(Russian: Alexander-Svirsky Monastery; English: Alexander-Svirsky Monastery)

How to get there: from St. Petersburg by train, and from Petrozavodsk by train you can get to Lodeynoye Pole, from there by local bus you can get to the village of Staraya Sloboda (Svirskoye village).

Or: from St. Petersburg, from the 1st bus station, take a bus along the route "St. Petersburg - Pitkyaranta" or "St. Petersburg - Petrozavodsk", pass the city of Lodeynoye Pole and get off at the Svirskoye junction (249th km Murmansk highway), from there you can walk (5 km) or hitch a ride to the village of Staraya Sloboda.

Opening hours: visiting the monastery is possible daily from 8.00 am until the end of the evening service, until approximately 20:00. Inspection of the interior of the monastery by excursion groups of pilgrims and tourists is possible only during non-liturgical times, and is limited by the internal routine of the monastery. A visit to the temple where the Holy relics of St. Alexander of Svir are located is possible from Monday to Saturday from 10.00 to 17.00, and on Sunday from 12.00 to 17.00.

Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery is an Orthodox male monastery in the Leningrad region, 21 km from the city of Lodeynoye Pole. Wherever you look, you are surrounded by snow-white walls of the monastery, a velvet-green strip of coniferous forest. Even during the life of its founder, the monastery developed as two connected to each other, but independently located complexes (departments): Trinity with fraternal cells, and Preobrazhensky - next to the cemetery. They are connected by a road running next to Lake Roshchinskoye.

The strengthening of the Orthodox faith in this region became possible thanks to the strict, pious ascetic lifestyle of the founder of the monastery. The holy monastery was founded in 1508 by the Venerable Alexander of Svir, a monk of the Valaam Monastery near the mouth of the Svir River.

Map of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery

The Monk Alexander was born on June 15, 1448, on the day of remembrance of the prophet Ammos, after whom he was named. When he turned 19, he learned about his parents’ intention to marry him and secretly left for Valaam. After seven years spent on Valaam as a novice, in 1474 Ammos took monastic vows with the name Alexander.

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.

Before the revolution, a priceless shrine for all of Russia - the incorruptible relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky rested in the chapel of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, resting in a precious silver shrine donated by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. The shrine was made by craftsmen at the Armory Chamber in Moscow; the cover of the shrine has been preserved and is in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. In addition, the monastery sacristy contained part of the staff of St. Alexander, found together with his relics in the coffin, the coffin itself, iron chains, a linen chasuble and armbands, as well as shrine covers sent as a gift from Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. Letters granted to the monastery from the Moscow kings were also kept here (most of the letters belonged to Boris Godunov).

In 1918, the monastery shared the fate of many Orthodox monasteries in Russia. The relics of St. Alexander were taken to the Military Medical Academy as an exhibit, the monks were dispersed, and some of them, led by their rector, Archimandrite Evgeniy (Trofimov), were shot. In 1918, in the western wall of the Trinity Cathedral, the brethren made a hiding place, which contained crayfish and part of the sacristy's belongings, which was later discovered. The Olonets Provincial Extraordinary Commission seized all the items and transported them to Petrozavodsk.

During the pogrom of the Svirsky Monastery, which was finally closed only in 1925, the relics of St. Alexander were disturbed. They took the relics out of the shrine and touched them. They wanted to take him with them, but the brethren begged him to leave, and they left him.
But the relics did not remain in the monastery for long. In December 1918 they were transported to Lodeynoye Pole. After this, the remains of the saint were put on display in the hospital chapel. All this was done for the “merciless fight against the enemies of the communist idea and socialist thought.”

The region of St. Alexander turned into “Svirlag”. During the Great Patriotic War, both monasteries suffered significant damage - the front line was not far away. In 1953, “Svirlag” was disbanded and a decree was issued to convert it into a mental hospital, and for hopeless patients. The camp guards and some of those unescorted took jobs as orderlies.

On September 22, 1998, the monastery was officially transferred to the St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The second time the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were discovered in 1998, on July 28 of the same year, they were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and were first located in the courtyard of the Intercession-Tervinicheskiy Monastery in the Church of Saints Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. On November 23, 1998, the relics of St. Alexander were finally transferred to their final resting place - to the Holy Trinity Alexander of Svirsky Monastery.

In the report, Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga was informed that myrrh flow had begun in the X-ray room in the SMES building during a prayer service. 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 myrrh itself flowed down the Saint’s feet in streams, covering them, when dry, with another shiny oily layer. It was noted that in the evening hours, after the closing of the temple, when silence was restored there, after a large crowd of people, that blessed time came when, also, one could see the newly intensifying flow of myrrh - individual droplets of myrrh appeared between the fingers of the Reverend. Numerous pilgrims come to the Saint, at whose holy relics many miracles and healings are performed.

Scheme of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery

The monastery, as a single whole, developed in the 16th - 17th centuries, and consists of two independent ensembles - Trinity and Preobrazhensky. Until now, they are separated by special fences and have special names, based on the churches built in them. One of them is called Trinity, and the other, where the Venerable Hermitage was, is called Preobrazhensky.

The ancient buildings of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery have not survived - a consequence of the destruction of the monastery by the Poles and Swedes in 1618. The first stone building of the monastery that has survived to this day is the church in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, begun during the lifetime of the Venerable Alexander himself. The church was heavily destroyed by the Swedes and Poles in 1618, and was practically rebuilt from the ruins on the old foundation in 1619 - 1620.

In the years 1647-1674, a three-tiered belfry was erected in the Trinity Monastery, placed on a wide quadrangular base and topped with three tents. On the third tier there was a “combat” clock, dismantled in the 19th century during the reconstruction of the belfry.

Trinity Cathedral, which is the center of the Trinity ensemble, is already the fourth, built on the spot where the Church in the name of the Holy Trinity was originally built by the Monk Alexander, at the behest of God.

The cathedral preserves paintings executed in 1715 by an artel of Kostroma craftsmen, under the leadership of Leonty Markov, and an iconostasis with icons from the late 17th century. The monastic archives mention the names of famous Tikhvin icon painters Gavrila Sazonov, Peter and Ivan Falileev, Ivan Ivanov, as well as the Tikhvin “icon painter” Herodion Sergiev. The walls and pillars of the Trinity Cathedral were painted by Herodion Sergiev and Ivan Ivanov. The frescoes were preserved, however, in the 1960s they were 50 centimeters behind the wall, and restorers nailed them with special gesso nails.

The Church of St. John of Damascus, or "Hospital", was built in 1716 north of Trinity Cathedral.

These churches are located in the Trinity part of the monastery, the cell buildings of which were adapted in the 60s of the twentieth century as hospital wards (designed by architect A. N. Naumova), and are still occupied by a psychiatric hospital.
The Transfiguration part, at present, completely belongs to the monastery, and on its territory, as before, the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svir rest in the Transfiguration Cathedral.

The current Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1641, under Abbot Abraham, and the chapel in the name of St. Alexander of Svirsky - in 1716. In 1856 - 1857, engineer Gorting-Gortitsky replaced wooden floors with metal ones. At the same time, under the leadership of architect Tukhtarev, some door and window openings were expanded. In 1900, Archimandrite Agafangel built an extension to the western side of the cathedral with choirs for the brethren, decorated with turned wooden railings. The bell tower and Zakharyevskaya Church connected to it give the cathedral a special elegance.

The Church of the Holy Prophet Zechariah and Elizabeth was built in 1668 under Abbot Macarius. After the fire in 1784 and renovation in 1833, the church changed a lot. From the original cathedral, a window above the entrance of the southern facade has been preserved, having a frame of two columns with a triangular pediment.

There is a well in the monastery, which was dug by the hands of the Reverend. It has been restored, but at the moment you can’t drink water from it yet, because for many years there was a gas station next to it.

The courtyard of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, today, is located in the Vesyoly village of the Nevsky district of the city of St. Petersburg.

Official website of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery: www.svirskoe.ru

The monastery was founded in 1508 by the Monk Alexander of Svirsky, a monk of the Valaam Monastery. The monastery is located near the town of Lodeynoye Pole, between lakes Roshchinsky and Svyatoy, near the mouth of the Svir River, 260 km from St. Petersburg.

At the beginning of the 16th century, in a secluded place where the monk was praying, the Holy Trinity appeared to him. With the blessing of the Holy Trinity, the Reverend built the wooden Trinity Cathedral and the stone Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. Then he founded the Holy Trinity Monastery itself. Almost from its very foundation, the monastery developed as a union of two settlements: at the fraternal cells - the Trinity complex, at the monastery cemetery - the Preobrazhensky complex. Both complexes represent a single monument of architectural buildings of the 16th-19th centuries.

The most ancient building of the monastery is the stone Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God (1533) made in the Novgorod style along with a refectory and a belfry. The building of the Church of the Intercession was built by the monk with donations from Tsar Vasily III. The stone Transfiguration Cathedral with the chapel of St. Alexander of Svirsky was built in 1644. Church of St. prophet Zechariah and Elizabeth was built in 1685. The Church of St. John of Damascus was built in 1718. The stone Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity was built in 1791, on the site of a wooden church built by the Monk Alexander back in 1509. The stone chapel of the Holy Trinity was built on the spot where, according to legend, the Most Holy Trinity appeared to St. Alexander of Svirsky. Tsars, grand dukes, Russian emperors, noble boyars and nobles, and merchants made large contributions to the construction of churches and monastery buildings. Large donations to the monastery were made by Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, but with whose funds a chapel was erected in the name of St. Alexander of Svirsky and a stone tomb was built for the saint. The donor of the monastery was Tsar Boris Godunov. The first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, also venerated the saint. Information about each donor was entered into the Census Books. Most of the monastery archive has still been preserved and is housed in the National Public Library, the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences and three historical archives of St. Petersburg.

The incorrupt relics of Alexander Svirsky were discovered on April 17, 1641 during the construction of the monastery’s cathedral. The relics were transferred to the monastery church of St. Nicholas, which was built by the saint himself and was not damaged during the Polish invasion in 1612. Since 1644, the relics of the saint in a precious shrine were placed in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the monastery.

The monastery was famous for its many spirit-bearing elders. In the 19th century, the future saint and spiritual writer St. Ignatius Brianchaninov. In 1817, Father Leonid (in the world Lev Nagolkin), later the first Optina elder, and Father Theodore, a disciple of the Moldavian elder Paisius, labored in the monastery.

In 1918, the monastery shared the fate of many Orthodox monasteries in Russia. The relics of the saint were taken to the Military Medical Academy as an exhibit, the monks were dispersed, and some of them, led by their rector, Archimandrite Evgeniy (Trofimov), were shot. The region of the monk turned into “Svirlag”. During the Great Patriotic War, both monasteries suffered significantly - the front line was not far away. In 1953, “Svirlag” was disbanded and a decree was issued to convert it into a mental hospital, and for hopeless patients. The camp guards and some of those unescorted took jobs as orderlies.

On September 22, 1998, the monastery was officially transferred to the St. Petersburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery received the monastery completely ruined. A psychiatric hospital is still located in the Trinity part.

The second time the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were discovered in 1998, on July 28 of the same year, they were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and were first located in the courtyard of the Intercession-Tervinicheskiy Monastery in the Church of St. Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia. On November 23, 1998, the relics of St. Alexander were finally transferred to their final resting place - to the Holy Trinity Alexander of Svirsky Monastery. Currently, the incorruptible relics rest in the Church of the Transfiguration; during the patronal holiday of the Holy Trinity, they are transferred with a solemn procession to the Trinity Cathedral.

