News Release on the Visit of the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, to St. Petersburg for the 40th Day Commemoration of the Death of Her Most August Mother, H.I.H. Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna
From 30 June through 1 July, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, came from Paris to Russia to participate in the Divine Services commemorating the 40-th day anniversary of the death of her most august mother, H.I.H. Dowager Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna.
Commemoration services were offered over the course of 40 days, in both Madrid and Paris, in the presence of both Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and her heir, H.I.H. Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich. In Madrid, the main commemoration service was held on 9 June 2010 in the Orthodox Cathedral of Ss. Andrew and Dimitrii. Present at the panikhida, which was served by the rector, Archpriest Dimitrios Tsiamparlis and by the clergy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church, were representatives of the Imperial and Royal Houses of Europe: Tsaritsa Margarita of Bulgaria; Infanta of Spain Maria del Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz, and Infanta of Spain Margarita, Duchess of Soria, the sisters of King Juan-Carlos I of Spain; the father of H.I.H. Grand Duke Georgii Mikhailovich, H.R.H. Prince Mikhail Pavlovich [Franz-Wilhelm] of Prussia; H.R.H. Princess Mariam of Tyrnovo (Bulgaria); Prince Andrew of Liechtenstein; Princess Benigna Reuss; the Duke of Aveyro; Princess Beatrice d’ Orleans; the Countess d’Evreux; and representatives of the diplomatic corps, of the aristocracy, and parishioners of the church. In Paris, the commemoration service was held on 28 June 2010 in the Cathedral of the Holy Grand Prince Alexander Nevskii. Among the representatives of the august royal houses present were Princess Sophia of Wurttemberg and Prince Alexander Pavlovich of Yugoslavia and his wife Princess Barbara (née Princess of Liechtenstein). Also present together with the members of the Russian Imperial House and their most august relatives were members of the diplomatic corps, the European aristocracy, the public, and parishioners of the cathedral.
On 30 June, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, arrived in St. Petersburg. That evening, a dinner was held in honor of Her Imperial Highness by the Armenian community of St. Petersburg, to which the Grand Duchess had recently sent her congratulations on the 300th anniversary of its presence in the city. Those present at the dinner included: the General Consul of the Republic of Armenia in St. Petersburg, V. F. Akopian; the chairman of the St. Petersburg Regional Council for Armenian National-Cultural Autonomy; and warden of the Cathedral of St. Catherine Armenian Apostolic Church in St. Petersburg, K. R. Mkrtchian. Representatives from Armenia and from the Armenian community in St. Petersburg again expressed their condolences to the Head of the House of Romanoff on the death of the Grand Duchess’s most august mother, as well as their heartfelt thanks that the Grand Duchess found the time during these sorrowful days to send her congratulations to the Armenian community, a model expression of the brotherly love that exists between and among the peoples that belonged to the single cultural world that once was the Russian Empire.
On July 1, on the 40-th day, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, a grave-side panikhida for Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Leonida Georgievna was served in the grand ducal burial vault in the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in the Ss. Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, by His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Vyborg and an assembly of clergy. At the end of the panikhida, Bishop Nazarii read the letter of His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna, which he wrote in response to the Grand Duchess’s prior letter notifying him of the death of her most august mother. After the panikhida, the Head of the House of Romanoff made a donation to the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul, of an icon of the Holy Martyr Leonida, which had been commissioned for this purpose in the icon workshop of the Holy Grand Prince Alexander Nevskii, under the direction of A. I. Aniskin, who has been awarded with the Imperial Order of St. Anna for his efforts toward the rebirth and development of Church art, and who has received the honorary status as Official Craftsman of the Russian Imperial House. At this time, Her Imperial Highness spoke with His Grace Bishop Nazarii of Vyborg, with the rector of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral Hegumen Aleksandr (Fedorov), with the rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian (the historical annex church of the Leushino St. John the Forerunner Convent) Archpriest Gennadii Belovolov, and with other representatives of the clergy; with the director of the State Historical Museum of St. Petersburg A. N. Koliakin; with the representatives of governmental institutions and civil organizations; with a delegation of the Russian Nobility Association headed by its chairman Prince G. G. Gagarin; with her countrymen who had come from every corner of the Russian Federation and from other countries that had never been part of the former Russian Empire; and with parishioners of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral.
After the panikhida, a commemorative meal was arranged by the Russian Imperial Union-Order, headed by its Commander, G. A. Fedorov. Present at this meal were representatives of the clergy of St. Petersburg; the Russian Nobility Association and its regional offices; and representatives of public and civil organizations.
That evening, the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna departed St. Petersburg for Paris to take part in Divine Services to be held at the Church of the Three Hierarchs in Paris, to be served by His Eminence Archbishop Innokentii of Korsun.
A.N. Zakatov
Director, Her Imperial Highness’s Chancellery