Глава третья. Святая гора Афон

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand he had a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is taken away from you, and your sin is cleansed. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send? and who will go for Us? And I said: here, send me. And he said: go... Book of the prophet Isaiah, ch. 6, art. 6–9 The life of Maxim the Greek can be likened to a triptych, the central part of which, the connecting rod, is Athos, and the side wings are Italy and Russia - this is how D. Obolensky defined the role and place of the Holy Mountain in this biography 1 . Here the foundation of the personality was laid, supports were erected that made it possible to withstand the blows of fate, trials, to bear one’s cross with patience, the burden of unfair accusations, slander, but also uninterrupted scholarly service. Michael Trivolis arrived on the Holy Mountain in mid-1506 and entered the Vatopedi monastery, dedicated to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, taking the monastic name Maxim. In some signatures he kept his last name – Trivolis. He was attracted to Athos by the rich and deep spiritual traditions of Orthodoxy. It was also of considerable importance that the richest book treasures were kept here, replenished by the libraries of two emperors who ended their lives in the Athos monasteries, ancient manuscripts that were saved after the Turkish conquest, and other donations 2 . Maxim's new life on Athos in its everyday life can be recreated from the description of the Svyatogorsk monasteries, compiled shortly after his arrival in Moscow 3. It was his first Russian work, but it was probably written (dictated?) in Greek 4 . The author begins the “exposition” by explaining the title. Mount Athos, as the “ancient message” conveys, began to be called the Holy Mountain in ancient times, when the Mother of God was still alive, for the sake of her coming, when she came to Cyprus to see Lazarus, and also for the sake of the high virtue and holiness of the divine men who labored in it in ancient times. “Not from people and not by people, but by Divine providence and help, that Mountain has been preserved to this day,” he wrote in the title of the work. True to his love of geography, the author describes the natural conditions and location of the “Macedonian Mountain of the Selun Sea” (“a hundred miles inside the sea to the east”), the height of one of the peaks (“Megalin Viglan, that is, the Great Guard”) - one and a half miles. In the extreme part of the mountain is so high that from its top you can see in clear weather (“when the air is good”) the island of Euripus, which is far from Athos, 200 miles or even more, and at sunset, when the sun goes to the west, the shadow from the top, as ancient writers say, reaches the island of Limnos, located far away, at a distance of 60 miles 41, and the height of the peak itself is up to two field There are also places where there is only bare stone; due to the intense cold, nothing can be found in the rocky crevices there. And in the sunless valleys 42 on its top the snow lies for a whole year. Maxim describes two types of Svyatogorsk monasteries, using the example of one from each type (since the others have the same “rite and structure”). There there are “special” (idio-rhythms), or laurels, and “general”, “social”, “cines”. These two “ranks” are described in detail, the special one - using the example of the Lavra of St. Athanasius of Athos (with a special message that in Vatopedi, where Maxim himself lived, there are similar orders), and the “cinema” - using the example of the Dionysian Monastery (with a mention of Zografov). The third rank, the “monastery,” is only briefly mentioned in the description of Karei, where the “Laurel of the Prototype” is located, in which the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary stands. Around this “sacred monastery of Protov” on the plain there are “cells, pillars and kathismata, that is, small communities”, “many deliberately outstanding men and ascetics” live in them, and around there are vineyards and beautiful gardens 43 yielding various vegetables. The cells scattered in the Kareya monastery belong to the priest, others were originally created by venerable men, and others belong to the “sacred monasteries”. The cells are sold to those who want to stay in that place, two or three at a time; after their death they return to the authority of the monastery. The author says nothing about their internal “arrangement,” probably not only because this type was less known to him, but also because he was less accessible to external “acquaintance,” but as such was more closed and self-sufficient. In another, much briefer “Tale of the Life of the Holy Mountain”, included in the “Helmsman” by Vassian Patrikeev, Maxim the Greek writes about the three types more