Life of St. Alexander of Svirsky
St. Alexander Svirsky is an iconic personality for believers. For many years, being in seclusion as a hermit, he prayed to God. During his lifetime, the miracle worker helped people. And after death the saint does not leave us without his fatherly support.
Brief biography: the most important milestones of life
Venerable Alexander Svirsky
Saint in childhood
The saint was born in 1448 into the family of devout people Stefan and Vassa. At baptism, the parents gave the child the name Amos. The parents sent their grown son to school. It was difficult to study, and the young boy prayed to God for help. During this time, the voice promised him that everything he asked for would come true. And indeed, learning became easy, and soon Amos was the best student in the class. The saint was an obedient and meek child, who was not interested in noisy childish games. He dressed simply and began to observe fasts early, thereby strengthening his young soul.
Choosing a monastic path
When Amos reached adulthood, his parents decided to marry him. But by that time the young man was confirmed in his desire to serve the Lord. When Amos learned about the Valaam monastery, he decided to go there. He went to the holy place on foot, not even knowing the road. Having crossed the Svir River, he stopped for the night on the shore of the lake and began to pray. And again, as in childhood, the voice told him to go to Valaam, and then, after a few years, to return here and found a monastery here. After these words, a bright light appeared at the place that the Lord had chosen for his monastery. In the morning Amos met a man who said that he was on his way to Valaam. They walked together and soon reached the monastery. Then Amos wanted to thank his fellow traveler, but saw that he was nowhere to be found. He guessed that it was an Angel.
tonsure and hermitage
The Transfiguration Monastery became a home for Amos. For seven years he was a novice there. All this time, he bore obedience with meekness: he worked hard and humbly and prayed. On August 26, 2474, Amos became a monk and began to be called Alexander. He moved to a remote deserted island. There he was completely alone for seven long years, sheltering from the weather in a cave.
Soon he received a sign from God - a finger appeared, which pointed in the direction of the Holy Lake. This meant that Alexander had to return to the specified place. Here the monk built a cell in which he lived for seven years, eating only forest gifts and grass.
Over these years, the hermit endured a lot of suffering: he was freezing from the cold, hungry, seriously ill, and the devil tormented him with temptations. But God helped the saint; he saw God’s support in everything. One day Alexander became seriously ill; he could not get up from the ground, but without losing his spiritual courage, he sang psalms. An angel appeared to him and healed him with the sign of the cross.
Useful materials
After some time, the hermit had like-minded people. A noble man, Andrei Zavalishin, accidentally came across his cell. He said that he had long wanted to look at the place where he had seen a shining light more than once. The boyar began to often visit the hermit, and on his advice he soon became a monk under the name Adrian. After some time, he founded the Ondrusov Monastery.
The birth of a new monastery
The news about the hermit and his unparalleled service to God spread everywhere. Soon people began to come to the desert, seeking solitude. They uprooted the forest, and sowed the cleared areas with grain, the surplus of which was given to the laity. Alexander retired from the monks to the “Waste Hermitage.”
Here demons took up arms against him: in the images of wild animals and poisonous snakes, they tried to force the ascetic to leave this place. But he continued his prayers, and the demons, unable to overcome him, retreated. An angel appeared to him and revealed that a monastery would be founded here in the name of the Holy Trinity.
The miraculous appearance of the Holy Trinity
In 1508, the saint witnessed the appearance of the Lord. While praying, a bright light appeared. In the cell, Three men in snow-white robes suddenly appeared before the worshiper. Their faces were like the sun. Alexander fell to his knees before God. But the Lord raised him up and ordered him to build a temple and monastery in the name of the Holy Trinity. Thus, a humble hermit, relying only on God, avoiding people and their glorification, considering himself unworthy, was awarded the great Grace of God.
Appearance of the Holy Trinity St. Alexander Svirsky
Elevation to the rank of abbot
After the construction of the church, the monks began to ask the saint to accept the priestly rank. But he considered himself unworthy. And then the monks wrote to Bishop Serapion in Novgorod. He blessed the saint to become abbot in his own monastery. But his life did not change. Having received the rank of abbot, the saint continued his monastic feat: he wore rags, slept on the floor and did all the hard work equally with all the monks.
The saint was strict not only with himself: he often made the rounds of the monastery cells and if he heard unworthy conversations, he would quietly knock on the door. In the morning he always gave instructions to the monks. The strict monastic life of the inhabitants glorified the Svir monastery and became a role model. Several disciples of Father Alexander then founded their own monasteries.
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
At the end of his life, the Saint built another temple - Pokrovsky. The Mother of God appeared to the Reverend after laying the foundation of the church. She showed him his future ascetics who would continue his good work and glorify his name.
The death of the righteous. The appearance of the first life
Interesting fact
Despite the fact that the saint’s life was filled with labors and hardships, he lived a long life and died at a ripe old age, at the age of 85.
His canonization was carried out by the Council in 1547.
A few years after the death of the monk, Alexander Herodion gave a description of his life. He spoke about the miracles performed by the saint for people.
Holy relics of St. Alexander Svirsky
A century later, during the reconstruction of the Church of the Transfiguration, the incorruptible relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were found
His body remained unharmed - the saint looked like he was sleeping.
The relics were transferred to the temple and remained there until the Bolshevik coup d'etat. When the Bolsheviks declared war on the Church, the monasteries were plundered and most of the priests were shot. The relics of the saint were ordered to be destroyed by the new government.
Where are the incorruptible relics of St. Alexander Svirsky now
But instead of desecration, by the will of God, they were taken away in an unknown direction. When the state began to return the monasteries to the Church, the relics of the saint returned to the people. They were found at the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg.
In 1998, the relics returned home to. The monastery is located at the address: Russia, Leningrad region, Lodeynopolsky district, Yanegskoye rural settlement, Staraya Sloboda village.
In St. Petersburg there is a courtyard of the Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery - this is the Church of the Nativity of Christ.
Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery
In the monastery, prayers for health are read and performed at the relics of the monk, and everyone submits notes with the names of their loved ones.
When the relics are revealed
Holy relics of St. Alexander Svirsky opens:
- April 30;
- 12-th of September;
- on the day of the Holy Trinity;
- to the Transfiguration.
There is evidence that the saint’s relics are warm and maintain the same temperature as that of a living person.
Relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky
A piece of relics in Moscow: where it is located
In the Church of St. Alexander Svirsky in Moscow, located on Grayvoronovskaya Street 10, there is a particle of the saint’s relics, which is placed in an icon and is available for veneration by believers.
Evidence of miracles
Near the relics of St. Alexandra, phenomena that are incredible for the understanding of the common man often occur.
One day a mother came to church with her little daughter in her arms. The girl could not walk from birth, and the doctors were powerless: the baby’s limbs were immobilized forever. The mother placed the girl on the glass of the sacred shrine. The child lay there for several minutes. Then the woman left the girl sitting on the floor. Turning around, she did not see her daughter there.
She, as if picked up by someone invisible, was put on her feet and walked on her own, without outside help. There was silence in the church. People parted and formed a corridor for the child and the mother, who ran forward to catch her if the girl suddenly stumbled. Vera, that was the girl’s name, was completely healed. Saint Alexander of Svirsky performed such a miracle in front of many people.
A similar incident soon happened to a young man who was in a car accident. The man's legs were paralyzed, and he dragged them behind him, leaning on crutches. Medical treatment did not help, and he went to the monastery to the relics of Alexander Svirsky with the faith that the saint would definitely help him. Four times he came to the monastery with prayers to the Wonderworker.
And they were heard. During the fourth prayer, he felt his legs and was able to walk a few steps without crutches. A month later, the man came to the miracle worker again to thank him. He approached the shrine with the relics without crutches, leaning lightly on a stick.
These miracles occurred in front of a large crowd of worshipers, and were witnessed by the monks of the monastery and Hieromonk Adrian. And this is just a small part of the examples of the saint’s help. Alexander Svirsky to people.
What do they ask the saint for?
Pilgrims go to the miracle worker with a wide variety of needs. They pray to the saint for healing from physical diseases, including those considered incurable by medicine. Infertile couples turn to the Miracle Worker with a request to give birth to a child. It is Alexander Svirsky who is prayed for the appearance of a son. Those who decide to become a monk and live serving God also turn to him.
Interesting fact
In Petrozavodsk there is an Orthodox educational center in honor of St. Alexander Svirsky, dedicated to the spiritual education of adults and children. The center is located at the address: Petrozavodsk, Pervomaisky microdistrict, st. Krasnoflotskaya, 31.
Temples and icons of St. Alexander Svirsky
More than seventy churches were built in our country to the glory of the saint. Its iconography is very diverse. They captured the elder at different moments of his life.
His very first image appeared in the seventeenth century, copied from the relics, and therefore possessing a portrait resemblance. The saint is depicted lying down. There is another icon painted from the relics of St. Alexandra. This is a “portrait” with a halo above the head of the holy elder. The image of the saint in the garb of a schema-monk is also widely known. In one hand he has a scroll, the other is folded for the sign of the cross of the people standing in front of the image.
Icon of St. Alexander Svirsky
The icon of Alexander Svirsky is unique, depicting the appearance of the Triune God to him. On it, Alexander is depicted in a monastic robe, with his hand outstretched to God, where the Lord is represented in the form of three young men. In the 19th century, hagiographic icons of the saint appeared, consisting of various fragments of his life. Most of these icons stream myrrh.
St. Alexander Svirsky, appearance of the Holy Trinity, 17th century.
Days of remembrance of the saint
Days of veneration of Alexander Svirsky:
- September 12 (death day);
- April 30 (day of finding the relics).
Believers honor their saint, whose spiritual aspiration and unshakable faith are the moral guideline for a Christian. After all, it is not enough not to do evil. It is necessary to drive away sinful, evil thoughts from yourself. Through prayer, faith in God, love for him and everything living on earth, cultivate goodness in your soul.
As our Lord said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Gospel of Matthew, ch. 5, art. 8.
An example of such sincerity is the feat of St. Alexander of Svirsky, whom the Lord rewarded with his visit to earth for his good deeds and righteous life.
Documentary film “Alexander Svirsky. Protector and Patron"
Prayer
Prayer to St. Alexander of SvirskyO sacred head, earthly angel and heavenly man, venerable and God-bearing Father Alexandra, great servant of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, show many mercies to those living in your holy monastery and to all who flow to you with faith and love. Ask us everything that is useful for this temporary life, and even more necessary for our eternal salvation.
Help with your intercession, servant of God, the ruler of our country, Russia. And may the holy Orthodox Church of Christ abide deeply in the world. Be to all of us, miracle-working saint, a quick helper in every sorrow and situation. Most of all, at the hour of our death, the merciful intercessor appears to us, so that we may not be betrayed in the ordeals of the air by the power of the evil ruler of the world, but may we be honored with a stumbling-free ascension into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Hey, Father, our dear prayer book! Do not disgrace our hope, do not despise our humble prayers, but always intercede for us before the Throne of the Life-Giving Trinity, so that together with you and with all the saints, even if we are unworthy, we may be worthy to glorify in the villages of paradise the greatness, grace and mercy of the One God in the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Troparion, kontakion, magnification
Troparion
voice 4th
From your youth, God-wise, you moved into the desert with spiritual desire, and you desired the one Christ to diligently follow in the footsteps. In the same way, the angels repaired thee, seeing how you were amazed at how, having labored with the flesh against invisible wiles, you, wisely, conquered the armies of passions by abstinence, and you appeared equal to the angels on earth, Reverend Alexander. Pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion
voice 8th:
Like a multi-bright star today you have shone in the Russian countries, Father, having settled in the desert, you have zealously desired to follow Christ’s footsteps, and you have lifted the holy yoke on your frame with the honorable cross, you have put to death, your labors, your feat, your bodily leaps. We also cry out to you: save your flock, which you have gathered wisely, so we call to you: Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, our father.
Greatness
We bless you, Reverend Father Alexandra, and honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of angels.
Canon
Canon
Song 1
Irmos: In the depths of the bed, sometimes the pharaonic all-army is a pre-armed force; The incarnate Word consumed all-evil sin, O glorified Lord, gloriously glorified.
Reverend Father Alexandra, pray to God for us *).
We faithfully celebrate your divine memory, God-wise Father, and we glorify the Lord of all kinds, glorifying you with many miracles.
Passionless with warm desire, father, possessed, you withered away the waves of things, Alexandra, and through love, you achieved the ever-present radiance, most blessed, of the Divine.
Reverend Father Alexandra, pray to God for us.
Virtuous from the beginning, the reception of life, rich, bath, father, restoration of being, a spiritual gift from infancy divine, the beauty of your soul, Alexandra, you showed, brighter than the sun.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Theotokos: You gave birth to the Young Child more than words, the Ancient of Days, who showed a new path of virtues on earth. Therefore, Your beloved Alexander, O Trokovitsa, is consumed with love, this temple was created for You.
*) This chorus is read before all the troparions of each song, except for the Theotokos, before which it is read “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".
Song 3
Irmos: Having established me on the rock of faith, you have enlarged my mouth against my enemies, for my spirit has rejoiced, always singing: there is nothing holy like our God, and nothing is righteous than Thee, O Lord.
Then, through your abstinence, you extinguished the flame of your passions, and through the showering of prayers, you exuded streams of miracles, extinguishing the kindling of your illnesses to the blessed Alexandra.
Who flows to your more honest race, wise one, from this we will draw a treasure of healing, and an abyss of miracles, and an unenviable gift, Alexandra. In the same way, singing, we praise you.
Spiritual feelings from the terrible, reverend father, enlightened by the vision, as if you have acquired a wonderful mind for the good, you have shown a monastic life to those who have, Alexandra, a blessed life.
Theotokos: Who, before the ages, was born from the Father inexpressibly, finally came from Thy womb and deified our nature, Mother of the Virgin, Who brought forth the faces of the venerables.
Sedalen, voice 8:
From your youth, you left behind all the things of life, all that was red and fashionable, and settled in the desert, and you diligently followed the One who called you, O Reverend, and through labor and sweat, Father, you exhausted your body. Therefore, the all-rich Lord arranges for you to be a good shepherd for His sheep, blessed Alexandra. Pray to Christ the God of sins to grant forgiveness to those who honor your holy memory with love.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
As the Virgin and one among women, You, who without seed gave birth to God in the flesh, we all please, giving birth to humanity: for the fire dwelt in Thee of the Divinity, and like the Child, nourishing the Creator and the Lord with milk. Thus, the angelic and human race, we worthily glorify Thy most holy Nativity and in accordance with the cry of Ty: pray to Christ, the God of sins, to grant forgiveness of sins to those who worship by faith Thy most holy Nativity.
Song 4
Irmos: You came from the Virgin, not an intercessor, nor an Angel, but the Lord Himself, who became incarnate, and you saved all of me, a man. Thus I call to Thee: glory to Thy power, O Lord.
Your life, God-Bearing Blessed Alexandra, the rule is known to monastics, and now, zealously, we are saved, like yours, father, by Divine teaching.
The dawn of the Holy Spirit was received, bright star, Father Alexandra, shining with grace, you were to everyone, and you guided them to salvation through your teachings.
You wanted to be inside the world beyond the world, O wise Father Alexandra, having the power of God’s Spirit instructing you, living in impenetrable deserts and walking with animals without fear, as a young man, you fed on bodily illnesses.
Theotokos: We wear the terrible cherubic cloaks, O Master, as if on a throne of fire, into Thy, Pure One, the divine being has entered into Thy womb and flesh by the acceptance of a human being, as Alexander, one of the venerables, teaches, the only All-Singing One.
Song 5
Irmos: Thou art an intercessor for God and man, O Christ God: for by Thee, O Lord, didst thou bring the imams to the Master of Light, Thy Father, from the night of ignorance.
Having desired to keep your mind by observing the commandments, Alexandra, you withered away your carnal leaping with your abstinence, and the shepherd appeared to your God-loving copulation.
Following the Divine Law, the wise Alexandra, and obeying the command of the Creator, you became the lawmaker of the monks and the most famous rule, the punisher of the insane, and the mentor of the erring, and the most glorious lamp in the darkness of ignorance.
The fire of temptations and passions, the furnace of your tears, father, currents and spiritual dew, you richly extinguished, kept unburned: we are scorched by the love of all the King, you have withered the material desires.
Theotokos: Everyday lips cannot sing according to the heritage of You, the All-Singing One, the highest being, the Cherubim and all creatures. Also, with the Divine Alexander, beg the Lord for all of us.
Song 6
Irmos: Lying in the abyss of sin, I invoke the abyss of Thy unfathomable mercy: from aphids, O God, lift me up.
