Date according to the old style: July 11.
On this day, Orthodox Christians honor Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga, who played a significant role in the adoption of Orthodox Christianity in Rus. According to legend, Olga was the wife of Igor, the Prince of Kiev. From their very first meeting, Olga’s pious nature was evident: the young prince, upon seeing the beautiful girl, was filled with passion and attempted to lead her into sin, but she shamed him. When the time came for Igor to marry, he firmly decided to take only Olga as his wife.
Soon after Olga and Igor had a son, Svyatoslav, the prince was killed by the Drevlians, from whom he was collecting tribute. When the ruler of the Drevlians, Mal, proposed marriage to Olga, she pretended to agree, cunningly lured two Drevlyan envoys to Kiev, and subjected them all to a painful death. Following this, she ordered the Drevlians’ capital, Iskorosten, to be burned, and its inhabitants to be either killed or sold into slavery.
Alongside this legend, which simultaneously depicts the harsh customs of the time and Olga’s loyalty to her husband’s memory, chronicles attest that the princess spent her time managing the political and economic affairs of the country. “And Princess Olga governed the regions of Rus’ under her control not as a woman, but as a strong and wise man, firmly holding power and courageously defending against enemies,” says her hagiography.
Following the example of the Byzantine Empire, Olga knew that for the well-being of her people, it was also necessary to attend to their religious and spiritual lives. The princess traveled to Constantinople to observe church services and to be convinced of the righteousness of the Christian faith. There, she decided to become a Christian and was baptized with the name Helena. Olga returned to Kiev with icons and liturgical books; she converted many of her kin to the Christian faith and began a special veneration of the Holy Trinity in Rus’.
After Olga’s death, her grandson, Prince Vladimir, the future baptizer of Rus’, known in Russian epics as Vladimir the Red Sun, continued her work. During his reign, the veneration of Olga as a saint began.
Olga was nicknamed “the Passion-Bearer” because her feast day in Rus’ fell during the height of the fieldwork season. At this time, the entire village would go out to the fields and meadows: some would be harvesting, others making hay; children would be sent to the forest to gather mushrooms and berries. “And even the frail old people must not groan, for they must care for the bread,” people would say. On this day, peasants would pray to Saint Olga for good weather, for mercy towards the harvesters, and for the work to be completed before the rye began to rot from the heavy dew that would soon fall on the fields. “Olga is a helper in the field,” the people believed.
This time of year was also called the “stradno-grozovaya” (struggling-stormy) period, as thunderstorms were common. “First a flash, then a crash, then a splash,” was how people poetically described this natural phenomenon. They also noted: sharp thunder meant a light rain, while rumbling thunder indicated a heavy downpour.
Saint Olga’s Day was also called “Stozhary,” a name given in Rus’ to the star cluster in the constellation Taurus. The bright shine of Stozhary (clear skies) foretold a successful harvest and a bountiful yield. For hunters, this signaled a good chance to catch a bear.
Name days on this day:
Arkady, Elena, Lev, Olga
