Word on the day of the centenary of the blessed memory of Emperor Alexander the Blessed

Said by the Archpriest of the Peter and Paul Church in the Basmanny Church P. Smirnov, borrowed from the Moskovskiye Vedomosti. “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory” (Ps. 113:9). From this prayer of the Psalmist, the sacred words known to every Russian were selected, with which Emperor Alexander the Blessed, of blessed memory, captured the greatest event of his reign and, at the same time, one of his most glorious exploits. Where are you now, companions of his glorious deeds, who carried these prayer words on your chest? How many of you are left on the face of the earth?... However, the hail could not hide at the top of the mountain standing (Matthew 11:14). A burning lamp is placed at a height so that it shines for everyone. All of Russia, as one person, unanimously rises and triumphs in the memory of Alexander the Blessed, as its great royal benefactor. All classes, all institutions are preparing to glorify his exploits, his merits. The printed word will quickly spread these sincere praises of him throughout all countries of the earth, especially his native one, and unite them into one solemn hymn with which the grateful people will glorify this blessed King. The whole world will hear how much good he did for his native country, for all of Europe, and how much more he imagined, wanted to do in his heart, filled with love for humanity; how he fought with this terrible giant and defeated him, and saved the fatherland in the most difficult time for him, and pacified the restless peoples, and how at the same time, under the unceasing thunder of battles, he delved, down to the smallest details, into all the charters and actions of government in order to reconcile them with the desires of his soul, which thirsted for one thing: “to raise Russia to the height of glory and establish the inviolable the bliss of all faithful subjects." 1 One will remember the attractive features of his wondrous heart, his noblest character, which charmingly acted on everyone around him, who subdued foreigners and enemies to their influence, so that they became the most faithful of his servants, to whose power even the heart of that man who knew no hobbies other than his exorbitant lust for power succumbed. But no matter how fully and widely the people’s love manifests itself towards Emperor Alexander, it is far from exhausting everything that can be said in his praise. Many more centuries will pass, and the Russians will always remember this significant day for them with love and gratitude, and there will always be a new and new wreath for the head of the Blessed One. And imagining all this rich treasury of good done and sown by him, we cannot help but exclaim: Lord God, what a priceless treasure is this human soul, which You deigned to create in Your image and likeness! How beautiful is this human heart when it lives and breathes the love You commanded? What a source of light, joy, happiness from the life of one person for many, many generations! But here again the sacred words of Alexandrov’s inscription greet us: “Not to us, not to us, but to Your name.” Let us leave the grateful memory of the people to appreciate the exploits and works of Alexander: let history, both civil and military, and education, and the Church of God on earth, say their truthful word about him, let the lyre sing a song woven in his praise. The greatness of the Tsar is the heritage of Russia, this is the treasure of her faithful sons, this is the incessant edification of posterity. For a servant of the word of God, these words of grateful prayer in the mouth of the great King are most precious... It is not by chance that they were not artificially invented. The soul of Emperor Alexander was reflected in them, his heartfelt conviction was expressed, his character was imprinted, and together, for the edification of centuries and generations, the secret of his memorable life, his glorious exploits was revealed. They also contain the church significance of this holiday. Let us give thanks and glorify the Lord, for in His hand is the power of the earth, and He will raise up in time what is needed on it (Sir. 10:4). The appearance of the great on earth is one of the obvious ways of Divine Providence. The action of the providential power of God is necessary in the material world, but mainly in the moral world, where the damaged freedom of rational creatures, directed against the definitions and laws of the Most High, brings disorder, disorder, adversity, disasters into the world, and where only the right hand of the Most High can heal the evil brought by people to their good. So once upon a time, for deliverance from evils and punishments that people themselves called upon themselves by their sins, others were raised from the womb of the mother: Moses, Gideon, Sampson, Samuel, David and others. It has been a long time since people have seen