Until now, the time of writing by Nestor, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves" (hereinafter - "Life") has not been established. It is important not only for reconstructing the history of writing the "Life" itself, but also for dating the "Reading about Boris and Gleb" that preceded it, since in the" Life " Nestor noted: "I thank thee, my Master, Lord Jesus Christ, that thou hast enabled me, an unworthy confessor, to be Thy holy companion, for thou hast written to me about the life and destruction of Boris and Gleb, and about the children of the holy and blessed passion, and hast forced me to come to another confession, which is beyond my power, and he cannot bekh dostoyin... " ("The Life of Theodosius of the Caves" / / Monuments of Literature of Ancient Russia. XI-beginning of the XII century. Moscow, 1978).

To clarify the time of St. Nestor's work on the "Life of Theodosius of the Caves" helps the remark of the hagiographer, placed at the end of the work: "See how much above about the blessed and great father Theodosius of smallpox and hearing from the ancient men of my father, who were at that time the same in the writings of the sinful Nestor, who lived in the manastyrs of the blessed and father Theodosius" (Uspensky sbornik of the XII - XIII centuries, Moscow, 1971).

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These words of Nestor can be understood so that he, being the youngest of all ("mnii vseh") I. I. Sreznevsky in" Materials for the dictionary of the Old Russian language "in the comments to the words mnii-mnii-menshii gives the first exactly the meaning of" younger in age "with the following example:" Man nekyi ime dva sona, i reche mnii sonia ei "(Sreznevsky I. I. Slovar ' drevnerusskogo yazyka [Dictionary of the Old Russian language]. Reprint edition, Moscow, 1989, vol. 2, Part I).

In the words of Nestor, there is a clear comparison, or rather a contrast, between the age of himself, who wrote down the stories about Theodosius, and the age of the monks from whom he heard these stories.

If Nestor wanted to emphasize in self-deprecation his "lower" position in the monastery (and the word mnii can have such a meaning), then, presumably, in this antithesis, the word stari would have been used as an opposition to the word mnii. It should be recalled that this semantic meaning is preserved in the same root word starets, meaning not just an old man (an elder, according to the Charter, could become from the age of 33), but a person who has acquired the Grace of the Holy Spirit: "If someone wants to be old, then they will be all my people and all slug" ("Life". Although this antithesis also contains an indication of a young age: "I will ask Joseph to say to Jacob:' Put your right hand on seven fathers,for there are old men. Otveshcha Jacob: vede chyado, vede, ... n his brother meni bolii it will be". See Moldovanam "Ilarion's Word on Law and Grace". Kiev, 1984). Nestor also contrasted the words drevniih-mnii, i.e. in their age-related meaning.

By the way, Nestor also uses the word mnii three times in the Reading in the sense of "younger in age", strengthening it with another-unei: "Sii Davyd [Christian name of Gleb. - A. U.] mniy [var. - the lesser] be in his brothers and una [var. - the youngest ] in the house of his father" (Abramovich D. I. The Lives of the Holy Martyrs Boris and Gleb and the PG service, 1916). That is, the smallest (youngest) among the brothers and the youngest in the house. This example refers to the word "mnii", but in the sense of "lowest in position, rank, and dignity" is given by the Dictionary of the Russian Language of the XI-XVII centuries, Moscow, 1982, Issue 9.). Yes, if we take into account the Orthodox way of life, in which the younger brother should honor his elders (it was demonstrated by Gleb of his death), then this semantic connotation is present in the word. However, Nestorov's text speaks first of all about Gleb's age (and emphasizes his young age in every possible way), but not about his "position, rank, and dignity": he is a prince, and he has an equal social status with other brothers-princes.

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In this passage of Nestor's there can be no other interpretation of the word, since it is obvious that he is not only talking about Gleb's young age ("Be Gleb velmi detesk". Abramovich. Edict. op.), but also strongly emphasizes this young age of the saint, comparing Gleb with the young David: "The name of the Saint Glebovi was revealed to David. Do you see the grace of God taken away from your children? Stvorisha bo, reche, his name is Davyd: how or how? Is it not by them that he is one of his brethren, and is a saint in the same way? For the same reason the prophet himself testifies, saying, "I am one of my brothers and one of my sons." - the youngest ] in my father's house" and so on: So also these Davyd mnii [var. the youngest ] be with his brothers and go to his father's house" (ibid. Psalm 151: 1: "Mal beh is in my brother's house and yunshii is in my father's house").

It is important to note here that in the Ukrainian language of the XIV-XV centuries, the main meaning of the word lesser was precisely as "junior": "And I am shared with my brother menshy with Prince Semyon Izbarazim by my own good will..." (Словник староукраiнськоi мови XIV-XV ст. Kiev, 1977. Vol. I). In the modern Ukrainian language, only the age-related meaning of the word less is preserved when describing a person: "Mensha, lgbt not dshla", etc. (Dictionary of Ukrainian movi. Edited by V. D. Grinchenko. 1908. Vol. II). This means that both in general practice and, more importantly for us, in Nestor's practice, the word minor had an age - related meaning. That is, speaking of yourself " az ... Nestor, mynii vseh v manastyri", the Pechersk hagiographer emphasized, first of all, his young age, but not his "lesser position", because just below he reports about his rank of deacon. Another antithesis of Nesterov from the "Life of Theodosius of the Caves", in which he compares (contrasts) himself this time with the oldest Nikon, and not with the entire brotherhood, indicates the defended interpretation of the meaning of the phrase.

Just above the above words of Nestor about himself (in the same column on the "Assumption Collection") he says this about Nikon: "yako tomou [to Nikon. - A. U.] to the elders of soushchyu vseh, se bo and the blessed and our father Feodosiya from that roukou tonsuring szhodobisya".

This comparative juxtaposition of the" oldest vseh "abbot of the Pechersk Monastery Nikon and the" mnii vseh " in the monastery of the Monk Nestor is very noticeable.

The comparison with the" great Nikon", a well-known scribe, indicates the ambition of the young monk (I doubt that such a comparison was made by the chronicler monk Nestor, who was already wise in his old age, and who lived a life "not for the glory of this world"), and not about his complete humility (autobiographical inclusions in the lives of the saints of God indicate, in basically, about the same thing). Therefore, the antithesis turned out to be deliberately stretched, but still obvious: Nestor told about the election of the oldest abbot (according to WHO).-

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growing up!) Nikon, and then told his story about entering the monastery. Such a comparison is in the spirit of Nestor. Let us recall that he was the first in ancient Russian literature to indicate his name in hagiographic works, to introduce an autobiographical element in them. But this was a violation of the traditions of Byzantine hagiography. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the young Nestor, as he himself admitted, "had many sins from youth", could not resist one more and emphasized his young age. May he be forgiven for this small sin, which helps us determine the time of the young monk's work on The Life of Theodosius of the Caves.

Nestor was born around 1056-57, because as a 17-year-old boy he came to the Monastery of the Caves as a novice during the lifetime of Theodosius, who died in 1074, and would hardly have written after 1108, when he was already over 60 years old, and the number of monks exceeded a hundred, that he was "mniseh" - the youngest in age in the monastery.

There is also another testimony of Nestor, and it is perhaps the most important in dating both of his lives to the 80s.

As you know, in addition to the "Life" of Theodosius of the Caves, Nestor wrote another work related to his name - "The Word of Nestor, the imaginary manastyr of the Caves, on the presentation of the relics of our holy Reverend Father Theodosius of the Caves".

Since Nestor was directly involved in this event and described it from fresh impressions, none of the scholars have any doubts about the time of the appearance of this small "Word" - shortly after the event itself, which occurred, as indicated in the text, on August 12, 1091, three days before the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the patroness of the monastery.

It is quite obvious that if Nestor had written "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves" after 1091, and even more so after 1108, as S. A. Bugoslavsky believed and A. G. Kuzmin believes (S. A. Bugoslavsky On the question of the nature and scope of the literary activity of the Rev. Nestor / / IORYAS, 1914. Vol. 19. Book I; Kuzmin A. G. The initial stages of the Old Russian Chronicle. Moscow, 1977), then he would definitely include in the" Life " and the description of the transfer of the newly discovered relics of St. Theodosius, as he did in the case of finding the relics of Saints Boris and Gleb in the time of Yaroslav the Wise and the transfer of them already by his sons in 1072. On the contrary, the separate existence of the" Word on the Transfer of Relics", in our opinion, may indicate its later writing in relation to the" Life " and as an independent supplement to it. This independent position is also indicated by the place of the "Word "in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, where it follows immediately after the "Life of Theodosius of the Caves", but is not combined with it.

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This is also evidenced by the obvious insertion in the" Word", which bears the features of a chronicle message: "In the summer of 6616, the abbot of Theoktistos began to urge the blessed Great Prince Svyatopolk with a prayer, so that the name of our holy and venerable father Theodosius, abbot of Pechersk, may be remembered in the synonik. Thank God for the dachshunds. Svyatopolk is glad to be here, promising to eat (...) If you want to go to the metropolitan, take him to the synod to sign up. The metropolitan ordered all bishops to write the name of Saint Theodosius in the synod. Nevertheless, the bishops joyfully inscribe the name of our holy and venerable Father Theodosius, and commemorate him on all occasions... "(PLDR. XII century. Moscow, 1980. Wed. with a note in the "Tale of bygone years": "In the summer of 6616 (...) In this same summer, God put in the heart of Theoktist, Abbot of Pechersk, and begin to proclaim to Prince Svyatopolk, in order to write Feodosia in the cenanik. And when he was glad, he promised and ordered the metropolitan to enter into the synod. And he led them to write in all the bishops, and all the bishops wrote in with joy, and to commemorate all the zborechs." PLDR. XI-early XII centuries). This important event for the glorification of the saint took place in 1108.

From the "Word" it is obvious that the local veneration of St. Theodosius began soon after his death. Finding the saint's relics in 1091 and placing them in the monastery's Dormition Cathedral for veneration directly testify to this. Church glorification of a saint is impossible without a service. Since the solemn transfer of the relics took place on August 14 ("and so celebrate the light day"), on the eve of the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, and not on the feast itself - in full accordance with the church Charter - this means that on August 14, a special service for the saint was served at the liturgy (See the analysis of a similar situation with the transfer relics and the consecration of the church on the eve of the two-hundredth feast: Uzhankov A. N. From lectures on the history of Russian literature of the XI-first third of the XVIII centuries. "The Word about Law and Grace". Moscow, 1999). That is, in 1091 there was already a service to St. Theodosius of the Caves. But as church practice testifies, and the history of the canonization of Saints Boris and Gleb confirms this (Uzhankov A. N. On the question of the time of writing the "Legend" and "Reading" about Boris and Gleb / / Hermeneutics of Old Russian literature of the XI-XIV centuries. Collection of 5. Moscow, 1992; Antonova E. V. Services of Sts. Boris and Gleb in the bookishness of Ancient Russia. Diss. cand. phil. M., 1997), the service to the saint necessarily complements his life, because, according to the church Charter, it should be read on this day. So the need for the life of St. Theodosius was already in 1091 (and by the time of inclusion in the synodic - even more so!). This, it seems, is also "spoken out" by the author of the insert: "Svyatopolk is glad to be there, promising to eat, knowing his life [knowing his life or death].

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after getting acquainted with his life? - A. U.], and Nacha Svyatopolk narrated to everyone the life of the Monk Theodosius."

The "Life of Theodosius of the Caves" tells about the laying of the Assumption Cathedral in the Pechersk Monastery by Theodosius and Anthony in 1073, which was completed by Stephen in 1078, but the "Life" does not tell, as A. A. Shakhmatov correctly noted, about its consecration (Shakhmatov A. A. Tale of Bygone Years. Pgr. It is known that the cathedral was not consecrated for a long time, and this happened only in 1089 under Metropolitan John II. Hence, the "Life" was written before this significant event for both the monastery and Theodosius, because in the "Word for the Transfer of Relics", dated 1091, it is reported that the relics of St. Theodosius were laid in the Assumption Cathedral, that is, it was already consecrated.

We should also pay attention to one very remarkable feature of the Monk Nestor: in each of his subsequent works, he mentions the previous one. In the "Life of Theodosius of the Caves", he said that he had previously written " A Reading on Sts. Boris and Gleb", and in the" Word for the Transfer of Relics " he mentions "The Life of Theodosius of the Caves": "The venerable and eminent Stefan, who was previously mentioned in the life of the Blessed one, who was placed in his place as abbot..." (PLDR, XII c.).

From this remark of Nestor, the connection and chronological sequence of two of his works is quite obvious: the original "Life of Theodosius of the Caves" and the subsequent "Words for the Transfer of Relics". If the " Word "was created after the events described in it (which no one doubts) and knows about the existence of the" Life", then the" Life "could not have been written after the"Word". If we take into account that both of Nestor's works do not contain a message about the death of Bishop Stephen on 27.04.1094 (in his works, Nestor constantly recalls Theodosius ' successor in his abbacy, who accepted the future hagiographer into the monastery and tonsured a monk after novitiate, and in both lives he gives the full service record of Stephen), then it is logical to conclude that they were written before this sad event. But since in the Life of Theodosius of the Caves, Nestor did not describe the celebrations of August 12-14, 1091, for the finding and transfer of the Saint's relics, but created a special "Word", this means that the Life of Theodosius of the Caves was written before 1091.

Thus, there is every reason to believe that The Life of Theodosius of the Caves was written not only before the inclusion of his name in the all-Russian Synod in 1108, but even before 1091-the discovery of his relics and the writing of the service to the saint.

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