Пахомианские тексты русского Добротолюбия

Abstract

The article examines the issue of collecting and translating ascetic literature into Slavic and Russian languages in the 18–19 centuries using the example of the Pakhomian corpus of texts. Comparative analysis of the composition of the Greek Philokalia and the Russian Philokalia – the latter is considered not just as an ascetic five-volume book prepared for publication by st. Feofan the Recluse, but as a systematic translation activity that united several generations, and thanks to which there was a flourishing of monasticism and the resumption of eldrship in Russia. The reasons for the differences in the composition of Greek and Russian Philokalia are also considered, in particular, the interest not only in Hesychast literature, but also in monastic statutes, primarily in the tradition of Egyptian cenobitic monasticism, which was initiated by st. Pachomium. Based on the correspondence of the participants, the circumstances of the work on the texts of the Pachomian circle are traced: Pachomius the Great, his predecessor Orsicius and John Cassian the Roman. The collected material and analysis of individual translation principles of this period allows us to speak about the wide interest in Russia in the history of monasticism, about the good knowledge of European patristic publications when choosing texts for translation, about the high level of Latin language proficiency and the exceptional importance of the results achieved, which will never lose their significance, as they serve as evidence of the time of flowering on Russian soil translation activities.