On August 6th (July 24th by the old calendar) the Church commemorates the holy martyrs and passion-bearers Princes Boris and Gleb of Russia.
The holy Princes Boris and Gleb (called Romanus and David in baptism) were the first Russian princes to be canonized by both the Russian and the Greek Churches. They were the youngest sons of holy Prince Vladimir. Having been born shortly before the Baptism of Russia, the holy brothers were reared in Christian piety. The elder of the brothers, Boris, received a good education. He loved to read the Holy Scriptures, the works of the Holy Fathers, and especially the Lives of Saints. Under their influence St. Boris was filled with an ardent desire to follow the spiritual endeavor of God’s saints, and often prayed to the Lord to grant him such an honor.
St. Gleb was brought up together with his brother from early childhood and shared his aspiration to dedicate his life exclusively to the service of God. Both brothers were distinguished by their charity and goodness of heart, following the example of their father, holy Prince Vladimir, who was merciful and compassionate to the poor, the sick, and the destitute.
While his father was still living, St. Boris was given the city of Rostov as his inheritance. In ruling his principality, he demonstrated both wisdom and meekness, being primarily concerned with the establishment of the Orthodox faith and a pious way of life among his subjects. The young prince also became renowned as a brave and talented warrior. Shortly before his death, Prince Vladimir summoned Boris to Kiev and sent him with an army against the Pechenegs. Upon the death of Prince Vladimir (on July 15, 1015), his eldest son Svyatopolk, who was in Kiev at that time, announced himself as the new Kievan Prince. At that time Prince Boris was returning from his campaign without even having met the Pechenegs, who, fearing him, apparently went off into the steppes. Hearing of his father’s death, he was greatly sorrowed. His comrades advised him to go to Kiev and take over the princely throne, but holy Prince Boris did not wish to engage in internecine strife and dismissed his troops, saying: “I will not raise my hand against my brother, especially an older one, whom I should respect as a father!”
The perfidious and power-hungry Svyatopolk, however, did not believe in Boris’ sincerity Trying to guard himself against possible competition from his brother, who held the affection of the people and the troops, he sent assassins out to him. St. Boris was apprised of such treachery on the part of Svyatopolk, but did not hide himself and readily faced death just like the martyrs in the early age of Christianity. The assassins came upon him while he was praying at the Sunday matins of July 24, 1015 in his tent on the shores of the Alta River. After the service they rushed into the tent and pierced the prince with lances. Prince Boris’ favorite servant, George the Hungarian, rushed to his master’s defense and was killed immediately. But St. Boris was still alive. Coming out of the tent, he began to pray ardently and then turned to his murderers: “Come up, brothers, and finish your job, and peace be with you and brother Svyatopolk.” Then one of them came up to him and pierced him with a lance. Svyatopolk’s servants took Boris’ body to Kiev, but on the way they were met by two Varangians, who had been sent by Svyatopolk to speed up the affair. The Varangians noticed that the prince was still alive, though barely breathing. Then one of them pierced his heart with a sword. The body of the holy passion-bearer Prince Boris was secretly brought to the city of Vyshgorod and placed in the church of St. Basil the Great.
After that Svyatopolk had holy Prince Gleb murdered in a similarly treacherous manner. Cunningly summoning his brother from his principality – the city of Murom, – Svyatopolk sent members of his retinue to meet up with St. Gleb and kill him along the way. Prince Gleb already knew of his father’s death and of the heinous murder of Prince Boris. Deeply sorrowing, he preferred death to war with his brother. St. Gleb’s meeting with the assassins took place near the mouth of the Smyadyn’ River, not far from Smolensk.
What precisely was the spiritual feat of the holy righteous Princes Boris and Gleb? What sense was there in dying just like that, without any resistance, at the hands of assassins?
The lives of the holy passion-bearers were sacrificed to the basic Christian virtue of love. The holy brothers did what was still new and incomprehensible to the pagan Russia accustomed to bloody revenge – they showed that evil was not to be rendered for evil, even under the threat of death. Moreover, in fulfillment of the Gospel commandment, the holy brothers gave up their lives for others, preventing with their own death the useless death of many that would have occurred in the course of internecine strife.
The righteous princes did not wish to raise their hand against their brother, but the Lord Himself send retribution upon the power-hungry tyrant. In 1019 Prince Yaroslav the Wise, also one of the sons of holy Prince Vladimir, gathered his troops and vanquished Svyatopolk’s army. By God’s providence the decisive battle took place in a field near the Alta River where St. Boris had been murdered. Svyatopolk, called “the Accursed” by the Russian people, fled to Poland and, just like the first fratricide Cain, did not find peace anywhere. The chroniclers testify that even from his grave there issued a putrid smell.
“From that time on, – writes the chroniclers, – there was hardly any sedition in Russia.” The blood shed by the holy brothers for the sake of preventing internecine strife was the good seed which strengthened the unity of Russia. The holy princes were not only glorified by God with the gift of miracle-working, but they are the particular protectors and defenders of the Russian land. There were many instances known of their appearance in times of trouble for the Fatherland – for example, to the holy Prince Alexander Nevsky on the eve of the Battle on the Ice against the Teutonic knights (1242) and to Prince Dimitry Donskoy on the day of the Kulikovo Battle against the Tatars (1380). The veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb began very early on, soon after their death. Besides the five-domed stone church built over their relics in Vyshgorod by the righteous Prince Yaroslav the Wise in 1026, many churches and monasteries all over Russia were dedicated to the holy princes, and there are also frescoes and icons of the passion-bearing brothers in numerous churches of the Russian Church.
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