According to Nestor the Chronicler, Grand Duchess Olga was "the forerunner of the Christian land, like a daybreak before the sun and like a dawn before the light."

Another great Russian historian N. Karamzin said that tradition called Olga Sly for her revenge on the Drevlyans, the church-Holy because she became the first Christian princess, and history-Wise for the arrangement of the state. Why did one woman get so many epithets? Judging by the historical sources that have come down to us, she was a really unusual PERSON.

The famous commander Prince Oleg, who nailed a shield on the gates of Constantinople, inspired Pushkin's poem " The Song of the Prophetic Oleg "(later became the anthem of Russian officers. - Auth.), knew a lot not only about weapons, but also about the people around him. So, when he happened to accompany the future princess to Kiev, the prince, who had lived and seen the world, was so struck by the intelligence, modesty and piety of the young girl that he even gave her his name: the male form - Oleg, the female - Olga. The soft sign appeared later, for ease of pronunciation...

But before this event, the future Olga lived quietly and peacefully in the virgin forests, not far from present-day Pskov. I would have lived and lived, if not for "his Majesty the Case". Once Oleg's nephew, then still very young Igor, the future Grand Duke of Kiev, was hunting near Vesya Vybutskaya (the former village of Vybutino. - Author). He liked the dense grove on the opposite bank of the river, and then the ferryman happened to be nearby - a young boy. As they sailed, the future Grand Duke noticed that this was not a young man, but a pretty girl. Accustomed to not denying himself anything, Igor tried to persuade the girl to carnal pleasures, but, to his surprise, received a tough rebuff.

"You're planning something shameful for your own amusement, and for my own destruction," Olga said. "Don't touch me, or I'll jump in the water."..

The young prince was speechless with surprise and did not touch the forest beauty with a finger... After parting with his random traveling companion, he couldn't help but think about her. And when the time came for him to get married, he had no choice. Beloved uncle Oleg rode with the squad for Olga and soon brought her to Kiev, himself much surprised by the beauty and natural ingenuity of the young person. As the years passed, and as often happens, the time of immense happiness was replaced by a black, inconsolable grief. The Prophetic Oleg died, and soon his beloved husband went to pay tribute to the Drevlyans and did not return... Cruelly, tying their feet to two birch trees and letting them go, the Drevlyans executed their ruler. Cruelly, suppressing personal grief and tears, the widowed princess took revenge on the murderers. Together with the squad, Olga went to Iskorosten - the capital of the Drevlyans - and turned it into ashes. It wasn't just the widow's grief that guided her actions. Olga, having taken the princely throne in her own hands, was well aware that if the Drevlyans ' revolt went unpunished, the power of Kiev would be shaken and the newly founded state might collapse like a house of cards. In addition, she lived in the ancient Russian world, where one law prevailed: "Blood for blood, death for death." And to depart from it, according to those concepts, meant incurring an indelible stain of shame. Such an act would not have been understood by either the squad, or the people of Kiev, or the young son Svyatoslav - the future Russian commander. Here is how the Russian historian S. Solovyov writes about the stereotypes of behavior of that distant time: "The legend of Olga's revenge is precious for the historian, because it reflects the prevailing concepts of the time, which made revenge for the murder of a loved one a sacred duty...

In our ancient society, at the present epoch of its development, the custom of revenge was precisely this protective custom, which replaced justice, and the one who faithfully performed the duties of revenge was the hero of truth, and the more cruel the revenge was, the more satisfaction was found in the society of that time, the more it glorified the avenger as a worthy kinsman, and to be a worthy kinsman then, translated into our terms, be an exemplary citizen."

Having avenged the death of her husband, Olga took up the internal arrangement of the state. So, she traveled around the cities from Kiev to Novgorod and divided all of Kievan Rus into churchyards to pay tribute. The word "graveyard" is derived from the word "guest", it meant the place where the prince stayed, collecting tribute. Later, they began to call the church parish and the cemetery attached to it.

Having established order in everything (in Old Russian - lad. - Auth.), Olga continued to reign in Kiev. Many foreign crowned heads claimed her hand and heart, but even here the character of the "iron" princess affected: she did not want to remarry, but, being a widow, strictly observed the princely power until the day of her son's majority.

Olga was a ruler who was not only intelligent, but also far-sighted. She was well aware of the licentiousness of the mores of that time, and she must have heard rumors of the follies committed around pagan idols, which often ended in human sacrifices. At the same time, Princess Olga heard from the Varangian Christians around her, who were still part of Prince Igor's squad, that Christianity had become the faith of almost all the enlightened peoples of Europe... All this could not but lead her to serious reflections, especially since her heart told her where to look for the Truth.

