Returning to Kiev, they told the prince everything they had seen, and praised the Greek Orthodox faith. They said that there was no better Greek faith anywhere, no people. "When we stood, during the service, in the Greek church, we did not know where we were: on earth or in heaven," they said. And then they added that, having tasted sweet, they no longer wanted bitter, that is ,

, having learned the Orthodox faith of the Greeks, they do not want to serve their idol gods. At the same time, the boyars remarked to Vladimir: "If the Greek faith were not the best of all, then your grandmother, Princess Olga , the wisest of people, would not have accepted it." Then Prince Vladimir finally decided to accept the Orthodox faith. But, as a pagan, he considered it humiliating for himself to ask the Greeks for this. Therefore, soon after that (a year later)

he went to war against the Greeks and took the city of Korsun. (The city of Korsun or Kherson was located in the Crimea, while the Crimea at that time was part of the Greek Empire). After this, he demanded of the Greek emperors Basil and Constantine that they give his sister Anna in marriage to him. (At that time two brothers reigned in Constantinople together). The emperors replied that they could not marry their sister to a pagan.

Then Vladimir announced to them his desire to accept the Christian faith and asked them to send him Princess Anna, as well as a priest for his baptism. The emperors immediately sent priests to Korsun, and Princess Anna came with them. But at this time Prince Vladimir's eyes ached, so that he became blind. Princess Anna advised Vladimir to accept holy baptism as soon as possible.

Vladimir listened to the advice of the princess and was baptized with the name of Vasily. And as soon as he was baptized and began to come out of the font, it was as if a veil fell from his eyes, and he began to see. Vladimir regained his sight bodily and spiritually; and in joy he exclaimed, "Now I know the true God!" After that, Prince Vladimir married Princess Anna and returned to Kiev.

With them came to Kiev, a metropolitan, six bishops, many priests, and everything necessary for divine services was brought. This was in the year 988. At first, Vladimir offered his twelve sons to be baptized, and they were baptized. Following them, many boyars were baptized. Finally, Vladimir commanded all the inhabitants of Kiev to come on the appointed day to the Dnieper River, and there, in the presence of the prince, the sacrament of holy baptism was performed by the clergy.

Prince Vladimir, in joy and ecstasy, fixed his gaze on heaven, prayed to God that the Lord, Who created heaven and earth, would bless the Russian people, allowing them to know Him, the true God, and confirm in them the right faith... On this great day, the earth and the sky rejoiced. Having accepted Christianity, Vladimir changed in everything. From a coarse and cruel pagan, he became a pious and merciful Christian.

He ordered all poor people to come to his princely court and receive everything they needed there: food, clothing and even money. In addition, carts were loaded with bread, meat, fish, vegetables, honey, kvass and sent to cities and villages, for all the sick and beggars who could not walk themselves. The people fell in love with their grand prince and nicknamed him "the Red Sun" and, as to the sun, reached out to him and went with him to God. St.

Our Church canonized Grand Duke Vladimir, as well as Princess Olga; and she called Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles. Temples of the Moscow Kremlin From Kiev, the Orthodox Christian faith, with the help of God, soon spread and was established throughout the Russian land. The Russian people wholeheartedly accepted the Orthodox faith, which brought with it spiritual enlightenment: writing, monasteries and the establishment of schools, the development of all kinds of arts, and created the entire Russian culture.

The light of Christ shone over our country. It began to be called "Holy Russia", and the people – the "Orthodox Russian people". Part Four. ON THE FAITH AND LIFE OF CHRISTIANITY. The purpose of man God created us, people, in His image and likeness, He gave us reason, free will, and an immortal soul, so that by knowing God and becoming like Him, we would become better and kinder, more perfected, and inherit eternal blissful life with God.

Therefore, the existence of man on earth has a deep meaning, a great purpose and a high goal. In God's creation there is and cannot be anything meaningless. And if a person lives without faith in God, not according to God's commandments, not for the future eternal life, then the existence of such a person on earth becomes meaningless. For people who live without God, life seems incomprehensible and accidental, and such people themselves are often worse than animals.

In order for each person to fulfill his purpose on earth and receive eternal salvation, it is necessary, first, to know the true God and believe in Him correctly, that is, to have true faith, and secondly, to live according to this faith, that is, to love God and people and do good deeds. The Apostle Paul says that without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6)

, and the Apostle James adds that "faith without good works means without love, and such faith is an inactive faith, a dead faith. Thus, for our salvation, correct faith and life according to this faith (good works) are necessary. The true teaching about how to believe in God correctly and how people should live is contained in the Orthodox Christian faith, since it is based on Divine revelation.

Divine revelation is everything that God Himself has revealed to people about Himself and about the correct true faith in Him. God communicates His revelation to people in two ways: natural and supernatural. Natural revelation or manifestation is such a revelation of God when God reveals Himself in the usual natural way, to each person, through the world (nature) that we see