Yekaterinburg, August 7, 2014
On Wednesday, August 6, the feast day of Holy Passion-Bearers Russian Princes Boris and Gleb (in baptism Roman and David, †1015), a procession of the cross in support of peace in the world took place in Yekaterinburg, reports ITAR-TASS.
Hundreds of Ural residents went out to the city streets to pray for cessation of wars and to call people to peace. According to the clergy, this cross procession paid special attention to the holy princes and their paternal care of their nation.
“It should be remembered that all of us—Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians—belong to the same Orthodox faith, which means we are of the same blood,” Schema-Igumen Sergy (Romanov) said to those gathered.
With the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, the prayer for peace in the Ukraine is offered up continually at the Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb in Yekaterinburg as well as at all Orthodox churches throughout Russia.
Sts. Boris and Gleb were the first Russian Princes to refuse to participate in a fratricidal war for power with their elder brother, Prince Svyatopolk the Accursed. All three of them were sons of Grand Prince Vladimir (in baptism Vasily) the “Red Sun”, Equal-to-the-Apostles and Baptizer of Russia. Boris and Gleb lived and ruled on the territory of the present-day Ukraine.