St. Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles

I have often said that if it were not for St. Vladimir, most of us would not be Orthodox today. In my case, my families relationship with Orthodoxy, or at least Byzantine Catholicism, comes from the fact that they are Russian, and Orthodoxy, at least at the point when my family came to America, was a large part of being Russian.


For those who may not know, here is an abbreviated history of the Holy Great Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles, Baptizer of Rus. St. Vladimir was born around the year 960 and was the grandson of the great Princess Olga, who was the first to convert to Orthodox Christianity. As a prince of Rus, we was a fierce pagan, and came to power as Prince of Kiev through the defeat of his own brothers. But, realizing that there were other religions in the world, he sent envoys to investigate Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, and Byzantine Orthodoxy. When the envoys returned from Constantinople, where they attended the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), they told St. Vladimir that "knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth." When the Byzantine Empire was under attack in 987, they joined forces with St. Vladimir, under the condition that the sister of the Byzantine Emperor would become Vladimir's wife. The Byzantines agreed if Vladimir would send troops and be baptized. When the Byzantine Emperor did not keep his part of the bargain, Vladimir took troops to Korsun and took the city until the Byzantine Emperor gave in. With his new wife, Anna, Vladimir also inhereited the title Tsar, and the Byzantine Imperial Insignia.

Upon returning to Kiev, St. Vladimir oversaw the single most important event in the history of Russia, the Baptism of Rus. By declaring "If anyone does not go into the river tomorrow, be they rich or poor, beggar or slave, that one shall be my enemy," he set the path for the next 900 years of Russia's history. He is remembered for his unification of the Russian lands, and for destroying pagan idols and temples throughout the land, replacing them with churches. He also converted many of his enemies to Orthodoxy and required theological education for the children in his lands.

St. Vladimir also had to deal with many enemies from throughout his land, and eventually was at war with his own son. He died of illness on July 15, 1015.

Today Russia, even after the communist period, is the largest Christian country in the world following one form of Christianity, and it is from Russia that many of Orthodoxy's greatest missionaries (St. Nicholas of Japan; Ss. Herman, Tikhon, Innocent, etc. of America) began their missionary journey. This shows the influence that St. Vladimir's decision would later have on the spread of Orthodoxy, especially in America, where the Russian church ruled until the Bolshevik revolution, thereby leading me to again say, many of us would not be Orthodox today, if not for St. Vladimir.

July

It's been a while since I posted something. Here you go.

The first week of July is an important one for me. My wife’s birthday and my daughter’s nameday are both in that week, as well as Independence Day, which is part of my favorite period of U.S. history.

But another reason is that there are some very important saints that are commemorated in this week. Here is just a very short introduction to them.

July 2nd – St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco (Also known as St. John Maximovitch). St. John was born in Russia in 1896. During his episcopacy, he served in Shanghai, Paris, and finally San Francisco. He is responsible for the building of the Russian Cathedral of the Theotokos, Joy of All Who Sorrow, in San Francisco, where he is now entombed. He was also a great influence on the author and monk Fr. Seraphim Rose. St. John is known for his somewhat shabby appearance and wearing of sandals, and his insistence on not sleeping in a bed. One of my favorite stories about St. John is when one night, on the eve of a great feast, the cathedral held a banquet and no one attended the Vigil. After serving the Vigil, St. John went to the banquet and, without saying a word, stared at each person in the room one by one, and then left the banquet.


July 4th – St. Andrei Rublev the Iconographer. St. Andrei is known as the greatest of Russian Iconographers. His most famous icon is that of the “Hospitality of Abraham,” also referred to as the Holy Trinity (shown here). He is also responsible for the frescoes in the Annunciation Cathedral at the Kremlin, the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, and the Cathedral of the Trinity at St. Sergius-Holy Trinity Monastery in Sergie Posad (home of the Patriarch). St. Andrei lived in the 14th-15th centuries.

July 4th – St. Andrew of Crete. St. Andrew was Archbishop of Crete and is best known for his hymnography, especially the Great Canon, which is read during the first week of Great Lent, and also on the Thursday during the 5th week of Great Lent. St. Andrew lived during the 7th-8th centuries.

July 4th – Holy Royal Passion-bearers Ss. Nicholas and Alexandra, with their children Alexei, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. The last Romanov Tsar, Nicholas II, was emperor during the Boslhevik revolution. Together with his family and servants, he was murdered by the communists in 1918 in Ekaterinburg. The holy family are considered passion-bearers for facing their death in a Christ-like manner, as opposed to martyrs who are killed specifically because of their faith.

July 5th – St. Elizabeth, Grand Duchess of Moscow, New Martyr of Russia. St. Elizabeth was the sister of St. Alexandra. After the death of her husband, she founded the Convent of Ss. Mary and Martha in Moscow. She was martyred two days after the Royal family in 1918, along with one of her nuns, St. Barbara the New Martyr. Our daughter is named after St. Elizabeth.

O all ye saints of the Lord, pray to God for us!