The main shrine of the monastery: the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky (1553). On weekdays, access to the relics is open from 8.00 to 21.00 (from 12.00 to 15.00 access is limited).
Patronal holidays: Holy Trinity Day; the day of the second discovery of the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky is celebrated on July 30 (July 17, Old Style).
Address: 187729, Leningrad region, Lodeynopolsky district, Andpeevshchinskaya volost, village. Svirskoe.
Transport: Train or bus from St. Petersburg towards Murmansk to the town of Lodeynoye Pole and then to the village of Staraya Sloboda by bus).
Phone: 8-81364-14-530.
Rector: Abbot Lukian (Kutsenko).

WITH The Holy Trinity Monastery of St. Alexander of Svirsky made a strong impression.
This Orthodox monastery is located in the Leningrad region, 21 km from the city of Lodeynoye Pole on the shore of Lake Roshchinskoye.

There will be two posts about this monastery. The monastery consists of two separate monasteries - Troitsky and. They stand opposite each other at a distance of only 300 meters. This post is about Trinity (above is a link to Preobrazhensky). The monastery still belongs to the state, but is controlled by the Russian Orthodox Church.

There is a large car park here. There is a whole ancient settlement behind this wall, but now you will see everything for yourself...

From the middle of the 17th century, the Vvedeno-Oyatsky Monastery was assigned to the monastery.

"Representation" of the convent)))

Cafe "Pilgrim"... by the way, the pastries here are simply amazing... very tasty.

In the fall of 1918, the monastery was captured and plundered by security officers, and its rector, Archimandrite Evgeny (Trofimov), was shot in the city of Olonets.

During the years of Soviet power, the monastery was used as the Svirlag Gulag. One of the prisoners is the famous philosopher A.F. Losev. There were children's and disabled homes here.

For some time, the monastery housed a technical school, and since 1953 the Trinity complex has housed a psychiatric hospital.

The restoration of the monastery began in 1997. Behind the powerful walls of the former fraternal building there is still a psychiatric hospital.

Old Sloboda.

And this is the second “fortification” of the Transfiguration Monastery or “New Sloboda”))) there will be a next post about it.

View of Roshchinskoye Lake.

The monastery was founded by Saint Alexander of Svirsky at the end of the 15th century in the sparsely forested Olonets region among the settlements of pagan peoples - Karelians, Vepsians, Chuds. Soon Alexander Svirsky had students.

Even during the life of the founder, the monastery took shape as two connected, but independently located complexes (branches): Trinity with fraternal cells and Preobrazhensky - next to the cemetery. They are connected by a road running along the lake.

In the 23rd year of the saint’s settlement in the desert, an event occurred that was forever included in the annals of church history. Alexander Svirsky was visited by the Divine Trinity. A great light appeared in the temple, and Alexander saw three men coming down to him. 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.” .

Trinity Cathedral (XVII century).

Here you can shoot any historical film... you don’t even need to make scenery, everything is like in the Middle Ages, there are not even electrical wires.

Church of the Intercession with a refectory (XVI century)

Three-tent belfry (XVII century).

Everything is being restored quite actively, part of the monastery is in the woods.

The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the oldest building of the monastery. It was built with the participation of Alexander Svirsky himself in 1533 with donations from Tsar Vasily III.

I went inside... restoration work is still going on here.

As I understand, this temple is still under restoration... the iconostasis is already standing, but the icons have not yet taken their places.

In 2012, with the blessing of the Bishop of Tikhvin and Lodeynopol Mstislav, the Festive Bishop's Choir was created. It consists of graduates of higher musical institutions of the CIS countries. Among the compositions performed: ancient Byzantine chants and Znamenny chants, liturgical music of the 19th-20th centuries, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian folk songs.

And how the monks sing here... I was lucky to catch the singing, but I only filmed the very ending, I couldn’t resist. I took it off secretly, from the stomach)))

View from the window.

Place of exploits...

A year before his death, the monk called all the brethren to him and appointed four monks after him: Isaiah, Nicodemus, Leontius and Herodion to elect one of them as abbot. Rev. died Alexander was born on August 30, 1533, 85 years old, and according to his dying will, he was buried near the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on the right side of the altar. In 1547, Alexander Svirsky was canonized.

After 107 years and 7 months from the date of the death of St. Alexandra, namely in April 1641, abbot of the Svirsky monastery Abraham and his brethren, intending to build a stone church over his grave in accordance with the royal command, dismantled the dilapidated church in the name of the saint, where the tomb placed over his body was located. When they were digging a ditch for the eastern side of the church, the shovel of one of the monks suddenly hit the lid of the coffin. The find was reported to the abbot, and he, having gathered all the brethren, hurried to inspect the coffin. As soon as they opened the top board of the coffin, a fragrance suddenly filled the air; The clothes on the person lying in the coffin - the mantle and the schema - were intact, and a wooden staff also lay nearby. The body turned out to be undecayed, and part of the beard was visible from under the material covering the face. These were the relics of St. Alexandra. The abbot immediately ordered a new coffin to be made and, after transferring the holy relics into it, he transferred them to the Church of St. Nicholas.

Soon the abbot sent monks to report this event to Metropolitan Athos of Novgorod, and he, in turn, reported the news to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. In 1644, the holy relics were transferred to a precious shrine, donated to the monastery by personal order of the king.

After the revolution, the relics were taken by the Bolsheviks to Lodeynoye Pole, after which in 1919 the shrine with the relics was sent to Petrograd. At the same time, the destruction of false relics was staged in front of witnesses, but the true remains of St. Alexandra were transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Health.

According to the staff of the Department of Normal Anatomy of the Military Medical Academy, during the years of the revolution an exhibit appeared in their museum, which remained unregistered in the extensive catalogs of the museum. This position of an “exhibit” in such a museum was an exceptional phenomenon, and this was clearly done to hide the relics. Probably, not only the evil will of the Bolshevik leadership was at work here, but also the good will of the head of the department V.N. Tonkov, who by his convictions was not a “militant atheist.”

And only in December 1997 the relics were returned. After this, a long examination procedure began. The first thing that scientists immediately dismissed was the version of artificial mummification of the body. The examination report, which clearly indicates natural mummification, was signed by leading specialists of the Military Medical Academy. The volume of this study took 45 pages of typewritten text, and its general conclusion is that the examined body is, without a doubt, the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky. But they are kept in the neighboring Preobrazhensky Monastery; there will be a next post about it with photos of the relics that stream myrrh.

And you can even walk under the building...

Entrance to the Trinity Cathedral...

Filming is allowed inside. Was amazed...

Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery is the pride of the Leningrad region. It is picturesquely located on the shores of Lake Roshchinskoye, not far from the small town of Lodeynoye Pole, and includes 2 nearby monasteries - Preobrazhenskaya and Trinity, which were created as a single ensemble, but in some historical periods they split into two separate communities.

History of the monastery

The long chronicle of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, full of wonderful and tragic pages, began more than 500 years ago. This holy monastery is a great historical and architectural monument of the 16th-17th centuries.

Construction of the monastery and its founder

The creator and spiritual father of the Svirsky Monastery, the Monk Alexander, was born in the middle of the 15th century. From a young age, he decided to become a monk, for which he went to Valaam, where at the age of 26 he took monastic vows. For many years the Monk Alexander lived as a hermit in a cave on one of the Valaam Islands and earned the fame of a holy man. At the age of 37, when his fame became a burden to him, he retired to the forests on the banks of the Svir River in the vicinity of Lake Roshchinskoye, where he lived in solitude for several more years.

But the hermit’s followers found him there too. Gradually, a monastic settlement was formed next to his abode. The Monk Alexander ordered the construction of monastic cells at a distance from his monastery - on the shores of the Holy Lake. And he designated his place of residence for a monastic cemetery, the so-called waste hermitage.

The appearance of the Holy Trinity and the discovery of the relics of the saint

In one of the prayers of St. Alexander, the Holy Trinity appeared to him. To commemorate this miraculous event, not far from the site of the apparition, the Church of the Holy Trinity was founded in a monastic settlement. For its construction, master masons and abundant monetary donations were sent from the capital by Vasily III, who reigned in those years. Nearby, the Reverend Father Alexander began the construction of a stone refectory and the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, which were erected in the year of his eternal repose.

On the territory of the waste hermitage, the Reverend Father Alexander Svirsky ordered the construction of a wooden Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord in 1533. Thus, at the beginning of the 16th century, the Holy Trinity Monastery was created, which included the Trinity and Transfiguration halves. The Monk Alexander Svirsky, who died in 1533, was buried with honors at the altar of the wooden Church of the Transfiguration. After another 18 years, he was canonized, and in 1641, during the construction of the stone Transfiguration Monastery Cathedral, his holy incorruptible relics were discovered.

Immediately after the discovery, the holy remains were transferred to the church of St. Nicholas, preserved after the destruction and burning of the monastery by the Poles in 1612. After 3 years, the imperishable relics in a silver shrine found their place in the monastery’s Transfiguration Cathedral, which was newly rebuilt from stone. After the October Revolution in 1918, the holy remains were taken as an exhibit to the Military Medical Academy, and only 80 years later were they returned to the monastery. Now the holy relics reside in the Transfiguration Cathedral and are solemnly transferred in procession to the Trinity Cathedral annually on the days of the celebration of the Holy Trinity.

The destruction of the monastery and its restoration

Over the five centuries of its existence, the Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery has experienced periods of prosperity and decline. In 1581, the first destruction of the monastery by the Swedes occurred, and in 1612-1613 the monastery was captured by the Poles and Lithuanians.

The enemies captured and brutally tortured Abbot Paisius, as well as 55 monks and workers, demanding that they give them monastery valuables and funds, but they never received anything. Cells and service buildings were destroyed, and the Church of the Transfiguration was burned. The Trinity Church was cracked by the fire, and only the walls remained of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. Residents of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery and neighboring monasteries, together with the peasants, stood up to defend their region and expelled the invaders.

Immediately after the expulsion of the Polish invaders, the restoration of the Alexander Svirsky Monastery began, and by 1620 the monastery was restored. After this Alexander Svirsky, the monastery entered its heyday. Over time, it united 30 monasteries around itself and became a real stronghold of Russian Orthodoxy, as it was then called - the Northern Lavra.

After the revolution of 1917, the monastery was destroyed, church valuables were confiscated. The rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Eugene, as well as some of the monks and laymen were shot. The relics of St. Alexander were subjected to desecration and then transferred to the Military Medical Academy. The premises of the Svir monastery were nationalized; during the years of Soviet power, they housed an orphanage, a forced labor camp, a home for the disabled, an agricultural technical school, and a psychiatric hospital. One of the buildings of the mental hospital is still located on the territory of the Trinity part, but the authorities plan to vacate this building soon.

In 1997, the revival of the monastery began. Its new residents had to work hard to restore everything that had been destroyed and fallen into disrepair. A significant event for the monastery was the return of the holy relics of its founder, the Monk Alexander of Svirsky.

Current state

Today the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery is a functioning male monastic settlement, open to the public. On its territory there are five churches of the 16th-18th centuries, a belfry, a refectory, a bell tower, monastic cells and service premises.

