Professor horror lectures. The spiritual meaning of a Russian fairy tale

At the invitation of Priest Georgy Kondratyev, rector of the church in the village of Three Lakes, Archpriest Vladimir Golovin arrived to communicate with the believing villagers. During the conversation, Father Vladimir answered the troubling spiritual questions of the audience gathered that day.

The current sermon is a continuation of the work begun by Jesus Christ. This is a mission that could possibly lead many people to salvation.

“I would like this not to be an empty talk shop, but for this communication to lead you and me to some kind of good action. I am very grateful to you that you were able to leave your everyday affairs and come to chat about things that are more than temporary. I really hope that this communication will be beneficial for you and me,” the priest said at the beginning of his conversation.

How to learn to love?

This question, according to Father Vladimir, is very vital and very necessary. Answering it, the priest told a little about love. The Holy Scriptures say that God is love (1 John 4:16). Love is the fullness of perfection. Therefore, anyone who wants to learn to love must try to bring himself closer to perfection. But, of course, nothing will work out right away, so you need to start over. Unfortunately, people are broken by sin, so we need to learn to live according to God's laws. The first step leading to love is repentance. To acquire love, you must never get irritated and at the same time remember that love cannot stop. In the bustle of days, people have no time to think about love, no time to live by the needs of the soul. That is why we need to learn to rethink spiritual and life values, and not chase after invented goals. You need to force yourself to do deeds of love. Unfortunately, people are susceptible to the sin of pride and conceit. You need to learn to correct yourself, first of all. Then it will be easy to love.

How to increase your faith in the Lord?

The next question touched on the topic of faith. How to increase your faith in the Lord? Unfortunately, many people nowadays get caught up in vain little things and thus get lost in them. Therefore, faith fades. If a person lives with Christ, then his spiritual values ​​are placed in their places. Father cited the example of the phrase: “When a person’s God comes first, then everything else will be in order.” Once you put God first, the little things will indeed turn out to be little things. Father gave people advice on increasing their faith: “When you read a chapter from the Gospel, stop and ask yourself three questions. First question. What does this chapter teach about the being of God? From this chapter we can see who our God is? Second question. What does this say about human nature? Third question. What does this mean for me personally today, what is the Lord telling me personally today, what lesson should I learn for myself?” You need to constantly keep yourself in spiritual tone, then faith in the Lord will increase in your hearts.

Question about the power of words

A very important issue about the power of words was covered. It happens that people very often say the following phrase: “God punished.” It is not true! God never punishes anyone. Such a phrase can only be said by someone who has never really lived with God. People, by their way of life, either punish themselves or go to salvation. Not knowing either God or spiritual life, with these words people only throw mud at the Creator. Father gave wonderful advice on how to avoid this: “You must be afraid of slandering the Lord. Be very careful and check every word. After all, words have power. With a word you can kill, but you can also resurrect.”

Is there damage?

Such interest Ask was announced to the audience. “The word “corruption” is not in the Bible, but there is another expression: “possession by demons.” This is damage. The reason for obsession is, first of all, our sins. Damage does not come from sorcerers, as many people think. 90% of sorcerers, fortunetellers and healers are charlatans who only need money.

Of course, there are people who exhibit extraordinary abilities. This is already scary. We ourselves activate demons with our way of life, with our sins. How to help yourself? Very simple. Take communion and confess your sins. This can already become our saving barrier,” the priest instructs.

Are children responsible for the sins of their parents?

This question worried many people in the audience. Definitely answer this question it is forbidden. There are sins that necessarily cause trauma to the soul. The effects of sin can affect children, or even grandchildren. Sins, like character traits, are inherited. But it is necessary to remember that the Lord gave man free will, therefore, everyone can follow the path of change. The effect of sin can be neutralized. The main thing is to do everything with love.

How should an Orthodox Christian prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ?

This question is very good and timely. The Orthodox have already begun to prepare for this bright holiday by observing fasting. Christmas is not just a holiday, but an experience of the closeness of the Lord next to us. We must remember the Lord’s love for us and try to do deeds of love, and not just idle talk. The most important thing in preparing for the holiday is to prepare your soul. Father Vladimir wished everyone to strive to live with the Lord, organize the will and grow in spiritual feelings. “The main thing for us to remember is that our dignity lies in the awareness of our unworthiness,” says Father Vladimir.

In Russian practice Orthodox Church There was a tradition of confession before each Communion. Breaking this stereotype that has developed over time is quite problematic. To what extent can this be done, how and should it be done at all?

Of course, there is a certain contradiction when, on the one hand, church believers try to receive communion as often as possible. On the other hand, frequent confession tends to turn into a formality, when a person begins to perceive confession simply as a formal way to obtain permission to begin Communion by reading a list of sins.

But in fact, it is quite possible in a situation where a person receives communion, say, once a week, to still fill his confession with a repentant feeling.

"In deed, in word, in thought"

As a last resort, I ask my parishioners who are going to take communion, but do not want to again list the same list of sins on a piece of paper as last week, to try with repentant feeling and experience to say: “Lord, forgive me for sinning in deed, in word and thoughts."

And for someone who sincerely asks for forgiveness, this turns not into a formal admission to the Chalice, but into an act of reconciliation with God.

After all, if a person often confesses and has no serious sins, he just needs to ask God sincerely, from the heart, for forgiveness. Nothing more, just say: “Lord, forgive me, I have sinned in word and thought. Forgive me, Lord, so-and-so, unworthy dog stinking."

I have one wonderful parishioner, she is already 90 years old, but she is strong, both internally and externally. When she confesses, each time with sincere tears she reads a passage of 5-7 lines from some penitential psalm, or prayer, or something else. He simply asks God for forgiveness from the heart, either with the words of the Holy Scriptures or with prayers. I believe that this is an ideal exemplary confession for frequent communion. But such repentance, with tears, is a gift from God.

But periodically, say, during Lent, there should be something like a general confession, when we take the book of Archimandrite John (the Peasant) about preparing for confession, and write down dozens of sins on a piece of paper. This kind of confession, however, general form always takes place in our church immediately either before Christmas or before Easter.

Before the night service, I always read all these sins in full from the corresponding brochure on the sacrament of confession. “Brothers and sisters, have you all repented? Those who have not repented, let us so thoroughly ask God for forgiveness.” This is not a listing of sins, it is a request for forgiveness: “Forgive me, merciful Lord.”

It is important for a person to know that he not only sinned yesterday, but that he actually has many sins, and these sins are quite specific. But he does this twice a year: on the eve of Christmas and on the eve of Easter. And so, it seems to me, it is quite enough for a person to ask God for forgiveness from the heart like our elderly parishioner.

Realize your unworthiness

Regular confession is also an opportunity for the priest to convey something to a person. When a person who regularly confesses thinks that he has no sins and says: “I confessed recently, and I haven’t sinned in anything,” this is precisely a convenient reason for the priest to explain that repentance is not only not so much, the situation when we name some of our sins.

If, it seems, there are no obvious sins, this does not mean that we live worthy of that high holiness to which the Lord calls us. “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). This is a call to all Christians. “I have no sins,” I can hear from someone who comes to confession. “If there are no sins, can an icon be painted from you?” I ask in this case.

At frequent confession there is an opportunity to draw attention to the fact that, in general, we as a whole turn out to be unworthy of the title of Christian. We do not pray as the Lord called us to. We do not love people the way God called us to. We do not treat other people and God the way God expects us to. We think about ourselves, about our problems. They are mired in their worries and selfishness.

Can I say that I am a Christian? That I am worthy of Communion? No, of course not. And with this feeling of conscious unworthiness spoken before the priest man walking to Christ, asking Him for forgiveness. Approaches, already reconciled, to the Chalice. This main point.

Confession is individual

The connection between confession and Communion is not always unconditional.

It seems to me that the approach may well be very individual. In relation to those parishioners whom the priest knows well, whose life, whose spiritual state may observe, there may be an exception to the prevailing rule.

If we are not talking about a new Christian or a new clergyman, then, it seems to me, it is quite possible individual approach, when please come to Communion every week, and confess once a month, at least.

Regular confession is necessary. A person must build his life as repentance. The connection between confessions should not be interrupted; a person should remember what he asked God for forgiveness for in the previous confession, what has changed since that moment.

In general, for churchgoers who regularly receive communion, such a practice of confession and communion would be acceptable, it seems to me. I don’t think it is necessary to introduce this prescriptively, but it would be possible to propose it individually.

Confession in church and repentance at home

Before Communion, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, a person must test himself. He must really put himself before the judgment of God. This happens at the sacrament of confession in the presence of a priest. A person must expose his sins in the presence of a clergyman. This is really important. When this does not happen regularly enough, a person’s The general trend judge yourself more and more leniently, justify yourself.

It’s more difficult to justify yourself before a priest. I mean an understanding person who is fully aware of how to repent. This is not the case when people come and say: “Lord, we have no sins. If they killed someone, it was only for business.” Daily evening prayers include daily confession of sins. We repent daily of our sins. But it is more natural and comfortable to feel yourself standing before God in church in the presence of a priest.

Accordingly, it is important not to turn confession into a friendly conversation with a priest, but to confess honestly, truly from the heart. I know that some confessors don’t even greet parishioners before confession, so as not to turn confession into a conversation: “Hello! How are you? As a wife? As children?". A man asks God for forgiveness in the presence of a priest. And God gave the priest the power to bind and decide, that is, to forgive or not forgive sins in the name of God. This is the power, the awareness of which should make both the person who comes to confession and the priest himself afraid.

- Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin” is called “the encyclopedia of Russian life.” So there we read about the Larins’ spouses: “They fasted twice a year.” How often should you take communion today? Is 5 times – during Lent and on name day – enough?
First of all, I would like to draw the attention of God-loving readers to the fact that the practice of Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ has not been constant throughout the history of the Christian Church. So, in early period, believers received communion every day, keeping the Holy Gifts at home. However, later this practice was replaced by another - they received communion several times a week. On Sunday - everything is mandatory. Those who did not receive communion without a good reason for more than two weeks were considered to have fallen away from the Church. Unfortunately, in the 18th century in Russia, the custom of taking Communion only once a year became established. It was enshrined in the rules of preparation for this great sacrament, which prescribed serious work, fasting and praying. Undoubtedly, having love for God, once a year you can abstain from fast food for a week, read the necessary canons and akathists, go to the priest for confession and receive as a reward for your labors Holy Communion... But there is another opinion on this important issue. Some fathers believe that Divine Gifts is by no means a reward, but a medicine for a suffering soul.
Everyone knows from their own experience that when taking pills prescribed by a doctor, regularity is important. No matter how good the medicine is, if it is taken several times a year, the prospect of healing is not great, and most likely it is completely impossible.
Nowadays, a considerable part of confessors recommend taking communion regularly and at least once a month, and if possible, every week. In this case, the preparatory fast can be reduced to one day and only “Following to Holy Communion”, printed in the Orthodox Prayer Book, can be read. If they go holidays(Easter week, Christmastide, continuous weeks) there is no fasting before Communion, you only need to subtract the indicated Sequence.
In conclusion, I would like to remind Father Seraphim’s good advice to his spiritual children that it would be good to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ on every twelfth holiday and, of course, on Easter.

-And one more question about communion. On Sundays in church you can see the following picture: young parents bring their babies to communion, but do not receive communion themselves. But there are fewer school-aged children in the church. As I understand it, the children grew up, asked mom and dad why they didn’t receive communion, they couldn’t find an answer, and the former babies also stopped receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ. What advice would you give to parents of both babies and teenagers?
Popular wisdom says: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It is known that parents teach their children not with words, but with personal example. The baby is sensitive to the atmosphere prevailing in the family. If parents are book lovers, then most likely the grown-up child will read a lot. If mom and dad are into sports, the child will probably be drawn to it too. Likewise with faith in God. In this important matter, first of all, it is necessary good example parents. If there is a gracious atmosphere of prayer in the family, then the child will grow up to be God-fearing, fulfilling the commandments of God. A child who sees with what joy his beloved parents approach the Holy Mysteries of Christ will undoubtedly, having matured, do the same and will never break the 5th commandment, which reads: Honor your father and your mother, so that your days on earth may be long.
IN in this case The question for parents is: who do they want to raise? Either a person who fulfills the commandments of God and strives for the Kingdom of Heaven, or vice versa... The Holy Gospel says - alas, there is no third option... It is a deep mistake not to prepare a child for the Kingdom of Heaven and not to partake of the Flesh and Blood of the Risen Savior. Without this, eternal life is impossible (John 6:53).
They may object to me: well, why is it so categorical, we love God, we wear a cross, before going to bed, as my grandmother taught, we pray, we go to church on Easter and Christmas, we light candles, there is Epiphany water in the house... My dears, of course, this is not bad , but I would like more... It’s hard to imagine a great and beautiful feeling in a young man who remembers the object of his love only a few times a year, carries a photograph of his beloved in his chest pocket, but almost forgot about her, only before going to bed mentally turns to the lady of his heart long ago memorized with the phrase: how good it is that I have you... I’m almost sure that most people will feel the unequivocal falsehood in this. And that’s right – that’s how it is. God must be loved fervently and sincerely. And this child should be taught by pious parents, and above all, by personal example. So we are waiting for all dear parents for Communion.

-The official position of the church: confession for children - from 7 years old. Is it possible to confess a baby in more early age, say, at 5 or 6 years old?
It would be naive to think that a child does not sin until the age of 7. Life experience suggests the opposite. Already at six months of age, a baby can use his newly emerging teeth to express dissatisfaction with his beloved mother about the insufficient flow of milk from the breast. Kids playing in the sandbox will fight for their right to their favorite toy with all the forces they have, etc. Unfortunately, even if he is baptized, the child may continue to experience original sin - pride.
Currently, the following rule applies in the Orthodox Church: a child begins confession from the moment when it is possible for him Critical Assessment of their actions, but not later than 7 years. If at 4 or 5 years old a child realizes that he has offended someone with his behavior and regrets it, we are waiting for him to go to confession.

- Some parents do not want their child to hear about the crucifixion of Christ, about the sacrifice He made, because... it has a negative impact on the psyche young creature. What would you say to these child-loving parents?

Well, firstly, at a young age children do not understand what death is at all. Mom and dad are eternal for them, that is, they will always be there. They can't imagine anything else. But even if a sad separation occurred, then a loved one simply left somewhere far away for a long time... A loving God protected with his grace young hearts from a full understanding of the tragedy of death.

Secondly, without experience of suffering, youths and infants will not be able to understand the horror of Christ’s suffering. Children will limit themselves to understanding: He was in pain.

Thirdly, the children’s main attention will not be focused on suffering, but on the miracle of resurrection. Looking at the image of the crucifixion, they will understand that it is only now Christ on the Cross, in a moment the Son of God will ascend to the Father.

A complete understanding of the agony of the Cross can only come through prayer and, moreover, in adulthood. In addition, I have not personally seen or heard from other priests that any of the young people have had breakdown after he learned about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. I am sure that such a fear is clearly far-fetched.

Recorded by Alexander Dyuzhakov.

- But how can a current schoolchild fast: they won’t offer him fasting in the school canteen...

- But now it is believed that fasting is harmful for children, and adults are given indulgence every now and then... Maybe times are different now - that’s the whole point?

— Times have really changed. We grew up during the years of Khrushchev's persecution, when the whole life of the priest's children was - well, it was not a feat... In any case, it constantly required mental strength. I don’t know about anyone, but our childhood years were not easy... Now the strict, harsh fast has passed, followed by joyful - truly joyful! - Easter... Even a simple egg seems incredibly tasty after real Lent, and we had more than just eggs on the Easter table: my parents tried to make the breaking of the fast rich. So, the cheerful Easter feast passed, on Monday it was time to go to school, and there before the start of classes there was a line: “Who was in church on Easter? Step forward!" We are going out... It’s bitter to remember this. They might not give you bread in the store: in the Khrushchev years it was difficult to find bread; you come to the store, and you: “There is no bread for the priest’s family!” One day my sister was given a bad mark for a well-written essay - just like that, in terms of the fight against religion. The father was not afraid, took his sister’s notebook and went to Novgorod to the authorized representative. Do you know who the authorized representatives were there at that time? From former bosses prisons - it was scary to look at them... But my father insisted on his own: the essay was revised, the grade was corrected.

- I heard that your father was a difficult person...

— What does “difficult” mean? The Lord guided him all his life. He himself comes from Ukraine; during the war, as a teenager, he was taken to Germany. How his mother was worried about him! And, as a woman of faith, she went to the famous elder Lawrence in those parts - Saint Lawrence of Chernigov - you probably know? The elder told my grandmother: “Don’t worry about your son - he is alive, although he is suffering greatly. But he will definitely return home, you just wait!” And indeed, what did my father endure in Germany! But every time things were heading towards his death, the Lord intervened and miraculously averted the misfortune. One day a German decided to shoot him for something. He took him out into the field, ordered to dig a grave, prepared a rifle... And now the rifle was raised - out of nowhere another German appeared and to the first one: “What are you doing here! Go quickly and drink schnapps, otherwise they’ll drink everything without you!” He ordered his father not to leave and ran to drink. The father stood and stood, then took a shovel, buried the grave and left. And this German didn’t touch him anymore. Another time he waited out an air raid in a bomb shelter. The bomb hit the shelter directly - everyone died, he was the only one left intact. He worked in a factory, in relatively good conditions, but then they decided to transfer him to a camp, from where no one returned alive. They loaded their batch into the car, and then the engine stalled. While they were repairing it, while they were looking for a new one, the matter itself fell silent and my father remained at the factory... He returned home with a firm intention: “Since the Lord took care of me so much, I will serve him for the rest of my life. I will become a priest." He was ordained... But this path was also very difficult for him... A book could be written about him: how the Mother of God appeared to him, how he served in the Novgorod diocese, in a remote village... And in this wilderness so many people came to him for prayer, for advice - from Leningrad, from Moscow, Vologda, Rostov... And how my father traveled around the region when it was necessary to give communion to the sick: by car, then by motor boat along the river, then on horseback through the forest - and that’s the only way we got to the village. And back in the same order: there was one church per district. How were the dead buried in the spring or autumn off-road conditions? - the horses get stuck in the mud... They made a special drag: they put spruce legs on the sleigh, they placed a coffin on them, the priest sat next to him, and the tractor pulled the whole structure to the cemetery...

All this was before my eyes, everything passed through my heart, but, you know, there was no fear in me, and when the time came, I chose the path of the priest without hesitation...

—You also started during the years of persecution?..

- Well, at that time there were no such obvious repressions, but there were enough troubles of all kinds. So you say - Easter... Do you know that here, in Luga, my nightly Easter service was disrupted several times? And this was just recently - in the early 80s... Imagine: Easter night has just ended procession, and nearby, in the club, the dancing ended. All the young people, pretty warmed up with dancing and wine, flock to the temple. There is noise and commotion in the temple, fights begin - we call the police, but they are in no hurry to appear... Outside, someone starts throwing stones and bottles at the windows... What to do here? The service was disrupted several times. In the end, we came up with an idea: they began to cover the windows with metal mesh on Easter, and they drove the drunks away from the temple on their own as they approached. Moreover, in order not to create a scandal, they did this: they told the youth: “As soon as the service begins, we will close the doors until the morning. Do you want to spend the whole night in the temple? Will you pray with us? There were no volunteers - everyone turned back peacefully.

“The Lord did not let you forget that the Christian life is a feat, that every Easter must be suffered. And we, it seems, are beginning to forget this... And as a result, Easter passes us by: more and more often you hear from people that they do not experience any Easter joy at the service, that the holidays do not touch their hearts...

“Even now we have enough of our own difficulties, but it’s not even about them... Everyone has troubles and sorrows - both church people and non-church people. But a Christian should be accompanied by joy from his spiritual achievement, from communication with God, from the consciousness of the greatness of God. You need to cultivate it in your soul in order to say, together with the Apostle Thomas: “My Lord and God!” This Easter will not be external, not human, but spiritual, angelic. People still approach God in a pagan way: “I prayed so much, but I was unlucky. I fasted so much, and I have such temptation in my family!..” This is purely pagan among us: we fast and expect that God will send us a letter of gratitude with a seal in return. We need to be more honest about our life, about our soul. But now there is a lot of talk about the fact that fasting is not about abstaining from food, but about taming the soul... And yet, when you talk to believers about fasting, you don’t hear a single question about spiritual things from them... People are interested in one thing: what they can eat , and what not... So, it is still important for them. And, therefore, it is important to remind again and again: “Grace comes through humility, and humility comes through severity and abstinence!” Without rigor we will never feel this unspeakable joy. After all, take St. Seraphim of Sarov: he felt Easter all year round, but why? From the severity of your life. He ate only grass, and in his soul and on his lips he constantly said: “Christ is Risen!” For him, Easter lasted all year round. Easter joy is not like simple human joy: this feeling is heavenly, it cannot be explained in words.

There are still enough troubles today. Here is our Resurrection Cathedral: an amazingly beautiful building - there is no other like it in Luga. But it has not yet been restored, and there is no one willing to help us in its revival: neither the administration nor the entrepreneurs are in a hurry to decorate hometown. And you worry in your heart that people do not value the work of their ancestors. But the work is progressing—by a miracle of God, it is progressing: we hope to complete the bell tower by Easter. Somehow the money appears little by little... Why should you tell us to cry on Easter because the temple has not yet been restored? No, we’d rather rejoice that the Lord gives us strength to work, that He sends us some kind of help... We did at least a little bit - God allowed us to work - and this is a worthy reason for joy. This is what I advise everyone: God has given us the opportunity to labor for Him during Great Lent; let us rejoice in this. God allowed us to reach the Easter holiday - this is also joy. Joy is born from achievement - let us bear what is given to us, and joy will not pass us by.

Questions asked by Alexey Bakulin

Alexander Nikolaevich UZHANKOV graduated in 1980 from the Russian department of the Faculty of Philology of Lvov state university them. I. Franko. Worked as a correspondent for the newspaper “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, editor at the magazine “October”, senior editor at the publishing house “ Soviet writer"SP USSR. Member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR. Participated in the creation and was the first General Director specialized publishing and trading enterprise “Heritage”, created by order of the USSR Council of Ministers at the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1990, he began working as a senior researcher in the department of ancient Russian literature at the Institute of World Literature named after. M. Gorky Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He was the initiator of the creation and first executive director of the Society of Researchers Ancient Rus'”at the IMLI RAS. Since 1992, teaching (MSLU, GASK, SDS, etc.). Specialist in the field of literature, history and philosophy of Ancient Rus'.

He owns research on the new dating of “The Word of Law and Grace”, “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk”, “Readings about Boris and Gleb”, “The Tale of Boris and Gleb”, “Tales of Igor’s Host”, “Tales of the Destruction of the Russian Land” , “Tales of the Life of Alexander Nevsky”, “Chronicle Daniil Galitsky”, etc.

He proposed a new concept for understanding ancient Russian chronicles, linking it with the eschatological ideas of Russian medieval scribes; discovered traces of the influence of the biblical “Book of the Prophet Jeremiah” on “The Tale of Igor’s Host”; reinterpreted “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”; studied the evolution of the depiction of nature in ancient Russian literature; history of the genre of ancient Russian stories, etc. He developed a theory of the staged development of Russian literature from the 11th century to the first third of the 18th century and a theory of literary formations of Ancient Rus'. Author of more than a hundred works on the theory and history of Old Russian literature.

Alexander Nikolaevich UZHANKOV: interview

Alexander Nikolaevich UZHANKOV (born 1955)- doctor philological sciences, Candidate of Cultural Studies. Theorist and historian of Russian literature and culture. Professor of the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU), Literary Institute named after. A.M. Gorky, Sretensky Theological Seminary. Vice-Rector for scientific work Literary Institute named after. A.M. Gorky. Member of the Russian Writers' Union: .

- Alexander Nikolaevich, you have been teaching at Sretensky Theological Seminary since its very foundation. Please tell us about the first years of the seminary.
- There are no accidents in a person’s life. A small life episode after a while is interpreted as a prediction of the future. One day, long before the opening of the seminary, I went to pick up my nephew at the school, which is located next to the Sretensky monastery. Since classes were not over yet, I walked around the monastery grounds. The time was atheistic, an ancient temple Vladimir icon The Mother of God was closed, but I knew that it contained an amazing wooden carved cross - the highest monument of wooden art. All that remained was to regret that such a masterpiece was hidden from people, and the temple was not accessible for prayer. Then, of course, I could not even imagine that 20 years later, from service in this very temple, my teaching career in Sretensky Seminary.

I was invited to give lectures on Russian literature at the seminary by my colleague Professor A.M. Kamchatnov. In the summer of 1999, under the leadership of the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Tikhon, the curriculum of the then Sretensky Higher Orthodox School was created. It was also necessary to develop a program on the history of Russian literature of the 11th-20th centuries.

I took up the task of drawing up a literature course program for an Orthodox university with interest. After all, if we look at Russian literature only from a secular perspective - as artistic works, then we will not see a lot. First of all, we will not see the spiritual meaning of ancient Russian literature. And he was once decisive. And, of course, in such educational institutions as the Moscow Theological Seminary, the Moscow Theological Academy or the Sretensky Higher Orthodox School, it was possible and necessary to talk about true essence ancient Russian literature, and all Russian literature in general, about its spiritual component, about those ideas that are embedded in verbal works. By that time, I had already accumulated some teaching experience: I taught several original courses at the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU, former Institute foreign languages M. Thorez) and in State Academy Slavic culture(GASK).

- Do you remember your first lecture at Sretensky Seminary? What were your impressions?
- Certainly. On the first day of the first school year, in the morning, before the start of classes, we gathered in the monastery church. There was a liturgy, then Father Tikhon blessed the entire teaching staff and seminarians, wishing them success in their new endeavor. He asked who would give the first lecture. It turned out that the educational process at SDS began with a lecture on ancient Russian literature.
The most strong impression for all the years of my teaching, this is a meeting with students who are unusual for me: after all, I, a secular person, came to the monastery to lecture to the monks. Entering the seminar auditorium for the first time, I saw special listeners. Some were even older than me in age, most with life and spiritual experience. Many already had higher education, there were even candidates of science! And a natural question arose in me: what can be taught to them?

Education is the restoration of the image of God. Of course, ancient Russian creations especially contribute to this. However, it was necessary to teach this subject in such a way that together, together, we could find something that would benefit us all. The main message was that we were learning to learn. We worked. They were laborers of the word, or rather, co-workers. I taught the living Russian word and studied myself, and this was important for me, because I, too, could borrow something from my monastic students. In addition, teaching at the seminary itself, the monastic environment itself, obliges you to do a lot. I always liked that in theological schools every lecture begins with a prayer. Old Russian works were written by monks by grace, therefore one can also read them and comprehend their spiritual meaning only by grace. When a lesson begins with prayer standing, it proceeds completely differently than in any secular university. That fertile soil appears on which the words of spiritual writers fall.

Alexander Nikolaevich, at one time you held the post of first vice-rector of the seminary, responsible for scientific activity seminaries and educational process. Tell us about this period of your activity.
- The offer to become the vice-rector of the school was unexpected for me at that time, because at that time I was the dean of the philological faculty and the vice-rector for science at the State University of History and Culture and did not leave these positions. Why did Father Tikhon make this proposal? Probably because it was necessary to build the educational process and structure the seminary. It was necessary to create departments by discipline, organize the work of the departments themselves, and create an educational unit that would supervise the educational process. I took up this organizational work. Father Ambrose (Ermakov) helped me a lot then, for which I am sincerely grateful to him. Father Ambrose was the vice-rector of the SDS, then he was ordained a bishop. And now the seminary functions according to the model laid down then.

During the time when I was here as vice-rector, the task was not so much to attract competent teachers: philosophers, historians, theologians, linguists, etc., but to organize and direct their work. The core of teachers was attracted from MDA, Moscow State University, and other leading Moscow universities. The level of teaching was set quite high: through the efforts of Father Tikhon, the best teaching forces in Moscow gathered at the Sretensky Higher Orthodox School: professors A.A. Volkov, G.G. Mayorov, A.M. Kamchatnov, A.I. Sidorov, A.F. Smirnov and others. Academician I.R. gave lectures periodically. Shafarevich, professor N.A. Narochnitskaya, N.S. Leonov, A.I. Osipov.

How would you rate the level of thesis defended at the seminary, the degree of their seriousness and the complexity of the defense?
- The level of theses of the first graduating class was quite high. These were deep, one might say, thorough scientific and theological works. As experience shows, the result of a student’s final work depends not only on the quality of teaching and scientific supervision, but also on the students themselves, on their approach to their diploma essay. And subsequently, the level of those works that I had to review, in general, turned out to be quite high.

Alexander Nikolaevich, you teach at several secular universities, teaching the same course as in the seminary. Do you place any special emphasis when presenting material to a secular audience and a religious school audience?
- Of course, although the courses are similar. I now continue to teach both at MSLU and at the Literary Institute. A.M. Gorky, and at the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Ultimately, the focus of lectures depends on the audience to whom you read them. If in secular universities the emphasis is on scientific aspect presentation of the material, the study of form and genre, the poetics of works and, above all, the artistic side of the compositions is considered, then in the seminary more attention can be paid to the spiritual component. Study exactly what the work was written for.

Higher education programs are set by state education standards, and teachers should not go beyond these standards. In the seminary, it is possible to teach an author’s course, naturally, with reference to the generally accepted program, but at the same time focusing on a more scrupulous consideration of issues of interest to seminarians. Most of them will leave here as clergy, and they will be approached with questions about certain works fiction. And I must equip them with a text analysis technique, having considered educational process possible maximum of works.

Is it possible to compare your course taught at the seminary with hagiography as a discipline that studies the lives of saints, theological and historical-ecclesiastical aspects of holiness?
- It is possible, and at the same time we must proceed from the Orthodox understanding of ancient Russian literature. In secular universities this course is usually called the history of ancient Russian literature, thereby emphasizing its secularity; the emphasis is on the term literature, on artistic fiction, on the subjective vision of the author. In creation, the word in Ancient Rus' meant co-creation with God. The vast majority of ancient Russian authors were monks, many of them were later canonized, starting with St. Hilarion of Kyiv, the author of the “Sermon on Law and Grace.” And the Monk Nestor is the first hagiographer who wrote the lives of the holy princes Boris and Gleb and the Monk Theodosius of Pechersk, one of the founders of chronicles - the compiler of the famous “Tale of Bygone Years”, and the Monk Theodosius himself is the author of words and teachings, and even Prince Vladimir Monomakh is the author of “ Teachings to Children,” and many others are included in the Synodik of Orthodox Saints.

Old Russian literature should be studied as our patristic literature, as we study the works of the holy fathers of the Church. Here we cannot limit ourselves only to those techniques that are used in the study of secular fiction. Spiritual works were written out of obedience, but the desire to create something useful for the reader’s soul was also present. That is why, in my opinion, hagiography and ancient Russian literature should be looked at as divinely inspired books. That is, all the genres inherent in Old Russian literature: lives, teachings, solemn eloquence, words for the consecration of the church, and so on - contain spiritual instructions, since the main theme of all Old Russian creations is the salvation of the soul. And in them, as in the lives of the saints, there are instructions and examples to follow that an Orthodox person should follow.

Do you give special preference to the theological side of the work or, as a philologist, are you trying to cover the whole process together with historical, socio-cultural points of view?
- The lives of saints should be considered, first of all, taking into account their main purpose: they tell about the spiritual feat of a saint, which can become a model for the reader. There is a general theme in the life. The saint imitates Christ and follows the “royal path,” that is, the path of the Savior. When the Lord came into the world, he said that he came not to break the Ten Commandments, but to fulfill them. He accepts baptism, although, as the God-man, he did not need it. He gave the world nine more beatitudes and He Himself was the first to fulfill all 19 commandments, showing this general path to salvation. This is the path of the Russian saints, starting with the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb. They fulfilled all 19 commandments and accepted martyrdom, that is, they likened their spiritual feat to Christ. And it is no coincidence that Boris and Gleb are the first Russian saints, for the Church is built on martyrdom.

In each life, the theme of salvation of the soul and individual spiritual achievement is revealed to the maximum by the hagiographer. There are many saints in the Russian Orthodox Church, and many lives have been created - models for imitation. And although each righteous man had his own spiritual achievement, what they had in common was the desire to fulfill all the commandments.

For a deeper understanding of spiritual meaning, it is important to find parallels between Holy Scripture and hagiography, study the retrospective analogy of the actions of the righteous and saints and determine their theological meaning. For example, the hagiographer compares the blessed prince Alexander Nevsky with Joseph the Beautiful: the second most important prince in Rus' after Batu with the second most important dignitary in Egypt after the tsar. In wisdom - with Solomon, in courage - with Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, who became the Roman emperor after suppressing the uprising in Judea, so Alexander Yaroslavich gained power after suppressing the uprising in Novgorod.
Parallels with biblical characters are important in order to better understand military and spiritual feats saint, to justify his actions. In the case of Alexander Nevsky, this is a matter of defending the Fatherland and the Orthodox faith. He prevents the spread of Catholicism and the advancement of the Order of Crusaders in Rus'. Another of his feats was humility in the name of saving a large number of Russian people, whom he managed to “pray” from joint military campaigns with the Tatar-Mongols. He himself went to the horde to intercede for them and laid down “his life for his friends” - at the cost own life saving the lives of his subjects. So these parallels between the life of Alexander Yaroslavich and the Bible are determined by the typology of the saint’s behavior.

As a philologist, I am not obliged to consider them; I can only point out sources and possible allusions. But when teaching at SDS, I pay attention to the spiritual meaning of this or that creation, to the theological aspect of all literature. This is what distinguishes teaching at SDS from teaching at a secular university.

- What do you see as the main task of your subject and yours personally?
- Russian literature has always been concerned with educating a highly moral personality. The best Russian writers were never just writers of fiction, that is, writers of entertaining stories for the amusement of the public or for the sake of a fee. Russian literature XIX century - this is the deepest philosophical heritage. We can talk about the religious quests of Gogol, the philosophy of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. Already Russian religious philosophy of the late 19th - early 20th centuries could not do without a deep philosophical understanding of Dostoevsky’s “Legend of the Grand Inquisitor”. There is no Russian religious thinker who has not written at least a few lines about her.

It should be noted that in the 19th century there were no “pure philosophers” in Russia, but there were writer-thinkers, and they forced readers to think deeply about the purpose of life and meaning human existence. Together with their heroes, they tried to find an “justification” for life. However, they did not always succeed. But at least they pointed to the path of moral self-improvement. If we take the work of Dostoevsky, his novels from “Crime and Punishment” to “The Brothers Karamazov”, we will see possible ways of moral degeneration of a person. Essentially, these are novels about the spiritual transformation of personality. Therefore, during lectures, it is much more important for me to talk about the content of a work than about its external form. Much has already been written and said about her even without me.

Unfortunately, I myself was taught differently. More attention was paid to composition, plot, artistic images, but not the meaning that the writers put into their works. And if we talk about the tasks that we, teachers, face, then we must teach students to work independently with texts, to comprehend them deep meaning. If they master this technique - and on seminar classes we are trying to master it, then they themselves will be interested in reading the classics and recognizing its spiritual meaning behind the plot outline of the novel. It became noticeable that from course to course the children’s passion for classical literature, but also the level of its comprehension, and this cannot but rejoice.

In addition to monuments of ancient Russian literature, what works attract your attention? What do you recommend seminarians read from Russian literature?
- If we talk about training course, then in each era we can identify iconic works. For example, for poetry of the 18th century these are, of course, two “Reflections on God’s Greatness...” by M.V. Lomonosov, ode “God” by G.R. Derzhavin, which can be called the pinnacle of spiritual poetry of the 18th century. The ode “God” reflects the entire Bible and the Orthodox Creed, and not knowing this work Orthodox person you should be ashamed! Such creations can be commented upon and analyzed for a very long time, because the more significant the work, the more different meanings are revealed in it. It is important to get acquainted with “Poor Lisa” by N.M. Karamzin, in which one can discern the first implementation in Russian literature of the “prilogue theory”. The transition from spirituality to soulfulness is observed in “Darling” by I.F. Bogdanovich.

As for the 19th century - the “golden age” of Russian literature, in the work of each writer one can single out a peak work. If we talk about Pushkin’s prose, then this is undoubtedly “The Captain’s Daughter,” which is not by chance called his spiritual testament. This is a story about love and mercy. It expresses the meaning of serving God through serving the Fatherland, serving one’s neighbor through mercy based on love. This is a work of amazing design.

In Dostoevsky, I would especially highlight the novel “Crime and Punishment”, in which there are three levels of understanding: worldly, spiritual-moral and biblical. And each of them has its own meaning. At the spiritual and moral level, the development of sin in Raskolnikov is traced from the origin of the thought to its embodiment (the same “principal theory”). The biblical level is a comparison of Cain and Raskolnikov, who bears the mark of Cain as a murderer in modern times. Without understanding the different spiritual levels, we will not be able to fully comprehend the meaning of this work. The novel “The Idiot” with its deepest thought about the salvation of man is also important. Jesus Christ came into the world to save all humanity through self-sacrifice based on love. The novel shows that one, practically an ideal person, is not able to save another, since it is impossible to accomplish this feat without love in the heart and faith in God. Compassion alone is not enough. Without love there is no salvation.

One can consider the creativity of writers in the dynamics of development. Let's say early work Pushkin and later, after his conscious acceptance of Orthodoxy. Dostoevsky's path from social revolutionary ideas to Christian humility. It is interesting to trace Gogol's spiritual evolution. Gogol has very strong stories about the spiritless " little man" - "The Overcoat" and "Portrait", in which he explores the problem of man's likeness to God in the ability to create and build his spiritual life. If Akaki Akakievich turned into a man who collects earthly riches instead of heavenly ones, then he is described as a dumb creature, unable to even express his thoughts, for there is no spiritual development in him. In “Portrait” the characters are shown not only in the process of the Fall, that is, the temptation of material things, but also at the moment of comprehension of their own sin and repentance. There is no man without sin. However, the power of repentance is great. As a result, the author of the portrait of the moneylender will paint the Nativity of Christ in such a way that the splendor of what is depicted will amaze the abbot of the monastery and his brethren. According to the abbot, the artist could not reproduce the image of God only with his human nature. It was an unknown angelic force that guided his brush. The artist’s new creation contains the power of a transformed person. The meaning of human existence lies in the spiritual rebirth of the individual.

In fact, every writer can find a work in which a spiritual and moral theme is considered. Let's take Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina. In it we will also see the development of Anna’s fall from grace in accordance with the “prilogue theory.” But the central place in the novel is still occupied by the story of two families: when one family (Karenina) is destroyed by passion, the other (Levina) is created by love. The family is a small Church, an ark of salvation in worldly life.
That is, writers not only gave readers the opportunity to look at themselves through the prism work of art and draw a parallel between your life and the life of literary heroes, but also draw appropriate conclusions that protect you from unseemly actions.

In the educational process of a theological school, the most important thing is the educational moment. How do you implement it in your lectures?
- Today's students are essentially teenagers. Their characters are still being formed, and by nature they are, as a rule, maximalists. You just need to talk to them frankly. If you say one thing and do another, then when they notice the falsity, they will no longer believe you. You can only tell them what you yourself are deeply convinced of and what you yourself adhere to. Accordingly, when recommending something to students, you can only be guided by what you do yourself. If we talk about our everyday experience, it is better to talk about our mistakes so that they do not repeat them.

I strongly recommend guys keep a diary. Almost all writers kept diaries to one degree or another. Why is this necessary? A diary is important for monitoring yourself and assessing your development. And write everything in it honestly, as Tolstoy did. If a person really wants to develop morally and spiritually, then he should keep a diary not just describing the day he lived and the dialogues he had, but also give critical analysis life, your actions and thoughts. There must be hard work on oneself, and the diary contributes to this. A diary also fosters hard work in a person, because daily diary keeping, if it becomes a habit, teaches regular work, promotes observation, the development of style, and the ability to write. Why couldn’t Akaki Akakievich redo just one paper? Yes, because he did not know how to work with words, to manage them. “Changing the title title and changing verbs here and there from the first person to the third” turned out to be an impossible task for him.

Working on style - important aspect keeping a diary. With the current simplification of vocabulary, the emergence of youth slang, which we see on forums on the Internet, in email correspondence, SMS messages, there is a significant impoverishment of the vocabulary of modern young people. But keeping a diary helps expand your vocabulary. Let us remember that Pushkin the lyceum student did not know Russian well, but was fluent in French. Getting carried away literary work, he comprehends the Russian language. Few people know that his works contain the largest stock of Russian words: several times more than Dostoevsky or Tolstoy! And his example should be science for us. In everyday life we ​​use five to seven thousand words - this is lexicon average educated person. Pushkin has more than 20 thousand different words in his works.

- Alexander Nikolaevich, please tell us about yourself, your life path, your student years.
- Life experience is axiological in nature and consists of understanding value guidelines and spiritual reasoning about them. In your life you need to find certain key points necessary to understand why life worked out this way and not differently, and what, if necessary, can be corrected.

At the age of 7, I became seriously ill, just in the summer before 1st grade. The illness was severe; for almost two months the temperature was below 40. Of course, school was out of the question. And I really wanted to! After all, all my friends were already in school. My parents were very worried, the doctors didn’t know what to do with me. Then my prayer-book grandmother said to my mother: “Take him to Saint Theodosius of Chernigov.”1 The relics of Saint Theodosius rested in the women's Holy Trinity Monastery of Chernigov, where she was a nun cousin. We went to her.

In Chernigov, the first thing they did was put me in a children's clinic - under the supervision of doctors. To take me out of there for just one night, my mother had to write a receipt. The doctors released us with undisguised fear, because my temperature did not decrease. Since I could not sleep due to the high temperature, I remembered everything very well.

On Saturday evening we arrived at the monastery so that the next morning, before Sunday service, venerate the holy relics that were in the altar of the temple. My grandmother, giving me her bed, prayed all night, and my mother was nearby. And early in the morning my grandmother took me to the temple. I approached - not without fear - to the relics of the saint and kissed his open hands. Immediately I felt the warmth emanating from them. When I told the adults about this, they were distrustful of my words: how warm is it? We returned to the hospital, where I slept for a day. When I woke up, they took my temperature, and it turned out to be normal!

Later I learned that St. Theodosius of Chernigov is the patron saint of teachers and students, and I, it should be noted, then had great desire go to school, but the doctors didn’t let me.
Apparently, the child’s prayer was so strong that I received the intercession and help of St. Theodosius in healing. Seeing the change in my health, the head physician asked my mother: “Have you been to St. Theodosius?” She confessed. “Well, then it’s clear, this is not the first time,” he said.

For a long time I was planning to go to Chernigov, but somehow it didn’t work out. And now, 40 years later, in August, my friends called me, saying that they were going by car to Chernigov, and offered to go with them. I took with me an icon of St. Theodosius, which one parishioner of our church gave me after my story about the healing, and we went.
At my request, at the Trinity Cathedral, at the relics of St. Theodosius of Chernigov, a thanksgiving prayer service was served with an akathist to the saint. The priest opened the shrine and gave me the opportunity to venerate the relics again. With boldness and spiritual trepidation, I approached the saint’s shrine, and everything came to mind: how I once approached these holy relics for the first time. It felt as if I had met again with someone dear and close to me after 40 years, even, I suspect, day to day. And I again felt his love and mercy for me. Finally, I asked the priest to attach to the relics an icon of the saint brought from Moscow.

In a state of joy and spiritual uplift, I headed out of the monastery to the car that was waiting for me. On the way home, at some point we noticed a special aroma in the car. I immediately realized what was going on, and, taking out the icon, I discovered that it was she who was fragrant. Everyone was imbued with the miracle that happened before our eyes.

One more circumstance in this story is striking: literally the next day after my adolescent healing, the women’s monastery was closed by order of N.S. Khrushchev (it was 1962 - the time of persecution of the Church), and the nuns were evicted. Undoubtedly, the fact that the Lord, through His saint Theodosius of Chernigov, revealed the miracle of healing a youth on the last day of the monastery’s existence, and that, by the grace of God, this youth turned out to be me, is seen as a special Divine Providence.

Then I had school and Lviv University. I was lucky enough to receive a good secular education thanks to various people. It is known that the Lord does His will through people, which is why much in our lives is, as it were, “determined” by people: they can tell us what to do next in life.

A very important meeting for me back in my school days was with Pavel Pavlovich Okhrimenko, a specialist in ancient Russian literature. It was then that I decided for myself that I would study ancient Russian literature.

Another person who determined my life path was Alexander Serafimovich Enko. I spoke to him “by chance” in the Moscow metro, and a few days later we “by chance” found ourselves next to each other on a plane flying from Leningrad to Moscow. That’s when we met, surprised by this “accident.” We were friends with him for more than 30 years - until his death. And when I did not enter Moscow State University, he suggested that I enter the philological faculty of Lvov University, and, thanks to him, I ended up there. The university had excellent teaching staff. Great importance for the formation of a specialist has his environment. All the teachers knew that I had been studying ancient Russian literature since the 1st year, and the dean’s office gave me a simply fantastic opportunity - to travel to universities and listen to lectures on ancient Russian literature! I still remember with gratitude the dean, Professor I.I. Doroshenko. So I listened to lectures at Leningrad and Minsk universities. But I didn’t have a supervisor.

Then, as a 3rd year student, I wrote a letter to MSU professor V.V. Kuskov, author of a textbook on ancient Russian literature. I said that I was especially interested in the apocrypha and ancient Russian literature, but did not have a mentor in this matter. And Vladimir Vladimirovich answered me, an unfamiliar student: “Come to Moscow for the winter holidays with your work.” This is how I met him and consider him my teacher. Under his guidance, I wrote not only my coursework, but also my diploma thesis. I was able to listen to his lectures at Moscow State University.

In Leningrad I met N.N. Rozov - head of the department of manuscripts of the Public Library. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. He drew my attention to Gogol’s spiritual prose and pointed to his “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy.” Thanks to Nikolai Nikolaevich, I discovered the religious writer Gogol in the atheistic era. At Leningrad University I had conversations with N.S. Demkova and M.V. Rozhdestvenskaya. In Minsk - with L.L. Short.

The wealth of my secular education lies in the responsiveness of those people who shared their knowledge with me. Everyone I named were specialists in ancient Russian literature. But I always felt support from my other teachers. Seeing my passion, they helped me in every possible way.

There were teachers not only in the past, they also exist in the present.

For me, an example of serving God and the cause is Archpriest Pavel Fazan, rector of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the town of Shchorsa, near Chernigov. It’s already amazing what’s in them big family four brothers and even two sons-in-law are priests!

Once upon a time there was a magnificent temple in my home town of Shchors, but the Germans, retreating in 1943, blew it up. Father Paul took on the construction of a new church of St. Nicholas, having only 43 hryvnia (about 200 rubles) in the treasury and an unshakable faith in God’s help. In four years, a beautiful two-level stone church was erected; services are already underway in the lower church, and finishing work is underway in the upper church. And the Sretensky Monastery, with the blessing of its abbot, Archimandrite Tikhon, shared books from the library with him, and the vice-rector of the seminary, Father John, donated new publications. Such an ascetic cannot help but help.

What struck me most was Father Pavel’s daily schedule. At 5-6 o'clock in the morning he already gives communion to the weak and sick, at 8 - service, at 11-12 - religious services. At 16 - Akathist, then - evening service. Moreover, you need to go to Chernigov for the night - to stand up for the Catherine Church, which the schismatics are trying to take away. Then - by parish. He is the dean of the Shchorsk district. Visit Schema nun Catherine in the village. Loknistoe for a spiritual conversation, visit the Domnitsa Monastery with the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, and way back visit the holy spring. I observed Father Pavel after two busy days and a sleepless night. It was he who took me everywhere, and the Lord gave him strength. I saw it at the source.

Alexander Nikolaevich, tell me, did you develop the teaching methodology yourself, or did you adopt someone else’s experience?
- I was very lucky, because my wonderful mentors were people born at the beginning of the twentieth century and brought up in pre-revolutionary traditions. They passed on to us what they learned from their teachers. A teacher, first of all, is realized in his students. It is very important how students perceive the knowledge given to them by the teacher and whether they continue his work. This is how scientific schools are created.

With words of gratitude, I can remember Professor A.V. Chicherin, who was acquainted with Sergei Tolstoy, Yesenin, Blok, Bely... He also met with Gorky, Mayakovsky, Bulgakov.

Alexey Vladimirovich instilled in us the skills of literary criticism, he said that in the classical gymnasium he was taught to use the “method of close reading.” When you read quickly, only following the plot, you don’t notice much. When you read slowly and thoughtfully, paying attention to the smallest details and details, then you begin to understand that the idea of ​​the work is revealed through the details. Without noticing essential details, you can misinterpret an artistic composition.

This also applies to the methodology that we now use; in fact, she is a well-forgotten old thing. First of all, students themselves should try to understand the meaning of the work by reading it. Don’t just run your eyes and connect letters into words, but read - see the meaning intended by the author, focusing not on the plot outline, but on the idea. In each case, it is necessary to find an answer to the question of why the writer wrote this work and why it turned out that way. Is it the will of the author or his inability to write differently? It happens that an ideological plan and its actual implementation can be completely different.

By the way, this technique was described back in the 11th century, in the teaching of a certain monk “On reading books.” He wrote that reading should benefit the soul, that one should not turn the page without taking everything into one’s heart. Since each book was written by the grace of God, the reader should be imbued with the spiritual word and not rush to interrupt the conversation with God. This is the method of slow and close reading. We don’t want to interrupt a pleasant conversation with a friend, so here we shouldn’t interrupt our conversation with God. And then God-inspired words fall into the heart and strengthen the person.

“Every gift is from above,” that is, from God, including writing talent. If a writer understood that his talent was a gift from God, then he devoted his entire life to serving God through literature, just like the ancient Russian scribe. In essence, true writing is a synergistic connection between the writer and the Creator, but this happens when the writer is not autocratic. When he tries to create of his own free will, his personal art becomes clear: initially he wanted to write one thing, but it turned out completely different. And the answer is the writer himself: how will his word resonate in the souls of his readers?!

Recent studies of Gogol's work indicate precisely this. He interpreted his writing as spiritual. Not so long ago, notebooks with Gogol’s extracts from the holy fathers were opened and published. And we can see how spiritually great the writer’s work on himself was. Then much of his work begins to be seen differently. Accordingly, in order to comprehend the meaning of his work, one would have to be a bit of a theologian.

A seminary is a closed educational institution in which the day is structured according to a certain schedule. A large number of time is allocated, in addition to studying, for performing various obediences. What can you say about the workload that seminarians bear, and what was it like during your years of study?
- I can say based on my personal experience: The busier I am, the more I can get done. In my time, students were loaded to the maximum; there was practically no free time left. And we are in our student years learned to use time rationally. We read a lot, much more than people read now, perhaps because of the Internet, where you can easily get the information you need.

We had items that took up a lot of precious time. It is enough to recall the history of the CPSU, scientific communism and atheism. Every day I had to take notes on the classics of Marxism-Leninism for two to three hours. Now, thank God, this is not the case, and during this time you can do a lot. From the morning until approximately 3 o'clock in the afternoon we spent time at lectures, and after them we went to the library to read until late in the evening. Today's students are not used to working in libraries. In our time reading rooms were filled with young people, but now they are half empty, and this fact is depressing. A lot of workload can only be good for me. Now, for example, as vice-rector of the Literary Institute and executive editor of the “Bulletin of the Literary Institute,” I teach at four universities. I also have two doctoral students, five graduate students, and at least five graduate students every year. I'm not even talking about coursework. Each one needs to be given time and read several times. student work, and at the same time you need your own Scientific research conduct. Therefore, the excuse that there is not enough time is from the evil one; There will always be time if you want.

