Transfer of the relics of the Right-Believing Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky (1724). The relics of Alexander Nevsky - one of the main shrines of Russia

Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church has been carrying with great fanfare "particles of the relics of Alexander Nevsky" through Russian and foreign villages. But there are no relics of Alexander Nevsky in nature.

By the beginning of the last century, "the relics of Alexander Nevsky" were one of the main shrines of the empire. They were in Petrograd in a monastery specially created on the personal initiative of Peter I (Alexander Nevsky Lavra). The relics were kept in the main cathedral of the Lavra in a shrine made especially for them from the first silver mined in Russia. This reliquary is perhaps the largest piece of silver in the world, weighing almost one and a half tons, and is now on display in a separate hall of the Hermitage.

In 1919, on the initiative of one of the ideologists of atheism, P. A. Krasikov, a decision was made to open the relics of Alexander Nevsky. The church petitioned the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet with a request not to touch "one of the main shrines of the city."

Krasikov replied that: “neither perishable nor incorruptible, in a word, there are no remains of Prince Alexander Nevsky and cannot be, since in 1491 the entire city of Vladimir and the monastery of the Nativity with the church and the coffin of Alexander Nevsky located there burned down.” Therefore, this is “out of the ordinary in its impudence and complete contempt for the masses exploited by the church” deception.

The cancer was opened. And what was in it? Not the imperishable relics of the holy prince, but 12 small bones of different colors (which means they are from different relics). In addition, 2 identical bones of one right leg turned out to be in the cancer. (Acts of the II All-Russian Local Council of the Orthodox Church. M., 1923, p. 10). These mortal remains of several dead were transferred as an exhibit to the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism in the Kazan Cathedral.

By the way, that is why the author of the “method of restoring the appearance of a person based on skeletal remains,” Stalin Prize winner Mikhail Gerasimov, did not recreate the appearance of Alexander Yaroslavich - there was no skull in cancer. So the people had to be content with the image created by Cherkasov in Eisenstein's film.

Where did the "relics of Alexander Nevsky" come from?

What was passed off as the relics of Alexander Yaroslavich (then not yet a saint and not Nevsky) was first revealed to the respectable public in 1380 in the Nativity Monastery of Vladimir, where the prince was buried after his death in 1263.

This monastery was founded in 1192 by the Grand Duke Vsevolod the Big Nest as the main monastery of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus. The monks of the Nativity Monastery, being under the personal patronage of the Grand Duke himself (and, which is also not unimportant, in the neighborhood of his court), could not care about their daily bread. The Grand Dukes of Vladimir took care of this for them, making every effort to ensure that the Nativity Monastery would correspond to its high position and surpass other monastic cloisters in Russia in everything. Unlike their counterparts, the monks of the Nativity Monastery did not have to work hard or think about attracting a flock. That is why this monastery managed for several centuries perfectly without miraculous shrines...

As soon as the princely court moved from Vladimir to Moscow, the Nativity Monastery began to lose its influence. In the second half of the XIV century, the rapid rise of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery began.

In order to maintain the status of the first monastery, now not of Vladimir-Suzdal, but of Moscow Russia, the monks of the Nativity Monastery had to find a worthy answer to the challenge posed by the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The most convincing and effective way is to perform a miracle. But, the miracle does not happen by itself, but from the shrine that creates it. But there were no such people in the monastery. But there was the grave of Alexander Yaroslavich, the direct ancestor of Dmitry Ivanovich - the most suitable relic for the appearance of a "miraculous shrine" and a way to serve the Grand Duke.

In 1380, the monks of the Nativity Monastery announced that they had found the incorruptible relics of Alexander Yaroslavich. This “miracle” happened not just like that, but right at the moment of the Battle of Kulikovo. According to a legend composed within the walls of the monastery, the sexton, who was sleeping in the church, woke up from a bright light and saw how, with the candles lit by themselves, two elders (identified by him as Saints Boris and Gleb) turn to Alexander with words calling for help to great-grandson Dmitry. Naturally, in the morning the monks discovered the incorruptible relics of Yaroslavich.

Despite the efforts of the monks of the Rozhdestvensky monastery, the cult of Alexander Yaroslavich before Ivan the Terrible did not receive wide circulation. Including because the Tatars became the main enemy of Muscovite Russia after the Battle of Kulikovo, with whom Alexander not only never fought, but also was a close friend. After Moscow refused to pay tribute to the Horde, its main opponent was the Catholic West in the person of the Polish-Lithuanian state and Novgorod, the land and wealth of which all the Moscow princes, starting with Ivan Kolita, tried to take over. It was then that the myth about Alexander Yaroslavich, created within the walls of the Nativity Monastery, turned out to be in demand.

True, the holiday did not last long. On May 23, 1491, a fire broke out in the monastery. The Resurrection Chronicle and the Book of Power report that a cancer with the relics of Alexander Yaroslavich died in the fire. But the shrine, in which the imperishable relics of the prince supposedly lie, was again in its place. And the monks, as if nothing had happened, continue to record the miracles that come from them.

Ivan the Terrible made a personal contribution to giving Alexander Yaroslavich the status of the holy defender of the Russian lands. In 1551, before going to Kazan, he spent a week in Vladimir, in prayer at the Nativity Monastery, where another miracle from the holy relics took place. Ivan the Terrible announced that he had healed the prince's sick hand from the cancer of the prince (according to another version, during the prayer service at the cancer for the granting of victory, the close tsar, Arkady, received the healing of the hands). Who could doubt it?

The most grandiose performance with pseudo relics was played out under Peter I, who needed to raise the status of the new capital of the state. The Emperor's drinking buddy, Archimandrite Theodosius, will personally witness the relics. For more than a year, Peter has been thinking about how to decorate the transfer of the shrine in a more beautiful way, in which instead of imperishable miraculous relics, a pile of bones.

On August 30, 1724, the shrine with the relics was transferred to the galley, the rowers on which were the highest state dignitaries. Peter took the helmsman's place. Troops lined up on the banks of the Neva, people crowded. Under the artillery salute and the ringing of bells, the ark was transferred to the shore. Peter opened the shrine with the relics with a key, looked at them, then closed them and threw the key into the river so that no one else could open it. This was the final chord of a grandiose hoax. After such a convincing argument, only a suicide could doubt the authenticity of the relics. And in order not to provoke rumors, the church stopped declaring miracles coming from the relics of Alexander Yaroslavich.

The soup set of the cannibal called "the relics of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky" was returned to the Lavra Trinity Cathedral in 1989. In place of the shrine exhibited in the Hermitage, there is a modest stainless steel box. The people come and bow. What is interesting?

Today, parts of the body of "Alexander Nevsky" are one of the most "popular" relics of the Russian Orthodox Church. Over the past decade, the production of relics and icons with particles of the relics of the "AN" has been put on stream by the ROC. It is not known for certain how many parts the body of the deceased (or what is given out as his relics) was dismembered by pragmatic clergymen. It is quite possible that if it were possible to collect all the particles of the relics of the saint, it would turn out that they belong not even to two, but to a much larger number of the deceased. However, the church has never been embarrassed by such conventions.

