Blessed Olga, Princess of Russia and Equal-to-the-Apostles, in Baptism Helen

Olga was the wife of Igor, prince of Kiev. After he was killed by the Drevlian tribe in 945, she ruled as regent for their young son Svyatoslav, and the chronicles tell that she took harsh revenge on the Drevlians. She then organized tribute and trading posts in the lands under Kiev.

Around 957 she travelled to Constantinople, where she was baptized and took the name Helen; the Russian Primary Chronicle names the emperor Constantine VII as her godfather. Her son Svyatoslav did not follow her, but her grandson Vladimir later baptized the whole of Rus’ (988). Olga died in Kiev on 11 July 969. The Church calls her “equal to the apostles” and remembers her as the first ruler of Rus’ to accept Christianity.