Striving for true knowledge of God and being naturally easy on the upswing, Olga went to Constantinople (Constantinople. - Auth.) - the capital of the Byzantine Empire. This historical event happened around the year 954. Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus did not immediately accept Olga, and her boats had to stand in Court for a long time - this was the name of the bay near Constantinople - Constantinople. Ambassadors from different countries and princes of different nations arrived here in such numbers that they were allowed to enter the palace strictly in turn. No exception was made to the Russian Princess. But when Konstantin did meet Olga, according to the chronicler, he was delighted with her beauty and intelligence, treated the princess to a golden table made of plates studded with precious stones, and even wanted to make her his wife and empress. But it was not for the royal honors and the crown of the Empress that the Russian princess came to Constantinople. Imbued with the beauty of Greek worship, listening to God's words with zeal every day, she firmly decided to convert to Orthodoxy. However, being unmarried, the Byzantine emperor became more and more insistent in seeking Olga's consent to the marriage. And then she had to go to a trick. Under the laws of the Empire, a pagan woman could not marry a Christian emperor until she became a Christian. Constantine ordered the Patriarch of Constantinople to baptize Olga immediately. At the request of the Russian princess, he even agreed to become her godfather. The new name Elena was given to her in honor of the mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor. When the ceremony was completed and the question of marriage was again raised sharply, Olga replied: "How do you want to take me as a wife, when you yourself baptized me and called me a daughter?" The emperor had to admit: "You outsmarted me, Olga." He sent her away from Constantinople with great gifts, and the patriarch with great respect.

"Pray to God for me, Holy Father," Olga said. "I am going back to my own country, where my son is in pagan error, and all men are as hard as stone in their ancient wickedness. May the Lord deliver me there, through your holy prayers, from all evil.

The Patriarch blessed the Russian princess and presented her with an honest cross, which had the following inscription:: "The Russian land was renewed for life in God by the holy baptism received by Blessed Olga." We repeat that this momentous event took place approximately in the year 954 A.D., and a little more than thirty years later, what was written on the Byzantine cross also came true. Russia was indeed cleansed by holy baptism in the waters of the Dnieper. And Olga's grandson, Grand Duke Vladimir, was at the origin of this national font...

But when the Grand Duchess returned to Russia, the darkness of idolatry seemed to the newly converted Christian woman particularly gloomy, degrading to human dignity. Her soul, enriched by the knowledge of the true God, was no longer able to put up with what had previously seemed everyday and ordinary.

And here we are faced with a true drama of ancient Russian history, which is reflected in the annals, but is not expressed clearly and convincingly enough. And where did Shakespeare come from in Russia at that time? But after the return of the princess from Constantinople, her conflict with her own son Svyatoslav escalated to the limit. No matter how much his mother tried to persuade him to accept his Orthodoxy (this, in fact, was the beginning of her missionary work), Svyatoslav firmly stood his ground: "As soon as I accept a different faith, my squad will laugh." Horse and boat, sword and sail, attracted him more than the cross. Svyatoslav's military fame by that time was thundering in Europe and Asia... He defeated the strongest states of that time: the Khazar Khaganate, the Bulgarian Kingdom, and forced even the Byzantine Emperor himself to pay tribute... But being carried away by military campaigns ("I don't like to sit in Kiev"), Svyatoslav almost lost his capital, mother and children. The Pechenegs surrounded Kiev when there was not a single vigilante in it... Olga prayed fervently for the salvation of the princes and the capital city. And then, for the first time, she was convinced of the power and truth of the Gospel's words: "What you do not understand, you can only marvel at it, but do not dare to reject it."

A small squad led by Voivode Pretich was at that time on the other side of the Dnieper. The city was saved by a boy who dared to notify the squad. He knew the language of the Pechenegs, and with a bridle in his hand, asking if anyone had seen his horse, he went through the whole camp of nomads and rushed into the Dnieper. The Pechenegs realized what was going on and took up their bows, but it was too late.

Voivode Pretich, having learned about the Pecheneg attack, put his warriors in boats and sailed to Kiev, hoping to save if not the city, then at least Olga and her grandchildren. The Pechenegs took Pretich's soldiers for Svyatoslav's squad and retreated.

