- Theme of our today's broadcast"Patriarchal Literary Award". Who and how was it founded?

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill came up with the initiative to establish such an award in 2009, at a meeting in the Publishing Council he said: “We need to find forms to encourage contemporary authors who write on moral themes and on topics that lead people to God, promote goodness, love, harmony, peace in the life of our society. We consulted, then took a blessing from His Holiness Patriarch to develop a program for the presentation of the Patriarchal Prize. In December 2009, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church established this award, and this year we will present it for the sixth time.

- What is the main objective of this award? What are the goals other than promotion?

The main goal is to encourage writers not only financially (the award also has a material component), but also to support them in their creative work. Now in our country the market system dominates - not only in everyday life, but also in the world of creativity. Mostly books are sold that make a profit, and in them there is a dominance of debauchery, licentiousness, and violence. Books about kindness, our culture, about the spiritual values ​​of our people are published in smaller editions, and the writers who create these works are not in such demand. Our task, on behalf of believers, is to thank the authors who write on good themes.

It is impossible for modern man to live without fiction. In the old days, in the XIV - XVII centuries, there was no fiction, people read the lives of the saints, the Psalter, the Ladder, stories about ascetics, epics. And only since the time of Peter I appears fiction. Now she is playing big role in human life and society. Without a book it is impossible to imagine a cultural and developed person Therefore, the Patriarchal Literary Prize is called upon to support those creators of the pen who write on good topics.

- In the main provisions of the award it is said that its material part is allocated from the church budget.

That's right, no special projects or sponsors supporting this award. The church lives on voluntary donations, is the contribution of many people. The award rewards those who contribute spiritual development our society. A work of art has a great influence on the consciousness of people. Let us recall the recent Soviet past: many of the intelligentsia came to faith by reading F.M. Dostoevsky, A.S. Pushkin. Not only in the 19th century, but also in the 20th century, many writers associated their work with the Church. They did not write to Soviet time about God and the Church directly, but they spoke about goodness and gospel truths. Through this, people developed love for their culture, came to the Church.

- How are the winners of the Patriarchal Prize determined?

There is a certain procedure for submitting documents. Heads of Local Orthodox Churches, dioceses, self-governing Churches that are part of the Russian Orthodox Church, literary communities, magazines, heads of regions can recommend for the award. On their initiative, a list is formed, and then the Board of Trustees selects the Board of Experts, which is updated every year. They process the submitted applications, get acquainted with the works. Most of the candidates are well-known writers, but there are also new names that are not very well known in Moscow.

The Council of Experts is working on the entire list of nominees. This year there were fifty-four applications. The Council of Experts recommended eight writers who are shortlisted (shortlisted). This is done by the Chamber of Trustees, which is headed by the Patriarch. Several meetings are held: at the first meeting, the common list, the Council of Experts is approved, at the second meeting - a short list, the third meeting will be held in the Hall of Church Councils, where the selection and presentation of signs to the laureates of the Patriarchal Prize will take place. Voting takes place openly, without booths, everyone receives a ballot, marks their choice. The counting commission sits right there, which enters the result into the protocol, which is transmitted to the Patriarch. He announces the names of the winners.

- Do you have favorites this year?

It is very difficult to say who will be the winner, because all the people are interesting.

- Can you name the experts?

The expert jury this year is headed by Yuri Mikhailovich Loshchits, a poet, prose writer, publicist. The jury includes: hegumen Evfimy (Moiseev), rector of the Kazan Theological Seminary; Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, writer, laureate of the Patriarchal literary prize; Alexei Nikolaevich Varlamov, writer, member of the Writers' Union of Russia, Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin, Russian historian, writer, literary critic, doctor historical sciences; Maria Alexandrovna Gorodova, Orthodox writer, correspondent, columnist for Rossiyskaya Gazeta; Victor Miroslavovich Guminsky, doctor philological sciences; Vladimir Alekseevich Kotelnikov, Doctor of Philology; Olesya Alexandrovna Nikolaeva, poetess, writer, laureate of the Patriarchal Prize; Alexander Yurievich Segen, famous writer, Laureate of the Patriarchal Prize.

- There are priests among the nominees, for example Andrey Tkachev. Are there any other clergy?

This year there are two priests on the list of nominees: Fr Andrei Tkachev, writer, preacher, missionary, and Fr Nikolai Blokhin. An interesting personality, came to the Church at an age; with the blessing of Metropolitan Pitirim and Father John Krestyankin, he was engaged in the publication of Orthodox literature and its distribution. For this he was sentenced to more than four years. He himself says that if he had not been convicted, he would not have become a writer. While in prison, he began to write. The purpose of all the works of art by Father Nikolai is to lead a person to God, to show that life is not accidental, to point out the responsibility of a person for his salvation.

I have in my hands the journal Orthodox Book Review, which came out today. There is wonderful story Father Nicholas "Parishioner". He describes the usual life story, there are many of them in Rus'. The priest arrived at the temple, at the first service there were only two people - two women. The priest began to talk with them, asked them to come to the next service with their husbands. One says that she has no husband, and the other says that she has the best husband. As a result, it turned out that the priest was from the same village where this woman lives. He remembered her and her husband. It turns out that he drank, often beat his wife, but this woman is ready to endure and believes that she must save him. “This is my cross, I have to carry it,” she says. The policeman offers to put him in jail, the neighbors advise to get a divorce, to leave him, but she is afraid that he will die. The woman believes that he was given to her because of her sins and she must carry her cross. Which actual topic! After all, we grumble when we carry the burdens of a neighbor ...

Other nominees include nun Evfimiya (Pashchenko), famous writer, medic. Writes interesting essays, notes. I remember very interesting work about God's world. A bird sang beautifully in the park. A man sat and thought: “What a creation of God! Why is she singing? It probably makes me happy." Another person reasoned, “What is this bird? Sparrow? Definitely not a nightingale. He sings better! The third person heard the singing and thought: “What kind of crow has brought us? Incomprehensible singing! The author reflects on who is right and how people evaluate differently the world. The world was created by God for man. Matushka Euphemia writes about how we should perceive the world around us.

If you think about it, you can see that everything in the world is focused on a person. The sun shines, rivers, water - everything for a person. St. Macarius of Egypt beautifully said in the 4th century: “The sun, the stars, the moon, the forest, the rivers, the seas, the whole animal world The earth was created for man to live. And man was created in order for God to live in him. Matushka Euphemia wants to convey this to her reader. People of the Church write on topics that are so important for modern man, because most people do not know the Bible, and through such works they learn who the Creator is, where everything comes from.

I also want to name the names of Alexander Gromov, Boris Ekimov, Alexei Karpov. Alexei Karpov has a large series of historical books, he published Life wonderful people". This is Boris Tarasov, a wonderful person who did a lot for the development of literature, a teacher Literary Institute, was its rector; Valery Sergeev, who wrote about the early Russian Middle Ages, is the author of a book about the life of St. Andrei Rublev, published in the Life of Remarkable People series. This interesting people which convey to the modern Russian the concept of God, goodness, show the traditions, the historical path of our people, the Orthodox Church.

- Secular writers - nominees for the Patriarchal Prize- believing people?

They are all Orthodox.

The regulation states that the award was established for writers who have made a significant contribution to the establishment of spiritual and moral values in the life of modern man, family and society. But morality exists not only in the Orthodox faith...

So far, we have not had non-Orthodox writers, although this is possible. If the author does not want to unite himself with the Church, faith, the question arises: without knowing and understanding the Gospel, is it possible to understand Russian culture? Is it possible to make a positive contribution to its development? The peculiarity is that Russian culture is Orthodox by nature, it originated with the adoption of Christianity. Prince Vladimir brought faith, language and culture to our land. This year we celebrate the millennium of the Russian presence on Mount Athos, which had a profound impact on spiritual state Russia, spiritual development our country, monasteries that have been centers of education and culture for many centuries. It is very difficult to separate our culture from Orthodoxy.

- And what about the Soviet writers? You said they wrote about morality.

Quite right. They were believers in their hearts, they grew up in Orthodox families, V Orthodox culture, their parents were Orthodox, they were all baptized. But they could not write about God. Now we will learn a lot. Marshal K. Zhukov is a Soviet commander, and he had an icon of the Kazan Mother of God. In his heart he was a believer, but he could not declare it. Take M. Sholokhov: you can see many Orthodox elements in his work. Unity Foundation Orthodox peoples published a series of books “A.S. Pushkin and Orthodoxy”, “F.M. Dostoevsky and Orthodoxy”, including “S. Yesenin and Orthodoxy”, “M. Sholokhov and Orthodoxy. Mikhail Sholokhov describes Orthodox traditions, moreover, Christian commandments, although he could not openly write about God.

- Are the books of Orthodox writers published by the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church?

The publishing council does not publishing, we only regulate it. They are issued by publishing houses, including the publishing houses of the Moscow Patriarchate, Sretensky Monastery, "Nicaea". Our task is to assign a stamp. This is not censorship. We authorize this publisher to distribute books through the church network. Our duty is to protect the parishioner from bad literature. If there is no neck, you need to think about whether this book is worth reading. The stamp is assigned not only to theological and catechetical books, historical, spiritual, but also artistic. There are a lot of books going through us that I would recommend reading.

Recently I read from Father Nikolai Agafonov how a young man was moving towards faith. He served in the army, and he did not have any spiritual books, but only anti-religious literature, from which he learned about God, discarding the husk of propaganda. Viewer question: “I am 85 years old, I can’t hear anything, I pray to the Lord two hundred times and Mother of God as many. Am I doing the right thing?"

Praying is right, but I advise you to go to church; if you can’t walk, ask a priest to come, who can give you unction and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and explain how to pray. If you can read, he will give a prayer book and the Gospel. Be sure to contact the priest.

- Where can I buy the works of the nominees of the Patriarchal Prize? Only in the church shop?

No, something is published and sold on the church network. But for the most part - in secular stores. We always contribute to the publication of the works of the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. We have books by Father Nikolai Agafonov, Viktor Nikolaev, Olesya Nikolaeva. We cannot force the publication of certain books on the publisher, we recommend it. Everything depends on the work. Publishing houses operate on a commercial basis, even church ones. If it is unprofitable, they cannot publish. We recommend those authors who are worthy of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, or those books that have received awards from the Enlightenment through the Book competition. In addition to the Patriarchal Prize, we support writers and publishers in this competition. There are twelve nominations, including "Fiction", " historical literature", "Children's literature". These books are also present in the church network.

Question from a TV viewer from Moscow: “I visit the Kaluga region, there, especially in the villages, there are a lot of Old Believers, they have house churches, but I don’t go there. Will Orthodox chapels be built?

Yes, there will be a recovery soon big temple. Now Kirov has its own diocese - Pesochnya (this is the old name of the city). I will pass on your request to Bishop Maximilian of Pesochensky and Yukhnovsky. There is a project to make at least a small chapel in every village.

- Sometimes you go to a bookstore - a variety of literature. And you don't see what you need.

It is almost impossible to find in secular stores Orthodox literature. In Moscow, we spoke with representatives of a number of stores so that they would separate Orthodox literature from other literature. Previously, there was a section of religious literature, there were Orthodox authors and some dubious philosophical, occult teachings. A number of book chains have set aside a department for Orthodox literature, but there is a problem: what is quickly bought is put in a prominent place. Naturally, people have a stereotype that you can only buy Orthodox literature in a church. And in secular shops they buy technical or entertaining literature. No one goes to the bookstore on the Arbat to get the Bible, so they don't pay so much attention to it.

We propose to the Patriarch to expand the network of Orthodox bookstores. Not only in Moscow, but also in the major cities of the regions, there should be large Orthodox bookstores. Orthodox souvenirs can also be sold there, because opening a store is quite expensive. You can distribute both e-books and videos. We are trying to implement this project.

- In some church shops you can also find classical literature.

Yes, this is both the "golden" and "silver" centuries of Russian literature, and modern authors, laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. Here is another question: not all churches, cities and parishes are equally supplied with literature. It depends on the parish and diocese. The publishing council can do nothing here. With the blessing of the Patriarch, we have prepared a list of literature that should be present in every Moscow church, it is about two hundred to four hundred titles, including fiction. I think this will contribute to the development of the book business. People will know that in the temple, in addition to several prayer books and akathists, there will be a good set of books that you can buy for yourself or give as a gift. This is a good gift. If we donate a book young man He will definitely read it. Through reading learns about God and the truth.

- Now the book is a rare gift. It is more convenient to download a book and read it on the device monitor.

Yes, but absolutely different perception books - electronic and printed. You take a small magazine and perceive the text in a completely different way, every word, you understand the topic more deeply, you become a participant in the events described. Electronics is a completely different perception.

One of the victories Soviet state- victory over illiteracy. The Soviet Union was one of the most reading countries. Now the picture is depressing. Russia is lower in this ranking. Reading is becoming less popular. The problem lies in our schools, as Patriarch Kirill noted at a meeting of the trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize. He noted that at school they cease to understand literature, to read. I noticed that the teaching of literature there is coming to naught. How do you seek to solve this problem within the framework of the work of the Publishing Council?

Why did Russia lose its primacy in the list of the most reading countries? Development e-books, the advent of the Internet attracted a part of the reading people. But it is not main reason. Readers in Soviet times were mostly people between the ages of eighteen and thirty and schoolchildren.

We are currently experiencing a demographic crisis. Since the beginning of the 1990s, there have been half as many children born in Russia as in Soviet times. We have lost people of reading age, the country has grown old, this also affects. The development of technology has also affected reading.

But this is a crisis not only of the school, but also of the family. Now the family does not read much. A common situation in a Moscow family: everyone came home and everyone went to their “gadget”. Who is on the TV, who is on the tablet, who is on the phone - parents in the first place. Children do not see their parents reading, they do not see books in their hands - only TV, the Internet. The child, while still small, leafs through the book, and then demands a phone, smartphone, tablet, etc. His parents give him this. They pay off the child. loving parent after dinner, he will gather the children, take a book, read the Gospel, the life of a saint, a fairy tale, and talk. The child grows up - will take " captain's daughter”, read it again and talk. They go to the service with the whole family, it will not be a punishment for the child to go to church while dad is watching TV.

Today I see that children do not know what saint they are named after. Why not tell the child about his patrons? Grandma's or Grandpa's Angel Day - let's read about patron saints. Children do not see an example! Trying for twenty-five years to reform the school system, we have lost the main thing - Russian literature. I was shown a textbook about five or six years ago: to study A.S. Pushkin allotted a page and a half! Thirteen pages - modern prose, the work of a former drug addict author, with all the appropriate jargon and appropriate descriptions. What is this for? This is not an introduction to life. The school is designed to teach: you need to read A.S. Pushkin, classic XIX- XX centuries, contemporary authors. Take the works of Nikolai Agafonov, read! Children do not see this example at home. And the school doesn't. It is necessary to increase the hours for studying literature. This is the foundation.

Literature of the 19th - 20th centuries is an example of the Russian word. We must teach to love the great Russian word. Everywhere our writers are valued, they are known, and our youth practically does not get acquainted with the work of F.M. Dostoevsky, but Western writers are popular among her. It's a mistake in the reform school system. The President of Russia ordered the creation of a Literature Committee, and Patriarch Kirill headed it. The school should increase the amount of study of literature and history.

- I would like to hear instructions from you, what would you advise to read?

I want God's help. Tomorrow we will celebrate the writers who have worked for the benefit and development of our national culture, so I want to read more. Remember: main book our life is the gospel. We must learn to read the Gospel daily, this is the word of God, it was read by the great classics. In Kaluga we held an action “The Gospel is a book of life. Let's read together during Lent. Let's turn to this eternal book. My teacher called the gospel "the oxygen of eternity." Let us breathe it in order to gain eternal life.

Christ is Risen!

Host Sergey Platonov
Recorded by Yaroslav Truntsev

May 24, 2018 in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' the eighth ceremony of electing and awarding laureates of the Patriarchal Saints Literary Prize Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. After the presentation of the nominees, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church addressed the audience with a word.

Your Eminences and Eminences! Dear members of the Board of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles! Dear participants and guests of our ceremony!

I cordially greet you all. Today we have gathered for the eighth time to elect and award the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

This year, our ceremony takes place directly on the day of memory of the patron saints of the award. And this is very symbolic. Slavic alphabet celebrates this year significant date. 1155 years have passed since the famous Moravian mission of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, who, together with their disciples, compiled the first translation of the Gospel into Slavonic. Thanks to the ascetic labors of the Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers and their followers Slavic peoples received the most important thing: the opportunity to read and hear the word of God in their native language. They became available precious treasures Christian spiritual culture.

Yes, scientists will tell us that the language of the translations was largely artificial and was an attempt to combine various Slavic dialects, creating a universal script based on them. However, the fact that this experience, these ingenious creative efforts had a huge impact on all subsequent development Slavic languages, is beyond doubt. And this experience of creating, in a sense, an artificial language pursued one specific goal: that all Slavic tribes could use the same alphabet, the same grammar, the same language.

Of course, the Russian literary language had yet to go through big way becoming. But what would Russian literature be like if it were not fed from the life-giving source of the Church Slavonic language? What would be the path of the entire Russian culture if it were not based on the gospel values ​​and ideals instilled in it by the labors of the holy Thessalonica brothers?

I am convinced that if such literature and culture had existed at all, if it had not been dissolved in the ocean of history, it would not have occupied such an outstanding and glorious place in world culture as Russian literature now deservedly occupies.

When I say "Russian literature", I mean, of course, first of all the work of our great classics: Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov and other masters artistic word. But not only that.

Let's not forget that the literary language, as the well-known Russian linguist Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy wrote, "is an instrument of spiritual culture and is intended to develop and deepen not only fine literature in the proper sense of the word, but also scientific, philosophical and religious thought". Do we realize today, reading works of art, scientific works and journalism, that all these are branches of a wonderful tree that has grown from a seed sown many centuries ago by Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles?

The possibilities of language are revealed to a person and the possibilities for comprehending this world. For wisdom is known in the word(Sir. 4:28), as he tells us Holy Bible. The Russian language has amazing beauty and richness. expressive means, allowing to accurately, deeply and in the finest shades convey any human thought. No wonder Lomonosov, comparing Russian with other European languages, admired his splendor, liveliness and brevity, strong in images .

Beautiful and competent speech produces not only a strong aesthetic effect, but also carries a powerful intellectual charge, sets a high cultural standard for the audience. And therefore the educational role of literature begins precisely with the language. Reading the classics, we admire not only ideas and deep meanings embedded in the work, but also wonderful style, juiciness of language and beauty of images. All this together makes an impression on the reader.

However, what do we observe today when we open the works of some contemporary authors? An abundance of jargon and vulgarisms, colloquial expressions, rough foreign borrowings and constructions and intonations not characteristic of the Russian language. And in oral speech, we hear phonetic intonations that are not characteristic of the Russian language, which, for unknown reasons, are used today by our youth even when communicating with each other. If you listen closely, these are not Russian, but English intonations. This, I think, should also be paid attention to, because it destroys the integrity of Russian speech.

speak in understandable language means to penetrate into the essence of the life problems and spiritual quests of contemporaries. And real literature, seeing through these depths, is called upon to answer people's questions on the basis of the word of God, from the standpoint of the Gospel and the Christian attitude to reality.

