Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. Equal to the Apostles Grand Duchess Olga of Russia Is Olga's family still Equal to the Apostles?

Princess Olga the Saint
Years of life: ?-969
Reign: 945-966

Grand Duchess Olga, baptized Elena. Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, the first of the rulers of Rus' to convert to Christianity even before the Baptism of Rus'. After the death of her husband, Prince Igor Rurikovich, she ruled Kievan Rus from 945 to 966.

Princess Olga's baptism

Since ancient times, in the Russian land, people called Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga “the head of the faith” and “the root of Orthodoxy.” The Patriarch who baptized Olga marked the baptism with prophetic words: « Blessed are you among Russian women, for you left darkness and loved the Light. The Russian sons will glorify you to the last generation! »

At baptism, the Russian princess was honored with the name of Saint Helen, Equal to the Apostles, who worked hard to spread Christianity in the vast Roman Empire, but did not find the Life-Giving Cross on which the Lord was crucified.

In the vast expanses of the Russian land, like her heavenly patroness, Olga became an equal-to-the-apostles seer of Christianity.

There are many inaccuracies and mysteries in the chronicle about Olga, but most of the facts of her life, brought to our time by the grateful descendants of the founder of the Russian land, do not raise doubts about their authenticity.

The story of Olga - Princess of Kyiv

One of the oldest chronicles "The Tale of Bygone Years" in the description
The marriage of the Kyiv prince Igor names the name of the future ruler of Rus' and her homeland: « And they brought him a wife from Pskov named Olga » . The Jokimov Chronicle specifies that Olga belonged to one of the ancient Russian princely dynasties - the Izborsky family. The life of Saint Princess Olga specifies that she was born in the village of Vybuty in the Pskov land, 12 km from Pskov up the Velikaya River. The names of the parents have not been preserved. According to the Life, they were not of a noble family, of Varangian origin, which is confirmed by her name, which has a correspondence in Old Scandinavian as Helga, in Russian pronunciation - Olga (Volga). The presence of the Scandinavians in those places is noted by a number of archaeological finds dating back to the first half of the 10th century.

The later Piskarevsky chronicler and typographical chronicle (late 15th century) recount a rumor that Olga was the daughter of the Prophetic Oleg, who began to rule Kievan Rus as the guardian of the young Igor, the son of Rurik: « The netsy say that Olga’s daughter was Olga » . Oleg married Igor and Olga.

The life of Saint Olga tells that here, “in the Pskov region,” her meeting with her future husband took place for the first time. The young prince was hunting and, wanting to cross the Velikaya River, he saw “someone floating in a boat” and called him to the shore. Sailing away from the shore in a boat, the prince discovered that he was being carried by a girl of amazing beauty. Igor was inflamed with lust for her and began to incline her to sin. The carrier turned out to be not only beautiful, but chaste and smart. She shamed Igor by reminding him of the princely dignity of a ruler and judge, who should be a “bright example of good deeds” for his subjects.

Igor broke up with her, keeping her words and beautiful image in his memory. When the time came to choose a bride, the most beautiful girls of the principality were gathered in Kyiv. But none of them pleased him. And then he remembered Olga, “wonderful in maidens,” and sent his relative Prince Oleg for her. So Olga became the wife of Prince Igor, the Grand Duchess of Russia.

Princess Olga and Prince Igor

Upon returning from the campaign against the Greeks, Prince Igor became a father: his son Svyatoslav was born. Soon Igor was killed by the Drevlyans. After the murder of Igor, the Drevlyans, fearing revenge, sent matchmakers to his widow Olga to invite her to marry their prince Mal. Duchess Olga pretended to agree and consistently dealt with the elders of the Drevlyans, and then brought the people of the Drevlyans to submission.

The Old Russian chronicler describes in detail Olga’s revenge for the death of her husband:

1st revenge of Princess Olga: Matchmakers, 20 Drevlyans, arrived in a boat, which the Kievans carried and threw into a deep hole in the courtyard of Olga’s tower. The matchmaker-ambassadors were buried alive along with the boat. Olga looked at them from the tower and asked: « Are you satisfied with the honor? » And they shouted: « Oh! It’s worse for us than Igor’s death » .

2nd revenge: Olga asked, out of respect, to send new ambassadors from the best men to her, which the Drevlyans willingly did. An embassy of noble Drevlyans was burned in a bathhouse while they were washing themselves in preparation for a meeting with the princess.

3rd revenge: The princess with a small retinue came to the lands of the Drevlyans to, according to custom, celebrate a funeral feast at her husband’s grave. Having drunk the Drevlyans during the funeral feast, Olga ordered them to be chopped down. The chronicle reports 5 thousand Drevlyans killed.

4th revenge: In 946, Olga went with an army on a campaign against the Drevlyans. According to the First Novgorod Chronicle, the Kiev squad defeated the Drevlyans in battle. Olga walked through the Drevlyansky land, established tributes and taxes, and then returned to Kyiv. In the Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler made an insert into the text of the Initial Code about the siege of the Drevlyan capital of Iskorosten. According to the Tale of Bygone Years, after an unsuccessful siege during the summer, Olga burned the city with the help of birds, to which she ordered incendiaries to be tied. Some of the defenders of Iskorosten were killed, the rest submitted.

Reign of Princess Olga

After the massacre of the Drevlyans, Olga began to rule Kievan Rus until Svyatoslav came of age, but even after that she remained the de facto ruler, since her son was absent most of the time on military campaigns.

The chronicle testifies to her tireless “walks” across the Russian land with the purpose of building the political and economic life of the country. Olga went to the Novgorod and Pskov lands. Established a system of “cemeteries” - centers of trade and exchange, in which taxes were collected in a more orderly manner; Then they began to build churches in graveyards.

Rus' grew and strengthened. Cities were built surrounded by stone and oak walls. The princess herself lived behind the reliable walls of Vyshgorod (the first stone buildings of Kyiv - the city palace and Olga's country tower), surrounded by a loyal squad. She carefully monitored the improvement of the lands subject to Kyiv - Novgorod, Pskov, located along the Desna River, etc.

Reforms of Princess Olga

In Rus', the Grand Duchess erected the churches of St. Nicholas and St. Sophia in Kyiv, and the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in Vitebsk. According to legend, she founded the city of Pskov on the Pskov River, where she was born. In those parts, on the site of the vision of three luminous rays from the sky, the temple of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity was erected.

Olga tried to introduce Svyatoslav to Christianity. He was angry with his mother for her persuasion, fearing to lose the respect of the squad, but “he did not even think of listening to this; but if someone was going to be baptized, he did not forbid it, but only mocked him.”

The chronicles consider Svyatoslav to be the successor to the Russian throne immediately after the death of Igor, so the date of the beginning of his independent reign is quite arbitrary. He entrusted the internal administration of the state to his mother, being constantly on military campaigns against the neighbors of Kievan Rus. In 968, the Pechenegs first raided Russian land. Together with Svyatoslav’s children, Olga locked herself in Kyiv. Returning from Bulgaria, he lifted the siege and did not want to stay long in Kyiv. The very next year he was going to leave for Pereyaslavets, but Olga held him back.

« You see - I'm sick; where do you want to go from me? “ - because she was already sick. And she said: « When you bury me, go wherever you want “ . Three days later, Olga died (July 11, 969), and her son, and her grandchildren, and all the people cried for her with great tears, and they carried her and buried her in the chosen place, but Olga bequeathed not to perform funeral feasts for her, since she had The priest was with him - he buried Blessed Olga.

Holy Princess Olga

Olga's burial place is unknown. During the reign of Vladimir, her began to be revered as a saint. This is evidenced by the transfer of her relics to the Tithe Church. During the Mongol invasion, the relics were hidden under the cover of the church.

In 1547, Olga was canonized as Saint Equal to the Apostles. Only 5 other holy women in Christian history have received such an honor (Mary Magdalene, First Martyr Thekla, Martyr Apphia, Queen Helena and Georgian Enlightener Nina).

Memorial Day of Saint Olga (Elena) began to be celebrated on July 11. She is revered as the patroness of widows and new Christians.

Official canonization (churchwide glorification) occurred later - until the middle of the 13th century.

Date of publication or update 11/01/2017

To the table of contents: lives of saints

Life of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga,
in the holy baptism of Helen.

The depth of the great and holy sacrament of baptism is immeasurable! It is the first in a series of sacraments established by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and preserved by the Church. Through him lies the path to eternal life in grace-filled union with God.

The establishment of Christianity in Rus' under the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir of Kiev (July 15/28) was preceded by the reign of Grand Duchess Olga, who in ancient times was called the root of orthodoxy. Blessed Olga appeared like the dawn before the onset of the bright day of holy faith in Christ - the Sun of Truth, and shone like the moon in the darkness of the night, that is, in the darkness of idolatry that surrounded the Russian land. During her reign, the seeds of the faith of Christ were successfully planted in Rus'. According to the chronicler, Saint Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, “in the entire Russian land, the first destroyer of idolatry and the foundation of orthodoxy.”

Princess Olga, glorified by her wise rule in the days of paganism and even more so by her conversion to Christianity, which she indicated to her great grandson, has become from time immemorial the object of people's love. Many legends have been preserved about her, pagan and Christian, each of them is imbued with the spirit of its faith, and therefore it should not be surprising if paganism, thinking of glorifying its princess, depicted with vivid features what seemed to it the first virtue - revenge for a spouse. More gratifying are the legends about the first days of her youth, which breathe the freshness of pure Slavic morals - this is the first appearance of St. Olga to her high career.

Equal to the Apostles Olga was born in the Pskov land, her ancestry goes back to Gostomysl, that glorious man who ruled in Veliky Novgorod until, on his own advice, Rurik and his brothers were called from the Varangians to reign in Russia. She belonged, the Joachim Chronicle clarifies, to the family of the Izborsky princes, one of the forgotten ancient Russian princely dynasties that existed in Rus' in the 10th-11th centuries. no less than twenty, but all of which were supplanted over time by the Rurikovichs or became associated with them through marriages. She was born into a pagan family and was called by the Varangian name Helga, in Russian “okaya” pronunciation - Olga, Volga. The female name Olga corresponds to the male name Oleg, which means “saint”.

Although the pagan understanding of holiness is completely different from the Christian one, it also presupposes in a person a special spiritual attitude, chastity and sobriety, intelligence and insight. Later legends called it the family estate of the entire Vybutskaya, a few kilometers from Pskov, up the Velikaya River. Blessed Olga's parents managed to instill in their daughter those rules of an honest and reasonable life that they themselves adhered to, despite their idolatry. Therefore, already in her youth she was characterized by a deep intelligence and moral purity that was exceptional in a pagan environment. The ancient authors call the holy princess God-wise, the wisest of her kind, and it was purity that was the good soil on which the seeds of the Christian faith bore such rich fruit.

Rurik, dying, left behind his son Igor as a young boy, so Rurik entrusted both Igor and the reign itself until the days of his son’s majority to the care of a relative of his prince. Oleg. Having gathered a significant army and having with him the young heir to the reign of Igor, he went to Kyiv. Having killed here the Russian princes Askold and Dir, who had recently converted to Christianity, Oleg subjugated Kyiv and became the autocrat of the Varangian-Russian possessions, retaining the reign for his nephew Igor. During Oleg's reign from 882 to 912. Rus' turns into a huge strong state, uniting under the rule of Kyiv almost all Russian lands up to Novgorod.

