Russian (Pseudo-) Ambrosiana in translation traditions of the Synodical period
Abstract
The article studies the history of works signed by the name of St. Ambrose of Milan which was translated into Church Slavonic and Russian. The tradition of translations of the Bishop of Mediolanum is very young and heterogeneous. The first translations have been appeared sporadically only in the second half of the 18th century, and they were not systematic. The chronological framework of the article is due to the fact that the main body of the theological, homiletic and moral-ascetic heritage of the St. Ambrose was translated and published precisely in the Synodal period. Later, some early translations have been reprinted again and again or taken as a basis for adapting texts into modern language. Thanks to the educational activities of the St. Petersburg and the Kiev Theological Academies, which began to translate regularly and print the texts of the Holy Fathers, the number of publications from the authentic texts of the saint, as well as The pseudo-Ambrose's “Words”, increased noticeably. Many translations were published in the journals “Christian Reading”, “Sunday Reading”, “A Guide for Rural Shepherds”, which contributed to the spread of the patristic heritage outside the walls of religious educational institutions. In the article we reconstruct, if possible, the names of the translators and establish the source of original Latin texts, due to misattribution of many writings published under the name of St. Ambrose. The results are expected to contribute to clarify and to supply bibliographic lists, as well as to prepare a complete annotated catalog of editions of St. Ambrose of Milan in Russian and Church Slavonic.
Keywords
