f her
son Sviatoslaf. She undertook a voyage to Constantinople for no other
end than to obtain a knowledge of the true God, and there she received
baptism at the hands of the patriarch Polyeuctes; the emperor
Constantine Porphyrogenitus himself, who admired her wisdom, being her
godfather. Nestor draws an affecting picture of the patriarch
foretelling to the newly illumined princess the blessings which were to
descend by her means on future generations of the Russians, while Olga,
now become Helena by baptism--that she might resemble both in name and
deed the mother of Constantine the Great--stood meekly bowing down her
head and drinking in, as a sponge that is thirsty of moisture, the
instructions of the prelate concerning the canons of the Church,
fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and continence, all which she observed with
exactness on her return to her own country.

Although, in spite of all her entreaties, the fierce and warlike prince
Sviatoslaf persisted in refusing to humble his proud heart under the
meek yoke of Christ, he had still so much affection for his mother as
not to persecute such as agreed with her in religion, but even to allow
them freely to make open profession of their faith under the protection
of that princess. He confided his children to her care during his
incessant military expeditions, and so enabled her to confirm the saving
impressions of Christianity among the people who respected her, and to
instil them into the mind of her young grandson Vladimir; for nothing
sinks so deep into the heart as the simple-and affectionate words of a
mother. The princess had with her a priest named Gregory, whom she had
brought from Constantinople, and by him she was buried after her death
in the spot which she had herself appointed, without any of the usual
pagan ceremonies. The people, by whom she had been surnamed "the Wise"
during life, began to bless her for a saint after her death, when they
came themselves to follow the example of this "Morning Star" which had
risen and gone before to lead Russia into the path of salvation.

Nowhere has Christianity ever been less persecuted at its first
introduction than in our own country. The _Chronicle_ speaks of only two
Christian martyrs, the Varangians Theodore and John, who were put to
death by the fury of the people because one of them, from natural
affection, had refused to give up his son when he had been devoted by
the prince Vladimir to be offered as a sacrif