The years of the reign of Princess Olga. Which image is better

Princess Olga the Holy
Lived:? -969
Reign: 945-966

The grand duchess Olga, baptized Elena. Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, the first of the rulers of Russia to adopt Christianity even before the Baptism of Russia. After the death of her husband, Prince Igor Rurikovich, he ruled Kievan Rus from 945 to 966.

Baptism of Princess Olga

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

At her baptism, the Russian princess was honored with the name of St. Helena, Equal to the Apostles, who labored a lot in spreading Christianity in the vast Roman Empire, who did not acquire the Life-giving Cross, on which the Lord was crucified.

In the vast expanses of the Russian land, like her heavenly patroness, Olga became the Equal-to-the-Apostles seer of Christianity.

There are many inaccuracies and mysteries in the annals about Olga, but most of the facts of her life, conveyed to our time by grateful descendants of the organizer of the Russian land, do not raise doubts about their reliability.

The story of Olga - princess of Kiev

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

The later Piskarevsky chronicler and typographical chronicle (end of the 15th century) narrate a rumor that Olga was the daughter of the Prophetic Oleg, who began to rule Kievan Rus as the guardian of the young Igor, the son of Rurik: « Netzii also verb, like Olga's daughter Olga » ... Oleg married Igor and Olga.

The life of Saint Olga tells that here, “in the Pskov region,” for the first time, her meeting with her future husband took place. The young prince was hunting and, wishing to cross the Velikaya River, he saw "a certain one floating in a boat" and called him to the shore. Having sailed from the coast in a boat, the prince found that he was being carried by a girl of amazing beauty. Igor was inflamed with lust for her and began to persuade her to sin. The carrier turned out to be not only beautiful, but chaste and intelligent. She put Igor to shame, reminding him of the princely dignity of the ruler and judge, who should be a "bright example of good deeds" for his subjects.

Igor parted with her, keeping in his memory her words and a beautiful image. When the time came to choose a bride, the most beautiful girls of the principality were gathered in Kiev. But none of them pleased him. And then he remembered Olga, "marvelous in girls" and sent for her a relative of his prince Oleg. So Olga became the wife of Prince Igor, the great Russian princess.

Princess Olga and Prince Igor

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

An ancient Russian chronicler sets out in detail Olga's revenge for the death of her husband:

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

2nd revenge: Olga asked to send new ambassadors from best husbands, which was eagerly performed by the Drevlyans. The embassy of the noble Drevlyans was burned in the bathhouse, while they washed, preparing for a meeting with the princess.

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

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

Princess Olga's reign

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

The chronicle testifies to her tireless "walks" across the Russian land with the purpose of building the political and economic life of the country. Olga went to the Novgorod and Pskov lands. Established a system of "graveyards" - centers of trade and exchange, in which the collection of taxes took place in a more orderly manner; then temples began to be built along the churchyards.

Russia grew and became stronger. Cities were built, surrounded by stone and oak walls. The princess herself lived behind the reliable walls of Vyshgorod (the first stone buildings in Kiev - the city palace and Olga's country house), surrounded by a faithful squad. She closely followed the improvement of the lands subject to Kiev - Novgorod, Pskov, located along the Desna River, etc.

Princess Olga's reforms

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

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

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

« You see - I'm sick; where do you want to get away from me? “ - for she was already sick. And she said: « When you bury me - go wherever you want “ ... Three days later Olga died (July 11, 969), and her son and her grandchildren, and all the people wept for her with great lamentation, and carried her and buried her in the chosen place, Olga bequeathed not to perform feasts on her, as she had the priest was with him - he buried blessed Olga.

Holy Princess Olga

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

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

The Day of Remembrance of St. Olga (Helena) began to be celebrated on July 11. Revered as the patroness of widows and newly converted Christians.

Official canonization (general church glorification) took place later - until the middle of the 13th century.

Since ancient times, people have called St. Olga the Equal-to-the-Apostles "the head of the faith" and "the root of Orthodoxy" in the Russian land. Olga's baptism was marked by the prophetic words of the patriarch who baptized her: “Blessed are you in the wives of the Russians, for you left the darkness and loved the Light. Russian sons will glorify you to the last generation! " At her baptism, the Russian princess was honored with the name of St. Helena, Equal to the Apostles, who labored a lot in spreading Christianity in the vast Roman Empire and acquired the Life-giving Cross, on which the Lord was crucified. Like her heavenly patroness, Olga became an Equal-to-the-Apostles preacher of Christianity in the vast expanses of the Russian land. There are many chronological inaccuracies and mysteries in the chronicles about her, but doubts can hardly arise about the reliability of most of the facts of her life, conveyed to our time by the grateful descendants of the holy princess - the organizer of the Russian land. Let's turn to the story of her life.

The name of the future enlightener of Russia and her homeland is the oldest of the chronicles - "The Tale of Bygone Years" in the description of the marriage of Prince Igor of Kiev: "And they brought him a wife from Pskov named Olga." The Joachim Chronicle specifies that she belonged to the family of the Izborsk princes - one of the ancient Russian princely dynasties.

Igor's wife was called by the Varangian name Helga, in Russian pronunciation - Olga (Volga). Tradition calls the village of Vybuty, not far from Pskov, up the Velikaya River, Olga's homeland. The life of Saint Olga tells that here for the first time her meeting with her future husband took place. The young prince was hunting "in the Pskov region" and, wishing to cross the Velikaya River, he saw "a certain one floating in a boat" and called him to the shore. Having sailed from the coast in a boat, the prince found that he was being carried by a girl of amazing beauty. Igor was inflamed with lust for her and began to persuade her to sin. The carrier turned out to be not only beautiful, but chaste and intelligent. She put Igor to shame, reminding him of the princely dignity of the ruler and judge, who should be a "bright example of good deeds" for his subjects. Igor parted with her, keeping in his memory her words and a beautiful image. When the time came to choose a bride, the most beautiful girls of the principality were gathered in Kiev. But none of them pleased him. And then he remembered Olga, "marvelous in girls" and sent for her a relative of his prince Oleg. So Olga became the wife of Prince Igor, the great Russian princess.

After his marriage, Igor went on a campaign against the Greeks, and returned from him as a father: his son Svyatoslav was born. Soon Igor was killed by the Drevlyans. Fearing revenge for the murder of the Kiev prince, the Drevlyans sent ambassadors to Princess Olga, inviting her to marry their ruler Mal. Olga pretended to agree. By cunning she lured two embassies of the Drevlyans to Kiev, putting them to painful death: the first was buried alive "in the prince's court", the second was burnt in a bathhouse. After that, five thousand Drevlyansky men were killed by Olga's soldiers at a funeral service for Igor at the walls of the Drevlyansky capital Iskorosten. The next year Olga again approached Iskorosten with an army. The city was burned with the help of birds, to whose feet a burning tow was tied. The surviving Drevlyans were captured and sold into slavery.

Along with this, the chronicles are full of evidence of her tireless "walks" across the Russian land in order to build the political and economic life of the country. She achieved the strengthening of the power of the Kiev Grand Duke, centralized state administration with the help of a system of "graveyards". The chronicle notes that she and her son and retinue walked through the Drevlyansky land, "establishing tributes and quitrent fees", marking villages and encampments and hunting grounds that should be included in the Kiev grand ducal possessions. She went to Novgorod, arranging graveyards along the Msta and Luga rivers. “She (hunting grounds) were all over the land, signs, her places and graveyards,” the chronicler writes, “and her sleigh stands in Pskov to this day, there are places she indicated for catching birds along the Dnieper and along the Desna; and her village Olgichi still exists today. " Pogosts (from the word "guest" - merchant) became the mainstay of the grand ducal power, centers of ethnic and cultural unification of the Russian people.

Life tells the following about Olga's works: “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 by her own people, loved, 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 all the evil, rewarding each in proportion to the dignity of his actions, but in all matters of government 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 ... With all this Olga combined 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. "

Russia grew and became stronger. Cities were built, surrounded by stone and oak walls. The princess herself lived behind the reliable walls of Vyshgorod, 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 Olga, to Vyshgorod” - to the military building. The establishment of the first state borders of Kievan Rus dates back to the time of Olga. The heroic outposts, sung in epics, guarded the peaceful life of the Kievites from the nomads of the Great Steppe, from attacks from the West. Foreigners rushed to Gardarika ("the land of cities"), as they called Russia, with goods. The Scandinavians, the Germans willingly joined the Russian army as mercenaries. Russia was becoming a great power.

As a wise ruler, Olga saw on the example of the Byzantine Empire that it was not enough to care only about state and economic life. It was necessary to start organizing the religious, spiritual life of the people.

The author of the Book of Degrees writes: “Her / Olga's feat / was that she recognized the true God. Not knowing the Christian law, she lived a pure and chaste life, and she wished to be a Christian by free will, with her heart's eyes she found the way of knowing God and followed it without hesitation. " The Monk Nestor the chronicler narrates: "Blessed Olga from an early age sought wisdom, which is the best in this light, and found a precious pearl - Christ."

