July 24 – Veneration of Pre-Schism Russian Saints is Weakly Practiced in Old Belief. -Protopriest Andrey Marchenko
This year, according to the civil calendar, marks 1,000 years since the martyric death of the holy passion-bearers Princes Boris and Gleb.
A thousand years is an immense span of time that erases both the bad and the good from memory. However, there are enduring values over which time should have no power—at least, it ought not to. These are spiritual and moral values. Since such values do not exist in isolation but are preserved through their real embodiment in the lives of specific individuals, the memory of those individuals should also be immune to the passage of time. At the very least, if we wish to preserve spiritual and moral guidelines, we are obligated to maintain the memory of those who steadfastly followed these principles, so that by imitating their lives, we ourselves become guardians and continuators of this virtuous path. In this regard, it is troubling that in contemporary Old Belief, the memory of such spiritual luminaries of the Russian Church as Saints Boris and Gleb has been almost entirely forgotten. No churches are built in their honor, solemn services are scarcely held anywhere, and the lives of these holy brothers are hardly known to the vast majority of Old Believers.
Undoubtedly, it is difficult, if not impossible, to venerate all the saints who have shone forth equally, not only in the universal Church but even here in Rus’, for their number far exceeds the days in a year. However, Saints Boris and Gleb are not just among the many; their place among Russian saints is unique—they are the first. The first to head the official diptych of Russian saints, the first to be embraced by the heart of the people, celebrated and glorified by the Russian Church. It was in them that the Russian people saw the true embodiment of Christian ideals. The sacrificial feat of Boris and Gleb served as a source for understanding Russian national identity and had a profound impact on shaping Russian historical and religious consciousness.
What, then, is the essence of the feat of these holy brothers that exerted such a tremendous influence on the Russian people?
Boris and Gleb were among the younger sons of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. Besides them, Prince Vladimir had 10 other sons and 14 daughters. Yet Boris and Gleb stood out among all of Vladimir’s children for their pious lives, love for reading spiritual books, and acts of charity. Like their father, they were renowned among the people for their care for the poor.
In 1015, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir reposed. Vladimir’s adopted son, Svyatopolk, usurped the Kyiv throne and, to secure his rule, decided, like the biblical Cain, to shed the innocent blood of his younger brothers. Such behavior is not unique in human history; on the contrary, there are many such examples. What is exceptional and extraordinary in this story is the conduct of Svyatopolk’s brothers. The faithful passion-bearer princes Boris and Gleb not only refused to engage in internecine strife against their elder brother Svyatopolk, humbly honoring him as a father, but, knowing his wicked intentions, they did not resist him in any way. Like their heavenly Teacher, they meekly accepted their brother’s betrayal and did not seek to escape the swords of the assassins sent by Svyatopolk, forgiving their executioners with Christian humility.
The ideals revered by a particular people offer insight into their culture, morality, and spirituality. For instance, Christian Egypt particularly venerated ascetics, Byzantium—preachers, and Rus’—innocent sufferers for the truth, as exemplified by Saints Boris and Gleb.
Caring for the poor during their lives and faithful to the Gospel commandments unto death, the holy passion-bearer princes, through their personal example, conveyed to the Russian people the image of a loving, meek, uncomplaining, and voluntarily suffering Savior. The Gospel story was vividly reflected in the innocent blood of the holy brothers, becoming even closer and more comprehensible to the Russian people, who, just a few decades before these events, had declared themselves a Christian nation, though their Christian consciousness was still in its formative stage. It was precisely the feat of Saints Boris and Gleb that laid the foundation and effectively defined the religious ideals of the Russian people—their national understanding of Christ’s faith: mercy, non-resistance to evil with evil, and humble submission to God’s will.
Thus, for centuries, the passion-bearer Princes Boris and Gleb were among the most venerated Russian saints. Despite the growing number of God’s saints shining in the firmament of the Russian Church, their veneration did not fade until the schism of the 17th century. Their names were not lost in the expanding diptych of Russian saints. Numerous churches and monasteries were built in their honor, and their memory was celebrated with particular solemnity.
How, then, has it come to pass that today there is not a single church, chapel, or prayer house among Old Believers dedicated to these holy brothers who suffered for the truth of the Gospel? One would think that Boris and Gleb, as the first Russian saints, would inspire Old Believers as symbols of ancient, pre-schism Rus’. Yet, their veneration is not widespread in Old Belief. Their lives and deaths ought to resonate deeply with every Old Believer’s heart. Like Boris and Gleb, Old Believers have endured betrayal, persecution, injustice, and often death at the hands of their kin by blood for centuries, as the holy Protopriest Avvakum once wrote: “Our Nikonite brethren were ours, but the thief, the devil, stole them.” Yet, for some reason, Old Believers today do not feel this spiritual kinship with these Russian Abels. Moreover, the veneration of saints has, in most cases, been reduced either to addressing mundane concerns (e.g., venerating the Prophet Elijah for good weather, St. Nicholas for success in travels or other worldly matters, etc.) or to ideological purposes, where the veneration of certain saints is directly tied to the applicability of their lives and deeds to religious polemics and apologetics (e.g., holy Princess Anna of Kashin, Venerable Maximus the Greek, the fathers of the Stoglav Council, etc.).
How can this situation be changed? How can the holy Russian passion-bearers be restored to the hearts of Russian Old Believers? The answer is simple: through spiritual education and the renewal of the original ideals of the defenders of ancient piety, which have faded over years of comfortable and peaceful living. Christians must come to understand that Old Orthodoxy is not the mechanical preservation of certain church forms, signs, and symbols, but an active, sacrificial stand—and, if necessary, suffering—for the Gospel and ecclesiastical truth. As it is written in Scripture: “All flesh is joined according to its kind, and a man clings to his own kind” (Sirach 13:20). So it will be with us. When the true ideals of Christianity are restored within us, the holy passion-bearer Princes Boris and Gleb will appear to us as close and spiritually kindred. Then, their sincere and widespread veneration will be restored without any administrative efforts, as it was in ancient Rus’ 1,000 years ago. May God help us all in this through the prayers of His holy passion-bearers!
Priest Andrey Marchenko (RDC)