St. blgv. book Alexander Nevskiy
The holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky was born on May 30, 1220 in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. His father, Yaroslav, in Baptism Theodore (+ 1246), “a meek, merciful and philanthropic prince,” was the youngest son of Vsevolod III the Big Nest (+ 1212), brother of the holy noble prince Yuri Vsevolodovich (+ 1238; commemorated February 4). The mother of Saint Alexander, Theodosia Igorevna, the Ryazan princess, was the third wife of Yaroslav. The eldest son was the holy noble prince Theodore (+ 1233; June 5), who reposed in the Lord at the age of 15. Saint Alexander was their second son.
He spent his childhood in Pereslavl-Zalessky, where his father reigned. The princely tonsure of the youth Alexander (the rite of initiation into a warrior) was performed in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Pereslavl by Saint Simon, Bishop of Suzdal (+ 1226; commemorated May 10), one of the compilers of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. From the gracious elder-hierarch Saint Alexander received his first blessing for military service in the Name of God, for the defense of the Russian Church and the Russian land.
In 1227, Prince Yaroslav, at the request of the Novgorodians, was sent by his brother, Grand Duke Yuri of Vladimir, to reign in Novgorod the Great. He took with him his sons, Saints Theodore and Alexander. The Novgorodians, dissatisfied with the Vladimir princes, soon invited St. Michael of Chernigov (+ 1246; commemorated September 20) to reign, and in February 1229 Yaroslav and his sons left for Pereslavl. The matter ended peacefully: in 1230, Yaroslav and his sons returned to Novgorod, and the daughter of St. Michael, Theodulia, became engaged to St. Theodore, the elder brother of St. Alexander. After the death of her groom in 1233, the young princess entered a monastery and became famous in monastic feats as the Venerable Euphrosyne of Suzdal (+ 1250; commemorated September 25).
From an early age, Saint Alexander accompanied his father on campaigns. In 1235 he took part in the battle on the river. Emajõgi (in present-day Estonia), where Yaroslav's troops completely defeated the Germans. The next year, 1236, Yaroslav left for Kyiv, “placing” his son, Saint Alexander, to reign independently in Novgorod. In 1239, Saint Alexander entered into marriage, taking as his wife the daughter of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav. Some historians say that the princess in Holy Baptism was the namesake of her holy husband and bore the name Alexandra. Their father, Yaroslav, blessed them at the wedding with the holy miraculous icon of the Theodore Mother of God (at Baptism, the father’s name was Theodore). This icon was then constantly with Saint Alexander, as his prayer image, and then, in memory of him, it was taken from the Gorodets Monastery, where he died, by his brother, Vasily Yaroslavich of Kostroma (+ 1276), and transferred to Kostroma.
The most difficult time in the history of Rus' began: the Mongol hordes were coming from the east, destroying everything in their path, and German knightly hordes were advancing from the west, blasphemously calling themselves, with the blessing of the Pope, “crusaders,” bearers of the Holy Cross. At this terrible hour, God’s Providence raised up the holy Prince Alexander, a great prayer warrior, ascetic and builder of the Russian land, for the salvation of Rus'. - “Without God’s command there would have been no reign.” Taking advantage of Batu's invasion, the destruction of Russian cities, the confusion and grief of the people, the death of their best sons and leaders, hordes of crusaders invaded the borders of the Fatherland. The Swedes were the first. “The King of the Roman Faith from the Midnight Country,” Sweden, gathered a great army in 1240 and sent it to the Neva on many ships under the command of his son-in-law, Earl (i.e., Prince) Birger. The proud Swede sent messengers to St. Alexander in Novgorod: “If you can, resist, I’m already here and capturing your land.”
Saint Alexander, who was not yet 20 years old at the time, prayed for a long time in the Church of Hagia Sophia, the Wisdom of God. And, remembering the psalm of David, he said: “Judge, O Lord, those who offend me and rebuke those who fight with me, accept weapons and shields, stand to help me.” Archbishop Spyridon blessed the holy prince and his army for battle. Coming out of the temple, Saint Alexander strengthened his squad with words filled with faith: “God is not in power, but in truth. Some with weapons, others on horses, but we will call on the Name of the Lord our God! They wavered and fell, but we rose up and stood firm.” With a small squad, trusting in the Holy Trinity, the prince hurried towards the enemies - there was no time to wait for help from his father, who did not yet know about the enemy attack.
But there was a wonderful omen: the warrior Pelguy, standing on the sea patrol, in Holy Baptism Philip, saw at dawn on July 15 a boat sailing on the sea, and on it the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, in scarlet robes. And Boris said: “Brother Gleb, tell us to row, so we can help our relative Alexander.” When Pelguy reported the vision to the arriving prince, Saint Alexander ordered, out of piety, not to tell anyone about the miracle, and he himself, encouraged, courageously led the army against the Swedes with prayer. “And there was a great slaughter with the Latins, and he killed countless numbers of them, and he put a seal on the leader’s face with his sharp spear.” The Angel of God invisibly helped the Orthodox army: when morning came, on the other bank of the Izhora River, where the soldiers of St. Alexander could not pass, many enemies were found killed. For this victory on the Neva River, won on July 15, 1240, the people called Saint Alexander Nevsky.
