Clement, Metropolitan of Kaluga and Borovsk

Baptism of Rus'

Today we remember the event of 988, which changed the history of our Fatherland - Rus' adopted Christianity and entered the unified family of peoples of European civilization. At the same time, on this day the Church commemorates the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, who made this decision. More than a thousand years have passed, there were different forms of government in Rus', but the basis of the civilizational, cultural and spiritual development of the country is the event of the baptism of the people of Kiev under Prince Vladimir, and then the inhabitants of other cities.

The Kiev prince Vladimir is canonized by the Church and is revered as equal to the apostles, because he, together with his grandmother, the holy princess Olga, like the apostles, led the peoples of Rus' to Christ and laid the Orthodox faith as the foundation of the state system. Grand Duchess Olga was the first of the Russian rulers to consciously accept Christianity, to be baptized and to build the first churches in Rus'. She also instilled the Christian faith in her grandson, Grand Duke Vladimir.

The adoption of the Orthodox faith at the national level and the rejection of primitive pagan beliefs contributed to the unity of the ancient Russian state, strengthened the international status of Rus', which began to position itself on the same level as the great powers of that time - Byzantium and Rome.

With Orthodoxy, our ancestors adopted Christian culture from Byzantium, which spiritually and morally enriched the peoples inhabiting the Russian lands. Under the influence of Byzantine Orthodoxy, a new people and a new state gradually formed from disparate tribes, the basis of which was based on the Gospel principles.

The Byzantine spiritual experience introduced into people's consciousness the concept of the sanctity of life. Instead of the revenge, pride, violence, selfishness, and debauchery common in pagan Rus', Christian virtues began to spread: love, forgiveness, mercy, chastity, sacrifice.

Prince Vladimir himself initiated the development of Christian charity emanating from state power. Under him, hospitals and almshouses began to appear and food was given free to poor Kiev residents. The state itself took care of the construction of temples.

With the adoption of Christianity, writing appeared in Rus', schools and libraries began to be created, the education of the Russian people began, original literature, chronicle writing, icon painting began to develop, and stone architecture was mastered. But the main thing, as Lev Gumilev put it: “Baptism gave our ancestors the highest freedom - the freedom to choose between Good and Evil, and the victory of Orthodoxy gave Rus' a thousand-year history.”

To the readers of the Kommersant newspaper