On the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky
By St. John (Maximovich), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco
By St. John (Maximovich), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco
The Enlightener of Rus', the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (1015, commemorated on July 15/28), having left the throne of the Grand Duchy, went to the very Throne of the Heavenly King to intercede before Him for the Russian Land. Saint Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' (1067, commemorated on October 21/November 3) during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1054), turning to the tomb of Saint Vladimir, as if he were alive, called out to him: "Rise up, O honorable head!" And when the right time came, Saint Vladimir did indeed rise up for Rus', clearly to all. Two hundred and twenty-five years had already passed since the day of his death, and Rus' had suffered the most severe trials. The Tatars devastated the Russian Land and took possession of it. The capital city of Kiev, the font of Rus', was burned. And from the north and west new enemies were moving, wanting to destroy Orthodoxy and deprive the Russian people of that priceless pearl with which Saint Vladimir had enriched them. The first blow of those enemies was to be taken by Novgorod. That Novgorod in which Saint Vladimir spent his adolescence, being its Prince at that time.
Now it was ruled by the glorious descendant of Vladimir – Alexander (1263, commemorated on November 23/December 6 and August 30/September 12), who was like his ancestor in his piety and courage. Having learned that the Swedish army under the command of Birger had moved on Novgorod and entered the Novgorod borders, he understood that the Novgorod army alone would not be able to defend Russia and that it needed help. Where to look for help? Alexander knew where. He did not turn to foreign states or even to the then princes of Russia devastated by the Tatars. He appealed to the ancestor of the Princes of Russia, to the one who freed the Russian people from slavery to the devil through Baptism. He asked him for intercession before the “only mighty King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim. 6:15), on Whom he placed all his hopes! And "hope did not put to shame" (Rom. 5:5). The fifteenth of July 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 to make sure that the Swedes do not take advantage of the darkness and attack the sleeping soldiers. Suddenly he sees a boat sailing down the river. "Who is sailing? Are You for us or for our adversaries" (Josh. 5:13), - the guard Philip Pelgusius was ready to ask. But before he could ask the question, he noticed that two people in scarlet robes were standing in the boat, both covered in darkness, and he clearly heard one say to the other: "Brother Gleb, lead the rowers, so that we may help our kinsman Alexander." Philip Pelgusius realized that unusual rowers were in the mysterious boat, and he hurried to Prince Alexander to report what he had seen.
The Prince's spirit was revived. "Our prayer has been heard," he said. "Our Grand Prince Vladimir is now with us. Behold, his beloved children, Saints Boris and Gleb, sent by him to help us, are coming." 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 might, but in truth." He fought with a bright, shining face, realizing that he was doing God's work and that God Himself was judging through him those who wanted to deprive the Russian people of Orthodoxy. Like a young lion, he burst into the ranks of the enemy, striking them, and with his own spear "puts a seal on the face" of the Swedish commander Birger. Inspired by the Prince's example, the Russian warriors also fight bravely, and the utterly defeated Swedish army quickly gets back on 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 state freedom has been won back, but Rus' has been saved by the strong faith, the Orthodox faith, which Saint Vladimir brought to Rus' and the exponent of which on this day was the Right-Believing 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 through him, as it were, Vladimir the Red Sun himself acted. The Russian people felt in their hearts that the Sun of Rus', which had set two hundred and thirty-five years before in Kyiv, had shone brightly over Rus' on that day from the banks of the Neva. It became certain to them that the Grand Prince Vladimir had not abandoned the Russian Land, that he not only was, but continued to be, and to a greater extent, its protector and guardian.
The Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander, this most worthy descendant and successor of Saint Vladimir, who had as his companions the Holy Right-Believing Princes and Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb (1015, commemorated on July 24/August 6), became, as it were, its new "Red Sun", warming Rus' in the days of its trials, during the invasion of its enemies from the east and west. Following the Swedes, he repelled the Livonians and the Teutonic Knights. He consoled and strengthened the hearts of the Russian people during the Tatar captivity. He was not only the Grand Prince of Rus', but also an intercessor for the Russian Land. Just as Saint Vladimir helped him through the Holy Right-Believing Princes Boris and Gleb on the day of the Battle of Neva, Alexander himself was an assistant to the later Russian Grand Princes during their struggle with the Tatars and other enemies. The day of the Battle of the Neva established in Rus' the veneration of Saint Vladimir as its enlightener and baptizer. The same day revealed the Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky as its new protector. Both of them once protected the Russian Land from external enemies and affirmed its internal well-being. Both of them now, standing before the Throne of God, intercede for it before God.
“O blessed Alexander, just as your relatives, Boris and Gleb, came to your aid from Heaven, in the battle against the Swede Birger and his troops, come now to the aid of your compatriots and defeat those who are at war with us” (Kontakion to Saint Alexander Nevsky).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