The German knights remained a dangerous enemy. In 1241, with a lightning campaign, Saint Alexander returned the ancient Russian fortress of Koporye, expelling the knights. But in 1242 the Germans managed to capture Pskov. The enemies boasted of “subjugating the entire Slavic people.” Saint Alexander, setting out on a winter campaign, liberated Pskov, this ancient House of the Holy Trinity, and in the spring of 1242 he gave the Teutonic Order a decisive battle. On April 5, 1242, both armies met on the ice of Lake Peipsi. Raising his hands to heaven, Saint Alexander prayed: “Judge me, O God, and judge my quarrel with the magisterial people, and help me, O God, as Moses of old, against Amalek and my great-grandfather, Yaroslav the Wise, against the accursed Svyatopolk.” Through his prayer, God's help and feat of arms, the crusaders were completely defeated. There was a terrible slaughter, such a crash was heard from breaking spears and swords that it seemed as if the frozen lake had moved, and the ice was not visible, for it was covered with blood. The enemies who were put to flight were driven and flogged by Alexandrov’s warriors, “as if they were rushing through the air, and there was nowhere for the enemy to run.” Many prisoners were then led after the holy prince, and they walked disgraced.
Contemporaries clearly understood the worldwide historical significance of the Battle of the Ice: the name of Saint Alexander was glorified throughout Holy Rus', “across all countries, to the Sea of Egypt and to the mountains of Ararat, on both sides of the Varangian Sea and to the great Rome.”
The western borders of the Russian land were securely fenced; the time had come to protect Rus' from the East. In 1242, Saint Alexander Nevsky and his father, Yaroslav, left for the Horde. Metropolitan Kirill blessed them for a new, difficult ministry: it was necessary to transform the Tatars from enemies and robbers into respectful allies; they needed “the meekness of a dove and the wisdom of a snake.”
The Lord crowned the sacred mission of the defenders of the Russian land with success, but it took years of work and sacrifice. Prince Yaroslav gave his life for this. Having concluded an alliance with Khan Batu, he had, however, to go in 1246 to distant Mongolia, to the capital of the entire nomadic empire. The position of Batu himself was difficult; he sought support from the Russian princes, wanting to separate with his Golden Horde from distant Mongolia. And there, in turn, they did not trust either Batu or the Russians. Prince Yaroslav was poisoned. He died in agony, having outlived the holy martyr Michael of Chernigov, with whom he had once almost become related, by only 10 days. The alliance bequeathed by his father with the Golden Horde - then necessary to prevent a new defeat of Rus' - continued to be strengthened by Saint Alexander Nevsky. Batu’s son, Sartak, who converted to Christianity and was in charge of Russian affairs in the Horde, becomes his friend and brother-in-arms. Promising his support, Saint Alexander gave Batu the opportunity to go on a campaign against Mongolia, to become the main force in the entire Great Steppe, and to place the leader of the Christian Tatars, Khan Mongke, on the throne in Mongolia (most of the Christian Tatars professed Nestorianism).
Not all Russian princes had the foresight of Saint Alexander Nevsky. Many hoped for help from Europe in the fight against the Tatar yoke. Negotiations with the Pope were conducted by Saint Michael of Chernigov, Prince Daniil of Galicia, brother of Saint Alexander, Andrey. But Saint Alexander knew well the fate of Constantinople, which was captured and destroyed in 1204 by the crusaders. And his own experience taught him not to trust the West. Daniil Galitsky paid for an alliance with the pope, which did not give him anything, with betrayal of Orthodoxy - union with Rome. Saint Alexander did not want this for his native Church. When in 1248 the ambassadors of the Pope came to seduce him, he wrote in response about the loyalty of the Russians to the Church of Christ and the faith of the Seven Ecumenical Councils: “We know all these good things, but we do not accept teachings from you.” Catholicism was unacceptable for the Russian Church; union meant a renunciation of Orthodoxy, a renunciation of the source of spiritual life, a renunciation of the historical future intended by God, and dooming oneself to spiritual death. In 1252, many Russian cities rebelled against the Tatar yoke, supporting Andrei Yaroslavich. The situation was very dangerous. Once again a threat arose to the very existence of Rus'. Saint Alexander had to go to the Horde again to ward off the punitive invasion of the Tatars from the Russian lands. Broken, Andrei fled to Sweden to seek help from those same robbers whom, with the help of God, his great brother crushed on the Neva. Saint Alexander became the autocratic Grand Duke of all Rus': Vladimir, Kyiv and Novgorod. A great responsibility before God and history fell on his shoulders. In 1253 he repelled a new German raid on Pskov, in 1254 he concluded an agreement on peaceful borders with Norway, and in 1256 he went on a campaign to the Finnish land. The chronicler called it a “dark campaign”; the Russian army marched through the polar night, “traversing impenetrable places, as if one could not see either day or night.” Into the darkness of paganism, Saint Alexander brought the light of the Gospel preaching and Orthodox culture. All of Pomerania was enlightened and mastered by the Russians.
