The Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches will celebrate Wednesday the feast of St. Vladimir the Great, who is credited with bringing Christianity to Russia.
Born around 958 A.D., St. Vladimir died on July 15, 1015. Christians celebrate his legacy with church services and a feast, according to the Eastern American Diocese.
St. Vladimir — ruler of Keivan Rus — is often referred to as the Baptizer of Rus, according to the Orthodox Church in America, for having converted to Christianity from Paganism and encouraging his subjects to do the same.
Conflicted by his lack of religiosity, St. Vladimir — who was often described as a violent barbarian — had sent an envoy to discover and study different religions and decided to convert to Christianity, according to the first volume of "History of Russia from the Earliest Times to 1882."
Upon this decision, St. Vladimir organized a baptism in the River Dneipr and declared, "If anyone does not go into the river tomorrow, be they rich or poor, beggar or slave, that one shall be my enemy," Orthodox Church in America recorded. It is documented that all the land of Keivan Rus radiated with God and the Holy Spirit.
"Every [Orthodox] people honors its preceptors, those who led them to the Orthodox Faith," said Very Most Reverend Metropolitan Hilarion, ruling bishop of the Eastern American Diocese, at the 2014 celebration. "So we, too, venerate the Great Prince Vladimir, who spiritually changed both himself and his people. That is why we gather every year in this memorial church and thank God for the inheritance that we have received from St. Vladimir."
Email: smikati@deseretnews.com Twitter: @MassarahMikati