Having made her choice, the Grand Duchess Olga, entrusting Kiev to her grown-up son, sets off with a large fleet to Constantinople. Old Russian chroniclers will call this act of Olga "walking", it combined in itself a religious pilgrimage, and a diplomatic mission, and a demonstration of the military might of Russia. “Olga wanted to go to the Greeks herself in order to see with her own eyes the Christian service and be fully convinced of their teaching about the true God,” says the life of Saint Olga. According to the chronicle, Olga made the decision to become a Christian in Constantinople. The sacrament of Baptism was performed over her by the Patriarch of Constantinople Theophylact (933 - 956), and the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (912 - 959) was the recipient, who left in his work "On the ceremonies of the Byzantine court" detailed description ceremonies during Olga's stay in Constantinople. At one of the receptions the Russian Princess was presented with a golden dish adorned with precious stones. Olga donated it to the sacristy of the Cathedral of St. Sophia, where he was seen and described at the beginning of the 13th century by the Russian diplomat Dobrynya Yadreykovich, later Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod: “The dish is great for Olga the Russian service, when she took a tribute when she went to Constantinople: in Olga's dish there is a precious stone , on the same stones Christ is written. "

The Patriarch blessed the newly-baptized Russian princess with a cross carved from a single piece of the Life-giving Tree of the Lord. On the cross was the inscription: "The Russian land was renewed with the Holy Cross, and Olga, the noble princess, received him."

Olga returned to Kiev with icons, liturgical books - her apostolic ministry began. She erected a church in the name of St. Nicholas over the grave of Askold - the first Christian prince of Kiev and converted many Kievites to Christ. With the preaching of faith, the princess set off to the north. In the Kiev and Pskov lands, in distant lands, at crossroads, she erected crosses, destroying pagan idols.

Saint Olga laid the foundation for a special veneration of the Most Holy Trinity in Russia. From century to century, the story of a vision that happened to her near the Velikaya River, not far from her native village, was passed on. She saw that "three bright rays" were descending from the sky from the east. Addressing her companions, who were witnesses of the vision, Olga said prophetically: "Let it be known to you that the will of God in this place will be a church in the name of the Most Holy and Life-giving Trinity and there will be a great and glorious city abounding in all." At this place Olga erected a cross and founded a church in the name of the Holy Trinity. It became the main cathedral of Pskov, a glorious Russian city, which has since been called the House of the Holy Trinity. Through the mysterious paths of spiritual succession, four centuries later, this veneration was transmitted to the Monk Sergius of Radonezh.

On May 11, 960, the Church of St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, was consecrated in Kiev. This day was celebrated in the Russian Church as a special holiday. The main shrine of the temple was the cross received by Olga during her baptism in Constantinople. The temple, built by Olga, burned down in 1017, and in its place Yaroslav the Wise erected the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Irina, and the relics of St. Sophia Olga's temple were transferred to the still standing stone church of St. Sophia of Kiev, founded in 1017 and consecrated around 1030. In the Prologue of the XIII century about Olga's cross it is said: "That one now stands in Kiev in St. Sophia in the altar on the right side." After the conquest of Kiev by the Lithuanians, the Holguin cross was stolen from the St. Sophia Cathedral and taken by Catholics to Lublin. His further fate is unknown to us. The princess's apostolic labors met with secret and open resistance from the pagans. Among the boyars and vigilantes in Kiev there were many people who, according to the chroniclers, “hated Wisdom,” like St. 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 persuasions to accept Christianity. “The Tale of Bygone Years” tells about it this way: “Olga lived with her son Svyatoslav, and her mother persuaded him to be baptized, but he neglected it and plugged his ears; however, if anyone wanted to be baptized, he did not forbid him, nor mocked him ... Olga often said: “My son, I have come to know God and I rejoice; here you too, if you learn, you will also begin to rejoice. " He, not listening to this, said: “How can I want to change my faith alone? My vigilantes will laugh at this! " She told him: "If you are baptized, everyone will do the same."

He, not listening to his mother, lived according to pagan customs, not knowing that if someone does not listen to his mother, he will get into trouble, as it is said: "If someone does not listen to his father or mother, then he will die." Besides, he was also angry with his mother ... But Olga loved her son Svyatoslav when she said: “Let the will of God be done. If God wants to have mercy on my descendants and the Russian land, may he command their hearts to turn to God, as it was granted to me. " And saying this, I prayed for my son and for his people all day and night, taking care of her son until he matured. "

Despite the success of her trip to Constantinople, Olga was unable to persuade the emperor to agree on two major issues: on the dynastic marriage of Svyatoslav with the Byzantine princess and on the conditions for the restoration of the metropolitanate that existed under Askold in Kiev. Therefore, Saint Olga turns her gaze to the West - the Church was at that time one. The Russian princess could hardly have known about the theological differences between the Greek and Latin doctrines.

In 959, a German chronicler writes: "The ambassadors of Helena, the queen of the Russians, who was baptized in Constantinople, came to the king and asked to consecrate a bishop and priests for this people." King Otto, the future founder of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, responded to Olga's request. A year later, Libucius was made bishop of Russia, from the brethren of the monastery of St. Alban in Mainz, but he soon died (March 15, 961). In his place, they dedicated Adalbert of Trier, whom Otton, “having generously supplied with everything necessary,” finally sent to Russia. 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." On the way back, “some of his companions were killed, and the bishop himself did not escape mortal danger,” - this is how the chronicles of Adalbert's mission tell.

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. On the orders of Svyatoslav, Olga's nephew Gleb was killed and some of the temples she built were destroyed. Saint Olga had to come to terms with what had happened and go into matters of personal piety, leaving control to the pagan Svyatoslav. Of course, she was still reckoned with, her experience and wisdom were invariably referred to on all important occasions. When Svyatoslav was absent from Kiev, the administration of the state was entrusted to Saint Olga. The glorious military victories of the Russian army were consolation for her. Svyatoslav defeated the long-standing enemy of the Russian state - the Khazar Kaganate, forever crushing the power of the Jewish rulers of the Azov region and the lower Volga region. The next blow was dealt to the Volga Bulgaria, then the turn of the Danube Bulgaria came - eighty cities were taken by the Kiev warriors along the Danube. Svyatoslav and his soldiers personified the heroic spirit of pagan Rus. The chronicles have preserved the words of Svyatoslav, surrounded by a huge Greek army with his retinue: “We will not shame the Russian land, but we will lay our bones here! The dead have no shame! " Svyatoslav dreamed of creating a huge Russian state from the Danube to the Volga, which would unite Russia and other Slavic peoples. Saint Olga understood that with all the courage and courage of the Russian squads, they could not cope with the ancient empire of the Romans, which would not allow the strengthening of pagan Rus. But the son did not listen to his mother's warnings.

Saint Olga had to endure many sorrows at the end of her life. The son finally moved to Pereyaslavets on the Danube. While in Kiev, she taught her grandchildren, the children of Svyatoslav, the Christian faith, but did not dare to baptize them, fearing the anger of her son. In addition, he obstructed her attempts to establish Christianity in Russia. In recent years, amid the triumph of paganism, she, once the revered mistress of the state, who was baptized by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the capital of Orthodoxy, had to secretly keep a priest with her so as not to cause a new outbreak of anti-Christian sentiments. In 968 Kiev was besieged by the Pechenegs. The holy princess and her grandchildren, among whom was Prince Vladimir, found themselves in mortal danger. When the news of the siege reached Svyatoslav, he hastened to help, and the Pechenegs were put to flight. Saint Olga, already seriously ill, asked her son not to leave until her death. She did not lose hope of turning her son's heart to God and on her deathbed did not stop preaching: “Why are you leaving me, my son, and where are you going? Looking for someone else's, whom do you entrust yours to? After all, Thy 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 a lot and persuaded to leave the idolatrous wickedness, to believe in the true God, which I have known, and you neglect this, and I know what kind of disobedience you are a bad end awaits you on earth for me, and after death - eternal torment prepared for the pagans. Fulfill now at least this last request of mine: do not go anywhere until I am dead and buried; then go wherever you want. After my death, do not do anything that is required in such cases by pagan custom; but let my presbyter with the clergy bury my body according to the Christian custom; do not dare to pour a grave mound over me and do funeral feasts; 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 partook of 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 to the Most Pure Theotokos, whom, according to God, she had always been her helper; she called all the saints; Blessed Olga prayed with special zeal for the enlightenment of the Russian land after her death; foreseeing the future, she repeatedly predicted that God would enlighten the people of the Russian land and many of them would be great saints; Blessed Olga prayed for the speedy fulfillment of this prophecy at her death. And another prayer was on her lips, when her honest soul was released from the body, and, as a righteous one, was accepted by the hands of God. " On July 11, 969, Saint Olga died, "and her son and grandchildren and all people wept for her with great lamentation." Presbyter Gregory fulfilled her will exactly.

Saint Olga, Equal to the Apostles, was canonized at the Council of 1547, which confirmed the widespread veneration of her in Russia even in the pre-Mongol era.

God glorified the "leader" of faith in the Russian land with miracles and incorruptible relics. Under the holy prince Vladimir, the relics of Saint Olga were transferred to the Tithe Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos and placed in the sarcophagus, in which it was customary to place the relics of saints in the Orthodox East. There was a window in the church wall above the tomb of St. Olga; and if anyone came to the relics with faith, he saw through the window of the relics, and some saw the radiance emanating from them, and many who were possessed by diseases received healing. For those who came with disbelief, the window was opened, and he could not see the relics, but only the coffin.

So after her death, Saint Olga preached eternal life and resurrection, filling believers with joy and admonishing unbelievers.

Her prophecy about the evil death of her son came true. Svyatoslav, as the chronicler reports, was killed by the Pechenezh prince Kurei, who cut off Svyatoslav's head and made himself a cup from the skull, bound it with gold and drank from it during feasts.

The saint's prophecy about the Russian land was also fulfilled. The prayer labors and deeds of Saint Olga confirmed the greatest deed of her grandson Saint Vladimir (Comm. 15 (28) July) - the Baptism of Rus. The images of Saints Equal to the Apostles Olga and Vladimir, mutually complementing each other, embody the maternal and paternal principles of Russian spiritual history.

Saint Olga, Equal to the Apostles, became the spiritual mother of the Russian people, through her began their enlightenment with the light of Christ's faith.

Olga's pagan name corresponds to the male Oleg (Helgi), which means "saint." Although the pagan understanding of holiness differs from the Christian one, it presupposes in a person a special spiritual attitude, chastity and sobriety, intelligence and foresight. Revealing the spiritual meaning of this name, the people called Oleg the Prophetic, and Olga - the Wise. Subsequently, Saint Olga will be called God-wise, emphasizing her main gift, which has become the basis of the entire ladder of holiness of Russian wives - wisdom. The Most Holy Theotokos herself - the House of the Wisdom of God - blessed Saint Olga for her apostolic labors. Her construction of the Sophia Cathedral in Kiev - the mother of Russian cities - was a sign of participation Mother of God in the House-Building of Holy Russia. Kiev, i.e. Christian Kievan Rus became the third Lot of the Mother of God in the Universe, and the approval of this Lot on earth began through the first of the holy wives of Rus - St. Olga, Equal to the Apostles.

The Christian name of Saint Olga - Elena (translated from the ancient Greek "Torch"), became an expression of the burning of her spirit. Saint Olga (Elena) received the spiritual fire, which has not died out in the entire thousand-year history of Christian Russia.

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga - in what way does she patronize Orthodox Christians? You can read the life of this great Russian saint in the article.

The Kiev scribes did not make any special efforts to glorify the morning star of Russian Christianity, the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. A confused and extremely tendentious story * The Tale of Bygone Years, a small fragment in “Memory and Praise to Vladimir” by Jacob Mnich, several late origins of legends scattered across different chronicles and editions of the published life - that is, in fact, all that has brought to us Old Russian writing from the legends about the Grand Duchess. Therefore, the work of a modern historian becomes somewhat similar to the restoration of a mosaic icon. It is necessary to recreate a face, unique in its majesty and beauty, from the multitude of smalt cubes scattered in a mess of various shades and sizes. Erudition and logic are powerless here. Of the many combinations, the closest to the truth is the one that is prompted by an aesthetic instinct and a living sense of faith, and not by thorough knowledge. social relations and the political environment. The story is much more integral and graceful in its composition than it seems to those who see in it nothing more than a set of obscure phrases and unintelligible sounds. The specificity of history is that it always - Sacred History... Therefore, the only thing that remains for us is to gaze intently and reverently at the faces of the saints, such as they were glorified by God, and not try to reshape them according to our own, albeit very pious, taste. Only then can prayer contemplation be able to turn into conversation and communication with eternally living people, for, according to the chronicler, “the souls of the righteous do not die, and the memory of the righteous is immortal”.

We do not know exactly when and where Olga was born. The only thing that can be asserted more or less reliably is that the princess's homeland was the Pskov land. The chronicle says that Oleg brought Igor's wife from Pskov itself, and the compiler of one of the Olga's lives, a Pskovite himself, notes that “Olga was born in the Pleskovo country, add the call of Vybuto, my father is not faithful to the present, so also the mother is not baptized from the Varangian language and from not a princely family, not a nobleman<…>About the name of the father and mother, the scripture is nowhere to be expressed ... ”. Most likely, he is right. Good reasons were needed to attribute the birth of the Grand Duchess instead of a rich and famous city to a modest village on the banks of the Velikaya River, 12 versts south of Pskov. And fellow countrymen know better. At least Olga, already at the pinnacle of power, did not forget Vybutskaya. She was part of the princess's personal possessions, and she ordered to erect a temple of the Most Holy Theotokos nearby. The only thing in which we allow ourselves to disagree with the hagiographer is the assertion about the ignorant origin of the saint. It is unlikely that at the beginning of the IX century. the Varangians in those places could be an ordinary peasant. Yes, and there was no need for the Varangian king Igor to take a wife from ordinary villagers.

In the IX century. the small trade and craft settlement of Pskov was not, of course, the great city that later became famous in Russian history. Nearby, along the Volkhov River, the main highway of the route from the Varangians to the Greeks passed; It was much calmer on the Velikaya River, but even here, along a branch of the Great Way, Greek, Arab and Norman merchants sailed from Scandinavia to Constantinople and back, and sometimes detachments of brave Vikings appeared on their formidable boats, looking for profitable use of their military skill. The all-Russian government of Prince Oleg, which had recently established itself in Kiev, had to take control of the entire route from the Varangians to the Greeks. For this, at all strategically important points, customs officials, warriors of guard detachments and chiefs of crossings, recruited mainly from the Vikings, were required. One of the representatives of this military-trade aristocracy was Olga's father, who was in charge of the ferry in Vybutskaya vesti. It was there, among the merchants and soldiers, that the first Russian saint saw the light.

The creator gave the girl a rich gift. She was unusually beautiful, intelligent, courageous and chaste. Her observation and broad outlook should have developed unusually in the company of overseas guests, from whom one could hear breathtaking stories about Persia and India, Rome and Constantinople, Scandinavia and Germany, different peoples, customs and beliefs. Even then, young Olga should have heard the name of the God of Christians, so unlike the usual Scandinavian and Slavic gods. And in order to preserve her dignity and chastity among the insidious and lustful warriors, the beautiful Olga had to be dexterous, resourceful and sometimes cruel herself. The legendary legend of the Book of Degrees depicts this side of the life of the future saint. Young Prince Igor, who wandered into the Pskov forests while hunting, wanted to cross to the other side of the Velikaya River and, already sitting in a boat, discovered that the carrier was an unusually beautiful girl. The prince began to flirt with her and was clearly discouraged when he received a bold, wise and very harsh rebuke, supported by the threat to go to the bottom with Igor if he tried to use force. The ashamed Igor left in silence, and soon sent matchmakers to the chaste virgin.

Duchess Olga. Lovely wife

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, Oleg drew attention to the beauty and intelligence of Olga during one of his trips to Pskov. In 903 he arranged the marriage of the prince with a captivating woman from Pskov. Olga most likely was neither the first nor the only wife of Igor, but almost immediately she became the most beloved. So, “I’m having Igor later another wife, but Olga, for her wisdom's sake, more than others you honor”. The beautiful princess achieved more: she managed to take second place in the political hierarchy of the ancient Russian state and firmly hold it throughout the entire Igor's reign, directing her husband's policy in the right direction. Igor undoubtedly listened to her advice.

Kievan Rus was a rather ephemeral political entity. The multilingual tribes of the East European Plain were not tied together by anything other than military strength and common trade interests. The princes of Kiev controlled the Dnieper-Baltic military trade route, receiving significant profits from its maintenance and from trade collected in the field of tribute. The authority of the Rurik power rested on dominance over trade routes. However, there was no unanimity in the Kiev policy regarding the further fate of these trade routes. The trading party, which consisted of Varangian and Slavic merchants, among whom there were many Christians, advocated further strengthening of mutually beneficial relations with Khazaria, Scandinavia, and especially with Byzantium. The idea of ​​joining the Byzantine community was very attractive to them, which could increase both the prestige and trade opportunities of the Russian state, and which was unthinkable without Christianization. In the other direction, the druzhina party, mostly pagan, was pulling. Its goal was by no means the continuation of predatory raids, as historians often represent, but the establishment of complete domination over the entire East European, Black Sea and Baltic trade. Such powerful economic centers as Khazaria and Volga Bulgaria were subject to destruction as dangerous competitors. But the main object of hatred was Byzantium, for the destruction of which the squad party was ready to put all its forces and means. Igor was pushed by his military entourage to try to realize this suicidal dream. Suicidal - because the busy trade route, which has fallen into the hands of an uncontrolled monopolist, withers away in fifty or one hundred years. Olga has always understood this, and her policy was aimed at strengthening peaceful relations with her neighbors. And Byzantium seemed to her to be the model that the Russian state should be equal to in everything. In those years, so far only on the basis of coincidence of interests, Olga's contacts with Kiev Christians were established.

The princess managed to neutralize the druzhina influence on Igor for a long time, but the moment came when her position was shaken. The son of Svyatoslav grew up, who was born, according to Tatishchev, in 920 and was the focus of all the hopes of the Kiev military. The energetic heir, apparently, quite easily managed to persuade the elderly Igor to take an adventure. In 941, when the term of the Russian-Byzantine treaty of 911 expired, Igor gathered a powerful army and moved to Constantinople. Ruining everything in their path, the Rus reached almost the Byzantine capital. The Byzantines, lost from surprise, managed to stop the atrocities of the pagans only by mobilizing all the forces of the empire, having recalled three large armies and the best commanders from other fronts. Only near the town of Hieron on the Bosphorus, using the terrifying "Greek fire", the Byzantines defeated Igor's fleet. But even after that, part of the Rus fought for a long time on the coast of Asia Minor.

After a year's rest, in 943, Igor, incited by his son, decided to try his luck again. This time the campaign was organized with the scale and ingenuity inherent in Svyatoslav. A coalition was created from the bitterest enemies of Byzantium: the Hungarians, the Pechenegs and the Khazaria, who secretly supported the campaign, irritated by the persecution of the Jews begun in the empire. “Igor gathered many soldiers: Varangians, Rus, and Polyans, and Slavs, and Krivichi, and Tivertsy - and hired the Pechenegs, and took hostages from them, - and went to the Greeks in boats and on horses, trying to avenge himself.” The only allies of Byzantium were the Bulgarians, and the empire was threatened, if not destruction, then a terrible shock. And suddenly something extraordinary happened. Having reached the Danube, Igor stopped and obviously listened favorably to the proposal of the Greek ambassadors for peace. They promised large monetary gifts and renewed tribute payments. For a king who has decided to crush the empire - not so much. The chronicler's reference to the fact that the Russians did not want to risk in the struggle against an unclear outcome is unconvincing: brave warriors are still accustomed to not such hopeless undertakings.

Undoubtedly, in the latent struggle for influence over Igor, the peace party led by Olga eventually won. The princess managed to neutralize the influence of her son and induce her husband to an armistice with the Greeks. The rest of the summer and autumn of 943 were occupied by negotiations on a long-term peace treaty, which was ultimately concluded, marking the establishment of peace and a close military alliance between Russia and the Roman state.

The treaty and the procedure for its ratification represent an interesting material both for the establishment of the then position of Olga in the Russian state, and for the correct understanding of the role of the Kiev Christians in the politics of Russia. The text of the agreement begins with the words: “We are from the Russian clan ambassadors and merchants, Ivor, the ambassador of Igor, the Grand Duke of Russia, Vuefast, from Svyatoslav, the son of Igor, Iskevi from Princess Olga; Rans from Igor, Igor's nephew; Uleb from Volodislav; Ianitsar from Predslava; Shikhbern Sfandr from Uleb's wife ... ”Svyatoslav, as a direct heir, is mentioned immediately after Igor. He has his own ambassador to defend his personal interests. If at that time, as the chronicle claims, Svyatoslav was three years old, the baby would hardly need a personal ambassador. Our doubts about Svyatoslav's early childhood are also confirmed by Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, who reports that in the early 1940s, "monoxylae coming from outside Russia to Constantinople come from Nemogard, in which Sfendoslav, the son of Ingor, the archon of Russia, was sitting." Nemogard-Novgorod was a traditional springboard for moving to the Kiev table. In third place is Olga, who had an exceptional influence on Kiev politics. Iskevi defended in Constantinople not only the political prestige of the archontissa, but also her commercial interests, which the princess never forgot. Olga was one of the largest landowners in Russia. The chronicler reports that “Vyshgorod was the city of Olgin<…>and her places and churchyards, and her sleds stand in Pskov to this day, and along the Dnieper there are places for catching birds, and along the Desna, and her village Olzhychi has survived to this day ”. Further in the treaty are the names of the ambassadors of the rulers of the 22 largest political and shopping centers Rus. In a few years, a delegation of the same representatives will go with Olga to Constantinople.

Christianity

The traces of the victory of the Christian party in the struggle for influence on Igor are undoubtedly those passages in the agreement, in which the superiority of Christians and the neglect of Perun's admirers are clearly felt. And the ceremony of swearing in Igor's troops gave the Kiev Christians a reason to demonstrate their strength: while the prince with the pagan part of the army swore the inviolability of the treaty before the idol of Perun, the Christian warriors swore the oath before the Greek ambassadors in the church of St. Ilya. “It was a cathedral church, as there were many Christian Varangians.

Almost immediately after the conclusion of the agreement, greedy vigilantes dragged Igor into a new adventure, which this time did not even have the romantic splendor of a campaign against Constantinople. Having envied the youths of the governor Sveneld, who “disguised the essence of weapons and ports”, and, undoubtedly, regretting that they were not included in the expedition to the Caspian, in the interests of Byzantium, smashing the rich Arab cities, the warriors prompted the prince to rip off the Drevlyan tribe like a sticky one. Whether through his own folly or through someone's evil instigation, Igor decided that this was not enough. He, on reflection, said to his squad: "Go home with a tribute, and I will return and look again." The Drevlyans, led by their prince Mal, quite rightly judged that with such a practice of collecting tribute, they would soon die of hunger, and decided to take the risk. The reckless prince found his terrible end somewhere in the forests under Iskorosten. He was torn in two by birches, not even worthy of a decent burial. Olga and Svyatoslav were in Kiev at that time.

We open, perhaps, the most mysterious page in the life of St. Olga. Who does not remember from childhood the chilling, but in their own way, unusually poetic legends about the cruel revenge of the Drevlyans! The logic of the myth is bizarre, and sometimes behind a completely plausible story lies a work of folk fantasy, and, on the contrary, the inconceivable phantasmagoricity of the plot serves as almost the main proof of its authenticity - the impossible is not invented. It is hard to believe that the story of Olga's revenge is just a fiction. It is too non-standard for the rather formulaic form of the folk legend, and at the same time, it is quite realistic and specific. If this is a myth, then a myth in the sense that AF Losev attributed to this word is “in words this wonderful personal story” of the pagan Olga, a story that makes almost physically tangible the dark and eerie features of that very Slavic religion, which is now striving imagine almost a triumph of spiritual freedom and humanism.

Historians perceive Holguin's revenge as a fiction primarily because it logically and consistently reproduces the main features of the pagan funeral rite... For some reason, it follows from this that the story of revenge is nothing more than a fabulous interpretation of it. It is often forgotten that a man of archaic times took his religious duties extremely seriously, perhaps even more seriously than he should have. Igor died a pitiful prisoner and was simply buried in the ground without any funeral ceremony. According to Slavic beliefs, the afterlife fate of a person depended on his status at the time of death and on the splendor of the funeral. Who, if not beloved by Igor Olga, was to honor the memory of her late husband! And Olga, with all the zeal of a devout pagan, did everything in her power to pay her husband her last duty. In her revenge, she not only punished the rioters, but also consistently reproduced all parts of the funeral ritual.

According to the rules of a primitive military duel, the winner is the heir of the loser. And it was possible to ascend to the princely throne only by marrying the ruler's widow. According to this archaic custom, Mal acted when he sent 20 of the best Drevlyan husbands to woo Olga. The Drevlyans well knew the proud disposition of the Varangian princes and counted on nothing more than a truce and a postponement of the punitive expedition. However, Olga's reception exceeded all expectations. The princess not only calmly listened to the news of the death of her husband, but also favorably accepted the presentation of the matrimonial project: “Your speech is dear to me, - I can no longer resurrect my husband; but tomorrow I want to honor you before my people ”. This is where the ambassadors should think about. With her own words, Olga began the ritual of the wedding game, well known from archaic rituals and fairy tales: the groom gets the bride only after guessing her riddle, otherwise he loses his head. And the riddle had already been uttered: to “honor” someone in Slavic meant both “to show honor” and “to take revenge”, “to kill”. The Drevlyans never guessed any of Olga's riddles.

And the riddles continued: “Now go to your boat and lie down in your boat with pride, and in the morning I will send for you, you say: we are not riding horses, nor are we walking, but carry us in the boat; and they will take you up in the boat. " The ambassadors perceived this as a common part of the matchmaking rite, when matchmakers, in order to deceive the evil spirits, came “neither on foot, nor on a horse,” “not day or night,” entering the bride's hut, first talking about extraneous things, etc. But the meaning of the riddle was menacing. Neither on foot nor on horseback, but in a boat, in the hands of fellow tribesmen, a noble Russian followed to his last refuge. The rook was a traditional burial item for both the Slavs and Scandinavians. And so it happened the next morning: having brought the ambassadors to Holguin's yard, the Kievites threw them into a deep grave. “And, bowing to the pit, Olga asked them:“ Is your honor good? ” They answered: "We are more bitter than Igor's death." And she commanded them to fall asleep alive; and covered them up ”. Some chronicles add that the ambassadors were burned in the pit.

Revenge was just beginning. Soon Olga sent the Drevlyans a demand to send even better husbands to Kiev as matchmakers, they say, the Kievites would not let her go without an honorary escort. When the next group of Drevlyan aristocrats arrived for slaughter, the princess invited them to go to the bathhouse. It looked like an ordinary manifestation of concern for the guests. But the Drevlyans forgot that it was customary for the Slavs to heat the bathhouse for the deceased and put water on for ablution. Long after the baptism of Rus', the questionnaires and confessions kept the clause: “In Holy Saturday, and in Pentecost, when we create the memory of the departed, did you not order the baths to be drowned? " , and a penance was due. When the Drevlyans entered the bathhouse, they treated them as with the dead: they locked them up and burned them.

The third Olga's riddle was formulated more transparently than the first two: "Now I am coming to you, prepare many honey in the city where they killed my husband, but I will mourn at his grave and create a feast for my husband." Who would become a victim in the ritual sacrifice at Igor's grave - it was not hard to guess. The Drevlyans were not even alarmed by the fact that the princess directly called them murderers. When asked where the men sent for her to Kiev were, Olga made an excuse: "They are following." After the funeral lamentation, a mound was poured and a feast began, at which the Drevlyans got drunk. It's time for the funeral war game. And then Olga's squad brought down on the careless Drevlyans instead of ritual blows with swords - the real ones. “And they excised them five thousand. And Olga returned to Kiev and gathered an army for the rest ”.

Cunning riddles and bizarre pagan rites have been replaced by brutal but honest military force. Punitive troops led by Svyatoslav fell on the Drevlyansky land. In the very first battle, the rebels were crushed by the onslaught of the Kiev squad. A heavy tribute was laid on the defeated Drevlyans. Returning to Kiev, the princess suddenly found out that she had forgotten about one more funeral rite.

Returning with the consciousness of a fulfilled duty, Olga must have felt like the sole ruler of Russia. However, the pagan warriors who were striving for power from the entourage of Svyatoslav fiercely hated the influential princess, an ardent supporter of peace with Byzantium. To her, of course. did not forget the unexpected end of the campaign against Constantinople. And now the proud daughter of the Varangians, who so cleverly performed the Slavic memorial ritual, was directly, like a soldier, reminded that the wife, like a faithful slave, should follow her husband into the afterlife, and the sooner the better. It was simply indecent for Igor's beloved wife to stay alive. Still not old, full of ambitious plans, the princess had to strangle herself or cut her throat.

Olga found herself, as a modern philosopher would say, in an existential situation, when the last questions of life are exposed on the verge of despair and death. Mind, heart, will to live - the whole being of the princess protested against the senseless end. What looked necessary and natural when viewed from the outside turned out to be a cruel absurdity in relation to herself. Why do Igor and the gods need this senseless sacrifice? Is it true that behind the grave Olga is waiting for the carefree life of the princess - or, perhaps, retribution for the reprisal against the Drevlyans? Before that, Olga did not have to seriously think about the justice of the traditional views on death and posthumous existence. And they were already shaken by order in the motley and multinational Kiev. Olga must have heard the speeches of both the Khazar Jews and the Arabs of Mohammedans more than once. The princess constantly communicated with the Kiev Christians, among whom there were many of her fellow tribesmen, who turned their backs on Odin and Thor. They all said that in the afterlife, a person's position is determined not by wealth and nobility, not by the splendor of the funeral and the number of victims, but by good deeds. Murderers, liars and traitors, if they do not repent, will face terrible torment in the next world. And conscience, not completely twisted by pagan fanaticism, undoubtedly, more than once reminded Olga that there was no justification for her atrocities against the Drevlyans. In the face of unexpected "voluntary" death, especially when there is something to blame yourself for, the world seems gloomy and meaningless. Before Olga's eyes there should have been a terrible picture of the burial of a noble Rus, as described by the Arab traveler Ibn Fadlan. After the death of her husband, while preparations are underway for the funeral, a woman doomed to death should have fun, feast, move from tent to tent, surrendering to her fellow tribesmen, after which each of them utters a sacramental phrase that he did it solely out of love and respect for the deceased ... on the day of the funeral, they bring the Rus resting in the boat ... The boat is filled with gold, jewels, silks and is filled with the blood of sacrificial animals ... They kill slaves ... A staggering, very drunk woman is brought to the boat. There is senseless horror in her eyes ... A tall, broad-shouldered old woman in a black robe - the "angel of death" awaits her ... time: “These are all my dead relatives ...” In the third: “Here I see my master sitting in the garden, and the garden is beautiful and green, and men and youths are with him, here he is calling me - so lead me to him ...” Her put on a boat and give a farewell cup of wine, over which she sings a funeral hymn ... She tries to sing as long as possible, but the old woman hurries her menacingly ... She is led into the deceased's hut by the arms, she tries to escape, but in vain ... Six relatives of the deceased are exercising their right to love next to the corpse of the deceased ... There is a rumble of tambourines, designed to drown out the screams of the murdered woman ... Men strangle her with a thick rope, and the old woman methodically thrust a knife under each rib ... It's all over. The fire in a few minutes turns their bodies and unnecessary wealth to dust. And those standing around rejoice in the strong wind, which will quickly carry the souls of the dead to the afterlife.

... But what if the Truth is for Christians? Their God does not require bloody sacrifices - on the contrary, He Himself became a victim, descended to earth and accepted a shameful death in order to save people from evil and the power of Satan. Christ promises to those who believe in Him not just consolation beyond the grave, but the Resurrection and real life... Such a God, of course, will not leave in difficult times.

There is also something else in Christianity that finally pushed Olga to the decision to be baptized: Christian law prohibits suicide, the thought of which her soul resolutely opposed. However, will she be able to stay alive while the people of Svyatoslav are in power? Will not a very fragile state ruin a son inclined to adventures? It was necessary to go to Constantinople in order to be baptized there and receive support not only from Kiev Christians, but also from Byzantium. This was the only way Olga could save her soul, save her life and regain power.

The chronicle calls the emperor who baptized Olga, Konstantin, the son of Leonov (Constantine VII Porfirogenet, - Porphyrogenitus), and the date of baptism is 955. treatise "De ceremoniis Aulae" about Olga's two receptions in the palace. However, it was surprising that the porphyry author did not say a word about the baptism of the pagan princess. At the same time, as G. Ostrogorsky convincingly showed, having carefully analyzed the rite of the reception, Olga was received at court as a Christian. To explain these contradictions, many elegant scientific theories were invented: the emperor described the technique as a model for the future, and it was inappropriate to talk about baptism; Olga was baptized in Kiev in secret, on the eve of the trip; there were two trips, in 955 and 957, and not one; Olga was baptized in 959 in Kiev, etc. An analysis of the sources provides very little support for these concepts.

GG Litavrin finally confused everything, in the early 80s. who proved on the basis of a thorough analysis of Constantine's story that Olga went to Constantinople not in 957, but in 946. There were no serious attempts to challenge this dating, they simply preferred to ignore it. But in the place of the former structures there was a gaping void. GG Litavrin himself tried to fill it in, challenging Ostrogorsky's opinion about Olga's Christianity at the time of his meeting with Constantine VII. He suggested a second trip to Constantinople in 955, when Olga was baptized by the Patriarch. This concept appears neither well founded by the sources nor convincing.

A witty and unexpectedly decisive hypothesis was proposed by OM Rapov: Olga was baptized in 944 by the emperor Roman I Lacapenus. We will try to substantiate this opinion.

It is generally accepted that the name of the emperor “Konstantin son of Leonov”, contained in the Laurentian list of PVL, is the original reading. Meanwhile, PVL researchers have long proven that in the oldest text the name of the emperor was not at all, and in some sources the emperor is called Roman.

The chronicle date is usually taken to be credible; special importance is attached to the coincidence of the date with the indication of “Remembrance and Praise” by Jacob Mnich that Olga died in 969, having lived as a Christian for 15 years. However, historians are well aware that chronicle dates can not always be perceived as an absolute chronology. As for the coincidence of PVL and “Memory and Praise”, it can be noted that in Praise to Olga, which constitutes an independent section of this work, literary historians have discovered undoubted interpolations. The whole story about the “miracle with a little window” is also a later revision, followed by a chronological indication. The date of 15 years was calculated by the interpolator based on the same PVL.

Finally, the story of the emperor's matchmaking in the text of the chronicle is sometimes perceived as a mischievous invention introduced by the chronicler. However, let us ask ourselves a question: which of the Byzantine emperors could have planned a marriage with Olga? Both Constantine and Roman II were married. But Roman I Lacapenus was widowed back in 937! The political benefits from the personal union of Russia and Byzantium were colossal for the empire.

The German chronicler, the successor of Reginon Pryumsky, directly says that Olga "was baptized in Constantinople under the Emperor of Constantinople Romanes." Given the generally accepted attribution of this chronology to Adalbert, the unfortunate bishop of Rus' who spent a year in Kiev, it can hardly be assumed that the chronicler confused Constantine VII with his son Roman II, who had recently ascended the throne. Adalbert was knowledgeable enough for this.

If we accept the version that Olga was greeted in Constantinople in 946 as a Christian, then the silence of Constantine VII about baptism becomes simply inexplicable. He began to reign in 945, and already in 946 Olga was baptized. We cannot predict another visit to Constantinople in the summer of 945, but regarding the baptism in Kiev, G. G. Litavrin rightly remarked: “No matter how ingenious this or that hypothesis may be, it should not contradict the testimony of all sources without exception.” This is exactly the case with the Kiev theory. Everything falls into place if we assume that Olga was baptized in 944 by Roman I. Constantine had no need to mention in the treatise an event two years ago, and even with the participation of the hated father-in-law-usurper.

Fundamentally important is the instruction of the Byzantine chronicler Skylitsa: “And the wife of a Russian archon who once set out on a voyage against the Romans, named Elga, when her husband died, sailed to Constantinople. Baptized and given preference to the true faith, she, after choosing (this) a high honor, returned home. " This message is placed at the beginning of the reign of Constantine VII. It may mean that the baptized Olga arrived in Constantinople in 946 and was awarded a high honor. It is interesting for us that the princess was baptized soon after her husband's death.

They may object to us that for Olga it was purely physically impossible to be in Constantinople in 944: PVL dates the death of Igor to 945, and the end of the struggle with the Drevlyans in 946. It is mentioned that all summer after Igor's death Olga stood near Iskorosten. However, after a scientifically grounded re-dating of the campaign against the Greeks (943), all the chronicle dates are shifted. If we take into account that the Old Russian year began on September 1, then there is nothing impossible in the fact that in the fall of 943 (944 according to Art. Style) an agreement was concluded with the Greeks, in the winter Igor was killed, and the spring went to reprisal the Drevlyans. The mention of the siege of Iskorosten, which lasted all summer, does not matter for us here, since this is one of the later insertions into the text of the chronicle. Thus. in the summer and autumn of 944 it was quite possible for Olga and, most importantly, it was urgently necessary to be in Constantinople.

In summer or autumn, St. Olga arrived in Constantinople to the court of Emperor Romanus Lacapenus. Despite her desperate situation, the basileus accepted her favorably. The request for baptism and the proposal for an alliance greatly delighted the emperor. He exclaimed: "Will I proclaim this word to the Patriarch!" ... The elevation of the Christian princess to the Kiev throne by the Byzantine troops would immediately provide the empire with a powerful and loyal ally. But even more attractive seemed to the widow emperor the prospect of marrying an archontissa of the Russians, unusually intelligent and still beautiful. Personal union with the power of the Romans would immediately include Russia in the economic and political system empire. The christianization carried out by the princess-basilissa would have been accomplished quickly and painlessly. Instead of strong and dangerous rivals of the Vizantia, the Rus would have turned into civilians of the imperial outskirts.

Princess Olga - "I am a pagan, baptize me yourself"

Olga was well aware of the threat to Russia posed by the unexpected sympathy of the emperor. However, her position was not such that one could outright refuse. The princess, as always, found an unexpected and witty way out. “She, on reflection, answered the king:“ I am a pagan; if you want to baptize me, then baptize me yourself, otherwise I will not be baptized. " An ordinary sailor who reached the royal porphyry, “Mr. Roman Vasilevs was a simple and illiterate person who did not belong<…>to those who from the very beginning followed the Roman customs ... ”The emperor, most likely, did not know about the church ban on marriage between godfather and goddaughter. Therefore, he did not notice the catch in Olga's words.

Soon, in the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople, Emperor Roman and his son Patriarch Theophylact accomplished what Olga sailed to Constantinople for. The first of the Russian princely house, St. Olga was baptized with the name Elena, in honor of the mother of Constantine the Great. This name contained a whole program of actions for the conversion of Rus to Christianity. Perfectly understanding the importance of what had happened, the Patriarch turned to the holy princess with words that can be called the Annunciation to the Russian people: “Blessed are you in the wives of the Russians, for you loved the light and left the darkness. The sons of Russians will bless you before last generations your grandchildren. " St. Olga stood “like a lip soldered”, delving into the commandments of the Christian faith and into the beginning of moral teaching. Listening to the Patriarch's instructions on prayer, fasting, abstinence and observance of the church charter, she took especially close to her heart the demand for generous alms. It is with Olga that the tradition of combining zealous government controlled with a wide-ranging charity. And in this area the work started by St. Olga, was taken up and brought to an unprecedented scale by St. Vladimir.

However, political interests were not forgotten either. For Russia, which, according to the hope of St. Olga, was soon to become a Christian, it was necessary to ensure a worthy place in the Christian world. The emperor was greatly disappointed to learn that the princess had managed to carry him out and that marriage between them was impossible, but his desire to establish a close alliance with Russia did not diminish. The novel "gave her numerous gifts - gold, and silver, and pavoloks, and various vessels." These funds were enough to recruit a solid military detachment from the Varangians who served there in Constantinople. With such powers, the return of the throne became quite real. But allied relations went further. The emperor named Olga his “daughter”. It was more than an honorary title. The fact that Roman became the princess's successor was an exceptional success. Prior to this, the emperor was considered the godfather only among the Bulgarian Vasilevs. Now the rivalry with Bulgaria for primacy in the Byzantine community has gone further. Russian rulers from the last place in the system of international relations of the empire, determined by the title ocpxoov, moved to the first - υιοζ βασιλεωζ. Roman Lakapin, who consistently oppressed and humiliated the weakening Bulgarian kingdom, clearly wanted to convey its role in the commonwealth of powerful and, moreover, separated from the empire by a great distance, Russia.

Delighted with such extraordinary success, which greatly increased her chances in the struggle for the Kiev throne, St. Olga went to a farewell conversation with the Patriarch. She brought a precious dish to Hagia Sophia, possibly taken from the imperial gifts. In 1252 he was still carefully kept in Constantinople, where he was seen by the Russian pilgrim Dobrynya Yadreykovich, the future Archbishop Anthony of Novgorod. In his notes, he noted: “The dish is great, the service gold of Olga Ruskoy, when she took a tribute, she went to the Tsar-city. In Olzhin's dish there is a precious stone, on the same stone Christ is written; and from that Christ people emit seals for all good; in the same dish everything was done with pearls on the top ”. In the conversation of St. Olga said anxiously: "My people and my son are pagans - may God keep me from all evil." She was clearly worried about the fate of the upcoming expedition to Kiev. But the Patriarch reassured her: “Faithful child! You were baptized into Christ, and you put on Christ, and Christ will keep you, as He did.<…>Moses from Pharaoh, David from Saul, three youths from the furnace, Daniel from beasts - so He will deliver you from the wiles of the devil and from his snares. " Encouraged by the Patriarch, St. The princess returned to Kiev, where she faced a difficult struggle with the pagans for power and for the fate of Christianity in Russia.

We do not know how the political upheaval in Kiev took place. He did not result in a serious armed civil strife - otherwise his traces would not have disappeared from the sources at all, and the relationship between mother and son would have been hopelessly ruined. Apparently, diplomatic Olga managed to convince her son that it is not safe to make enemies in the person of the emperor and all Kiev Christians. In the face of an army far superior to the strength of his squad, Svyatoslav chose to yield. Undoubtedly, he hoped for the speedy death of his already elderly mother. But St. God let Olga go for another quarter of a century, of which 15 years she was the sole ruler of Kiev.

State concerns immediately fell upon the princess, which she skillfully combined with the service of the Good News. The incident with Igor showed that the disorder of the tax system contributes to robbery and rebellion, and the very possibility of the murder of the prince testified to the weak centralization of the state. And St. Olga travels around the whole of Russia, establishing "lessons and graveyards" - the sizes and places of collecting tribute, along the way strengthening her power in remote areas. Only in a sufficiently strong state could baptism be carried out quickly and without internal shocks. The authors of the Lives highlight another aspect of her reformatory activity: fixing the size of the tribute was accompanied by its significant relief and more equitable redistribution. Christian charity immediately left its stamp on all the activities of St. Olga. Later, Jacob Mnih, in his praise, will describe with admiration how she lived, “adorned with alms, clothed the naked, fed the thirsty, contemplating strangers and showing mercy to every widow and orphan and beggar, and giving everyone what they need with quietness and love of heart”.

According to the Book of the Degree, Olga “walked around the cities and towns throughout the entire Russia of the earth, preaching piety to all people and teaching them the faith of Christ.<…>tributes and dues are light, scandalous, and idols are crushing, and on idol places Christ's crosses are delivered ”. We do not know how wide the scope of St. Olga. Her sermon was undoubtedly localized. However, the destruction of pagan temples, most likely, did not go beyond the limits of her personal possessions (however, very extensive). St. Olga did not try to use force for the baptism of Rus, knowing how fierce the resistance of the pagans would be, and not considering the whip as the best preacher of the Gospel. She was soon to understand that without a church organization independent of the Greeks, the adoption of Christianity by Russia as its own, national religion is inconceivable. Baptism of Bulgarians by St. Boris was accomplished relatively quickly and painlessly, not least because he managed to get the Byzantines to grant autocephaly to the Bulgarian archdiocese. A close alliance with Roman I, it would seem, promised such an opportunity. But another unexpected change took place in Constantinople.

Turn

Olga spent the whole summer of 945 at Iskorosten, fighting with the rebellious Drevlyans. It must have been there that ambassadors from Byzantium arrived with the message that on December 16, 944, Roman was overthrown and sent into exile by his own sons. Konstantin Porphyrogenitus, who had been pushed into the background in the 1920s, soon returned to power. In the event of a change of power in one of the allied countries, the Byzantine diplomatic order demanded the renegotiation of treaties. Olga decided to take this opportunity to go to Constantinople again and resolve the issues that worried her personally with the emperor.

This time, in addition to creating an independent church organization in Russia, Olga dreamed of strengthening her international authority. Apparently, she was guided by the idea of ​​“bypassing” Svyatoslav, who had a strong antipathy to Christianity. Her plans included marrying her son to Byzantine princess... A marriage with a porphyry princess would immediately raise the prestige of the Russian sovereign, and the obstinate prince would be forced to be baptized. Together with him, the squad would be baptized, and then the whole country. Olga repeatedly told Svyatoslav, who feared ridicule on the part of the soldiers if Christianity was adopted: "If you are baptized, then everyone will do the same." Clearing the way to this marriage, Olga separated her son from his beloved Malusha, who just shortly before gave birth to Vladimir (if you believe the chronicle message, according to which in 1015 Vladimir was a little over 70). And although according to pagan customs there was nothing illegal in their marriage, the princess exiled her slave to Vybutovo.