Having discerned the meaning of time, blessed Alexandra, you have achieved eternal abstinence through illnesses, Father, being a builder of souls, reverend.
As I endure the great sweat of your labors, Reverend Alexandra, comfort me with abstinence, wonderful father, the Lord Christ entrusts you with divine power and commands you to heal these ailments.
Having been the mentor of the monastics, the wise Alexander, these uniform laurels, and the image and outline of virtuous deeds, adorned them all, even in the monastery of married couples.
Theotokos: New, like Moses, who appeared, you built, like a tabernacle, a fence, in an all-honorable manner, even as you surpassed your illnesses and sweats, entrusting yourself entirely to the Most Pure Mother of God.
Kontakion, tone 8:
Like a multi-bright star, today you have shone in the Russian countries, Father, having settled in the desert, you have zealously desired to follow Christ’s footsteps, and, lifting the holy yoke upon your frame, the honorable cross, you have put to death your labors and the feat of your bodily leaps. We also cry out to you: save your flock, which you have gathered, wise, so we call to you: Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, our father.
Ikos:
How can I praise your exploits and struggles, Rev. Alexandra? As immaterial reason has been acquired through humility, you have accompanied your life with the strong abstinence of your labors. Even though you were a man by nature, you also appeared as a citizen of Jerusalem on High: you lived in the flesh on earth, but you passed through your angelic sojourn and you were a pillar, unshaken by passions. Thus, the entire Russian land, having been enriched by you, praises you and magnifies you with faith, crying out to you like this: Rejoice, praise to your fatherland, to the great Novugrad and the whole Russian country, most bright lamp. Rejoice, who is a glorious branch of a pious father and a fruitful branch of a reverent mother. Rejoice, unyielding pillar of chastity and most luminous glory of monks. Rejoice, shepherd of Christ's fence of verbal sheep, bringing them to God's understanding. Rejoice, for you have cultivated the abundant desert with the height of your humility. Rejoice, all monastics are the image of virtue and uniform laurels of salvation. Rejoice, red repository of virtues and consolation to all who are sad and despondent. Rejoice, for having despised all the wisdom of this world, you have put to death the passions of the flesh. Rejoice, for thou hast been worthy to be an angel, and thou hast put to shame all the demonic armies. Rejoice, for you were glorified in all countries, for you did many miracles in Christ. Rejoice, for you have truly found God’s grace and from the Angels you have been honored to see the Holy Trinity face to face. Rejoice, as the second sun, shining miracles, granting the grace of healing to everyone. Rejoice, Venerable Alexandra, our father.
Song 7
Irmos: The ungodly command of the lawless tormentor rose high in flames. Christ spread spiritual dew to the godly youth, He is blessed and glorified.
Having dressed yourself in fortress, Alexandra, the Lady, and, like dust, you trampled the voluptuousness of life, we conquer incorruptible life with love, to which you have now communed, with the faces of the Angel, Father, united.
Stretching out your hands in a cross shape, O Alexandra the Wise, and sending up your prayers to the Most High, like Christ, the King of Glory, from the angels, God-Bearer, you saw the Lord, and, in the impassable deserts, you sought the Lord, keeping you with Divine grace.
Like thee, Alexandra, the universal star, the monk’s never-setting luminary, a helper in troubles and a great refuge for sinners, I offer you as an intercessor and prayer book to the Lord Christ, most honorably.
Theotokos: Desiring to see Your saint, Your Son and God, the ineffable glory of the Mother of God, This honorable cross is lifted up on the frame, following His life-giving feet.
Song 8
Irmos: Sometimes the fiery furnace in Babylon separates the action, scorching the Chaldeans by God's command, and watering the faithful, singing: bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Like lightning with great brilliance, life shining with all the ascent of your abstinence, Alexandra the Wise, piously calling to the Creator: Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
As a man walked on earth, Father Alexandra, as if he had truly acquired life in Heaven, he appeared as an angel to interlocutor, while he lived and lived his life. With them you sing now: Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
You, more than the mind from the Unbegotten Father, were born before the age of the Son, the glorious preacher of Alexander, and the Most Holy Spirit, the One Trinity by nature known to the Divine.
Theotokos: Just as Elijah first settled in Carmel, so you too, trained in the impassable deserts, desired to live alone with God and, having been illuminated by God’s vision, the saint appeared to the Mother of God, crying out to Her: Rejoice, O Delighted One.
Song 9
Irmos: The Beginningless Parent, the Son, God and Lord, incarnated from the Virgin, appeared to us, darkened to enlighten, fellow squandered. Thus we magnify the All-Sung Mother of God.
Following in the footsteps of the venerable and God-bearing Lord Christ, having lived piously on earth, you appeared meek, kindly, merciful and humble, Alexandra, and filled with Divine love, for this reason we truly praise you.
A crown has been woven for you, like a conqueror, Alexandra, by your life-giving and all-powerful right hand, Father, and now you who sing your memory, blessed one, have been granted forgiveness of sins, O Most Glorious One.
You have copulated with the Incorporeal Hosts, and you have been considered a venerable figure, and you have rejoiced with those chosen by all, turning into true deification and immortal life, Father, with them you have unceasingly implored your Master for us.
Theotokos: The Temple consecrated, together with the One of the Trinity, Thy temple, the Lady, Thy saint Alexander is honorable, erected to Thy glory and honor, in which do not cease praying, to give us help through Thy prayers.
Svetilen:
The grace of God is in abundance in your soul, O wise Alexandra, and, as if you were incorporeal, you lived on earth. Deliver the dark clouds of those who honor you with passions, bringing them to a quiet refuge and driving away the demonic militias with Divine power.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
May you truly create greatness with You, Eternal Son, with the Father’s advice: You gave birth to incorruptible life without passion, and you remained, as before the Nativity, a Virgin, having avoided the illnesses of your mother and remaining a Virgin after the Nativity.
Stichera, tone 4:
Reverend and God-Bearing One, your life has been undefiled, patience, meekness, and love are not hypocritical, abstinence is immeasurable, all-night standing, Divine tenderness, true faith and hope with mercy, Father, having acquired like an Angel, you lived on earth with your body, Blessed Alexandra, prayer book for our souls.
Like an earthly Angel and a Heavenly man, you were, wise, a source of tenderness and generosity, an unenvious stream appeared, an abyss of miracles, a sinner and a hand of sinners, the olive tree is truly fruitful of God, with the oil of your labors, wonderful Alexandra, anointing the hearts of those who faithfully praise you.
O Reverend and Blessed One, you have mortified the wisdom of the flesh with Divine understandings, you have been bodily above passions, and you have been confounded by those who bear the mark, depicting Divine goodness in yourself, and you have appeared to be all light-seeing by the action of the Holy Spirit, O Alexandra, our Father, the monastic adornment.
The source of the miracles of showing and the river of granting cancer your relics by man, Lord, Alexandra the Wise: you granted this vision to the blind, cleansing to lepers, ridding those possessed by unclean spirits of their power and thereby creating chastity, healing is infinite.
Voice 6:
Rejoice, for the fasting man there shone with much light, for the monk the star never set, praise to the shepherd, Father Alexandra, venerable one. Rejoice, blessed dwelling of the Trinity. Rejoice, source of love and mercy. Rejoice, most luminous lamp of reasoning. Rejoice, true rule of virtues. Rejoice, animated pillar. Rejoice, praise and affirmation to the great Novograd.
Akathist
Akathist
Kontakion 1
Ikos 1
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 2 4]
Seeing the Lord your soul, like a well-cultivated field for spiritual fruitfulness, direct your thoughts from youth to the search for one thing, reverend, for the same love for the sake of Christ, you left your parents and your father’s house, having freed yourself from every vain addiction, you flowed to the desert monastery of Valaam to feats of monasticism, calling to God who saves you: Alleluia.
Ikos 2
With a divinely enlightened mind you have comprehended the vanity of this world and the impermanence, in which joy is replaced by sorrow, prosperity is cursed by unexpected troubles. Moreover, you desired eternal, incorruptible blessings, Reverend Father, and you sought to seek this through renunciation of worldly goods and free poverty, urging us to call you:
Rejoice, lover of desert silence; Rejoice, zealot of humility and non-covetousness.
Rejoice, perfect image of true selflessness; Rejoice, the monastic life equal to the angels is a remarkable phenomenon.
Rejoice, rule of faith and piety; Rejoice, mirror of patient obedience.
Rejoice, lover of monastic silence; Rejoice, thou who hast acquired spiritual tears.
Rejoice, we weep for the temporary who have gained eternal bliss; Rejoice, having crushed the enemies of the enemy with unceasing prayers.
Rejoice, having subdued your flesh through vigil and labor; Rejoice, tame passion through fasting and abstinence.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 3
Overshadowed and strengthened by the power of the Most High, in monastic tonsure of the hair of your head, you put aside all carnal wisdom, reverend, and like a well-skilled warrior, having acquired the monastic schema for the armor of salvation and armed yourself with the invincible weapon of the Cross of Christ, you fought powerfully against the invisible enemy of the devil, defeating him with deep humility lifted up my pride and cried out to the Lord: Alleluia.
Ikos 3
Having an abundant source of tears, O servant of God, and great grace of tenderness, you watered your bread with tears and dissolved your drink with tears, out of an abundance of divine desire and love for the Lord. In the same way, we please you with these titles:
Rejoice, famous ascetic of strength and courage; Rejoice, angelic man.
Rejoice, victorious warrior of the Heavenly King; Rejoice, good fruit of the Valaam monastery.
Rejoice, favorable to the desert dweller; Rejoice, never-ending prayer book.
Rejoice, great faster; Rejoice, wonderful silent one.
Rejoice, follower of the feat of the ancient God-bearing fathers; Rejoice, imitator of their patience and labor.
Rejoice, you dug your own grave in good time; Rejoice, constantly thinking about the hour of death.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 4
The storm of temptations and aspirations of the devil cannot shake the temple of your soul, Reverend Father, it was founded on the solid rock of faith in Christ and is preserved by sobriety and unceasing prayers, in the image of which you confronted the enemy of human salvation and unfalteringly ascended along the paths of virtues to spiritual perfection in measure age of Christ, singing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 4
Hearing people praise you, you were afraid of the exaltation of vanity, God-wise Father, and like a true image of humility, you decided to flee into the unknown desert, to the Svir River, to the place indicated to you from above in a wonderful vision, and there you will work without restraint for the One God, where we We honor you with these blessings:
Rejoice, thou who has humbled Himself to the form of a servant, a good follower of Christ the Lord; Rejoice, zealous fulfiller of His holy commandments.
Rejoice, virgin in soul and body; Rejoice, unhypocritical industrious one.
Rejoice, despising the vain glory of man; Rejoice, destroyer of the networks of vanity and pride.
Rejoice, you who have trampled upon the soul-harming charm of arrogance; Rejoice, having assimilated for yourself the holy humility of Christ.
Rejoice, having fulfilled all your vows of monasticism; Rejoice, adorned with the gifts of God's grace.
Rejoice, thou who by grace received power over unclean spirits; Rejoice, you who blamed nothing for those intimidations and ghosts.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 5
A luminous ray illuminated in the darkness of the night the deserted place where you came to dwell, O Reverend, signifying the lightness of your soul and your heart flaming with love for the Lord, where it was pleasing to the Creator your will to work for Him in reverence and holiness and to sing a song of praise to Him there: Alleluia .
Ikos 5
Having seen your angelic life equal to the angels, blessed father, the depth of your humility, persistence in prayer, firmness of abstinence and the great zeal of your spirit for purity, you were amazed and glorified the philanthropist God, who strengthens the weak human nature. We please you and call:
Rejoice, deserted lamp, enlightening the Karelian country with the radiance of your virtues; Rejoice, wonderful adornment for monastics.
Rejoice, fragrant tree of the desert vegetation; Rejoice, fruitful tree of the heavenly planting.
Rejoice, you who loved the splendor of the house of God; Rejoice, having prepared within yourself a temple for the Trinitarian Divinity.
Rejoice, thou clothed in honor and righteousness; Rejoice, enriched with the union of virtues.
Rejoice, you who have received anointing from the Holy Spirit; Rejoice, consecrated vessel of God's grace.
Rejoice, good and faithful servant of Christ; Rejoice, true servant of the Lord.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 6
The preacher of your exploits in the Svirstey desert appeared as a catcher of wondrous beasts, who, having driven the trees into the impenetrable oak grove, by the sight of God found your temple, Reverend Father: seeing you in the flesh of an angel, wearing the sign of grace-filled illumination on your face, you were filled with fear and joy and fell to at your honest feet, in the tenderness of your heart, cry out to the Creator God: Alleluia.
Ikos 6
You shone in the desert of Svirstey, God's bright luminary, and you guided many human souls on the path to salvation: for Christ has revealed you as a mentor and teacher to the desert-loving monk, who flocks to you like sheep to a shepherd, who is able to shepherd them into life-giving pastures. Moreover, as having created and taught, we honor you with these praiseworthy words:
Rejoice, source of inspired teachings; Rejoice, repository of abundant tenderness.
Rejoice, animated tablets of the law of the Lord; Rejoice, silent preacher of the Gospel of Christ.
Rejoice, having fulfilled the commandments of the Lord and taught them to your disciples; Rejoice, having inspired the lazy to correct your Christ-like morals.
Rejoice, having strengthened the weak with the grace given from the Lord; Rejoice, you who consoled those who mourn with the sweetness of your words.
Rejoice, you who have guided sinners to repentance; Rejoice, wise young one.
Rejoice, filled with compassion; Rejoice, rich in mercy.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 7
Although the Lord, the Lover of mankind, will glorify the place of your exploits, Father, He sent His angel to tell you that in that place there will be a monastery for salvation, and in it a temple in the name of the Holy Trinity. You, enlightened by the appearance of the incorporeal, listened with joyful trepidation to the heavenly gospel, calling in humility of spirit to the Lady of angels and men: Alleluia.
Ikos 7
A new sign of God's favor was given to you, reverend, when you were silent in the chosen desert, in the night a great light shone upon you, and three men in bright clothes appeared before you, giving you peace and commanding that you build a monastic monastery there and in it a temple in the name Holy Trinity. Marveling at this wonderful Trinity phenomenon in three angelic faces, we call to you:
Rejoice, Mystery of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity; Rejoice, having witnessed the indescribable manifestation of God.
Rejoice, interlocutor of the luminous angelic forces; Rejoice, beholder of the radiant Divine vision.
Rejoice, partaker of the fiery trisolar radiance; Rejoice, worshiper of the Trinitarian Divinity.
Rejoice, enlightened one in the mortal body of immortality; Rejoice, you who have been honored with a heavenly visit to the earth.
Rejoice, high in humility, acquired; Rejoice, having received through poverty the rich mercy of the Lord.
Rejoice, you who sow everlasting joy with tears; Rejoice, you who have received the fulfillment of immutable promises.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 8
Strangely, an angel of the Lord appeared in the air in a mantle and a doll in other honors, indicating the place on which you had created a temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity in the Svirstey desert, Reverend Father, having completed and sanctified it with God’s haste, you and your disciples sent silent praises to the Lord in it , call: Alleluia.
Ikos 8
Having surrendered everything to the will of the Lord, begged by your disciples, you did not shy away from the grace of receiving the priesthood, Father, even though your spirit was growing weary, terrified at this height, but you showed obedience to your spiritual children, striving them according to your calling:
Rejoice, worthy performer of bloodless sacrifices; Rejoice, reverent servant of the Altar of the Lord.
Rejoice, you who stretched out your holy hands to the Lord with much boldness; Rejoice, you who offer the warmest prayers from your pure heart to the throne of the Almighty.
Rejoice, thou who was the image of piety as thy disciple; Rejoice, head anointed with the ointment of the priesthood.
Rejoice, skillful leader of spiritual warriors; Rejoice, wise father of the monastic community.
Rejoice, O luminary, kindled in prayer to God; Rejoice, star, showing the right path to salvation.
Rejoice, olive tree, who has poured out the oil of God’s mercy; Rejoice, thou who hast given drink to those thirsty for the teaching of salvation.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 9
All the monks of your monastery came to a joyful trembling, when the rush of the stream of water moving towards your holy monastery, you tamed it with your prayer and by calling on the omnipotent name of Jesus Christ, you harmlessly arranged the stormy stream of the mother-in-law for the good needs of the monastics; Having seen your spiritual child, you cried out to God with all compassion: Alleluia.
Ikos 9
Human infatuation is not enough to express the abundance of spiritual joy, with which you were filled, God-bearing Father, when during your nightly prayer the Most Holy Theotokos appeared with the face of the angelic ranks and the immutable promises gladdened your soul, as the ever-present intercessor of your monastery will be, supplying and covering you throughout days. Likewise, we bring you these joyful verbs:
Rejoice, overshadowed by the favor of the Mother of God; Rejoice, comforted by the visit of the Queen of Heaven and earth.
