SAINT VLADIMIR

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There is hardly a name more significant in Russian history than the name of Saint Vladimir, the Grand prince of Kyiv, the Baptist of Rus’. Already the ancient Russian scribes called him equal to the Apostles, that is, equal to the Apostles in the significance of his mission of converting peoples to the Christian faith. Everyone knows that the great country of Rus’, through his efforts, adopted Christianity as the official, state religion, which determined the entire course of its history for a millennium.

Vladimir was born around 962. He was the son of Svyatoslav Igorevich, the Grand prince of Kyiv, and Malusha, the housekeeper of Svyatoslav’s mother, Princess Olga. The chronicles say that, angry with her slave, Olga exiled her to the remote village of Budutina Vesy, where the future Saint was born. Soon after birth, Vladimir was taken away from his mother, and he was raised in Kyiv, at the court of his grandmother, Princess Olga. Nevertheless, for a long time the contemptuous nickname “robichich”, that is, “a son of a slave”, haunted him.

In the summer of 969, shortly before his final departure to the Danube, Prince Svyatoslav divided the Russian land between his sons. The eldest, Yaropolk, got Kyiv, Oleg – the Drevlyansky land. It so happened that at the same time the Novgorodians turned to Svyatoslav with a request; they needed a prince. Moreover, they, on the advice of Dobrynya, Vladimir’s maternal uncle, asked Malusha’s son to reign. Svyatoslav agreed. Therefore, Vladimir, while still a child, became the prince of Novgorod.

Soon Svyatoslav died (this happened in the spring of 972), and his sons began to reign in their lands completely independently. Around 977, a war began between Yaropolk and Oleg, as a result of which Oleg died. Frightened by this news, Vladimir fled from Novgorod “overseas” to the Varangians in the Scandinavian lands. After some time, at the head of a mercenary Varangian army, he reappeared in Novgorod (captured by that time by the governors of Yaropolk), and so the war began between Vladimir and his brother. Success in the war accompanied Vladimir. In the summer of 978, he besieged Kyiv. Yaropolk fled to the city of Rodnya (at the mouth of the Ros River, a tributary of the Dnieper), which was also besieged by Vladimir’s troops. A traitor, a certain Blud, was found surrounded by Yaropolk; Vladimir entered into negotiations with him, and Blud persuaded Yaropolk to stop resisting and surrender to the mercy of his brother. “Your dream has come true. I’m bringing Yaropolk to you. Get ready to kill him”, Blud conveyed these words to Vladimir. Thus, Vladimir decided to commit fratricide. When Yaropolk entered Vladimir’s chambers, two Varangians standing in the doorway lifted him up with swords, and Blud quickly closed the doors, preventing his servants from rushing in to help Yaropolk. The reign of Vladimir in Kiev, which began with this villainous murder, lasted for thirty-seven long years.

Chroniclers do not spare black colors when depicting Vladimir before his adoption of Christianity. He was cruel, vindictive and generally endowed with a variety of vices, among which, first is exorbitant voluptuousness. Vladimir had five wives at that time. He forcibly made one of them, Rogneda, the Polotsk princess, his wife, starting a war with her father, the Polotsk prince Rogvolod, after Rogneda proudly rejected his proposal to marry. Having captured Polotsk, Vladimir dishonored Rogneda in front of her father and mother, and then killed both parents. Vladimir’s other wife was the widow of Yaropolk, whom he killed, a certain Greek woman who had previously been a nun and was brought to Kyiv by Prince Svyatoslav, struck by her beauty. In addition to his legal wives, the prince had hundreds of concubines: “300 in Vyshgorod, 300 in Belgorod, and 200 in in the village of Berestovoy”. However, even the concubines could not satisfy him. “He was insatiable in fornication, bringing to himself married wives and corrupt girls”, this is how the chronicler described Vladimir with condemnation.

In addition, Vladimir was at first a staunch pagan and an ardent opponent of Christianity. Soon after entering Kyiv, he built a real pagan pantheon on a hill near his palace – he placed statues of pagan gods. Statues of Perun, who by the will of Vladimir became the main deity of ancient Rus’, were also installed in other ancient Russian cities.

In 983, after one of Vladimir’s campaigns, it was decided to organize human sacrifices on the “Perun Hill”. The lot fell on the court of a certain Christian Varangian, and the Kyiv pagans demanded that his son be sacrificed. The Varangian did not submit to them and did not give his son to be slaughtered to demons. In retaliation, the Kyivians swept away his entire yard and cut down the entryway where he stood with his son, thereby killing them both. These Christian Varangians (late church tradition calls their names: Theodore and his son John) became the first martyrs for the faith in the Russian land.