Description of the temples

The religious buildings of the Alexander-Svirsky monastery were erected in the 16th-18th centuries. All of them are in good condition, some of them have retained their original appearance to this day.

The Transfiguration part of the monastery in certain periods of history was known as the Svirsky Transfiguration Monastery. It is fenced with a wall in which the monks' cells and service rooms are located. At its entrance there is a Holy Spring, above the entrance there is the Gate Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, inside the courtyard there are the Transfiguration Cathedral, the Church of Zacharias, and the active chapel of the Holy Trinity.

Transfiguration Cathedral of St. Alexander Svirsky

The Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord was originally wooden, its construction was completed in the year of the eternal rest of St. Alexander. In 1613, the temple was burned by Polish invaders. In its place in 1644, the stone Transfiguration Cathedral was erected, which has survived to this day.

During its existence, this Svir temple was reconstructed several times. In 1716, the chapel of St. Alexander of Svirsky was added to the building. In the mid-nineteenth century, wooden floors were replaced with steel ones, and individual window and door niches were expanded. Soon the design of the facade was changed.

In 1900, a choir for monks with pointed wooden railings was added to the western wall. After 3 years, the walls of the temple and the chapel inside were decorated with wall paintings. Now the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord is a majestic white temple with green domes and three ancient frescoes decorating the altar. Combined with the cathedral, the Zechariah Temple and the bell tower give the architectural composition a particularly solemn appearance.

Church of Saints Zechariah and Elizabeth

The single-domed Church of St. Zechariah and Righteous Elizabeth adjoins the Svirsky Transfiguration Cathedral with its northern façade and communicates with it through a vaulted gallery. It was erected in 1668 under the direction of master architect Maxim Semenov. The church building suffered serious damage during the fire of 1784. After 50 years, the church was renovated, and its appearance has changed greatly. Only one window above the door of the southern facade has survived from the time of construction of this temple. The adorning casing with a triangular pediment and two columns on the sides gives an idea of ​​the original exterior decoration of the church.

The current chapel of the Holy Trinity is located at the entrance to the courtyard of the Transfiguration part of the monastery, to the left of the gate. It was erected on the site of the miraculous appearance of the Holy Trinity, which appeared in response to the prayers of St. Alexander. This chapel was erected in the second half of the 19th century, when Archimandrite Pavel was the rector of the Alexander Svirsky Monastery. Nowadays prayer services are held in this chapel. Near the chapel you can collect blessed sand, which has healing powers.

Trinity Monastery

The Trinity part of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery at certain historical stages was called the Svirsky Trinity Monastery. It is surrounded by a monastery wall with monastic cells. In this part of the monastery, great architectural and historical monuments of the 16th century have been preserved - the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the Refectory Chambers.

Trinity Cathedral

On the sacred place indicated by the Reverend Father Alexander, in 1508 a log church was erected in honor of the Holy Trinity, which 18 years later was replaced by a stone one. After the plunder of the Svir monastery by the Poles in 1613, the walls of the church were cracked by fire; seven years later the temple was restored. And in 1695, the Trinity Cathedral was erected on the same spot, which has survived to this day. Kostroma stone masons took part in its construction: Pyotr Potemkin, Foma Alekseev, Yakov Agafonov. In 1698, the consecration of the temple by Job, Metropolitan of Novgorod, took place.

In 1715, the walls inside the temple were painted with frescoes, on which an artel of Kostroma icon painters, headed by Leonty Makarov, worked. Famous icon painters are mentioned in the chronicles of the monastery: Herodion Sergiev, Gavrila Sazonov and others. The cathedral's paintings remained unchanged, but in the 60s of the 20th century the frescoes fell away from the walls, and during restoration, restorers had to nail them down with special nails. The iconostasis with icons from the 17th century has also been preserved to this day. Now the Holy Trinity Cathedral is a white, four-pillar, single-domed church with a silver dome, surrounded by a gallery on a high basement. A steep staircase leads inside the temple.

One of the first churches erected in the Svirsky Monastery was the brick Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin. Its construction, together with the refectory, began during the life of the Rev. Father Alexander, and was completed in 1533. Members of the community took an active part in its construction, and they were led by the master architect Ignatius, sent by the Tsar from Moscow.

In 1613, the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God suffered greatly from the Polish invaders; only the foundation and part of the walls remained. After 7 years, the temple was restored, and now it is the oldest religious building of the Holy Trinity Monastery.

The elegant white building of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin is crowned with a dome soaring into the sky. Adjacent to it are the Refectory Chambers, built around the same years, decorated with a bell tower and two turrets. Nearby is a three-tier belfry, eye-catching with its three green domes, which was built in the 1640s. The Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin and the Refectory Chambers, together with the belfry, create an organic architectural ensemble, which is one of the oldest monuments of Russian Orthodoxy.

Not far from the Trinity Cathedral rises the single-domed spacious building of the Church of St. John of Damascus. It was originally erected in 1716 in honor of St. John of Damascus, its second name is the hospital church. The first building of this temple was completely destroyed during hard times, and in 1896 the church was rebuilt on the initiative of Abbot Agafangel and thanks to generous worldly donations to the Svirsky Monastery.

Compound in St. Petersburg

The monastery of Alexander Svirsky owned a considerable amount of land, villages and wastelands. In the 18th century, about 30 monasteries were assigned to it, and it was called the Northern Lavra. He also had farmsteads in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Belozersk, and Olonets. At the moment, the monastery has a courtyard in St. Petersburg - the Church of the Nativity of Christ.

The historical building of the Alexander Svirsky monastery was nationalized under the Bolshevik rule and transferred to a tuberculosis dispensary. In the 90s of the 20th century, the Holy Trinity Monastery was allocated warehouse buildings of the Lenknigi publishing house, located on a vacant lot near Far Eastern Avenue, to house the metochion. One of these warehouses was converted into a temple. A bell tower was built above the entrance, and the back wall was converted into an altar. Services are held in the Church of the Nativity of Christ, and there is a cemetery nearby.

Shrines and relics

The main shrine of Alexander of the Svirsky Monastery, which attracts thousands of pilgrims here, is the holy relics of St. Alexander, kept in the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord. During the celebration of Trinity, the shrine is transferred in a solemn procession to the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

There is also a consecrated copy of the Shroud of Turin, delivered to the monastery in 2006 for the five-century anniversary of its foundation. This was one of 6 copies of the Shroud of Turin that existed in the world at that time. After a short period of time, this shrine lost its myrrh.

In 2013, the Alexander Svirsky Monastery received a donation from the Odessa diocese of an ark containing pieces of 26 shrines, among them holy relics and pieces of sacred objects: the manger of the baby Jesus, the tunic of St. Joseph, etc.

The holy spring located at the entrance to the Preobrazhenskaya part of the monastery also belongs to the shrines of the Svirskaya monastery.

Exuding healing, the relics obviously reveal the life-giving power present in them, which, keeping them incorruptible, is communicated through contact to everyone who comes with faith.

D twice in the entire history of mankind has the Trinity God been 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 the Monk Alexander was written, as they say, “hot on the heels” and is particularly authentic, there are no “pious schemes” in it, it reflects the unique face of the holiness of “all Russia, the wonderworker Alexander.”

The extraordinary condition of the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky

“O sacred head, earthly angel and heavenly man, venerable and God-bearing Father Alexandra... 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...”

(From a prayer to St. Alexander of Svirsky)

Since the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky returned to their native monastery, they have received many letters from hierarchs of various dioceses of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, reporting a desire to find a piece of the saint’s relics. With the blessing of Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, particles of the relics were removed by the abbot of the monastery, Fr. Lukian (Kutsenko). Already when the first particle of o. Lucian was amazed by what he saw. And there was something to be surprised about. “I expected to see dense compressed tissue, but instead, on the cut made by a copy, I saw that under a layer of wax-colored skin there was snow-white porous and soft tissue,” said Father Abbot, and, continuing, added, “in the Museum of Anatomy of the Military Medical Academy showed me what dried human flesh looks like on a fracture, offering a human shin for viewing. It was clear that the bone was surrounded on all sides by dense layered tissue - similar to compressed cardboard. Ligaments and large vascular bundles are preserved in the form of dense strands, resembling pieces of rope. The color of the dried shin tissue was yellow both on the surface and on the inside. The subcutaneous tissue of the Monk Alexander differs sharply from what we saw, both in color and in structure: this tissue was striking in its whiteness, friability and airiness.”

Nun Leonida (Safonova), who took part in the search for the relics, is a candidate of biological sciences, histologist:

“So this is what explains the preservation of the intravital configuration of St. Alexander’s body, his lips, nose, hands and feet, which so amazed experts. The muscle and connective tissues located under the epidermis layer, which dried out during the mummification process, retained their skeleton.

Its own spatial lattice: instead of evaporating liquid, the spaces between the fabric fibers were filled with air, preventing the fabrics from compacting. Thus, the tissue of the flesh became airy and cellular-fibrous, which made it possible for the organs to maintain their primary volume. A similar result cannot be achieved by any artificial embalming method. During embalming, the tissues thicken and darken, but here they are loose, snow-white, and even inside under the surface layer of the epidermis - human minds and hands do not master such a differentiated art of embalming.” When discussing with specialists (histologists, pathologists), it turned out that they assess this as an extraordinary phenomenon. We can say that the state of the flesh of St. Alexander - his holy relics - is outside the known patterns of development and degeneration (decay) of tissues of the human body. The oldest employee of the Military Medical Academy, anatomist, candidate of medical sciences M. V. Tvardovskaya spoke as follows about the unusually good preservation of the body: “I have never seen anything like it in all the years of my work.” Radiologist E.R. Borisov (an employee of SMES, participated in the study of the relics of St. Joasaph (Belgorod) also assesses the preservation of the body as very special, believing that this case is “of interest for science.” Not only the lifelong appearance was preserved, but also the skin the face is not wrinkled and dried out, but very smooth and elastic; the skin color is light, with a yellowish-amber tint, it is not surprising in this regard that the relics of St. Alexander (and only they) were removed during the “campaign for the removal of relics” in 1919. were called “wax doll.” This negative, essentially false attestation is, at the same time, an involuntary characteristic of very good preservation of the soft tissues of the face.

From the conclusion of the chief dentist of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, head of the department of maxillofacial surgery and dentistry, professor and colonel of the medical service V.N. Balin, at whose department the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky also underwent examination: “The preservation of the soft tissues of the face and periodontal tissues is absolutely unique: forehead, nose, cheeks, gums, which fits into the known evidence of the exceptionally good preservation of the relics of some saints in comparison with the mummified bodies of worldly people.” It was this unique preservation that made it possible to conduct iconographic research, just as our ancestors did in 1641, at the time of the first discovery of the saint’s relics. It should be noted that an area of ​​white flesh was visible from the very beginning of the study and is now visible on the open foot of the monk in the place of the peeled cuticle. From the saint’s feet comes myrrh, the smell of which has always been present in the temple since the day the relics were found; bees flock to this smell. The “visits” of bees to the myrrh-streaming relics of the monk were recorded on video; this was also seen by numerous pilgrims.

