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| 'In a single font.' The Russian world celebrated the Day of the Baptism of Rus' |
| 2026-07-29 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Anastasia Korosteleva [REGNUM] On July 28, the country celebrates the Day of the Baptism of Rus'—1,038 years ago, Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich made a choice that defined the spiritual and cultural code of Russian civilization. The holiday coincides with the feast day of Saint Prince Vladimir and has long been celebrated by the Church on July 15th according to the old calendar, or July 28th according to the new calendar. The commemorative date received state status relatively recently: in 2008, the Bishops' Council of the Russian Orthodox Church proposed this initiative. In 2010, President Vladimir Putin signed a law establishing July 28th as the Day of the Baptism of Rus'. With the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', solemn services with a special prayer service are held annually on July 28 in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church. At precisely noon, festive bells ring out across the country. In Moscow, a traditional religious procession was held to the monument to Prince Vladimir on Borovitsky Hill. This past holiday, this date found expression in the contemporary cultural space: museum projects, diocesan initiatives, and regional agencies harmoniously combined historical narrative with living education. The main formats of the celebrations were focused on working with generational memory, interregional dialogue, and the adaptation of historical material for a youth audience. As expected, Moscow became the focal point of the celebrations. The day's program traditionally centered around the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated at the Assumption Cathedral, after which the faithful walked in a procession to the monument to Saint Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, on Borovitsky Hill. A festive prayer service was held at the monument, after which His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia addressed the congregation. "On the feast day of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir, on the Day of the Baptism of Rus', we remember the wondrous transformation of our people and Fatherland. It was then, in the shared baptismal font of the peoples of historical Rus', that the main vector of our millennia-long journey was set," the Primate of the Russian Church emphasized. He recalled that Rus' was spiritually born in the Dnieper font. "In our difficult times, we especially pray for the unity of Holy Rus', that the plans of those who seek to undermine this unity through internal strife and external threats may be dispelled. The words of this prayer evoke hatred in the enemies of our Fatherland, but we believe that the power of love is stronger than hatred," said His Holiness the Patriarch. In his address, the head of the Church congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Day of the Baptism of Rus' and the name day of the head of state, whose patron is Saint Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles. "Your heavenly patron... many centuries ago made a fateful choice—he embraced Christianity. Demonstrating wisdom and courage, political sensitivity and will, he defined a unique model for the development of Rus' for centuries: the Orthodox faith became the defining factor in the moral development of the people, the foundation of our national culture and traditions," His Holiness the Patriarch emphasized. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church expressed gratitude to the country's leader for his attention to the Church's activities, particularly emphasizing the creative importance of the symphony—the joint work of church and state institutions. Festive services were held on this day in the vast majority of churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church, both in Russia and abroad. The culmination of liturgical unity was the festive ringing of bells, which at exactly noon local time resounded throughout the country. This date has acquired special significance in the place where the history of Holy Rus' began. In Sevastopol, on the grounds of the Tauric Chersonesos Museum-Reserve and the adjacent New Chersonesos Museum and Temple Complex, July 28th traditionally becomes the day of major celebrations: visitors are offered themed tours about the baptism of Prince Vladimir, master classes, craft stalls, and concerts of folk and sacred music held right among the ancient ruins. This year, the program was expanded with the exhibition "The Godfather," a confessional account of Prince Vladimir's journey to faith. The exhibition opened in the Museum of Christianity (the central part of the museum and church complex) exactly one year ago, on the Day of the Baptism of Rus'. In St. Petersburg, the festive liturgy, as per tradition, took place beneath the vaults of Prince Vladimir Cathedral on the Petrograd Side—a stone church consecrated in honor of the baptizer of Rus' back in 1789. That evening, the State Museum of the History of Religion hosted a thematic tour, "Now I Have Seen the True God," a special route through the halls of the "History of Russian Orthodoxy" exhibition, conceptually timed to coincide with the holiday. A less public, yet deeply symbolic parallel was observed in the Nizhny Novgorod region. It was during these days that multi-day religious processions from Nizhny Novgorod, Arzamas, Pavlovo, and Gorodets converged on Diveyevo, a monastery revered as the fourth earthly portion of the Mother of God. Columns of pilgrims, which had set out in mid-July, passed through dozens of villages to arrive at the monastery on the eve of the August celebrations of St. Seraphim of Sarov. This place is inextricably linked with the name of Schema-Nun Alexandra (Melgunova), a noblewoman who radically renounced her former life to found the monastery. Thus, during these July days, two spiritual lines symbolically converged in a single space: the memory of the baptism of an entire people and personal spiritual achievement. The celebration echoed beyond Russia's borders. In Belarus, the bell rang at noon in all Orthodox churches and monasteries, and in the Novogrudok Diocese, believers continued an ancient tradition by celebrating the Divine Liturgy of Baptism right on the waters of the Neman River. The modern format of the Day of the Baptism of Rus' naturally extends beyond the confines of the Church. While during the imperial period this day was primarily celebrated through religious processions and charitable initiatives, and during the Soviet era, paradoxically, survived through the protection of architectural monuments and folklore archives, today its meaning is becoming much more multidimensional. It is shaped by the integration of Orthodox aesthetics into contemporary art, broad public initiatives, and a profound rethinking of historical narratives. |
| Posted by:badanov |