Moreover, Vladimir during these years showed every concern for strengthening the state. He made several successful campaigns to the west and east (against the Poles, Yatvingians, Volga Bulgarians, Khazars), subjugated a number of East Slavic tribes (Radimichi, Vyatichi) to the authorities of Kyiv, and annexed the so-called Cherven cities (Volyn) to Rus’. Thus, stronger bonds than before held the various regions of the Russian state together. The pagan reform of Vladimir (the establishment of a pagan pantheon) indicates that the prince sought to introduce something new into previous beliefs.

The introduction of a single state cult of Perun for the entire country – all this was supposed to personify the unity of the Old Russian state. However, this pagan reform, which changed only the external appearance of the old gods, could not satisfy Vladimir. Personal search for faith coincided with the demands of the times. Rus’ was finally losing the features of the previous military federation of individual tribes, turning into a single state that played an increasingly important role in European and world politics, and this required changes in the sphere of ideology.

The Chronicles and Hagiographies of Saint Vladimir contain a detailed and vivid account of the baptism of the Kyiv prince. It was not long before Vladimir came to his faith. The chronicle says that at first the Prince received ambassadors from the Volga Bulgarians (Muslims), Latins and Khazar Jews, who invited him to accept their law. Then a Greek philosopher came to Kyiv, convincing Vladimir of the advantages of the Orthodox faith. Vladimir chose “kind and sensible men” and sent them to different countries so that they could actually compare how different peoples worshiped God. Returning to Kyiv, the “kind and sensible men” spoke about the beauty of the Byzantine worship, “We didn’t know whether we were in heaven or on earth, for there is no such beauty on earth, and we don’t know how to tell about it. We only know that God is with the people there, and their service is better than in all countries”. After consulting with the boyars and “city elders” (representatives in the city government), Vladimir agreed that the Byzantine faith was better than all others were.

By the way, by the time of Vladimir’s reign, Rus’ had already known Christianity well and for a long time. The closest neighbors and relatives of the Eastern Slavs – Poles, Czechs, and Bulgarians – were Christians. The main thing was that the Russians, like other Slavic peoples, even a hundred years before Vladimir, had the opportunity to get acquainted with the Word of God in their native language. Slavic worship and sacred books, translated into the Slavic language by Saints Cyril and Methodius, made it possible for Christianity to take root in Rus’ and become, over time, truly native to the people.

Unfortunately, not enough is known about the baptism of Prince Vladimir. Moreover, even the information we have is contradictory. Chronicles talk about the baptism of Vladimir in 988 and connect this with the capture of Korsun (Chersonese), a Byzantine city in Crimea, by Russian troops. Vladimir besieged the city for a long time, but could not take it, until one of the city’s defenders, a certain Anastas (later an associate of Prince Vladimir and the rector of the Kyiv Tithe Church) came to his aid and gave advice to dig up the pipes through which the besieged water came into the city. Having received this news, the prince made a vow: if the city were taken, he would be baptized. Chersonese indeed fell, but Vladimir was in no hurry to fulfill his solemn promise.

Moreover, without hesitation, he sent his ambassadors to Constantinople to the Byzantine emperors Basil and Constantine with a demand to marry their sister, Princess Anna Porphyrogenita. The emperors agreed, but with an indispensable condition – the prince’s prior acceptance of Christianity. “Tell the kings that I will be baptized, for I have tested your law, and I love your faith and the worship that the men we had sent told me about”. Therefore, Princess Anna, accompanied by her entourage and priests, arrived in Chersonese, where she was solemnly greeted.

However, why… it is unknown…, the meeting was overshadowed by the prince’s sudden illness. However, actually, it is known: well, Vladimir did not see what he was doing; he didn’t see his vices, so he went blind… That is, “by Divine Providence, Vladimir got sick with his eyes, so he couldn’t see anything, and he was very sad, and didn’t know what to do”. Anna wisely advised him, “If you want to get rid of this disease, then be baptized as soon as possible; otherwise you won’t get well”. Thus, the prince ordered the Korsun bishop and the priests who arrived with the princess to baptize him. “And when the bishop laid his hand on him, Vladimir immediately saw the light”, and knew the full depth of his strong, sincere, from the bottom of his heart, repentance”! This is how the chronicle ran.

