Robertsbridge, East Sussex, England, June 9, 2025
The relics and Gospel gifted to Mother Martha. Photo: orthodoxjapan.jp A monastery of the Moscow Patriarchate in England was recently granted relics of one of the Church’s great Equal-to-the-Apostles missionary saints.
From May 15 to 26, Abbess Martha of the Holy Martyr Grand Ducess Elizabeth and the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Monastery in Robertsbridge, East Sussex, in southeastern England visited the Japanese Orthodox Church.
During her pilgrimage, His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Japan blessed her with a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas of Japan together with his Holy Gospel, reports the Japanese Orthodox Church.
The gift was the fulfillment of Mother Martha’s long-held wish to have relics of St. Nicholas at her monastery. She also had the opportunity to visit several places associated with the Holy Hierarch’s life and ministry in Japan.
Photo: orthodoxjapan.jp
On May 25, the Sunday before her departure, Met. Seraphim also gifted her an abbatial cross following the service at the Tokyo Resurrection Cathedral.
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The monastery church. Photo: orthodoxjapan.jp
The Sisterhood of the Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia was established in 2006 when the Russian Orthodox Church in Britain acquired Rocks Farm, a family property near Bodiam in East Sussex, with the goal of founding a convent. The community was dedicated to Holy Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth, a saint with deep connections to Britain who was raised by her grandmother Queen Victoria and frequently lived in southern England before marrying Russian Grand Duke Sergey. In 2007, the community received a second dedication to the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, expanding their spiritual patronage and intercessory support.
Though originally intended as a convent, the community currently consists of one nun, Mother Martha, who took up residence in 2006 and converted the farmhouse into a temporary chapel with kitchen and refectory space. The property includes substantial agricultural land used for growing vegetables and fruit, as well as chicken farming, supported by pilgrims and local Orthodox Christians. In 2010, the sisterhood was officially established and granted the status of Hierarchical Metochion (a residence of the Archbishop of the Sourozh Diocese). The community has grown into an international congregation including English, Scottish, Irish, German, Greek, Slovak, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Russian members, with services conducted in both Slavonic and English to accommodate all participants.
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