Olga prepared thoroughly for the trip to Constantinople. The princess wanted this time to appear before the emperor in all the splendor of her power. The caravan, which departed in early summer from Kiev, consisted of dozens of ships, which accommodated 1,500 people. The suite included the wives of the rulers of all the largest centers of Russia, including at least 6 princesses. Olga was accompanied by several dozen ambassadors and merchants, representatives of the Kiev boyars. The expedition was commanded by her somewhat mysterious relative, whom Konstantin calls anepy - nephew. We cannot assume that Svyatoslav himself is hiding under this name. There was no point in not naming the heir to Constantine. Maybe it was the mysterious brother of Svyatoslav - Uleb, who is mentioned in general by the little reliable Joachim Chronicle? His traces are also preserved in Igor's treaty with the Greeks. There, in one of the first places, Ulebov's wife is mentioned, a very influential person. Uleb himself is not, although the mention is made of the ambassador "Uleb from Volodislav." It is possible that this place should be read "Volodislav from Uleb", since the chronicler could distort the text of the treaty in order to hide the unpleasant story that happened in the prince's house: Uleb was killed by his brother for professing Christianity.

The first disappointments awaited Olga immediately upon arrival in Constantinople. The deposed Roman's ally, who had arrived with a huge fleet, was greeted with incredulity. Then Olga recalled with bitter resentment how she had been kept in the harbor for several weeks before being admitted to Constantinople. Gradually, however, everything was settled. Kiev diplomats managed to achieve exceptional privileges for the princess. When on September 9, 946, a solemn reception took place in the magnificent hall - Magnavre, Olga approached the emperor, not supported, as usual, by two eun-ears. Instead of relying on proskinesis, the princess greeted the emperor with a slight bow and talked to him while standing. Among the frescoes in the tower of St. Sophia of Kiev, which, as S.A. Vysotsky managed to prove relatively recently, depict Olga's visit to Constantinople, a scene of a reception at the emperor has been preserved. The princess in stemma and white maforia stands before the emperor alone, without the accompaniment of eunuchs. The artist recorded one more detail: instead of crossing his arms over his chest as a sign of obedience, St. Olga holds them with her palms raised to the viewer. On the one hand, this gesture should fix her independence, on the other, it is the application of Prince Yaroslav, the customer of the paintings, for the canonization of her great-grandmother. The blessed are usually depicted on icons with their palms facing the viewer.

In the evening, a feast was given in honor of the princess. Olga received the right to sit at the same table with the Zostas - the highest court ladies who had the privilege of dining with the emperor. Thus, St. Olga received the same privilege. The atmosphere in the presence of the princess was already so family-like that the empress seated her seven-year-old daughter-in-law Bertha, who was uncomfortable eating, sitting on her child's throne, with her on the throne of Theophilus. When dessert was served, Olga found herself at the same table with the imperial family and again talked with the basileus. After the feast, Olga's retinue, divided according to the model of the Byzantine court into seven categories, were presented with the imperial "gifts of generosity." Among the modestly gifted was a certain presbyter Gregory, who apparently gave spiritual guidance to the Christians from Olga's retinue. People of Svyatoslav, whether by the princess's neglect or by the dislike of the Byzantines, came to the penultimate place, having received 5 miarisia each. The princess herself was presented with 500 miliarises in a golden bowl with jewels - a modest amount, but still considerable.

Duchess Olga. Disappointment

But ahead of St. Olga was mostly expected to be disappointed. She was taken around Constantinople, the emperor invited her to the hippodrome, which is also depicted in the frescoes of Hagia Sophia. However, all this was done only in order to sweeten the proud princess the bitter pill of the collapse of all her hopes. Allied agreements were renegotiated, trade negotiations were successful. Olga promised the emperor "howl for help" for the forthcoming expedition to recapture Crete from the Arabs (which ended in failure in 949). However, she was denied church autocephaly. The unity of the Eastern Churches under the despotic rule of the Patriarch of Constantinople was the idee fixe of the Byzantines. The marriage project also failed. Konstantin VII, a fanatical nenaist of the "barbarians" and an adherent of the purity of porphyrogenic blood, refused his daughter's hand, referring to the mythical prohibition of Constantine the Great to extradite princesses abroad. Later, apparently referring to Olga's matchmaking, Constantine instructed his son: “If ever the people of any of these unfaithful and wicked northern tribes asked for kinship through marriage with the Basileus of the Romans, i.e. either to receive his daughter as a wife, or to give his daughter to the basileus as a wife or to the son of a basileus, you should also reject this unreasonable request of theirs<…>never let the vasilevs romeev become related through marriage with the people adherent to special and alien customs ... ”. Even the title of “daughter of the basileus” was not retained for Olga. In her essay On Ceremonies, Porphyrogenet stubbornly refers to her as archontissa.

The farewell reception on October 18 was already cold and tense. This time, the princess's retinue was divided only into four categories, and Olga herself was given an amount of only 200 miliary. Representatives of the unlucky groom Svyatoslav were simply not invited. However, these small injections were for St. Olga is nothing in comparison with the main blow: the short-sightedness of the imperial court threatened the baptism of Russia.

Returning to Kiev, St. Olga still did not lose hope and continued to prepare the ground for the adoption of Christianity. She starts building churches. Olga was the first to start the competition between Kiev and Constantinople. The calendar of the "Apostle" in 1307 under May 11 contains the following entry: "On the same day, the consecration of St. Sophia to Kiev in the summer of 6460" (925). This news is confirmed by the Joachim Chronicle and the German chronicler Titmar of Merseburg. In Kiev, its own, still wooden, St. Sophia Cathedral appeared, and the Sophia Monastery founded by the princess was supposed to become a Christian cultural center and a supplier of personnel for the future Russian Church. Olga bequeathed her native Vybutskaya to the cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos, built nearby, and in Pskov, after a vision she had, she ordered to erect a church in honor of the Holy Trinity.

The missionary preaching of Saint Olga sowed the seeds of Christianity in the most remote regions of Russia. Small Christian communities sprang up everywhere. Even in the citadel of paganism - Svyatoslav's squad, many were baptized. Svyatoslav, “if anyone was going to be baptized, he did not prohibit, but only laughed at him,” but he himself was adamant, and to all the persuasions of his mother he answered only that for unbelievers “the Christian foolishness is faith”. The prince was not going to change the free life of a pagan Viking for the joy of life in Christ, which is shy for him. He was waiting for the moment when seventy-year-old Olga would cede power to him. The princess understood this and strove to carry out the baptism of Rus as soon as possible: only in this case it was possible not to fear for the fate of the sprouts of Christian life that she had planted.

But in Constantinople they were still deaf to the hopes of the mission among the Rus. This caused somewhere in the mid-50s. the gap between St. Olga and the emperor. When Constantine, in need of urgent military assistance against the Arabs, sent a reminder of allied obligations to Kiev, Olga dismissed the ambassadors, recalling the humiliations she endured in the Constantinople harbor. Convinced of the futility of hopes in the Greeks, the princess decided to try her luck in the West, with the Latins.

Under 959 in the chronicle of the successor of Reginon Pryumski there is an entry: "They came to the king, - as it turned out later, in a deceitful way, - the ambassadors of Helena the Queen of Rugi, who was baptized in Constantinople under the Emperor of Constantinople Romanus, and asked to consecrate a bishop and priests for this people." ... This message is so unusual that many, for example, A. V. Kartashev, out of falsely understood Orthodox patriotism, refused to believe in the possibility of such a step on the part of St. Olga. However, the fact remains: the princess sent ambassadors to the Saxon king Otto I, who was preparing to become the German emperor, with a request to establish a bishopric; this implied her autocephalous status. Olga hoped that Otto, a zealous missionary among the Slavs, would agree to such conditions. However, in the West, they never heard of autonomies, and therefore, without thinking twice, they simply made the monk Libucius the Russian bishop. However, his departure to Kiev was delayed. The Byzantines reacted very nervously to the intervention of the Germans in Russian affairs and instantly broke off relations with Saxony. Otto decided to use the issue of the Russian bishopric by blackmailing the Greeks with it in the struggle for the recognition of his imperial title. Libucius died before reaching his diocese, and in 961 he was replaced by the notary of the royal chancellery, brother Adalbert. He immediately departed for the place, but the next year he returned back, “for he did not have time in anything, why he was sent, and saw his efforts in vain; on the way back, some of his companions were killed, but he himself, with great difficulty, barely escaped. "

It is not clear from the message of the hapless “Russian” bishop what happened in Kiev and ruined all his plans. It is possible that St. Olga, making sure that Adalbert did not bring the longed-for autocephaly, again placed her hopes on Byzantium. This seems to be evidenced by the fact that in 961 the Russians took part in the expedition of the commander Nikifor Phocas to Crete. But something else is not excluded. The decisive and intolerant methods of implanting Christianity inherent in German missionaries caused an explosion of indignation among the pagan party in Kiev. Olga had to give up power to her son. From about the beginning of the 60s. Svyatoslav regains his leading role in the Russian political arena. St. Olga goes into private life, devoting herself to raising her grandchildren, so that they can continue the work of Christianizing Rus. She pinned special hopes on the elder, Yaropolk. Worst of all, by the irony of history, the situation was with the youngest, Vladimir: in his family, for a long time they could not forgive the grandmother for Malusha's exile.