The Importance of Literature in national history has always been great. It would not be an exaggeration to say that all Russian culture is essentially literary-centric. For centuries, the writer and poet was perceived by our people not only as a master of words, but also in many ways as the conscience of the nation. It is no coincidence that in Soviet years When the Church was significantly limited in its pastoral possibilities, it was literature that conveyed eternal moral values ​​to people, and raised important spiritual questions for contemporaries.

Today, talk about the crisis of literature, the crisis of culture, including the culture of reading, has already become commonplace. One can think a lot about this and complain about the fact that people for the most part began to read less, that more and more often they choose to read not a serious classic, but an entertaining book. At the same time, it is no longer possible to turn a blind eye to the fact that the crisis has turned into new reality, the features of which cannot be ignored.

Modern people live at high speeds. They are crushed by the flow of information that falls on them from everywhere: from TV screens, from radios and the Internet. We cannot protect ourselves and others from this constant information impact. But we can help people by teaching them to distinguish noise from signals, fake and fake from the real and really valuable.

Obviously, the reader's consciousness has changed significantly over recent decades. For unhurried and thoughtful reading, our compatriots sometimes have neither the time nor the opportunity. Modern reader, if you use images famous novel Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov, more and more like a businesslike and impatient Stolz, carried away by the search for entertaining and interesting things, rather than like a complacent and unhurried Oblomov, ready to think and think about something for hours.

I'll say now, maybe a few unexpected thing. The so-called "entertainment literature", which everyone used to scold, can also be useful. If you take it as a form of education. In our memory, there are already several successful examples of how works on Orthodox themes, written in the entertainment genre, became in demand by readers. They were read in the subway, these books were given to friends and acquaintances. Through these works, albeit in an entertaining form, contemporaries got acquainted with Orthodox faith, with the life of the Church, learned about Christ and the Gospel.

Of course, reading the same Dostoevsky, Leskov or Clive Lewis requires a certain cultural and intellectual preparation from a person. Is it possible to expect that people who do not have such training will be able to appreciate their works? Our compatriots, who have survived 70 years of an atheistic regime, sometimes lack elementary knowledge about God, about the spiritual and moral foundations of life, set out in a simple and in plain language. And those who it is necessary to teach the first principles of the word of God, milk is needed, not solid food(Heb. 5:12), the apostle Paul testifies.

The task of a real writer is not only to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader at the level of "like - dislike." Modern literature, unfortunately, often does not go beyond such an emotional impact on a person. But still, it’s not the stylistic and plot “special effects” that make the work truly worthy. It is important to touch the secret in the soul of a person, to find a response in the heart, to awaken a thought.

The emotional approach in evaluating the phenomena of reality is characteristic for the most part of the consumer society. But literature is not a product or service that you can “like” on a website and erase from your memory after some time. Literature is, first of all, the lessons of experience. Even if what you write about concerns historical events centuries ago. By passing the story through personal life, spiritual and intellectual experience, you tell the reader something very important. This message is not from the series "this also happens in life." This message is an invitation to think.

For the eighth year now, we have been gathering in this hall to present the Patriarchal Literary Prize to authors who have not forgotten the lofty vocation of literature, the enormous moral responsibility of a writer.

It is wonderful that thanks to the writers included in the list of nominees of this year and past years, our contemporaries have the opportunity to read for real good works corresponding to high ethical and aesthetic ideals.

There are no easy times, as you know, and our literature will face new tasks, new problems will appear, about which we simply know nothing today. These challenges will come into the life of society, into the life of every person. And every time the writers have to do moral choice: whether to resist evil and darkness with the power of one’s word, whether to create for the sake of affirming eternal moral values, and not momentary glory and wealth? I hope that all of our nominees and laureates follow the right path.

Remembering with gratitude the feat of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius, let us with reverence preserve and multiply the spiritual and cultural heritage to use the opportunities and talents bestowed upon us for the sake of witnessing about the One Who is the True Way and Life(John 14:6).

I would like to wish you all God's help and further creative success. May the blessing of the Lord be upon you all.

I sincerely thank you for your attention and propose to proceed with the solemn ceremony of election and awarding of laureates.

Trubetskoy N.S. Common Slavic element in Russian culture // Trubetskoy N.S. To the problem of Russian self-knowledge. Paris, 1927.

Lomonosov M.V. Dedication to "Russian Grammar" (1755).

Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

In the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal-to-the-Apostles were announced and awarded. The award was established in 2009 and was first awarded in 2011. Both ecclesiastical and secular authors can receive the award. Examination of works is carried out by a council of experts. He is appointed by the Chamber of Trustees, which includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the literary community. The Chamber, on the other hand, approves the long and short lists of nominees and then selects the laureates.

