Since ancient times, they worship St. Alexei. This is a man of God who was not tonsured a monk, but is venerated.
“O Great Christ's saint, God's holy man Alexei, pray to God for us!” - this may sound a short prayer that can be read daily to any person about the protection of their home, family, city and state as a whole. You can ask for help and protection in dangerous everyday situations, at sea and on land, in the war zone and just in the morning, on the day to come.
Name
Protection, reflection, prevention - all these words characterize Alexei. This name occupies a special position in Russia. In the Orthodox calendar, the day of St. Alexei occurs more than once, there are several saints with this name. Orthodox believers especially revere the son of the Romanovs - Tsarevich Alexei. Tsarevich Alexei and the reverend are connected by an invisible thread. After all, it was only with him that a special service began to be served in temples and temples were built with the name of a saint.
For example, by order of Tsar Mikhail Romanov, a church named after the Monk was built in a village owned by Princess Trubetskoy. This village was called Kopytovo, and later renamed Alekseevskoe. Here the king spent enough time hunting and just relaxing with his family. It was from this place that he went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Over time, the wooden church dilapidated, and it was dismantled. The throne was moved to the built stone temple of the Mother of God of Tikhvin, where now there is the Alekseevsky chapel.
The roots
Saint Alexei himself has Roman roots. His parents were pious, had a noble birth. The father's name was Euthymianus, and the mother's name was Aglaida. The birth of the long-awaited son of the Roman couple took place in the 5th century. Alexey was brought up in Christian traditions, using the example of parents who constantly helped the poor, widows, wanderers, orphans and everyone who needed their help. From a young age, he wanted to serve only one God, however, when he reached the age of majority, he was forced to become engaged to a young girl from the noble.
But not having lived with her, the young bridegroom immediately gave the bride his ring. “May the Lord be between us ...” Alexei said, making it clear to his wife that she would keep the ring until God renews them with his grace. Having said these things, he went to Asia, where he distributed everything that he had, and assumed the form of a beggar.
Now Alexei, a holy man, has become a simple beggar, asking for alms near the temple. He set aside nights for fervent prayer to God. It lasted for seventeen years. The monk's food was served only with bread and water. It is impossible to describe the joy experienced by him when taking alms from his own servants, who were in search of the missing master's son and were found in these places by God's providence.
The servants did not recognize the master in a skinny beggar asking for alms at the temple. Alex was known as a man of God and a righteous among the local population. So that glory would not catch his heart, he decided to leave this place and went from Edessa, the city where he spent all this time (today it is modern Turkey), where he gazes, landing on the first ship that went to Tars (to the homeland of the Apostle Paul )
Divine Providence
But by the Providence of God, Saint Alexei did not get to his destination. A strong storm changed the course of the ship, and he was again in Rome. Having come to his home, he was not recognized by his parents, wife, servants ... But they gladly accepted the wanderer and gave him a place in their possessions. So the righteous spent another seventeen years, subjected to all sorts of taunts from the side of the servants, who took food from him sent to the pilgrim from the master’s table. It cannot be said that the saint lived these years easily, observing from the side his parents and his wife, who mourned for the missing Alexei ...
Death
Sensing the approach of death, St. Alexei, a man of God, described in detail his life. And at the same time, the people heard the voice of God in the Cathedral of St. Peter, who called to find a man of God who could pray for Rome. People were at a loss when they heard the second call of God. This happened already in the presence of Emperor Honorius himself. The voice pointed to the house of Mr. Euthymianus, where the servants confirmed the presence of a beggar in him, who makes unceasing prayer and humbly endures all humiliation. Arriving at the house of Euthymianus, people saw the deceased righteous man Alexei, whose face shone, and in his hands was a scroll with a description of his whole life.
First miracles
Parents and wife cried for a long time at the saint's body. They were struck by his righteousness. And the scroll in Alexey’s hands was so squeezed that no one could take it. And only after the emperor himself humbly knelt before the body of the righteous man and asked him to open his hands in order to take what was written, the scroll became available for reading.
After the body of the ascetic was transferred to the Cathedral Square, streams of pilgrims flowed to him, many of whom received miraculous healings. Even the emperor himself carried the remains of the saint. The pilgrim was buried on March 30 in the church of St. Boniface. Now this is St. Alexis Day. It was here that he once married his wife. So St. Alexei, not having received monastic tonsure, achieved righteousness and is revered as a great ascetic who received the face of the saint.
