From life to literary biography. Abstract: Hagiographic literature of Russia

Of the literature intended for reading, in ancient Russia, hagiographic or hagiographic literature (from the Greek auos - saint) was most widespread, through which the church sought to give its flock examples of the practical application of abstract Christian provisions. The conditional, idealized image of a Christian ascetic, whose life and activity took place in an atmosphere of legend and miracle, was the most suitable conductor of the ideology that the church was called to spread. The author of the life, the hagio-graph, pursued, first of all, the task of giving such an image of the saint, which would correspond to the established idea of ​​​​an ideal church hero. Only such facts were taken from his life that corresponded to this idea, and everything that disagreed with him was hushed up. Moreover, in a number of cases, events were invented that did not take place in the life of the saint, but contributed to his glorification; it also happened that the facts told in the life of some popular church ascetic were attributed to another ascetic, about whose life very little was known. So, for example, in the practice of Russian original hagiography, there were cases when, when writing the life of some Russian saint, what was said about the Byzantine saint of the same name was borrowed. Such a free attitude to the factual material was a consequence of the fact that hagiography set itself the goal not of a reliable presentation of events, but of an instructive effect. The holy example of his life had to confirm the truth of the basic provisions of the Christian doctrine. Hence the elements of rhetoric and panegyricism, which are inherent in most works of hagiographic literature, hence the established thematic and stylistic pattern that defines the hagiographic genre.

Usually the saint's life began with a brief mention of his parents, who turned out to be mostly pious and at the same time noble people. The saint will be born “from a good parent and pious”, “noble and pious”, “great and glorious”, “rich”. But sometimes a saint came from wicked parents, and this emphasized that, despite the unfavorable conditions of upbringing, a person still became an ascetic. Then there was a discussion about the behavior of the future saint in childhood. He is distinguished by modesty, obedience, diligence in book business, eschews games with peers and is completely imbued with piety. In the future, often from his youth, his ascetic life begins, mostly in a monastery or in desert solitude. It is accompanied by an ascetic mortification of the flesh and a struggle with all sorts of passions. In order, for example, to get rid of female temptation, the saint inflicts physical pain on himself: he cuts off his finger, thus distracting from carnal lusts (cf. the corresponding episode in L. Tolstoy's "Father Sergius"), etc. The saint is often pursued by demons in which the same sinful temptations are embodied, but by prayer, fasting and abstinence, the saint overcomes the devil's obsession. He has the ability to work miracles and communicate with the heavenly powers. The death of a saint is for the most part peaceful and quiet: the saint painlessly departs to another world, and his body emits a fragrance after death; miraculous healings take place at the tomb of the saint and on his grave: the blind receive their sight, the deaf receive hearing, the sick are healed. The life usually ends with praise to the saint.

From the inside, life is characterized in general by the same features that are inherent in secular narrative literature. It often contains the psychological characteristics of the characters, especially the main character, and for her, for the most part, his reflections are used; monologues are common, revealing the state of mind of the characters, all the time in the form of lyrical lamentation, lamentations; the dialogic form of speech is also common, serving to enliven the narrative and to dramatize it. In a number of cases, the hagiographer, digressing from the consistent presentation of the fate of the saint, indulges himself in reflections, often pathetically colored and supported by quotations from "holy Scripture". Finally, in some lives there is a portrait of the saint, schematically drawn by simply listing his main signs.

The canonical form of life takes shape on the soil of Byzantium in the 4th century. Already at that time there was his most characteristic example - the life of Anthony the Great, written by Athanasius of Alexandria. The main theme of this life, artistically translated in the XIX century. Flaubert in his "The Temptation of St. Anthony" - the intense struggle of the saint with demons. The work of the compiler of the second half of the 10th century had a kind of final character in the field of hagiographic literature in Byzantium. Simeon Metafrast, which basically consolidated the tradition of the hagiographic stencil.

Translated lives have long circulated among us either in a common form or in a short form. The first existed separately or were part of the collections, the so-called "Fourth Menyas", that is, books intended for reading and arranging material according to the days of the month; the second, which was a short form of the saint, found a place for itself in the Prologues, or (in Greek) Synaxars, Minologies (the Russian name Prologue came about as a result of the fact that the Russian editor of the collection of the introductory article to the Synaxar - "ProHouo;" took for the title of the collection). "Father Menaia" existed in Russia, apparently already in the 11th century. (the oldest surviving Assumption list of the “Fourth Menaion” for May, written in Russia, dates back to the beginning of the 12th century.) “The Prologue” - in the 12th century. The latter included, on Russian soil, in addition, edifying legends-novels borrowed from the "Pateriki" (see below), and articles of an instructive nature. It arose, one must think, as a result of the cooperation of South Slavic and Russian church leaders, in a place where both could meet, most likely in Constantinople. Already in its early editions, in addition to the biographies of Greek and Yugoslav saints, there are "memory" of Russian saints - Boris and Gleb, Princess Olga, Prince Mstislav, Theodosius of the Caves. Later, on Russian soil, the "Prologue" is replenished with extensive material and becomes the most popular book in the hands of a religious reader. it is used in the fiction of the 19th - early 20th centuries - in the work of Herzen, Tolstoy, Leskov, and others. 2 .

In the XI-XII centuries. in separate lists, translated lives of Nicholas the Wonderworker, Anthony the Great, John Chrysostom, Savva the Sanctified, Basil the New, Andrei the Holy Fool, Alexei the Man of God, Vyacheslav the Czech (the latter of West Slavic origin) and others were known in Russia.

As an example of the hagiographical genre in its widespread form, let us take the life of Alexei the man of God according to the text of the manuscript of the XIV-XV centuries. one .

This life begins with a story about the birth in Rome of the future saint from noble parents, about his commitment to teaching from childhood, about fleeing from his parental home immediately after he was married to a girl from the royal family. Arriving in a strange city and distributing everything he had to the poor, he himself lives there for seventeen years in a beggarly garment, pleasing God in everything. The fame of him spreads throughout the city, and, running away from it, he decides to retire to a new place, but "by the will of God" the ship on which he sailed arrives in Rome. Unrecognized by anyone, mistaken for a wanderer, he settles in the house of his parents, who, together with his wife, grieve inconsolably for the disappeared son and husband. And here he lives for another seventeen years. The servants, violating the order of their masters, mock him in every possible way, but he patiently endures all insults. Dying, Alexei, in a note left before his death, opens up to his family and describes his life after leaving home. He is solemnly buried with a huge gathering of people. At the same time, the deaf, the blind, the lepers, those possessed by demons are miraculously healed.

As it is easy to see, in the life of Alexei we find a number of essential moments of the life genre noted above: here is the origin of the saint from pious and noble parents, and his early inclination to learning, and neglect of the sweets of earthly life, and severe asceticism, and a blessed death, and, finally, posthumous miracles performed at the tomb of the saint. In the life there are both dialogic speech and lyrical lamentations-monologues. In the presentation itself there are elements of a decorated, rhetorical style, combined with the author's lyricism. Traditional in this life are the indication of the childlessness of the saint's parents before his birth, and the departure from the parental home, and the distribution of the saints of their property to the poor, and the evasion of human glory, etc. 2. The life of Alexei, like other monuments of ancient Russian literature and hagiography in particular, was subjected to editorial revisions until the 17th century, influenced a number of subsequent works of our original literature, and, finally, formed the basis of a popular spiritual verse.

Our great interest in the old days in the life of Alexei is explained by the fact that it tells about the life of a man who, by his disregard for everything that a rich, eminent nobility lived, aroused sympathy among those who did not belong to the top of society. Attracted in this life and its general lyrical tone.

On Russian soil in ancient times there were also translated collections of short short stories that told about some instructive episode from the life of a Christian ascetic. These collections, called "Pateriks" or "Otechniks", combined stories about ascetics and hermits who lived in a certain area or in a certain monastery, or about such events and various life cases, witnesses and eyewitnesses of which these hermits were. Elements of entertainment, anecdotism and naive superstition, which were peculiarly intertwined here with everyday episodes of a purely secular nature, contributed to the wide distribution of these stories, which absorbed material that sometimes goes back to pagan mythology. The Prologue absorbed a lot of paterinic legends and this largely determined its popularity.

Of the Patericons, two were especially popular in the old days - the Spiritual Meadow, or the Sinai Patericon by John Moskh (VII century), which recounted events from the life of the Syrian monks, and the Egyptian Patericon, usually bearing the title The Legend of the Egyptian Chernorysts ”and used as a material mainly the “Lavsaik” of Bishop Palladius of Helenopolis, compiled in 420. Both patericons in the 11th century. were already known in Russia. Somewhat later, but still in the era of Kievan Rus, we knew the "Roman Patericon", compiled in the West.

Here is one story - about Mark - from the "Egyptian Patericon".

“This Mark,” says Palladius, “even in his youth knew by heart the writings of the Old and New Testaments; he was very meek and humble, like hardly anyone else. Once I went to him and, sitting at the door of his cells, began to listen to what he was saying or doing. Completely alone inside the cell, almost a hundred years old, who already had no teeth, he was still fighting with himself and with the devil and saying: “What else do you want, old man? And you drank wine, and used oil - what else do you require from me? Gray-haired glutton, glutton, you disgrace yourself. Then, turning to the devil, he said: “Finally, get away from me, devil, you have grown old with me in negligence. Under the pretext of bodily weakness, you forced me to consume wine and oil and made me a voluptuary. Is there anything else I owe you now? You have nothing more to take from me, get away from me, misanthrope." Then, as if jokingly, he would say to himself: “Come on, talker, gray-haired glutton, greedy old man, how long will I be with you?”

In the story "Paterik of Sinai" about the elder Gerasim and the lion, artistically processed by Leskov in modern times, it tells about the touching attachment of the lion to the monk Gerasim, who took out a splinter from the lion's paw that caused him severe pain. Leo after that, serving him, did not part with him, and when Gerasim died, he himself gave up the ghost on his grave, not being able to survive his death.

Entering the Prologue, the Patericon stories found access to the widest circle of readers and influenced some types of original book literature and partly oral literature.

For many centuries, Orthodoxy has had a decisive influence on the formation of Russian identity and Russian culture. In the pre-Petrine period, secular culture practically did not exist in Russia: the entire cultural life of the Russian people was centered around the Church. In the post-Petrine era, secular literature, poetry, painting and music were formed in Russia, reaching their apogee in the 19th century. Having spun off from the Church, Russian culture, however, did not lose that powerful spiritual and moral charge that Orthodoxy gave it, and until the revolution of 1917 it retained live connection with church tradition. In the post-revolutionary years, when access to the treasury of Orthodox spirituality was closed, Russian people learned about faith, about God, about Christ and the Gospel, about prayer, about theology and worship of the Orthodox Church through the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, and other great writers, poets and composers. During the entire seventy-year period of state atheism, Russian culture of the pre-revolutionary era remained the bearer of the Christian gospel for millions of people artificially uprooted from their roots, continuing to testify to those spiritual and moral values ​​that the atheistic authorities questioned or sought to destroy.

Russian literature of the 19th century is rightly considered one of the highest pinnacles of world literature. But her main feature What distinguishes it from the literature of the West of the same period is its religious orientation, a deep connection with the Orthodox tradition. “All our literature of the 19th century is wounded by the Christian theme, all of it is looking for salvation, all of it is looking for deliverance from evil, suffering, the horror of life for the human person, people, humanity, the world. In her most significant creations, she is imbued with religious thought,” writes N.A. Berdyaev.

This also applies to the great Russian poets Pushkin and Lermontov, and to the writers - Gogol, Dostoevsky, Leskov, Chekhov, whose names are inscribed in golden letters not only in the history of world literature, but also in the history of the Orthodox Church. They lived in an era when an increasing number of intellectuals were moving away from the Orthodox Church. Baptism, weddings and funerals still took place in the church, but attending the church every Sunday was considered almost a bad form among people of high society. When one of Lermontov's acquaintances, having entered the church, unexpectedly found the poet praying there, the latter was embarrassed and began to justify himself by saying that he had come to church on some order from his grandmother. And when someone, having entered Leskov's office, found him praying on his knees, he began to pretend that he was looking for a fallen coin on the floor. Traditional clericalism was still preserved among the common people, but was less and less characteristic of the urban intelligentsia. The departure of the intelligentsia from Orthodoxy widened the gap between it and the people. All the more surprising is the fact that Russian literature, contrary to the trends of the times, retained a deep connection with the Orthodox tradition.

The greatest Russian poet A.S. Pushkin (1799-1837), although he was brought up in the Orthodox spirit, departed from traditional clericalism in his youth, but he never completely broke with the Church and repeatedly turned to the religious theme in his works. Pushkin's spiritual path can be defined as a path from pure faith through youthful disbelief to the meaningful religiosity of a mature period. Pushkin went through the first part of this path during his years of study at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, and already at the age of 17 he wrote the poem “Unbelief”, testifying to inner loneliness and the loss of a living connection with God:

Does he silently enter the temple of the Most High with the crowd

There it multiplies only the anguish of his soul.

At the magnificent triumph of ancient altars,

At the voice of the shepherd, at the sweet choir singing,

His unbelief torment worries.

He does not see the secret God anywhere, nowhere,

With a faded soul, the shrine is ahead,

Cold to everything and alien to tenderness

With annoyance, he listens to the quiet prayer.

Four years later, Pushkin wrote the blasphemous poem "Gavriiliada", which he later retracted. However, already in 1826, the turning point in Pushkin's worldview occurred, which is reflected in the poem "Prophet". In it, Pushkin speaks of the vocation of a national poet, using an image inspired by the 6th chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah:

Spiritual thirst tormented,

In the gloomy desert I dragged, -

And a six-winged seraph

Appeared to me at a crossroads.

With fingers as light as a dream
He touched my eyes.

Prophetic eyes opened,

Like a frightened eagle.

He touched my ears
And they were filled with noise and ringing:

And I heard the shudder of the sky,

And the heavenly angels flight,

And the reptile of the sea underwater course,

And the valley of the vine vegetation.

And he clung to my lips,

And tore out my sinful tongue,

And idle-talking, and crafty,

And the sting of the wise snake

In my frozen mouth

He invested it with a bloody right hand.

And he cut my chest with a sword,

And took out a trembling heart

And coal burning with fire

He put a hole in his chest.

Like a corpse in the desert I lay,
And God's voice called out to me:

“Arise, prophet, and see, and listen,
Do my will

And, bypassing the seas and lands,

Burn people's hearts with the verb."

Regarding this poem, Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov remarks: “If we did not have all the other works of Pushkin, but only this one peak sparkled with eternal snow in front of us, we could clearly see not only the greatness of his poetic gift, but also the entire height of his vocations." The acute sense of the divine vocation, reflected in the "Prophet", contrasted with the bustle of secular life, which Pushkin, by virtue of his position, had to lead. Over the years, he became more and more burdened by this life, about which he repeatedly wrote in his poems. On the day of his 29th birthday, Pushkin writes:

A gift in vain, a gift random,

Life, why are you given to me?

Ile why the fate of the mystery

Are you sentenced to death?

Who got me hostile power

Called out of nothingness

Filled my soul with passion

Doubt aroused the mind? ...

There is no goal in front of me:

The heart is empty, the mind is empty,

And makes me sad

The monotonous noise of life.

To this poem, the poet, who at that time was still balancing between faith, disbelief and doubt, received an unexpected response from Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow:

Not in vain, not by chance

God gave me life

Not without the will of God a mystery

And sentenced to death.

I myself by wayward power

Evil from the dark abyss called,

Filled my soul with passion

The mind was filled with doubt.

Remember me, forgotten by me!
Shine through the dusk of thoughts -

And created by You

The heart is pure, the mind is bright!

Struck by the fact that an Orthodox bishop responded to his poem, Pushkin writes Stanzas addressed to Filaret:

In hours of fun or idle boredom,
It used to be my lyre

Entrusted pampered sounds

Madness, laziness and passions.

But even then the strings of the evil one

Involuntarily, I interrupted the ringing,

I was suddenly struck.

I shed streams of unexpected tears,

And the wounds of my conscience

Your fragrant speeches

The clean oil was rejoicing.

And now from a spiritual height

You extend your hand to me

And with the power of meek and loving

You subdue wild dreams.

Your soul is warmed by your fire

Rejected the darkness of earthly vanities,

And listens to Philaret's harp

In sacred horror the poet.

At the request of censorship, the last stanza of the poem was changed and in the final version it sounded like this:

Your soul burns with fire

Rejected the darkness of earthly vanities,

And listens to the harp of the Seraphim

In sacred horror the poet.

Pushkin's poetic correspondence with Filaret was one of rare cases the contact of two worlds, which in the 19th century were separated by a spiritual and cultural abyss: the world of secular literature and the world of the Church. This correspondence speaks of Pushkin's departure from the unbelief of his youth, the rejection of the "madness, laziness and passions" characteristic of his early creativity. Poetry, prose, journalism and dramaturgy of Pushkin in the 1830s testify to the ever-increasing influence of Christianity, the Bible, and the Orthodox Church on him. He repeatedly rereads the Holy Scriptures, finding in it a source of wisdom and inspiration. Here are Pushkin's words about the religious and moral significance of the Gospel and the Bible:

There is a book by which every word is interpreted, explained, preached in all ends of the earth, applied to all sorts of circumstances of life and events of the world; from which it is impossible to repeat a single expression that everyone would not know by heart, which would not already be a proverb of the peoples; it no longer contains anything unknown to us; but this book is called the Gospel - and such is its ever-new charm that if we, sated with the world or dejected by despondency, accidentally open it, then we are no longer able to resist its sweet passion and are immersed in spirit in its divine eloquence.

I think that we will never give the people anything better than the Scriptures... Its taste becomes clear when you start reading the Scriptures, because in it you find the whole human life. Religion created art and literature; everything that was great in the deepest antiquity, everything depends on this religious feeling inherent in man, just like the idea of ​​beauty along with the idea of ​​goodness ... The poetry of the Bible is especially accessible to pure imagination. My children will read with me the Bible in the original... The Bible is universal.

Another source of inspiration for Pushkin is Orthodox worship, which in his youth left him indifferent and cold. One of the poems, dated 1836, includes a poetic transcription of the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian "Lord and Master of my life", read at Lenten services.

In Pushkin of the 1830s, religious sophistication and enlightenment were combined with rampant passions, which, according to S.L. Frank, is a hallmark of the Russian "broad nature". Dying from a wound received in a duel, Pushkin confessed and took communion. Before his death, he received a note from Emperor Nicholas I, whom he had known personally from a young age: “Dear friend, Alexander Sergeevich, if we are not destined to see each other in this world, take my last advice: try to die a Christian.” The great Russian poet died a Christian, and his peaceful death was the completion of the path that I. Ilyin defined as the path “from disappointed unbelief to faith and prayer; from revolutionary rebellion to free loyalty and wise statehood; from dreamy worship of freedom to organic conservatism; from youthful polygamy - to the cult of the family hearth. Having traveled this path, Pushkin took a place not only in the history of Russian and world literature, but also in the history of Orthodoxy - as a great representative of that cultural tradition, which is all saturated with his juices.
Another great poet Russia M.Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841) was Orthodox Christian, and religious themes repeatedly appear in his poems. As a person endowed with a mystical talent, as an exponent of the "Russian idea", conscious of his prophetic vocation, Lermontov had a powerful influence on Russian literature and poetry of the subsequent period. Like Pushkin, Lermontov knew the Scriptures well: his poetry is filled with biblical allusions, some of his poems are reworkings of biblical stories, and many epigraphs are taken from the Bible. Like Pushkin, Lermontov is characterized by a religious perception of beauty, especially the beauty of nature, in which he feels the presence of God:

When the yellowing field worries,

And the fresh forest rustles at the sound of the breeze,

And the crimson plum hides in the garden

Under the shade of a sweet green leaf...

Then the anxiety of my soul humbles itself,

Then the wrinkles on the forehead diverge, -

And I can comprehend happiness on earth,

And in the sky I see God...

In another poem by Lermontov, written shortly before his death, the quivering sense of the presence of God is intertwined with the themes of fatigue from earthly life and the thirst for immortality. A deep and sincere religious feeling is combined in a poem with romantic motifs, which is feature Lermontov's lyrics:

I go out alone on the road;

Through the mist the flinty path gleams;
The night is quiet. The desert listens to God

And the star speaks to the star.

In heaven solemnly and wonderfully!

The earth sleeps in the radiance of blue ...

Why is it so painful and so difficult for me?

Waiting for what? do I regret anything?

Lermontov's poetry reflects his prayerful experience, moments of emotion he experienced, his ability to find solace in spiritual experience. Several of Lermontov's poems are prayers in poetic form, three of which are titled "Prayer". Here is the most famous of them:

In a difficult moment of life

Does sadness linger in the heart:

One wonderful prayer

I believe by heart.

There is a grace

In consonance with the words of the living,

And breathes incomprehensible,

Holy beauty in them.

From the soul as a burden rolls down,
Doubt is far away

And believe and cry

And it's so easy, easy...

This poem by Lermontov has gained extraordinary popularity in Russia and abroad. More than forty composers have set it to music, including M.I. Glinka, A.S. Dargomyzhsky, A.G. Rubinstein, M.P. Mussorgsky, F. Liszt (according to the German translation by F. Bodenstedt).

It would be wrong to represent Lermontov as an Orthodox poet in the narrow sense of the word. Often in his work, youthful passion is opposed to traditional piety (as, for example, in the poem "Mtsyri"); in many images of Lermontov (in particular, in the image of Pechorin), the spirit of protest and disappointment, loneliness and contempt for people is embodied. In addition, Lermontov's entire short literary activity was colored by a pronounced interest in demonic themes, which found their most perfect embodiment in the poem "The Demon".

Lermontov inherited the theme of the demon from Pushkin; after Lermontov, this theme will firmly enter Russian art of the 19th - early 20th centuries up to A.A. Blok and M.A. Vrubel. However, the Russian "demon" is by no means an anti-religious or anti-church image; rather, it reflects the shadowy, wrong side of the religious theme that pervades all Russian literature. The demon is a seducer and deceiver, it is a proud, passionate and lonely creature, obsessed with protest against God and goodness. But in Lermontov's poem, goodness wins, the Angel of God finally lifts the soul of the woman seduced by the demon to heaven, and the demon again remains in splendid isolation. In fact, Lermontov in his poem raises the eternal moral problem of the relationship between good and evil, God and the devil, Angel and demon. When reading the poem, it may seem that the author's sympathies are on the side of the demon, but the moral outcome of the work leaves no doubt that the author believes in the final victory of God's truth over the demonic temptation.

Lermontov died in a duel before he was 27 years old. If for released to him short term Lermontov managed to become a great national poet of Russia, this period was not enough for the formation of mature religiosity in him. Nevertheless, the deep spiritual insights and moral lessons contained in many of his works make it possible to inscribe his name, along with the name of Pushkin, not only in the history of Russian literature, but also in the history of the Orthodox Church.

Among the Russian poets of the 19th century, whose work is marked by a strong influence of religious experience, it is necessary to mention A.K. Tolstoy (1817-1875), author of the poem "John of Damascus". The plot of the poem is inspired by an episode from the life of St. John of Damascus: the abbot of the monastery in which the monk labored forbids him to engage in poetic creativity, but God appears to the abbot in a dream and commands to remove the ban from the poet. Against the background of this simple plot, the multidimensional space of the poem unfolds, which includes the poetic monologues of the protagonist. One of the monologues is an enthusiastic hymn to Christ:

I see Him before me

With a crowd of poor fishermen;

He is quiet, on a peaceful path,

Walks between ripening bread;

Good speeches of His joy

He pours into simple hearts,

He is truly a hungry herd

It leads to its source.

Why was I born at the wrong time

When between us, in the flesh,

Carrying a painful burden

He was on his way to life!

Oh my Lord, my hope,

My strength and cover!

I want you all thoughts

Grace to you all song,

And thoughts of the day, and vigil nights,

And every beat of the heart

And give my whole soul!

Don't open up for another

From now on, prophetic lips!

Thunder only in the name of Christ,

My enthusiastic word!

In the poem by A.K. Tolstoy included a poetic retelling of the stichera of St. John of Damascus, performed at the funeral service. Here is the text of these sticheras in Slavonic:

What worldly sweetness is uninvolved in sorrow; what kind of glory stands on the earth is immutable; the whole canopy is weaker, the whole dormouse is more charming: in a single moment, and all this death accepts. But in the light, Christ, of Your face and in the delight of Your beauty, whom thou hast chosen, rest in peace, like a Lover of mankind.

All the vanity of man, the Christmas tree does not abide after death: wealth does not abide, nor glory descends: having come after death, this is all consumed ...

Where there is worldly passion; where there is temporary daydreaming; where there is gold and silver; where there are many slaves and rumors; all the dust, all the ashes, all the canopy...

I remember the prophet cryingly: I am earth and ashes. And I looked at the packs in the tombs, and saw the bones exposed, and rech: then who is the king, or the warrior, or the rich, or the poor, or the righteous, or the sinner? But give rest, O Lord, with the righteous Thy servant.

And here is a poetic transcription of the same text, made by A.K. Tolstoy:

What sweetness in this life

Earthly sadness is not involved?

Whose expectation is not in vain?

And where is the happy among people?

Everything is wrong, everything is insignificant,

What we have gained with difficulty,

What glory on earth

Is it firm and immutable?

All ashes, ghost, shadow and smoke

Everything will disappear like a dusty whirlwind,

And before death we stand

And unarmed and powerless.
The hand of the mighty is weak,

Insignificant royal decrees -
Accept the deceased slave

Lord, blessed villages!

Among the heaps of smoldering bones

Who is the king? who is the slave? judge or warrior?

Who is worthy of the Kingdom of God?

And who is the outcast villain?

O brothers, where are the silver and gold?

Where are the hosts of many slaves?

Among unknown graves

Who is poor, who is rich?

All ashes, smoke, and dust, and ashes,

All ghost, shadow and ghost -

Only with you in heaven

Lord, and harbor and salvation!

Everything that was flesh will disappear,

Our greatness will be decay -

Accept the deceased, Lord,

To Your blessed villages!

Religious themes occupies a significant place in the later works of N.V. Gogol (1809-1852). Having become famous throughout Russia for his satirical writings, such as The Inspector General and Dead Souls”, Gogol in the 1840s significantly changed the direction of his creative activity, paying increasing attention to church issues. The liberal-minded intelligentsia of his time met with incomprehension and indignation Gogol's "Selected passages from correspondence with friends" published in 1847, where he reproached his contemporaries, representatives of the secular intelligentsia, for ignorance of the teachings and traditions of the Orthodox Church, defending the Orthodox clergy from N.V. Gogol attacks Western critics:

Our clergy is not idle. I know very well that in the depths of monasteries and in the silence of cells, irrefutable writings are being prepared in defense of our Church... But even these defenses will not yet serve to completely convince Western Catholics. Our Church must be sanctified in us, and not in our words ... This Church, which, like a chaste virgin, has been preserved alone from the time of the apostles in its immaculate original purity, this Church, which is all with its deep dogmas and the slightest external rites as would have been taken down straight from heaven for the Russian people, which alone is able to solve all the knots of perplexity and our questions ... And this church is unknown to us! And this Church, created for life, we still have not introduced into our lives! Only one propaganda is possible for us - our life. With our life we ​​must defend our Church, which is all life; with the fragrance of our souls we must proclaim its truth.
Of particular interest are "Reflections on the Divine Liturgy", compiled by Gogol on the basis of interpretations of the liturgy, belonging to Byzantine authors Patriarch Herman of Constantinople (VIII century), Nikolai Cabasilas (XIV century) and St. Simeon of Thessalonica (XV century), as well as a number of Russian church writers. With great spiritual trepidation, Gogol writes about the transformation of the Holy Gifts at the Divine Liturgy into the Body and Blood of Christ:

Having blessed, the priest says: having changed by Your Holy Spirit; the deacon says three times: amen - and the body and blood are already on the throne: transubstantiation has taken place! The Word called forth the Eternal Word. The priest, having a verb instead of a sword, made a slaughter. Whoever he himself is, Peter or Ivan, but in his person the Eternal Bishop Himself performed this slaughter, and He eternally performs it in the person of His priests, as by the word: let there be light, the light shines forever; as in the saying: let the earth bring forth grass, the earth will grow it forever. On the throne is not an image, not a look, but the very Body of the Lord, the same Body that suffered on earth, suffered temptations, was spat on, crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended with the Lord and sits at the right hand of the Father. It preserves the form of bread only in order to be a food for man and that the Lord Himself said: I am bread. The church bell rises with the bell tower to announce to everyone about the great moment, so that a person, wherever he is at that time, whether on the way, on the road, whether he cultivates the land of his fields, whether he sits in his house, or is busy with another business, or languishes on sickbed, or in prison walls - in a word, wherever he is, so that he can offer prayer from everywhere and from himself at this terrible moment.

In the afterword to the book, Gogol writes about the moral significance of the Divine Liturgy for every person who takes part in it, as well as for the entire Russian society:

The effect of the Divine Liturgy on the soul is great: it is performed visibly and with one’s own eyes, in the sight of the whole world and hidden ... And if society has not yet completely disintegrated, if people do not breathe complete, irreconcilable hatred among themselves, then the innermost reason for this is the Divine Liturgy, which reminds a person of about the holy heavenly love for a brother... The influence of the Divine Liturgy can be great and incalculable if a person would listen to it in order to bring what he hears into life. Teaching everyone equally, acting equally on all links, from the king to the last beggar, he speaks the same thing to everyone, not in the same language, he teaches everyone love, which is the bond of society, the innermost spring of everything harmoniously moving, writing, the life of everything.

It is characteristic that Gogol writes not so much about the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at the Divine Liturgy, but about “listening” to the Liturgy, being present at the divine service. This reflects the widespread practice in the 19th century, according to which Orthodox believers took communion once or several times a year, usually on the first week of Great Lent or during Holy Week, and the communion was preceded by several days of “fasting” (strict abstinence) and confession. On other Sundays and feast days, believers came to the liturgy only in order to defend, to “hear” it. Such practices were opposed in Greece by collivades, and in Russia by John of Kronstadt, who called for frequent communion as possible.

Among the Russian writers of the 19th century, two colossus stand out - Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Spiritual path F.M. Dostoevsky (1821-1881) in some ways repeats the path of many of his contemporaries: upbringing in the traditional Orthodox spirit, a departure from traditional clericalism in youth, a return to it in maturity. The tragic life path of Dostoevsky, who was sentenced to death for participating in a circle of revolutionaries, but pardoned a minute before the execution of the sentence, who spent ten years in hard labor and in exile, was reflected in all his diverse works - primarily in his immortal novels "Crime and Punishment", "Humiliated and Insulted", "Idiot", "Demons", "Teenager", "The Brothers Karamazov", in numerous novels and stories. In these works, as well as in The Writer's Diary, Dostoevsky developed his religious and philosophical views based on Christian personalism. At the center of Dostoevsky's work is always the human person in all its diversity and inconsistency, but human life, the problems of human existence are considered from a religious perspective, which implies belief in a personal, personal God.

The main religious and moral idea that unites all of Dostoevsky's work is summarized in the famous words of Ivan Karamazov: "If there is no God, then everything is allowed." Dostoevsky denies autonomous morality based on arbitrary and subjective "humanistic" ideals. The only solid foundation of human morality, according to Dostoevsky, is the idea of ​​God, and it is precisely the commandments of God that are the absolute moral criterion by which humanity should be guided. Atheism and nihilism lead a person to moral permissiveness, open the way to crime and spiritual death. The denunciation of atheism, nihilism and revolutionary moods, in which the writer saw a threat to the spiritual future of Russia, was the leitmotif of many of Dostoevsky's works. This is the main theme of the novel "Demons", many pages of the "Diary of a Writer".

Another characteristic feature of Dostoevsky is his deepest Christocentrism. “Throughout his whole life, Dostoevsky carried the exceptional, unique feeling of Christ, some kind of frenzied love for the face of Christ ... - writes N. Berdyaev. “Dostoevsky's faith in Christ passed through the crucible of all doubts and was tempered in fire.” For Dostoevsky, God is not an abstract idea: faith in God for him is identical with faith in Christ as the God-man and Savior of the world. Falling away from the faith in his understanding is a renunciation of Christ, and a conversion to faith is a conversion, first of all, to Christ. The quintessence of his Christology is the chapter "The Grand Inquisitor" from the novel "The Brothers Karamazov" - philosophical parable put into the mouth of the atheist Ivan Karamazov. In this parable, Christ appears in medieval Seville, where He is met by a cardinal inquisitor. Taking Christ under arrest, the inquisitor conducts a monologue with Him about the dignity and freedom of man; Throughout the parable Christ is silent. In the monologue of the inquisitor, the three temptations of Christ in the wilderness are interpreted as temptations by miracle, mystery and authority: rejected by Christ, these temptations were not rejected Catholic Church, which accepted earthly power and took away spiritual freedom from people. Medieval Catholicism in Dostoevsky's parable is a prototype of atheistic socialism, which is based on disbelief in the freedom of the spirit, disbelief in God and, ultimately, disbelief in man. Without God, without Christ, there can be no true freedom, the writer asserts through the words of his hero.

Dostoevsky was a deeply ecclesiastical person. His Christianity was not abstract or mental: having suffered throughout his life, it was rooted in the tradition and spirituality of the Orthodox Church. One of the main characters of the novel "The Brothers Karamazov" is the elder Zosima, whose prototype was seen in St. Tikhon of Zadonsk or St. Ambrose of Optina, but who in reality is collective image, embodying the best that, according to Dostoevsky, was in Russian monasticism. One of the chapters of the novel, "From the conversations and teachings of the elder Zosima", is a moral and theological treatise written in a style close to the patristic. In the mouth of the elder Zosima, Dostoevsky puts his teaching about all-embracing love, reminiscent of the teaching of St. Isaac the Syrian about the “merciful heart”:

Brothers, do not be afraid of the sin of people, love a person even in his sin, for this is the likeness of God's love and is the height of love on earth. Love the whole creation of God, and the whole, and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of God. Love animals, love plants, love everything. You will love every thing, and you will comprehend the mystery of God in things. Once you comprehend it, you will tirelessly begin to know it further and more, for every day. And you will finally love the whole world already with a whole, universal love ... Before a different thought, you will become perplexed, especially when you see the sin of people, and you will ask yourself: “Should we take it by force or with humble love?” Always decide: "I will take it with humble love." You will decide so once and for all, and you will be able to conquer the whole world. Humility of love is a terrible force, the strongest of all, and there is nothing like it.

Religious topics are given a significant place on the pages of the Writer's Diary, which is a collection of journalistic essays. One of the central themes of the "Diary" is the fate of the Russian people and the significance for them Orthodox faith:

They say that the Russian people do not know the Gospel well, they do not know the basic rules of faith. Of course, so, but he knows Christ and carries Him in his heart from time immemorial. There is no doubt about this. How is a true presentation of Christ possible without a doctrine of faith? This is a different issue. But a heartfelt knowledge of Christ and a true conception of Him fully exist. It is passed down from generation to generation and has merged with the hearts of people. Perhaps the only love of the Russian people is Christ, and they love His image in their own way, that is, to the point of suffering. The name of the Orthodox, that is, the most truly confessing Christ, he is most proud of.

The "Russian idea", according to Dostoevsky, is nothing but Orthodoxy, which the Russian people can convey to all mankind. In this Dostoevsky sees that Russian "socialism" which is the opposite of atheistic communism:

The vast majority of the Russian people are Orthodox and live by the idea of ​​Orthodoxy in fullness, although they do not understand this idea responsibly and scientifically. In essence, in our people, apart from this “idea”, there is no one, and everything comes from it alone, at least our people want it that way, with all their heart and deep conviction ... I’m not talking about church buildings now and not about tales, I’m talking about our Russian “socialism” now (and I take this word opposite to the church precisely to clarify my thought, no matter how strange it may seem), the goal and outcome of which is the nationwide and universal Church, realized on earth, since the earth can contain it. I'm talking about the tireless thirst in the Russian people, always inherent in it, for the great, universal, nationwide, all-brotherly unity in the name of Christ. And if this unity does not yet exist, if the Church has not yet been fully built up, no longer in prayer alone, but in deeds, then nevertheless the instinct of this Church and her tireless thirst, sometimes even almost unconscious, are undoubtedly present in the heart of our many millions of people. The socialism of the Russian people does not lie in communism, not in mechanical forms: they believe that they will be saved only in the end by all-world unity in the name of Christ... And here one can directly put the formula: who among our people does not understand his Orthodoxy and its ultimate goals, he will never understand even our people themselves.

Following Gogol, who defended the Church and the clergy in his Selected Places, Dostoevsky reverently speaks of the activities of Orthodox bishops and priests, contrasting them with visiting Protestant missionaries:

Well, what kind of Protestant is our people really, and what kind of German is he? And why should he learn German in order to sing psalms? And does not everything, everything he seeks, lie in Orthodoxy? Is it not in him alone that the truth and the salvation of the Russian people, and in future centuries, for all mankind? Is it not in Orthodoxy alone that the Divine face of Christ was preserved in all its purity? And perhaps the most important pre-chosen purpose of the Russian people in the fate of all mankind consists only in preserving this Divine image of Christ in all its purity, and when the time comes, to reveal this image to a world that has lost its ways! .. Well, by the way : what about our priests? What do you hear about them? And our priests, too, they say, are waking up. Our spiritual estate, they say, has long since begun to show signs of life. With tenderness we read the edifications of the lords in their churches about preaching and a fine life. Our shepherds, according to all reports, are determined to write sermons and prepare to deliver them... We have many good shepherds, perhaps more than we can hope for or even deserve.

If Gogol and Dostoevsky came to realize the truth and salvation of the Orthodox Church, then L.N. Tolstoy (1828-1910), on the contrary, departed from Orthodoxy and stood in open opposition to the Church. About his spiritual path Tolstoy says in his "Confession": "I was baptized and brought up in the Orthodox Christian faith. I was taught it from childhood and throughout my adolescence and youth. But when I graduated from the second year of university at the age of 18, I no longer believed in anything that was taught to me. With amazing frankness, Tolstoy talks about the way of life, thoughtless and immoral, which he led in his youth, and about the spiritual crisis that hit him at the age of fifty and almost drove him to suicide.

In search of a way out, Tolstoy immersed himself in reading philosophical and religious literature, communicated with official representatives of the Church, monks and wanderers. Intellectual search led Tolstoy to faith in God and return to the Church; he again, after a long break, began to go to church regularly, observe fasts, go to confession and take communion. However, communion did not have a renewing and life-giving effect on Tolstoy; on the contrary, it left a heavy mark on the writer's soul, which was connected, apparently, with his internal state.

Tolstoy's return to Orthodox Christianity was short-lived and superficial. In Christianity, he perceived only the moral side, while the entire mystical side, including the Sacraments of the Church, remained alien to him, since it did not fit into the framework of rational knowledge. Tolstoy's worldview was characterized by extreme rationalism, and it was precisely this rationalism that prevented him from accepting Christianity in its entirety.

After a long and painful search, which did not end with a meeting with a personal God, with the Living God, Tolstoy came to the creation of his own religion, which was based on faith in God as an impersonal principle that guides human morality. This religion, which combined only separate elements of Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, was distinguished by extreme syncretism and bordered on pantheism. In Jesus Christ, Tolstoy did not recognize the incarnate God, considering Him only one of the outstanding teachers of morality along with Buddha and Mohammed. Tolstoy did not create his own theology, and his numerous religious and philosophical writings, which followed the Confession, were mainly of a moral and didactic nature. An important element of Tolstoy's teaching was the idea of ​​non-resistance to evil by violence, which he borrowed from Christianity, but carried to the extreme and opposed to church teaching.

Tolstoy entered the history of Russian literature as a great writer, author of the novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", numerous novels and short stories. However, Tolstoy entered the history of the Orthodox Church as a blasphemer and a false teacher who sowed temptation and confusion. In his writings written after the Confession, both literary and moral and journalistic, Tolstoy attacked the Orthodox Church with sharp and vicious attacks. His "Study of Dogmatic Theology" is a pamphlet in which Orthodox theology (Tolstoy studied it extremely superficially - mainly from catechisms and seminary textbooks) is subjected to derogatory criticism. The novel "Resurrection" contains a caricature description of Orthodox worship, which is presented as a series of "manipulations" with bread and wine, "meaningless verbiage" and "blasphemous sorcery", allegedly contrary to the teachings of Christ.

Not limiting himself to attacks on the teaching and worship of the Orthodox Church, in the 1880s Tolstoy began to remake the Gospel and published several works in which the Gospel was "cleansed" of mysticism and miracles. In the Tolstoy version of the Gospel, there is no story about the birth of Jesus from the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, about the resurrection of Christ, many miracles of the Savior are missing or distorted. In a work titled "Combining and Translation of the Four Gospels," Tolstoy presents an arbitrary, tendentious, and at times frankly illiterate translation of selected gospel passages, with a commentary reflecting Tolstoy's personal dislike for the Orthodox Church.

The anti-church orientation of Tolstoy's literary and moral-journalistic activities in the 1880-1890s caused sharp criticism of him from the Church, which only further embittered the writer. On February 20, 1901, by decision of the Holy Synod, Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Church. The resolution of the Synod contained the following formula for excommunication: "... The Church does not consider him a member and cannot consider him until he repents and restores his communion with her." Tolstoy's excommunication from the Church caused a huge public outcry: liberal circles accused the Church of cruelty towards the great writer. However, in his “Response to the Synod” dated April 4, 1901, Tolstoy wrote: “The fact that I renounced the Church that calls itself Orthodox is completely fair ... the grossest superstitions and sorcery, which completely hides the whole meaning of the Christian doctrine. Tolstoy's excommunication was thus only a statement of the fact that Tolstoy did not deny, and which consisted in Tolstoy's conscious and voluntary renunciation of the Church and of Christ, which was recorded in many of his writings.

Before last days life Tolstoy continued to spread his teaching, which gained many followers. Some of them united in communities of a sectarian nature - with their own cult, which included "prayer to Christ the Sun", "prayer of Tolstoy", "prayer of Muhammad" and other works of folk art. A dense ring of his admirers formed around Tolstoy, who were vigilant to ensure that the writer did not change his teaching. A few days before his death, Tolstoy, unexpectedly for everyone, secretly left his estate in Yasnaya Polyana and went to Optina Pustyn. The question of what attracted him to the heart of Orthodox Russian Christianity will forever remain a mystery. Before reaching the monastery, Tolstoy fell ill with severe pneumonia at the Astapovo postal station. His wife and several other close people came here to see him, who found him in a difficult mental and physical condition. From Optina Hermitage, Elder Barsanuphius was sent to Tolstoy in case the writer wanted to repent and reunite with the Church before his death. But Tolstoy's entourage did not notify the writer of his arrival and did not allow the elder to see the dying man - the risk of destroying Tolstoyism by breaking with Tolstoy himself was too great. The writer died without repentance and took with him to the grave the secret of his dying spiritual throwings.

In Russian literature of the 19th century there were no more opposite personalities than Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. They differed in everything, including in aesthetic views, in philosophical anthropology, in religious experience and worldview. Dostoevsky argued that "beauty will save the world", while Tolstoy insisted that "the concept of beauty not only does not coincide with goodness, but is rather opposed to it." Dostoevsky believed in a personal God, in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and in the salvation of the Orthodox Church; Tolstoy believed in an impersonal Divine Being, denied the Divinity of Christ, and rejected the Orthodox Church. And yet, not only Dostoevsky, but also Tolstoy cannot be understood outside of Orthodoxy.

L. Tolstoy is Russian to the marrow of his bones, and he could have arisen only on Russian Orthodox soil, although he changed Orthodoxy ... - writes N. Berdyaev. - Tolstoy belonged to the highest cultural stratum, which fell away in a significant part from the Orthodox faith, which the people lived ... He wanted to believe, as ordinary people believe, not spoiled by culture. But he did not succeed in the slightest degree ... The common people believed in the Orthodox way. Orthodox faith in the mind of Tolstoy collides irreconcilably with his mind.

Among other Russian writers who paid great attention to religious topics, N.S. Leskov (1831-1895). He was one of the few secular writers who made representatives of the clergy the protagonists of his works. Leskov's novel "Soboryane" is a chronicle of the life of a provincial archpriest, written with great skill and knowledge of church life (Leskov himself was the grandson of a priest). Main character story "At the End of the World" - an Orthodox bishop sent to missionary service in Siberia. Religious themes are touched upon in many other works by Leskov, including the stories The Sealed Angel and The Enchanted Wanderer. Leskov's well-known essay "Trifles of Bishop's Life" is a collection of stories and anecdotes from the life of Russian bishops of the 19th century: one of the main characters of the book is Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow. The essays “The Sovereign's Court”, “Bishops' Detours”, “Diocesan Court”, “Pastor's Shadows”, “Synodal Persons” and others adjoin the same genre. Peru Leskov owns works of religious and moral content, such as "The Mirror of the Life of a True Disciple of Christ", "Prophecies about the Messiah", "Point to the Book of the New Testament", "Selection of Fatherly Opinions on the Importance of Holy Scripture". IN last years In his lifetime, Leskov fell under the influence of Tolstoy, began to show interest in schism, sectarianism and Protestantism, and departed from traditional Orthodoxy. However, in the history of Russian literature, his name has remained associated primarily with stories and stories from the life of the clergy, which won him reader recognition.

It is necessary to mention the influence of Orthodoxy on the work of A.P. Chekhov (1860-1904), in his stories referring to the images of seminarians, priests and bishops, to the description of prayer and Orthodox worship. The action of Chekhov's stories often takes place on Holy Week or Easter. In The Student, a twenty-two-year-old student of the Theological Academy on Good Friday tells the story of Peter's denial to two women. In the story “In Holy Week,” a nine-year-old boy describes confession and communion in an Orthodox church. The story "Holy Night" tells about two monks, one of whom dies on the eve of Easter. The most famous religious work of Chekhov is the story "Bishop", which tells about the last weeks of the life of a provincial vicar bishop, who recently arrived from abroad. In the description of the rite of the "twelve Gospels" performed on the eve of Good Friday, Chekhov's love for the Orthodox church service is felt:

Throughout all the twelve Gospels, one had to stand motionless in the middle of the church, and the first Gospel, the longest, most beautiful, was read by him himself. A cheerful, healthy mood took possession of him. This first gospel, "Now be glorified the Son of Man," he knew by heart; and as he read, from time to time he raised his eyes and saw on both sides a whole sea of ​​lights, heard the crackling of candles, but there were no people to be seen, as in past years, and it seemed that they were all the same people that were then in childhood and in youth, that they will be the same every year, and until when, only God knows. His father was a deacon, his grandfather was a priest, his great-grandfather was a deacon, and his whole family, perhaps from the time of the adoption of Christianity in Russia, belonged to the clergy, and his love for church services, the clergy, for the ringing of bells was innate, deep in him. , ineradicable; in church, especially when he himself participated in the service, he felt active, cheerful, happy.

The imprint of this innate and ineradicable ecclesiality lies on all Russian literature of the nineteenth century.

Holiness is a purity of heart that seeks the uncreated divine energy manifesting in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as many colored rays in the solar spectrum. Pious ascetics are the link between earthly world and heavenly kingdom. Penetrated by the light of divine grace, they, through contemplation of God and communion with God, come to know the highest spiritual mysteries. In earthly life, the saints, performing the feat of self-denial for the sake of the Lord, receive the highest grace of divine Revelation. According to biblical teaching, holiness is likening a person to God, who is the only bearer of all-perfect life and its unique source.

The ecclesiastical procedure for canonization of a righteous person is called canonization. She encourages believers to honor the recognized saint in public worship. As a rule, church recognition of piety is preceded by popular glory and veneration, but it was the act of canonization that made it possible to glorify the saints by creating icons, writing lives, compiling prayers and church services. The reason for official canonization can be the feat of the righteous, the incredible deeds he has done, his whole life or martyrdom. And after death, a person can be recognized as a saint because of the incorruptibility of his relics, or miracles of healing occurring at his remains.

In the event that a saint is venerated within the same church, city or monastery, they speak of diocesan, local canonization.

The official church also recognizes the existence of unknown saints, the confirmation of whose piety is not yet known to the entire Christian flock. They are called the revered dead righteous and they are served memorial services, while prayers are served to the canonized saints.

That is why the names of Russian saints, who are revered in one diocese, may differ and be unknown to the parishioners of another city.

Who was canonized in Russia

Long-suffering Russia gave birth to more than a thousand martyrs and martyrs. All the names of the holy people of the Russian land, who were canonized, are listed in the calendar, or calendars. The right to solemnly rank the righteous as saints was originally possessed by the Kiev, and later Moscow, metropolitans. The first canonizations were preceded by the exhumation of the remains of the righteous for the creation of a miracle by them. In the 11-16 centuries, the burials of princes Boris and Gleb, princess Olga, Theodosius of the Caves were opened.

From the second half of the 16th century, under Metropolitan Macarius, the right to canonize saints passed to church councils under the primate. The indisputable authority of the Orthodox Church, which had existed in Russia by that time for 600 years, was confirmed by numerous Russian saints. The list of names of the righteous people glorified by the Makarievsky cathedrals was supplemented by the naming of 39 pious Christians as saints.

Byzantine canonization rules

In the 17th century, the Russian Orthodox Church succumbed to the influence of the ancient Byzantine rules for canonization. During this period, mainly clergymen were canonized for the fact that they had an ecclesiastical rank. Also reckoning deserved missionaries who carry the faith, and associates of the construction of new churches and monasteries. And the need to create miracles has lost its relevance. Thus, 150 righteous people were canonized, mainly from among the monks and the higher clergy, and the Saints filled up the new names of Russian Orthodox saints.

Weakening of church influence

In the 18-19 centuries, only the Holy Synod had the right to canonize. This period is characterized by a decrease in the activity of the church and the weakening of its influence on social processes. Before the ascension to the throne of Nicholas II, only four canonizations took place. During the short period of the reign of the Romanovs, seven more Christians were canonized as saints, and the saints supplemented the new names of Russian saints.

By the beginning of the 20th century, universally recognized and locally venerated Russian saints were included in the calendars, the list of names of which was supplemented by a list of the deceased Orthodox Christians, with whom requiems were performed.

Modern canonizations

The beginning of the modern period in the history of canonizations carried out by the Russian Orthodox Church, we can consider the Local Council held in 1917-18, by which the universally revered Russian saints Sophronius of Irkutsk and Joseph of Astrakhan were canonized as saints. Then, in the 1970s, three more clergymen were canonized - Herman of Alaska, Archbishop of Japan and Metropolitan Innokenty of Moscow and Kolomna.

In the year of the millennium of the baptism of Russia, new canonizations took place, where Xenia of Petersburg, Dmitry Donskoy and other equally famous Orthodox Russian saints were recognized as pious.

In 2000, a jubilee Bishops' Council was held, at which Emperor Nicholas II and members of the Romanov royal family were canonized "as martyrs."

First canonization of the Russian Orthodox Church

The names of the first Russian saints, who were canonized by Metropolitan John in the 11th century, became a kind of symbol of the true faith of the newly baptized people, of their complete acceptance of Orthodox norms. Princes Boris and Gleb, sons of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, after canonization became the first heavenly defenders of Russian Christians. Boris and Gleb were killed by their brother in the internecine struggle for the throne of Kyiv in 1015. Knowing about the impending assassination attempt, they accepted death with Christian humility for the sake of autocracy and tranquility of their people.

The veneration of princes was widespread even before the recognition of their holiness by the official church. After canonization, the relics of the brothers were found incorruptible and showed miracles of healing to ancient Russian people. And the new princes ascending the throne made pilgrimages to the holy relics in search of blessings for a just reign and help in military exploits. Memorial Day of Saints Boris and Gleb is celebrated on July 24.

Formation of the Russian Holy Brotherhood

The Monk Theodosius of the Caves was next after Princes Boris and Gleb canonized. The second solemn canonization, carried out by the Russian Church, took place in 1108. The Monk Theodosius is considered the father of Russian monasticism and the founder, together with his mentor Anthony, of the Kiev Caves Monastery. The teacher and the student showed two different paths of monastic obedience: one is severe asceticism, rejection of everything worldly, the other is humility and creativity for the glory of God.

In the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, bearing the names of the founders, the relics of 118 novices of this monastery, who lived before and after the Tatar-Mongol yoke, rest. All of them were canonized in 1643, making up a common service, and in 1762 the names of Russian saints were included in the calendar.

Rev. Abraham of Smolensk

Very little is known about the righteous people of the pre-Mongolian period. Abraham of Smolensk, one of the few saints of that time, about whom a detailed biography compiled by his student has been preserved. Abraham was revered for a long time in his native city even before his canonization by the Makarievsky Cathedral in 1549. Having distributed to the needy all his property left after the death of rich parents, the thirteenth child, the only son begged from the Lord after twelve daughters, Abraham lived in poverty, praying for salvation during the Last Judgment. Having taken the veil as a monk, he copied church books and painted icons. Saint Abraham is credited with saving Smolensk from a great drought.

The most famous names of the saints of the Russian land

Along with the princes Boris and Gleb mentioned above, unique symbols of Russian Orthodoxy, there are no less significant names of Russian saints who became intercessors for the whole people through their contribution to the participation of the church in public life.

After liberation from the Mongol-Tatar influence, Russian monasticism saw as its goal the enlightenment of pagan peoples, as well as the construction of new monasteries and temples in the uninhabited northeastern lands. The most prominent figure in this movement was St. Sergius of Radonezh. For God-obedient solitude, he built a cell on Makovets hill, where the Trinity-Sergius Lavra was later erected. Gradually, the righteous began to join Sergius, inspired by his teachings, which led to the formation of a monastic monastery, living on the fruits of their own hands, and not on the alms of believers. Sergius himself worked in the garden, setting an example for his brothers. The disciples of Sergius of Radonezh built about 40 monasteries throughout Russia.

St. Sergius of Radonezh carried the idea of ​​charitable humility not only to ordinary people, but also to the ruling elite. As a skilled politician, he contributed to the unification of the Russian principalities, convincing the rulers of the need to unite dynasties and scattered lands.

Dmitry Donskoy

Sergius of Radonezh was greatly revered by the Russian prince, canonized as a saint, Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. It was St. Sergius who blessed the army for the Battle of Kulikovo started by Dmitry Donskoy, and for God's support he sent two of his novices.

Having become a prince in early childhood, Dmitry in state affairs heeded the advice of Metropolitan Alexy, who was rooting for the unification of the Russian principalities around Moscow. This process has not always gone smoothly. Where by force, and where by marriage (to the Suzdal princess), Dmitry Ivanovich annexed the surrounding lands to Moscow, where he built the first Kremlin.

It was Dmitry Donskoy who became the founder of a political movement that aimed to unite the Russian principalities around Moscow to create a powerful state with political (from the khans of the Golden Horde) and ideological (from the Byzantine church) independence. In 2002, in memory of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy and Reverend Sergius Radonezh established the Order "For Service to the Fatherland", in fully emphasizing the full depth of the influence of these historical figures on the formation of Russian statehood. These Russian holy people cared for the well-being, independence and tranquility of their great people.

Faces (ranks) of Russian saints

All the saints of the Ecumenical Church are summarized in nine faces or ranks: prophets, apostles, saints, great martyrs, hieromartyrs, reverend martyrs, confessors, unmercenaries, holy fools and blessed.

The Orthodox Church of Russia divides the saints into faces in a different way. Russian holy people, due to historical circumstances, are divided into the following ranks:

princes. The first righteous people recognized as saints by the Russian Church were princes Boris and Gleb. Their feat consisted in self-sacrifice in the name of the tranquility of the Russian people. Such behavior became an example for all the rulers of the times of Yaroslav the Wise, when the power in whose name the prince sacrificed was recognized as true. This rank is divided into Equal-to-the-Apostles (distributors of Christianity - Princess Olga, her grandson Vladimir, who baptized Russia), monks (princes who were tonsured monks) and martyrs (victims of civil strife, assassination attempts, murders for the faith).

Reverends. This is the name of the saints who chose monastic obedience during their lifetime (Theodosius and Anthony of the Caves, Sergius of Radonezh, Joseph Volotsky, Seraphim of Sarov).

Saints- righteous people who have a church rank, who based their ministry on the protection of the purity of faith, the spread of Christian teaching, the foundation of churches (Nifont of Novgorod, Stefan of Perm).

Holy fools (blessed)- saints who wore the appearance of madness during their lifetime, rejecting worldly values. A very numerous rank of Russian righteous, replenished mainly by monks who considered monastic obedience insufficient. They left the monastery, going out in rags on the streets of cities and enduring all hardships (Basil the Blessed, St. Isaac the Recluse, Simeon of Palestine, Xenia of Petersburg).

Holy Laity and Wives. This rank brings together dead babies recognized as saints, renouncing the wealth of the laity, the righteous, distinguished by their boundless love for people (Yuliania Lazarevskaya, Artemy Verkolsky).

Lives of Russian Saints

The Lives of the Saints is a literary work containing historical, biographical and everyday information about a righteous man canonized by the church. Lives are one of the oldest literary genres. Depending on the time and country of writing, these treatises were created in the form of a biography, encomium (praise), martyria (testimony), patericon. The style of writing lives in the Byzantine, Roman and Western church cultures differed significantly. Back in the 4th century, the Church began to unite the saints and their biographies into vaults that looked like a calendar indicating the day of commemoration of the pious.

In Russia, the Lives appear together with the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium in Bulgarian and Serbian translations, combined into collections for reading by months - the Menaion and the Menaion of Chetya.

Already in the 11th century, a laudatory biography of princes Boris and Gleb appeared, where the unknown author of the life is Russian. The holy names are recognized by the church and added to the calendars. In the 12th and 13th centuries, along with the monastic desire to enlighten the northeast of Russia, the number of biographical works also grew. Russian authors wrote the lives of Russian saints for reading during the Divine Liturgy. The names, the list of which was recognized by the church for glorification, now received a historical figure, and holy deeds and miracles were enshrined in a literary monument.

In the 15th century there was a change in the style of writing lives. The authors began to pay the main attention not to the actual data, but to the skillful use of the artistic word, the beauty of the literary language, the ability to pick up a lot of impressive comparisons. Skillful scribes of that period became known. For example, Epiphanius the Wise, who wrote the vivid lives of Russian saints, whose names were most famous among the people - Stephen of Perm and Sergius of Radonezh.

Many lives are considered a source of information about important historical events. From the biography of Alexander Nevsky, you can learn about political relations with the Horde. The lives of Boris and Gleb tell of princely civil strife before the unification of Russia. The creation of a literary and ecclesiastical biographical work largely determined which names of Russian saints, their deeds and virtues would become most known to a wide circle of believers.

Life as a genre of literature

Life ( bios(Greek), vita(lat.)) - biographies of saints. The life was created after the death of the saint, but not always after formal canonization. Life is characterized by strict content and structural restrictions (canon, literary etiquette), which greatly distinguishes them from secular biographies. The science of hagiography deals with the study of hagiographies.

More extensive is the literature of the "Lives of the Saints" of the second kind - the saints and others. The oldest collection of such tales is Dorotheus, ep. Tire (†362), - the legend of the 70 apostles. Of the others, the most remarkable are: "Lives of honest monks" by Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria († 385); then follow the collections of Palladius, Lausaik (“Historia Lausaica, s. paradisus de vitis patrum”; the original text is in the edition of Renat Lawrence, “Historia ch r istiana veterum Patrum”, as well as in “Opera Maursii”, Florence,, vol. VIII ; there is also a Russian translation, ); Theodoret of Kirrsky () - “Φιλόθεος ιστορία” (in the named edition of Renat, as well as in the complete works of Theodoret; in Russian translation - in “The Works of the Holy Fathers”, published by the Moscow Spiritual Academy and earlier separately); John Moscha (Λειμωνάριον, in Rosweig's Vitae patrum, Antv., vol. X; Russian ed. - "Lemonar, that is, a flower garden", M.,). In the West, the main writers of this kind in the patriotic period were Rufinus of Aquileia ("Vitae patrum s. historiae eremiticae"); John Cassian ("Collationes patrum in Scythia"); Gregory, Bishop Tursky († 594), who wrote a number of hagiographic works (“Gloria martyrum”, “Gloria confessorum”, “Vitae patrum”), Grigory Dvoeslov (“Dialogi” - Russian translation “Conversation about J. Italian Fathers” in “Orthodox Interlocutor ”; see the research on this by A. Ponomarev, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg) and others.

From the 9th century in the literature of the "Lives of the Saints" a new feature appeared - a tendentious (moralizing, partly political and social) direction, which adorned the story about the saint with fictions of fantasy. Among such hagiographers, the first place is occupied by Simeon Metaphrastus, a dignitary of the Byzantine court, who lived, one by one, in the 9th, according to others in the 10th or 12th century. He published in 681 "Lives of the Saints", which constitute the most common primary source for subsequent writers of this kind, not only in the East, but also in the West (Jacob Voraginsky, archbishop of Genoa, † - "Legenda aurea sanctorum", and Peter Natalibus, † - "Catalogus Sanctorum"). Subsequent editions take a more critical direction: Bonina Mombricia, Legendarium s. acta sanctorum" (); Aloysia Lippomana, ep. Veronsky, "Vitae sanctorum" (1551-1560); Lawrence Surius, Carthusian of Cologne, "Vitae sanctorum orientis et occidentis" (); George Vizell, "Hagiologium s. de sanctis ecclesiae"; Ambrose Flaccus, "Fastorum sanctorum libri XII"; Renata Lawrence de la Barre - "Historia christiana veterum patrum"; C. Baronia, "Annales ecclesiast."; Rosweida - "Vitae patrum"; Rader, "Viridarium sanctorum ex minaeis graccis" (). Finally, the famous Antwerp Jesuit Bolland comes forward with his activities; in the city he published the 1st volume of the Acta Sanctorum in Antwerp. For 130 years, the Bollandists published 49 volumes containing the Lives of the Saints from January 1 to October 7; two more volumes appeared by the year. In the city, the Bollandist Institute was closed.

Three years later, the enterprise was resumed again, and another new volume appeared in the city. During the conquest of Belgium by the French, the Bollandist monastery was sold, and they themselves moved to Westphalia with their collections, and after the Restoration they published six more volumes. Last works significantly inferior in dignity to the works of the first Bollandists both in terms of the vastness of erudition and due to the lack of strict criticism. Müller's Martyrologium, mentioned above, is a good abridgement of the Bollandist edition and can serve as a reference book for it. A complete index to this edition was compiled by Potast ("Bibliotheca historia medii aevi", B.,). All the lives of the saints, known with separate titles, are numbered by Fabricius in the Bibliotheca Graeca, Gamb., 1705-1718; second edition Gamb., 1798-1809). Individuals in the West continued to publish the lives of the saints at the same time as the Bollandist corporation. Of these, the following deserve mention: Abbé Commanuel, "Nouvelles vies de saints pour tous le jours" (); Balier, "Vie des saints" (strictly critical work), Arnaud d'Andilly, "Les vies des pè res des déserts d'Orient" (). Among the newest Western editions of the Lives of the Saints, the compositions deserve attention. Stadler and Geim, written in dictionary form: "Heiligen Lexicon", (s.).

A lot of Zh. is found in collections of mixed content, such as prologues, synaksari, menaia, patericons. Prologue name. a book containing the lives of the saints, together with instructions regarding celebrations in their honor. The Greeks called these collections. synaxaries. The oldest of them is an anonymous synaxarion in hand. ep. Porfiry of the Assumption; then follows the synaxarion of Emperor Basil - referring to the X table.; the text of the first part of it was published in the city of Uggel in the VI volume of his "Italia sacra"; the second part was found later by the Bollandists (for its description, see Archbishop Sergius' Monthly Book, I, 216). Other ancient prologues: Petrov - in hand. ep. Porfiry - contains the memory of saints for all days of the year, except for 2-7 and 24-27 days of March; Cleromontansky (otherwise Sigmuntov), ​​almost similar to Petrov, contains the memory of saints for a whole year. Our Russian prologues are alterations of the synaxarion of Emperor Basil with some additions (see Prof. N.I. Petrova “On the origin and composition of the Slavic-Russian printed prologue”, Kyiv,). The Menaion are collections of lengthy tales about saints and feasts arranged by months. They are service and Menaion-Chetya: in the first they are important for the biographies of saints, the designation of the names of the authors above the hymns. The handwritten menaias contain more information about the saints than the printed ones (for more details on the meaning of these menaias, see Bishop Sergius' Monthly Books, I, 150).

These "monthly menaias", or service ones, were the first collections of "lives of the saints" that became known in Russia at the very time of its adoption of Christianity and the introduction of worship; they are followed by Greek prologues or synaxari. In the pre-Mongolian period, the Russian Church already had a full circle of menaias, prologues and synaxareas. Then patericons appeared in Russian literature - special collections of the lives of the saints. Translated patericons are known in the manuscripts: Sinai (“Limonar” by Mosch), alphabetic, skete (several types; see the description of the rkp. Undolsky and Tsarsky), Egyptian (Lavsaik Palladia). Based on the model of these eastern patericons in Russia, the “Paterik of Kiev-Pechersk” was compiled, the beginning of which was laid by Simon, ep. Vladimir, and the Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp. Finally, the last common source for the lives of the saints of the whole church is calendars and monastics. The beginnings of calendars date back to the earliest times of the church, as can be seen from the biographical information about St. Ignatius († 107), Polycarpe († 167), Cyprian († 258). From the testimony of Asterius of Amasia († 410) it can be seen that in the 4th c. they were so full that they contained names for all the days of the year. Monthly books in the Gospels and the Apostles are divided into three genera: eastern origin, ancient Italian and Sicilian and Slavic. Of the latter, the most ancient is under the Ostromir Gospel (XII century). They are followed by the Mental Words: Assemani with the Glagolitic Gospel, located in the Vatican Library, and Savvin, ed. Sreznevsky in the city. This also includes brief notes about the saints in the church charters of Jerusalem, Studium and Constantinople. The saints are the same calendars, but the details of the story are close to the synaxaries and exist separately from the Gospels and charters.

Old Russian literature of the lives of the saints proper Russian begins with the biographies of individual saints. The model according to which the Russian “lives” were compiled was the Greek lives of the Metaphrast type, that is, they had the task of “praising” the saint, and the lack of information (for example, about the first years of the life of the saints) was made up for by commonplaces and rhetorical rantings. A number of miracles of the saint - necessary component G. In the story about the life itself and the exploits of the saints, there are often no signs of individuality at all. Exceptions from the general character of the original Russian "lives" before the 15th century. constitute (according to Prof. Golubinsky) only the very first Zh., “St. Boris and Gleb" and "Theodosius of the Caves", compiled by Ven. Nestor, J. Leonty of Rostov (which Klyuchevsky refers to the time before the year) and J., who appeared in Rostov region in the 12th and 13th centuries. , representing an artless simple story, while the equally ancient Zh. of the Smolensk region (“Zh. St. Abraham”, etc.) belong to the Byzantine type of biographies. In the XV century. a number of compilers Zh. begins mitrop. Cyprian, who wrote J. Metrop. Peter (in a new edition) and several Zh. Russian saints who were part of his “Book of Powers” ​​(if this book was really compiled by him).

The biography and activities of the second Russian hagiographer, Pachomiy Logofet, are introduced in detail by the study of prof. Klyuchevsky "Old Russian Lives of the Saints, as a historical source", M.,). He compiled J. and the service of St. Sergius, Zh. and the service of St. Nikon, J. St. Kirill Belozersky, word on the transfer of the relics of St. Peter and service to him; to him, according to Klyuchevsky, belong to J. St. Novgorod archbishops Moses and John; in total, he wrote 10 lives, 6 legends, 18 canons and 4 laudatory words to the saints. Pachomius enjoyed great fame among his contemporaries and posterity and was a model for other compilers of J. No less famous as the compiler of J. Epiphanius the Wise, who first lived in the same monastery with St. Stephen of Perm, and then in the monastery of Sergius, who wrote J. of both of these saints. He knew well the Holy Scriptures, Greek chronographs, palea, letvitsa, patericons. He has even more ornateness than Pachomius. The successors of these three writers introduce a new feature into their works - an autobiographical one, so that one can always recognize the author by the “lives” compiled by them. From urban centers, the work of Russian hagiography passes into the 16th century. in deserts and areas remote from cultural centers in the 16th century. The authors of these Zh. did not limit themselves to the facts of the life of the saint and panegyric to him, but tried to acquaint them with the church, social and state conditions, among which the saint's activity arose and developed. Zh. of this time are, therefore, valuable primary sources of the cultural and everyday history of Ancient Russia.

The author, who lived in Moscow Russia, can always be distinguished by the trend from the author of the Novgorod, Pskov and Rostov regions. A new era in the history of Russian Zh. is the activity of the All-Russian Metropolitan Macarius. His time was especially plentiful with new "lives" of Russian saints, which is explained, on the one hand, by the intensive activity of this metropolitan in canonizing saints, and on the other hand, by the "great Menaion-Fourths" compiled by him. These Menaia, which included almost all the Russian Zh. available by that time, are known in two editions: the Sophia (manuscript of the St. Petersburg spirit. Acd.) and the more complete - the Moscow Cathedral of the city. the works of I. I. Savvaitov and M. O. Koyalovich, to publish only a few volumes covering the months of September and October. A century later, Macarius, in 1627-1632, the Menaion-Cheti of the monk of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery German Tulupov appeared, and in 1646-1654. - Menaion-Cheti of the priest of Sergiev Posad John Milyutin.

These two collections differ from Makariyev in that they include almost exclusively Zh. and legends about Russian saints. Tulupov entered into his collection everything that he found on the part of Russian hagiography, in its entirety; Milyutin, using the works of Tulupov, reduced and altered the Zh., which he had at hand, omitting prefaces from them, as well as words of praise. What Macarius was for Northern Russia, Moscow, the Kiev-Pechersk archimandrites - Innokenty Gizel and Varlaam Yasinsky - wanted to be for Southern Russia, fulfilling the idea Metropolitan of Kiev Peter Mogila and partly using the materials he collected. But the political unrest of that time prevented this enterprise from being realized. Yasinsky, however, attracted to this case St. Demetrius, later the Metropolitan of Rostov, who, working for 20 years on the revision of Metaphrast, the great Fourth Menaion of Macarius and other benefits, compiled the Chetia Menaion, containing Zh. churches. Patriarch Joachim was distrustful of the work of Demetrius, noticing in it traces of the Catholic teaching on the virginity of the conception of the Mother of God; but the misunderstandings were cleared up, and Demetrius' work was finished.

For the first time, the Menaion of St. Demetrius in 1711-1718 In the city of Synod instructed the Kiev-Pechersk archim. Timothy Shcherbatsky, revision and correction of the work of Demetrius; after the death of Timothy, this assignment was completed by Archim. Joseph Mitkevich and Hierodeacon Nicodemus, and in a corrected form, the Menaion of the Saints were published in the city of Zh. Saints in the Menaion of Demetrius are arranged in calendar order: following the example of Macarius, there are also synaxari for the holidays, instructive words on the events of the life of the saint or the history of the holiday , belonging to the ancient church fathers, and partly compiled by Demetrius himself, historical discussions at the beginning of each quarter of the publication - about the primacy of the month of March in the year, about the indict, about the ancient Hellenic-Roman calendar. The sources used by the author are visible from the list of "teachers, writers, historians" attached before the first and second parts, and from quotes in individual cases (Metaphrastus is most common). Many articles are only a translation of the Greek Zh. or a repetition with correction of the Zh. language of Old Russian. There is also historical criticism in Chetya-Minei, but in general their significance is not scientific, but ecclesiastical: written in artistic Church Slavonic speech, they still constitute a favorite reading for pious people who are looking for in Zh. saints" of religious edification (for a more detailed assessment of the Menaia, see the work of V. Nechaev, corrected by A. V. Gorsky, - "St. Demetrius of Rostov", M., and I. A. Shlyapkin - "St. Demetrius", SPb.,). There are 156 of all individual Zh. ancient Russian saints, included and not included in the counted collections. Demetrius: "Selected Lives of the Saints, summarized according to the guide of the Menaion" (1860-68); A. N. Muravyov, “Lives of the Saints of the Russian Church, also Iberian and Slavic” (); Philaret, archbishop Chernigovsky, "Russian Saints"; "The Historical Dictionary of the Saints of the Russian Church" (1836-60); Protopopov, "Lives of the Saints" (M.,), etc.

More or less independent editions of the Lives of the Saints - Philaret, archbishop. Chernigovsky: a) "Historical Doctrine of the Church Fathers" (, new ed.), b) "Historical Review of Songsingers" (), c) "Saints of the South Slavs" () and d) "St. ascetics of the Eastern Church" (

In the 19th century, the genre of hagiography was in decline. It seemed that for two hundred years on Russian land, previously so generous in ascetics, silencers, saints, holy fools, the saints had disappeared.

During the existence of the Holy Synod, from 1721 to 1917, coronation in Russia was much more frequent than canonization. And in accordance with their own ideas of piety, writers increasingly began to make up for the lack of living saints with fictional ones.

Holy fool Nikolka

“Boris! Little children offend Nikolka. Tell them to slaughter them, as you slaughtered the little prince, ”complains the Moscow holy fool Nikolka, one of the most important characters in Alexander Pushkin’s tragedy Boris Godunov, to the tsar. Nikolka, powerless in front of the children who took away his “penny”, deprives the mighty king not only of peace, but even of the hope of forgiveness after death. “You can’t pray for Tsar Herod - the Mother of God does not order,” Nikolka Godunov answers a request to pray for him.

The holy fool is wearing an iron cap and chains. Despite the cold, he is most likely naked. “My holy fool, my little amusing one,” is how Pushkin attested his hero in a letter to Vyazemsky.

Father Sergiy

Father Sergius, the hero of the story of the same name by Leo Tolstoy, is perhaps the most famous fictional righteous man. Rather, throughout the entire work, the reader becomes a witness to the by no means righteous life of a hermit: he despises the society of people and considers himself living for God, although in fact he lives for himself. However, at the end of the work, Father Sergius is reborn from a misanthrope into a philanthropist: “Pashenka is exactly what I should have been and what I was not. I lived for people under the pretext of God, she lives for God, imagining that she lives for people. The holiness of the hero, according to Tolstoy, like the holiness of Pashenka and other people far from scholasticism, lies in their kindness and love for people.

Ivan Bunin called the story "Aglaya" his favorite. The meek girl lost her parents early and was raised by her older sister. The older Aglaya became, the more she dissolved in faith. And at the age of fifteen, when the girls became marriageable brides, she went to the monastery. She lived in the monastery for three years. She was a beloved novice, a spiritual friend of Father Rodion (whose prototype is Seraphim of Sarov). She never took her eyes off the ground. And she died for obedience at the age of eighteen - when the priest told her that her time had come.

John Rydalets

John Rydalets is also the hero of Bunin. During his lifetime, he was called Ivan Ryabinin, he dreamed of going to Athos on a date with God, but did not go: once Ivan was robbed and left in the middle of the field in winter. Ivan was moved by his mind, since then he began to throw himself at everyone and shout: “I will, I will walk like a robbed one, I will yell like Strauss!” or just "Give me pleasure!"

Once settled in the village of Greshnoy, where the action takes place, a noble prince. Ivan began to rush at him from around the corner, and the prince in response ordered Ivan's servants to flog. And when Ivan died, the master ordered his grave to be dug next to his own. Ivan, nicknamed Lamentations, is not favored by pilgrims, they go to the neighboring village to another saint, but there is a wonderful phrase in the story: “... and he is seen by the village of Sinful, as if written in a church - half-naked and wild, like a saint, like a prophet.

pamphalon

Ermiy, a resident of Constantinople, whom the author of the story “Buffoon Pamphalon” Nikolai Leskov calls “patrician and eparch”, left his high post, all worldly affairs and became a stylist. For thirty years he stood on a rock, away from people, despising them and taking food from them. Hermias was so disappointed in people that he decided that the Kingdom of Heaven was in desolation: there was no one to get there. But he heard a voice that told him to go in search of Pamtholone, who deserved to be saved.

Pamphalon turned out to be a buffoon, entertaining rich libertines in the houses of hetaerae. But also an infinitely kind person. He gave all his savings, risked his life and was ready to sell himself into slavery - only in order to save the family of the woman Magna. Pamphalon himself believed that he had thus doomed himself to eternal torment, but Hermias realized that it was the buffoon, and not himself, who had spent thirty years on the rock, who was the real righteous.

Hiccup Solomida

Solomida, like her husband, was considered a hiccup-maker in the village of Koide all her life. She was blamed for all disasters, crop failures, accidents and natural disasters. She - the heroine of Fyodor Abramov's story "From the tribe of Avvakumov" - was an Old Believer. As a girl, Solomida made an impossible pilgrimage from Koida to Pustozersk, where Archpriest Avvakum was martyred, then healed her husband of impotence, resurrected him, survived two penal servitudes ... “The Lord did not deprive me, did not deprive me of suffering,” Solomida herself says. And when a surprised interlocutor asks how she managed to work miracles, she simply answers: "The Word of God."