For five years, the Patriarchal Literary Prize has won special recognition in the literary community. In the opening speech of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus', there was not a word about the nominees, only about the most important thing - that Russian spiritual culture has always been literary-centric, moral idea always stood at the center of creativity.

“It is important to pay attention to literature, to help writers who, with their work, affirm the traditional values ​​for our people,” the patriarch noted. “A person communicates with a thousand readers through a book. modern literature, developing the traditions of Russian classical literature, rooted in hagiographic literature, and today helped our people to admire the image of a holy man."

Of the 37 nominees on the shortlist this year, there are 8 contenders. Among them are literary critic Vladimir Voropaev, historian Dmitry Volodikhin, bard poets Novella Matveeva and Archpriest Leonid Safronov, actor and director Nikolai Burlyaev.

"To be among the applicants for the Patriarchal Literary Prize is very high reward on its own, thinks National artist Russian Nikorlay Burlyaev. “Personally, I am happy that I have lived to this day, because I never thought of being an actor, but I became an actor, then a director, I always dreamed of being a writer.”

According to the results of the secret ballot, which took place during the ceremony, the winners were poet Yuri Kublanovskiy, prose writer Alexander Segen and front-line writer Yuri Bondarev. Member of the Great Patriotic War, he built fortifications near Smolensk in 1941, then fought near Stalingrad, participated in the liberation of Kyiv, reached Poland and Czechoslovakia. Bondarev is the author of numerous novels. The most famous - "Liberation", " Hot Snow"," Battalions ask for fire. "Yuri Bondarev is sure that literature is called upon to establish the border between good and evil. Here, the main thing for the writer is conscience.

“There is no technology without art, there is no goodness without art, there is no justice, there is no great reverence for man and his ability,” Bondarev said. “For what does the state exist on earth? ".

The nominees and laureates of the Patriarchal Permia were writers of different views and directions. Important, something else.

"It should be faith coming from the depths of the heart, and literature that is in harmony with this faith," said Alexander Arkhangelsky.

Patriarchal Prize awarded "For a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature." And this time, its laureates are writers who affirm spiritual and moral values ​​in the life of a person, family and society.

On May 11, 2017, in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the seventh ceremony of electing and awarding laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate; chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church; the first vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for the city of Moscow; ; viceroy; Chairman of the Publishing Council; ; Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate; Chief Editor; deputy manager of affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate; employees of the Publishing Council, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate and other synodal institutions, clergy and monastics.

The event was also attended by members of the Chamber of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, Russian literary scholars, journalists, representatives of state and public organizations, cultural figures.

Acceptance of applications for the competition of the Patriarchal Literary Prize on September 14, 2016. During the seventh premium season, 50 applications were received from various regions of Russia, as well as from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. March 28 this year at a meeting of the Chamber of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, a short list of nominees for 2017, which included:

• Irina Anatolyevna Bogdanova;
• Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin;
• Vasily Vladimirovich Dvortsov;
• Victor Ivanovich Likhonosov;
• Boris Fedorovich Sporov;
• Alexander Borisovich Tkachenko;
• Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov.

• Bishop Pavel of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Yu.M. Loshchits, writer, publicist and literary critic, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize;
• K.P. Kovalev-Sluchevsky, professor at the Institute of Journalism and literary creativity, writer.

Then the elections of the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize took place: the members of the House of Trustees filled out the voting ballots. The ballots were handed over to the Counting Commission. The members of the Counting Commission counted the votes, filled out the protocol and handed it over to His Holiness the Patriarch.

His Holiness the Patriarch presented the laureates with a diploma and badges of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

All the nominees of the 2017 award were also invited to the stage - I.A. Bogdanova, D.M. Volodikhin, V.V. Palaces, A.B. Tkachenko, to whom the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented honorary diplomas.

IN musical accompaniment choir participated in the ceremony orphanage"Joy" at the Nikolsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery in the city of Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga Region.

The evening ended with a concert.

The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod on December 25, 2009 () with the aim of encouraging writers who have made a significant contribution to the affirmation of spiritual and moral values ​​​​in the life of a modern person, family and society, who have created highly artistic works that have enriched Russian literature. This award has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches.

The first laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2011 was the writer Vladimir Krupin. In the second premium season (2012), the winners are Olesya Nikolaeva and Viktor Nikolaev. In 2013, Alexey Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits and Stanislav Kunyaev were awarded. In the fourth premium season (2014), the laureates

On May 11, 2017, in the Hall of Church Councils of the Cathedral Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' led the seventh ceremony of electing and awarding laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: the manager of the affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Varsonofy of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Russian Orthodox Church; the first vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for the city of Moscow, Metropolitan Arseniy of Istra; Metropolitan of Saratov and Volsky Longin; Bishop Theophylact of Dmitrov, abbot of the St. Andrew's Monastery; Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate Bishop Pavel of Molodechno and Stolbtsy; Bishop of Edinet and Brichansk Nikodim; Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archpriest Vladimir Siloviev, Editor-in-Chief of the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate; Archimandrite Savva (Tutunov), Deputy Administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate; employees of the Publishing Council, the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate and other synodal institutions, clergy and monastics.