Prince Igor, having reached adolescence, was engaged in hunting. It happened that while hunting in the outskirts of Novgorod, he entered the boundaries of Pskov. While tracking the animal near the village of Vybutskaya, he saw on the other side of the river a place convenient for fishing, but could not get there for lack of a boat. After a little time, Igor noticed a young man sailing in a boat, and, calling him to the shore, ordered himself to be transported to the other side of the river. As they swam, Igor, carefully peering into the rower’s face, saw that it was not a young man, but a girl - it was blessed Olga. Olga's beauty stung Igor's heart, and he began to seduce her with words, inclining her to unclean carnal mixing.

However, the chaste girl, having understood the thoughts of Igor, fueled by lust, stopped the conversation with a wise admonition: “Why are you embarrassed, prince, planning an impossible task? Your words reveal a shameless desire to abuse me, which will not happen! I ask you, listen to me, suppress within yourself these absurd and shameful thoughts that you should be ashamed of. Remember and think that you are a prince, and a prince should be like a ruler and judge for people, a bright example of good deeds - but now you are close to lawlessness. If you yourself, overcome by unclean lust, commit atrocities, then how will you keep others from doing them and judge your subjects fairly? Abandon such shameless lust, which honest people abhor; they may hate you for this, although you are a prince, and betray you to shameful ridicule. And even then, know that, although I am alone here and powerless compared to you, you still will not defeat me. But even if you could overcome me, then the depth of this river will immediately be my protection; It’s better for me to die in purity, burying myself in these waters, than to have my virginity violated.” Such exhortations to chastity brought Igor to his senses, awakening a sense of shame. He was silent, unable to find words to answer. So they swam across the river and parted. And the prince was surprised at such an outstanding intelligence and chastity of the young girl. Indeed, such an act of blessed Olga is worthy of surprise: not knowing the True God and His commandments, she discovered such a feat in defending chastity; carefully guarding the purity of her virginity, she brought the young prince to reason, taming his lust with words of wisdom worthy of her husband’s mind.

A little time passed. Prince Oleg, having established the throne of reign in Kyiv and planted his governors and others subordinate to him in the cities of the Russian land, began to look for a bride for Prince Igor. They gathered many beautiful girls to find among them one worthy of the princely palace, but not one of them fell in love with the prince. For in his heart the choice of a bride had long been made: he ordered to call the one who transported him across the Velikaya River at the hour of fishing in the dense forests of Pskov. Prince Oleg brought Olga to Kyiv with great honor, and Igor married her in 903.

Since 912, after the death of Prince Oleg, Igor began to rule in Kyiv as sole ruler. At the beginning of his independent reign, Igor waged persistent wars with the surrounding peoples. He even went to Constantinople, capturing many countries of the Greek land, and returned from this campaign with much booty and glory. He spent the remaining years of his life in silence, having peace with the border lands, and wealth flowed to him in abundance, for distant countries also sent him gifts and tributes.

During the reign of Igor, who was loyal to the Christian religion, the faith of Christ became a significant spiritual and state force in the Russian state. This is evidenced by the surviving text of Igor’s treaty with the Greeks in 944, which was included by the chronicler in the Tale of Bygone Years, in an article describing the events of 6453 (945).

The peace treaty with Constantinople had to be approved by both religious communities of Kiev: “Baptized Rus'”, that is, Christians, were sworn in in the cathedral church of the holy prophet of God Elijah and “Unbaptized Rus'”, pagans, were sworn in arms in the sanctuary of Perun the Thunderer. And the fact that Christians are placed in first place in the document speaks of their predominant spiritual significance in the life of Kievan Rus.

Obviously, at the moment when the treaty of 944 was drawn up in Constantinople, people in power in Kyiv were sympathizers with Christianity and aware of the historical necessity of introducing Rus' to the life-giving Christian culture. Prince Igor himself may have belonged to this trend, whose official position did not allow him to personally convert to the new faith without resolving the issue of baptizing the entire country and establishing an Orthodox church hierarchy in it. Therefore, the agreement was drawn up in cautious terms that would not prevent the prince from approving it both in the form of a pagan oath and in the form of a Christian oath.

Prince Igor was unable to overcome the inertia of custom and remained a pagan, therefore he sealed the agreement according to the pagan model - with an oath on swords. He rejected the grace of baptism and was punished for his unbelief. A year later, in 945, the rebel pagans killed him in the Drevlyansky land, tearing him between two trees. But the days of paganism and the way of life of the Slavic tribes based on it were already numbered. With her three-year-old son Svyatoslav, Igor's widow, Grand Duchess Olga of Kiev, took upon herself the burden of public service.

The beginning of the independent reign of Princess Olga is associated in the chronicles with stories of terrible retribution against the Drevlyans, the killers of Igor. Having sworn by swords and believed “only in their own sword,” the pagans were doomed by God’s judgment to perish by the sword (Matthew 26:52). Those who worshiped fire, among other deified elements, found their vengeance in fire. The Lord chose Olga as the executor of fiery punishment, who mourned her husband together with her son Svyatoslav; All the residents of Kyiv also cried. The Drevlyans came up with the following daring plan: they wanted Olga, hearing about her beauty and wisdom, to marry their prince Mala, and to secretly kill the heir.

In this way, the Drevlyans thought to increase the power of their prince. They immediately sent twenty deliberate husbands to Olga on boats to ask Olga to become the wife of their prince; and in case of refusal on her part, they were ordered to force her with threats - even if by force, she would become the wife of their master. The sent men reached Kyiv by water and landed on the shore.

Hearing about the arrival of the embassy, ​​Princess Olga called the Drevlyan husbands to her and asked them: “Have you arrived with good intentions, honest guests?” “Good luck,” they answered. “Tell me,” she continued, “why exactly did you come to us?” The men answered: “The Drevlyansky land sent us to you with these words: Do not be angry that we killed your husband, for he, like a wolf, plundered and robbed. And our princes are good rulers. Our current prince is without comparison better than Igor: young and handsome, he is also meek, loving and merciful to everyone. Having married our prince, you will be our mistress and owner of the Drevlyansky land.” Princess Olga, hiding her sadness and heartache for her husband, told the embassy with feigned joy: “Your words are pleasing to me, because I can’t resurrect my husband, and it’s not easy for me to remain a widow: being a woman, I’m not able to, as it should, to govern such a principality; my son is still a young boy.

So, I will willingly marry your young prince; besides, I’m not old myself. Now go, rest in your boats; in the morning I will invite you to an honorable feast, which I will arrange for you, so that the reason for your arrival and my consent to your proposal will become known to everyone; and then I will go to your prince. But you, when those sent in the morning come to take you to the feast, know how you must respect the honor of the prince who sent you and your own: you will arrive at the feast in the same way as you arrived to Kiev, that is, in boats that the people of Kiev will carry on their heads “Let everyone see your nobility, with which I honor you with such great honor before my people.” With joy, the Drevlyans retired to their boats. Princess Olga, taking revenge for the murder of her husband, was thinking about what kind of death to destroy them with. That same night she ordered a deep hole to be dug in the courtyard of the princely palace, in which there was also a beautiful chamber prepared for the feast. The next morning the princess sent honest men to invite matchmakers to a feast. Having put them in small boats one by one, the Kievans carried them away, puffed up with empty pride. When the Drevlyans were brought to the prince's court, Olga, watching from the chamber, ordered them to be thrown into a deep hole prepared for this. Then, approaching the pit herself and bending down, she asked: “Does such an honor please you?” They shouted: “Oh, woe to us! We killed Igor and not only did we not gain anything good through this, but we received an even more evil death.” And Olga ordered them to be buried alive in that pit.

Having done this, Princess Olga immediately sent her messenger to the Drevlyans with the words: “If you really want me to marry your prince, then send for me an embassy that is both more numerous and more noble than the first; let it lead me with honor to your prince; send ambassadors as soon as possible, before the people of Kiev hold me back.” The Drevlyans, with great joy and haste, sent fifty of the noblest men, the most senior elders of the Drevlyan land after the prince, to Olga. When they arrived in Kyiv, Olga ordered a bathhouse to be prepared for them and sent to them with a request: let the ambassadors, after a tiring journey, wash themselves in the bathhouse, rest, and then come to her; They happily went to the bathhouse. When the Drevlyans began to wash themselves, the servants who had been specially assigned immediately sealed the closed doors from the outside, lined the bathhouse with straw and brushwood, and set it on fire; So the Drevlyan elders along with their servants burned down from the bathhouse.

And again Olga sent a messenger to the Drevlyans, announcing her imminent arrival for the wedding with their prince and ordering to prepare honey and all kinds of drink and food at the place where her husband was killed, in order to create a funeral feast for her first husband before her second marriage, then There is a funeral feast, according to pagan custom. The Drevlyans prepared everything in abundance to rejoice. Princess Olga, according to her promise, went to the Drevlyans with many troops, as if she was preparing for war, and not for a wedding. When Olga approached the capital city of the Drevlyans, Korosten, the latter came to meet her in festive clothes and received her with jubilation and joy. Olga first of all went to her husband’s grave and cried a lot for him. Having then performed a funeral feast according to pagan custom, she ordered a large mound to be built over the grave.

“I no longer mourn my first husband,” said the princess, “having done what should have been done over his grave. The time has come to prepare with joy for a second marriage with your prince.” The Drevlyans asked Olga about their first and second ambassadors. “They are following us along another path with all my wealth,” she answered. After this, Olga, having taken off her sad clothes, put on the light wedding clothes characteristic of a princess, showing at the same time a joyful appearance. She ordered the Drevlyans to eat, drink and be merry, and ordered her people to serve them, eating with them, but not to get drunk. When the Drevlyans got drunk, the princess ordered her people to beat them with weapons prepared in advance - swords, knives and spears - and up to five thousand or more died. So Olga, having mixed the joy of the Drevlyans with blood and thus avenged the murder of her husband, returned to Kyiv.

The next year, Olga, having gathered an army, went against the Drevlyans with her son Svyatoslav Igorevich, and recruited him to avenge the death of his father. The Drevlyans came out to meet them with considerable military force; Having come together, both sides fought fiercely until the Kievans defeated the Drevlyans, whom they drove to their capital city of Korosten, putting them to death. The Drevlyans secluded themselves in the city, and Olga relentlessly besieged it for a whole year. Seeing that it was difficult to take the city by storm, the wise princess came up with such a trick. She sent a message to the Drevlyans, who had shut themselves up in the city: “Why, crazy people, do you want to starve yourself to death, not wanting to submit to me? After all, all your other cities have expressed their submission to me: their inhabitants pay tribute and live peacefully in cities and villages, cultivating their fields.” “We would also like,” those who had secluded themselves answered, “to submit to you, but we are afraid that you will again take revenge for your prince.”

Olga sent a second ambassador to them with the words: “I have already taken revenge on the elders and on your other people more than once; and now I do not wish for revenge, but I demand tribute and submission from you.” The Drevlyans agreed to pay her whatever tribute she wanted. Olga suggested to them: “I know that you are now impoverished from the war and cannot pay me tribute in honey, wax, leather, or other things suitable for trade. Yes, I myself don’t want to burden you with a large tribute. Give me some small tribute as a sign of your submission, at least three doves and three sparrows from each house.” This tribute seemed so insignificant to the Drevlyans that they even mocked Olga’s female intelligence. However, they hastened to collect three doves and sparrows from each house and sent them to her with a bow.

Olga said to the men who came to her from the city: “Behold, you have now submitted to me and my son, live in peace, tomorrow I will retreat from your city and go home.” With these words, she dismissed the aforementioned husbands; all the inhabitants of the city were very happy when they heard about the words of the princess. Olga distributed the birds to her soldiers with the order that late in the evening each pigeon and each sparrow should be tied to a piece of cloth soaked in sulfur, which should be lit, and all the birds should be released into the air together.

The soldiers carried out this order. And the birds flew to the city from which they were taken: each dove flew into its nest and each sparrow into its place. The city immediately caught fire in many places, and Olga at that time gave her army the order to surround the city from all sides and begin an attack. The population of the city, fleeing from the fire, ran out from behind the walls and fell into the hands of the enemy. So Korosten was taken. Many people from the Drevlyans died from the sword, others with their wives and children burned in the fire, and others drowned in the river that flowed under the city; At the same time, Prince Drevlyansky also died. Of the survivors, many were taken into captivity, while others were left by the princess in their places of residence, and she imposed a heavy tribute on them. So Princess Olga took revenge on the Drevlyans for the murder of her husband, subjugated the entire Drevlyan land and returned to Kyiv with glory and triumph.

And Princess Olga ruled the regions of the Russian land under her control not as a woman, but as a strong and reasonable husband, firmly holding power in her hands and courageously defending herself from enemies. The Grand Duchess traveled around the Russian land in order to streamline the civil and economic life of the people, and the chronicles are full of evidence of her tireless “walks.” Having achieved the internal strengthening of the power of the Kyiv Grand Duke, weakening the influence of small local princes who interfered with the gathering of Rus', Olga centralized all state administration with the help of a system of “cemeteries”, which, being financial, administrative and judicial centers, represented a strong support for the Grand Duke’s power locally. Later, when Olga became a Christian, the first churches began to be erected in churchyards; From the time of the baptism of Rus' under Saint Vladimir, graveyard and church (parish) became inseparable concepts (only later did the word “pogost” in the sense of cemetery evolve from the cemeteries that existed near churches).

Princess Olga put a lot of effort into strengthening the country's defense power. Cities were built up and fortified, overgrown with stone and oak walls (visors), bristling with ramparts and palisades. The princess herself, knowing how hostile many were to the idea of ​​strengthening princely power and unifying Rus', lived constantly “on the mountain”, above the Dnieper, behind the reliable visors of Kyiv’s Vyshgorod (Upper City), surrounded by a loyal squad. Two-thirds of the collected tribute, according to the chronicle, she gave to the Kiev veche, the third part went “to Olza, to Vyshgorod” - for the needs of the military structure. Historians attribute the establishment of the first state borders of Russia to the time of Olga - in the west, with Poland. Bogatyr outposts in the south guarded the peaceful fields of the Kievites from the peoples of the Wild Field. Foreigners hurried to Gardarika (“the country of cities”), as they called Rus', with goods and handicrafts. The Swedes, Danes, and Germans willingly joined the Russian army as mercenaries. Kyiv's foreign connections expanded. This contributed to the development of stone construction in cities, which was started by Princess Olga. The first stone buildings of Kyiv - the city palace and Olga's country tower - were discovered by archaeologists only in our century (the palace, or rather its foundation and the remains of the walls, were found and excavated in 1971-1972).

In all matters of government, Grand Duchess Olga showed foresight and wisdom. She was terrible for her enemies, but loved by her own people, as a merciful and pious ruler, as a righteous judge who did not offend anyone. She instilled fear in the evil, rewarding each in proportion to the merit of his actions. At the same time, Olga, merciful at heart, was a generous giver to the poor, the poor and the needy; Fair requests quickly reached her heart, and she quickly fulfilled them. All her deeds, despite her stay in paganism, were pleasing to God, as worthy of Christian grace. With all this, Olga combined an abstinent and chaste life: she did not want to remarry, but remained in pure widowhood, observing princely power for her son until the days of his age. When the latter matured, she handed over to him all the affairs of the reign, and she herself, having withdrawn from rumors and cares, lived outside the concerns of government, indulging in works of charity.

An auspicious time has come, in which the Lord wanted to enlighten the Slavs, blinded by unbelief, with the light of holy faith, bring them to the knowledge of the truth and guide them on the path of salvation. The Lord deigned to reveal the beginnings of this enlightenment to the shame of hard-hearted men in a weak female vessel, that is, through blessed Olga. For just as He previously made myrrh-bearing women preachers of His resurrection and His honorable Cross, on which He was crucified, was revealed to the world from the depths of the earth by His wife-Queen Helen (May 21/June 3), so later He deigned to plant the holy faith in the Russian land with a wondrous wife. , the new Elena - Princess Olga. The Lord chose her as an “honorable vessel” for His Most Holy Name - may she carry It through the Russian land. He kindled the dawn of His invisible grace in her heart, opening her intelligent eyes to the knowledge of the True God, Whom she did not yet know. She already understood the seduction and delusion of pagan wickedness, becoming convinced, as a self-evident truth, that the idols revered by crazy people are not gods, but a soulless product of human hands; therefore, she not only did not respect them, but also abhorred them. Like a merchant looking for valuable pearls, so Olga wholeheartedly sought right worship of God.

History has not preserved the names of Saint Olga’s first Christian mentors, probably because the blessed princess’s conversion to Christ was associated with Divine admonition. One of the ancient texts puts it this way: “Oh wonder! She herself did not know the Scriptures, neither the Christian law nor the teacher about piety, but she diligently studied the morals of piety and loved the Christian faith with all her soul. O ineffable Providence of God! The blessed one did not learn the truth from man, but from above, a teacher in the name of God’s Wisdom.” Saint Olga came to Christ through a search for truth, seeking satisfaction for her inquisitive mind; the ancient philosopher calls her “God’s chosen keeper of wisdom.” The Monk Nestor the Chronicler narrates: “Blessed Olga from an early age sought wisdom, which is the best in this world, and found a pearl of great value - Christ.”

According to God's vision, Princess Olga heard from some people that there is a True God, the Creator of heaven, earth and all creation, in whom the Greeks believe; besides Him there is no other god. Such people, as the famous historian E.E. Golubinsky suggests, were Christian Varangians, of whom there were many among the squad of Prince Igor. And Olga drew attention to these Varangians of the new faith; for their part, the Varangians themselves dreamed of making her their supporter, hoping that she was a woman not just with a great mind, but with a state mind. Therefore, the fact that Christianity has become the faith of almost all the peoples of Europe, and in any case is the faith of the best peoples among them, and the fact that a strong movement towards Christianity began among its own relatives (Varangians), following the example of other peoples, could not but have an effect on Olga’s mind, making it necessary for her to conclude that people are the best and their faith should be the best. And striving for true knowledge of God and not being lazy by nature, Olga herself wanted to go to the Greeks in order to look at the Christian service with her own eyes and be fully convinced of their teaching about the True God.

By this time, Rus' had grown into a great power. The princess completed the internal structure of the lands. Rus' was strong and powerful. Only two European states in those years could compete with it in importance and power: in the east of Europe - the ancient Byzantine Empire, in the west - the kingdom of the Saxons. The experience of both empires, which owed their rise to the spirit of Christian teaching and the religious foundations of life, clearly showed that the path to the future greatness of Rus' lies not only through the military, but, above all, and primarily through spiritual conquests and achievements.

With its sword, Rus' constantly “touched” neighboring Byzantium, testing again and again not only the military-material, but also the spiritual strength of the Orthodox empire. But behind this hid a certain aspiration of Rus' towards Byzantium, sincere admiration for it. The attitude of Byzantium towards Rus' was different. In the eyes of the empire, Rus' was not the first and not the only “barbarian” people captivated by its beauty, wealth and spiritual treasures. Proud Byzantium looked with undisguised irritation at the new “semi-savage” people, who dared to cause great troubles to it and who, in the minds of the imperial court, stood at the lowest level of the diplomatic hierarchy of states and peoples. To fight him off, to pay him off, and, if possible, to turn him into an obedient subject and servant - this is the main line of the empire’s attitude towards the young state of the Russians. But the Russian land, ready to accept Orthodoxy, professed and demonstrated in wondrous beauty by the Greek Church, did not at all intend to bow its head under the yoke. Rus' tried to defend its independence and establish a close alliance with Byzantium, but one in which it would occupy a dominant position. The exalted empire did not know then that Rus' would achieve its goal! For God’s Providence determined that it was Rus' (and, perhaps, precisely for the intimate sincerity of love) that determined to become the historical successor of Byzantium, to inherit its spiritual wealth, political power and greatness.

Grand Duchess Olga also combined serious state interests with her natural desire to visit Byzantium. Recognition of Rus', increasing its status in the hierarchy of Byzantium's allies, and therefore increasing prestige in the eyes of the rest of the world - this was what was especially important for the wise Olga. But this could only be achieved by accepting Christianity, because in those days trust between the states of Europe was established on the basis of religious community. Taking with her especially noble men and merchants, Grand Duchess Olga in the summer of 954 (955) set off with a large fleet to Constantinople. It was a peaceful “walk”, combining the tasks of a religious pilgrimage and a diplomatic mission, but political considerations required that it become at the same time a manifestation of the military power of Rus' on the Black Sea and reminded the proud “Romans” of the victorious campaigns of princes Askold and Oleg, who nailed their shield “at the gates of Constantinople.” And the result was achieved. The appearance of the Russian fleet on the Bosporus created the necessary preconditions for the development of a friendly Russian-Byzantine dialogue.

The Russian princess was received with great honor by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959) and Patriarch Theophylact (933-956), to whom she presented many gifts worthy of such persons. For the distinguished Russian guest, not only were diplomatic techniques observed, but special deviations from them were also made. So, contrary to the usual rules of the court, Prince. Olga was received not together with ambassadors from other states, but separately from them.

At the same time, the emperor managed to reflect in the reception ceremonies the “distance” that separated the Russian princess from the ruler of Byzantium: Prince. Olga lived for more than a month on a ship in Suda, the harbor of Constantinople, before the first reception took place at the palace on September 9. There were long, tedious negotiations about how and with what ceremonies the Russian princess should be received. At the same time, the prince herself attached great importance to the ceremony. Olga, who sought recognition of the high prestige of the Russian state and herself personally as its ruler. In Constantinople, Olga studied the Christian faith, daily diligently listening to the words of God and looking closely at the splendor of the liturgical rite and other aspects of Christian life. She attended services in the best churches: Hagia Sophia, Our Lady of Blachernae and others. And the southern capital amazed the stern daughter of the North with the decorum of divine services, the wealth of Christian churches and the shrines collected in them, the variety of colors, and the splendor of architecture.

