Twice a year - June 18 and October 2 - the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Prince Igor of Chernigov, whose earthly life was martyrically cut short in 1147. On these days, services in all churches of Russia include prayers addressed to him, an akathist sounds, compiled soon after his canonization, and the icon of St. Igor is placed on a lectern.
Heir to the Grand Throne
The pages of the Kiev Chronicle brought to us the features of the external appearance of Prince Igor Olgovich (his family came from Novgorod Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich). According to its compiler, in the days of earthly life he was of medium height, lean and dark-skinned, wore long hair and let go of his narrow short beard. The chronicler also reports on the personal qualities of St. Igor, drawing readers' attention to his ecclesiastical scholarship, well-read, as well as courage in battle and dexterity during animal hunting.
The ascent of the future saint to the top of power was accomplished by the will of his elder brother - Grand Duke of Kiev Vsevolod Olgovich, who died in 1146 and declared him his successor before death. But the trouble is that the deceased during the years of rule managed to arouse such hatred of the people of Kiev that after his death it spread to his brothers, including the innocent young prince.
Anger of the people
The chronicler reports that, standing at the grave of his elder brother, Saint Igor solemnly vowed to rule his subjects “according to God's truth and justice,” as well as remove and punish all former tyuns (officials), who stained themselves with extortion and extortion. However, shortly after accession to the throne, all his “election” promises were scattered “like a dream, like a morning fog”.
The tyunas, steeped in corruption, continued to plunder the people mercilessly, and he himself made those decisions that first of all met his personal interests. The deception aroused indignation among the people and served as the reason for what today is commonly called the "social explosion." Not wanting to put up with what was happening, the people of Kiev contacted another candidate for the throne - Pereyaslav Prince Izyaslav (grandson of Vladimir Monomakh) and invited him to take over the reins of government.
Lost power
The Pereyaslav competitor immediately appeared accompanied by a large army, and near Kiev, on the shore of Lake Nadova, a battle took place between him and the squad of St. Igor. Izyaslav won the victory, but it did not come to him with military courage, but due to the fact that in the midst of the battle the Kiev army, consisting of townspeople deceived by the Grand Duke, threw their ruler and switched to his side. The winners noted their success, according to the customs of that time, having plundered for several days everything that was on the lands belonging to the enemy, including not only cities and villages (villages), but even holy monasteries.
The Way of the Cross
With this began the martyrdom of St. Igor of Chernigov. The chronicle reports that for four days he was hiding in the swamp reeds, after which he was captured and delivered to Kiev. There, with the hooting of the crowds of yesterday’s ruler, who had occupied the throne for no more than two weeks, they put him in a “cut” - a wooden structure without doors and windows, so named because it was possible to extract a prisoner from it only by cutting a passage in the wall.
In his prison, Prince Igor fell seriously ill, and the townspeople awaited his death from day to day. In order not to take the sin upon themselves and not leave his soul without repentance, they freed him from the chop, as it was impossible to confess in him, and sent him to St. John's Monastery for tonsure as a monk, which, as the chronicler emphasizes, was fully consistent with the prince himself.
Monastic tonsure
The experienced troubles and humiliations made a deep revolution in his soul. He began to rethink the past years and repent of all the iniquities committed by him. Under the weight of the sorrows that overwhelmed him, the prince felt the outcome of spiritual strength and the approach of death, and therefore tearfully prayed the abbot to quickly complete the rite of monastic tonsure on him.
In early January 1147, Bishop Euthymius of Pereyaslavsky fulfilled his request. In monasticism, Prince Igor Olgovich was named Gabriel. For almost two weeks after the sacred rite, he was so weak that he could not speak, and was, as they say, between life and death.
However, contrary to general expectation, yesterday’s ruler did not die, but went on the mend and after some time could already stand long church services. When he was fully matured, he was transferred from the St. John’s Monastery to Theodorov Monastery, where he soon accepted the schema — the highest stage of Orthodox monasticism, this time with the name Ignatius. Having completely surrendered to ascetic feats, Saint Igor spent time in unceasing prayers and fasts, asking the Lord for forgiveness for his sins.
Crowd fury
Meanwhile, in Kiev, the political passions caused by the death of one grand duke and the overthrow of another did not subside, but flared up day after day. The reason for this was a tough confrontation between supporters of the usurped power Izyaslav and representatives of the clan of the Olgoviches, to whom the prince who accepted monasticism belonged. In the blinding of hatred multiplied by exorbitant pride, none of the parties wanted to concede.
The conflict became particularly acute after the Kievans became aware that the Olgovichi, the relatives of the overthrown Grand Duke, plotted against Izyaslav in order to trap him and kill him. When this news was announced on the city square, it stirred up the whole nation. The crowd could not deal with the culprits, because they managed to leave the city and ride away to Chernihiv, where they reliably took refuge behind the city walls. Therefore, universal anger spilled over on innocent Igor, who accepted the schema and begged for his sins at the Feodorovsky Monastery and at the same time their sins.
Rebel tenacity
In vain did Metropolitan Clement try to stop the stream of people heading toward the holy monastery — no one wanted to hear his words about the wrath of God that they would incur upon themselves with this recklessness. Equally futile were Prince Izyaslav’s attempts to prevent trouble and save the life of his former rival. The angry crowd nearly teared him apart, after which he considered it a blessing to retire.
When the distraught people burst into the monastery, a liturgy was served there, and the holy prince was in the walls of the main temple. Hearing the noise coming from outside and guessing about the purpose of the rebels, he did not lose heart, but only asked the Lord to send him strength and courage to meet his mortal hour with dignity.
Innocently slain prince
Without disdaining to desecrate the holy place, the rebels burst into the temple and, pulling the prince out, tore him apart, after which they dragged the mutilated body on the rope for a long time. When, finally, they left their prey, and the martyr began to funeral in one of the city churches, then, according to legend, there was a rumble of thunder from the sky and everything around was lit up with an unprecedented radiance. Frightened, the assassins of Prince Igor fell to their knees and prayed to the Lord for forgiveness.
Soon, miracles of healing began to occur on the grave of an innocently killed person, and in addition, when in 1150 his relics were transported to Chernigov, then, opening the grave, they found them incorrupt. As a result, after the time established by the church charter passed and the political situation became quite favorable, the martyr, torn to pieces by the crowd, was canonized and known since the time of the holy Prince Igor.
Then his popular veneration began. As mentioned above, St. Igor's Day is celebrated by the Orthodox Church twice a year. The first time this happens is June 18 (transfer of the relics to Chernigov), and then October 2 - the day of martyrdom. The article provides a photograph of the temple erected in his honor in Peredelkino.