Discovery of the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky

In the summer of 1998, a real miracle happened in St. Petersburg. On July 28, the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky, which had disappeared in 1918, were found. This event is significant in that it was with the opening of the shrine of Alexander Svirsky that the satanic campaign launched by the Bolsheviks to liquidate and discredit Russian Orthodox shrines began in 1918. During it, sixty-three crayfish containing holy relics were removed from churches and monasteries. By the grace of God, all of them have been found today, eighty years later. Doesn't this mean that through the conciliar prayers of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Grace of the Lord returns to long-suffering Russia? When they listened to a prayer service in the X-ray room of the forensic medical examination after completing research on the identification of the relics, myrrh began flowing, accompanied by a strong fragrance. “All those present witnessed this miraculous manifestation,” says the report of the abbot of the Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, Father Lucian, submitted to Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. In the north-eastern corner of the Valaam archipelago there is the Holy Island, open to all the Ladoga winds. Here, in a cave carved into the rock, half a millennium ago the Monk Alexander of Svirsky labored in prayer. The cave is small. When you walk into it, your shoulders touch the stone walls. The tiny light of the lamp burning in front of the images is enough to illuminate the space of the cell. The Monk Alexander spent several years here. As it is said in the Life, “from his great labors the skin on his body became so hard that it was not afraid of a stone blow.” A saint was praying in a cave on Holy Island when, in response to his prayers, the Voice of the Virgin Mary was heard: “Alexandra! Get out of here and go to the place shown to you before, in it you can be saved!” And it became light...

The Monk Alexander climbed out of the cave and behind the trunks of pine trees standing on a steep cliff, he saw the quiet waters of Ladoga. A great heavenly light shone in the direction where the Svir flowed... On the same day, the Monk Alexander left Valaam and sailed to the Svir. Here he settled, in the very place where ten years ago he spent the night on the way to the Valaam Monastery. After a while, the saint’s prayerful solitude was interrupted by the boyar Andrei Zavalishin, who got lost during a hunt. Zavalishin questioned the saint for a long time about how he lived here. “I’ve been living here for seven years now,” answered the saint. “And before you came, I didn’t see a single person.” I eat the grass that grows here and have not eaten bread.” When his retreat was interrupted, people began to flock here. Monastic cells were built on the shores of the Holy Lake, and the monk himself lived in the former hut, around which a brotherly cemetery was built - Otkhodnaya Hermitage. Many disciples of Alexander Svirsky themselves became saints, founders of new monasteries. This includes Andrei Zavalishin, who took monastic vows under the name of Andrian Andrusovsky, Gennady and Nikifor Vazheozersky, Korniliy Padansky, Ferapont Voznesensky, Cassian Solomensky... The entire space between Onega and Ladoga was illuminated by the monasteries they founded. The power of the prayer of Saint Alexander of Svirsky was extraordinary. Such a case is known. They built a mill on a channel between two lakes, dug out an isthmus, and water from the upper Holy Lake rushed down. The pressure was so strong that the monastery buildings were in danger; it seemed that they could no longer be saved, but the monk called on the name of Christ, inscribed the Sign of the Cross on the rapids of the waters - and here it is, a miracle! — the current stopped. The monk’s foresight was just as great. One day, pilgrims made donations to the monastery, and among them was Gregory, who came from Pidmozero. He extended his hand to deposit his contribution, but the saint pushed it away. Gregory asked Alexander Svirsky why he did not accept the offering. “You don’t know me!” - he said. "Right! - answered the saint. “I don’t know you and I haven’t seen your face, but your hand is so defiled that a stench comes from it.” Why are you beating your old mother?” Great fear then seized Gregory, who carefully hid his sin. He asked for guidance on how to improve. The monk advised me to ask my mother for forgiveness. The saint’s modesty was no less marvelous. They say that one day, when he was already the abbot of the monastery he founded, the fame of which was spreading throughout Rus', the monastery steward came to him and said, they were running out of wood, he should send some idle monk into the forest. “I’m idle...” answered the monk, took an ax and went into the forest. In the twenty-third year of his stay on the Holy Lake, Alexander Svirsky, during night prayer, saw three men in white robes, shining with an “inexpressible light.” It was the Lord Himself who honored the saint with His Trinity visit. “Alexander Svirsky,” writes Archimandrite Macarius (Veretennikov) in “History of the Russian Church,” “is perhaps the only Orthodox saint to whom, like the forefather Abraham, the Holy Trinity appeared.” It is unknown whether the people who seized power in Russia in 1917 knew about this fact of the life of St. Alexander of Svir, but it is reliably known that they began their satanic campaign precisely from the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery. In the fall of 1918, the Olonets Cheka sent a detachment under the command of August Wagner to the monastery. The brethren tried to counteract the desecration of the holy relics, but the security officers did not stand on ceremony. “Evil elements” were arrested, the monastery was robbed, and the shrine with the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky was opened. The preservation of the body of the saint, who ended his earthly journey four centuries ago, was so incomprehensible to Wagner that, contrary to the evidence, he called the saint’s relics a “wax doll” in his report. Not daring to exhibit them, as was supposed to be according to the instructions, “to expose the priest’s deception,” the relics were secretly, in compliance with all secrecy measures, transported to Lodeynoye Pole and placed under the strictest security in the hospital chapel. On the fifth of November 1918, when the monks of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery were shot in the courtyard of the Olonets prison, the liquidation of the relics was scheduled... And for exactly eighty years Orthodox Russia lived with the thought that the holy relics of the Russian saint had been destroyed by satanic power. The Lord, however, did not allow this. Let's say in passing that the campaign against the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery ended very sadly for Comrade August Wagner. The desecration of the relics of the monk and the robbery of the monastery caused a strong resonance throughout Russia. Saint Patriarch Tikhon appealed to the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee with a protest. They demanded clarification from the Olonets Cheka. The head of the Cheka replied that he considered all his actions and orders “correct in the sense of a merciless fight against the enemies of communist ideas and socialist thought.” Such an explanation would have completely satisfied the Bolshevik leadership in Moscow, if during the correspondence a piquant detail had not emerged: August Wagner, a fighter for communist ideas and socialist thought, turned out to be very dishonest. He confiscated forty pounds of silver items from the monastery, and delivered only nine to Moscow. The rest of the silver is thirty-one pounds! - was allegedly transferred by him “to the committee of the poor of the Alexander-Svirskaya Sloboda for distribution among those in need.” Of course, it was not possible to convince the Kremlin elite with such an explanation. A special investigation was launched, with all the ensuing consequences for Wagner. The story of the search for the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky, undertaken by nun Leonida with the blessing of Father Lucian, abbot of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery revived in 1997, deserves a separate story. Most of the documents were destroyed, and the necessary information had to be collected bit by bit. “Our search,” says Mother Leonida, “was based on the belief that the relics of the saint who saw the Holy Trinity could not be destroyed by any hellish forces and are under the special protection of the Lord... During archival research it was possible to find out that on January 31, 1919 years, the relics were taken from Lodeynoye Pole to Petrograd and placed in the closed anatomical museum of the Military Medical Academy. According to employees, during the years of the revolution an exhibit appeared in the cathedral museum, which remained unrecorded in the carefully compiled catalogues. Based on anthropological, iconographic and x-ray studies, it was concluded that the mysterious “exhibit” is a fully preserved mummy of a man, which in terms of age, ethnicity, and external features corresponds to the description made during the first discovery of the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky in 1614. The identity of the “exhibit” as a canonized saint was also confirmed by damage to the right, blessing hand. Their character left no doubt that these damages were caused by the removal of pieces of flesh for the reliquaries. The unusual position of the right leg: “the legs lay like those of someone who had recently died, the right foot up, and the left foot turned to the side...” - also fully corresponded to the description made in 1614. When you look closely at the days of the earthly life of Russian saints, you clearly see that they were the best among the people of their time. And in intelligence, and in talent, and in courage. But all these properties and gifts, so highly revered in the world, were unimportant and insignificant for the saints. The main things for them were humility, prayerfulness, submission to the will of God, and service to the Lord. And our Church, when it glorifies the saints, is guided not by their earthly merits, but by their merits before God. And here there are no mistakes associated with political sympathies or antipathies, with momentary conjuncture. The bodies of God’s saints do not decay; the Church finds their holy relics incorruptible. The life of the saints does not end with burial - after death they continue to participate in earthly history, coming to the aid of everyone who turns their hearts to them... A miracle, a great miracle happened in the July days in St. Petersburg. 465 years after his death, the great saint returned to us sinners again. And his return is like a light that dispels the evil clouds that have gathered over our Motherland.

Venerable Alexander Svirsky

The Monk Alexander was born on June 15, 1448, on the day of memory of the Prophet Amos, and was named in his honor. His parents, Stefan and Vassa, were peasants in the Ladoga village of Mandery, on the banks of the Oyat, a tributary of the Svir. From childhood, Amos, a late, begged child, was different from his peers: he avoided games, laughter and foul language, and did not bother his mother. At the age of 19, having learned of his parents’ intention to marry him, Amos secretly left for Valaam.

Amos lived in the monastery as a novice for seven years, spending his days in labor and his nights in vigil and prayer. More than once, naked to the waist, covered in mosquitoes, he prayed in the forest before dawn. In 1474 Amos took monastic vows with the name Alexander. Having learned from travelers about the whereabouts of their son, his parents also went to the monastery. After their death, with the blessing of the abbot, Rev. Alexander set up a cell for himself on a secluded island and continued his spiritual exploits. When his fame became a burden to him, the ascetic withdrew from Valaam and built himself a hut in the forest, where, alone, having no supplies, he lived for seven years in unceasing prayer. In 1493, the location of the monk was accidentally discovered during a hunt by the neighboring owner Andrei Zavalishin, who had previously seen a wonderful light over that place. He begged the monk to tell him about his life and, having become his spiritual son, according to his instructions, he himself went to Valaam, and later founded the Ondrusovo monastery and became famous for his holy life. Having heard from Andrew about the righteous man, monks began to gather to the monk, but the reverend. Alexander built himself a monastery at a distance from the common dwelling.

In 1508, Rev. Alexander saw the appearance of the Life-Giving Trinity - Three Men, dressed in light, white clothes, illuminated by Heavenly glory.

The monk received orders to build a church and found a monastery, and when he asked in whose name the church should be, the Lord answered:

“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 peace.” In the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, this Divine condescension of the Trinity is known as the only one.

The place for the church was indicated to the monk by an Angel, who crossed the place three times and confirmed what was revealed to him in a vision. In the same year, a wooden and, in 1526, a stone Church of the Life-Giving Trinity was built. At the insistence of the brethren, the monk received priestly rank and became abbot. Having accepted the abbess, Rev. Alexander became even more humble - he wore rags, slept on the bare floor, worked together with everyone: When one day there was not enough firewood and the steward asked the abbot to send one of the monks who was idle to get firewood, the monk replied: “I am idle” - and went to chop wood.

At the end of his life, Rev. Alexander planned to build the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One evening, after performing an akathist to the Mother of God, the monk sat down to rest in his cell and suddenly said to his cell attendant Athanasius: “Child, be sober and watchful, because at this hour there will be a wonderful and terrible visitation.” In the entrance of the cell, where the elder hurried, a great light shone upon him, spreading over the entire monastery, and the monk saw above the foundation of the Intercession Church sitting on the altar, as if on a throne. The Most Pure Mother of God with the Child, and the many angelic ranks that stand before Her. The monk fell, unable to bear the light, but the Mother of God encouraged him and blessed the monastery.

Before his death, Rev. Alexander called the brethren and commanded them: “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 since the brethren did not agree, the monk ordered not to bury him in the monastery, but in his hermitage near the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Rev. Alexander reposed at the age of 85 on August 30, 1533. In 1641, during the reconstruction of the Church of the Transfiguration, his relics were found incorrupt. Up to fifteen students of the Rev. are known. Alexander Svirsky, glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church.

