Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky

The Enlightener of Rus', Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (1015, commemorated July 15/28), leaving the throne of the great reign, went to the very Throne of the Heavenly King in order to intercede with Him for the Russian Land. Saint Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' (1067, commemorated October 21\November 3) during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1054), addressing the tomb of St. Vladimir, as if he were alive, called out to him: “Arise, O honorable head!” And when the right time came, indeed, clearly for everyone, Saint Vladimir rose up for Rus'. Two hundred and twenty-five years have passed since his death, and Rus' has suffered the most difficult trials. The Tatars devastated the Russian Land and took possession of it. Capital Kyiv - the font of Rus' - was burned. And new enemies were moving from the north and west, who wanted to destroy Orthodoxy and deprive the Russian people of that priceless pearl with which Saint Vladimir enriched them. Novgorod had to take the first blow from those enemies. That Novgorod in which Saint Vladimir spent his adolescence, being then its Prince. Now it was reigned by the glorious descendant of Vladimir - Alexander (1263, commemorated November 23\December 6 and August 30\September 12), who was similar to his ancestor in his piety and courage. Having learned that the Swedish army under the command of Birger moved to Novgorod and entered the Novgorod borders, he realized that the Novgorod army alone could not defend Rus' and that it needed help. Where to look for help? Alexander knew where. He did not turn to foreign states and not even to the then princes of Rus', devastated by the Tatars. He appealed to the founder of the Russian Princes, to the one who freed the Russian people from slavery to the devil through Baptism. He asked him to intercede before “the only strong King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15), on whom he placed all his hopes! And “hope was not put to shame” (Rom. 5:5). The fifteenth of July has arrived - the day of the death of the enlightener of Rus'. The Novgorod army, small in number but strong in faith, is preparing for battle. The night before that day, a guard stands by the Neva River and vigilantly watches so that the Swedes do not take advantage of the darkness and attack the sleeping warriors. Suddenly he sees a boat floating along the river. “Who is swimming? “Are you ours, or from our adversary” (Joshua 5:13), - the guard Philip-Pelgusius was ready to ask. But before he had time to ask the question, he noticed that there were two people in scarlet clothes standing in the boat, both covered in darkness, and he clearly heard one say to the other: “Brother Gleb, row, let us help our relative Alexander.” Philip-Pelgusius realized that the unusual rowers were in the mysterious boat, and hastened to Prince Alexander to report what he had seen. The Prince perked up. “Our prayer has been heard,” he said. – Now our Grand Duke Vladimir is with us. Behold, his beloved children, Saints Boris and Gleb, sent by him, are coming to help us.” Having prayed fervently, he rushed into battle against the Swedes who had just landed on the banks of the Neva. His army was small, but he believed that “God is not in power, but in truth.” He fought with a bright, shining face, realizing that he was doing God’s work and that God Himself was carrying out through him judgment on those who wanted to deprive the Russian people of Orthodoxy. Like a young lion, he rushes into the ranks of the enemies, striking them, and with his own spear “puts a stamp on the face” of the Swedish governor Birger. Inspired by the example of the Prince, the Russian soldiers also fight bravely, and the completely defeated Swedish army hastily gets back into the ships, fills them with the dead bodies of their fallen comrades and leaves the Russian borders. The Novgorodians rejoice, the whole Russian Land rejoices with them. A much stronger enemy has been repelled. Not only was state freedom won, but Rus' was saved by a strong faith, the Orthodox faith, which was brought to Rus' by Saint Vladimir and whose exponent on this day was the Blessed Prince Alexander, since then called “Nevsky”. On that day, the day of remembrance of the enlightener of Rus', he was in close spiritual communion with his Equal-to-the-Apostles ancestor, and Vladimir the Red Sun himself seemed to act through him. The Russian people felt in their hearts that the Sun of Rus', which had set two hundred and thirty-five years earlier in Kyiv, shone brightly over Russia on this day from the banks of the Neva. It became undeniable for them that Grand Duke Vladimir did not leave the Russian Land, that he not only was, but continued to be, to a greater extent, its protector and guardian. The Blessed Grand Duke Alexander - this most worthy descendant and successor of Saint Vladimir, who had as his comrades the Holy Blessed Princes-Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb (1015, commemorated July 24/August 6), became, as it were, her new “Red Sun”, who warmed Rus' in the days of its trials, during the invasion of enemies from the east and west. Following the Swedes, he repelled the Livonians and Teutonic knights. He consoled and strengthened the hearts of the Russian people during Tatar captivity. He was not only the Grand Duke of Rus', but also an intercessor for the Russian Land. Just as Saint Vladimir helped him through the Holy Blessed Boris and Gleb on the day of the Battle of the Neva, Alexander himself appeared as an assistant to the later Grand Dukes of Russia during their fight against the Tatars and other enemies. The Day of the Battle of the Neva established in Rus' the veneration of St. Vladimir as its enlightener and baptizer. The same day revealed the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky as her new protector. Both of them once protected the Russian Land from external enemies and affirmed its internal well-being. Both now, standing before the Throne of God, they intercede for her before God. “Like your relatives Boris and Gleb, appearing from heaven to help you, asceticizing against Velger Sveisky and his warriors; So now you too, Blessed Alexandra, come to the aid of your relatives and overcome those who fight us” (kontakion to St. Alexander Nevsky). You might be interested in: