The Russian Orthodox Church
From the Baptism of Rus' in Kyiv (AD 988) to the Moscow Patriarchate today.
The Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) is the largest of the autocephalous Orthodox churches, with more than 100 million faithful. Its history begins with the Baptism of Rus' in AD 988, when Prince Vladimir of Kyiv, "equal to the apostles," led his people into the Christian faith.
The Old (Julian) calendar
The Russian Orthodox Church continues to observe the Julian calendar for fixed feasts, which is now 13 days behind the Gregorian civil calendar. This is why Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 (December 25 Julian) rather than on December 25 of the civil calendar.
Saints of the Russian land
Among the great saints of the Russian Church are Sts. Boris and Gleb, the Passion-bearers; St. Sergius of Radonezh, "gatherer of the Russian land"; St. Seraphim of Sarov, the wonderworker; St. John of Kronstadt; St. Xenia of Petersburg the Fool-for-Christ; and, in the twentieth century, the vast host of New Martyrs and Confessors under communist persecution.
In America
Russian Orthodox mission in North America began in 1794 with the arrival of monks from Valaam at Kodiak Island, Alaska. From that mission grew, in the twentieth century, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), granted autocephaly by Moscow in 1970, along with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) and the Patriarchal parishes.