Boris and Gleb, baptized with the names Roman and David, became the first Russian saints to be canonized as martyrs-passion-bearers. These two princes were the younger sons of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the Grand Duke of Kyiv, and fell victim to the struggle for power.
Life of Boris and Gleb
Prince Vladimir was the baptizer of the Russian Land. He himself was devoted to the faith of Christ with all his soul and brought up his younger sons in righteousness and adherence to the true faith. Both brothers were well educated, devoted a lot of time to the study of the Holy Scriptures and liturgical books, helped the orphans and the poor in accordance with Christian commandments.
Prince Vladimir, sensing the approach of his death, bequeathed the throne of Kyiv to Boris and gave his squad under his command, while Gleb, the younger, received Murom lands in possession.
After the death of Prince Vladimir in 1015, although he expressed his will before his death, internecine struggle began. Boris, who, according to his father's will, became the prince of Kyiv, was on a campaign against the Pechenegs, and at that time his elder brother Svyatopolk arbitrarily occupied the throne of Kyiv. However, Boris did not even try to fight for power, because his respect for his older brother and the sanctity of blood ties was too great.
Nevertheless, Svyatopolk, fearing his brother, decided to kill him. Although Boris knew about his terrible plan, he did not try to escape and on July 24, 1015 he was stabbed to death with spears during a prayer vigil.
But Svyatopolk did not stop there and sent his loyal people to the Murom land, where his younger brother Gleb reigned. Gleb also knew about his brother's malicious intent, but considered a fratricidal war impossible, and as a result, the killers overtook him near Smolensk, near the Smyadyn River.
In the ancient chronicles, Svyatopolk began to be called the Accursed, under this nickname he went down in history. His reign in Kyiv was short-lived. His half-brother Yaroslav, later nicknamed the Wise, entered into a struggle for power with Svyatopolk and defeated his army. He did not kill Svyatopolk, but only expelled him.
The rest of Svyatopolk's life, hated and persecuted by everyone, passed in endless wanderings. Yaroslav, the brother of both the murderers and the innocently killed, found the remains of Boris and Gleb and placed them in the church of Basil the Great in Vyshgorod, where their relics became famous thanks to miraculous healings and miraculous phenomena.
Description of the icon "Saints Boris and Gleb"
Although Boris and Gleb accepted their deaths with Christian humility in different places and at different times, in the Orthodox tradition their names are inextricably linked and are always mentioned together; on the icons they are also depicted together, an example of which is the icon "Boris and Gleb", 14th century.
Usually the icon "Boris and Gleb" depicts the brothers in full growth in rich attire, with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other as a symbol of their commitment to the Christian faith and the torment they accepted. A little later, the icon "Boris and Gleb" appeared on horseback, where Christ himself looks at the saints.
In the popular mind, the brothers forever remained passion-bearers who remained faithful to the Christian commandments even when their lives were threatened, and the Orthodox Church glorified them as patrons of the Russian land and heavenly helpers of Russian princes. It is known that the soldiers of Alexander Nevsky prayed to the icon "Saints Boris and Gleb" before the battle on Lake Peipus, and before the Battle of the Don - the army of Prince Dmitry Donskoy.
What does the icon help with?
Boris and Gleb are one of the most revered Orthodox saints, their icon is considered the intercessor of the Russian state. Prayer in front of her helps to heal ailments, reconcile the warring, save the soul from unclean thoughts, restore peace and tranquility, and maintain the strength of faith.
The icon of the holy noble prince Boris alone is much less common. The icon "Saint Boris" will become the patroness of a boy or a man bearing this name, will bring peace and understanding to the life of the family. She is prayed for healing from diseases, especially the musculoskeletal system, for protection from enemies, for a peaceful family life. Although the icon depicts one passion-bearer Boris, in prayer they turn to both brothers at once.
Prayer before the icon of Boris and Gleb
O holy couple, the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, who from youth served Christ with pure faith and love, and with their blood, as if purple, adorned, and now reign with Christ! Wake up warm intercessors for us, protect us all from all sorrow, bitterness and sudden death. We beseech you, passion-bearers of Christ, help the power of Russia in victory over the opposition, like the once noble prince Alexander Nevsky, may the warriors of Russia bear fear of the enemy and the peace of our land, may people live a quiet life in all piety and glorify God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Holy Blessed Princes Passion-Bearers BORIS and GLEB (†1015)
The Holy Princes Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb (in Holy Baptism Roman and David) are the first Russian saints canonized by both the Russian and Constantinople Churches.They were the younger sons of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (+ July 15, 1015).
Vladimir had twelve sons from different wives. Vladimir's older children did not live together and were often at enmity with each other. They were born at a time when the prince was still trying to strengthen the pagan faith. Passions then boiled serious. Svyatopolk was born from a Greek woman, a former nun, whom Vladimir took as his wife after his brother, whom he had deposed from the throne. Yaroslav was born from Rogneda of Polotsk, whose father and brothers were killed by Vladimir. And then Rogneda herself tried to kill Vladimir, being jealous of Anna of Byzantium.
Boris and Gleb were younger and were born around the years of the Baptism of Russia. Their mother was from Volga Bulgaria. They were brought up in Christian piety and loved each other. Boris was named in holy baptism Roman, Gleb - David. It often happened that Boris read some book - usually the lives or torments of the saints - and Gleb sat beside him and listened attentively, and so Gleb remained relentlessly near his brother, because he was still small.
When the sons began to grow up, Vladimir entrusted them with the administration of the territories. Boris got Rostov, and Gleb got Murom. The reign of Gleb in Murom was not easy. They say that the Murom pagans did not allow him into their city, and the prince had to live outside the city walls, in the suburbs.
Russia in the XI century.
However, Vladimir did not let Boris go to Rostov and kept him with him in Kyiv. He loved Boris more than his other sons, trusted him in everything and intended to transfer the great reign to him. Boris was married to Egnes, a Danish princess, and over time became famous as a brave and skillful warrior.
Shortly before his death, Grand Duke Vladimir summoned Boris to Kyiv and sent him with an army against the Pechenegs. Shortly after Boris left, Vladimir died. It happened on July 15, 1015 in the village of Berestov, near Kyiv.
At that time, only Svyatopolk found himself in the capital, who was not slow to take advantage of his position and arbitrarily seized power in Kyiv, proclaiming himself the Grand Duke of Kyiv. He set out to get rid of his rival brothers as soon as possible before they did anything.
Svyatopolk decided to hide his father's death. At night, on his orders, the platform was dismantled in the prince's chamber. Volodymyr's body was wrapped in a carpet and lowered to the ground on ropes, and then taken to Kyiv, to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, where they were buried without giving him proper honors.
Boris, meanwhile, not finding the Pechenegs, turned back to Kyiv. The news of his father's death and Svyatopolk's reign in Kyiv found him on the bank of a small river Alta. The squad persuaded him to go to Kyiv and take the throne of the Grand Duke, but the holy prince Boris, not wanting internecine strife, disbanded his army: “I will not raise my hand against my brother, and even against my elder, whom I should consider as a father!” Hearing this, the squad left him. So Boris remained on the Altinsky field with only a few of his servants.
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Svyatopolk sent a false message to Boris with an offer of friendship: "Brother, I want to live in love with you, and I will add to what your father gave you!" He himself, secretly from everyone, sent assassins loyal to him, the boyars Putsha, Talets, Elovit (or Elovich) and Lyashko, to kill Boris.
Saint Boris was informed of such treachery by Svyatopolk, but did not hide himself and, like the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity, readily met death.
Boris' murder
The assassins overtook him when he was praying for Matins on Sunday, July 24, 1015, in his tent on the banks of the Alta River. Like wild beasts they attacked the saint and pierced his body. Boris's favorite servant, a Ugrin (Hungarian) named George, covered him with himself. He was immediately killed along with the prince and cut off his head in order to remove from his neck a golden ornament - a hryvnia, which the prince once presented to him as a sign of love and distinction.
However, Saint Boris was still alive. Coming out of the tent, he began to pray fervently, and then turned to the murderers: "Come, brethren, finish your service, and may there be peace to brother Svyatopolk and to you". At this time, one of the assassins pierced him with a spear. His body was wrapped in a tent, put on a cart and taken to Kyiv. There is a version that Boris was still breathing on the road and, having learned about this, Svyatopolk sent two Varangians to finish him off. Then one of them drew a sword and pierced it through the heart. The body of Boris was brought secretly to Vyshgorod and buried in the church of St. Basil. He was about 25 years old.