- You often publish in various magazines, including on the website Pravoslavie.ru, which, by the way, you supervised at one time. Tell us what works you have published recently and what you are working on now.
- A year ago, a very important monograph “Stadial development of Russian literature of the 11th - first third of the 18th century” was published. Theory of literary formations" (M., 2008) is the result of many years of reflection. It put forward new theory development of Russian literature. It is complemented by the recently published monograph “On the specifics of the development of Russian literature of the 11th - first third of the 18th century. Stages and Formations" (M., 2009), in which theoretical issues find practical implementation. Both books are sold in the Sretenye store at the Sretensky Monastery. Recently, “The Tale of the Life of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” was published in my translation and with my afterword (M., 2009). Finally, I fulfilled my long-standing promise - I wrote an article about M. Bulgakov’s novel “The Master and Margarita” for the website Pravoslavie.ru. A number of articles have been published in magazines. Participated in scientific conferences, Christmas readings. Now from God's help I am finishing work on a book on “The Word of Law and Grace.”

- Alexander Nikolaevich, your lectures are especially popular among seminary students. The church audience is still closer in spirit to the subject you teach. How interested is the secular audience in ancient Russian literature, and what attracts them most about it?
- I have a happy opportunity to start working with students both in the seminary and in secular universities from the 1st year. This is very important for them spiritual education. Young people have just returned from school, with an unformed worldview, full of interest in life, and in search of their place in society. It is possible not only to observe the evolution over several years this person how he develops and what he comes to, but also to help him in his formation. The role of the mentor here is great and responsible.

In the 1st year, the student is looking for himself and the opportunity to test and demonstrate his strengths. Most often, he focuses on his favorite subjects or teachers, although preferences may change with age. One cannot but rejoice that interest in ancient Russian literature is constantly high. Let's say, at the State Academy of Slavic Culture they wrote five or six diplomas a year, which means that students began to study ancient Russian literature from the 1st year, plus in the 2nd-4th years they wrote term papers. Here it was important not only their study of ancient Russian literature, but also their own spiritual growth: one cannot be separated from the other.

For me, the greatest happiness was when one graduate defended thesis admitted that she was baptized two weeks ago. Her work on her diploma led her to this decision. If she had not studied ancient Russian literature, then perhaps she would not have taken such an important step in her life or would have taken it much later, but then her life would have turned out differently. It is important that this was her conscious choice. I have repeatedly observed that it is not parents, but, on the contrary, children who bring their parents to Church. This, by the way, relates to the question of spiritual and moral education and the role of literature in it. If such cases are at least sometimes present in our practice, then our teaching work takes on meaning.

It is clear that in seminary it is a little different. But I still have theology students from Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU). Last year, there were also five of my graduates among them, and all of them defended themselves with excellent marks. For me it was no less joy than for them. Firstly, this was the first issue. Secondly, the topics of the diplomas were complex, but they coped with the task and revealed them. Two of last year’s graduates became my colleagues at the university and are now working on their Ph.D. dissertations.

When reviewing the lives of saints in secular universities, you probably drew the audience’s attention to their theological meaning. Is this accepted by the secular audience at large?
- Audiences are different. It is gratifying to note that now there are more and more Orthodox churchgoers in secular audiences. But it is one thing to call oneself Orthodox, another thing to be a member of the Church - to live according to church laws. Then the perception of spiritual meaning literary works happens on a completely different level.

At the Academy of Slavic Culture that I already mentioned, there were many Orthodox students, and it was easier to talk about spiritual things there, since they were brought up in the traditions of Russian Orthodox culture. They perceived everything differently than those who were raised on “Western European values.” In the 1990s, it was difficult to teach at MSLU, because the students were mainly children of Russians who had lived abroad for the last ten years. Life outside of yourself native culture When personality formation occurs, it does not pass without a trace. The children, although they were considered Russian by nationality, were already Europeans by their mentality. And it was difficult for them to perceive much from their culture. In Europe and America they were instilled with priority material assets over spiritual ones. Having arrived in Russia, they became related to that part of society that is drawn to “pan-European values”, but diverged from another, no less significant part, striving to revive the original Russian traditions based on Orthodoxy.

When you begin to discuss with “Russian foreigners,” say, the image of Eugene Onegin, they easily perceive him because they understand him with his hedonistic aspirations and desires. If we talk about the Orthodox community, then they are closer to the image of Pyotr Grinev, capable of self-sacrifice, from “The Captain’s Daughter” - the complete opposite of Onegin. But if earlier “foreigners” did not think about why Pushkin polemicizes with himself in his later works, now, living in Russia, they are gradually imbued with traditional Russian culture and perceive these ideas differently. literary images. And, most importantly, they give them the correct assessment.
In the 1990s, it was difficult to teach due to the diversity of the audience. When I asked young people which of them wanted to leave Russia, only two or three people did not raise their hands. Now the situation is reversed. This means that the worldview of young people has changed, value orientation, and now I dare to hope that Russia has a future.

Alexander Nikolaevich, it is known that within the walls of the seminary you conducted a seminar on the film directed by Pavel Lungin “The Island” for seminarians and students of the journalism department of Moscow State Linguistic University. Tell us more about this meeting. What was her goal?
- There is only one goal - so that students can themselves, by thinking and reasoning with a little help from me, discover the spiritual meaning of this film.

Film is, first of all, a spectacular, that is, imaginative, side. But this film is deeply symbolic, and therefore has many meanings. Here it is important to both see the symbols and interpret them, and this means to penetrate into the spiritual meaning of the work. It so happened that we touched on this topic at a lecture both at the seminary and at the Linguistic University. And we came to a collective decision to get together and discuss this film together. It seemed interesting to compare both the secular view of these things and the spiritual vision of the issue by children of the same age.

In fact, it turned out that like-minded people gathered, who largely complemented each other with their subtle observations and helped to jointly penetrate into the spiritual content of the film. Parallels were drawn both with classical literature and with the spiritual development of personality. In hagiographic literature, this motive of salvation is often present. The film shows the power of repentance and humility of a person, which lead him to spiritual perfection. In fact, we see an example of personality transformation already at the present stage.

Alexander Nikolaevich, you started teaching at the seminary from the very first intake, a decade has passed since then. How is the current student different from the previous one? Are there any dynamics visible? And what, in your opinion, distinguishes a seminarian from a secular student, what makes him stand out?
- Practically nothing, students are the same everywhere: hard workers, lazy, and cunning. Only the student enrollments are different different years. For example, in the seminary the first intake consisted of monks and people mature age who had higher education, not only humanitarian, but also technical. These adults made a conscious choice: they came from secular life to the monastery, and this choice personally inspires respect in me. In addition, we had a small age difference, and this removed age barriers.

Often after lectures we would have long conversations. These were quite frank conversations, many revealed the reasons for their departure to the monastery. We talked about various topics, talked about politics, science and everything in general. These students knew what they wanted and strived to gain as much knowledge as possible. I liked their efficiency and determination. There was no need to push them, it was enough to advise them to read something, and they read. And then we discussed it together. They wanted to learn and they studied. Their growth was noticeable, many of them accepted the priesthood, now they themselves have spiritual children (I myself send my friends and students to them), deliver wonderful sermons, and take confessions. They are already conducting spiritual work in the monastery. When I meet them, I am sincerely happy for them. To this day we still have friendly relations with Father Adrian, Father Ambrose, Father Arseny, Father Luke, Father Cleopas, Father John, the current vice-rector of the seminary, and many others. I am glad that they have found their place in life and feel their need, their relevance among the laity and students. And I see with what respect the parishioners treat them.

- And in conclusion, tell me what teaching at SDS means to you?
- The most important thing is my spiritual education. The most tangible thing is the fraternal monastic prayer for the teachers and personally for me, a sinner. I began to feel this prayer from the very first days of my stay at the seminary. She holds in life. The most useful thing is spiritual conversations. The most joyful thing is to see the success of students. The most important thing is work for the glory of God, for the benefit of people and for the salvation of the soul.