Kyiv - The Mother of Churches

The Kyivan Empire stretched northwards as did the influence and jurisdiction of the Kyivan Church. Saints Anthony, John and Eustathius (Ostap) of Lithuania were Slavs who opposed their pagan prince and died a martyr’s death. 

In Dorpats, Estonia, during the persecutions of the Latins, St. Isidore, a priest and 72 Orthodox Christians were thrown into a river and drowned for refusing to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Belarus was always intimately connected with the Church of Kyiv and the Belarussian and Ukrainian Churches share a number of Saints.  The Saints of Belarus are therefore the Saints of the Kyivan Church as well, including Saint John of Korma and the Holy New Martyrs of Belarus.

Kyivan influence extended to Bulgaria, as Metropolitan Ilarion noted.  Ukrainian Princes visited Bulgaria and, later, Ukrainians contributed to the development of Bulgarian Church life and culture.  St John of Rila and St Parasceva, early Bulgarian Saints, had and continue to have a widespread cult in Ukraine.

Kyivan influence extended to Bulgaria, as Metropolitan Ilarion noted.  Ukrainian Princes visited Bulgaria and, later, Ukrainians contributed to the development of Bulgarian Church life and culture.  St John of Rila and St Parasceva, early Bulgarian Saints, had and continue to have a widespread cult in Ukraine.