Lives of the Saints of Rus’

Description

“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.