Memorial Day of the Righteous Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky

The great commander, diplomat, thinker and wise ruler devoted his life, full of difficult trials and hardships, to protecting his native land from invaders Under the command of Alexander Nevsky, Russian troops defeated the Swedes during the Battle of the Neva in 1240, and the Crusaders in the Battle of Lake Peipus in 1242 The brave and fearless prince was a pious and pious man At the end of his life, the ancestor of the Moscow sovereigns took monastic vows in the Pskov-Pechersk Monastery and began to be called Alexy Alexander Nevsky always lived following the teachings of the Orthodox Church and adhered to strict ethical and moral principles The merits of the commander and monk to the Fatherland and God were so great that at the Moscow Council in 1547 it was decided to canonize him “for patience and faith” Monk Alexy passed away on November 14, 1263 On December 6, the body of the righteous man was interred in the city of Vladimir This date in the church calendar marks the Day of Remembrance of the Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky During canonization, Orthodox ascetics are ranked among the eighteen faces of holiness The rank of “blessed”, which Alexander Nevsky received, was awarded to princes and kings who distinguished themselves by mercy, sincere service to the people and the church, as well as monks for their righteous life On December 6, sermons glorifying the saint are heard in all churches and cathedrals, and Divine Liturgies are celebrated in his honor Alexander Nevsky defended Rus' not only from the attacks of the Livonians, Swedes, Lithuanians and the Mongol-Tatar yoke, but also from the expansion of the Catholic Church Its supreme hierarch, Innocent IV, in his letters constantly exhorted the prince to submit to the Roman throne One of the Pope’s arguments was the consent allegedly received earlier from Alexander’s father, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich Despite the fact that there is no reliable information about his adoption of the Catholic faith on his deathbed in 1246 History says that in 1251, two papal cardinals came to Novgorod to Alexander Nevsky with a bull - a seal with which they were ready to seal the agreement with the Catholic throne The alliance with the Vatican gave many advantages to those who joined it Thus, in 1247, the Lithuanian prince Mindovg adopted the Catholic faith, thus protecting his lands from attacks by the Teutons However, Alexander Nevsky did not succumb to this temptation According to the chronicler’s notes, the prince, having consulted with the court sages, responded to the papal cardinal with a refusal: “We know everything that is good, but we do not accept teachings from you” The transition to Catholicism for Orthodox Rus' meant not only physical destruction by the crusaders, blessed by the Pope to wage predatory wars, but also spiritual death That is why the church honors the memory and glorifies the blessed prince Alexander Nevsky A ruler who defended state borders from attacks by enemies, both from the east and west, and defended the independence of Rus'