Rejoice, hearing merciful words from Her lips; Rejoice, you who have received the promise of Her strong monastery of intercession.
Rejoice, Her most sincere beloved; Rejoice, chosen one of Her Son and God.
Rejoice, thou blessed with the gift of miracles; Rejoice, you who are to come, as if you are the present, you who have foreseen.
Rejoice, thou who miraculously multiplied the fishermen’s catch; Rejoice, thou who bestowest childbearing on a barren parent.
Rejoice, you who restored the sick to health; Rejoice, revealing the secret of human sins.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 10
To save the souls of your disciple, you fatherly admonished them, God-wise, in a word, with the example of your life, with meekness reproaching them, with love exhorting them to succeed in piety and purity: especially before your death, you commanded and taught them everything useful for spiritual salvation Thou shalt keep them awake in prayer and continually sing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 10
The wall of intercession was your prayer, miracle-working saint, to everyone who flows to you with faith in every sorrow, for for the sake of the purity of your heart, spiritual power was given to you by God, to heal the sick, to help the needy, to prophesy the future, to glorify the greatness of God in you near and far. revealed, and call you Sitsa:
Rejoice, O physician who never suffers from human ailments; Rejoice, you are a great healer not only of physical illnesses, but also of mental illnesses.
Rejoice, thou who grantest sight to the blind; Rejoice, thou who hast made the sick and crippled healthy.
Rejoice, freed the demons from the oppression of the devil; Rejoice, healthy, returning mind to the frenzied.
Rejoice, you who healed those covered with scabs; Rejoice, comforter of the sad.
Rejoice, hastening to help those in need; Rejoice, you who have been weakened and imprisoned by your appearance have given freedom to those who are captive and imprisoned.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 11
You brought all-contrite singing to the Most Holy Trinity at the time of your death, reverend, and in the prayer that was on your lips, you gave up your holy soul in the hands of the Living God, Whom you loved from your youth and Him whom you worked unfeignedly until your venerable old age, also with good hope You joyfully went to the heavenly abode, with angelic faces singing to the Trinitarian God: Alleluia.
Ikos 11
Having seen your peaceful death, your disciples, great servant of God, dissolved the sorrow of separation from you with the consolation of grace, in the hope of your omnipotent intercession, grief at the Throne of God, where you hear with love those calling you:
Rejoice, received the crown of immortal life from the hand of the Almighty; Rejoice, rejoice in the hall of the Heavenly Householder.
Rejoice, contemplating with your frank face the glory of the Trisian Divinity; Rejoice, worship the Creator with the white-crowned elders.
Rejoice, heir of the all-bright Kingdom of Christ; Rejoice, citizen of Gorny Jerusalem.
Rejoice, resident of heavenly Zion; Rejoice, inhabitant of the tabernacles of paradise not made with hands.
Rejoice, for through the labors of this temporary life you have received eternal peace; Rejoice, blessedness, prepared for the righteous from eternity, having righteously received.
Rejoice, illuminated by the rays of the unevening light from above; Rejoice, shining down with the greatness of miracles.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 12
Participating in grace was the appearance of a sacred cancer containing your multi-healing relics, the miracle-working saint, which after many years the Lord revealed in the depths of the earth incorruptible, healing endlessly and healing every ailment with the power of God, wondrous in His saints, who wonderfully glorified you in heaven and on earth, Him we sing: Alleluia.
Ikos 12
Singing a joyful song of praise and thanksgiving to the Lover of Mankind, God, who glorified you in the land of Russia as a wondrous and merciful wonderworker, we pray to you, Reverend Our Father: be an intercessor to Him and a constant prayer book for us who call to you:
Rejoice, intercessor of the Christian race; Rejoice, treasury of many different gifts.
Rejoice, protection created by God; Rejoice, having received the grace of healing from God.
Rejoice, flower of incorruption, fragrant Holy Church; Rejoice, dawn of immortality, shining gloriously from the grave.
Rejoice, inexhaustible stream of generosity and mercy; Rejoice, inexhaustible source of compassion.
Rejoice, love and compassion are a many-wonderful phenomenon; Rejoice, God-given healing for our bodies.
Rejoice, favorable intercession for our souls.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 13
O great and glorious miracle worker, Reverend Father Alexander. Mercifully accept this little prayer of ours, and with your prayers save us from mental and physical ailments in this life and deliver us from future eternal torment, and grant us, together with you, in the Kingdom of Heaven, to sing to God: Alleluia.
(This kontakion is read three times, then the 1st ikos and 1st kontakion)
Ikos 1
You had an angelic disposition, Reverend Father, and as if you were incorporeal, you lived an immaculate life on earth, leaving us with a wondrous image of spiritual perfection, so that we imitate your virtue and call you here:
Rejoice, God-given fruit of pious parents; Rejoice, you who have resolved the infertility of those who gave birth to you.
Rejoice, having turned their lamentation into joy; Rejoice, chosen by God from the swaddling clothes.
Rejoice, you who were ordained from the womb to serve Him; Rejoice, having loved His One with all your heart from your youth.
Rejoice, thou who countest all the red things of this world for nothing; Rejoice, your flesh is distressed by fasting and prayerful vigil.
Rejoice, immaculate vessel of God's grace; Rejoice, dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, adorned with purity.
Rejoice, man of spiritual desires; Rejoice, head, sanctified by the right hand of the Most High.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 1
Chosen saint of Christ and wonderworker, Rev. Father Alexandra, who has shone in peace like a God-bright star, through your kindness and many miracles of life, we praise you with love in spiritual songs: but you, who have boldness towards the Lord, with your prayers free us from all troubles, let us call ty:
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
^sss^Reverend Alexander Svirsky^sss^
Twice in the entire history of mankind the Trinity God was revealed to the bodily human gaze - the first time to Saint Abraham at the Oak of Mamre, signifying the great mercy of God towards the human race; the second time - on Russian soil to the holy Venerable Alexander of Svirsky. What this appearance meant to the New Testament saint - we will not dare to answer. Let us only strive to honor this land, that monastery that was erected in the north of the Russian land at the behest of God the Trinity and the “New Testament Abraham” himself - our venerable father and wonderworker Alexander.
The Monk Alexander is one of the few Russian saints who was canonized shortly after his righteous death - namely, 14 years later. His disciples and many of his admirers were still alive, so the Life of St. Alexander was written, as they say, “hot on the heels” and is particularly authentic, it contains no “pious schemes,” it reflects the unique face of the holiness of “all Russia, the wonderworker Alexander.”
Rev. was born. Alexander on June 15, 1448 in the village of Mandera on the Oyat River on Novgorod land, opposite the Ostrovsky Vvedensky Monastery. They named him Amos. His parents Stefan and Vassa were poor, pious peasants; they gave their children a Christian education. When Amos came of age, his parents wanted to marry him, but he only thought about leaving the world for the sake of saving his soul. He learned about the Valaam monastery early and often remembered it and, finally, by the will of God, he met the Valaam monks. Their conversation lasted for a long time about the holy monastery, about their rules, about the three kinds of life of monastics. And so, inspired by this conversation, he decided to go to “northern Athos.” Having crossed the Svir River, on the shore of Lake Roshchinskoye, the Reverend heard a mysterious voice, announcing to him that he would create a monastery in this place. And a great light dawned on him. When he came to Valaam, the abbot received him and tonsured him with the name Alexander in 1474. He was then 26 years old. The novice monk zealously began to strive in labor, obedience, fasting and prayer. Then his father came to Valaam looking for him; The monk managed not only to calm the irritated father, but also to convince him to become a monk along with his mother. And the parents obeyed their son. Stefan took his hair with the name Sergius, and his mother with the name Varvara. Their graves are still venerated in the functioning Vvedeno-Oyatsky Monastery.
Alexander continued to asceticize in Valaam, amazing the strictest Valaam monks with the severity of his life. At first he labored in a hostel, then in silence on the island, now called the Holy Island, and spent 10 years there. On the Holy Island there is still a narrow and damp cave, in which only one person can hardly fit. The grave that the Monk Alexander dug for himself has also been preserved. One day, while standing in prayer, Saint Alexander heard a divine voice: “Alexander, get out of here and go to the place shown before, where you can be saved.” The Great Light showed him a place in the southeast, on the banks of the Svir River. This was in 1485. There he found “the forest was very red, this place was full of forests and a lake, and red everywhere, and no one there had ever lived before.” The monk placed his hut on the shore of Lake Roshchinskoe. Half a mile away from it there is Lake Svyatoe, separated from it by Stremnina Mountain. Here he spent several years in complete solitude, eating not bread, “but the potion growing here.” God revealed his lamp to boyar Andrei Zavalishin, and through him later to many people. The monastery began to grow, and the fame of the gift of insight and healing of physical and spiritual ailments given to its abbot soon spread throughout all the surrounding lands. During his lifetime, the Orthodox people blessed Alexander of Svirsky as a saint.
In the 23rd year of the Venerable’s settlement, in 1507, in the desert near the Svir River, on the shores of Lake Roshchinskoye, a great light appeared in his temple and he saw three men entering him. They were dressed in light clothes and illuminated by the glory of heaven “more than the sun.” From their lips the saint heard the command: Beloved, as you see Him speaking with you in Three Persons, build a church in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial Trinity... I leave you My peace, and I will give you My peace.”
Hearing this, the monk fell again to the ground and, shedding tears, confessed his unworthiness.
The Lord again raised him up, saying: “Stand on your foot, strengthen yourself, and strengthen yourself, and do everything that you commanded.”
The saint asked in whose honor the temple should be erected. The Lord answered: “Beloved, as you see speaking to you in Three Persons, build a church in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial Trinity. But I leave you My peace and give you My peace.”
After this, Saint Alexander saw the Lord, with outstretched wings, as if with feet, moving along the earth, and becoming invisible.
The Lord Himself honored the saint with a Trinity visitation, and in remembrance of the appearance of the Holy Trinity to him, the memory of the saint was celebrated locally before the revolution on the Feast of Pentecost.
At the site of the appearance of God the Trinity, a chapel was subsequently built, and to this day the human soul trembles at this place, thinking about the closeness of God to His people. What is striking in the Life of St. Alexander is that despite the great abundance of divine visits given to him, he always remained a humble monk, wanting to serve the brethren and simple villagers who came to the monastery in everything.
Several years before the death of the Reverend, God put into his heart the good idea of creating a stone church in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos with a meal. And then one night, when the laying was already completed, at the end of the usual prayer rule, the Reverend saw an extraordinary light that illuminated the entire monastery, and at the foundation of the Church of the Intercession, on the altar, in royal glory, the Most Pure Mother of God sat on the throne with the Eternal Child, surrounded by a host of ethereal forces heavenly. The monk fell face down on the ground before the majesty of Her Glory, since he could not contemplate the radiance of this inexpressible light. Then the Most Pure Lady commanded him to stand up and consoled him with the promise to remain constant with the Monastery and to help those living in it in all their needs, both during the life of the Reverend and after his death.
“A year before his death, the Reverend, calling all the brethren to him and announcing to them that the time would soon come for his repose from this temporary, sad and sorrowful life into another eternal, painless and always joyful life, appointed after him four holy monks: Isaiah, Nicodemus, Leontius and Herodion to elect one of them as abbot. Then, until his death, he did not cease to teach his brethren to live a godly life. The Monk Alexander died on August 30, 1533, at the age of 85, and, according to his dying will, was buried in the funeral home. desert, near the Church of the Transfiguration, on the right side of the altar. In 1547, he was canonized.
Everyone who had various ailments, coming to his honest tomb and falling with faith before him, received abundant healing: the blind received their sight, the paralytic were strengthened in their limbs, those suffering from other diseases received a complete recovery, demons were driven away from the possessed, childbearing was given to the childless.
Our All-Good God, wondrous in His Saints, glorifying His Saint in this temporary life, creating with his hand signs and wonders, deigned to place his incorruptible, honest and holy body after death, like a great luminary, in His Church, so that it would shine there with its glorious miracles.
“Alexander Svirsky,” noted Archimandrite of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius Macarius (Veretennikov), “perhaps the only Orthodox saint to whom, just like the forefather Abraham, the Holy Trinity appeared”... And a truly great mystical meaning is hidden in what exactly With the opening of the shrine of St. Alexander of Svirsky, the satanic campaign launched by the Bolsheviks to liquidate, falsify and discredit Russian Orthodox shrines began in 1918, during which 63 crayfish with holy relics were opened and removed from the monasteries. All of them, by the grace of God, have now been acquired by the Russian Orthodox Church. And the last - and this also has a mystical meaning - were the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky, lost by our Church exactly 80 years ago.
For the first time, the incorruptible relics of the saint were discovered in April 1641, when, according to the order of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, the monks of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery dismantled the dilapidated church over the tomb of the saint in order to erect a new one made of stone. And this discovery was a true triumph of Orthodoxy, since in a completely intact coffin lay a body, not at all damaged by decay, in intact and incorruptible clothes. Life testifies that when they removed the top board from the coffin, “a strong fragrance from the relics of the monk spread everywhere, so that the whole place was filled with incense, but at that time there was no incense, and they saw the entire body of our venerable father Alexander lying, safe and sound. , in a mantle and schema, wrapped in rank, and the anallav on him was completely intact, part of the beard was visible from under the schema; both legs lay, like those of someone who had recently died, the right foot up, and the left foot turned to the side, both shod in sandals, according to rank. "The fragrant myrrh spread throughout his body, like some growing flowers, and poured out like water. Seeing this, all those who were there were filled with horror and joy and glorified Almighty God, who glorifies His saints."
In 1918, a detachment of security officers sent to the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery to carry out the order to liquidate the relics shot the monks who tried to counteract the desecration of the shrine, the monastery was robbed, and the shrine containing the relics of the monk was opened. This was the first opening of holy relics by the Bolsheviks...
The preservation of the body of the saint, who completed his journey four centuries ago, in 1533, so amazed the commander of the detachment, August Wagner, that he could not come up with anything better than to call the holy relics a “wax doll.” And although this contradicted the evidence, this is what Wagner called the relics in his report.
The holy relics were transported in the strictest secrecy to Lodeynoye Pole and hidden in the hospital chapel, and in January 1919 they were taken to Petrograd and placed in the closed anatomical museum of the Military Medical Academy, where they remained as an undocumented “exhibit” until the abbot of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, revived in 1997, Lucian did not bless the nun Leonida to begin the search for the relics of the great elder monk. The history of the search undertaken deserves a separate narration, but we will only say that the main part of the documents was destroyed and the search for the relics of the saint, according to Mother Leonida, “could only be based on the belief that the relics of the saint who saw the Holy Trinity could not be destroyed by any hellish forces... on the belief that these relics are under the special protection of the Lord...".
Based on archival research, anthropological, iconographic and x-ray studies, it was concluded that the mysterious “exhibit” of the museum is a fully preserved mummy of a man, which, in terms of age, ethnicity, and external features, fully corresponds to the description made during the first discovery of the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky in 1641. The identity of the “exhibit” as a canonized saint was also confirmed by the damage to the right, blessing hand: their nature left no doubt that these damages were caused by the removal of pieces of flesh for reliquaries.
On July 28, 1998, a significant event in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church took place in St. Petersburg. Here the relics of the great Russian saint, St. Alexander of Svir, were rediscovered.
According to ITAR-TASS (August 10, 1998) about the discovery of the greatest shrine, the remains were “identified by specialists of the Forensic Medical Expert Service (SMES) of St. Petersburg. ... It was noted that “natural mummification of such high preservation is inexplicable to modern science "...Immediately after receiving the conclusion, a prayer service to the saint was served in the X-ray room of the SMES. Those present "witnessed the beginning of the myrrh-streaming of the relics, accompanied by a strong fragrance." In connection with this, the initial 
IC of the Academy, Colonel General of the Medical Service Yuri Shevchenko, decided to immediately transfer the shrine to the Russian Orthodox Church."
The body of St. Alexander of Svirsky has not been subject to decay for five centuries. And great miracles were performed at his tomb - even cancer patients were healed!
On September 12, on the 473rd anniversary of the saint’s death, the relics were so fragrant that a wonderful aroma filled the entire Transfiguration Church.
Pilgrims from all over the world come to see the incorrupt, myrrh-streaming flesh of St. Alexander. Before our eyes, despite the pouring rain, a delegation of Greek monks from Athos arrived by helicopter, followed by the Americans.
