Lubov Vasil’evna Titova,
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
On Narrative Sources in the Epistle of Deacon Fyodor to His Son Maxim (“About a Small Youth and a Great Sinner”)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-3-13
The article is dedicated to one of the narrative sources of the Epistle of Deacon Fyodor Ivanov to his son Maxim, namely moralizing story “About a Small Youth and a Great Sinner”, taken from the “Book of Saint Gregory, Pope of Rome…”. The nature and function of the story used in the Epistle of Deacon Fyodor are revealed. It is concluded that the retelling of the story serves as a kind of exposition of the second part of the Epistle: the appeal to the plot about proper Christian education, ending with the conclusion “to guard against all wickedness”, gives impetus to further denunciation of apostates from the true faith. It is suggested that this story was discovered by Deacon Fyodor when he, being in exile in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery in 1667, he became familiar with the manuscripts of its collection and drew attention to the story from “The books of Saint Gregory, Pope of Rome, which he related to his deacon Peter, speaking about a certain small youth and a great sinner…” and retold it in his Epistle. A review of the description of the manuscripts of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (824 manuscripts) made it possible to identify the manuscript containing this Tale. (RSL, f. 304/1, ms. 153, fol. 274v−276r). In conclusion, the full text of the Tale is published according to this copy.
Publishing: 28/06/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 27/04/2025
How to cite: Titova L.V. On Narrative Sources in the Epistle of Deacon Fyodor to His Son Maxim (“About a Small Youth and a Great Sinner”) // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 3 (41), pp. 197−203. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-3-13.pdf]
The article was made on the topic of the state assignment “The Past in the Manuscript Sources of the 16th−20th Centuries: Preservation and Development of Traditions” (FWZM-2024-0006).
Links: Issue 3 2025
Keywords: Epistle of deacon Fyodor to his son Maxim; tale “About a Small Youth and a Great Sinner…”; monk Avraamii; publication of the text