Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

Saint Olha the Great:
Never send a man to do a woman's job . . .

Dr. Alexander Roman alex.roman@unicorne.org

Today (July 24)  being the feast of St Olha, the Sovereign of Kyivan Rus'-Ukraine, weshould take a moment to reflect on the enduring impact of this noble woman on the historical, cultural and national development of Ukraine and Eastern Europe as a whole.  The grandmother of St Volodymyr the Great, she truly shaped her grandson into what she knew he would become.  She did the same for the peoples and kingdom she ruled over.  

Born in either Izborsk or Pskov, Olha was not raised to cower before men.  Her character was extremely strong and her personality won people over, even as she was no one's fool.

Learning our Ukrainian history in Ukrainian school, one often got the impression that Olha ruled over a culturally homogeneous people.  And nothing could be further from the truth!

Hers was a kingdom of culturally and linguistically diverse tribes that thought nothing of warring with each other at the drop of a hat.

The challenge before her was one that was later to be faced by her grandson as well.  That challenge was to find some way of fusing together a nation from among a disparate group of peoples.

This could have been one reason why she sought and received baptism at Constantinople with none other than the Emperor himself as her Godfather!

It was also a natural move for her to make, since Byzantine Christianity had been brought to Kyivan Rus' by her predecessors, the Varangian Princes Mykola Askold and Dir. They were later killed in a pagan reaction by Prince Oleh.

And according to the rules of the day, what one did today was largely impacted by what one's ancestors did long ago.

Olha was far-sighted enough to know that Christianity would soon come to dominate Europe.  Her political wits were sufficiently developed to have her seek alliance with Byzantium and avoid subservience.

The Emperor, it is said, would have had her as his wife.  Olha promised to consider this if he would become her Godfather.  The Emperor agreed only to be told by Olha after her baptism that the Church forbids marriages between godparents and their godchildren!

Outsmarting Emperors wasn't the only talent Olha had, however.

Returning to Kyivan Rus', Olha ruled over a stretch of land that went north from the Black Sea until the Solovki Islands.

It was the Byzantine historians and those historians of Rus' who catered to Byzantine imperial ideology that named Olha "Grand Princess."

In reality, she was a "Tsaritsa" or "Queen" in every sense of the word and certainly considered herself to have been.

Unlike Askold and Dir before her, or her grandson Volodymyr who came after her, Olha did not call for mass baptisms of her subjects.  

Instead, she preferred to evangelize quietly, allowing the Church her freedom of movement among the people while respecting the pre-Christian traditions of her peoples.

Her warlike son, Svyatoslav, refused to embrace Christianity but he also refused to live in Kyvian Rus' for too long, preferring the Bulgarian lands as the centre of great trade routes of the day.

A pagan reaction against Christianity did, in fact, set in with the coming of Svyatoslav to the Throne of Kyiv, but it was short-lived and easily swept away by Volodymyr.

Olha even went on record as "glorifying" her two royal predecessors by building Churches on their graves, that of St Nicholas on Askold's grave and that of St Sophia on the grave of Dir. 

This led to their local veneration in Kyiv, even though they have yet to be formally glorified as Saints of the Church.  To this day, the "Grave of Askold" is a great national monument of Ukraine!

Olha also introduced a series of laws governing agriculture, hunting seasons and the like.  She clearly insisted on a common code of laws and regulations to be accepted and obeyed by all her subjects.

"Olha the Wise" as she was and still is called also extended diplomatic hands westward toward Europe while enhancing trading routes into Asia.

It was Olha who laid the path for her great grandson, St Yaroslav the Wise (now we know where he got his smarts from!), to marry off his daughters to the Royal Houses of Europe, thereby establishing enduring connections with them.

The Ukrainian community of the United Kingdom recently petitioned The Queen for official permission to embellish the Loyal Toast at their public banquets in this way:  "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Queen, the descendant of St Volodymyr the Great!"

Research was done and Her Majesty graciously agreed and gave her official approval to this request.  That connection, again, was established long ago through the foresight of St Olha.

Some have even suggested that the French Fleur-de-lys is actually a form of the ancient Ukrainian trident made popular after the marriage of great-great-granddaughter of St Olha's to King Henry I of France!

Another royal descendant of St Olha, St Edigna, was married to the Germanic Royal House of Otto and her shrine is now a popular one in Western Europe.

And however disappointed St Olha was with her son Svyatoslav, her descendant, Svyatoslav II, named for his pagan ancestor, became a Christian and is now a Saint.

St Olha gave birth to an entire Royal House of Sainted rulers!

Her enduring contribution to Ukrainian history was her work to establish the foundations and traditions on which later generations would build.

It is said that St Volodymyr's ultimate choice of Christianity from Byzantium was based on the fact, as his advisors reportedly told him, that "if it weren't a good religion, your grandmother Olha would not have embraced it."

As someone who put the wheels of Kyivan Christianity and culture in motion, she is rightly honoured as an "Equal to the Apostles," just as her grandson is.

In baptism, she received the name, "Helen" ("Olena" where the first letter agreed with the first letter of her pre-Christian name).

And certainly she compares favourably with her patron, the great St Helen, mother of Constantine the Great.

Both prepared their prodigy for their great historical roles.  Both suffered an underestimation of their own important roles by later historians.

St Olha was apparently deemed dangerous by Byzantium's Empire since her official glorification as a Saint (and that of her grandson who followed in his grandmother's footsteps) was deferred until the thirteenth century.  

It was only then that the matter was brought to a head and she was declared a Saint, following the victory of the armies of Kyivan Rus' over the Volga Bulgars in August near the Feast of the Procession of the Life-giving Wood of the Cross.

Ironically, it was Andrew Boholiubsky who ensured her glorification. This is the prince who would be implicated for all time in the destruction of her Royal City of Kyiv.  

In addition, Andrew was also the one who forcibly removed Olha's Royal House Icon of the Mother of God of Kyiv (also called the "Pyrohoschna" Icon before which Prince Ihor, prayed as is related in the 'Tale of Ihor's Campaign) from its shrine at Vyshorod.  Today that Icon is called the "Virgin of Vladimir" at Moscow.  

One might argue that matriarchy was characteristic of the Eastern Slavs long before Olha's time.  Yet, Olha's great leadership and true Christian piety helped solidify that aspect of our culture, to be sure!

The achievements and glory of the empire of Kyivan Rus' were built on the strong foundations established by St Olha the Great.  

To celebrate her venerable memory is not only to thank God for the grace of His servant, Olha, in Ukraine's history.  

It is also to ask God for another dedicated, visionary ruler like her in Ukraine's present.

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