The heart of wise Olga opened to holy Orthodoxy, and she decided to become a Christian. According to the chronicler, the sacrament of baptism was performed on her by Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople, and the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself was the recipient. She was given the name Elena in baptism, in honor of Saint Helen, Equal to the Apostles. In an edifying word spoken after the ceremony, the patriarch said: “Blessed are you among the Russian women, for you have left darkness and loved the Light. The Russian people will bless you in all future generations, from your grandchildren and great-grandchildren to your most distant descendants.” He instructed her in the truths of faith, church rules and prayer rules, and explained the commandments about fasting, chastity and almsgiving. “She,” says the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, “bowed her head and stood, like a soldered lip, listening to the teaching, and, bowing to the patriarch, said: “By your prayers, lord, may I be preserved from the snares of the enemy.” After this, the newly baptized princess visited the patriarch again, sharing her grief: “My people and my son are pagans...” The Patriarch encouraged, consoled her and blessed her. Then Blessed Olga accepted from him the honorable cross, holy icons, books and other things needed for worship, as well as elders and clergy. And Saint Olga left Constantinople to her home with great joy.

It was not easy to force such a hater of Russians as Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus to become the godfather of a Russian princess.

The chronicles preserve stories about how Olga spoke decisively and on an equal footing with the emperor, surprising the Greeks with her spiritual maturity and statesmanship, showing that the Russian people were just capable of accepting and multiplying the highest achievements of the Greek religious genius, the best fruits of Byzantine spirituality and culture. Thus, Saint Olga managed to peacefully “take Constantinople,” which no commander had been able to do before her. The Grand Duchess achieved extremely important results.

She was baptized with honors in the capital of Byzantium (in the Church of Hagia Sophia - the main cathedral church of the Universal Church of that time). At the same time, she received, as it were, a blessing for an apostolic mission in her land. In addition, the head of the Russian state receives the title of “daughter” from the emperor, placing Rus' in “the highest rank of the diplomatic hierarchy of states after Byzantium itself.” The title coincides with Olga-Elena's Christian position as goddaughter of the emperor. And in this, according to the chronicle, the emperor himself was forced to admit that he was “outwitted” (outwitted) by the Russian princess. And in his essay “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court,” which has come down to us in a single list, Constantine Porphyrogenitus left a detailed description of the ceremonies that accompanied Saint Olga’s stay in Constantinople.

He describes a gala reception in the famous Magnavre Chamber, and negotiations in a narrower circle in the Empress’s chambers, and a ceremonial dinner in the Justinian Hall, where, by coincidence, four “ladies of state” providentially met at the same table: the grandmother and mother of Saint Vladimir Equal to the Apostles (Saint Olga and her companion Malusha) with his grandmother and mother of his future wife Anna (Empress Elena and her daughter-in-law Feofano). A little more than half a century will pass and in the Tithe Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kyiv the marble tombs of St. Olga, St. Vladimir and Blessed Queen Anna will stand side by side.

During one of the receptions, says Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, the Russian princess was presented with a golden dish decorated with stones. Saint Olga donated it to the sacristy of the St. Sophia Cathedral, where it was seen and described at the beginning of the 13th century by the Russian diplomat Dobrynya Yadreikovich, later Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod: “The dish is a great gold service of Russian Olga, when she took tribute while going to Constantinople; in Olzhin’s dish there is a precious stone, and Christ is written on the same stone.”

As for the immediate diplomatic outcome of the negotiations, Saint Olga had reason to remain dissatisfied with them. Having achieved success in matters of Russian trade within the empire and confirmation of the peace treaty with Byzantium concluded by Igor in 944, she was unable, however, to persuade the emperor to two main agreements for Rus': on the dynastic marriage of Svyatoslav with the Byzantine princess and on the conditions for the restoration of the existing at the book Askold of the Orthodox Metropolis in Kyiv. Her dissatisfaction with the outcome of the mission is clearly heard in the answer she gave, upon returning to her homeland, sent to the ambassadors from the emperor. To the emperor’s question regarding the promised military assistance, Saint Olga sharply answered through the ambassadors: “If you stand with me in Pochaina as I do in Court, then I will give you soldiers to help you.” The Grand Russian Princess made it clear to Byzantium that the empire was dealing with a powerful independent state, the international prestige of which the empire itself had now raised in full view of the whole world!

Returning from Constantinople to Kyiv, the new Helen - Princess Olga - began Christian preaching. Much depended on whether her son Svyatoslav, who was about to take the reins of government, would turn to Christ. And from him, according to the chronicle, the Equal-to-the-Apostles princess began her sermon.

But she could not lead him to true reason, to the knowledge of God. Wholly devoted to military enterprises, Svyatoslav did not want to hear about holy baptism, but he did not forbid anyone to be baptized, but only laughed at the newly baptized, because for the infidels, who did not know the glory of the Lord, the Christian faith seemed madness, according to the word of the apostle: We preach Christ Crucified, For the Jews it is a temptation, for the Greeks it is foolishness, because the foolish things of God are wiser than men, and the weak things of God are stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:23, 25). Blessed Olga often said to Prince Svyatoslav: “My son, I have come to know God and rejoice in spirit. If you come to know Him, you too will rejoice.” But he did not want to listen to his mother, continuing to follow pagan customs, and told her: “What will my squad say about me if I betray the faith of my fathers? She will swear at me.”

Such speeches were difficult for the mother, but she rightly remarked to her son: “If you are baptized, then everyone will do the same.” This was the first attempt in history to arrange a universal baptism of Rus'. Svyatoslav could not object and therefore, as the chronicle says, “he was angry with his mother.”

It was not only the fear of ridicule that held him back, but also his own “desire to live according to pagan customs.” Wars, feasts, fun, long campaigns, life according to the lusts of the heart and flesh - this is what possessed the soul of Svyatoslav. In all this, the desperately brave, intelligent, broad-minded Svyatoslav wanted to find the fullness of life. But his mother knew that this would not bring true joy to his soul, she deeply grieved for him and for the Russian land and used to say: “God’s will be done; If God wants to have mercy on this race and the Russian land, then he will put in their hearts the same desire to turn to God that he gave to me.” And with warm faith she prayed day and night for her son and for the people, so that the Lord would enlighten them about what destinies he knew. Meanwhile, unable to soften Svyatoslav’s heart, she tried to sow the seeds of Christianity in her three young grandchildren - Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir, whom her warrior father left to her. This holy seed in due time bore favorable fruit, taking root in the heart of young Vladimir.

Despite the failure of efforts to establish a church hierarchy in Rus', Saint Olga, having become a Christian, zealously devoted herself to the exploits of Christian evangelism among the pagans and church building; “Crush the trenches of demons and begin to live in Christ Jesus.” To perpetuate the memory of the first Russian confessors of the name of Christ, the Grand Duchess erected the St. Nicholas Church over the grave of Askold and founded a wooden cathedral over the grave of Dir in the name of St. Sophia the Wisdom of God, consecrated on May 11, 960. This day was subsequently celebrated in the Russian Church as a special church holiday. In the monthly parchment of the Apostle of 1307, under May 11, it is written: “On the same day, the consecration of Hagia Sophia in Kiev in the summer of 6460.” The date of commemoration, according to church historians, is indicated according to the so-called “Antiochian” calendar, and not according to the generally accepted Constantinople chronology and corresponds to 960 from the Nativity of Christ.

It is not for nothing that the Russian princess Olga received in baptism the name of Saint Helen, Equal to the Apostles, who found the Venerable Tree of the Cross of Christ in Jerusalem. The main shrine of the newly created St. Sophia Church was the holy eight-pointed cross, brought by the new Helen from Constantinople and received by her as a blessing from the Patriarch of Constantinople. The cross, according to legend, was carved from a single piece of the Life-Giving Tree of the Lord. There was an inscription on it: “The Russian land was renewed with the holy cross, and Olga, the blessed princess, accepted it.” The cross and other Christian shrines, with the grace emanating from them, contributed to the enlightenment of the Russian land.

St. Sophia Cathedral, having stood for half a century, burned down in 1017. Yaroslav the Wise later built the Church of St. Irene on this site, in 1050, and moved the shrines of the St. Sophia Holgin Church to the stone church of the same name - the still standing St. Sophia of Kyiv, founded in 1017 and consecrated around 1030.

In the Prologue of the 13th century it is said about Olga’s cross: “It now stands in Kyiv in St. Sophia in the altar on the right side.” The plunder of Kyiv shrines, continued after the Mongols by the Lithuanians, who acquired the city in 1341, did not spare him either. Under Jogaila, during the Union of Lublin, which united Poland and Lithuania into one state in 1384, Holga's cross was stolen from St. Sophia Cathedral and taken by Catholics to Lublin. His further fate is unknown.

Then, preaching the holy faith, the holy princess set off to the north. She visited Veliky Novgorod and other cities, wherever possible, leading people to the faith of Christ, while crushing idols, putting up honest crosses in their place, from which many signs and wonders were performed to reassure the pagans. Having come to her homeland, to Vybutskaya, blessed Olga spread the word of Christian preaching to people close to her. While staying in this direction, she reached the bank of the Velikaya River, flowing from south to north, and stopped opposite the place where the Pskova River, flowing from the east, flows into the Velikaya River (at that time a large dense forest grew in these places).

And then Saint Olga from the other bank of the river saw that from the east three bright rays were descending from the sky onto this place, illuminating it. Not only Saint Olga, but also her companions saw the wonderful light from these rays; and the blessed one rejoiced greatly and thanked God for the vision, which indicated the enlightenment of the grace of God on that side. Turning to the persons accompanying her, Blessed Olga said prophetically: “Let it be known to you that by the will of God, in this place, illuminated by triluminous rays, a church will arise in the name of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and a great and glorious city will be created, abounding in everything.” After these words and a rather lengthy prayer, Blessed Olga put up a cross; and to this day the prayer temple stands on the spot where Blessed Olga erected it.

Having visited many cities of the Russian land, the preacher of Christ returned to Kyiv and here she showed good deeds for God. Remembering the vision on the Pskov River, she sent a lot of gold and silver to create a church in the name of the Holy Trinity, and ordered that the place be populated by people. And in a short time the city of Pskov, so named from the Pskova River, grew into a great city, and the name of the Most Holy Trinity was glorified in it.

The prayers and labors of Saint Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, bore rich fruit: Christianity in Rus' began to quickly spread and strengthen. But he was opposed by paganism, which established itself as the dominant (state) religion. Among the boyars and warriors in Kyiv there were many people who, according to Solomon, “hated Wisdom,” like the holy princess Olga, who built temples to Her. The zealots of pagan antiquity raised their heads more and more boldly, looking with hope at the growing Svyatoslav, who decisively rejected his mother’s entreaties to accept Christianity and was even angry with her for this. It was necessary to hurry with the planned task of baptizing Rus'. The deceit of Byzantium, which did not want to give Christianity to Rus', played into the hands of the pagans.

In search of a solution, Saint Olga turns her eyes to the West. There is no contradiction here. Saint Olga (d. 969) still belonged to the undivided Church and hardly had the opportunity to delve into the theological subtleties of the Greek and Latin teachings. The confrontation between the West and the East seemed to her primarily as a political rivalry, secondary in comparison with the pressing task - the creation of the Russian Church, the Christian enlightenment of Rus'.

