Troparion in
Tone 2
O Passion-bearers and fulfillers of the Gospel of Christ, chaste
Boris and guileless Gleb: you did not oppose the attacks of the enemy,
your brother, when he killed your bodies but could not touch your souls.
Let him therefore mourn while you rejoice with the Angels standing
before the Holy Trinity. Pray that those who honor your memory may find
grace with God and that all Orthodox people may be saved.
Boris
and Gleb were the younger and much beloved sons of Grand Prince
Vladimir, the ruler of Kievan Rus, who in 988 brought his subjects to
the waters of Holy Baptism. The two brothers were also baptized
at which time they received the Christian names Romanus and David. The
older of the two, Boris, was very gifted and learned to read and write.
He shared with his brother his knowledge of the Scriptures and the lives
of the Saints whom they both strove to emulate. Indeed, by the time they
came of age to rule their respective patrimonies, the territories of
Ryazan and Murom, they had already cultivated in their hearts Christian
virtues of mercy, compassion and kindness, traits still rare in a land
freshly converted from barbarous paganism.
The
Primary Chronicle
says that their mother was a
Bulgarian woman,
and their Turkic names seem to back up this information. Most modern
scholars, however, argue that Boris and Gleb had different mothers, and
were of different age. Boris, who had been already married and ruled the
town of Rostov, was probably regarded as an heir apparent to the Kievan
Rus throne. Gleb, who was still a minor, ruled the easternmost town of
Murom
Boris was particularly
esteemed among the people and the soldiery. His popularity provoked
bitter jealousy in his eldest brother Svyatopolk, known to history as
"the Accursed." Svyatopolk scorned the laws of the newly adopted Christian
religion, so dear to his younger brothers, in favor of satisfying his
unbridled ambition. He saw Boris as a rival for the position of Grand
Prince, and when Vladimir died Svyatopolk wasted no time in plotting his
brother's murder.
Boris had been sent by
his father to fend off an anticipated raid by the Pechenegs. He was
returning to Kiev when he was met by emissaries sent by Svyatopolk, from
whom he learned of his father' s death and his brother' s self-willed
accession to the throne. The latter, knowing that the people would
rather have Boris as ruler and desiring to forestall any opposition that
this news might stir up, bade his messengers assure Boris of his
fraternal goodwill and his intent to increase Boris' domain.
Boris was well aware of
his brother's long-standing hatred for him and recognized in this
message the kiss of Judas. The young prince knew that his life was
threatened. His immediate concern, however, was not the adoption of some
military strategy--whether offensive or defensive--but how to act in
such circumstances as befits a Christian. Reflecting upon the words of
the Gospel: "If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a
liar," and "Love thine enemies," he firmly rejected the advice of his
father's retainers who urged Boris to oust the unpopular Svyatopolk,
pledging their support to such a plan, "Be it not for me," he replied,
"to raise my hand against my brother. Now that my father has passed
away, let him take the place of my father in my heart."
Knowing that armed
resistance would only provoke needless bloodshed, Boris sent away his
soldiers and remained alone where they had encamped on the bank of the
Alta, together with a few servants, it was Saturday evening and he
retired to his tent to recite the vigil service. As he read the Six
Psalms, the cry of the Psalmist echoed in his heart:
"O Lord, why are
they multiplied that afflict me, Many rise up against me..."
(Psalms 03:01).
Informed that his murderers were approaching, the Prince turned to an
icon of the Saviour and prayed beseechingly:
"Lord Jesus Christ, Thou
didst accept Thy Passion on account of our sins; grant me al so the
strength to accept my passion. I receive it not from my enemies but from
my brother, Lord, lay not this sin to his charge."
As the murderers burst
into the tent, Boris' faithful servant George, a young Hungarian, placed
himself between the prince and his attackers in an attempt to save his
master's life. The servant was killed at once, while the Prince,
grievously wounded by the thrust of a lance, was bound up in the tent
canvas and taken on a cart to Kiev. But he never reached the city. When
Svyatopolk learned that his brother was still alive, he sent two Varangians to consummate the bloody deed, which was accomplished when
one of them plunged his sword into Boris' heart.
Svyatopolk's next victim
was Gleb. He sent word to the guileless prince that his father was very
ill and was calling for him. Always obedient to his father, Gleb set off
at once with a small retinue. Near Smolensk, where his route took him by
boat down the river Smyadyn, he was met by emissaries from his brother
Yaropolk bearing a letter of warning from their sister Predislava: "Do
not come,' she wrote. "Your father has died and Svyatopolk has killed
your brother."
But the warning had come
too late. The murderers hired by Svyatopolk caught up with Gleb on the
river. He knew that he alone was the object of the pursuit and, like his
brother, Gleb urged his company not to offer armed resistance, as they
were outnumbered and all would perish. After a momentary weakness in
which he begged his assassins to spare his young life, he calmly
accepted his fate in the understanding that the voluntary suffering of
the innocent is a direct imitation of Christ. Gleb was killed by his own
cook who, terrified into compliance by Svyatopolk's henchmen, seized the
headof the young prince and cut his throat. His body was thrown onto the
shore and covered with brush.
Five years later, when
Yaroslav finally succeeded in overthrowing the treacherous Svyatopolk,
the bodies of the two royal martyrs, discovered to be incorrupt, were
laid to rest together in the church of St. Basil in Vyshgorod, Yaroslav'
s residence near Kiev. Their tomb immediately became a place of
pilgrimage, and the many miracles which took place before their relics
persuaded Church authorities to consent to Yaroslav's request and
canonize the two brother-princes.
Although Boris and Glob
were not martyred for their faith (they are properly called
'passion-bearers' rather than martyrs), their voluntary and meek
sacrifice for the sake of averting the suffering of others and
preserving the Christian ideal, had a profound effect on the subsequent
development of Christianity in Russia. Whereas in Byzantine Christianity
God was often depicted as Pantocrator--stern and all-powerful, in Russia
the emphasis was on Christ as the sacrificial Lamb Who 'opened not his
mouth before his shearer'. Russian piety came to be characterized by a
tender humility and an acceptance of suffering following the example of
Christ. In this century Russia's New Martyrs offer a supreme testimony
to the enduring influence of this otherworldly orientation which that
country first witnessed in the exploit of the two youthful brother
princes and passion-bearers, Boris and Gleb.