The transfer of the relics of the right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky took place on August 30, 1724 from the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir to the Trinity Monastery in St. Petersburg.

The region where the new capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg (1703), was founded, was under the rule of Novgorod the Great in the 11th century. The Neva separated the lands of Karelia and Ingria (Izhora). From the middle of the 12th century, Novgorodians fought hard against the Swedes and German knights for this land. In 1323, the Novgorodians founded the Oreshek fortress, now Shlisselburg, at the source of the Neva. During the Time of Troubles, Karelia and Ingria temporarily fell away from Russia, but at the beginning of the 18th century, under Peter I, they were recaptured by the Russians.

In July 1710, shortly after the capture of Vyborg, Peter I examined the surroundings of the city. On his instructions, a place was chosen for the future monastery in the Name of the Life-Giving Trinity and the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, on the banks of the Black River (later Monastyrka). On February 20, 1712, Peter I ordered to announce to Archimandrite Theodosius (Yanovsky), "so that he would start building a monastery on the examined place." On March 25, 1713, the Divine Liturgy was served in a wooden church consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The monastery was connected with the city by a road built in 1712 by order of Archimandrite Theodosius (future Nevsky Prospekt).

When the new capital was built up and the monastery founded in it in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky acquired a decent temple and a sufficient composition of the brethren, the idea arose of transferring the holy relics of its Heavenly patron to it.

In February 1722, fulfilling the decree of Peter I, Archbishop Theodosius was in Vladimir, at the Nativity Monastery, where the relics of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky were kept. Together with the archimandrite of the monastery, Sergius, he examined the relics stored in a silver tomb, into which they were transferred “from the old one” in 1697 by Metropolitan Hilarion of Suzdal. On June 4, 1723, the Archbishop of Theodosius announced in the Holy Synod that Peter I, being on May 29 in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, ordered the relics of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky to be transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

On June 30, 1723, the Holy Synod decided: “To transfer the holy relics to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, following the example of transferring the holy relics of Metropolitan Philip from the Solovetsky Monastery to Moscow in 7160 ... When transferring the holy relics from the side of the Holy Synod, be the rector of the Nativity Monastery in which the relics rest, and to have with him a moderate number of clergy and secular servants, and from the side of the ruling Senate to be a worthy person from a noble officer, with the proper number of dragoons or soldiers, at the discretion of the Senate. And as all of this will need to be determined and prepared for transference, then that transference will be carried out without any delay and by action ...

After the Liturgy and prayer singing, performed by the archimandrite with the clergy, placing a shrine and spreading a canopy and ordering the clergy and military assigned to the escort to decent places, formally accepting the shown path, which way from the city ... to lead with ordinary church singing and bell ringing, as he should see off the relics of the saint, and after seeing him, go this way moderately, with the discretion of the places, so that in convenient situations there is no more need for delay, and in uncomfortable ones, harmful speed is not used. With the relics, both spiritual persons and the guard protecting from the military should always be inseparable for observation, so that no foul language and indecent actions occur from anyone with the holy relics. Preserve from accidental sabotage by all sorts of measures, as far as extreme meaning and finite power are possible. All the way to keep a detailed journal, from which, when writing out, send a report to the Holy Synod from each place by any mail, so that the Synod is aware of it. The archimandrite appointed to escort the relics was instructed to have such haste on the way so that he could arrive with the holy relics to St.

To accompany the holy relics, Mikhail Vasilievich Sobakin was appointed, and for the guard and parcels, a chief officer with a non-commissioned officer and twenty dragoons were allocated from the Moscow garrison.

An ark with a canopy for relics with a “bearer” (7 arshins wide, 11 arshins long, more than 5 arshins high) was delivered from Moscow to Vladimir on August 10. It was carried by about 150 people, and sometimes more. The transfer of the holy relics began on August 11, 1723. After the liturgy and prayer service with the blessing of water, the holy relics of Alexander Nevsky were raised, carried to the southern doors of the cathedral and placed in the reliquary. Since it was difficult to get out of the gates of the monastery, the fence was partially dismantled; during the procession through the cramped market square of the city, several stalls had to be broken. The city of Vladimir escorted the relics by ringing bells until midnight. The inhabitants of the nearest villages met and saw off the holy relics "with many people of the people."

On August 17 they approached Moscow, and on August 18 a solemn meeting of the holy relics was held by the archimandrite and brethren of the Simonov Monastery, the archbishop of Sarsky and Podonsky Leonid, the bishop of Suzdal and Yuryevsky Varlaam, a host of clergy and many believers. They went to Moscow along Meshchanskaya Street and along Sretenka, Vvedenskaya and Petrovskaya streets; without entering the Kremlin, along Tverskaya they carried the relics beyond Yamskaya Tverskaya Street and placed them in a field. With a large confluence of believers, prayers were performed all night to St. Alexander Nevsky.

On August 23, the relics were in Klin, 26 in Tver, 28 in Torzhok, 31 in Vyshny Volochek. On September 9, the holy relics were transferred across Lake Ilmen to Novgorod. A prayer service was performed at the Sophia Cathedral. On September 10, they continued their journey with the relics along the Volkhov with a stop at the Khutynsky Monastery. On September 13 they were delivered to Staraya Ladoga, on September 15 - to Novaya Ladoga. In Shlisselburg on September 19, the holy relics were met by Brigadier Shuvalov and Colonel Buholts. Here the relics were placed in a stone church and remained until the next July, 1724. On July 24, Peter I ordered Archbishop Theodosius to go “to Shlushenburg to the tomb of the holy noble Prince Alexander Nevsky with the relics” and complete their transfer to St. Petersburg before August 30.

By that time, a decree of the Holy Synod of June 15, 1724 was issued, which decreed: “From now on, the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky in a monastic person should not be written to anyone at all, but to write that holy image in the clothes of the grand duke.” In Shlisselburg, his image was removed from the shrine of the saint (in monastic attire, since he reposed in the schema) and a new one, painted by the painter of the capital's printing house Ivan Odolsky, was placed in its place. At the same time, a copper board was made by the famous engraver Picard with a view of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, for printing engravings. The word "great" was added to the title of Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky.

In the monastery itself, for the meeting of the relics, a special staircase was made for bringing the relics into the upper church in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky, guns and gunpowder for salute were stocked. On the morning of Sunday, August 30, 1724, three shots from the Peter and Paul Fortress alerted the capital of the beginning of the celebration. The Neva fleet in full force (even the boat of Peter I was launched) went up the Neva towards the galley with holy relics. Peter I moved to the galley, where he himself stood at the helm, and the dignitaries who were with him sat down at the oars. With cannon salute and bell ringing, the honest relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky were met on the banks of the Neva, near the Monastyrka River. From the shore, the holy relics were transferred by the king and dignitaries to the monastery and placed in a new church, which was consecrated on the same day.