Modern researchers cast doubt on this story. Using data from other Russian sources (in particular, the so-called “Memory and Praise of Prince Vladimir”, compiled by Jacob Mnich and being the oldest known Hagiography of Prince Vladimir), as well as testimonies of foreigners, the researchers include events related to the adoption of Christianity by the Russian Prince in the outline of that time foreign policy and restore the course of events as follows…

By the end of the 80s of the 10th century, the Byzantine Empire found itself on the verge of a national catastrophe. The brutal defeat in the war with the Bulgarians (986) and especially the rebellion raised by the famous Byzantine commander Varda Phocas, who declared himself emperor (987), forced the co- emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII to seek military assistance from Prince Vladimir (according to the terms of the Russian – Byzantine treaty concluded by Vladimir’s father Svyatoslav). Vladimir promised to provide help, but in return demanded from the emperors the hand of their porphyry sister. Thus, the proud rulers of the Roman Empire were forced to agree to this unheard-of and humiliating demand for them, of course, subject to the baptism of Vladimir. In 987 or at the very beginning of 988, presumably, Vladimir was baptized in Kyiv. He also received a new name – Vasily, given to him, probably in honor of Byzantine Emperor Basil II.

The Russian corps of six thousand arrived in Constantinople and took an active part in suppressing the rebellion; the Russians played a decisive role in the defeat of the troops of Varda Phokas (who died in April 989). However, the emperors were in no hurry to fulfill their promise regarding Vladimir’s marriage to Anna. Feeling angry, Vladimir moved his army to Korsun and, only having captured the city, forced the Byzantines to submit. It was in Korsun that Vladimir’s marriage to the Byzantine princess took place. Many boyars and warriors of the Kyiv prince were probably baptized there.

Leaving the city, Vladimir took out many shrines – church vessels, icons, relics of Saint Clement of Rome and his disciple Thebes. They also took antique sculptures and a quadriga of copper horses, which was later placed in Kyiv near The Church of the Tithes. The clergy of this Kyiv church consisted of Korsun priests, who were also taken by the prince from the conquered city. Probably, the outstanding role of Korsun in the Christianization of Rus’ led to the appearance of the legend about the baptism of Prince Vladimir in this city.

The chronicle runs that Vladimir overthrew the pagan idols that he himself had set up several years earlier, and ordered the idol of Perun to be floated down the Dnieper, and to ensure that it did not land on the shore until it had passed the Dnieper rapids. Thus, Rus’ said goodbye to its main pagan god. This was followed by the baptism of the Kyivians. On the site of the former pagan sanctuary, the church of Saint Basil, the heavenly patron of the prince, was erected. Later, Greek artisans built the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kyiv, which received the name The Church of The Tithes – the main temple of Kievan Rus’, with which the most important church-administrative reform of Prince Vladimir was associated – the establishment of church tithes.

The adoption of Christianity, or rather, the deep, whole-hearted, sincere repentance of a hopeless sinner that preceded it completely changed Prince Vladimir. The Chronicle and the Prince’s Hagiography most of all note his exceptional mercy and love of poverty. Hearing the words of The Scripture, “Blessed are the merciful; for they will have mercy”, Vladimir began doing many good deeds. He ordered every beggar and wretched to come to The Prince’s court and take everything needed – food, drink or money. Moreover, having learned that the sick and infirm could not get to his court, The Prince ordered food to be delivered for them throughout the city. “And he ordered to equip carts and, putting bread, meat, fish, various vegetables on them, honey in barrels, and kvass in others, transport them around the city, asking, “Where is a sick person or a beggar who cannot walk”? And give them everything they need”, says the chronicler. “And not in Kyiv alone, but throughout the entire Russian land – both in cities and in villages – he gave alms everywhere, clothing – to the naked, satisfying the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, bestowing mercy on strangers, honoring churchmen. Loving and having mercy, giving what they needed to the poor, and orphans, and widows, and the blind, and the lame, and the sick – having mercy on everyone, providing clothing, feeding, and giving water. That was how Prince Vladimir continued in good deeds…” – these are the words of Jacob, the author of the already mentioned “Memory and Praise to Prince Vladimir”.

