For children, the holy princess olga. What did the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga deliver us from? Princess Olga

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga was the wife of the Grand Duke of Kiev Igor. The struggle between Christianity and paganism under Igor and Olga, who reigned after Oleg (+ 912), entered a new period. The Church of Christ in the last years of Igor's reign (+ 945) becomes a significant spiritual and state force in the Russian state. This is evidenced by the preserved 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 was to be approved by both religious communities in Kiev: "Baptized Rus", that is, Christians, were sworn in in the cathedral church of the Holy Prophet Elijah; "Unbaptized Rus", pagans, swore on weapons in the sanctuary of Perun the Thunderer. The fact that Christians are put in the first place in the document speaks of their predominant spiritual significance in the life of Kievan Rus.

Obviously, at the time when the agreement of 944 was drawn up in Constantinople, people who sympathized with Christianity, who were aware of the historical necessity of introducing Russia to the life-giving Christian culture, were in power in Kiev. Perhaps Prince Igor himself belonged to this trend, whose official position did not allow him to personally convert to the new faith without resolving the issue of the Baptism of the entire country and the establishment of an Orthodox church hierarchy in it. Therefore, the treaty was drawn up in careful 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.

But while the Byzantine ambassadors arrived in Kiev, the situation on the Dnieper changed significantly. The pagan opposition was clearly defined, at the head of which were the Varangian governors Sveneld and his son Mstislav (Mstisha), to whom Igor gave the Drevlyansky land to hold.

The influence of the Khazar Jews was also strong in Kiev, who could not like the idea of \u200b\u200bthe triumph of Orthodoxy in the Russian land.

Unable to overcome the inertia of custom, Igor remained a pagan and sealed the treaty according to a pagan model - an oath on swords. He rejected the grace of Baptism and was punished for unbelief. A year later, in 945, the rebellious pagans killed him in the Drevlyan land, tearing him between two trees. But the days of paganism and the lifestyle of the Slavic tribes based on it were already numbered. The burden of public service was laid on herself, with her three-year-old son Svyatoslav, Igor's widow, the Grand Duchess Olga of Kiev.

The Tale of Bygone Years first names the name of the future enlightener of the Russian Territory and her homeland in an article about Igor's marriage: "and they brought him a wife from Pskov, named Olga." She belonged, says the Joachim Chronicle, to the family of the Izborsk princes, one of the forgotten ancient Russian princely dynasties that existed in Russia in the X-XI centuries. not less than twenty, but which were all supplanted over time by the Rurikovichs or merged with them through marriages. Some of them were of local Slavic origin, others were alien, Varangian. It is known that the Scandinavian kings, invited to reign in Russian cities, invariably adopted the Russian language, often Russian names, and quickly became real Russians in terms of their way of life, their outlook, and even their physical appearance.

So Igor's wife was called by the Varangian name Helga, in the Russian "okayusche" pronunciation - Olga, Volga. The female name Olga corresponds to the male name Oleg (Helgi), which means "saint". Although the pagan understanding of holiness is completely different from the Christian, it also presupposes in a person a special spiritual attitude, chastity and sobriety, intelligence and perspicacity. Revealing spiritual meaning name, the people of Oleg called Prophetic, Olga - Wise.

Later legends called her the family estate the village of Vybuty, a few kilometers from Pskov up the Velikaya River. Until recently, they showed a bridge on the Olgin River - at the ancient crossing, where Olga met with Igor. Pskov toponymy has retained many names associated with the memory of the great Pskovite woman: the villages of Olzhenets and Olgino Pole, Olginy Vorota - one of the branches of the Velikaya River, Olgina Gora and Olgin Krest - near Lake Pskov, Olgin Kamen - near the village of Vybuty.

The beginning of the independent reign of Princess Olga is associated in the annals with the story of a formidable retribution to the Drevlyans, Igor's killers. Swearing on swords and believing "only in their own sword", the pagans were doomed by God's judgment from the sword and perish (). Those who worshiped fire, among other deified elements, found their revenge in fire. The Lord chose Olga to be the performer of the fiery punishment.

The struggle for the unity of Rus, for the subordination of the Kiev center of tribes and principalities torn apart by mutual enmity paved the way for the final victory of Christianity in the Russian land. For Olga, still a pagan, stood the Kiev Christian Church and its Heavenly patron the holy prophet of God Elijah, with fiery faith and prayer, brought down fire from heaven, and her victory over the Drevlyans, despite the severity of the victor, was a victory of the Christian, creative forces in the Russian state over the pagan, dark and destructive forces.

Olga Bogomudraya went down in history as a great creator of the state life and culture of Kievan Rus. The chronicles are full of evidence of her tireless "walks" across the Russian land with the aim of improving and streamlining the civil and economic life of her subjects. Having achieved the internal strengthening of the power of the Kiev Grand Duke, weakening the influence of the small local princes that hindered the gathering of Rus, Olga centralized all state administration with the help of a system of "graveyards". In 946, she walked along the Drevlyansky land with her son and retinue, "establishing tributes and dues," marking villages, encampments and hunting grounds that should be included in the Kiev grand ducal possessions. The next year I went to Novgorod, setting up churchyards along the Msta and Luga rivers, leaving visible traces of my activities everywhere. "Her catches (hunting grounds) were all over the land, signs established, her places and graveyards," the chronicler wrote, "and her sled stands in Pskov to this day, there are places she indicated for catching birds along the Dnieper and along the Desna; and the village her Olzhychi still exists today. "

The churchyards arranged by Olga, being financial, administrative and judicial centers, represented a solid support of the grand ducal power in the localities.

Being, first of all, by the very meaning of the word, centers of trade and exchange ("guest" is a merchant), collecting and organizing the population around him (instead of the former "polyudya", the collection of tribute and taxes was now carried out evenly and orderly across the churchyards), Olga's churchyards became the most important cell of the ethnic and cultural association of the Russian people.

Later, when Olga became a Christian, the first churches began to be erected around the churchyards; from the time of the Baptism of Rus under St. Vladimir, the churchyard and the temple (parish) have become inseparable concepts. (Only later, from the cemeteries that existed near the temples, the word usage "graveyard" in the sense of "cemetery" developed.)

Princess Olga put a lot of work into strengthening the country's defensive power. Cities were built up and fortified, Vyshgorods (or Detintsy, Kromy) were overgrown with stone and oak walls (visors), bristled with ramparts and palisades. The princess herself, knowing how hostile many were to the idea of \u200b\u200bstrengthening the princely power and the unification of Rus, lived constantly "on the mountain", over the Dnieper, behind the reliable visors of Kiev Vyshgorod (Upper City), surrounded by a faithful squad. Two-thirds of the collected tribute, according to the chronicle, she gave at the disposal of the Kiev Veche, the third part went "to Olza, to Vyshgorod" - for the needs of the military building. Historians attribute the establishment of the first state borders of Russia to the time of Olga - in the west, with Poland. The heroic outposts in the south guarded the peaceful fields of Kiev from the peoples of the Wild Field. Foreigners hurried to Gardarika ("the land of cities"), as they called Russia, with goods and handicrafts. Swedes, Danes, Germans willingly joined the Russian army as mercenaries. Foreign relations of Kiev are expanding. This contributes to the development of stone construction in the city, which was initiated by Princess Olga. The first stone buildings of Kiev - the city palace and Olga's country tower - were found 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.)

But it was not only the strengthening of statehood and the development of economic forms of popular life that attracted the attention of the wise princess. Even more urgent was the fundamental transformation of the religious life of Rus, the spiritual transformation of the Russian people. Russia was becoming a great power. Only two European states in those years could compete with it in significance 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 elevation to the spirit of Christian teaching and the religious foundations of life, showed clearly that the path to the future greatness of Russia lies not only through the military, but primarily and primarily through spiritual conquests and achievements. Having entrusted Kiev to her grown-up son Svyatoslav, the Grand Duchess Olga in the summer of 954, seeking grace and truth, sets off with a large fleet to Constantinople. It was a peaceful "walk" that combined the tasks of a religious pilgrimage and a diplomatic mission, but political considerations demanded that it simultaneously become a manifestation of the military might of Russia in the Black Sea, reminded the proud "Romans" of the victorious campaigns of Askold and Oleg, who nailed his shield in 907 "at the gates of Constantinople".

The result has been achieved. The appearance of the Russian fleet on the Bosphorus created the necessary prerequisites for the development of a friendly Russian-Byzantine dialogue. In turn, the southern capital amazed the harsh daughter of the North with a variety of colors, splendor of architecture, mixing of languages \u200b\u200band peoples of the world. But the richness of Christian churches and the shrines collected in them made a special impression. Constantinople, the "reigning city" of the Greek empire, even at the very foundation (more precisely, the renewal) in 330, dedicated (Comm. 21 May) to the Most Holy Theotokos (this event was celebrated in the Greek Church on May 11 and passed from there into the Russian meseeslov), strove to be worthy of his Heavenly Patroness. The Russian princess was present at the service in the best churches of Constantinople - St. Sophia, Our Lady of Blachernae and others.

