Lives of the Saints of Rus' : A Legacy of Holiness - Volume 1

"As a beautiful fruit of the sowing of Thy salvation, the land of Russia offers to Thee, O Lord, all the Saints that have shone in it. By their prayers keep the Church and our land in deep peace, through the Mother of God, O Most Merciful One." - Troparion for the Sunday of All Saints of Rus’

Royal princes and fools for Christ. Holy hierarchs and secluded hermits. Missionaries and martyrs. The choir of saints of Holy Rus’ represents the fruit of the Holy Spirit brought forth over a millennium of Christian life, even before the 10th century conversion of the Great-Prince Vladimir of Kiev. This inheritance has enriched and edified not only the saints’ own kinsmen, but the whole world through the zealous missionary efforts of the Russian Church in Siberia, North America, Japan, and beyond.

This daily synaxarion organizes the lives of a multitude of Russian saints by their days of commemoration according to the Church calendar, with those commemorated from January to June in this first volume. Also included is an alphabetized index of saints, maps of Rus' and medieval Russia, and an historical timeline.

This two-volume work was compiled to strengthen the Orthodox faithful, whether in exile or suffering under Communist persecution. We now offer this English translation for the first time as a furtherance of that mission to inspire and exhort all the faithful of the Orthodox Church to preserve the memory of these spiritual beacons.