Epiphanius the Wise: "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh". Saint Sergius of Radonezh and his disciples


  1. The personality and work of Epiphanius the Wise
  2. "The Life of Stephen of Perm" and the style of "weaving words".
  3. "The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh": an image of holiness. artistic merit.

Lecture 12

Epaphinius the Wise is a unique personality, spiritually and creatively gifted. His place in Russian culture is extremely significant. A saint and a writer, he created a whole trend in hagiography.

According to Kirillin V.M., “Epiphanius the Wise, apparently, belongs to Peru a lot. He was the author of epistles to various persons, panegyric texts, a biographer of his prominent contemporaries, and participated in the work on chronicles. And it can be assumed that he played a significant role in the life of Russian society at the end of the 14th - the first two decades of the 15th century. But the life of this remarkable ancient Russian writer is known only from his own writings, in which he left autobiographical information.

He began his monastic path in the second half of the 14th century. in the Rostov Monastery of St. Gregory the Theologian, where he studies the Greek language, patristic literature, and hagiographic texts. V. O. Klyuchevsky spoke of him as one of the most educated people of his time. He visited Constantinople, Mount Athos and the Holy Land.

It was especially important for him to communicate with the future St. Stephen of Perm, who also labored in the Grigorievsky Monastery.

In 1380, in the year of the victory over Mamai, Epiphanius ended up in the Trinity Monastery near Moscow as a "disciple" of the then already famous in Russia ascetic Sergius of Radonezh, and there he was engaged in book-writing activities. And after the death of his spiritual mentor in 1392, Epiphanius moved to Moscow, where he began to collect biographical materials about Sergius of Radonezh and, by his own admission, devoted two decades to this. In parallel, he was collecting materials for the hagiobiography of Stephen of Perm, which he completed shortly after the death of the latter (1396). In Moscow, he is friends with Theophanes the Greek and they communicate quite closely, which, apparently, gives a lot for the development of both Epiphany himself and Theophanes the Greek.



In 1408, due to the attack of Khan Edigei on Moscow, Epiphanius was forced to move to Tver. But after some time he again finds himself in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, having taken, according to the recall of Pachomius Logofet, a high position among the brethren of the monastery: "I was the confessor in the great Lavra to all the brotherhood." In 1418, he completed work on the Life of Sergius of Radonezh, after which, after some time, he died.

"Life of Stephen of Perm"- showed the literary motherhood of Epiphanius the Wise. It is distinguished by compositional harmony (three-partness), rhetoric that permeates the entire text, which, apparently, gave the author reason to call it "The Word". This is also explained by the service itself, the feat of the saint, whom Epiphanius personally knew. It was St. Stephen of Perm who was the first in Russia to accomplish a feat equal to that of the apostles: like the brothers Cyril and Methodius, he created the alphabet and translated the Sacred Texts into the Perm language and baptized the pagan Permians. The idea of ​​the image of St. Stephen of Perm lies in his Equal-to-the-Apostles service, enlightenment. The life is filled with sharp plot points connected with the test of the faith of the sorcerer Pam, the struggle with idols.

This life was created according to all the rules of the life canon, and thanks to a personal acquaintance with the future saint, it is very lively, filled with a living feeling of love for the saint, about which Epiphanius writes. It contains a lot of historical, historical-cultural, ethnographic information.

On literary merit and word weaving style writes Kirillin V.M.: “The literary merits of the Life of Stefan of Perm are indisputable. Following tradition, Epiphanius the Wise was largely original. So, the composition of this work with all its features, apparently, belongs to the author himself. In any case, researchers have not been able to find among the Greek and Slavic hagiographies either his predecessors or his followers. The narrative structure of Epiphanius' work is the best expression of the "weaving of words" style. The work is permeated with biblical (there are 340 quotations, of which 158 are from the Psalter), patristic and church-historical context. The presentation of concrete facts is interrupted in it by abstract reflections of mystical-religious, theological-historiosophical, evaluative-journalistic content. In addition to the author, characters also speak in it, and many scenes are based on dialogues and monologues. At the same time, the author has a tendency towards aphorism of the statement, semantic and sound play with words; text ornamentation through lexical repetitions, multiplication, or stringing of synonyms, metaphors, comparisons, quotations, images related to a common theme, as well as through its morphological, syntactic and compositional rhythmization. As established, Epiphanius widely used the techniques of the art of the word, which date back to the ancient literary tradition. Using, for example, the technique of homeoteleuton (consonance of endings) and homeoptotone (equal-fall), frankly rhythmizing the text, he creates periods that are, in essence, of a poetic nature. The author usually falls into such panegyric meditations when something awakens in him a sense of the eternal, about which it is inappropriate to speak simply. Then Epiphanius saturates his text with metaphors, epithets, comparisons lined up in long chains, trying to reveal the symbolic meaning of the subject of his speech. But often in such cases he also uses the symbolism of form, pairing the latter with the symbolism of biblical numbers” (http://www.portal-slovo.ru/philology/37337.php).

"The Life of Sergius of Radonezh"

The second major work of Epiphany - "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh"

Appeared after the death of St. Sergius after 26 years, all this time Epiphanius the Wise worked on him. A lengthy hagiographic version was created by Epiphanius the Wise by the years 1418-1419. True, the author's original of the hagiograph has not been preserved in its entirety. The life was partly revised by Pachomius Logothetes and has a number of lists and variants. The life created by Epiphanius is associated with the second South Slavic influence. It was subjected to research in various aspects - from theological to linguistic. Hagiographic skill has also been repeatedly considered.

In the center of the life is the image of St. Sergius of Radonezh, whom the people call "abbot of the Russian land", thereby determining his significance in the history of Russia.

The type of his holiness is defined by the word "reverend", and before us is a monastic life. But the feat of the saint goes beyond the proper monastic. In his life we ​​see the stages of his path, which also reflect the nature of his exploits. Desert living with the achievement of special mystical gifts (Sergius - the first Russian hesychast); the gathering of a community monastery in honor of God the Trinity, the education of many disciples - followers of his monastic deed and the founders of many monasteries in Russia; then the feat of public service, which affected the spiritual education of Prince Dmitry Donskoy, and many others, whom he led to repentance and unity with each other with his spiritual authority. This became the basis for the unification processes that led Russia to centralization around Moscow and to victory over Mamai.

The main spiritual ministry of St. Sergius is connected with the matter of affirming the idea of ​​the Trinity of God. This was especially important for Russia at that time, because. revealed the deepest meaning of unity based on the idea of ​​sacrificial love. (Note that the work of another student of St. Sergius, Andrei Rublev, who created the icon of the Trinity, which became a world-famous masterpiece of church art and an expression of the spiritual height of the Russian people, developed in parallel).

The life created by Epiphanius is also a masterpiece in terms of artistic skill. Before us is a literary processed text, harmonious, organically combining the idea and the form of its expression.

On the connection of the main idea of ​​the life ministry of St. Sergius to the Divine Trinity, to which he dedicated his monastery, with the form of the work itself, Ph.D. Kirillin V.M. in the article “Epiphanius the Wise: “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh””: “in the Epiphanius edition of the “Life” of Sergius of Radonezh, the number 3 appears as a diversely designed narrative component: as a biographical detail, an artistic detail, an ideological and artistic image, as well as an abstract and constructive a model either for constructing rhetorical figures (at the level of a phrase, phrase, sentence, period), or for constructing an episode or scene. In other words, the number 3 characterizes both the content side of the work and its compositional and stylistic structure, so that in its meaning and function it fully reflects the hagiographer's desire to glorify his hero as a teacher of the Holy Trinity. But along with this, the indicated number symbolically expresses the knowledge, inexplicable by rational-logical means, about the most complex, incomprehensible mystery of the universe in its eternal and temporal realities. Under the pen of Epiphanius, the number 3 acts as a formal-content component of the historical reality reproduced in the "Life", that is, earthly life, which, as a creation of God, is the image and likeness of heavenly life and therefore contains signs (three-number, triad) that testify to being God in his trinity unity, harmony and perfect fullness.

The foregoing also implies the last conclusion: Epiphanius the Wise in the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" showed himself to be the most inspired, most sophisticated and most subtle theologian; creating this hagiobiography, he simultaneously reflected in literary and artistic images about the Holy Trinity - the most difficult dogma of Christianity, in other words, expressed his knowledge of this subject not scholastically, but aesthetically, and, undoubtedly, he followed in this respect the symbolic tradition known in Russia from ancient times. theology."

On the Significance of the Feat of Rev. Sergius, about his versatility, G.P. Fedotov: “The Monk Sergius, to an even greater extent than Theodosius, seems to us to be a harmonious exponent of the Russian ideal of holiness, despite the sharpening of both polar ends of it: mystical and political. The mystic and the politician, the hermit and the Cenobite are combined in his blessed fullness.<…>»

Literature of the 90s of the XV century. - the first third of the XVII century.

Lecture 13

1. Features of the era and the type of artistic consciousness of the writer.

2. Formation of the ideology of the Russian autocratic state. Elder Philotheus and the theory "Moscow is the third Rome". General works. "Stoglav", "Great Menaion of the Chetya". "Power book", "Domostroy»

3. Publicism of the XVI century. Works of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible (“Message to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery” and “Message to Vasily Gryazny”), correspondence with Andrei Kurbsky. Changes in the literary canon.

Peculiarities of the epoch and literary situation.

XVI century - marked by the establishment of the Russian centralized state. Russian architecture and painting are intensively developing, book printing is emerging.

The main trend of the XVI century. - the formation of the state ideology of the Moscow state (I remind you: the Ferrara-Florence Cathedral of 1438-39 laid the foundation for the formation of the idea of ​​a special mission of Russia in the world, then the fall of Byzantium and the liberation of the Russian people from the Tatar-Mongol yoke in 1480 raised the question directly before the Moscow state about comprehending one's historical existence and destiny.The doctrine "Moscow is the third Rome" became known and generally recognized in Russia under the son of Vasily III, Ivan IV the Terrible, when, after 1547, the Grand Duchy of Moscow became a kingdom.)

These processes led to the emergence of works regulating various aspects of the public and private life of citizens of this state. Such works have received the name "generalizing" in literary criticism.

A unified all-Russian grand-princely (later royal) chronicle was created;

- Appears "Stoglav"- the book of decisions of the Church Council, which took place in Moscow in 1551. The book consists of royal questions to the Council and council answers; there are 100 chapters in total, which gave the name to the event itself ("Stoglavy Cathedral"),

A grandiose act of generalization was the collection of Great Fourth Menaion" which was carried out under the leadership of Metropolitan Macarius. According to Makariy's plan, the 12-volume (according to the number of months) code was supposed to include "all the books of a couple that are found in the Russian land", with the exception of the "renounced", i.e. apocrypha, historical and legal monuments, as well as travel . An important part of this lengthy process was the canonization of 39 Russian saints at the church councils of 1547 and 1549, which was also a natural part of the work of "gathering together" Russian church history.

In 1560-63. in the same circle of Metropolitan Macarius was compiled " Power book of the royal genealogy. Its goal was to present Russian history in the form of "degrees" (steps) of a "ladder" (ladder) leading to heaven. Each step is a genealogical tribe, a biography of "God-affirmed scepter holders shining in piety", written in accordance with hagiographic tradition. The Book of Powers was a monumental concept of Russian history, in favor of which the facts of not only events close to the present, but also the entire six-century history of Russia were often very significantly transformed. This work logically completes the group of generalizing works of the 16th century, clearly demonstrating that not only the present, but also a fairly distant past could be regulated.

The need for an equally clear regulation of the private life of a citizen of the new unified state was realized. This task was completed "Domostroy"The priest of the Moscow Annunciation Cathedral Sylvester, who was a member of the Chosen Council." Domostroy consisted of three parts: 1) about the worship of the Church and royal power; 2) about the "worldly structure" (i.e., about relationships within the family) and 3 ) about the "house structure" (household).

Type of artistic consciousness and method

This period - the end of the 15th - 40s of the 17th century - A.N. Uzhankov gives the name anthropocentric literary formation, which is characterized by "manifestation rational principle in creative writing. Knowledge of the world is still carried out by Grace, but book knowledge also acquires significance. The artistic consciousness of this formation reflects an eschatological idea: understanding the Moscow kingdom as the last one before the second coming of Christ. The concept arises collective salvation in the pious Orthodox kingdom, although the significance individual salvation has not weakened. The literature of this formation develops:

a) against the backdrop of a decisive turn away from grand ducal power and the fragmentation of the principalities towards the construction of a single centralized state - the Orthodox Moscow kingdom;

b) the gradual collapse of the previous political system - the grand ducal power and the replacement of its ideology with the royal one;

c) a shift from a religious consciousness to a secular and rationalistic one.

The artistic consciousness of the era is translated into its poetics. New genres are developing (journalism, chronographs)."

Journalism of the 16th century Works of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible.

D.S. Likhachev. From the book. Great Legacy:

“Most of the works of Ivan the Terrible, as well as many other monuments of ancient Russian literature, were preserved only in later lists - the 17th century, and only some of the works of Ivan the Terrible, very characteristic of him, were still preserved in the lists of the 16th century: a letter to Vasily Gryazny1, messages to Simeon Bekbulatovich, Stefan Batory 1581, etc.

Grozny's works belong to an era when individuality was already sharply manifested in statesmen, and first of all in Grozny himself, and the individual style of writers was still very poorly developed, and in this respect the style of the works of Grozny himself is an exception. Against the background of the general facelessness of the style of literary works, characteristic of the Middle Ages, the style of Ivan the Terrible's writings is sharply original, but it is far from simple and presents difficulties for characterizing it.

Grozny was one of the most educated people of his time. The educators of Grozny in his youth were outstanding scribes: the priest Sylvester and Metropolitan Macarius.

Grozny intervened in the literary activity of his time and left a noticeable mark on it; Grozny's style retained traces of oral thinking. He wrote as he spoke. We see the verbosity characteristic of oral speech, frequent repetitions of thoughts and expressions, digressions and unexpected transitions from one topic to another, questions and exclamations, constant appeals to the reader as a listener.

Grozny behaves in his messages in exactly the same way as in life. It does not affect the manner of writing so much as the manner of holding oneself with the interlocutor.

"Message to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery"

Ivan the Terrible's letter to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery is an extensive improvisation, a scholarly improvisation at first, saturated with quotations, references, examples, and then turning into a passionate accusatory speech - without a strict plan, sometimes contradictory in argumentation, but written with ardent conviction of being right and his right to teach anyone and everyone.

Grozny ironically contrasts St. Cyril of Belozersky (the founder of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery) with the boyars Sheremetev and Vorotynsky. He says that Sheremetev entered the monastery with "his charter" that lives according to the charter of Kirill, and caustically suggests to the monks: "Yes, Sheremetev's charter is good, keep it, and Kirilov's charter is not good, leave it." He persistently “plays” this theme, contrasting the posthumous veneration of the boyar Vorotynsky, who died in the monastery, for whom the monks arranged a luxurious grave, with the veneration of Cyril Belozersky: “And you have put a church over Vorotynskoye! Vorotynskaya in the church, and the miracle-worker for the church! And on the Terrible Savior, the judges Vorotynskaya and Sheremetev will become higher: because the Vorotynskaya church, and Sheremetev by law, because their Kirilov is stronger.

