Description
One of the features of Russian Orthodox Christianity has been the
prominence of monasteries. Soon after the conversion of Russia there was
founded the monastery of the Caves in Kiev; later on, there was established
by St Sergei of Radonezh the famous monastery of the Trinity (now called the
Sergei-Trinity Lavra) outside Moscow. Monasticism had been a feature of
Christianity since the fourth century. At the heart of monasticism is
commitment to the life of prayer, and in the earliest texts onwards we find
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discussions about how to maintain a life of continual prayer. In fourteenthcentury
Byzantium there arose a controversy about the so-called hesychast
monks (‘hesychast’ being derived from the Greek hesychia, quietness) about
claims that, through continual prayer, there could be attained the vision of the
uncreated light of the Godhead itself. Hesychast monks were important in
the bringing of Christianity to the region around Moscow in the fourteenth
century (the circle of St Sergei). The notion of contemplating the uncreated
light of the Godhead is manifest in iconography, especially of the
Transfiguration of the Lord, about this time. The hesychast monks came to be
associated with a practice of inward prayer (‘prayer of the heart’) achieved by
practice of the Jesus Prayer (‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on
me, a sinner’): a prayer that became very popular in nineteenth-century
Russia, as the famous book, The Way of the Pilgrim, bears witness.
This lecture consists of an overview of Orthodox monasticism. The following
subjects are treated:
- Judaism: Essenes
- Celibacy in the Gospels and the Early Church
- The Egyptian Desert, Palestine and Syria
- Mount Athos
- Monasticism in the Slavic world
- St Seraphim of Sarov
- The elders of...
Published 06/18/11
This lecture presents a survey of the history of Russian polyphonic choral
music, from the earliest experiments at two-and three-part writing in the 17th
century to the work of contemporary composers such as Dimitriev and Genin,
and including the repertories influence variously by...
Published 06/15/11
It is claimed by the Russian Primary Chronicle that it was the experience of the
Divine Liturgy in the church of the Holy Wisdom in Constantinople that
persuaded the ambassadors of Prince Vladimir to recommend the adoption of
Orthodoxy: ‘we knew not whether we were in heaven or on earth… We...
Published 06/15/11