A fate of the Holy Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky, a minister of St. Petersburg, in rare editions of the Presidential Library

A holy tide - a Day of Translation of the Relics of the Saint Right-Believing Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir to St. Petersburg - is traditionally celebrated in Russia on September 12, 2016. There is a large array of the electronic copies of rare sources of the mid XIX - the early XX century, dedicated to the life and work of the famous Russian military leader, patron saint of the city in the Presidential Library stock.

Alexander Nevsky was born at the end of May 1220. From his childhood he was distinguished by the high religious attitude and a sense of duty. In the electronic copy of released in 1867 rare edition of the “Hagiography of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky” from the Presidential Library fund is said: “He from being a boy had been taught to every good cause <...> Children's fun and games and worldly talking was not of his interest. His favorite pastime was reading and studying the Holy Scriptures and the Saints and the Oracles of the Church.”

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich sent his two sons to reign in Novgorod, when Alexander was eight years old. But already in 1233, after the sudden death of his elder brother, all the responsibility fell on the shoulders of a thirteen-year-old boy.

Peter Kazan in his Hagiography of the Saint Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, Alexis in monasticism, an electronic copy of which is in open access on the Presidential Library website, points that Alexander always had extraordinary wisdom: “In order to maintain good relations between the Novgorod and Yaroslav, who ruled from Pereslavl, Alexander even in his early youth had to gain the attention of Novgorod residents for his courtesy. An intellect and the actions demonstrated in the boy and young fellow a future vise mature man; and that Alexander earned the love of the recklessly willful Novgorod residents was evident from the fact that he has spent ten years in Novgorod, whereas before, in the course of almost a hundred years, not a single prince has lived there for more than five years.”

Unfortunately, the artistic portraits of Blessed Prince have not made it to our time, but owing to the descriptions of his contemporaries we can imagine his appearance. In already mentioned rare edition of Hagiography of the Saint Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, Alexis in monasticism Peter Kazansky quotes the words of chronicler about Prince: “His height was greater than all; his voice was heard by the people like a trumpet; his was as lovely by his face as Joseph; his force was just twice less as Sampson’s; he was wise as Solomon; brave as Vespasian, who conquered the Jewish land, he always won and never been defeated.”

Indeed, Alexander Nevsky has never lost any of his battles. P. I. Senigov in his book “The first peacekeepers princes of ancient Russia: Vladimir II Monomakh and Alexander Yaroslavych Nevsky,” published in 1903, wrote the following: “An inspired leader, he was able to inspire the people and the army. He never hesitated even in the fact that his warrior host’s force was nothing compared with the force of the enemy, and acted quickly, with lively faith in his holy deeds and heroism of his heroes; his resolute and fearless spirit were kind of distributing among his troops.”

Even his enemies recognized the force of Alexander Nevsky. Thus, P. I. Senigov tells that shortly before the Battle of the Neva the head of the Livonian Knights visited Novgorod Andrew Vilvien, who said: “I have gone to many countries, I know the world, I’ve seen the kings and princes, but have never met someone like Alexander with such beauty and courage: nether a king among the kings, nor a prince among the princes. When Alexander Nevsky visited Batu Khan, the one then said to his grandees: “I was told the truth, there is no another prince such him.”

Having won many glorious victories, including the legendary Battle of the Neva and the Battle on the Ice, Alexander Nevsky died in November 1263, when he was only 44 years. His body was buried in the cathedral church of the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir.

From the book the “Hagiography of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky” (1867) could be read, “constantly taking care during his earthly life of his homeland, St. Alexander has not ceased to care about the same goodness for the country after crossing the Great Divide. His help and intercession he has mainly evinced in the heavy periods of times. In particular, it refers to a phenomenon of the saint’s appearance on the eve of the decisive Battle of Kulikovo. After the victory Dmitry Donskoy, knowing about the miraculous signs, came to Vladimir and “found the incorrupt body of the prince after a hundred seventeen years of his remaining in the ground. Then put it with honor in a shrine in the church of Our Lady, and the healings of all kinds began to flow out of the holy relics: the blinds saw the light, the lame walked, the debilitates strengthened, and the demons were casted out.”

In 1724 the incorrupt relics were translated from Vladimir to St. Petersburg. The essence of this event is also described in the book “Hagiography of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky”: “After twenty years of war with the Swedes on the same sites, where the St. Alexander was arming against them, Peter I laid the foundation for the new capital of Russia on the river, which name St. Alexander have bore, that means, the Neva. Having concluded, finally, the glorious and long-desired peace, the Emperor wished to commemorate the aforesaid with celebration in memory of the ancient conqueror over Swedish on the banks of the Neva; he wished to sanctify the new capital and its monastic monastery translating the relics of the Blessed Alexander.”

On August 30 (September 12 New Style), 1724, the shrine arrived in the vicinity of the capital and has been met with a great honor, “Peter met the holy relics at the mouth of the river Izhora, and put on a magnificent galley, he took over the rudder, and placed his nobles at the oars. When the galley with the relics was approaching the monastery, the bark - a grandfather of the Russian navy - was sent toward it, a peal of bells and a salute of guns was heard <...> The new capital was celebrating translation of the relics for three days, and since and until now every year on August 30 evokes this event as a special occasion.”