Right-Believing Right-Believing Grand Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise

Right-Believing Grand Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich the Wise (c. 978–1054), son of St. Vladimir the Baptizer, ruled Kievan Rus' from 1019 to 1054. Under his reign the state flourished: the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom was built in Kiev, monasteries and schools were founded, literacy and translation work spread, and the earliest East Slavic law code, "Russkaya Pravda," was compiled. He died on February 20, 1054, at Vyshgorod, and was buried in Kiev's St. Sophia Cathedral.

Popular veneration of Yaroslav began soon after his death, but formal canonization with a liturgical service was not established for centuries — apparently interrupted by the Mongol invasion, which cut short the church glorification of many 11th-century Kievan saints. This changed in recent times: on March 9, 2004, the 950th anniversary of his death, Yaroslav was added to the calendar of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; on December 8, 2005, by the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II, he was entered into the general calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church; and on February 2–3, 2016, the ROC Bishops' Council formally established his church-wide veneration. He is also commemorated in the Synaxis of Novgorod Saints and the Synaxis of Kiev Saints.