The event was also attended by members of the Chamber of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, Russian literary critics, journalists, representatives of state and public organizations, and cultural figures.

On the Soyuz TV channel there was a live broadcast from the Hall of Church Cathedrals.

The ceremony began with a demonstration of a film dedicated to the history of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill addressed the audience with the First Hierarch's word.

Acceptance of applications for the Patriarchal Literary Prize began on September 14, 2016. During the seventh premium season, 50 applications were received from various regions of Russia, as well as from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Latvia. March 28 this year At a meeting of the Chamber of Trustees of the Patriarchal Literary Prize, a short list of nominees for 2017 was approved, which included:

• Irina Anatolyevna Bogdanova;
• Dmitry Mikhailovich Volodikhin;
• Vasily Vladimirovich Dvortsov;
• Victor Ivanovich Likhonosov;
• Boris Fedorovich Sporov;
• Alexander Borisovich Tkachenko;
• Archpriest Yaroslav Shipov.

• Bishop Pavel of Molodechno and Stolbtsovsky, Chairman of the Publishing Council of the Belarusian Exarchate;
• Yu.M. Loshchits, writer, publicist and literary critic, laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize;
• K.P. Kovalev-Sluchevsky, professor at the Institute of Journalism and Literary Creativity, writer.

Then the elections of the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize took place: the members of the House of Trustees filled out the voting ballots. The ballots were handed over to the Counting Commission. The members of the Counting Commission counted the votes, filled out the protocol and handed it over to His Holiness the Patriarch.
During the voting and counting of votes, a film about the nominees of the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize was shown.

His Holiness the Patriarch presented the laureates with a diploma and badges of the Patriarchal Literary Prize.

All the nominees of the 2017 award were also invited to the stage - I.A. Bogdanova, D.M. Volodikhin, V.V. Palaces, A.B. Tkachenko, to whom the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church presented honorary diplomas.

The choir of the orphanage "Otrada" at the Nikolsky Chernoostrovsky Monastery in the city of Maloyaroslavets, Kaluga Region, participated in the musical accompaniment of the ceremony.

The evening ended with a concert.

***
The Patriarchal Literary Prize was established by the Holy Synod at a meeting on December 25, 2009 (magazine No. 115) with the aim of encouraging writers who have made a significant contribution to the affirmation of spiritual and moral values ​​in the life of a modern person, family and society, who have created highly artistic works that have enriched Russian literature. This award has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Local Orthodox Churches.
The first laureate of the Patriarchal Literary Prize in 2011 was the writer Vladimir Krupin. In the second premium season (2012), Olesya Nikolaeva and Viktor Nikolaev became the winners. In 2013, Alexei Varlamov, Yuri Loshchits and Stanislav Kunyaev were awarded. In the fourth premium season (2014), the winners were Archpriest Nikolai Agafonov, Valentin Kurbatov and Valery Ganichev. In 2015, the prize was awarded to Yuri Bondarev, Yuri Kublanovskiy and Alexander Segen, in 2016 to Boris Ekimov, Boris Tarasov and priest Nikolai Blokhin.

Word of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill at the 2017 Patriarchal Literary Prize Ceremony

Your Eminences and Eminences! Dear fathers, brothers and sisters! Ladies and Gentlemen!

Christ is Risen!

I cordially greet you all. We have gathered in this hall to elect for the seventh time the laureates of the Patriarchal Literary Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles. And I am sure that today, as in past years, truly worthy authors will become the new laureates.

According to the established tradition, I would like to preface the ceremony with some reflections on the fate of Russian literature.

Once I happened to read an article in a well-known foreign publication devoted to current state Russian literature. The article came out under a very bright and provocative title: “Is Russian Literature Dead?” I will not retell the content of this article - I think the essence is clear from the title. The main message of the author was that Russian writers allegedly "chunked", the last great works were written several decades ago, and the authority and influence of Russian literature on the minds of contemporaries is not at all the same as before.

Let's leave out the fact that the article was published in a foreign weekly. Unfortunately, such pessimistic views are encountered among representatives of the domestic intelligentsia. At such moments, I always want to ask the interlocutor: “Where do such thoughts come from? Is it really writers of the 19th Or were the conditions for creativity better in the 20th century, or was there more food for thought than today?

Talented people are born and live in any era. The question is not at all that we do not have new Pushkins, Dostoevskys, Chekhovs, Pasternaks. We have them. The question is how to reveal these writers to the world, how to make their work the property of the whole society.

To clarify my thoughts, I would like to make a short digression into history, in the 30s of the XIX century. The well-known censor Alexander Krasovsky at that time, talking about contemporary literature, once called it disgusting. Probably, his judgment would not have been so interesting if it were not for the fact that Krasovsky lived in an era that would later be called the golden age of Russian culture.

