At a glance
- Grand Prince of Kyiv (c. 958–1015)
- Baptized Rus′ in the year 988
- Feast day — July 15
- Equal-to-the-Apostles
The Baptizer of Rus′
The prince who led a people to Christ
Saint Volodymyr the Great, Grand Prince of Kyiv, changed the destiny of his people forever. In the year 988 he received holy baptism and led Rus′-Ukraine into the Christian faith, uniting it with the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Christian East.
Before his conversion, Volodymyr was a powerful and warlike ruler. Yet upon meeting Christ he was transformed: he gave alms to the poor, built churches and schools, and cared for justice and mercy throughout his realm. The Church honours him as Equal-to-the-Apostles — equal to the apostles in the work of preaching the Gospel.
Whoever is not baptized shall not be dear to me.
— from the chronicle of the baptism of Rus′
For the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood, Saint Volodymyr is the model of a layman who places faith at the foundation of public life. As he once gathered his people around Christ, so we seek to gather our communities around the Church, our heritage, and the service of our neighbour.
Under his heavenly patronage the Brotherhood has carried the light of faith on Canadian soil for more than nine decades — continuing a work begun on the banks of the Dnipro more than a thousand years ago.