definitely: “In the Holy Mountain life is divided into three: into general, and into special, that is, into Lavra and skete.” But the monastery is not described here either, only mentioned. The description of others is more concise compared to the “statement”. The author reports that in the monastery both works and estates 44 and everything else are common to everyone - both inside the monastery and outside. In the Lavra of St. Athanasius and in Vatopedi, work within the monastery is also common to everyone, but - as he clarifies - “according to reason and dignity” 5. The “Tale” mentions “alms” (contributions, donations, etc.), which are all put into the treasury for all sorts of monastic needs and for guests. The brethren give two loaves of bread to their cells every day, and one on Wednesday and Friday; the servants receive everything they need from the monastery. When all the brethren go to some monastic service, they have a common meal twice a day. There are also common meals for great holidays: the Annunciation, Great Day (Easter), Pentecost, Peter's Day, Dormition of the Virgin Mary, Nativity of Christ, and twice a year for builders (builders, teachers). If one of the brethren has made a contribution, then it is his choice to participate or not to participate in the common work, but usually they work to the best of their ability. Let's return to the presentation, where the orders of special monasteries (idiorhythms) and laurel are described in more detail using the example of the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius of Athos; the same,” he writes, “in Vatopedi. First, the author talks about the founders of each of these monasteries, and only then about their structure. The creator of the Lavra of Athanasius of Athos - the founder of Athonite monasticism - was the emperor (the author calls him king) Nicephorus Phocas. Maximus adds that he was killed by John Tzimiskes, demonstrating a good knowledge of Byzantine history. In ancient times, during times of prosperity, the Lavra of St. Athanasius observed a common life, according to the rules of Father Athanasius, and then, “exhausted” (that is, impoverished), she could no longer feed her children on the basis of community life and divided them into cells, with two, three or four monks in each. Consequently, the same thing happened in the time of Maximus the Greek. The monks receive their food partly from the monastery and partly from their own labor. Every day they are given enough bread, sochivo (the fruits of leguminous plants) and fruits (“garden potion”). The cells have areas where grapes, olives and other “fruitful trees” grow, they are cultivated by the monks themselves and they always have in abundance (“they always abound”) wine, oil and various vegetables. Having saved what is necessary for themselves, the surplus (“super-surplus”) is sold to that “brethren” who, due to “lack of skill or weakness,” cannot do this. And sometimes the “weakest”, that is, the weakest, are simply given free food (“tune bestow”). In addition, crafts flourish in the Lavra; their description is a real apotheosis of labor. The monks, Maxim continues, do all sorts of “cunning” and “handicrafts”: this shoemaker, this blacksmith (“forger”), another tailor (“Schvets”), another woodmaker, another “sharpenes vessels” (makes wooden utensils), another on the hills cuts down trees (“cuts wood”) and processes them (“scrapes boards and beams”), another spins and knits hoods and belts, one writes, and another weaves, this one works in the garden, another in the vineyard, another fishes and weaves nets. And so each, with his “rank”, feeds himself and the other, as well as the spiritual mother who accepted him, because the sweat of her labors is deprived of the coolness of rest. The brothers live, as Maxim writes, “in themselves,” not only do they not burden the “weary monastery,” but rather they calm it down and relieve it from unnecessary worries, like loving children nourishing the old age of an elderly mother. This statement seems to be a response to those who might reproach the monks for “resting on their laurels,” to use a later saying. As if objecting, Maxim continues the description of the monastic works. When the time comes for sowing, harvesting, harvesting grapes, fishing, or some building needs to be renovated, the abbot and the cathedral elders select several brothers for the duration of the work, and some of them watch the progress of the work, while others serve and obey the commanders with zeal and spiritual joy, accepting the yoke of obedience. Another service is the transportation of grain from the seashore to the granaries. The mention of “arable land”, from which grain is brought by sea, shows that outside the Lavra it owns arable land, which is cultivated, as is obvious from other sources, with the help of hired labor. “Mercenaries” (who come) are also used inside the monastery, they cultivate the vineyards, and are entrusted with other “monastic affairs.” They gather in front of the monastery gates in the evening, they are fed dinner, and in the morning they are sent to work. In other laurels of the Holy Mountain there is the same “stay and labor” as in the “first”, that is, the most venerable among them, the Lavra of St. Athanasius; there are sometimes 200 “mnichs” in it, and sometimes more. The second monastery is Vatopedi, it is located in the southern part of the mountain above the sea, at the distance of an arrow, surrounded by high nine pillars (towers), has the image of a triangle; it is as much shorter in size than the sacred Lavra of Athanasius as it is narrower (“closest”). Its creator was, as we learned, writes Maxim, a certain Spaniard Vatos, brother of Emperor Theodosius the Great, and it is older than the laurels, just as Theodosius is older than Nikephoros. Vatopedi lives by the same “stay and order and residence” as the sacred monastery, and therefore there is no need to talk about it again. “Everything that was said by me,” Maxim repeats, “about labor and adversity and diligence and diligence in business, as well as about crafts, and about communication with the weakest brothers, about helping them, you will see the same in the monastery of Vatopede. It differs from the Lavra in the multitude of monks, sometimes up to three hundred, and its location is more favorable, it also has a large pier, and is not as rich in waters as the Lavra.” Among the monasteries, the first and truly pure from “property”, that is, from orders that presuppose personal property, is the Dionysian monastery in the name of John the Baptist, and among the Bulgarian and Serbian monasteries - George Zograf, and “what kind of cohabitation in one of them is the same in the others, the same stay and commandments in them, and they differ from each other only because of the care or negligence of their representatives, because so Human [nature] is changeable and varied, and it is impossible to always observe the same measure.” The author knew the order (“cohabitation”) of the Dionysian monastery, its “equal life” better than others, because he himself visited it more than once. As when describing the orders of Catholic orders, Maxim the Greek indicates the source of what he communicates, in this case - direct communication with monks. The main thing that the author draws attention to in the rules of the hostel is the complete absence of personal property. “Truly he is pure from specialness,” he says at the very beginning of the story about the hostel of the Dionysian Monastery. He writes just as definitely in the Legend for the Helmsman of Elder Vassian: “In the monastery, labor, property, food, and everything else is common to everyone, both inside and outside the monastery.” We have already encountered this terminology in “The Terrible and Memorable Tale,” and it will be used even more actively in the works of the second period. The Dionysian monastery “is fenced with strong walls, in the center is the Church of John the Baptist, and around there are fraternal cells of two and three bloods (two or three stories high) 6 , no more than 95 brethren live in it. From the very beginning she had a common life and has kept it pure to this day.” Monks have no power to keep anything, even a needle, in their cells without the permission of the abbot (“real”). Everyone works incessantly, both inside and outside the monastery, like those living in the monasteries, and shipbuilders, and winegrowers (“vineyard workers”), and farmers, and builders, and cellars, and bakers (“bread girls”), and cooks, diligently fulfilling all sorts of simple services and needs of the monastery, without appropriating anything “from the common things of the brotherhood,” but, on the contrary, they always try to multiply them. Working monks do not neglect spiritual labors. If they happen to be working somewhere and if there is a suitable place there, then when the time for prayer and hymn comes, they stop working and perform psalmody, because the priest always follows with them. They always observe the customs and rules of common life, they eat on Monday, Wednesday and Friday without oil, wine and fish, and every day they make 300 bows. Since they serve the monastery in everything, the monastery accepts and tonsures them free of charge (“without silver”), without demanding anything from them except sincere obedience and submission. And if one of those coming brings silver with him, then he does not demand a special position for himself in accordance with the contribution - let there be no such love of money and inappropriateness! - but they themselves, being already children of the monastery, of their own free will and bring this to God and the brotherhood. We are talking about contribution, but