On July 24th we commemorate the holy, glorious and right-victorious Martyrs Boris and Gleb. They were the sons of the great Prince Vladimir, the baptizer of the Russian people. They became known as Passion-bearers, since they did not resist evil with violence. Boris and his brother Gleb are commemorated together and were the first Russian saints glorified by the Russian and Byzantine Churches. Their voluntary sacrifice for the sake of averting the suffering of others and preserving the Christian ideal, had a profound effect on the subsequent development of Christianity in Russia.
