Lives of the Saints: Why Do People Stop Reading Them? #
In ancient times, reading the Lives of the Saints was one of the favorite activities of all layers of the Russian people. The readers were interested not only in historical facts from the lives of Christian ascetics but also in the profound instructive and moral-ethical meaning. Today, the Lives of the Saints have taken a back seat. Christians prefer to spend time in internet forums and social networks. However, can this be considered normal? Journalist Marina Voloskova, educator Anna Kuznetsova, and Old Believer writer Dmitry Urushev contemplate this.
The Creation of Hagiographic Literature #
The study of Russian holiness in its history and religious phenomenology has always been relevant. Today, the study of hagiographic literature is managed by a separate branch in philology called hagiography. It should be noted that hagiographic literature was not just a form of reading for the medieval Russian people but a cultural and religious component of their lives. The Lives of the Saints, in essence, are biographies of spiritual and secular figures glorified for veneration by the Christian Church or individual communities. From the very beginning of its existence, the Christian Church meticulously collected information about the lives and activities of its ascetics and conveyed them to its children as an instructive example. The Lives of the Saints make up perhaps the most extensive section of Christian literature. They were beloved reading for our ancestors. Many monks and even laypeople engaged in copying hagiographies, and wealthier individuals commissioned collections of hagiographies for themselves. From the 16th century, due to the growth of Moscow’s national consciousness, collections of purely Russian hagiographies began to appear.
For example, during the reign of Tsar Ivan IV, Metropolitan Makary established a whole staff of scribes and deacons who, for over twenty years, accumulated ancient Russian writings into the extensive literary collection known as the “Great Chet’yi-Minei.” The Lives of the Saints held an honorable place in it. In ancient times, the reading of hagiographic literature was regarded with the same reverence as reading the Holy Scriptures.
Throughout its centuries of existence, Russian hagiography has gone through various forms and known different styles. The Lives of the first Russian saints include works like the “Tale of Boris and Gleb,” the lives of Vladimir Sviatoslavich, Princess Olga, Theodosius of the Caves, the hegumen of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, and others. Among the best writers of Ancient Russia dedicated to glorifying the righteous, we can distinguish Nestor the Chronicler, Epiphanius the Wise, and Pachomius the Logothete. The earliest Lives of the Saints were narratives about martyrs.
Even Saint Clement, the Bishop of Rome, during the early persecutions of Christianity, placed seven notaries in various districts of Rome to record daily events concerning Christians at execution sites, as well as in prisons and courtrooms. Despite the pagan government’s threats of the death penalty for those who recorded these events, the records continued throughout the period of persecution against Christianity.
During the pre-Mongol period, the Russian Church possessed a complete set of Menaea, Prologues, and Synaxaria that corresponded to the liturgical cycle. Paterika, special collections of the Lives of the Saints, also held significant importance in Russian literature.
Finally, the last common source for the memory of the saints in the Church is calendars and monthslaws. The origins of calendars date back to the earliest times of the Church. According to the testimony of Asterius of Amaseia, by the 4th century, they were so comprehensive that they contained the names for every day of the year.
Starting from the 15th century, Epiphanius and the Serb Pachomius established a new school in northern Russia, known for its elaborately decorated, expansive Lives. This led to the creation of a stable literary canon and a luxurious “weaving of words” that Russian scribes sought to emulate until the end of the 17th century. During the era of Metropolitan Makary, as numerous ancient, unsophisticated hagiographical records were revised, the works of Pachomius were incorporated into the Reading Menaion with inviolability. The vast majority of these hagiographic monuments are closely linked to their models.
Some Lives are copied almost entirely from ancient sources, while others adhere to established literary conventions, refraining from precise biographical data. Hagiographers, who are separated from the saint by long periods, sometimes centuries, when both oral tradition and written sources have diminished, are also subject to this common law of hagiographic style, similar to the principles of iconography. This law requires subordinating the individual to the universal, merging the human face into a heavenly glorified countenance.
What is valuable in the present day?
Currently, classical Hagiographical literature takes a back seat. News feeds, social media, and, in the best case, reports in printed church media take its place. This raises a question: Have we chosen the right path for the church’s information life? Is it correct that we only occasionally remember the feats of glorified saints but pay more attention to contemporary events – the loud ones that are forgotten tomorrow?
Not only Hagiographies but other ancient literary monuments are of decreasing interest to Christians. This problem is even more acute in Old Belief than in the Russian Orthodox Church. Moscow Patriarchate’s bookstores are filled with a multitude of hagiographical literature, just keep buying and reading. Some Old Believers suggest that everything can be bought there. Their bookstores are packed with diverse church literature, biographies of Sergius of Radonezh, Stephen of Perm, Dionysius of Radonezh, and many others.
But are we so weak that we can’t (or don’t want to) compile a collection of Hagiographies or publish a brief review of the life of a particular saint in the parish newspaper? Especially when literary monuments published in foreign church publishers are fraught with translation inaccuracies, and sometimes even intentional historical or theological falsifications. For instance, it’s easy to come across an edition of the “Domostroy” where all the ancient customs in the chapter on church practices have been replaced with modern ones.
Nowadays, the periodical publications of the Old Believers are filled with news material, but they hardly contain enlightening information. If such information is absent, people won’t have sufficient knowledge. It’s no wonder that many traditions are forgotten, and the once-important names, symbols, and images are being erased from memory.
