He's celebrating today, August 30, Saint Alexander, with his story being different from the other saints. Saint Alexander Svir, as he was called, was born on June 15, 1448 in the parts of Novgorod in a family of pious Christians. He was the third child of Stefanos and Vasai. His baptismal name was Amos.
Saint Alexander was meek, obedient, fasting and when he reached the right age his parents wanted to marry him. But at the age of 19, he left for the Valaam monastery. Young Amos crossing Lake Rochinsk he heard a voice to tell him that at this point he will build a monastery.
Then a light shone above him and an angel showed him the way to Balaam. In Balaam he became a monk after 7 years at the age of twenty-six and took the name Alexander. The father came to find him at the monastery and the young Alexander not only reassured him, but also convinced him that he and his mother should become monks. He was constantly engaged in spiritual pursuits and spent ten years in silence on an island.
One day while he was praying he heard a divine voice telling him to go to the place that had once been pointed out to him in order to be saved. A light showed him the place on the shores of the lake(1485). He stayed there alone for seven years, teating only grass and suffering from severe diseases and unbearable cold.
In 1493 he was accidentally discovered by a lord who had gone hunting. OR reputation his fame as a sanctified ascetic spread rapidly and many monks gathered around him, while the common people venerated him as a saint when he was alive.
Saint Alexander Svir was glorified with miraculous signs and miracles during his life and after his sleep. In 1545, his student and successor Abbot Herodion composed his Life. In 1547 the local celebration of his memory began and his Sequence was composed.
On April 17, 1641, during the renovation of the Church of the Transfiguration, where the Saint was buried, was revealed his holy Relic in a state of complete Incorruption; since then, the Church celebrates his memory twice: the day of his Dormition, August 30th, and the day of the official Proclamation of his Holiness and the collection of his Holy Relic, April 17th.
The imperishable body of Saint Alexander of Svri it shocks the believers Over 480 years from His divine Sleep. A wonderful and not paradoxical for the unlimited logic of God, but only for the limited human logic, phenomenon: The relic of Saint Alexander of Svir, has remained for 491 years (he fell asleep in 1533) completely incorruptible.
And despite the attempt at a communist regime in Russia to be desecrated, was kept untouched. The relic is completely indestructible, has not lost its natural color, nor its elasticity and even retains muscle, fat and subcutaneous tissue.
Source: ekklisiaonline
