Early works of original ancient Russian hagiography. National originality of hagiographic literature of Kievan Rus. Lives of saints other than martyrologies

HAGIOGRAPHY

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Hagiography (from the gr. άγιος “holy” and γράφω “I write”), a scientific discipline that studies the lives of saints, theological and historical-ecclesiastical aspects of holiness.

Approaches to studying the lives of saints

The lives of saints can be studied from historical-theological, historical, socio-cultural and literary points of view.

From a historical and theological point of view, the lives of saints are studied as a source for reconstructing the theological views of the era of the creation of the life, its author and editors, their ideas about holiness, salvation, deification, etc.

In historical terms, the lives, with appropriate historical and philological criticism, act as a first-class source on the history of the church, as well as on civil history.

In the socio-cultural aspect, lives make it possible to reconstruct the nature of spirituality, the social parameters of religious life (in particular, the so-called folk religiosity), and the religious and cultural ideas of society.

Lives, finally, constitute perhaps the most extensive part of Christian literature, with their own patterns of development, the evolution of structural and content parameters, etc., and in this regard they are the subject of literary and philological consideration.

Features of the literary and philological approach to the lives of saints

The literary and philological study of lives serves as the basis for all other types of research. Lives are written according to certain literary canons, which change over time and are different for different Christian traditions. Any interpretation of hagiographic material requires a preliminary consideration of what falls within the realm of literary etiquette. This involves studying literary history hagiographies, their genres, establishment of typical schemes for their construction, standard motifs and depiction techniques, etc. So, for example, in such a hagiographic genre as praise of a saint, which combines the characteristics of life and sermon, there is a fairly clear compositional structure (introduction, main part and epilogue) and thematic scheme of the main part (the origin of the saint, birth and upbringing, deeds and miracles , righteous death, comparison with other ascetics); These characteristics go back to the late antique encomium, and their different implementations in the process of development of hagiographic literature provide significant material for both historical-literary and historical-cultural conclusions.

Hagiographic literature is characterized by numerous standard motifs, such as the birth of a saint from pious parents, indifference to children's games, etc. Similar motifs stand out in hagiographic works of different types and different eras. Thus, in the acts of martyrs, starting with the most ancient examples of this genre, the prayer of the martyr before death is usually given and tells about the vision of Christ or the Kingdom of Heaven, which is revealed to the ascetic during his suffering. These standard motifs are determined not only by the orientation of some works to others, but also by the Christocentricity of the very phenomenon of martyrdom: the martyr repeats the victory of Christ over death, testifies to Christ and, becoming a “friend of God,” enters the Kingdom of Christ. This theological outline of martyrdom is naturally reflected in the structural characteristics of martyrdom.

Differences between Eastern and Western traditions of describing the lives of saints

In principle, the life of a saint is not so much a description of his life (biography), but a description of his path to salvation, such as his holiness. Therefore, a set of standard motifs reflects, first of all, not literary techniques for constructing a biography, but the dynamics of salvation, the path to the Kingdom of Heaven that was laid out by this saint. Life abstracts this scheme of salvation, and therefore the description of life itself becomes generalized and typical. The very method of describing the path to salvation can be different, and it is in the choice of this method that the Eastern and Western hagiographic traditions differ most. Western lives are usually written in a dynamic perspective; the author, as it were, traces from his position, from earthly existence, which road the saint took from this earthly existence to the Kingdom of Heaven. For the Eastern tradition, the opposite perspective is more typical, the perspective of a saint who has already reached the Heavenly Kingdom and is looking from above on his way to it. This perspective contributes to the development of an ornate, decorated style of lives, in which the rhetorical richness is designed to correspond to the incomprehensible height of the view from the Kingdom of Heaven (such, for example, are the lives of Symeon Metaphrastus, and in the Russian tradition - Pachomius the Serb and Epiphanius the Wise). At the same time, the features of the Western and Eastern hagiographic traditions obviously correlate with characteristic features Western and Eastern iconography of saints: the plot nature of Western iconography, revealing the path of the saints to God, is contrasted with the static nature of Byzantine iconography, depicting primarily the saint in his glorified, heavenly state. Thus, the nature of hagiographic literature is directly correlated with the entire system of religious views, differences in religious and mystical experience, etc. Hagiography as a discipline studies this entire complex of religious, cultural and literary phenomena.

History of hagiography

From the first days of its existence, the Christian Church carefully collects information about the life and activities of its ascetics and reports them for general edification. The Lives of the Saints constitute perhaps the most extensive section of Christian literature. Apart from the apocryphal gospels and tales of the apostles, which contain a lot of detailed information about the first figures of Christianity, the first “Lives of the Saints” were tales of martyrs.

Martyrology of the first centuries AD

Also St. Clement, bishop The Roman, during the first persecution of Christianity, appointed seven notaries in various districts of Rome to daily record what happened to Christians in places of execution, as well as in prisons and courts. Another bishop of Rome, smch. Fabian (236 - 251), entrusted this work to seven subdeacons.

Biographer of St. Cypriana mentions that the names of martyrs, even of the simplest rank, have been recorded by churches since ancient times for honor and remembrance. Despite the fact that the pagan government threatened the recorders with the death penalty, recordings continued throughout the persecution of Christianity.

Under Domitian and Diocletian, a significant part of the records perished in the fire, so when Eusebius (+ 340) undertook the compilation of a complete collection of legends about the ancient martyrs, he did not find sufficient material for that in the literature of martyrdom acts, but had to do research in the archives of institutions that produced trial of the martyrs. Eusebius’s work on the martyrs has not survived to our time, but another of his works is known: “The Book of the Palestinian Martyrs.” From the first three centuries, few more “epistles” about martyrdom have reached us from one church to another.

After Eusebius, tales of martyrdom were collected by St. Marufa, ep. Tagrite (c. 410), author of the History of the Persian Martyrs.

Medieval martyrology

Monk of the Benedictine monastery of St. Herman near Paris, Usuard (c. 876), compiled the oldest martyrology in the West (“Usuardi martyrologium”, published in Louvain, 1568, and Antwerp, 1714). The later, more complete collection and critical edition of the acts of the martyrs belongs to the Benedictine Ruinart: “Acta Martyrum sincera et selecta” (Par. 1689; French translation: Drouet-de-Maupertoy).

Martyrology of the New Time

Among the newest collections worthy of attention:

Zingerle, "Martyrer des Morgenlandes" (Jen 1833)

Adalbert Müller, "Allgemeines Martyrologium" (1860).

Russian martyrology

The following works are known in Russian literature:

Priest V. Guryev, “Warrior Martyrs” (1876);

Prot. P. Solovyov, “Christian martyrs who suffered in the East after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks” (translated from modern Greek St. Petersburg, 1862);

“Tales of Christian Martyrs Honored by the Orthodox Church” (Kazan, 1865).

Liturgical martyrologies

Along with these collections of more or less detailed tales of martyrs, starting from the 4th century, and perhaps earlier, short martyrologies were developed (especially in the West) for use during divine services. They are based on the martyrology attributed (according to some - erroneously) to Jerome.

Of the later known:

Assemani, “Acta ss. martyrum orientalium et occidentalium" (1748);

Lagrange, “Choix des actes des martyrs d'Orient” (Par. 1862).

In addition to the general ones, in the West there are also local martyrologies of countries or nationalities:

African martyrology (Steph. Macelli),

Belgian martyrology (Molana),

German martyrology (Valasser),

Spanish martyrology (Salazzara),

English martyrology (Wilson),

Italian martyrology (Cornelia)

Lives of saints other than martyrologies

The literature of the “Lives of Saints” of the second kind - the venerables and others - is more extensive. The oldest collection of such tales is Dorothea, Bishop. Tyrian (+ 362), - a legend about the 70 apostles. Of the others, especially remarkable:

“Lives of Honest Monks”, Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria (+ 385);

Lausaic Palladia, (“Historia Lausaica, s. paradisus de vitis patrum”;

“Historia Christiana veterum Patrum” 1582, original text in ed. Renata Lavrentia;

"Opera Maursii", Florence, 1746, vol. VIII; there is also a Russian translation, 1856);

Works of Theodoret of Cyrrhus (+ 458) - (in the named edition of Renata) as well as in the complete works of Theodoret; in Russian translation - in “Works of St. Fathers", ed. Moscow spirit. Academy and previously separately);

“Lemon garden, that is, a flower garden,” by John Mosch (Leimwnarion, in “Vitae patrum”, Rossveiga, Antv. 1628, vol. X; Russian ed. - M. 1859).

In the West, the main writers of this kind during the patristic period were:

Rufinus of Aquileia (“Vitae patrum s. historiae eremiticae”);

John Cassian (“Collationes patrum in Scythia”);

Gregory), bishop. Tours (died 594), who wrote a number of hagiographic works (“Gloria martyrum”, “Gloria confessorum”, “Vitae patrum”),

Grigory Dvoeslov (“Dialogi” - Russian translation “An Interview on the Life of the Italian Fathers”, in “Orthodox Interlocutor”.

"Moral hagiography"

From the 9th century a new feature appeared in the literature of the “Lives of the Saints” - a tendentious (moralizing, partly political-social) direction, decorating the story about the saint with fictions of fantasy. Among such hagiographers, the first place is occupied by Simeon Metaphrastus, a dignitary of the Byzantine court, who lived, according to some, in the 9th century, according to others in the 10th or 12th century. He published “The Lives of the Saints,” which constitute the most widespread primary source for subsequent writers of this kind not only in the East, but also in the West, among whom are Varaggio, Archbishop. Genoese, (+ 1298), who compiled the Golden Legend (“Legenda aurea sanctorum”) and Peter Natalibus, (+ 1382) - author of the Holy Catalog (“Catalogus Sanctorum”).

Subsequent editions take a more critical direction:

Bonina Mombrizia, “Legendarium s. acta sanctorum" (1474);

Aloysius Lippomana, bishop. Verona, “Vitae sanctorum” (1551 - 1560);

Lawrence Surius, Cologne Carthusian, “Vitae sanctorum orientis et occidentis” (1664);

George Vicella, “Hagiologium s. de sanctis ecclesiae";

Ambrose Flaccus, “Fastorum sanctorum libri XII”;

Renata Laurentia de la Barre - “Historia Christiana veterum patrum”;

C. Baronia, “Annales ecclesiast.”;

Rosweida - “Vitae patrum”;

Radera, “Viridarium sanctorum ex minaeis graecis” (1604).

Activities of Bolland and his followers

Finally, the famous Antwerp Jesuit Bolland comes forward with his activities; in 1643 he published the 1st volume of “Acta sanctorum” in Antwerp. Over the course of 130 years, the Bollandists published 49 volumes containing the Lives of the Saints from January 1 to October 7; by 1780 two more volumes had appeared.

In 1788, the Bollandist Institute was closed. Three years later, the enterprise was resumed again, and in 1794 another new volume appeared. When Belgium was conquered by the French, the Bollandist monastery was sold, and they themselves and their collections moved to Westphalia and, after restoration, published six more volumes. The latter works are significantly inferior in merit to the works of the first Bollandists, both in the vastness of their erudition and due to the lack of strict criticism. The above-mentioned “Martyrologium” by Müller is a good abbreviation of the Bollandist edition and can serve as a reference book for it. A complete index to this edition was compiled by Pothast. All the lives of the saints, known with separate titles, are counted by Fabricius in the Bibliotheca Graeca, Gambus. 1705 - 1718; second edition of Gamb. 1798 - 1809).

Other hagiographic works in the West Individuals in the West continued publishing the lives of saints simultaneously with the Bollandist corporation. Of these, worthy of mention:

Abbot Commanuel, “Nouvelles vies de saints pour tous le jours” (1701);

Ballier, “Vie des saints” (work strictly critical),

Arnaud d'Andili, "Les vies des peres des deserts d"Orient" (1771).

Among the newest Western publications, the Lives of the Saints deserves attention. Stadler and Heim, written in dictionary form: “Heiligen Lexicon”, (1855).

Hagiographic collections of mixed content Many Lives are found in collections of mixed content, such as the prologue, synaxari, menaion, and patericon.

It's called a prologue. a book containing the lives of saints, along with instructions regarding celebrations in their honor. The Greeks called these collections synaxarions. The most ancient of them is the anonymous synaxarion in hand. Ep. Porfiry (Uspensky) 1249; then follows the synaxarion of Emperor Basil - belonging to the X century; the text of its first part was published in 1695 by Uggel in volume VI of his “Italia sacra”; the second part was found later by the Bollandists (for its description, see Archbishop Sergius’s “Monthology”, 1, 216).

Other ancient prologues:

Petrov - in hand. Ep. Porphyria contains the memory of saints for all days of the year, except 2 - 7 and 24 - 27 days of March;

Kleromontansky (otherwise Sigmuntov), ​​almost similar to Petrov, contains the memory of saints for the whole year.

Russian prologues are alterations of the synaxarion of Emperor Basil, with some additions.

Menaions are collections of lengthy tales about saints on holidays, arranged by month. They are of service and menaion-chetii: in the first, the designation of the names of the authors above the chants is important for the biography of saints. Handwritten menaions contain more information about saints than printed ones. These “monthly menaions” or service ones were the first collections of “lives of saints” that became known in Rus' at the time of its adoption of Christianity and the introduction of Divine services; these are followed by Greek prologues or synaxari. In the pre-Mongol period, a full circle of menaia, prologues and synaxarions already existed in the Russian church.

Patericon

Then patericons—special collections of the lives of saints—appear in Russian literature. Translated patericons are known in the manuscripts:

Sinai ("Limonar" by Mosch),

alphabetical,

skete (several types; see description of the RKP. Undolsky and Tsarsky),

Egyptian (Lawsaic Palladium).

Based on the model of these eastern patericons, the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” was compiled in Russia, which began with Simon, bishop. Vladimir, and Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp.

Calendars and month books

Finally, the last common source for the lives of the saints of the entire church is calendars and month books. The beginnings of calendars date back to the very first times of the church, as can be seen from the biographical information about St. Ignatius (+ 107), Polycarp (+ 167), Cyprian (+ 258). From the testimony of Asterius of Amasia (+ 410) it is clear that in the 4th century. they were so complete that they contained names for all the days of the year.

Monthly words, under the Gospels and the Apostles, are divided into three kinds: of eastern origin, ancient Italian and Sicilian, and Slavic. Of the latter, the oldest is under the Ostromir Gospel (XII century). They are followed by monthly books: Assemani, with the Glagolitic Gospel, located in the Vatican Library, and Savvin, ed. Sreznevsky in 1868. This also includes brief notes about the saints under the church statutes of Jerusalem, Studio and Constantinople.

The Saints are the same calendars, but the details of the story are close to the synaxars and exist separately from the Gospels and statutes.

Old Russian Lives of Saints

Old Russian literature of the lives of Russian saints itself begins with biographies of individual saints. The model by which Russian “lives” were compiled was the Greek lives of the Metaphrastus type, i.e., whose task was to “praise” the saint, and the lack of information (for example, about the first years of the life of the saints) was filled with commonplaces and rhetorical rantings. A number of the saint’s miracles are a necessary component of the Lives. In the story about the very life and exploits of saints, individual traits are often not visible at all. Exceptions from the general character of the original Russian “lives” before the 15th century. constitute, according to prof. Golubinsky, only the very first lives of “St. Boris and Gleb" and "Theodosius of Pechersk", compiled by Rev. Nestor, the Lives of Leonid of Rostov, which Klyuchevsky dates back to before 1174, and the Lives that appeared in the Rostov region in the 12th and 13th centuries, representing an unartificial simple story, while the equally ancient Lives of the Smolensk region (“Life of St. Abraham” etc.) belong to the Byzantine type of biographies.

In the 15th century a number of compilers of lives begin with Metropolitan. Cyprian, who wrote the life of Metropolitan Peter (in a new edition) and several lives of Russian saints, which were included in his “Book of Degrees” (if this book was really compiled by him).

The biography and activities of the second Russian hagiographer, Pachomius Logofet, is introduced in detail by the study of Prof. Klyuchevsky: “Ancient Russian Lives of Saints, as a Historical Source”, M., 1871. He compiled the life and service of St. Sergius, life and service of St. Nikon, life of St. Kirill Belozersky, a word about the transfer of the relics of St. Peter and his service; To him, according to Klyuchevsky, the life of St. belongs. Novgorod archbishops Moses and John; In total, he wrote 10 lives, 6 legends, 18 canons and 4 words of praise to the saints. Pachomius enjoyed great fame among his contemporaries and posterity, and was a model for other compilers of lives.

No less famous as the compiler of the lives of Epiphanius the Wise, who first lived in the same monastery with St. Stephen of Perm, and then in the monastery of Sergius, who wrote the Lives of both of these saints. He knew St. well. Scripture, Greek chronographs, paleus, ladder, patericon. He is even more florid than Pachomius.

The successors of these three writers introduce a new feature into their works - autobiographical, so that from the “lives” they compiled, one can always recognize the author. The work of Russian hagiography moves from urban centers in the 16th century. in deserts and areas remote from cultural centers, in the 16th century. The authors of these lives did not limit themselves to the facts of the saint’s life and panegyrics to him, but tried to introduce them to church, social and state conditions, among which the saint’s activity arose and developed. The lives of this time are, therefore, valuable primary sources of the cultural and everyday history of ancient Rus'. The author who lived in Moscow Rus' can always be distinguished, by tendency, from the author of the Novgorod, Pskov and Rostov regions.

Lives of Saints by Metropolitan Macarius

A new era in the history of Russian lives is constituted by the activities of the All-Russian Metropolitan Macarius. His time was especially rich in new “lives” of Russian saints, which is explained, on the one hand, by the intense activity of this metropolitan in the canonization of saints, and on the other hand, by the “great Menaions-Chetii” compiled by him. These menaions, which included almost all the Russian lives available at that time, are known in two editions: the Sophia edition (manuscript of the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy) and the more complete edition of the Moscow Council of 1552.

Menaion-Cheti of German Tulupov and Ioann Milyutin

A century later than Macarius, in 1627 - 1632, the Menaion-Chetii of the monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery German (Tulupov) appeared, and in 1646 - 1654. - Menaion-Chetiya of the priest of Sergiev Posad Ioann Milyutin. These two collections differ from Makariev in that they included almost exclusively Lives and tales of Russian saints. Tulupov included in his collection everything that he found regarding Russian hagiography, in its entirety; Milyutin, using the works of Tulupov, abridged and remade the lives he had at hand, omitting prefaces from them, as well as words of praise; what Macarius was for Northern and Moscow Rus', what the Kiev-Pechersk archimandrites - Innocent (Gisel) and Varlaam ( Yasinsky) - for Southern Rus', fulfilling the idea of ​​​​the Kiev Metropolitan Peter (Mogila) and partly using the materials he collected. But the political unrest of that time prevented this enterprise from being realized.

Lives of Saints St. Demetrius of Rostov

Yasinsky, brought St. Demetrius, later Metropolitan of Rostov, who, working for 20 years on the revision of Metaphrastus, the great Chetii-Menai of Macarius and other manuals, compiled the Chetii-Menai, containing the lives of not only the South Russian saints omitted from the Menaion of Macarius, but the saints of the entire church. Patriarch Joachim treated Demetrius's work with distrust, noticing in it traces of Catholic teaching about the immaculate conception of the Mother of God; but the misunderstandings were eliminated and Demetrius’s work was completed. The Chetia-Minea of ​​St. were published for the first time. Demetrius in 1711 - 1718

In 1745, the Synod instructed the Kiev-Pechersk archimandrite. Timofey (Shcherbatsky) revision and correction of Dimitri's work; This commission was completed after Timofey by Archimandrite. Joseph (Mitkevich) and Hierodeacon Nicodemus, and in a corrected form the Chetiya-Minea were published in 1759. The lives of the saints in the Chetia-Minea of ​​Demetrius are arranged in calendar order: following the example of Macarius, there are also synaxari for holidays, instructive words on the events of the life of the saint or the history of the holiday, belonging to the ancient fathers of the church, and partly compiled by Demetrius himself, historical discussions at the beginning of each quarter of the publication - about the primacy of March of the month of the year, about the indict, about the ancient Hellenic-Roman calendar. The sources that the author used can be seen from the list of “teachers, writers, historians” attached before the first and second parts, and from quotes in individual cases (Metaphrastus is most often found). Many articles consist only of a translation of the Greek life or a repetition, with correction of the language, of the Old Russian life.

There is also historical criticism in the Chetiya-Minea, but in general their significance is not scientific, but ecclesiastical: written in artistic Church Slavonic speech, they constitute a hitherto favorite reading for pious people seeking religious edification in the “Lives of the Saints.”

There are 156 of all individual lives of ancient Russian saints, included and not included in the counted collections. In the 19th century, a number of retellings and adaptations of the Chetiyh-Mineas of St. appeared. Dimitri:

“Selected lives of saints, summarized according to the guidance of Chetiyh-Minei” (1860 - 68);

A. N. Muravyova, “The Lives of the Saints of the Russian Church, also Iversky and Slavic” (1847);

Philareta, Archbishop. Chernigovsky, “Russian Saints”; “Historical Dictionary of the Saints of the Russian Church” (1836 - 60);

Protopopova, “Lives of the Saints” (M., 1890)

More or less independent editions of the lives of saints -

Philareta, Archbishop. Chernigov:

a) “historical doctrine of the church fathers” (1856, new edition 1885),

b) “historical review of the singers” (1860),

c) “Saints of the South Slavs” (1863)

d.) "St. ascetics of the Eastern Church" (1871);

“Athos Patericon” (1860 - 63);

“The highest cover over Mount Athos” (1860);

“Ascetics of Piety on Mount Sinai” (1860);

I. Krylova,

"The Lives of St. the Apostles and the Legends of the Seventy Disciples of Christ" (Moscow, 1863);

“Memorable tales about the life of St. blessed fathers" (translated from Greek, 1856);

archim. Ignatius, “Brief Lives of Russian Saints” (1875);

Iocseliani, “Lives of the Saints of the Georgian Church” (1850);

M. Sabinina, “Complete biography of the Georgian saints” (St. Petersburg, 1871 - 73).

Particularly valuable works for Russian hagiography:

prot. D. Vershinsky, “Months of the Eastern Church” (1856);

priest M. Miroshkina, “Slavic Name Book” (1859);

“Greco-Slavic Church Year” (“Annus ecclesiasticus graecoslavicus”, Par., 1863; ;

Rev. Sergius, “Monthology of the East” (1875 - 76),

V. Klyuchevsky, “Old Russian Lives, as a historical source” (M., 1871);

N. Barsukova, “Sources of Russian hagiography” (1882).

see also

Hagiology

Used materials

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron. Lives of Saints N. Barsov.