Under the year 959, a German chronicler, called the “continuator of Reginon,” writes: “The ambassadors of Helen, Queen of the Russians, who was baptized in Constantinople, came to the king and asked to consecrate a bishop and priests for this people.” King Otto, the future founder of the German Empire, willingly responded to Olga’s request, but conducted the matter slowly, with purely German thoroughness. Only at Christmas of the following year 960, Libutius, from the brethren of the monastery of St. Alban in Mainz, was installed as Bishop of Russia. But he soon died (March 15, 961). Adalbert of Trier was ordained in his place, whom Otto, “generously supplying with everything necessary,” finally sent to Russia. It is difficult to say what would have happened if the king had not delayed so long, but when Adalbert appeared in Kyiv in 962, he “did not succeed in anything for which he was sent, and saw his efforts in vain.” Worse, on the way back, “some of his companions were killed, and the bishop himself did not escape mortal danger.”

It turned out that over the past two years, as Olga foresaw, a final revolution took place in Kyiv in favor of the supporters of paganism, and, having become neither Orthodox nor Catholic, Rus' decided not to accept Christianity at all. The pagan reaction manifested itself so strongly that not only German missionaries suffered, but also some of the Kyiv Christians who were baptized with Olga in Constantinople. By order of Svyatoslav, Saint Olga's nephew Gleb was killed and some of the churches built by her were destroyed. Of course, this could not have happened without Byzantine secret diplomacy: opposed to Olga and alarmed by the possibility of strengthening Rus' through an alliance with Otto, the Greeks chose to support the pagans.

The failure of Adalbert's mission had providential significance for the future of the Russian Orthodox Church, which escaped papal captivity. Saint Olga had to come to terms with what had happened and completely withdraw into matters of personal piety, leaving the reins of government to the pagan Svyatoslav. She was still taken into account, her statesmanship was invariably turned to in all difficult cases. When Svyatoslav left Kyiv - and he spent most of his time on campaigns and wars - control of the state was again entrusted to the princess mother. There could no longer be any talk of the baptism of Rus', and this, of course, upset Saint Olga, who considered Christ’s piety the main work of her life.

The Grand Duchess meekly endured sorrows and disappointments, tried to help her son in state and military concerns, and guide him in heroic plans. The victories of Russian weapons were a consolation for her, especially the defeat of the long-time enemy of the Russian state - the Khazar Kaganate. Twice, in 965 and 969, Svyatoslav’s troops marched through the lands of the “foolish Khazars,” forever crushing the power of the Jewish rulers of the Azov and Lower Volga regions. The next powerful blow was dealt to Muslim Volga Bulgaria, then it was the turn of Danube Bulgaria. 80 cities along the Danube were taken by Kyiv squads. One thing worried Olga: as if, carried away by the war in the Balkans, Svyatoslav had not forgotten about Kyiv.

In the spring of 969, Kyiv was besieged by the Pechenegs: “and it was impossible to take the horse out to water, the Pechenegs stood on Lybid.” The Russian army was far away on the Danube. Having sent messengers to her son, Saint Olga herself led the defense of the capital. Svyatoslav, having received the news, soon rode to Kyiv, “greeted his mother and children and lamented what had happened to them from the Pechenegs.” But, having defeated the nomads, the militant prince again began to say to his mother: “I don’t like to sit in Kyiv, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - there is the middle of my land.” Svyatoslav dreamed of creating a huge Russian power from the Danube to the Volga, which would unite Rus', Bulgaria, Serbia, the Black Sea region and the Azov region and would extend its borders to Constantinople itself. Wise Olga understood that with all the courage and bravery of the Russian squads, they could not cope with the ancient empire of the Romans; failure awaited Svyatoslav. But the son did not listen to his mother’s warnings.

Blessed Olga said to him with tears: “Why are you leaving me, my son, and where are you going? When looking for someone else's, to whom do you entrust yours? After all, your children are still small, and I am already old and sick. I expect an imminent death - departure to my beloved Christ, in whom I believe. Now I don’t worry about anything except about you: I regret that although I taught you a lot and convinced you to leave the idolatry of wickedness, to believe in the True God, known to me, but you neglected this. And I know that for your disobedience to me, a bad end awaits you on earth and, after death, eternal torment prepared for the pagans. Now fulfill at least this last request of mine: do not go anywhere until I am dead and buried, and then go wherever you want. After my death, do not do anything that pagan custom requires in such cases; but let my presbyter and the clergy bury my sinful body according to Christian custom: do not dare to pour a grave mound over me and hold funeral feasts, but send gold to Constantinople to His Holiness the Patriarch, so that he may make a prayer and offering to God for my soul and distribute alms to the poor.” Hearing this, Svyatoslav wept bitterly and promised to fulfill everything she had bequeathed, refusing only to accept the holy faith.

After three days of St. Princess Olga fell into extreme exhaustion. Having partaken of the Divine Mysteries of the Most Pure Body and the Life-Giving Blood of Christ our Savior, she remained all the time in fervent prayer to God and to the Most Pure Mother of God, Whom God always had as her Helper, and called upon all the saints. Blessed Olga prayed with special zeal for the enlightenment of the Russian land after her death: seeing the future, she repeatedly prophesied during the days of her life that God would enlighten the people of the Russian land and many of them would be great saints; Saint Olga prayed for the speedy fulfillment of this prophecy at her death. And there was also a prayer on her lips when her honest soul was released from her body - “and having thus lived and glorified God well in the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, rested in the blasphemy of faith, ending her life in peace in Christ Jesus, Our Lord."

So she moved from the earthly to the heavenly and was honored to enter the palace of the Immortal King - Christ God, and as the first saint from the Russian land she was canonized. St. reposed Equal to the Apostles Olga, in holy baptism Elena, on the 11th day of July in the year 969, all the years of her life were about ninety. “And her son and her grandchildren and all the people wept for her with great weeping.” In recent years, amid the triumph of paganism, she, the once proud mistress, baptized by the patriarch in the capital of Orthodoxy, had to secretly keep a priest with her so as not to cause a new outbreak of anti-Christian fanaticism. But before her death, having regained her former firmness and determination, she forbade pagan funerals to be performed on her and bequeathed to openly bury her according to the Orthodox rite. Presbyter Gregory, who was with her in Constantinople in 957, carried out her will exactly.

After the death of Saint Olga, her prophecy about the evil death of her son and about the good enlightenment of the Russian land came true. The remarkable commander Svyatoslav (as the chronicler reports) was killed not in a glorious campaign, but in a treacherous ambush of the Pechenegs in 972. The Pechenezh prince cut off Svyatoslav's head and made himself a cup from the skull, bound it with gold and wrote the following: “He who has someone else’s, destroys his own.” During a feast with his nobles, the prince drank from this cup. So the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich, brave and hitherto invincible in battle, according to his mother’s prediction, suffered an evil death because he did not listen to her. The prophecy of Blessed Olga about the Russian land was also fulfilled. Nineteen years after her death, her grandson, Prince. Vladimir (July 15/28) accepted holy baptism and enlightened the Russian land with holy faith.

God glorified the holy worker of Orthodoxy, “the head of the faith” in the Russian land, with miracles and the incorruption of her relics. Jacob Mnich (d. 1072), 100 years after her death, wrote in his “Memory and Praise to Vladimir”: “God glorified the body of His servant Helen, and her honest and indestructible body remains in the tomb to this day. Blessed Princess Olga glorified God with all her good deeds, and God glorified her.” Under Saint Prince Vladimir, according to some sources, in 1007 the relics of Saint Olga were transferred to the Tithe Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because for the maintenance of its prince. Vladimir gave a tenth of his estates, and they were placed in a special sarcophagus, in which it was customary to place the relics of saints in the Orthodox East. “And you hear another miracle about her: a small stone coffin in the Church of the Holy Mother of God, that church was created by blessed Prince Vladimir, and there is the coffin of blessed Olga. And at the top of the coffin a window was created - so that you could see the body of blessed Olga lying intact.” But not everyone was shown the miracle of the incorruption of the relics of the Equal-to-the-Apostles princess: “Whoever comes with faith, opens the window, and sees the honest body lying intact, as if sleeping, resting. But for others who do not come with faith, the window of the tomb will not open, and they will not see that honest body, but only the tomb.” So at her death, Saint Olga preached eternal life and resurrection, filling believers with joy and admonishing non-believers. She was, in the words of St. Nestor the Chronicler, “the forerunner of the Christian land, like the morning star before the sun and like the dawn before the light.”

The Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, offering his thanks to God on the day of the baptism of Rus', testified on behalf of his contemporaries about Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga with significant words: “The sons of Rusty want you to bless you...” The Russian people honors Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga as the founder of Christianity in Rus', turning to her in the words of St. Nestor: “Rejoice, Russian knowledge of God, the beginning of our reconciliation with Him.”

Having made her choice, Grand Duchess Olga, entrusting Kyiv to her grown-up son, sets off with a large fleet to Constantinople. Old Russian chroniclers will call this act of Olga “walking”; it combined a religious pilgrimage, a diplomatic mission, and a demonstration of the military power of Rus'. “Olga wanted to go to the Greeks herself in order to look at the Christian service with her own eyes and be fully convinced of their teaching about the true God,” the life of Saint Olga narrates. According to the chronicle, in Constantinople Olga decides to become a Christian. The sacrament of Baptism was performed on her by Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople (933 - 956), and the successor was Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912 - 959), who left a detailed description of the ceremonies during Olga’s stay in Constantinople in his essay “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court”.
The Patriarch blessed the newly baptized Russian princess with a cross carved from a single piece of the Life-Giving Tree of the Lord. On the cross there was an inscription: “The Russian land was renewed with the Holy Cross, and Olga, the blessed princess, accepted it.”

Sergey Kirillov. Duchess Olga. Baptism. The first part of the triptych “Holy Rus'”

Olga returned to Kyiv with icons and liturgical books—her apostolic service began. She erected a temple in the name of St. Nicholas over the grave of Askold, the first Christian prince of Kyiv, and converted many Kiev residents to Christ. The princess set off to the north to preach the faith. In the Kyiv and Pskov lands, in remote villages, at crossroads, she erected crosses, destroying pagan idols.

Saint Olga laid the foundation for special veneration of the Most Holy Trinity in Rus'. From century to century, a story was passed down about a vision she had near the Velikaya River, not far from her native village. She saw “three bright rays” descending from the sky from the east. Addressing her companions, who were witnesses to the vision, Olga said prophetically: “Let it be known to you that by the will of God in this place there will be a church in the name of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and there will be a great and glorious city here, abounding in everything.” At this place Olga erected a cross and founded a temple in the name of the Holy Trinity. It became the main cathedral of Pskov, the glorious Russian city, which has since been called the “House of the Holy Trinity.” Through mysterious ways of spiritual succession, after four centuries, this veneration was transferred to St. Sergius of Radonezh.

