Troparion Tone 5,
Thou didst Meekly endure the loss of an earthly kingdom, and
bonds and many sufferings from the fighters against god. Witnessing of Christ even unto death. O Great Passion-bearing and God-Crowned Tsar Nicholas Wherefore Christ God Did Crown thee and thy Queen and Children with a Martyr's crown in heaven. Do thou entreat him to have mercy on the Russian land and to save our souls.

I chose Nicholas to be my patron saint, and I pray to him for intervention and guidance and I proudly bear his name in church.

As a young man Nicholas didn't have any real duties except to get a good education and wait until it was his turn to sit on the throne. His father was very reluctant to start training his son in the correct ways to rule the country because he still saw a child in his son and nothing more. This would later weaken Nicholas's abilities as a Tsar, which led to the overthrowing of the Russian Government. 

During a cruise, Nicholas and his brother George visited Japan. While walking along the street one day, an assassin jumped out and swung a sword at Nicholas and struck him in the forehead. He tried to swing again but was stopped before any further damage could be done. When his parents found out Nicholas was immediately summoned back to Russia, full of hate against the Japanese and never again to return there. This event would later fuel the Russian-Japanese War.

Nicholas had his eye on another however. Princess of Alix of Hesse, the German sister of his uncle Grand Duke Serge's wife Elizabeth. Russian society did not share this love with the red-gold haired princess. They thought she was too clumsy and arrogant for the wife of a future emperor. His parents too were against this matching and urged him to marry elsewhere. Princess Helene of France was a perfect match for their son in the minds of his parents. But she refused to convert to Orthodoxy if she married Nicholas. Nicholas was relieved when he heard this and his parents turned to Princess Margaret of Prussia but she too wouldn't convert. 

In the Winter of 1894 Tsar Alexander started having problems with his kidneys and his health began to fade. He panicked at the idea of his son not being married when he died so he reluctantly agreed to let Nicholas propose to Alix. Nicholas collected all the courage he could muster and it was at the wedding of her older brother Grand Duke Ernest in 1894 that he proposed to her. Queen Victoria and the Kaiser of Germany both urged the reluctant Alix to marry. She finally accepted and their lives changed forever. 

On November 1, 1894 the 13 peaceful years of Tsar Alexander's reign ended. He died suddenly and the country went into shock. Nicholas and the rest of the family went into mourning for their lost loved one. Nicholas was now more worried than before. He had now become Tsar of Russia and he hadn't received any formal training. Alix was converted to Orthodoxy and Nicholas made his first decree as Tsar. He changed her name and title from Princess Alix of Hesse to Grand Duchess Alexandra Fedorovna. 

Some of the Russian people took her arrival into the country as a bad omen. They thought that since she had arrived following the coffin of their beloved Tsar that she was trouble. Alexander's body was taken to the Cathedral of the Fortress of Peter and Paul where all Romanov Tsars are buried. 

The wedding of Tsar Nicholas II to Alexandra Fedorovna was to take place on November 26, 1894. Marie helped Alexandra to dress in front of a golden mirror that was traditionally used by all Grand Duchesses of Russia on their wedding night. She was dressed in an old fashioned Russian court dress of silver brocade. They were married in a chapel in front of the Metropolitan. 

Tensions were lifted when Alexandra found out she was pregnant with her first child in the spring of 1895. In November that year they braced themselves for the arrival of their first child. A 300 gun salute would signal an heir to the thrown and a 101 gun salute would mean that the baby was a girl. Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaievna became the first child of the Tsar and Tsaritsa.

On May 26, 1896, the weather was calm and Russia was preparing to receive their new monarch. Priests, followed by Marie led the procession. Nicholas and Alexandra appeared after them at the top of the Red Staircase that led from the Kremlin into the Ouspensky Cathedral. After reaching the bottom of the steps, the couple bowed and then proceeded to walk into the Cathedral. The highest ranks of the Orthodox Church were in attendance. Nicholas was to sit on the Diamond Throne, named for the 870 diamonds which were imbedded into the throne along with 144 rubies, and 129 pearls. Alexandra sat next to him in the Ivory Throne. 

The Ceremony lasted five hours and ended with Nicholas being blessed with holy oil and giving his oath to protect Russia and all her people. The Tsar then placed the nine pound Imperial Crown of Russia on his head and then on the head of Alexandra. Then he placed it back onto his own head and she was given a smaller crown. 

The years following the coronation brought more great events in the Tsar's life. In June of 1897 Tatiana was born. In May 1899 Marie was born and in June 1901 Anastasia arrived. Then the long awaited day appeared. On August 12, 1904 a three hundred gun salute could be heard. At last Alexis the male heir to the thrown was born. Unfortunately for the royal couple they soon learned that their little baby son had hemophilia. It was kept a closely guarded secret in fear of the Russian people finding out. They were afraid that if the public found out about their future heir, they wouldn't have trust in him because he wouldn't be strong. Some believe not even his sisters knew about his condition. Alexis was a happy addition to the family amidst conflict in the country. Revolution was on the horizon and anarchists were running rampant.

On Sunday morning January 22, 1905 a protest led by Father George Gapon, a socialist priest made its way to the Winter Palace. Nicholas was at the palace at Tsarkoe Selo and wasn't informed of the rally until the night before. The police couldn't arrest the heads of the protest so all they could do was bring in more support. Suddenly the lines of protesters urged forward and one of the guards panicked and opened fire. Ninety-two people were killed and hundreds were wounded. This day became known as Bloody Sunday. This only fueled the fires of the Revolutionists. They started to call Nicholas This only fueled the fires of the Revolutionists. They started to call Nicholas "Bloody Nicholas". However Nicholas wasn't near the palace at the time of the shootings and surely didn't give the order to fire into the crowd of peaceful protestors. It was later discovered that the guards had fired in order to prevent a riot and protecting people from getting trampled. Three weeks later Grand Duke Serge was assassinated by a bomb. His wife Elizabeth "Ella" turned toward Orthodoxy and opened a mission. She was later martyred and counted amongst the saints. After Bloody Sunday, Nicholas had no other choice than to listen to some of the protests if he wanted to keep his throne. A manifesto was drawn up by his ministers and he signed it. The Imperial Manifesto of October 30, 1905 made Russia a semi-constitutional monarchy instead of an absolute autocracy. This called for a legislative branch similar to a congress called the Duma. Two Duma's were elected and dissolved after the members kept trying to overthrow Nicholas. A third Duma was elected and Nicholas agreed that it was well drawn because he could work well with it. A fourth was drawn up that also worked well with the Tsar. 

Although he was nick-named "Bloody Nicholas" because of what happened on that horrible Sunday, he actually had less people killed than all the previous Tsars of Russia.

Although he was nick-named "Bloody Nicholas" because of what happened on that horrible Sunday, he actually had less people killed than all the previous Tsars of Russia. Only 700 people were killed during his reign and the majority were assassins and revolutionists trying to over throw him.

There are many events which lead up to the fateful death of the Tsar and his family. The whole country was celebrating the Tercentenary or 300 year anniversary of the rule of the Romanov family when something occurred that was referred to as a "Second Bloody Sunday." There was a miners strike and a drunken police officer had given the order to fire into the crowd. Two hundred people lay dead in the street and Revolutionaries were foaming at the mouth. They immediately went to work again and by July 1914 1.5 million people were on strike. Not only were millions of people in his country at unrest, the Tsar was facing another crisis. Austria was preparing to wage war against Serbia. Traditionally Russia was the protector of the Slavs, so by challenging Serbia, Austria was also making a challenge against Russia. Germany was an ally to Austria and they too were challenging Russia. Nicholas was forced to back down once before but for the sake of his country he could not back down again. Serbia agreed to back down but Austria declared war anyway and on July 29 the attack began. The news of the upcoming war brought sweeping patriotism throughout the land. Moscow and St. Petersberg offered the Tsar their total support . But sadly Nicholas soon found out that Russia wasn't prepared for war and the people would pay a heavy price. Their industry wasn't developed enough to support the wa r and their means of transportation weren't adequate enough to accommodate the soldiers. Eventually the troops had such barren rations that they were limited to fighting ten bullets a day. Nicholas decided he should move to the front lines for the war and left Alexandra behind to make many important decisions involving the government. She adored Gregory Rasputin who helped ease the pain of her son's hemophilia so he had great influence over the Tsarina. While Nicholas was gone the government began to weaken after Alexandra dismissed many of the ministers that were against Rasputin and appointed new ones that worked well with the "starets". 

On March 12 1917 the Imperial Government of Russia completely collapsed. The army eventually supported and joined the revolution turning against their commanding officers. The Duma ignored the Tsar and assumed control of the government without is knowledge. On March 15 at 3:00 p.m. Nicholas Romanov II, the last Tsar of Russia was forced to abdicate his throne in favor of his son. The Soviets had taken over and Nicholas didn't want to start a civil war in fear of Russia or his family being hurt so he chose to leave his throne. Alexis at the age of twelve then became His Imperial Ma jesty Tsar Alexis II. After discussing Alexis's condition over with his doctor Fedorov, they concluded that Alexis would have great difficulty ruling the country with his hemophilia. So the throne was passed from the hands of his son to his brother Grand Duke Michael. Michael accepted the power but after not even being Tsar for a day he too was asked to abdicate the throne.

On March 21 the Tsar and his family were placed under arrest by the Provisional Government. They said it was for the well being of the royal family. Suspecting that no harm was to come of them, the family went quietly with the police. They were imprisoned in Tsarskoe Selo until August 13 1917 when they were moved into Siberia. The Bolsheviks made an attack against the Provisional Government and had won. They now had control over Russia and the royal prisoners. They were sent into Ekaterinburg to live in a building that was later called "The House of Special Purpose." The family lived in this house until July 13. 

Then the order was passed down from Lenin that their assassination was to take place. 150 gallons of gasoline and 400 pounds of sulfuric acid were purchased. At midnight on July 16 the family was awaken and was told they were going to be moved in order to protect them. They were led into a semi-basement room that was barren except for three chairs that were brought in. Alexandra, Nicholas and Alexis took a seat in the chairs and the rest of the family huddled behind them. A photographer was then brought in to take a picture of the family to assure relatives in Europe that they were ok. Then Yakov Yurovsky pulled out a piece of paper, studied it for a moment and said "In view of the fact that your relatives are continuing their attack on Soviet Russia, the Ural Executive Committee has decided to execute you." Nicholas stood up in protest but Yurovsky took out a gun and shot the Tsar. Alexandra made the sign of the cross before she too was killed in the hail of bullets. Olga, Tatiana, and Marie, who were standing behind their parents were the next ones to perish. Dr. Botkin, the valet Trupp and the cook Kharitonov died next. Demidova, the maid, had survived the bullets and was trying desperately to escape but her screams were silenced by bayonets. The men were even cruel enough to kill the spaniel Jimmy. Gun smoke had filled the air and the soldiers thought that their horrific deed was done but Yurovsky saw Alexis grabbing for his father's coat and shot him twice in the head. Anastasia who had been knocked unconscious during the massacre was now re-awakening. But before the young daughter of the Tsar could stand she was killed with bayonets. The bodies were quickly wrapped in sheets and taken into the woods to a spot known as the "Four Brothers". This spot was named for four large trees that circled around a mine shaft. They were dismembered with axes and burned with fire and the sulfuric acid. The assassins then dumped the body and all evidence into a shallow mine shaft. It was not until 1919 that the bodies were discovered.

Following the execution of the royal family of Russia, several other members of the Romanov family were murdered. Grand Duke Paul, the Tsar's young brother was shot to death and shortly after Grand Duchess Elizabeth, Grand Duke Serge, a son of Grand Duke Paul and three sons of Grand Duke Constantine were thrown down a mine shaft. In January of 1919 four more Grand Dukes of the Romanov family were killed. 

Many surviving members could not believe that the Tsar and his family were dead. Nicholas's mother the dowager empress Marie escaped to Denmark but could not believe the news of her son's death. The Russian people too were shocked. They never wanted their monarch to be killed like this. It was only the Bolshevik's who wished the death of the Tsar. Power had fallen into the hands of Lenin when the Bolsheviks took over but he died soon after the Romanov family were killed. Stalin then took power in Russia and for years he killed millions of his own people. The Autocrat of all the Russias was dead and Russia would never again be the same.