in laurels its role is completely different. Here the brothers are called "contributors" and not "workers" as in the dormitories. In the laurels, if a person who enters of his own free will for the sake of his peace or for the commemoration of his ancestors brings a contribution (“silver”), then he is accepted into the cell and taken care of for the first year until his grapes bear fruit, and they give him grapes, garden produce, wine, and oil every day and free him from hard work, and he remains in peace, but if he expresses a desire, he takes part in various services. They do not refuse admission without a contribution - then he is accepted as a “worker”, to whom the author clearly gives preference; It is better to have one brother - a “worker”, than ten investors. In the monasteries, they are not called investors, but they still work in accordance with their strength and age, and still receive clothes and shoes from the monastery throughout their lives, and they also work equally - the author repeats again. It can be assumed that Mikhail Trivolis, entering the distinguished monastery, was a wealthy person with the opportunity to make a contribution. The “Exposition” gives a detailed description of the various monastic services, which also shows us the internal structure of the monastery, the monastic order: “ecclesiarch” (“takes care of the church splendor, the deanery of the priests,” directs external and internal monastic “services,” “keeps the abbot’s place” in his absence); “typikar” (skilled in the church charter, prepares “novices” for the rank of charterer, ecclesiarch, abbot), “statutor” (monitors compliance with the charter). Skevophylax is a “vessel preserver”, stores precious church vessels used in divine services, and also accepts “listed” donations (“silver”) from rulers (“kings and despots”) and all Orthodox Christians, by order of the abbot and the Council, issues silver and every six months gives a report (“calculation”) of receipts and expenses. Nosokomos takes care of the hospital and the “sick brothers.” A description of the hospital is given: “The house is large, inside the monastery, separated from the rest, it has cells and everything necessary for the sick, who are “healed with all love,” and in the church of the unmercenaries Kozma and Demyan that is there, a service is continuously sung “for the sick brethren.” Only eight main monastic services and various monastic orders are described. Particular attention is paid to the election of abbots and the significance of the cathedral. Works: poetic creativity Enumerating the crafts that the monks practice, Maxim mentioned, presumably, his own: “One writes, the other binds.” He was a calligrapher, and, naturally, one of his, as one might assume, occupations was copying books to order and for sale. The books he copied on the Holy Mountain have not yet been discovered, but there is an ancient act copied by his hand at the order of the monastery, indicating that on Athos his abilities as a calligrapher scribe were put to use; at the same time, he combines his calligraphic art and knowledge of some principles of archeography and paleography. Although a very small number of texts rewritten by him in his own hand have so far been found on Mount Athos, one of them is very eloquent. B.JI. Fonkich discovered an ancient document from the 11th century, copied by Maxim's hand. It concerned a dispute between the monasteries of Kastamonit and Zograf, which arose over neighboring properties. The monks of Kastamonite found in the archives of their monastery the act of Archpriest Theophylact of 1042. But the document was poorly preserved, no one understood the text, and with a request to decipher it they turned to the monk Maxim, whose education and scholarship had already become known by 1512–1513 outside of Vatopedi and the monastery of St. Dionysius. Maxim managed to read the ancient text; he did not make up for the existing losses arbitrarily or “according to the meaning,” but made the following note: “Copied many years later by Maxim the monk of Vatopedi in the year from the Creation of the world 7021 at the request of the most venerable monks of the honorable monastery of Kastamonita. Where, due to damage to the original, gaps have arisen and the sequence of the text has been disrupted, an appropriate space has been left” 7 . It is typical that in Moscow, while working on the translation of the Explanatory Psalter, he will find in the Greek manuscript from which the translation is being made, damaged passages or omissions and will specifically report this in a message to the Grand Duke, which will also become a preface to the monument. He showed a scientific approach in all matters he touched. Maxim's spiritual life of this period is almost not reflected in the surviving and accessible sources. His liturgical creativity is known. Many monasteries