On May 11, 960, the Church of St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, was consecrated in Kyiv. This day was celebrated in the Russian Church as a special holiday. The main shrine of the temple was the cross that Olga received at baptism in Constantinople. The temple built by Olga burned down in 1017, and in its place Yaroslav the Wise erected the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Irene, and moved the shrines of the St. Sophia Olga Church to the still standing stone Church of St. Sophia of Kiev, founded in 1017 and consecrated around 1030. In the Prologue of the 13th century, it is said about Olga’s cross: “It now stands in Kyiv in St. Sophia in the altar on the right side.” After the conquest of Kyiv by the Lithuanians, Holga's cross was stolen from St. Sophia Cathedral and taken by Catholics to Lublin. His further fate is unknown to us. The apostolic labors of the princess met secret and open resistance from the pagans. Among the boyars and warriors in Kyiv there were many people who, according to the chroniclers, “hated Wisdom,” like Saint Olga, who built temples for Her. The zealots of pagan antiquity raised their heads more and more boldly, looking with hope at the growing Svyatoslav, who decisively rejected his mother’s entreaties to accept Christianity. “The Tale of Bygone Years” tells about it this way: “Olga lived with her son Svyatoslav, and persuaded his mother to be baptized, but he neglected this and covered his ears; however, if someone wanted to be baptized, he did not forbid him, nor mocked him... Olga often said: “My son, I have come to know God and I rejoice; so you, if you know it, you will also begin to rejoice.” He, not listening to this, said: “How can I want to change my faith alone? My warriors will laugh at this!” She told him: “If you are baptized, everyone will do the same.” He, without listening to his mother, lived according to pagan customs.
Saint Olga had to endure many sorrows at the end of her life. The son finally moved to Pereyaslavets on the Danube. While in Kyiv, she taught her grandchildren, the children of Svyatoslav, the Christian faith, but did not dare to baptize them, fearing the wrath of her son. In addition, he hindered her attempts to establish Christianity in Rus'. In recent years, amid the triumph of paganism, she, once the universally revered mistress of the state, baptized by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the capital of Orthodoxy, had to secretly keep a priest with her so as not to cause a new outbreak of anti-Christian sentiment. In 968, Kyiv was besieged by the Pechenegs. The holy princess and her grandchildren, among whom was Prince Vladimir, found themselves in mortal danger. When news of the siege reached Svyatoslav, he rushed to the rescue, and the Pechenegs were put to flight. Saint Olga, already seriously ill, asked her son not to leave until her death. She did not lose hope of turning her son’s heart to God and on her deathbed did not stop preaching: “Why are you leaving me, my son, and where are you going? When looking for someone else's, to whom do you entrust yours? After all, Your children are still small, and I am already old, and sick, - I expect an imminent death - departure to my beloved Christ, in whom I believe; Now I don’t worry about anything except about you: I regret that although I taught a lot and convinced you to leave the wickedness of idols, to believe in the true God, known to me, but you neglect this, and I know what for your disobedience A bad end awaits you on earth, and after death - eternal torment prepared for the pagans. Now fulfill at least this last request of mine: do not go anywhere until I am dead and buried; then go wherever you want. After my death, do not do anything that pagan custom requires in such cases; but let my presbyter and the clergy bury my body according to Christian custom; do not dare to pour a grave mound over me and hold funeral feasts; but send the gold to Constantinople to the Holy Patriarch, so that he may make a prayer and offering to God for my soul and distribute alms to the poor.”
“Hearing this, Svyatoslav wept bitterly and promised to fulfill everything she bequeathed, refusing only to accept the holy faith. On July 11, 969, Saint Olga died, “and her son and grandchildren and all the people cried for her with great lamentation.” Presbyter Gregory fulfilled her will exactly.

Saint Olga Equal to the Apostles was canonized at a council in 1547, which confirmed her widespread veneration in Rus' even in the pre-Mongol era.
Saint Olga, Equal to the Apostles, became the spiritual mother of the Russian people, through her their enlightenment with the light of the Christian faith began.

The pagan name Olga corresponds to the masculine Oleg (Helgi), which means “holy.” Although the pagan understanding of holiness differs from the Christian one, it presupposes in a person a special spiritual attitude, chastity and sobriety, intelligence and insight. Revealing the spiritual meaning of this name, the people called Oleg Prophetic, and Olga - Wise. Subsequently, Saint Olga will be called Bogomudra, emphasizing her main gift, which became the basis of the entire ladder of holiness for Russian wives - wisdom.
The Christian name of Saint Olga - Helen (translated from ancient Greek as “Torch”), became an expression of the burning of her spirit. Saint Olga (Elena) received a spiritual fire that did not go out throughout the thousand-year history of Christian Russia.

It is noteworthy that the residents of the Ukrainian city of Korosten (the modern name of Iskorosten) long ago forgave Princess Olga for burning their city. Now in Korosten there is a monument to the holy princess Olga.

In preparing the article, materials from the site pravoslavie.ru were used.

July 24(July 11, Old Art.) The Church honors memory of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, named Helen in holy baptism. Holy Princess Olga ruled the Old Russian state from 945 to 960 as regent for her young son Svyatoslav, after the death of her husband, Prince of Kyiv Igor Rurikovich. Olga was the first of the rulers of Rus' to convert to Christianity. They pray to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga for the strengthening of the Christian faith and for the deliverance of the state from enemies. Saint Olga is also revered as the patroness of widows.

Life of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga

The chronicles do not report Olga's year of birth, but the later Book of Degrees states that she died at the age of about 80, which places her date of birth at the end of the 9th century. The approximate date of her birth is reported by the late “Arkhangelsk Chronicler,” who clarifies that Olga was 10 years old at the time of her marriage. Based on this, many scientists calculated the date of her birth - 893. The short life of the princess states that at the time of her death she was 75 years old. Thus, Olga was born in 894. But this date is called into question by the date of birth of Olga’s eldest son, Svyatoslav (c. 938-943), since Olga should have been 45-50 years old at the time of her son’s birth, which seems unlikely. Looking at the fact that Svyatoslav Igorevich was Olga’s eldest son, researcher of Slavic culture and history of Ancient Rus' B.A. Rybakov, taking 942 as the prince’s date of birth, considered the year 927-928 to be the latest point of Olga’s birth. A. Karpov in his monograph “Princess Olga” claims that the princess was born around 920. Consequently, the date around 925 looks more correct than 890, since Olga herself in the chronicles for 946-955 appears young and energetic, and gives birth to her eldest son in 942. The name of the future enlightener of Rus' and her homeland is named in the “Tale of Bygone Years” in the description of the marriage of the Kyiv prince Igor:

And they brought him a wife from Pskov, named Olga.

The Joachim Chronicle specifies that she belonged to the family of the Izborsky princes - one of the ancient Russian princely dynasties.

Igor's wife was called by the Varangian name Helga, in Russian pronunciation Olga (Volga). Tradition calls the village of Vybuty, not far from Pskov, up the Velikaya River, Olga’s birthplace. The life of Saint Olga tells that here she first met her future husband. The young prince was hunting on the Pskov land and, wanting to cross the Velikaya River, he saw “someone floating in a boat” and called him to the shore. Sailing away from the shore in a boat, the prince discovered that he was being carried by a girl of amazing beauty. Igor was inflamed with lust for her and began to incline her to sin. Olga turned out to be not only beautiful, but chaste and smart. She shamed Igor by reminding him of the princely dignity of the ruler:

Why do you embarrass me, prince, with immodest words? I may be young and ignorant, and alone here, but know: it is better for me to throw myself into the river than to endure reproach.

Igor broke up with her, keeping her words and beautiful image in his memory. When the time came to choose a bride, the most beautiful girls of the principality were gathered in Kyiv. But none of them pleased him. And then he remembered Olga and sent Prince Oleg for her. So Olga became the wife of Prince Igor, the Grand Duchess of Russia.

In 942, a son, Svyatoslav, was born into the family of Prince Igor. In 945, Igor was killed by the Drevlyans after repeatedly exacting tribute from them. Fearing revenge for the murder of the Kyiv prince, the Drevlyans sent ambassadors to Princess Olga, inviting her to marry their ruler Mal (d. 946). Olga pretended to agree. By cunning, she lured two Drevlyan embassies to Kyiv, putting them to a painful death: the first was buried alive “in the princely courtyard,” the second was burned in a bathhouse. After this, five thousand Drevlyan men were killed by Olga’s soldiers at a funeral feast for Igor at the walls of the Drevlyan capital Iskorosten. The next year, Olga again approached Iskorosten with an army. The city was burned with the help of birds, to whose feet burning tow was tied. The surviving Drevlyans were captured and sold into slavery.

Along with this, the chronicles are full of evidence of her tireless “walks” across the Russian land in order to build the political and economic life of the country. She achieved the strengthening of the power of the Kyiv Grand Duke and centralized government administration through the system of “cemeteries.” The chronicle notes that she, her son and her retinue, walked through the Drevlyansky land, establishing tributes and dues, marking villages and camps and hunting grounds to be included in the Kyiv grand-ducal possessions. She went to Novgorod, setting up graveyards along the Msta and Luga rivers. The life tells about Olga’s works as follows:

And Princess Olga ruled the regions of the Russian land under her control not as a woman, but as a strong and reasonable husband, firmly holding power in her hands and courageously defending herself from enemies. And she was terrible for the latter, but loved by her own people, as a merciful and pious ruler, as a righteous judge who did not offend anyone, inflicting punishment with mercy and rewarding the good; She instilled fear in all the evil, rewarding everyone in proportion to the merit of his actions; in all matters of government she showed foresight and wisdom. At the same time, Olga, merciful at heart, was generous to the poor, the poor and the needy; fair requests soon reached her heart, and she quickly fulfilled them... With all this, Olga combined a temperate and chaste life, she did not want to remarry, but remained in pure widowhood, observing princely power for her son until the days of his age. When the latter matured, she handed over to him all the affairs of the government, and she herself, having withdrawn from rumors and care, lived outside the concerns of management, indulging in works of charity..

Rus' grew and strengthened. Cities were built surrounded by stone and oak walls. The princess herself lived behind the reliable walls of Vyshgorod, surrounded by a loyal squad. Two-thirds of the collected tribute, according to the chronicle, she gave to the Kyiv veche, the third part went “to Olga, to Vyshgorod” - to the military building. The establishment of the first state borders of Kievan Rus dates back to Olga's time. The heroic outposts, sung in epics, guarded the peaceful life of the people of Kiev from the nomads of the Great Steppe and from attacks from the West. Foreigners flocked to Gardarika, as they called Rus', with goods. The Scandinavians and Germans willingly joined the Russian army as mercenaries. Rus' became a great power. But Olga understood that it was not enough to worry only about state and economic life. It was necessary to start organizing the religious and spiritual life of the people. The Degree Book writes:

Her feat was that she recognized the true God. Not knowing the Christian law, she lived a pure and chaste life, and she wanted to be a Christian by free will, with the eyes of her heart she found the path of knowing God and followed it without hesitation.

Reverend Nestor the Chronicler(c. 1056-1114) narrates:

From an early age, Blessed Olga sought wisdom about what is best in this world, and found valuable pearls- Christ.

Grand Duchess Olga, entrusting Kyiv to her grown-up son, set off with a large fleet to Constantinople. Old Russian chroniclers will call this act of Olga “walking”; it combined a religious pilgrimage, a diplomatic mission, and a demonstration of the military power of Rus'. " Olga wanted to go to the Greeks herself in order to see with her own eyes the Christian service and be fully convinced of their teaching about the true God", - narrates the life of Saint Olga. According to the chronicle, in Constantinople Olga decides to become a Christian. The sacrament of Baptism was performed on her by Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople (917-956), and the successor was Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (905-959), who left a detailed description of the ceremonies during Olga’s stay in Constantinople in his essay “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court”. At one of the receptions, the Russian princess was presented with a golden dish decorated with precious stones. Olga donated it to the sacristy of the Hagia Sophia, where it was seen and described at the beginning of the 13th century by the Russian diplomat Dobrynya Yadrejkovich, later Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod (d. 1232): “ The dish is large and gold, the service of Olga the Russian, when she took tribute while going to Constantinople: in Olga’s dish there is a precious stone, on the same stones Christ is written" The Patriarch blessed the newly baptized Russian princess with a cross carved from a single piece of the Life-Giving Tree of the Lord. On the cross there was an inscription:

The Russian land was renewed with the Holy Cross, and Olga, the blessed princess, accepted it.

