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Saint Olga was the wife of the Rus' (circa modern day Ukraine) Prince Igor (912–945). In 945, during a campaign against the Drevlians, who lived east of Kyiv, Prince Igor was killed. It is said that the Drevlians, having defeated the Rus' army, barbarically murdered Igor: they tied him to the tops of two trees bent toward each other, and he was torn to pieces.
After Igor's death, while his son Svyatoslav was still a minor, Olga assumed control of the Rus' land. Having established the external and internal order of the state, Olga had already reached the age when a person, having satisfied the primary impulses of earthly activity, sees its near end and typically senses the vanity of earthly grandeur. Olga was a pagan, but the name of the Almighty was already celebrated in Kyiv. She could observe the solemnity of Christian rites; out of curiosity, she could converse with church pastors and, gifted with an extraordinary intellect, become convinced of the sanctity of their teachings. Illuminated by this ray of light, Olga desired to become a Christian and decided to travel to the capital of the Byzantine (Roman) Empire and the Greek (Romaic/Orthodox) faith, to draw upon its very source. Long before her departure for Constantinople, Olga chose Gregory as her guide. While conversing with her about the truths and destinies of the Church of Christ, the kind mentor perhaps more than once transported the princess's thoughts to the famous Constantinople, where Christianity then existed in all its glory. He often told her how magnificent the churches of God were, how solemn the divine services there were, especially during the Patriarch's rites, what an abundance of holy relics, miraculous icons, and, in general, all manner of Christian holy objects therein. Such conversations could naturally and imperceptibly awaken in the soul of the devout Olga a pious desire to see all this with her own eyes. And so the aged Olga—still a pagan, but already enamored of Christianity and deeply convinced of its divinity—resolved to travel to Constantinople to be baptized there.
Olga's baptism was an unusually solemn occasion. Patriarch Polyeuctus himself performed the sacrament over the princess, and Emperor Porphyrogenitus himself received her from the baptismal font in the presence of his illustrious court and a countless multitude of people. Our chronicler relates that the holy patriarch addressed the newly enlightened princess, who was baptized with the name Helen, with a word of greeting and said: "Blessed are you among Rus' women for having loved the light and abandoned darkness; the sons of Rus' will never cease to bless you throughout generations, even to the very last of your descendants." He then instructed her in the church rules, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and bodily purity. Along with the faithful princess, some of her companions were also baptized, especially from among her relatives and the wives of the boyars who accompanied their princess from Rus', and thus increased the joy of the Christian celebration.
After her baptism, the pious princess remained in Constantinople for some time, devoting her life to pious endeavors. Before returning to her homeland, the newly enlightened one considered it her duty to seek the patriarch's blessing.
Having blessed and wisely instructed his spiritual daughter, the patriarch appointed a capable priest to her and presented her with a holy cross with the following inscription: “Turn, Rus' land, to God through holy baptism, which Olga, the faithful princess, received.”
Returning to her homeland, the blessed princess, "like the moon in the night," shone among the pagans for their spiritual enlightenment. As a woman who embraced the Holy Faith through a deep, heartfelt conviction of its holiness and salvation, Blessed Olga remained faithful to the divine law until her death, devoting all her time to the exploits of Christian piety.
Loving her son and desiring the salvation of his soul, St. Olga sought first and foremost to convert him to Christianity. She made every effort to persuade Svyatoslav to accept Holy Baptism, but her efforts were in vain. The Christian religion, preaching peace and love, was not to the liking of the warlike prince; he dreamed of battles and conquests. "I have come to know the true God, my son, and I rejoice. You will come to know, and you will rejoice: the Christian faith is light and joy to the soul. By its life-giving effect on the soul, it itself speaks of its unearthly origin, of its divine dignity. Accept this faith, and not only will you not regret it, but you will consider yourself the happiest of all, just as I consider myself the happiest of all." Thus the loving mother urged her son, but, unfortunately, Svyatoslav did not heed his mother's wise advice and said, "How can I alone accept another law? My squad will laugh at me."