His letter to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, sprinkled at first with bookish, Church Slavonic phrases, gradually turns into the tone of the most relaxed conversation: a passionate, ironic, almost argumentative conversation, and at the same time full of play, pretense, acting. He calls God to witness, refers to living witnesses, cites facts, names. His speech is impatient. He himself calls it "fluff". As if weary of his own verbosity, he interrupts himself: “Well, count and talk a lot”, “multiply us yourself know ...”, etc.

The most famous of the works of Ivan the Terrible is correspondence with Prince Kurbsky, who fled from Grozny to Lithuania in 1564. Here, too, one can clearly feel the lively change in the tone of the letter, caused by the growth of anger.

The most vivid literary talent of Ivan the Terrible was reflected in his letter to his former favorite - "Vasyutka" Dirty, preserved in the list of the XVI century.

Correspondence between Ivan the Terrible and Vasily Gryazny refers to 1574-1576. In the past, Vasily Gryaznoy is the closest royal guardsman, his faithful servant. In 1573 he was sent to the southern borders of Russia - as a barrier against the Crimeans. There he is captured. The Crimeans decided to exchange him for Divey Murza, a noble Crimean governor who was captured by the Russians. From captivity, Vasily Gryaznoy wrote his first letter to Grozny, asking for an exchange for Divey. Terrible's letter contained a resolute refusal.

There is a lot of poisonous joke in Grozny's words and subservience in the words of Dirty.

Grozny is unwilling to view this exchange as a personal service to Gryazny. Will there be a "profit" for the "peasantry" from such an exchange? Grozny asks. "And you, Vedas, to exchange for Divey not for the peasantry for the peasantry." “Vasyutka”, having returned home, will lie down “according to his injury”, and Divey Murza will again begin to fight “yes, several hundred peasants will lutchi captivate you! What will be the profit in that?” To exchange Murza for Divey is, from the point of view of the state, "an unsimilar measure." The tone of Grozny's letter begins to sound admonishing, he teaches Gryazny about foresight and concern for the public interest.

Naturally, on the basis of changes in Grozny's writing position, numerous variants of his style also grew. Terrible appears before us as a majestic monarch and a disenfranchised subject (in a message to Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich), a boundless monarch and a humiliated petitioner (in a second message to Stefan Batory), a spiritual mentor and a sinful monk (in a message to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery), etc. Therefore, the works of Grozny are characterized by an alternation of the Church Slavonic language and colloquial vernacular, sometimes turning into passionate abuse.

With the work of Grozny, the personality of the writer, his individual style and his own worldview entered the literature, the stencils and canons of genre positions were destroyed.

Grozny writes a petition, but this petition turns out to be a parody of the petitions. He writes an instructive epistle, but the epistle is more like a satire than an epistle. He seriously writes real diplomatic letters that are sent to sovereign persons outside of Russia, but they are written outside the traditions of diplomatic correspondence. He does not hesitate to write not on his own behalf, but on behalf of the boyars, or simply takes on the pseudonym "Parthenia the Ugly". He enters into imaginary dialogues, stylizes his speech or generally writes as he speaks, violating the character of the written language. He imitates the style and thoughts of his opponents, creating imaginary dialogues in his works, imitating them and ridiculing them. He is unusually emotional, knows how to excite himself and "liberate" himself from traditions. He teases, mocks and scolds, dramatizes the situation, and sometimes pretends to be a high religious teacher or an inaccessible and wise statesman. And at the same time, it costs him nothing to move from the Church Slavonic language to rude vernacular.

It would seem that he does not have his own style, because he writes in different ways, "in all styles" - as he pleases. But it is precisely in this free attitude to style that stylistic, genre stencils are destroyed, and they are gradually replaced by individual creativity and a personal beginning.

Grozny was far ahead of his era in his free attitude to literary creativity, but Grozny's writing business was not left without successors. In the second half of the 17th century, a hundred years later, his talented follower in a purely literary sense was Archpriest Avvakum, who valued the “father” of the Terrible Tsar for a reason.”

"The Tale of the Azov siege seat of the Don Cossacks"

Arkhangelskaya A.V.

Historical basis. The emergence of the Cossacks. In the XVI century, the resettlement (more often - shoots) of peasants from the central regions to the border lands began. The largest community of refugees formed on the Don, where these people began to call themselves "Cossacks"<…>

There they turned into a very serious military force, which was led by generals chosen from their midst - atamans. The object of military attacks were mainly Turkish possessions between the Azov and Black Seas.

Azov is a powerful Turkish fortress at the mouth of the Don. In the spring of 1637, the Cossacks, taking advantage of the favorable balance of power, when the Sultan was busy with the war with Persia, laid siege to Azov and, after two months of attacks, captured the fortress.

The epic of Azov lasted 4 years

The Don army sought to accept Azov "under the sovereign's hand." The Moscow government, on the other hand, was afraid of a big war with Turkey, peace with which was a stable principle of the foreign policy of the first Romanov tsars.

At the same time, it sent weapons and supplies to the Cossacks and did not prevent "eager people" from replenishing the Azov garrison.

In August 1638, Azov was besieged by cavalry hordes of Crimean and Nogai Tatars, but the Cossacks forced them to go home. Three years later - in 1641 - the fortress had to fight back from the Sultan's army of Ibrahim I - a huge army equipped with powerful artillery. A large flotilla of ships blocked the city from the sea. Mines laid under the walls and siege guns destroyed the fortress. Everything that could burn burned down. But a handful of Cossacks (at the beginning of the siege there were more than five thousand of them against the Turkish army of three hundred thousand) withstood a four-month siege, repulsed 24 attacks. In September 1641, the battered Sultan's army had to retreat. The Turks experienced the shame of this defeat very hard: the inhabitants of Istanbul, under pain of punishment, were forbidden to even pronounce the word "Azov".

Artworks

The events of the Azov epic were reflected in a whole cycle of narrative works, extremely popular throughout the 17th century. First of all, these are three "tales", defined as "historical" (about the capture of the fortress by the Cossacks in 1637), "documentary" and "poetic" (dedicated to the defense of 1641). At the end of the century, the material was reworked again and the so-called "fabulous" story about the capture and siege of Azov arose.

The history of the creation of the "Tale of the Azov siege seat" - the goal is initially non-literary:

In 1642, a zemstvo council was convened to decide what to do next: defend the fortress or return it to the Turks. Elected representatives of the Don Cossacks arrived at the cathedral from the Don. The leader of this delegation was Yesaul Fedor Poroshin, a runaway serf of Prince. N.I. Odoevsky. Apparently, it was he who wrote the poetic "The Tale of the Azov Siege Seat" - the most outstanding monument of the Azov cycle. The "Tale" was designed to win Moscow public opinion over to the side of the Cossacks, to influence the Zemsky Sobor.

R. Picchio, characterizing the Tale, noted first of all its traditional character: “Sometimes it seems that you are reading The Tale of Bygone Years, or The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev, or The Tale of the Capture of Constantinople ... the images of the Turks from the army of Sultan Ibrahim seem to written off from the ancient Cumans or Batu Tatars ... The power of the tradition of ancient Russian literature gives the whole narrative a moral force that gives charm to every phrase and every gesture that is performed not by chance, not by an instantaneous impulse, but in accordance with paternal precepts.Azov Cossacks are left to themselves, formally they are not dependent on the king and are able to choose their own destiny. And yet they know no doubts. The Orthodox faith and morality are strong in them. For them, patriotism and religion are one and the same. In the face of the Turkish threat, they know what diatribes to turn to unbelievers, what fervent prayers to offer to the Lord, the Mother of God and the saints, what miracles to expect from heaven, how to greet Christian brothers, the sun, rivers, forests and seas. If there were more improvisation in their actions, the charm of a picture painted in the old way would disappear.

Arkhangelskaya believes that the artistic specificity of the monument is determined by the combination of clerical stamps (documents), artistically rethought, and folklore. Cossack, as well as "from book sources, he also took, first of all, folklore motifs." Also, she does not see here a hero-prince or sovereign, but sees a “collective, collective hero” (But this is difficult to accept, because the main category is catholicity, and not collectivity in this period).

The story begins as a typical extract from a document: the Cossacks "brought a painting to their siege seat, and that painting was submitted to Moscow in the Ambassadorial order ... to the Duma clerk ... and writes them in the painting ...", but the facts themselves are conveyed emotionally and even their enumeration is striking in its seemingly hopelessness - the forces of the Cossacks are too small compared to the Turks. "Those people have been gathered against us, black men, many thousands without number, and there is no letter to them (!) - there are so many of them." This is how countless enemy hordes are depicted.

Although ahead is the victory of the Cossacks, about which Proshin came to tell.

Further, the epic style replaces the documentary method of presentation, when the narrative moves to a description of the battle, which is compared with sowing - “the traditional motif of battle descriptions in folklore and literature. There are so many enemies that the steppe expanses have turned into dark and impenetrable forests. From the crowd of foot and cavalry regiments, the earth shook and caved in, and water came out of the Don onto the shore. A huge number of various tents and tents are likened to high and terrible mountains. Cannon and musket shooting is likened to a thunderstorm, flashing lightning and powerful thunder. From the powder smoke the sun faded, its light turned into blood and darkness set in (how can one not remember the "bloody sun" of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"). The cones on the helmets of the Janissaries sparkle like stars. “In no country have we seen such people in the military, and we have not heard of such an army from the century,” the author sums up, but immediately corrects himself, because. finds a suitable analogy: "just as the king of Greece came under the Trojan state with many states and thousands."

The style reflects the peculiarities of the speech of the Cossacks, includes their scolding in relation to the Sultan: he is a "thin pig shepherd hired", and a "stinking dog", and a "stingy dog" (which resembles the letters of Ivan the Terrible to the Turkish Sultan).

From song lyricism to "literary abuse" - such is the stylistic range of the story.

The image of the enemy - the Turks - as crafty and treacherous: "the Turks not only threaten the Cossacks, they tempt them, offering to save their lives and go over to the side of the Sultan, promising great joy and honor for this: absolution of any guilt and rewarding with countless wealth." Those. here appears the motive and theme of choice, and the choice is spiritual, religious and moral. They are faithful to Orthodoxy and the Russian land, the Fatherland. It's all one, and everything is held together by the prayer of the Cossacks, which plays a very important role in the text. Feeling that their strength is running out and the end is approaching, they appeal to the heavenly patrons, the patron saints of the Russian land. Christian Cossacks do not surrender to the power of the infidels. And then a miracle happens: “In response to this, the comforting and uplifting words of the Mother of God are heard from heaven, the icon of John the Baptist in the church sheds tears, and the army of heavenly angels falls on the Turks.” As you know, a miracle in the texts of the DRL is the action of the Providence of God and the participation of the Higher powers in the event. This is the measure of their faith.

Event final

The Zemsky Sobor was not without heated debate, but the opinion of the king prevailed: Azov must be returned to the Turks. The surviving defenders of the fortress left it. To smooth out the heavy impression that this verdict made on the Don Host, the tsar generously rewarded all the Cossacks who were present at the cathedral. An exception was made in only one case: Yesaul Fedor Poroshin, a runaway serf and writer, was detained, deprived of his salary and exiled to the Solovetsky Monastery.

Topic 10: Old Russian Literature: 40s of the 17th – 30s of the 18th Centuries.

In the history of Russia, the 17th century is called "rebellious". It began with the "Time of Troubles" and the great ruin of the country, ended with the streltsy revolts and the massacre of Peter over the opponents of his reforms.

1. Features of the transitional period: from medieval literature to the literature of the "modern time". Secularization and democratization of literature, appeal to fiction, development of the character of a literary character.

The third literary (and cultural) formation. She is the 5th stage - Stage of world representation (40s of the 17th - 30s of the 18th century) - this is the stage of the transition period from the culture of the Middle Ages to the culture of the New Age: from the 40s of the 17th century. - to the 30s of the XVIII century. This is the beginning of formation egocentric consciousness. The fine arts reproduce the private secular life of a family (a family portrait in a home interior), the authors of literary works became interested in the psychology of the characters, which began to dictate their actions, and the main theme in literature is soulfulness, which replaced spirituality. During this period, the third religious (eschatological) concept is formed - "Moscow - the visible image of the New Jerusalem."

The main feature of the period under consideration is secularization of the worldview. Its most noticeable manifestation is observed in the “democratic satire”, which appeared in the 40s of the 17th century. , and is expressed not only in the literary parody of the very forms of church service, but also in the obvious atheistic orientation of a number of such works (for example, “Services to the Kabaku”).

A number of signs artistic development of literature:

First of all, this is the development of fiction as a literary device. Until the 17th century Russian literature was the literature of historical fact. In the XVI century. fiction penetrated literature, and in the 17th century. began to actively explore it. The use of fiction led to the fictionalization of literary works and a complex entertaining plot. If in the Middle Ages Orthodox literature was soulful reading, then in the transitional period light, entertaining reading appears in the form of translated “knightly novels” and original love-adventure stories.

Medieval literature was the literature of the historical hero. During the transition period, a fictional hero appeared, with typical features of the class to which he belonged.

Generalization and typification came to Russian literature following fiction and established themselves in it during the period under consideration, but they would not have been possible without the development of induction at the previous stage of worldview.

The motivation of the hero's actions also changes. In historical figures, the actions were due to historical necessity, now the actions of a literary character depend only on the character of the hero, his own plans. There is a psychological motivation of the hero's behavior, that is, the development of the character of a literary character (see. stories about Savva Grudtsyn, Frol Skobeev and etc.). All these innovations led to the emergence of purely secular works, and in general - to secular literature.

Interest in the inner world of the hero contributed to the emergence of the genre of autobiographies (Archpriest Avvakum, the monk Epiphanius), and stories with sensual correspondence of the characters. Emotional experiences caused by love feelings (sinful in the assessment of medieval consciousness) become dominant in love - adventurous stories of the late 17th - first third of the 18th centuries. (tales about Melusin and Bruntsvik, Russian sailor Vasily Koriotsky). And if you look carefully, then the beginning of Russian sentimentalism should be sought not in the author's stories of the 60s of the 18th century, but in the handwritten story of the beginning of this century (see “The Tale of the Russian Merchant John”).

Ideas about time have also changed. When with the secularization of consciousness in the middle of the XVII century. the past distanced itself from the present by rigid grammatical forms of the past tense(at the same time, the aorist and the imperfect were replaced, expressing an action that began in the past, but did not end in the present), ideas about the earthly future and the corresponding grammatical forms of its expression appeared, including with the auxiliary verb “I will”.

Previously, an ancient Russian writer would not have taken the liberty of saying what he would do tomorrow, i.e. make plans for the future, because this meant his confidence that tomorrow, first of all, he would be alive, and he would not have had the courage to assert this: his life was thought in God's will. Only with the secularization of consciousness appeared such a confident

It is possible that other authors of the hagiographies also had this kind of program in mind when they said that they would present the life of the saint “in a row”, but its detailed presentation in the author’s preface is typical of Epiphanius and can serve as confirmation of the hagiographer’s awareness of its implementation.

Indicating his sources in The Life of Stephen of Perm, Epiphanius says: even qbo treasures, and zdh i wnde having collected, suppose, "but w his life w you hear q heard, w w w q his pupil q vhdah," but w q chitit h, q board. There is also something else, "which one has seen one's own, it's different with one's demons many times and wt of that skill, and so on" 12 . Obviously, the center of this text is Epiphanius himself. Usually, in reference to sources, the main thing is the listing of those from whom the hagiographer received information. In Epiphanius, the author himself is in the first place, and it is to him that the verbs belong: “gained”, “gathered”, “suggest”, “hear”, “learned”, “vided”, “talked”, “inquired”, - the abundance of which adds up to a picture of extensive activity to collect information about the saint. The arrangement of accents in this text leaves no doubt as to who in this collection of material belongs to the main merit, which Epiphanius clearly does not seek to downplay.

Epiphanius departs even further from the generalized traditional description of the beginning of the work of the hagiographer in the Life of Sergius. His text is extremely specific. The author says that he began writing the "Life" 26 years after the death of the monk, but the initial stage of work began " after light, one or two after the death of the elders" 13 . Epiphanius dedicates readers to his "creative laboratory" of preparing and collecting material: first he " I’ll go into detail a little something to write from the life of Startsev" fourteen . And as a result: Imhyah, on the other hand, for 20 lt, such scrolls were prepared for writing off, in them bhahu are written nhkya of the main hedgehog about life for the memory of the elders" fifteen . Epiphany emphasizes that these were precisely the draft preparatory materials that he kept for 20 years: “ ova ubo in sweatshirts, ova in tetratech, and even not in a row, but forward back, and back forward" 16 . The following is a list of sources in the most general terms: I heard the tree from the elder, and I saw the tree with my eyes, and I heard the tree from my very mouth» 17 . Following the example of Byzantine hagiographies, he says: and the fir-tree was noticed from others like him who walked a lot of time and took water on his hands" eighteen . Here Epiphanius refers to quite specific and highly authoritative sources. These are the references to the older brother Sergius Stefan, " former according to the flesh father Theodore, archbishop Rostovskiy » 19 .

The preface to the "Life of Sergius" is replete with author's reflections, stories about experiences, doubts, etc. All of them do not seem to go far beyond the traditional author's statements, but the development of traditional formulas and filling with subjective experiences make them sound like a personal confession. And this confession is so extensive that it turns the introduction into a chapter of the Life, the fullness of which Epiphanius himself emphasizes: “ Until here, he finished the saying, and tacos remembered God and called on Him for help: it’s good to start about God, and finish about God" twenty .

In the Life of Stephen, the confessor and educator, such is the learning and intellectual superiority of the protagonist.

In the introduction, Epiphanius, speaking of himself, spreads the topos about not visiting Athens: “ neither Platonic, nor Aristotelian demons do not st # zhah, nor dilosoda, nor cunning”, - and says that he writes “quite simply - wtinqd all nedoqmhn¿a filled with #» 21 . Epiphanius introduces this traditional motif, apparently, quite formally. The denial of Greek learning is not only limited to these introductory words, but, one might say, is refuted by the entire subsequent text of the Life. For the entire "Life" is an apology for learning.

Education, learning, bookishness Stephen, according to Epiphanius, is one of his main merits. Since childhood, Stefan vdan to be literate qchiti, south soon out; all lettersq, #to up to a year» 22 . In the Rostov Gate many books bahq tq are satisfied with the supply of food for consumption, veneration for the sake of the Bishop of Rostov Parthenia » 23 . At the same time, he deeply delved into the interpretation of each line: “ Diligently name the customs of honoring the reverence of the book, and not poor for the sake of qslowness in qing, but yes, until the end, in truth, razmhet w any stisse of the word, w than the verb» 24 . Having studied the Permian language, wishing for a bigger size, # in the image of any qdria izqches # and Greek letters and books of Greek from above, and kindly read more #, and it’s good for them # she # q to yourself» 25 . Finally, Stephen is credited not only with knowledge Holy Scripture, but also " external relations», « bookish wisdom and grammatical tricks» 26 . Epiphanius calls this knowledge “a gift of grace”, backing it up with a quote: “ For this reason, every scribe, having begun the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder, who wears out old and new from his treasures.» 27 .

At the same time, Stefan's ability to science, his mind, are emphasized in every possible way. Stefan " surpassing many of his peers in his kind, good-naturedness and shortness of time are superior, and superiority and speed of meaning #. And be a well-meaning evil, q with your own mind» 28 . Similarly, when describing the successes of Stephen in the wisdom of books, Epiphanius notes that he achieved these successes thanks to the God-given " natural sharpness qma» 29 .

The lack of intelligence of Epiphanius, of course, is condemned. This is obvious from the context where it is said about the "foolish": " Nhtsii same, skqdni more qmom, deciding: Whether the creation of the book is Permian, or for the sake of the alphabet of Permian letters? thirty .

Another point that distinguishes the "Life of Stephen" is the fullness of a subjectively personal beginning. For example, along with the generally accepted and “public” motive for writing the “Life” - duty, Epiphanius also speaks of a personal motive: he “ we wish, we support, and we strive with love» 31 .

In a purely personal tone, “Lamentation and Praise of a Monk Who Cheats” begins: “ Az, then, Mr. Bishop, if I also die, I would like to bring you praise". Addressing the deceased as if he were alive, Epiphanius appears here not as a hagiographer, but as a person grieving for a loved one. It is with such emotions that his lamentations are imbued with the fact that during his lifetime he was Stefan's "annoyer". In his exclamations, the natural feeling of guilt of the living before the dead sounds: “ himself with # himself qraml # u and wkayu» 32 . Again and again, Epiphanius speaks of his grief: “ I am wandering and crying myself”, grieves that he was not at the death of Stephen, could not say goodbye to him, finally, that “ wstakh on evil days"without Stefan, and between them" the boundary is great created#» 33 . And again the leitmotif sounds: Asche i q dead, like to live to you verb, remembrance of lovea long time ago, but also praise t # gr # dq» 34 .

It must be said that an analogy to such a manifestation of personal motivation can also be found in the much less emotional Life of Sergius of Radonezh. According to Epiphanius, he decided to write about Sergius, because: “ And find my desire is unsatisfied hedgehog how and in what way to start writing, like from a lot it’s not enough, hedgehog about life Reverend Elder» 35 . These texts hardly leave room for the thesis about the "impersonality" of writing the life attributed to Epiphanius. Yes, by O. F. Konovalova, Epiphanius proceeds from the fact that "a writer inspired by God does not write of his own will, but because the feat of a saint is eternal, majestic, ideal" 36 .

However, the expression of personal emotions is adjacent and intertwined with the author's topic. And this combination turns out to be so organic that it is already difficult to fully call common places as such. Speaking about the fact that “desire” draws him to the praise of Sergius, and “poverty of the mind” blocks his mouth, Epiphanius unexpectedly sums up: “ And don’t let me encourage you and encourage us to be in need, but it’s better for us to speak, but I will gradually accept some weakness and rest from many thoughts that confuse me, take something from the life of the holy parable» 37 . This phrase shows that Epiphanius does not just formally use topoi, but, as it were, “experiences” them, as if he were praying, he really feels these two conflicting impulses in himself. Finally, it is psychologically natural for a person writing to say about himself: “ better we have verbs» - « let me rest from many thoughts”, - when thoughts and feelings that are born and already born require verbal embodiment. So, in the "Life of Stefan" crying organically turns into praise, and instead of the voice of a grieving friend, the voice of the writer sounds, who must " words serve» 38 Stefan. Epiphanius compares himself with the chroniclers, who praise the soldiers and governors who "could have courage in the regiment on the rati".

Epiphanius returns to a personal motive at the end of the Life - love for Stefan does not allow him to finish the essay: Even more, and many times, he wanted to leave the devil, but either way, he is attracted by m # to praise and to weaving words» 39 .

Another characteristic feature of the "Life of Stephen" is the exceptional and, perhaps, in this sense, unique in ancient Russian literature, the attention that Epiphanius pays to Word.

The word of Epiphanius is inseparably connected with the concepts of "gift", "reason" and "wisdom", "memory": " Dasts # emq gift of grace, - he says about Stefan, - and word of wisdom and wisdom» 40 . The Metropolitan says of Stefan that he " and qchitelstvo gift, hedgehog, and talent, spoilage and emq, and the word of wisdom and size» 41 . Epiphanius himself asks God " words are needed; else give me words like in wtverzen¿e qst my". And then again: Please, give me your grace to help me, let me give the word firmly, diversified and spacious» 43 .

It should be noted that word sounds here in both its senses: divine (Logos) and direct - professional for the writer.

The word in a high sense - as the Word of God - is what Epiphanius means when he puts an appeal to Stefan into the mouth of Bishop Gerasim: Lord, let t # start, and give you a verb , hedgehog bless strength q many qMay you give the word of goodness in your heart and may your word be dissolved in the grace of salt, give as it behooves everyone to answer» 44 . In the same vein, the author says about himself: Pwshq, let me give grace and the gift of the HolyDqha / .. wt worthless sharpens # vs # ka premqdrwst With the same wtverzu qcta mo# and fill#ts# Dqhom and the word wtrignq» 45 .

In the spirit of the Church Fathers, Epiphanius argues about the word in the “Eulogy to Sergius”: “ The scriptures of spiritual words call the food of the Aggels, but to enjoy the soul with it, listening with the mind, and as the food is rotten, so the soul is strengthened by the word". And then the traditional motif of the sweetness of words sounds: “ The sweetness is more verbal Taste David, marveling, to speak to God: Kohl is sweet of the larynxyour words to me, my mouth is more than honey...» 46 .

Among the predecessors of Epiphanius it is difficult to find such a pronounced interpretation The words like a Logos (not counting, of course, sermons and other works of a purely theological nature). sacred meaning the words in the monuments of literature is actualized precisely at this time - at the turn of the 14th - 15th centuries - during the period of the so-called "second South Slavic influence", which, as shown by B. A. Uspensky, was in fact "associated with the orientation towards the Greek. culture”, “the revival of Orthodox spirituality” 47 .

Returning to the analysis of the texts under consideration, it is impossible not to notice that word gift, just sounded in a high Divine sense, after a few lines it is concretized and word a description is given in terms, one might say, “professional” for a scribe: “ Yes, mi give the word firmly, diversified and spacious'.As owning word, “the word is fruitful,” he writes about himself in “The Lament of the Monk Who Cheats”: “ Yes, and I’m many-sided and unreasonable, the last words are praiseworthy and yours, the word weaves and the word fruit # soup, and the word honor me # soup, and wt words laudable collection, and gain, and plhtaa, packs verb #: what else t# called q » 48 .

It is also interesting that gift the words, according to Epiphanius, is not unambiguously interconnected with virtue. He shares virtue and verbal art. This is obvious from the penitential monologue, where he, relatively speaking, contrasts word and a business: « Woe to me, speaking and not creating, q more often and not smelling, but barren, q you mnh, “wihs # fig tree, foliage is only one name, I only turn book pages, and leaves book writing, only praise #, butthe fruit of virtue is not imhyu» 49 . Undoubtedly, this is another step in the professionalization of the author's self-awareness.

In The Life of Sergius of Radonezh, the very approach of Epiphanius to the biography of the saint is fundamentally different from the vast majority of stories about saints.

This is evident already in the initial chapters of the Life. Epiphanius begins the story not so much about the ascent from righteousness to holiness, but about life as a miracle. So, for example, he not only speaks of the pious parents of the monk, but in every possible way draws attention to this as to Divine will: “ God forbid, even if I want such a child, let it be born from an unrighteous parent" fifty . Here is the thought that determined the pathos of all the initial chapters of the "Life": about the destiny from above, the mission of Sergius.

Most of the saints in hagiographic works make their own choice and go to holiness through temptations, without immediately determining their path. Sergius, on the other hand, was given by God to "many people on success, for salvation and for profit» 51 . And so most of the first chapter is devoted to the description of the signs revealed by God before the birth of the baby and after his birth. The signs set the mother on a special attitude towards the unborn child, she fasts, and the parents, even before the birth of the baby, decide " bring him and give good to the giver of God, as of old Anna the prophetess, the mother of Samoil prophet" 52 . The priest who baptized the child “understood” that “ I'll lend the chosen one to be a baby» 53 .

Epiphanius gives lengthy interpretations of all the signs and thus confirms the coming to the Russian land of a fasting person chosen by God, a holy servant of the Lord. These signs, - says the author of "Life", - " there is a prepath after h + di future » 54 .

Further, Epiphanius, as analogies, cites such a lengthy list of miraculous phenomena known to him, which marked the arrival of God's chosen babies, that he is forced to resort to self-justification for apostasy: “ And let no one look upon my rudeness, as if I had continued my word about this: and remembering from other saints from their lives, and citing testimonies for notice, and likening, to the subject of this wonderful man, things are wonderful and things will affect» 55 .

Finally, a whole chapter is devoted to the miraculous teaching of a child to read and write from an angel. From the lips of the elder-angel for the first time in the "Life" are the words: "the abode of the Holy Trinity" - as a prediction to the youth.

The author's digression is also characteristic, summing up Sergius's "Belets life". It must be said that Nestor also notes a similar stage of life in The Life of Theodosius of the Caves. He makes a digression, specifying the source of his knowledge about the period of Theodosius's life from childhood to tonsure. However, Epiphanius not only sets a milestone between the life stages of Bartholomew-Sergius, but also explains why he was so detailed, describing his childhood and youth. He says he did it deliberately: he wanted show, confirm all the same main idea - the idea of ​​being chosen: “ I want to show those who honor and listen to his life, what he was like from childhood and from childhood in a clean and pure life, and adorned with all good deeds - this breathing and his walking in the world". And the hagiographer once again emphasizes that for God, Sergius is “a chosen loan.” He will be hegumen many brethren and father of many monasteries» 56 .

The idea of ​​the chosenness of Sergius is not lost in the further narration. Sergius himself knows what has been said about himself, and everyone around him remembers his chosenness. Stefan reminds Sergiy of the words of his parents: “ Watch, watch, child! And you are not our child, but God's gift: Elma God has chosen you, yetbeing carried in the womb of the mother, and proclaimed about you and before your birth» 57 .

Abbot Mitrofan, who tonsured Sergius, behaves in the same way when he asks to teach him how to be a monk: “ Or, say, you ask me, but you don’t hate us, don’t worsen us, oh honest head!» 58 .

« God calling fromwomb thy mother Bishop Athanasius says to Sergius, even from many hearings about you, may you be henceforth father and abbot of the brethren,Gathered by God in the monastery of the Holy Trinity» 59 .

Obviously, signs, signs, miracles are known not only to Epiphanius, he emphasizes that many people know about this. V. N. Toporov drew attention to the fact that Epiphanius cites evidence of a wonderful fragrance that accompanied the communion of Sergius after the tonsure. “Epiphanius, for whom, as a rule, it is important not to be suspected of unreliability and to testify to his accuracy and documentation, asks the question - Where did it come from ? 60, - writes the researcher. It seems that the point is not so much in the desire for documentary and not in the fact that Epiphanius, according to V. N. Toporov, "after all, was not a genius" 61 , but in the fact that it is important for the hagiographer that Sergius's life unfolded before the eyes of people , just as he himself unfolds his Life in front of future readers.

Not only God knows about the mission of Sergius, but the devil guesses: “ If only the devil- says Epiphanius, - drive out the Monk Sergius from that place, seeing our salvation, and at the same time being afraid, but no empty place will raise up the grace of God, and the monastery will reward with its be patient » 62 .

Finally, Sergius himself says about himself to the monks: “Leave me God, and ty, as if he will, and will do about me» 63 .

In the mission destined for Sergius, Epiphanius emphasizes two main points: the already mentioned idea of ​​serving the Trinity and the salvation of "many". Epiphanius emphasizes this second task of Sergius, for example, when he tells how those who want to get a haircut come to Sergius: “ Now be the building and providence of the all-powerful merciful Lord God, as if he wants not only Sergius to live in this desert, but the most numerous brethren, as Paul the Apostle said: do not look for one of your own, but many, so save yourself» 64 . The monks point out the same to Sergius, threatening that they will leave the monastery, break their vows and be defeated by the devil if he does not accept the abbess: “ You answer vzdasi before the innocent judgeAlmighty God» 65 .

All this gives the life and exploits of Sergius a special significance. Like the biblical prophets, he serves the one who sent him. And the unhurried, consistent and detailed unfolding of the deeds of Sergius under the pen of Epiphanius takes on the character of almost initiation into a certain sacrament, causing the reader to have a whole range of corresponding experiences.

In science, attempts have been repeatedly made to connect the work of Epiphanius with the traditions of the Tyrnovo school. It seems that this dependence should not be exaggerated. So, without denying a certain similarity between the rhetorical style of Epiphanius and the hagiographic works of Evfimy Tyrnovsky, L. A. Dmitriev clearly showed their differences. These differences relate, among other things, to the author's approach to writing the life. The researcher noted that Epiphanius “approached his creations not as texts for ecclesiastical purposes”, but sought to “express everything that he considers necessary to say about the saint he praised” 67 . Therefore, in particular, the lives written by Epiphanius the Wise are much more extensive than those of Euthymius. Thus, Epiphanius, as an author, is more independent of external requirements in his approach to his works, following his own plan and goals.

Another important remark by L. A. Dmitriev is connected with the statements of the authors “about themselves and the tasks of their work, about the history of labor” 69 . The researcher shows that the author's introduction by Euthymius is "a rhetorical argument, rather of a general philosophical nature, than a specific message about himself" 70 . Epiphany's statements about himself and his work, along with philosophical reasoning, contain concrete and personal material.

The reason for the appearance in Russia during this period of new stylistic trends, apparently, should be sought not in ideological influences (in particular, hesychasm), but in the beginning processes of the reformation of church life. The end of the fourteenth century is a period of gradual introduction into use of the Jerusalem church charter - more solemn and decorated, which replaced the Studian 71. A number of liturgical books are translated from Greek, including, possibly, by Cyprian himself (the Psalter followed, the Missal - in accordance with the requirements of the new Charter, etc.). As shown in the work of I. D. Mansvetov 72, the Jerusalem Charter gradually replaced the Studite one: Cyprian's letters to Novgorod and Pskov with explanations of individual rites of worship confirm that the clergy of these cities had already dealt with church reform, which could not but affect the style of the created at this time of life.

Obviously, Epiphanius is quite consciously striving for the complex ornamentation of style. The very term "weaving of words" is possibly the result of Epiphanius's borrowing from Greek or Serbian works. However, as shown by A. M. Panchenko, the very concept of “weaving” is primordially associated with the idea of ​​​​especially exquisite “decoration” - whether in literature, painting, or in arts and crafts. Speaking of himself, he again and again uses this expression. In the passage already quoted, Epiphanius uses these words twice: Yes, and I’m many-sided and unreasonable, the word weaves and the word fruct # shchi, and the word to honor mn # shchi, and from the words laudable» 76 . Previously, he laments that he has not learned " weave¿a rhetoric» 77 . Says that "any to attract him m# to laudable and wicker words» 78 . The same word crowns a typically Epiphanius rhetorical construction: “ But what t# will I call, w a bishop, or what t# will I call, or what will t# call, and how will t# pardon, or will t# mhnyu, or what will I invite, how I will praise, how and what praise? 79 .

A lot has been written about the "weaving of words" in the scientific literature, and a detailed analysis of this phenomenon in the context of this work does not seem appropriate. I will dwell on only one text of Epiphanius, which is very important for the last part of the Life. This text immediately follows the passage quoted above and begins with the words: " The same as t # called- prophet whether, "to the prophetic was prophesied¿and interpreted thou» 80, etc. Listing all the types of Christian exploits known to him, he successively “trying on” each of them for Stephen: “legislator” (or “lawmaker”), “baptist”, “preacher”, “evangelist”, “prelate ”, “teacher”, “passion-bearer”, “father”, “confessor”.

Even in the "Life of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy" it is said about two ways to reach "mountain Jerusalem": one " put aside carnal weakness, fasting and prayers in the deserts and in the mountains, in the caves exhausting your body, "others" I gave up my body to the mockery of bonds, and dungeons, and wounds, of course, shedding my blood, I will receive the kingdom of heaven and an unfading crown» 81 . Thus, the author of the "Life" formulated two types of holiness. However, the development and complication of the hagiographic genre (including the multiplication of its subspecies) was also reflected in the author's self-awareness of the hagiographer: Epiphanius's classification of types of holiness is much more detailed. And although the author of The Life of Stefan proves that the Perm bishop is worthy of all the listed similes, in the final analysis, he stops at the only true characterization of his hero, calling him a confessor.

Thus, the search for the desired the words does not remain a self-contained process, but is crowned by its discovery. It is precisely "confessors" that are called saints like Stephen today, and the lives of missionaries are called "confessional".

The word-Logos is connected in the mind of Epiphanius with the concept truth. Turning to Christ with a prayer, the hagiographer asks: keep him in them # Thine and sanctify him in Thy truth, Thy word is truth» 82 . Therefore, there is no doubt that verbosity, "sorting out" semantically close words means not just wandering around the essence, but is a search for the true The words, immanent being. Search name-word for Epiphanius never loses its meaningful purpose. No matter how verbose the hagiographer is, all the enumerations are not synonymous, but make it possible to see the versatility of the object, to emphasize any of its characteristics. So, after the expanded system of similes, which was mentioned above, Epiphanius exclaims: “What else does t # call?”, - and begins a long series of names: “ guiding the deceivers, the guardian perished, the mentor deceived, the leader # qmy wheeded, the purifier # defiled" etc. " Many names are yours #, w bishop, many names are st # pity thouYes, what else did you call, what else you need to name, and what has not yet been praised, not others have been named, and yours 83, - he continues, focusing on the search for the "name", or rather, the "names" of Stefan. It is characteristic that after a few pages the author suddenly recalls that he did not name all the “names”: “ Wh my stovnago unexamined, and meagerness # tstva! Why forget even call his sanctuary, "to the light people are darkened # by the gloom of the world» 84 .

Numerous statements by Epiphanius about the “rudeness” of his style, the “indecency” and “discordance” of the words he chooses lead V. V. Bychkov to the conclusion that the hagiographer expresses “doubt in the limitless expressive possibilities of the human word” 85 . However, the constantly emphasized dissatisfaction with one's writing does not mean that the true word cannot be found. For example, at the end of the Life, Epiphanius writes: But even if not much written bysha nhka #, but it’s still possible to eat some kind of goodnessq and mqdrhishemq about the Lord, build this and fix it good #, not qgood qkind, and unbuilta build, and not qchischrena# qcunning, and unfinished# finish» 86 . Therefore, we are only talking about the difficulty of finding an adequate, worthy Stefan the words and naming. The same idea is expressed by Epiphanius in relation to painting - in the words of Theophanes the Greek. “It’s not powerful,” Feofan says in response to a request to portray Sophia of Constantinople, “ neither improve you, nor write to me; but for the sake of your dokuki, for the sake of a little, I’ll enter something from a part of you, and the same is not like from a part, but like from a hundredth part, like from a lot, it’s not enough, but from this little-looking depicted written by us and other big imashi to speak and understand» 87 . An object that, according to Theophanes the Greek, cannot be expressed in a drawing, is certainly a unique, but still a man-made temple. Therefore, "impossibility" is only an artistic device, an exaggeration designed to awaken the reader's imagination and create a belief in the grandeur and height of the subject.

The presence of aesthetic consciousness, aesthetic goals in Epiphanius the Wise as a writer is practically recognized in modern science. So, D.S. Likhachev writes about the authors of the 14th - 15th centuries: “it must be admitted that they saw in their writing work a genuine and complex art, sought to extract as many external effects from words as possible, masterfully playing with words, creating a variety of symmetrical combinations , elaborate weaving of words, a verbal web" 88 . And it should be noted that Epiphany uses artistic techniques not only at the level of tropes and stylistic constructions, but also in relation to the use of original artistic moves. Remarkable in this sense is the chapter called " Weep for the Church of Perm, when you have been widowed, ¿plakas# according to Bishoph Si» 89 . This lament, bearing in itself folklore traditions, is interesting because in it the church is animated and personified not only in an abstract symbolic way. Apparently, it is precisely such a consistent creation of an artistic image that D.S. Likhachev calls “the material embodiment of symbols” 90 . The Church speaks of herself as a bishop's widow (a symbol traditional for Christian dogma), and in texts borrowed from the Psalms she refers to herself such "corporeal" categories as "my heart and my flesh", "my bones" 91 .

A separate topic is the quotation from Epiphanius the Wise. Special studies have been devoted to this topic. First of all, it should be noted the work O. F. Konovalova and F. Wigzell 92 . The study of O. F. Konovalova concerns quotations from the Apostolic Epistles, while F. Wigzell analyzes the citation of various biblical texts. A statistical analysis of citations by F. Wigzell shows that out of 340 citations, 158 are citations from the Psalms. However, not only statistics point to the exceptional role of the Psalter in the stylistic structure of the Life of Stephen. The very emotional structure of the psalms had an unconditional influence on the formation of the style of The Life of Stephen. That is why the lines of the psalms are organically woven into the text of Epiphanius.

Of course, Epiphanius has quotations from the Psalter, introduced in traditional quotation turns. They begin with the words: "King David's speech", "According to the reksh", etc. However, in this case, the quotation is very free, because Epiphanius rarely uses one line from any psalm. As a rule, a long emotional panegyric period follows, connecting several fragments of the psalms. The connection is so natural that you don’t always immediately notice the compilation: “ and the prophet David said: remember God and rejoice(Ps.76, 4), cast your sorrow on the Lord,(Ps.54, 23); evening will come back # cry, and tomorrow joy(Ps.29, 7); brother, cry my joy in my h, tore apart the sackcloth of my teacher "sa m # fun (Ps. 29, 12); my joy # deliver m# wt offended m#(Ps. 31, 7), "ko o it will rejoice # our heart(Ps.32, 21)" 93 .

Another type of quotation is characterized by the absence of an indication of the source with a fairly accurate quotation: “ For this sake, and create with me a sign for the good and yes qz#t hating me and shame#ts#, "to You, Lord, help me and qth+shil m# thou» 94 (Ps. 85, 17).

More often, Epiphanius freely uses quotations, because, as F. Wigzell reasonably suggests, he quoted the texts of the psalms from memory.

Finally, there are paraphrases, or the use of the imagery of a psalm within the framework of original stylistic constructions. This, for example, appears in the "Life" of Stephen's denunciation of pagan idols: " Kumir your ancient people without a soul, the deeds of human hands, qst imqt, and do not speak, qy imqt, and do not hear, their eyes, and do not qsee, behind them, and do not smell, pqch imqt, and do not feel, nwzh imqt, and they don’t go, and they don’t walk, and they don’t move from their place, and they don’t exclaim with their larynxes, and they don’t sniff their nostrils, they don’t offer sacrifices, they don’t drink, they don’t “dqt; they are like them and keep creative # schii c # and all nadhyushcheis # on n # "95, - this is how this place sounds at Epiphanius. In the Psalms we find: Idols #zyk silver and gold dhla r @ kj human, usta them # t and not verb # t, their eyes #t and not see #t, their ears #t and not hear @ t. There is no spirit in uthx quiet Like them, yes b @ d @ be creative # shchei and all hope # shcheis # on n #» (Ps.134,16-17) 96 . As you can see, Epiphanius made changes to this text of the Psalter in accordance with his subject (in particular, the "idols" of Permians are not gold and silver, but wooden). In addition, he rebuilt the period in the spirit of his inherent stylistic manner, replete with symmetrical elements.

Finally, some texts do not have direct analogies in the Psalter, but in general structure and style they resemble psalms praising God: “ “Glory to God about his inexpressible gift, which also takes the “tongues of deceit and perish # in salvation, which also takes the nevhars # into vhrq, which leads to being unbaptized # in baptism!" 97 .

The concept of "one's own" and "foreign" text in Epiphanius (as well as in his predecessors) does not have a clear distinction, not only in relation to the Psalter. In science, it was noted that Epiphanius followed the tradition of Nestor in the construction of his works, this is especially evident in the Life of Sergius of Radonezh. Depending on Nestor's "Life of Theodosius", the description of Sergius's custom to go around the cells in the evening, and in the morning with "parables" to seek repentance from those who were seen in inappropriate behavior. The same can be said about the miraculous replenishment of reserves, which are depleted the day before, etc. However, Epiphanius also allows direct borrowing - not only in the introduction and conclusion, where topoi predominate, but also in the narrative parts of the work. For example, talking about the Perm land before the arrival of Stephen, Epiphanius uses a fragment from the “Reading on the Life and Destruction of Boris and Gleb”, referring to the Russian land:

This is, of course, not the only example. And the innovation of Epiphanius should not be exaggerated. Of course, Epiphanius was aware that book writing was his vocation, and in this he reached considerable heights. But, as already noted, the subjective focus on masterful sophistication, and not on originality, characteristic of ancient Russian literature as a whole, manifested itself especially clearly in the work of Epiphanius.

Without abandoning the word "master", which quite closely conveys the author's self-consciousness of the ancient Russian scribe, one must only bear in mind that, as far as we can judge, it determines only the conscious side of the work of the same Epiphanius. For all his "aesthetic" reasoning revolves around how praise, name, to whom to liken saint. His innovation in relation to the content side of the lives and their compositional construction by Epiphanius himself is not declared in any way. However, this does not mean that it was not noticed by contemporaries. It is no coincidence, I think, that Pakhomiy Serb was invited to remake the Life of Sergius. And this despite the fact that Epiphanius himself was a recognized authority - "the Wise". Unfortunately, besides the fact that the "Life" was shortened and thus brought closer to the requirements of the "fourth everyday life", it is difficult to judge the essence of the alteration of Pachomius. Nevertheless, the first half of the Life 101 analyzed above, which has been preserved unchanged, fully demonstrates the unusual approach of Epiphanius to the narrative of the saint's life.

It would seem that Epiphany's story about Theophanes the Greek contradicts the formulated conclusions. After all, he enthusiastically says that Theophan does not look at models, as others do, who “ filled with bewilderment, persuasively, ochima sweeping semo and ovamo, not tolma forming charms, eliko nagging at the image often looking» 102 . However, this contradiction is apparent. Theophanes the Greek Epiphanius praises exactly how masters incomparably high class: he writes with ease, which is given only to virtuosos. He does not look at the samples, because this stage is far behind him. At the same time, Epiphanius nowhere says that Theophanes writes something different than other artists, moving away from the established iconography and the principles of the work of painters.

Unlike creator - master learns from his elders or his predecessors not only the basics of the profession, but also certain techniques, the set of which quite legitimately then constitutes his own arsenal. So it was in architecture, craft, painting. So, apparently, it was in literature. Epiphany's repetition of himself can serve as an indirect confirmation of this. So, in the introduction to the "Life of Stephen" we read: " The great Vasilei also writes in honor and his, verb #: be a zealot for the right of the living, and these names and lives, and write the forests on your hearts » 104 . The same in the "Life of Sergius": " The Great Basil also writes: Be a zealot for the right of the living, and write this life and breath on your heart"

Thanks to history books, many of us know about famous people over the centuries, for example, about great generals, politicians and scientists. But, unfortunately, the school gives only a tiny fraction of knowledge about those figures who carried wisdom and kindness through their lives, and also perpetuated historical facts.

We propose to correct this and learn about a truly great man who is known to pious and church-going people as the Monk Epiphanius the Wise (the photo of the uncanonized saint, unfortunately, does not exist due to the prescription of years). He is the author of biographical texts about prominent people of his time, participated in the annals of significant events of that era and, most likely, had influence in high society. The life of Epiphanius the Wise, a summary of his literary works, which miraculously survived to this day, are described in this article.

No date of birth

It is unknown exactly when Epiphanius the Wise was born. The biography of the monk contains rather scarce and sometimes inaccurate information: the Monk Epiphanius lived in the second half of the 14th century, so it is not surprising that so many hundreds of years after his death, so little information remains about this most intelligent person. However, there are still bit by bit collected facts, which, from scattered pieces, add up to a certain story of the life of the monk Epiphanius.

Gifted Acolyte

It is widely believed that the life of Epiphanius the Wise began in Rostov. Young Epiphanius began his spiritual path in his native city, in the monastery of St. Gregory the Theologian, a feature of which was that divine services were conducted there in two languages: Church Slavonic and Greek.

In addition to the bilingual bias, the monastery was famous for its excellent library containing a huge number of books written in different languages. The inquisitive mind and indefatigable thirst for knowledge of the industrious novice led him to sit for hours over folios, studying various languages, as well as chronographs, ladders, biblical texts, historical Byzantine and ancient Russian literature.

A huge role in the education of Epiphanius was played by close communication with Stefan of Perm, the future saint who served at the same monastery. Reading and a broad outlook are one of the reasons why Epiphanius was called the Wise.

Wandering wind

In addition to books, Epiphanius drew knowledge from his travels. Information has been preserved that the monk traveled a lot around the world: he was in Constantinople, made a pilgrimage to Mount Athos in Jerusalem, and also often traveled to Moscow and other Russian cities and towns. The proof of the journey to Jerusalem is the work "Tales of Epiphanius Mnich about the way to the city of holy Jerusalem." Apparently, the knowledge gained by the monk on expeditions can also serve as an answer to the question of why Epiphanius was called the Wise.

Graduate of the Trinity Monastery

After completing his studies at the monastery of St. George the Theologian, the life of Epiphanius the Wise continued near Moscow. In 1380, he transferred to the Trinity Monastery and entered the famous ascetic in Russia - Sergius of Radonezh - as a student. In this monastery, Epiphanius was listed as a literate and led an active book-writing activity. Evidence of this fact is that the pile of manuscripts of the Sergiev-Troitsk Lavra contains the “Stihirar” written by him with many postscripts and notes with his name.

Literature and drawing

In 1392, after the death of his mentor and spiritual father Sergius of Radonezh, the life of Epiphanius the Wise undergoes significant changes: he is transferred to Moscow under the guidance of Metropolitan Cyprian, where he meets the artist Theophan the Greek, with whom he will later have long friendly relations. The artist and his works made such an indelible impression on the monk and led him to such indescribable delight that Epiphanius himself began to draw a little.

Word about Stephen of Perm

In the spring of 1396, Bishop Stefan of Perm, the benefactor of the monk-chronicler, died. And after some time, obsessed with the desire to tell the world about the deeds of the saint, Epiphanius the Wise wrote The Life of Stephen of Perm. This work is not a detailed biography, but a traditional church and instructive description of all the blessings of the Bishop of Perm: Epiphanius glorifies Stephen as a saint who created the Perm alphabet, converted pagans to the Christian faith, crushed idols and built Christian churches on the lands

Epiphany equates the exploits of Stephen of Perm in the Christian field with historical events, because in addition to excellent literary qualities, the Life of Stephen of Perm is an invaluable historical source, because in addition to the personality of Bishop Stephen, it contains archival facts related to the ethnography, culture and history of those ancient times and events taking place in Perm, about its relations with Moscow and about the political situation in general. It is also remarkable that there are no miracles in this literary work.

It is quite difficult for contemporaries to read the works of Epiphanius the Wise. Here are a few words that often appear in the tales of Epiphanius:

  • be ubo by birth Rusyns;
  • midnight, verb;
  • from a parent deliberately;
  • great cleric;
  • also Christians.

As time passed, the chronicle work, literacy and mastery of the word of the monk were highly appreciated by pundits. This is another reason why Epiphanius was called the Wise.

Escape to Tver

In 1408, a terrible thing happened: Moscow was attacked by the war-obsessed cruel Khan Edigey with his army. The life of the God-fearing Epiphanius the Wise takes a sharp turn: the modest scribe flees to Tver, not forgetting to grab his works. In Tver, Epiphanius was sheltered by the archimandrite of the Savior-Athanasiev Monastery Korniliy (in the world - Kirill).

Monk Epiphanius lived in Tver for 6 whole years, and during these years he became close friends with Cornelius. It was Epiphanius who told the archimandrite about his work, speaking highly of the artist's work. Epiphanius told Cyril that Theophanes painted about 40 churches and several buildings in Constantinople, Cafe, Chalcedon, Moscow and Veliky Novgorod. In his letters to the archimandrite, Epiphanius also calls himself an isographer, that is, a book graphic artist, and notes that his drawings are only a copy of the work of Theophan the Greek.

native abode

In 1414, Epiphanius the Wise again returned to his native land - to the Trinity Monastery, which by that time had become known as the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (in honor of Sergius of Radonezh). Despite the work on the biography of Stephen of Perm, as well as a long existence away from his native monastery, Epiphanius continues to make notes and document the facts of the deeds of his mentor from the Grigoryevsky monastery, collecting eyewitness information and his own observations into one whole. And in 1418 Epiphanius the Wise wrote "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh". It took him 20 long years to do this. For faster writing, the monk lacked information and ... courage.

A word about Sergius of Radonezh

“The Life of Sergius of Radonezh” is an even more voluminous work than “The Sermon on the Life and Teachings of Our Holy Father Stefan, the Bishop of Perm”. It differs from the first "Life" in the abundance of biographical facts from the life of Sergius of Radonezh, and also differs in a clearer sequence of chronological events. Of particular note is the historical fact inscribed in this "Life" concerning the battle of Prince Dmitry Donskoy with the Tatar army of the cruel Khan Mamai. It was Sergius of Radonezh who blessed the prince for this warlike campaign.

Both "Lives" are reflections of Epiphanius the Wise about the difficult fates of the main characters, about their emotions and feelings. The works of Epiphanius are full of complex epithets, ornate phrases, various synonyms and allegories. The author himself calls his presentation of thoughts nothing more than a “verbal web”.

Here are the most common words of Epiphanius the Wise, taken from the Life of Sergius of Radonezh:

  • like it was;
  • sixth weeks;
  • fourth day;
  • bringing a baby;
  • scolding;
  • like a priasta;
  • well;
  • jerevi is commanding.

Perhaps it is this unusual way of writing that gives an answer to the question of why Epiphanius was called the Wise.

Another well-known version of the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" in our time exists thanks to the processing of the Athos monk Pachomius Serb, who lived in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery from 1440 to 1459. It was he who created a new version of the "Life" after St. Sergius of Radonezh was canonized. Pachomius Serb changed the style and supplemented the work of Epiphanius the Wise with a story about finding the relics of the Monk, and also described the posthumous miracles performed by Sergius of Radonezh from above.

No date of death

Just as the date of birth of Epiphanius the Wise is unknown, the exact date of his death has not been established. Various sources claim that the scribe ascended to heaven between 1418 and 1419. Estimated month of death - October.

Memorial Day of Epiphanius the Wise - June 14. To date, he has not been canonized, that is, he has not been canonized. But it's probably just a matter of time...

8th grade

Program of G.S. Merkin

Lesson number 5.

Topic."The Life of Sergius of Radonezh".

Target:

    to identify the historical basis of the fragments of the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh", the artistic features of the work, the role of the ascetic activity of Sergius of Radonezh in the history of Russia;

    to form the skills of working with a textbook, expressive reading, research work with text; the ability to highlight the main thing in the listened message;

    educate interest in Russian history and literature.

Equipment: literature textbooks and workbooks for grade 8, multimedia presentation.

Epigraph. Old Russian literature can be regarded as the literature of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life.

D.S. Likhachev

DURING THE CLASSES.

I. Organizing time.

II. Updating of previous knowledge.

1. Distinctive features and time frames of Old Russian literature.

Old Russian literature arose in the 10th century in connection with the adoption of Christianity in Russia (988), and existed until the 18th century.

Distinctive features of ancient Russian literature:

handwritten;

Anonymous (with rare exceptions);

There is no individualization of characters;

No details (portrait, household);

There are no landscapes.

2. Sources of Old Russian literature:

Bible books;

The oldest book that has come down to us is the Ostromir Gospel, copied by deacon Gregory in 1056-1057.

3. Main themes of Old Russian literature:

Patriotic (protection from external enemies, unity of Russian lands);

Condemnation of internecine strife;

Glorification of the excellent moral qualities of a Russian person.

4. Genres of ancient Russian literature of the X-XII centuries.

Church Secular

1) Sermon (teaching) - instructive 1) Historical story.

religious speech. 2) Historical legend.

2) Walking - a description of travel 3) Chronicle.

to holy places.

3) Life - biography and exploits of the saints,

glorification of their spiritual qualities.

5. Features of the genre of life.

Lives of the Saints - works containing biographies of representatives and guides of the Christian faith, martyrs and confessors, ascetics, mainly from among the monks. In ancient Russian literature, the image of Christ was put forward as a model of human behavior. The hero of life in his life follows this pattern. Life, as a rule, describes how a saint becomes one.

The life of a saint is a story about the life of a saint, which necessarily accompanies the official recognition of his holiness (canonization). As a rule, the life reports on the main events of the life of the saint, his Christian exploits (pious life, and martyrdom, if any), as well as special evidence of Divine grace, which marked this person (these include, in particular, lifetime and posthumous miracles). The lives of saints are written according to special rules (canons). So, it is believed that the appearance of a child marked by grace most often occurs in the family of pious parents (although there were cases when parents, guided, as it seemed to them, by good intentions, interfered with the feat of their children, condemned them). Most often, a saint from an early age leads a strict, righteous life (although sometimes repentant sinners also achieved holiness). In the course of his life, the saint gains wisdom, goes through a series of temptations and overcomes them. The saint could predict his own death, as he felt it. After death, his body becomes incorruptible.

6. Reading the textbook article (pp. 47-48, part 1) “In the world of the artistic word“ The Life of Sergius of Radonezh ”” from the beginning to the words “... to be convinced of the talent of ancient Russian authors.”

III. Learning new material.

1. Identification of the topic, purpose, lesson plan.

2. Work on the topic of the lesson.

In 1374 he came to the Trinity Monastery, where he lived under Sergius until the very death of the wonderful old man. Observing the life of such a remarkable person so closely and possessing an outstanding writing talent, he wrote down what he saw personally or heard from other witnesses of Sergius's life, at first only for himself, "for memory." A year or two after the death of the Monk Epiphanius, as he himself says, he dared and "sighed to God" and called the elder to prayer, "I will begin to write in detail little about the life of the elder," but even then still only his own "memory and crawling for the sake of."

Having already had scrolls for 20 years, Epiphanius remained in thought for several more years and nevertheless set about writing the Life of Sergius “in a row”, that is, in order, which took another 26 years. So the whole work took 44-45 years, half of which was spent collecting material.

The printed edition of the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" was published in 1646 through the efforts of the Trinity cellar elder Simon Azaryin, who kept a record of the miracles of the saint. And although he did not manage to fit all the collected material into a printed book, he did not give up his business. Encouraged by the attention of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Simon continued his work, where the last miracle is listed under 1654. A few days before his death, Simon handed over his manuscripts to the Trinity Sergius Monastery.

2.2. Appeal to the illustration of the textbook (p. 47, part 1). The initial page of the Life of Sergius of Radonezh. 16th century list.

Why was Epiphanius called the Wise?

Lexical work: wise.

Explain why Epiphanius the Wise decided to write the Life of Sergius of Radonezh.

2.3. Review of the content of "Life ..." by the teacher. Appeal to homework (retelling of the article “For you, inquisitive!” by a trained student), pp. 50-51, part 1.

The Monk Sergius was born in the Tver land, during the years of the reign of Prince Dmitry of Tver, under Metropolitan Peter. The saint's parents were noble and pious people. His father's name was Cyril, and his mother was Maria.

An amazing miracle happened even before the birth of the saint, when he was in the womb. Mary came to the church for the liturgy. During the service, the unborn child shouted loudly three times. The mother cried out in fear. People who heard the scream began to look for the child in the church. When they learned that the baby was crying from the mother's womb, everyone was amazed and terrified.

Mary, when she was carrying a child, diligently fasted and prayed. She decided that if a boy was born, she would dedicate him to God. The baby was born healthy, but did not want to breastfeed when the mother ate meat. On the fortieth day, the boy was brought to church, baptized and given the name Bartholomew. The parents told the priest about the threefold cry of the baby from the womb. The priest said that the boy would be a servant of the Holy Trinity. After a while, the child did not begin to breastfeed on Wednesday and Friday, and also did not want to eat the milk of the wet nurse, but only his mother.

The boy grew up, and they began to teach him to read and write. Bartholomew had two brothers, Stephen and Peter. They quickly learned to read and write, but Bartholomew could not. He was very sad about this.

One day my father sent Bartholomew to look for horses. On the field under the oak, the boy saw an old priest. Bartholomew told the priest about his failures in his studies and asked him to pray for him. The elder gave the youth a piece of prosphora and said that from now on Bartholomew would even know the letter better than his brothers and peers. The boy persuaded the priest to visit his parents. First, the elder went to the chapel, began to sing the hours, and ordered Bartholomew to read a psalm. Unexpectedly for himself, the lad began to read well. The elder went to the house, ate food and predicted to Cyril and Mary that their son would be great before God and people.

A few years later, Bartholomew began to strictly fast and pray at night. The mother tried to persuade the boy not to ruin his flesh with excessive abstinence, but Bartholomew continued to adhere to the chosen path. He did not play with other children, but often went to church and read holy books.

The father of the saint, Cyril, moved from Rostov to Radonezh, because in Rostov at that time the governor from Moscow, Vasily Kocheva, was outrageous. He took away property from the Rostovites, because of this, Kirill became impoverished.

Cyril settled in Radonezh near the Nativity Church. His sons, Stefan and Peter, married, while Bartholomew aspired to the monastic life. He asked his parents to bless him for monasticism. But Cyril and Mary asked their son to accompany them to the grave, and then fulfill his plan. After some time, both the father and the mother of the saint took the monastic vows, and each went to his own monastery. They died a few years later. Bartholomew buried his parents and honored their memory with alms and prayers.

Bartholomew gave his father's inheritance to his younger brother Peter, but took nothing for himself. The wife of the older brother, Stefan, had died by this time, and Stefan took monastic vows in the Pokrovsky monastery of Khotkov.

At the request of Bartholomew, Stefan went with him to look for a deserted place. They came to the forest. There was also water. The brothers built a hut on this site and cut down a small church, which they decided to consecrate in the name of the Holy Trinity. The consecration was made by Metropolitan Feognost of Kyiv. Stefan could not stand the hard life in the forest and went to Moscow, where he settled in the Epiphany Monastery. He became hegumen and princely confessor.

Bartholomew called the elder hegumen Mitrofan to his hermitage, who tonsured him a monk and gave him the name Sergius. After being tonsured, Sergius took communion, and the church was filled with fragrance. A few days later he saw off the abbot, asking for his instructions, blessings and prayers. At this time, Sergius was a little over twenty years old.

The monk lived in the desert, worked and prayed. Hordes of demons tried to frighten him, but could not.

Once, when Sergius was singing Matins in the church, the wall parted and the devil himself entered with many demons. They ordered the saint to leave the hermitage and threatened him. But the monk drove them out with prayer and the cross.

Sometimes wild animals came to the hut of St. Sergius. Among them was one bear, for whom the saint left a piece of bread every day.

Some monks visited Sergius and wanted to settle with him, but the saint did not receive them, for life in the hermitage was very difficult. But still, some insisted, and Sergius did not drive them away. Each of the monks built a cell for himself, and they began to live, imitating the monk in everything.

When the twelve monks gathered, the cells were surrounded by a fence. Sergius tirelessly served the brethren: he carried water, chopped firewood, and cooked food. And he spent his nights in prayer.

The abbot who tonsured Sergius died. Saint Sergius began to pray that God would give the new monastery an abbot. The brethren began to ask Sergius to become abbot and priest himself. Many times she proceeded with this request to the monk, and in the end, Sergius with other monks went to Pereyaslavl to Bishop Athanasius, so that he would give the brethren the igumen. The bishop commanded the saint to become abbot and priest. Sergius agreed.

Returning to the monastery, the monk served the Liturgy daily and instructed the brethren. For some time there were only twelve monks in the monastery, and then Simon, Archimandrite of Smolensk, came, and since then the number of monks began to increase. Simon came, leaving the archimandrite. And the elder brother of Sergius, Stefan, brought his youngest son Ivan to the monastery to the monk. Sergius tonsured the boy under the name Fedor.

The abbot himself baked prosphora, cooked kutya and made candles. Every evening he slowly went around all the monastic cells. If someone idled, the abbot knocked on the window of this brother. The next morning, he called the offender, talked with him and instructed.

At first, there was not even a good road to the monastery. Much later, people built houses and villages near that place. And at first, the monks endured all sorts of hardships. When there was no food, Sergius did not allow to leave the monastery and ask for bread, but ordered to wait for God's mercy in the monastery. Once, Sergius did not eat for three days, and on the fourth he went to chop the canopy for the elder Danil for a sieve of rotten bread. Because of the lack of food, one monk began to grumble, and the abbot began to teach the brethren about patience. At that moment, a lot of food was brought to the monastery. Sergius ordered first to feed those who brought food. They refused and fled. So it remained unknown who was the person who sent the food. And the brethren at the meal found that the bread sent from afar remained warm.

Abbot Sergius always walked around in poor, shabby clothes. Once a peasant came to the monastery to talk with the monk. Sergius was pointed out to him, who was working in the garden in rags. The peasant did not believe that this was the abbot. The monk, having learned from the brethren about the incredulous peasant, spoke kindly to him, but did not begin to convince him that he was Sergius. At this time, the prince came to the monastery and, seeing the hegumen, bowed to him to the ground. The bodyguards of the prince pushed back the astonished peasant, but when the prince left, the farmer asked Sergius for forgiveness and received a blessing from him. A few years later, the peasant became a monk.

The brethren grumbled that there was no water nearby, and through the prayer of St. Sergius, a spring arose. His water healed the sick.

One pious man came to the monastery with a sick son. But the boy brought to Sergius's cell died. The father wept and followed the coffin, leaving the body of the child in the cell. Sergius's prayer performed a miracle: the boy came to life. The monk ordered the baby's father to be silent about this miracle, and the disciple Sergius told about it.

One late evening, Sergius had a wonderful vision: a bright light in the sky and many beautiful birds. A certain voice said that there would be as many monks in the monastery as these birds.

When the Horde Prince Mamai moved troops to Russia, Grand Duke Dmitry came to the monastery to Sergius for blessing and advice - should I oppose Mamai? The monk blessed the prince for the battle. When the Russians saw the Tatar army, they stopped in doubt. But at that moment a messenger appeared from Sergius with words of encouragement. Prince Dmitry began the battle and defeated Mamai. And Sergius, being in the monastery, knew about everything that happened on the battlefield, as if he were nearby. He predicted Dmitry's victory and named the fallen by their names. Returning with a victory, Dmitry stopped by Sergius and thanked him. In memory of this battle, the Assumption Monastery was built, where a disciple of Sergius Savva became hegumen. At the request of Prince Dmitry, the Epiphany Monastery in Golutvino was also built. The monk walked there, blessed the place, built a church and left his disciple Gregory there.

One day the Mother of God appeared to the monk with the apostles Peter and John. She said that she would not leave the Trinity Convent.

For six months, the monk foresaw his death and entrusted the hegumenship to his beloved disciple Nikon. And he began to be silent.

Before his death, Sergius taught the brethren. And on September 25 he died. A fragrance spread from his body, and his face was as white as snow. Sergius bequeathed to bury him outside the church, with other brothers. But Metropolitan Cyprian gave his blessing to put the monk in the church, on the right side. Many people from different cities - princes, boyars, priests, monks - came to see off St. Sergius.

2.4. The message of the "art critic" about the painting by M. V. Nesterov "Vision to the youth Bartholomew."

“The Vision of the Young Bartholomew” is a painting by the Russian artist Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov, the first and most significant work from the cycle dedicated to Sergius of Radonezh (located in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the size of the painting is 160/211 cm).

In 1889, in Ufa, Nesterov completed one of his brilliant works - the painting "The Hermit". In The Hermit, the “Nesterov theme” was already loudly sounded - the poetry of loneliness, “desert life”, that is, a person’s life away from worldly fuss, in harmony with nature in the name of moral purification of the soul and gaining spiritual stamina and a clear meaning of life. This topic arose with Nesterov not by chance - she had a tragic message: in 1886, his beloved wife Masha died in childbirth, leaving her newborn daughter Olya. Nesterov experienced this tragedy hard, although he understood that he needed to live, at least for the sake of his daughter. He sought his salvation in a new theme and in a new hero, who, as it seemed to him, should be ideal, almost divine; an equally important role was given to nature, which they associated with peace and quiet. This is how the Hermit appeared, which became for Nesterov the beginning of something very important - heartfelt.

A year later, a hero was also found - the largest church and public figure of Ancient Russia, one of the inspirers of the struggle of the Russian people against the Tatar-Mongol yoke, who blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, the founder of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the great Russian saint Sergius of Radonezh. Sergius, like Tikhon Zadonsky, Nesterov loved from childhood; both saints were especially revered in his family. In Sergius, he found the embodiment of the ideal of a pure and ascetic life, and it was with Sergius that the idea came to him of creating a whole cycle dedicated to his life and deeds. The first work of the Sergius cycle was the painting "Vision to the youth Bartholomew."

Nesterov attached particular importance to the role of the saint in uniting the Russian people. The artist painted sketches of landscapes in 1899 in the vicinity of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, having settled in the village of Komyakovo near Abramtsevo.

There he finished the upper, landscape part and left for Ufa. The artist was in a hurry, because he was preparing for the XVIII exhibition of the Wanderers and, despite the flu, continued to work actively. “One day he felt dizzy, he stumbled (stood on a small bench), fell and damaged the canvas. It was impossible to continue work, a new canvas was required, which, in the end, was brought.

It was on this new canvas that the painting was painted, which was exhibited at the exhibition of the Wanderers and was then acquired by Pavel Tretyakov for his gallery, and the unfinished version of the painting remained in Ufa and after 50 years became the property of the Bashkir Art Museum. “Only the upper, landscape part is written in it, everything else is a charcoal drawing.” The painting, which caused the most controversial opinions, became a sensation of the XVIII Traveling Exhibition.

Until the end of his days, the artist was convinced that “The Vision of the Young Bartholomew” was his best work. In his old age, the artist liked to repeat: “I will not live. "Young Bartholomew" will live. Now, if in thirty, fifty years after my death he will still say something to people, then he is alive, then I am also alive.

2.5. Appeal to homework (citation plan of the story about St. Sergius of Radonezh under the article "Word about St. Sergius").

What is the name of Sergius of Radonezh in the article by L. M. Leonov?

2.6. Referring to the illustration in the textbook (color insert). Reverend Sergius Abbot of Radonezh. Fragment of the cover from the holy relics. (1440s). Student message.

The remarkable Russian philosopher Prince E.N. Trubetskoy described the cover as follows: “In the vestry of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra there is an image of St. Sergius embroidered with silk, which cannot be seen without deep emotion. This is the cover on the cancer of the monk, presented to the Lavra by Grand Duke Vasily, son of Dmitry Donskoy ... The first thing that strikes in this image is the breathtaking depth and power of grief: this is not personal or individual grief, but sadness for the whole Russian land, destitute, humiliated and tormented by the Tatars. Looking carefully into this veil, you feel that there is something even deeper in it than sorrow, that prayerful upsurge into which suffering is transformed; and you walk away from it with a sense of calm. ... It is felt that this fabric was embroidered with love by one of the Russian "myrrh-bearing women" of the 15th century, who perhaps knew St. Sergius ... "

2.7. Teacher's word.

Often in literature, St. Sergius is called the "Sorrower of the Russian Land." “To grieve” - translated from Church Slavonic means “to intercede for someone, take care, protect, save from trouble and need, sacrifice oneself for another.”

Prince Dmitry Donskoy had sincere love and respect for Saint Sergius. He often turned to the monk for advice and blessings. Saint Sergius was the godfather of his children.

Historian V.O. Klyuchevsky calls St. Sergius "a blessed educator of the Russian folk spirit." “For fifty years St. Sergius did his quiet work in the Radonezh desert; for a whole half century, people who came to him, along with water from his source, drew comfort and encouragement in his desert and, returning to their circle, shared it drop by drop with others.

Before the battle on the Kulikovo field, St. Sergius blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy, saying: “Go boldly, without hesitation, and you will win!” At the request of the prince, the monk gave him two monks, who had previously carried weapons in the world and were glorious warriors. These warrior monks became the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo.

2.8. Return to homework. Artistic retelling (expressive reading) of the fragment "Life ..." "About the victory over Mamai and the monastery on Dubenka".

What epithets characterize the victory on the Kulikovo field?

Glorious victory.

Write out the words and phrases in which the author's attitude towards the enemies of Russia is manifested.

A horde of godless Tatars, filthy, hostile barbarians.

In what sense is the word “banner” used in the phrase “The crusading banner drove the enemies for a long time, killing countless numbers of them ...”?

Lexical work: banner.

The word gonfalon denotes the Russian army, inspired by faith in God, a call for revenge on the "godless".

Epiphanius the Wise quite rarely resorts in his Life to allegory, other special means of expressiveness of artistic speech: the author needs to emphasize, first of all, his objectivity. However, the available means of artistic expression testify to the high skill of the author of "Life ...", a high ability to master the literary word

Read the fragment from the words “And there was a wonderful sight” to the words “One pursued a thousand, and two the darkness” and, on its basis, confirm the formulated thesis.

Lexical work: thousand, darkness.

Allegory, epithets, metaphors indicate a high ability to master the literary word

2.9. The message of the "historian" about the Battle of Kulikovo, the monastery on Dubenka, Sergius of Radonezh and Dmitry Donskoy.

The famous battle in 1380 of the troops of Moscow Prince Dmitry against the hordes of the Tatar-Mongol Khan Mamai was called the Battle of Kulikovo.

A brief prehistory of the Battle of Kulikovo is as follows: the relationship between Prince Dmitry Ivanovich and Mamai began to escalate back in 1371, when the latter gave a label for the great Vladimir reign to Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tverskoy, and the Moscow prince opposed this and did not let the Horde protege into Vladimir. A few years later, the troops of Dmitry Ivanovich inflicted a crushing defeat on the Mongol-Tatar army led by Murza Begich in the battle on the Vozha River. Then the prince refused to increase the tribute paid to the Golden Horde and Mamai gathered a new large army and moved it towards Moscow.

Before setting out on a campaign, Dmitry Ivanovich visited St. Sergius of Radonezh, who blessed the prince and the entire Russian army for the battle against foreigners. Mamai hoped to connect with his allies: Oleg Ryazansky and the Lithuanian prince Jagiello, but did not have time: the Moscow ruler, contrary to expectations, crossed the Oka on August 26, and later moved to the southern bank of the Don. The number of Russian troops before the Battle of Kulikovo is estimated at 40 to 70 thousand people, the Mongol-Tatar - 100-150 thousand people. Muscovites were greatly assisted by Pskov, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Novgorod, Bryansk, Smolensk and other Russian cities, whose rulers sent troops to Prince Dmitry.

The battle took place on the southern bank of the Don, on the Kulikovo field on September 8, 1380. After several skirmishes, the forward detachments in front of the troops left the Tatar army - Chelubey, and from the Russian - the monk Peresvet, and a duel took place in which they both died. After that, the main battle began. Russian regiments went into battle under a red banner with a golden image of Jesus Christ.

The losses of Russian forces in the Battle of Kulikovo amounted to about 20 thousand people, Mamai's troops died almost completely. Prince Dmitry himself, later nicknamed Donskoy, exchanged horse and armor with the Moscow boyar Mikhail Andreevich Brenck and took an active part in the battle. The boyar died in the battle, and the prince, knocked down from his horse, was found unconscious under a felled birch.

This battle was of great importance for the further course of Russian history. The Battle of Kulikovo, although it did not liberate Russia from the Mongol-Tatar yoke, created the prerequisites for this to happen in the future. In addition, the victory over Mamai significantly strengthened the Moscow principality.

2.10. Referring to the illustration in the textbook (color insert). Arrival of Prince Dmitry Donskoy to the Sergius Monastery. 19th century miniature.

2.11. Teacher's word.

The whole life of the monk was a constant insight into the distant and near future. Towards the end of his life, he was shown a miraculous vision, later inextricably linked with many of his posthumous miracles. It became, as it were, the completion of the entire path he had traveled and approved the work he had created.

2.12. Return to homework. Artistic retelling of a fragment of the legend "On the visit of the Mother of God to the saint."