HOLY TRINITY ALEXANDRO-SVIRSKY MONASTERY

In our world there are super-existential places that speak of eternity. Eternal Palestine is the holy land. Here the Mother of God gave birth to Christ, He walked on this earth, fed from Her, prayed - and She accepted His tears, He was transformed on Tabor - and the world around was transformed, He died - and She accepted His body.

The Russian land is also rich in shrines, the saints of God glorified it with their exploits, transformed it with their own transformation, so that when visiting certain holy places, pilgrims receive healing, spiritual and physical help, they are simply amazed at some kind of beauty. “This is not it! There the Lord Himself walked on earth!” - you say. And we also have a place, the event associated with which is great and cannot be contained by reason alone.

Somewhere far away, in the northern forest, the Lord Himself appeared to a simple monk, the entire Holy Trinity standing at His feet on our land. This has happened only once since the coming of Christ. But first things first.

Five centuries ago, the monk Alexander was saved on the holy island of Valaam. He carved himself a small cave in the rock, where he prayed and worked for God. They say that from such feats his body became hard and tough, that nothing would have happened to him even from a stone blow. So, prostrate on the stones, he prayed one day and in response heard the wondrous voice of the Mother of God, commanding him to go to a new place of salvation. Coming out of the cave, he looked back at Ladoga, so quiet today, in the distance, behind the waves, the heavenly light was shining, the Mother of God illuminated the place where the Svir River flowed...

Having been blessed by the abbot, Alexander sailed from the island that same day. He settled on the shore of Lake Roshchinskoye, in a small hut, and lived there, without seeing a person, in silence, crying about his sins for seven years. He ate only the grass that grew nearby, but did not even see bread. One day his solitude was violated - boyar Andrei Zavalishin, who was hunting in the forest, came out to Alexander’s hut and, remembering that he had seen a light over this place, begged the ascetic to tell about his life. This is how people learned about Alexander Svirsky.

And the axes are already knocking, cells are being built, the first disciples are quietly singing the fraternal rule, among them Andrei Zavalishin, the future Reverend Adrian Andrusovsky.

It was 1507. Alexander spent twenty-three years in the Desert. And then it was night, dark, the flame from the lamp slightly illuminates the face of the Most Pure One, probably smells of wood and wax, such a honey smell, silence, sometimes only the sound of a bow, and again the forehead rises, all wrinkled, already completely white curls and heavenly eyes so meekly - they look meekly. Suddenly everything froze... The greatest light, unprecedented in the world since Abraham, shone, and the small hut became the most precious palace. Three men entered, like three beautiful suns, in snow-white robes, they held staffs. “Like at Trinity,” Alexander thought, trembled and bowed to Them to the ground.

- Trust, blessed one, and do not be afraid. - Alexander heard and felt His hand gently lifting him from his knees. His voice said that for the sake of purity, the Holy Spirit lives in him, in Alexander. That it was necessary to gather the brethren, build a church, build a monastery and that many would be saved through him... Alexander could not stand, he again lay on the ground and, shedding tears, thought how he, the worst person of all, who had come to cry about his sins, would save others . And again the Lord took him by the hand and raised him from his knees.

- What to call the church, Lord? - And the answer was, just as he sees the Speaker in three persons, so the church will be in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Consubstantial Trinity. And having passed through the earth, the Lord became invisible...

But there was still light and that silence. Tears still glistened in his wrinkles, he squeezed the hand that only the Lord held, and the face of the earthly angel, so childishly, smiled happily.

But his life continued, and he fulfilled all the commands, becoming the abbot of the great monastery. One day a housekeeper came to him and complained that the monastery was running out of wood; he should send some idle monk to chop it. “I’m idle...” answered Alexander, took an ax and went into the forest. It happened at night that the monk would come to the threshing workers, finding them sleeping, he would sit down to work, and when he had finished, he would quietly go to his cell, without disturbing the brethren.

Remember, the monastery was located on the shore of a very deep lake, while another lake was located on a hill within the flight distance of two arrows. Once the brethren of the monastery, together with the abbot, after praying, decided to make a passage for water, from the upper lake to the lower one, in order to install a water mill. As they began to dig, water rushed down with a terrible noise, forming a huge ditch under the walls of the monastery. Everyone already thought that the monastery was about to collapse, but Alexander, kneeling down, began to pray. The loud name of Christ overpowered the noise of the water, then he crossed the stream, and the water stopped. The mill was built, and for a long time it facilitated the monastic work.

When the time came for his departure to the Lord, Alexander gathered the brethren and, instructing them for the benefit of their souls, asked that after death his body be tied with ropes and drowned in a swamp, trampled underfoot. This is how the reverend elder, who saw God, thought about himself.

When Alexander was buried, I couldn’t believe that he had died, his face glowed and I also wanted to die to be with him. Many miracles and healings immediately began to happen: the demoniacs were cured, the blind began to see, the paralytic began to walk. Twelve years later a life was compiled, and two years later the Council of Russian Bishops canonized St. Alexander of Svirsky. The temple, the northeastern chapel of St. Basil's, was also dedicated to him.

In 1641, the relics of St. Alexander were discovered; they were recognized by comparing his facial features with the 16th-century icon; his body, as before, was soft and completely intact with the wondrous fragrance of delicate flowers from the emanating world.

In 1918, the brethren of the Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery were arrested and shot, the monastery was robbed, and the shrine with relics was opened... The safety of the saint’s body amazed the Bolsheviks, they confusedly called him a “wax doll.” In 1998, the relics of the saint were recovered a second time and were examined by scientific experts. His Holiness the Patriarch, hierarchs, priests, monks, thousands of believers knelt before the shrine of the saint of God, who, as before, bestowed healing and abundant myrrh.

And now the Monk Alexander is again in his monastery. Now there are few pilgrims, it’s a bit far: it’s still a bus ride from the Lodeynoye Pole station. And the road is beautiful: through sunny yellow pine forests - such a resinous spirit; You can’t step on the ground, where it’s like lingonberry beads are scattered, it’s all covered in berries. The Svir is a mighty northern river, it drives its waters to the sea, the seagulls want to shout over it, and the sky above them is fast and fast. It’s good to get up early, early, before the sun, shivering in the dew, come to the temple to the monk, inhale the incense and, quietly kneeling down, chant like a monk: “Rejoice, Reverend Alexandra, miracle worker of Svir.” Then they will open the relics, remove the glass cover, and, not knowing how to look at this miracle, in reverent horror kiss his hand and, holding their breath, step aside, afraid to disturb such an important thought that we live forever.

Holy relics of St. Alexander the Wonderworker of Svir

P According to the teaching of our faith, the human body has a great purpose. It was taken from the earth, but not created for the earth. It was created by God for eternity and eternal, after creation it was revived by an immortal soul and with it raptured from earth to a bright paradise. Ailments were not characteristic of this body; it had no need to protect itself from the influence of the elements. For the soul it was wonderful, forever new clothing.

Subsequently, after the Fall, the body was subject to disorder, disease and death. A body sown into the grave “in corruption” will rise “incorruption”, “in power”. Through the Holy Sacraments established in the Church, our body is made a temple of the Holy Spirit. Through the sacrament of the Eucharist, the body is united with the Body of Christ Himself, our blood with the Divine Blood. At the same time, a person constantly accepts the poison of sin, initially with the soul, and later, through its action, the poison poisons the body. In order to heal human nature damaged by sin, God Himself condescended to restore fallen man. Through the renewal of the spirit of human flesh itself, the path of ascent to incorruption opens. Reading the history of the holy martyrs, we see that their bodies suffered the most deadly wounds. The subsequent centuries of prosperity of monasticism are filled with examples of wondrous asceticism. The bodies of these saints, from constant and lengthy fasting and incessant feats of prayer, became so refined that they seemed spiritualized, so that in others they aroused doubts about the reality of the flesh. They had the ability to walk on water, rose from the ground when praying, and got along with animals and snakes.

All these supernatural forces, which acted in various ways in the bodies of the true servants of God, are imprints and traces of internal grace-filled movements in their souls, and beyond the boundaries of earthly existence they do not cease to act in these bodies. Exuding healing, the relics obviously reveal the life-giving power present in them, which, keeping them incorruptible, is communicated through contact to everyone who comes with faith.

What a wondrous reward the saints of God receive for their piety! Not only are their souls raised into grace-filled communion with Christ, but their very bodies, with which they performed exploits... in this short-lived life, are made partakers of the grace-filled power of Christ. When, according to God’s vision, they are revealed on special occasions, then... they emit a fragrance.

The imperishable relics of St. Alexander Svirsky

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: “Whatever is good and whatever is red, let us live together as brothers. Behold, like the ointment that came down to celebrate Aaron..." 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, ointment would 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 myrrh. Myrrh is also a symbol of Divine mercy and grace. Myrrh appears as a result of a special supernatural phenomenon - the flow of myrrh. 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 flesh of the saint remains alive, and by the will of God synthetic processes can begin in it - we are given only the result of a miracle being performed - a drop of peace. Myrrh flow is not attested in the Holy Scriptures. However, this miracle has been present in Sacred Tradition almost from the very beginning of the Church. From the tomb of St. Every year on the day of his memory, St. John the Theologian, a certain subtle fragrant myrrh emanated from which many healings took place. 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, the Myrrh-Streaming One. The most ancient 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 holy myrrh from the well in which the body of St. Demetrius, exuding it (i.e. myrrh). Relics of St. Demetrius was constantly exuded with myrrh and in such quantities that many who came could take a small part of this world for themselves; Many bottles from the 6th-10th centuries have been preserved as visible evidence of this miracle. According to the testimony of St. John of Damascus (against Constantine Kavalsky, about holy icons) “many bodies of saints have shed myrrh.” When in 1087 the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was transferred from Myra Lycia to Bar, his coffin was full of peace. About the myrrh-streaming of the relics of Alexander Svirsky*)N and in Rus', many miracle workers, in particular those of the Kiev-Pechersk, are glorified by the flow of myrrh. The fact that this miracle manifested itself so clearly on the Monk Alexander of Svirsky clearly shows the greatness and grace of the saint, as well as the truth of the appearance of his relics, for the flow of myrrh in the Church from time immemorial was considered as evidence of holiness. In the Athonite and Greek traditions, it is not incorruption, but the streaming of myrrh of the remains that indicates that these are holy relics. And the fact that in the second discovery of the relics of St. Alexander, an abundant flow of myrrh was revealed, testifying to their truth, to the identity of the remains found at the Military Medical Academy with the holy relics of the Rev., which also flowed abundantly when they were first discovered. In the report, Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga was informed about the flow of myrrh that had begun in the X-ray room in the SMES building during a prayer service. After the relics of the saint were brought to the temple of the holy martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and their mother Sophia, the flow of myrrh did not stop, and it was noticed that its intensity changed: it intensified, then became less noticeable. He was monitored by the novice Alexander, who stood at the saint’s shrine all day. It was noticed that the intensity of the myrrh flow varies depending on who serves, how the people pray, and whether the temple is filled with praying or curious people. 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 myrrh itself flowed down the Saint’s feet in streams, covering them as they dried with another shiny, oily layer. Myrrh flows from the upper leg to the lower one, while the lower leg itself also flows myrrh abundantly; The photograph clearly shows bright amber-orange swells frozen on the surface of the Reverend’s big toe and one amber drop frozen under the bone of the big toe. When the first myrrh-streaming was discovered, the photographic image of it on the Venerable’s feet had a different appearance: the feet seemed to be luminous and in a small luminous areola. It was noted that in the evening hours, after the closing of the temple, when silence was restored there after a large crowd of people, that blessed time came when one could also see the newly intensifying flow of myrrh - individual drops of myrrh appeared between the fingers of the Reverend. ——————————————————————————— *) All cases of myrrh flow, healing and miracles revealed from the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky are documented. Surnames with addresses and telephone numbers are in the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and M. Sophia. Two incidents that occurred in the evening after the closing of the temple should be specifically mentioned. Case 1. The mothers from the monastery of St. John of Kronstadt brought two sick people. Both patients are medically hopeless, and both know it, but do not give up. One of them is a general (he has inoperable cancer), the other, a twenty-five-year-old woman, suddenly lost her legs. Both patients took turns kissing the open shrine of St. Alexander of Svirsky, then remained near it, and the woman was seated on a chair. 10 minutes passed and, to the surprise of the sick and witnesses (the dean and treasurer of the St. John's Monastery, novice Alexander and the mother of the young woman), fragrant myrrh poured abundantly from the feet of the Reverend. The general said in confusion: “I didn’t count on this” (it is known that the general donates a lot for the Church, the woman is an embroiderer for the Church). So the Reverend supported them in their sorrows, showed them evidence that the Lord knows everything, and gave them such a good sign through the Reverend. Later they came again and prayed silently for a long time. Case 2. Closer to 10 p.m., the priest, Fr. Maxim from the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands with his flock (about 20 people) to serve a prayer service and sing an akathist to the Rev. The monk also responded to the sincere, fervent prayers of those who came to him with very abundant flow of myrrh: the whole foot seemed to “sweat” with drops of myrrh, and, in addition, streams of myrrh flowed between the toes. Myrrh-streaming of icons of St. St. Alexander of Svirsky, consecrated at the shrine of the Venerable. M Many pilgrims who came to venerate the holy relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were rewarded for their faith and prayerful zeal addressed to the Rev. Everyone who came up to worship asked to consecrate the icon of the saint, purchased right there in the temple. A novice standing at the shrine placed the icon on the glass of the shrine and returned it to the people. These icons began to stream myrrh for people during home prayers on the same day or a few days later. Some noted not the flow of myrrh, but a strong fragrance for several days. There were many such messages. Let us cite one of them - from a parishioner of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Quench My Sorrows” in the village of Nekrasovskoye, Yaroslavl region, r. B. Tatiana.