The heart of the wise Olga opened to holy Orthodoxy, she decides to become a Christian. The sacrament of Baptism was performed on her by Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople (933-956), and the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912-959) himself was the recipient. At Baptism she was given the name Helena in honor (Comm. 21 May), the mother of St. Constantine, who acquired the Honorable Tree of the Cross of the Lord. In an edifying word spoken after the ceremony, the Patriarch said: "Blessed are you in the wives of the Russians, for you have left darkness and loved the Light. Russian people will bless you in all future generations, from grandchildren and great-grandchildren to your distant descendants." He instructed her in the truths of faith, church statutes and prayer rules, explained the commandments about fasting, chastity and charity. “She,” she says, “bowed her head and stood like a soldered lip, listening to the teachings, and bowing to the Patriarch, said:“ Through your prayers, Master, may I be saved from the enemy's nets ”.

This is exactly how, with a slightly bowed head, St. Olga is depicted on one of the frescoes of the Kiev Sophia Cathedral, as well as on her contemporary Byzantine miniature, in the obverse manuscript of the Chronicle of John Skylitsa from the Madrid National Library. The Greek inscription accompanying the miniature calls Olga "the archontess (that is, the mistress) of the Russ", "his wife, Elgo by name, who came to Tsar Constantine and was baptized." The princess is depicted in a special headdress, "as a newly baptized Christian and an honorary deaconess of the Russian Church." Next to her, in the same attire, a newly baptized woman is Malusha (+ 1001), later mother (Comm. 15 July).

It was not easy to force such a hater of the Russians as Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus to become the godfather of the "Archontess of Russia." In the Russian chronicle, stories have been preserved about how Olga spoke with the emperor decisively and on an equal footing, surprising the Greeks with spiritual maturity and state wisdom, showing that the Russian people are just able to perceive and multiply the highest achievements of the Greek religious genius, the best fruits of Byzantine spirituality and culture ... So Saint Olga managed to "take Constantinople" in a peaceful way, which no military leader had been able to do before her. According to the chronicle, the emperor himself was forced to admit that Olga had "outwitted" (outwitted) him, and the national memory, combining the legends about the Prophetic Oleg and the Wise Olga, captured this spiritual victory in the epic legend "About the capture of Tsaryagrad by Princess Olga".

Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in his work "On the Ceremonies of the Byzantine Court," which has come down to us in the only list, left a detailed description of the ceremonies that accompanied Saint Olga's stay in Constantinople. He describes a solemn reception in the famous Chamber of Magnavre, accompanied by the singing of bronze birds and the roar of copper lions, where Olga appeared with a huge retinue of 108 people (not counting people from Svyatoslav's retinue), and negotiations in a narrower circle in the Empress's chambers, and a ceremonial dinner at the Justinian Hall, where, by coincidence, four "ladies of state" met at the same table providentially: the grandmother and mother of St. Vladimir (St. Olga and her companion Malusha) with the grandmother and mother of his future wife Anna (Empress Elena and her daughter-in-law Theofano) ... A little more than half a century will pass, and the marble tombs of St. Olga, St. Vladimir and the blessed "Queen Anna" will stand side by side in the Tithes Church of the Holy Mother of God in Kiev.

During one of the receptions, says Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, a golden dish decorated with stones was brought to the Russian princess. Saint Olga donated it to the sacristy of St. Sophia Cathedral, where he was seen and described at the beginning of the thirteenth century by the Russian diplomat Dobrynya Yadreykovich, later Archbishop of Novgorod Anthony: , Christ is written on the same stone. "

However, the crafty emperor, having reported so many details, as if in revenge for the fact that Olga had "switched him," posed a difficult riddle to the historians of the Russian Church. The fact is that the Monk Nestor the Chronicler tells in the "Tale of Bygone Years" about Olga's Baptism under the year 6463 (955 or 954), and this corresponds to the evidence of the Byzantine Chronicle of Kedrin. Another Russian church writer of the 11th century, Jacob Mnikh, in the word "Memory and praise for Vladimir ... and how Vladimir's grandmother Olga was baptized", speaking of the death of the holy princess (+ 969), notes that she lived as a Christian for fifteen years, and ascribes that the very time of Baptism in 954, which also coincides with an accuracy of several months with the indication of Nestor. Meanwhile, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, describing Olga's stay in Constantinople and naming the exact dates of the receptions arranged by him in her honor, makes it clear that all this took place in 957. To reconcile the data of the chronicle, on the one hand, and the testimony of Constantine, on the other, Russian church historians had to assume one of two things: either Saint Olga came to Constantinople in 957 to continue negotiations with the emperor for the second time, or she was not baptized at all. Constantinople, and in Kiev in 954, she made her only pilgrimage to Byzantium, already being a Christian. The first guess is more likely.

As regards the diplomatic outcome of the negotiations directly, Saint Olga had reason to remain dissatisfied with them. Having achieved success in matters of Russian trade within the empire and the confirmation of the peace treaty with Byzantium, concluded by Igor in 944, she could not, however, persuade the emperor to agree to two important agreements for Russia: on the dynastic marriage of Svyatoslav with a Byzantine princess and on the conditions for the restoration of the existing one. under Askold of the Orthodox Metropolis in Kiev. Her dissatisfaction with the outcome of the mission clearly sounds in the answer she gave, already upon her return to her homeland, sent by the emperor to the ambassadors. To the emperor's inquiry regarding the promised military assistance, Saint Olga, through the ambassadors, sharply answered: "If you stand with me in Pochayna as I do in the Court, then I will give you warriors to help you."

At the same time, despite the failure of her efforts to establish a church hierarchy in Russia, Saint Olga, having become a Christian, zealously devoted herself to the exploits of Christian evangelism among the pagans and church building: "crush the demons and begin life in Christ Jesus." She erects churches: St. Nicholas and St. Sophia in Kiev, Annunciation Holy Mother of God - in Vitebsk, the Holy Life-Giving Trinity - in Pskov. Since that time Pskov has been called the House of the Holy Trinity in the annals. The temple, built by Olga over the Velikaya River, at the place indicated to her, according to the chronicler, from above by the "Ray of the Trisly Divine", stood for more than a century and a half. In 1137 (+ 1138, Comm. 11 February) he replaced the wooden church with a stone one, which was rebuilt in turn in 1363 and finally replaced by the Trinity Cathedral, which still exists today.

And another important monument of Russian "monumental Theology", as church architecture is often called, is associated with the name of St. Olga Equal to the Apostles - the Church of Sophia the Wisdom of God in Kiev, founded shortly after her return from Constantinople and consecrated on May 11, 960. This day was subsequently celebrated in the Russian Church as a special church holiday.

In the month of the parchment Apostle of 1307, on May 11, it is written: "On the same day the consecration of St. Sophia in Kiev in the summer of 6460". The date of commemoration, according to church historians, is indicated according to the so-called "Antiochian", and not according to the generally accepted Constantinople chronology and corresponds to the year 960 from the birth of Christ.

It was not for nothing that Saint Olga received in Baptism the name of Saint Helena, Equal to the Apostles, who acquired the Honorable Tree of the Cross of Christ in Jerusalem. The main shrine of the newly created St. Sophia Church was the Holy Cross, brought by the new Helena 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. On the cross was the inscription: "The Russian land was renewed with the Holy Cross, and Olga, the noble princess, received him."

Saint Olga did a lot to perpetuate the memory of the first Russian confessors named after Christ: over the grave of Askold she erected the Nikolsky Church, where, according to some reports, she was later buried, over the grave of Dir - the aforementioned Sophia Cathedral, which, after standing for half a century, burned down in 1017. Yaroslav the Wise built on this site later, in 1050, the Church of St. Irene, and transferred the relics of St. Sophia Holguin's temple to the stone church of the same name - the still standing 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: "someone like him now stands in Kiev in St. Sophia in the altar on the right side." The plundering of Kiev shrines, continued after the Mongols by the Lithuanians, who got the city in 1341, did not spare him either. During the reign of Jagail during the Union of Lublin, which united Poland and Lithuania into one state in 1384, Holguin's cross was stolen from the Sophia Cathedral and taken by Catholics to Lublin. His further fate is unknown.

But among the boyars and warriors in Kiev there were many people who, according to Solomon's words, “hated Wisdom,” like the holy princess Olga, who built Her temples. The zealots of pagan antiquity raised their heads more and more boldly, looking with hope at the growing Svyatoslav, who resolutely rejected his mother's persuasion to accept Christianity and was even angry with her for it. It was necessary to hurry with the planned business of the Baptism of Rus. The insidiousness of Byzantium, which did not want to give Russia Christianity, played into the hands of the pagans. In search of a solution, Saint Olga turns her gaze to the west. There is no contradiction here. Saint Olga (+ 969) still belonged to the undivided Church and hardly had the opportunity to delve into the theological subtleties of the Greek and Latin doctrines. The confrontation between the West and the East seemed to her primarily as a political rivalry, secondary in comparison with the urgent task - the creation of the Russian Church, the Christian enlightenment of Russia.

Under the year 959, a German chronicler called the "successor 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, eagerly responded to Olga's request, but he did it slowly, with purely German thoroughness. Only on Christmas Day of the following year, 960, Libucius, from the brethren of the monastery of St. Alban in Mainz, was appointed bishop of Russia. But he soon died (March 15, 961). In his place was dedicated Adalbert of Trier, whom Otto, “having generously supplied with everything necessary,” finally sent to Russia. It is difficult to say what would have happened if the king had not hesitated for so long, but when in 962 Adalbert appeared in Kiev, he "did not have time 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 had foreseen, in Kiev a final coup took place in favor of the supporters of paganism, and, having become neither Orthodox nor Catholic, Russia generally changed its mind to accept Christianity. The pagan reaction manifested itself so strongly that not only German missionaries suffered, but also some of the Kiev Christians who were baptized with Olga in Constantinople. By order of Svyatoslav, Saint Olga's nephew Gleb was killed and some of the churches she had built were destroyed. Of course, this was not without Byzantine secret diplomacy: opposed to Olga and alarmed by the possibility of strengthening Russia at the expense of an alliance with Otto, the Greeks preferred to support the pagans.

The failure of Adalbert's mission had a providential meaning for the future of the Russian Orthodox Church, which escaped the papal captivity. Saint Olga had to come to terms with what had happened and completely withdraw into the affairs of personal piety, leaving the reins of government to the pagan Svyatoslav. She was still reckoned with, her statesmanship was invariably referred to in all difficult cases. When Svyatoslav was absent from Kiev, and he spent most of his time in campaigns and wars, the government was again entrusted to the princess-mother. But the question of the Baptism of Rus was temporarily removed from the agenda, and this, of course, grieved Saint Olga, who considered the gospel of Christ to be the main work of her life.

She meekly endured sorrow and grief, tried to help her son in state and military concerns, to guide him in heroic plans. The victories of the Russian army were a consolation for her, especially the defeat of the long-standing enemy of the Russian state - the Khazar Kaganate. Twice, in 965 and in 969, the troops of Svyatoslav marched through the lands of the "unreasonable Khazars", forever crushing the power of the Jewish rulers of the Azov and Lower Volga regions. The next powerful blow was dealt to the Muslim Volga Bulgaria, then it was the turn of the Danube Bulgaria. Eighty cities along the Danube were taken by the Kiev squads. One thing worried Olga: as if, carried away by the war in the Balkans, Svyatoslav did not forget about Kiev.

In the spring of 969 Kiev was besieged by the Pechenegs: "and it was impossible to bring the horse out to drink, the Pechenegs were standing on the 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 galloped to Kiev, "greeted his mother and children and lamented what happened to them from the Pechenegs." But, having defeated the nomads, the militant prince again began to tell his mother: "I don’t like to sit in Kiev, I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube - there is the middle of my land." Svyatoslav dreamed of creating a huge Russian state from the Danube to the Volga, which would unite Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, the Black Sea region and the Azov region and stretch its borders to Constantinople itself. The wise Olga understood that with all the courage and courage of the Russian squads, they could not cope with the ancient empire of the Romans, Svyatoslav was in for a failure. But the son did not listen to his mother's warnings. Then Saint Olga said: "You see, I am sick. Where do you want to leave me? When you bury me, go wherever you want."

Her days were numbered, her labors and sorrows undermined her strength. On July 11, 969, Saint Olga died, "and her son and her grandchildren and all the people wept for her with great lamentation." In recent years, amid the triumph of paganism, she, once a proud mistress who was 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 the pagan feasts to be performed over her and bequeathed to openly bury her according to the Orthodox rite. Presbyter Gregory, who was with her in 957 in Constantinople, exactly fulfilled her will.

Saint Olga lived, died, and was buried as a Christian. "And thus having lived and glorified God in the Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, rest in the blazia of faith, ending your life in peace in Christ Jesus, our Lord." As her prophetic testament to subsequent generations, she confessed her faith about her people with deep Christian humility: "The will of God be done! If God delights in having mercy on the family of my Land of Ruski, may he put it on their hearts to turn to God, as God is giving me this gift" ...

God glorified the holy toiler of Orthodoxy, the "chief of faith" in the Russian land with miracles and incorruptible relics. Jacob Mnikh (+ 1072), a hundred years after her death, wrote in his "Memory and Praise to Vladimir": "God glorify the body of His servant Olena, and her body is honest in the grave, and remains indestructible to this day.

The blessed princess Olga glorified God with all her good deeds, and God glorified her. "Under the holy prince Vladimir, according to some sources in 1007, the relics of St. Olga were transferred to the Tithe Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos and placed in a special sarcophagus, in which it was customary to lay relics of saints in the Orthodox East. "And you hear a miracle about her: the tomb of stones is small in the Church of the Holy Mother of God, that church was created by the blessed prince Vladimir, and there is the tomb of blessed Olga. And at the top of the coffin a little window was created - so you can see the body of Blessed Olga lying intact. "But not everyone saw the miracle of the incorruptible relics of the Equal-to-the-Apostles princess:" He comes with faith, the window opens, and sees an honest body lying intact and marvels at this miracle - only in years the coffin is lying to the unbroken body. Worth the praise of every body is that honest: in the coffin whole, as if sleeping, resting. And to others who do not come with faith, the little window of the grave will not be opened, and does not see the body of that honest one, but only the grave. "

So after her death, Saint Olga preached eternal life and resurrection, filling the believers with joy and admonishing the unbelievers. She was, in the words of the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, "the forerunner of the Christian land, like the day 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 the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga with the significant words: "They want to bless thee, the son of Rustia, and your grandson to the last race."

Iconographic original
	Moscow. 1950-70. Equal to the Apostles Vladimir, Olga and Martyr Lyudmila. Nun Juliana (Sokolova). Icon. Sergiev Posad. 1950s-70s. Private collection.
New consolidated icon-painting original prepared by the Icon-painting school at

Many historical figures are significant for believers and for their actions during their lifetime they were canonized. These include Princess Olga, who is a significant figure in the formation of Russia. The church honors her memory on July 24 in a new style.

Saint Olga in Orthodoxy

Many churches have an icon of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, who is considered the mother of the clergy in Russia. Together with her husband, she banished paganism and baptized the people. For many, there is unknown information about why Olga is saint and why she was canonized. The priests give an understandable explanation that the equal to the apostles means equal to the apostles. The church gives such a title to those people who affirmed faith in the Lord and helped people come to faith.

Saint Olga - biography

The girl married Prince Igor of Kiev at a young age. After his death, the rule of the Kiev state passed into the hands of Olga, since their common son Svyatoslav was only three years old. Until the end of her days, the princess was engaged in the internal affairs of Russia. There are several facts of her life:

1. Disputes regarding the origin of the princess have not subsided for many years, and there are several versions. Normanists believe that Varangian blood flowed in her veins, and there is also an assumption that she was a Slav.
2. It is believed that Saint Olga was guilty of the death of her husband because she increased the amount of tribute and people refused to pay. For a long time she took revenge on the Drevlyans that they took her husband's life.
3. She was the first ruler of Russia to become a Christian, and during the baptismal ceremony she was given the name Elena.
4. The Holy Princess Olga tried to persuade her son to the faith, but he refused, believing that his squad would not accept him.
5. The exact date of her death is known - July 24 and she was buried according to Christian customs, and her grandson, Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir, transferred her incorruptible relics to a church in Kiev.
6. The general church glorification took place in 1547.
7. The saint is considered the patroness of women who have lost their husbands and new Christians.
8. Olga is revered both in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

How does the icon of St. Olga help?

The image of the princess for Orthodox believers is of great importance, since she contributed to the whole people. Saint Olga, whose icon is in many churches, helps people in different situations:

1. They turn to her for the help of a mother in order to protect their children from wrong decisions and various problems.
2. Saint Olga will help to survive difficult periods in life, when hands give up, and faith begins to fade.
3. The image can serve as a powerful talisman for the home and the whole family, which will "repel" evil forces, various negativity and troubles.
4. Prayers before the face of the saint help the believer to gain worldly wisdom and learn to make the right decisions in life.
5. The saint helps to strengthen faith in the heart of a person.
6. There is evidence that Olga helped solve problems in her personal life and, as well as find the right way out in confusing situations.

Prayer to Saint Olga

There are several features that must be taken into account when addressing an Equal to the Apostles. In order for the Holy Grand Duchess Olga to respond, it is recommended to contact her before the image that can be bought in the church shop. People pray to her that she will convey the request to the Lord and help in providing help. It is important to recite the prayer text with a pure heart and unshakable faith.

Prayer to Saint Olga for help

In difficult situations, a person often turns to the Higher Powers for help, and Saint Olga also helps. She provides assistance in different situations, which is proved by the reviews of believers. It is important that the request is meaningful and has only good thoughts. The prayer to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga can be said every morning or before some important events, when the need for invisible support is felt.

Prayer to Saint Olga for marriage

Since the princess is considered the patroness and intercessor of the entire Russian people, all believers can turn to her with their problems. Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga helps women find their soul mate, successfully marry and maintain feelings for a long time. It is important to read the prayer with full responsibility, and not for fun, and not have any bad intent.

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga, baptized Elena (c. 890 - 11 July 969), ruled Kievan Rus after the death of her husband, Prince Igor Rurikovich from 945 to 962. The first Russian ruler adopted 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 adoption of Christianity in Russia and the bright features of Western civilization. The Grand Duchess went down in history as a great creator of the state life and culture of Kievan Rus. After her death, the common people called her cunning, the church - saint, history - wise.

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

The main 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 Volodimer" and the essay of Konstantin Porphyrogenitus "On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court." Other sources provide additional information about Olga, but their reliability cannot be accurately determined.

Olga came from the glorious family of Gostomysl (the ruler of Veliky Novgorod before Prince Rurik). She was born in the Pskov land, in the village of Vybuty, 12 km from Pskov up the Velikaya River, in a pagan family from the Izborsk dynasty. Disputes about the exact date of birth of Olga are still ongoing. - some historians insist on a date of about 890, others on a 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 survived.

When Olga was already 13 years old, she became the wife of the Grand Duke of Kiev Igor. According to legend, Prince Igor was engaged in hunting. Once, when he was hunting in the Pskov forests, then hunting down the beast, he went to the river bank. Deciding to cross the river, he asked Olga, who was passing by on a boat, to carry him, mistaking her at first for a young man. As they sailed, Igor, looking closely into the rower's face, saw that it was not a young man, but a girl. The girl turned out to be very beautiful, intelligent and pure in her thoughts. Olga's beauty stung Igor's heart, and he began to seduce her with words, inclining to impure carnal confusion. However, the chaste girl, sensing the thoughts of Igor, kindled by lust, shamed him with a wise admonition. The prince was surprised at such an outstanding intelligence and chastity of a 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 voivode Oleg and appointed him Igor's guardian. Oleg was a successful warrior and a wise ruler. The people called him Prophetic... He conquered the city of Kiev and united many Slavic tribes around him. Oleg loved Igor like his own son and raised him to be a real warrior. And when it was time to look for a bride for him, they arranged a bridegroom of beautiful girls in Kiev in order to find a girl worthy of a princely palace among them, but not one of them
did not like the prince. For in his heart the choice of the bride had long been made: he ordered to call that beautiful boatwoman who transported him across the river. Prince Oleg with great honor he brought Olga to Kiev, and Igor entered into marriage with her. Marrying a young prince on Olga, aging Olegbegan zealously to sacrifice to the gods, so that Igor would be given an heir. Over the long nine years, Oleg brought many bloody sacrifices to idols, burned so many people and bulls alive, waited for the Slavic gods to give Igor a son. Not wait. He died in 912 from a snake bite 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, how will Igor act according to human custom and take another wife, a third? The harem will lead. Who will she be then? And then the princess decided to pray to the Christian God. And Olga began at night fervently to ask Him for a son-heir.

And so in 942 ,in the twenty-fourth year of marriage, Prince Igor's heir was born - Svyatoslav! Prince Olga filled up with gifts. She took the most dear ones to the church of Elijah - for the Christian God. Happy little girls rushed. Olga began to think about the Christian faith and about the benefits of it for the country. Only Igor did not share such thoughts: his gods in battles never cheated on him.

According to the chronicle, in 945, Prince Igor dies at the hands of the Drevlyans after repeatedly collecting tribute from them (he became the first ruler in the history of Russia who died from popular indignation). Igor Rurikovich was executed , in the tract, with the help of an honorary "disconnect". Bending down two young, flexible oak trees, tied them by the arms and legs, and let go ...

F. Bruni. Igor's execution

The heir to the throne Svyatoslav was then only 3 years old, therefore olga became the actual 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 call her to marry their prince Mal. The princess took cruel revenge on the Drevlyans, showing cunning and strong will. Olga's revenge against the Drevlyans is described in detail and in detail in The Tale of Bygone Years.

Revenge of Princess Olga

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 from military campaigns most of the time.

The foreign policy of Princess Olga was carried out not by military methods, but with the help of diplomacy. She strengthened international ties with Germany and Byzantium. Relations with Greece revealed to Olga how much the Christian faith is higher than the pagan one.

In 954, Princess Olga went to Constantinople (Constantinople) for a religious pilgrimage and diplomatic mission., where it was received with honor by the Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. For two whole years she got acquainted with the basics 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 over her was performed by Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople, and the emperor himself became the recipient. The name of the Russian princess was named in honor of the holy Empress Helena, who acquired 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 noble princess, accepted it”.

Princess Olga became the first ruler of Russia to be baptized , although both the squad and the Russian people with it were pagan. Olga's son, the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich, was also pagan.

Upon her return to Kiev, Olga tried to introduce Svyatoslav to Christianity, but “he did not even think to listen to this; but if anyone was going to be baptized, he did not forbid, 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 carried 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 Kiev prince-Christian 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's testimony, was indicated to her from above by the "Ray of the Trisly Divine" - on the bank of the Great 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 the Christian rite.

Sergey Efoshkin. Princess Olga. Dormition

Her incorruptible relics rested in the Tithe Church in Kiev. Her grandson, Prince Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, the Baptist of Russia, transferred (in 1007) the relics of the saints, including Olga, to the church he founded Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kiev (Church of the Tithes). Likely, in 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 a saint equal to the apostles. Only 5 more holy women in christian history (Mary Magdalene, First Martyr Thekla, Martyr Apphia, Queen Helena Equal to the Apostles and Enlightener of Georgia Nina).

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

Princess Olga was the first of the Russian princes to officially adopt Christianity and was canonized by the Russian orthodox Church even in the pre-Mongol period. The baptism of Princess Olga did not lead to the establishment of Christianity in Russia, 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 to domestic policy, therefore, for a long time, the people kept 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 newly converted Christians. Pskov residents consider Olga to be its founder. In Pskov there is the Olginskaya embankment, the Olginsky bridge, the Olginskaya chapel. The days of the liberation of the city from the fascist invaders (July 23, 1944) and the memory of St. Olga are celebrated in Pskov as the Days of the City.

Prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

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

In troparion Olga Equal to the Apostles, voice 8
In you, God-wise Elena, the image of salvation is known in the Russian country, / as if, having taken the bath of holy Baptism, you followed Christ, / create and teach, leave the idol's charm hedgehog, / take care of the soul, things that are immortal, / the same and with Angels rejoices, equal to the apostles, your spirit.

In kontakion of equal to the apostles Olga, voice 4
Today is the grace of all God, / glorified in Russia Olga God-wise, / prayers to her, Lord, / give people / sin forgiveness.

Prayer to the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga
O Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga, the first pleasing of Russia, warm intercessor and prayer book for us before God! We come running to you with faith and pray with love: wake us in everything for the good of a helper and a helper, and, as in our temporary life, you tried to enlighten our forefathers with the light of holy faith and instruct me to do the will of the Lord, so it is now, in heavenly Lordships abide, 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 flourish in faith, piety and the love of Christ. In poverty and sorrow of present comfort, give the needy a helping hand, offended and assaulted to intercede, delusion from the right faith and heresy blinded by reason and ask us from the All-Blessed God all that is good and useful life temporal and eternal, so we have lived so pleasingly here, let us be worthy of the inheritance of eternal blessings in the infinite Kingdom of Christ our God, to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit all glory, honor and worship always, now and ever, and forever and ever. A min.

GREAT DUCHESS OLGA (890-969)

From the cycle "History of the Russian State".

The icon of which has become one of the most revered in Russia since the 16th century. She and her grandson, Saint Prince Vladimir, who, with the light of Christ's faith, expelled the darkness of paganism from the Dnieper banks, complementing each other, have become in our history the embodiment of maternal and paternal spiritual principles.

The bride of the Kiev prince

The oldest of the chronicles, called "The Tale of Bygone Years", is the first of the literary monuments that have come down to us mentioning the name of Princess Olga, this "spiritual mother of Russia", whose image is presented to us today by the icon kept in most churches. Saint Olga is represented in this document as the young bride of the Kiev Prince Igor

The legend tells that she belonged to the oldest family of the Izborsk princes and was born in 894 in the village of Vybuty, located not far from Pskov. Her first meeting with her future groom also took place there, leaving in his heart the memory of a pure and chaste beauty who lives on the banks of the Velikaya River.

The bitterness of early widowhood

It was her that he preferred to all other brides who had come to Kiev when the time came to name his chosen one. And he made her his wife and the Grand Duchess of Kievan Rus. But Olga was not given long family happiness. As soon as their firstborn, Svyatoslav, was born, the young princess was in trouble - Igor took a fierce death in the deep forest thickets at the hands of the insidious Drevlyans who inhabited those lands.

The inconsolable widow grieved, was killed, but grief cannot be helped, and the son must be raised, and now she remains the sole ruler of the Russian land. All the worries of the state now fell on her female shoulders. But at first, in order to calm the soul, and to honor the husband's memory as it should, Olga decided to punish the murderers of her husband.

It was only later, having become a Christian, she began, according to the teachings of the true faith, to pray for enemies and forgive offenses. Then she poured out on the destroyers of her husband all the mad rage of the dark pagan. Having twice lured their embassies to Kiev, she ordered some to be buried alive, and others to burn with fire. And in order to drink the soul of the enemy's blood to the brim, she moved her squads to the cities of the Drevlyans, where the number of killed enemies was in the thousands.

Ruler of Russia

No, this is not the image that the temple icon shows us today. Saint Olga would be born later from the font of Constantinople, and then a strong and ruthless ruler appeared before the tribes and peoples inhabiting Ancient Rus, who showed in herself the power worthy of an outstanding statesman. And with difficulty, but the subjects submitted to her.

The wise princess achieved the strengthening of her centralized power, dividing the lands subject to her into "graveyards" - separate areas in which she put a voivode, and each of them introduced a rent, which she sent armed detachments to collect. The very name "graveyard" is believed to have come from these very "guests" who never left empty-handed. It was unprofitable for the people, but the treasury was in abundance, which means that the state would benefit.

And guided by the firm hand of a wise ruler, Russia was strengthened in every possible way. The economy developed, and at the same time new cities appeared. Every year the young prince Svyatoslav grew up, who, upon reaching the required age, had to take over the rule of the state.

Caring for the spiritual enlightenment of the people

Having before her the example of one of the most powerful states at that time - Byzantium, Princess Olga understood that for the prosperity of the state it was not enough just to worry about its economic well-being and military strength. She realized that only a community of spiritual life can bring together its inhabitants and become a reliable basis for the formation of a nation.

The Lord helped her make the right choice, and, leaving the state in the care of her already grown-up son, Olga headed a large fleet to Constantinople to see firsthand the earthly fruits brought by faith, and at the same time to solve pressing diplomatic issues and demonstrate military power.

Spiritual birth in the holy font

In the Byzantine capital, the princess's imagination was struck by the abundance of temples and the splendor of the services performed in them. She listened in fascination to church singing and for the first time comprehended new concepts for her - confession, liturgy, cross and icon. Saint Olga was baptized by Theophylact, and during the performance of the ceremony the emperor Constantine Bogryanorodny himself was her successor.

Upon the completion of the sacrament, the princess was awarded the name Helena, in honor of the holy mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, who acquired the Life-giving Cross of the Lord and became famous for spreading the true faith in the Roman state. Having become like her, the newly baptized ruler of Russia, having returned to her homeland, became a preacher of Christianity in the lands subject to her.

Pious works at home

Princess Olga arrived home with a large baggage of icons and liturgical books. With her, several Orthodox priests came to Russia, who were to convert to Christ the Kievites, who had worshiped idols until that time. By Olga's command in Kiev, at the grave of the first Christian, Prince Askold, the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was erected, in which the icon brought from Constantinople was placed.

The Holy Princess Olga also worked hard for glorification in Russia There is a legend that not far from her native village on the banks of the Velikaya River, she was able to see three shining rays descending from the sky, and at the same time predicted that a temple in honor of the Most Holy Trinity would be erected in that place and over time the big commercial city will rustle. She herself installed on the shore and founded the temple, which marked the beginning of the construction of Pskov.

In Kiev itself, the God-wise ruler built which was consecrated in 960. Its main shrine was the cross, with which the Patriarch of Constantinople blessed her in holy baptism. It was made from the Life-giving Tree of the Lord, through it many miracles of healing were manifested.

Mental sorrow of the princess

However, the hour has not yet struck for Russia to emerge from the darkness of paganism and illuminate with the light of the Orthodox faith. The chronicler reports that there were quite a few boyars and warriors in Kiev who hated the Wisdom of God, and among them was Prince Svyatoslav, the son of Olga, who had matured and strengthened by that time.

No matter how his mother taught him in the true faith, no matter how she persuaded him to be baptized, he invariably continued to persist. However, those of the close ones who turned to Christ did not interfere with this and did not allow others to mock them. Over time, all the fullness of power passed to the son, and his pious mother completely devoted herself to serving God and deeds of charity. But she was engaged in state affairs only in those days when Svyatoslav was on campaigns with his retinue.

The last years of the righteous

She spent the last years of her life in Kiev, raising her grandchildren, among whom the future baptist of Russia, Prince Vladimir, was growing up. A pious grandmother instructed them in faith, told them about the One God and how He created heaven and earth, but did not dare to baptize them, fearing the wrath of her pagan son.

She even had to receive a priest in secret. Her only joy was the prayer book and the icon. Until her last days Saint Olga did not cease to ask the Lord for the enlightenment of the Russian land. And the Almighty heeded her prayers, entrusting this great work to her equal to the apostles grandson. The very same righteous woman called to Himself in 969.

Canonization and general church veneration

The canonization of the "chief of the faith in the Russian land" took place at a council in 1547. There was also confirmed her universal veneration even in the pre-Mongol period. From this moment, its history and its iconography begins. It is also important to note that for all of the six women numbered among the Equal-to-the-Apostles, St. Olga was also awarded this honor.

The icon, the meaning of which becomes clear from its very composition, represents a saint of God holding a cross in one hand, symbolizing faith, and in the other an image of a temple - a symbol of her missionary work and the spread of Christianity in pagan lands. The same symbols can be seen on the icons of other carriers of the faith, for example, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Tamara.

Icons revered and loved

The Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga is revered as the spiritual mother of the Russian people, since it was from her that its formation on the path of the Christian faith began. The temples erected in her honor are innumerable. For many centuries, people have been going there to worship the honest image of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess.

Their flow does not dry up even today. For example, the icon of St. Olga in Moscow in the home church at the Pilgrimage Center of the Moscow Patriarchate, the highest church in the capital, enjoys great reverence. It is located on the fifteenth floor of the University Hotel and opens its doors every day for hundreds of believers who come from all over the country.

The icon of St. Olga in St. Petersburg, which is kept in the church built in her honor, located in Strelna, is also known to many. This architectural monument, erected in Mikhailovsky Park on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, always attracts many pilgrims and ordinary tourists. And they all remember for a long time the image of the princess holding in her hand a cross, given to her by the Patriarch of Constantinople. This is the icon of St. Olga.

What do they pray for before this image?

It is generally accepted that a prayer before the icon of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga helps believers gain wisdom in everyday affairs and fills their hearts with the Grace so necessary for everyone in our life full of anxieties and temptations. It is also customary to offer her prayers for the strengthening of Russia, for protection from offenders and softening their hearts.

There are also known cases when it was the icon of St. Olga who brought healing to those suffering from mental illness. What else does her holy image help? It would be correct to say that literally in everything, if only the prayer is pronounced from the very depths of the heart and is filled with living faith. Under this condition, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga lends her ear to our prayers and intercedes before God for their fulfillment.

It is also known that it is the icon of St. Olga that is especially protected for women bearing the name Olga. The photos presented in the article will help create an idea of \u200b\u200bthe iconography of this image and how masters of different eras saw it.

St. Dmitry Rostovsky

Life of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duchess Olga

At the end of the dark night of idolatry that encircled the Russian land, blessed Olga appeared like the dawn before the bright day of holy faith in Christ - the "Sun of Truth."

Blessed Olga came from a famous family: she was the great-granddaughter of Gostomysl, that glorious husband who ruled in Veliky Novgorod until, on his own advice, Rurik and his brothers were called from the Varangians to reign in Russia. Olga's homeland was the whole of Vybutskaya, which is now near the city of Pskov, which did not yet exist. Blessed Olga's parents were able to instill in their daughter those rules of an honest and reasonable life, which they themselves adhered to, despite their idolatry. Olga was distinguished by her chastity and a bright mind, as will be seen immediately.

Rurik, dying, left behind his son Igor as a young boy, so both Igor and the reign itself, until the days of his son's coming of age, Rurik entrusted the care of his relative Oleg. The latter, having collected a significant army and having with him a minor heir to the reign of Igor, went to Kiev. Having killed Askold and Dir here, Oleg subdued Kiev, and he became the autocrat of the Varangian-Russian possessions, retaining the reign for his nephew Igor; on matters of government, Oleg had to be in Kiev, then in Veliky Novgorod. Prince Igor, having reached adolescence, was engaged in hunting. It happened to him, while hunting in the outskirts of Novgorod, to enter the boundaries of Pskov; While tracking the beast near the mentioned Vybutskaya vesti, he saw on the other side of the river a place convenient for fishing, but he could not get there for lack of a boat. After a little time Igor noticed a young man sailing in a boat; calling him to the bank, he ordered himself to be transported to the other side of the river. As they sailed, Igor, peering more attentively into the rower's face, saw that the latter was not a youth, but a girl; then it was blessed Olga, who stood out for her beauty. Olga's beauty stung Igor's heart; lust flared up in him; and he began to seduce her with words, inciting her to impure fleshly confusion. Blessed Olga, sensing the thoughts of Igor, kindled by lust, cut off his conversation, turning to him, like a wise old man, with the following admonition:

Why are you embarrassed, prince, plotting an impossible task? Your words reveal your shameless desire to abuse me, which may not happen! - I don't want to hear about it. I ask you - obey me and suppress in yourself these absurd and shameful thoughts that you need to be ashamed of: remember and think that you are a prince, and a prince for people should be, as a ruler and judge, a bright example of good deeds; Are you now close to what lawlessness ?! If you yourself, conquered by unclean lust, commit atrocities, then how will you keep others from them and judge your subjects justly? Abandon such shameless lust that honest people abhor; and you, although you are a prince, the latter may hate for it and betray shameful ridicule. And then know that, although I am alone here and powerless compared to you, you still will not overcome me. But even if you could defeat me, the depth of this river will immediately be a protection for me: it is better for me to die in purity, burying myself in these waters, than to be mocked at my virginity.

Such admonitions to chastity, addressed by Blessed Olga to Igor, enlightened the latter, awakening in him a feeling of shame. He was silent, finding no words for an answer; so they crossed the river and then parted. And the prince was surprised at such an outstanding intelligence and chastity of a 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 the defense of chastity; carefully guarding the purity of her virginity, she brought the young prince to his senses, taming his lust with words of wisdom worthy of the mind of a husband.

A short time after what has now been described, Prince Igor, together with his relative Oleg, went to Kiev with the intention of confirming the throne of the reign there, which was done: they sat down to reign in Kiev, and in Veliky Novgorod, as well as in other cities of the Russian land subject to them , planted their governors. When the time came for the wedding of Prince Igor, they chose many beautiful girls in order to find among them a worthy princely palace; but none of them fell in love with the prince. Remembering the chaste and beautiful Olga, Igor immediately sent his relative Oleg for her. Oleg brought Olga to Kiev with great honor, and Igor married her. Then Oleg, a relative and guardian of Igor, also died, and Igor began to rule completely. At the beginning of his independent reign, Igor waged stubborn wars with the neighboring peoples. He even went to Constantinople: having captured many countries of the Greek land, he returned from this campaign with booty and glory. He spent the rest of his life in silence, having peace with the borderlands. At this time, Igor's son Svyatoslav was born from Blessed Olga, later the father of Saint and Equal to the Apostles Prince Vladimir. And Igor ruled on the throne of the great reign in Kiev with prosperity: wealth flowed to him in abundance from many places, for even distant countries sent him many gifts and tributes.

Death befell Igor in this way. Taking advantage of the peace that came after many wars, Igor began to bypass cities and regions to collect the usual tribute. Coming to the Drevlyans, he remembered that at the beginning of his reign they had retreated from him, and only after the war did they submit to him again: for this Igor doubled the tribute to the Drevlyans, which greatly burdened them. They, being saddened, began to consult with their prince Mal:

When the wolf gets into the habit of the sheep, then one by one he can take away the whole flock, if they do not kill him; so do we - if we do not kill Igor, he will destroy us all.

After this meeting, they began to look for a convenient time. And when Igor sent the tribute received from the Drevlyans to Kiev, and he himself remained with them with a small number of squads, the Drevlyans considered this case suitable for themselves: they unexpectedly attacked Igor near the city with their Korosten; killed the squad of the prince and himself, and buried them there. - Such was the death of Prince Igor - the good ruler of the regions of the Russian land, who instilled fear in the surrounding peoples. After the death of his guardian Oleg, Igor lived thirty-two years.

The news of the murder of Igor, reaching Kiev, caused strong tears from Olga, who mourned her husband with her son Svyatoslav; all the inhabitants of Kiev also cried. The Drevlyans, after the murder of Igor, made up the following daring plan: they wanted Olga to marry their prince Mala, and secretly kill Igor's heir, the young Svyatoslav. Thus, the Drevlyans thought to increase the power of their prince. They immediately sent twenty ostentatious men on boats to Olga to ask Olga to become the wife of their prince; and in case of refusal on her part, they were ordered to threaten her - even if by force, to become the wife of their master. The men who were sent reached Kiev by water and landed on the shore. Hearing about the arrival of the embassy, \u200b\u200bPrincess Olga called the Drevlyan husbands to her place and asked them:

Have you honest guests arrived with good intention?

With kind, - the latter answered.

Tell me, - Olga suggested, - why exactly did you come to us?

The husbands answered:

The Drevlyansky land sent us to you with the following words: “Do not be angry that we killed your husband, for he, like a wolf, plundered and robbed. And our princes are good rulers who spread the Drevlyan land. Our current prince is without comparison better than Igor: young and handsome, he is also meek, loving and merciful to everyone. Go for our prince - you will be our mistress and owner of the Drevlyansky land.

Princess Olga, hiding her sorrow and heart disease for her husband, said to the embassy with feigned joy:

Your words are pleasing to me, - after all, I can no longer resurrect a husband, and remaining a widow is not easy for me: being a woman, I am not able to properly govern such a principality; but my son is still a little boy. So I will willingly follow your young prince; besides, I'm not old myself. Now go, rest in your boats; in the morning I will invite you to an honorary feast, which I will arrange for you, so that everyone will know the reason for your arrival and my consent to your proposal; and then I will go to your prince. But you, when those sent in the morning come to call you to the feast, know how you must observe, at the same time, the honor of the prince who sent you and your own: you will arrive at the feast in the same way as you arrived at Kiev, that is, in boats, which the people of Kiev will carry on their heads - let everyone see your nobility and my love for your prince, for the sake of which I regard you as such a great honor before my people.

With joy the Drevlyans retired to their boats. Princess Olga, taking revenge for the murder of her husband, wondered what kind of death to destroy them. She ordered that the same night to dig a deep hole in the courtyard of the prince's country palace, in which there was also a beautiful chamber prepared for a feast. In the morning the princess sent honest men to invite matchmakers to a feast; they, like madmen, sitting in the boats, said:

We will not go on foot, nor will we ride on horses or in chariots, but as they were sent from our prince in boats, so carry us on your heads to your princess.

The Kievites, laughing at their madness, answered:

Our prince is killed, and our princess is following your prince; and now we, like slaves, do what we have been ordered to do.

And having put them in small boats one by one, the Kievites carried them, inflated with empty pride.When the Drevlyans were brought to the aforementioned prince's court, Olga, looking from the chamber, ordered them to be thrown into a deep hole prepared for this. Then, going up to the pit herself and bending over it, she asked:

Do you like this honor?

They shouted:

Oh woe to us! We killed Igor and not only did not gain anything good through this, but received an even more evil death.

And Olga ordered to fill them up 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 larger and more distinguished than the first; let it lead me with honor to your prince; Send your husbands - ambassadors as soon as possible, until the people of Kiev restrain me.

The Drevlyans, with great joy and haste, sent fifty noble men to Olga, the chief elders of the Drevlyansky land after the prince. When they came to Kiev, Olga ordered to prepare a bath for them and sent to them with a request: let the ambassadors wash in the bath after a tiring journey, rest, and then come to her; they gladly went to the bathhouse. When the Drevlyans began to wash themselves, the servants who were deliberately assigned to it, closed the doors firmly outside, surrounded the bathhouse with straw and brushwood and set it on fire; so the elders of the Drevlyans burned with the bathhouse together with the servants. And again Olga sent a messenger to the Drevlyans, announcing her imminent arrival for the wedding with their prince and ordering them to prepare honey and all kinds of food and drink in the place where her husband was killed, so that, having come to them, he would create his second marriage according to the first I have a funeral feast for my husband, that is, a memorial feast according to pagan custom; and then let there be a marriage. The Drevlyans, for joy, prepared everything in abundance. Princess Olga, on 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 out to meet her in festive clothes, some on foot, others on horseback, and received her with glee and joy. Olga first of all went to the grave of her husband, and here she wept deeply for him; having then, according to pagan custom, a memorial feast, she commanded to build a large mound over the grave. And the Drevlyans said to her:

Lady Princess! We killed your husband because he was unmerciful to us, like a ravenous wolf. You are merciful, like our prince - now we will live safely!

Olga answered:

I no longer grieve for my first husband, having done over his grave what I should have done; the time has come to cheerfully prepare for a second marriage with your prince.

The Drevlyans asked Olga about their first and second ambassadors.

They follow us along a different path with all my wealth, - answered the princess.

After that, Olga, having taken off her sad clothes, put on the wedding light, characteristic of a princess, showing, at the same time, a joyful look. She commanded the Drevlyans to eat, drink and be merry, and ordered her people to serve the Drevlyans, eat with them, but not get drunk. When the Drevlyans got drunk, the princess ordered her people to use weapons prepared in advance - to beat the Drevlyans with swords, knives and spears: up to five thousand or more were killed. So Olga, mixing the fun of the Drevlyans with blood and avenging this for the murder of her husband, returned to Kiev.

The next year, Olga, having gathered an army, went to the Drevlyans with her son Svyatoslav Igorevich, and attracted him to avenge the death of his father. The Drevlyans went out to meet them with considerable military strength; coming together, both sides fought fiercely until the Kievites defeated the Drevlyans; and drove the first last to the capital city of Korosten, putting them to death. The Drevlyans shut themselves up in the city, 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 retired in the city:

Why, madmen, want to starve yourself to death, not wanting to submit to me? After all, all the other cities of yours have expressed their obedience to me; their inhabitants pay tribute and live peacefully in cities and villages, cultivating their fields.

We would also like, - answered the closed ones, - to submit to you, but we are afraid lest you begin to avenge your prince again.

Olga sent a second ambassador to them with the words:

I have repeatedly taken revenge on the elders and on your other people; and now I wish not revenge, but demand tribute and obedience from you.

The Drevlyans agreed to pay her the tribute she wanted. Olga suggested to them:

I know that you are now impoverished from the war and cannot pay me tribute either with honey, or wax, or leather, or other things suitable for trade; but I myself do not want to burden you with a great tribute; give me some small tribute as a sign of your obedience, at least three doves and three sparrows from each house. This is absolutely enough for me to be convinced of your obedience.

To the Drevlyans this day seemed so insignificant that they even mocked Olga's female mind; they immediately hastened to collect three doves and a sparrow 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 leave your city and go home.

With these words she dismissed the aforementioned husbands; all the inhabitants of the city were greatly delighted to hear about the words of the princess. Olga distributed the birds to her warriors with the order that in the late evening a rag soaked in sulfur should be tied to each pigeon and each sparrow, which should be ignited and all the birds allowed to air together. The soldiers carried out this order: the birds flew to the city from which they were taken; every pigeon flew into its nest and every sparrow into its place, and immediately the city burst into flames in many places,

and Olga at this time gave her army the order to surround the city from all sides and start an attack. The population of the city, fleeing 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 were killed by the sword, others with their wives and children were burned in the fire, and others drowned in the river that flowed under the city; at the same time, the Drevlyansky prince also died. Of the survivors, many were taken captive, 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 Drevlyane land and returned to Kiev with glory and identity.

And Princess Olga ruled the regions of the Russian land subject to her not as a woman, but as a strong and reasonable husband, firmly holding power in her hands and bravely defending herself from enemies. And she was terrible for the latter, loved by her own people, as a merciful and pious ruler, as a righteous judge and not offending anyone, imposing punishment with mercy, and rewarding the good; she instilled fear in the wicked, rewarding each in proportion to the dignity of his actions; in all matters of administration, she showed foresight and wisdom. At the same time Olga, merciful by heart, was generous to the poor, the poor and the poor; fair requests soon reached her heart, and she quickly fulfilled them. All her deeds, despite her being in paganism, were pleasing to God, as worthy of Christian grace. Olga combined with all this a temperate and chaste life: she did not want to remarry, but was in pure widowhood, observing her son's princely power 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 rumor and care, lived outside the worries of government, indulging in matters of goodness.

The favorable time has come, in which the Lord wanted the Slavs, blinded by unbelief, to enlighten with the light of holy faith and bring them to the knowledge of the truth and guide them on the path of salvation. The Lord has deigned to show the beginnings of this enlightenment in the shame of hard-hearted men in a weak female vessel, that is, through the blessed Olga. For as before the preachers of His resurrection He made the myrrh-bearing women (Matt. 28 : 9-10), and His honest cross, on which he was crucified, showed the world from the depths of the earth, as his wife, Queen Helen, and then, in the Russian land, he deigned to plant the holy faith, as a wondrous wife, a new Helen - Princess Olga. The Lord chose her as an honest vessel for His holy name - may she carry it in the Russian land. He kindled in her heart the dawn of His invisible grace, opened her intelligent eyes to the knowledge of the true God, whom she did not know yet. She had already comprehended the deception and error of pagan wickedness, convinced, as in a self-evident truth, that idols revered by mad people are not gods,

but the soulless work of human hands; therefore, she not only did not honor them, but also abhorred them. As a merchant is looking for valuable pearls, so Olga with all her heart was looking for the right worship, and found it in the following way. By the sight of God, she heard from some people that there is one true God, the Creator of heaven, earth and all creation, in whom the Greeks believe; besides Him there is no other God. Striving for true knowledge of God and not being lazy by nature, Olga wanted to go to the Greeks herself,

to see with their own eyes the Christian service and be fully convinced of their teaching about the true God. Taking with her especially noble men, she set off with a large estate to Constantinople by water, here she was received with great honor by the Tsar and Patriarch, to whom Olga presented many gifts worthy of such persons. In Constantinople, Olga learned the Christian faith, every day with zeal listening to the words of God and looking closely at the splendor of the liturgical order and other aspects of Christian life. Her heart was kindled with love for God, in whom she believed without a doubt; therefore Olga expressed a desire to accept holy baptism... The Greek king, who was a widow at that time, wanted to make Olga his wife: he was attracted to her by the beauty of her face, her prudence, courage, glory, as well as the vastness of the Russian countries. The Emperor said to Olga:

Oh, Princess Olga! You deserve to be a Christian queen and live with us in this capital city of our kingdom.

And the emperor began to talk to Olga about marriage with him. She pretended not to reject the king's proposals, but first asked for baptism, saying:

I came here for holy baptism, not for marriage; when I am baptized, then it is possible to speak about marriage, for the wicked and unbaptized wife was not commanded to marry a Christian husband. The tsar began to hasten with baptism: the patriarch, having instructed Olga enough in the truths of the holy faith, thus announced her for baptism. And when the baptismal font was already prepared, Olga began to ask the tsar himself to be her recipient from the font: “I,” she said, “will not be baptized if the king himself is not my godfather: I will leave here without baptism, - you will give God an answer for my soul. " The tsar agreed to her desire, and Olga was baptized by the patriarch, but the tsar became her father, having received her from the holy font.

Olga was named Helen, as the first Christian queen, the mother of Constantine the Great, was named Helen. Upon baptism, the patriarch at the Liturgy communed Olga with the Divine Mysteries of the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ and blessed her with the words:

Blessed are you among the wives of Russia, for you, leaving the darkness, sought the true light; when you hated idolatrous polytheism, you loved the one true God; you escaped eternal death by engaging in immortal life. From now on, the sons of the Russian land will please you!

So the patriarch blessed her. Of the people who came with Olga, many, men and women, were also baptized, and there was joy in Constantinople on the occasion of the baptism of Princess Olga: the tsar threw a great feast that day, and everyone rejoiced, glorifying Christ God. Then the tsar again began to talk about marriage with Olga, who was named Helen in holy baptism. But blessed Elena answered him:

How can you, your goddaughter, take me as your wife? After all, not only according to Christian law, but also according to pagan law, it is considered vile and unacceptable for a father to have a daughter in marriage.

You outwitted me, Olga! - exclaimed the king

I told you before, - objected blessed Olga, - that I did not come here with the purpose of reigning with you, - I and my son have enough power in the Russian land too - but to be angry with the immortal Tsar, Christ God, Whom I loved with all my soul, wanting to be worthy of His eternal kingdom.

Then the tsar, abandoning his impracticable intention and carnal love, loved blessed Olga with spiritual love as his daughter, generously gifted her and let her go in peace. Leaving Constantinople, blessed Olga went to the patriarch and, asking for a parting blessing, said to him:

Pray, holy father, to God for me, returning to my country, where my son is in pagan delusion and all people are as hard as a stone in their ancient wickedness - may the Lord deliver me there, according to your holy prayers, from all evil.

The patriarch answered her:

My faithful and blessed daughter in the Holy Spirit. Christ, in Whom you have clothed yourself in holy baptism, may Himself keep you from all evil, as he kept Noah from the flood, Lot from Sodom, Moses with Israel from Pharaoh, David from Saul, Daniel from the mouth of the three lions from the furnace. So may the Lord deliver you from misfortune, blessed are you among your people, and your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will please you until the last years.

Blessed Olga accepted this blessing of the patriarch as a treasure, the most valuable of the most expensive gifts; at the same time, she also accepted instructions on purity and prayer, fasting and abstinence, and on all good deeds characteristic of a godly Christian life. Then Blessed Olga received from the patriarch an honest cross, holy icons, books and other things necessary for divine services; she also received elders and clergy from the patriarch. And blessed Olga withdrew from Constantinople to her home with great joy.

It is said that the honest cross she received from the patriarch's hand had the following inscription: "The Russian land was renewed for life in God by holy baptism received by Blessed Olga." After the death of Blessed Olga, the faithful kept this cross until the days of Grand Duke Yaroslav Vladimirovich; the latter, having created in Kiev the great and beautiful church of St. Sophia, placed in its altar, on the right side, the mentioned cross. Today this cross no longer exists: for during the multiple devastations of Kiev, its holy churches were devastated. But let us turn to the story of blessed Olga.

Returning to Kiev, the new Elena - Princess Olga, like the sun, began to drive away the darkness of idolatrous wickedness, enlightening the darkened in heart. She created the first church in the name of St. Nicholas at the Askold's grave, and she converted many from the Kievites to Christ the Savior. But she could not bring her son Svyatoslav into the true mind, - to the knowledge of God: completely devoted to military enterprises, he did not pay attention to the words of his mother. He was a brave husband, who loved war, so that he spent his life more among the regiments and men than at home. To his mother, who addressed him with admonitions, Svyatoslav said:

If I accept the Christian faith and be baptized, then the boyars, governors and the entire squad will retreat from me, and I will have no one to fight with the enemies and defend our fatherland.

So Prince Svyatoslav answered; however, he did not forbid those who wanted to be baptized; but there were not many nobles who received holy baptism, on the contrary, the nobles reviled such people, for for the unbelievers, Christianity is madness (cf. 1 Cor. 1 :18); from the common people, much was added to the holy church. Saint Olga visited Veliky Novgorod and other cities - wherever possible, leading people to the Christian faith: at the same time she shattered idols, placing honest crosses in their place, from which many signs and wonders were performed to assure the pagans. Arriving at her homeland, in the whole Vybutskaya, blessed Olga extended here the word of Christian sermon to those close to her. During her stay in this country, she reached the bank of the Velikaya River, flowing from south to north, and stopped opposite the place where the Pskov River, flowing from the east, flows into the Velikaya River (at the time described, a large dense forest grew in these places); and here Saint Olga from the other side of the river saw that from the east to the now remembered places, illuminating them, descend from the sky three bright rays: the wonderful light from these rays was seen not only by Saint Olga herself, but also by her companions; and the blessed one was greatly rejoiced and thanked God for the vision, which foreshadowed the enlightenment of the grace of God of that country. Addressing the persons accompanying her, blessed Olga said prophetically:

Let it be known to you that by God's will in this place, illuminated by trisly rays, a church will arise in the name of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Trinity and a great and glorious city, abundant in all, will be created.

After these words and a rather lengthy prayer, Blessed Olga raised the cross: to this day, the prayer temple stands in the place where Blessed Olga had erected it. Having bypassed many cities of the Russian land, the preacher of Christ returned to Kiev and here for God she showed good deeds: if in the days of paganism she did good deeds, then all the more now, having been enlightened by holy faith, blessed Olga was adorned with all sorts of virtues, striving to please the newly recognized God, her Creator and the Illuminator. Remembering the vision on the Pskov River, she sent a lot of gold and silver to build a church in the name of the Holy Trinity; At the same time, she commanded that people should inhabit that place: and for a short time the city of Pskov, so called from the Pskova River, expanded into a great city, and the name of the Most Holy Trinity was glorified in it.