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Prince Gleb of Murom was still alive. Svyatopolk decided to lure Gleb to Kyiv by cunning: Gleb was sent messengers with a request to come to Kyiv, since his father was seriously ill (for which Svyatopolk hid his father's death). Gleb immediately mounted his horse and with a small retinue rushed to the call. But a messenger from his brother Yaroslav overtook him: "Don't go to Kyiv: your father died, and your brother Boris was killed by Svyatopolk!".
Deeply grieving, the holy prince preferred death rather than war with his brother. Gleb's meeting with the killers took place at the mouth of the Smyadyn River, not far from Smolensk. He turned to them with a touching plea to spare "an ear that has not yet ripened, poured with juice of malice." Then, remembering the words of the Lord, “what for my name you will be betrayed by brothers and relatives,” he handed over his soul to Him. Gleb's small squad, seeing the killers, lost heart. The ringleader, nicknamed Goryaser, mockingly, ordered the cook, who was with Gleb, to slaughter the prince. He, "in the name of Torchin, having taken out a knife, slaughtered Gleb like an innocent lamb." He was about 19 years old. His body was thrown on the shore, and so it lay in obscurity, between two decks. But neither the beast nor the bird touched him. For a long time no one knew about it, but sometimes they saw lit candles in this place, heard church singing. Only many years later, at the command of Prince Yaroslav, it was transferred to Vyshgorod and laid in the church of St. Basil next to Boris. Later, Yaroslav the Wise built a stone five-domed Borisoglebsky Cathedral on this site, which soon became the family temple of the Yaroslavichs, a sanctuary of their love and fidelity, fraternal harmony and service to the Fatherland.
The noble princes-passion-bearers did not want to raise a hand against their brother, but the Lord Himself took revenge on the power-hungry tyrant: “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay” (Rom. 12:19).
Prince Yaroslav, having gathered an army of Novgorodians and Varangian mercenaries, moved to Kyiv and expelled Svyatopolk from Russia.
The decisive battle between them took place in 1019 on the Alta River, on the very spot where Saint Prince Boris was killed. According to the chroniclers, when the defeated Svyatopolk fled from the battlefield, an illness attacked him, so that he became weak all over and could not even sit on a horse, and they carried him on a stretcher. Svyatopolk, named by the Russian people Cursed, fled to Poland and, like the first fratricide Cain, did not find peace and refuge anywhere and was seized with such fear that everywhere it seemed to him that they were persecuting him, and he died outside his fatherland, "in some deserted place." A stench and stench emanated from his grave. “Since that time,” the chronicler writes, “sedition in Russia has subsided.”
Vladimir had other sons who died in strife. Svyatoslav, Prince of Drevlyansky, was killed by Svyatopolk, but was not canonized, because he joined the struggle for power and was going to bring the Hungarian army to help. Another brother - the winner Yaroslav - with weapons in his hands went to his brother. But he is not cursed like Svyatopolk. No wonder Yaroslav was nicknamed the Wise. Through many years of work, the construction of temples, the adoption of laws, he deserved to be ranked among the noble princes, being a model of an outstanding ruler.
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From a rational point of view, the death of the holy brothers seems meaningless. They were not even martyrs for their faith in the true sense of the word. (The Church honors them as martyrs - this rite of holiness, by the way, is not known to the Byzantines).
The life of the holy martyrs was sacrificed for the main Christian value - love. "He who says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, is a liar" (1 John 4:20). They accepted death as a sign of their boundless love for Christ, in imitation of his cross torment. In the minds of the Russian people, by their martyrdom, they, as it were, atoned for the sins of the entire Russian land, which until recently vegetated in paganism. Through their lives, wrote the outstanding Russian writer and historian G. P. Fedotov, "the image of the meek and suffering Savior entered the heart of the Russian people forever as its most cherished shrine."
The holy brothers did what in those days in Russia, accustomed to blood feud, was still new and incomprehensible, they showed that evil cannot be repaid with evil even under the threat of death.
The impression of their deed was so great that the whole earth recognized them as saints. It was a revolution from pagan consciousness (lust for power and gain) to Christianity (achievement of a spiritual and moral ideal).
Holy noble princes-martyrs Boris and Gleb (Author - icon painter Viktor Morozov, aka Izograph Morozov)
Boris and Gleb were the first saints canonized by the Russian Church. Even their father, Prince Vladimir, was canonized much later. They were honored in its then center - Constantinople, the icon of Boris and Gleb was in Sophia in Constantinople. Their life was even included in the Armenian Menaion (books for reading every month). Glorifying the saints, the legend dedicated to them says that they became helpers of people "of all lands."
In Russia there were at least three cities with the name Borisoglebsk. The number of churches and monasteries consecrated to the glory of the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb, hardly anyone undertook to count. Saints Boris and Gleb are special patrons, defenders of the Russian land. In their name, the innocent were freed from bonds, and sometimes bloody civil strife stopped.
There are many cases of their appearance at a difficult time for our Fatherland, for example, on the eve of the battle on the Neva in 1240 (when St. Boris and Gleb appeared in a boat, among the rowers, "clothed in mist", putting their hands on each other's shoulders ... "Brother Glebe," said Boris, "let us row, let us help our relative Alexander"), or on the eve of the great Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 (when the holy brothers appeared in a cloud, holding candles and naked swords in their hands, saying to the Tatar governors: “Who ordered you to destroy our fatherland, given to us by the Lord?” And they began to whip the enemies, so none of them survived).
The names Boris and Gleb, just like Roman and David, were favorites in many generations of Russian princes. The brothers of Oleg Gorislavich were named Roman (+ 1079), Gleb (+ 1078), Davyd (+ 1123), one of his sons was named Gleb (+ 1138). Monomakh had sons Roman and Gleb, Yuri Dolgoruky had Boris and Gleb, Saint Rostislav of Smolensk had Boris and Gleb, Saint Andrew Bogolyubsky had the holy noble Gleb (+ 1174), Vsevolod the Big Nest had Boris and Gleb. Among the sons of Vseslav of Polotsk (+ 1101) there is a complete set of "Borisogleb" names: Roman, Gleb, David, Boris.
Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK
for the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills
Prayer to the faithful princes Boris and Gleb
O holy pair, beautiful brethren, good martyrs Boris and Gleb, from youth serving Christ with faith, purity and love, and with their blood, as if with purple, adorned, and now reigning with Christ! Do not forget us who are on earth, but, like a warm intercessor, by your strong intercession before Christ God, keep the young in holy faith and purity, unharmed from every pretense of unbelief and impurity, protect us all from all sorrow, bitterness and vain death, tame every enmity and malice, raised by the action of the devil from neighbors and strangers. We beseech you, passion-bearers of Christ, ask the Greatly Gifted Lord for all of us to forgive our sins, unanimity and health, deliverance from the invasion of foreigners, internecine strife, ulcers and famine. Supply our country with your intercession and all those who honor your holy memory, forever and ever. A min.
Troparion, tone 4
Today, the bowels of the church are expanding, / accepting the riches of God's grace, / the Russian cathedrals rejoice, / seeing the most glorious miracles, / even work those who come to you by faith, / holy wonderworkers Boris and Glebe, / pray to Christ God that save our souls.
Troparion, tone 2
True passion-bearers and true gospels of Christ, the chaste Romanes with beloved David, do not resist the enemy of the existing brother, who kills your bodies, but I can’t touch your souls: let the evil lover of power weep, but you, rejoicing with the faces of angels, coming to the Holy Trinity, pray for the power of your relatives, be pleasing to God, and be saved by the sons of Russia.
Kontakion, tone 4
Appear today in the country of Russtey / grace of healing / to all, to you, blessed, / coming and crying out: // rejoice, intercessors of warmth.
AND the rites of the first Russian saints, the passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb, are especially loved by our people. Many generations of our ancestors were brought up on them. Reading a touching story about young princes who wished to share the sufferings of Christ and voluntarily accepted death at the hands of murderers, the Russian people learned to accept the will of God, whatever it was, cultivated in their hearts the seeds of humility and obedience.
