Matthew 11:27-30

²⁷ All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him. ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Galatians 5:22-6:2

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let’s not become conceited, provoking one another, and envying one another. ¹ Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Today the Church remembers the repose of the Holy and Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky, who took monastic vows shortly before his death in 1263 under the name David.

As Grand Prince of Novgorod and later of Vladimir, he defended Russian lands from invasion — most famously defeating the Swedes on the Neva River (hence his name) and the Teutonic Knights on the ice of Lake Peipus — while skillfully preserving his people through diplomacy with the Mongol khans. He is venerated as a model of a ruler who placed the protection of his people and his Orthodox faith above personal ambition.