Augustine Sokolovski
On June 2, the Church honors the memory of Saint Alexis the Metropolitan. Saint Alexis is a medieval Russian saint. His life and veneration correspond to the criteria of medieval Eastern Orthodox and European Christian holiness. He is one of those righteous men, in whose image and cult the entire early Russian civilization was formed.
The year of his birth is not precisely known. He died on February 12 (25), 1378. The memory of Saint Alexis is celebrated three times a year. First, on the day of his death, in February; second, he is commemorated along with other holy hierarchs of Moscow, in October; and finally, the third time, at the very beginning of summer. All these dates are set in accordance with the ancient tradition of venerating saints. The discovery of his relics, called the translation in hagiological language, took place in 1431.
In the Russian Church, Alexis is generally referred to as "Metropolitan of Moscow." Even in current liturgical calendars, he is called that. But this is a major anachronism. Rus' was baptized in 988. The Russian Church was part of the Church of Constantinople. The other Slavic Churches of the time, the Bulgarian Church and then the Serbian Church, were archdioceses, that is, independent ecclesiastical units. This fact alone prompted them to aspire to complete emancipation from Constantinople. Apparently, to avoid repeating this bitter experience, Constantinople established the Russian Church as a simple metropolis. The center of this metropolis was Kiev, although the state of ancient Rus' was not initially centralized. Alexis was Metropolitan of Kiev.
Alexis's predecessors left Kiev and chose Vladimir, a city in northern Russia, as their residence. The reasons for this departure are not entirely clear. However, Vladimir historically had its own bishop. According to the canons of the ancient Church, two bishops could not reside in the same city. Moscow was the only major city without its own bishop. Moreover, Moscow traded with the Italian states, which sold White Slavic slaves, especially female slaves, to the East, primarily to the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans had not yet conquered Constantinople, but that moment was approaching. They were incredibly powerful militarily.
The transfer of the Metropolitan from Kiev to Moscow can be compared to the captivity of the Roman popes in Avignon, with the only difference being that, unlike Rome, the Russian Church, of course, had no particular dogmatic status. It is noteworthy that Alexis himself was the son of émigrés and was born in 1292 (or 1305) in Moscow. He was a man of his time and, as was often the case for the Church in the Middle Ages, dependent on the economic and political circumstances of his time. But he was a very just man. He lived according to the ideals of ascetic spirituality. There is evidence of his spiritual friendship and close ties with the Athonite hesychasts and mystics of his time, with the true bearers of the spirit of the Philokalia.
His friend and spiritual brother was Saint Sergius of Radonezh (1314-1392). According to legend, Alexis wished Sergius would succeed him. But Sergius refused. Sergius was a convinced ascetic, like the ancient Desert Fathers. Apparently, it seemed obvious to him that Alexis's very desire was a naive utopia. The Metropolitan of the Russian Church had to be very strong in his administration. Sergius was the founder of a new monastic tradition in northern Rus', like the ancient Fathers, St. Benedict in Italy or St. Athanasius on Mount Athos. Sergius was a prophet, but not a manager. Nevertheless, as a sign of his desire to leave Sergius at the head of the Russian Church, Alexis offered him his pectoral cross.
According to the saint's life, Alexis cured the mother of a Mongol ruler of blindness. This ruler supposedly demanded such a miracle from the saint himself, and the Metropolitan would have had to go to the Horde for it. This story has found an echo in Russian historiography and culture, and even in Tarkovsky's films.
At that time, the Russian territories were under the absolute rule of the Mongols. Previously, it was said that this was a cruel yoke and almost colonial exploitation; Historians now believe that it was in the Horde that there was a true Russian Mongol Empire, traces of which have simply been lost to history over time. Originally, the Mongol Empire was pagan, even partly Nestorian Christian, and displayed great tolerance. Alexis’ time coincided with the beginning of its rapid Islamization.
In any case, it was at this time that Russia began a Reconquest of its territories, similar to that of Spain on the Iberian Peninsula. It turned out that, in the history of Christianity, only two liberations from global Muslim domination were successful, in Western and Eastern Europe, in Spain and Russia respectively, and almost simultaneously.
The personality of Saint Alexis in this revival of Russian Orthodox Christian civilization was considerable. But it was prophetic, mystical, religious, apolitical, and entirely spiritual. The significance of this type of participation of a saint in history is immense. Thus, Alexis is undoubtedly one of the founding saints of Russian culture.
Finally, it was Alexis who was the heavenly patron of two of the most important Russian patriarchs of the 20th century: Alexis I and Alexis II. This is why his memory has been widely celebrated in the Russian Church in recent times.
The Church prays for the intercession of Saint Alexis before God. In our days, on the day of his memory, one of the first official peace negotiations between Moscow and Kiev took place. This is happening on the shores of the Bosphorus, in Constantinople. Such an amazing metaphysical coincidence. It alone instills hope that Heaven has not forgotten us here and now, on earth.