearls and other precious stones. The most reverend grandmother and wife of Tsar Alexander II had introduced English customs to the Russian court, including the obligatory cold water bath in the morning, oatmeal porridge for breakfast and that essential fresh air constitutional.

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