That’s why, for example, in the Russian Old Believer Church and other Old Believer communities, there isn’t a single church dedicated to the holy faithful princes Boris and Gleb. Even though these princes were the most revered Russian saints before the church schism, today, apart from their inclusion in the calendar and rare services (if their commemoration day falls on a Sunday), they are not venerated. What can we say then about other, lesser-known saints? They are entirely forgotten.
Therefore, we must do everything possible for spiritual enlightenment. Hagiographical literature is a reliable helper in this regard. Even five minutes of reading the Lives of the Saints can set a person’s mindset for a virtuous way of life and strengthen their faith.
By publishing, even in an abridged form, the Lives of the Saints, teachings, sermons, and perhaps collections of church rules, apologetics, we can help people learn more about their faith. This can protect many believers from superstitions, false rumors, and questionable customs, including those borrowed from foreign confessions, which quickly spread and turn into “new church traditions.” Even elderly, experienced people often become hostages to ideas obtained from dubious sources. Young people can become victims of harmful information even faster.
There is a demand for ancient literary works, including the Lives of the Saints. For example, parishioners of the Rzhev Church in the name of the Protection of the Most Holy God-bearer have expressed the desire to see interesting hagiographical stories about local saints from Tver in their parish newspaper, the “Pokrovsky Vestnik.” Perhaps it is worth considering this for other Old Believer publications.
Returning to the ancient Russian traditions of enlightenment #
Today, many Old Believer authors and journalists consider the publication of hagiographical literature and the revival of readers’ respect for the names of ancient ascetics to be important. They raise the question of the necessity of greater educational work within Old Believer communities.
Publishing the Lives of the Saints is not only possible but necessary, as long as it is done in a convenient and reasonably priced format. After all, we have saints who were canonized after the schism of the 17th century. However, the majority of people only remember Protopop Avvakum and Boyarina Morozova, associating them exclusively with the Old Believers.
Judging by how our leading hagiographers are conducting research on individuals who lived one or two centuries ago, it seems that we are “falling behind” by precisely those one or two centuries. In this sense, there is a lack of a clear church publishing policy. Therefore, aside from Protopop Avvakum and “those who suffered with him,” we don’t know anyone else.
The Apostle Paul writes, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).
Christians should honor their spiritual guides - the servants of God - and emulate their faith and way of life. Therefore, the Orthodox Church has long established the veneration of saints, dedicating each day of the year to a righteous figure, whether a martyr, ascetic, apostle, hierarch, or prophet.
Just as a loving mother cares for her children, the Church has taken care of her flock, recording the Lives of the Saints in the book known as the Prologue for their benefit and edification. This book consists of four volumes, one for each season of the year. In the Prologue, brief hagiographical accounts are organized by date, and it also provides one or more teachings of the Holy Fathers for each day. A more extensive collection of lives and teachings is called the Reading-Menaion, consisting of twelve volumes for each month.
The bulky Reading-Menaion books are rare and less accessible. Conversely, the compact Prologue was highly popular in Ancient Russia. It was frequently copied and printed multiple times. Old Believers used to read the Prologue with pleasure, deriving great benefit and righteous guidance for their lives.
By reading the Lives of God’s chosen ones and the spiritually enriching teachings, Christians of the past had the example of holy martyrs and ascetics before them. They were always ready to stand courageously for Orthodoxy and piety, fearlessly confessing their faith before the Church’s enemies, even in the face of persecution and suffering.
The Prologue is written in Old Church Slavonic, and during the years of Soviet rule, knowledge of this language significantly declined among Christians. Additionally, the scope of reading Old Slavic books was limited almost exclusively to liturgical texts. Nowadays, it has become evident that a sad fact, as pointed out by V.G. Belinsky back in the mid-19th century: “Slavic and old books can be a subject of study, but not enjoyment; only scholars can engage with them, not the general public.”
So, what can we do? Unfortunately, we may have to set the Prologue, Menaion, and other spiritually enriching readings in Old Church Slavonic aside. Let’s be realistic – only a few experts can deeply engage with this ancient source of wisdom and draw from it the water of life. The average parishioner is deprived of this pleasure. However, we cannot allow modernity to rob and impoverish them!
It’s impossible to compel all Christians to learn the language of Old Russian literature. Therefore, instead of Old Slavic books, we should have books in Russian. Of course, creating a complete translation of the Prologue is a difficult and labor-intensive task. Moreover, it might be unnecessary because, since the mid-17th century, after the schism, the Church has canonized new saints and produced new teachings. Yet, they are not reflected in the printed Prologue. We should work on creating a new body of spiritually enriching literature for Christians.
These will no longer be the Prologue or the Menaion. They will be new compositions, written in a simple and engaging manner, targeting the widest audience. Let’s say it will be a collection of informative literature, including accessible books on Sacred Scripture, church history, Christian theology, the lives of saints, textbooks on Orthodox worship, and Old Slavic language.
Such editions should find a place on the bookshelf in every Old Believer’s home. For many, they will be the first step on the ladder of God’s wisdom. Then, as they read more advanced books, a Christian can ascend and grow spiritually. After all, to be frank, many Old Believers understand nothing about their old faith.
I was unpleasantly surprised when I encountered this phenomenon: a person lives a Christian life, prays and fasts, regularly attends church services, but knows nothing about the teachings of the Church and its history. Nevertheless, the Soviet times, when it was enough to say, “my grandmother used to go there,” to attend a church, are a thing of the past. The new era poses new questions and demands new answers about our faith.
What can we answer when we know nothing? Therefore, we must not forget that Christianity has always been based on books. Without them, our faith and history seem inexplicable.