Rule by the Sword

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II, has blessed a copy of the sword which belonged to mythical Russian hero St. Ilya Muromets and passed it as a present to President Putin, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported on Wednesday. The ceremony took place in the Savior Transfiguration Monastery in the town of Murom. The exact copy of the sword which was found on the coffin of St. Ilya Muromets was blessed by a holy relic which was delivered from a monastary in Kiev where the remains of the saint are kept.
“We ask you to pass the sword from the relic of Ilya Muromets to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin so that the sword helps him to rule our motherland righteously, promoting Russia’s spiritual revival,” the Russian church leader said. Ilya Muromets or Elijah of Murom is a Russian mythical hero, the greatest of the ancient warriors who fought pagans in the times of Prince Vladimir The Beautiful Sun, the baptist of Russia. A curious fact about Ilya is that he suffered from some childhood disease and could not walk until he was cured by travelling wizards at the age of 33.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/02/magicsword.shtml