“MIRACLES OF THE REVEREND ALEXANDER SVIRSKY”

On April 30, 2006, on the day of remembrance of the great Russian saint, the 500th anniversary of the Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery is celebrated (now near the city of Lodeynoye Pole, Leningrad Region. - Note MIT)

The land of Svir has the greatest shrine; people from all over the world come to one of the “wonders of the world” - the completely incorruptible relics of St. Alexander of Svir. The saint passed away into eternity almost half a millennium ago, and his body remains in a state of preservation incomprehensible to the human mind. Modern scientists who have examined the relics have made an unequivocal conclusion: without the use of any chemicals, the person who lived on the Veps land 500 years ago had all the internal organs and skin preserved incorrupt, and retained pronounced portrait features.

Modern researchers were surprised by this just as it was with the monks of the Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery, when 400 years ago they raised from the ground the remains of the founder of the monastery, who had lain in the grave for a hundred years.

The chronicles have preserved for us the story of the details of this event, which we now celebrate as a special church holiday - April 30.

During the Time of Troubles, when the Russian land was subject to enemy raids, between 1613 and 1615, the monastery was destroyed three times. Lithuanians and Poles tortured 27 monks and 32 workers. Hegumen Paisius probably also died.

In 1613, the local militia defeated the interventionists near Olonets and liberated the region. According to the Stolbovsky Peace, the border passed west of Ladoga and these lands remained within the Moscow state.

The new abbot Theodorit found only the wooden St. Nicholas Church surviving in the waste desert. By 1620, the monastery gradually began to be restored under the care of the royal nun Martha, the mother of the first Sovereign from the House of Romanov. And before this, the monastery enjoyed the patronage of high-ranking persons: Ivan the Terrible, who considered the monastery exemplary, and Rev. Alexandra - “the great miracle worker” (he sent icons to the monastery to commemorate the soul of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, a silver cross, bells), the Godunov family, including Boris Feodorovich and Irina Fedorovna, whose craftswomen embroidered the shrine on the shrine of the Venerable Tsar Vasily Shuisky. The Trinity Cathedral, the Church of the Intercession with its refectory, cells and services were restored. The monastery owned the largest bells in the Olonets region of 200 and 100 poods.

Under the next abbot Abraham, the Transfiguration Cathedral was restored in stone in the former waste hermitage, and at the same time in 1641 the relics of St. Alexander were discovered and examined. The discovery was accompanied by special signs: on April 15 and 16 (old style) there was extraordinary thunder and lightning that shone on the ground above the burial place of the holy founder of the monastery.

And on April 17, on the Saturday of Righteous Lazarus, the friend of God, during the Divine Liturgy, workers on the site of the former church were digging a ditch for the walls of a new, stone church in honor of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ. When they began to dig a ditch for the front wall, on the eastern side of the temple, where the altar place of the former wooden church was, they found a coffin. The ground above him stood in the form of a cave, unsupported by anything.

The workers, seeing this, were horrified and amazed at such a wonderful position of the found coffin and wondered what to do with it.

At this time, the holy monk Elisha of the same monastery happened to pass by them, who, seeing them standing for a long time without doing anything and wondering, said to them: “Why are you standing there doing nothing?” They invited him to look at the coffin, which was an object of surprise for them. Elisha, approaching them and seeing that the earth, like a cave, stood over the coffin, not supported by anything, protected himself with the sign of the cross and, very carefully opening the top board of the coffin a little, and seeing in the coffin a whole, not at all damaged body, as well as clothes intact and incorruptible, he fell into great fear, thinking to himself that these were the relics of the venerable father Alexander and, still pushing the board back, quickly went to the monastery and notified abbot Abraham and all the brethren about it.

The abbot at that time served the Divine Liturgy, which, having celebrated and communed with the brethren of the Divine Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, he soon went with everyone to look at that miraculous phenomenon. When the monastery servants heard about this, they each left their work, chasing each other, hastily, with great zeal, went to look at the miraculous phenomenon. When they arrived at the foundation of the church, the abbot was immediately shown the found coffin. He, going down with the holy monks into the ditch, removed the top board from the coffin, and a strong fragrance from the relics of the monk spread everywhere, so that the whole place was filled with incense, and they saw the entire lying body of the venerable father Alexander, intact and unharmed, in the mantle and schema of the he was dressed in rank, his face was covered, and part of his 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. The fragrant myrrh spread throughout his body, like some growing flowers, and poured out like water. Seeing this, everyone who was there was filled with horror and joy.

And the abbot ordered to bring a new coffin, since the old one was completely rotten, only the lower board of the coffin survived, on which lay the laborious body of the Monk Alexander. And having dressed together with the hieromonks in sacred clothes, they placed the venerable relics of the monk in a new coffin, and on their shoulders they brought them to the temple of the great Saint Nicholas of God, located there, in the venerable hermitage of the monk.

Metropolitan Afoniy of Novgorod was present at the opening of the relics. The relics were placed in a silver shrine donated by Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and transferred to the completed Transfiguration Cathedral. At the end of the 1870s. a new silver shrine was built for the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky, weighing 11 pounds, and the old one was moved to the Trinity Cathedral (the lid was preserved in the collection of the Russian Museum).

The monks, who saw the incorruptible flesh of their heavenly patron at the first discovery of the relics, were shocked by their complete incorruption and wrote a description of the shrine. First of all, they pointed out that more than a hundred years after his death, the monk did not look dead, but asleep - his face was so alive! Moreover, thanks to its amazing preservation, his face was recognizable. After all, the first icons of St. Alexander were painted by his contemporaries and they conveyed the portrait features of the face of the Seer of the Holy Trinity. Moreover, the first examination of the saint’s relics took place only on the basis of a comparison of the saint’s face with his face on an icon of the 16th century. The resemblance was complete and undeniable.

The compilers of the description of the relics in 1641 noted the unusual position of the saint’s arms and legs and the amber-yellow color of his skin (often the skin of the relics darkens with time).

All these details in the description 400 years ago were very helpful during the second discovery of the relics of St. Alexander, which took place in 1998.

Miracles immediately began to flow from the relics, which were recorded by ancient chroniclers.

On the day on which Saint Athos of Novgorod bore witness to the relics of the Monk Alexander, at nine o'clock in the evening a wonderful light shone from the sky and illuminated the whole place for a long time, but the night was then very dark. The saint and everyone who was then in the monastery of the monk saw this sign, and glorified God, saying: “Glory to Thee, Holy King, as you look upon this holy place and glorify Your saint, the Reverend Alexander!” That wonderful sign lasted until midnight. The saint stayed in the monastery for seven days, praying and glorifying God and His Pleasant. The very first miracles from the relics of St. Alexander testified to his closeness and compassion towards ordinary people. Let us give examples of some of these miracles.

MIRACLE ABOUT THE RESOLUTION OF INFERTILITY

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 kind and believing man 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 God to give 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. 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 Miracle-working and healing body, they thanked God and His Pleasant, 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.

THE MIRACLE OF THE RELAXED

A certain nobleman Andrei Danilov Antonov, who lived in the village of Kusyage, 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 they had not prayed to the monk at first, having long heard about the glorious miracles that happened from his honest and multi-healing relics. 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.

THE MIRACLE OF WARRIORS

In August 1673, a certain royal warrior Mokiy Lvov, a resident of Gorodetsk, near Vezhetsk, came to the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity and the venerable father Alexander, who told the following in the monastery: “When I was in military service, in the regiment of the boyar Vasily Borisovich Sheremetyev, against godless Crimean Tatars, we happened to be near the city of Konotop, where the godless Tatars unexpectedly attacked us, took many of us prisoner and took us to their land; where we, thirteen people, were given to one Murza, with whom we were in captivity for thirteen years, doing all kinds of hard work during the day, and staying in prison at night, in iron shackles.

One night, sitting in prison, we cried a lot, praying to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother, calling on all the saints for help. And then great fear and bewilderment fell upon us: we saw a great light in the prison that shone around us. When we came to our senses, we saw a handsome man with gray hair come in to us, and heard a voice saying from above: “O people! Call upon Saint Alexander of Svirsky for help, he will save you from real trouble.” And immediately the one who appeared became invisible and the light disappeared. We made a promise to the Monk Alexander of Svirsky.

Two days after this, Greek merchants came and bought us from that Murza, and then brought us to Constantinople, from where we safely arrived in the God-protected reigning city of Moscow and we all went to our places of residence, through the prayers of the great Wonderworker, the Reverend Father Alexander.”
+ + +

To these testimonies let us add examples of modern miracles flowing from the incorruptible relics of St. Alexandra. Here is what Anna Bobrovich wrote in the St. Petersburg newspaper “Rush Hour” on May 25, 1999: “After many examinations and long, but unsuccessful treatment, Elena Zlobina was given a terrible diagnosis - infertility. In August 1998, with the secret hope of a miracle, she went to the temple where the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky and venerated the shrine. And after some time, with fear and hope, I realized that I was pregnant. At the appointed time, a girl was born, who was baptized in the courtyard of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery.”