However, the historical outline of the events of that time is also interesting, which makes it possible to imagine the circumstances in which the characters that gave us this great example were formed. We offer our readers an article by the historian D.V. Donskoy, who studies the period of Ancient Russia and compiled the Dictionary of Russian Princes-Rurikovich.
The holy princes of Ancient Russia, primarily the princes of the Rurik dynasty, constitute a special, very numerous rank of saints of the Russian Church. Until the end of the 15th century, more than a hundred princes and princesses were canonized for general or local veneration. These are princes equal to the apostles, monks, martyrs and princes, glorified by their public service. The passion-bearing princes Boris and Gleb were not the first saints of the Russian land, but they are the first saints canonized by the Russian Church. The main sources of information about their life and veneration have been preserved by Russian chronicles, hagiographic works and various liturgical monuments.
Let's turn to historical realities. The beginning of the first decade of the XI century, the reign of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the Baptist of Russia, is coming to an end. He firmly guides the political ship of the Russian state, which occupies an important place in the system of interstate relations of that time. The chronicler emphasizes the friendly nature of Russia's relations with its western neighbors: "with Boleslav Lyadsky and with Stefan Ougrsky and with Andrihom Cheshsky". However, the Grand Duke is concerned about his intra-family affairs.
At the end of his life, seventy-year-old Vladimir Svyatoslavich had eleven relatives and one adopted son by various wives; The prince had fourteen daughters. Two eldest sons - Svyatopolk (adoptive; † 1019) and Yaroslav († 1054), having matured, are trying to pursue their own policy. This greatly worries the Grand Duke, who, despite his father's feelings, harshly and even cruelly cracks down on troublemakers.
Assassins at the tent of Prince Boris
(up); assassination of Prince Boris
and Georgy Ugrin (below).
Miniature from Silvestrovskiy
collection of the 2nd half of the XIV century
The first, Svyatopolk, on suspicion of conspiracy and an attempt on the power of his father, was imprisoned with his wife (daughter of the Polish prince Boleslav I the Brave from the Piast dynasty) and her confessor, Bishop Reinburn of Kołobrzeg, in prison. The second, Yaroslav, who sat on the reign in Veliky Novgorod since 1010 after the death of his elder brother Vysheslav, in 1014 refuses to transfer the usual tribute of two thousand hryvnias to Kyiv. The Grand Duke perceives this as an open rebellion and announces his intention to go to war against his son. In turn, Yaroslav, "fearing his father," brings the Varangian squads from across the sea.
The confrontation between sons and father ended with his death, which followed on July 15, 1015 in the princely residence in the village of Berestovo near Kyiv. The body of the Grand Duke, wrapped in a carpet and, in accordance with custom, laid on a sleigh, according to the chronicles, is transported to Kyiv. Here the Grand Duke is buried in the stone church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos (Tithing), to which he generously donated throughout his life. According to the testimony of the German chronicler, Bishop Titmar of Merseburg, the marble sarcophagus of the Grand Duke stood "in plain sight in the middle of the temple."
Upon the death of his father, Prince Svyatopolk, as the eldest in the family, is released from prison and occupies the Kyiv throne contrary to the plans of his stepfather, who intended Boris, one of his younger sons, to be his heir. Svyatopolk, by distributing generous gifts, is trying to win over the inhabitants of Kyiv to his side, at the same time he begins a bloody struggle against his half-brothers Vladimirovich.
Now let's turn to the brothers Boris and Gleb. The following is known about them. Boris (in baptism - Roman) Vladimirovich - the ninth son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavich and a certain princess, "Bulgarian". According to the Tver collection, compiled in 1534, he and his brother Gleb were the sons of another wife of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich - Anna, daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Roman II (from the Macedonian dynasty; † 963). According to non-chronicle data, their mother's name was Milolika.
The date and place of Boris's birth are not known; he was baptized in honor of the Monk Roman the Melodist. As a child, Boris was very friendly with his younger brother Gleb (in baptism - David, in honor of the prophet David). The date and place of Gleb's birth are also not known.
Boris, taught to read and write, reads the lives of the saints, praying to God to "walk in their footsteps." The brothers love to do alms, following the example of their father, whose poverty is repeatedly reported in the chronicle. Boris also shows the same mercy and meekness when he reigns in his parish, where he is already married (“for the sake of the Tsar’s law and obedience for the sake of his father”), Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich sends him.
First, the prince was planted by his father in Vladimir-Volynsky (on the right bank of the Luga, the right tributary of the Western Bug), where Boris lives after his marriage. Then, according to non-chronicle data, he owns Murom (on the left bank of the Oka), but is located in Kyiv. And finally, from 1010, the Grand Duke transferred his son to reign in Rostov (on the northwestern shore of Lake Nero). Gleb has been reigning in Murom since that time.
In the spring of 1015, Boris is in Kyiv near his dying father, because "we love our father more than anyone else." The Grand Duke sends him at the head of an eight thousandth army to repel the attack of the Pechenegs. Historical sources have preserved a portrait of Prince Boris, a real warrior, who “the body was red high, the face was round, the shoulders of the great tunk were cheerful in the loins of the eye of goodness, the beard was small and mustache, the young man was still” .
Having not met enemies, Boris turns back and, at a distance of one day's journey to Kyiv, on the Alta River (the right tributary of the Trubezh, near the city of Pereyaslavl-Russian), having set up camp, learns from the envoy about the death of his father. He is seized with a premonition that his older brother Svyatopolk, who by right of elder sat on the Kiev table, seeks to destroy him. But in the name of brotherly love, fulfilling the commandments of Christ, Boris decides to obey his brother and accept a martyr's crown, for power and wealth are transient. The governors from his entourage, on the contrary, advise him to go to Kyiv, start a fight with his elder brother for the Kyiv table and become a grand duke. But Boris refuses, not wanting to "take his hands on his elder brother." The squad leaves him and, probably, goes over to the side of Svyatopolk, and Boris is left alone, only with his people: "and it was then a Sabbath day."
Vikings pierce the heart with a sword
Prince Boris (above); prince's coffin
Boris is being carried to his funeral (below)
In his tent on the river bank, on the eve of his death, the prince spends the night in prayer, then prays for Matins. On Sunday, July 24, he was overtaken by murderers, the Vyshgorod Bolyars, led by a certain Putsha, sent by Svyatopolk. The assassins burst into the tent and pierce Boris with spears. His faithful servant, Georgy, is “of Ugrin origin (Hungarian - Note. ed.)”, who tried to cover the prince, was killed on his chest. Having wrapped the body of Boris in a tent, the villains put him on a cart and take him to Kyiv. On the way, it turns out that Boris is still breathing, and two Varangians, Eymund and Ragnar, finish him off with their swords. The hat of Prince Putsha and other murderers present Svyatopolk as evidence of the accomplishment of villainy.
They bury Prince Boris in Vyshgorod, 15 versts north of Kyiv, at the wooden church of St. Basil the Great, since the people of Kiev, for obvious reasons, fearing his half-brother Svyatopolk, “do not priash him.”
Having dealt with Boris, Svyatopolk, whose depth of fall knows no limits, decides on a second murder - his brother Gleb. Fear of revenge on the part of the surviving brothers, especially Yaroslav, fears for his throne and, last but not least, the audacity of despair push him to this new crime.
Svyatopolk sends a messenger to Gleb in order to lure him to Kyiv by deceit: “Go to the father’s side to call them, don’t hurt more Velmy.”
According to the chronicle and the anonymous "Tale of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb", the prince travels by water, along the Volga and Dnieper, from his parish, from Murom to Kyiv. Having reached Smolensk “in ships” and sailed about three miles downstream, Gleb moored to the left bank of the Smyadyn River (now dried up) at its confluence with the Dnieper. Unexpectedly, he receives news from Veliky Novgorod, from his brother Yaroslav, with a warning about an assassination attempt being prepared on him. This news does not stop him - he does not want to believe in the villainy of his brother Svyatopolk.
According to another version of events, according to the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, the author of "Reading on the Life and Destruction ... of Boris and Gleb", at the time of his father's death, Gleb is in Kyiv and flees to the north ("there is another holy gate"), fleeing from Svyatopolk . He sails on a ship, sails to Smolensk (but only from the south) and also stops at Smyadyn.
On Monday, September 5, assassins sent from Svyatopolk appear. They capture the ship of Prince Gleb, and the combatant Goryaser, the messenger of the fratricide Svyatopolk, orders one of Gleb's people, a traitor cook with the characteristic name Torchin (that is, from the Torks, a Turkic nomadic tribe. - Note. ed.) to kill his prince. The body of the prince is buried on the shore "between two logs", that is, according to a simple peasant custom - in hollowed out logs, and not according to the princely one - in a stone sarcophagus.
The killers are waiting for Prince Gleb
(up); the murder of Prince Gleb (below)
At the end of the same or the beginning of the next 1016, the noble prince Yaroslav the Wise, having gathered a large army of a thousand Varangians and three thousand Novgorodians, goes to Svyatopolk, eager to avenge the innocently killed brothers. The posadnik Konstantin Dobrynich remains in Veliky Novgorod (died after 1034).
Svyatopolk, having learned about the approach of Yaroslav, in turn, attracts the Pechenegs to his side. The troops meet near the city of Lyubech (on the left bank of the Dnieper) and, separated by the river, wait for three months, not daring to start a battle. On the eve of the battle, Yaroslav receives news from his informant that Svyatopolk is barking with his retinue. He crosses the river to the right bank and unexpectedly attacks the enemy. Due to the fact that the lakes covering the position of Svyatopolk are covered with thin ice, the Pechenegs cannot help him. Svyatopolk suffers a crushing defeat and flees to Poland to his father-in-law, Prince Boleslav I, and his wife is captured by Yaroslav. And then Yaroslav was 28 years old, the chronicler notes.
In the spring of 1016, Yaroslav enters Kyiv and occupies his father's throne. In 1017, he entered into an alliance with the German Emperor Henry II against Svyatopolk and Boleslav the Brave. In the same year, he goes to the city of Berestye (on the right bank of the Bug), where, according to some sources, Svyatopolk entrenched himself. Then he defeats the Pechenegs who approached Kyiv.
In the summer of 1018, the army of the Polish prince Boleslav, to whom Svyatopolk also joins, invades Russia and on July 22 defeats Yaroslav on the Bug River. Yaroslav with only four husbands flees to Veliky Novgorod, intending to further "run across the sea", but the Novgorod posadnik Konstantin Dobrynich prevents him, and the Novgorodians "split" his boats.
Wanting to continue the war with Boleslav and Svyatopolk, the Novgorodians collect money and hire a large army. Meanwhile, on August 14, Yaroslav's opponents enter Kyiv. Boleslav the Brave sends Metropolitan John I of Kyiv († circa 1038) to Veliky Novgorod with a proposal to exchange his daughter, who is in captivity, for Yaroslav's relatives captured during hostilities. The story of Merseburg Bishop Titmar specifies their composition: “There was the stepmother of the mentioned king (the widow of Father Yaroslav, her exact origin is unknown. - Note. ed.), his wife (her name Anna is known from later sources of the 16th century. - Note. ed.) and nine sisters; on one of them, Predslava, whom he had illegally sought before, forgetting about his wife, the old libertine Boleslav married. Yaroslav refuses this offer and at the same time sends an embassy to Sweden to the Swedish king Olaf Shetkonung († 1022) with a proposal to create an anti-Polish military alliance.
Construction of a five-domed church
(up); transfer of holy relics
to the newly built church (below)
Meanwhile, in the autumn of the same year, a quarrel occurs between Boleslav and Svyatopolk. Boleslav leaves Kyiv, taking with him the stolen goods, as well as the boyars of Yaroslav and his sisters. At the beginning of 1019, Yaroslav speaks from Veliky Novgorod. Upon learning of his approach, Svyatopolk flees from Kyiv to the Pechenegs, and Yaroslav again occupies the Kyiv table.
In the same year, Svyatopolk, together with a large Pecheneg army, goes to Russia. In the decisive battle on the Alta River, the site of the death of his brother Boris, Yaroslav wins a complete victory. His opponent runs to Berestye and soon dies a terrible death, which he deserves according to all the laws of God and man. Yaroslav, according to the chronicler, "here Kiev wiped sweat with his retinue, showing victory and great work."
Presumably in the summer of 1019, the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav begins to collect information about the place of death of his brother Gleb. “According to the same flight (in 1020. - Note. ed.)" various witnesses report light and radiance at the murder scene on the Smyadyn River. Then Yaroslav sends priests to Smolensk with instructions to find the body of Gleb; upon acquisition, the body of Gleb is transported to Vyshgorod and buried next to the grave of brother Boris at the church of St. Basil, built by the father of the martyrs.
Once, at the burial site of the brothers, parishioners see a “pillar of fire” above the grave of the saints and hear “singing angels”, and then two incidents occur that became the beginning of the popular veneration of the passion-bearing princes. One of the Varangians, out of ignorance, "entered" the holy place where the princes were buried, then fire burst out of the grave and singed the feet of the one who unintentionally defiled the holy place. Then a second sign occurs: the church of St. Basil, next to which the graves were located, burns down, but the icons and all church utensils are saved. This is perceived as a sign of the intercession of the martyrs.
The incident is reported to Yaroslav, who informs Metropolitan John I about it. And finally, the metropolitan comes in “awe and joy”, having believed in a miracle. Yaroslav and the metropolitan decide to open the princely tombs.
In Vyshgorod, where the burnt church stood, a small wooden chapel (“cage”) is being built, the shrines are solemnly opened, the newly acquired relics, which remained incorrupt, exude a fragrance. The coffins are brought "into that temple ... and I put it above the ground in the gums of the country."
Soon, two new miracles happen: a lame man - the youth of the city manager named Mironeg is healed after invoking the saints, and then the same thing happens to a certain blind man. Mironeg himself reports these miracles to the Grand Duke, who - to the Metropolitan. The metropolitan gives the prince “kindness pleasing to God”: to build a church in the name of the saints (“to reward the church with its name”), which is done. Then the relics from the "cage", where they still rested, are transferred to the newly built five-domed church and installed there. The day of their transfer, July 24, which coincides with the anniversary of the death of Boris, is declared a day of common memory of the princes and is entered into the church calendar. On the occasion of the holiday, the Grand Duke Yaroslav of Kyiv arranges a feast.
Before us is a detailed account of the canonization of saints in all its stages, which is a rarity in Byzantine and Old Russian literature. After the first miraculous signs (fire from the grave, the fire of the church, in which its decoration and utensils did not suffer), which, due to their ambiguous nature, could not be immediately unconditionally attributed to genuine miracles, there is an assumption whether Boris and Gleb are saints. On this basis, the relics are raised and exposed for local, permitted by the Church, but not yet officially established veneration.
After some time and two subsequent miracles-healings, documented in detail and earned the confidence of the metropolitan, the latter, together with the Grand Duke, decides on canonization. In pursuance of this decision, a church is built in the name of the saints, an annual feast is established, and a service for the martyrs is compiled, which was either the personal work of Metropolitan John I, or the work of an unknown author who worked on the orders of Vladyka.
It remains to clarify the chronological detail - the year of the canonization of the holy princes Boris and Gleb. According to the testimony of St. Nestor the Chronicler, the healing of the lame takes place in the presence of Metropolitan John I and Grand Duke Yaroslav. Therefore, the miracle should be dated to 1039 at the latest.< . Поскольку акт перенесения мощей был совмещен с актом канонизации и приходился на праздничный день, на воскресенье, следует выяснить, на какие годы падает соотношение «24 июля - воскресенье» в период от середины 20-х до конца 30-х годов XI века. Юлианский календарь сообщает нам, что такими годами были 1026-й и 1037 годы.
The choice in favor of the last date is obvious. Firstly, the year 1026 is too close to the events connected with the discovery of the remains and the beginning of the veneration of the holy princes Boris and Gleb. Secondly, it should be borne in mind that only after 1036, when with the death of his younger brother Mstislav (owner of the eastern Dnieper and the Left Bank) and the imprisonment (“in the cut”) of another younger brother, Prince Sudislav of Pskov, Yaroslav became an “autocrat » of the entire Russian land (excluding the Principality of Polotsk). By the same time, the establishment in Kyiv of a special metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (“the metropolis of the charter”), the opening of which was achieved by the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise. The canonization of the holy martyr princes was supposed to strengthen the independent position of the Russian Church.