2.13. Teacher's word.

Six months before his death, the monk received a revelation about his outcome. Having called the brethren, he handed over the management of the monastery to his disciple, the Monk Nikon, while he himself withdrew to his cell, into complete seclusion, remaining in silence.

2.14. Return to homework. Artistic retelling of a fragment of the "Life ..." "On the death of the saint."

Tell us in detail how in the "Life ..." grief over the death of St. Sergius of Radonezh is conveyed.

You have already paid attention to the fact that life usually ends with a description of a miracle. What miracles took place after the death of St. Sergius?

2.15. Research work with text. (Task 9 of the workbook, p.16-17, part 1)

I option

"The Life of Sergius of Radonezh", as well as the life in the literature of Ancient Russia in general, preaches kindness, mercy, compassion. Write out from the chapters in the textbook words and phrases that are meaningfully related to the theme of love, kindness.

Option 2

Epiphanius the Wise very rarely uses epithets. More often than others, he uses the epithet "great" (exceeding the usual measure in some respect, outstanding in comparison with others (book.).

To whom and what does it refer to?

2.16. Appeal to task 5 of the textbook, p.48-49, part 1.

IV. Summing up the lesson.

Teacher's word.

Saint Sergius ended his earthly journey on September 25, 1392. “And they buried him at the right kliros in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity,” which was built back in 1356. It was against the will of Sergius to bury him in a common cemetery, but the brethren wanted it that way and Cyprian ordered it that way.

In 1108, the monastery was burned to the ground during a raid by Khan Yedigei. After the fire, the grave of Sergius miraculously survived. Nikon did not build the new Trinity Church in the same place, leaving it for the future stone church. The new wooden church was consecrated on September 25, 1412, the day of the memory of St. Sergius. There is an assumption that at this celebration Epiphanius the Wise for the first time uttered the “Eulogy to St. Sergius” composed by him. In 1422, a stone Trinity Cathedral was built over the relics of the monk - a rare architectural monument of the late XIV - early XV century.

This was the last work of the great icon painters Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny. The famous "Trinity" was written by Rublev for the temple.

The glorified icon is in the Tretyakov Gallery. On a fairly large board, Andrei Rublev depicted the Old Testament Trinity - the appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three angels. Three angels gathered around the table on which the sacrificial bowl stands for a quiet, unhurried conversation.

These images embody a plastically visible and at the same time mystically incomprehensible symbol of unity, the achievement of which the earthly life of St. Sergius was dedicated. As early as the middle of the 14th century, while founding his monastery, Sergius of Radonezh "built a temple of the Trinity... so that by looking at the Holy Trinity the fear of the hated separation of the world would be overcome."

V. Homework.

1. Prepare an expressive reading of “Words about the destruction of the Russian land”, p.52, part 1.

2.Individual tasks:

Prepare a report by an "art historian" about the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl;

Prepare a report by a "historian" about Batu's invasion;

Prepare messages “Formidable princes, honest boyars, many nobles” and “Western neighbors of the Russian land from north to south” to complete assignments 3-4 of the workbook, p.18-20, part 1.

The difficulties of studying ancient Russian literature are well known. It seems that here it is impossible to do without the involvement of the so-called "adjacent" arts: painting, icon painting, architecture, church music. It is important to remember right away that Old Russian literature and culture is not a collection of "highly artistic" monuments (in the narrow sense - a kind of museum of vanished antiquity), that this is the necessary link that connects the past with the present, that responsible information that through monuments (from the word memory ) are transmitted by Russian people of the 12th - 15th centuries to Russian people of the 21st century.

Old Russian literature, especially of the initial period, is practically anonymous, and the connection between the historical, biographical and actual literary features of the work is quite strong. The reader perceives not just a specific work of art, he certainly wants to get at least a little information about the author. The very series of further literary predilections and preferences (at least at first) is built according to the author's principle. Genre, stylistic, and other groupings fade into the background. A major personality is almost always at the center of the study of literature. Starting from the facts of the biography of such a person, the reader begins to enter the world of a work of art. But what about the case of ancient Russian literature? For example, disputes about the authorship of the same "Tale of Igor's Campaign" have been going on for decades and, apparently, despite the abundance of interesting hypotheses (B. Rybakov, D. Likhachev, V. Chivilikhin and others), we will never succeed find out the name of the creator of the immortal monument. However, here, too, literary criticism tries to replace the author's biography with the search for the author himself: this heuristic and very productive way makes it possible to revive the perception of ancient Russian literature. In his search for the author, the reader is looking, first of all, for a person, a person. When getting acquainted with ancient Russian culture (and literature as its integral part), it seems advisable not only to use the names of specific writers (Epiphanius the Wise, Theophan the Greek, or even Ivan the Terrible with his correspondence with Kurbsky), but to demonstrate that cultural figures in their lives and creativity created a single image of the individual. It is interesting to follow not just the biography of this or that creator, but to see in his work how a system of views on a person gradually develops, how a personality creates a personality. Let us turn to a comparative analysis of the work of the Russian scribe Epiphanius the Wise and the Russian icon painter Andrei Rublev, whose work dates back to the turn of the century. The era of the late XIV - early XV centuries is a certain cultural unity, manifested in many areas of life. So, for example, Russian painting closely converges with Russian literature. This connection is especially clearly manifested where they come into contact with each other, namely, in the sphere of artistic vision of the world. At this level, original features and national traditions are laid down and clearly manifested, uniting Russian painting and Russian literature into a single whole. It is not difficult to establish this by finding a common thing that unites the work of Epiphanius the Wise and Andrei Rublev. What unites the two idols of Russian art? First of all, the XIV century - the century of national self-consciousness - is one of the most significant for the era of emerging humanism. For the first time in the forefront of canvases and books comes human . Primitively, schematically, the authors begin to talk about the psychological experiences of their heroes, about the inner religious development of the saints. The penetration of psychologism, emotionality and special dynamism of style into Russian art, and especially into literature, was facilitated by the changes that took place in society. There is an ideological crisis of the feudal hierarchy. The independence of each of the levels of power was shaken. From now on, the prince could move people up the ladder of power depending on their inner qualities and merits: representatives of the future nobility appeared on the stage. All this facilitated the emergence of new artistic methods in depicting reality.

We must not forget about the strong influence of the church on the worldview of people, which lasted until the 18th century, and about those various religious teachings that found shelter in the territory of then Russia. One of these teachings was hesychasts. The mystical teaching, which originated in Byzantium, was characteristic of the southern Slavs, to a moderate extent - for Russia. Hesychasts set internal above external, "silence" over the rite; preached individual communion with God in the contemplative life. In Russia, hesychasm had an impact through Athos, and the center of new mystical moods became the Trinity - Sergius Monastery, whose natives were Epiphanius the Wise and Andrei Rublev. Naturally, the teachings of the hesychasts could not but leave their mark on their work. Hence the “silent” conversation of angels on Rublev’s “Trinity”, and the ornate “weaving style” in the lives of Epiphanius the Wise, where, as in the teachings of the Hesychasts, interest in human psychology, in his individual inner experiences, reflected the search for the intimate in religion . History has proven that many of those ideal philosophical, religious and moral principles that sounded in the speeches of the first Fathers of the Church, and then were forgotten for many centuries, turned into an artistic embodiment optimal for the Orthodox world by the Wise and Rublev. The philosophical problems of creativity received a new sound, having been transformed in the rays of beauty.

Unity of wisdom, humanity and beauty - this is the main motive and pathos of the entire work of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise, the creed of their aesthetic consciousness.

The concept of sophistry , which implies a deep feeling and awareness by the ancient Russians of the unity of art, beauty and wisdom; the ability to express by artistic means the basic spiritual values ​​of his time, the essential problems of being in their universal significance. The artistic world of Andrei Rublev and Epiphanius the Wise is deep and philosophical, but it is devoid of hopelessness and tragedy. This is the philosophy of humanity, goodness and beauty, the philosophy of the all-penetrating harmony of the spiritual and material principles, this is the optimistic philosophy of the spiritualized, enlightened and transformed world. It is important to remember that spiritual beauty in the pure or strictly Orthodox sense was revealed in Russia by far not to many. Most of the Orthodox Russians were attracted not by spiritual beauty in itself, but by its reflection in sensually perceived objects, that is, in visible beauty and, above all, in verbal and visible beauty.

Epiphanius the Wise and Andrei Rublev are innovators who changed and finally approved the new, purely Russian ideal of beauty.

Let's get a grasp of the dry lines of the encyclopedia: “Rublev Andrey (b. c. 1360-70 - d. 1427 or 1430), an ancient Russian painter. One of the founders of the Moscow school of icon painting. In adulthood, he took monastic vows at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Rublev's work developed on the basis of the artistic culture of Muscovite Russia and was enriched by acquaintance with the Byzantine artistic tradition. Rublev's worldview was formed in the atmosphere of the national upsurge of the second half of the XIV-beginning. XV century In his works, Rublev, while remaining within the boundaries of medieval perception and reproduction of reality, affirmed a sublime understanding of the spiritual beauty and moral strength of man. These ideals are embodied in the icons of the Zvenigorod rank (“The Savior”, “The Archangel Michael”, “The Apostle Paul” - all around the turn of the 14th-15th centuries), where strict smooth contours, a wide brushwork, luminous coloring are close to the methods of monumental painting. Rublevsky icons - "Annunciation", "Nativity of Christ", "Meeting", "Baptism", "Resurrection of Lazarus", "Entrance to Jerusalem", "Transfiguration", "Archangel Gabriel", "Apostle Paul", "Zvenigorod Spas" - are distinguished by delicate colorful combinations, charming musicality, and high spirituality. Rublevsky Pavel is full of kindness, attention to people and willingness to help them. The figure is characterized by smooth roundness, the beard is wavy and soft, and the folds of the vestment are expressive, exciting and musical. Russian Pavel says: « Hope for the truth!»

The works of Epiphanius the Wise - "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh", "The Life of Stefan of Perm" - convey a special attitude to the world, which stems from a conscious or unconscious belief that there is something higher in the world than material, material values, than what can be verified empirically, by experience. In the image of Sergius of Radonezh, the conventions of hagiographic tradition are combined with the bright individuality of the image. Before us is a gracious man, wise, albeit modest, not exalted in spirit, but strong-willed, conscious of the importance of his mission. This is not only a symbol, not only an idea imprinted in the image of a person, but the person himself, personifying the idea: « Hope for the truth!»

Epiphanius the Wise and Andrei Rublev saw in Christian teaching not the idea of ​​a merciless punishment of sinful mankind, but the principles of love, hope and forgiveness. The “Zvenigorod Spas” is that ideal of the God-man, who removes the opposition of heaven and earth, spirit and flesh, which the whole Christian world passionately dreamed of, but which only the great Russian icon painter managed to embody in art. Even Byzantine art did not know such a Christ. Sergius of Radonezh, on the other hand, found the way to hearts not only thanks to miracle-working, but by his personal example of great catholicity in big and small: “We thank the Lord, we have met. So let us thank our great Fathers and worship them; and now let us rejoice or weep together. They say that joy together will give birth to many grains and tears together, like the dew of the Lord ... ”The word of Sergius was the word of the heart, from which, according to Epiphanius the Wise, emanated special grace. Observations and love for people gave Sergius the ability to extract the best qualities from a person’s soul. The monk used every opportunity to plant in the minds of the people the grain of moral teaching. Thus, ancient Russian art proves that spiritual beauty had a self-contained value and did not need physical beauty. The latter acquired special significance only as a sign and pointer to spiritual beauty. The pinnacle of artistic revelation and, perhaps, the pinnacle of all ancient Russian painting is Andrey Rublev's "Trinity", created around 1427 and filled with deep poetic and philosophical content. The perfection of the artistic form of the "Trinity" expresses the highest moral ideal of its time, the harmony of the spirit with the world and life. With indescribable depth and power, the master expressed in it the language and colors, lines, forms, the essence of the philosophical and religious consciousness of the man of Ancient Russia, the heyday of spiritual culture.

Delving into the deep meaning of the icon, Epiphanius the Wise could say about Rublev, as about Theophanes the Greek, that he is a “very cunning philosopher”, an artist who revealed what is eternal: kindness, sacrifice, love.

"Trinity" adorned the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - the center of veneration of St. Sergius of Radonezh, another titanic figure in Russian history. It was Radonezh who blessed the feat of the Russian army in the Battle of Kulikovo, it was he who was nicknamed the “heart-seeker” for his amazing spiritual and pastoral qualities. People of the 15th century were passionately drawn to Sergius, looking for peace and harmony from civil strife in his legacy. The well-known writer Epiphanius the Wise wrote about the feat of life of the saint “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh”. In Rublev's Trinity, the emphasis is on the disclosure of the philosophical idea of ​​unity. The artist subordinated the whole composition, drawing, line to this. Sergius of Radonezh, a great patriot who perfectly understood the evil that feudal strife hid in himself, also made the goal of his life the pursuit of perfection, embodied in his eyes, in the images of the Trinity. The icon is characterized by a special contemplation, thoughtfulness, calm and light sadness. But in this contemplation there is no fear of the deity. This sadness is not pessimistic. This is the sadness of dreams, thoughts, pure lyrics. Behind the external softness of the positions of the angels, inner strength is felt. Therefore, the Trinity, in our opinion, cannot be reduced to a theological idea. As a contemporary of remarkable historical events, Rublev could not help but be attracted by the task of filling the traditional image with the ideas that lived his time, this manifested itself in human sense Rublev's masterpiece. Ancient sources say that the Rublev icon was painted in praise of Father Sergius, and this indication helps to understand the range of ideas that inspired Rublev. It is known that Sergius, at one of the most important moments of his activity, blessing Dmitry Donskoy for a feat, set him an example of the very self-sacrifice that Rublev immortalized in the Trinity.

IN. Klyuchevsky, reflecting on the saint, asked a significant question: “What a feat so sanctified this name! It is necessary to recall the time when the Reverend asceticised. He was born when the last old people who saw the light around the time of the Tatar defeat of the Russian land were dying out, and when it was already difficult to find people who remembered this defeat. But in all Russian nerves, even painfully vivid, was the impression of horror produced by this nationwide disaster and constantly renewed by repeated invasions of the Tatars. It was one of those national disasters that bring not only material, but also moral ruin, for a long time plunging the people into a deadly stupor, the misfortune threatened to turn into an internal chronic illness; the panic horror of one generation could develop into popular timidity, into a trait of national character, and an extra dark village could be added to the history of mankind, telling how the attack of the Asiatic Mongol led to the fall of the great European people. Could such a page have been added, however? One of the hallmarks of a great nation is its ability to rise to its feet after a fall. No matter how hard his humiliation may be, but the appointed hour will strike, he will gather his confused moral forces and embody them in one great person or in several great people, who will lead him to the straight historical road that he has temporarily abandoned" [Klyuchevsky, 1990: 151 ].

In order to understand the heyday of Russian icon painting (and it falls on the 15th century) and Old Russian literature, one must think over and, in particular, feel those emotional and spiritual experiences to which she gave an answer. The triumph of that religious thought, which equally animated both Russian ascetics and Russian icon painters of that time, is found especially in one striking example. This is the throne icon of Rublev. The icon expresses the main idea of ​​the entire monastic service of the monk. What do these gracefully bowed heads of three angels and hands, sending a blessing to the earth, speak of? Looking at them, it becomes obvious that they express the words of the High Priestly Prayer of Christ, where the thought of the Holy Trinity is combined with sorrow for the people languishing below. “I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you, Holy Father! Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, just as We are” [John 17:11]. This is the very thought that guided St. Sergius, when he erected the Cathedral of St. Trinity in the forest wilderness, where the wolves howled. He prayed that this animal-like world, divided by hatred, would be filled with the love that reigns in the Pre-Eternal Council of the Life-Giving Trinity. Andrey Rublev showed this prayer in colors, expressing both sadness and hope.

Rublev's icon is interpreted in the scientific literature in two ways - this is already a good reason for the clash of different points of view. According to the first approach, in the icon the only God himself is revealed in the form of an angel, who is “accompanied” by two other angels. Consequently, one of the angels stands out both ideologically and compositionally (middle). Another approach: all three angels are one God, but manifested in his three hypostases. Divine unity here is indissoluble, but also inseparable. At the time of Andrei Rublev, the theme of the Trinity, which embodied the idea of ​​a triune deity, was perceived as a kind of symbol of time, a symbol of spiritual unity, peace, harmony, mutual love and humility, readiness to sacrifice oneself for the common good.

At the heart of the plot of the icon? the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah, who received strangers in the form of three angels. Rublev focused his attention not on the prophet and his wife (which was typical before him), but on the angels themselves. They are depicted around the Eucharistic chalice, which symbolizes the New Testament lamb - Christ (in the chalice is the head of the sacrificial calf). Sacrificial love - this is the ideological meaning of the depicted. The middle of the angels is Christ. In meditative concentrated silence, tilting his head to the left, he blesses the cup, thereby expressing his readiness to accept the sacrifice for the atonement of human sins. He is inspired to this feat by God the Father (left angel), whose face expresses deep sadness. The Holy Spirit (the first angel) is present as an eternally youthful and inspired beginning, as a comforter. For works of medieval art, the symbolism of the idea is typical. The Rublyovskaya icon has, in addition to the central ones, additional compositional details: a tree, buildings and a mountain (all of them are in the background - behind the angels). The tree in the icon painting tradition is the tree of life and eternity. Buildings (“luminous chambers”) are the house of Abraham and at the same time a symbol of silence, obedience to the will of the Father (which means that this symbol belongs to Christ). The mountain is a symbol of the "rapture of the spirit." A somewhat different understanding of the composition of the "Trinity" in the studies of N.A. Florensky and some others.

Summing up the discussions of scientists, M.V. Alpatov writes: “... Rublev in his Trinity succeeded in something that none of his predecessors could do - to express in art that idea of ​​unity and plurality, of the predominance of one over two and the equality of three, of calmness and movement, the unity of opposites that came into Christian doctrine from ancient philosophy... In the depiction of the Trinity before Rublev, the main attention was focused on the manifestation of an omnipotent deity to a weak person, on worshiping him, on honoring him. In Rublev's Trinity, the Deity does not oppose man; in him, traits are revealed that make him related to man. According to Rublev's plan, the three persons of the Trinity appeared on earth not to announce the miraculous birth of a son to the patriarch, but in order to give people an example of friendly consent and self-sacrifice. Apparently, that moment is immortalized when one of the faces of the Divine expresses its readiness to sacrifice itself for the sake of saving the human race” [Alpatov, 1972: 99]. All these statements prove that the "Trinity" as a cultural phenomenon of Ancient Russia is inexhaustible in interpretations and interpretations. The controversy of scientists about the attribution of this or that angel is not just a pedantic arrangement of everyone and everything "on the shelves", but an exciting search for truth and beauty. The material of the Rublev icon makes it possible to anticipate a conversation about the role of the canon, Holy Scripture, symbolism in ancient Russian literature, to get closer to the values ​​of this era, to understand the spiritual aspirations of its great personalities. The icon of A. Rublev complements the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" by Epiphanius the Wise. The “Life of Sergius of Radonezh” says that he built the Trinity Church of the people gathered by him “for unity of life”, “so that by looking at St. The Trinity conquered the fear of the hated strife of this world. As it often happened in the Middle Ages, the striving for friendly harmony and unity in the “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev and the “Life of Sergius of Radonezh” by Epiphanius the Wise, suffered through all the harsh trials of life, appeared to the gaze of a contemporary in a religious shell. But it is precisely this human meaning of the works that is able to conquer the modern viewer. Thus, the promotion of feelings, sensory experience, the inner life of a person and the problems of individualism were of great importance for literature and the amazing impact of the fine arts of Ancient Russia. And in the work of Epiphanius the Wise and Andrei Rublev, something was embodied that makes them related to the best masters of mankind: a deep humanism, a high ideal of humanity. The culturological and comparative approaches used by us in the analysis of works of various types of art contribute to an in-depth study of the course of literature at school. Let us give an example of one of the integrated lessons on the study of Old Russian literature in middle-level classes.

Topic: "The image of St. Sergius of Radonezh in literature and fine arts"

(Integrated lesson in the 8th grade. The lesson is held as a final lesson after studying the literature of the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh")

We have read the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh", written by Epiphanius the Wise. What is characteristic of life as a genre of ancient Russian literature?

1st student. Life tells about the life of a person who has achieved the Christian ideal - holiness. Gives examples of a correct, Christian life. It convinces that everyone can live it. The heroes of life are a variety of people: both simple peasants, and townspeople, and princes ... Who, having once chosen the path of salvation, and not death, walked along it, believing all his deeds with the gospel commandments, trying in this way to become like Christ.

(Students recall Russian saints known to them: Boris and Gleb, others, briefly retell their lives.)

2nd student. One of the most revered saints in Russia is Sergius of Radonezh, who became famous for his exclusively peaceful deeds. He came from an impoverished boyar family that had possessions near Rostov. The date of his birth is known - May 3, 1314. The life says that the omens of the wonderful fate of the baby happened even before he was born. When his mother came to the temple for prayer, the baby at certain moments of the service cried out in her womb. From the first days of life, the child, who was named Bartholomew, refused to suck mother's milk on fast days - Wednesdays and Fridays.

At the age of seven, Bartholomew, along with his brothers, was sent to study literacy, but unlike the brothers, he did not make any progress. One day in the field the boy saw an old man praying under a lonely oak. Bartholomew asked the elder to pray for him so that he could learn to read. The elder blessed the youth, and he pleased his parents by freely reading the psalter before dinner (a collection of church hymns, according to which they taught literacy in Ancient Russia). Around 1328, the boy's parents moved to the small town of Radonezh, not far from Moscow. The brothers of Bartholomew got married, and he, having buried his parents, decided to go to the monastery. By this time, the elder brother Stefan had become a widow, and together they settled in a dense forest twelve miles from Radonezh. However, it became difficult for Stefan to live in such a deserted place, and he moved to one of the Moscow monasteries. And Bartholomew took the veil as a monk under the name of Sergius. Gradually, other monks began to come to Sergius, who wanted to serve God with their labors. Sergius left twelve people - in imitation of the twelve apostles of Christ. They lived in small huts-cells, carried water themselves, chopped wood, cultivated a garden and cooked food. Saint Sergius did most of the hard work, setting an example for the brethren. Once he ran out of bread, and Sergius hired himself to build a passage to the cell of one of the monks. For three days of work, he gave the monk a loaf of bread, so moldy that when Sergius began to eat, dust came out of his mouth. This episode tells the historian not only about the humility of Sergius, but also about the fact that at first a special charter was adopted in the monastery - everyone lived at their own expense. Sergius raised the spiritual authority of his monastery to an unattainable height. He was familiar with the Byzantine theological doctrine of hesychasm - silence, the essence of which was the idea of ​​​​internal self-perfection. Purified from sinful thoughts and focusing on the divine, according to the hesychasts, it was possible to achieve union with God. The Monk Sergius, who was the confessor of Dmitry Donskoy, played a significant role in preparing for the Battle of Kulikovo. He helped the unification of the Russian lands: he reconciled the Ryazan prince with the Moscow prince, and excommunicated the Nizhny Novgorod principality, which wanted to secede. Frightened by God's punishment, the Nizhny Novgorod prince fled, and his subjects swore allegiance to the Grand Duke of Moscow. The life of Sergius was compiled shortly after his death, in 1392, by the monk Epiphanius, who personally knew the saint.

3rd student. The appearance of Sergius also did not have time to be erased from the memory of his contemporaries by the time of his canonization. In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the funeral cover from the tomb of Sergius with an embroidered portrait of the saint is kept. It is considered the most authentic depiction of him. The embroiderers managed to convey the noble appearance of a man of tremendous spiritual strength, who at the same time is able to understand and forgive people's sins.

(The portrait is shown.)

Many icons with the image of Sergius were painted, and individual features were smoothed out, giving way to the icon-painting canon. (Students remember what an icon is.) Icon (Greek eikon - image, image) - a symbolic image of a saint or an event from sacred history. In Orthodoxy, it is perceived as a holy image - an image in which there is a certain sacrament behind the colors arranged in accordance with a certain system of methods and means of painting. The icon is created in accordance with the canons of ancient Russian painting.

(Students recall these canons: reverse perspective, the symbolic role of color, and others. On the board is a reproduction of the most famous icon - “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev. The student tells about the history of its creation.)

On the board are reproductions of the icons of Sergius of Radonezh, including the hagiographic icon. A hagiographic icon is an icon depicting the life and miracles of one or another saint; on its sides and in the hallmarks, the main events of the ascetic life and miracles of the saint to whom the icon is dedicated are represented by pictorial means and short texts.

The main distinguishing features of St. Sergius on the icons are a brown monastic robe with a dark paramand shawl and a round, medium-length beard. The events of life unfold in side stigmas. Only one of these events stood out as a separate icon - the appearance of the Mother of God to Sergius with the apostles Peter and John the Theologian. The saint was worried about the future fate of his monastery, and the Mother of God promised to always take care of the monastery.

(The students compare the "Life" written by Epiphanius with the biographical story "Reverend Sergius of Radonezh" by B.K. Zaitsev.) The world of life is conditional, the writer is trying to penetrate the inner world of the hero, to explain his actions. In the same way, the paintings of artists differ from icons painted strictly according to the canons.

Sergius of Radonezh occupied a special place in the life and work of the artist Mikhail Nesterov (1862-1942). The artist even believed that the saint saved him from death in infancy. The most significant picture of Nesterov, dedicated to Sergius of Radonezh, "Vision to the youth Bartholomew", was written in the 90s of the XIX century. She made an explosion in the artistic environment. The artist foresaw that glory was destined for this canvas. “I will not live,” he said. “Young Bartholomew will live.” In the creative heritage of Nesterov, this picture opens a whole cycle of works embodying the Russian religious ideal. While thinking about the future picture, Nesterov lives in the vicinity of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, visits places associated with the activities of St. Sergius.

Nesterov selects an episode from the life of St. Sergius, when a pious youth, sent by his father to search for the lost flock, had a vision. The mysterious elder, to whom the youth, in vain trying to learn to read, addressed with a prayer, endowed him with a wonderful gift of wisdom and comprehension of the meaning of Holy Scripture.

Nesterov exhibited The Young Bartholomew at the 18th traveling exhibition. An eyewitness to Nesterov's triumph recalled that “one cannot even imagine the impression she made on everyone. The picture was stunning.” But there were also critics of the picture. G. Myasoedov, a prominent ideologue of the Wanderers, argued that the golden halo around the saint's head should be painted over: “After all, this is absurd even from the point of view of a simple perspective. Let us assume that there is a golden circle around the saint's head. But you see it around the face turned to us full face? How can you see him in the same circle when this face turns to you in profile? The corolla will then also be visible in profile, that is, in the form of a vertical golden line crossing the face, and you draw it in the same circle! If this is not a flat circle, but a spherical body enveloping the head, then why is the whole head so clearly and distinctly visible through gold? Think about it and you will see what an absurdity you have written.” Two centuries collided, and each spoke its own language: simplified realism struggled with the symbolic vision of the inner world of man. The protest was caused by both the halo and the elder. And the landscape, and the disembodied youth (according to legend, he was written from the "sick" - a village sick girl from under the Trinity-Sergius Lavra). To P.M. A whole deputation of artists appeared to Tretyakov demanding that he refuse to purchase Bartholomew. Tretyakov bought the painting, and it entered the pantheon of Russian art. Inspired by success, the painter decides to create a whole picture cycle dedicated to Sergius of Radonezh. The triptych - a very rare form in those years - directly ascended to a series of icon-painting hallmarks, to the deesis row of the iconostasis. In the "Works of St. Sergius" (1896-1897), the landscape also plays a dominant role, moreover, of different seasons. Sergius, with his peasant, simple nature, condemned the idleness of the monks and himself was the first to show an example of humble diligence. Here Nesterov approached the realization of his constant dream - to create the image of a perfect person, close to his native land, philanthropic, kind. In Sergius there is not only nothing assertive, but also nothing pretentious, ostentatious, deliberate. He does not pose, but simply lives among his own kind, without standing out in any way.

Speaking about another artist - Nicholas Roerich, whose life and work were connected not only with Russia, but also with India, it must be remembered that one of the most significant series of paintings created in India was "Teachers of the East". In the painting “Shadow of the Teacher”, Roerich embodied the legend that the shadows of the ancient sages can appear to people as a reminder of moral duty. Among the canvases dedicated to the great teachers of mankind - Buddha, Mohammed, Christ - there is also a painting with the image of St. Sergius of Radonezh, to whom the artist assigned the role of the savior of Russia in all the tragic turns of its history. Roerich believed in the historical mission of Russia. The Russian theme did not leave his work; with special force it was revived during the Patriotic War. Roerich wrote Russian saints, princes and epic heroes, as if calling them to help the fighting Russian people. Relying, as once, on the traditions of the ancient Russian icon, he paints the image of St. Sergius. According to Helena Ivanovna Roerich, the saint appeared to the artist shortly before his death.

The image of St. Sergius of Radonezh is close to us, living at the beginning of the third millennium. Thus, the literature of Ancient Russia is not a simple collection of literary works. By themselves, individual works do not yet create literature as a whole. Works constitute literature when they are interconnected into some kind of organic unity, influence each other, "communicate" with each other, enter into a single process of development and jointly carry out a more or less significant social function. Their holistic, deep analysis is possible only in the context of the era, in connection with other types of art, for example, icon painting.

Editor's Choice
Fish is a source of nutrients necessary for the life of the human body. It can be salted, smoked,...

Elements of Eastern symbolism, Mantras, mudras, what do mandalas do? How to work with a mandala? Skillful application of the sound codes of mantras can...

Modern tool Where to start Burning methods Instruction for beginners Decorative wood burning is an art, ...

The formula and algorithm for calculating the specific gravity in percent There is a set (whole), which includes several components (composite ...
Animal husbandry is a branch of agriculture that specializes in breeding domestic animals. The main purpose of the industry is...
Market share of a company How to calculate a company's market share in practice? This question is often asked by beginner marketers. However,...
First mode (wave) The first wave (1785-1835) formed a technological mode based on new technologies in textile...
§one. General data Recall: sentences are divided into two-part, the grammatical basis of which consists of two main members - ...
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia gives the following definition of the concept of a dialect (from the Greek diblektos - conversation, dialect, dialect) - this is ...