Of Kvas and Saints

By Walter Kish

With the last few weeks of summer approaching, Kyivites are making the most of the hot sunny weather while their cousins in Western Ukraine are suffering from a surplus of unwanted rain. Out on the countless dachas in the peripheral towns and village, the potatoes are beginning to be harvested and the garlic pulled, braided and hung out to dry.

Though the city appears to be as crowded with people as ever, a large proportion of Kyiv’s residents have left for their annual pilgrimage to either a sanatorium on the Crimean coast or in the Carpathian Mountains, or gone to spend a few weeks at their ancestral family village in the country. Correspondingly, Kyiv is brimming with an influx of tourists, mostly diasporan Ukrainians, but also no small number of village denizens curious to partake of some of this capital city’s sights and sins.

The kvas vendors, with their distinctive large, insulated yellow vats on wheels, found on most major street corners are doing a thriving business. Although beer has overwhelmingly become the thirst-quencher of choice for parched Ukrainians, kvas is still holding its own and is my own personal favourite on a sweltering day. Kvas has been made in Ukraine since time immemorial. It is a simple concoction made by fermenting leftover rye or any dark bread in water with the addition of some sugar and yeast. The result is a mildly alcoholic drink that when served cold is the ideal countermeasure to the summer sun and heat.

Another telltale sign of the season is the brisk traffic at Mykhailivska Square next to our apartment building. Most of Kyiv’s newlyweds come to take pictures there in front of St. Michael’s magnificent and photogenic golden domes and to lay wreaths at the foot of St. Olga’s statue. On any given Saturday in July and August, the square becomes nearly impassable as dozens of wedding parties, their stretch limos gleaming in the sun, converge on the square from every direction. As camera shutters click and champagne corks are popped, the stone faces of St. Olga and her nearby companions, the apostle Andrew and the missionaries Cyril and Methodius, look on, undoubtedly, with some bemusement.

I have often wondered about the predilection of the Slavic cultures to make saints of their former rulers, despite their often dubious and less-than-saintly practices. It is curious, for instance, how the Russian Orthodox Church can justify making saints not only of Tsar Nicholas II, but his whole family. Undoubtedly, their assassination by the Bolsheviks was regrettable, but surely being the victim of political murder cannot in itself justify canonization. Not to mention, of course, that Nicholas had more than a little political oppression, torture and executions on his conscience to account for.

As Ukrainians, we have our own questionable examples. Volodymyr the Great, canonized for his “Christianization” of Kyivan Rus, had a few skeletons in his closet. One should not forget that he came to power by treacherously murdering his own brother, and that the baptism of Ukraine was not a voluntary but a calculated coercive political act. In the process many reluctant “pagans” lost their heads rather than their beliefs. His grandmother, St. Olga, prior to her conversion to Christianity, was renowned primarily for the brutality of the revenge she inflicted on the Derevliany who had murdered her husband Ihor. She had them slaughtered by the thousands and burned their capital to the ground.

In those days, Church and State were tightly linked partners in one power structure, and their actions were often based on pragmatic rather than spiritual considerations. In any case, I have always felt that as humans, with all the limitations that flesh is heir to, we should leave it up to God to decide who is a “saint,” and shy away from that responsibility.

However, I am digressing into politics and religion, and fine summer days are too precious to devote to such things. Ukraine has had too much politics over the past six months and needs a break from the shenanigans of its current leaders.  For a few more weeks, I will try and forget about coalitions, Yanukovych, the end of the Orange Revolution, and how long the current government will last. I think it’s time to go find a nice, cold glass of kvas!