The Spiritual World of the First Russian Stylite Monk Nikita Pereslavsky (XII cent.)

Abstract

The article discusses the life of St. Nikita the Stylite, the Miracle Worker of Pereslavl, presenting a philological and cultural analysis of his spiritual feat: from a ruthless tax collector to the greatest saint of the Pereslavl land. The study formulates some characteristic features of the life topics of the Russian stylite, considers the plot scheme of the hagiographic text, which is presented by event topoi, describes the spiritual world of St. Nikita, which is expressed by the mental topoi of his ascetic labours. St. Nikita took an active part in the construction of the city of Pereslavl Zalessky, where the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky was born and grew up, and the feat of the first Russian stylite was the forerunner of spirituality in Pereslavl. The research is based on the manuscript funds of the XV–XIX centuries of the Russian State Library.