In 1256, Khan Batu died, and soon his son Sartak, brother-in-arms of Alexander Nevsky, was poisoned. The holy prince went to Sarai for the third time to confirm the peaceful relations of Rus' and the Horde with the new Khan Berke. Although Batu's successor converted to Islam, he needed an alliance with Orthodox Russia. In 1261, through the efforts of Saint Alexander and Metropolitan Kirill, a diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was established in Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde.
The era of the great Christianization of the pagan East had come; this was the historical vocation of Rus', prophetically guessed by Saint Alexander Nevsky. The holy prince used every opportunity to elevate his native land and facilitate its lot on the cross. In 1262, on his instructions, Tatar tribute collectors and warrior recruiters - Baskaks - were killed in many cities. They were waiting for Tatar revenge. But the great defender of the people again went to the Horde and wisely directed events in a completely different direction: citing the Russian uprising, Khan Berke stopped sending tribute to Mongolia and proclaimed the Golden Horde an independent state, thereby making it a barrier for Rus' from the East. In this great union of Russian and Tatar lands and peoples, the future multinational Russian state matured and strengthened, which later included within the Russian Church almost the entire heritage of Genghis Khan to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
This diplomatic trip of Saint Alexander Nevsky to Sarai was the fourth and last. The future of Rus' was saved, its duty to God was fulfilled. But all their strength was given, their lives were devoted to the service of the Russian Church. On the way back from the Horde, Saint Alexander fell mortally ill. Before reaching Vladimir, in Gorodets, in a monastery, the ascetic prince gave up his spirit to the Lord on November 14, 1263, completing his difficult life path by accepting the holy monastic schema with the name Alexy.
Metropolitan Kirill, spiritual father and companion in the ministry of the holy prince, said in his funeral homily: “Know, my child, that the sun of the land of Suzdal has already set. There will no longer be such a prince in the Russian land.” His holy body was carried to Vladimir, the journey lasted nine days, and the body remained incorrupt. On November 23, during his burial in the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir, God revealed “a miracle wonderful and worthy of memory.” When the body of Saint Alexander was laid in the shrine, the housekeeper Sebastian and Metropolitan Kirill wanted to open his hand in order to enclose a parting spiritual letter. The holy prince, as if alive, himself stretched out his hand and took the letter from the hands of the metropolitan. “And horror seized them, and they barely retreated from his tomb. Who wouldn’t be surprised if he was dead and the body was brought from afar in the winter.” Thus God glorified his saint - the holy warrior-prince Alexander Nevsky. The church-wide glorification of Saint Alexander Nevsky took place under Metropolitan Macarius at the Moscow Council of 1547. The canon to the saint was compiled at the same time by the Vladimir monk Mikhail.
Troparion
As you were of a pious root/ a most honorable branch, O blessed Alexandra,/ Christ reveal you, as a certain Divine treasure of the Russian land,/ a new wonderworker, glorious and God-pleasing./ And today we have come together in your memory with faith and love,/ in psalms and singing, rejoicing We praise the Lord, / who has given you the grace of healing, / pray to Him to save this city, / and for the Russian state / to be pleasing to God, / / and to be saved as a son of Russia.
Know your brethren, Russian Joseph,/ not in Egypt, but reigning in Heaven,/ faithful Prince Alexander,/ and accept their prayers,/ multiplying the lives of people with the fruitfulness of your land,/ protecting the cities of your dominion with prayer// and by Orthodox Christians fighting against resistance .
Prayer
Quick helper to all those who diligently come running to you and our warm representative before the Lord, holy and faithful Prince Alexandra! Look mercifully upon us, unworthy of many iniquities, indecent, that we have created for ourselves, now flowing to the race of your relics and crying out to you from the depths of your heart: in your life you were a zealot and defender of the Orthodox faith, and you have unshakably established us in it with your warm prayers. You have carefully carried out the great service entrusted to you, and with your help we have to remain in it every time, in which we are called to eat, instruct us. Having defeated the regiments of adversaries, you drove them away from the borders of Russia, and brought down all visible and invisible enemies against us. You, having abandoned the corruptible crown of the earthly kingdom, have chosen a silent life, and are now righteously crowned with an incorruptible crown, reigning in heaven, intercede for us too, we humbly pray to you, arrange for us a quiet and serene life and a steady procession towards the eternal Kingdom through your intercession. Standing before the Throne of God with all the saints, pray for all Orthodox Christians, may the Lord God preserve them with His grace in peace, health, prosperity, and all prosperity throughout the years to come, and may we ever glorify and bless God, in the Trinity of Holy Glorified Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Source of the article: https://tvoysvyatoy.ru/2016/12/05/nevsky/
