"God Does Not Abandon Us"

As my husband and I continue to work our way through reading The Romanov Royal Martyrs: What Silence Could Not Conceal, I have more to share with you from it. We have now read up to the events of Spring 1918, the last spring of the family's earthly life. For several weeks they were divided into two groups, under house arrest in two different locations: Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra, and their third daughter, Grand Duchess Maria, had been transferred to Ekaterinburg, a hotbed of revolutionary fervor. The remaining three daughters, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia, had stayed behind in Tobolsk with their brother, Alexis, who was recovering from an intense episode of hemophilia and was unable to travel.

In the midst of this trying period, the two groups were allowed very little communication with each other, and the circumstances of their confinements were becoming more and more dangerous and uncertain. The book describes it thus: "As time passed, the severe monotony, the absolute confinement, and the unpleasant surprises began to take their toll. These difficult hours required great spiritual reserves to keep mental equilibrium, and the family in Ekaterinburg revealed their hidden treasure: their great faith in God. In her letter to Alexis, Maria wrote, 'It is difficult to write anything pleasant, because there is very little of it here to report, but on the other hand, God does not abandon us, the sun shines and the birds sing. This morning we heard the church bells'" (The Romanov Royal Martyrs, pg. 322).