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SAINT OLGA

Augustine Sokolovski

Like Emilia of Caesarea (+375), Nonna of Nazianzus (+374), Anthusa of Antioch (324-?) and Saint Monica - the mothers of Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, and Augustine - Olga was one of those great wives who exemplify and, the main thing is prayer, they brought up the great saints of universal Orthodoxy. Without them, the history of the Church and the world would have been different. The holy mothers of saints are truly worthy of veneration. Recall that Olga was the grandmother of Prince Vladimir, who was the baptizer of Rus'.

However, Olga knew how to wait. She surprisingly had the wisdom not too hastily baptize Rus', taking advantage of her son's infancy or creating the appearance of his conversion. She knew history well and remembered the Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363), who studied philosophy with Gregory the Theologian in Athens, and was already catechumenized, but later turned the power of the Empire against the Christians. Olga did not want Sviatoslav to become an apostate. Therefore, she did not make such plans.

By Christ the Savior Olga was granted the Grace of Expectation. The ability to wait is an amazing ability that unites man and God in Scripture. It is a gift from above and a method of grace to wait for change only from God, for He is the God of change. God is the Future of man, as John the Evangelist speaks of this (cf. 1 John 3:2).

Olga was not a missionary or did not become the baptizer of her country. Perhaps, in terms of personal mission, she became the most unsuccessful "Saint Equal to the Apostles" in history. However, in her very refusal to act, in the image of the biblical Sabbath of God (cf. Gen. 2, 2), she built what turned out to be immutable, just as history is immutable in striving for Christ God.

By her very expectation, in prayer for her grandson, Olga created the House of God. It was the same road to heaven, which is sung in hymns and songs. Soon, in 988, the Baptist of Rus' Vladimir ascended along it, whom his contemporaries, in the image of the Sun of Truth of God (Mal. 4.2), will call the Beautiful Sun of the Savior Christ.