such a destructive and terrible disaster as the one that befell one of the most enlightened countries in Europe at the end of the last century. This terrible storm has been gathering for centuries, and there are many reasons for it in the delusions, passions and sins of men. Should we depict the further course of evil?... Who does not know, down to small details, especially the disasters of 1812? And where else can one more clearly imagine and feel this sorrow of Russia, if not within the walls of this sacred Kremlin, this holy church, desecrated by a daring enemy? What would have happened to our dear fatherland, to all of Europe, if there had not been a limit to the devastating flow of evil?... Who was here the instrument of God's Providence? Name this name dear to humanity!... It was Alexander - Blessed by Russia and all nations. It was not in vain that his contemporaries were surprised by the many circumstances in his birth and life, which seemed to foreshadow his special calling. His birth (December 12, 1777) coincided with the beginning of the sun’s approach to the earth, and his accession (March 12, 1800) with the beginning of a life-giving spring and together with the beginning of the 2nd Century: both were greeted with special outbursts of popular love. They attached importance to the fact that the Great Catherine cherished her hopes on this grandson, and that this was the first-born of Mary, no less great in mercy and charity. In the heart of young Alexander, seeds of goodness were sown in abundance, and they promised rich shoots to everyone... People's love even took into account that, like David once, Alexander was kind in the eye and good in the sight of the Lord (1 Sam. XVI, 16). Physical beauty, as once with the baby Moses (Heb. XXIII, 11), was for faith “a sign of special spiritual beauty and God’s blessing.” 3 And indeed, in the spirit of Alexander rare qualities were combined: the greatness of natural talents with the most versatile and refined education, extraordinary firmness of spirit with the softness and tenderness of the heart that captivated everyone, perseverance in achieving the intended goals with compliance and peacefulness, fiery love for humanity with oblivion of his personal goals and benefits... He humbly ascended to the ancestral throne, realizing the importance of and the heaviness of the burden lifted is a feature of true greatness! Be brave, be brave! the feeling of people's love appealed to him. The Lord is for you, and we are all with you... The consequences showed that these were true premonitions and omens, that in Alexander Russia and other nations would truly be the chosen one of Providence, that it was determined by God to resist the pressure of evil, to protect peoples from oppression, to solemnly console and elevate Christianity where it was clearly rejected and desecrated by an entire people... And who could more vividly and clearly feel this heavenly calling, if not the chosen one of God himself, and from the depths of his heart the sacred words pour out: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory!” Let us give thanks and glorify the Lord, for through Him “kings reign” (Prov. 8:15), and He exalts the chosen ones from among His people (Ps. 89:20). Once upon a time, in the foremost church in Moscow, a strong word was heard. The ever-memorable Saint Plato, who anointed Alexander I as king with the sacred mur, depicted to him the duties of his great service and consoled and strengthened him with help from above. In the words of the elder archpastor one hears something prophetic: “The carrying of the Spirit of the Lord on this day,” he says, “has overshadowed and sanctified your head. With such heavenly help, your feat will be easy, your burden will be light, and your procession will be victorious and solemn. God is with us!” He concludes his wondrous speech, “Understand the Gentiles and submit! You who are able, submit! Even if you are able and again you will be defeated, for God is with us!” Events justified this holy hope of faith. Only the power of God could strengthen this meager vessel in the most chosen ones - the human heart, so that it did not tremble either against the vastness of two to ten languages, led by the greatest genius of war, nor from the initial resounding successes of the enemy, nor from the flow of the devastating lava of his troops unstoppable by any obstacles, nor, finally, from the fire of Moscow... “I would rather agree to eat bread in the bowels Siberia, rather than sign the shame of my fatherland.” These ever-memorable words of Emperor Alexander are words of royal anointing: they breathe unearthly greatness! And with the help of the Leaders, he, he alone, despite all the hesitations of his allies and recent enemies, brought the matter to the end. Only at the walls of the enemy capital did he say: “the battle of mankind has been won,” and stopped the victorious troops. Paris trembled, awaiting the fate of Moscow, but Alexander brought the blessings of peace and love to the enemies, and he himself cared more than anyone about the fate of the conquered. For the Lord, who gave him strength against countless enemy hordes, is the God of peace and love and commanded in his Gospel to spare and love the enemy. Alexander was a completely devoted instrument of the Lord’s power, and he wanted nothing more than to be faithful to the Lord. “The fire of Moscow,” he wrote, “illuminated my soul, and God’s judgment on the icy fields filled my heart with the warmth of faith, which I had not felt before: then I knew God.”