V.M. Zhivov, Holiness. Brief dictionary of hagiographic terms

http://www.wco.ru/biblio/books/zhivov1/Main.htm

Ed. d "Acheri in 1667, reprinted by Min - "Patrologia", vol. XXX

See research. about this A. Ponomareva, St. Petersburg. 1884) etc.

“Bibliotheca historia medii aevi”, B. 1862

See prof. N. N. Petrova “On the origin and composition of the Slavic-Russian printed prologue”, Kyiv, 1875

For detailed information about the meaning of these menyas, see the “Mesyatsoslov” of Bishop. Sergiya, 1, 160

In 1748 he was consecrated Metropolitan. Kievsky.

For a more detailed assessment of the Chetiykh-Menya, see the work of V. Nechaev, corrected by A. V. Gorsky - “St. Demetrius of Rostov,” M., 1853, and I. A. Shlyapkina — “St. Dimitry", St. Petersburg, 1889

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Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree. 2012

In Ancient Rus', the concepts of “book” enlightenment and Christian orthodoxy were not accidentally identified: Christianity is a religion of highly developed writing. From the very beginning of its existence, the Christian Church, fulfilling the will of the Apostle Paul “Remember your teachers, who preached the word of God to you” (Heb. 13:7), carefully collects and records information about the lives of its ascetics. This is how hagiography arises (Greek agios - saint, grapho - writing) - literature about the life and deeds of saints. Christians were revered as saints, those who especially pleased God through their works of piety and fervent prayer, and who were awarded special God's grace. After death, they become part of that Divine Providence, which, according to medieval man, decides the destinies of history.

“Holy people” pray before God for their fellow believers, and those, for their part, must render prayerful honor to them. Their Lives were compiled in order to, as Nestor writes in his “Life of Theodosius of Pechersk,” “having accepted the scripture and reverently, and having thus seen a man’s valor, praise God, and glorify his champion and strengthen him for other exploits” (having taken the scripture and read it, everyone could learn about the man’s valor and praise God, glorifying his saint, and strengthen their souls for exploits).

The ascetic-heroic life of the saint is depicted in the lives as a school of spiritual existence, which shows everyone the path to achieving the Kingdom of God and warns of difficulties along this path. The heroes of the lives embody the highest moral ideal, their actions appear as a manifesto of a highly moral life position. The idealization of hagiographic heroes was intended to confirm the inner power, greatness and beauty of Christian teaching. The poeticization of spiritual achievement, the triumph of the spirit over sinful flesh, and moral maximalism in opposition to evil determines the general ideological and aesthetic orientation of hagiographic literature. The life, exploits and teachings of the luminaries of the faith, captured in hagiographic monuments, are part of the richest treasury of world Christian culture.

The Russian Church has raised in its bosom many holy ascetics, who through their works of piety and fiery prayer have gained the glory of heavenly patrons and defenders of their native land. The first East Slavic lives appear soon after the official addition to the host of the Orthodox holy princes-passion-bearers Boris and Gleb (canonized in 1072) and St. Theodosius of Pechersk (canonized in 1108).

The first East Slavic lives took shape in close dependence on the most ancient examples of Byzantine hagiography. By that time, Eastern European hagiographic literature already had a centuries-old tradition and had developed its own clear genre forms and poetic and stylistic means. Old Russian scribes found in the early Byzantine Lives the highest examples of spiritual and religious heroism, an already formed ideal of holiness.

The prototype for all images of holiness in hagiography is the image of Christ. The heroes of their lives perform their deeds “in the name of Christ,” and most importantly, “like Christ.” They strive to fashion their lives according to a sacred pattern, in moment-by-moment sympathy with the passions of the Master from Galilee. This, in the words of M. Bakhtin, “a significant life in God” allows them to overcome their earthly nature, to move to the rank of “earthly angels”: their holiness designates a special zone between the heavenly world, full of goodness, purity, moral perfection, and the earthly world, associated with the concept of sinfulness, inferiority, injustice. The fact that even during their lifetime the saints are “citizens” of the heavenly spheres shows their miracle-working and ability to overcome the material laws of existence. They connect the two worlds even after death; posthumous miracles are the most important proof of the ascetic’s holiness, the most compelling argument for canonization.

The power of holiness, manifested in the miracles of the heroes of the lives, was intended to evoke awe, to instill fear, but not fear-fear, but reverent fear, “fear of God,” that is, a feeling of insignificance before the immeasurably great, powerful, good. Most often, miracles were a manifestation of unearthly mercy: pure-hearted ascetics of love save those who have stumbled, heal the sick, and help the suffering. The miraculous and the real were described in the lives with the same degree of reliability.

Hagiography by its very essence is church literature, fulfilling the role of the bearer of Church Tradition. The compilation, rewriting and rereading of lives was an integral part of church life, liturgical and ascetic practice. The church and official purpose of the lives led to the formation of a canonical, standard scheme that all hagiographers had to adhere to. It has a three-part structure and consists of the following elements. The author’s rhetorical introduction leads the reader to the very subject of the narrative, containing a derogatory self-description of the compiler of the life, his admission of his ignorance, literary helplessness, and a prayerful request to God to “enlighten”. The conventionally “many sinners” and “thin-minded” hagiographer humiliated himself in order to elevate his hero and avoid accusations of pride. The main part began with a word about the parents, who, as a rule, were “pious lovers of Christ,” followed by a story about the birth of the baby and his dedication to God. The story about the hero’s childhood emphasized his difference from his peers, piety, and diligence in his studies. Next, the saint’s life path, marked by heroic spiritual asceticism, was depicted. Just as the medieval icon painter, emphasizing the greatness of the saint, painted him higher than the trees and hills, the hagiographer described the life of his hero from the position of a certain distance and, following the goal of idealizing him, omitted everyday details, details of private life. All attention in the lives was focused on the “solemn” moments of the hero’s life, that essential, important thing that should have surrounded him with an aura of holiness. The chain of episodes from the life of the saint could be connected not only chronologically, but also thematically. The constant comparison of the hagiographic hero with biblical characters, accompanying the story about his deeds with analogies from the Holy Scriptures, forces us to consider his life under the sign of Eternity as a preparation for eternal bliss. The saint of God always knows about the time of his death and manages to give the last instruction to his disciples and followers. The saint's acceptance of death is the final apotheosis of his earthly life, the threshold of eternal life. After the description of his solemn, majestic departure from life, usually marked by miraculous phenomena in nature, there followed “crying,” a mention of the discovery of incorruptible relics and a description of the posthumous miracles associated with them.

A life is a story about the life of a saint, but this story is not equal to a simple biography. It gives not an image, but a model; it describes not just human life, but holy life. Unlike a biographical story, where the connection of the hero with the environment and the growth of character are important, in the lives a personality was presented that had been formed from birth, having a completely “ready-made” essence. The hagiographic canon demanded “the dissolution of the human face in the heavenly glorified face”, the embodiment in the hero of the entire set of ideal qualities that should have been manifested in ideal deeds. The hagiographer sought to give an extremely generalized idea of ​​the hero, detached from the transitory and random circumstances of earthly life. The compiler of lives ascended from the particular to the general, from the external to the internal, from the temporary to the eternal, looked for in biographical material not the fascinating, interesting, uniquely individual, but above all the proper, sacred and, if he did not find it, then, without hesitation, included it in the composition of his narrative, fragments from other texts, “forced” his hero to behave as this category of literary heroes should behave. This was neither plagiarism nor deception and did not at all come from poverty of imagination: the hagiographer was sure that the saint could not have behaved differently.

The main means of comprehending the connection and meaning of Earth and Heaven, the visible and invisible world, served in hagiographic literature as a symbolic image. Signs and symbols permeate the narrative fabric of each life.

The etiquette of the Russian medieval worldview prescribed to depict the world according to certain principles and rules, demanded to express ideas about what is proper and proper, without inventing something new, but by combining the old according to a strictly defined “order.” Therefore, the hagiographer did not try to captivate the reader with the unexpectedness of the content or amaze with the freshness of the forms of expression; on the contrary, he tried to reduce the originality of the biographical material to a common denominator. “Common place”, “wandering” narrative cliches (healing, multiplication of food, predicting the outcome of battles, temptation by a harlot, etc.), repeated types of behavior of the hero and clichéd verbal formulas are an organic element of hagiography as a genre. The regimentation of the plot-compositional model of “righteous living,” the stereotyped images and situations, and the standard set of speech patterns are actually called the hagiographic canon.

One should not think, however, that the compilation of lives was reduced to a mechanical selection of templates and stencils. It was a creative act, but of a special kind. Hagiography is more the art of combining “one’s own” and “their” than the art of individual creative initiative and the measure of the skill of a hagiographer; the criterion of artistry was careful adherence to the hagiographic canon, the ability to follow tradition.

The repetition of episodes and the stereotyping of verbal formulas contributed to the creation among readers and listeners of the lives of a special moral atmosphere, a special kind of Christian-Orthodox worldview. The canons of figurative and expressive means and plot motifs that were formed over centuries were also artistically capacious and effective, and could most clearly and clearly demonstrate the eternal and unchanging properties and powers of the human soul. By poeticizing what is truly worthy in life, showing examples of asceticism, self-denial of goods in the name of the highest truth and, conversely, condemning the vicious, exposing the villainous, hagiographic literature has always evoked reflection in the reader, an evaluative reaction, allowing him to develop his attitude to reality, to assimilate the best qualities of humanity morality. It is no coincidence that in Rus' hagiographies were the most widely read literary genre and were considered the most authoritative source of human wisdom.

Kievan Rus was extremely interested in the canonization and glorification of its national saints, since, having adopted Christianity from Byzantium, it was forced to defend its spiritual, ideological and legal independence. Byzantium tried in every possible way to prevent the movement of provincial churches towards independence and was jealous of the creation of local cults, since it was believed that this was fraught with a deviation from the dogmatic foundations of Christian teaching. Canonization practice was limited by strict rules and strictly centralized: a saint could be officially venerated only after the consent of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The patriarchs, like the Greek metropolitans of Kyiv, did their best to restrain the religious nationalism of the newly baptized people. The very fact of the canonization of Boris and Gleb, and a little later of Theodosius of Pechersk, testified to Byzantium’s recognition of the military and political power of the Russian state, the high calling of the Russian Church.

The national originality of ancient Russian hagiographic literature is largely determined by a much greater connection with living reality than was allowed by the established hagiographic canon.

In contrast to Byzantine examples, ancient Russian hagiography, especially of the early period, gravitated both in content and stylistic design to the genre of chronicle story. Plot situations in early Russian lives are full of national-historical and everyday realities associated with the Christianization of Rus', monastery construction, princely strife, and the development of new lands. Conflicts in them were often of a “worldly” nature, determined not so much by the fight against people of other faiths, but rather on the arbitrariness and greed of princes, and negative phenomena in everyday life.

The heroes of ancient Russian lives were often portrayed not only as ascetics, but also as people possessing completely worldly virtues, for example, prudent housekeeping, diplomatic and military talents. There were many real details and living features in the depiction of their images.

The framing of concrete and real faceless “commonplaces”, naming exact dates, historical names, references to the words of eyewitnesses brought the narrative closer to a specific biography, and the early revealed interest of ancient Russian hagiographers in The oldest work of Russian hagiography that has come down to us is the anonymous “The Tale of Boris and Glebe."

The story of the martyrdom of princes Boris and Gleb, killed by their brother Svyatopolk Vladimirovich, is placed in the “Tale of Bygone Years” under the year 1015. On its basis, at the end of the 11th century, the anonymous “Legend and Passion and Praise to the Holy Martyr Boris and Gleb” was created. The action in it, compared to the chronicle story, is more dramatized, and the overall panegyric and lyrical tonality is significantly enhanced. The oldest list of the monument has reached us as part of the Assumption Collection of the late 12th – early 13th centuries.

Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich had twelve sons from different wives. The third in seniority was Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk's mother, a nun, was disrobed and taken as a wife by Yaropolk, Vladimir's brother. Vladimir killed Yaropolk and took possession of his wife when she was pregnant. He adopted Svyatopolk, but did not love him. And Boris and Gleb were the sons of Vladimir and his Bulgarian wife. Vladimir placed his children in different lands to reign: Svyatopolk - in Pinsk, Boris - in Rostov, Gleb - in Murom.

As Vladimir's days drew to a close, the Pechenegs moved into Rus'. The prince sent Boris against them. He set out on a campaign, but did not meet the enemy. When Boris was returning back, the messenger told him about the death of his father and that Svyatopolk tried to hide his death. Listening to this story, Boris began to cry. He realized that Svyatopolk wanted to seize power and kill him, but decided not to resist. Indeed, Svyatopolk insidiously took possession of the Kyiv throne. But, despite the entreaties of the squad, Boris did not want to drive his brother out of his reign.

Meanwhile, Svyatopolk bribed the people of Kiev and wrote a kind letter to Boris. But his words were lies. In fact, he wanted to kill all of his father's heirs. And he began by ordering a squad consisting of Vyshgorod men led by Putynya to kill Boris.

Boris set up his camp on the Alta River. In the evening he prayed in his tent, thinking about his imminent death. Waking up, he ordered the priest to serve matins. The murderers sent by Svyatopolk approached Boris’s tent and heard the words of holy prayers. And Boris, hearing an ominous whisper near the tent, realized that these were murderers. The priest and Boris's servant, seeing the sadness of their master, grieved for him.

Suddenly Boris saw the killers with naked weapons in their hands. The villains rushed to the prince and pierced him with spears. And Boris’s servant covered his master with his body. This servant was a Hungarian named George. The killers struck him down too. Wounded by them, George jumped out of the tent. The villains wanted to inflict new blows on the prince, who was still alive. But Boris began to ask to be allowed to pray to God. After the prayer, the prince turned to his murderers with words of forgiveness and said: “Brothers, having begun, finish what was commanded to you.” This is how Boris died on the 24th day of July. Many of his servants were also killed, including George. They cut off his head to remove the hryvnia from his neck.

Boris was wrapped in a tent and taken away on a cart. As they drove through the forest, the holy prince raised his head. And two Varangians pierced him with a sword in the heart again. Boris's body was laid in Vyshgorod and buried near the Church of St. Basil.

After this, Svyatopolk conceived a new crime. He sent Gleb a letter in which he wrote that his father, Vladimir, was seriously ill and was calling Gleb.

The young prince went to Kyiv. When he reached the Volga, he slightly injured his leg. He stopped not far from Smolensk, on the Smyadyn River, in a boat. The news of Vladimir's death, meanwhile, reached Yaroslav (another of the twelve sons of Vladimir Svyatoslavich), who then reigned in Novgorod. Yaroslav sent Gleb a warning not to go to Kyiv: his father died and his brother Boris was killed. And when Gleb was crying about his father and brother, the evil servants of Svyatopolk, sent by him to kill, suddenly appeared in front of him.

Saint Prince Gleb was then sailing in a boat along the Smyadyn River. The killers were in another boat, they began to row towards the prince, and Gleb thought that they wanted to greet him. But the villains began to jump into Gleb’s boat with drawn swords in their hands. The prince began to beg that they would not ruin his young life. But Svyatopolk’s servants were relentless. Then Gleb began to pray to God for his father, brothers, and even for his murderer, Svyatopolk. After this, Glebov's cook, Torchin, stabbed his master to death. And Gleb ascended to heaven and met there with his beloved brother. It happened on September 5th.

The murderers returned to Svyatopolk and told him about the fulfilled command. The evil prince was delighted.

Gleb's body was thrown in a deserted place between two logs. Merchants, hunters, and shepherds passing by this place saw a pillar of fire, burning candles, and heard angelic singing. But no one thought to look for the saint’s body there.

And Yaroslav moved with his army against the fratricide Svyatopolk to avenge his brothers. Yaroslav was accompanied by victories. Arriving at the Alta River, he stood at the place where Saint Boris was killed and prayed to God for the final victory over the villain.

The slaughter on Alta lasted the whole day. By evening, Yaroslav prevailed, and Svyatopolk fled. He was overcome by madness. Svyatopolk became so weak that he was carried on a stretcher. He ordered to run, even when the chase stopped. So they carried him on a stretcher across Polish soil. In a deserted place between the Czech Republic and Poland, he died. His grave has been preserved, and a terrible stench emanates from it.

Since then, strife has ceased in the Russian land. Yaroslav became the Grand Duke. He found Gleb's body and buried him in Vyshgorod, next to his brother. Gleb's body turned out to be incorrupt.

Many miracles began to emanate from the relics of the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb: the blind received their sight, the lame walked, the hunchbacked straightened. And in those places where the brothers were killed, churches were created in their name.

Researchers of this monument have every reason to assert that the “Tale” is subordinated to the task of strengthening the feudal world order, glorifying feudal fidelity,” “the cult of Boris and Gleb... affirmed the obligatory “conquest” of the younger princes by the elders.” However, such a traditional emphasis on the political idea of ​​tribal seniority as the basis of the ideological content of the “Tale” narrows the ideological and spiritual-moral meaning of the feat of the passion-bearers, reducing its meaning to a political lesson. The feat of Boris and Gleb first of all affirmed general Christian ideals and only then, as a consequence, the ideas of state building of that time, political ideals. Boris and Gleb are not at all unwitting victims of political intrigue, but “free” victims. In their voluntary acceptance of the crown of martyrdom, they were guided by the Gospel commandments about humility, about the vanity of this world, about love for the Lord (“endure everything for the sake of love”), but by no means exclusively the political principle of obedience to the eldest in the family. And the very idea of ​​clan seniority did not at all require unconditional obedience to the eldest prince if he committed crimes. In this case, resistance to him was morally justified, as shown in the “Tale” using the example of Yaroslav. His vengeance is clearly interpreted as a righteous action. The fact that Boris renounces illegal claims to power is the act of an ideal prince, but not yet the asceticism of a saint. His feat was different - in the decision not to resist Svyatopolk, but, becoming like Christ, to voluntarily go to death. Boris speaks precisely about this in his prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ! If in this image you appeared on earth, you were willing to be nailed to the cross and accept the passion of sin for our sakes, grant me the privilege of accepting the passion too” (Lord Jesus Christ! How did you appear on earth in this image and by your own will allow yourself to be nailed to the cross and accept suffering for our sins, grant me the ability to accept suffering in this way). Boris assumes about the impending threat to his life from his brother: “Well, my, I study about the vanities of the world and think about my beating” (But the one, I feel, who cares about the vanity of the world, is plotting my murder), but God commands to listen to the elders , and Boris decides to be obedient to Svyatopolk. His thoughts about what he should do, how to behave are the thoughts of a deeply religious person: comparing transitory and eternal values, he comes to the conclusion that “the glory and reigns of this world... all pass by and are worse than a spider” (glory and reigns in in this world... everything is transient and fragile, like a spider’s web).

Like Christ, Boris and Gleb affirmed with their martyrdom an absolute moral ideal in an environment that excluded the triumph of ideal moral principles in human behavior. But the fact that the Christian commandments of brotherly love, humility, and obedience, embodied in the behavior of the brothers, laid the moral and political foundations of the state unity of Kievan Rus (recognition of the unconditional authority of seniority for the Grand Duke of Kyiv), makes their religious feat at the same time a feat of socio-political content. The revelation of the religious essence of the passion-bearers' feat is organically intertwined with the interpretation of its political meaning in the posthumous praise of them. The author asks the saints for representation before God for the Russian land, expressing the most pressing aspirations of his era, namely the desire for a peaceful life, an end to fratricide: “For you have been given grace, and prayer for us, for you, God has given you to pray and intercede for us.” God for us. In the same way, we come running to you, and with falling tears, we pray, that the foot of pride and the hand of the sinner may not destroy us, and that all destruction may not come upon us; and the internecine warfare of others will be made and all sin and attack will intercede for us who trust in you” (Grace has been given to you, pray for us, after all, God has set you before himself as intercessors and intercessors for us. That’s why we run to you, and falling down with tears, we pray , may we not find ourselves under the heel of the enemy, and may the hand of the wicked not destroy us, and deliver us from the enemy’s sword and internecine strife, and protect us from all trouble and attack, those who trust in you). Paradoxically, the meek Saints Boris and Gleb, who did not raise weapons to defend even their lives, become formidable defenders of the entire Russian land from military misfortunes: “You have taken away our weapons, the Russian land, and the strengthening, and the swords are sharp on both sides, and we are putting down the filthy insolence... “(You are our weapon, the Russian land’s protection and support, double-edged swords, with them we overthrow the insolence of the filthy...).

