The path to orthodoxy: Prince Vladimir
Prince Vladimir was the son of Svyatoslav and Drevlyan princess Malusha. He was born in the year 963. He was raised by his pagan uncle Dobrynya. In the year 972, Vladimir began to reign in Novgorod. In 980 in the midst of war between the brothers, Vladimir went to war against Kiev, where his elder brother Yaropolk was reigning. Having defeated his brother, Vladimir began to rule in Kiev as well. He extended his power limits from the Baltic Sea on the North to the river Boog on the South. He had five wives and numerous concubines. On the Kiev Mountains he set up the idols, to which people were sacrificed. At that time Varangians Feodor and John suffered for Christ. The circumstances of their death made a strong impression on Vladimir and he started to doubt his pagan faith. His search for truth had begun.
Preachers from different countries came to Kiev by invitation of Prince
Vladimir: ambassadors from Muslim-Bulgarians, living near the Volga river,
German-Latins, Hebrews and Greeks. The Prince questioned them all about their
faith and everyone offered him his own belief. But an Orthodox Greek representative made the strongest impression on Vladimir by showing him a painting of The Last
Judgement at the end of his visit. With the boyar’s advice, Vladimir sent ten wise
men to test whose faith is better. When these Russian ambassadors
arrived in Constantinople, the magnificence of the Hagia Sofia Church, the harmonious
singing of court chanters and Patriarchal service’s solemnity touched them
deeply: “We didn’t know – whether we were on the earth or in the heavens – they
said later to Vladimir. The boyars immediately noticed: “If the Greek faithwasn’t the true faith, your grandmother Olga, the wisest of the people,wouldn’t choose it.”
Vladimir decided to be baptized, but
he did not want Rus’ to be subjected to another empire. That is why as soon as the
ambassadors returned, he declared war on Greece and conquered Chersonesus. From
there he sent the ambassadors to Constantinople to emperors Basil and
Constantine, asking for their sister’s hand – princess Anna. They answered him,
that she will only marry a Christian. Vladimir declared that he wants to accept
Christianity. But before his bride arrived to Chersonesus, Vladimir was slain with
blindness. Stricken with such an illness he understood the
weakness of his spirit just as apostle Paul, and prepared for the great
sacrament of revival (baptism). When the princess came to him, she advised him to be
baptized as soon as possible. Vladimir was baptized under the name of Basil in the year 988.
Coming out of the laver he saw the light with his eyes and his heart: “Now I
know the true God”.
Vladimir returned to Kiev with the
Korsun and Greek priests and first of all he asked his twelve sons to be baptised. They did as he asked, and many of the boyars followed suit.
Vladimir began to destroy pagan idols. The main of them – Perun – was cursed
and drown in the river Dnepr. At the same time the priests gathered people and
taught them the basics of Christianity.
Finally, Saint Vladimir proclaimed in Kiev, that all the people – rich
and poor – came in the stated day to bank of the river to take the baptism.
People accepted the appeal willingly: “If the faith was not good, then the
prince and boyars would never accept it”.
The citizens of Kiev gathered on the
river bank. Vladimir and the priests came there too. All of them went into the
water. The grown-up took the infants on their hands, while the priests were
praying. Saint Vladimir was praying as well. He confided his people to God’s
will.
Later Christianity was set up in
Novgorod. The first metropolitan of Kiev arrived there in 990 together with
Dobrynya, Vladimir’s uncle. At first they stroke of dawn the idol of Perun was thrown it into the river Volkhov, and then the locals were baptized. Then he moved on to the city of Rostov, and there many people were baptized and a cathedral was build. Paganism remained strong for many years in Rostov,
but eventually was rooted out. In the year 992 Christianity was spread over the
region of Suzdal, when Saint Vladimir came here with two bishops. People there
were happy to accept the new faith.
After accepting Christianity Vladimir reigned for another 28 years, and was the Prince of Kiev for 33 years. He passed away on
July 15 in the year 1015 in Berestovo village. The Prince’s body was
placed into the marble reliquary which was buried under the Church of the Tithes.
The children of Vladimir, who each recieved parts of the land, worked on spreading of Christianity on their
territories. Thus, in 10th century Christianity continued to spread not only in Kiev,
Novgorod, Rostov, and Suzdal, but also in
Murom, Polotsk, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Smolensk, Pskov, Lutsk, Tmutarakan
and other regions. Influenced by Christianity, the Slavic tribes began to form a unified state.
The peaceful methods, with which
Christianity was set up in the Rus’ territory, led to its successful and quick acceptance by the locals. The work of saint Kirill and Mefody, over a century prior to the events, contributed to it as well; thanks to them the
preachers could say the sermons in native Slavic language. Christianity was set
up with words, and without aggression and violence.
Another means of preaching, were the famous
feasts held by Vladimir. On Sundays and the days of great church feasts, long festive
tables were put on the streets of Kiev. The bells tolled and the choirs sang. For example, on May 12, 996 - the day when the Church of the Tithes was
blessed – the Prince organized the great feast and made donations to the weak,
the poor, and the pilgrims, and of course monasteries and churches. The sick
and poor got barrels of wine and honey, bread, meat fish, and
cheese. Vladimir wanted that people came to take those gifts and glorify God. The
bowls were hold also in honor of great warriors and their victories.
From there, orthodoxy
spread over the lands of the neighboring states and tribes lived on the borders
of Rus. Thus, in the 10-13th centuries some Finnish tribes accepted
Christianity as well. In the beginning of
the 13th century the city of Nizhny Novgorod was built on the bank
of the rivers Volga and Oka. It became a great stronghold of orthodoxy in the
middle part of Russia.
The feast in honor of Saint Prince
Vladimir was set up by Saint Prince Alexander Nevsky after May 15, 1240, when the
prayer of Saint Vladimir helped him to defeat the army of Swedish crusaders.
Source: http://azbyka.ru/days/sv-vel-kn-vladimir-v-kreshchenii-vasilij
