On July 28, Russia celebrates a holiday - the Day of the Baptism of Rus. As a memorable date, this day was established by the Federal Law "On Amendments to Article 11 of the Federal Law" On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia "on June 1, 2010.

In the Orthodox church calendar, this date (according to the old style - July 15) is the day of memory of the Great Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir (960-1015), the baptist of Rus.

In June 2008, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to celebrate the divine service on the day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir on July 28 according to the rules of the great holiday.

The baptism of Rus took place in 988 and is associated with the name of Prince Vladimir, whom historians called great, the church - the saint equal to the apostles, and the people called the Red Sun Vladimir.

Prince Vladimir was the grandson of Grand Duchess Olga and the son of Prince Svyatoslav and the "things of the virgin" Malusha, who became a Christian along with Princess Olga in Constantinople. He began to rule independently at the age of 17 and spent the first six years on campaigns. According to legend, during these years the prince was a pagan, a lover of military campaigns and noisy feasts.

As the chronicle "The Legend of the Test or Choice of Faiths" tells, in 986 the prince in Kiev was visited by embassies from different nations, calling to convert to their faith. First, the Volga Bulgarians of the Muslim faith came and praised Mohammed, then foreigners from Rome preached the Latin faith from the Pope, and the Khazar Jews preached Judaism. The last, according to the chronicles, arrived a preacher sent from Byzantium, who told Vladimir about Orthodoxy. To understand whose faith is better, Prince Vladimir sent nine envoys to visit the countries from which the preachers came. On their return, the ambassadors talked about the religious customs and rituals of these countries. They also visited the Muslim mosque of the Bulgarians and the Catholics-Germans, but the greatest impression on them was made by the patriarchal service in Constantinople (Constantinople).

According to The Tale of Bygone Years, in 987, Prince Vladimir, at the council of the boyars, made a decision on the baptism of Rus "according to Greek law."

However, he did not immediately convert to Christianity. In 988, Vladimir captured Korsun (now the territory of the city of Sevastopol) and demanded to marry the sister of the Byzantine emperors - co-rulers of Basil II and Constantine VIII Anna, threatening otherwise to go to Constantinople. The emperors agreed, demanding, in turn, the baptism of the prince so that the sister marry a fellow believer. Having received the consent of Vladimir, the brothers sent Anna to Korsun. In the same place, in Korsun, Vladimir and his warriors were baptized by the Bishop of Korsun, after which he performed the wedding ceremony. In baptism, Vladimir took the name Vasily, in honor of the ruling Byzantine emperor Vasily II.

There is a legend that in Korsun the prince went blind, but immediately after baptism he was healed and exclaimed: "Now I have known the true God!" After marrying Princess Anna, Vladimir released all his wives and concubines.

Returning to Kiev, accompanied by Korsun and Greek priests, Vladimir baptized his sons from previous wives in a source known in Kiev as Khreshchatyk. Many boyars were baptized after them.

He ordered to destroy the temple that he had once built in Kiev. The idols were chopped to pieces and burned. Then he ordered to collect all the inhabitants of Kiev on the banks of the Dnieper. The day before, the prince announced in the city: "If someone does not come to the river tomorrow - rich or poor, beggar or slave - there will be my enemy."

The mass baptism of city residents took place at the confluence of the Pochayna River into the Dnieper. The chronicles read: "The very next day Vladimir went out with the priests of Tsaritsyn and Korsuinsky to the Dnieper, and there were countless people. They entered the water and stood there alone up to their necks, others up to their breasts, small children near the shore up to their breasts, some held babies , and already the adults wandered, the priests were making prayers, standing still ... ". This most important event took place, according to the chronicle chronology, in 988.

Following Kiev, Christianity gradually came to other cities of Kievan Rus: Chernigov, Volynsky, Polotsk, Turov, where dioceses were created. The baptism of Rus as a whole dragged on for several centuries - in 1024 Yaroslav the Wise suppressed the uprising of the Magi in the Vladimir-Suzdal land (a similar uprising was repeated in 1071; at the same time in Novgorod the Magi opposed Prince Gleb), Rostov was baptized only at the end of the 11th century, and in Murom, the resistance of the pagans to the new faith continued until the 12th century.

The Vyatichi tribe remained in paganism longer than all the Slavic tribes. Their enlightener in the 12th century was the Monk Kuksha, the Caves monk, who completed his earthly journey in those places with a martyr's death.

The adoption of a new, united, faith became a serious impetus for the unification of the Russian lands.

The baptism of Rus also determined the civilizational choice of Russia, which found its place between Europe and Asia and subsequently became the most powerful Eurasian power.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources