As we celebrate the feast of the Holy, Right-Believing Prince, Alexander Nevsky, we greet and congratulate our Cardiff and Cheltenham parishioners named in his memory.
In Cardiff, several our Alexanders celebrate their heavenly patron today, rather than other his other feasts, and we look forward to greeting them in person and singing many years to them on Sunday.
We also wish Mike a happy birthday, and thank him for his constant, quiet support for our Cardiff parish.
Wishing our Alexanders a joyful feast, and Mike a happy birthday, we pray that God will grant them all many, blessed years.
Многая и Благая лѣта!
Troparion, in Tone IV: Recognize thy brethren, O right-believing Prince Alexander, thou Russian Joseph who reignest not in Egypt, but in heaven; and accept their entreaties, increasing the harvests of thy people through the fertility of thy land, and protecting the cities of thy dominion by thy supplications. And together with our Orthodox hierarchs do battle against all heresies.
Kontakion, in Tone IV: As thy kinsmen Boris and Gleb appeared to thee, bringing thee help from heaven when thou didst battle against Velgar the Swede and his warriors, so now, O blessed Alexander, come to the aid of thy kinfolk, and contend thou against those who wage war against us.
Prayer: Swift helper of those who take heartfelt refuge in thee, and warm intercessor for us before the Lord: holy, devout, grand Prince Alexander! Look down mercifully upon us unworthy ones, who have made ourselves of little use through our many iniquities, but now approachthine icon, crying out to thee from the depths of our hearts Thou was a zealot and defender of the Orthodox Faith in thy lifetime; strengthen us too in it, by thy loving prayers to God, that we be not shaken. Thou hast diligently borne the great service that lay upon thee; teach us also, through thy help, to stand in that wherein each of us is called. Thou, having defeated hordes of enemies, didst drive them from the limits of Russia; cast down also the enemies visible and invisible that beset us. Thou, having relinquished the corruptible crown of earthly rule, didst choose the life of silence, and now reignest in heaven, rightfully crowned with a garland incorruptible; ask thou for us, we humbly entreat thee, a life quiet and untroubled, and intercede that our path may lead us unwaveringly to the Eternal Kingdom. Thou that standest with all the Saints before the throne of God, pray for all Orthodox Christians, that the Lord God by His Grace may preserve His community in peace, and that we may ever glorify and bless God, Who is One in the Holy Trinity: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.