Alexis is also known as Saint Alexius, and he was famous and praised by all for his improved life. Even the great Moscow gneiss Simeon Ivanovich and Metropolitan Teognost loved him very much. Therefore, for his many good deeds, they made him bishop of the great city of Vladimir. And after the death of Metropolitan Teognost, the great canon John Jovanovich, who had taken the reign after his brother Simeon, chose St. Alexius with the most solemn judgment and sent him to Constantinople for consecration to the Most Holy Patriarch Philotheus.

Saint Alexis was a man of God, the miracle worker of Russia; he was of Bohemian descent. His parents were from the Severan parts of the city of Cernigov. He was born in the time of the great canon John Danielilovich, who was his godfather at his Holy Baptism and gave him the name Elefterie. When he came of age, his parents sent him to school; when he was 12 years old, he wandered in the wilderness.

Saint Alexis is the protector and patron of hunters. Thanks to his vision in the wilderness when he was 12 years old. At the shearing, they named him Alexie when he had the dream vision, saying to himself this voice: instead of hunting birds, you will chase people.

In the wilderness, he used to set traps to catch birds. Then, as he fell asleep, a voice came to him, saying: Alexis, why do you labor in the desert? Behold, I will make you a hunter of men. 

Who is St Alexis?

Having received a letter from the emperor and having arrived in the city of Moscow, St. Alexius found it difficult, saying it was beyond his power. But when the great commander Dimitrius asked him, he was willing to go to the land of the Agarans; first, he prayed with all the clergy in the great, submissive church of the Blessed Mother of God.

Saint Alexis is the man who chose to live like the apostles of Jesus. To leave everything and follow Him. Fleeing from human glory and honor, Alexis left the city of Edessa, knowing no one. Going to the edge of the sea, he found a ship going to Cilicia, so he got into it, saying to himself: To the city of Cilicia I will go, where no one knows me, and there I will stay in the church of St. Paul the Apostle.

As St. Alexis began to spend his days before the palaces of the emperors in the little house, Euphimius sent him food from his table every day. Still, he distributed it to other poor people, took bread and water, and tasted only in measure so that he might not die of hunger and thirst.

Biography of Saint Alexis

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Biblical places from the times of Alexis

1. Moscow- Was Moscow the city where Alexis was born?
2. Moskva River- Is Moskva a biblical location?

Did Alexis build a church?

The emperor, with his nobles and all there, was greatly astonished at that blessed miracle and praised God; then, the emperor, honoring St. Alexius and those with him, released them with honor and many gifts to their own with peace.

Returning from there, after he had performed the miracle, St. Alexius erected a stone church within the city of Moscow in the name of St. Michael the Archangel. In memory of his good and glorious miracle, which was once performed in Hone. Then he founded a monastery, which to this day is called Miracle, and commanded that he be placed in that church after his death. Still and many other wondrous things done to the glory of God and shepherding the flock of Christ’s sheep of the well-spoken, he drew near to his happy end in deep old age.

Knowing his departure from God, he performed the Divine Office and received the Holy Sacraments. He spent 24 years in the archiepiscopate, and his age was 85. And they buried him with honor in the church of the Holy Archangel Michael, the one he built within the borders of the Annunciation.

What is Saint Alexis known for?

The king of the Agarans welcomed him with great honor and took him to his palaces. And the high priest of God, Alexius, beginning to sing, commanded to light the candle made of wax taken from the candle which had been lit alone at the tomb of St. Peter. After much prayer, he sprinkled the blind queen with holy water, and immediately the queen saw clearly.

According to apocryphal resources, Saint Alexis is known for his miracles because while he was praying, a single candle was lit at the tomb of St. Peter, the miracle worker, and everyone was watching. From this event, St. Alexius took confidence in the help of God, who showed him the way to good growth. Taking a small piece of wax from the candle he had lit by himself, he made a candle and set out on the path with the holy clergy, putting his trust in God without a doubt.

But before the saint arrived in the city of the Agrarians, the queen saw in a vision the high priest of God, Alexius, coming with all the priests in their priestly vestments. Awakening from her sleep, she commanded that immediately the high priest and the priests should be dressed in garments of great price, as she had seen in her dream.

Key Verse related to Saint Alexis

“To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 1:7 (NIV)

The Story and History of Saint Alexis

In the time of the righteous emperor’s Arcadia and Honorius, an honest man in ancient Rome, namely Euphimius, was the greatest among the nobles and very rich. He had three thousand servants who wore silken clothes and golden girdles. But he had no sons because his wife was unfaithful. And he was a good man, keeping the commandments of God with all diligence, fasting all the days until the ninth hour, and giving three meals in his house to the poor, widows, and strangers. To receive the forgiveness of God.

About the story and history of St Alexius, it is known that he was the son of wealthy people and that his father forced him to marry. On his wedding night, he gave his wife a costly ring, then went out into the world, and no one ever heard from him again. So he ended up in Edessa, where he was. It is a cloth on which Jesus imprinted his face and then sent to the ruler of Edessa. Sick with leprosy, to wipe himself with it and be cured.

When Alexius had reached full age and eight years of marriage, Euphimius said to his wife, Let us marry our son. And Aglaida rejoiced at the words of her husband. She fell at his feet and said: May God strengthen and fulfill thy word, that I may see his company, and behold his sons, and my soul shall rejoice: afterward, I shall be more able to help the poor and the escaped. So they betrothed Alexius, their beloved son, to a maiden of royal lineage. And married him in the church of Saint Boniface.

Prayer to St Alexis

O great blessed one of Christ, a holy man of God, Alexius, who with your soul stands before the Throne of the Lord in heaven, and on earth and performs various miracles with the grace given to you from above! Seek with mercy those who stand before your holy icon and humbly pray, asking for your help and covering.

Reach out to the Lord God, praying, with your holy hands, and ask Him for us the forgiveness of our faults, both those who are willing and those who are unwilling, for the sick healing, for the afflicted protection.

For the afflicted consolation, for those in distress help, and for all who worship you a peaceful and Christian end of life and an excellent answer to the terrible Judgement of Christ.

AMEN.

Feast Day of St Alexis

Alexius was the only child of the Euphympian derogatory. The older he grew, the greater the desire for immortality and eternal life grew in his soul. All earthly goods seemed to him as nothing. Euphemia married Alexius to a virgin, but against the young man’s will. That is why Alexie secretly left the bond he did not want and his parent’s home on the very evening of the wedding. He fled to the church in Edessa, where he stayed for 18 years. Dressed poorly and fed on the pity of those who came to church.

Saint Alexis is celebrated on March 17. His feast day is a day of liberation from all that keeps us from Jesus Christ. Dweller of the wilderness, an angel in the flesh, and a miracle worker you showed yourself to be. He was the bearer of God, Father Alexie. By fasting, watching, praying, and receiving heavenly gifts, he healed the sick and the souls of those who came to him in faith.

When it became known to others that he was a man of God, he feared the praise of men and the danger of death. And in silence, he departed for Tarsus Cilicia. However, the ship he was traveling was shipwrecked, taken by the winds, and carried across the waters to Moscow, his birthplace.