Moscow celebrates Baptism of Rus’ with procession from Kremlin to St. Vladimir monument

On the day of the Baptism of Rus’ and the commemoration of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Vladimir a religious procession was held to the new Moscow monument to St. Vladimir on Borovitskaya Square, reports the Russian Military-Historical Society.

The day began with a Divine Liturgy in Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin celebrated by Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna. After the Liturgy, the procession to the monument to St. Vladimir began, at the foot of which a moleben was held. The prayerful joy was shared by several hundreds of residents and guests of the capital, as well as representatives of the Russian National Guard and the Russian Military-Historical Society. Following the moleben, all gathered had the opportunity to venerate an icon of St. Vladimir, and to hear a lecture on the personality of the Great Prince and the story of the creation of the monument.

President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia opened the monument to the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir, the Baptizer of Russia, on Borovitskaya Square on November 5, 2016. The monument was erected by the initiative of the Russian Military-Historical Society and the Moscow government. The People’s Artist of Russia sculptor Salavat Scherbakov created the monument. The location of the monument was chosen through popular vote.

“Of the nearly 90 monuments and memorials installed by the Military-Historical Society within Russia and abroad, this is the most iconic project, and in semantic meaning (it goes deep into the thousand-plus-year history) and, of course, in terms of place, it’s at the very center of Moscow. The monument stands at the intersection of three origins, which it symbolizes. There is the state origin: First, we see in Prince Vladimir a powerful political figure. There is the spiritual origin and the Baptism of Rus’: The monument faces Christ the Savior Cathedral. And third—the educational origin: The Russian State Library stands nearby. There are always people here at the monument, which says that the memory of Great Prince Vladimir lives and the history is preserved,” said Russian Military-Historical Society executive director Vladislav Kononov.

Monument author Salavat Scherbakov spoke about his work on the sculpture:

“The story of the creation of the monument began not even two years ago, but in 1988, when the Russian Orthodox Church and the then-Soviet state celebrated the Baptism of Rus’… It is joyful that in our time it has become possible to embody the figure of the holy Prince Vladimir. It was a great, hard, and very honorable work. After all, Great Prince Vladimir is a symbol of our second, spiritual rebirth.”

Source: Orthochristian.com