Archimandrite Lucian, rector of the Holy Trinity Alexander Svir Monastery, welcomes pilgrims:
Christians from all over the world are attracted by the Svir miracles!
The wife of the President of Russia, Lyudmila Putina, came to venerate the holy relics three years ago. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Lyubov Sliska has also been here.
Hand
“This is myrrh,” says the monk standing at the tomb. - Heavenly smell...
The relics of Alexander Svirsky are incorruptible and bring healing.
St. Petersburg. Scientists who examined the body concluded that it had never been embalmed. They could not explain the reasons for such amazing preservation - the fabrics did not shrink, but retained their color and volume! It was on the day of research that the relics were myrrhized, and a special act was drawn up on this occasion. Since then, the flow of myrrh has not stopped, and on the eve of church holidays it intensifies.
Now the myrrh is stronger,” says monk Ignatius. - The myrrh on the feet of St. Alexander of Svirsky looks like tiny diamonds
Miracles
Believers are convinced that miracles with the body of St. Alexander of Svirsky occur because the Holy Trinity appeared to him during his lifetime.
Now there is a chapel in that place, it is fenced and strewn with sand, which pilgrims take with them in handfuls, like a shrine.
On my birthday, I had a mini-stroke,” said Olga Lodkina from St. Petersburg. “I didn’t call an ambulance, but simply put a bag of sand from that holy place on my head. The pain went away and the condition improved.
Miracles happen constantly in the Holy Trinity Monastery. In some incredible way, the frescoes on the walls of the temple are being renewed.
On the facade, the image of the Holy Trinity shines more clearly than others.
Many people think that we restored the frescoes, but they themselves were updated and became more contrasting,” says the head of icon painting 
oh workshop Arkady Kholopov.
One of the most amazing wonderful stories recorded here is about a cancer patient from Rostov-on-Don. His wife and sister flew to St. Petersburg by plane; they were in a hurry, afraid of losing a loved one. Alexander Petrov was in critical condition after his third operation for pancreatic cancer. Doctors discharged him to die at home. But the relatives did not want to put up with this. On Sunday morning, the women fell in front of the shrine with holy relics. And the Saint helped!
By the way, a very interesting icon of St. Alexander of Svirsky and the Holy Trinity is located in the parish of the Church of the Icon of the Smolensk Mother of God in the city of Kamyzyak, Astrakhan region.
PRAYER PREP. ALEXANDER SVIRSKY
O sacred head, earthly angel and heavenly man, reverend and God-bearing Father Alexandra, great servant of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, show many mercies to those living in your holy monastery and to all who flow to you with faith and love!
Ask us everything that is useful for this temporary life, and even more necessary for our eternal salvation.
Help with your intercession, servant of God, the ruler of our country, Russia. And may the holy Orthodox Church of Christ abide deeply in the world.
Be to all of us, miracle-working saint, a quick helper in all sorrows and circumstances. Most of all, at the hour of our death, a merciful intercessor appeared to us, so that we may not be betrayed in the ordeals of the air to the power of the evil world ruler, but may we be honored with a stumbling-free ascension into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Hey, Father, our dear prayer book! Do not disgrace our hope, do not despise our humble prayers, but always intercede for us before the Throne of the Life-Giving Trinity, so that we may be worthy, together with you and with all the saints, even if we are unworthy, in the villages of paradise to glorify the greatness, grace and mercy of the One God in the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
TROPARION, TONE 4
From your youth, O God-Wise One, having moved into the desert with spiritual desire, you desired to follow the sole steps of Christ diligently. In the same way, repair the angels, seeing you, marveling at how you struggled with the invisible machinations of the flesh, you wisely conquered the armies of passions with abstinence and you appeared equal to the angels on earth, Reverend Alexander, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
KONDAC, VOICE 8
Like a multi-bright star, today you have shone in the Russian countries, Father, having settled in the desert, you have zealously desired to follow Christ’s footsteps, and the Holy Cross has put the holy yoke on your side - the Honest Cross, and put to death your labors, the feat of your bodily leaps. In the same way, we cry to you: save your flock, you gathered the hedgehog, wise, so we call to you: Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, our father.
Life of St. Alexander of Svirsky
St. Alexander Svirsky is an iconic personality for believers. For many years, being in seclusion as a hermit, he prayed to God. During his lifetime, the miracle worker helped people. And after death the saint does not leave us without his fatherly support.
Brief biography: the most important milestones of life
Venerable Alexander Svirsky
Saint in childhood
The saint was born in 1448 into the family of devout people Stefan and Vassa. At baptism, the parents gave the child the name Amos. The parents sent their grown son to school. It was difficult to study, and the young boy prayed to God for help. During this time, the voice promised him that everything he asked for would come true. And indeed, learning became easy, and soon Amos was the best student in the class. The saint was an obedient and meek child, who was not interested in noisy childish games. He dressed simply and began to observe fasts early, thereby strengthening his young soul.
Choosing a monastic path
When Amos reached adulthood, his parents decided to marry him. But by that time the young man was confirmed in his desire to serve the Lord. When Amos learned about the Valaam monastery, he decided to go there. He went to the holy place on foot, not even knowing the road. Having crossed the Svir River, he stopped for the night on the shore of the lake and began to pray. And again, as in childhood, the voice told him to go to Valaam, and then, after a few years, to return here and found a monastery here. After these words, a bright light appeared at the place that the Lord had chosen for his monastery. In the morning Amos met a man who said that he was on his way to Valaam. They walked together and soon reached the monastery. Then Amos wanted to thank his fellow traveler, but saw that he was nowhere to be found. He guessed that it was an Angel.
tonsure and hermitage
The Transfiguration Monastery became a home for Amos. For seven years he was a novice there. All this time, he bore obedience with meekness: he worked hard and humbly and prayed. On August 26, 2474, Amos became a monk and began to be called Alexander. He moved to a remote deserted island. There he was completely alone for seven long years, sheltering from the weather in a cave.
Soon he received a sign from God - a finger appeared, which pointed in the direction of the Holy Lake. This meant that Alexander had to return to the specified place. Here the monk built a cell in which he lived for seven years, eating only forest gifts and grass.
Over these years, the hermit endured a lot of suffering: he was freezing from the cold, hungry, seriously ill, and the devil tormented him with temptations. But God helped the saint; he saw God’s support in everything. One day Alexander became seriously ill; he could not get up from the ground, but without losing his spiritual courage, he sang psalms. An angel appeared to him and healed him with the sign of the cross.
Useful materials
After some time, the hermit had like-minded people. A noble man, Andrei Zavalishin, accidentally came across his cell. He said that he had long wanted to look at the place where he had seen a shining light more than once. The boyar began to often visit the hermit, and on his advice he soon became a monk under the name Adrian. After some time, he founded the Ondrusov Monastery.
The birth of a new monastery
The news about the hermit and his unparalleled service to God spread everywhere. Soon people began to come to the desert, seeking solitude. They uprooted the forest, and sowed the cleared areas with grain, the surplus of which was given to the laity. Alexander retired from the monks to the “Waste Hermitage.”
Here demons took up arms against him: in the images of wild animals and poisonous snakes, they tried to force the ascetic to leave this place. But he continued his prayers, and the demons, unable to overcome him, retreated. An angel appeared to him and revealed that a monastery would be founded here in the name of the Holy Trinity.
The miraculous appearance of the Holy Trinity
In 1508, the saint witnessed the appearance of the Lord. While praying, a bright light appeared. In the cell, Three men in snow-white robes suddenly appeared before the worshiper. Their faces were like the sun. Alexander fell to his knees before God. But the Lord raised him up and ordered him to build a temple and monastery in the name of the Holy Trinity. Thus, a humble hermit, relying only on God, avoiding people and their glorification, considering himself unworthy, was awarded the great Grace of God.
Appearance of the Holy Trinity St. Alexander Svirsky
Elevation to the rank of abbot
After the construction of the church, the monks began to ask the saint to accept the priestly rank. But he considered himself unworthy. And then the monks wrote to Bishop Serapion in Novgorod. He blessed the saint to become abbot in his own monastery. But his life did not change. Having received the rank of abbot, the saint continued his monastic feat: he wore rags, slept on the floor and did all the hard work equally with all the monks.
The saint was strict not only with himself: he often made the rounds of the monastery cells and if he heard unworthy conversations, he would quietly knock on the door. In the morning he always gave instructions to the monks. The strict monastic life of the inhabitants glorified the Svir monastery and became a role model. Several disciples of Father Alexander then founded their own monasteries.
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
At the end of his life, the Saint built another temple - Pokrovsky. The Mother of God appeared to the Reverend after laying the foundation of the church. She showed him his future ascetics who would continue his good work and glorify his name.
The death of the righteous. The appearance of the first life
Interesting fact
Despite the fact that the saint’s life was filled with labors and hardships, he lived a long life and died at a ripe old age, at the age of 85.
His canonization was carried out by the Council in 1547.
A few years after the death of the monk, Alexander Herodion gave a description of his life. He spoke about the miracles performed by the saint for people.
Holy relics of St. Alexander Svirsky
A century later, during the reconstruction of the Church of the Transfiguration, the incorruptible relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were found
His body remained unharmed - the saint looked like he was sleeping.
The relics were transferred to the temple and remained there until the Bolshevik coup d'etat. When the Bolsheviks declared war on the Church, the monasteries were plundered and most of the priests were shot. The relics of the saint were ordered to be destroyed by the new government.
Where are the incorruptible relics of St. Alexander Svirsky now
But instead of desecration, by the will of God, they were taken away in an unknown direction. When the state began to return the monasteries to the Church, the relics of the saint returned to the people. They were found at the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg.
In 1998, the relics returned home to. The monastery is located at the address: Russia, Leningrad region, Lodeynopolsky district, Yanegskoye rural settlement, Staraya Sloboda village.
In St. Petersburg there is a courtyard of the Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery - this is the Church of the Nativity of Christ.
Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery
In the monastery, prayers for health are read and performed at the relics of the monk, and everyone submits notes with the names of their loved ones.
When the relics are revealed
Holy relics of St. Alexander Svirsky opens:
- April 30;
- 12-th of September;
- on the day of the Holy Trinity;
- to the Transfiguration.
There is evidence that the saint’s relics are warm and maintain the same temperature as that of a living person.
Relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky
A piece of relics in Moscow: where it is located
In the Church of St. Alexander Svirsky in Moscow, located on Grayvoronovskaya Street 10, there is a particle of the saint’s relics, which is placed in an icon and is available for veneration by believers.
Evidence of miracles
Near the relics of St. Alexandra, phenomena that are incredible for the understanding of the common man often occur.
One day a mother came to church with her little daughter in her arms. The girl could not walk from birth, and the doctors were powerless: the baby’s limbs were immobilized forever. The mother placed the girl on the glass of the sacred shrine. The child lay there for several minutes. Then the woman left the girl sitting on the floor. Turning around, she did not see her daughter there.
She, as if picked up by someone invisible, was put on her feet and walked on her own, without outside help. There was silence in the church. People parted and formed a corridor for the child and the mother, who ran forward to catch her if the girl suddenly stumbled. Vera, that was the girl’s name, was completely healed. Saint Alexander of Svirsky performed such a miracle in front of many people.
A similar incident soon happened to a young man who was in a car accident. The man's legs were paralyzed, and he dragged them behind him, leaning on crutches. Medical treatment did not help, and he went to the monastery to the relics of Alexander Svirsky with the faith that the saint would definitely help him. Four times he came to the monastery with prayers to the Wonderworker.
And they were heard. During the fourth prayer, he felt his legs and was able to walk a few steps without crutches. A month later, the man came to the miracle worker again to thank him. He approached the shrine with the relics without crutches, leaning lightly on a stick.
These miracles occurred in front of a large crowd of worshipers, and were witnessed by the monks of the monastery and Hieromonk Adrian. And this is just a small part of the examples of the saint’s help. Alexander Svirsky to people.
What do they ask the saint for?
Pilgrims go to the miracle worker with a wide variety of needs. They pray to the saint for healing from physical diseases, including those considered incurable by medicine. Infertile couples turn to the Miracle Worker with a request to give birth to a child. It is Alexander Svirsky who is prayed for the appearance of a son. Those who decide to become a monk and live serving God also turn to him.
Interesting fact
In Petrozavodsk there is an Orthodox educational center in honor of St. Alexander Svirsky, dedicated to the spiritual education of adults and children. The center is located at the address: Petrozavodsk, Pervomaisky microdistrict, st. Krasnoflotskaya, 31.
Temples and icons of St. Alexander Svirsky
More than seventy churches were built in our country to the glory of the saint. Its iconography is very diverse. They captured the elder at different moments of his life.
His very first image appeared in the seventeenth century, copied from the relics, and therefore possessing a portrait resemblance. The saint is depicted lying down. There is another icon painted from the relics of St. Alexandra. This is a “portrait” with a halo above the head of the holy elder. The image of the saint in the garb of a schema-monk is also widely known. In one hand he has a scroll, the other is folded for the sign of the cross of the people standing in front of the image.
Icon of St. Alexander Svirsky
The icon of Alexander Svirsky is unique, depicting the appearance of the Triune God to him. On it, Alexander is depicted in a monastic robe, with his hand outstretched to God, where the Lord is represented in the form of three young men. In the 19th century, hagiographic icons of the saint appeared, consisting of various fragments of his life. Most of these icons stream myrrh.
St. Alexander Svirsky, appearance of the Holy Trinity, 17th century.
Days of remembrance of the saint
Days of veneration of Alexander Svirsky:
- September 12 (death day);
- April 30 (day of finding the relics).
Believers honor their saint, whose spiritual aspiration and unshakable faith are the moral guideline for a Christian. After all, it is not enough not to do evil. It is necessary to drive away sinful, evil thoughts from yourself. Through prayer, faith in God, love for him and everything living on earth, cultivate goodness in your soul.
As our Lord said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Gospel of Matthew, ch. 5, art. 8.
An example of such sincerity is the feat of St. Alexander of Svirsky, whom the Lord rewarded with his visit to earth for his good deeds and righteous life.
Documentary film “Alexander Svirsky. Protector and Patron"
Prayer
Prayer to St. Alexander of SvirskyO sacred head, earthly angel and heavenly man, venerable and God-bearing Father Alexandra, great servant of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, show many mercies to those living in your holy monastery and to all who flow to you with faith and love. Ask us everything that is useful for this temporary life, and even more necessary for our eternal salvation.
Help with your intercession, servant of God, the ruler of our country, Russia. And may the holy Orthodox Church of Christ abide deeply in the world. Be to all of us, miracle-working saint, a quick helper in every sorrow and situation. Most of all, at the hour of our death, the merciful intercessor appears to us, so that we may not be betrayed in the ordeals of the air by the power of the evil ruler of the world, but may we be honored with a stumbling-free ascension into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Hey, Father, our dear prayer book! Do not disgrace our hope, do not despise our humble prayers, but always intercede for us before the Throne of the Life-Giving Trinity, so that together with you and with all the saints, even if we are unworthy, we may be worthy to glorify in the villages of paradise the greatness, grace and mercy of the One God in the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Troparion, kontakion, magnification
Troparion
voice 4th
From your youth, God-wise, you moved into the desert with spiritual desire, and you desired the one Christ to diligently follow in the footsteps. In the same way, the angels repaired thee, seeing how you were amazed at how, having labored with the flesh against invisible wiles, you, wisely, conquered the armies of passions by abstinence, and you appeared equal to the angels on earth, Reverend Alexander. Pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Kontakion
voice 8th:
Like a multi-bright star today you have shone in the Russian countries, Father, having settled in the desert, you have zealously desired to follow Christ’s footsteps, and you have lifted the holy yoke on your frame with the honorable cross, you have put to death, your labors, your feat, your bodily leaps. We also cry out to you: save your flock, which you have gathered wisely, so we call to you: Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, our father.
Greatness
We bless you, Reverend Father Alexandra, and honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of angels.
Canon
Canon
Song 1
Irmos: In the depths of the bed, sometimes the pharaonic all-army is a pre-armed force; The incarnate Word consumed all-evil sin, O glorified Lord, gloriously glorified.
Reverend Father Alexandra, pray to God for us *).
We faithfully celebrate your divine memory, God-wise Father, and we glorify the Lord of all kinds, glorifying you with many miracles.
Passionless with warm desire, father, possessed, you withered away the waves of things, Alexandra, and through love, you achieved the ever-present radiance, most blessed, of the Divine.
Reverend Father Alexandra, pray to God for us.
Virtuous from the beginning, the reception of life, rich, bath, father, restoration of being, a spiritual gift from infancy divine, the beauty of your soul, Alexandra, you showed, brighter than the sun.
Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Theotokos: You gave birth to the Young Child more than words, the Ancient of Days, who showed a new path of virtues on earth. Therefore, Your beloved Alexander, O Trokovitsa, is consumed with love, this temple was created for You.
*) This chorus is read before all the troparions of each song, except for the Theotokos, before which it is read “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".
Song 3
Irmos: Having established me on the rock of faith, you have enlarged my mouth against my enemies, for my spirit has rejoiced, always singing: there is nothing holy like our God, and nothing is righteous than Thee, O Lord.
Then, through your abstinence, you extinguished the flame of your passions, and through the showering of prayers, you exuded streams of miracles, extinguishing the kindling of your illnesses to the blessed Alexandra.
Who flows to your more honest race, wise one, from this we will draw a treasure of healing, and an abyss of miracles, and an unenviable gift, Alexandra. In the same way, singing, we praise you.
Spiritual feelings from the terrible, reverend father, enlightened by the vision, as if you have acquired a wonderful mind for the good, you have shown a monastic life to those who have, Alexandra, a blessed life.
Theotokos: Who, before the ages, was born from the Father inexpressibly, finally came from Thy womb and deified our nature, Mother of the Virgin, Who brought forth the faces of the venerables.
Sedalen, voice 8:
From your youth, you left behind all the things of life, all that was red and fashionable, and settled in the desert, and you diligently followed the One who called you, O Reverend, and through labor and sweat, Father, you exhausted your body. Therefore, the all-rich Lord arranges for you to be a good shepherd for His sheep, blessed Alexandra. Pray to Christ the God of sins to grant forgiveness to those who honor your holy memory with love.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
As the Virgin and one among women, You, who without seed gave birth to God in the flesh, we all please, giving birth to humanity: for the fire dwelt in Thee of the Divinity, and like the Child, nourishing the Creator and the Lord with milk. Thus, the angelic and human race, we worthily glorify Thy most holy Nativity and in accordance with the cry of Ty: pray to Christ, the God of sins, to grant forgiveness of sins to those who worship by faith Thy most holy Nativity.
Song 4
Irmos: You came from the Virgin, not an intercessor, nor an Angel, but the Lord Himself, who became incarnate, and you saved all of me, a man. Thus I call to Thee: glory to Thy power, O Lord.
Your life, God-Bearing Blessed Alexandra, the rule is known to monastics, and now, zealously, we are saved, like yours, father, by Divine teaching.
The dawn of the Holy Spirit was received, bright star, Father Alexandra, shining with grace, you were to everyone, and you guided them to salvation through your teachings.
You wanted to be inside the world beyond the world, O wise Father Alexandra, having the power of God’s Spirit instructing you, living in impenetrable deserts and walking with animals without fear, as a young man, you fed on bodily illnesses.
Theotokos: We wear the terrible cherubic cloaks, O Master, as if on a throne of fire, into Thy, Pure One, the divine being has entered into Thy womb and flesh by the acceptance of a human being, as Alexander, one of the venerables, teaches, the only All-Singing One.
Song 5
Irmos: Thou art an intercessor for God and man, O Christ God: for by Thee, O Lord, didst thou bring the imams to the Master of Light, Thy Father, from the night of ignorance.
Having desired to keep your mind by observing the commandments, Alexandra, you withered away your carnal leaping with your abstinence, and the shepherd appeared to your God-loving copulation.
Following the Divine Law, the wise Alexandra, and obeying the command of the Creator, you became the lawmaker of the monks and the most famous rule, the punisher of the insane, and the mentor of the erring, and the most glorious lamp in the darkness of ignorance.
The fire of temptations and passions, the furnace of your tears, father, currents and spiritual dew, you richly extinguished, kept unburned: we are scorched by the love of all the King, you have withered the material desires.
Theotokos: Everyday lips cannot sing according to the heritage of You, the All-Singing One, the highest being, the Cherubim and all creatures. Also, with the Divine Alexander, beg the Lord for all of us.
Song 6
Irmos: Lying in the abyss of sin, I invoke the abyss of Thy unfathomable mercy: from aphids, O God, lift me up.
Having discerned the meaning of time, blessed Alexandra, you have achieved eternal abstinence through illnesses, Father, being a builder of souls, reverend.
As I endure the great sweat of your labors, Reverend Alexandra, comfort me with abstinence, wonderful father, the Lord Christ entrusts you with divine power and commands you to heal these ailments.
Having been the mentor of the monastics, the wise Alexander, these uniform laurels, and the image and outline of virtuous deeds, adorned them all, even in the monastery of married couples.
Theotokos: New, like Moses, who appeared, you built, like a tabernacle, a fence, in an all-honorable manner, even as you surpassed your illnesses and sweats, entrusting yourself entirely to the Most Pure Mother of God.
Kontakion, tone 8:
Like a multi-bright star, today you have shone in the Russian countries, Father, having settled in the desert, you have zealously desired to follow Christ’s footsteps, and, lifting the holy yoke upon your frame, the honorable cross, you have put to death your labors and the feat of your bodily leaps. We also cry out to you: save your flock, which you have gathered, wise, so we call to you: Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, our father.
Ikos:
How can I praise your exploits and struggles, Rev. Alexandra? As immaterial reason has been acquired through humility, you have accompanied your life with the strong abstinence of your labors. Even though you were a man by nature, you also appeared as a citizen of Jerusalem on High: you lived in the flesh on earth, but you passed through your angelic sojourn and you were a pillar, unshaken by passions. Thus, the entire Russian land, having been enriched by you, praises you and magnifies you with faith, crying out to you like this: Rejoice, praise to your fatherland, to the great Novugrad and the whole Russian country, most bright lamp. Rejoice, who is a glorious branch of a pious father and a fruitful branch of a reverent mother. Rejoice, unyielding pillar of chastity and most luminous glory of monks. Rejoice, shepherd of Christ's fence of verbal sheep, bringing them to God's understanding. Rejoice, for you have cultivated the abundant desert with the height of your humility. Rejoice, all monastics are the image of virtue and uniform laurels of salvation. Rejoice, red repository of virtues and consolation to all who are sad and despondent. Rejoice, for having despised all the wisdom of this world, you have put to death the passions of the flesh. Rejoice, for thou hast been worthy to be an angel, and thou hast put to shame all the demonic armies. Rejoice, for you were glorified in all countries, for you did many miracles in Christ. Rejoice, for you have truly found God’s grace and from the Angels you have been honored to see the Holy Trinity face to face. Rejoice, as the second sun, shining miracles, granting the grace of healing to everyone. Rejoice, Venerable Alexandra, our father.
Song 7
Irmos: The ungodly command of the lawless tormentor rose high in flames. Christ spread spiritual dew to the godly youth, He is blessed and glorified.
Having dressed yourself in fortress, Alexandra, the Lady, and, like dust, you trampled the voluptuousness of life, we conquer incorruptible life with love, to which you have now communed, with the faces of the Angel, Father, united.
Stretching out your hands in a cross shape, O Alexandra the Wise, and sending up your prayers to the Most High, like Christ, the King of Glory, from the angels, God-Bearer, you saw the Lord, and, in the impassable deserts, you sought the Lord, keeping you with Divine grace.
Like thee, Alexandra, the universal star, the monk’s never-setting luminary, a helper in troubles and a great refuge for sinners, I offer you as an intercessor and prayer book to the Lord Christ, most honorably.
Theotokos: Desiring to see Your saint, Your Son and God, the ineffable glory of the Mother of God, This honorable cross is lifted up on the frame, following His life-giving feet.
Song 8
Irmos: Sometimes the fiery furnace in Babylon separates the action, scorching the Chaldeans by God's command, and watering the faithful, singing: bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Like lightning with great brilliance, life shining with all the ascent of your abstinence, Alexandra the Wise, piously calling to the Creator: Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
As a man walked on earth, Father Alexandra, as if he had truly acquired life in Heaven, he appeared as an angel to interlocutor, while he lived and lived his life. With them you sing now: Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
You, more than the mind from the Unbegotten Father, were born before the age of the Son, the glorious preacher of Alexander, and the Most Holy Spirit, the One Trinity by nature known to the Divine.
Theotokos: Just as Elijah first settled in Carmel, so you too, trained in the impassable deserts, desired to live alone with God and, having been illuminated by God’s vision, the saint appeared to the Mother of God, crying out to Her: Rejoice, O Delighted One.
Song 9
Irmos: The Beginningless Parent, the Son, God and Lord, incarnated from the Virgin, appeared to us, darkened to enlighten, fellow squandered. Thus we magnify the All-Sung Mother of God.
Following in the footsteps of the venerable and God-bearing Lord Christ, having lived piously on earth, you appeared meek, kindly, merciful and humble, Alexandra, and filled with Divine love, for this reason we truly praise you.
A crown has been woven for you, like a conqueror, Alexandra, by your life-giving and all-powerful right hand, Father, and now you who sing your memory, blessed one, have been granted forgiveness of sins, O Most Glorious One.
You have copulated with the Incorporeal Hosts, and you have been considered a venerable figure, and you have rejoiced with those chosen by all, turning into true deification and immortal life, Father, with them you have unceasingly implored your Master for us.
Theotokos: The Temple consecrated, together with the One of the Trinity, Thy temple, the Lady, Thy saint Alexander is honorable, erected to Thy glory and honor, in which do not cease praying, to give us help through Thy prayers.
Svetilen:
The grace of God is in abundance in your soul, O wise Alexandra, and, as if you were incorporeal, you lived on earth. Deliver the dark clouds of those who honor you with passions, bringing them to a quiet refuge and driving away the demonic militias with Divine power.
Glory, even now, to the Mother of God:
May you truly create greatness with You, Eternal Son, with the Father’s advice: You gave birth to incorruptible life without passion, and you remained, as before the Nativity, a Virgin, having avoided the illnesses of your mother and remaining a Virgin after the Nativity.
Stichera, tone 4:
Reverend and God-Bearing One, your life has been undefiled, patience, meekness, and love are not hypocritical, abstinence is immeasurable, all-night standing, Divine tenderness, true faith and hope with mercy, Father, having acquired like an Angel, you lived on earth with your body, Blessed Alexandra, prayer book for our souls.
Like an earthly Angel and a Heavenly man, you were, wise, a source of tenderness and generosity, an unenvious stream appeared, an abyss of miracles, a sinner and a hand of sinners, the olive tree is truly fruitful of God, with the oil of your labors, wonderful Alexandra, anointing the hearts of those who faithfully praise you.
O Reverend and Blessed One, you have mortified the wisdom of the flesh with Divine understandings, you have been bodily above passions, and you have been confounded by those who bear the mark, depicting Divine goodness in yourself, and you have appeared to be all light-seeing by the action of the Holy Spirit, O Alexandra, our Father, the monastic adornment.
The source of the miracles of showing and the river of granting cancer your relics by man, Lord, Alexandra the Wise: you granted this vision to the blind, cleansing to lepers, ridding those possessed by unclean spirits of their power and thereby creating chastity, healing is infinite.
Voice 6:
Rejoice, for the fasting man there shone with much light, for the monk the star never set, praise to the shepherd, Father Alexandra, venerable one. Rejoice, blessed dwelling of the Trinity. Rejoice, source of love and mercy. Rejoice, most luminous lamp of reasoning. Rejoice, true rule of virtues. Rejoice, animated pillar. Rejoice, praise and affirmation to the great Novograd.
Akathist
Akathist
Kontakion 1
Ikos 1
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 2 4]
Seeing the Lord your soul, like a well-cultivated field for spiritual fruitfulness, direct your thoughts from youth to the search for one thing, reverend, for the same love for the sake of Christ, you left your parents and your father’s house, having freed yourself from every vain addiction, you flowed to the desert monastery of Valaam to feats of monasticism, calling to God who saves you: Alleluia.
Ikos 2
With a divinely enlightened mind you have comprehended the vanity of this world and the impermanence, in which joy is replaced by sorrow, prosperity is cursed by unexpected troubles. Moreover, you desired eternal, incorruptible blessings, Reverend Father, and you sought to seek this through renunciation of worldly goods and free poverty, urging us to call you:
Rejoice, lover of desert silence; Rejoice, zealot of humility and non-covetousness.
Rejoice, perfect image of true selflessness; Rejoice, the monastic life equal to the angels is a remarkable phenomenon.
Rejoice, rule of faith and piety; Rejoice, mirror of patient obedience.
Rejoice, lover of monastic silence; Rejoice, thou who hast acquired spiritual tears.
Rejoice, we weep for the temporary who have gained eternal bliss; Rejoice, having crushed the enemies of the enemy with unceasing prayers.
Rejoice, having subdued your flesh through vigil and labor; Rejoice, tame passion through fasting and abstinence.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 3
Overshadowed and strengthened by the power of the Most High, in monastic tonsure of the hair of your head, you put aside all carnal wisdom, reverend, and like a well-skilled warrior, having acquired the monastic schema for the armor of salvation and armed yourself with the invincible weapon of the Cross of Christ, you fought powerfully against the invisible enemy of the devil, defeating him with deep humility lifted up my pride and cried out to the Lord: Alleluia.
Ikos 3
Having an abundant source of tears, O servant of God, and great grace of tenderness, you watered your bread with tears and dissolved your drink with tears, out of an abundance of divine desire and love for the Lord. In the same way, we please you with these titles:
Rejoice, famous ascetic of strength and courage; Rejoice, angelic man.
Rejoice, victorious warrior of the Heavenly King; Rejoice, good fruit of the Valaam monastery.
Rejoice, favorable to the desert dweller; Rejoice, never-ending prayer book.
Rejoice, great faster; Rejoice, wonderful silent one.
Rejoice, follower of the feat of the ancient God-bearing fathers; Rejoice, imitator of their patience and labor.
Rejoice, you dug your own grave in good time; Rejoice, constantly thinking about the hour of death.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 4
The storm of temptations and aspirations of the devil cannot shake the temple of your soul, Reverend Father, it was founded on the solid rock of faith in Christ and is preserved by sobriety and unceasing prayers, in the image of which you confronted the enemy of human salvation and unfalteringly ascended along the paths of virtues to spiritual perfection in measure age of Christ, singing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 4
Hearing people praise you, you were afraid of the exaltation of vanity, God-wise Father, and like a true image of humility, you decided to flee into the unknown desert, to the Svir River, to the place indicated to you from above in a wonderful vision, and there you will work without restraint for the One God, where we We honor you with these blessings:
Rejoice, thou who has humbled Himself to the form of a servant, a good follower of Christ the Lord; Rejoice, zealous fulfiller of His holy commandments.
Rejoice, virgin in soul and body; Rejoice, unhypocritical industrious one.
Rejoice, despising the vain glory of man; Rejoice, destroyer of the networks of vanity and pride.
Rejoice, you who have trampled upon the soul-harming charm of arrogance; Rejoice, having assimilated for yourself the holy humility of Christ.
Rejoice, having fulfilled all your vows of monasticism; Rejoice, adorned with the gifts of God's grace.
Rejoice, thou who by grace received power over unclean spirits; Rejoice, you who blamed nothing for those intimidations and ghosts.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 5
A luminous ray illuminated in the darkness of the night the deserted place where you came to dwell, O Reverend, signifying the lightness of your soul and your heart flaming with love for the Lord, where it was pleasing to the Creator your will to work for Him in reverence and holiness and to sing a song of praise to Him there: Alleluia .
Ikos 5
Having seen your angelic life equal to the angels, blessed father, the depth of your humility, persistence in prayer, firmness of abstinence and the great zeal of your spirit for purity, you were amazed and glorified the philanthropist God, who strengthens the weak human nature. We please you and call:
Rejoice, deserted lamp, enlightening the Karelian country with the radiance of your virtues; Rejoice, wonderful adornment for monastics.
Rejoice, fragrant tree of the desert vegetation; Rejoice, fruitful tree of the heavenly planting.
Rejoice, you who loved the splendor of the house of God; Rejoice, having prepared within yourself a temple for the Trinitarian Divinity.
Rejoice, thou clothed in honor and righteousness; Rejoice, enriched with the union of virtues.
Rejoice, you who have received anointing from the Holy Spirit; Rejoice, consecrated vessel of God's grace.
Rejoice, good and faithful servant of Christ; Rejoice, true servant of the Lord.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 6
The preacher of your exploits in the Svirstey desert appeared as a catcher of wondrous beasts, who, having driven the trees into the impenetrable oak grove, by the sight of God found your temple, Reverend Father: seeing you in the flesh of an angel, wearing the sign of grace-filled illumination on your face, you were filled with fear and joy and fell to at your honest feet, in the tenderness of your heart, cry out to the Creator God: Alleluia.
