Вестник Екатеринбургской духовной семинарии (Dec 2024)
Prayers of the 6–10 Cathismata in the Old Russian Psalters
Abstract
This article examines 29 Psalters of the 13th–16th centuries in the context of Old Russian liturgical writing: horologions, liturgical collections, etc., as well as the old-printed Psalter. Prayers for Cathismata 6–10 have been studied and compared. Usually, each Cathisma has one prayer, less often two. The analysis of the set of prayers suggests the existence in ancient Russia of a certain “basic tradition” of the arrangement of prayers, which is most likely of a South Slavic origin. In relation to this tradition, three groups of Psalters can be distinguished. 14 manuscripts have a set of prayers that mostly (or even completely) correspond to this tradition. 7 manuscripts show partial correspondence, mainly it is limited to the prayers after the initial Cathismata, and for the rest Cathismata manifests itself sporadically. The 8 remaining manuscripts do not depend on this tradition, and there may be only some partial correspondences. For 6–10 Cathismata, one can single out “priority” prayers (i. e. those belonging to the “main tradition”). They are presented in 5–13 manuscripts, so their share never reaches half (unlike prayers of 1–5 Cathismata). Many prayers are of Byzantine origin and known from Greek manuscripts. Thus, 4 prayers are taken from the conversations of the Holy Fathers (John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Rev. Antiochus). There are also biblical prayers (the prayer of Manasseh). Other prayers may have a Slavic origin. For example, 4 prayers belong to St. Kirill of Turov, and some more prayers show a distinct resemblance to his language. Most of these prayers become an item of the past, but some of them nowadays are used as cell prayers (Evening prayers 2 and 9, prayers after the 6th and 7th Cathismata, prayer against desecration) or in worship services (prayers of Martyr Mardari and King Manasseh). The text of the 8 prayers, which have not yet been published, is given in this article. Especially interesting are the F.п.I.2 prayers after the 9th Cathismata (which has a didactic character and actively quotes rare books of the Old Testament) and after the 10th Cathismata (a lengthy penitential hymn).
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