7,257
edits
Changes
m
→History: add link
Having accepted Christianity, Vladimir then called the people of Kiev to baptism in the Dnieper River - the iconic event of the '''Baptism of Rus''''. First, Vladimir’s twelve sons and many boyars were baptized. Then, the next day all the residents of Kiev were called to the river, where the Orthodox priests completed the sacrament of baptism. In the following days the ceremony was observed throughout the realm of the Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev and Novgorod.
By the act of baptizing his subject, Vladimir signaled the acceptance of Orthodox Christianity as his state religion. Also, it was this event that Russia, the lands of the Rus and the Slavic east, entered into the greater Christian world as part of the Hellenic Christian heritage. This event had the further meaning, as noted by Fr. [[John Meyendorff]]:"For the Byzantines, the ‘baptism of the Russians’ signified their integration into the [Byzantine Roman] empire itself."
==Source==