Ikos 6
You shone in the desert of Svirstey, God's bright luminary, and you guided many human souls on the path to salvation: for Christ has revealed you as a mentor and teacher to the desert-loving monk, who flocks to you like sheep to a shepherd, who is able to shepherd them into life-giving pastures. Moreover, as having created and taught, we honor you with these praiseworthy words:
Rejoice, source of inspired teachings; Rejoice, repository of abundant tenderness.
Rejoice, animated tablets of the law of the Lord; Rejoice, silent preacher of the Gospel of Christ.
Rejoice, having fulfilled the commandments of the Lord and taught them to your disciples; Rejoice, having inspired the lazy to correct your Christ-like morals.
Rejoice, having strengthened the weak with the grace given from the Lord; Rejoice, you who consoled those who mourn with the sweetness of your words.
Rejoice, you who have guided sinners to repentance; Rejoice, wise young one.
Rejoice, filled with compassion; Rejoice, rich in mercy.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 7
Although the Lord, the Lover of mankind, will glorify the place of your exploits, Father, He sent His angel to tell you that in that place there will be a monastery for salvation, and in it a temple in the name of the Holy Trinity. You, enlightened by the appearance of the incorporeal, listened with joyful trepidation to the heavenly gospel, calling in humility of spirit to the Lady of angels and men: Alleluia.
Ikos 7
A new sign of God's favor was given to you, reverend, when you were silent in the chosen desert, in the night a great light shone upon you, and three men in bright clothes appeared before you, giving you peace and commanding that you build a monastic monastery there and in it a temple in the name Holy Trinity. Marveling at this wonderful Trinity phenomenon in three angelic faces, we call to you:
Rejoice, Mystery of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity; Rejoice, having witnessed the indescribable manifestation of God.
Rejoice, interlocutor of the luminous angelic forces; Rejoice, beholder of the radiant Divine vision.
Rejoice, partaker of the fiery trisolar radiance; Rejoice, worshiper of the Trinitarian Divinity.
Rejoice, enlightened one in the mortal body of immortality; Rejoice, you who have been honored with a heavenly visit to the earth.
Rejoice, high in humility, acquired; Rejoice, having received through poverty the rich mercy of the Lord.
Rejoice, you who sow everlasting joy with tears; Rejoice, you who have received the fulfillment of immutable promises.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 8
Strangely, an angel of the Lord appeared in the air in a mantle and a doll in other honors, indicating the place on which you had created a temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity in the Svirstey desert, Reverend Father, having completed and sanctified it with God’s haste, you and your disciples sent silent praises to the Lord in it , call: Alleluia.
Ikos 8
Having surrendered everything to the will of the Lord, begged by your disciples, you did not shy away from the grace of receiving the priesthood, Father, even though your spirit was growing weary, terrified at this height, but you showed obedience to your spiritual children, striving them according to your calling:
Rejoice, worthy performer of bloodless sacrifices; Rejoice, reverent servant of the Altar of the Lord.
Rejoice, you who stretched out your holy hands to the Lord with much boldness; Rejoice, you who offer the warmest prayers from your pure heart to the throne of the Almighty.
Rejoice, thou who was the image of piety as thy disciple; Rejoice, head anointed with the ointment of the priesthood.
Rejoice, skillful leader of spiritual warriors; Rejoice, wise father of the monastic community.
Rejoice, O luminary, kindled in prayer to God; Rejoice, star, showing the right path to salvation.
Rejoice, olive tree, who has poured out the oil of God’s mercy; Rejoice, thou who hast given drink to those thirsty for the teaching of salvation.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 9
All the monks of your monastery came to a joyful trembling, when the rush of the stream of water moving towards your holy monastery, you tamed it with your prayer and by calling on the omnipotent name of Jesus Christ, you harmlessly arranged the stormy stream of the mother-in-law for the good needs of the monastics; Having seen your spiritual child, you cried out to God with all compassion: Alleluia.
Ikos 9
Human infatuation is not enough to express the abundance of spiritual joy, with which you were filled, God-bearing Father, when during your nightly prayer the Most Holy Theotokos appeared with the face of the angelic ranks and the immutable promises gladdened your soul, as the ever-present intercessor of your monastery will be, supplying and covering you throughout days. Likewise, we bring you these joyful verbs:
Rejoice, overshadowed by the favor of the Mother of God; Rejoice, comforted by the visit of the Queen of Heaven and earth.
Rejoice, hearing merciful words from Her lips; Rejoice, you who have received the promise of Her strong monastery of intercession.
Rejoice, Her most sincere beloved; Rejoice, chosen one of Her Son and God.
Rejoice, thou blessed with the gift of miracles; Rejoice, you who are to come, as if you are the present, you who have foreseen.
Rejoice, thou who miraculously multiplied the fishermen’s catch; Rejoice, thou who bestowest childbearing on a barren parent.
Rejoice, you who restored the sick to health; Rejoice, revealing the secret of human sins.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 10
To save the souls of your disciple, you fatherly admonished them, God-wise, in a word, with the example of your life, with meekness reproaching them, with love exhorting them to succeed in piety and purity: especially before your death, you commanded and taught them everything useful for spiritual salvation Thou shalt keep them awake in prayer and continually sing to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 10
The wall of intercession was your prayer, miracle-working saint, to everyone who flows to you with faith in every sorrow, for for the sake of the purity of your heart, spiritual power was given to you by God, to heal the sick, to help the needy, to prophesy the future, to glorify the greatness of God in you near and far. revealed, and call you Sitsa:
Rejoice, O physician who never suffers from human ailments; Rejoice, you are a great healer not only of physical illnesses, but also of mental illnesses.
Rejoice, thou who grantest sight to the blind; Rejoice, thou who hast made the sick and crippled healthy.
Rejoice, freed the demons from the oppression of the devil; Rejoice, healthy, returning mind to the frenzied.
Rejoice, you who healed those covered with scabs; Rejoice, comforter of the sad.
Rejoice, hastening to help those in need; Rejoice, you who have been weakened and imprisoned by your appearance have given freedom to those who are captive and imprisoned.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 11
You brought all-contrite singing to the Most Holy Trinity at the time of your death, reverend, and in the prayer that was on your lips, you gave up your holy soul in the hands of the Living God, Whom you loved from your youth and Him whom you worked unfeignedly until your venerable old age, also with good hope You joyfully went to the heavenly abode, with angelic faces singing to the Trinitarian God: Alleluia.
Ikos 11
Having seen your peaceful death, your disciples, great servant of God, dissolved the sorrow of separation from you with the consolation of grace, in the hope of your omnipotent intercession, grief at the Throne of God, where you hear with love those calling you:
Rejoice, received the crown of immortal life from the hand of the Almighty; Rejoice, rejoice in the hall of the Heavenly Householder.
Rejoice, contemplating with your frank face the glory of the Trisian Divinity; Rejoice, worship the Creator with the white-crowned elders.
Rejoice, heir of the all-bright Kingdom of Christ; Rejoice, citizen of Gorny Jerusalem.
Rejoice, resident of heavenly Zion; Rejoice, inhabitant of the tabernacles of paradise not made with hands.
Rejoice, for through the labors of this temporary life you have received eternal peace; Rejoice, blessedness, prepared for the righteous from eternity, having righteously received.
Rejoice, illuminated by the rays of the unevening light from above; Rejoice, shining down with the greatness of miracles.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 12
Participating in grace was the appearance of a sacred cancer containing your multi-healing relics, the miracle-working saint, which after many years the Lord revealed in the depths of the earth incorruptible, healing endlessly and healing every ailment with the power of God, wondrous in His saints, who wonderfully glorified you in heaven and on earth, Him we sing: Alleluia.
Ikos 12
Singing a joyful song of praise and thanksgiving to the Lover of Mankind, God, who glorified you in the land of Russia as a wondrous and merciful wonderworker, we pray to you, Reverend Our Father: be an intercessor to Him and a constant prayer book for us who call to you:
Rejoice, intercessor of the Christian race; Rejoice, treasury of many different gifts.
Rejoice, protection created by God; Rejoice, having received the grace of healing from God.
Rejoice, flower of incorruption, fragrant Holy Church; Rejoice, dawn of immortality, shining gloriously from the grave.
Rejoice, inexhaustible stream of generosity and mercy; Rejoice, inexhaustible source of compassion.
Rejoice, love and compassion are a many-wonderful phenomenon; Rejoice, God-given healing for our bodies.
Rejoice, favorable intercession for our souls.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 13
O great and glorious miracle worker, Reverend Father Alexander. Mercifully accept this little prayer of ours, and with your prayers save us from mental and physical ailments in this life and deliver us from future eternal torment, and grant us, together with you, in the Kingdom of Heaven, to sing to God: Alleluia.
(This kontakion is read three times, then the 1st ikos and 1st kontakion)
Ikos 1
You had an angelic disposition, Reverend Father, and as if you were incorporeal, you lived an immaculate life on earth, leaving us with a wondrous image of spiritual perfection, so that we imitate your virtue and call you here:
Rejoice, God-given fruit of pious parents; Rejoice, you who have resolved the infertility of those who gave birth to you.
Rejoice, having turned their lamentation into joy; Rejoice, chosen by God from the swaddling clothes.
Rejoice, you who were ordained from the womb to serve Him; Rejoice, having loved His One with all your heart from your youth.
Rejoice, thou who countest all the red things of this world for nothing; Rejoice, your flesh is distressed by fasting and prayerful vigil.
Rejoice, immaculate vessel of God's grace; Rejoice, dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, adorned with purity.
Rejoice, man of spiritual desires; Rejoice, head, sanctified by the right hand of the Most High.
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
Kontakion 1
Chosen saint of Christ and wonderworker, Rev. Father Alexandra, who has shone in peace like a God-bright star, through your kindness and many miracles of life, we praise you with love in spiritual songs: but you, who have boldness towards the Lord, with your prayers free us from all troubles, let us call ty:
Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.
^sss^Reverend Alexander Svirsky^sss^
Alexander Svirsky(in the world Amos; 1448 - August 30, 1533) - Russian Orthodox saint. He is revered in the guise of the monk, hegumen. Biography..
Life of St. Alexander the Wonderworker of Svir
The monk was born on June 15, 1448 on Novgorod land, in the village of Mandera. His parents, poor peasants Stepan and Vassa, were pious people. They raised their children in accordance with Christian customs. Legends say that the mother was childless for a long time and prayed to God to send her a son. Her prayers were heard. The Monk Alexander's parents named him Amos. Since childhood, he thought about entering a monastery. The parents first wanted their son to get married. But he dreamed of the Valaam Monastery. One day Amos met monks from the monastery. He talked with them for a long time about the life of the monks. The conversation inspired him. At the age of 19, he finally decided to go to Valaam. On the way, he stopped near Lake Roshchinskoye, where he heard a voice that told him that Amos would build a monastery on this place. A divine light dawned on him. At the Valaam Monastery, the abbot tonsured twenty-six-year-old Amos and named him Alexander. This happened in 1474. He began to strive in obedience, labor, and prayed zealously. Soon his parents came for him in order to return their son home. Not only did he not go back, but he also persuaded his parents to become a monk for the sake of the eternal life of his soul. From now on they became Sergei and Varvara. The monks were amazed at the humility of the young monk. He spent 10 years on the island, which is now called Saint. There the Monk Alexander lived in a rock cave, which he made himself. There he dug his own grave with his own hands. In 1485, standing on the edge of the grave, the monk heard a voice that told him to leave the island and return to the place that had been indicated to him earlier. He was destined to found a monastery there. Divine light showed Alexander a place on the banks of the Svir River. The monk built a hut near Lake Roshchinskoe. There he lived in solitude for 5 years, feeding on the gifts of nature. It is believed that boyar Andrei Zavalishin was the first to know about the monastery of the monk; God gave him this knowledge. Soon, this place became famous throughout the area. People talked about the gift of healing and foresight that the abbot of the modest monastery possessed. Even during his lifetime, people called the Monk Alexander a saint. After 23 years, three figures in light clothes appeared in the desert and came to the Reverend. It was the appearance of God the Trinity who told him to build a church. At the place where God the Trinity appeared to the abbot, a chapel was built. Coming to it, people feel the thrill of closeness to God. Several years before his death, the Monk Alexander, according to God’s teaching, built the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin from stone. On the evening of the day when the church was founded, the monastery was illuminated by an amazing light, and the Most Pure Mother of God with the Eternal Child appeared at the foundation of the new church. The Mother of God ordered the Reverend, who knelt before her, to stand up and promised her intercession to take care of the parishioners of the church, both during his life and after death. A year before his death, the Monk Alexander began to prepare successors for himself. He chose four priests: Nicodemus, Leontius, Isaiah and Herodion. He taught them and instructed them how to lead a godly life. The monk died at the age of 85 in 1533 and was buried near the Church of the Transfiguration. After 14 years he was canonized. It was surprising, but his deeds spoke for themselves. After the death of St. Alexander, thousands of people suffering from various ailments came to his tomb and were completely healed from serious illnesses. The blind began to see, the childless recovered, demons emerged from the possessed. These miracles happened constantly, and no one had any doubt that the Mother of God blessed the Monk and his monastery.
The incorrupt relics of St. Alexander
The saint's relics have been in the monastery since April 1641. The saint's body, contrary to tradition, was not mummified, but dried up. Another thing was surprising: the subcutaneous tissue is very different from others in structure and appearance. It is striking in its whiteness, although it should be yellow; it is airy and loose, soft to the touch. In 1918, the relics were removed from the monastery by the Soviet authorities. The officials tried to prove that in front of them was not the body of a saint, but a wax doll. He was placed in the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg, where they were stored until 1998 as anatomical material. Nowadays, the relics of Alexander Svirsky have been returned to their native lands. Experts are still interested in the phenomenal condition of the saint’s skin; his facial features are completely preserved - the shape of his lips and nose. Instead of evaporated liquid, the body was filled with air, which prevented tissue compaction. Biologists and doctors shrug their shoulders. There is no scientific explanation for these processes. Examinations were carried out many times, in particular in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, but even there they did not find any resemblance to the mummified bodies of ordinary people. Now the saint’s foot is streaming myrrh, and when the relics are in the temple, bees flock to the smell. There is numerous eyewitness evidence of this.
Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery
The monastery is located 21 km from the city of Lodeynoye Pole and 260 km from St. Petersburg. For many years it was a stronghold of the Orthodox faith in the dense forests of the Olonets region, among the pagan peoples inhabiting it. It was the piety of its founder that helped to root the Orthodox faith in the hearts of the inhabitants of harsh lands. The complex of monastery buildings has been perfectly preserved to this day. The oldest building is the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God, built in 1533. Tsar Vasily III took part in its construction. The church was built in the Novgorod style. The monastery is more than 500 years old. His life was no different from the life of other Russian monasteries. He had his dawns, invasions of enemy hordes, fires and destruction, restoration of life in unceasing prayers. Historians have long nicknamed the monastery the Northern Lavra, for its significance in the life of the region.
The Legend of the Miracles of St. Alexander of Svirsky
There are many tales about the miracles of the saint. Here are just a few of them.
The Miracle of the Possessed Boyar's Son Zephaniah
In the village of Negrinichi, which was located not far from the monastery, lived Sophony, the son of a boyar. He was still small. The devil possessed him, even iron chains could not hold him. With great difficulty they brought the boy to the monastery of the Holy Trinity; it was almost impossible to restrain him. Suddenly he began to cry out to Archangel Michael to help him. They placed him next to the holy tomb, and he immediately felt better. Then, when the relics of the saint were found, the still sick Zephanius again came to the church and stayed there to live for six months. After that, he finally recovered and was no longer sick.
The Miracle of Peter the Iconographer
There was a certain painter Pyotr Afanasyev, originally from Vologda. During his intemperate life, he was severely tormented by demons for a long time. It occurred to him to go to the monastery of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity and St. Alexander the Wonderworker; the crafty demons with great threats forbade him to go to the monastery of the saint, so that with great difficulty they could hardly bring him there. While in the monastery, he suffered even more from demons, and could not on his own go into the inner desert, where the many-miraculous relics of the Venerable Father Alexander were.
When abbot Abraham found out about him, he ordered the monastery servant Agapit to take him to the tomb of the venerable father Alexander and place him on his whole body. The servant dragged him with great difficulty, because he was furious, resisting, not wanting to go there, and was talking all sorts of nonsense. When they came to a well dug by the Monk himself, on which there was a large wooden cross and an image of St. Alexander the Wonderworker, then, having prayed there, he received a little relief from his illness. When they brought him to the tomb of the saint, and he began to pray more fervently to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother, calling upon the Reverend Father Alexander for help, and they applied him to his multi-healing relics, immediately the unclean spirits were driven away from him, he became completely healthy, like I never got sick, and began to think sensibly. Then they reported him to the abbot. The abbot ordered the brethren to be gathered into the church, and the cathedral served a prayer service for him, giving great thanks to God and His saint, the great Rev. Father Alexander, great in miracles. After the prayer service, the aforementioned Peter told us, the abbot and the brethren, everything that the demons had done to him.