... And so, from the depths of this heart devoted to God and strong by His power, these wonderful sacred words pour out: “Not to us, not to us, but to Your name!” It seemed to him not enough to depict them on fragile metal: he wanted to inscribe them on the strongholds of marble and granite, and now, the majestic Cathedral of Christ the Savior, erected near the sacred Kremlin, would soon silently proclaim to future generations that the power of the Lord defeated the formidable enemy and saved the people in times of trial. And until the end of his life, Emperor Alexander the Blessed retained a living sense of faith and devotion to Providence. And his death was similar to the death of a righteous man. “Our angel is in heaven,” these words of mournful Elizabeth, our elders remember, were for a long time on the lips and in the hearts of all who mourned his untimely death - they were the voice of the people about their king. May the Blessed One receive from people and in the kingdom of the Heavenly Father the high crown of the blessed (Matthew 15:84). Let us thank and glorify the Lord for the fact that He continues His mercy with us and gives the good seeds sown by our pious kings growth and fruit for our benefit... There was a time when everyone’s eyes were fixed on two great figures, in whose hands, it seemed, were the destinies of nations: in one, genius abilities were combined with the rapture of glory and exorbitant pride and lust for power; in another, the true greatness of the spirit and the wondrous beauty of the heart were covered with deep humility and complete devotion to Providence. Whose building will stand firm in the whirlpool of life and not collapse? Whose work will be blessed by God?... No more than two or three decades passed, and it was discovered that one building was built on shifting sand, the other on solid rock (Matt. 7:24-27). What is left now of these glorious victories, of this splendor of human glory? I remember the words of the prophet: I saw the wicked exalting and exalting myself... and I passed by, and behold, I would not seek him, and do not take vengeance on him (Ps. 36:36). Humbling himself, he will be exalted (Luke 18:19): blessing from above rests on the deeds of humble Alexander. They say that in recent years his loving soul was often visited by sorrow that he could not do as much good as he wanted... Rejoice, blessed soul! With the powerful hand of Emperor Nicholas, the order You established in both Russia and Europe has been preserved, and all Your good undertakings have been strengthened, and under the same You, our Most Pious Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich, the most cherished desires of Your heart are fulfilled! Enlightenment is spreading widely throughout the country, public and swift judgment is being carried out, the chains of slavery have fallen forever, peoples of the same tribe and the same faith are being called to life and development from the bonds of four centuries of heavy captivity... What is now revealed to the gaze of faith?... And this last posthumous testament of Emperor Alexander the Blessed, which confirmed the inheritance of the throne in the family of Nicholas, was once solemnly read by our great saint-not Is it a clear sign of God's mercy to us? The thought of this, which had long arisen in the soul of Alexander, was finally confirmed in it at the birth of the Firstborn Nikolaev, now our beloved Tsar-Liberator: what is this? Isn’t it an inspiration from above to the heart that longed for the good of Russia? And this, finally, wonderful coincidence of this anniversary day with the day of nationwide joy and rejoicing about the glorious victory over the age-old enemy of Russia and all of Christianity - isn’t it also a sign of Providence caring for us?.. God confirm this, which created ecu in us. With Thy power we rejoiced our Most Pious Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich. Add days upon days to Him and His years until the day of generation and generation (Ps. 109:4). Amen. Words from the Most Merciful Manifesto of Emperor Alexander I upon his accession to the throne. The ever-memorable Saint Philaret gives meaning to these omens in his word over the tomb of Emperor Alexander I. High expression Metropolitan Plato in his speech at the coronation of the Emperor. Alexandra I. You might be interested in: