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The originality of the genres of ancient Russian literature. life

The originality of the genres of ancient Russian literature. life

03.11.2019

The originality of the genres of ancient Russian literature. life

Introduction

Every nation remembers and knows its history. In traditions, legends, songs, information and memories of the past were preserved and passed on from generation to generation.The general rise of Rus' in XI century, the creation of centers of writing, literacy, the emergence of a whole galaxy of educated people of their time in the princely-boyar, church-monastic environment determined the development of ancient Russian literature. “Russian literature is almost a thousand years old. This is one of the oldest literatures in Europe. It is older than French, English, German literature. Its beginning dates back to the second half of the 10th century. Of this great millennium, more than seven hundred years belong to the period that is customarily called "ancient Russian literature."<…>Old Russian literature can be regarded as the literature of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life,” writes D. S. Likhachev. Ancient Russian Literature up to the 17th century. does not know or almost does not know conventional characters. The names of the actors are historical: Boris and Gleb, Theodosius Pechersky, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Sergius of Radonezh, Stefan of Perm ... Just as we talk about the epic in folk art, we can talk about the epic of ancient Russian literature. The epic is not a simple sum of epics and historical songs. Epics are plot-related. They paint us a whole epic era in the life of the Russian people. The era is fantastic, but at the same time historical. This era is the reign of Vladimir the Red Sun. The action of many plots is transferred here, which, obviously, existed before, and in some cases arose later. Another epic time is the time of Novgorod's independence. Historical songs depict us, if not a single era, then, in any case, a single course of events: the 16th and 17th centuries. par excellence. Ancient Russian literature is an epic that tells the history of the universe and the history of Rus'. None of the works of Ancient Rus' - translated or original - stands apart. All of them complement each other in the picture of the world they create. Each story is a complete whole, and at the same time, it is connected with others. This is just one of the chapters in the history of the world. The works were built according to the “enfilade principle”. Life was supplemented over the centuries with services to the saint, a description of his posthumous miracles. It could grow with additional stories about the saint. Several lives of the same saint could be combined into a new single work. Such a fate is not uncommon for the literary works of Ancient Rus': many of the stories eventually begin to be perceived as historical, as documents or narratives about Russian history. Russian scribes also act in the hagiographic genre: in the 11th - early 12th centuries. the lives of Anthony of the Caves (it has not survived), Theodosius of the Caves, two versions of the life of Boris and Gleb were written. In these hagiographies, Russian authors, undoubtedly familiar with the hagiographic canon and with the best examples of Byzantine hagiography, show, as we shall see below, an enviable independence and display high literary skill.

Life as a genre of ancient Russian literature

In the XI - the beginning of the XII century. the first Russian lives are created: two lives of Boris and Gleb, "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves", "The Life of Anthony of the Caves" (not preserved until modern times). Their writing was not only a literary fact, but also an important link in the ideological policy of the Russian state. At this time, the Russian princes persistently sought the rights of the Patriarch of Constantinople to canonize their Russian saints, which would significantly increase the authority of the Russian Church. The creation of a life was an indispensable condition for the canonization of a saint. We will consider here one of the lives of Boris and Gleb - "Reading about the life and destruction" of Boris and Gleb and "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves." Both lives were written by Nestor. Comparing them is especially interesting, since they represent two hagiographic types - the life-martyria (the story of the martyrdom of the saint) and the monastic life, which tells about the whole life path of the righteous, his piety, asceticism, miracles he performed, etc. Nestor, of course, he took into account the requirements of the Byzantine hagiographic canon. There is no doubt that he knew translated Byzantine hagiographies. But at the same time, he showed such artistic independence, such an outstanding talent, that the creation of these two masterpieces alone makes him one of the outstanding ancient Russian writers.

Features of the genre of the life of the first Russian saints

"Reading about Boris and Gleb" opens with a lengthy introduction, which outlines the entire history of the human race: the creation of Adam and Eve, their fall, the "idolatry" of people is denounced, it is recalled how Christ, who came to save the human race, taught and was crucified, how they began to preach the new teaching of the apostles and the triumph of the new faith. Only Rus' remained "in the first (former) charm of idols (remained pagan)." Vladimir baptized Rus', and this act is portrayed as a universal triumph and joy: people in a hurry to accept Christianity rejoice, and not one of them resists and does not even “say” “against” the will of the prince, Vladimir himself rejoices, seeing the “warm faith” newly converted Christians. Such is the prehistory of the villainous murder of Boris and Gleb by Svyatopolk. Svyatopolk thinks and acts according to the machinations of the devil. The “historiographical” introduction to life corresponds to the idea of the unity of the world historical process: the events that took place in Rus' are only a special case of the eternal struggle between God and the devil, and Nestor looks for an analogy, a prototype in past history for every situation, every action. Therefore, Vladimir's decision to baptize Rus' leads to a comparison of him with Eustathius Plakida (the Byzantine saint, whose life was discussed above) on the grounds that Vladimir, as "ancient Plakida", God "has no way (in this case, illness)" after which the prince decided to be baptized. Vladimir is also compared with Constantine the Great, whom Christian historiography revered as an emperor who proclaimed Christianity the state religion of Byzantium. Nestor compares Boris with the biblical Joseph, who suffered because of the envy of his brothers, etc. One can judge the features of the life genre by comparing it with the chronicle. The characters are traditional. The chronicle says nothing about the childhood and youth of Boris and Gleb. Nestor, according to the requirements of the hagiographic canon, tells how, as a youth, Boris constantly read "the lives and torments of the saints" and dreamed of being honored with the same martyr's death. The chronicle does not mention the marriage of Boris. Nestor, on the other hand, has a traditional motive - the future saint seeks to avoid marriage and marries only at the insistence of his father: "not for the sake of bodily lust", but "for the sake of the Caesar's law and the obedience of his father." Further, the plots of the life and the annals coincide. But how different are the two monuments in the interpretation of events! The chronicle says that Vladimir sends Boris with his soldiers against the Pechenegs, the Reading speaks abstractly about some “military” (that is, enemies, opponent); in the annals, Boris returns to Kyiv, because he did not “found” (did not meet) the enemy army, in the “Reading” the enemies take flight, because they do not dare to “stand against the blessed”. Vivid human relations are visible in the annals: Svyatopolk attracts the people of Kiev to his side by giving them gifts (“estate”), they are reluctant to take them, since the same people of Kiev (“their brothers”) are in Boris’s army and - how completely natural in the real conditions of that time - the people of Kiev are afraid of a fratricidal war: Svyatopolk can raise the people of Kiev against their relatives who went on a campaign with Boris. Finally, let us recall the nature of Svyatopolk’s promises (“I will give you fire”) or his negotiations with the “Vyshny Novgorod boyars”. All these episodes in the chronicle story look very vital, in "Reading" they are completely absent. This shows the tendency towards abstraction dictated by the canon of literary etiquette. The hagiographer strives to avoid concreteness, lively dialogue, names (remember - the chronicle mentions the river Alta, Vyshgorod, Putsha - apparently, the elder of Vyshgorodtsy, etc.) and even lively intonations in dialogues and monologues. When the murder of Boris, and then Gleb, is described, the doomed princes only pray, and they pray ritually: either, quoting psalms, or - contrary to any life plausibility - they urge the murderers to "finish their business."On the example of "Reading", we can judge the characteristic features of the hagiographic canon - this is cold rationality, conscious detachment from specific facts, names, realities, theatricality and artificial pathos of dramatic episodes, the presence (and the inevitable formal construction) of such elements of the life of a saint, about which hagiographer did not have the slightest information: an example of this is the description of the childhood years of Boris and Gleb in the Reading. In addition to the life written by Nestor, the anonymous life of the same saints is also known - “The Tale and Passion and Praise of Boris and Gleb”. The position of those researchers who see in the anonymous "Tale of Boris and Gleb" a monument created after the "Reading" seems to be very convincing; in their opinion, the author of the Tale is trying to overcome the schematic and conventional nature of the traditional life, to fill it with vivid details, drawing them, in particular, from the original hagiographic version that has come down to us as part of the chronicle. The emotionality in The Tale is subtler and more sincere, despite the conventionality of the situation: Boris and Gleb meekly surrender themselves into the hands of the killers here, and here they have time to pray for a long time, literally at the moment when the killer’s sword is already raised over them, etc. , but at the same time, their replicas are warmed by some kind of sincere warmth and seem more natural. Analyzing the "Tale", the well-known researcher of ancient Russian literature I.P. Eremin drew attention to the following stroke: Gleb in the face of the killers, "wearing his body" (trembling, weakening), asks for mercy. He asks, as children ask: "Don't hurt me... Don't hurt me!" (here "deeds" - to touch).

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Test work on ancient Russian literature

Topic: The originality of the genre of Russian life and its evolution (development) in the works of ancient Russian literature. genre of life.

students 1927 group 3 courses

correspondence department

Faculty of Education

Perepechina Irina Dmitrievna.

Control work plan

1. Introduction

2. Life - as a genre of ancient Russian literature

3. The genre of hagiographic literature in the 14th-16th centuries

4. Conclusion

5. Literature

1. Introduction

Every nation remembers and knows its history.

In traditions, legends, songs, memories with information about the past of their homeland were preserved and passed on from one generation to another.

The general rise of Rus' in the 9th century, the creation of centers of writing, literacy, the emergence of a number of educated people of their time in the princely-boyar, church-monastic environment determined the development of ancient Russian literature.

“Russian literature dates back a whole thousand years. It is the oldest literature in the world, older than French, English, and German.

It originated in the second half of the 10th century. And out of this vast millennium, more than seven hundred years belong to the period that is called "Old Russian literature." And this literature is considered as the literature of one theme and one plot. D.S. Likhachev wrote about this period in the following way: “This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life.”

The main feature of Old Russian literature is that it does not contain conventional characters. The names of the characters are all historical: Boris and Gleb, Theodosius Pechorsky, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Sergius of Radonezh, Stefan of Perm ...

Just as the epic exists in folk art, it can be said that it also exists in ancient Russian literature. The epic is all the work of ancient Russian writers, plot interconnected with each other. The works of this period show us a whole epic era in the life of the Russian people. The era is fantastic and historical at the same time. Epoch - the time of the reign of Vladimir the Red Sun. Many works were written during this time. Another epic time is the independence of Novgorod.

Historical songs draw us a single course of events: the 16th and 17th centuries.

Ancient Russian literature is an epic that tells about the history of Rus'. None of the works of Ancient Rus' - translated or original - stands apart. All of them organically complement each other in the created picture of the world. Each story is a complete whole, and at the same time, it is connected with others. All ancient Russian works were built according to the “enfilade principle”.

The life was supplemented over time with services to the saint, a description of his posthumous miracles. It necessarily contained additional stories about the saint. Sometimes they combined several lives of the same saint into a new single work.

Many of the stories of Ancient Rus' began to be perceived as historical, as a documentary narrative of Russian history.

The hagiographic genre is the genre of writing the lives of the saints. In the 11th - early 12th centuries, the lives of Anthony of the Caves, which have not survived, Theodosius of the Caves, 2 versions of the life of Boris and Gleb were written. In these lives, the authors show independence and high literary skill.

2. Life as a genre of ancient Russian literature

In the 11th-beginning of the 12th century, the first lives of 2 lives of Boris and Gleb, The Life of Theodosius of the Caves, Anthony of the Caves (not preserved to this day) were created.

Their writing was an important step in the ideological policy of the Russian state.

At the time when these lives were written, the Russian princes persistently sought from the Patriarch of Constantinople the right to canonize their Russian saints, as this would increase the authority of the Russian Church.

The first and important condition for the canonization of a saint was the creation of the life of this saint.

Here we give an example of the life of Boris and Gleb, Theodosius of the Caves.

Both lives were written by Nestor.

These lives belong to 2 hagiographic types - the life-martyria (the story of the martyrdom of a saint) and the monastic life, which tells about the entire life path of the righteous man, his piety, asceticism, miracles he performed, etc.

When writing his life, Nestor took into account all the requirements that apply to the hagiographic canon. Of course, he was familiar with translated Byzantine hagiographies, but he showed such artistic independence that he became one of the outstanding ancient Russian writers.

Features of the genre of the life of the first Russian saints.

"Reading about Boris and Gleb" begins with an introduction to the history of the entire human race: the creation of Adam and Eve, their fall into sin, the denunciation of the “idolatry” of people, the recollection of the teaching and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who came to save the entire human race, how the apostles began to preach the new teaching and how a new faith prevailed.

Nestor spoke about the details of the baptism of Rus' by Prince Vladimir. And he described this act as the most joyful and solemn: all Russian people are in a hurry to accept Christianity, and not one of them resists or even speaks against the will of the prince himself, and Vladimir himself rejoices, as he sees the "new faith" of newly converted Christians. So, here is how the events that took place before the villainous murder of Boris and Gleb by Svyatopolk are described. Nestor showed that Svyatopolk was acting according to the machinations of the devil.

A historical introduction to life is necessary in order to show the unity of the world historical process: the events that took place in Russia are just a special case of the struggle between God and the devil, and for any act that Nestor tells about, he looks for an analogy, a prototype in past history.

Boris Nestor compares with the biblical Joseph, who also suffered because of the envy of his brothers.

If we compare the life with the chronicle, we can see that the chronicle says nothing about the childhood and youth of Boris and Gleb.

In the life, according to the rule of the hagiographical genre, Nestor tells how, as a youth, Boris constantly read the lives and torments of the saints ”and dreamed of being honored with the same martyrdom. In the annals there is no mention of Boris's marriage, and in his life, Boris seeks to avoid marriage, but marries only at the insistence of his father. Living human relations are visible in the annals: Svyatopolk attracts the people of Kiev to his side by giving them gifts (“estate”), they are reluctant to take them, because the same people of Kiev are in Boris’s army, and they are afraid of a fratricidal war: Svyatopolk can raise the people of Kiev against their relatives who went on a campaign with Boris. All these episodes in the annals look alive, vital, but in the Reading they are completely absent.

The life shows that Gleb does not understand why he must die. Gleb's defenseless youth is very elegant and touching. Even when the killer "took Saint Gleb for an honest head," he "quietly, like a fire without malice, his whole mind was named to God and looked up at heaven praying."

Here is another feature of the hagiographic genre - abstraction, avoidance of concreteness, lively dialogue, names, even lively intonations in dialogues and monologues.

In the description of the murder of Boris and Gleb, there are also no bright colors, only prayer is shown, moreover, a ritual one, they rush the killers to “finish their work”.

So, to summarize: The hagiographic genre is characterized by cold rationality, conscious detachment from specific facts, names, realities, theatricality and artificial pathos of dramatic episodes. The presence of such elements of the description of the saint's life as his childhood, youth, piety, the severity in which he kept himself, asceticism, fasting, constant reading of psalms, prayers to the Almighty.

Life of Theodosius of the Caves.

This life was written by Nestor after the life of Boris and Gleb.

Who is Theodosius of the Caves? This is a monk, and then he becomes the abbot of the famous Kiev-Pechersky monastery.

This life differs from the one we have considered above by the great psychologism of the characters, the abundance of lively realistic details, the plausibility and naturalness of replicas and dialogues.

If in the previous life the canon triumphs over the vitality of the situations described, then in this work miracles and fantastic visions are described very clearly and so convincingly that when the reader reads what is happening on these pages, he cannot but believe in what he reads . Moreover, it seems to him that he saw everything described in the work with his own eyes. We can say that these differences are not only the result of Nestor's increased skill. The reason is probably that these are lives of different types. 1 life, which we considered, is the life-martyrium, that is, the story of the martyrdom of the saint. This main theme determined the artistic structure of the life, the opposition of good and evil, dictated a special tension in the description of the martyrs and his tormentors, since the culminating scene should be painfully long and moralizing to the limit. Therefore, in this type of martyr's life, as a rule, the tortures of the martyr are described, and his death occurs, as it were, in several stages, so that the reader empathizes with the hero longer.

At the same time, the hero always turns to God with prayers, in which such qualities as his steadfastness and humility are revealed and the crimes of his killers are denounced. “The Life of Theodosius of the Caves” is a typical monastic life, a story about a pious, meek, industrious righteous man, whose whole life is a continuous feat. It contains many everyday descriptions of scenes of the saint's communication with monks, laity, princes, and sinners. In lives of this type, miracles performed by the saint are a prerequisite, and this introduces an element of plot entertainment into the life, requires the author to have special art so that the miracle is described effectively and believably.

Medieval hagiographers were well aware that the effect of a miracle is well achieved by combining only realistic everyday details with a description of the action of otherworldly forces - the phenomena of angels, dirty tricks arranged by demons, visions, etc.

Test work on ancient Russian literature

Topic: The originality of the genre of Russian life and its evolution (development) in the works of ancient Russian literature. genre of life.

students 1927 group 3 courses

correspondence department

Faculty of Education

Perepechina Irina Dmitrievna.

Control work plan

Introduction

Life as a genre of ancient Russian literature

Genre of hagiographic literature in the 14th-16th centuries

Conclusion

Literature

1. Introduction

Every nation remembers and knows its history.

In traditions, legends, songs, memories with information about the past of their homeland were preserved and passed on from one generation to another.

“Russian literature dates back a whole thousand years. It is the oldest literature in the world, older than French, English, and German.

Historical songs draw us a single course of events: the 16th and 17th centuries.

Many of the stories of Ancient Rus' began to be perceived as historical, as a documentary narrative of Russian history.

2. Life as a genre of ancient Russian literature

In the 11th-early 12th century, the first lives of 2 lives of Boris and Gleb, The Life of Theodosius of the Caves, Anthony of the Caves (not preserved to this day) were created.

Their writing was an important step in the ideological policy of the Russian state.

The first and important condition for the canonization of a saint was the creation of the life of this saint.

Here we give an example of the life of Boris and Gleb, Theodosius of the Caves.

Both lives were written by Nestor.

Features of the genre of the life of the first Russian saints.

Boris Nestor compares with the biblical Joseph, who also suffered because of the envy of his brothers.

If we compare the life with the chronicle, we can see that the chronicle says nothing about the childhood and youth of Boris and Gleb.

Here is another feature of the hagiographic genre - abstraction, avoidance of concreteness, lively dialogue, names, even lively intonations in dialogues and monologues.

In the description of the murder of Boris and Gleb, there are also no bright colors, only prayer is shown, moreover, a ritual one, they rush the killers to “finish their work”.

Life of Theodosius of the Caves.

This life was written by Nestor after the life of Boris and Gleb.

Who is Theodosius of the Caves? This is a monk, and then he becomes the abbot of the famous Kiev-Pechersky monastery.

The composition of life is always the same:

Spacious introduction.

The Story of the Saint's Childhood

Mention of the piety of parents and the future saint himself.

The life of a saint, full of deprivation, torment.

The death of a saint, miracles at the tomb.

However, in this work there are differences in the description of the childhood years of the saint from other lives. The image of the mother of Theodosius is completely unconventional, full of individuality. We read the following lines about her: she was physically strong, with a rough male voice; passionately loving her son, she could not come to terms with the fact that he is the heir to villages and slaves - she does not think about this inheritance, walks in shabby clothes, flatly refusing "bright and clean", thereby inflicting reproach on her family, and all her spends time in prayers and baking prosphora. His mother tries by all means to break her son's piety (although his parents are presented by the hagiographer as pious and God-fearing people!), she severely beats her son, puts him on a chain, tears the chains off his body. Despite this, Theodosius manages to leave for Kyiv in the hope of getting a haircut in one of the monasteries there. His mother stops at nothing to find him: she promises a big reward to anyone who will show her the whereabouts of her son. Finally, she finds him in a cave, where he lives with another hermit Anthony and Nikon (later the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery will grow from this dwelling).

And here she goes to the trick: she demands from Antony to show her son, threatening suicide at his door. And when she sees Theodosius, she is no longer angry, hugs her son, cries, begging him to return home and do whatever he wants there, but Theodosius is adamant. At his insistence, the mother takes the vows in one of the women's monasteries. The mother realized that this was the only way she could see her son at least occasionally, so she agreed to this.

The hagiographer also shows the character of the future saint: complex, possessing all the virtues of an ascetic: meek, industrious, adamant in mortification of the flesh, full of mercy, but when a princely strife occurs in the principality (Svyatoslav drives his brother Izyaslav from the throne), Theodosius actively joins the purely worldly struggle and boldly denounces Svyatoslav.

The most remarkable thing in the life is the description of the monastic life and especially the miracles performed by Theodosius. Here is a description of one of the miracles: the elder over the bakers comes to him, then already the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, and reports that there is no more flour and there is nothing to bake bread from. In response, Theodosius sends him to look again in the chest. He goes to the pantry, goes to the bottom of the barrel and sees that the bottom of the barrel, previously empty, is full of flour. In this episode, there is both lively dialogue and the effect of a miracle, enhanced precisely thanks to skillfully found details: the baker remembers that there are 3 or 4 handfuls of bran left - this is a concretely visible image and an equally visible image of a bin filled with flour: there is so much of it that it even spills over the wall to the ground.

Another episode is also very interesting: Theodosius stayed with the prince and must return to his monastery. The prince orders a young man to bring him in a cart. He, seeing a modestly dressed man, boldly addresses him: “Chrnorizche! Behold, you are all day apart, but you are difficult (here you are idle all the days, and I work). I can't ride a horse." Theodosius agrees. But as you get closer to the monastery, you meet more and more people who know Theodosius. They respectfully bow to him, and this lad begins to worry: who is this wretched monk? He is completely horrified when he sees how the monastery brethren meet with honor of his fellow traveler. However, the abbot does not reproach the driver and even orders to feed and pay him. We cannot say for sure whether there were such cases with Theodosius. Only one thing is certain: Nestor knew how to describe such interesting cases with a saint, he was a writer of great talent.

Over the next centuries, many dozens of different lives will be written - eloquent and simple, primitive and formal, vital and sincere. Nestor was one of the first Russian hagiographers, and the traditions of his work will be continued and developed in the works of his followers.

3. The genre of hagiographic literature in the 14th-16th centuries

The genre of hagiographic literature was widely used in ancient Russian literature: "The Life of Tsarevich Peter Ordynsky, Rostov (13th century)", "The Life of Procopius of Ustyug" (14th century).

Epiphanius the Wise(died in 1420) entered the history of literature as the author of 2 lives - "The Life of Stephen of Perm" (the Bishop of Perm, who baptized the Komi and created an alphabet for them in their native language), written at the end of the 14th century, and "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh" , created in 1417-1418.

THE LIFE OF ST. SERGIUS OF RADONEZH

How does the life of Epiphanius begin?

Four versts from the glorious in antiquity, but now humble Rostov the Great, on a flat open area on the way to Yaroslavl, a small monastery in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, the provincial Varnitsky monastery, was secluded. Here was the estate of Sergius's parents, the noble and noble boyars of Rostov Cyril and Mary; here was their house; here they lived, preferring the solitude of rural nature to the hustle and bustle of city life at the princely court. Cyril and Maria were kind and charitable people. Speaking of them, blessed Epiphanius remarks that the Lord did not allow Sergius to be born of unrighteous parents. Such an offspring, which, according to the dispensation of God, was to subsequently serve the spiritual benefit and salvation of many, it was fitting to have saintly parents, so that good things would come from good things and the best would be added to the best, so that the praise of both the one born and those themselves who gave birth to the glory of God would mutually increase.

Cyril and Mary already had a son, Stephen, when God gave them another son - the future founder of the Trinity Lavra, the beauty of the Orthodox Church and the indestructible support of their native land. Long before the birth of this holy baby, the wondrous Providence of God already gave a sign about him that he would be a great chosen one of God and a holy branch of a blessed root.

One Sunday afternoon, his pious mother came to church to the Divine Liturpi and humbly stood, according to the then custom, in the porch of the church, along with other wives. The liturgy began; they had already sung the thrice-holy song, and now, not long before the reading of the holy Gospel, suddenly, amid the general silence and reverent silence, the baby cried out in her womb, so that many paid attention to this cry.

When they began to sing the Cherubic Hymn, the baby cried out another time, and, moreover, so loudly that his voice was heard throughout the church. It is clear that his mother was frightened, and the women standing near her began to talk to each other, what could this unusual cry of a baby mean?

Meanwhile, the liturgy continued. The priest exclaimed: “Look! holy to the holy!”

At this pronouncement, the baby cried out a third time, and the embarrassed mother almost fell from fear: she began to cry ... Then women surrounded her and, perhaps, wanting to help her calm the crying child, they began to ask: “where is your baby? Why is he screaming so loud? But Mary, in emotional agitation, shedding tears, could hardly utter to them: “I don’t have a baby; ask someone else."

The women began to look around, and not seeing the baby anywhere, again pestered Mary with the same question. Then she was forced to tell them frankly that she really did not have a baby in her arms, but she was carrying him in her womb ...

These are the lines that precede the life, already pointing to a miracle that happened with the future saint.

The reverent scribe of the life of Sergius, the Monk Epiphanius, accompanies his narration about this extraordinary incident with such a reflection: “It is worthy of surprise, he says, that the baby, being in the womb of his mother, did not cry out anywhere outside the church, in a secluded place where there was no one, - but precisely in front of the people, as if so that many would hear him and become reliable witnesses of this circumstance. It is also remarkable that he shouted not somehow quietly, but to the whole church, as if letting everyone know that he would serve God from childhood. Another interesting fact is that he did not proclaim once or twice, but precisely three times, showing that he would be a true disciple of the Holy Trinity, since the trinity number is preferred to any other number, because everywhere and always this number is the source and beginning of everything. good and saving.

After the described incident, the mother became even more attentive to her condition. Always having in mind that she was carrying a baby in her womb, who would be the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, Mary during the rest of her pregnancy was preparing to meet in him a future ascetic of piety and temperance. Thus, the God-fearing mother of the holy child remained in strict fasting and frequent heartfelt prayer; so the child herself, the blessed fruit of her womb, even before her birth, was in some way already cleansed and sanctified by fasting and prayer.

And so the righteous Mary, together with her husband, made such a promise: if God gives them a son, then dedicate him to the service of God. This meant that they, for their part, promised to do everything they could so that the will of God would be fulfilled on their future child, the secret predestination of God would be accomplished about him, to which they already had some indication.

May 3, 1319 in the house of the boyar Kirill was the general joy and joy: God gave Mary a son. They named him Bartholomew, since he was born on the day of Bartholomew. At the baptism of their son, Cyril and Mary told the priest about that incident in the church, and he, as well-versed in the Holy Scriptures, showed them many examples from the Old and New Testaments, when God's chosen ones from the womb of their mother were destined to serve God.

Meanwhile, the mother, and then others, again began to notice something unusual in the baby: when the mother happened to be satisfied with meat food, the baby did not take her nipples; the same thing was repeated, and already without any reason, on Wednesdays and Fridays: so that on these days the baby was left without food at all. Returned by fasting in the mother's womb, the baby even at birth seemed to demand fasting from the mother. And the mother, indeed, began to observe the fast even more strictly: she completely left meat food, and the baby, except for Wednesday and Friday, always fed on mother's milk after that. One day, Mary gave the baby into the arms of another woman, so that she would feed him with her breast; but the child did not want to take the nipples of a strange mother; the same thing happened with other wet nurses… “The good branch of a good root, says blessed Epiphanius, fed only on pure milk that gave birth to him. Thus, this infant from the womb of his mother knew God, in the very swaddling clothes he learned the truths, in the very cradle he got used to fasting and, together with his mother's milk, learned to abstinence ... Being still an infant by nature, he already began fasting above nature; from infancy, he was a pet of purity, nourished not so much by milk as by piety, and chosen by God even before birth "...

When Bartholomew was seven years old, his parents sent him to learn to read and write. Together with Bartholomew, his two brothers also studied: the elder Stefan and the younger Peter. The brothers studied successfully, although Peter was not even six years old at that time, and Bartholomew was far behind them. The teacher punished him, his comrades reproached and even laughed at him, his parents persuaded him; Yes, and he himself strained all the efforts of his childish mind, spent the nights over a book, and often, hiding from the eyes of people, somewhere in solitude, wept bitterly about his inability, fervently and zealously prayed to the Lord God: “Give me, Lord, , understand this charter; Teach me, O Lord, enlighten and enlighten! But the diploma was still not given to him.

Since his father sent him into the field to look for foals, which task was especially to the liking of the boy, who loved to retire from people. It was here that an extraordinary adventure happened to him.

On the field, under an oak tree, Bartholomew saw an unfamiliar elder-Chernoriz, the rank of presbyter; the reverent and angel-like elder brought his prayers to the omnipresent God here and shed tears of heartfelt tenderness before the All-Knowing. Having bowed to him, the modest youth respectfully stepped aside, not wanting to interrupt his conversations with God, and stood close, waiting for the end of the prayer. The elder finished the prayer; he looked with love at the good child, and, seeing in him with his spiritual eyes the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit, affectionately called him to him, blessed him, kissed him paternally, and asked: “What do you need, child?”

“They sent me to learn to read and write,” Bartholomew said through tears, and most of all my soul would like to learn how to read the word of God; but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t learn, I don’t understand what they are telling me, and I am very sad about it; pray to God for me, holy father, - ask the Lord to open the teaching of the book to me: I believe that God will accept your prayers.

The elder was touched by such speeches of the young child; he saw his zeal, and admiring the beauty of the child’s soul, reflected on his meek faces, raised his hands, raised his eyes to heaven, sighed to God from the depths of his heart and began to pray, asking the child for enlightenment from above ... The elder concluded his inspired prayer with the sacred word: amen, and carefully took out a small ark from his bosom. Opening it, he took from there with three fingers a small particle of holy prosphora, and, blessing Bartholomew with it, said: “Take this, child, and snow; this is given to you as a sign of the grace of God and understanding Holy Scripture. . bread is so small: great is the sweetness of eating from it.

Rejoicing with all his heart that God had led him to meet such a holy elder, Bartholomew sweetly listened to his soulful instructions; like seeds for good land, so did the gracious words of the elder fall on his good heart.

Meanwhile, as the elder said, it happened: a wonderful change took place with the lad. Whatever book he opened, he immediately began to read it without any difficulty, understanding the meaning of what he was reading. So the gift of God, so unexpectedly sent down to him, acted in the young Bartholomew and enlightened his mind. Needless to say, after this incident, he soon outstripped both his brothers and other comrades in teaching.

With all his soul, Bartholomew fell in love with church services and did not omit a single church service.

Epiphanius brings to the attention of readers that our ancestors did not know and did not like to read any books of secular content; the lives of the saints, patristic writings, various palei, collections, annalistic tales about the past destinies of their native land - these are the books that were favorite reading of that time. And Bartholomew read these books.

He soon realized that even in adolescence, passions begin to show their destructive power, which is worth a lot of work to contain; and whoever succumbs at least once in his youth to their attraction and allows them to bind himself with vicious inclinations, it is all the more difficult for him to overcome them. And so the prudent youth takes all measures to protect himself from their influence, and cuts off all the ways in which they are accustomed to find access to a person's heart. Then the holy youth imposes a strict fast on himself: on Wednesdays and Fridays he does not allow himself to eat anything, and on other days he eats only bread and water. About any other drinks, not to mention wine, he does not allow himself to think all his life.

And the holy lad never even allowed himself to taste any sweet dishes or drinks. Thus, taming his young flesh with abstinence and labors to preserve purity of soul and body, he did not go beyond the will of his parents in anything: as a meek and obedient son, he was a true consolation for them.

“And before the monastic image, a perfect monk was seen in him,” says blessed Epiphanius, “his tread was full of modesty and chastity. No one saw him laughing, and if a meek smile sometimes appeared on his beautiful face, then it was also restrained; and more often his face was thoughtful and serious; tears were often noticeable in his eyes - witnesses of his heartfelt tenderness; the inspired psalms of David never left his lips. Always quiet and silent, meek and humble, he was affectionate and courteous with everyone, did not get irritated with anyone, and lovingly accepted occasional troubles from everyone. He walked in bad clothes, and if he met a poor man, he willingly gave him his clothes.

Here it is appropriate to say a few words about the state of the Russian land at the time we are describing, in order to know under what circumstances Bartholomew's parents lived, and under what conditions Bartholomew himself was brought up.

Truly difficult times were then!.. The Tatar yoke was a heavy burden on the shoulders of the Russian people. No one dared to think of throwing off this hated yoke. The princes now and then went to the Horde - now to bow to the then formidable Mongol khans, then to sue and compete among themselves, and how much noble princely blood was shed in the Golden Horde out of envy and fratricidal hatred of the ambitious.

The Tatar yoke did not go unnoticed in folk morality: “forgetting the pride of the people,” says Karamzin, “we have learned the low tricks of slavery, replacing strength in the weak; deceiving the Tatars, they deceived each other even more; buying money from the violence of the barbarians, they became greedy and insensitive to insults, to shame, subject to the arrogance of foreign tyrants. From the time of Vasily Yaroslavich to John Kalita (the most unfortunate period!) our fatherland looked more like a dark forest than a state: power seemed right; whoever could, robbed: not only strangers, but also his own; there was no security either on the road or at home; theft has become a common sore of property"...

Yes, it was hard for the Russian land in those mournful times; it was difficult, impossible to defeat a strong enemy, and precisely because the Russian princes quarreled more and more among themselves, there was no unity, the entire vast Russian land was divided into pieces. And if they did not finally realize the need for this unity - who knows? - perhaps Orthodox Rus' would have completely perished, falling under the dominion of more dangerous enemies.

But God did not allow such a disaster to happen. Our chief hierarchs were the first to understand the danger: they always told the princes that unanimity among them was necessary to save Russia from final destruction; when it was possible, the saints were always peacemakers in the strife of the princes, acting both with the word of persuasion and with the power of spiritual authority. And the perspicacious Saint Peter laid a solid foundation for the unification of the Russian land, moving forever from Vladimir, on the Klyazma, to the then unremarkable town of Moscow, to the intelligent and pious Prince John Danilovich Kalita. This Prince began to persistently put into practice the idea of uniting the Russian land, outlined by his father, and annexed one by one the neighboring principalities to Moscow.

Of course, the righteous parents of Bartholomew did not escape these people's sorrows either. The glorious and eminent boyar Kirill, who had previously described the events in Rostov, began to endure hardship in his old age. Frequent travels to the Horde with his prince, heavy tributes and unbearable gifts to the Horde nobles, without which these travels never did - a cruel famine that often devastated the Rostov region, and most of all, says the Monk Epiphanius, the great army or the invasion of Turalykovo in 1327 - all this together responded extremely unfavorably to his condition and almost brought him to poverty.

Bartholomew's parents decided to find another place of residence. The opportunity soon presented itself. At 12 versts from the Trinity Lavra, in the direction of Moscow, there is the village of Gorodishche or Gorodok, which in ancient times bore the name of Radonezh. As soon as this became known in Rostov, many of its inhabitants, hoping to find relief for themselves; stretched to Radonezh. Among these settlers, Epiphanius names Protasy the Thousand, Georgy, the son of Protopopov with his family, John and Theodore Tormasovs, their relatives Duden and Onesimus, a former Rostov nobleman, and later a deacon and disciple of Sergiev. Blessed Cyril and all his family moved among them and settled in Radonezh near the Church of the Nativity of Christ.

Further, Epifan describes Bartholomew's desire to go to a monastery, but his parents ask him to stay with them for the time being, and after their death he can go to a monastery. Bartholomew agrees and stays with them, still observing all fasts, leading an ascetic lifestyle.

After the death of his parents, he leaves people together with his brother Stefan, who had grief in the family: his beloved wife died, and he agrees to leave with his brother away from people.

The brothers leave their world and go to the very wilderness of neighboring forests ...

In those days, anyone who wanted a solitary life could freely go into the forest alone or with a friend, build a hut for himself or dig a cave in any place and settle here. The brothers walked for a long time in the surrounding forests; Finally, they fell in love with one place, remote not only from dwellings, but also from the ways of men. This place was destined by God Himself for the construction of a monastery: above it, worthy people have seen before - one light, another fire, and others felt the fragrance. It was located about ten versts from Khotkovo and was a small area that towered over the neighboring area in the form of a dome, which is why it was called Makovets or Makovitsa.

The brothers prayed fervently at the chosen place of their desert life; betraying themselves into the hands of God, they called on God's blessing to the very place of their future exploits. Then they began to cut down the forest; with great difficulty they carried heavy logs on their own, although accustomed to work, but still boyar shoulders; Little by little, the thicket of the forest thinned out, revealing a place where later God was destined to flourish the glorious Lavra of Sergius. The hermits made for themselves first a hut of tree branches, and then a wretched cell; Finally, near the cell, they also placed a small church. All this was done by the hands of the laboring brothers themselves; they did not want to invite strangers, because bodily labor was a necessary condition for the ascetic life itself.

When the church was ready for consecration, Bartholomew told Stefan: “In flesh you are my elder brother, but in spirit you are instead of a father; and so, tell me: in the name of which Saint should our church be consecrated? What will be her patronal feast?

Why are you asking me about something you know better than me? answered his elder brother. - Of course, you remember how more than once our late parents, in my presence, told you: “Take care of yourself, child: you are no longer ours, but God’s; The Lord Himself chose you before you were born and gave you a good sign when you cried out three times in your mother's womb during the Liturgy. Both the presbyter who baptized you, and the wonderful elder who visited us, said then that this threefold announcement of yours foreshadowed that you would be a disciple of the Most Holy Trinity; and so let our church be dedicated to the Most Holy Name of the Life-Giving Trinity; it will not be our thinking, but God's will: may the name of the Lord be blessed here from now on and forever!

The main principle from which Epiphanius the Wise proceeds in his work is that the hagiographer, describing the life of a saint, must by all means show the exclusivity of his hero, the greatness of his feat, detachment from everything earthly. Hence the desire for an emotional, bright, decorated language that differs from ordinary speech. The lives of Epiphanius are full of quotations from Holy Scripture, because the feat of his heroes should find analogies in biblical history. With his work, Epiphanius demonstrated his true skill, stunned the reader with an endless series of epithets or synonymous metaphors, forcing the reader to think about the meaning of his work. This technique was called "weaving words."

In the hagiography of the 14th-15th centuries, the principle of abstraction became widespread, when “everyday, political, military, economic terminology, job titles, specific natural phenomena of a given country are expelled from the work ...” The writer resorts to paraphrases, using expressions like “a certain nobleman” , "lord of the degree", etc.

The names of episodic characters are also eliminated, they are simply referred to as “someone’s husband”, “some wife”, while adding “someone”, “someone”, “one” serve to remove the phenomenon from the surrounding everyday environment, from a specific historical environment. The hagiographic principles of Epiphanius found their continuation in the work of Pachomius Logothetes.

Pachomius Logothete.

Pachomius, a Serb by origin, arrived in Rus' no later than 1438. For 40-80 years, his work falls: he wrote at least 10 lives, many laudatory words, services to saints and other works.

Let us recall the life of Theodosius of the Caves, how Anthony dissuaded him, recalling the difficulties awaiting him on the monastic path, how by all means she tried to return his mother to worldly life. A similar situation exists in the Life of Cyril Belozersky, written by Pachomius. The young man Kozma is brought up by his uncle, a rich and eminent man. The uncle wants to make Kozma treasurer, but the young man longs to be tonsured a monk. And so it happened that Father Superior Stephen came and the young man fell at his feet, shed tears, begged him to tonsure him a monk, and he fulfilled the desire of the guy.

Then Stefan goes to Timothy, the guy's uncle, to tell him about the tonsure of his nephew. The conflict is only barely outlined, not depicted. Timothy, having heard about what had happened, “the word was hard to understand, and at the same time, sorrow was filled with some annoying utterance to Stefan.” That offended one leaves, but Timothy, ashamed of his pious wife, immediately repents "about the words spoken to Stephen", returns him and asks for forgiveness. In a word, in the "standard" eloquent expressions, a standard situation is depicted, in no way correlated with the specific characters of this life.

At the beginning of the 15th century, under the pen of Pachomius Logothetes, a new hagiographic canon was created - eloquent, "decorated" lives, in which lively, "realistic" lines gave way to beautiful, but dry paraphrases. But along with this, lives of a different type appear, boldly breaking traditions, touching with their sincerity and ease. Such is the Life of Mikhail Klopsky.

"The Life of Mikhail Klopsky".

The very beginning of life is unusual. Instead of the traditional beginning, the hagiographer's story about the birth, childhood, and tonsure of the future saint, this life begins from the middle, and at the same time from an unexpected and mysterious scene.

The monks of the Trinity on Klop (near Novgorod) monastery were in the church for prayer. Pope Macarius, returning to his cell, finds that the cell is unlocked, and an unknown old man is sitting in it and rewriting the book of the apostolic deeds. The pope, “thrown up”, returned to the church, called the abbot and the brethren, and together with them returned to the cell. But the cell turned out to be locked from the inside, and the elder, unfamiliar to him, continues to write. When asked, he answers very strangely: he repeats word for word every question put to him. The monks could not even find out his name.

The elder visits the church with the rest of the monks, prays with them, and the abbot decides: “Be an elder with us, live with us.” The rest of the life is a description of the miracles performed by Michael (his name is reported by the prince who visited the monastery). Even the story of Michael's "repose" is surprisingly unsophisticated, with mundane details, and there is no traditional praise for the saint.

The singularity of the "Life of Michael of Klopsky", created in the age of the creations of Pachomius Logofet, should not, however, surprise us. The point here is not only the originality of the author, but also the fact that the author of the life is a Novgorodian, he continues in his work the traditions of Novgorod hagiography, which, like all the literature of Novgorod of that time, was distinguished by immediacy, unpretentiousness, simplicity, in comparison with the literature of Moscow or Vladimir-Suzdal Rus.

However, the "realism" of the life, its plot amusingness, the liveliness of the scenes and dialogues - all this was so contrary to the hagiographic canon that the life had to be reworked already in the next century.

Let's compare only one episode - the description of the death of Michael in the 15th century and in the alteration of the 16th century. In the original edition we read: “And Michael fell ill in the month of December on Savin's day, going to the church. And he stood on the right side of the church, in the yard, opposite the tomb of Theodosius. And the abbot and the elders began to say to him: “Why, Michael, are you not standing in the church, but standing in the yard?” And he told them, "I want to lie down." Yes, he took with him a censer and temyan (incense), but he went to his cell. And the abbot sent nets and threads from the meal to him. And they unlocked it, the thyme is still smoking, but he is gone (he died). And they began to look for places, the earth froze, where to put it. And remembering the blacks to the abbot - try the place where Michael stood. Ino from that place looked through, even the earth was melting. And they bury him honestly.” This laid-back, lively story has undergone a drastic revision. So, to the question of the hegumen and the brethren, why he prays in the courtyard, Michael now answers this way: “Behold my rest forever and ever, as if the imam will dwell here.” The episode when he goes to his cell is also reworked: “And he burns the censer, and having placed incense on the coals, he departs to his cell, while the marveling brothers, who saw the saint, are so much exhausted, and yet so much the fortress is received. The abbot departs for the meal and sends a meal to the saint, commanding him to taste. They came from the hegumen and entered the cell of the saint, and seeing him went to the Lord, and having their hands bent in the shape of a cross, and in a way, as if sleeping and emitting a lot of fragrance. Further, weeping is described at the burial of Michael; moreover, not only the monks and the archbishop “with the whole sacred council”, but also the whole people mourn him: people rush to the funeral, “like the rapids of the river, the tears are incessantly shedding”. In a word, under the editorship of Vasily Tuchkov, the life acquires exactly the form in which, for example, Pakhomiy Logofet would have created it. These attempts to get away from the canons, to let the breath of life into literature, to decide on literary fiction, to renounce straightforward didactics, were manifested not only in the lives.

The genre of hagiographic literature continued to develop in the 17th and 18th centuries: “The Tale of a Luxurious Life and Joy”, “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum” (1672); "The Life of Patriarch Joachim Savelov" (1690), "The Life of Simon Volomsky", the end of the 17th century; "The Life of Alexander Nevsky". The autobiographical moment is fixed in different ways in the 17th century: here is the life of the mother, compiled by the son (“The Tale of Uliaia Osorgina”); and "ABC", compiled on behalf of "a naked and poor man"; and "Message of a noble enemy"; and the autobiographies proper - Avvakum and Epiphanius, written simultaneously in the same earthen prison in Pustozersk and representing a kind of diptych.

"The Life of Archpriest Avvakum" is the first autobiographical work of Russian literature, in which Avvakum himself spoke about himself and his long-suffering life.

Speaking about the work of Archpriest Avvakum, A.N. Tolstoy wrote: “These were brilliant “life” and “messages” of the rebel, frantic Archpriest Avvakum, who ended his literary activity with terrible torture and execution in Pustozersk. Avvakum's speech is all about the gesture, the canon is shattered to smithereens, you physically feel the presence of the narrator, his gestures, his voice.

4. Conclusion

Having studied the poetics of individual works of ancient Russian literature, we will draw a conclusion about the features of the hagiography genre.

So, life is a genre of ancient Russian literature that describes the life of a saint. In this genre, there are different hagiographic types: life-martyria (a story about the martyrdom of a saint), monastic life (a story about the whole path of a righteous man, his piety, asceticism, miracles he performed, etc.). The characteristic features of the hagiographic canon are:

cold rationality

Conscious detachment from specific facts, names, realities

Theatricality and artificial pathos of dramatic episodes, the presence of such elements of the saint's life, about which the hagiographer did not have the slightest information.

The importance of the moment of miracle, revelation. It is the miracle that brings movement and development into the biography of the saint.

I must say that the genre of life does not stand still, it is gradually changing. The authors depart from the canons, letting the breath of life into literature, decide on literary fiction (“The Life of Mikhail Klopsky”), speak in a simple language (“The Life of Archpriest Avvakum”).

Old Russian literature took shape and developed along with the growth of the general education of society.

Against this general cultural background, original and independent-minded writers, medieval publicists, and poets appeared.

5. Literature

D.S. Likhachev. Great legacy. Classical works of literature of Ancient Russia.-M., 1975, p.19

I.P. Eremin. Literature of Ancient Rus' (etudes and characteristics). - M.-L., 1966, p.132-143

D.S. Likhachev. Man in the literature of Ancient Russia.-M., 1970, p.65.

I.P. Eremin. Literature of Ancient Rus' (etudes and characteristics).-M.-L., .1966, p.21-22

V.O.Klyuchevsky. Ancient Russian Lives of the Saints as a historical source.-M., 1871, p.166.

Life as a genre of ancient Russian literature

In the 11th-beginning of the 12th century, the first lives of 2 lives of Boris and Gleb, The Life of Theodosius of the Caves, Anthony of the Caves (not preserved to this day) were created.

Their writing was an important step in the ideological policy of the Russian state.

The first and important condition for the canonization of a saint was the creation of the life of this saint.

Here we give an example of the life of Boris and Gleb, Theodosius of the Caves.

Both lives were written by Nestor.

Features of the genre of the life of the first Russian saints

“Reading about Boris and Gleb” begins with an introduction to the history of the entire human race: the creation of Adam and Eve, their fall into sin, the denunciation of the “idolatry” of people, the recollection of the teaching and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, who came to save the entire human race, as the apostles began to preach the new doctrine, and how the new faith triumphed.

Boris Nestor compares with the biblical Joseph, who also suffered because of the envy of his brothers.

If we compare the life with the chronicle, we can see that the chronicle says nothing about the childhood and youth of Boris and Gleb.

Here is another feature of the hagiographic genre - abstraction, avoidance of concreteness, lively dialogue, names, even lively intonations in dialogues and monologues.

In the description of the murder of Boris and Gleb, there are also no bright colors, only prayer is shown, moreover, a ritual one, they rush the killers to “finish their work”.

“Morality is the same in all ages and for all people. By reading about the obsolete in detail, we can find a lot for ourselves.” . These words of academician D.S. Likhachev make us think about what spiritual literature can bestow on the modern reader, what we can discover in it for ourselves.

Spiritual literature is a special layer of Russian culture and, in particular, literature.

The very definition - "spiritual" - indicates its purpose: to create a spirit in a person (that which encourages action, to activity), to educate morally, to show the ideal. Ancient Russian literature put forward Jesus Christ as an ideal. His example is followed by the heroes of the hagiographic genre.

Life is one of the most stable and traditional genres of Russian literature. The first translations of hagiographic works were brought from Byzantium and appeared in Rus' along with the Bible and other Christian books at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century. In the same 11th century, the genre of hagiography established itself in the literature of Kievan Rus.

It was then that original hagiographic works were created, the heroes of which were born on Russian soil and made her pride in front of other countries that profess Christianity. These are the princes-brothers Boris and Gleb, who at the cost of their lives did not violate the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” and did not raise arms against brother Svyatopolk; Rev. Theodosius of the Caves, church leader and author of teachings; princes - ascetics of Christianity Olga, Vladimir, Alexander Nevsky.

The composition of the correct life should be three-part: an introduction, a story about the life and deeds of a saint from birth to death, praise; quite often a description of miracles was added to the life.

A lofty theme - a story about the life of a person serving people and God - determines the image of the author in his life and the style of narration. The emotionality of the author, his excitement paint the whole story in lyrical tones and create a special, solemnly sublime mood. The style of narration is lofty, solemn, saturated with quotations from the Holy Scriptures.

So, the canonical features of life:

is a biography of a saint;
- compiled after the death of the righteous;
- the story is told in the third person;
- the composition is built according to a strict scheme;
- a way of depicting a hero - idealization;
- the inner world of the hero is not depicted in development, he is the chosen one from the moment of birth;
- space and time are conditional;
- in the image of the saint, if possible, all individual character traits, in particular, accidents, were eliminated;
- the tone of the narration is solemn, serious;
- the language of life is bookish, with an abundance of Church Slavonicisms;
- the plot is the spiritual feat of the saint.

Thus, the spiritual ideals of Ancient Rus' found expression in a strict hagiographic form, thought out to the details, polished for centuries.

The creators of the biographies did not set themselves the task of showing the individual character of the saint. He was the bearer of Christian virtues, and nothing more. But when the lives of Russian saints were created, their images were still alive in the memory of their descendants, and the authors often deviated from this scheme, endowing the hero with bright individual human features, thereby “humanizing” the image of the saint, bringing him closer to the reader. As it developed, ancient Russian literature more and more went beyond the church framework, while maintaining its high spiritual mood, moral highness and instructiveness. So it happened with the genre of life.

Three original lives compiled according to these canons have come down to us: two lives of princes Boris and Gleb and The life of Theodosius of the Caves.

Already in our time, Andrei Rublev, Ambrose of Optinsky, Xenia of Petersburg have been canonized and recognized as saints, and their lives have been written. Recently, the lives of the elders have been published: Archpriest Nikolai (Guryanov), Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov).

In 2004, the publishing house of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent in the city of Yekaterinburg published the book “The Life and Miracles of the Holy Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, the Wonderworker”. This life is built according to the laws of the genre; traditional canonical features can be found in it.

First of all, this is a biography of St. Simeon, compiled after the death of the righteous man (as it should be in accordance with the laws of the genre). But if earlier space and time were conventionally depicted in hagiographies, in this work they are real and concrete. True, the year of Simeon's birth is not exactly indicated, but presumably he was born around 1607. He was born and lived at first in the European part of Russia. His parents belonged to the nobility. Unfortunately, neither their names nor occupation are known. “Probably, the parents of the saint of God were God-fearing people and had great zeal for educating good-naturedness and true faith in their son. This is evidenced by the whole subsequent life of the righteous.” .

As in traditional lives, the way the hero is depicted is idealization: “From an early age, Simeon felt disgust for earthly goods and the inevitable worldly unrest. From a young age, he aspired to contemplation and soul-saving works, but the environment was an obstacle in this good deed. Desiring to find solitude for a more convenient fulfillment of the exploits of piety, as well as avoiding temptations and troubles alien to his soul, the righteous Simeon decided to leave his homeland, wealth, nobility and retire to more secluded places. . His choice fell on Siberia, which had been attached to Russia not long before and was still little known to the Russian people.

Talking about the later life of Simeon, the authors of the life name specific places and dates. Saint Simeon settled in the village of Merkushino, located on the banks of the Tura River, fifty miles from the fortress city of Verkhoturye. Verkhoturye was founded in 1598, shortly before the arrival of Righteous Simeon in Siberia. And the village of Merkushino was founded at the beginning of the 17th century.