No matter how hard they tried to find the boy later, or even find out his name, it was all in vain. And then Olga guessed that the forces of heaven had helped her...

And soon his son Svyatoslav arrived with his squad. It was not difficult for him to break the Pechenegs, but his mother was not happy: "You, prince, are looking for someone else's land, but you have left your own." They had a serious and difficult conversation. Svyatoslav started it:

- I want to live in Pereyaslavets on the Danube. There will be the middle of my land and a new capital. Gold, cloth, wine, and fruit flow there from the Greek land, silver and horses from the Czech Republic and Hungary, furs and wax, honey, and fish from Russia.

"Where are you going and what are you looking for?" Looking for someone else's, who do you entrust your own to? After all, your children are still young, and I am already old... If you had left your idolatrous wickedness and believed in the true God whom I know, you would have calmed down in your soul and settled the Russian land. As it is, I know that for your disobedience, a bad end awaits you on earth, and after death - eternal torment... I'm sorry for you, my son. And here is my last instruction: when you bury me according to the Christian custom, then go wherever you want, seek happiness in your own way...

Hearing all this, Sviatoslav, who loved his mother dearly, burst into bitter tears. He promised to fulfill everything she had bequeathed, refusing only to accept the holy faith.

Sensing the hour of death and wanting to take a last look at the places where she spent her childhood and where she met her only and beloved husband all her life, Olga went to the Vybut school. Along the way, she visited Veliky Novgorod and other cities and gave alms wherever possible, bringing ordinary people to the faith of Christ as much as possible. But the real miracle she was granted to see in her native land, which she so longed for. Not far from the place where the Pskov River flows into another river, Olga ordered the entire cavalry detachment to stop. Apparently, some childhood memory was the reason. And in the morning, as soon as the sun rose, Princess Olga and her attendants saw in the East three most luminous rays, as if anticipating the enlightenment of the Russian people. After thanking God for the vision and fervently praying, Blessed Olga placed a wooden cross in that place. After returning to Kiev, she sent a lot of gold and silver to create a church in the name of the Holy Trinity, while ordering that as many people as possible inhabit that memorable place. With the light hand of the Russian princess, the city of Pskov, so called from the Pskov River, was built in a short time. To this day, the name of the Most Holy Trinity is glorified in it.

Thus, the ruler and chief of the salvation of Russian people, Saint Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, laid the foundation for the veneration of the Holy Trinity in Russia. Later, the seeds of this veneration will give immortal shoots in the asceticism of the abbot of the Russian land Sergius of Radonezh and in the brilliant painting of the same name by the artist Andrey Rublev.

Until the end of her life, Blessed Olga taught her grandchildren, Svyatoslav's children, the Christian faith, but she did not dare to baptize them, fearing her son. Foreseeing the future, she repeatedly prophesied that God would enlighten the people of the Russian land, and many of them would be great saints. Blessed Olga, dying, prayed for the speedy fulfillment of this prophecy. The prayer was on her lips until the honest soul of the Grand Duchess left her body. Blessed Olga, Elena in holy Baptism, passed away on July 24, 969.

The prophecies of St. Olga about the evil death of her son and the "good enlightenment" of the Slavs were fully fulfilled. Her son Svyatoslav (according to the chronicles) he was killed in battle by Prince Kurey of Pecheneg. This happened around the year 972. Kurya cut off Svyatoslav's head and made himself a cup from the skull, binding it with gold and writing the following: "He who seeks another's destroys his own." So Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich, brave and invincible in battle, according to his mother's prediction, suffered an inglorious death for not listening to her.

Blessed Olga's prophecy about the Russian land was also fulfilled. Nineteen years after her death, her grandson Prince Vladimir received holy baptism and enlightened his subjects with the holy faith. Having built a stone church in the name of the Holy Virgin (called the Tithe Church, because Vladimir gave a tenth of his income to maintain it) and after consulting with Leontius, Metropolitan of Kiev, the Grand Duke decided to transfer the relics of his famous grandmother to the church. What was the surprise of the townspeople when the relics of the blessed Princess, untouched by decay, were extracted from the ground. It seemed that even after her death, Olga was still present among her subjects. At the request of the people of Kiev, the relics of St. Olga were openly displayed in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, and many of those who came to worship them were cured of their illnesses and found a new Christian faith.

Later, during the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, the relics of the first Holy ruler of Russia ,the "great-grandmother of Russian Orthodoxy", were carefully hidden. Where they are stored is still unknown...

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