Duchess Olga. The role of the ruler of the State

Svyatoslav embarked on long-planned military adventures, crushing one after another of Russia's trading competitors. He completely forgot about Kiev, and Olga had to take on the usual role of the ruler of the state during his field absences. The land, abandoned by the prince to the mercy of fate, became an easy prey for the predatory nomads who flooded the Eastern European steppes after the "brilliant" defeat by Svyatoslav of the Khazaria, which had hitherto held them back. “In the year 968. The Pechenegs came to the Russian land for the first time, and Svyatoslav was then in Pereyaslavets ...”. St. Olga had to lead the defense of Kiev. The city was saved by a miracle, only thanks to a trick that we can confidently attribute to the princess. Voivode Pretich, having crossed to the city from the other bank of the Dnieper, told the khan that he was leading the rearguard of the returning Svyatoslav. The name of the invincible warrior worked, and the Pechenegs retreated. And the people of Kiev sent the prince a bitter reproach: “You, prince, are looking for a foreign land and you care about it, but you left yours, and the Pechenegs, and your mother, and your children almost took us. If you don’t come and protect us, they will take us. Don't you feel sorry for your fatherland, your old mother, your children? "

The ashamed Svyatoslav quickly returned and defeated the Pechenegs. However, he soon got bored of Kiev again. Confident of an imminent victory over the hated Byzantium and the creation of a great Eastern European empire, he decided to leave the inhospitable Dnieper expanses and move the capital to Pereyaslavets on the Danube. St. Olga no longer had the strength or desire to contradict her son, whose near and inglorious end she foresaw. The only thing she asked Svyatoslav for was to wait for her approaching death: "When you bury me, go wherever you want." “Three days later Olga died, and her son and her grandchildren and all the people wept for her with great lamentation…”. She departed to the Lord on July 11. With her death, not only the Kievan Christians, who had lost their powerful patroness, felt themselves orphaned, but also the pagans, to whom the saint generously, without counting, gave alms. During her peaceful and wise reign, a whole generation of Kievites has grown up.

They buried her unusually for Kiev princes modestly and quietly. There were neither fabulous riches in the coffin, nor ritual funeral laments. The princess categorically forbade funeral feasts, hypocrisy, and the creation of a mound over her grave; she ordered only the sending of gold to Constantinople to the Patriarch for the commemoration of the soul. Christian priests buried her with prayers and hymns, which were still unusual for the people of Kiev, about the place of rest, "if there is no illness, no sorrow, no sighing."

After passing away

A quarter of a century after the blessed death of St. Olga, when her prediction about the imminent baptism of Russia came true, St. Vladimir extracted from the earth the relics of his grandmother, which were incorruptible, and solemnly transferred them to the Tithe Church. They were placed in an open tomb and soon became one of the most important Kiev shrines, from which many suffering ones received healing. During the years of the Mongol invasion, the relics were hidden underground and were rediscovered only in the 17th century. Metropolitan Peter Mogila. However, in the 18th century, at the time of the latent persecution of relics, the Synod again withdrew them under government pressure, without vouching for their authenticity. Canonization of St. Olga took place somewhere at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, quietly and inconspicuously, without any formal act - there was never any doubt about her sanctity.

The feat of Saint Olga, perhaps, is not so noticeable and loud as the real revolution carried out in Russia by St. Vladimir. She was not destined to see Christian Rus. But it is probably not for nothing that the compilers of the "Book of Degrees" placed the extensive life of the princess in the first place - outside the degrees. And it is no coincidence that a modest but emphatic veneration of the saint has always been preserved in Russia. Without her labor of growing the seeds of faith on Russian soil, such a quick and stunning victory of Christianity under St. Vladimir. Her efforts to implement the full-fledged entry of Rus into the Byzantine community laid the foundation for the most powerful influence of Byzantine culture, which shaped the Russian culture. Such traits of the spiritual appearance of the first Russian saint as wisdom, calmness alien to exaltation, the ability to both prayerful deeds and to state and cultural creativity, forever determined the archetype of Russian holiness. That is why “sons of Russia, until the last descendants of grandchildren” will cherish her eternal memory and gratitude to the great prayer book for the Russian land in their hearts.

Accepted abbreviations:

PVL - The Tale of Bygone Years;

PSRL - Complete collection of Russian chronicles;

BB - Byzantine timeline;

VI - Questions of history;

VDI - Herald of Ancient History.

July 24 - Day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga. As the wife of Grand Duke Igor, after his assassination, she directed all her energies to governing the state and serving him. In 954, Olga made a religious pilgrimage to Constantinople, associated with an important state mission. In the city of Constantinople, she was Baptized, her name was named Helen, and the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus became her godfather. When she returned, she began to build the first temples and preach the Christian doctrine. And although it was given with difficulty, she converted many people to faith. Even her grandson, Prince Vladimir, who later baptized Russia, was baptized just after her example.

Princess Olga became the first Christian of the Russian rulers, having done this even before the Baptism of Rus. The Orthodox honor the memory of this wise ruler and creator of the culture of Kievan Rus. Olga was numbered among the saints in 1547.

Happy Olga's Day - the beautiful princess!
Be wise, beautiful and domineering.
Let your decisions in life
All will be true, no doubt.

Let the men look with delight
As if you yourself are a princess.
And may your main wealth
There will be female happiness.

Olga, Olga, less sorrow,
Today is your angel's day.
They called you this name in childhood,
This choice has determined your character.

Olga is usually very stubborn
But they achieve everything in life.
Not dependent on anyone, directly
They go to their goal, in spite of obstacles.

Above all, always be happy.
We appreciate you, you are our star!
May the angel keep you from adversity
Let happiness pursue you on your heels.

Congratulations on Olga's Day, on the feast of the holy virgin who created great culture and the statehood of Russia. I wish you the same strong strength, wise decisions, gallant character, fair soul and sensitive heart, like a beautiful princess. Let everything succeed in life, let the heart be full of love, and the soul - strong faith.

Congratulations today, Olya,
On the day of a wonderful name day.
You wear the name of a nice lady
The best of the princesses.

May Saint Olga always
Will be close behind.
In a moment of happiness and an hour of sorrow
Let her be with you.

Be successful and healthy
Believe, hope and love.
May wishes come true
And all your ideas.

Olya, I wish to be the happiest
May Saint Olga take care of you!
Love and of course always be loved
Let your beauty bloom forever!

May your angel's day give good luck
Many smiles, kindness, positive,
Lots of health and money to boot,
To make everything in life turn out beautifully!

I wish that the angel kept from misfortunes.
And luck was easy in life.
And every day would light up with happiness.
Trouble and worries have gone far.

It is no accident that you were named Olya.
You are very stubborn, but that is why you are strong.
On Olga's Day, I wish to get away from sadness.
And drink your joy to the very bottom!

On this day I wish, Olya,
Good and kindness to you.
There was happiness so that
How lovely flowers.

Your angel protects
And on the right path leads.
Olga is so bright
May you be lucky in everything!

Olenka, beauty,
Happy holiday to you!
May everything always work out
And, slowly,
Happy life is pouring
Full of wonders!
You live beautiful
Right now and here.
Let love entangle
Heart only with warmth
And the good will envelop
Your beautiful home!

Olga, today is your day,
May joy be with you!
Don't ever shed tears
Smile more merrily.

Let life take care of you
God will light a fire in your soul.
Let the fear and pain disappear
Open your heart to happiness!

Beautiful name Olga
You carry it proudly through life.
And like a princess worthy
And you behave modestly.

I wish you this holiday
Always stay like this
And no matter how fate breaks,
Let kindness reign in your soul.

Let us honor the memory of Olga, the great princess.
She has not been forgotten, has not become faceless.
For the fact that she created culture
Yes, temples, in order to preserve the faith, erected,
Russia canonized Olga among the Saints.
And we wish you in our prayers
Always praise the benefactress,
Remember her and read her.
Beautiful and pure faith for you for centuries,
Various miracles - in reality and in dreams.
We have a protector in heaven.

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 of the Russian rulers 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 establishment of Christianity in Russia and the bright features of Western civilization. The Grand Duchess went down in history as the 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.

Basic information about Olga's life, recognized as reliable, is contained in the "Tale of Bygone Years", the Life from the Book of Degrees, the hagiographic work of the monk Jacob "Memory and Praise to Prince Volodimer of Russia" 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 even before Prince Rurik). She was born in the Pskov land, in the village of Vybuty, 12 km from Pskov up the Velikaya River, into a pagan family from the Izborsky 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. Having decided 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 fleshly 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... 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, in Kiev they arranged a bridal show of beautiful girls 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 a 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 to Olga, aging Olegbegan to diligently make sacrifices 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, the heir to Prince Igor 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, they 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.

Princess Olga's foreign policy 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. The son of Olga, the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich, also stayed in paganism.

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 temples: 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 Deity" - on the banks 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. Duchess 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). Most 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 other holy women in Christian history have received such an honor (Mary Magdalene, First Martyr Thekla, Martyr Apphia, Queen Helena Equal of the Apostles and Enlightener of Georgia Nina).

The memory of the 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 politics, therefore, for a long time, the people retained a good memory of her: the princess carried out an administrative and tax reform that eased the situation of ordinary people and streamlined life in the state.

Saint 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 are immortal, / the same and from the Angels rejoices, equal to the apostles, your spirit.

In kontakion 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 run to you with faith and pray with love: wake us in everything for the good of a helper and a henchman 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, offend and assailed to intercede, delusions from the right faith and heresies blinded by reason, and ask us from the All-Blessed God all the good and useful life that is temporary and eternal, so that we will be happy with the inheritance here. 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".