After the end of the transfer of the relics of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky, Peter I ordered "according to the new service, instead of the service that was previously for this saint on November 23, from now on August 30 will be celebrated." The compilation of the new service was entrusted by the Synod to the oberieromonk of the fleet, adviser to the Synod, protector of schools and printing houses, Archimandrite Gabriel (Buzhinsky).

An associate of Peter I, a famous preacher who wrote, according to the emperor, “clearly and in a good calm,” Archimandrite Gabriel composed many laudatory words on the victories of Russian weapons, in praise of Emperor Peter and the city he founded on the banks of the Neva.

In addition to the new service for the transfer of the relics of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky, Archimandrite Gabriel had to “compose from the life of him found in the Prologue, adding to that from the war with the Swedes and ending in peace, a brief history and the transfer of his holy relics by decency, as well as to the composed stichera and to compose a synaxarium of sedals and a canon, and to print all that service, as usual, and send it to the whole state.

Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, in schema Alexy

In 1725, in the printing house at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, a thanksgiving service for the conclusion of eternal peace between the Russian Empire and Sweden was printed in five editions of 1200 copies each. Several more editions followed the following year, bringing the total number of copies to 11,900; they were handed over to the Synod for distribution to the dioceses.

However, the distribution of the new service soon ceased. In the words of the service about the domestic affairs of the Petrovs: “and inside a lot of evil bydosha us, humility from all-evil rebels, spreading much bloodshed. The heart of Absalomlah, opposed to everything, moves not only to refute the paternal deeds, but also seeks his health ”(stichera on lithium, tone 5), Archimandrite of the Pskov-Caves Monastery Markell (Radyshevsky) saw a reproach to the high honor of the blessed memory of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, martyred by Peter I in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1717. By decree of Empress Catherine I of September 18, 1727, it was ordered: “The services of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander, which were sent throughout the Russian Empire to the church, from those churches, collect everything as before ... and keep those services intact until the decree, henceforth the festival of the Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky is still sent by the monthly Menaion. The service for the transfer of relics and the life, compiled by Archimandrite Gabriel (Buzhinsky) and edited by Peter I himself, became the lot of the manuscript tradition until they were included in the book "Lives of Russian Saints" in the 60s of the 18th century.

Later, when the inner palace passions of the beginning of the 18th century subsided, the service took its place in all editions of the Synodal Menaia.

The content of this service, in addition to the church glorification of the saint, includes historical material about the events of the beginning of the 18th century. In the text of the service, thanks are given to God for the victory given to Russia over Sweden, for the long-awaited peace, Russia is glorified as a country of the Orthodox faith and its new capital, dedicated to the Apostle Peter. The newly compiled Life of St. Alexander Nevsky is also a brief historical note on the history of the Northern War and the transfer of the relics of the holy prince from Vladimir to St. Petersburg.

By August 30, 1750, at the behest of the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth, a silver tomb was made for the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky. For its manufacture, 90 pounds of pure silver were spent, the first product of the Kolyvan Mining Plant. The work was carried out by the masters of the St. Petersburg Mint.

On the sides of the tomb are thematic reliefs depicting the deeds and events of the life of St. Alexander Nevsky. On the front - his arrival at the Gorodetsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, where the death of the prince took place; on three other bas-reliefs - the battle with the Livonian knights, the entry into Pskov, the battle on the Neva at the mouth of the Izhora. Below is the repose and burial of the saint; on the opposite side - the epitaph of M.V. Lomonosov:

The holy and brave prince rests his body here;
But in spirit from heaven to this city looks down
And on the shores, where he defeated the nasty,
And where invisibly Peter hastened.
Revealing his holy zeal,
She erected a shrine in honor of this protector,
From the first silver that the depths of her earth
It revealed how she was pleased to sit on the throne.

Above the tomb is a silver canopy topped with a grand prince's crown, in front in a niche is a silver pyramid with a chased image of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky with a banner in his hand and his wife with a cross in her hand. Above - cast angels holding shields with inscriptions composed by Lomonosov. On the northern shield: “To God the Almighty and His saint, the Blessed and Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky, Rossov, the zealous defender, who despised the punishment of the tormentor, who commanded the creature to worship, who tamed barbarism in the East, deposed envy in the West, and was resettled in the earthly reign in the eternal kingdom in the summer of 1263.

By the zeal of Peter the Great, 1724 was transferred to the place of ancient and new victories.

On the southern shield: “The most sovereign Elizabeth, an imitator of paternal veneration to the saints, zealous for him with piety, this courage and holiness by his deeds adorned the cancer from the silver first acquired under her blessed state, deigned to build in the summer of 1750.”

After the completion of the celebrations of the transfer of the relics of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky, Emperor Peter I conceived the idea of ​​establishing the first military order in Russia in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky. The order was established by Catherine I in 1725.

In 1916, due to the alarming situation at the front, it was planned to evacuate the city shrine - the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky. The commission of the Synod opened the tomb and examined the relics, but the evacuation was not carried out. Subsequently, a few years later, the tomb, one of the largest memorial structures in which Russian baroque art reached its apogee, was taken out of the monastery and since 1922 has been on display in the State Hermitage Museum.

At present, a small particle of the relics of the Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky is kept in a reliquary in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and one of the venerated icons of the holy prince is also kept in this cathedral.

In the transfer of the relics of the right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky to St. Petersburg, the Providence of God saw heavenly protection for the city and the new capital of Russia. Traditionally, Russian cities, and even more so the capital, kept the holy relics of the saints of God and other shrines, which were hope and spiritual shield from enemies and other disasters. The Lord God was pleased to save from the German hordes, through the prayers of the faithful Prince Alexander, Petrograd during the First World War and the city of Leningrad during the Second World War from the German fascist invaders. So the heroism of the Russian people, combined with the prayerful intercession of the heavenly patron of the city on the Neva, continues to testify to the heavenly help of the noble prince Alexander Nevsky.

Troparion of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, tone 4

Recognize your brethren, Russian Joseph, / not in Egypt, but reigning in Heaven, / faithful to Prince Alexander, / and receive their prayers, / multiplying the life of people with the fruitfulness of your land, / the cities of your dominion by protecting the prayer / and right contending.

Kontakion of Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, Tone 4

I am the skin of your relatives Boris and Gleb / appearing to help you from Heaven, / ascetic to Velger of the Sveisky and fighting him, / so are you now, / blessed Alexandra, / come to help your relatives / and defeat us who fight.

