Russia, Georgia patriarchs to hold prayer service in Kiev

KIEV, July 27 (Itar-Tass) - Events devoted to the Baptism of Rus
(Christianisation of Kievan Rus) Day will be held in Kiev on Wednesday
with the participation of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill.
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II for the first time has arrived
for the festivities this year. The two primates and head of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church Metropolitan Vladimir in the morning will hold a prayer
service in the open air at the monument to the Baptiser of Rus,
overlooking the Dnieper River. And on July 28, on the commemoration day of
Prince Vladimir, a joint festive liturgy will be held in the cathedral
square of Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Kiev Monastery of the Caves).
A meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church will also
be held in Kiev on Wednesday. It is held alternately in Moscow, St.
Petersburg and Kiev. Patriarch Kirill will speak at the opening of an
international form of Orthodox women and meet with rectors universities at
Taras Shevchenko Kiev National University.
Baptism of Rus Day is declared at the state level a specially
memorable date in Ukraine (since 2008) and in Russia (in 2010). For young
people, according to tradition, a gala concert will be organised in Kiev,
Moscow and Minsk on July 28. Popular bands - The Karamazov Brothers,
Voskresenye, S.K.A.Y., famous actors Pyotr Mamonov, Ivan Okhlobystin, as
well as guitarist Sergo Chanturia, representing Ukraine will perform. The
first such concert, attended by more than 30 thousand spectators, was
given in Kreshchatik Street in Kiev in 2008. Well-known journalist Andrei
Kurayev and Metropolitan Kirill addressed the young audience from the
stage, their eloquent and fiery speeches received an ovation.
The Christianisation of Kievan Rus took place in several stages. In
early 867, Patriarch Photius of Constantinople announced to other Orthodox
patriarchs that the Rus, baptised by his bishop, took to Christianity with
particular enthusiasm. Photius's attempts at Christianising the country
seem to have entailed no lasting consequences, since the Primary Chronicle
and other Slavonic sources describe the tenth-century Rus as firmly
entrenched in paganism. The definitive Christianisation of Kiev dates from
the late 980s, when Vladimir the Great was baptised at Chersonesos,
proceeding to baptise his family and people in Kiev. The place of
Vladimir's baptism is marked by St. Vladimir's Cathedral.