So, you ask, was the critic ignorant? No! Krasovsky was an educated and well-read man, he knew several foreign languages. What prevented him from seeing Pushkin or Gogol? What was the reason for such blindness, which did not allow in contemporaries to see brilliant writers? Maybe insensitivity, inattention to the artistic word?

It's no secret that later, more mature works Pushkin, whom we admire today, were met by many of his contemporaries very coolly and even with incomprehension. There were also those who wrote about the general crisis of literature and the decline of Pushkin's talent. And even "Boris Godunov", written earlier, was accepted and understood by readers far from immediately.

So what, after all, to the greatest extent determines the ability to see? Perhaps a view from some historical distance? This question is not rhetorical - it requires serious reflection. It is important to understand that literary process- it's not one, not two or even three names. This is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. The literary process is formed in the conditions of a certain cultural environment and by the efforts of more than two or three prominent people but of the entire writing community. Just as a fertile layer of soil contributes to the rapid growth and successful development of plants, so a healthy and properly organized literary process contributes to the emergence of new geniuses and beautiful works of art.

Not a single time does the Lord leave without talented people without real writers and poets. Let me emphasize once again: there are talented authors in any era, and our time is no exception. It is important not to overlook these talents. Contemporaries, especially the writing community, editors, publishers should try to notice talents, support them, especially at the beginning of their journey, give them the opportunity to publish, tell readers about them.

Today, novice authors have to face considerable difficulties in publishing their works. Many publishing houses simply refuse to publish works by authors, referring to the current market laws, which require, first of all, what will be successfully sold, what will make a profit. The unfortunate tendency to make money from literature unfortunately often results in most publishers not being interested in the actual artistic quality of a work, but in how similar it is to one of the top-grossing novels, in order to continue this line of bestsellers.

Such market filters become a big obstacle for original and truly talented authors. And those who are able to influence the cultural environment and who have some leverage, including the publishing process, are called upon to overcome these obstacles. I am deeply convinced that a special role should be played by editors, publishers, that is, people on whom the publication of certain authors depends.

I hope that the Patriarchal Literary Prize will also make a significant contribution to the discovery of new names, in support of gifted masters of the word. This support is extremely important for writers and poets. Do we realize how many authors we do not know just because next to them there was no one who would be sincerely interested in their work, who would help to reach the reader? Do we realize how many talented people cease to publish, precisely because there were those who did not have an impeccable sense of language, were not too well versed in literature, but at the same time considered it possible to publish negative feedback. Other examples can be cited: more than once talented writers and poets were unable to appreciate the works of their contemporaries. And how many texts were lost because they were not printed on time?

In general, this is a very serious topic - the ability to see, understand, feel, and much here also depends on how the public consciousness. If in the 19th and 20th centuries (at least in the first half of the 20th century) literature was an important source of food for thought, today, in the ever-growing information flow, literature occupies only a part, and far from being dominant. It is becoming increasingly difficult to discern a talented author in a huge information array. In addition, the attention of the vast majority of people today is riveted to electronic means mass media. The general acceleration of the pace of life is another factor that adversely affects reading in general and the ability to identify outstanding authors. There is no time to read a book from beginning to end, but in order to understand the author's intention, to feel the beauty of the style, one must not only read, but also reflect on the book!

So it's not just about publishers and editors, of course, but how common cultural context contributes to the orientation of mass consciousness to the sphere of fiction. And we all need to think carefully about what should be done in order for fiction to regain its position, so that people read not only light action-packed books, but also texts created by masters of the word containing deep thoughts.

The remarkable Russian poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky was able to accurately assess the scale of Pushkin's gift when he was still quite young. I quote: “For everything that happened to you and that you brought on yourself, I have one answer: poetry. You do not have a talent, but a genius ... By the authority given to me, I offer you the first place in the Russian Parnassus. And what place, if lofty genius connect and target altitude!" Probably, only a person who possessed not only literary talent, high professional qualification, but also with very strong eyesight, capable of discerning spirits (see 1 Cor. 12:10). So the question arises: can a person living in our fleeting, busy time, have such vision, or modern man completely deprived of the opportunity to see the essence of things, to be able to find talents and support them? I don't think there is a simple answer to this question. But we live in an era that God has determined for us, and our task is to create tools that enhance our spiritual vision and enable us to find talents, feed on their thought and beauty of style.

As you know, in the future, Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky tried to defend Pushkin, and who knows how the poet's human and literary life would have developed if it were not for Zhukovsky's help. And today it is important for us to learn to be attentive, to learn to see talented contemporaries and to help, in whatever way we can, people whom God has given. Then our literature will be enriched with new names and remarkable works of art. God grant that the Patriarchal Prize named after Saints Cyril and Methodius Equal to the Apostles would serve as a modest, but quite effective tool that would help not only specialists to identify talented authors, but also the general reader to get acquainted with the work of their remarkable contemporaries.

Thank you for your attention.

Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'