In full accordance with the hagiographic canon, the substantive structure of the “Tale” is determined by the confrontation between two morally polarly separated worlds. The world of light and goodness, which is personified in the images of Boris and Gleb, is opposed by the world of darkness and evil - Svyatopolk and the executors of his will. Svyatopolk appears as the standard of a hagiographic villain. His mother was a “charnitsa, a Greek woman” (a nun, a Greek woman), when Yaropolk Svyatoslavich took her as his wife, seduced by her beauty. Vladimir, having killed his brother, received her no longer an idle being (pregnant). Svyatopolk, thus, “was born to two fathers and brothers” (the son of two father-brothers). This genealogical excursion at the beginning of the “Tale” not only explains the godless behavior of the killer, but also, as it were, frees Vladimir from responsibility for the sinful inclinations of his stepson. The fate of Svyatopolk is predetermined, he is “doomed” to commit atrocities even before his birth, for “from the sinful root of evil comes fruit.” The prince knows about the curse weighing on him, that he will not be with the righteous in the next world (“I won’t write with the righteous”), and therefore does not hesitate to shed the blood of his brothers: “If I add a plague to illness, I will add iniquity to iniquity.” (I have added a new plague to disease, I will add lawlessness to lawlessness).

“The Tale” is deeply lyrical: the depiction of the heroes’ actions and their reflections is inseparably linked with the depiction of the “oscillogram” of the life of their heart - from its “contrition” to “ascension”. The heroes of “The Tale” are constantly in an extremely excited state. Everyone not only goes towards their goal, but passionately desires to achieve it: Svyatopolk is “burning to kill,” Boris strives to “suffer all for the sake of love,” Yaroslav strives to take revenge, “not tolerating this evil murder.” Increased emotionality leads the heroes to mistakes: the joy of meeting prevents Gleb from recognizing the killers, fear penetrates so deeply into Svyatopolk’s heart that he sees pursuers where there are none. Boris's emotionality is so great that he simultaneously experiences exactly the opposite feelings: “crying with a broken heart, but with a soul he lets out joy in his voice.” This author’s attention to the “life of the heart” of his heroes is not accidental: a distinctive feature of Russian Orthodoxy was initially the rooting of Christian doctrine more in the heart than in the mind.

The saints in the Tale are not like the martyrs for the faith of the early Christian era, who were always depicted as proudly defying the forces of evil and strong in spirit in their last moments. The anonymous author is not afraid to show the living human weaknesses of his heroes, making their feat closer and more understandable to the reader.

In the Lives, it was a common place to celebrate the physical beauty of saints, especially young ones who died early, martyrs. (“The body of the Martyr... is beautiful,” John Chrysostom proclaims in his “Sermon on All Saints.”) The beauty of Boris and Gleb is noted throughout the entire “Tale.” Boris, for example, before his death “thought about the beauty... of his body,” those around him pity him, including because “the beauty of your body is fading.” After death, the saint’s body not only remained incorruptible, it was miraculously “light and beautiful and intact and possessing good health.” The author describes in detail and solemnly this clear evidence of the heavenly glory of his hero. At the same time, the description of Boris’s appearance in the final part of the “Tale” does not correspond to the traditional appearance of a Christian martyr with the necessarily inherent features of asceticism, sublime spirituality, and deep inner faith. His appearance is more reminiscent of a kind young man from a folk lyrical song: “The body is red, tall, the face is round, the shoulders are great, the shoulders are high, the eyes are good, the face is cheerful... the body is strong...”.

The style of “Tales” is characterized by an abundance of excerpts from the Psalter, the Book of Paremias, frequent double and triple comparisons of heroes with biblical characters, a pile of synonymous expressions reflecting either the expressive state of the heroes (“with bitter tears and frequent sighs and groans with many”), or a moral and ethical assessment of what is happening (“The cursed and Svyatopolk are the bearers of all evil and the leaders of all untruths”).

1. Life as a genre of literature. Holiness as a sacred principle of Byzantine-Orthodox culture is most clearly reflected in hagiography, that is, in the lives of saints.

In the ancient Kiev period, when church life was just being established, their composition was determined by translated lives. These were mainly martyrologies - stories about the early Christian martyrs, compiled into collections such as prologues, patericon, menaion. A large number of them have been preserved as part of the Assumption collection of the 12th-13th centuries. Here are just the names of some of them: “The Torment of Irina”, “The Torment of Christopher”, “The Life and Torment of Erasmus”, “The Life and Torment of Vitus, Modestus and Criscentia”, “The Life and Torment of Fevronia”, “The Life and Torment of Theodosius”. The pathos of these lives was aimed at establishing the triumph of nascent Christianity over the world of moribund paganism, which made them consonant with the era of the baptism of Rus'.

2. Translated Lives. At the center of almost all translated lives is a duel between a pagan emperor (the favorite types of persecuting emperors were primarily Diocletian and Maximian) and a saint, who, following a “voice from heaven,” appeared to convert as many pagans as possible to the new faith. If the saint was “bright-faced” and “very wise,” “taught the meaning of faith by the word of God,” then the emperor is characterized as “lawless,” “evil-believer.”

He is distinguished by his exorbitant cruelty and does not even stop at executions in order to force the saint to make sacrifices to his idols. However, the saint is undaunted: he is protected by the angels of Christ himself. Therefore, he remains unharmed in the fire, hot tar; executioners die when they try to saw a saint alive, etc. “God’s Chosen One” constantly reminds: “I am not to blame for this matter,” that is, everything that happens is the result of divine providence.

Also curious is the fact of the inaction of the pagan gods: they “cannot resist Christ.” Ultimately, the saint leads to the baptism of “many of the Elins” or other “blind from ignorance” people. The end of the life is a description of the saint’s miracles (resurrection of the dead, healing of the sick, etc.), similar to the miracles performed by Christ in the Gospels.

A saint is always a symbol, just as the reality itself, which the hagiographer depicts, is symbolic. The lives of martyrdom do not show the formation of personality; instead, a ready-made example of a righteous man, a zealot of the Christian faith, is given. His “insight” is always sudden, inspired by the action of divine grace, so that a person unexpectedly, somehow suddenly begins to think in ready-made formulas. His mind is closed to everything worldly, for it is from the devil. The saint, like a beacon, points the way to saving truth. This explains the enormous influence of hagiographic literature on medieval consciousness.

3. Ascetic Lives. Along with the lives of martyrdom, ascetic lives were also circulated in Rus', glorifying the “feats” of personal humility and self-abasement. The saint himself chose his way of life in accordance with the Gospel ideas about virtue and purity.

This is precisely the “Life of Alexei the Man of God,” translated back in the ancient Kiev period. Some pious residents of the city of Rome, Efimyan and his wife Aglaida, as it is told in their lives, had no children for a long time, and now, through their fervent prayers and many alms, they finally had a son, whom they named Alexei. When the boy was six years old, he “got to study for the first time and learned all the literacy and church structure, just as he had learned for a little time and became wise.” And then it was Alexey’s turn to “marry”. His parents found him a “bride, a young woman of the royal family,” held a magnificent wedding and left their son and his young wife alone in the palace so that he “knew his friend.”

But Alexey acted differently: he gave his wedding ring to his “betrothed” and “otai” disappeared from home, sailing at night on a ship to Syria, to the city of Laodicea. There he sold all the things he had and gave the money to the poor. He himself put on a thin robe and took refuge on the porch of the church of St. Mother of God, "fasting diligently from week to week; partaking of the holy mysteries and eating little bread and drinking little water, and in all his life he did not save the whole night, and if people gave to him, then he always gave alms to the poor." His parents searched for him for a long time, but never found him.

17 years have passed. One day, to the sexton of the church where Alexei was staying, the Mother of God appeared in a dream and said: “Bring the man of God into my church, for he is worthy to eat the kingdom of heaven.” The sexton searched for such a person for a long time, but did not find him. Then the Mother of God appeared to him in a dream for the second time and directly pointed to the beggar Alexei: “Wretches, sitting before the church doors, that is, the man of God.” The sexton did as the Mother of God commanded, and the fame of Alexei, the man of God, quickly spread throughout the city. The same, not tolerating the honors given to him, again secretly fled, leaving Laodicea to move to Spanish Catalonia.

However, the ship he boarded was caught in a storm and was forced to head to Rome. Alexey took this as a sign from above and, unrecognized by anyone, began to live in his father’s house as a pilgrim pilgrim. The parents were glad to have such a person and took every possible care of his maintenance. Only the servants annoyed him: “the boys kicked him, and the friends began to whine at him, and the other ones were afraid and washed with washes. Having seen the man of God, as if this were the teaching of the devil, he accepted it with joy and endured it with joy.” So another 17 years passed.

Feeling the approach of death, Alexei asked the youth who served him to bring him paper and ink “and write down his whole life, so that he may know and...”. After this he died soon after. His parents and wife were in church at the time. At the end of the liturgy, in the presence of two kings and an archbishop, a voice suddenly came from the altar: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and let you rest.” Everyone was filled with fear and fell on their faces. Then from the altar came again: “Look for the man of God, and let him pray for peace.” No one knew where to find such a person, and again the voice announced: “In that house of Efimyan there is his body.”

Not only everyone present, but also Efimyan himself was taken by surprise by this news. Accompanied by a whole crowd, he, along with two kings and an archbishop, headed to his home, but neither his wife, nor his daughter-in-law, nor Efimyan’s servants heard anything about the man of God. Only the boy assigned to Alexei suggested that perhaps this was the wretched man who had been living in their lower cell for many years. Everyone rushed there, but found Alexei dead: he was lying on his bed, holding in his hands the “charatia” - his own life written by himself.

When Efimyan tried to take it, the fingers of the deceased’s hands squeezed the sheets even tighter. He told about this to the kings and the archbishop who came to his house. Those, no less amazed by what had happened, went down with their boyars. The kings “speak... to the body of the saint: “Servant of God, even though I am a sinner, I am still a king, and behold, the father of the whole universe. Give us your charatiya, so that we can see who you are and what is written in this charatiya.” Deceased the saint immediately fulfilled their wish, and soon the secret of Alexei the man of God was revealed to everyone. People began to flock to his relics from everywhere, receiving healing from all sorts of illnesses and ailments. Soon the day of remembrance of the saint was established - March 17.

From the content of the life it is clear that before us is a saint of a quiet life, who renounced the customs of his environment, the will of his parents and family well-being. He bears the cross of gospel obedience, following Christ's commandment to leave the world and everything in the world. His the main task- if possible, not to live, i.e. not to be involved in any interests real life, do not burden yourself with thoughts and worries about the present. He accepts all evil with submission and humility, seeing in it a means of testing, testing a person’s zeal in the matter of pleasing God. Although evil comes from the devil, it is allowed by God: hence the idea of ​​non-resistance to evil as a guarantee of righteous faith.

The influence of translated ascetic lives affected the entire tradition of Old Russian hagiography.

4. Hagiographical works of Nestor. The first original lives in Rus' appeared already in the 11th century. The most ancient works of this genre are associated with the work of the Kiev-Pechersk monk Nestor (mid-11th - early 12th centuries), compiler of “The Tale of Bygone Years”. He wrote “Reading about the life and destruction of the blessed passion-bearers Boris and Gleb” and “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk”. Despite the dependence of these lives on the Byzantine canons, they reflected the historiosophical thinking and psychologism inherent in the author.

The story of the death of the sons of Prince Vladimir in 1015 at the hands of their half-brother Svyatopolk was preceded by a depiction of events from the creation of the world and the fall of Adam and Eve to the incarnation and crucifixion of Christ. Next we talked about how the Word of God reached the Russian land, which was “in the delusion of idolatry.” The father of the godly brothers, like the once pagan Placidas, believed in Christ and led his people to baptism. And then “in the midst of the dark ones” appeared “two brighter stars” - Saints Boris and Gleb. From childhood they were devoted to everything divine and spent time in prayer.

The eldest of them, Boris, received the reign in Vladimir, and the youngest lived with his father, who loved them more than his other sons. Svyatopolk, thinking that Prince Vladimir sees Boris as his successor, decides to kill his brother. He dooms Gleb to the same fate. In his portrayal of the brothers, Nestor follows the principles of evangelical humility: they do not offer resistance, but only pray with tears, hastening to die and accept the crowns of martyrdom. The life is full of biblical and church reminiscences, testifying to the great erudition and literary ingenuity of the hagiographer.

After writing the “Life of Boris and Gleb,” Nestor, by his own admission, “was driven to another confession,” that is, to compile the “Life of Theodosius of Pechersk.” He did not personally know this ascetic, who died in 1074, but he considered glorifying the name of the founder of the monastery to be his monastic vow.

The Life of Theodosius in form also corresponds to the “correct” classical models, containing all the necessary parts: an introduction, a complete biography from birth to death, a story about miracles and a conclusion. However, the life is so rich in real, historical specifics that it is perceived not as a hagiographic work, but as a documentary-journalistic narrative.

The key to understanding the meaning of life is the Gospel maxim: “If anyone does not leave his father or mother and follow me, he is not worthy of me.” Its significance was determined by the urgent tasks of that time in the formation of church and monastic life in Rus' and the creation of a spiritual hierarchy. Theodosius, who had assimilated this instruction of Christ in his adolescence, only thought about how to leave his parental home and take monastic vows.

The implementation of this plan was hindered in every possible way by his mother - a woman of faith, but far from pious. She absolutely did not like the fact that her only child wanted to become a monk: “I pray, child, that you stop doing this, blaspheming your family, and I don’t want to hear everyone reproach you about such a thing.” From the words of Mother Theodosius it is clear that the attitude towards monasticism at that time was by no means particularly favorable.

Nevertheless, the youth managed to secretly leave for Kyiv, where he hoped to gain the “rank of angel.” He visited different monasteries, but everywhere they demanded a monetary contribution. Then, having learned that a certain Anthony was being saved in a “cave” outside the city, Theodosius asked him for shelter and tonsure. So the young man became a monk, and subsequently with his asceticism he surprised even his seasoned spiritual mentor.

Meanwhile, Theodosius’s mother did not give up trying to find her son. Eventually she learned that the fugitive had taken refuge in Anthony's Cave. Arriving there, she demands to meet with her son, but he refuses, vowing not to see anyone. On the advice of Theodosius, the mother remained in Kyiv and, in order to sometimes see her son, took on a monastic image, taking monastic vows at the monastery of St. Nicholas, where she remained until the end of her life.

The main place in the life is given to the description of the activities of Theodosius as abbot of the Pechersk monastery. Under him, a church and cells were built, the number of monks increased to one hundred, the Studite Charter was introduced, which denied any private property, and extensive connections were established among the Kyiv nobility, which generously supported the monastery with their contributions and donations. Theodosius was patronized by Prince Izyaslav Yaroslavich. When the prince's brothers seized the throne, the Pechersk abbot "began to denounce him for having done wrong and not according to the law by sitting on the table." Thus, Theodosius is a skilled organizer and politician, whose word is weighty and his authority is unquestionable.

That is why Nestor introduces into his life many teachings of Theodosius on the topics of morality and cult. Ascetic prayers occupied a predominant place in them. So, in one of the teachings it was said: “I pray you, brothers, let us move forward through prayer and strive for the salvation of our souls, and let us turn from our evils and from the evil ways, which are these: fornication, theft and slander, idle talk , drunkenness, gluttony, brotherly hatred. Let us turn aside from these, brethren, and do not defile our souls, but let us follow the path of the Lord, leading us into the race. And we will seek God with weeping, tears, fasting and vigil, and with submission and obedience, May we thus find mercy from Him."

A completely new motive for the life is the “promise” of Theodosius. The hagiographer puts into the mouth of the dying abbot the words that even after his death he will be a benefactor to the Pechersk Monastery and its monks: “Behold, I promise you, brothers and fathers, even if I depart from you, I will always be with you in spirit. And behold, “You will die in the monasteries, or the abbot will be sent away to where, even if someone has committed sins, I will answer the imam about that before God.” Theodosius proposed to consider the prosperity and well-being of the monastery he built as a sign of his stay “near the Lord of Heaven.”

5. “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon.” Another remarkable monument of ancient Russian hagiography is associated with the Theodosius Monastery - the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon”. Its compilers were the Vladimir-Suzdal bishop Simon and the monk Polycarp, who lived at the end of the 12th - first half of the 13th century.

It all started when Polycarp, dissatisfied with his position as an ordinary monk, asked his teacher Simon to help him obtain the episcopal see. In this desire he was supported by Princess Verkhuslava, the daughter of the Vladimir-Suzdal prince Vsevolod Yuryevich the Big Nest. As she wrote to Simon, she “doesn’t mind even 1000 silver” for “hysteria... sharing Polycarp.” Simon did not like the intrigues of Polycarp, and he decided to remind him of monastic virtue: “It is not a matter pleasing to God to do. If he had remained in the monastery forever, with a clear conscience, in obedience to the abbess and all the brethren, being sober about everything, then he would not only have entered the priestly clothed, but he would also be worthy of the kingdom on high.”

According to him, he himself would gladly leave the bishopric and return back to his native monastery, for all his “glory” and all the wealth he collected for the establishment of the “judgmental church” are nothing compared to what staying here gives for the salvation of the soul in the Pechersky Monastery. “Before God I pray to you,” wrote Simon, “all this glory and power would be like a dung, if only we were stuck out of the gates like a cod, or if we were swept away in the Pechersk monastery and trampled upon by people, it would be better to have temporary honors. The day is one in the house The Mother of God is more than a thousand years old, and I would rather dwell in it than to live in the villages of sinners.” He attached to his message several stories about the Pechersk monks, who, in his opinion, were worthy of veneration and imitation.

Among them, the story about Nikolai Svyatosh, the former Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Davydovich (died in 1142), the great-grandson of Yaroslav the Wise, especially stood out. He left "the reign and glory, honor and wealth, and slaves, and the whole court for nothing, and they were gone." So he stayed in the monastery for thirty years, never leaving it. He always tried to serve his brethren, not disdaining any kind of work. He chopped wood, sorted peas for meals, was a gatekeeper for several years - in a word, “no one saw him and sat idle.” Everyone was surprised at this, and he answered: “I thank the Lord, for he freed me from worldly work and made me his servant, this blessed monk.”

It is not difficult to see that the ideology of Simon’s writings reflects the beginning of the rise of the church during the period of appanage-princely fragmentation of the ancient Russian state.

The second, and indeed the largest, part of the “Kievo-Pechersk Patericon” was written by the monk Polycarp, to whom, apparently, this was imputed to Simon as an obedience. The texts belonging to Polycarp are characterized by a clear plot and are full of original drama.

Here, for example, is “The Tale of Nikita the Recluse.” A certain brother named Nikita, it says, “we would like to be of men,” wanted to go into seclusion. This happened during the days of Nikon's abbess, when Nestor the Chronicler still lived in the monastery. Nikon began to dissuade Nikita, citing his young age, but he “in no way listened to what the elder said, but do it according to his desire: closing the door on yourself and not leaving.” One day, while praying, he suddenly heard someone’s unknown voice and immediately felt “an indescribable fragrance.” Deciding that this was an angel, Nikita with tears began to ask him to appear to him, “Yes, I see you intelligently.”

The voice answered: “It is impossible for man in the flesh to see me, and behold, I am sending my angel, may he be with you, and you, do his will.” In fact, it was not an angel, but a demon; It was he who advised Nikita: “Don’t pray, but read books, and thus converse with God, and from them give a useful word to those who come to you.” The books in question were the books of the Old Testament, and Nikita learned them by heart. For this, the demon began to help him prophesy, so much so that “the princes and boyars listened to him.” But the secret was soon revealed: it turned out that Nikita not only did not read the Gospels and the Apostle, but did not even want to talk about them with others. “And be wise to everyone from this, as there is an advantage from the enemy.”

Then Abbot Nikon and other Pechersk elders, including Nestor the Chronicler, came to his retreat and, after praying to God, cast out the demon from Nikita. Afterwards they asked him if he knew the “books of the Jews.” Nikita was terribly surprised and began to swear that not only did he read, but he didn’t even know the Hebrew alphabet and had only barely learned to read and write in Russian. From that time on, he strictly observed the vow of monastic humility and obedience, trying in everything to please his brethren. Afterwards, for his “obedient life,” Nikita was installed as bishop of Veliky Novgorod.

It can be assumed that the story about Nikita the Recluse captured one of the episodes of the controversy about “Law” and “Grace” that unfolded back in the days of Metropolitan Hilarion and Theodosius of Pechersk.

Interest in the fate of an extraordinary personality was also shown in another hagiographic short story by Polycarp - “The Tale of the Venerable Moses Ugrin.” Moses, together with his brother George, was in the squad of Prince Boris. George shared the martyrdom of his overlord, and Moses managed to avoid the “gorgeous slaughter.” But another misfortune befell him: he was captured by the Polish king Boleslav. The king brought him to the capital and kept him in his service. And Moses was “kind in body and red in face.”

One day, “a certain wife from the great, red-haired and una (i.e., young - A. 3.), possessing much wealth and great power,” saw him. And she loved Moses so much that she was ready to make him her husband. But Moses was also not simple, he knew from the Bible what conquest to a woman could lead to: for this Adam was expelled from paradise; Samson was sold to foreigners; Solomon bowed to idols; Herod, “having enslaved my wife, I will behead the Forerunner.” Therefore, Moses says to the beauty: “Be good, for I will not do your will, I do not want power or wealth, all this is spiritual purity more than bodily purity.”

She, however, is determined to break Moses' stubbornness. She persuades and cajoles the obstinate man, dresses him in colored clothes and surrounds him with servants. But it's all in vain. Finally, she even “ordered him to lay him down with her, kissing and hugging him,” but this did not help her “attract” him “to her lust.” Moses even made fun of her: don’t think, “that you don’t have to do this deed,” I just “abhor you” fear for the sake of God. The beauty could no longer tolerate this: “having heard it, the wife commanded him to give him 100 wounds every day, and then ordered him to cut off his secret cords.”

Having barely survived, Moses returned to Kyiv by secret means and took monastic vows at the Pechersk Monastery.

It is unlikely that Polycarp, describing the misfortunes of his hero, hoped to make him a role model; rather, he was fascinated by the unusualness of the very situation in which Moses Ugreen found himself. This is how one can see the sly smile of an unrestrained monk, who still lives with the memories of his past adventures. The fictionalization of life, begun by Polycarp, did not remain without consequences in the further development of this genre, being marked by increased entertainment and storytelling in Moscow hagiography.