So, with all certainty, we can conclude that the holy princes Boris and Gleb were canonized under the Grand Duke of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise and Metropolitan John I of Kiev, on Sunday, July 24, 1037 in the Kyiv diocese (first stage).
The subsequent fate of the holy relics of the brothers is also of considerable interest: they were transferred twice more, both times on Sunday and in May.
After the death of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise, the veneration of the holy martyrs grows. Their new reburial takes place in 1072, when their nephews, princes Izyaslav (at that time the Grand Duke of Kyiv; † 1079), Svyatoslav († 1076) and Vsevolod († 1093) Yaroslavichi, as well as Russian hierarchs headed by Metropolitan George († after 1073) on Sunday, May 20, the remains of the holy brothers are transferred to a new one-domed church. This church was built by the acquisition of the Grand Duke on the site of the former five-domed, already dilapidated.
Transfer of the relics of Prince Boris
(up); transfer of relics
Prince Gleb (below)
The princes carry the wooden coffin of Boris on their shoulders, and then in the church they transfer the relics to a stone sarcophagus. Then they bring on a sleigh a stone sarcophagus with the relics of Gleb. At the opening of the tombs of the holy princes, the Metropolitan blesses the three brother-princes with the hand of Saint Gleb. Then the Divine Liturgy is performed, after which a feast is held.
From that time, the process of the all-Russian glorification of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb began (the second stage of canonization).
It should be noted that when the coffin of Boris was first opened and the church was filled with the fragrance of the relics (an important fact during the canonization that had already taken place), Metropolitan George, being “not firm in faith towards him”, fell on his face and began to pray and ask for forgiveness: “ Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned in disbelief towards your saints.
It should be clarified here that the doubts of the Greek Metropolitan were quite natural. Boris and Gleb are precisely the martyrs, partakers of the passions of Christ, and not martyrs for the faith (the canonization of the princes required additional coordination with Constantinople).
The princes fell victims of a political crime, perished in princely strife, like many before and after them. Simultaneously with them, the third brother, Svyatoslav, fell at the hands of Svyatopolk in the autumn of that year, and there was no talk of canonization. However, the motives of the holy brothers were completely different, never seen before in Russia: they strove to act according to the word of Christ, to preserve the world by their death.
We also note that almost all the saints of the Greek calendar are among the martyrs for the faith, saints (ascetics-ascetics) and saints (bishops). Lay people in the rank of "righteous" are extremely rare. It is necessary to keep this in mind in order to understand the entire exceptionalism of the canonization of princes killed in internecine strife, and, moreover, the first canonization in the new Church, which until quite recently nourished the pagan people.
At the end of the 11th century, the spread of the veneration of the holy princes Boris and Gleb becomes so wide that “grace from God in the country of this Russk sling and heal every passion and illness” prompts the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatoslav Yaroslavich to start building a stone church already “80 cubits” high. Construction ends shortly before the death of the next Grand Duke - Vsevolod, but after the sudden collapse of the church dome for some time, "forget about this church".
Heavenly Intercession of the Saints
princes Boris and Gleb in battle
Russian troops with the Pechenegs
In 1102, attention to the shrine was already attracted by a new generation of princes: the great-nephew of the holy martyrs, Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich of Chernigov († 1115), undertook the task of building a new stone church in Vyshgorod, while another great-nephew, Pereyaslavsky (at that time time) Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh († 1125), ordered to forge silver boards with images of saints, arranged for their relics a fence of silver and gold, decorating it with crystal pendants, and installed gilded lamps. The tomb was so skillfully decorated that subsequently pilgrims from Greece, who repeatedly visited the shrine, said: “Nowhere is there such beauty, although in many countries we have seen the shrines of saints.”
Finally, in 1113, the church in Vyshgorod was completed, but the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatopolk Izyaslavich († 1114), who was ruling at that time, envied Prince Oleg of Chernigov that he had not erected a church for the saints, did not give consent to the transfer of relics. And only after his death, when Vladimir Monomakh occupied the Kyiv table, on Saturday, May 1, 1115 (in the year of the centenary of the death of the brothers), the newly built stone church was consecrated.
Borisoglebskaya Church was one of the largest in pre-Mongol Russia, it can be compared, for example, with the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Chernigov. The new cross-domed building, with a tower for climbing the choir stalls in the northwestern corner, had a length along the west-east axis of 42 meters, with a small width of 24 meters.
The walls were made of bricks using the “hidden row” masonry technique, the facades were decorated with arched niches with ledges, the roof was covered with lead. From the inside, the temple was painted with frescoes and paved with glazed tiles. Prince Vladimir Monomakh decorated the niches (“with silver and gold”). The temple stood until the end of 1240, when the army of Batu Khan ravaged Kyiv and neighboring cities. Mentions of him in the annals after the Tatar-Mongol invasion disappear. The relics of the holy martyrs were lost during those events.
On the Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, May 2, 1115, in the presence of the Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Russia Nicephorus I († 1121), the cathedral of bishops, abbots, princes and boyars, the solemn transfer of the relics to the new stone cathedral took place. The procession passed with a huge crowd of people, so that shrines with relics moved forward with great difficulty. The ropes (“snakes”), on which the sleigh with crayfish was pulled, could not stand it and were continuously torn, so that they were transported from Matins to the Liturgy. The brought shrines were left at the entrance to the church and remained there until May 4, so that during these two days the people could venerate the relics of the holy martyrs.
After the cancer was brought into the temple, no place was chosen for them, since a dispute arose between the princes. Vladimir Monomakh wanted to place the remains in the middle of the temple “and put a silver tower over it”, while Oleg and his brother David († 1123) wanted to place them “in a mosquito (an arched crypt for burial. - Note. ed.), where the father ... announced (Grand Duke Svyatoslav Yaroslavich 40 years ago. - Note. ed.)" . The dispute between the princes was decided by lots cast on the throne in favor of the Svyatoslavichs.
Over the following centuries, the veneration of the holy princes Boris and Gleb, as assistants to the Russian princes and defenders of the Russian Land, constantly increased. Their miraculous help and intercession manifested itself in the fight against the Polovtsy and the Pechenegs (XI century), then before the Battle of the Neva (1240), when Saints Boris and Gleb appeared in the boat, among the rowers, “clothe them with darkness”, putting their hands on each other’s shoulders. “Brother Glebe,” Boris said then, “let us row, so we can help our relative Oleksandr” (Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky; † 1263). The victory on Lake Peipsi (1242) was also won by "the holy martyr Boris and Gleb ... with great prayers", their prayerful help came when the Novgorod army captured the Swedish fortress of Landskrona at the mouth of the Neva (1301), during the uprising in Tver (1327) during Prince Alexander Mikhailovich († 1339), who raised against the Tatars "with a prayer of the newly appeared martyr of the holy Russian Tsars Boris and Gleb"
Information about Boris and Gleb, as well as about the formation of their veneration in addition to the chronicles (The Tale of Bygone Years, the Novgorod First Chronicle of the younger edition) has been preserved in the early hagiographic works dedicated to the saints - the anonymous "Tale, and passion, and praise of the holy martyr Boris and Gleb" (beginning .: “Bless the race of the righteous, the prophet speaks”) (hereinafter SS), in the closely related “Tale of Miracles to the Holy Passion-Bearer of Christ Roman and David” (beginning: “A man cannot speak and not be satisfied with the eye of the eye”) (hereinafter SC ) and in "Reading about the Life and Destruction of the Blessed Passion-Bearer Boris and Gleb", written by the hagiographer v. Rev. Nestor of the Caves (beginning: “Lord, Lord, Almighty, who created heaven and earth”) (hereinafter CHN), as well as in the early liturgical monuments - prologue life (beginning: “Martyr Boris byashe from youth to rise”) and 3 paroemia readings ( beginning: “Brothers, help in troubles”; “Hearing Yaroslav, as if he had died”, “To your walls, Vyshegorod”). Some details were reflected in the most ancient church hymns of Boris and Gleb. The time of occurrence of these works, their sources and complex textual relationships are the subject of ongoing scientific discussions.