Olga returned to Kyiv with icons and liturgical books. She erected a temple in the name of St. Nicholas over the grave of Askold, the first Christian prince of Kyiv, and converted many Kiev residents to Christ. The princess set off to the north to preach the faith. In the Kyiv and Pskov lands, in remote villages, at crossroads, she erected crosses, destroying pagan idols. Princess Olga laid the foundation for special veneration of the Holy Trinity in Rus'. From century to century, a story was passed down about a vision she had near the Velikaya River, not far from her native village. She saw “three bright rays” descending from the sky from the east. Addressing her companions, who witnessed the vision, Olga said prophetically:

Let it be known to you that by the will of God in this place there will be a church in the name of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and there will be here a great and glorious city, abounding in everything.

At this place Olga erected a cross and founded a temple in the name of the Holy Trinity. It became the main cathedral of Pskov. On May 11, 960, the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God was consecrated in Kyiv. The main shrine of the temple was the cross that Olga received at Baptism in Constantinople. In the 13th century Prologue about Olga's cross it is said:

It now stands in Kyiv in St. Sophia in the altar on the right side.

After the conquest of Kyiv by the Lithuanians, Holga's cross was stolen from St. Sophia Cathedral and taken by Catholics to Lublin. His further fate is unknown. At that time, the pagans looked with hope at the growing Svyatoslav, who decisively rejected his mother’s entreaties to accept Christianity. " The Tale of Bygone Years" tells about it this way:

Olga lived with her son Svyatoslav, and persuaded his mother to be baptized, but he neglected this and covered his ears; however, if someone wanted to be baptized, he did not forbid him, nor mocked him... Olga often said: “My son, I have come to know God and I rejoice; so you, if you know it, you will also begin to rejoice.” He, not listening to this, said: “How can I want to change my faith alone? My warriors will laugh at this!” She told him: “If you are baptized, everyone will do the same.”.

He, not listening to his mother, lived according to pagan customs. In 959, a German chronicler wrote: “ The ambassadors of Elena, Queen of the Russians, who was baptized in Constantinople, came to the king and asked to consecrate a bishop and priests for this people" King Otto, the future founder of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, responded to Olga's request. A year later, Libutius, from the monastery of St. Alban in Mainz, was installed as Bishop of Russia, but he soon died. Adalbert of Trier was dedicated in his place, whom Otto finally sent to Russia. When Adalbert appeared in Kyiv in 962, he “ “I didn’t succeed in anything for which I was sent, and saw my efforts in vain.” On the way back " some of his companions were killed, and the bishop himself did not escape mortal danger“- this is how the chronicles tell about Adalbert’s mission. The pagan reaction manifested itself so strongly that not only the German missionaries suffered, but also some of the Kyiv Christians who were baptized along with Olga. By order of Svyatoslav, Olga's nephew Gleb was killed and some churches built by her were destroyed. Princess Olga had to come to terms with what had happened and go into matters of personal piety, leaving control to the pagan Svyatoslav. Of course, she was still taken into account, her experience and wisdom were invariably turned to on all important occasions. When Svyatoslav left Kyiv, the administration of the state was entrusted to Princess Olga.

Svyatoslav defeated the longtime enemy of the Russian state - the Khazar Khaganate. The next blow was dealt to Volga Bulgaria, then it was the turn of Danube Bulgaria - eighty cities were taken by Kyiv warriors along the Danube. Svyatoslav and his warriors personified the heroic spirit of pagan Rus'. Chronicles have preserved the words Svyatoslav, surrounded with his squad by a huge Greek army:

We will not disgrace the Russian land, but we will lie here with our bones! The dead have no shame!

While in Kyiv, Princess Olga taught her grandchildren, the children of Svyatoslav, the Christian faith, but did not dare to baptize them, fearing the wrath of her son. In addition, he hindered her attempts to establish Christianity in Rus'. In 968, Kyiv was besieged by the Pechenegs. Princess Olga and her grandchildren, among whom was Prince Vladimir, found themselves in mortal danger. When news of the siege reached Svyatoslav, he rushed to the rescue, and the Pechenegs were put to flight. Princess Olga, already seriously ill, asked her son not to leave until her death. She did not lose hope of turning her son’s heart to God and on her deathbed did not stop preaching: “ Why are you leaving me, my son, and where are you going? When looking for someone else's, to whom do you entrust yours? After all, Your children are still small, and I am already old, and sick, - I expect an imminent death - departure to my beloved Christ, in whom I believe; Now I don’t worry about anything except about you: I regret that although I taught a lot and convinced you to leave the wickedness of idols, to believe in the true God, known to me, but you neglect this, and I know what for your disobedience A bad end awaits you on earth, and after death - eternal torment prepared for the pagans. Now fulfill at least this last request of mine: do not go anywhere until I am dead and buried; then go wherever you want. After my death, do not do anything that pagan custom requires in such cases; but let my presbyter and the clergy bury my body according to Christian custom; do not dare to pour a grave mound over me and hold funeral feasts; but send the gold to Constantinople to the Holy Patriarch so that he would make a prayer and offering to God for my soul and distribute alms to the poor». « Hearing this, Svyatoslav wept bitterly and promised to fulfill everything she had bequeathed, refusing only to accept the holy faith. After three days, blessed Olga fell into extreme exhaustion; she received communion of the Divine Mysteries of the Most Pure Body and the Life-Giving Blood of Christ our Savior; all the time she remained in fervent prayer to God and to the Most Pure Mother of God, whom she always had as her helper according to God; she called upon all the saints; Blessed Olga prayed with special zeal for the enlightenment of the Russian land after her death; seeing the future, she repeatedly predicted that God would enlighten the people of the Russian land and many of them would be great saints; Blessed Olga prayed for the speedy fulfillment of this prophecy at her death. And another prayer was on her lips when her honest soul was released from her body and, as a righteous one, was accepted by the hands of God" The date of repose of Princess Olga is July 11, 969. Princess Olga was buried according to Christian custom. In 1007, her grandson Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavichokolo (960-1015) transferred the relics of saints, including Olga, to the Church of the Virgin Mary, which he founded in Kyiv.

Veneration of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga

Probably, during the reign of Yaropolk (972-978), Princess Olga began to be revered as a saint. This is evidenced by the transfer of her relics to the church and the description of miracles given by the monk Jacob in the 11th century. From that time on, the day of remembrance of Saint Olga (Elena) began to be celebrated on July 11 (O.S.). Under Grand Duke Vladimir, the relics of Saint Olga were transferred to the Tithe Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and placed in a sarcophagus. There was a window in the church wall above the tomb of St. Olga; and if anyone came to the relics with faith, he saw the relics through the window, and some saw the radiance emanating from them, and many sick people were healed. The prophecy of Saint Princess Olga about the death of her son Svyatoslav came true. He, as the chronicle reports, was killed by the Pecheneg prince Kurei (10th century), who cut off Svyatoslav’s head and made himself a cup from the skull, bound it with gold and drank from it during feasts. The prayerful works and deeds of Saint Olga confirmed the greatest deed of her grandson Saint Vladimir - the Baptism of Rus'. In 1547, Olga was canonized as Saint Equal to the Apostles.

Basic information about Olga’s life, recognized as reliable, is contained in the “Tale of Bygone Years”, the Life from the Book of Degrees, the hagiographic work of the monk Jacob “Memory and Praise to the Russian Prince Volodymer” and the work of Constantine Porphyrogenitus “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court”. Other sources provide additional information about Olga, but their reliability cannot be determined with certainty. According to the Joachim Chronicle, Olga’s original name was Beautiful. The Joachim Chronicle reports the execution by Svyatoslav of his only brother Gleb for his Christian beliefs during the Russian-Byzantine war of 968-971. Gleb could be the son of Prince Igor both from Olga and from another wife, since the same chronicle reports that Igor had other wives. Gleb's Orthodox faith testifies to the fact that he was Olga's youngest son. The medieval Czech historian Tomas Pesina, in his work in Latin “Mars Moravicus” (1677), spoke about a certain Russian prince Oleg, who became (940) the last king of Moravia and was expelled from there by the Hungarians in 949. According to Tomas Pesina, this Oleg of Moravia was Olga’s brother. The existence of Olga’s blood relative, calling him anepsium (meaning nephew or cousin), was mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitus in his list of her retinue during his visit to Constantinople in 957.

Troparion and Kontakion to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga

Troparion, tone 1

Having fixed your mind on the wing of God's understanding, you soared above visible creatures, seeking God and the Creator in every way. And having found Him, you again accepted the destruction through baptism. And having enjoyed the tree of the living cross of Christ, you remain incorruptible forever, ever glorious.

Kontakion, tone 4

Let us sing today, the Benefactor of all, God, who glorified the God-wise Olga in Rus'. And through her prayers, Christ, grant remission of sins to our souls.

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Library of Russian Faith
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Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. Icons

On the icons, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga is depicted full-length or waist-length. She is dressed in royal clothes, her head is decorated with a princely crown. In her right hand, Saint Princess Olga Vladimir holds a cross - a symbol of faith, as the moral basis of the state, or a scroll.

Temples in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga

In the north-west of Rus' there was a churchyard called Olgin Krest. It was here, as chronicle sources say, that Princess Olga came to collect taxes in 947. In memory of her amazing rescue while crossing the rapids and ice-free Narova, Princess Olga erected a wooden and then a stone cross. In the Olgin Cross tract there were local revered shrines - a temple in the name of St. Nicholas, built in the 15th century, a stone cross, installed, according to legend, in the 10th century by Princess Olga. Later, the cross was embedded in the wall of the Church of St. Nicholas. In 1887, the temple was supplemented with a chapel in the name of St. Princess Olga. St. Nicholas Church was blown up in 1944 by retreating German troops.

In Kyiv on Trekhsvyatitelskaya Street (Victims of the Revolution Street) until the 30s. XX century there was a church in the name of three saints - Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom. It was built in the early 80s. XII century by Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich at the princely court and consecrated in 1183. The church had a chapel in the name of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga.

In the Church of the Assumption from the ferry (from Paromenya) in Pskov, a chapel was consecrated in the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. The church was erected on the site of an earlier one, built in 1444. Since 1938, the church has not operated; in 1994, services were resumed there.

In the name of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, the Edinoverie Church in Ulyanovsk was consecrated. The church was built in 1196.

In the city of Ulyanovsk there is a church of the same faith of the Russian Orthodox Church.

