Saint Volodymyr of Kyiv

Today we commemorate Saint Volodymyr of Kyiv.

At first he promoted devotion to the ancient gods and goddesses of the Slavs, such as Perun, Khors, Dazh’bog, Stribog, Simar’gl, and Mokosh.

But in 986 he began to take interest in the religions of other lands, sending emissaries to see for themselves these various religions in action. He understood the importance of religion not only for the spiritual life of his people, but also for their political, social, and cultural advancement.

Having made up his mind to adopt Orthodox Christianity, the religion adopted by his grandmother Olga who was wiser than all other men, for himself and his people, Volodymyr took an armed force to the Byzantine city of Cherson on the Crimean Peninsula, and besieged and captured it. Then he sent a message to Emperor Basil II of Byzantium and his brother Constantine VIII, asking for the hand of their sister Princess Anna in marriage. They replied, “It is not proper for Christians to marry pagans. If you are baptized, you shall have her as your wife, inherit the kingdom of God, and be our companion in the Faith. Unless you do so, however, we cannot give you our sister in marriage.” Volodymyr responded, saying that he had already given some study to the Greeks’ Faith and was ready to be baptized. The Greeks replied, telling him to come to Constantinople to be baptized. But when he then requested that he be baptized in Cherson by priests brought by Anna herself, they acceded to his wishes.

Upon his return to Kyiv, his capital city, in the spring of the year 988, the people of the city and the surrounding countryside joyfully accepted to be baptized in the Dniepr River in the new Faith of their beloved prince. Thus began the history of the Orthodox Church in the lands of Kyivan Rus’.

Beginning with his baptism, Volodymyr experienced a genuine spiritual conversion. He put aside his many concubines and his otherwise wild and violent way of life, and lived in sober and respectful monogamy with Princess Anna. Together they did much to establish Christian principles in their realm, and to enlighten their subjects with the Orthodox Faith. For his personal and official acts of righteousness as a Christian prince, Volodymyr has been glorified as a saint of the Church, as “Equal-to-the-Apostles, Enlightener of the Russian Lands.”

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