The story of how Andrei Bogoliubskii established the August 1/14 Feast of the Saviour in Rus. Holy Passion-Bearer Andrei Bogoliubskii was a 12th-century Russian prince who wanted to buttress the importance of his Principality of Vladimir–Suzdal against Kiev and Novgorod. By then, Rus had been Christian for about 150 years, and Andrei demonstrated a familiarity with Byzantine political philosophy. Clearly, after the acceptance of Christianity, Rus became a member of the family of European nations. The subsequent Mongol dominion had an impact on this identity, especially in the north-eastern part of Kievan Rus. To mark an event when a sign of the cross appeared in the sky before a 1164 battle with Turkic Volga Bulgar Muslims, Andrei established today’s feast of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Mother of God (the first of the three Dominical feasts in August, known in Russian by the popular designation of Pervyi Spas or ‘First [Feast of the] Saviour’). Contemporary literature produced in Andrei’s principality drew parallels between his victory over the Volga Bulgars and the victories of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos over Seljuk Sultanate of Rum a few years earlier. Prince Andrei brought the Vladimir Icon of Mother of God, the most highly venerated image of the Virgin in the Russian tradition, to Vladimir from the town of Vyshhorod, near Kiev. He made arrangements with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who sent him skilled stonemasons to supervise the building of the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir. Andrei waged wars against Kiev and Novgorod and attempted to carve out a new diocese of Vladimir and Suzdal from that of Rostov; St. Kirill of Turov confronted Prince Andrei over this. Andrei’s attempts to reign as an autocrat engendered hostility toward him on the part of the nobility, resulting in his being brutally stabbed to death on July 4/17, 1174. Andrei has been venerated by many Russian monarchs, most especially by Ivan IV (‘the Terrible’). Source А. В. Назаренко, Андрей Боголюбский, Православная Энциклопедия. URL: https://www.pravenc.ru/text/115338.html | 
