PHOTO: Cossack youth stand at attention beside the bust-monument to Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich

On 18th October 2023, a new bust-monument to Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich was unveiled on the grounds of the O.I. Gorodovikov Cossack Cadet Corps Institution, situated in the city of Gorodovikovsk in Kalmykia – located in the North Caucasus region of Southern Russia. .

The installation and consecration of the bust-monument was timed to coincide with the name day[1] of the only son and heir of Emperor Nicholas II. The last official heir to the Russian throne is considered the patron saint of the Union of Cossack Youth of Russia. From the day of his birth – 12th (O.S. 30th July) August 1904 – Alexei became the August ataman of all the Cossack troops.

The unveiling of the monument was attended by Archbishop Justinian of Elista and Kalmyk, Ataman of the Kalmyk Cossack District of the Great Don Army Chimid Dzhangaev, Rector of the Gorodovikovsky Khurul Gelyung Gem Yamphi, Deputy Chairman of the Krasnodar Branch of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, Secretary of the Krasnodar Branch of the World Russian People’s Council in the Krasnodar Territory, Rector of the Church of the Holy Martyrs John Kovsharov and Yuri Novitsky in Krasnodar Priest Vyacheslav Klimenko, Director of the O.I. Gorodovikov Cossack Cadet Corps Valery Abushinov.

PHOTO: detail of the bronze bust to Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich

The ceremony was attended by cadets and teachers of the Cossack Corps, representatives of the parent community, clergymen of the Elista and Kalmyk diocese and Cossacks of the Kalmyk Cossack District of the Great Don Army.

Greeting the participants of the ceremony, Archbishop Justinian of Elista and Kalmyk stressed the importance of honoring the memory of the Holy Passion-Bearer Alexei, who during his earthly life was the chief of all the Cossack troops of the Russian Empire, and today is revered as the heavenly patron of Cossack youth.

He further noted: “A Cossack is not so much a blood belonging as a special disposition of mind and soul. A Cossack is free-willed, brave, preserves the faith and traditions of his ancestors, loves his Motherland, tries to protect the weak and defenseless. And God grant that the youth of the pupils of the Cossack Cadet Corps may pass under the patronage of the Holy Tsesarevich Alexei, so that they may prayerfully turn to him with their worries and sorrows, because he will understand their youth and help them!”

PHOTO: Archbishop Justinian of Elista and Kalmyk (right) performs the consecration ceremony

His Eminence expressed his gratitude to the abbot of the Nizhny Novgorod Ascension Monastery of the Caves, Archimandrite Tikhon (Zatyokin), for donating to Kalmykia a monument to Tsesarevich Alexei, created at the expense of the monastery.

His Eminence Justinian read a prayer and sprinkled the monument with holy water. Then the anthem of the Russian Federation, the anthem of the Republic of Kalmykia and “Glory” from the opera “Ivan Susanin” by M.I. Glinka were played.

This was followed by a concert and lecture in the assembly hall of the Cossack Corps. Local historians talked about the historical basis of the veneration of St. Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in Kalmykia.

PHOTO: full view of the bronze bust and pedestal to Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich

People’s Artist of the Republic of Kalmykia, and Director of the Children’s Art School No. 2 in Elista, Arslan Shavgurov, recalled St. Tsesarevich Alexei’s passion for playing the balalaika and performed several works on this folk instrument in his memory.

Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolayevich was the August Chief of the Life Guards Ataman Regiment, in which more than 20 Kalmyks served at the beginning of the twentieth century. Subsequently, the heir was appointed chief of the 2nd Don Cossack Regiment, in which more than 30 Kalmyks served, and the Novocherkassk Cossack School from 1915, whose graduates were many Kalmyk officers.

PHOTO: a permanent outdoor display tells about the life of the Tsesarevich and his position as chief of all the Cossack troops of the Russian Empire

In 1907, a khurul[2] was opened in the Kalmyk steppe in honor of Tsesarevich Alexei. In 1914, a church was consecrated in Gorodovikovsk in honour of the heavenly patron Heir of St. Alexis of Moscow.

At present, St. Alexis Church has been restored and consecrated in honor of the Holy Passion-Bearer Tsesarevich Alexis and St. Alexius, Metropolitan of Kiev, Moscow and All Russia[3].

NOTES:

[1] Russians celebrate name days separately from birthdays. Celebrations range from the gifting of cards and flowers to full-blown celebrations similar to birthday parties. Such a celebration begins with attendance at the divine services marking that day (in the Russian tradition, the All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy), and usually with a festive party thereafter. The Russian Imperial family followed a tradition of giving name-day gifts.

Before the October Revolution of 1917, Russians regarded name days as important as, or more important than, the celebration of birthdays, based on the rationale that one’s baptism is the event by which people become “born anew” in Christ.

[2] A khurul is a Buddhist monastery.

[3] It was Robert K. Massie (among others), who have led us to believe that the only son of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, was named after Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676) . . . this is incorrect. This is incorrect. The long-awaited son and heir to the Russian throne was named Alexei, in honour of St. Alexius of Moscow.

Saint Alexius (1296–1378) was Metropolitan of Kiev and all Russia (from 1354). He was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1448 and is revered as one of the patron saints of Moscow.

© Paul Gilbert. 26 October 2023