The most reasoned at the moment can be considered the view that the SS arose no later than the year (it does not mention the solemn transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb that took place that year), but it is unlikely under Yaroslav the Wise (d.), Most likely in the reign of Kiev Izyaslav Yaroslavich, in preparation for the celebrations, the city of Izyaslav was named in baptism in honor of the martyr. Demetrius of Thessalonica - in the SS, Boris and Gleb, as protectors of the Russian land, are compared with St. Demetrius of Thessalonica, and Vyshgorod, where the relics of the holy martyrs rested, with the "second Selun". This helps to date the chronicle story. Firstly, it is indisputable that of the 2 editions in which it was preserved - in the PVL and in the NPL of the junior edition, the latter is closer to the SS, that is, the edition contained in the previous PVL, the so-called. The initial set of the 90s. in. Secondly, despite the fact that science has repeatedly expressed an opinion about the dependence of the chronicle story about the events of 1015–1019. from the much more lengthy SS (metropolitan Macarius (Bulgakov), E. E. Golubinsky, N. N. Ilyin, O. Kralik, A. Poppe), the reverse thesis looks more reasonable - that the SS was an extended hagiographic processing of the chronicle story (A (I. Sobolevsky, A. A. Shakhmatov, N. I. Serebryansky, S. A. Bugoslavsky, L. Muller, etc.). In the annals, in particular, borrowings from the Slavic translation of the Greek chronicle by Georgy Amartol (or rather, the “Chronograph according to the great exposition”) are more regularly transmitted. Thus, the original chronicle story about Boris and Gleb should be attributed to the Kiev-Pechersk chronicle of the 60s - early 70s. in. Apparently, rather early oral traditions were reflected in the story, otherwise it would be difficult to explain many things. the details she gives, eg. the names of the murderers Boris (Putsha, Talets, Elovich, Lyashko) and Gleb (Goryaser, cook Torchin). At the same time, there can hardly be any doubt that in Vyshgorod, with the beginning of miracles from the relics of the holy martyrs, already under Yaroslav the Wise, records began to be kept, which were reflected primarily in the MF and CHN. There was also a hypothesis about the existence of the allegedly created already in the 30s. in. hagiographic essay about Boris and Gleb, maybe in Greek (D. V. Ainalov, Müller).
SC in manuscripts (including in the oldest list as part of the Assumption collection of the late 12th - early 13th centuries) usually forms a single complex with SS, although it is also found separately from the latter. In terms of prevalence, SS is much inferior to SS (according to J. Revelli, 43 lists against 207), so in most cases SS was copied separately from SS. Therefore, contrary to t. sp. Sobolevsky, Shakhmatov, Serebryansky, N. N. Voronin, Muller, we are most likely talking about 2 independent works, eventually united in some part of the manuscript tradition. The MS in its final form took shape during the Kiev reign of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh (1113–1125), not earlier than 1113–1125, because it contains a story about the transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb that took place that year, as well as numerous praises addressed to Vladimir. With all that, the midrange is sometimes considered to be complex; Poppe dates its earlier part to the beginning of the Kyiv reign of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich (1073-1076), and S.A. Bugoslavsky - closer to the end. in. (after ). T. sp. S. A. Bugoslavsky, who singles out one more, intermediate chronological layer in the midrange, dating back to about a year, seems unnecessarily complicated. According to Poppe, the original part of the midrange ended with the 6th miracle (“On the Blind”), but it looks more solid in the sense according to which the composition of Svyatoslav’s time was shorter and ended with a message about the transfer of relics to the city, and miracles from the 4th (“About chrome and dumb”) by 6 were added during the creation of the final edition under Vladimir Monomakh, when, as is believed, the text of the ChN was used (Muller, A. N. Uzhankov). However, it is possible and even more likely that both the SC and the CHN had a common source - the mentioned Vyshgorod records about miracles at the relics of Boris and Gleb. Almost all researchers, following Shakhmatov, attribute the ChN to the 80s. century, probably closer to the beginning of the decade. Dating of S. A. Bugoslavsky, who considered the ChN a product of the beginning. XII century, did not find support.
The life and death of Boris and Gleb
According to the SS and chronicle, during his father's lifetime, Boris occupied the princely table in Rostov, and Gleb in Murom. Otherwise, the case is set out in the ChN. Here, apparently, Vladimir-Volynsky is named as the place of Boris's reign, where Boris settled after his marriage, and Gleb is represented as being in childhood with his father in Kyiv. It is difficult to make a decisive choice in favor of one or another version of the authors who worked at approximately the same time (in the 1970s–1980s). "Vladimer" in the phrase of St. Nestor's "Tache the ambassador and then the father to the Vladimir region" can be quite understood both as the name of the city and as a refinement to "father". However, the 2nd interpretation does not fit well into the logic of Rev. Nestor, who sees the root cause of the anger of Svyatopolk, who reigned in Turov, at his younger brother in Vladimir's placing Boris on the table. Boris, who was sitting in distant Rostov, would not pose any threat to the Prince of Turov, while the reign of Boris in Volyn could lead to a decrease in the inheritance of Svyatopolk (Volyn and Turov often represented a single owner complex) and in any case jeopardized Svyatopolk's ties with the Polish Prince Boleslav I, whose daughter Svyatopolk was married to. One way or another, Rev. Nestor, who wrote in the Kiev Caves Monastery, could not but be familiar with the original form of the chronicle story created there (his acquaintance with the SS is less likely), and, therefore, he had special reasons for deviating from the course of events set forth in it. The ChN and the SS also differ in other details: according to the ChN story, Gleb flees from Svyatopolk, while in the SS and the chronicle he, like Boris, voluntarily goes towards martyrdom. Obviously, in the middle - 2nd floor. in. there were various legends about the circumstances of the life and death of Boris and Gleb, although attempts to find traces of contamination of contradictory elements in the most “Rostov-Murom” version (Chess) cannot be considered completely convincing.
Noteworthy is the message of the ChN about Svyatopolk’s fears that Vladimir Svyatoslavich allegedly was going to leave Kyiv not to the eldest of his sons (by that time Svyatopolk was such), but to Boris, which is why Vladimir at the end of his life brought Boris out of his reign and kept him with him (the latter is confirmed also SS and chronicle). It seems that Vladimir was going to radically break the traditional order of succession, really seeing Boris as his successor, bypassing his eldest sons, possibly as a result. the royal origin of the holy brothers, which also explains the characteristic “royal” topic in relation to Boris in the most ancient service (“the rich Roman is decorated with a Caesar’s crown from ennui”, etc.) and in Art. “About Boris, how to be vz-rum”, included in the SS (Boris “young ... still, shining like a prince”). However, this intention of the Kyiv prince came up in - years. to the active opposition of his eldest sons - Svyatopolk of Turov and Yaroslav, who was sitting in Novgorod, which gives reason to attribute the publication of Vladimir's plans regarding Boris to about 1012/13.
This dating finds confirmation in the prince's nomenclature. The earliest of the numerous naming of princes by the names of new saints in the families of both the Yaroslavichi (Gleb, David, Roman Svyatoslavichi, David Igorevich, Boris Vyacheslavich), and the Polotsk prince. Vseslav Bryachislavich (Gleb, David, Boris, Roman) definitely date back to the time of the life of Yaroslav the Wise (Gleb Svyatoslavich was born no later than 1050/51, Gleb and David, since they were the eldest sons of Vseslav of Polotsk, no later than 1053/54), while those born in 1036 and several. earlier, the two younger sons of Yaroslav himself were named Vyacheslav and Igor, which does not agree well with the assumption of the canonization of Boris and Gleb under Metropolitan. John, if the latter was the forerunner of Theopemptus. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the surviving seals of David Igorevich, who was born in the 50s. XI century., bear the image of not Gleb - David, but the prophet. David. This suggests that the named names took place even before the names of Boris-Roman and Gleb-David were included in the calendar, although they were a consequence of the veneration of the martyr princes within the princely family. In this case, the establishment of the holiday on July 24 under Yaroslav should be regarded as a local canonization within the Kyiv diocese (which included Vyshgorod), but an all-Russian. glorification attributed to the city. The dating of the all-Russian canonization of the city looks unjustifiably late and is based on a very controversial premise that the ChN was the first hagiographic work about Boris and Gleb, while the SS supposedly could not be such (S. A. Bugoslavsky thought so too); The mention of Boris and Gleb in the list of saints in birch bark No. 906, which stratigraphically falls on the 3rd Quarter, also speaks against. 11th century Yanin V. L., Zaliznyak A. A. Birch bark documents from excavations in 1999 // VYa. 2000. No. 2. S. 6
The holy noble princes-martyrs Boris and Gleb (in holy Baptism - Roman and David) are the first Russian saints, canonized by both the Russian and Constantinople Churches. They were the younger sons of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (+ July 15, 1015). Born shortly before the Baptism of Russia, the holy brothers were brought up in Christian piety. The eldest of the brothers - Boris received a good education. He loved to read Holy Scripture, the writings of the holy fathers, and especially the lives of the saints. Under their influence, Saint Boris had an ardent desire to imitate the feat of the saints of God and often prayed that the Lord would honor him with such an honor.