Prayer to Saint Alexander Nevsky

FROM who is the helper of all those who diligently resort to you and our warm intercessor before the Lord, holy noble prince Alexandra! Look mercifully upon us, unworthy of many iniquities that are indecent to yourself, who are now flowing to the race of your relics and crying out to you from the depths of your heart: you were a zealot and defender of the Orthodox faith in your life, and we are unshakable in it with your warm prayers. You carefully passed the great service entrusted to you, and with your help to stay every time, in it you are called to eat, instruct. You, having defeated the regiments of adversaries, drove you away from the Russian borders, and overthrow all visible and invisible enemies who are taking up arms against us. You, having left the perishable crown of the kingdom of the earth, have chosen a silent life, and now you are righteously crowned with an incorruptible crown, you reign in heaven, intercede for us, we humbly pray to you, a quiet and serene life and to the eternal Kingdom, arrange for us a steady procession through your intercession. Standing with all the saints of the Throne of God, praying for all Orthodox Christians, may the Lord God preserve them with His grace in peace, health, and prosperity, and all prosperity in the coming years, and let us praise and bless God, in the Trinity of the Holy Father, glorious, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen.

By order of "href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%91%D1%82%D1%80_I">Peter I, the relics of the noble prince were transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.

This happened shortly after the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystadt between Russia and Sweden, which put an end to the Northern War, started by Peter back in 1700. It is quite understandable why the emperor wanted to honor the memory of the Grand Duke: after all, Nevsky is famous for his victory over the Swedish army in 1240.

This is what most people know about. However, few people know that the relics of the prince were badly damaged in a fire, the main avenue of St. his relics, and instead of them the bones of different people are kept. Hieromonk Pimen (Shevchenko), a resident of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, spoke about this and many other things for Istorii.RF.

"Religious procession of 100 thousand people"

Father Pimen, hello and Happy Holidays! Tell us how the Orthodox celebrate the day of transferring the relics of the prince to St. Petersburg?

Usually, on the day of the celebration of the transfer of the relics of the Right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, we always have a festival of bell ringing, which took place with us the day before, on Sunday. It always takes place on a Sunday for the convenience of people, including ringers who come from all regions of the country. On the very day of the holiday, a festive liturgy is celebrated: both in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and in the Kazan Cathedral - today the Divine Liturgy was led by Metropolitan Varsonofy in concelebration host of bishops and clergy. From there, a procession is already underway, and a solemn prayer service is taking place on Alexander Nevsky Square.

- How many people took part in the procession this year?

Today, at a dinner, the Bishop Viceroy reported (he received information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs) that [there were] about 100,000 people [at the procession]. Of course, it is joyful that there are people who come and attend this prayer procession on a working day.

Is it true that the procession was not held for a long time due to the ban of the Soviet leadership and began to be held again quite recently?

Yes, we have resumed this tradition five years ago. It was timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and since this year we have been walking down the street, along the main artery of our city, which, by the way, was named after the blessed prince. It was in 1724 that Peter I renamed the Monastyrsky tract into Nevsky Prospekt - in honor of Nevsky. And already under Catherine II, when it was merged with the central perspective, Nevsky Prospekt received its continuation to the Admiralty. Thus, Nevsky Prospekt has its name from the noble prince, and not from the Neva. In addition, in this procession, two of the most important shrines that Peter I laid the foundation of this city meet: this is the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the relics of Alexander Nevsky. These two patrons met and continue to meet now on Alexander Nevsky Square, passing, in fact, through the entire historical St. Petersburg.

"Gratitude for the abolition of serfdom"

The day of the transfer of the relics of the prince is not only a church holiday, but also a public holiday. When did it acquire all-Russian significance?

Indeed, since the time of Elizabeth Petrovna, the day of the transfer of the relics of Alexander Nevsky became a state day, and even more so after the assumption of the office of Emperor Alexander I, this holiday turned into an all-Russian celebration. It was believed that this was the sovereign's day, and prayers were served in all churches. This holiday began to be celebrated very brightly after Emperor Alexander II signed a decree on the abolition of serfdom. In many parts of Russia, in gratitude to God for the abolition of serfdom, people painted icons of Alexander Nevsky. At that time, the image of Alexander Nevsky appears, holding a banner in his hand - it was a kind of gratitude to Emperor Alexander. When the icons of his heavenly patron were painted, many of them even had dedicatory inscriptions - to the right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky for his military exploits and to Emperor Alexander II. Many churches in Russia began to be consecrated just in honor of Alexander Nevsky. There were two waves: the first - after the abolition of serfdom, when in Russia they began to build many chapels and churches in honor of Alexander Nevsky, to consecrate the aisles, and the second wave - after the assassination of the emperor, when many churches began to be consecrated in honor of the noble prince.

Why PeterI decided to transport the relics of Nevsky to the Northern capital? Did he revere the prince, because he, like Peter himself, won a glorious victory over the Swedes?

You know, one of the historians points out that back in 1703, Peter I was inspecting the territory of the future [Alexander Nevsky] monastery, and even then he had the idea to create a monastery in honor of Alexander Nevsky here and transfer his remains here. The fact is that two events that were associated with Alexander Nevsky were mixed up among the local residents. The first is, of course, the victory on the Neva. But, as we know, it did not take place here, not at the mouth of the Black River and the Neva, where the Alexander Nevsky Lavra is now located. There was also another event. Prince Andrei, son of Alexander Nevsky, defeated the Swedish fortress, which was located on the Neva, not far from here. Most likely, these two events were intertwined in the minds of the people, and local residents pointed out that this is the very place where Alexander Nevsky won. Although, I think, Peter knew the true place in Ust-Izhora, but, one way or another, since the place was associated with the name of Alexander Nevsky through his son, it was decided to build a monastery here and transfer the relics of the blessed prince here.

Historians and theologians write that the relics of Nevsky "were discovered" in 1380 the day before. What does it mean? Has anyone seen them before?

The fact is that Prince Alexander Nevsky was buried in the tomb of one of the churches of the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir, and many revered and knew him. But the battle of Kulikovo became the reason for such an all-Russian veneration. Nevsky was revealed to many people as a kind of representative, a prayer book for Russia. That is, not even the relics were discovered, but Alexander Nevsky himself. For the first time, his name as a saint was loudly heard.

“Soviet rumors about the “wrong” relics”

- What happened to the relics of the prince while they were in Vladimir?

The relics were hidden for a long time, that is, they were in the ground: a stone tomb was made, a coffin was lowered there, a stone slab was placed on top. Then the temple burned down. After the fire, the relics were raised to the surface and acquired the form familiar to us when they are not in the ground, but in cancer.

- The relics were damaged in the fire?

They suffered very badly. Peter I had already brought the relics [to St. Petersburg] in a relatively small ark - this is what was left of the relics. There is a description of them - however, very peculiar. When in 1922 there was a seizure of church valuables and the Bolsheviks opened the relics of Alexander Nevsky, there were even some doctors who drew up an act stating that there were by no means relics, but 12 bones from different people and the like. But you need to understand that the era dictated its conditions, and it was necessary to belittle the importance of Alexander Nevsky with all his might. At that moment, there was a very extensive discussion about the building of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and, of course, by humiliating the remains of Alexander Nevsky, one could introduce a share of doubt and a split in Orthodox society. Therefore, when already in 1989 the relics were discovered in the storerooms of the current Kazan Cathedral (then the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism), they were opened and examined, and there were no such statements from those experts who were present there.

- So, we can say that the relics of Nevsky have not lost their significance?

After all, we are talking about the fact that the relics are the remains of a holy man. Regardless of whether it is an incorruptible body or bones, we still recognize it as relics. For example, they brought the relics of St. Nicholas - this is part of the relics, but we still call them "relics". This is what we come into contact with the grace that the saint acquired in his life during the years of his stay on earth.

The life and deeds of the right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky may seem to be set out quite fully. Many works of both ecclesiastical and secular nature have already been written about the holy prince, but, nevertheless, his personality will always attract attention. Alexander Nevsky at all times was an example for many generations of citizens of our country. His earthly life makes us think not only about the role of morality in politics, which is relevant for today, but also about how a person can serve God in the rank in which he is called. As for his policy, we can say that it created the most optimal model of Russia's relations with the East and West for its time.

Recently, however, a different trend has emerged in historical science: in the 80-90s of the last century, both in Western European and Russian science, historical works appeared, the purpose of which was to rethink the significance for the history of Russia of the politics and activities of the noble prince. The result of this was the idea that his feat was not just a typical, ordinary act for a warrior-prince, but rather a fatal mistake that predetermined the “wrong” path of development of medieval Russia, and then Russia.

Moral assessments in historical science are inevitable: assessing the past, each generation determines its future path. However, such a "judgment of history" is not always fair. And, contrary to the accusations made by such authors, there are indisputable facts that testify to the truth of the merits and labors of the Right-Believing Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky. This article is devoted to one of these facts - the veneration of Prince Alexander as a saint.

But before turning to the question of the history of glorification, it is necessary to make at least a brief historiographical review of the works devoted to the study and evaluation of the work of the holy Prince Alexander.

The largest Russian historians N.M. Karamzin, N.I. Kostomarov, S.M. Solovyov paid considerable attention to the personality of the prince and at the same time paid due respect to his activities. N.M. Karamzin calls Alexander "the hero of Nevsky"; N.I. Kostomarov notes his wise policy with the Horde and the Orthodox spirit of his reign; CM. Solovyov writes: "The observance of the Russian land from trouble in the east, the famous feats for faith and land in the west brought Alexander a glorious memory in Russia and made him the most prominent historical figure in ancient history from Monomakh to the Don".

In general, historians of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, on the basis of a thorough study of the sources about Alexander Nevsky, basically established the data about him that modern science has. At the same time, in Russian pre-revolutionary historiography, unlike later times, there were no too sharp disagreements and controversies in assessing the activities of Alexander Nevsky.

The works of Soviet historians consolidated and supported the traditional interpretation, according to which Alexander Nevsky played an exceptional role in the dramatic period of Russian history, when Russia was attacked from three sides: the Catholic West, the Mongol-Tatars and Lithuania. Alexander Nevsky, who had not lost a single battle in his entire life, showed the talent of a commander and diplomat, repulsing the German attack and, submitting to the inevitable dominion of the Horde, prevented the devastating campaigns of the Mongol-Tatars against Russia.

Skeptical modern historians conclude that the traditional image of Alexander Nevsky - a brilliant commander and patriot - is exaggerated. They believe that objectively he played a negative role in the history of Russia and Russia. At the same time, they focus on the evidence in which Alexander Nevsky acts as a power-hungry and cruel person. They also express doubts about the scale of the Livonian threat to Russia and the real military significance of the clashes on the Neva and Lake Peipsi.

Notes concerning the actual history of the veneration of Prince Alexander as a saint are found in the works of many researchers. However, so far there is not a single monograph directly devoted to the study of the history of the veneration of the Right-Believing Prince Alexander. Nevertheless, the following works can be distinguished: Reginskaya N.V., Tsvetkov S.V. "The Blessed Prince of Orthodox Russia - the Holy Warrior Alexander Nevsky"; Surmina I.O. "Alexander Nevsky in Russian pre-revolutionary historiography", as well as an article by Frithion Benjamin Schenk "Russian hero or myth?" .

Among the primary sources, one should first of all point to the historical and hagiographic "The Tale of the Life and Courage of the Right-Believing and Grand Duke Alexander". The "Tale" has come down to us in several editions of the 13th-18th centuries. The first edition was written within the walls of the Vladimir Nativity Monastery by a younger contemporary of Alexander Nevsky no later than the 1280s. The original life was a panegyric in honor of Alexander. The writer selected the facts in order to show the deep impression that the personality of the prince made on his contemporaries. The life consisted of a monastic preface and a dozen separate episodes from the life of the prince, which bore the character of the testimony of "self-evident"; at the end, a lamentation for the deceased was attributed, which included a posthumous miracle with a spiritual diploma. At the same time, the last episode was evidence of the unconditional holiness of the prince, and the entire text of his life spoke of the moral purity and height of Alexander's spiritual feat.

In the XV-XVI centuries, the life was repeatedly processed. At the same time, they either sought to bring the text to the hagiographic canons, or expanded its historical content by inserting from the annals. Various versions of the life have survived as part of chronicles and collections of the lives of the saints.

The veneration of the Grand Duke originated after his death at the burial site, in the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir, in the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality. It is known about the miracle that happened during the burial of the prince: when, during the funeral service, Metropolitan Kirill approached the coffin to put a permit into Alexander's hand, the hand of the deceased itself extended, as if alive, and accepted the letter. After the metropolitan told the people about what he saw, “some from that day began to call on St. Alexander in their prayers,” writes Metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov) of Moscow and Kolomna. "The Tale of the Life of Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky", written in the hagiographic genre by a monk of the Nativity Monastery between 1260 and 1280, confirms the assumption that Alexander was revered in the region soon after his death as a holy prince. In the XIV-XV centuries, "The Life of Alexander Nevsky" was known in many Russian cities, including Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov. There is evidence that already from the 14th century, Alexander was addressed on the eve of battles with the enemy as the patron saint of the Russian army. The miracle of the appearance of St. Alexander Nevsky to the sacristan of the Vladimir Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos is known on the night of September 8, 1380, that is, on the eve of the Battle of Kulikovo, when in a vision the noble prince Alexander Yaroslavich rose from the grave and came out “to help his great-grandson, Grand Duke Dmitry, overcome I exist from foreigners." After the Battle of Kulikovo, in 1381, the first discovery and examination of the relics of the holy prince took place. “After 117 years in the earth,” the holy relics were found incorruptible. Metropolitan Cyprian of Moscow ordered from then on to call Alexander Nevsky "blessed." A monastic church celebration was held for the saint, a canon and the first icons were painted.