At this time, Prince Svyatoslav, leaving his mother and his children Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir in Kiev, went to the Bulgarians: during the war with them, he captured up to eighty cities, and he especially liked their capital city of Periaslavets, where he began to live. Blessed Olga, while staying in Kiev, taught her grandchildren, the children of Svyatoslav, the Christian faith, as far as the latter was accessible to their children's understanding; but she did not dare to baptize them, fearing any trouble from her son, and relied on the will of the Lord. While Svyatoslav slowed down the Bulgarians in the land, the Pechenegs unexpectedly invaded Kiev, surrounded Kiev and began a siege; Saint Olga with her grandchildren shut up in the city, which the Pechenegs could not take. The Lord, who kept the faithful to His servant, also protected the city through her prayers. The news of the invasion of the Pechenegs in Kiev reached Svyatoslav; he hurried with his army from the Bulgarian land, unexpectedly attacked the Pechenegs and put them to flight; entering Kiev, he greeted his mother, who was already sick, and again wanted to leave her to go to the land of the Bulgarians. Blessed Olga, with tears, told him:

Why are you leaving me, my son, and where are you going? looking for a stranger, to whom do you entrust yours? After all, your children are still small, and I am already old, and even sick, - I expect an imminent death - a departure to beloved Christ, in whom I believe; I now do not worry about anything, but only about you: I regret that although I taught you a lot and urged you to leave the idolatrous wickedness, to believe in the true God, known by me, and you neglected it; 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. Fulfill now at least this 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 is required in such cases by pagan custom; but let my presbyter with the clergy bury my sinful body according to Christian custom; do not dare to pour a grave mound over me and do funerals; but send gold to Constantinople to the holy patriarch, so that he would make a prayer and an offering to God for my soul and give alms to the poor.

Hearing this, Svyatoslav wept bitterly and promised to fulfill everything she bequeathed, refusing only to accept the holy faith. After three days, blessed Olga fell into extreme exhaustion; she took part in the divine Mysteries of the Most Pure Body and the life-giving Blood of Christ our Savior; all the time she was in fervent prayer to God and the Most Pure Mother of God, who, according to God, always had her helper; 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 prophetically predicted during her life 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 also prayer was on her lips when her honest soul was released from the body and, like a righteous one, was received by the hands of God. So she moved from earthly to heavenly and was vouchsafed to enter the palace of the immortal Tsar - Christ God, and as the first saint from the Russian land was numbered among the saints. Blessed Olga reposed, Elena in holy baptism, on the 11th day of July. She had been married for forty-two years, and at the time of marriage she was a girl of perfect age and strength — she was about twenty years old. In the tenth year after the death of her husband, she was honored with holy baptism, after baptism she lived godly for fifteen years. Thus, all the years of her life were about ninety. And blessed Olga mourned her son Prince Svyatoslav, boyars, dignitaries and all the people; blessed Olga was buried with honor according to the Christian rite.

After the repose of Saint Olga, her prophecy about the evil death of her son and about the good enlightenment of the Russian land came true. Her son Svyatoslav (as the chronicler reports) was killed, after a few years, in a battle by the Pechenezh prince Kurei. While smoking, he cut off Svyatoslav's head and made himself a cup from the skull, bound it with gold and wrote the following:

"He who seeks a stranger destroys his own." During a feast with his nobles, the Pechenezh prince drank from this cup. So the Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich, brave and hitherto invincible in battles, according to the prediction of his mother, suffered an evil death because he did not listen to her. Blessed Olga's prophecy about the Russian land was fulfilled. Twenty years after her death, her grandson Vladimir received holy baptism and enlightened the Russian land with holy faith. Having created a stone church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos (called tithes, because Vladimir gave a tenth of his estates for its maintenance) and after consulting with Leonty, Metropolitan of Kiev, Saint Vladimir removed from the earth the honest relics of his grandmother are indestructible, incorruptible and full of fragrance; he with great honor transferred them to the aforementioned church of the Most Holy Theotokos and not under a bus, but openly laid them down for the sake of those who came to her with faith and received the fulfillment of their prayers: many healings of various ailments were given from honest relics.

The following should also not betray the default: there was a window in the church wall over the tomb of blessed Olga; and if someone with firm faith came to the honest relics, the window opened by itself, and the one standing outside clearly saw through the window the honest miraculous relics lying inside, and especially worthy ones saw some miraculous radiance emanating from them; and of those who have faith, whoever was possessed by any affliction was immediately healed. The window, who came with skepticism, did not open, and he could not see the honest relics, even if he entered the church itself: he saw only the coffin and could not receive healing. Believers received everything for the benefit of body and soul through the prayers of Saint Olga, who was named Helen in holy baptism, and by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Troparion, voice 1:

Having gripped your mind with the krilami of God mind, you have flown above the visible creature: having sought God and the Creator of all, and having obtained that, you received the birth of baptism. The enjoyable animal tree, is imperishable forever, Olga is glorious.

Kontakion, voice 4:

Let us sing this day to the benefactor of all God, who glorified Olga in Russia, God-wise: let her prayers give our souls forgiveness of sins.

Magnification:

We magnify thee, Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, as if the morning dawn in our land has shone and the light of faith has proclaimed the Orthodox people to her.

Based on: 1) the name of blessed Olga, which is a Varangian name from the male Oleg, 2) direct evidence of some lives and 3) the fact that Olga was the wife of Prince Igor, who, like a Varangian, was most natural to take a wife from his own tribe , it should be more reliable to believe that blessed Olga was a varangian. - The Varangians or the Normans inhabited the Scandinavian Peninsula, and only the Finns separated them from the Novgorod Slavs. The chronicle attributes the calling of the Varangians to 862, but it is more accurate to attribute it to 852.

This is what the later tradition says. The whole Vybutskaya, - at the present time Vybutino or Labutino was driving, - twelve miles from Pskov up the Velikaya River. From the initial Chronicle (near 903) it is clear that the birthplace of blessed Olga was Pskov, from where Oleg brought her to Igor and where she was probably the daughter of one of the governors or boyars. Two-thirds of this tribute went to Kiev, and a third to Vyshgorod, which belonged to Olga.

Her memory is celebrated by the church on May 21.

Such people should be the Varangians - Christians, of whom there were many among the squad of Prince Igor. “As a woman, she is very intelligent,” says the famous historian E.E. Golubinsky, - Olga had to pay attention to these Varangians of the new faith; for their part, the Vikings themselves, counting on the same mind of Olga, naturally should have dreamed of making her their proselyte. The preaching of the Varangians-Christians resulted in Olga's decision to become a Christian. We know that she was not just a woman with a great mind, but with a state mind. This circumstance was supposed to serve to the fact that for those who took upon themselves the concern to convince her of the truth of Christianity, half to ease their work. An indication that Christianity became the faith of almost all the peoples of Europe and, in any case, there is the faith of the peoples between the best of them, is an indication that a strong movement towards it began, following the example of other peoples, between its own relatives (Varangians). not to affect Olga's mind, making it necessary for her to conclude that people have the best and faith should be the best (History of the Russian Church, vol. 1, 1st floor., 2nd ed., p. 75).

It is commonly believed that Blessed Olga was baptized in Constantinople in 957 under the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. But this assumption is difficult to accept. The fact is that the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus left the work "On the rites or ceremonies of the Byzantine court." In this work, he describes in detail how Blessed Olga was received at court during her visit to Constantinople in 957, while the emperor does not even hint that Olga came to Constantinople for baptism and was actually baptized. On the contrary, he makes it clear that Olga arrived in Constantinople already baptized: at the first reception of Olga, her priest was already present in the palace. When was she baptized? “It seems likely to think that Olga, after Igor's death, remained unbaptized as long as she was the ruler of the state for the young Svyatoslav and continued to be an official person in the state, and that she was baptized after, having found the opportunity to resign from the official regency, she left. at least in a formal way, into private life, after which the people no longer had the right to ask her for her actions ”(EE Golubinsky. History of the Russian Church, vol. 1, 1st floor., ed. 20th, p. . 78). The latter could happen only when Svyatoslav reached civil majority, which at that time began, in any case, not earlier than 10 years. Svyatoslav was born in 942, and in 957 Olga was already baptized. Considering Svyatoslav's civil majority from the age of 10, we reckon that Blessed Olga was baptized in the interval between 952 (when Svyatoslav was ten years old) and 957. And there is certain evidence relating the baptism of blessed Olga to one of the years of the marked period of time. Monk Jacob, the founder and initiator of our private historiography, who wrote at the end of Yaroslav's reign and the beginning of Izyaslav's reign, is a trustworthy writer, says in the legend about the baptism of Olga and Vladimir that Olga lived in baptism for 15 years. Consequently, according to Jacob, who assumes the death of Olga, like the chronicler, in 969, Olga was baptized in 954 (969-15 \u003d 954), when Constantine Porphyrogenitus was emperor in Greece (912-957), and Theophylact was the patriarch ( 933-956). - During the journey of Saint Olga to Constantinople in 957, Saint Polyeuct was already the patriarch.

In 967

On the Danube.

Pechenegs are the Russian name for a people of Turkic origin. Once the Pechenegs roamed the steppes of Central Asia and it is not known exactly when they moved from here to Europe. In the 9th century, they already lived between the Volga and Yaik (Ural); Until the 60s of the 10th century, the Pechenegs did not disturb Russia. The attack of the Pechenegs on Kiev, mentioned in the life, is the first mention of the Chronicle (under 968) about the raids of the Pechenegs. From that time on, for more than half a century, the struggle of Russia with the Pechenegs was incessant. Russia tried to protect itself from them with fortifications and cities; such is the origin of the Zmiev Val in the present Kiev province. St. Vladimir built fortifications along the Stugna River, Yaroslav the Wise along the Ros River (to the south). The last attack of the Pechenegs on Russia (the siege of Kiev) dates back to 1034, when they were completely defeated.

In 969 g.

In 972

During the Mongol invasion, the relics were hidden under a bushel in the church; by the XVII century. hidden again in an unknown place for a not entirely clear reason.