The Kyiv Prince entered the historical memory of the people not only as Saint Vladimir, but also as Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko – The Fair Sun, or The Red Sun … – the legendary prince of Russian epics, to whom all Russian epic heroes served. The love of the people was won not only by his Christian virtues, but also by his tireless concern for the defense of the Russian land. Prince Vladimir had the most difficult task of fighting the Pechenegs – the main enemies of Rus’ at the end of the 10th – beginning of the 11th century. Vladimir built a kind of “Great Abatis Line (or Great Abatis Border)” along the southern borders of his state – he erected fortified cities along the Desna, Ostra, and Trubezh, Sula and Stugna rivers, connecting them with a powerful earthen rampart. The most famous of the fortresses erected by Vladimir was Belgorod on the Irpen River, in the depths of the Stugna defense line. Moreover, Vladimir populated the fortresses on the southern border of the Russian land with “the best people” from other regions of the country – the lands of the Novgorod Slovenes, Krivichi, Chud, and Vyatichi. The defense of Rus’ has become a truly state matter, common to all Slavic and non-Slavic tribes inhabiting Rus’. Among other things, this measure dealt a serious blow to the former tribal system of the Russian state.

In the most important centers of Rus’, all 12 sons of Vladimir were installed as rulers, and thus the old tribal centers began to be ruled directly by the sons of The Kyiv Prince.

Vladimir also strengthened the western borders of his state. In 992, he made a campaign into the lands of the East Slavic tribe of Croats and subjugated them to his power. The chronicle tells about the peace treaties he concluded with the rulers of neighboring states – Poland, Czech and Hungary. However, the peace with Poland did not last long. In 1013, Polish prince Boleslav attacked Rus’ in alliance with the Pechenegs; this time Vladimir managed to cope with the enemies. It is believed that the result of the peace concluded then was the marriage of Svyatopolk, Vladimir’s stepson, to the daughter of Boleslav of Poland.

In the last years of his life, Vladimir experienced a lot of anxiety because of his sons. Well, soon after marrying Boleslav’s daughter, Svyatopolk plotted against his adoptive father. According to foreign sources, the organizer of the conspiracy was Polish prince Boleslav, as well as Bishop Rainburn, the confessor of Svyatopolk’s wife. The plot was discovered and the conspirators were arrested. The Polish bishop died in captivity, and Svyatopolk and his wife remained in custody until Vladimir’s death.

In 1014, another son of Vladimir, Yaroslav of Novgorod (in future – Yaroslav the Wise), rebelled. He refused to pay the annual tribute of 2 thousand hryvnia to Kyiv. This aroused Vladimir’s fierce anger, and he announced a campaign against Novgorod.

However, God did not allow war between father and son. At that time, Vladimir was already old, and illnesses came with old age. One of them did not allow Vladimir to go on a campaign against Yaroslav. Thinking about who to transfer the throne to, Vladimir called his beloved son Boris to Kyiv. At this time, the Pechenegs attacked the Russian land again, and Vladimir handed over his soldiers to Boris. Boris went against the Pechenegs, but did not find them: the nomads, hearing about the approach of the army, went back to the steppe. Nevertheless, Vladimir was no longer destined to learn about the outcome of the last Pecheneg war in his life. On July 15, 1015, he died in the village of Berestovoy near Kyiv. In the absence of Boris, Svyatopolk, who had been released from custody, seized power in Kyiv. However, the death of The Grand Prince of Kyiv, who had done so much for his country and so glorified his city, of course, could not pass away unnoticed. Vladimir was buried in Kyiv, in The Church of The Tithes, built by him, in front of a huge crowd of people, mourned by all the people of Kiev – both the boyars and the poor, young and old. “And the boyars cried for him as the protector of the land, and the poor as for their protector and breadwinner…”

Russian people began to honor the memory of their Baptist already in the 11th century. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the official canonization of Prince Vladimir was delayed for two centuries. This was partly explained, probably, by the fact that the relics of the blessed prince were not given the gift of performing miracles. Here is what the author of the most ancient Hagiography of Prince Vladimir said about this, “We will not be surprised, beloved, that he does not work miracles after death – after all, many holy righteous people did not work miracles, but they are Saints. Actually, once asked, “From what do we know and understand The Holy Man – from miracles or from works?” Well, he answered, “We learn from works, not from miracles…” Only in the 13th century did the church-wide canonization of Prince Vladimir occur. This was probably facilitated by the fact that it was on the day of memory of Saint Vladimir (15 July) that one of the glorious victories of Russian weapons was won – The Battle of the Neva, in which the squad of the Novgorod prince, a descendant of Saint Vladimir, Alexander Yaroslavich (Alexander Nevsky), defeated the Swedish army.