The growth of his veneration is observed in the first half of the 15th century in Novgorod. In the first half of the 16th century, the famous church writer Pakhomiy Serb compiled a canon for Alexander Nevsky, and at the Council of 1547, the Russian Orthodox Church ranked the prince, on the basis of investigations about the miracles he performed, already among the all-Russian saints as a new miracle worker. For this event, on the orders of Metropolitan Macarius, the first canonical life of the holy prince Alexander Nevsky was written for the Great Menaia of the Fourth, compiled on the basis of his princely biography, well known from the end of the 13th century.

In 1552, a miracle happened in the presence of Ivan the Terrible, who was marching on the Kazan kingdom and stopped in Vladimir. During a prayer service at the shrine of St. Alexander Nevsky for the granting of victory, the close tsar, Arkady, received healing of his hands; he subsequently wrote another life of the saint. Over time, churches began to be built throughout Russia and monasteries were founded in the name of the holy noble prince Alexander. In the works of court history (Book of Powers, Nikon Chronicle), the prince is glorified as the founder of the Danilovich family.

The rise in the veneration of the prince occurred in the 18th century under Peter I. In 1710, the tsar ordered the erection of a monastery in the name of Alexander Nevsky on the site of the victory of the Novgorod squad over a detachment of Swedes in 1240 and transfer the relics of the prince to the new capital. By this symbolic act, Peter wanted to firmly link the memory of his own victory over the Swedes with the memory of Alexander's triumph at the Battle of the Neva. In 1724, the first Russian emperor ordered that henceforth the saint should no longer be portrayed as a schemnik and a monk, but only “in the robes of the Grand Duke.” Moreover, Peter ordered that the day of the celebration of the memory of Prince Alexander be postponed from November 23 (the day of his burial in Vladimir in 1263) to August 30 (the date of the signing of the peace treaty with the Swedes in Nystadt in 1721). It was on this day in 1724 that the solemn transfer of the relics of Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir to St. Petersburg took place. Peter personally carried the relics of the holy prince, which arrived by water from Vladimir, into the Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos built on the territory of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. From that moment on, the prince was recognized as the heavenly patron of the empire and its new capital, as well as the great predecessor of Peter. After the transfer of the relics, Peter I ordered "according to the new service, instead of the service that was previously for this saint on November 23rd, from now on, celebrate August 30th."

Thus, in the 18th century, the noble prince Alexander appears before us no longer as a reverend saint of God, but as a glorified prince and great ancestor of the royal family. Having connected the name of Saint Alexander Nevsky with the most important date in the history of Russia - the signing of a peace treaty with the Swedes, Peter I gave his veneration a state and political character. Already after the death of the emperor, in 1725, fulfilling the will of her late husband, Catherine I established an order in honor of St. Alexander Nevsky, which became one of the highest and most honorable Russian awards. And by August 30, 1750, at the behest of the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth, a silver tomb was made for the relics of the saint. For its manufacture, 90 pounds of pure silver were spent - the first product of the Kolyvan Mining Plant. In the 19th century, three Russian emperors were named after the noble prince Alexander, thus emphasizing the role of the noble prince-warrior as the patron of the reigning house. The latter circumstance largely predetermined why hundreds of churches and temples were consecrated in the name of St. Alexander Nevsky.

At the end of the 18th century, and finally in the 19th century, under the influence of the works of secular historians, the personality of Alexander acquires the features of a national hero. In a characteristic elevated tone, he wrote about Alexander N.M. Karamzin, the prince appeared very worthily in S.M. Solovyov, and even the skeptic N.I. Kostomarov, whose assessments are often very sarcastic, made an exception for Alexander and wrote about him in an almost Karamzin spirit.

The image of Alexander Nevsky in the 19th century stands out, firstly, for its secular character: in the texts of Russian historians, the saint appears as the ruler of the Russian land; secondly, Alexander turned into a historical figure who not only defended the Russian state from invaders, but also defended the Russian people, Russian way of life and the Orthodox faith.

In the summer of 1917, in view of the threat of a German attack on Petrograd, a commission of the Holy Synod opened the tomb and examined the relics of the noble prince in case of their urgent evacuation. But the evacuation was not carried out.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks in the first two decades of their rule did not take into account the activities of Alexander Nevsky. There were several reasons for this: firstly, he was a saint and a symbol of the Orthodox Church; secondly, a representative of the monarchical regime and the ruling class; thirdly, the Russians glorified him as a national hero. M.N. Pokrovsky and his student branded the prince as "a henchman of the Novgorod merchant bourgeoisie." In 1918-1920, the Bolsheviks launched a fierce anti-religious campaign, during which about 70 holy relics were opened and looted. At that time, the dictator of "Red Petrograd" G.E. Zinoviev and his Commissariat of Justice tried to get permission from the Petrograd Soviet to open and remove the relics of the blessed Prince Alexander, but the Soviet refused because of active protests from Metropolitan Veniamin of Petrograd and Gdov and all the believers of the city. However, in May 1922, G.E. Zinoviev managed to advance in the Petrograd Soviet a resolution on opening the saint's shrine.

On May 12, 1922, at 12 noon, the communist authorities of the city, despite the resistance of the clergy and believers, opened the casket. The relics were opened in public. For this, workers of the district committees of the party, communists, representatives of military units, and the public were invited. The silver tomb was disassembled into pieces and taken from the Holy Trinity Cathedral by trucks to the Winter Palace. The relics of the saint were put on public display, confiscated and later placed in the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. The Bolsheviks filmed the opening of the relics on film, and in 1923 the “chronicle tape” “The Opening of the Relics of Alexander Nevsky” was shown in cinemas.

Alexander Nevsky was not forgotten only due to the radical ideological turn of the mid-1930s, which declared Soviet patriotism a new propaganda doctrine. Along with other historical figures of pre-revolutionary Russian history, Alexander was completely "rehabilitated" in 1937. Having been persecuted before, he has now become an outstanding figure in the history of the USSR. One of the most important moments of this "rehabilitation" was the film by S. Eisenstein "Alexander Nevsky" (1938). It turned out to be so topical on the eve of the war that it was not allowed to be shown. And only after the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he appeared on the screens of the country.

Appeal to Russian patriotic, including Orthodox church, traditions played an extremely important role during the Great Patriotic War. In the Soviet Armed Forces, orders were established in honor of famous Russian commanders. In April 1942, a nationwide celebration of the 700th anniversary of the Battle of the Ice was held in the USSR. Famous paintings by P.D. were painted for this event. Korina and V.A. Serov. The Soviet press published a significant amount of materials on the events of 1242, the purpose of which was to raise and maintain patriotic mood in the ranks of the Red Army and the civilian population.

Postcards were issued and posters were put up depicting Prince Alexander Nevsky. And on July 29, a decree was published by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment (in fact, the restoration) of the Order of Alexander Nevsky.

