Biography
Rev. Alexander Svirsky is one of the most revered of the Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. The elder lived over 500 years ago, but the memory of him to this day in the hearts of believers who hope for his prayers get help in spiritual and everyday difficulties. Saint lived a strict life, full of deprivation and prayerful feats, for which he was awarded God for the gift of the wirals and virtues of humility, patience and love.Life Picture
The long life of the presented Alexander Svirsky is connected with the harsh lands of the Russian north. The future devotee was born in the village of Mandera, who was at the river to Oyat in Obony Sipboard (now the territory of the Leningrad region). The parents did not have children before old age, and they were not tired to turn to God with this trouble. Their child's birth prayers were heard, and in 1448 the baby appeared on the world called Amos in honor of the ancient prophet.
The biography of the devotee sometimes echoes the lives of other saints. Like Rev. Sergia, the child could not succeed in the teaching for a long time, but on prayers and diligence was rewarded with a gift to comprehend the diploma better than peers. AMOS seemed strange: did not like noisy children's fun, dedicated prayer for a long time, imposed strict posts and restrictions on himself.
The mother was worried about her son and wanted to arrange his life as soon as possible, marrying his godly girl. However, it dispelled with the boards of the young man, since he soon felt the calling for privacy and monastic path.
An even more young man has strengthened in this decision, having met once the monastery of the Monastery, who came to accelerate with economic needs. Long conversation with the inhabitants of the monastery, famous for strict construction, inspired Amos to follow them on the Holy Island. But the monks refused to take a young devotee with them, referring to the absence of the blessing of the parents and the abbot.
Then the guy decided to independently do this path. Praying, the young man secretly left the father's house and went on Valaam to enter the number of brethren. In a long road, as legend says, an angel helped him who brought the travelers unharmed to the walls of the monastery, where he stayed for many years. As headed, the monastic assault preceded the period of obedience, which pulled out for 7 years. During this time, the young man was able to prove the seriousness of his intention and resistance in the exploits of the post, prayer and vigil.
When Amos turned 26 years old, he was touched into monks with the advenue name Alexander. At the same time, parents heard about the place of stay of the lost Chad, and his father was able to visit him, barely learned in spiritually indulcing ink of his son. Soothed Stephen and Vassa also subsequently stood on the monastic path. Alexander was looking for a more severe and secluded life and asked for a blessing mentor to settle on the remote Island of the Valaam archipelago.
The man began to live in a rocky cave, preserved to this day. Today, at this place is Alexander Svir Skit, where the monks of strict life live. Pilgrims show the grave, scattered in the ground, where the holy devotee lay for hours to strive the "death of death".
In 1486, Alexander left Valaam and settled in the area of the Roshchinsky Lake near the River Svir. Here, for 7 years, the devotee experienced all her grasphem, spending the night in a wretched hut and feeding only the gifts of the forest. Sometimes the saint had only land. From the ascetic lifestyle, the health of the man was exhausted, but the Lord supported his minister and gave that power not to rapid and continue the path of struggle with passions.
One day, the Hundred accidentally met Andrei Zavalishin's hunter from the local boyars. The man was amazed by his mind and joined him in a conversation, he was in all of his life. Returning home, a man could not resist the stories about the meek and humble devotee, living in the forests, and gradually to Alexander began to flock wishing to join the monocar way.
This ended the solitary life of the righteous, and a new stage began when he became a mentor for tens of people who wanted to devote himself to serving God and purify the soul from passions. Around Alexander, men were gathered, seeking to live in silence and obedience, content with only the fruits of their work. So with time there was a monastery living in the most modest and strict way.
Saint lived in distance from the brothers, arranged the desert, where he continued the exploits of the post and prayer. Demon's forces arranged against the hermit of Brani, terrible visions trying to drive out of the space, but God did not give up. One day, on the 23rd year of stay in the Swirh forests, he was the phenomenon of the Blessed Trinity, after which the construction of the same name of the same name began.
The monks built a wooden church in honor of the surfactant Trinity, which were replaced by stone after 20 years. In 1508, after a long persuasion, Alexander, Alexander adopted the priestly san and became the igumen of the monastery. At the same time, he did not lose humility and meek, continuing to wear fallen clothes, sleep on a naked floor and to fulfill the most difficult and black work on a par with young novices.
The glory of the monastery grew, and the number of Inok increased the year from year to year. The abode expanded, new temples were erected. One of them is the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos - began to be built during the lifetime of the saint and preserved to this day. Ropot of the brand in the permanent inflow of the people the rector perceived with humility. The Monk tried to leave anyone without instruction and consolation words.
The flow of benefactors wishing to help the arrangement of the monastery did not stop. However, not every victim was taken by the old man. Once, Igumen rejected the generous alignment, saying that the hand of the giving will be done, because he beat his own mother. The meek chrossings of the wise Alexander prompted people to repentance and a change in life.
Among the brethren, the rector enjoyed constraint and love, those in his lifetime considered him a wonderworker. Alexander Svirsky foresaw his death and chose candidates in advance, which will replace him as Hegumen. The saint bequeathed, so that the place of his rest was the waste desert. The elder moved to the Lord in a deep old age, when it is no longer customary to understand the causes of death. It was not in 1533, on August 30, which is considered a day of memory along with April 17 - the day of the acquisition of saints.
Canonization and memory
The saint began to read hardly immediately after the death. Igumen Irodion, a student and successor, in 1545 a life description was drawn up, where he told about the exploits and wonders of the elder. Two years later, the initiative of the Moscow Metropolitan Makaria was convened a cathedral on which the general workers of the reverence of Alexander Svirsky was established in the reversion.
In memory of itself, the devotee left a spiritual letter and prayers, where Christians still draw the power and wisdom to this day. Orthodox read the Holy Akathist, keep the houses of his icons and make pilgrimages to Alexander Svir monastery in search of consolations and healings. In the Soviet years, a corporate labor camp was arranged on its territory, and since 1998, the monastery was officially transferred to the management of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The main shrine of the monastery is the unwanted relics of the presented Alexander, open to reverence in the concession of the Lord. For the first time, the relics were found in 1641 in the intense form. During the years of the Soviet power of cancer with the relics, Alexander Svirsky was withdrawn, and those for a long time were considered irrevocably lost.
In the 1990s, the Special Commission began the study by connecting anthropologists, radiologists and anatomas, and as a result of the relics of the saint were re-acquired and returned to the monastery. Today, pilgrims can face the brushes and feet of the saint, not covered with the use, and make sure that half a century they did not give in to the destructive point of time.