Christian Saints

St. Prince Alexander Nevsky (or Nevski)

St. Prince Alexander Nevsky (1220/21 – 1263) was the Prince of Novgorod from 1236 to 1251 and Prince of Tver from 1247 to 1252. From 1252 on he was known as the Grand Duke of Vladimir, son of Prince Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich. Alexander was an outstanding Russian military commander and diplomat. Through his victories over Sweden on the Neva river (1240), after which he was given the name of Nevsky, and over the knights of the Teutonic Order (1242) he secured Russia’s north-western borders. Thanks to his clever and skillful diplomacy the burden of Tatar-Mongolian occupancy was eased.
Alexander Nevsky is said to have been a man of prayer, and shortly before his death on 14 November 1263 he became a monk.
He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1381. This canonization was never approved by the Papacy, probably in part because Alexander refused to take religious lessons from the Papal legates.
Alexander Nevsky is a patron saint of Russian warriors and the city of St. Petersburg, Russia.
Feast day: 23 November.