• V.M. Zhivov
• Theological-liturgical dictionary
• B. M. Kloss

Hagiography(Greek “description of saints”) (from the Greek hagios - holy and grapho - write, describe) - a branch of church literature containing a description of life.

Despite the unity of manner of presentation, the hagiographic tales were varied in genre: martyria, telling about persecution and torture, walks, miracles, visions, tales of the miraculous.

Lives And martyrium were divided, in turn, into narrative and panegyric. The first described the life and deeds of the saint, the second contained words of praise in his honor.

As the hagiographic genre developed, a certain canon of storytelling was developed. Hagiographic canon consists of a preface and a brief afterword by the hagiographer, framing the narrative itself, which includes the following milestones: praise to the homeland and parents of the saint, the miraculous announcement of his birth, the manifestation of holiness in childhood and adolescence, temptations, a decisive turn towards the path of spiritual salvation, death and posthumous miracles.

Works of hagiographic genres are, therefore, verbal icons of saints, their exploits and miraculous manifestations of God. However, the hagiographic canon was formed only in the 10th – 12th centuries, so early lives are characterized by greater formal diversity.

Lives of saints are also found in collections of mixed content (prologues, synaxari, menaions, etc.) and in calendars, month books and calendars. A prologue is a book containing a description of the lives of saints and instructions regarding celebrations in their honor. The Greeks called these collections synaxarions. The oldest of them is the handwritten Synaxarion from the bishop's collection; then follows the Synaxarion of Emperor Basil (10th century). Russian prologues are adaptations of this Synaxarion. With the introduction of Christianity in Rus', menaions were the first collections of the lives of saints.
Then the patericons appear, first translated: Sinai (“Limonar”), alphabetic, monastery, Egyptian; then, in their image, the first Russian “Paterik of Kiev-Pechora” was compiled. Calendars began to be compiled already in the 1st century. Christianity, and in the 4th century. they were so complete that they contained names for all the days of the year.
Monthly words are of not so ancient origin. They are usually attached to the liturgical or. The oldest of them is attached to the Ostromir Gospel (XII century). Saints are a type of calendar, but their content is more detailed, and they exist separately. The most ancient Russian hagiographical legends are the Lives of Saints Boris and Gleb, compiled by St. Nestor in the 12th century. In the 15th century Metropolitan Cyprian is known as a compiler of hagiographic collections: Lives of the Saint, St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Nikon, St. Kirill Belozersky, St. Novgorod Archbishops Moses and John, Sermon on the Transfer of the Relics of St. Petra. XVI century is the heyday of Russian hagiography. With his direct participation Macarius, Metropolitan. Moskovsky compiled the “Great Menaion-Chets”, in which all the lives of Russian saints available at that time were included.

The center of Christian culture in the south of Russia was the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. The Kiev Metropolitan collected materials related to the lives of mainly southern Russian saints, and the Kiev-Pechersk archimandrites Innocent and Varlaam continued his work. Then St. was attracted to. Dimitri. Subsequently, the Metropolitan of Rostov, who, using the collection of Metaphrast, the great Chetya-Minaia of Macarius and other manuals, compiled the Chetya-Menaion of the saints of the entire Church, including those of South Russia. First edition

Christian culture, being a “culture of conscience,” paid great attention to the education of human morality, therefore, in the Middle Ages, one of the main “spiritually beneficial” genres of literature became hagiographic From Byzantine hagiography(from Greek hagios- saint) translations of the lives of Alexius the man of God, Andrew the Fool, Anthony the Great, George the Victorious, Demetrius of Thessalonica, Eustathius Placis, Cosmas and Damian, Mary of Egypt, Nicholas of Myra, Saint Savva the Sanctified, Simeon the Stylite, Fyodor Stratelates, etc., were most widespread in Russia. Translated lives (Byzantine, less often Bulgarian and Serbian) had no less circulation than the original Russian ones. In Rus', all Orthodox saints were equally revered, regardless of what nationality they were and what country they lived in. Thanks to the monuments of translated hagiography, Russian “writers” of hagiographies were able to use a ready-made form of narration about the saint and his miracles, quickly achieved professional heights in this matter, and the genre itself became productive in literature, gaining readers and admirers among the people.

Occupied an exceptional place in Russian religious consciousness Nikolai Mirlikiysky. According to the results of B. A. Uspensky’s research, this is the most revered saint in Rus', whose cult approached in importance the cult of the Mother of God and even Christ himself. It is no coincidence that in church paintings he often “replaced” John the Baptist, standing on the left hand of Christ (the Mother of God was depicted on the right). There was an opinion among the people that Saint Nicholas was part of the Trinity and any icon with his image was miraculous. In the popular perception, Nicholas of Myra, like the pagan god of the Slavs Volos (Veles), was the patron of agriculture and cattle breeding, therefore he was considered a “peasant” saint, a “peasant protector” - in contrast to the punishing sinners of Elijah the Prophet. Merchants and sailors revered him as their heavenly patron, for the cult of Nikola embodied the idea of ​​wealth and power over the water element.

Many religious traditions and legends were associated with the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker; he became a favorite hero of folk spiritual poetry. In ancient Russian literature there were about 40 works about St. Nicholas, including several lives. Scientists identify at least three versions of his biography, different from each other, for in the life of St. Nicholas, who was in the 4th century. bishop in the Lycian city of Myra, sometimes mixed with another Nicholas - Bishop of Pinar, who lived in Lycia in the 6th century.

Already in childhood, the saint surprised everyone with his desire for abstinence: on fast days, on Wednesday and Friday, he tasted his mother’s milk only once a day; according to another version, he refused food altogether. Nikolai showed diligence in his studies, quickly mastering literacy, and did not waste time on children's games. Not interested in worldly life, he devoted himself to serving God - he became a priest, and then received the episcopal throne in Myra. Wisdom and eloquence, as well as the gift of healing the sick, brought him fame during his lifetime. According to legend, during the Council of Picaea, Nicholas, unable to tolerate “blasphemy,” struck the heretic Arius, “kicking him in the teeth.” Only the intercession of Christ and the Mother of God helped him retain his priesthood.

Nicholas was nicknamed the Wonderworker, because both during his life and after his death, according to hagiographers, he performed many miracles: the saint healed “withered hands” and lepers, multiplied bread and wine, and more than once won victory over demons. The miracles of Nicholas of Myra could exist both as part of his life, and as a separate work, and several miracles may have had Russian origin. The stories about the miracles of the saint are entertaining and action-packed, full of everyday reality and visible details.

Thus, Nicholas of Myra comes to the aid of parents whose only son was captured by the “Saracens” on the day of the saint’s memory, and the church holiday brought them “sobs” and “lamentations” instead of joy. But as soon as the young man’s parents “created a canon” for Nikola, their son was miraculously returned home from captivity. During dinner, there was a loud barking of dogs, the owner ordered the servants to see if the wolves were bothering the sheep. The servants returned empty-handed, and the barking of the guard dogs intensified. When the owner himself and the guests of the house went out into the courtyard with candles, they saw “the youth standing and holding a glass and a glass of wine in his hand.” The father did not immediately recognize his son, who was in someone else’s clothes with a veil on his head, standing “like an idol,” without moving or saying a word. Only after a while, having recovered from surprise and fear, did he tell what happened to him. While serving the “Saracenic” prince during a feast, the young man scooped up wine, handed the cup to the master - and found himself in the courtyard of his home. He did not know who “suddenly devoured” him, it seemed, “as if we were carried by the wind,” until he saw “Saint Nicholas, God’s chosen one and warm intercessor,” who put him on the ground.

The early monuments of translated literature in Rus' include "The Life of Alexy the Man of God", which takes place at the turn of the 4th–5th centuries, during the times of the Roman emperors Arcadius and Honorius. The “praying” son of rich and pious parents, betrothed to a girl of the royal family, Alexy secretly leaves Rome and performs the feat of voluntary poverty: he walks in rags and feeds on alms, avoiding human glory. Returning to his parents' house, he lives for a long time unrecognized by anyone; like a beggar, he eats scraps and humbly endures the insults of the servants, who “do dirty tricks on him: he kicks, and his friends swear, and others shower him with washes.” The secret is revealed only after Alexy’s death thanks to the “scripture” where he spoke about his life. The grief of the father and mother, who learned that in their house for 17 years the one who was supposed to become the heir to a rich estate, the one whom they loved so much and mourned prematurely, lived in poverty, is boundless. When Alexy’s father heard his son’s message, he “jumped up from the throne quickly, and tore his robe, and his gray hair flowed over his body, and threw himself on his breast. Love kissed him, saying: “Alas for me, my child! You have done this, why did you give me a sigh?”

Known in Rus' since the 11th century, the “Life” gained particular popularity in the 17th century, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, whose heavenly patron was considered a saint. The spiritual verse about the “man of God”, which existed in more than 70 versions, became widespread in folklore. The "Life" of Saint Alexy influenced many hagiographic monuments of Ancient Rus' ("The Tale of Boris and Gleb", the lives of Alexander Nevsky and Mercury of Smolensk), and served as the basis for the works of early Russian drama, verses and words of Simeon of Polotsk, Stefan Yavorsky, Lazar Baranovich.

No later than the 12th century. the Russian reader became aware "The Life of Vasily Novy"- a monument of Byzantine hagiography of the 10th century, reflected in The Tale of Bygone Years. Of particular interest in the life was the story of Theodora, an old woman who served Saint Basil. Appearing in a dream to Gregory, the saint’s disciple, the old woman told how after death there was a struggle between angels and demons for her soul and what she saw in heaven and hell. In another vision, a picture of the Last Judgment unfolded before Gregory, on whose behalf the story is told. Apparently eschatological theme and attracted readers' attention to the monument.

"The Life of Andrei Yurodivy", which told about the favorite servant of a Byzantine nobleman, a Scythian, who converted to Christianity, but was expelled by his master for being “boisterous,” contributed greatly to the development in Rus' of such a phenomenon as foolishness. The story of the "Life" about the vision of Andrei in the Blachernae Church of the Mother of God was the basis of a cycle of ancient Russian works dedicated to the feast of the Intercession of the Virgin.

"The Life of Anthony the Great"- one of the oldest monuments of Greek hagiography, created around 365, had a decisive influence on the formation of such a genre variety of lives as the biography of a monk, in particular the founder of the monastery. It served as a source for the authors of the lives of Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk.

A popular work of world medieval literature was "The Tale of Barlaam and Joasaph", which in Rus' was often called the “Indian Patericon”. Originating in India or Central Asia, the “Tale” was translated into Arabic, and from it into Georgian and through a Greek adaptation of the plot, it became known in Ancient Rus' (no later than the beginning of the 12th century). The story is based on a fairy-tale plot: astrologers predict the future of a great Christian ascetic to the son of the Indian idolater king Joasaph; although the prince was isolated from outside world, the hermit Varlaam enters his palace under the guise of a merchant, under whose influence Joasaph becomes first a follower of Christianity, and after many trials, like the teacher, a hermit and wonderworker. The story about the pious eastern prince began to be perceived in Europe as the life of a saint.

