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Saints of Kiyvan Rus’-Ukraine
Princely Enlighteners and Defenders of the Church The Princes, Blessed Mykola Askold and Dir were locally venerated in Kyiv and St. Olha the Great built Churches over their graves as a way of confirming their holiness as martyrs. They have yet to be formally Glorified, as Metropolitan Ohienko notes. Other early Saints of Kyiv include St Theodore and his son St. John who would not worship idols and were martyred for Christ as a result. On the site of their martyrdom, St. Volodymyr built the Church of the Tithe (since he gave one-tenth of his wealth to have it built). This Church contained the famous Miraculous Icon of the Mother of God which was set up at the source of the River Dniepro, facing it. This is one of the reasons why this River is so sacred to Ukrainians. St. Volodymyr and St. Olha were both devoted Christians who also believed in allowing other, competing religious confessions to have their say before they decided which doctrine to accept. St Volodymyr was related to the two Saint Olaves of Norway and Sweden. St Olave of Norway caused discontent among his subjects by the harsh way in which he tried to put down paganism. He fled to Gardarike in Kyivan Rus' for a time. Upon returning to Norway, he was killed in the battle of Stiklestad near Trondheim on 29 July, 1030 which is his feast-day. Trondheim was also the "liturgical capital" of Scandinavia which developed its own Rite which, at one time, spread throughout Northern Europe, including some of the Channel Islands of England. St Olave of Sweden lived a century earlier than Olave of Norway and was martyred by his subjects for refusing to sacrifice to idols. His feast is July 30th. St Volodymyr and St Olha are thus linked by royal blood lines to the great sovereigns of Scandinavia, including St Erik the King and others. In November of 1999, the governing council of Volyn proclaimed a new flag for the Oblast of Volyn. In honour of St Volodymyr, who built Volodymyr-Volyn and other landmarks in Volyn, and to commemorate Volodymyr's Nordic, Varangian ancestry, the council adopted the red and white Scandinavian Cross flag, known in Denmark as the "Dannesbrog." In the upper right hand corner, a white Kozak Cross pattee is also placed in honour of the heroic Kozak period.In St. Olha’s time, a number of Western Rite missionaries, then in communion with the Orthodox Church visited Kyiv, including Celtic Missionaries who brought with them the Celtic Cross that has since remained popular in Ukraine, especially since both the Celtic and Byzantine Slavic traditions developed in regions with similar pre-Christian cultural elements, such as the cult of the sun. St. Hyacinth of Kyiv came to preach Western Rite Christianity before St. Olha. When he was saying Mass, enemy troops surrounded his Church. He then took the large image of the Mother of God from the Altar, according to legend, and then crossed the Dniepro River with it, which seemed to part its waves for him, much like with Moses. This frightened the enemy troops who left Kyiv alone. St. Hyacinth of Kyiv came to preach Western Rite Christianity before St. Olha. When he was saying Mass, enemy troops surrounded his Church. At that point, St Hyacinth is said to have heard the voice of the Virgin Mary telling him not to run away, but, instead, to pick up the image and go toward the river (Dnipro). He then took the large image of the Mother of God from the Altar, that appeared to have lost all weight for him. Hyacinth then crossed the Dniepro River with it, which seemed to part its waves for him, much like with Moses. This frightened the onlooking enemy troops who left Kyiv alone. St Hyacinth's western alabaster image of the Mother of God has survived to this day. It is enshrined in a church in Cracow, Poland and is honoured under the title, "Our Lady of Kyiv" by the Roman Catholics, especially on its Feast day, August 28th (Gregorian calendar). St. Adalbert of Prague and his missionary group were banished from Kyiv by St. Olha’s son, Sviatoslav. They met a martyr’s end in and around Bohemia. The strong religious and cultural influence of Kyivan Christianity in countries of the west at this time period is notable. The Kyivan Caves Chronicles include a Hungarian Orthodox Saint, St Moses “the Hungarian” who was martyred by a Princess because he refused to give up his monastic vows to marry her. St Moses is the Orthodox Patron of Youth and purity and His Relics were actually directly applied to people suffering from sensual temptations. Hungary’s Crown of St Stephan is actually a Byzantine Crown made in Kyiv and, to this day, it bears Church Slavonic inscriptions. St. Volodymyr is the Enlightener of Rus-Ukraine and among the Saints who came to Crimea to baptise the people of Rus’ included St. Joachim of Korsun and St. Michael the first Metropolitan of Kyiv. Volodymyr’s two sons, Boris and Hlib died in the subsequent battle at the hands of their brother, Sviatopolk the Damned. . St. Yuri the Hungarian, a servant of Boris and Hlib, also perished. Another servant, St Ephrem, escaped and became Ihumen at Novotorzhok where he is venerated together with his disciple, St. Arkady. St. Ihor Olhovych died a similar death as a Passion-bearer in the Kyivan Caves Lavra. Recently, the Shrine of the granddaughter of St. Volodymyr the Great was discovered in Germany, near a hollowed out oak tree where St. Edigna lived as a recluse. It is now visited by Ukrainians and she deserves to be included in the Ukrainian calendar. Yaroslav the Wise is now formally a Saint of Ukraine. His wife, St. Irene-Anna and eldest son, St. Volodymyr are venerated along with St. Mstislav and St. Theodore and St. Rostislav Prince of Kyiv. St Timothy-Dovmont, Prince of Pskov, was descended from an ancient Ukrainian Princely family based in Lithuania. He died of a pestilence after defeating the Teutonic Knights on 20 May 1299. Along with St Alexander Yaroslavich ("Nevsky") who also defeated the Teutonic Knights, Timothy represented the determination of Kyivan Rus' to remain independent of western Europe's colonial grip. It is interesting to note, however, that the Cross of the Teutonic Knights, which was also that of the Knights Templar from which they derived their origin, became popular throughout Ukraine, especially among the Kozaks. The Kozaks saw themselves as new Crusaders and defenders of Orthodoxy, which they certainly were. The Cross Pattee of the Kozaks became their symbol which represented the highest ideals of knightly chivalray of the strongest Crusader divisions which were the Templars and the Teutonic knights. The Kozaks wore this Cross around their necks, placed it on their raspberry-red banners, and this Cross also adorned their graves. This Cross and the Knightly-Kozak tradition it embodied was passed down to other Ukrainian military formations, such as the "Sich" and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, (UPA), originally organized in Volyn whose emblem has always been the Kozak Cross, to name two. The following is an up-to-date list of all glorified Royal Saints of Kyivan Rus', apart from Sts. Volodymyr and Olha:
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