The Romanovs – 14 July 1918

Counting down to 17 July 1918 when the family was murdered.

On 14 July 1918, one of the guards of the Ipatiev House knocked on the door of Father Ivan Storozhev, one of the priests at the Ekaterinisnky Cathedral, and requested that he conduct a liturgy for the Romanovs. He agreed to be at the house by 10 and headed off to the cathedral to collect the things he needed for the service. It had been three weeks since the Romanovs had been allowed a priest to say mass for them.¹

When he arrived at the house, he was asked to perform the obednitsa (liturgy without communion) as opposed to the obednya (service with communion), despite the fact that the Romanovs wanted the obednya.² The priest noted that Alexei was sitting in his mother’s wheelchair while Alexandra sat next to him in an armchair. She had been up all night with excruciating back pain. The Grand Duchesses were wearing simple dark skirts and white blouses. Yurovsky never took his eyes off them. At the end of the service, Alexandra and Nicholas were given the sacramental bread as they came forward to kiss the cross. He noted that the Grand Duchesses had tears in their eyes.³

That evening at 10, Alexandra took a bath.⁴

1. Helen Rappaport – The Last Days of the Romanovs p.159 US & UK
2. Helen Rappaport – The Last Days of the Romanovs p.161
3. Helen Rappaport – The Last Days of the Romanovs p.162
4. Helen Rappaport – The Last Days of the Romanovs p.168