Gleb: Name Day and Patron Saint

Sts Boris and Gleb were the younger sons of St Vladimir of Kiev; in Baptism Boris was named Romanus and Gleb was named David. When their father died in 1015, their eldest brother Sviatopolk set out to seize power by killing his brothers. Some of Vladimir’s advisers urged Boris to take the army and make himself ruler of Kiev, but he answered that he could never lift his hand against his own brother. At the Alta the assassins found him chanting psalms and praying before an icon of Christ. He asked God for strength to endure his suffering, and prayed that the deed would not be counted as sin against Sviatopolk. Gleb, lured toward Kiev by a false message, learned on the way that his father was dead and Boris murdered; while he mourned, the killers seized his boat, and his own cook stabbed him. Gleb was laid beside his brother in the church of St Basil at Vyshgorod near Kiev, and their grave soon became known for miracles. The Church calls them Passion-Bearers, because they did not resist evil with violence, and they were the first saints of Rus’ glorified by the Russian and Byzantine Churches. Their feast is kept on 24 July (6 August on the Old Calendar), and the translation of their relics is also remembered on 2 May. The faithful ask their prayers for peace between brothers, for meekness when wronged, and for the grace to forgive those who do us harm, as Boris forgave his brother at the hour of his death.

What the faithful pray for

• peace and love between brothers and within families
• meekness and patience when we suffer injustice
• the grace to forgive those who wrong us
• courage to meet death with prayer and trust in Christ