Veneration
Until the tenth century, veneration of the saint spread mainly in the Orthodox East. Since the tenth century, his name appears in the calendar of Rome. In 1216, the relics of a saint were acquired. They are laid under the throne of a temple located on Aventine Hill. Although the church itself since 986 bore the name of St. Boniface and Alexei. Below is a photo of St. Alexis depicted in the icon. Today the relics of the saint are divided and stored in different parts of the Orthodox world. There are legends about the head of Alexei gifted by Emperor Manuel the second Greek monastery of Agia Lavra to the abduction by the Novgorod merchant of the hands of the righteous from Sofia and others. In 2006, a particle of relics donated by the Italian side arrived at the John the Baptist Monastery.
In Western Europe, the name of the saint quickly gained fame thanks to the many missionaries and preachers who came here from the East. The first European work was a poem written by the Languedo dialect of the French language, authored by Thibault Champagne.
Glorification of the image
In Russia, the image of the saint, his life and asceticism inspired artists and writers to create various kinds of works. His veneration came from Byzantium. In the Middle Ages, the book "Holy Tales", which was written by Jacob Varaginsky, gained great popularity. Popularly, this composition is better known as the Golden Legend. Across Europe, these legends were known. The book described two hundred lives of saints, among whom was the righteous Saint Alexei. The works were copied in monasteries into different languages: from Catalan, German to Polish.
The Golden Legend was criticized more than once during the Reformation, but at the same time it was second only to the Bible in popularity. Until the seventeenth century, many icons, paintings, engravings, frescoes, oratory, operas and other works of art were created on the basis of legends from the Golden Legend. Among them, Saint Alexei occupies a significant place. In Russia at that very time, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, many songs, poems and tales dedicated to the righteous were composed.
Soviet times
But in subsequent years, the name Alex was glorified. For example, during the Soviet Union there were a sufficient number of heroes with the name Aleksey. The famous song “Alyosha” was even written, the authors of which were Konstantin Vanshenkin and Eduard Kolmanovsky. Alyosha was a collective image, a national hero not only for Russians, but also for Bulgarians. The song "Alyosha" became the anthem of the city of Plovdiv, and Private Alexei Skurlatov became the prototype for the eleven meter monument. He was a participant in the 1944 military operation in Bulgaria, a scout and a telephone line communications officer between Sofia and Plovdiv.
Oblivion
Unfortunately, after certain events in 1989, the song "Alyosha" stopped playing daily at the radio stations of the city of Plovdiv. The local community also demanded to demolish the monument as a sign of “Soviet occupation”. However, by the decision of the Bulgarian Supreme Court, the monument was not touched, they left it as a symbol of the Second World War. The name Alyosha is still very popular among the Slavic population, especially in Russia and Bulgaria. And in the famous city of Kharkov, in honor of the saint, a whole area is named - Alekseevka. There is also a source of the same name.
Iconography and church services
Regarding iconography, we can say that the first icon of St. Alexei dates back to the eighth century. He was depicted in frescoes of the Roman Church of Saints Boniface and Alexei on Aventine Hill. Russian icon painting is characterized by some similarities in the images of St. John the Baptist and the righteous Alexei. In Europe, icon painting mainly depicts scenes from the life of a pilgrim, according to legends described in various sources. Most often, the pope is depicted with knees before the deceased saint and servants pouring dirty water on the poor Alexei.
At services in the church, Orthodox St. Alexei mentioned in the studio edition of the Mineas and in reading a special canon compiled by Joseph the Songwriter. Unlike the Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church excluded the celebration of the saint from the new calendar.
This happened during the reform movement. Now this day is not necessary for celebration, but has become memorable and solemn for monasteries and orders bearing the name of the righteous. However, Saint Alexei lived his life so not to glorify himself, but to be able to connect with his Heavenly Father, the creator of everything visible and invisible, the giver of life and light, love and good.
Prayer Sighs
Throughout the Christian world, sighs to God and requests addressed to the saint are heard. In Orthodoxy, this is a special righteous man to whom believers turn daily. There are many cases of healing and other miracles that God manifests in relation to people whose hearts and mouths include a prayer to St. Alexei, requests for help addressed to the righteous, who gained great grace from God with his ascetic life.
This prayer is described in many Orthodox prayer books and other sources. They can be purchased in church shops, Orthodox churches, can be found on electronic resources on the Internet. However, even if you do not have it at hand, you can always in the depths of your soul in heartfelt prayer turn to the saint for help. Say in your own words everything that has become painful, turn to him as a friend and living primate before the Almighty. Be sure: your request will be surely heard, and if it does not contradict God's law, if it is not sent to the detriment of others or himself, God will certainly answer St. Alexei’s request for your need.