Saint Gleb was brought up with his brother from early childhood and shared his desire to devote his life exclusively to the service of God. Both brothers were distinguished by mercy and kindness of heart, imitating the example of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir, merciful and sympathetic to the poor, sick, and destitute.
Even during the life of his father, Saint Boris received Rostov as an inheritance. Governing his principality, he showed wisdom and meekness, caring first of all about the planting of the Orthodox faith and the establishment of a pious way of life among his subjects. The young prince also became famous as a brave and skillful warrior. Shortly before his death, Grand Duke Vladimir summoned Boris to Kyiv and sent him with an army against the Pechenegs. When the death of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir followed, his eldest son Svyatopolk, who was at that time in Kyiv, declared himself the Grand Duke of Kyiv. Saint Boris at that time was returning from a campaign, without meeting the Pechenegs, who were probably frightened of him and left for the steppes. When he learned of his father's death, he was very upset. The squad persuaded him to go to Kyiv and take the throne of the Grand Duke, but the holy prince Boris, not wanting internecine strife, disbanded his army: “I will not raise my hand against my brother, and even against my elder, whom I should consider as a father!”
This is how the chronicle tells about it (translated by D. Likhachev): “When Boris, having set out on a campaign and not meeting the enemy, was returning back, a messenger came to him and told him about the death of his father. He told how his father Vasily had died (this name was Vladimir in holy baptism) and how Svyatopolk, hiding the death of his father, dismantled the platform in Berestovo at night and, wrapping the body in a Carpet, lowered him on ropes to the ground, took him on a sleigh in the Church of the Holy Virgin. And when Saint Boris heard this, his body began to weaken, and his whole face was wet with tears, shedding tears, unable to speak. Only in his heart did he think like this: “Alas for me, the light of my eyes, the radiance and dawn of my face, the bridle of my youth, the mentor of my inexperience! Alas, my father and my lord! To whom shall I resort, to whom shall I turn my gaze? Where else can I find such wisdom and how can I manage without the instructions of your mind? Alas for me, alas for me! How did you go down, my sun, and I was not there! If I were there, I would remove your honest body with my own hands and betray it to the grave. But I did not carry your valiant body, I was not honored to kiss your beautiful gray hairs. O blessed one, remember me at your resting place! My heart burns, my soul confuses my mind, and I don’t know who to turn to, who to tell this bitter sadness? Brother, whom I revered as a father? But he, I feel, cares about worldly fuss and plots my murder. If he sheds my blood and decides to kill me, I will be a martyr before my Lord. I will not resist, for it is written: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." And in the epistle of the apostle it is said: "Whoever says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, is a liar." And again: "There is no fear in love; perfect love casts out fear." So what will I say, what will I do? Here I will go to my brother and say: “Be my father - after all, you are my elder brother. What command me, my lord?"
And thinking so in his mind, he went to his brother and said in his heart: “Will I even see my younger brother Gleb, like Joseph Benjamin?” And he decided in his heart: “Thy will be done, Lord!” I thought to myself: “If I go to my father’s house, then many people will persuade me to drive my brother away, as I did, for the sake of glory and reign in this world, my father until holy baptism. And all this is transient and fragile, like a web. Where will I go after my departure from this world? Where will I be then? What answer will I get? Where will I hide my many sins? What did my father's brothers or my father gain? Where is their life and the glory of this world, and scarlet, and feasts, silver and gold, wine and honey, plentiful dishes, and frisky horses, and decorated mansions, and great, and many riches, and countless tributes and honors, and boasting of their boyars . All this seemed to have never happened: everything with them disappeared, and there is no help from anything - neither from wealth, nor from many slaves, nor from the glory of this world. So Solomon, having experienced everything, having seen everything, mastering everything and gathering everything, said about everything: “Vanity of vanities - all is vanity!” Salvation is only in good deeds, in true faith and in unfeigned love.”
Going his own way, Boris thought about his beauty and youth, and shed tears all over. And he wanted to hold back, but he couldn't. And all who saw him also mourned his youth and his physical and spiritual beauty. And each in his soul groaned from the sorrow of his heart, and all were seized with sorrow.
Who will not mourn, presenting this pernicious death before the eyes of his heart?
His whole appearance was dull, and his holy heart was contrite, for the blessed one was truthful and generous, quiet, meek, humble, he pitied everyone and helped everyone.
This is how the blessed Boris thought in his heart and said: “I knew that evil people would incite my brother to kill me and he would destroy me, and when he sheds my blood, I will be a martyr before my Lord, and the Master will receive my soul.” Then, forgetting mortal sorrow, he began to comfort his heart with God's word: "He who sacrifices his soul for me and my teaching will find and keep it in eternal life." And he went with a joyful heart, saying: “Lord, Merciful, do not reject me, who trusts in you, but save my soul!”
However, the cunning and power-hungry Svyatopolk did not believe Boris's sincerity; in an effort to protect himself from the possible rivalry of his brother, on whose side the sympathies of the people and the army were, he sent assassins to him. Saint Boris was informed of such treachery by Svyatopolk, but did not hide himself and, like the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity, readily met death. The assassins overtook him when he was praying for Matins on Sunday, July 24, 1015, in his tent on the banks of the Alta River. After the service, they broke into the tent to the prince and pierced him with spears. The beloved servant of the holy Prince Boris, George Ugrin (born Hungarian), rushed to the defense of his master and was immediately killed. But Saint Boris was still alive. Coming out of the tent, he began to pray fervently, and then turned to the killers: "Come, brethren, finish your service, and may there be peace to brother Svyatopolk and you." Then one of them came up and pierced him with a spear. The servants of Svyatopolk took the body of Boris to Kyiv, on the way they met two Varangians sent by Svyatopolk to speed things up. The Varangians noticed that the prince was still alive, although he was barely breathing. Then one of them pierced his heart with a sword. The body of the holy martyr Prince Boris was secretly brought to Vyshgorod and laid in a church in the name of St. Basil the Great.
After that, Svyatopolk just as treacherously killed the holy prince Gleb. Slyly summoning his brother Murom from his inheritance, Svyatopolk sent vigilantes to meet him in order to kill Saint Gleb on the way. Prince Gleb already knew about the death of his father and the villainous murder of Prince Boris. Deeply grieving, he preferred death to war with his brother. Saint Gleb's meeting with the murderers took place at the mouth of the Smyadyn River, not far from Smolensk.
What was the feat of the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb? What's the point in being like this - without resistance to die at the hands of murderers?
The life of the holy martyrs was sacrificed to the main Christian good deed - love. "Whoever says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, is a liar" (1 John 4:20). The holy brothers did something that was still new and incomprehensible to pagan Russia, accustomed to blood feud - they showed that evil cannot be repaid with evil, even under the threat of death. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul” (Matthew 10:28). The Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb gave their lives for the sake of observing obedience, on which the spiritual life of a person and, in general, all life in society is based. “Do you see, brethren,” remarks the Monk Nestor the Chronicler, “how high is obedience to an older brother? If they had resisted, they would hardly have been worthy of such a gift from God. There are many young princes now who do not submit to the elders and are killed for resisting them. But they are not like the grace that these saints were rewarded with.”
