medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (2. May) the Orthodox Church celebrates (the Russian Church does it on
May 15):
1. Translation of the relics of Holy Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb, in Holy
Baptism Roman and David (about them see
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/saints/boris_gleb_prince.htm)
Great Prince of Kiev Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) deeply esteemed his
brothers, holy Martyrs Boris (July 24) and Gleb (September 5). The murdered
Prince Boris was buried at Vyshgorod near Kiev. The holy relics of Prince
Gleb were found at Smyadyno, near Smolensk, from which place they were
brought to Kiev.
Metropolitan John I of Kiev (1008-1035) and his clergy solemnly met the
incorrupt relics of the holy passion-bearer and placed them in the church of
St. Basil the Great at Vyshgorod, where the relics of St. Boris rested. Soon
the burial place was glorified by miracles. Then the relics of the holy
brothers Boris and Gleb were removed from the ground and placed in a
specially constructed chapel. On July 24, 1026 a church of five cupolas
built by Yaroslav the Wise was consecrated in honor of the holy martyrs.
In later years, the Vyshgorod Sts. Boris and Gleb church containing the
relics of the holy Passion-Bearers became the family church of the
Yaroslavichi, their sanctuary of brotherly love and service to the nation.
The symbol of their unity was the celebration of the Transfer of the Relics
of Boris and Gleb, observed on May 2. The history of the establishing of
this Feast is bound up with the preceding events of Russian history. On May
2, 1069 Great Prince Izyaslav, who had been expelled from the princedom for
seven months (i.e. from September 1068) because of an uprising of the Kievan
people, entered into Kiev. In gratitude for God's help in establishing peace
in the Russian land, the prince built a new church to replace an older
structure. Two Metropolitans, George of Kiev and Neophytus of Chernigov,
participated in its consecration with other bishops, igumens, and clergy.
The transfer of the relics, in which all three of the Yaroslavichi
(Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod) participated, was set for May 2, and it was
designated as an annual celebration.
Svyatoslav Yaroslavich, Prince of Kiev during 1073-1076, made an effort to
transform the Sts. Boris and Gleb temple into a stone church, but he was
able to build the walls only eight cubits high. Later Vsevolod (+ 1093)
finished the church construction, but it collapsed by night.
The veneration of Sts. Boris and Gleb developed during the time of
Yaroslav's grandsons, often producing a peculiar pious competition among
them. Izyaslav's son Svyatopolk (+ 1113), built silver reliquaries for the
saints. In 1102 Vsevolod's son Vladimir Monomakh (+ 1125), sent master
craftsmen by night and secretly adorned the silver reliquaries with gold
leaf. Svyatoslav's son Oleg (+ 1115) outdid them. He was called
"Gorislavich", and was mentioned in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign." He
"intended to raise up the collapsed stone (church) and hired some builders."
He provided everything that was necessary. The church was ready in the year
1111, and Oleg "pressured and besought Svyatopolk to transfer the holy
relics into it." Svyatopolk did not want to do this, "because he did not
build this church."
The death of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (+ 1113) brought a new insurrection to
Kiev, which nearly killed Vladimir Monomakh, who had become Great Prince of
that city. He decided to cultivate friendship with the Svyatoslavichi
through the solemn transfer of the relics into the Oleg church. "Vladimir
gathered his sons, and David and Oleg with their sons. They all arrived at
Vyshgorod. All the hierarchs, igumens, monks and priests came, filling all
the town and there was no space left for the citizenry along the walls."
On the morning of May 2, 1115, the Sunday of the Myrhhbearing Women, they
began to sing Matins at both churches, old and new, and the transfer of
relics began. The three were separated. "First they brought Boris in a cart,
and with him went Metropolitan Vladimir and his clergy." On other carts went
St. Gleb "and David with bishops and clergy." (Oleg waited for them in the
church).
This separation was adhered to in future generations. St. Boris was
considered a heavenly protector of the Monomashichi; St. Gleb – of the
Ol'govichi and the Davidovichi. When Vladimir Monomakh speaks about Boris in
his "Testament", he does not mention Gleb. In the Ol'govichi line, none of
the princes received the name Boris.
In general the names Boris and Gleb, and so also Roman and David, were
esteemed by many generations of Russian princes. The brothers of Oleg
Gorislavich were named Roman (+ 1079), Gleb (+ 1078), David (+ 1123), and
one of his sons was named Gleb (+ 1138).
From Monomakh were the sons Roman and Gleb; from Yuri Dolgoruky, Boris and
Gleb; of St. Rostislav of Smolensk, Boris and Gleb; of St. Andrew
Bogoliubsky, St. Gleb (+ 1174); of Vsevolod Big Nest, Boris and Gleb. Among
the sons of Vseslav of Polotsk (+ 1101) was the full range of "Sts. Boris
and Gleb" names: Roman, Gleb, David, Boris.
The Vyshgorod sanctuaries were not the only centers for the liturgical
veneration of Sts. Boris and Gleb. It was spread throughout the Russian
land. First of all, there were churches and monasteries in specific places
connected with the martyrdom of the saints, and their miraculous help for
people; the temple of Boris and Gleb at Dorogozhich on the road to
Vyshgorod, where St. Boris died; the Sts. Boris and Gleb monastery at Tmo
near Tver where Gleb's horse injured its leg; a monastery of the same name
at Smyadyno at the place of Gleb's murder; and at the River Tvertsa near
Torzhok (founded in 1030), where the head of St. George the Hungarian was
preserved [the beloved servant of St. Boris was beheaded in order to steal
the gold medallion given him by St. Boris]. Sts. Boris and Gleb temples were
erected at the Alta in memory of the victory of Yaroslav the Wise over
Svyatopolk the Accursed on July 24, 1019; and also at Gzena near Novgorod
where Gleb Svyatoslavich defeated a sorcerer.
The Ol'govichi and the Monomashichi vied with each other in building
churches dedicated to the holy martyrs. Oleg himself, in addition to the
Vyshgorod church, built the Sts. Boris and Gleb cathedral in Old Ryazan in
1115 (therefore, the diocese was later called Sts. Boris and Gleb). His
brother David also built at Chernigov (in 1120). In the year 1132 Yuri
Dolgoruky built a church of Boris and Gleb at Kideksh at the River Nerla,
"where the encampment of St. Boris had been." In 1145, St. Rostislav of
Smolensk "put a stone church at Smyadyno," at Smolensk. In the following
year the first (wooden) Sts. Boris and Gleb church was built in Novgorod. In
1167 a stone foundation replaced the wood, and it was completed and
consecrated in the year 1173. The Novgorod Chronicles name the legendary
Sotko Sytinich (Sadko from the opera of Rimskiy-Korsakov) as the builder of
the church.
The holy Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb were the first Russian saints
glorified by the Russian and Byzantine Churches. A service to them was
composed soon after their death, and its author was St. John I, Metropolitan
of Kiev (1008-1035), which a MENAION of the twelfth century corroborates.
The innumerable copies of their Life, the accounts of the relics, the
miracles and eulogies in the manuscripts and printed books of the
twelfth-fourteenth centuries bear witness to the special veneration of the
holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb in Russia.
2. St. Boris (in Holy Baptism Michael), Equal to the Apostles, Prince and
Baptizer of Bulgaria
His apostolic deeds were foretold by an uncle, St. Boyan. The first years of
the reign of Tsar Boris were marked by misfortune. The Bulgarians were
frequently at war with surrounding nations, famine and plague beset the
land, and in the year 860 Bulgaria found itself in dire straits. Tsar Boris
saw the salvation of his land, which was darkened by paganism, in its
enlightenment by the faith in Christ.
During one of the battles of the Bulgarians with the Greeks he captured the
illustrious courtier Theodore Kuphares, who had become a monk. He was the
first man to plant the seed of the Gospel in the soul of the Bulgarian
tsar. In one of the campaigns with the Greeks the young sister of Tsar Boris
was taken captive, and was raised in the Orthodox Faith at the court of the
Byzantine Emperor.
When the emperor Theophilus died, Tsar Boris decided to take advantage of
this circumstance to take revenge upon the Greeks for his former defeats.
But the widow of the emperor, Theodora, showed courage and sent a messenger
to the Bulgarian tsar saying that she was prepared to defend the Empire and
humiliate its opponents. Tsar Boris agreed to a peace alliance, and Theodore
Kuphares was exchanged for the Bulgarian princess, who might have influenced
her brother toward Christianity.
When the pagan Bulgarians learned of this, they wanted to kill Tsar Boris,
but their plot was frustrated by the tsar. The Bulgarians were christened. A
peace was concluded between Byzantium and Bulgaria, based on their unity in
faith, which was not broken until the end of the reign of the tsar.
Patriarch Photius (February 6) took great interest in the spiritual growth
of the Bulgarian nation. In 867, preachers from Rome were sent into
Bulgaria. This led to the discord between the Greek and Roman Churches in
Bulgaria.
Finally Bulgaria came under the jurisdiction of the Constantinopolitan
patriarchy. Bulgaria's holy ascetics Gorazd (July 27), Clement of Ochrid
(July 27) and Naum, Methodios’s disciples and inventors of the Cyrillic
writing, were glorified as saints. Tsar Boris adorned the land with churches
and furthered the spread of piety.. In his declining years, Tsar Boris
entered a monastery, leaving the throne to his sons Vladimir and Simeon.
Under the latter a Patriarchal See might have been established in Bulgaria.
While in the monastery the saint learned that Vladimir, who succeeded him,
had renounced Christianity. Distressed by this, St. Boris again donned his
military garb, punished his disobedient son and his advisors. After giving
the throne to his younger son Simeon, who was educated in Constantinople at
the court of the emperor, St. Boris returned to the monastery. St. Boris,
who was named Michael in holy Baptism (after his Godfather Emperor Michael),
reposed on May 2, 907.
http://www.oca.org/FSLivesAllSaintsPrint.asp?M=5&D=2
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