The relics of Saint Prince Vladimir, like the relics of the blessed Princess Olga, shared the tragic fate of The Church of the Tithes, destroyed by the Tatars in 1240. For many centuries, the tomb of the Holy Prince was buried under the ruins of the temple. In 1635, Petro Mohyla, the Metropolitan of Kiev, seemingly discovered a precious shrine – two sarcophagi, one of which, according to his assumption, contained the relics of Saint Vladimir. “In remembrance of future generations”, he removed the head and the right hand from the coffin. Subsequently, the head was placed in the Dormition Cathedral of The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, and the hand – in the Kiev Saint Sophia Cathedral. Some of the Holy Relics ended up in Moscow, in the Assumption Cathedral. However, modern researchers question the authenticity of this find.

Those who attended school, or, more precisely, not only attended, but also studied there, remember well that the main merit of Prince Vladimir is considered the Baptism of Rus’… However, after a considerable time and because of significant tectonic shifts in events of that time, that is, from the position of new knowledge of old phenomena and their interpretations, a completely different picture of the world and the influence of Prince Vladimir on it is obtained…

Firstly, even based on the above-mentioned, we can conclude that the main thing is not that Prince Vladimir baptized Rus’. He, like the biblical Moses, led the peoples subject to him from the darkness of paganism to a true understanding of the one Almighty – first in the form of recognition of Perun as a single and omnipotent deity, and then in the form of the monotheism of Christianity.

Secondly, Prince Vladimir became the founder of holiness among the Russian people, the discoverer of the greatness of the original Russian spiritual values that existed among the people even before Baptism, and after the Christianization, they finally took shape and began to be called “Christian virtues” – high ideals of morality, honor, and dignity… Willpower and liberty, faith, hope, love, empathy, truth, justice, mercy, and generosity… – these are purely Russian values, the basis for the ideology of “Russian identity”!

Moreover, The Prince, having become an example of these ideal human qualities, turned them into the basis of a state program, and made Orthodoxy a religious institution for overseeing the implementation of these values.

Actually, a completely logical question involuntarily arises: why did the Higher Powers choose as the Baptist, who spiritually reborn the Russian people, precisely such a person who at the beginning of his life seemed to have surpassed all his pagan ancestors and contemporaries in evil? – And then an equally logical answer comes: it was probably necessary to show all subsequent Russian generations a repentant sinner. “… To place an enlightened pagan at the origins of the new Russia, so that he would stand like a copper serpent and instruct, strengthen and heal those who stumbled and those of little faith, all Russian Christians in all future times”. The best evidence of the effectiveness of any medicine is a healed patient. It was necessary to show the healed Prince of Kyiv to those who were still sick, so that they would happily accept the same medicine!

“Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko” – this is what the Russian people call their spiritual ancestor. With these words, the grateful and wise people most accurately expressed their attitude towards the personality of The Prince-Baptizer, who from the hell of hopeless sin not only escaped into divine goodness, but also became a Saint – “powerful in mercy and gracious in power”! Moreover, he remained The Red Sun throughout Russian history, throughout all the centuries that followed, which, by the way, were replete with Saints, righteous people and miracle workers. In addition, among them are two sons of Prince Vladimir – Princes Boris and Gleb, and his descendant Alexander Nevsky, through whose prayers the sick were healed, the demoniac were freed and the dead were resurrected. However, it was easier for them to acquire Holiness than for Vladimir, the rich prince who passed through the eye of a needle into the Kingdom of Heaven, following an unknown, untrodden path:

Thirdly, it was not Ivan III and Basil III who became the “collectors of Russian lands” and contributed to the gradual abolition of appanage principalities, but Prince Vladimir, who not only formed the first state of the Russians, but also used Orthodoxy as an instrument of state building.

Fourthly, Prince Vladimir strengthened the security of Rus’ and strengthened its influence on world processes.

In other words, it was with this Holy Hierarch that the new Rus’, a new nation, a new spirit, a new path, a new culture… began. Saint Vladimir turned the long Russian night into a bright Russian day. That is, over time, the dark pagan mass became, like Prince Vladimir himself, “The Fair Sun” among other nations.

The following requests are addressed to Saint Vladimir, Equal of the Apostles about:

• strengthening faith;
• getting rid of external enemies and internal strife;
• peace and unanimity;
• salvation from all evil, troubles and misfortunes;
• healing from fatal and eye diseases;
• getting rid of blindness.

There are countless temples and monuments, geographical objects, avenues and streets associated with the name of Saint Prince Vladimir and the veneration of his blessed memory – he is so dear to all his blood and non-blood descendants, and he is so loved by the multi-confessional Russian nation!

In Catholicism his feast day is celebrated on 15 July; in Orthodoxy – on 15 (28) July.