The holy princess was grieved by the failure of her efforts to persuade her son to accept Christianity, but she placed all her trust in the Lord. "May God's will be done!" she repeated. "If God wishes to have mercy on my family in the Rus' land, then He will place it in their hearts to turn to the truth, just as He has shown me His mercy." Thus, St. Olga prayed day and night for her son, and this comforted her. Moreover, Svyatoslav, who himself did not want to hear about the holy faith, did not prevent others from embracing it. And St. Olga took advantage of her son's attitude: while Svyatoslav was preoccupied with war far from Kyiv, the holy princess raised her grandsons – Vladimir, Oleg, and Yaropolk. She sowed the first seeds in the hearts of these young princes, although she did not dare to baptize them, fearing her rebellious son.
The holy princess fervently desired that her compatriots, remaining in the darkness of paganism, would be converted to the light of Christ's truth, and she strove to instruct the residents of Kiev, and then the rest of Rus'. To this end, "she traveled to cities and villages throughout the Rus' land, preaching the Gospel, as a true disciple of Christ and a co-zealot with the apostles. Many, marveling at her words , which they had never heard before, eagerly accepted the Word of God from her lips and were baptized." Vyshgorod, which belonged to the princess, was undoubtedly a city of Christ during her reign. It is also known that the holy princess visited her homeland of Pskov and successfully sowed the seeds of the holy faith there.
For approximately 12 years, St. Olga zealously preached the Christian faith in the Rus' land, thus preparing and hastening the great era of its widespread spread. It is therefore not surprising that the Russian Church has long referred to the holy princess as Equal-to-the-Apostles. In the service for St. Olga's feast day, she is praised as the God-wise, ever-glorious, wondrous, and chaste dove; Mount Lebanon, upon which the heavenly dew descended abundantly; the Pishon River, which bore forth for us the precious stone, our greatness and praise. The holy princess died in 969.
Saint Princess Olga, as the chronicler Nestor writes, foreshadowed Christianity in our land, like lightning before the sun, like dawn before the full light; like the moon at night, so she shone among unbelievers. The sons of Rus' praise her as a leader, and after death she prays to God for Rus'.
The uncovering of the holy princess's relics took place during the reign of Saint Prince Vladimir. Having built the Church of the Tithes , the Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince wished to transfer the body of his holy grandmother there, as she was "the first preacher of the immaculate faith in Rus', the first forerunner of the Rus' people to God, and the foundation of piety." The holy prince communicated this idea to the then Metropolitan of Kiev, Leonty, and both of them, after due communication and deliberation, inspired by God, resolved to carry it out with due splendor. After a public service in the church, the Grand Prince, the primate, and the entire consecrated cathedral, accompanied by boyars, elders, and a multitude of people, with icons, crosses, and candles, accompanied by incense and the singing of psalms, made a solemn procession to the site of Blessed Olga's grave. Upon arrival, they ordered the earth excavated, opened the coffin, and found the saint's body completely whole, undamaged, and unchanged, even her clothing. Struck by the miracle, shedding tears of utmost joy, the prince and the high priest, along with many others, hastened to venerate the holy relics and glorified God, who so wondrously glorifies His saints. The relics were transferred to a new reliquary and, with the greatest solemnity and the singing of sacred hymns, were transferred to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, where they were placed in a stone coffin and set in the prepared place. And on that day, there was intense joy among all the people; they celebrated a glorious feast with a bright ceremony and rejoiced together in spirit and body. During the Tatar invasion of Kyiv (1240), the relics of St. Olga's were hidden under a bushel in the church itself, and then, as legend has it, they were rediscovered by Metropolitan Peter Mogila during the restoration of the Church of the Tithes (17th century), where they rested until the beginning of the 18th century, when, due to unfortunate circumstances, they were again hidden in an unknown place.