Equal to the Apostles, Grand Princess Olga, Equal to the Apostles, Grand Princess of Rus'

Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Olga was born around 890, according to one tradition in the Pskov land. She became the wife of the Kievan Prince Igor Rurikovich. After her husband was killed by the Drevlyans in 945, she ruled Kievan Rus' as regent for her young son Svyatoslav, exacting harsh revenge on her husband's killers and reforming the tribute-collection system (establishing fixed levies and administrative centers) — the first known tax reform in Rus'. Around 955–957 she visited Constantinople, where she was baptized under the name Helen, likely by the Patriarch with the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus present. Upon returning to Rus' she attempted to spread Christianity, though her son Svyatoslav remained pagan; nevertheless, Olga raised her grandchildren in the Christian faith, including the future baptizer of Rus', Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. She died in 969. She was numbered among the Equal-to-the-Apostles saints — one of only six women in Church history to receive this title. Her relics were found incorrupt and translated by St. Vladimir to the Church of the Tithes in Kiev. Her memory is kept on July 11/24.