"Once the decision was reached, it proved a difficult task to make it known to her relatives. She writes to them at this time that she is "intensely happy," but that it pains her to cause grief to her beloved family. And yet her determination was firm, "I am sure God's blessing will accompany my act which I do with such fervent belief, with the feeling that I may become a better Christian and be one step nearer to God." Explaining the reasons for her decision, she writes in a letter: "Above all one's conscience must be pure and true... many will -- I know -- scream about (it), yet I feel it brings me nearer to God... You tell me that the outer brilliance of the church charmed me... in that you are mistaken -- nothing in the outer signs attracted me -- no -- the service, the service, the outer signs are only to remind us of the inner things."
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna on her conversion to Orthodoxy
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