In the description of the village of Merkushino, one can see some signs of the traditional hagiographical genre: the use of epithets and metaphors makes the narrative more expressive, vivid, and gives liveliness to the language. “The village of Merkushino was distinguished by its majestically wonderful location. Here the bizarre bends of the Tura, water meadows, hills, the expanse of valleys and dense forests, which seem to be an obstacle to any fuss, are connected. And the most amazing thing is that all this could be covered with one glance. .

In general, the language of the work is bookish, the narration is conducted in the third person, it is distinguished by its leisurely presentation, calm intonation - just as it was in other lives. There are also obsolete words here: verst, niello, idol temples, dust, etc. But there are almost no Church Slavonicisms in the language of life, it is simple and understandable to the reader of the 21st century.

The new approach of the authors of the life of Simeon was also manifested in the fact that, narrating about the life of a righteous man, they also talk about the historical era of the 16th century, and about the customs of people, and about their way of life. Here, for example, is a description of the life of the peasants in the village of Merkushino: “The huts then mostly consisted of one room where the whole family lived. Everyone dined at one large table under the icons in the red corner, ate from a common bowl, most often cabbage soup and porridge, scooped them up in turn, starting with the eldest in the family. At night, everyone went to sleep on benches near the walls, and those who did not have enough space, he also lay down on the floor. . Of course, for a person from the nobility, such an existence would be a difficult burden to bear. But the righteous Simeon, despite his noble origin and, consequently, the exacting tastes and habits, did not disdain life in peasant houses.

Talking about the life of Simeon in Merkushino, hagiographers tell about his studies, prayers. Living in Merkushino, Simeon did not have a permanent home, but moved from house to house. This was facilitated by the occupation by which the righteous maintained his existence. This occupation was tailoring. Of all types of clothing, Simeon sewed mainly “fur coats with stripes”, and working on other people's clothes, “thought about the clothes of his soul, about the clothes of dispassion and chastity”. . With particular love, he worked for poor people, from whom he usually refused to take payment for his labors. He considered the shelter and food that he used from the owners during work to be quite sufficient for himself.

Another favorite pastime of Simeon was fishing. To do this, he went to a secluded place with a fishing rod in his hands. There, sitting under a spreading spruce on the banks of the Tura, he “thought about the greatness of the Creator.”

By tradition, the inner world of a person is not depicted in development, the hero is ideal, since he is the chosen one from the moment of birth. These ideal features are constantly emphasized by the authors. In order to avoid payment for his labor, the righteous Simeon, not quite finished sewing, often left home early in the morning without the knowledge of the owners and settled in a new place. For this, he was often insulted and even beaten, but the righteous man, not having a high opinion of himself, endured them patiently, as well-deserved.

In catching fish, he showed moderation: he caught fish only for daily food.

In the ancient lives, when depicting a saint, all individual character traits, particulars, were eliminated. One cannot say the same about the image of Simeon. Before us, however, is not an abstract ideal, but an earthly sufferer, a living person. We can imagine his personality, character: “The humble, quiet appearance of a saint of God, his meek, respectful treatment of everyone, his simple and wise word made an amazing impression, no doubt softening the hardness of many hearts.” .

The composition of the life meets the requirements of the genre. Finishing the description of the life path of Simeon, the authors sum up. The narrative about the death of the hero is distinguished by a calm intonation, unhurried presentation (as was the case in the ancient lives): “Suffering from a stomach illness, probably from strict abstinence, the righteous Simeon passed away to the Lord at a rather young age. This happened between 1642 and 1650. The inhabitants of the village of Merkushino, who had deep respect for the righteous man, buried him with honor at the newly built parish church of Michael the Archangel.” . The authors of the life claim that, unlike most of the holy elders, Simeon died young: “The feat of the Merkushinsky saint of God, during his lifetime not noticed by many, and even ridiculed by some, was an exceptional phenomenon. By zealous fulfillment of the gospel commandments, Saint Simeon was cleansed of passions, returned to his soul the likeness of God in a relatively short life - he departed to the Kingdom of Heaven at the age of 35-40, although many great saints of God achieved such purification of the heart only on the slope of their lives. Summing up his life, the authors again emphasize the ideality of the hero: “he was a wondrous saint of God.” .

Then, in accordance with the composition of the genre, posthumous miracles are described. After his death, the body of Simeon turned out to be incorruptible: in 1692, the coffin with the body of Simeon suddenly began to “rise from the earth and appeared on top of the grave. Through the cracks of its lid one could see the incorruptible remains. Soon, jets of miraculous power flowed abundantly from the relics of the saint.

The following are examples of healings. For example, the Nerchinsk voivode Antony Savelov had a servant Grigory sick (he could hardly move). The voivode, going to the place of service in Nerchinsk, took with him a servant, who asked permission to call on the way to Merkushino to the tomb of the righteous. After the memorial service, Gregory, taking some earth from the coffin, wiped his hands and feet with it, and then got to his feet and began to walk.

Another example: the Siberian governor Andrei Fedorovich Naryshkin had a servant, Ilya Golovachev, whose eyes hurt, so that he could not even bear the light. He was also helped by the earth from the grave of Simeon the Righteous.

There are many such examples in the book. The authors took these historical details from the manuscript of the Metropolitan of Tobolsk and Siberian Ignatius - “The story of the well-known and testified about the manifestation of honest relics and partly the legend of the miracles of the holy and righteous Simeon, the new Siberian miracle worker.” It was Bishop Ignatius who led the examination of the relics of Simeon in 1695.

The life also describes the further fate of the relics of Simeon. In 1704 they were transferred from the village of Merkushino to the Verkhotursky St. Nicholas Monastery. An interesting fact about the miracles during this procession is given in the life. The transfer took place on September 12, 1704. The solemn procession headed from Merkushino to Verkhoturye. Following the relics, the foolish cripple Kosma crawled on his knees. When he got tired, he prayed to the righteous as if he were alive: "Brother Simeon, let's have a rest." And the procession immediately stopped, because the shrine could not be moved for some time. On the way of the procession, in memory of these wonderful stops, several chapels were subsequently erected, which still exist today.

A detailed story about the ordeal of Simeon's relics after the October Revolution, about their transfer to the local history museum of N. Tagil, then to Yekaterinburg, about the fate of the people involved in these events - all this makes up the second part of Simeon's life. In addition, the book includes appendices containing descriptions of cases of assistance and appearances of Simeon Verkhotursky to the suffering. These testimonies were left with gratitude by people who lived not only in ancient times, but also in our time, which, it would seem, is far from miracles.

Such a construction of the book, of course, does not correspond to the traditions of the genre. However, on the whole, in the life of Simeon (especially in its first part), the canonical features of life are undoubtedly visible, although elements of innovation are observed.

You can believe or not believe the miracles described in the lives. But stories about the life of the righteous, about their service to people in our time are not only necessary, but also interesting.

In our time, reading such instructive works is very important. “For people of our century, far from ideal service to the world and people, rarely looking into themselves, thinking more about the present than about the eternal, the heroes of hagiographic works seem strange. But, turning over the pages of Russian hagiographies, readers gradually discover for themselves the brightest, most secret ideals. .

List of used literature.

The Life and Miracles of the Holy Righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, the Wonderworker. - Publishing house MPRO Convent Novo-Tikhvinsky Yekaterinburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2004.
Likhachev D.S. Man in the Literature of Ancient Rus'. - M., 1970.
Okhotnikova V.I. Old Russian literature. - M .: Education, 2002.