of the Holy Mountain still contain manuscripts containing the “Canon of St. John the Baptist” 8 compiled by him. We do not know whether this Canon was his only liturgical work, but liturgical creativity will attract him in Russia, where he will compile the “Canon of the Holy Spirit the Comforter.” His first composition of the Svyatogorsk period was an epitaph to the Patriarch of Constantinople Joachim I, who died on May 8, 1505 9 . If we proceed from the message of Maxim the Greek himself about his ten-year labors on the Holy Mountain and the time of departure from Athos (spring - summer of 1516), then he arrived on Athos in the summer of 1506 or a little earlier or later, since the number 10 could be named with rounding. The order to compose the epitaph was received soon after his arrival. A mention in the epitaph of the Wallachian voivode Radul (Radu the Great, who reigned 1495–1508) indicates Maximus's possible contacts with Wallachia: “Sweet Joachim, kind and merciful, who was the patriarch of Byzantium with its wide streets, was buried here on May 8, on the feast of Born of Thunder, having received funeral honors from the governor Radulus.” He also owns the epitaph of the Patriarch of Constantinople Niphon II (1486–1488,1497–1498, 1502). In 1503, he was metropolitan in Wallachia, and later moved to the Dionysian Monastery on Athos. Maxim maintained friendly relations with this monastery, visited it, possibly communicated with the former patriarch, and after his death he wrote an epitaph 10: “Mr. Maxim Trivolis. The great bishop of Byzantium, Niphon, rests here, consecrated by the apostolic mercies; he, having mounted the chariot of virtues, like Elijah, reached the gates of heaven.” Later, he composed an inscription for the tomb of the patriarch, built by the Wallachian governor Nyagoe Basarab (reigned from 1512) 11: “Inscription for the most luxurious tomb of silver and gold containing the sacred remains of the most blessed patriarch Nifonta. Mr. Maximus Trivolis, Shining more than silver and gold and any precious stones, the brilliant bishop Niphon, the servant of God, who left this world, the great God honored with this precious tomb, prompting the divine Neagoe, the great ruler of the warlike Myses, so that it would be for His servant to eternal glory. Great Father, I salute you; remember to constantly protect this monastery with your prayers before the Creator, and to grant the ruler himself, O blessed one, indestructible power and health during his lifetime, and when he leaves the earth, place him in the divine palaces of Olympus.” The second inscription on the same tomb is more brief: “Another inscription on the same tomb. I am a golden tomb, I hide within myself the one who is more precious than gold - Niphon, the bishop of Byzantium" 12. I. Shevchenko assumed that during the Athos period Maxim had connections with Wallachia either through the Dionysian Monastery on Athos, or directly. Perhaps he carried out missionary work there. Our hero will write in one of the Russian messages that he was sent to different places on Mount Athos and always returned safely, hinting at refusals to let him go to the Holy Mountain. Maxim also owns an epigram to Manuel, the great rhetorician of the Great Church, Hagia Sophia in Constantinople 13. An Athonite monk writes about the merits of Manuel as an author of musical works. The epigram was intended for a collection of these works by Manuel of Corinth and should have been at the very beginning of the collection: “Maxim the monk - to the great rhetorician and philosopher Manuel. These fragrant songs of the muses, graces and wisdom were born of the great rhetorician; after all, the muses gave them harmony, successful phases - euphony, and wisdom - persuasiveness (of speech). Man, don’t look for length in them, but in these small lines admire the power of what is said. Where does he come from and what is his name? Manuel is his name and Corinth is his homeland.” The poetic inclinations of Michael-Maxim’s nature could be assumed by considering his Italian period, in the fact of correspondence with the ancient Greek poet Theocritus. Now this is being confirmed. I. Shevchenko introduced a previously unknown short poem by Mikhail Trivolis into scientific circulation and highly appreciated his poetic creativity. “Poems dedicated to the great Demetrius, pierced by a spear, as if addressing the crucified Christ: I show You my wound, O Savior, not out of boasting, As if I suffered something great for You, But I joyfully demonstrate as a small likeness of Your passions - This is where I am exalted.” On the way to a new ministry In the spring of 1516, an envoy from Grand Duke Vasily III Ivanovich arrived on Athos from distant Muscovy with rich gifts. The two envoys set off from Moscow to Mount Athos on May 15, 1515 – Vasily Kopyl Spiachiy (Sleeping is another form