“When they brought me,” he said, “to the monastery of the saint, and I intended, mentally, to go to the waste desert to the relics of the Monk Alexander, unclean demons appeared to me in reality, frightening me with their various insurances, and did not allow me to go to the Monk. There were many demonic regiments at the monastery gates; they gnashed their teeth and terribly threatened me, shouting with prohibitions so that I should not go to the saint. From such fear I was motionless and almost separated from my soul. When they forcibly dragged me to the Reverend, many of those damned Ethiopians sat on my shoulders and pressed me, not allowing me to go; but when with difficulty I reached the well of the miracle worker, where the life-giving cross of Christ was and on it the image of St. Alexander was placed, and prayed there, then the unclean spirits immediately disappeared from me. I felt strong within myself and, beginning to come to my senses, I wept bitterly about my sin. When I came to the tomb of the saint and prayed to God, His Most Pure Mother and the Reverend Father Alexander and, looking through the church doors, I saw those black murins shouting to me from afar with a threat: “Oh man, if Alexander hadn’t helped you, it would be evil soul yours was torn from you,” I soon venerated the honest and multi-healing relics of St. Alexander the Wonderworker, and, oh, glorious and terrible miracle! I, a great sinner, heard that the chains of the Saint, which he wore on his body during his life, thundered three times like thunder. From that thunder all the unclean spirits disappeared, and no longer appeared through the prayers of the Reverend Father Alexander.” We heard this and wrote it down. This miracle took place on the 7th day of March 7150 (1642 A.D.).
The miracle of the boyar who asked for childbirth
In the Pskov region, on the Velikaya River, 45 versts from the city of Pskov, lived a certain nobleman Afanasy Feodorov Veniaminov. He was a pious, God-fearing husband and very poor-loving, and had a wife named Evdokia. Both of them were in great sorrow because they had no male children, but all daughters were born. They strongly prayed to the Humane-loving God to grant them a son.
One day Athanasius said to his wife: “I heard about the Reverend Father Alexander that God works many miracles at his tomb and they even say that they found his honest and holy body in incorruption. Let us also make a promise to him, may he pray to God for us, so that we may be worthy to receive what we want from Him; I am convinced that everyone who seeks help from the saints with faith will receive it.” In their house they had an image of the Most Holy Trinity and the Reverend Father Alexander the Wonderworker, before whom they both prayed fervently with tears for several times, saying: “Have mercy on us, servant of God, Reverend Father Alexandra, and beg Almighty God for us, that He may give us , for the sake of your holy prayers, the fruit of the womb is male, and with it we go to the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity and pray to your celibate relics and pay the vows promised to you.” This and similar things they said in their prayer, after which they were firmly confident that they would not be put to shame in their hope.
A year after their promise, they came to the monastery of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity and St. Alexander the Wonderworker, bringing with them a baby boy, and asked to serve a prayer service at the tomb of the Rev. Having venerated his miraculous and healing body, they thanked God and His saint, the great wonderworker, the Reverend Father Alexander, a lot, saying: “For God has given us this through his prayers.” Then, having arranged a good treat for the brethren and distributed enough alms, they went to their home, rejoicing and glorifying God and the Monk Alexander.
Miracle of the Paralytic
A certain nobleman Andrei Danilov Antonov, who lived in the village of Kusyage *), which is not far from the Syas River, fell ill with relaxation of his entire body and suffered from insanity. His parents greatly mourned this; They took him to holy churches and spent a lot of money on doctors, but they were of no use.
One day they remembered the great wonderworker, the Reverend Father Alexander, that at his tomb God was performing many healings, and, taking their son, they brought the Reverend Father Alexander to the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity. Having stayed in the monastery for seven days, they prayed to God, the Most Pure Mother of God and the Monk Alexander the Wonderworker for the healing of their son, but they did not receive their request, and went back home. After that, they greatly lamented and cried, repenting that at first they did not pray to the Reverend, having long heard about the glorious miracles that happened from his honest and multi-healing relics, and said: “Oh, how unworthy we are of laboring in vain for ourselves, and seeking doctors, and They destroyed a lot of our property, and not only did they create no benefit for themselves and their children, but also a great misfortune and sadness worse than the first that they brought upon them! With anger, the doctor and the free healer will quickly cure all ailments.”
And immediately the Reverend Father Alexander, who was quick to help, heard their sighing and did not despise their prayers, giving healing to the sick man, who rose from his bed as if he had never been sick.
Then they gave praise to God, the Most Pure Mother of God and the ambulance, the venerable wonderworker Alexander. Soon after that, the aforementioned Andrei, very joyful, again came to the saint’s monastery and, asking to serve a prayer service at the tomb of the Reverend Father, kissed his honorable relics with great tears and told about himself in detail to the abbot and the brethren, how God healed him through the prayers of the Reverend Alexander. Then, with joy, glorifying and thanking God, he went to his home.
- ) Kusyaga is a village in the Novoladozhsky district of St. Petersburg. lips
The Miracle of the Youth Demetrius
7 miles from the city of Olonets, up the Olonka River, there was the Church of the Nativity of Christ. Not far from that church, in the village of Geitolitsa, lived someone named Zachary, who had fallen into extreme poverty; he had a son, Demetrius. This youth, according to the inscrutable destinies of God, from an early age was under the power of an unclean spirit, which sometimes knocked him down, and sometimes strained all his limbs, to the point that foam came out of his mouth, and that fierce demon tormented him for thirteen years or more.
The parent, seeing such grave suffering of his son, painfully, from the depths of his heart, with bitter tears, prayed to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother, calling on the holy father Alexander the Wonderworker for help. After some time, they both went to the monastery of the Most Holy Trinity and the Venerable Father Alexander to pray at his celibate relics. When they reached the monastery of the Monk, the unclean spirit began to torment him more intensely, so that great fear fell on everyone who saw him, and no one agreed to let them into his cell for this reason. By order of the abbot, they were given a separate cell outside the monastery fence, where they lived for some time in prayer to the Monk Alexander the Wonderworker. An ambulance and a doctor always ready to obey appeared to the suffering youth in this way: one day, sitting in his cell, he clearly saw through a small hole the Reverend Father Alexander walking on the water across the lake, from the grove from his church. He, encouraged by hope, mentally began to ask the monk for the gift of healing. The monk, coming to his cell, said: “Child Demetrius, if you want to receive healing, promise to stay here in this monastery at the Holy Trinity until your death, work for the brethren, and the Lord will heal you from this illness.”
The youth with great tears fell at the feet of the Rev., promising to do so, and the Rev. immediately became invisible, and from that time the youth became completely healthy, as if he had never been sick, and soon went with his father to the tomb of the Monk Alexander, with great joy thanking God, and, having listened to the prayer service with tears, venerated the relics of the saint. From that time on, both of them and their father remained in the monastery, until their very death, in labors and exploits, glorifying the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This miracle took place in the year 7159 (1651 A.D.), June 15th.
The Tale of the Blind Wife
A woman named Anna had been blind for four years. Having heard about the miracles that were happening at the tomb of the Saint, she went to the monastery on the day of the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. There were a lot of people in the church. Anna was poor and could not go inside. She remained standing in the doorway. She exclaimed in despair that she would not be able to approach and bow to the holy tomb. Then Father Alexander himself appeared to her, took her by the hand and led her to his coffin. The woman fell to him, begging him to return her sight. And at that very moment I began to see again.
The second discovery of the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky in 1998
Bolshevik power was established in the north (in Petrozavodsk, Olonets, Lodeynoye Pole) on January 5, 1918; before that, power was in the hands of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. From those archival materials that were preserved and were not later destroyed by the enemies of the Church, we learn the details of the campaign that unfolded in those days.
It is no coincidence that after the atheists seized power in the country, the relics of St. Alexander were the first to be desecrated and captured. On January 6, representatives of the Bolshevik authorities were already at the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky. The question is, what force brought them to the shrine on the first day of their reign in Holy Rus'? For a believer, the answer is simple - the evil plans of the “monsters of the human race” were thwarted by God’s power, revealed in the incorruptible relics; they hated the shrines and sought to destroy them. Six times the Bolsheviks approached the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky, and only on the sixth they were taken out of the monastery - apparently, they were constrained by reverent fear of the shrine, it was difficult for the doers of evil to step over it - “and the demons believe and tremble” (James 2:19) . Having removed this difficult obstacle, the Bolsheviks announced the beginning of the “campaign for the liquidation of relics,” which took place from 1919 to 1922. (We present some materials from those years in an abbreviated form.)
One of the unsuccessful arrivals to the monastery for the Bolsheviks in March 1918 is reported in the documents of the manager of the Council of People's Commissars V. Bonch-Bruevich - this prominent politician at that time later headed the Museum of Religion and Atheism in Leningrad. From the message: “In the monastery, excited to the point of wild fanaticism by the reactionary agitation of the monks, an angry crowd, which demonstratively organized a religious procession, [committed] a beating of representatives of the Lodeynopolsky district executive committee, delegated to the monastery to account for property.” It is further reported that the commission and the five Red Army soldiers accompanying them could have been subjected to brutal lynching, so they left “in order to avoid cruel reprisals.” Later, in the documents of Olonetsky Gubchek, at one of the meetings, a decision was made according to which representatives of the authorities need to behave in such a way as not to irritate people and avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
The “Union for the Protection of Churches and Chapels” operated at the monastery. To investigate the activities of this Union, a detachment of 50 people was sent in April 1918, whose task was to arrest the “leaders of the Union.” The rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Eugene, was arrested on September 30, 1918, in the Olonetsky Cheka, where he was summoned on September 29, 1918. Together with him, the treasurer of the monastery, Hieromonk Barsanuphius and Hieromonk Isaiah were arrested. They left the monastery, not yet knowing that they would never return to it. In the Olonets prison on the night of October 29-30, 1918, as we learned from archival documents, they were shot).
Numerous contemporary publications regarding the bloody events that took place on October 23, 1918 in the Svirsky Monastery report that the execution of the abbot and five other monks took place on that day outside the walls of the monastery, where they were buried. This is incorrect, since, according to the documents, at that time the arrested were in Olonets prison. But it is quite possible that blood was actually shed in the monastery that day.
The situation in the country and in the Olonets region at this time was becoming more and more difficult for the Bolsheviks, so the fate of the relics of St. Alexander had to be decided quickly. The economic and military situation of the region was threatening.
Winter months of 1919: the White offensive on the approaches to Petrozavodsk and Olonets, on the Murmansk railway, interruptions in the transportation of food, fuel, hunger, disorder in the ranks of the leading Bolshevik party. One of the documents of the recently declassified Party Archive of the All-Russian Communist Party of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) reports: “Emergency assistance is needed to save the peasant masses of our district from general extinction...” Further, hope is expressed for the Center and fear of rebellion. On February 14, 1919, at a meeting of the Northern Regional Committee of the RCP (b), Zinoviev emphasized that the Karelian Front was one of the sections of the front recognized as “the most responsible at the moment in terms of threat,” despite the fact that “in a number of regions of the Olonets province the enemy came to an active almost open agitation for an uprising against the Bolsheviks." The fate of the relics of St. Alexander was also under the close supervision of Zinoviev. The archive contains a telegram sent to Zinoviev: “We ask you to take decisive measures to expel the commission on the Alexandrosvir issue, according to the submitted application of Comrade Elinson, Chairman of the Committee of Communists from Lodeynoye Pole.” On December 19, 1918, at the Presidium of the Executive Committee of the northern region, where Zinoviev, Ravich, Kopyatkevich, Kostina were present, a resolution was adopted “On sending a commission to the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery to study the relics.” They decided: “The Commissariat of Health should create a medical commission with a chemist to study the relics” ****). After the commission found out that the relics were not a “wax doll” or a “skeleton in slippers,” but genuine incorruptible holy flesh, the Bolsheviks began a campaign to hide the relics.
The coffin with the relics was taken to Lodeynoye Pole, where it was placed in the chapel at the hospital; the chapel was sealed by the local authorities. The local Cherevychkom did not dare to determine the fate of the relics on their own; a request was sent to the Center - “whether the center will find the remains of the saint a historical relic and, if it finds them as such, then the authorities will transport them in a coffin to the city of Petrozavodsk and attach it to the local historical museum, if if not, then he will order to deal with them at his own discretion.”
We must pay tribute to the memory of Academician Pyotr Petrovich Pokryshkin, who was not afraid in that fierce time of persecution to make an uncompromising conclusion to the request of the security officers: “Recognizing the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky is certainly a historical relic, the location of which should be in the Temple, we ask you to take measures to protect this national historical value.” This was written during the arrest of Petrograd scientists, during times of famine and mass terror; it took special courage to write such a conclusion! It is known that P.P. Pokryshkin could not bear all the horror of the reigning lies of that time and went to one of the Nizhny Novgorod monasteries, sending a letter from there in which he said that he was renouncing all scientific titles and honors. His monastic life was short; he died in 1922 during an epidemic of typhoid fever. Eternal memory to him!
On the myrrh-streaming of the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky
Myrrh (fragrant precious oil) in the Holy Scriptures and in the Holy Tradition is a symbol of Divine mercy, peace and love. Let us remember the words of Psalm 132: “Behold, that which is good and that which is red, let us live together as brothers. Behold, as the ointment that came down upon Aaron’s wedding...” The name of the Bridegroom, Christ, in the Song of Songs is compared to spilled ointment. Even on Mount Sinai, God commands Moses to make a special ointment for sacred anointing. Thus, myrrh became a symbol of charismatic (grace-filled) power. Subsequently, kings, prophets and priests were anointed with myrrh. Myrrh also served for funeral anointing. When Mary Magdalene poured precious ointment on Christ, she prepared His body for burial.
Subsequently, myrrh will become a symbol of the Holy Spirit and His gifts. During the sacrament of confirmation, the priest anoints the person being baptized with the words: “Seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Thus, the power of the Gift of the Holy Spirit is concentrated in the ointment.
Myrrh appears as a result of a special supernatural phenomenon - myrrh flow. It flows inexplicably from the remains of the saint, either from his tomb or from his image. This is an amazing event. And it seems even more surprising after the research conducted by biochemists. It turns out that myrrh contains those components that are part of a living organism, in particular, it contains 75 mg of animal protein per 100 ml. This means that the saint’s flesh remains alive, and by the will of God, synthetic processes can begin in it - but we are given to see only the result of a miracle being performed - a drop of peace.
Myrrh streaming is not attested in Holy Scripture. However, this miracle has been present in Sacred Tradition almost from the very beginning of the Church. From the tomb of St. John the Theologian, every year on the day of his memory a certain subtle fragrant myrrh emanated, from which many healings occurred. The “Acts of the Apostle Philip” (a monument of the 2nd-3rd centuries) says that after the death of the Apostle, fragrant myrrh emanated from him. The “martyrdom of Theodotus” (III century) also speaks of the passing of the world from the remains of the martyr. St. is especially glorified by this miracle. Demetrius of Thessalonica, martyred in 304, whom the Greeks call Mirovlit, that is, Myrrh-streaming. The oldest evidence of healing from the supernaturally expired world from the relics of St. Demetrius dates back to the sixth century. An inscription from the city of Sangin (6th century) says that one woman was healed by “drawn up the holy myrrh from the well in which the body of St. Demetrius lies, it (i.e., the myrrh) flowing. The relics of St. Demetrius exuded the myrrh constantly and in such quantity, that many who came could take a small part of this world for themselves; many bottles of the 6th-10th century were preserved, as a visible evidence of this miracle. According to the testimony of St. John of Damascus (against Constantine of Kavalsky, about the holy icons), “many bodies of the saints poured out the myrrh.” When in 1087 the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were transferred from Myra of Lycia to Bar, his tomb was full of peace.