From the testimonies of happy parents, which are stored in the archives of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, I will cite one that seems most touching, even in small things: “In 1998, the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky. My daughter and I venerated the relics of the saint with the same request, that God would grant her a child. The daughter got married early - at the age of 18. She is now 38 years old. All the years of marriage were years of waiting in vain for a child. And then a miracle happened: in September the daughter venerated the relics, and in October, as it turned out later, she became pregnant. A beautiful girl was born on time. This is a miracle given by God through prayers at the relics of St. It happened for Alexandra after 19 years of waiting. We were also shown the solicitude of St. Alexandra about the safe birth of this child. The fact is that the existence of a child in the womb was hidden from everyone; even the mother herself found out about her pregnancy shortly before giving birth. For several years she was registered with an endocrinologist. During her pregnancy, when she went to the doctor, she told him that her belly was getting bigger and bigger. The doctor advised her to go on a diet and lose weight. Explaining this to dysbacteriosis. Everyone was blind - the daughter, her husband (people with higher education), it did not occur to them that this was pregnancy. If she had gone to a gynecologist, then we can assume that they would have treated her and given her drugs, because... the pregnancy is late, and this, according to doctors, means that there is a threat to both the child and the mother.

Therefore, Rev. Alexander Svirsky hid this baby until birth. Every day I thank St. Alexandra for the birth of baby Maria. He asked God, and God gave us such joy. This is a real miracle."

Our saints show amazing love for mankind following the example of the Lord. St. Alexander of Svirsky is a great ascetic, the only New Testament saint who was worthy of seeing the Holy Trinity with his own eyes, so attentive to simple human life, to its sorrows and joys!

I personally know five married couples who received the joy of motherhood and fatherhood after a long period of infertility through prayers to the Reverend. I won’t name their names, I’ll just say that they are very different people in their occupations. And I’ll tell you a secret: the splendor of the Holy Trinity Alexander Svirsky Monastery, its rapid revival after decades of devastation, became possible precisely as the fruit of the gratitude of these and similar people who tried to generously thank the saint for the earthly happiness sent to them - to be parents. Sometimes you even feel awe when you look at these children who were born thanks to the prayerful intercession of the saint. Alexander Svirsky. You think: what will they grow up to be? Will they forget about their Abba? Will they convey gratitude to their children and grandchildren?

Time will show. And every year more and more are added to the “begged children” of our father Alexander, the flow of pilgrims to the shrine with relics has not weakened for eight years now. People come from everywhere: from Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, from Finland, from the center of Russia. And joyful singing sounds under the arches of the ancient Transfiguration Cathedral: “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!”

On July 30, 2006, the 500th anniversary of the Holy Trinity Alexander-Svirsky Monastery will be celebrated. Thus, about its founder we can say: “Hoary antiquity.” But the cases we have told of the miraculous intervention of St. Alexander in the lives of modern people make him so close to us that we feel like a dear and caring father who hears everyone who turns to him with faith, hope and love.

DISPUTES AROUND THE RECENTS OF ST. ALEXANDER SVIRSKY: THE TRUMPH OF FAITH OVER CLITERITY

More than five years ago, when the second discovery of the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky took place, people were bombarded with contradictory information, which, as it turned out, had been slyly left to us by the Bolsheviks since 1918. Priests were especially embarrassed: revered priests were plunged into a pseudoscientific dispute. Who needed it - history will judge. Unfortunately, there is still talk about the “inauthenticity of the relics” among the Orthodox.

We turned to nun Leonida, who was searching for the relics using archival and historical materials, with a request: to give an overview of those contradictory historical documents about the relics that have become a source of confusion in our days.

In the world, nun Leonida (Safonova), after graduating from Leningrad State University, has been engaged in research work in the field of biology of cells and tissues of the human body for 30 years; she is the author of more than 60 scientific papers, a candidate of biological sciences. She changed her scientific field to a monastery six months before defending her doctoral dissertation.

The campaign to remove the relics and modern “opponents”

In 1918, the main perpetrator of the blasphemous campaign against the relics of St. Alexander Svirsky was the chairman of the Olonets Provincial Emergency Committee, Oscar Kanter. The extraordinary preservation of the shrine probably greatly embarrassed the representative of the punitive authorities. He clearly did not control his further actions, otherwise he would not have left for posterity several options for describing the appearance of the relics of St. Alexander, making his lies and vanity around the shrine so obvious. All the versions he created were safely preserved in the archives and reached the historians of our time - contemporaries of the second discovery of the relics. Kanter’s work and invention were not in vain - among the options listed below, historians who took part in the debate about the relics were able to easily find their favorite option:

1. "Wax doll."

2. “Skull, three teeth and lower jaw.”

3. "An ordinary skeleton of a mortal man... what appears to be feet wearing dark crimson shoes."

4. “A pile of half-decayed bones.”

5. “The body is safe and sound... The feet are broken.”

In October 1918, a message appeared in the open press about the opening of the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky, where readers were informed that instead of the relics, there was wax doll. Following this message, the Provincial Department of Public Education turned to the Olonets Provincial Executive Committee with a request to provide “wax relics” at the disposal of the Department of Public Education for storage in the provincial museum. The Executive Committee decided to transfer the relics to the museum (resolution dated 10/11/18 No. 57). In the column “when executed” it is written: “Exp. 10/15/18. Gub Cheka (No. 9288)".

This means, according to the decree, the relics should have been in the provincial museum on October 15. However, the “wax relics” never made it to the museum either on October 15 or October 26, when a separate battalion of the Cheka troops under the Olonets Provincial Cheka, led by August Wagner, entered the Svirsky Monastery to take the relics and requisition valuables. Wagner did not comply with the decree - he did not bring the “doll” to the museum, and at the request of the monks, he left the relics in the monastery. And the commission later appointed by Zinoviev, which included a doctor, a chemist and a “Soviet priest,” did not take the relics, called wax, to the museum, but left them in Lodeynoye Pole in the hospital chapel under the lock of the Cheka on December 20, 1918. A long correspondence ensued between the museum, the Executive Committee and the Cheka, did not produce results: the “wax relics” never came to the provincial museum and to any other. According to archival documents, a representative of the People's Commissariat for Education, Krutetsky, was allowed to see the relics in the chapel. O. Kanter asked him the question, “whether the center will not find the remains of the monk a historical relic, and if it finds them as such, then the authorities will transport them to the mountains. Petrozavodsk". It follows that Kanter could not make the decision on his own. This is how confused the chairman of the local Cheka was. It would seem that nothing could be simpler: if the relics of the saint are a wax doll, then exhibit it in a museum and expose the church’s deception. The security officers could not reveal the truth about the relics to the employees of the Department of Public Education, and they, not understanding anything, continued to demand the promised exhibit. Correspondence on this matter is kept in the archives of Petrozavodsk. The Chekists had to get out of it and look for a way out: they weren’t really making a doll out of wax for the provincial museum - there were more serious matters, for example, carrying out the “Red Terror” program. The version with a wax doll has survived to this day and has its adherents, fortunately, few in number.

“Certificates of honor” drawn up by “religious fighters”

The creative thought of the Chairman of the Cheka Kanter worked further. Just a week after the relics arrived in the chapel under the Cheka castle, another “relic” was fabricated (2nd option – skull, three teeth and lower jaw). To be more convincing, they had to be provided with well-written documents. For this purpose, the fake relics are sent to Petrograd to the Forensic Medical Subdivision under the People's Commissariat of Health. The archives of the City Forensic Medical Expert Service of St. Petersburg still contain documents examining the skull signed by “all forensic experts” in Petrograd. In the act accompanying the skull, the first lines state: “On December 27, 1918, I, the chairman of the Lodeinopolsky Uyezd Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Profiteering and Crimes ex officio, took the skull and three teeth, the so-called incorruptible relics attributed to Alexander Svirsky from Alexander-Svirsky Monastery... The skull and teeth are pre-wrapped in cotton wool.”

Meanwhile, the authentic relics of the monk, placed in the Lodeynopol chapel, continued to be there in a coffin, “narrow, upholstered with brocade on the outside and dark blue velvet on the inside,” - it is this coffin that is mentioned in monastery documents dated 1868 and January 18, 1919 Evidence of this is kept in the document-report of A. Krutetsky, an employee of the Department for the Protection and Registration of Monuments of Antiquity and Art. It was then and here, at the saint’s tomb, that the security officers, showing the relics, asked Krutetsky to find out in the center the fate of the relics. One might think that the document of protection for the relics of Alexander Svirsky was a resolution received from the center. Officially, the center in this case was considered to be the Archaeological Commission under the People's Commissariat for Education, well-known academic scientists in the scientific world worked here: Pokryshkin, Marr, Zolotarev, Orbeli, Oldenburg, Udalenkov, and here a conclusion was made about the value of the relics: “Recognizing the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky as certainly historical relic, the location of which should be in the temple... asks to take measures to protect this national historical value.” The resolution is dated 02/21/19, sent 03/15/19.

Thus, Krutetsky’s report, which sets out information about the relics located in the chapel, and the center’s conclusion deprive Kanter’s 2nd version of the skull, teeth and lower jaw of the right to “life”. Krutetsky compiled a report on the inspection of authentic relics at the same time, when they “investigated” the false powers put into circulation by the Bolsheviks to confuse the people.

Residents of Lodeynoye Pole recall that even in the 40s, some bones passed off as the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were shown to people. Thus, Kanter’s 2nd option turned out to be long-lived.

3rd option - “an ordinary skeleton of a mortal man... something like legs dressed in dark crimson shoes”, - was published on March 11, 1919. This version is contained in Kanter’s explanatory note regarding the robbery carried out in the Svirsky monastery in October 1918. The explanation was sent to the Cheka under the Council of People's Commissars. There was no forensic medical examination of the relics of this option: either the skeleton was not at hand, or the enemy interfered while advancing on Petrozavodsk. And the task of the fighters against the Orthodox Church was to expose the cult of relics: for this it was necessary to show that the relics of saints are not an incorruptible body, but “a bunch of half-decayed bones” - this is exactly how the relics of the saint will be called in the last document revealing Kanter’s work , dedicated to the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky.

4th option – “a pile of half-decayed bones” how the type of relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky turned out to be preferable in the choice made by one of our St. Petersburg historians. This option probably seemed the most convenient because of the ending: the bones were burned, there were no relics, the conversations were over. The material the historian refers to is the report of B.N. Molas, an employee of the Department for the Protection, Accounting and Registration of Monuments of Art and Antiquities of the People's Commissariat for Education, on a trip to the Olonets province in September-October 1919. It is difficult to believe that historians can make serious conclusions from those uninformative and dubious lines left by Molas: “In clarifying the fate of the relics of the Monk Alexander Svirsky, I learned that on March 19, 1919, the Chairman of the Gubernia State Emergency Committee Kanter asked the Lodeynopol Executive Committee to destroy, that is, burn and bury in the ground the remains of the so-called relics attributed to Alexander Svirsky , in order to avoid the pilgrimage of dark peasants to a pile of half-decayed bones, which was immediately done.”

Molas's report about the destruction of the bones remains unfounded. In mentioning Kanter's request, Molas does not refer to either the order to burn the relics or the report on the execution of this order.

