Saint Alexei the Martyr Prince...

I decided early on to dedicate this blog to the patronage of St Alexei the Tsarevich; dearest to me of the Imperial Martyrs of Russia. I used to think that the Puritans were rather weird for seeing modern events through the prism of the Bible. By that I mean Oliver Cromwell thinking himself a new Josiah, whose mission was to purge the Idols of the Stuart monarchy; or at Marston Moor as at the head of Gideon's army. Or distant relations in Ulster carrying on the legacy of 1690 at those silly parades. I wonder if I am guilty of that kind of inverse typology in a way myself? I say this because I have these apocalyptic and sacramental beliefs about my princely hero Alexei. Some years ago I dreamt of a shining city, and on the battlements of the city looking out was a boy wearing a golden tunicle; in his right hand he held an icon and girt about his waist was a small sword. I believe that that boy was Alexei and that the shining city was the heavenly Jerusalem.

Alexei's life on earth was tragic. You need only look into his eyes in the portrait below to perceive that they are the wells of deep compassion, grim knowledge and long suffering.

He was the fragile linchpin of the great Christian Empire on earth. Like Christ our God, he was sacrificed for the sins of the Russian people. Now, a century after his death, the Russian people are slowly but surely returning to the Church, despite the years in which the very memory of the Romanovs was cruelly suppressed. I believe that he will be reborn on earth; that a scion of the Imperial house in exile will return to Russia to defend the Church ("alexei" does mean "defender") against the evil empire of the Antichrist. And I believe that I will meet him one day.

What do you think of Alexei?