of spelling) and Ivan Varavin. They moved along with the embassy to Turkey of Vasily Andreevich Korobov, which was a response to the embassy to Moscow from Turkey of Fedorit Kamal (he also left Moscow on that day). But Ivan Varavin stayed in Constantinople 15, and Vasily Kopyl alone went to the Holy Mountain before Easter (it fell on March 23 that year). His arrival was not news for the Svyatogorsk monks; Russia’s ties with the Athos monasteries were not interrupted 16. Vasily Kopyl brought “alms” and gifts - two thousand rubles to commemorate the parents of the Grand Duke (Grand Sovereign Ivan and Grand Duchess Sophia) and with the request of the Grand Duke to pray “for our health and for the Grand Duchess Solomanida and for our children” - Vasily’s marriage remained childless for ten years. The “alms” were soon distributed on behalf of the archpriest between the monasteries. As a gift to the Lavra of St. Athanasius, a silver chara, 45 damask vestments, and a shroud for the image (icon) of Athanasius the Great were sent, and a silver chara, damask vestments, and a shroud for the icon of the Annunciation 17 were also sent to the Vatopedi Monastery. Along with the prayer for childbearing, there was one more request to Vatopedi. The Grand Duke and Metropolitan Varlaam asked to send a book translator Savva “for a while” (“if he wants to work for Rus', for the sake of certain things that that land needs”). However, Abbot Anfimiy of Vatopeda replied that Elder Savva was already “many years old, weak in his legs” and could not fulfill the “commands” of the Grand Duke and Metropolitan, for which he asked for forgiveness. But Father, Abbot Anthymius continued, so that the Grand Duke’s request would not remain unfulfilled and incomplete (“idle and endless”), “chose the most honest brother Maxim from the sacred monastery of Vatopedi, because he is skilled in the divine Scripture and is capable of reciting all sorts of books, both church and those that are called Hellenic,” because from a young age he grew up in this; he sends it with our consent (“by our will and desire”). True, the abbot expresses regret that Brother Maxim does not know Russian, only Greek and Latin, but he is sure that he will soon master Russian 18. This means that they were aware of the education of the Vatopedi monk, his ability for philological works (“telling all sorts of books”). His fame extended beyond the monastery where he lived. He was, of course, an outstanding personality on Athos; he was known both in the monasteries and in the protate; he was in communication with the former Patriarch of Constantinople who lived on Athos. Hegumen Anfimy reports that the monastery is sending with him the holy monk Neophytos, a confessor, and a third brother named Lavrenty. From Russian sources it is known that he was a Bulgarian and, therefore, could help a Greek master the basics of the Slavic language. We do not know what Maxim’s attitude was towards the new obedience - he accepted this service with monastic humility, which left no room for stories about himself. His “confession” will be his works written in Russia. Vasily Kopyl arrived in Constantinople no later than June 1516. This means that Maxim the Greek with the elders and Vasily Kopyl left Athos in the spring or early summer of 1516. His ten-year labors on the Holy Mountain, which began in mid-1506, ended. The journey to Moscow (first to Constantinople, then to the north) was very long and took two years in total. First, the entire delegation was detained by the Turks for several months in anticipation of Sultan Selim I, who was returning from the Syrian-Egyptian campaign, where he won a major victory, subjugating Egypt to the Ottoman Empire - this event made a strong impression on European political consciousness. Pope Leo X will soon, already in March 1518, begin to prepare a new Crusade, which we will have to remember. In April 1517, the elders were still in Constantinople, and left only in May.” They followed the delegation of the Patriarch of Constantinople Theoliptus and arrived in the Russian capital in March 1518. For the sake of - “because of, for a reason” (Dictionary of the Russian language of the 11th-17th centuries. Issue 21. M., 1995. P. 122). Poprische is an ancient Russian measure of length, approximately equal to a verst (1,142 meters). Udolye - “valley, ravine” (Sreznevsky I. I. M materials for the dictionary of the Old Russian language. St. Petersburg, 1903. T. 3. P. 1152). The word “garden” had a broad meaning (“plant, tree”, “collected trees, plantings”, including berry bushes, “grass, meadow”), in the “presentation” it means all kinds of products of plant origin (Dictionary of the Russian Language of the 11th-17th centuries. Issue 23. P. 12). Let us recall (see Chapter II) that “estate” in the works of Maxim the Greek means movable property, money. Kamka – silk fabric.