Another prayer, Rev. Alexander the Wonderworker of Svir.
sacred head, earthly angel and heavenly man, reverend and God-bearing Father Alexandra, great servant of the Most Holy and Consubstantial Trinity, show many mercies to those living in your holy monastery and to everyone who flows to you with faith and love! Ask us everything that is useful for this temporary life, and necessary for our eternal salvation. Help with your intercession, servant of God, before the Lord against enemies visible and invisible. May His faithful servants, who cry out to Him day and night in grief and sorrow, hear the much-painful cry and may our belly be delivered from destruction. May the holy Orthodox Church of Christ abide in peace, and may our fatherland be founded in prosperity, indestructible in all piety. Be to all of us, miracle-working saint, a quick helper in every sorrow and situation. Most of all, at the hour of our death, a merciful intercessor appeared to us, so that we may not betray the power of the evil ruler of the world during the ordeals of the air, but may we be honored with a stumbling-free ascension into the Kingdom of Heaven. Hey, Father, our dear prayer book! Do not disgrace our hope, do not despise our humble prayer, and intercede for us before the throne of the Life-Giving Trinity, so that together with you and with all the saints, we are unworthy, we are worthy to glorify in the villages of paradise the greatness, grace and mercy of the One in the Trinity of God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
In the pious popular consciousness, the Monk Alexander of Svirsky is revered as the “New Testament Abraham,” for he was honored with the appearance of the Holy Trinity in the form of Three Angels. He was canonized 14 years after his righteous death, and his life was written, as they say, “hot on the heels” and is particularly authentic.
The Monk Alexander Svirsky was born on June 15, 1448 into a family of poor peasants in the Ladoga village of Mandera on the Oyat River (a tributary of the Svir River) Stefan and Vasilissa (Vassa). The elderly parents already had two adult children, but they prayed for the granting of another child to them, since their childbearing had ceased for a long time. One night a heavenly voice announced to them the birth of a son. The saint's birthday coincided with the day of remembrance of the prophet Amos, whose name was given to the boy at baptism.
When the boy grew up, he was sent to study, but he studied “inertly and not quickly.” Having a hard time experiencing this, Amos often prayed to God for help. One day, while praying in front of the icon of the Mother of God, the youth heard a voice: “Arise, do not be afraid; and if you asked, you will receive it.” From then on, Amos began to excel in his studies and was soon ahead of his peers. After that, he began to visit the temple every day, ate only bread, and not enough, and slept little.
When Amos matured, his parents wanted to marry him, but his ascetic inclinations became so strong that he decided to leave the world completely. The young man strove to go to the Valaam monastery, stories about which he had heard. One day he met monks who had arrived from Valaam to his native village on monastic business. He told one of them - already an old man - about his desire to reach Valaam and received advice not to delay in fulfilling his spiritual need, “before the evil sower sows tares in the heart...”.
Secretly leaving his parents' house, he set off on a long journey. Having crossed the Svir River, on the shore of Lake Roshchinskoye, the Reverend heard a mysterious voice, announcing to him that he would create a monastery in this place. And a great light dawned on him. Having thanked God, the young man prepared to move on, but he did not know the way to the monastery, and the Lord sent him an angel in the form of a random traveler all the way to the monastery gates.
For seven years Amos remained a novice in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, amazing the strictest Valaam monks with the severity of his life. During the day he carried water and firewood from the forest, worked in a bakery, and at night he prayed, exposing his body to mosquitoes. In the morning he was the first to go to church. He ate bread and water. His clothes, thin and shabby, hardly protected him from the winter and autumn cold. When the parents learned about the whereabouts of their son, the father came to the monastery. Amos did not want to come out to him, saying that he was dead to the world. And only at the request of the abbot he talked with his father, who wanted to persuade his son to return home, but after his son’s refusal, he left the monastery in anger. Secluded in his cell, Amos began to pray earnestly for his parents, and through his prayer, the grace of God descended on Stephen. Returning home, he took monastic vows at the Vvedensky Monastery with the name Sergius, and Amos’s mother took monastic vows with the name Varvara.
On August 26, 1474, Amos took monastic vows with the name Alexander and retired to a secluded island, later called Saint, and spent 10 years there. On the Holy Island there is now the Alexander-Svirsky monastery of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, where they show a damp cave, in which only one person can hardly fit, and the saint’s own grave dug by the hands of the saint. The fame of his exploits spread far and wide. Wanting to avoid human rumors, the Monk Alexander decided to retire into unknown forests, but at the request of the abbot he remained. One day, during night prayer, the blessed one heard a heavenly voice commanding him to go to the place that had been indicated before. Opening the window, Alexander saw a great light pouring out from the southeast near the bank of the Svir River. Having learned about the vision, the abbot blessed the Monk Alexander on his way.
Alexander came to Lake Roshchinskoye and settled in the desert, not far from the Svir River. In the depths of an impenetrable forest, he set up a small hut and indulged in solitary exploits. He lived here for seven years, without seeing a human face, without eating bread and eating only the fruits of the forest, enduring many hardships from cold, hunger, illness and devilish temptations. But the Lord did not abandon the ascetic. Once, when the monk was seriously ill and could not even raise his head from the ground, he chanted psalms while lying down. Suddenly a “glorious man” appeared before him, put his hand on the sore spot, made the sign of the cross over it and healed the righteous man. Another time, when the monk was walking to fetch water and singing prayers loudly, he heard a voice predicting the coming to him of many people who were to be received and instructed.
In 1493, the boyar Andrei Zavalishin came across the hermit’s dwelling while hunting a deer. He was very happy about this meeting, since he had long wanted to visit the place over which he had repeatedly seen a light pillar. From that time on, Andrei Zavalishin began to often visit the holy hermit, and then, on his advice, he took monastic vows on Valaam with the name Adrian. Subsequently, he founded the Ondrusovsky Monastery on the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga and became famous for converting many robbers to the path of repentance. The Monk Adrian Ondrusovsky suffered martyrdom from the robbers.
The rumor about the hermit spread in the surrounding area and reached Alexander’s brother, John. He joyfully ran to the desert to share the hardships of the hermitage. Having humbled himself, the blessed one received his dear guest, remembering that at the beginning of his desert life he was inspired from above: not to shun those who thirst for salvation and to lead them. John, however, did not learn humility and caused his brother a lot of grief, either boldly teaching or refusing to build cells for those who came.
With tearful night prayers, Alexander conquered irritation and annoyance within himself and finally acquired all-conquering love for his neighbor and great peace in his soul. Soon John died, and his brother buried him in the desert, and those who were eager to live under the shadow of his prayer began to gather to Alexander. The monks cleared the forest, improved the arable land, and sowed bread, which they fed themselves and gave to those who asked. The Monk Alexander, out of love for silence, retired from the brethren and built himself a “retreat hermitage” 130 fathoms from his former place, near Lake Roshchinskoye. There he faced many temptations. The demons took on an animal form and whistled like a snake, forcing the saint to flee. But the saint’s prayer, like a fiery flame, scorched and scattered the demons.
In 1508, in the 23rd year of the saint’s stay in the reserved place, he had a divine apparition of such power that it could not be compared with any other delights of his spirit - the appearance of the Life-Giving Trinity.
The monk prayed at night in the waste hermitage. Suddenly a strong light shone, and the monk saw Three Men entering him, dressed in light, white clothes. Sanctified by Heavenly glory, They shone with purity, brighter than the sun. Each of them held a rod in His hand. The monk fell in fear, and, having come to his senses, bowed to the ground. Raising him by the hand, the men said: "Hope, O blessed one, and do not be afraid." The monk received orders to build a church and establish a monastery. He fell to his knees again, crying out about his unworthiness, but the Lord raised him up and commanded him to do what was specified. The monk asked in whose name the church should be. The Lord said: “Beloved, as you see Him speaking to you in Three Persons, so build a church in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial Trinity. I leave you peace and I will give you My peace.” And immediately the Monk Alexander saw the Lord with outstretched wings, as if walking on the earth, and He became invisible. In the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, this Divine descent is known as the only one. At the site of the appearance of God the Trinity, a chapel was subsequently built, and to this day the human soul trembles at this place, thinking about the closeness of God to His people.
After the appearance of the Holy Trinity, the monk began to think about where to build a church. An Angel of God appeared to him in a robe and a doll and showed him the place. In the same year, the wooden Church of the Life-Giving Trinity was built (in 1526 a stone one was erected in its place).
Soon the brethren begged the monk to accept the priesthood, and then the abbess. Having become abbot, the monk became even more humble than before. His clothes were all in patches, he slept on the bare floor. He prepared food himself, kneaded dough, baked bread. One day there was not enough firewood and the steward asked the abbot to send those of the monks who were idle to fetch firewood. "I'm idle"- said the monk and began to chop wood. Another time he started carrying water the same way. And at night, when everyone was asleep, the monk often ground bread for others with hand millstones. At night, the monk walked around the cells and, if he heard vain conversations somewhere, knocked lightly on the door and left, and in the morning he instructed the brethren, imposing penance on the guilty.
Many people flocked to him for spiritual advice, and in communication he showed extraordinary insight: he did not accept gifts from a certain Gregory, accusing him of insulting his mother; He gave important advice to the rich villager Simeon, but without following it, he died on a certain day; Boyar Timofey Aprelev instructed, for the sake of the birth of a son, to imitate the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah, and a year later Timofey received what he asked for. For his spiritual children, Blessed Alexander was a true healer of souls and healer of ailments. Through the saint’s prayer, the fisherman multiplied his catch, and the merchant multiplied his estate.
Visitors made donations to feed the brethren and to build the monastery. Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich knew about the monk and sent skilled craftsmen and a lot of material to build cells for the brothers and the stone Trinity Church.
At the end of his life, the monk wished to build a stone church in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, again not without the royal participation and heavenly help. Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich again provided effective assistance, sending an architect, craftsmen and necessary materials that could not be obtained in the Olonets region. When the foundation of the temple was laid, the Mother of God and the Child appeared to the monk on the site of the altar, surrounded by many Angels. The Queen of Heaven promised to fulfill the prayers of the righteous man for his disciples and the monastery. The monk fell prostrate before Her and heard the comforting promise that Her protection over the created monastery would not fail even after his repose. At the same time, the monk saw many monks who subsequently labored in his monastery. The disciple Athanasius lay as if dead from a wonderful vision.
In old age, when Alexander had already approached the Lord along the spiritual ladder of his virtues, the monk gathered the brethren, entrusted them to the intercession of the Mother of God and appointed four hieromonks, so that Saint Macarius would choose an abbot from among them. Until the very moment of his departure, he constantly taught the brethren to preserve humility and love of poverty.
Before his death, the Monk Alexander of Svirsky said to the brethren: “Tie my sinful body at the feet with a rope and drag it into the swampy wilds and, burying it in the moss, trample it under your feet.” But the brothers did not agree. Then he asked that his body be buried not in the monastery, but in the “waste hermitage” near the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The Monk Alexander reposed 30 August 1533 An 85-year-old man.
In 1545, his student Herodion (Kochnev), at the direction of Archbishop Feodosius of Novgorod, compiled the life of St. Alexander.
All-Russian veneration of the saint began soon after his death, in 1547, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, probably on the initiative of Metropolitan Macarius, who personally knew him. By order of the tsar, one of the chapels of the Church of the Intercession on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral) was dedicated to the memory of the saint. This is explained by the fact that on the day of memory of St. Alexander of Svirsky, Russian troops won an important victory over the Kazan prince Epancha in 1552. His image on the famous miraculous icon with 128 marks telling about his life, and written at the behest of Moscow Metropolitan Macarius in connection with the canonization of the saint, is located in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.
Locally, his memory is celebrated both on the day of the discovery of the relics and on the feast of Pentecost, in remembrance of the “Three Sunlight” - the Holy Trinity.
Up to 15 students of the teacher are known. Alexander Svirsky, glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Alexander-Svirsky Monastery became one of the most significant monasteries in the north of Rus', along with the Valaam and Solovetsky monasteries. The monastery provided great assistance in 1703 during the founding of St. Petersburg. The monastery, founded by the Monk Alexander of Svirsky, was of exceptional importance for preserving the integrity of the Russian state and the inviolability of its borders in the north. During the invasion of Lithuania, during the Northern War with the Swedes, during the Patriotic War of 1812, the monastery contributed huge amounts of money and food supplies “for the military people” and in general “for the sovereign’s cause.” In better times, the monastery had 8 churches, a rich sacristy, expensively decorated icons, a rich book depository with ancient manuscripts, scrolls and books. Historians of the 19th century called the monastery the Northern Lavra, it controlled 27 monasteries and the desert of this region.
History of the discovery of the relics
Weak human nature St. Alexander of Svirsky was strengthened by the power of God, and, as his disciple, abbot Herodion, wrote in his life, “his body was tempered so that it was not afraid even of a stone impact.” It is this flesh of God’s holy chosen one that has been preserved in an unprecedented, incorruptible form. The relics of the saint were found on April 17, 1641. They were placed in a silver gilded shrine in the Church of the Transfiguration, where they rested until 1918, providing many healings to everyone who “flowed to them with faith.” The further fate of St. The relics are so unusual that they are worth a detailed narration.
Raka Rev. Alexander Svirsky. Gift from Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich
With the fall of tsarist power, a terrible turmoil began in Russia. The relics of St. Alexander Svirsky were the first in the sad chain of shrines desecrated by the Bolsheviks. It is no coincidence that after the seizure of power in the north (January 5, 1918), the atheists were at the relics of the saint the very next day (January 6). However, six (!) times the Bolsheviks approached St. relics and could not bear the shrine - apparently, they were fettered by fear of it.
As Soviet propaganda reported, on October 22, 1918, when registering (i.e. confiscating) the property of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, “in a cast shrine weighing more than 20 pounds of silver, instead of the incorruptible relics of Alexander Svirsky, a wax doll was discovered " The rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Eugene, who was present during the opening of the shrine, courageously testified against the official version of the authorities, claiming that the shrine contained the authentic remains of the saint. It was worth it. Evgeniy's life - a few days later he was shot by the Bolsheviks. The entire brethren of the monastery also suffered martyrdom.
On December 21, 1918, they were able to take out the relics: they were confiscated and were under the close supervision of Zinoviev himself. It was at his instigation that a special commission was created, which established that the relics are not a “wax doll” or a “skeleton in slippers,” but genuine incorruptible holy flesh. Then the Bolsheviks began a campaign to hide the relics of the saint and secretly sent them to the Military Medical Academy of St. Petersburg, where they were kept under the label of an “unnamed exhibit”, not registered in the meticulously compiled catalogs of the anatomical museum. Everything was done to hide the relics. It contained more than 10,000 anatomical specimens, so the relics would have quietly poured into it without attracting anyone’s attention. Probably, not only the evil will of the Center was at work here, but also the good will of the head. the department of Vladimir Nikolaevich Tonkov, who, by his convictions, was not a “militant atheist,” and he could try to make sure that the relics were simply forgotten. And what is surprising is that not a single employee was arrested at this department, while arrests were commonplace at that time.
In 1997, the search for the relics of the saint began. After a thorough study of all kinds of archives, the organizer of the search, nun Leonida, contacted the Military Medical Academy, a museum at the Department of Normal Anatomy - the oldest of the medical museums (it is about 150 years old). Amazing details were revealed. It became known by chance that security officers from the NKVD came to the VMA more than once to take away the relics, and then they hid the “exhibit” between the closet and the wall so that the security officers would not take it. They were hidden by Vladimir Nikolaevich Tonkov himself and a nurse, who also knew who needed to be hidden.
On August 19, 1997, the official transfer of their monastic brethren to the Alexander-Svirsky monastery took place. Historical, archival and forensic research, completed in St. Petersburg, established that the “mummified remains of an unknown person”, which had been in the anatomical museum of the Military Medical Academy since 1919, belong to the founder of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery. The remains were identified by specialists from the Forensic Medical Expert Service of St. Petersburg, and it was noted that “natural mummification of such high preservation is inexplicable by modern science.”
Immediately after receiving the conclusion, a prayer service to the saint was served in the X-ray room. Those present “witnessed the beginning of the myrrh-streaming of the relics, accompanied by a strong fragrance.” Especially the relics of the Monk Alexander streamed myrrh when placed in the temple after a long imprisonment, on the days of the first Divine Liturgies for the saint. The flow of myrrh and the fragrance were so strong that bees from nowhere flocked to this smell of flower honey, they swarmed around the feet of the Reverend, crawled along the windowsill located next to the shrine. This fact caused great surprise among television operators who filmed this story for the NTV channel. The aroma of myrrh was in the altar, and three bees even got into the Chalice with Communion - they had to be rescued.
The relics of St. Alexander Svirsky are unique: the body is completely undecayed (!), which happens extremely rarely. And, perhaps, this is the only case when even those parts of the face that are exposed to decay in ordinary people in the first place - the soft tissues of the lips, nose and ears - are not touched by decay. The researchers were able to conclude: “It was revealed that the face of the subject was similar to early iconographic images of St. Alexandra". “Not only the intravital modeling was preserved, but also the skin of the face - not wrinkled and dried out, but very smooth and elastic; The skin color is light, with a yellowish-amber tint.” Thus the Lord honored the relics of His witness and seer.