In the besieged Leningrad in the autumn of 1942, the artists A.A. Leporskaya and A.A. Ranchevskaya decorated the vestibule in the Trinity Cathedral, where until 1922 there was a shrine with the relics of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky. And in the spring of 1943, access was opened to the burial places of the great Russian commanders - Alexander Nevsky, A.V. Suvorov, M.I. Kutuzov, Peter I. In 1944, an exhibition dedicated to the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky was arranged in the Trinity Cathedral, which was visited by a large number of military personnel of the Leningrad Front and residents of the city. This wave of civil popularity of the noble prince was also supported by the Russian Orthodox Church. During the war years, she collected donations for the construction of an aviation squadron named after Alexander Nevsky. The name of the prince was perceived as a symbol of the fight against German aggression on Russian lands. At the same time, it was taken into account that the Novgorod prince, who defeated the knights of the Teutonic Order on the ice of Lake Peipus in 1242, was more suitable than anyone else for Soviet propaganda against Nazi Germany: “Hitler, who dared to attack the USSR, will be defeated by the Red Army in the same way how Alexander Nevsky defeated the knights of the Teutonic Order in 1242.

The relics of the noble prince were again returned from the Kazan Cathedral, which housed the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in 1989. In 1990, on the initiative of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the land taken at the site of the battle in Ust-Izhora was consecrated and, accompanied by a military escort, delivered to the Lavra in a special chest, where it was placed in the Holy Trinity Cathedral next to the relics of the prince. Consecrating the Ust-Izhora land, the Patriarch called to pray for all those who died defending their homeland. The 750th anniversary of the Battle of the Neva was solemnly celebrated in Leningrad in 1990. The Alexander Nevsky Church was restored at the site of the battle. The domestic mass media also remembered the activities of the holy prince. And the celebrations of the days of memory of the Battle of the Neva and the Battle of Peipsi are now held annually and with the involvement of clubs of military historical reconstruction.

In 2007, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, the relics of the saint were transported throughout the cities of Russia and Latvia for a month.

Interest in the personality of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky remains to this day. Information about his life and activities, recorded by written monuments, is scarce, but for the most part compiled by witnesses and eyewitnesses of events, therefore they are read again and again with interest by both specialists and the general reader. Unfortunately, far from all the details of the life and work of Prince Alexander Nevsky are known to us.

So, in the chronology of the veneration of the saint in historical time, several stages can be distinguished:

XIII-XIV centuries - Novgorod-Vladimir stage,

XIV-XVII centuries - Moscow stage,

XVIII century - 1920s - St. Petersburg-European stage,

1920s - 1990s - the Soviet stage,

1990s - 2010s - the Orthodox-iconological stage.

It should be noted that each of the stages of veneration of the right-believing Prince Alexander is associated with key periods in Russian history.

From a locally venerated Vladimir saint, Prince Alexander Nevsky in historical time became the heavenly patron of the Russian Empire. And in this, without a doubt, we see a special Providence of God. As noted by G.V. Vernadsky, “two feats of Alexander Nevsky - the feat of warfare in the West and the feat of humility in the East - had one goal: the preservation of Orthodoxy as the moral and political strength of the Russian people. This goal was achieved: the growth of the Russian Orthodox kingdom took place on the soil prepared by Alexander.

Instead of a conclusion

As noted above, works are currently appearing, the main purpose of which is to review the activities and personality of Alexander Yaroslavich from a critical side. We will not take into account the personal mystical experience of prayer, but the answer to all the arguments put forward by these authors for us is the fact that the blessed Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky is a saint! He was glorified almost immediately after his death. And this cannot but be evidence of his charitable life. And even if his canonization was directly related to the fact that, according to I.N. Danilevsky, “in the eyes of his contemporaries, he turned out to be the last defender of Orthodoxy on the eve of the expected end of the world,” one must clearly understand that one does not become a saint just like that. Saints are people glorified by God Himself. And if the Lord was pleased to glorify in the centuries His saint, the right-believing Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, then this has a deep meaning. For by imitating the saints, we draw nearer to God. “From the life of the holy prince Alexander, we can conclude that not only those who strive in life, strive in piety, not only those who refuse the affairs of the world, can please the Lord by serving the people in the most various forms of service. In every rank, in every social position, if everything that we do, that we set as the goal of our life, we will do in the name of the Lord. So live, imitating the holy prince Alexander, glorifying God in your souls!”

The fact remains that Prince Alexander has always occupied and will continue to occupy an important place in the historical memory of the people. "Alexander Nevsky - Russian hero or myth?" - this is the question that critics are trying to answer. And the answer to this question lies in the very understanding of the word "myth", in which two meanings can be distinguished. One comes down to the opposition of myth and real history. According to the second, the myth has a culture-forming meaning, according to it the basic values ​​of society and the state are verified. But can we give a correct answer to the question: “What is “real history”? Is it possible to have an objective perception of it, a perception outside of someone's interpretations, which ultimately appeal to certain myths? When a person doubts the expediency of his existence, in the absence of a counterweight, this leads to suicide. When a nation doubts the justification of its existence, this leads to its degeneration. For, as St. Nicholas of Serbia wrote: “Everyone who wants to shame God is himself put to shame, and God is given an opportunity to become even more glorified. And everyone who tries to humiliate the righteous, in the end humiliates himself, and exalts the righteous even more. "Don't you know that the saints will judge the world?" (1 Cor. 6: 2) - the Apostle Paul tells us. Critics should seriously think about these words, for “what God has cleansed, you shall not call unclean” (Acts 10:15).

Much more interesting for us is the history of the spread of veneration of the saint. In different eras of the existence of the Russian state, the attitude towards the activities and personality of the Grand Duke Alexander acquired one color or another. Until the 18th century, we see Alexander in the rank of saints. And although we know that the all-Russian veneration of the saint began long before Peter, it was under Peter I that Alexander Nevsky became one of the most revered national saints in Russia. Peter, who founded the new capital of the country, saw a certain symbolic meaning in the fact that the city was founded near the place where in 1240 the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich defeated the Swedes. Peter found in Prince Alexander the necessary historical and religious example, which, among other things, was revered by the people and the Church, and the tsar needed their support in carrying out reforms and building a new capital. As noted by A.V. Kartashev, Peter needed Alexander to unite the heavenly (the old church worship) and the earthly (drawn by Peter to contemporary realities). Thus, the deep reverence by the Church and the people of Alexander Yaroslavich received strong support from the state. Under Peter, a kind of Orthodox-state cult of veneration of the saint took shape. And the military successes of Alexander during his lifetime allowed him to take an important place among historical figures in the Soviet era.

The answer to the question of modern researchers: how to explain the phenomenon that the image of Alexander Nevsky has occupied a firm place in Russian cultural memory for more than seven centuries, despite the fact that the interpretation of this image has repeatedly and thoroughly changed over this time? - lies in the fact that the foundation of his house was originally laid on a stone (see: Matt. 7: 24-27). This stone is Christ! “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am laying for a foundation in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a cornerstone, a precious one, firmly established: whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame” (Isaiah 28:16). And again: "Therefore, He is for you, the believers, a jewel, but for the unbelievers, the stone that the builders rejected, but which became the head of the corner, a stumbling stone and a stone of offense, on which they stumble, not obeying the word, to which they are left" (1 Pet. 2:7-8).