It is doubtful both the fact of the burning itself and the fact that the “pile of half-decayed bones” referred to in this fragment are the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky. According to historical events and documents of that time, local provincial arbitrariness could not have taken place. The decision on the fate of the relics of Alexander Svirsky was approved by the Center - the Presidium of the North Caucasus Socialist Society and Zinoviev personally, which is confirmed by documents from the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg and Zinoviev’s personal archive, stored in the former Partarchive. The Center's control system over the actions of local authorities was well established, so the GubChK could not simply ask the Executive Committee to burn the relics. From the “Circular of the NKVD Management Department to all provincial executive committees”: “In the case of transporting “relics” in an unmasked form to a new place, permission from the NKVD is required each time. Hand it over to the executive committees immediately.” In addition, we must not forget that the only skeletal remains attributed to the Monk Alexander of Svirsky, back in May (see above) were in Petrograd after the examination, that is, the provincial Executive Committee could not have disposed of them in March, especially “immediately” after Kanter’s request. There was another important circumstance that protected the relics from acts of vandalism: the relics of St. Alexander concentrated the attention of many secular and spiritual structures. According to documents from the archives of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the fate of the relics was interested in: the Council of People's Commissars, the People's Commissariat of Justice, the Control and Audit Board, the Cheka, the All-Russian Church Council and personally Patriarch Tikhon, Metropolitan Benjamin, the Olonets diocesan administration and numerous press organs at that time. The provincial security officers and employees of the Executive Committee would not have risked carrying out an act of arbitrariness under such a gun.

5th option – “act of examination of the relics”, dated November 5/18, 1918, began to be distributed “confidentially” immediately after the relics of St. Alexander of Svirsky were brought into the Church of the Holy Martyrs Faith, Nadezhda, Lyubov and M. Sophia on July 30, 1998. If only the owner of the document knew what an invaluable service he provided in the matter of examining the relics! The mentality of our ancestors was so high that they did not leave to their descendants a detailed description of the appearance of the relics, but what generous confirmation of the truth of the relics discovered in the Museum of Anatomy of the Military Medical Academy we received from the document presented below. We assessed it as a gift from the past: as many as six similarities came from 1918.

The “Act of Examination of the Relics” is kept by the famous St. Petersburg historian V.V. Antonov, who has no doubt about its authenticity. We also have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this document, especially since in the documents of the monastery archive, namely in the “Register of outgoing papers of the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery for 1918”, and in the message to His Eminence Bishop Ioaniky, the provision of two acts is mentioned , one of which is about the requisition in the monastery, the other is “about the inspection of the relics of the monk.” The contents of the act of examining the relics have not been preserved in the monastery documents.

The act presented by the historian contains a description of the signs that occur in the relics of the saint, discovered in the Museum of Anatomy of the Military Medical Academy. The act states that the relics are safe and sound, wrapped in schematic clothing, which “has already decayed in places.” “Having lifted the casing, they saw the face of the monk” (it was the face that Metropolitan Afony saw when he approached the relics, but not the skull bones!), then the presence of all the teeth is noted, “only the top two fell out,” which is also true and confirmed by modern experts ( dentist and anthropologist). We did not count on obtaining such a coincidence, such a subtle detail indicating the authenticity of the relics. The description of the chest and arms (but not the skeleton of the chest and arm bones) that this document contains is also true, and the details of the description, although somewhat exaggerated, provide an additional sign of similarity.

Now let us dwell on the detail from the act, because of which the owner of this document made it widely public, including via the Internet - his intention was to refute the truth of the relics found on July 30, 1998.

From the act: “...the hands cannot be seen further, since they are wrapped in a cover, and the cover stuck to the board and was not untied. The feet of the feet were destroyed, and the bones were put together with the shoes in which the saint was buried, wrapped in clothes and tied with a ribbon.”

The monks who found the relics of the monk a century after his death described in detail the position of the legs of the incorruptible body - “the right foot lies on the left.” The same situation was noted by experts who described the position of the legs after the second discovery of the relics; they wrote the following: “the plantar surface of the right foot touches the dorsum of the left,” from the anthropologist’s description: “the right foot is raised and rests on the arch of the left.” Thus, there is no fundamental discrepancy in the description of the position of the legs left by ancient and modern witnesses.

The lines about feet from the act of 1918 are puzzling: the cover was not untied because it stuck to the board, however, ancient shoes, destroyed feet, and bones folded into shoes could be seen. Most likely, if the stuck cover was not untied, then the legs were not opened.

In the monastery archive we found a document proving that the drafters of the act really did not untie their legs. This follows from a letter from the rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Agafangel, to His Eminence Archbishop Pavel of Olonets: “With your Bishop’s blessing, from the 4th to the 5th of December I celebrated an all-night cathedral vigil, at which the akathist to St. Alexander was read. He was 250 years old when he was placed in the royal shrine, and therefore, when everyone left, I left the sacristan and served a prayer service to the monk, and changed the donated pillow and shoes.” The letter dates from 1894.

You read these kind lines from the past and involuntarily think that not a single word has been forgotten by the Lord. And this is a brief description of the event, which paid tribute to the gratitude of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich for the gift for the saint, and a prayer appeal to the Venerable Alexander of Svirsky himself on the anniversary day, and just a small touch about the change of shoes. But what help comes today from this small touch, protecting the relics of the monk from “historical” negligence! Thanks to this mention, it is clear that not the ancient shoes of 385 years ago, in which the monk was buried, but new shoes (only 24 years had passed from the time of changing the shoes) would have been seen by the drafters of the act if they had untied the monk’s feet.

Paradoxical as it may seem, even the security officers inadvertently made a positive contribution to protecting the safety of the saint’s legs. Document dated March 11, 1919 (see option 3) signed by the chairman of the GubChK Kantera specified that the shoes were dark crimson in color. Historians probably know that monks were not buried wearing red shoes - such decoration was only applicable to the relics of saints. The monastery documents contain the “Inventory inventory of the Alexander-Svirsky ancient repository”, which was made by representatives of the People's Commissariat for Education in 1918-1925, who requisitioned most of the antiquities for the museum fund. The inventory in the “Sewing Department” lists, in particular: “244. The head (cushion) is embroidered in gold on red velvet with the image of the Holy Trinity. 246. Shoes embroidered with gold on red velvet. 247. Shoes embroidered with gold on a crimson background. 248. Shoes embroidered with gold on black velvet. In the margin it is written: “The gift of the faithful for the relics of St. Alexander.”

Thus, the drafters of the act, if they had bothered to untie the saint’s feet, would have seen new shoes of a dark crimson color and whole, undamaged feet, only lying not usually parallel to each other, but one on top of the other (the right one looks up, the left one looks to the side ). This is what confused the drafters of the act. Feeling their feet, they could not help but feel the fingers through the soft velvet shoes, and they were mistaken for bones folded into shoes.

So, our historian opponents could not agree among themselves on which version to stand on together. One did not mind having a whole body, but he accepted it only with broken legs. Another historian was not satisfied with the whole body: it did not fit into the document he had chosen - the “document” was written about the burning of bones, not bodies.

The Bolsheviks' ability to mystify is well known. Kanter also fully possessed it - hence the abundance of options for describing the type of relics, but this abundance is precisely evidence that there was a true version that had to be hidden.

The history of the concealment of authentic relics

It would be difficult to find a better place than the fundamental anatomy museum at the former Imperial Academy (now the Military Medical Academy), with a 150-year history and more than 10,000 different exhibits, for hiding. In addition, it was necessary to comply with the order of 1919 to place the relics in museums. The tradition of the museum was a scrupulous cataloging of each anatomical specimen received by the museum, which was never violated. It was violated only in a single case: the relics of St. Alexander were never registered - this was evidenced by the head of the museum, associate professor M.V. Tvardovskaya. The date of their arrival at the museum is not indicated anywhere. Such a situation could only arise in a single case - when it was necessary to hide the relics; there could be no other reason. It is possible that the instruction for the cover-up was received from Zinoviev. Secret messages about the concealment of relics were also published in 1948. Here is an extract from one message marked “secret”: “The funds of the museum system of the Committee for Cultural and Educational Institutions under the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR contain “relics”, but they are not in use , and in special storage facilities isolated from visitors... The Committee, by its order No. 718-C, prohibited directors from allowing representatives of religious communities into the museum collections and giving them any information about the religious objects in the museum collections.”

Until 1954, reliable protection for the relics of St. Alexander was provided by academician V.N. Tonkov, who came from a count family on his father’s side and from a priestly family on his mother’s side. In the terrible revolutionary and post-revolutionary years, until 1926, he served as president of the Military Medical Academy and at the same time headed the department of normal anatomy, where the museum was located. He was a strong, courageous, strong-willed man who never lost his dignity. In 1918, Sverdlov gave him a reference for joining the party, but he did not join the party then; the reference is still kept in the family archive. Then it was an act. The Bolsheviks were forced to take him into account, and the scientific world of Petrograd also relied on him. It was to him that scientists turned when their colleagues were arrested. There is no doubt that the famous scientist and believer (according to the testimony of his granddaughter N.V. Tonkova, his entire family - his wife and two daughters - were believers), Academician V.N. Tonkov knew which shrine was entrusted to him by the will of God and which the responsibility lies with him as the custodian of this shrine. The presence of the relics at the pulpit throughout the years was shrouded in a wall of deaf silence. However, there is nothing secret that will not become apparent. It became known that sometimes KGB officers came to the museum under V.N. Tonkov, then the relics were hidden between the wall and a cabinet. “A secular explanation for the successful hiding of the relics can only lie in personal motives. No arguments of state benefit worked during the years of despotism. The evil spirit feeds only itself, but this is its weakness. Finding the only path where evil is powerless, going out with honor and leading out the doomed is a task only a wise person can do. Academician Vladimir Nikolaevich Tonkov accomplished a great spiritual feat, and only today the height of his invisible struggle against the Antichrist power is being revealed,” such an assessment was made by independent journalist B. Karaganda in his article after an interview with the head. Department of Normal Anatomy prof. I.V.Gayvaronsky.

Fighting the shrine.

After we got acquainted with the materials provided by M. Leonida, a conclusion emerged: if so intensely in 1918-1919. and in our time, doubt has been and is being sown about the authenticity of the relics of St. Alexandra, then this once again proves the power of this shrine. This means that the same forces hate the popular veneration of the ascetic; they are not satisfied with the fact that, at the call of their hearts, unforced by anyone, thousands of pilgrims go to the Svirsky Monastery from all over the Orthodox world in order to venerate the seer of the Holy Trinity, who rests in the relics.

But in this case too, God turns evil to good. If they fight so hard against the veneration of the relics of St. Alexander, then they expose themselves by this - it means there is something to fight with.

***

• Prayer to St. Alexander of Svirsky. The Monk Alexander of Svirsky accepted monasticism from his youth. Great ascetic and mentor of monks. Was honored with a vision of the Holy Trinity. They pray to the Venerable Alexander of Svirsky in their desire to become a monk, for guidance in monastic practice, for consolation of the hearts of parents who grieve over their child’s choice of monasticism, for help in teaching, and in the ailment of relaxation (paralysis)

Akathist to St. Alexander of Svirsky:

Canon to St. Alexander of Svirsky:

Hagiographic and scientific-historical literature about St. Alexander of Svirsky:

• Life of St. Alexander of Svirsky— Pravoslavie.Ru