Its entertaining form also contributed to the popularity of the work. Through the dialogue between teacher and student, the reader comprehended complex issues of faith and became familiar with folk wisdom. Varlaam's stories took the form of parables. One of them told about a foolish bird catcher who, having caught a nightingale, released the bird, which proved that he could not get enough of it. In return, the nightingale gave man three commandments: never strive to achieve the impossible; do not regret what has passed by; don't believe dubious talk. To check whether a person has become wiser from this, the bird prepares a test for him. Flying over the bird-catcher's head, she laughs at his foolishness and says that by setting her free, he deprived himself of wealth: after all, hidden inside the bird are pearls the size of an ostrich egg. The foolish bird catcher tries to catch the nightingale again, resorting to cunning. “Come to my house, and I will let go of the friend who did you good with honor,” he gently exhorts the bird. She understands that her lesson was in vain: the hunter believed in the incredible (an ostrich egg is larger than a nightingale), tried to achieve the impossible (catch a bird without being able to fly) and most importantly, he regretted that he had done a good deed. The conclusion of the parable – “for those who trust in their own idols have no understanding” – is associated with the affirmation of the idea of ​​​​the priority of Christianity over paganism.

Some of the parables of “The Tale of Varlaam and Joasaph” were included in the Prologue and were used in the works of Cyril of Turov and Joseph Volotsky. Copies of the "Tale" were in many monastic libraries in Rus'. The plots of the lives of Varlaam and Joasaph received artistic treatment in the monuments of Russian drama of Peter's time, in the works of V. A. Zhukovsky, A. N. Maykov, L. N. Tolstoy, P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky.

Translated hagiographic literature also satisfied the need of ancient Russian people for literary reading. Many translated lives of saints resembled “pious novels.” So, "The Life of Eustathius Placidas" had only a traditionally hagiographic beginning and end, telling about the baptism of the strategist (commander) Placidas and his martyrdom. The basis of the life was a story about the amazing fate of this man, which used typically novel motifs of an imaginary death, a long separation, and a chance meeting. The glorification of the Christian martyr went through a fascinating story about the misadventures of a hero who passed the test of poverty, obscurity, loss of loved ones and was rewarded for patience with the glory of a commander and the happiness of reunification with his family.

The "folk books" of the Middle Ages were patericon, or "fatherlanders". These were collections of stories about the saints of a certain area, as indicated by the names of the patericons: Sinai, Egyptian, Jerusalem, Roman. The narration in the patericon has many common places (at the level of themes, plots, motifs, images), but each “fatherland” also has its own original, unique features.

For Egyptian Patericon, which developed in the 4th–5th centuries, is characterized by the poeticization of extreme degrees of asceticism - desert living, seclusion, stylite life, etc. The stories of the patericon glorify the monks,

who took a vow of silence, went for a long time without food or sleep, performing a feat of prayer. They were helped by angels who healed diseases and brought food. Demons, taking on different guises (spiritual teacher, young and beautiful maiden), subjected them to temptations. The devil tried to drive out the hermit Nathanael, who had vowed never to leave the threshold of his cell, appearing either in the form of a warrior who loudly clapped his whip, like an executioner, or in the form of a child in trouble. A ten-year-old boy, a donkey driver, had his cart with baskets of bread overturn; the child prayed to the saint for help, since night was approaching and he could be torn to pieces by hyenas. Nathanael showed firmness and did not break the rules that he had observed for 37 years. According to the saint, he died long ago for the world, which only God can help.

TO distinctive features Scientists attribute the Egyptian patericon to “an acute sense of everyday color and a rare spontaneity of presentation” (S. S. Averintsev), “the artlessness of the form and the most complex problems of the period of formation of monasticism” (N. I. Nikolaev). According to one of the stories, the holy fool from the Tavenny monastery turned out to be holier than the universally revered hermit Pitirum. The nuns abhorred the “fool” and did not seat her at the same table, and she lived in the kitchen, content with crumbs and leftovers swept from the tables. They laughed at her, poured slop on her, smeared mustard on her nose, scolded her and beat her, but the girl meekly endured all the insults. “She is better than you,” the angel said to the hermit Pitirum. “After all... she encounters a great multitude of people, but her heart has never departed from God, and you, sitting here, mentally wander through the cities.”

In the patericons, the problems of true and false piety, the choice of one or another type of asceticism, the interaction of the secular and the sacred were clothed in the form of an entertaining story, where there were many realities of everyday life, acute collisions, unexpected plot twists and denouements. The Egyptian patericon is interesting for its portrait and landscape sketches. Among his heroes there are many memorable, different faces. This is Abba Elijah, a 110-year-old caveman “trembling with old age”, known for his ascetic deeds; and the polyglot Abba Theon, who could read Roman, Greek and Egyptian fluently. This is the peacemaker Abba Apollos, who stopped the hostility between villages over arable land; and Abba Eulogius, who cared for the crippled man for 15 years, having picked him up at the marketplace.

The authors of five stories are attentive to people with an unusual destiny, rich extreme situations. For example, Moses, a black Ethiopian who in the past was a rebellious slave and leader of a gang of robbers, has a “novel” biography; a man of enormous physical strength and unbridled temper, who, having repented of his crimes, became a monk. In the fight against “prodigal sin” for six years, he did not sleep at night, abstained from food and exhausted himself by working as a water-carrier. The blow to the loins with a stick, which was inflicted on Moses by a demon who was in wait for him at the source, caused the monk to suffer physically, but contributed to his spiritual recovery. The life of Moses is distinguished by an abundance of expressive details.

The scene of the robber crossing the flooded Nile is memorable: Moses swims with a knife clutched in his teeth and a tunic tied around his head. The materiality of the image is not only a consequence of the hagiographer’s interest in everyday life: realia also performs a symbolic function in the text. Just as a knife that brings death signifies the hero’s sinful past, so the water that Moses secretly supplies to those who, due to old age, cannot go to the source several miles from the monastery, is the key to life in Skete (the Egyptian desert).

The ancient Russian reader was amazed by the exotic world of the Christian East, where man was threatened either by the raging elements of the sea or by the scorching heat of the desert. The Egyptian heat was compared in the Patericon to the “furnace of Babylon.” Macarius of Alexandria preferred to move through the desert at night, checking his path by the stars, because during the day he was tormented by thirst and a mirage arose in his inflamed consciousness - a girl with a jug from which water was dripping. Desert-dwelling monks were often forced to make do with dew, which they collected from stones into jugs. Among the miracles performed by the Egyptian saints, many were related to the water element: with the power of prayer they turned sea water into drinkable water, changed the courses of rivers, and brought down streams of rain from the sky onto the earth cracked by the heat.

Skitsky And Jerusalem Patericon, compiled in the 5th–6th centuries, include anonymous stories and sayings of the church fathers, distributed in thematic chapters, each of which is designed to reveal one or another monastic virtue (“On Humility”, “On the Seers”, etc.). IN ABC Patericon The material is arranged according to the alphabetical order of the names of the ascetics. In these "fatherland" people you get further development demonological motives, which are characterized by the identification of the pagan and the devil. In the Skete Patericon, one of the hermits of the Thebaid desert, former son pagan priest, “sees” and “hears” how in the temple Satan interrogates the demons tempting Christians. He severely punishes for “lack of agility” those who for 30 days organized “warfare, much rebellion, and shedding of blood” among people, for 20 days “raised” storms and sank ships at sea, and for 10 days quarreled the bride and groom. The kiss of Satan, his crown and the special honor of sitting on the throne with him are awarded to that demon who for 40 years tempted the saint in the desert, and “this very night depraved them into fornication.”

He enjoyed constant interest among ancient Russian writers and readers throughout the Middle Ages. Sinai Patericon, or "Spiritual Meadow". It was compiled by the monk John Moschus in the 6th–7th centuries. and talked mainly about the life of Palestinian monasticism. The motif of the teacher and student walking through the monasteries of the Christian East, which was the basis of the patericon, made it possible to saturate the narrative with information of a geographical and ethnographic nature, and to tell the story about the saints in a different genre and style manner. Some fragments of the patericon, consisting of two or three lines, are written in the spirit of documentary evidence about the ascetics. They take the form of a memo, which lists the main virtues or deeds of the saint: one old man ate nothing but bread and water all his life; another became famous for never “staying away from the church”; the third - by the fact that "never fell on the edges." The small chapters of a patericon can be a record of wise sayings: “man has been in the likeness of God from the beginning, but he became like the likeness of beasts and fell from God” or “the ability to stir up the lust of war, and to quench this Lenten commandment.”

The Sinai Patericon includes many works of a fictional nature, for example, the story of Abba Palladius about what the “ship elder” told him, whose ship could not move while there was a great sinner on board - a woman who killed children from her first marriage, so that get married again. For fear that the crime will be revealed, Maria flees her hometown and ends up on a ship. Taking pity on the woman, the “shipman” gave her a boat, but it immediately sank.

The stories of the patericon about repentant robbers are also action-packed. The “horrible story” was told by a thief who robbed graves, but after an unexpectedly resurrected girl exposed him for his unrighteous lifestyle, he repented and became a monk. Characteristic is the inclusion of direct speech and dialogic scenes in the narrative, which enhances the drama of the situation, emphasizes the “liveness” of the characters and the authenticity of the incredible. The girl, whom the thief deprived of “rich vestments”, rising from the grave, appeals to his conscience: “Shouldn’t you have spared me, dead, as I appeared naked before Christ; having exposed me, you also reproached your mother, the woman who gave birth to you.” .

A special cycle of stories from the Sinai Patericon is dedicated to the touching friendship between monks and animals. Saints hand-feed fierce lions and cross unharmed a river infested with crocodiles. The story of Elder Gerasim is well known, who healed a lion by removing a thorn from its paw, and the beast then faithfully served him (herding a donkey, carrying water from the Jordan), like a faithful disciple, always following him. After the death of Gerasim, the lion at the elder’s grave “hitting the earth with his head and roaring” until he died of melancholy.

The Patericon did not contain complete biographies of the saints, but short stories about the most striking episodes of the ascetic activity of the monks - the “army of Christ”: how Elder Theoi “bound with prayer” the robbers who came to him; how the pious monk gouged out her eyes when she learned that her gaze aroused love passion in the young man. The style of the patericon legends is usually compared to a modest, monochromatic and simple-cut monastic robe, so far is it from trying to amaze the reader with “red speech”.

Translated from Greek language into Slavic already in the 10th–11th centuries, patericons early entered the reading circle of Old Russian people, introducing them to the lofty truths of Christianity through simple in style and entertaining in form stories about the life of monks, forming a new ideal of behavior. Under the influence of the translated literature of the “fatherland” people, Russian patericon vaults, usually monastery ones, were formed - Kiev-Pechersk, Volokolamsk, Pskov-Pechersk and Solovetsky. The stories of the pateriks, later included in the Prologue, “with the charm of simplicity and fiction” attracted A. S. Pushkin and L. N. Tolstoy, N. S. Leskov and V. M. Garshin.