The noble princes-passion-bearers did not want to raise a hand against their brother, but the Lord Himself took revenge on the power-hungry tyrant: “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay” (Rom. 12:19).
In 1019, Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kyiv, also one of the sons of Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles, gathered an army and defeated Svyatopolk's squad.
Let us turn again to the chronicle: “Blessed Boris returned and spread his camp on Alta. And the squad told him: "Go, sit in Kyiv on your father's princely table - after all, all the soldiers are in your hands." He answered them: “I cannot raise my hand against my brother, besides, also the oldest, whom I honor as a father.” Hearing this, the soldiers dispersed, and he was left only with his youths. And it was the Sabbath. In anguish and sadness, with a dejected heart, he entered his tent and wept in contrition of heart, but with an enlightened soul, plaintively exclaiming: “Do not reject my tears, Lord, for I trust in you! May I be rewarded with the fate of Your servants and share the lot with all Your saints, you are a merciful God, and we praise You forever! Amen".
He remembered the torment and suffering of the holy martyr Nikita and saint Vyacheslav, who were killed in the same way, and how her own father was the murderer of Saint Barbara. And he remembered the words of the wise Solomon: "The righteous live forever, and from the Lord is their reward and adornment from the Almighty." And only these words comforted and rejoiced.
Meanwhile, evening came, and Boris ordered Vespers to be sung, and he himself entered his tent and began to perform the evening prayer with bitter tears, frequent sighing and continuous lamentations. Then he went to bed, and his sleep was disturbed by dreary thoughts and sadness, bitter, and heavy, and terrible: how to endure torment and suffering, and end life, and save faith, and accept the prepared crown from the hands of the Almighty. And, waking up early, he saw that it was already morning time. And it was Sunday. He said to his priest: "Get up, start matins." Himself, putting on shoes and washing his face, began to pray to the Lord God.
Those sent by Svyatopolk came to Alta at night, and came close, and heard the voice of the blessed martyr, singing the Psalter at matins. And he had already received the news of the impending murder of him. And he began to sing: “Lord! How my enemies have multiplied! Many rise up against me" - and the rest of the psalms to the end. And, having begun to sing according to the Psalter: “A crowd of dogs surrounded me, and fat calves surrounded me,” he continued: “Lord, my God! I trust in you, save me!” And then the canon sang. And when he finished matins, he began to pray, looking at the icon of the Lord and saying: “Lord Jesus Christ! Like you, who appeared on earth in this image and by your own will let yourself be nailed to the cross and suffer for our sins, grant me to accept suffering like that!
And when he heard an ominous whisper near the tent, he trembled, and tears flowed from his eyes, and said: “Glory to you, Lord, for everything, for you have honored me with envy for the sake of accepting this bitter death and enduring everything for the love of your commandments. You didn’t want to avoid torment yourself, you didn’t want anything for yourself, follow the commandments of the apostle: “Love is long-suffering, believes everything, does not envy and does not exalt itself.” And again: "There is no fear in love, for true love casts out fear." Therefore, Lord, my soul is always in your hands, for I have not forgotten your commandment. As the Lord wills, so be it." And when they saw the priest Borisov and the youth serving the prince, his master, embraced by sorrow and sadness, they wept bitterly and said: “Our merciful and dear lord! What goodness you are filled with, that you did not want to oppose your brother for the love of Christ, and yet how many soldiers you kept at your fingertips! And, having said this, she was sad.
And suddenly he saw those rushing to the tent, the gleam of weapons, drawn swords. And without pity the honest and many-merciful body of the saint and blessed was pierced. Passion-bearer of Christ Boris. The accursed ones struck him with spears: Putsha, Talets, Elovich, Lyashko. Seeing this, his youth covered the body of the blessed one with himself, exclaiming: “Let me not leave you, my beloved sir, where the beauty of your body fades, here I will be able to end my life!”
He was a Hungarian by birth, named George, and the prince rewarded him with a golden hryvnia [*], and was loved by Boris immensely. Then they pierced him, and, wounded, he jumped out of the tent in a daze. And those standing near the tent spoke: “Why are you standing and looking! Having begun, let us complete what has been done to us.” Hearing this, the blessed one began to pray and ask them, saying: “My dear and beloved brothers! Wait a bit, let me pray to God." And looking up at the sky with tears, and sighing to grief, he began to pray with these words: “Lord, my God, many-merciful and merciful and merciful! Glory to Thee, for having granted me to escape from the seductions of this deceitful life! Glory to Thee, generous giver of life, for vouchsafed me a feat worthy of the holy martyrs! Glory to you, Lord-Love of Man, that you made me fulfill the innermost desire of my heart! Glory to Thee, Christ, glory to the immeasurable, Thy mercy, for you directed my groans to the right path! Look from the height of your holiness and see the pain of my heart, which I suffered from my relative - because for your sake they kill me on this day. I was made equal to a ram ready to be slaughtered. After all, You know, Lord, I do not resist, I will not contradict, and having under my hand all the soldiers of my father and all whom my father loved, I did not plot anything against my brother. He raised as much as he could against me. “If the enemy reproached me, I would endure it; if my hater slandered me, I would hide from him. But you, Lord, be a witness and judge between me and my brother and do not condemn them, Lord, for this sin, but accept my soul in peace. Amen".
And, looking at his killers with a sorrowful look, with a haggard face, shedding tears all over, he said: “Brothers, when you start, finish what was entrusted to you. And may there be peace to my brother and to you, brothers!”
And all who heard his words could not utter a word from fear and bitter sadness and abundant tears. With bitter sighs, they lamented and wept plaintively, and each one wailed in his soul: “Alas for us, our merciful and blessed prince, guide to the blind, clothing to the naked, staff to the elders, mentor to the foolish! Who will direct them now? I didn’t want the glory of this world, I didn’t want to have fun with honest nobles, I didn’t want greatness in this life. Who will not be amazed at such great humility, who will not humble himself, seeing and hearing his humility?
And so Boris rested, betraying his soul into the hands of the Living God on the 24th day of the month of July, 9 days before the August calendars.
They also killed many youths. They could not remove the hryvnia from George, and, having cut off his head, they threw it away. Therefore, they could not identify his body.
Blessed Boris, wrapped in a tent, put on a cart and taken away. And when they were riding in the forest, he began to raise his holy head. Upon learning of this, Svyatopolk sent two Varangians, and they pierced Boris in the heart with a sword. And so he died, assuming an unfading crown. And, having brought his body, they laid it in Vyshgorod and buried it in the ground near the church of St. Basil.
Svyatopolk, called the Accursed by the Russian people, fled to Poland and, like the first fratricide Cain, did not find peace and shelter anywhere. Chroniclers testify that even a stench emanated from his grave.
“Since that time,” the chronicler writes, “sedition in Russia has subsided.” The blood shed by the holy brothers for the sake of preventing internecine strife was that fertile seed that strengthened the unity of Russia. The noble princes-passion-bearers are not only glorified by God with the gift of healing, but they are special patrons, defenders of the Russian land. Many cases of their appearance in a difficult time for our Fatherland are known, for example, to St. Alexander Nevsky on the eve of the Battle of the Ice (1242), Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy on the day of the Battle of Kulikovo (1380). The veneration of Saints Boris and Gleb began very early, shortly after their death. The service to the saints was compiled by Metropolitan John I of Kyiv (1008-1035).
The Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise took care to find the remains of St. Gleb, which had been unburied for 4 years, and buried them in Vyshgorod, in the church in the name of St. Basil the Great, next to the relics of St. Prince Boris. After some time, this temple burned down, but the relics remained unharmed, and many miracles were performed from them. One Varangian stood reverently at the grave of the holy brothers, and suddenly a flame came out and scorched his feet. From the relics of the holy princes, a lame lad, the son of a resident of Vyshgorod, received healing: Saints Boris and Gleb appeared to the lad in a dream and signed the cross on his sick leg. The boy woke up from sleep and stood up completely healthy. The noble prince Yaroslav the Wise built a five-domed stone church on this site, which was consecrated on July 24, 1026 by Metropolitan John of Kyiv with a clergy cathedral. Many churches and monasteries throughout Russia were dedicated to the holy princes Boris and Gleb, frescoes and icons of the holy martyr brothers are also known in numerous churches of the Russian Church.
