SAINT OLGA

The Orthodox Church calls the holy great missionaries “equal to the apostles.” Due to the minority of her son, Saint Olga was the ruler of Russia for fifteen years, from 945 to 960, a very long period for those times. In 955, Olga was baptized in Constantinople. The history would have been different if she had baptized her son Svyatoslav when he was still a child. She did not, and he remained a pagan forever. Olga did not preach or baptize; she was not a missionary at all. Why is she equal to the Apostles?

1 In Orthodox hagiology, it is customary to divide the saints into choirs. This is an analogy to the angelic world. Angels praise God. The true glory of God rests in the saints. There is a hierarchy among the angels, but not among the saints. It is no coincidence that Saint Augustine called the City of God a Republic.

2 The principle of dividing saints into choirs is particularly applied in liturgy and popular piety. For example, one says, “Holy Hierarch Nicholas” rather than simply “Saint Nicholas.” This emphasizes that Nicholas was a bishop. The same applies to the saints referred to as “equal to the apostles.”

3 The first of these saints to bear the name of an “equal to the apostles” was Emperor Constantine the Great. This was an irony among the people of Constantinople at the time. The ruler decreed that he be buried near the symbolic tombs of the Twelve Apostles, in the Basilica of the same name, which he himself had recently built in the capital. “Now Constantine is also among the apostles,” people said at the time. Over time, the irony faded, and holiness took over. The same applies to the canonization of most saints in recent times. Biography, an earthly and private emotional component, must precede and “disappear” before the revelation of holiness.

4 After Constantine, saints who had successfully fulfilled their evangelical mission were also called “equal to the apostles.” In Latin Christianity, this term did not exist. People simply spoke of “apostles.” Since Olga lived before the official split of the Church in 1054, she is venerated by both Orthodox and Catholics. Olga is both a “saint equal to the apostles” and an apostle of Russia.

5 The belief in the communion of saints is proclaimed in the Apostles’ Creed. On earth, this communion often surprises in unexpected ways. Saint Anthony of Kiev, founder of Russian monasticism, died on July 23, 1073, and Saint Olga, one hundred and four years earlier, in 969, on July 24. July 23rd and 24th are literally day after day. Isn’t that amazing? Keep in mind, then, that these are dates according to the Julian calendar. To calculate these dates in history, thirteen days must be subtracted.

6 The name “Olga” means “saint.” Such a name would have been more than sufficient for an Orthodox princess. But at her baptism, Olga was given the name “Helena.” And that was no accident. It was a “project name.” Obviously, the “Greeks,” as the Byzantines were called in Russia at the time, had not chosen this name by chance.

7 Saint Helena was the mother of Emperor Constantine. Her influence on the emperor was beneficial. Both are canonized by the Orthodox Church as “equal to the apostles.” If Helena “appeared” in Russia, then Constantine should have appeared as well.

8 Unlike the Latin bishops, the Byzantines were not always interested in evangelizing the neighboring barbarian peoples. But the rulers of Rus’ were Varangians and thus related to the Normans. If they became Orthodox, the Byzantines apparently hoped, they would help them repel invasions from the north.

9 Olga’s son Sviatoslav should have been such a Constantine. But he didn’t. He chose paganism. This choice was persistent and deliberate, a rare one even for the barbarian rulers of the time, who often converted to Christianity for profit and diplomatic reasons.

10 We don’t know exactly what Sviatoslav believed, but he is more like another Roman emperor—not Constantine, but Julian the Apostate, who genuinely loved paganism and, despite all his relatives, wanted to overthrow Christianity and restore it as the state religion. Julian was Constantine’s nephew. He knew Christianity very well, often imitating it or parodying it. As the Cherubic Hymn of the Orthodox service sings about Christ and the angelic powers, so Julian was proclaimed emperor in Paris in 360 and solemnly raised on a shield by the army. Svyatoslav nailed his shield to the walls of Constantinople, which he wanted to conquer but could not.

11 Olga’s merit lies in not forcing her son’s baptism. As a widow and ruler, she did not exploit his minority. She did not build many churches. She did not try to be ahead of her time. Had this happened, and had Olga hastened the time for the country’s evangelization, a reaction would inevitably have followed. In that case, Russia would have remained pagan and sunk into historical oblivion, become Jewish, like the neighboring Khazar Empire, or even Muslim.

12 The legend of Prince Vladimir’s religious ambassadors is a direct confirmation of this, and this was precisely the situation. To paraphrase the words of Till Lindemann’s song “Mother”: Many peoples were baptized “in haste and without faith,” yet no trace of Christianity survived.

13 The liturgical calendar lists only a few saints as “equal to the apostles.” According to Orthodox belief, the first were Mary Magdalene and Saint Thecla, mentioned in the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, respectively. One of the last was Saint Nicholas Kasatkin, an apostle to Japan in the early 20th century. Unlike all other “equal to the apostles” saints, Olga never preached or baptized. She experienced a true personal conversion to the faith in Christ and was baptized out of personal conviction.

14 Perhaps she raised her grandson, the future Prince Vladimir, in the faith, telling him stories of biblical heroes and heavenly beasts. But it is not known whether this was truly so. That was all, and yet it was enough. “The faith of the Church is expressed in brief words,” wrote Saint Augustine. The holiness of God is boundless, the angels proclaim it; the holiness of man is small, precise, concrete, and delicate.

15 Olga was baptized in Constantinople. This personal example, and the place of baptism she chose, contributed significantly to her grandson, Prince Vladimir, being baptized not in Rome, Aachen, Paris or Regensburg, but in Byzantine Empire. Thus, Russia became Orthodox. She was equated with the apostles because she herself was baptized. Her waiting and patience make her unique.

16 Olga is the apostle of Russia because she did not want to be one. This also gives us hope. If we begin with ourselves and remain firm in our faith, allowing this to serve as an example to others, then we too will appear, in the Kingdom of Heaven, before God and Jesus as true apostles.