“Wonderful is God in His saints, the God of Israel!” (Ps. 67:36).

Holy Blessed Prince Alexandra, pray to God for us!

Frithion Benjamin Schenk. Russian hero or myth? pp. 90–93.

The PR campaign of the Russian Orthodox Church to bring the relics of Alexander Nevsky from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow raises the following questions:
- Why does Moscow need one more relics of "Alexander Nevsky"?
- Whose remains are given out as the relics of Alexander Nevsky?
- How many particles of the relics of "Alexander Nevsky" (in other words: into how many parts and bodies of how many dead did the cultists dismember)?
And, finally, a rhetorical question: why does the Russian Orthodox Church resort to such unworthy means as deceit and falsification. Does the Russian Orthodox Church really treat its flock like cattle? Or does he purposefully want to form just such a flock of the Russian people in order to manipulate it in his own interests?

1. In Moscow, at present, the relics of "Alexander Nevsky" can be seen in the Church of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God in Kuzminki. In the Church of St. blgv. book. Alexander Nevsky. (Metochion of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery) there is an icon with particles of the relics of "Alexander Nevsky". Another icon with particles of relics in the church "St. Catherine the Great Martyr, which is in Vspolye. Last year, another icon with a particle of the relics of the Russian Orthodox Church was presented to the Long-Range Aviation Headquarters.
In the temple of Alexander Nevsky in Zvenigorod near Moscow and the Serpukhov Vysotsky Monastery, particles of the relics of "Alexander Nevsky" are kept. Thus, after the next relics of "Alexander Nevsky" rest in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, there will be seven particles of the relics of "Alexander Nevsky" in the Moscow region.

2. The relics of "Alexander Nevsky" were urgently removed (literally dug up) in 1380 after the Battle of Kulikovo, under circumstances to which I will devote a separate post. Even if we assume that 120 years after the death of Alexander Yaroslavich, the monks really revealed his remains (moreover, according to the law of the genre, in order to be canonized as a saint, they had to be incorruptible), then these very relics were lost during the fire of 1491, about than there is documentary evidence.
For example, in the annals of 1497, the fire of 1491 is described as follows: “On the same summer of the month of May, on the 23rd day, a week, the city of Volodymyr burned down, and the settlements, and the Church of the Nativity in the monasteries, inside the city, and the body of the Grand Duke Alexander did not soon burn down, but all the churches in the city burned down 9, and in the suburb 13, and then there was a lot of trouble for the people of the city and Christianity " // PSRL. T. 28. M.-L., 1961. S. 155-156. In the annals of 1518 we read: “The same month of May at 23, on Monday, the whole city of Volodimer was on fire, and from the settlement, and the Church of the Most Pure Nativity in the monastery inside the city of the hill, and the body of Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky was on fire; and all the churches in the city burned down 9, and in the suburb 13, and then a lot of trouble for the people of the city and Christianity.

3. Parts of the body of "Alexander Nevsky" - one of the most "popular" relics of the Russian Orthodox Church, which she used until 1917. The process of multiplying relics received a new acceleration after the Russian Orthodox Church in the early nineties of the last century transferred the relics of "Alexander Nevsky" from Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, where, after the revolution, they placed what they pretended to be the relics of the prince, which, under Peter the Great, were delivered from Vladimir to the new capital of the Empire. Over the past decade, the production of relics and icons with particles of the relics of the "AN" has been put on stream by the ROC. So there are particles of relics in the cities of St. Petersburg (lavra), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (cathedral), Kyiv (cloister in Bortnichi), Sofia, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Abdulino (Orenburg region)

There are icons with particles of relics in Nizhny Novgorod (2 pcs.), Novosibirsk, Pskov, Taganrog, Tomsk, Irkutsk (“pinched off” from the relics in Novosibirsk in 2001), Volgograd, Balashikha, Znamensk (Astrakhan region), Rtishchevo (Saratov region). region), in the church of the village of Spas-Chamerevo (Vladimir region), the village of Kolyvan (Novosibirsk region), the Seraphim-Diveevsky monastery, Minsk, Radivilov (Ukraine, Rivne region). Almost all these icons are a remake of the last decade.
I think that this is not a complete list of places where there is a similar "shrine". I would venture to suggest that before the destruction of the temples by the communists, icons with particles of the relics of A "Alexander Nevsky" and parts of his relics were in all the temples bearing the name of this prince. those. these new icons replaced those that were lost at that time.

P.S. Let us leave aside the question of how moral it is, in a Christian way, to desecrate the body of the deceased, dismembering it into particles of relics. By the way, according to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, this is a criminal offense punishable under Art. 244 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Under the desecration of the corpse of the deceased, the legislator understands any action in relation to buried or temporarily unburied human remains, their removal from the grave, the removal of objects located on the body of the deceased, exposure, dismemberment of the corpse.

Recently, the Russian Orthodox Church has been carrying with great fanfare "particles of the relics of Alexander Nevsky" through Russian and foreign villages. But there are no relics of Alexander Nevsky in nature.

By the beginning of the last century, "the relics of Alexander Nevsky" were one of the main shrines of the empire. They were in Petrograd in a monastery specially created on the personal initiative of Peter I (Alexander Nevsky Lavra). The relics were kept in the main cathedral of the Lavra in a shrine made especially for them from the first silver mined in Russia. This reliquary is perhaps the largest piece of silver in the world, weighing almost one and a half tons, and is now on display in a separate hall of the Hermitage.

In 1919, on the initiative of one of the ideologists of atheism, P. A. Krasikov, a decision was made to open the relics of Alexander Nevsky.
The church petitioned the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet with a request not to touch "one of the main shrines of the city."

Krasikov replied that: “neither perishable nor incorruptible, in a word, there are no remains of Prince Alexander Nevsky and cannot be, since in 1491 the entire city of Vladimir and the monastery of the Nativity with the church and the coffin of Alexander Nevsky located there burned down.” Therefore, this is “out of the ordinary in its impudence and complete contempt for the masses exploited by the church” deception.

The cancer was opened. And what was in it? Not the imperishable relics of the holy prince, but 12 small bones of different colors (which means they are from different relics). In addition, 2 identical bones of one right leg turned out to be in the cancer. (Acts of the II All-Russian Local Council of the Orthodox Church. M., 1923, p. 10).
These mortal remains of several dead were transferred as an exhibit to the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism in the Kazan Cathedral.

By the way, that is why the author of the “method of restoring the appearance of a person based on skeletal remains,” Stalin Prize winner Mikhail Gerasimov, did not recreate the appearance of Alexander Yaroslavich - there was no skull in cancer. So the people had to be content with the image created by Cherkasov in Eisenstein's film.