July 24, 2013 Icon of the Day: St. Olga, Equal to the Apostles- Enter "iconoftheday15" at checkout to receive 15% off the purchase of this icon. Before she became Christian, Olga was the spouse of the Kiev GreatPrince Igor. After pagans killed Igor, burden of government fell upon the Kiev Great-princess Olga, and her three year old son Svyatoslav. Princess Olga took revenge on the Drevlyani, who murdered Igor. Having sworn their oaths on their swords and believing “only in their swords,” the pagans were doomed by the judgement of God to also perish by the sword (Mt. 26: 52). Olga worked to improve the civil life and culture of Kievan Rus′ by improving the life of her subjects. She centralised the state using the system of “pogosti” (administrative trade centres). Olga’s “pogosti” became an important network of the ethnic and cultural unification of the Russian nation. Later on, when Olga had become a Christian, they began to erect the first churches at the “pogosti”; from the time of the Baptism of Rus’ the “pogost” and church (parish) became inseparably associated. (It was only afterwards with the existence of cemeteries alongside churches that there developed the current meaning of the Russian word “pogost” to nowadays signify “parish graveyard.”) Princess Olga exerted much effort to fortify the defensive might of the land. The cities were built up and strengthened. Knowing how hostile many were to the idea of strengthening the princely power and the unification of Rus,’ the princess herself lived constantly “on the hill”. Even more urgent for Princess Olga was the religious life of Rus. Having entrusted Kiev to her teenage son Svyatoslav, Great-princess Olga in the Summer of 954 set off with a great fleet to Tsar′grad. This was a peaceful “expedition,” combining the tasks of religious pilgrimage and diplomatic mission, but the political considerations demanded that it become simultaneously a display of the military might of Rus’ on the Black Sea, which would remind the haughty “romanoi” [Byzantine Greeks] of the victorious campaigns of Askol′d and Oleg, who in the year 907 advanced in their shields “to the very gates of Tsar′grad.” The result was attained. the wealth of Christian churches and the holy things preserved in them left an impression on Princess Olga. Tsar′grad-Constantinople, “the city of the imperial Cæsar-tsar,” the Byzantine Greek empire, strove in everything to be worthy for its Heavenly Mediatrix. At its very foundation (or more precisely, restoration), the city had been consecrated in the year 330 by the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine the Great (Comm. 21 May) to the Most Holy Mother of God (this event occurred in the Greek Church on the date of 11 May and from there passed over into Russian commemoration). The Russian princess was present at Divine-services in the finest churches of Constantinople—Saint Sophia, the Mother of God Blachernæ, and others. In her heart the wise Olga found the desire for holy Orthodoxy, and she made the decision to become a Christian. The sacrament of Baptism was made over her by the Constantinople Patriarch Theophylaktos (933-956), and her godfather was the emperor Constantine Porphyrigenitos (912-959). At Baptism there was entrusted to her the name Elena (Helen) in honour of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Helen (Comm. 21 May), the mother of Saint Constantine, and she also had been the discoverer of the Venerable Wood of the Cross of the Lord. In an edifying word spoken at the conclusion of the sacramental rite, the patriarch said: “Blessed art thou amongst Russian women, in that thou hast forsaken the darkness and hast loved the Light. The Russian people shalt bless thee in all the future generations, from thy grandson and great-grandson to thine furthermost descendants.” He instructed her in the truths of the faith, the churchly rules and the rule of prayer, he explained the commands about fasting, chastity and charity. “She however,—says the Monk Nestor,—bowed her head and stood, literally like a sponge absorbing water she hearkened to the teaching, and bowing down to the Patriarch, she did say: By thine prayers, Vladyka, let me be preserved from the wiles of enemies.” Information from Orthodoxwiki and The Clergyman’s Handbook shop.damascenegallery/St-Olga-Equal-to-the-Apostles-St-Olga-Equal-to-Ap-2.htm?categoryId=-1
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 03:11:31 +0000
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