People's memory of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga

In Pskov there is the Olginskaya embankment, the Olginsky bridge, the Olginsky chapel, as well as two monuments to the princess. Monuments to the saint were erected in Kyiv and Korosten, and Olga’s figure is also present on the “Millennium of Russia” monument in Veliky Novgorod. Olga Bay in the Sea of ​​Japan and an urban-type settlement in the Primorsky Territory are named in honor of Saint Princess Olga. Streets in Kyiv and Lviv are named after Saint Olga. Also in the name of Saint Olga, orders were established: Insignia of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga (established by Emperor Nicholas II in 1915); “Order of Princess Olga” (state award of Ukraine since 1997); Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga (ROC).

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. Paintings

Many painters turned to the image of Saint Princess Olga and her life in their works, among them V.K. Sazonov (1789–1870), B.A. Chorikov (1802–1866), V.I. Surikov (1848–1916), N.A. Bruni (1856–1935), N.K. Roerich (1874–1947), M.V. Nesterov (1862–1942) and others.

The image of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga in art

Many literary works are dedicated to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, such as “Princess Olga” (A.I. Antonov), “Olga, Queen of the Rus” (B. Vasiliev), “I Know God!” (S.T. Alekseev), “The Great Princess Elena-Olga” (M. Apostolov) and others. Such works as “The Legend of Princess Olga” (directed by Yuri Ilyenko), “The Saga of the Ancient Bulgars” are known in cinema. The Legend of Olga the Saint" (director Bulat Mansurov) and others.

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga, baptized Helena (c. 890 - July 11, 969), ruled Kievan Rus after the death of her husband, Prince Igor Rurikovich from 945 to 962. The first of the Russian rulers accepted Christianity even before the baptism of Rus', the first Russian saint. The name of Princess Olga is at the source of Russian history, and is associated with the greatest events of the founding of the first dynasty, with the first establishment of Christianity in Rus' and the bright features of Western civilization. The Grand Duchess went down in history as the great creator of state life and culture of Kievan Rus. After her death, ordinary people called her cunning, the church - holy, history - wise.

Grand Duchess Olga (c. 890 - July 11, 969) was the wife of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Igor.

Basic information about Olga’s life, recognized as reliable, is contained in the “Tale of Bygone Years”, the Life from the Book of Degrees, the hagiographic work of the monk Jacob “Memory and Praise to the Russian Prince Volodymer” and the work of Constantine Porphyrogenitus “On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court”. Other sources provide additional information about Olga, but their reliability cannot be determined with certainty.

Olga came from the glorious family of Gostomysl (the ruler of Veliky Novgorod even before Prince Rurik). She was born in the Pskov land, in the village of Vybuty, 12 km from Pskov up the Velikaya River, into a pagan family from the dynasty of the Izborsky princes. Disputes about Olga's exact date of birth are still ongoing. - some historians insist on the date of about 890, others - on the date of 920 (although this date is absurd due to the fact that Olga married Igor under the Prophetic Oleg, who died in 912). Both dates can be questioned, so they are accepted conditionally. The names of Olga's parents have not been preserved.

When Olga was already 13 years old, she became the wife of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Igor. According to legend, Prince Igor was engaged in hunting. One day, when he was hunting in the Pskov forests, tracking down an animal, he went out to the river bank. Deciding to cross the river, he asked Olga, who was passing by on a boat, to transport him, at first mistaking her for a young man. As they swam, Igor, carefully peering into the rower’s face, saw that it was not a young man, but a girl. The girl turned out to be very beautiful, smart and pure in intentions. Olga's beauty stung Igor's heart, and he began to seduce her with words, inclining her to unclean carnal mixing. However, the chaste girl, having understood the thoughts of Igor, fueled by lust, shamed him with a wise admonition. The prince was surprised at such an outstanding intelligence and chastity of the young girl, and did not harass her.

Igor was the only son of the Novgorod prince Rurik (+879). When his father died, the prince was still very young. Before his death, Rurik handed over the rule in Novgorod to his relative and governor Oleg and appointed him Igor’s guardian. Oleg was a successful warrior and wise ruler. People called him Prophetic. He conquered the city of Kyiv and united many Slavic tribes around himself. Oleg loved Igor as his own son and raised him to be a real warrior. And when the time came to look for a bride for him, a show of beautiful girls was organized in Kyiv in order to find among them a girl worthy of a princely palace, but none of them
the prince did not like it. For in his heart the choice of a bride had long been made: he ordered to call that beautiful boatwoman who carried him across the river. Prince Oleg with great honor he brought Olga to Kyiv, and Igor married her. Having married the young prince to Olga, the aging OlegHe began to diligently make sacrifices to the gods so that they would give Igor an heir. Over the course of nine long years, Oleg made many bloody sacrifices to idols, burned so many people and bulls alive, and waited for the Slavic gods to give Igor a son. Not wait. He died in 912 from the bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull of his former horse.

Pagan idols began to disappoint the princess: many years of sacrifices to idols did not give her the desired heir. Well, what will Igor do according to human custom and take another wife, a third? He'll start a harem. Who will she be then? And then the princess decided to pray to the Christian God. And Olga began to fervently ask Him at night for a son-heir.

And so in 942 ,in the twenty-fourth year of their marriage, Prince Igor had an heir - Svyatoslav! The prince overwhelmed Olga with gifts. She took the most expensive ones to the Church of Elijah - for the Christian God. Happy years have passed. Olga began to think about the Christian faith and about its benefits for the country. Only Igor did not share such thoughts: his gods never betrayed him in battle.

According to the chronicle, in 945, Prince Igor dies at the hands of the Drevlyans after repeatedly exacting tribute from them (he became the first ruler in Russian history to die from popular indignation). Igor Rurikovich was executed , in the tract, with the help of an honorary “unlock”. They bent over two young, flexible oak trees, tied them by the arms and legs, and let them go...

F.Bruni. Igor's execution

The heir to the throne, Svyatoslav, was only 3 years old at that time, so Olga became the de facto ruler of Kievan Rus in 945 . Igor's squad obeyed her, recognizing Olga as the representative of the legitimate heir to the throne.

After the murder of Igor, the Drevlyans sent matchmakers to his widow Olga to invite her to marry their prince Mal. The princess cruelly took revenge on the Drevlyans, showing cunning and strong will. Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans is described in detail in The Tale of Bygone Years.

Princess Olga's Revenge

After the reprisal against the Drevlyans, Olga began to rule Kievan Rus until Svyatoslav came of age, but even after that she remained the de facto ruler, since her son was absent most of the time on military campaigns.

Princess Olga's foreign policy was carried out not through military methods, but through diplomacy. She strengthened international ties with Germany and Byzantium. Relations with Greece revealed to Olga how superior the Christian faith is to the pagan one.

In 954, Princess Olga went to Constantinople (Constantinople) for the purpose of a religious pilgrimage and a diplomatic mission., where she was received with honor by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. For two whole years she became acquainted with the fundamentals of the Christian faith, attending services in the St. Sophia Cathedral. She was struck by the grandeur of Christian churches and the shrines collected in them.

The sacrament of baptism was performed over her by the Patriarch of Constantinople Theophylact, and the emperor himself became the recipient. The name of the Russian princess was given in honor of the holy Queen Helena, who found the Cross of the Lord. The Patriarch blessed the newly baptized princess with a cross carved from a single piece of the Life-giving Tree of the Lord with the inscription: “The Russian land was renewed with the Holy Cross, and Olga, the blessed princess, accepted it.”

Princess Olga became the first ruler of Rus' to be baptized , although both the squad and the Russian people under it were pagan. Olga’s son, the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich, also remained in paganism.

Upon returning to Kyiv, Olga tried to introduce Svyatoslav to Christianity, but “he did not even think of listening to this; but if someone was going to be baptized, he did not forbid it, but only mocked him.” Moreover, Svyatoslav was angry with his mother for her persuasion, fearing to lose the respect of the squad. Svyatoslav Igorevich remained a convinced pagan.

Upon returning from Byzantium Olga zealously brought the Christian gospel to the pagans, began to erect the first Christian churches: in the name of St. Nicholas over the grave of the first Kyiv Christian prince Askold and St. Sophia in Kiev over the grave of Prince Dir, the Church of the Annunciation in Vitebsk, the temple in the name of the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity in Pskov, the place for which, according to the chronicler, was indicated to her from above by the “Ray of the Tri-radiant Deity” - on the bank of the Velikaya River she saw “three bright rays” descending from the sky.

Holy Princess Olga died in 969, at the age of 80. and was buried in the ground according to Christian rites.

Sergey Efoshkin. Duchess Olga. Dormition

Her incorruptible relics rested in the Tithe Church in Kyiv. Her grandson Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, Baptist of Rus', transferred (in 1007) the relics of saints, including Olga, to the church he founded Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kyiv (Tithe Church). More likely, During the reign of Vladimir (970-988), Princess Olga began to be revered as a saint. This is evidenced by the transfer of her relics to the church and the description of miracles given by the monk Jacob in the 11th century.

In 1547, Olga was canonized as Saint Equal to the Apostles. Only 5 other holy women in Christian history have received such an honor (Mary Magdalene, First Martyr Thekla, Martyr Apphia, Queen Helen Equal to the Apostles and Nina, the enlightener of Georgia).

The memory of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga is celebrated by Orthodox, Catholic and other Western churches.

Princess Olga was the first of the Russian princes to officially convert to Christianity and was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church back in the pre-Mongol period. The baptism of Princess Olga did not lead to the establishment of Christianity in Rus', but she had a great influence on her grandson Vladimir, who continued her work. She did not wage wars of conquest, but directed all her energy into domestic politics, so for many years the people retained a good memory of her: the princess carried out an administrative and tax reform, which eased the situation of ordinary people and streamlined life in the state.

Holy Princess Olga is revered as the patroness of widows and Christian converts. Residents of Pskov consider Olga its founder. In Pskov there is Olginskaya embankment, Olginsky bridge, Olginsky chapel. The days of the liberation of the city from fascist invaders (July 23, 1944) and the memory of St. Olga are celebrated in Pskov as City Days.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

for the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills

Troparion of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga, tone 8
In you, God-wise Elena, the image of salvation was known in the Russian country, / as if, having received the bath of holy Baptism, you followed Christ, / creating and teaching, to leave idolatry’s charms, / to take care of souls, things more immortal, / also With Angels, Equal-to-the-Apostles, your spirit rejoices.

Kontakion of Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga, tone 4
Today the grace of all God has appeared, / having glorified Olga the God-Wise in Rus', / through her prayers, Lord, / grant to people the abandonment of sin.

Prayer to Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga
O holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olgo, the First Lady of Russia, warm intercessor and prayer book for us before God! We resort to you with faith and pray with love: be your helper and accomplice in everything for our good, and just as in temporal life you tried to enlighten our forefathers with the light of the holy faith and instruct me to do the will of the Lord, so now, in heavenly grace, you are favorable With your prayers to God, help us in enlightening our minds and hearts with the light of the Gospel of Christ, so that we may advance in faith, piety and love of Christ. In poverty and sorrow, give comfort to the needy, give a helping hand to those in need, stand up for those who are offended and mistreated, those who have lost their way from the right faith and blinded by heresies, bring them to their senses and ask us from the All-Bountiful God for all the good and useful life of temporal and eternal life, so that having lived here well, we will be worthy of the inheritance of eternal blessings in the endless Kingdom of Christ our God, to Him, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, belongs all glory, honor and worship always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. A min.

GRAND DUCHESS OLGA (890-969)

From the series “History of the Russian State.”